394: Report of Farmers' Institutes 



locatioisr and character of soil 

 A farm is one's home; therefore, a desirable location as to 

 schools, churches, and social centers, as well as to beauty of situa- 

 tion, are matters wholly apart from' production, and are of inesti- 

 mable value, in even a single lifetime. Nearness to markets and 

 good roads are always economic factors. Hill land may be pic- 

 turesque and sometimes productive, but it is hard to work. The 

 character and depth of the subsoil is as important as the surface. 

 It is always desirable to have heavy and light soil on the same 

 farm. This admits of a greater diversity of crops and enables one 

 better to meet extreme conditions of drought or over-abundant 

 rainfall, besides allowing for much greater freedom in the hand- 

 ling of both soil and crop. 



SIZE 



Many surveys have sho^vn that under average conditions a farm 

 of 200 acres is most desirable. The same house and comparatively 

 little more capacity in buildings wnll serve as on a farm of half 

 the size. This is tnie of farm machinery and, to a less extent, of 

 horses. One can diversify much better on a larger fann. ^Vith 

 now and then a notable exception, diversified farming is and has 

 been most proiitable. Labor can be employed by the year. A 

 good farmer should be able to make a profit on his laborers, as 

 ,many tasks can be done much better by two or three men than by 

 one. The farmer himself will not have to labor so hard as when 

 he is obliged to do most of the work himself. Of course, there 

 are some men, wlio, as an old uncle of mine used to sav, "' are only 

 fit to tread in a half-bushel." Such men would be out of place on 

 a large farm. Blessed is the man who has found his capacity. 



I have spent more time in presenting the subject than I had 

 intended, but it is hard to crowd the experience, observation, and 

 philosophy, gained in forty years' contact with the soil and men 

 and things, into a half-hour. To those of you who have the land 

 himger, I can do no better than quote the lines of Kipling, with 

 three w^ords added : 



If you can keep your head when all about you 



Are losing theirs and blaminir it on you; 

 If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you. 



But make allowance for their doubting, too; 

 If you can wait and not be tired by waiting 



Or being lied about — don't deal in lies — 

 Or being hated — don't give way to hating, 



And yet don't look too good nor talk too wise; 



