VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, MARCH 20, 1909.
NO. 11
The   Reasons Why  I   Should   be a
Farmer.
[Address made before the Pierceton
Fanners' Institute, Feb. 2t>, 1909, by
Prof. Palmer, Dean of Winona Agricultural Institute.
1. Offers the biggest returns on the investment. The farmer who understands
Lis business is making a bigger per cent
on the investment than either steel corporation or Standard Oil. It may not appear sp large as the farming is done on a
much smaller scale.
It has been found in Minnesota that it
ssasts from $7 to 8.50 to produce an acre
of corn not including rent or interest on
invested money and it surely costs no
more in  Indiana. Soil  that is kept in
good condition should raise 80 bushels per
aire aud in fact ought to go as high hs a
hundred. But say 80 bushels at 60
s ents equals $48, taking out $8 for raising
the crop leaves a profit of $40. If the
la ml is worth. $700 per acre the profit
woulsl he 40 per cent on the investment.
If the yield were GO bushelsj per acre the
profit would be 28 per cent. Then if the
corn is fed, another profit is realized on it
whicli will in many cases amount to as
much as the first profit, and the beauty
of it is that no one is going to find any
fault with the farmer who makes a profit
from 25 to 50 per cent on his investments.
In fact he will be thought the more of.
In making these big profits he will be
helping industry along by adding to the
world's wealth wliile the manufacturer or
merchant or transportation company
when they are making a large per cent on
the investment are taking more than their
share and hence cause aome one to suffer. To make these profits it is necessary that the person have some knowledge of soils, manure, crops and fertilizers ami of animals, tlieir rearing and
improvement, just as no one would attempt to start out as a doctor or lawyer
unless they first understood medicine or
law.
2. The   most   independent   life.
After a man makes enough to live comfortably he perhaps next to that, treasures independence and in many cases in-
'lepeudence comes first. There is no
. ailing that offers the independent life
that farming does, provided the farm
er knows his business. He goes tsi work
when he pleases, quits when Ilc pleases.
He can wear clothes to suit himself.    He
sm sell to whom he pleasies; buy from
whom he pleases and should he choose not
to sell the rest of the world would starve.
He can live far enough away from his
fellow men so as to have perfect quiet
and no one can approach unless lie wi.sh
>t. In short the farmer can meet his
fellow men as a man.
3. Most healthy life.
Nothing is more valuable to a human
lseing than health. The factors that enter into the having of good health are, a
s°und body, exercise in the open, pure and
wholesome food, an abur^ance of fresh
il'r, sanitary conditions and contentment
'•* at least the absence of worry. These
factors are supplied more fully on the
farm than anywhere else. Even that
•f a sound body as the very nature of the
work, food and other conditions on the
farm tend to develop a strong body.
> here else can one have the exercise in
•he open, the pure food, the fresh air, the
s-initary conditions and the contentment
"'at one can on the farm. Too many of
"l|r fanners do not have these things but
11 is their fault and not the fault of the
farm.
4.    Best place to raise a  family.
This is so self evident that enlarging on
it is hardly necessary. The farm has
furnished and is continuing to furnish the
This was very nicely illustrated when
the last panic struck us. Bankers and
business men lay awake at night dreading
the to-morrow or unnerved over the happenings of the day. Fortunes wiped away,
Stayman Winesap Apple sent by    A.   II.   Barker,  Entiat,   Washington.
Black Ben Apple.    A. H . Barker Entiat,  Wash.
men who are at the head of nearly all
great enterprises.
The life in the open, the pure and
wholesome food, the pure air, the splendid exercise, the daily tasks and duties
develop the physical moral nnd spiritual
nature. The person  equipped  with    a
vigorous body that has been trained to do
things has a confidence in himself that can
come in no other way. Then again the
child in the country has to think. He
cannot always run to someone but must
think and oftentimes do so quickly. He
is one of the most necessary qualities in a
lender whether it be on the battle field or
in a business enterprise. The contact
with nature also breeds honesty and
frankness, two very valuable qualities. In
fact without honesty there can be no success.
5.    Most stable business^
ruin staring them in the face,—horrible.
The farmer perhaps got less for what he
had to sell but he could also buy cheaper.
People had to eat and be clothed panic
or no panic, and the farm would produce
as- well.
0.    God made man a  farmer.
When Hod made man he placed him in
a gardeu an.l charged him to have domin-
ioi. over the animals, plants and all that
was on earth. So it is easy to see that
(isssl's plan was that man nuould be a
farmer.
7.       The  nation  needs   farmers.
The stability of a nation depends on its
farmers. Manufacturing and commerce
may mean much but they are based on
farming. The manufacturer is simply
making things that the farmer will need
ssi that those who are making things for
the    farmer will    need.        Commerce is
nothing more nor less than the carrying of
the products of the farm to those who are
making things for the farmer and the
taking back of these manufactured products to the farmer. Eliminate the farmer
end commerce and manufacturing would
cease.
8. Legislatures need  farmers.
The farm, being fundamental to commerce and manufacturing, should be
properly represented in the legislature
end no one can do that as well as the
man who is on the fann and familiar with
farm conditions. And again, the farmer
is not so apt to sell his vote as the person
who lias nothing to lose and everything
to gain in selling his vote to a corporation. The farmer also knows that he
would never be returned and would be in
disgrace forever, while the politician in
the city can cover up his tracks. Indiana
has a good proportion of farmers in her
legislature and the number is constantly
increasing. ,   |
9. Working close to nature.
The man on the farm is working with
Nature. The better he understands her
the better success he makes, wliile the
man in the city makes his best success
when he can make the most out of his fellow men. The farmer does not prosper
at the expense of his fellow men but prospers as they advance. This has a big
Influence    on  man's    development. It
develops the highest type of manhood and
womanhood.
10. George Washington said that Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful and most noble employment of man.
No man was better qualified to judge in
this matter as he had farmed, had been a
solslier, a general, a president and yet he
round  his greatest pleasure  in  his  farm.
Many more reasons could be given why
I shssiilsl be a fanner but this ought to be
enough to convince us that we should be
fanners.
Why They Leave the Farm.
ttdlture Indian* Firmer:
A great deal is being said on the Bubjeel
"Why Uiys leave the fann" and writers
are suggesting various reason for this
(as in the article in the Farmer of Feb.
27th). There is" nothing new in such
pleas; they are as familiar and almost as
old as farming itself. "Tis true some of
rur boys are quittiu farm life and seeking
employment elsewhere. Our neighbor
cities are greatly iu need of the broad
minded farmer boys, and we are proud
of the fact that the city man places reat
confidence in these young men.
It is said that farmers work too long
hours, that they are sixteen hour men,
The farmer that works eight hours in
the forenoon and eight hours in the afternoon is the exception and not the rule.
We do not set such men up as patterns
and measure every farmer by their faults.
It is true farmers are sometimes, in the
rush of the season, compelled to work
rather long days, but the up-to-date farmer of today has labor saving machinery,
convenient buildins, good sto-k and
manages his affairs in a systematic
business-like way, which makes farming
a pleasure instead of a disagreeable business. Writers fail to say anything aliout
the many people who are coming from
the cities to the farms. Why are they doing s- Because they enjoy the air of freedom, where they can spend their time in
peace and quietness and have every privilege ono asks for.      V.  F. Weinmann.
Dearborn Co.