Progressive Agriculture 23 



EVERY FARMER AN INVESTIGATOR 



It must be remembered, however, that most of 

 this is still in the experimental stage. Every 

 farmer must be an experimentor in his efforts to 

 learn, but he must have some fundamental prin- 

 ciples upon which to base his experiments or he 

 is quite sure to go wrong either in his work or in 

 his conclusions as to the why of his results. He 

 must study and investigate, if he fails, try to 

 find out why he failed. Don't give up. Every 

 little helps. A great deal more in the future is to 

 come right from the farms as the result of in- 

 telligence, tillage and observation by good think- 

 ing, persistent farmers, than any other way, 

 because such individual farmers go at the experi- 

 ments in a practical way and his observing neigh- 

 bors, hungry for information, take note and 

 appreciate a neighbor's advice. 



It is said that before Edison produced the first 

 successful incandescent light, he had used in his 

 experiments over three thousand elements or 

 combinations of elements. Why did he persist in 

 so many trials, in face of repeated failures? He 

 believed it could be done, and he did it. So, too, 

 can the farmers all solve the question of surer 

 and better crops at a lower cost. The pessimist 

 who watched Edison finally saw a bright light, 

 later he saw a still brighter one, and then a much 

 brighter one, for not only has the first Edison 

 light been many times Improved and made better, 

 but the cost of the light and globes have steadily 

 decreased through other ingenious and advanced 



