The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-02-28

"a TOT only does the would-be farm.
N err sometimes lack capital, but he
' frequently lacks knowledge and
experience. Farming is a complex
business involving considerable capi-
tai in the way of perishable material.
Mistakes are costly. Most of the ag-
ricultural land remaining to be de-
veloped must be farmed by especially
adapted methods. To succeed by dry
farming, which should be combined
with livestock raising, o. to make
money on a s~tock-raising homestead,
the settler must understand livestock
and the art of growing crops with
but little moisture. Farming by irri-
CATION is a trade in itself, and the
successful management of a mixed
dairy farm in the %cut-over lands has
been reduced to a science.
The operator who succeeds in any
of these lines must know his bust
ness. The man who invests his en-
tire savings and takes on heavy OBJ
legations to enter a business about
which he knows nothing is taking a
heavy risk. He may succeed by
main strength and awkwardness," or
if he can hold out long enough he
may learn by the trial and error
method. In any case the pioneer
stage is long drawn out, time and
money are spent ~uselessly, and CAPT
tai is j~eopardized while the operator
is learning what he should have
known before he started out for him
self.
The prospective settler without in
formation and experience may find it
to his advantage to work for some
successful settler for at least one crop
season until he has learned some
thing of the art of handling livestock
and growing crops and has gained an
insight into the business of farming.
After this probationary period of
working under supervision he might
try out his own managerial skill by
renting a farm and using enough of
his capital to buy equipment and
livestock. At the end of the second
or third year of working out and
renting he should be sufficiently sure
of himself to invest in land of his
own, provided he can finance the
deal.
During this period he should have
added to his capital as we'll as his
information. He should know where
to select the best land in the neigh
borhood, the actual market value of
the different types of land, and where
he can get the best terms if he needs
credit. At the same time he will
have established himself among the
local business men and credit com
panies and should be able to get cred
it for goods or to borrow money at
much less expense to himself than if
he we're unknown. Mortgages are
frequently more likely to take a big
ger risk at a lower rate of interest if
the reputation of the mortgagor is
known and if the m~ortgagor has a
thorough knowledge of the agricul-
ture in which he engages. The quick
est, easiest, and cheapest methods of
getting this information are usually
practical experience on a farm under
skilled supervision and at agricultur-
al colleges.
1t may seem that this way of enter
ing into farm ownership takes too
much time and that the sooner the
purchaser "a get land of his own the
he is to independence. Many
settlers are adverse to working under
direction, and this very feeling may
prompt them to undertake the hard
ships of an ~undeveloped region. How
ever, it is well to remember that
there is no harder task master than
debt if the debtor has difficulty in
meeting his obligations. Information
and skill are acquired with less loss
time and at less cost under an eX-
p~erienced farmer than by undirected
and unskilled experimenting. Unen-
numbered ownership is frequently de-
Iayed much longer if the settler at
to teach himself than if he
goes to his land with some knowledge
Of his business. The advantage of
accumulating information and capt.
al at the same time is worth much.
A census of the farms of the Uni
ed States for the purpose of finding
he methods of acquiring ownership
would probably show that a very
percentage of the ~present-day
owners began either as hired
men on farms or as tenants. Fol in
a study of 41S farms operated
owners, in Jefferson county, n. Y,
the following facts: Eighteen
as owners, SO accumulated the
price of the farm at other than farm
abor, 1872 began as hired men and
hen became owners, 81 began as
and 1853 began as hired men
Ind then became owners, 81 began as
.enants, and 1913 began as hired men,
became tenants, and then owners OF
he 418 owners 367 went through
,ither one or both of the friedman
stages and only 81 began as
1t is also possible that some
If the 81 who began as owners were
of operating farmers. Other
arm surveys in different parts of
he country show much the same pro-
,ess of acquiring farm ownership.
Experience and capital are as ne
,essary to acquiring ownership of
arm land &c ara cn11rap pc narspvnr-