Norwich bulletin., 1922-08-04
WHAT DO SHOW FARMS" ACCOMPLISH !?

Cwritten Specially for The Bulletin)
 We were talking about snow farms, ;" so-called. That is to say, the sons of rest who gather nightly at the local VOTE were talking about them. Follow ng my more or less canny custom, was loing lot of listening but not saying .zueh-one sometimes gets quite a repu- ztion for shrewdness by just keeping his noUth shut, you know,
 We'll, the talk rambled Ell 'Cound Rg)in Hood's barn, as such talk is apt to do. Also. as Is usual 10 such cases the most H the talk was an outgrowth of prejudice, ninted with envy. Instance after in Hanee was rets1ed, from the observation A one or another. of impractical extrava- vance by this that or the other fancy farmer" But, Lordy, he don't care whether t pays or not" would be the usual comment. He's so rich he could Iced his cows out of gold managers if he wanted to Now. ef I had his money, rd"-and there would follow the speak sr's rehearsal of his own pet farming whirn and how ne would gratify it if he s0uld afford to.
 Needless to say, these various visions ot the practical working farmers who made up the bunch of critics mostly turn sd on the speculative profit which each Believed a persistent following of his own narticuiar rainbow end would lead to. T ell ye there's big money in it, ef only a teller had the re " cash to put it through" That Was about the usual Eind-up of each exposition While every sns of the disputants mourned his inabil- ky to branch out" more extensively. and made 1t perfectly clear that any success be might thus attain would be to him an sndlezs source of brag-"Td show 'em, st only had about $10.O00 workin' capi- lAl." was the general spirit-while this vas so. there wasn't a suggestion of any AesiFe to gild the old place into '"show larm" on anyone's part. The one idea of lach seemed to be that the judicious use sf abundant capital towards practical tnds by a practical farmer would in- grease farm productivity and farm prof ha. That was why each one hankered Tor that extra working capital which he pomehow felt the fancy farmers were wasting on mere show.
 If he had the capital and his use of il made him an added profit he'd brag about it as much as anybody. Ne doub about that. He'd talk about it at the grange and the farmers institute, ,f ht was given chance. He'd talk about i m the store back room, whether he wa. given a chance or not. Of course ht would You could see how he would en toy that sort of thing by the gleam in hi sye and the bracing back of his shoulders As he spoke. But he would as soon thinl 5f sandpaperin the road after rain O of tising pink ribbons in the tails of tn bows who roamed the burdock pasture a & spending money merely for the sak H show. and calling it farming.
 And, by gum the more I thought abou it afterwards. the more I agreed wit him How does it strike you?
 The other day I read in city news paper an editorial on the achievement of one of these fancy farmers" It seem that he was very rich and really public spiFited man He apparently wanted { find out for himself and show to other what unlimited capital could do in tn farming line. So he bought up a SCOT or' more of small holdings and consolidat ed them into one big farm. He bull huge barns according to the latest idea st the architects. He invested in tn pursst of pure bred cattle and had ther Vised by the most pernickety of dairy fad 8ists. Says the admiring editor:
 His COW stable was as clean and swet Ss a Dutch kitchen, the cows were 2 sAzefully curried as show horses >'the were nilked by electricity and attende 5y men in spotless white" Etc, etc
 AS the first result of this, his farm bt came show place and people mostl son-farmers, came from far away to CT toy the speckless spectacle
 As the second result. the farm Io ,noBey-lost more every year than tr price of dozen average New EngIar tarns. It lost money from the start ar continued to lose it to the end Neve theless our city editor declares tha while this rich owner didn't make h farm pay. he set a good example
 tanners to put their best foot foremos IL was an example of better farr nE' exalted beyond anything a practic ,arner could agord but standing hint goal to be sought"
 Right there T stopped reading and b
 7r to think. Was this show place real m example of better farming9" Was really the hint of any goal to gought 2" I'm not 90 sure about it.
 Mind you, I do not suggest one dou the wealthy owners fine spirit nor
 ais good intentions Instead. I'm nclin lo admire them whole-heartedly B 'arning. like blaclxsmithing or wool nGnufaeturfng or banking, is an intense practical business. It is also, like the Aree, an exceedingly technical busine.
 Is quite as practical and quite
 technical as running a newspaper. ga Take our city editor who crowns t ynow farm with the laurel of his appr hation. He would resent 1t with mo or less !mpatience If I, overalled old ha seed from Bungtown Corners, should u dertaks to tell him how to run his papt He would retoPt upon me that I knt nothing of the numberless limitatio and conditions hedging his managemel That didn't know where he was q fl .gent and where he was just q bou slave to hampering fates. That I did, uroW about the !nnumerable obstacl hat had to be overcome in getting c every issue of his sheet, That I did
 know anything about 1t, in fact. and
 would sarcastically suggest that, till