144 POTATO CULTUKE. 



money, for he can not put in or care for his crop as cheaply, 

 nor can he market it in as nice shape. Again, the specialist 

 can not only have the advantage of all the best tools, but, 

 what is still more important, he can use them just when 

 they ought to be used, as that is his business, and there is 

 nothing else to interfere. With a great variety of crops to 

 care for, and perhaps a dairy besides, this is often quite im- 

 possible. There are times, in this locality, when a single 

 day's work with the whole farm force, each man with a 

 cultivator and horse, just exactly at the right time, would 

 be of very great advantage to the crop possibly almost the 

 making of it. The specialist can put in that day's work. 

 Also the large grower has a chance to concentrate most of 

 his energies and study in one direction, rather than scatter 

 them thinly in many directions. Instead of being a jack at 

 all trades, and particularly good at none, he can have a 

 chance to excel in one direction. If he will improve that 

 chance, and push his specialty to the utmost, he will find 

 that it not only pays in dollars and cents, and develops his 

 thinking faculties, and makes more of a man of him, but he 

 will get rid of a great deal ot the worry, as well as loss, of 

 having too many irons in the fire. Money is not the only 

 thing to live for. But I do not advise a narrow specialty, or 

 any particular plan. This chapter is written with the hope 

 that it will set the reader to thinking and studying, not to 

 give him any particular directions. Each farmer must ar- 

 range to suit his own local circumstances. On my farm, 

 only wheat and potatoes are now raised to sell. We buy 

 every thing we want, except potatoes, milk, a little garden 

 stuff, and the berries from our fruit-garden. We do not fuss 

 to make even our own butter, but use on berries the cream 

 from our one cow, and otherwise. Of course, we raise our 

 own hay for the horses and family cow ; but we do not raise 

 the oats for the driving-horses. There isn't a pig, a chicken, 

 a calf, colt, nor sheep on our place ; so you see I practice 

 what I preach or, rather, I am preaching what I have prac- 



