268 THE BUSINESS OF FARMING 



life's history of the author and those men and 

 women. 



There was a time in the author's life when he 

 too stood on the old farm porch, bid mother an 

 affectionate adieu, and with her blessing and ad- 

 monition set his face towards the city and entered 

 its life, and these men and women standing about 

 him had at some time in their lives done the same 

 thing. 



But why did the author break the home ties of the 

 old farm home? He had caught the vision of a 

 more beautiful home with better and more pleas- 

 ing surroundings than he saw upon the farm, 

 which he wished to possess for his manhood's 

 home. 



Let us for a while review conditions that obtained 

 upon the farm during the early life of the author, 

 and which have obtained in the lives of thousands 

 of others, and see if we can not find the solution 

 of some of the most serious problems of to-day 

 that beset the business of farming. 



Upon the farm little attention was paid to home 

 building. The country was new, farm machinery 

 was crude and undeveloped, muscle and brawn 

 were required to clear, ditch, cultivate and im- 

 prove the land. Public improvements were a hard 

 drain upon the farmer's finances. Price of farm 

 produce was low, and the prices of the merchandise 

 the farmer required was high. Conditions were 

 such that it required long hours of hard work to 

 make ends meet. It was the age of brawn in every 

 business as the age of improved machinery had 

 not been born, so country and city developed 



