704 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



agriculturt.'. The successfui borsomau is a horseiuaii from boyhood aud 

 the shepherd Is boru not made. The mistake which is responsible for a 

 large per cent, of the failures In all professions is this lack of adaptabliitj'. 

 Hundreds of people toil year in and 3ear out and get meager returns for 

 no other reason tliaii that they are trying to do that for which they have 

 no possible qualitications aud which nature never intended them to under- 

 take. If the boy has a mechanic's, doctor or lawyer's head don't compel 

 him to be a farmer. He won't thrive unless perchance he have the rare 

 faculty of adapting himself to his suroundings. 



Hut why is this so? First of all he is at war witli himself hence not 

 in a mental condition to enjoy his work. The man who follows the plow 

 and has liis mind fifty miles away in .some doctor's office or machine shop 

 can't possibly do justice to his work, it's uphill all the time. With the 

 best of men there comes times that test their perseverance and the man 

 who would rather be at something else stands a poor sIioav indt^id. By 

 allowing the most trival obstacles to turn him aside he soon loses both 

 interest and desire, and becomes sour aud fault-finding. He is bound to 

 neglect his business and very soon finds himself seeking for an excuse to 

 justify his negligence while at the same time trying to make people be- 

 lieve he had done all human power could do. If it rains that was the 

 particular day he intended doing this and so. He is full of plans of 

 what he intends doing but that is as far as he ever goes. He talks al>out 

 financial panics but in all probability he had nothing the panic cared to 

 molest. He may be well enough informed but his cyclopedia contains 

 very little that is of any value to his business. A man of extremes is never 

 willing to make sacrifices his more fortunate neighbor makes but always 

 ready to accept that selfsame neighbor's generosity. And if it is hinted 

 to him that he make a little more effort he at once declares this to be a 

 cold, selfish world. He is full of plans that he is never known to execute 

 and can give advice by the hour that is unsafe to follow. 



What a striking contrast does the man present who is adapted to his 

 business. He is a man of opportunities instead of excuses. Never in a 

 hurry to tell what he knows but when he does talk his advice or oi)inion 

 are always in demand. When he makes a failure he takes the largest 

 share of responsibility upon himself. Instead of allowing himself to be 

 driven he drives his work. His farm refiects his character. A man of 

 this kind is an inspiration to a whole community. 



But another consideration. When the season is favorable, prices good 

 and times prosperous any man of reasonable intelligence may be moder- 

 ately successful. But prosperity does not always reign. All branches of 

 business are subject to their "ups" and "downs" and the farmer is no 

 exception. Its the trying times that puts men to the test or, in other 

 words, locates the real man. Then it is that adaptability counts. 



While the one man. Ijy lamenting and complaining allows himself to 

 be cornered by adversity the other is looking ahead and by making a 



