SEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X. 567 



Then, to the financial side, is a verj^ important one. In order to be a 

 farmer in the full sense of the word, one must own a farm, which is cer- 

 tainly the aim of every young farmer. 



While our fathers homesteaded their tarms, we must pay from eight 

 to twelve thousand dollars far them. There is jio business where we are 

 so dependent on our capital to get more capital with as farming. In fact, 

 it is necessary to have about one thousand dollars to start with, even in a 

 small way. While on the other hand, the man that receives a salary of 

 one thousand dollars can spend it all and still be in a position to earn 

 the same salary, or even more, the next year. 



But then the educational side of the proposition must be considered, 

 for even if a common school education is sufficient now, the changes in a 

 lifetime are too uncertain to depend on it entirely, and the ambitious man 

 may go further than owning one farm. In fact, it is very hard to tell 

 how far he may go. The more ambitious you are to get a start, the more 

 ambitious you should be to get an education. Don't farm for the mere 

 satisfaction of farming, but farm to make money, to mke a success of it, 

 and the satisfaction will go with it. There is getting to be more young 

 men choosing farming as a business of making money, and less of them 

 farming just because their fathers did. Men with an education, after con- 

 sidering their opportunities and chances of doing other things, are decid- 

 ing that they can obtain better results for the same amount of effort on 

 the farm. These are the men who will prove an honor to the calling. 

 There is hardly any calling that has as many hangers-on as farming; for, 

 as the saying is, any one can farm. It is true that a man who is too 

 worthless to make an existence at anything else can make a living farm- 

 ing, but this class of men degrade farming. But at the same time it is 

 certainly encouraging to the young man that is willing and anxious to 

 make a success of it. I am net sure about the merits of a regular college 

 course for a young man that is anxious to succeed as a farmer. The time 

 and expense is so great that it makes a considerable item in his getting 

 the necessary financial start. Then, so long a time away from the farm 

 tends to dull his interest in the farm work. But I do think it would be of 

 practical value to take a short course in some agricultural college. 



The successful farmer nowadays won't have time to find out everything 

 for himself by experience, but must learn in as short a time as possible the 

 quickest and best way to do things that others have learned by experi- 

 ment and experience. This kind of an education is of real value to the 

 farmer. It makes it possible to save and make money, that he otherwise 

 would have had the time to learn by experience; providing that he has 

 the ability to make money enough to put his education into practical 

 effect; and on the other hand, if he hasn't the ability, the time and money 

 that he has spent in getting an education won't save him if spent in get- 

 ting a financial start. 



Just what to do in this world and the best way to do it is a proposition 

 that confronts everyone starting out for themselves. The more anxious 

 they are to succeed, the harder it will be for them to decide; but an edu- 

 cation is a pretty good safeguard. To commence farming without an 

 education is to leave the best farming implement off the farm. 



