Norwich bulletin., 1920-07-23

successful farmer should be.
 Well I don't remember, this morning, i exactly what I said that moved this cor 1 to such comment. And I'm too "shiftless" just now to hunt it up. It was a good while ago, anyhow But I've | just read an article by Judge Howard of l the New York supreme court in which | that eminent jurist sets forth the quali- i icationS which occur to him as neces- l sary. And. no matter what l said or | how sweeping my implications, I'm will- ing to bet a dime against a doughnut l that I never covered so much territory as does Judge Howard. You'll say the same when you've read it.
 Before I quote it. however, I want you to know that Judge Howard is one of the most widely known and most highly re- spected of the judges in the Empire state. He is, moreover, not only a lawyer and judge of high rank, but himself a fair ly successful farmer. He was farm boy, brought up on a farmr in the days when farming was done by main strength and calloused palms. He went into law because he thought as a young man that there was more money and glory in it. But he never lost his love for the farm. As soon as he had accu mulated enough of the m. and g. to make it practicable he promptly acquired a farm, again, and proceeded to devote his surplus energies to its improvement-and his own advantage. He is by no means a city. farmer, playing with the land, but a real farmer-as real as any man can be who admits that he can give but part Of his time and attention to it.
 Anyway, he knows the game" from start 10 finish; knows it as it used to be played; knows it as it must be played, now-a days; knows what the batting average is and what it ought to be- | Here's his version of the matter-and l beg you, brother farmer, to read every last word of it:
 "The little legislator looks with awe upon the manufacturer, the banker, the broker, the merchant and the capitalist, while he regards the farmer too ire quentIy. as a joke. This is the greatest error in the world. It requires more talent to become a successful farmer, l believe, than to become successful in any other walk of life. Indeed the necessary mental equipment of farmer covers a much wider field of subjects than is em- | braced within the scope of any other | trade or profession. The farmer must not only know how to plough and plant and SOW and reap but he must be con versant with an endless variety of oth- CT matters. He must know the character of the soil, the nature of the animals, the | l gree, be a mechanic, horseman, hun l ter, a butcher, a carpenter, blacksmith, | a weather prophet a veterinary surgeon. | He must know how to adjust and repair all the complicated modern farm ma chnery-the moving machine, the bind CT, the corn harvester. the manure spreader the sulky plough, the hay ted der. He must know the ingredients of stock foods and the chemistry of fertil- l 4I, N11+ +. harness the vicious horse ring the adult boar; handle the savage bull shingle the | barn doctor the sick animals follow | the turkey when she hides her nest; hive | the bees when they swarm; protect the henyard from hawks and hunting ami mals; trap the mink, the fox and the weasel; butcher the hogs; pack the | pork; spray the fruit trees; poison the potato bugs; watch the weather like an | Indian; shear the sheep; nail a shoe on the horse repair the harness, draw logs to the mill in winter and tap the maple trees in spring-all these and innumera- | ble other details the successful farmer must know, and does know, until his fund of information becomes amazing. | He reads the papers at night and informs himself on current events until his judg- ment, sagacity and advice becomes in- estimable. The farmer is one of the | tions."
 Now, having read it all, don't you. dear reader, stick out your chest and flap your wings and go to growing over yourself. For you must have noted that these are the characteristics of what Judge Howard explicitly calls "the sue cessful farmer" And you and I need to make quite sure that we're in that small class before we assume too many airs No, indeed; I'm quoting it, not with any idea of putting up the already amply developed self-conceit of the average far mer, but rather to suggest to him the seemliness of a little modesty as he re- fleets upon the extent of what he ought to know and-too often-doesn't know.
 For there is 8 continent-wide difference between the successful farmer" and the mere farmer. It is to be hoped that we all of us, want to belong to the sue cessfuF' class. That list of qualifications for membership therein should give us pause. It should lead us to a little quiet and wholesome self-examination.
 How nearly do we measure up to the mark set?
 Nor is Judge Towards formidable statement by any means complete. He has omitted to mention that the success ful farmer must also be a shrewd buyer ana a wise Seller or all lie ITullS OL lllS other knowledge and work will go to the enrichment of in-between toll-takers. Nor has he included the more than mere scat tering of such sciences as botany, geo. logy, entomology, etc, which the sue cessful farmer must have at his finger ends. Nor the knowledge of drainage and irrigation engineering, one or the other of which is. essential on almost ev- cry farm. Nor the high inventive abil- ity. which is demanded every week. to
 meet some wholly unexpected threat o1 disaster, whose symptoms and treatment have not yet got into any textbook or any log-book of experience. But never mind such things now. Consider just the list. of qualifications he has set forth
 As a rule. lawyers have fairly good opinion of themselves, of their owr knowledge ,and their own ability. When therefore a lawyer who has attained eminence in that exacting profession openly asserts that "it requires more tai ent to become a successful farmer than to become successful in any other walk of life,'' it must be assumed that he in cflrdes lawyering in those other walks he refers to, as well as manufacturing banking, merchandising, etc. Considered from that point of view, his statement is more than Illuminating, it is somewhat startling. Moreover, his casual reference to the little legislator is highly sugges
 tive.
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