Norwich bulletin., 1919-02-28
Knowledge the Foundation of Good Farming

old adage, meaning thereby that the
 man who knows his particular busi- ness from A to z is likely to do bet ter job at it than the greenhorn--a truth, which, it would seem, ought not to need proving.
 Nevertheless, dearly beloved fellow hayseed, it may not lie in our mouths, after all, to criticize too sharply those who rush in on our preserves without warrant of knowledge or skill. For be it said-though with bated breath and hanging head-too many ol us who call ourselves farmers are really nothing of the sort In any
 rural community with which I have
 ever foregathered there has always been in evidence too large a propor- ton of men who. while they exist c. l farms, don't really farm their lands. Some are "shiftless." And some are thriftless. And some are lazy. And some don't know how.
 Think it over for yourself taking your own neighborhood in mine, and see if you don't agree with me that there are too many of these classes especially of tAe last, tho farmers who 1 don't know how to farm their lands
 so as to get the most out of them. There are dry goods clerks in every | city who have spent their whole work | ing lives in stores who would make, | l frankly admit, just as good farmers un an hours notice as some I know 1 cf who were born and brought up 0n 1 the homesteads they still own.
 ! But that isn't saving much. ! We mustn't he too vigorous in con-
 demnins the city man who reasors. | after q good look at some ,of these specimens. that, If such creatures can 1 make living on farms, he certainly could
 | Make a living" Is the phrase lust ! what does it mean, anyhow A horse l can make 1 living on hay and oats. | Jed Strout makes a living" off corn ! bread, salt pork and potatoes. Is that | tho sort which our city candidate for 1 the country wants to emulate? I can ! didly admit that almost any city man, ! 10 matter how ignorant If farming | methods could hardly Tail to do as we'll as Jed doos. For led is not q
 farmer. He is just a Io&fcr living Or | 2 farm. He'd rather fish than blow; rather hunt than hoe; rather trap l muskrats than hus}l corn. fIc dorsr't l know or cGre that draining one sod 1 den field wUGl7 transform it into prof | itahlo urodUctivoneEs. TTa doesn't | know O" care that the patch on which 1 he sroWs sciup corn at the rate of [ twelve bushels 0 the acrc could he made, by real farming. to produce 1 fancy corn at the rarc of a hundred | bushels to the acre.
 It's easier to leave 'er alone I Wherefore he leaves 'em alone. He aEuiHcs about in perfectly contcnted self-sa tlsfactiOn, though his shoes may be out 2t tho toes and his sleeves ont at inc elhOws'and his hat brimless for tWo-thirds of itS circumference. Shoes and sleeves -ud hat arc all "easy.' And what more does Jed care Did you note the wording of old ! Aenophons apho-isyn? The "art' If agriculture. Ee said Don't forget ! that. Agriculture is an art. that !s i "'he application of Knowledge o,. power to practical purposes" That's what an art is- according to Webster. 1 ou can successfully pursue an art un'ess you have first, sufficient ! knowledge or power to apply to the l pursuit.
 That's where altogether too many i Of us farmers fall down. We seem. ! some of us. to be afraid of knowledge. i We don't want any and won't have 1 any unless it comes our way and is ! the sort we think we like
 i An, friends, the wells O. knOwlelge are very, very deep Some Of their 1 waters are bitter as those of Nayah. i But even the bitter is often a tonic. [ We can't by any possibility. over | know too much about anything bear lnE upon our art. We can. indeed ! know some things which aren't SC 1 reNer were so. and never will be so. 1 Tut that is not Knowledge That is | Il combination of bumptiousncsssa and | bigotry which is neither excusabIa Flor | tolerabie in men who sincerely want 1 10 become successful practitioners of ! any art.
 Don't make any n1iatal,e. whether ! you be city man hurgerir@ for q
 tarm, or country man ac-ra'lv living on one. There is an ''art' of farming which comes only from know1odrS And Knowledge cones only hv st1Idv mot necessarily nor primarily study or books. bJ- study of the great vol | umo whose %6J leaves Nature turrs over before us. day by Gdy. wear after year. study of the earth Cn which vsa ! stand, Of the air in which we move ol Inc clements by and through whose 1 management lies our only chance of | success Ol
 And don't forget another thine. to wit namely that is 10 say. What inc ! farms need, what the nation neeis
 what the world needs. is more f9rr,-
 CTS With "krow how enough to r1aito | thelr management Of the sri" of 9r. nculture success. US TTE IrApzrr1