242 STATE BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



margin of profit, who never haggles or jews in selling or buying, soon secures 

 a reputation for honorable dealing that is above price. Farmers as a class 

 are often accused of sharp practices, but I do not believe that they are sinners 

 above all the Galileans in this regard. They are sometimes tempted to add 

 to their profits by deception, and yield, but certainly not more frequently than 

 men engaged in other callings. Spurious pedigrees and misrepresentations 

 have too often hindered the introduction of good stock, and largely interfered 

 with the legitimate business of reputable breeders, but these are the exception, 

 not the rule. " There is a time and tide in the affairs of men," so of markets. 



To know the opportune time is the height of wisdom. No man can always 

 decide wisely; but much can be learned from a careful study of the markets, 

 as given in our leading agricultural journals, and observing closely the practice 

 of successful farmers about us. When a product brings a fair price it is best 

 to sell, rather than to hold for a larger prospective price. It is usually the 

 case when a man becomes too avaricious in this regard he is likely to take less 

 than more. Most products are retained at some waste. The interest on the 

 money is quite an item in the account, and I think those farmers who sell their 

 crops when prepared for market are, as a rule, the most successful. I have no 

 sympathy with thatgoodishness that relies implicitly om the good will and faith 

 of every man we meet in business relations. The farmer must be on the alert, 

 so wide awake as not to be caught napping by irresponsible and dishonest deal- 

 ers; who are in every community 'ready to entrap the unwary husbandman, 

 and they are not a few. But the farmer who knows what he has, its weight, 

 measure, and value, who is straight forward and honorable, and who is keen 

 enough to perceive any intended fraud in him with whom he deals, and resent 

 it in a gentlemanly way, such a man will usually receive fair treatment, for he 

 proposes to give what is right and to demand what is right in return. 



Sound economy counsels such outlay as will each succeeding year add to the 

 development of our mental resources, through the perusal of valuable period- 

 icals and books ; such outlay as shall add to the graces of our homes by sur- 

 rounding them with trees, fruit, and flowers, filling them with books and health- 

 ful recreations, making them homes in the best sense of that sweet word. But 

 some may say this advice is strangely out of place with my subject. I know 

 some farmers object to outlays for such purposes as I have named, and call it 

 all fancy work, but I tell you they make a grave mistake. The farm that has 

 a home-like, tasteful house, with fruit and shade trees, that cost but little more 

 than the planting, such a farm at a forced sale will bring from 25 to 30 per 

 cent more than the same farm bare of trees, with a box for a house, and with 

 every mark of neglect about it. Labor and money, wisely expended in beau- 

 tifying farm surroundings, invariably enhances the value of our own property 

 and of all that adjoins us. The farmer who pays no attention to his home sur- 

 roundings not only lessens the value of his own estate but the selling price of 

 the lands about him. 



A celebrated painter on being asked what he mixed his colors with to render 

 them so perfect, replied, I mix them with brains. That is the material with 

 which every man should mix his colors, and the farmer as well as other men. 

 He should rear his animals, fertilize and cultivate his fields, select and dis- 

 pose of his stock with brains, using his own, and those of other men as much 

 as possible, remembering that "he who makes agriculture not merely pro- 

 ductive but honorable, who unites knowledge of his calling with the intelli- 

 gence of a citizen, who knows his rights and is determined to defend them, 



