No. (i. DEPARTMENT OB^ AGKICULTUKE. 43S 



he inureased luiiiiy fold if all farmers wen; inclined lo write more, 

 and would take more interest in this method of doinj^ business. A 

 proper education along this line will provide for each man writing 

 material that will command respect and attention. Printed letter 

 heads and envelopes are one of the requisites in this direction. 

 Well do I remember how the first farmers' letter head, which in bold 

 letters read, "John Doe, Farmer, Dayton, Ohio," impressed me. Al 

 though it came in a bunch of 50 or lOU of other letters it was care- 

 fuly laid aside and preserved. Inquiry disclosed that this man 

 was one of the most successful, broad-minded men in the country 

 in which he lived. He was proud of his profession, and was not 

 ashamed to let the world know his business. A man with a supply 

 of stationery of this kind at hand is more apt to keep up his cor- 

 respondence than one who hasn't. Let a man go into any kind 

 of manufacturing or merchandising, involving a capital of |500 or 

 |1,000 or more, and the first thing he does is to have his printed 

 letter heads, bill heads, envelopes, etc., etc. It is business to do 

 so, because it is an advertisement and a recommendation combined. 

 Probably 50 per cent, of the business of this country is done by cor- 

 respondence. Why should not the farmer do his share? 



A farmer should not only use his knowledge for the purpose of 

 corespondence. In his daily labors he is working out serious prob- 

 lems that bear on future successes or failures. Careful notes should 

 be made of each. They may save doing the same things over next 

 year. The man with the note-book is the man that avoids many 

 costly mistakes. The matter of book-keeping enters into the suc- 

 cess of farming more than many imagine. Every man with the 

 capacity of earning or spending a dollar ought to be a book-keeper. 

 Fie ought to keep a record of every cent, both going out and coming 

 in. He ought to know the full meaning of "debit" and ''credit" and 

 know what goes under each. He ought to be able to balance his 

 books at the end of the year, and thus know whether he is gaining 

 or losing. His success depends upon this as much as it does on his 

 planning and scheming. This is not all. A man who can express 

 himself well on paper can be a great benefactor to his fellow labor 

 ers. Suppose he experiments on certain lines and discovers some 

 truth that is worth money to him. He is miserly indeed if he is not 

 willing to impart this knowledge to his struggling neighbor. Let 

 him write it out and publish it to the world and thousands may be 

 benefited — and he is not injured. This is education, practical edu- 

 sation, that stands for something. 



Arithmetic, while last, is by no means least in the make-up of the 

 farmers' education. Look out for the man that ''figgers." He's 

 going to get there with both feet. A stub of a lead pencil, properly 

 used, is worth more on the farm than a yoke of oxen. Do you antici 

 28—6—1903 



