The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1923-02-09
THE CECIL FARMERS CLUB.
Proceedings OF January Meeting
What Farmers Need Most
Annual Election.

Annual Election.
The Cecil Farmers Club met at
the home Of M. G. Reeder, Jan. IL.
Members present-Frank B. Evans,
President; Jas. H. Maxwell, Carroll
Tyson, John S. Cullen, M. G. Reeder,
M. L. Thompson, A. H. Mendenhall,
Robt. Cameron, VIM. r. Cameron,
Lloyd Balderston, w. P. McFadden.
Visitors Frank Rawlings, Perry A..
Gibson, Nelson James, VIM. Reeder.
Minutes of December meeting read
and approved. There was no new
business.
Mr.. Reeder read paper on What
Farmers Need Most
A better knowledge of the tillage
OF. the soil and its advantage to
them. Wisdom or knowledge in
general is good thing for the farm
er, and in fact is a handy thing for
the most Of us to have in our voca-
ton.
What do farmers need most would
seem to imply or suggest that there
is some one point which, if improv-
ed upon, would bring about the
greatest good to the greatest num-
Der Of farmers, which is the true
essence of all advancement in the
world.
Take a man who decides to be a
farmer, one who is going to depend
ON the land for a living,-give him
the judgment of the best breeders in
the selection of the stock he wishes
to keep; give him the judgment OF
the keen speculator in the market
ing and sale OF his produce; allow
him the best varieties of seed for
his land, and the best of tools
for the working thereof. Granted
that he has all these what do they
profit him if he has no knowledge of
the preparation of the soil or the
cultivation Of his crops,
Now I do not know that can ex-
plain the how and wherefore Of the
point as we'll as those who have
more literary ability, but my obser-
walton and experience of fifty years
among farmers leads me to think
that the knowledge or the thorough
tillage Of the soil, from the time the
plow first enters the ground until
the crop is matured, or is SO large
that cultivation must cease, and
the advantage to be gained by it is
what the most of farmers need most.
To illustrate, have known farm
ers to get out the pillow with hurry
and rush in the spring, half pillow
piece of ground, half harrow it, half
plant and half cultivate, or perhaps
not at all. The season may be
little wet or a little dry, and they
would console themselves at harvest
by saying did not expect much
from that piece anyway. A sort OF
case where they seem to expect
nothing, and most always get it,
where If they had spent a little
more time to plow, to plant, and
cultivate they could turn failure into
success.
One strange thing about this
point is that these farmers do not
know they lack this knowledge.
Why they say guess know how to
plant corn, potatoes, or wheat; l
was born on farm and have been
a farmer all my life.
My own experience leads me to
know that if pillow a piece OF
ground we'll, plant and cultivate it
WE'LL. and thoroughly keep the crop
clean and free from weeds, keep
wright at it all the time, the land be-
ing fairly fertile will get a profit
able crop.
Farmers should be educated as to
the benefits of thorough cultiVa-
ton; educated to take more care OF
their crops, not to see how little
care can be given and have the crop
live, but how much can be given at a
profit, for in these days of sharp de-
preston the extra days of care of a
crop may be the difference between
failure and success.
We sometimes read in the paper
what wonderful results some one has
obtained with some special crop.
The average farmer will scratch
his head over it, think about it a
i while and either say do not believe
it, or he happened to strike it just
right.
1t does not occur to him that a
large part of the success was due to
a thorough preparation of the soil,
and thorough cultivation of the
soil while the crop was growing.
If the farmers of the country
could be brought to understand this
subject in it's full sense, and know
the benefits thereof, they might
grow largely increased crops, have
more to do with and accomplish that
which now seems impossible.
l myself have never seen a more
marked result of lack of cultivation