The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1914-05-01


~ the Munrce and Chambliss Bank of
th,s CITY Friday night before the State
pankers' Convention, now i'm session
a. Lakeland.-Ed. Banner.D
In discussing the relation of the
banker to the farmer. assume that
the term farming covers every branch
~ agriculture. Therefore IL will not
he amiss TO take passing notice of
what the farmer has done. what
knowledge he must possess, and the
circumstances under which he has ac-
complished the benefits to mankind.
great many think that when a
man fails at everything else he can
20 10 farming. Nothing can be more
erroneous. for to be a successful farm
or. a man must possess more general
knowledge than in any other branch
Of business. Agriculture demands a
knowledge OF the soil. atmosphere
and climate; il requires a knowledge
Of vegetable life. not only as regards
crops, but also weeds. crop enemies,
. fungoid attacks. and poisonous and in
4 iurious plants: a knowledge OF zoolo-
4 Nv. for stock raising necessarily
h comes under the head of farming. He
. must know something of the phenom-
q ena OF live stock-anatomy. patholo-
N ey-treatment of animals in health
+ and disease, whether hereditary or
contracted. Chemistry is required in
\ the study of the soil. fertilizers. feed
+ ing stuffs and the composition of
plants.
Agriculture requires engineering
. knowledge, for construction, drainage
and reclamation. IL also requires a
knowledge of machinery, implements
and various other things. which takes
time and experience to acquire.
. Thus il will be seen that a farmer
must have a wider range of knowl-
edge, must know something of more
Of the different sciences than men in
any other profession. and yet we know
that. as a class, their education along
scientific lines has been largely neg
lected. True IL is that education con-
sists Of acquiring useful knowledge,
Iand Mother Nature seems to favor
those who live close to her heart, for
have known farmer boys who could
Ill hnf An 10
that could give a college graduate
cards and spades and beat him blind
N the game of making a living.
There is no record that Jacob ever
vent TO school. but when he balanced
accounts with Laban. his father-in-
NhE. and took for his share all the
Hringstreaked. speckled and spotted"
We cannot deny the fact that, as a
Breeder Of cattle he was in class all
o himself
Agriculture dates back to the very
Beginning OF history. for we are told
Genesis that of the two first-born
Adama and Eve. that Abel was a
eeper Of sheep, while Cain was a
EIer OF the ground-both farmers in
be common acceptance of the term.
In fact. II appears that the farm
. pas the cradle In which infant civil
patton was rocked, and the same
Ntrong hand that rocked the cradle
ben Is the hand that has shaped our
sstiny TO the present day. All
trough the misty pages of the half
fgotten past, We can trace its influ
aee upon the lives of nations. Peace
. In its own pursuits, ii has never
Z eless given it's best and bravest
Is to be sacrificed upon the altar
var and waste, and then, as If
4 saFen ordained, il has turned again
the task of uplifting the human
6 zee
|" has been the very heart that has
4 pen Impulse and energy to every
n ner art, science and industry-the
= 81 dominant factor for good in the
= e Of every nation that has risen
= oFe state of savagery, and had the
h afth American Indian been an agri-
2 plural race. today the descendants
ne red men would vie with the de-
y ehdants of the pale face in the ex-
3 lence Of America ncitizenship.
o u order to show the relation of the
hker to the farmer it is necessary
: consider briefly the part played by
q banker, his origin. etc.
me money changers are spoken of
ne time OF Christ, and we are in
sed largely to the Jews for the
sent banking system. The Jewish
4ehants, trading between the diff
eas cities, found 1t hazardous to
- back and forth large sums of
and silver on account of robbers
UNNn infested fha oauntrv Of that