The dispatch-news. [volume] (Lexington, S.C.) 1919-2001, 1920-01-07
HEAL CAREER I'm AGRlCU!TU3E

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4 Higher Dignity For The ereat Bust.
ness OF Farmers.
Clemson College. Jan, SI"As a man
sninketh In his heart, 40 Is he". SO
speaks Holy Scripture, and an exper.
ience confirms its truth. tas
The most important consideration.
therefore. for the farmer is his attitude
toward his farm. What does he think
aoput it.-what does he $hink af,out
ferming3 Does ne love his fields ana
woods ?Does his eye rest with peculiar
Ycndness on his sleek mules and TAT
cattis? Does he feel in his very soul
mat farming is a high calling, the only
Vccation for him? Or does he value
rolds and woods and cattle in te1uns
merely OF money? VIII ne sell them all
Tor 2 price. and gladly turn away from
them forever? Is he q farmer by chance
or by choice? Has he simply inherit,
ed" farm? Is he a farmer because he
knows no other way Of making a iiy.
Ing" because it may seem to him the
easiest, most independent life Has he
looked the world and it's businesses in
the face. and deliberately decided that,
as Tor him. the piow and the fresh
earth upturned, and the growing plant
have charms above all?
Before any further real progress can
be made In ,the development OF our
country lne.that country life must be
saturated with love of the country.
Many more farmers there must. be,
whose determination to stay on the
farm 10 quite as fixed az their datermin.
alton 70 win success, and comfort and
happiness, for themselves and their
families, by means Of their farming.
Such farmers will rot be bribed by a
sudden rise In the prices of farm lands
TO sell. out" and move to neighbor.
ing town. They will not be driven away
by labor troubles. They may sell a part
OF their holdings. but they win still
cling to the soil. By the use OF modern
machinery in the home and on the
farm, they Will so multiply personal
efficiency as to reduce greatly the mum.
Der OF laborers, and increase the output
OF all who work These farmers will be
fully persuaded in their own minds,
that they above men in other callings,
have opportunity to raise strong healthy
children. They will appreciate at their
true worth. the breeze blowing clear
and pure over the wheat, the sight OF
cattle on the hill feeding slowly home.
ward, the run In the woods after nuts.
Tor the children's growth, both of body
snf Inind. Who but the farmer can
Furnish In abundance to his children,
clean milk, fresh eggs, tender yegeta-
hles. horne-raised bread and meat /, The
medical records Of the selective Drafe
Board, have Just revealed that the
neal Invest 5oho N 4 tfEo SGaited States ia
From North to South. practically co.
incident with the 2one OF greatest
agricultural development, the great
mississippi Valley. May not the moro
abundant food supply there be the
ssSret 6: the stronger. healthier
young menf
t'Brsad" is the universal human cry.
Only the farmer can furnish 1t. No
other occupation fills SO fundamental
need. Preacher, lawyer, doctor, mer
chant, manufacturer, banker,-we can
not DO without them, but their import.
ance to society ia less than the farm.
er's. The first occupation both In point
OF time and point Of logic Is farming.
And the farmer. the real farmer, will
realize that he is, under God, the dis /
penser Of the bountfes OF Nature to his
t1rNy1 faIl
profession accordingly.
The very PRACTICE O. The art Of
farming affords opportunity to
the farmer to grow to the full, |
mentally and spiritually. He 10
not dependent ON men and things |
as other men are. He is dependent
on cloud and sunshine, on the hidden
processes of life; that is, he Is depend.
ent ON the wisdom. power and goodness
OF God. He ought 20 be better man /
Cor It. Just because the farm gives this
opportunity for closer relationship with
the Lord Of life, there is higher dig.
Dty about this business than we have
commonly accorded h. We have looked
Mt the dirty hand. and the bent back,
and we have called the farmer uncouth
and his profession unclean The world /
hes taught him to despise his work and
h1mself. It admires the skill of the
great surgeon. but forgets the years
he spent in the gruesorne work Of the
dissecting-room. 1t praises the artist
WHO sings a song, or writes story. or
paints a picture, but the artist who J
gave as our breeds OF cattle, or strains
OF wheat or corn, our improved meth
ords Of tillage. are almost unls9own.