244 rennie's agriculture. 



by each crop. Any crop for which the returns do 

 not exceed the cost of production should be dis- 

 continued if the cause of loss cannot be removed, 

 and no animal should be kept unless it gives a profit 

 over the cost of food and labor necessary for its 

 maintenance. 



In short, a farmer, to attain the highest measure 

 of success, must know how to produce the largest 

 quantity of grain or other crops per acre, how to 

 turn this to best account in the finished product of 

 the farm, and how to market that product to the 

 best advantage. 



But if the qualifications demanded are of a high 

 order, the rewards are much more certain than in 

 other lines. Farming is a more interesting, health- 

 ful and independent calling than any other. While 

 the percentage of failures in business life is large, the 

 percentage of failure in agriculture is small. And 

 the ideal of a happy home alike chosen by poet and 

 artist is almost invariably found amid the green 

 fields and wooded slopes of the open country. 



