The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1914-02-13
Books Help Farmer
Make Large Income

ticn make Dearly double the average
income of those with merely a com
mon school education, and those who
start earliest make the most profits,
according to the department of
agriculture's investigr tors. The de-
rartment's Office of farm mana .ge-
ment has been conducting a series OF
investigations in the corn-helt, which
have brought out many details that
,hould be of practical value to all
agriculturists These results have
just been published in a new bulle-
lin.
Under average conditions the farm,
according to this bulletin, is no place
for the weak or for those unable
70 direct work. The man who in
, tends TO s,.end his working life in
The county should start early, for
success Is Lot gained in a moment
but by many years OF persistent
effort. 1t IS true that some farmers
have made small fortunes in 4 short
time, but this Is usually through a
phenomenal rise in land values. Few
| men have become rich from the real
profits OF the land. Those who have
done so usually needed a lifetime In
which to work. Through skill in man
agement and by hard labor a COM
Portable living and moderate profits
may be expected. Those persons
who are turning TO the farm with the
idea Of re,ping large incomes are
, doomed to severe disappointment.
The Poorest Incomes.
Those making the poorest incomes
were twent. eight years of age when
they started farming and were past
thirty when they became owners.
On the average the oldest men are
making the least profits. Many farm.
ers with very little schooling sue,
coed, but these same men would do
better II they had the opportunity
OF further training. No one ever
hears a farmer regret that he spent
part Of his early life in school
! An investigation goes to show that
ont OF 273 farmers and 24I tenants
there were only eight men, four
owners and four tenants, who never
had schoc' training. or the owners
and tenants seventy-seven per cent
attended common or district school
About eighteen per cent attended
a high school, and one out OF every
thirty-five went to college or to
some institution of similar grade
On the Whole the tenants had re
ceived more education than the own,
srs, twentythree per cent of them
having more than a district school
! education, while only twenty pei
rent Of the owners had such train
ing. These men having the best
training made the largest incomes,
although they were materially helped
! in doig this by much larger farms
and greater capital.
Keeping the Boy on the Farm.
Farming Is a business the same
as any other industry, and unit
our schools teach some of the fun
damental principles governing profit
able farming. the farm boy Is likely
10 seek work elsewhere. Consider
ing that the farm boys of today
will be the farmers of tomorrow
too little attention is given to theil
| training. Many boys leave the farm
because they see no future in II
Another important reason is the lack
of profitable work at home. A mod
erate-sized farm is necessary TO Civ,
employment to the farmer and his
! sons. The small farm does not pro
vide work hence, the boys must flint
employment elsewhere. Let them
, fully understand how farm profits
; and losses are made and there will b,
an incentive to remain. First make
our farms profitable, and the ques
ton OF keeping the boys there viii
solve itself. Successful farming 4.
an individual economic problem. The
farm Is a combination Of enterprises
and their Individual organization will
determine, in a large measure, Us
profitableness. Sufficient area and Q
proper organization of well-selectet
farm enterprises to permit the maxi
mum use OF men, horses and
machinery. are the essential charac
teristics of the most successful farms
Size OF the Farm Business.
No one expects a small grocery
store which has only a few Gus
toners a day to be a great financial
success. The total amount of bust
ness is insufficient to earn the opera
tor a substantial income. Exactly the
same is trIe with the small farm.
The volume of business is limited
ty the area in crops and the capital
invested. The small Farm furnishes
2 home as well as much of the
produce consumed by the family
II II were not for these factors the
] men on the small area would hardly
be able to live Wages are a re.
ward for labor. and IL farm does
rot provide work the pay must be
oorrespondi1gly small The family.
size farm, which In the corn belt
should be above 100 acres, Is un
/ questionably more efficient uni,
than an area OF forty acres or less
Crops can be grown cheaper, labor
will be better paid. and the farmer
and his family will enjoy more nj