DOES THE FARM PAY. 191 



while at the same time the}^ supply themselves more abundantl}" 

 and cheaply with the various fodder crops. The grain and grass 

 crop must alternate upon the same soil, and thus an increased pro- 

 duction will result which will save untold thousands of dollai's to 

 the farmers of New England. 



DOES THE FARM PAY. 



By J. M. Deering, Member for York County. 



The question, under discussion at this time is really one that I have 

 been wrestling with for twenty years. And there have been times 

 when I thought I had the problem solved fairly satisfactorily, as far 

 as my own interests were concerned. But as I wandered along I 

 became aware of the fact that farming is a business, like all other 

 occupations and industries, that in order for one to be successful it 

 requires on the part of the farmer that he be careful, industrious, 

 foresighted and economical. 



The changes that have taken place in the agricultural interests of 

 the country within the past few years have brought farmers into a 

 sharper and closer competition with each other, and have revolution- 

 ized some features of the agricultural industries, and to a certain 

 extent have knocked the Maine farmer off his base, and we are con- 

 tinually hearing the statement made that ''farming doesn't pay." 

 We will assume thai farming is a business like all other occupations, 

 and it has its two sides. The one lies in the glow of the warm and 

 bright sunlight of prosperity*. The other is on the shady side buried 

 in the gloom of adversity. Now the bright and prosperous side we 

 are apt to let pass by without much notice or recognition on our part, 

 but the side of adversity is continually calling our attention. The 

 year of 1888 was a hard year for the farmers of Maine. More 

 failures I venture to say occurred than in any one year in the ten pre- 

 ceding. Every farmer present remembers the cold wet spring and 

 the earl}- frosts. Had he known what the season was to have been, 

 he would not have takes the chances of planting his sweet corn in 

 the month of June. So we cannot conscientiously sa^" that the 

 farmers were wholly responsible for the failures made upon this 

 crop, yet we can claim that it is a duty we owe ourselves our families 

 and our country to guard against such failures in every possible 



