292 IIepokt of Farmer^' Institutes 



purely executive. No more will it do so on the farm. This is by 

 no means denying the frequently repeated assertion that farmers 

 work too hard with their heels and not enough with their heads; 

 yet, most of us must continue to illustrate the truth of the homely 

 saw, 



" He who by the plow would thrive 

 Himself must either hold or drive." 



It is not necessary* that a man be l)om to the farm. I have 

 known several men who began life as school teachers and after- 

 wards made good as farmers to a rather marked degree. But this 

 at least is most essential — that a man have the farm point of 

 view and find comfort and satisfaction in country things.. 



One of the important factors in successful farm management is 

 the size of the business. Most of us have heard and fully believed 

 the old rh;^Tiie which extols the blessedness of 



"A little farm well tilled, 

 A little barn well filled, 

 A little wife well willed." 



Rigid investigation and farm surveys have demonstrated that, 

 however undebatable the last line the other two are only half 

 true. The most prosperous farmers — the ones who are making 

 the best income - — are those who are f aiining it in a fairly exten- 

 sive way. Of course it must be noted that it is the size of the 

 business rather than the number of acres that interests us. A 

 man with two acres of onions and an equal area of strawberries 

 and celery may fairly be called a bigger farmer than the man 

 with two hundred acres divided between hav, oats, buckwheat and 

 pasture. Just so the man with a quarter of an acre under glass 

 will be doing a rather extensive business. The amount of lalior 

 used beyond the owner himself is perhaps the best single measure 

 of the size of a business. I feel like laying emphasis upon the 

 fact that to learn to employ successfully and profitably the labor 

 of other men is one of the prime requisites of good fann 

 management. 



Most farming should work toward fairly large units, not only 

 of business but of area. Not all of us can become growers of 

 garden truck or small fruits or flowers under glass. The typical 



