540 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Then, brother farmers, let us in all our toiling and getting, get for 

 ourselves, and help our children to get, training and knowledge, whereby 

 comes wisdom and understanding and virtue, for these are the principal 

 things, and these alone make even immortality worth possessing. 



WHAT CONSTITUTES SUCCESS IN FARMING. 



./. H. Sherman, before Sioux County Farmers' Institute. 



It has been said that "nothing succeeds like success.'" 



To discuss a question' is to admit there is a negative to that question. 

 Perhaps no two persons present at this meeting would entirely agree as 

 to what constitutes success in farming. 



To many people, the successful farmer is the one who accumulates 

 the most wealth. While the acquiring of property is one of the essentials 

 of the successful farmer, it is by no means the only one. There are other 

 attributes to success fully as necessary. Integrity of character is of 

 more importance than a bank account. One farmer may be gathering doi 

 lars, while his neighbor is accumulating honor, truth, wisdom and right- 

 eousness. "Goodness of heart is better than fine raiment.'" 



The successful farmer breeds and keeps good horses, cattle, hogs, 

 sheep and poultry, but while doing this he does not forget that he is a 

 citizen, that he has religious, social and political duties which he can 

 not neglect and be considered successful in the community in which he 

 resides. 



By keeping good stock we do not mean that he should buy fancy- 

 bred animals at enormous prices out of ail proportion to their value, nor 

 should he be a crank on religious subjects, or a dude in society. Neither 

 should he think that the pinnacle of success can only be reached by de- 

 voting the greater part of his time to politics and being elected to some 

 petty office and having the word "honorable" written before his nanie. 

 He should be moderate in all things. 



To be successful the farmer must know how to grow good crops, and 

 at the same time retain the fertility of the soil. He must know when to 

 plant the seed and when to harvest the crop. He should make his home 

 as pleasant and beautiful as his means will permit. 



We believe that a man's surroundings has much to do with the for- 

 mation of his character and the character of his children, therefore, he 

 should strive to keep his farm, his buildings and his fences in a neat and 

 tidy condition. Nothing contributes more to the neat appearance of farm 

 buildings than paint judiciously applied. 



The successful farmer should live a just and upright life, honoring 

 God and keeping his commandments. He should teach his children to 

 become good and upright citizens. To do these things successfully he 

 must be a thinker. He should have what all must have who would suc- 

 ceed in any business undertaking, and that is comprehension. 



