330 Reading-Course for Farmers. 



meet or to get a little ahead. Many times we have felt with a sting of 

 pain and discontent the necessity of our working hard in the sweltering 

 heat of that summer while others loitered under cool inviting shade. But 

 the winter is our time of thoughtful rest, if we will only take it. 



Now that the harvesting is done, naturally revolving in our mind's 

 eye the farm operations of the season past, we see mistakes here and 

 defects there ; but we are only strengthened by those mistakes. We look 

 to the future hopefully, that we may improve on the past work. With 

 many of us the winter, as well as the summer, presents problems of farm 

 management, challenging our best efforts again. Let us face the situation 

 directly and practically as each of us finds it. We will first weigh the 

 farm problems presented by the summer and the winter strictly on their 

 merits from a business point of view ; and then we will consider the social 

 life of our community in which we and our children are to work. 



The silo has just been filled. The apples have just been picked, and 

 the potatoes have just been dug. Have we grov/n and harvested those 

 plants in the way that gave us the largest cash returns? 



Good shelter for our stock must be provided for the winter. Proper 

 food in propor proportions must be fed. Orchards must be looked after. 

 Poultry will command more and more of our time. Accumulating man- 

 ures must be economically saved. Do we know how to shelter and feed 

 that stock, how to care for that orchard, how to feed that poultry, how to 

 handle that manure in order to realize the greatest net returns on our time 

 and our money invested? Practical books of a known value are available. 

 Practical men of thorough experience are at hand. They may be right 

 near us; our neighbors perhaps. It remains for us to reach those books 

 and those men. 



The Reading-Course for Farmers published at Cornell under state 

 appropriation serves as a medium through which farmers, investigators 

 and practical writers interchange thoughts and experiences. The old 

 readers understand this. You, new readers, will understand it if you 

 keep in touch with the work. But valuable as this practical knowledge 

 will be, we feel that a little social intercourse, a little sympathetic ex- 

 change of ideas, in connection with our practical study, will make us 

 better men. Especially do the young men feel the need of this. 



No better way to express and to develop this feeling in a tangible 

 way can be found than in meeting with one another in small numbers, 

 occasionally, to learn to know our problems and ourselves. You do not 

 need many in your party. Six to twelve interested members will be 

 sufficient. Let some one send the names of those interested to the bureau 

 for the bulletins desired on the preferred subject. Each one will care- 

 fully read over the first half of the bulletin. This will probably give 



