CHAPTER XXXI 



THE BUSINESS OF FARMING 



The farmer should be a philosopher. I like to think of him as haying been 

 so thorough and timely and resourceful with his work, that he can sit on the 

 fence at least one day in the week and enjoy the fun of seeing things grow. 



L. H. BAILEY. 



THE attractions of present-day farm life are enticing. In 

 recent years thousands of men who have been engaged in other 

 lines of business have taken up farming either as their chief occu- 

 pation or as an avocation merchants, bankers, professional men, 

 and indeed people from all walks of life. This has been called the 

 back-to-t he-farm movement. Some of the causes of this move- 

 ment have been: (a) The attractions of rural life, (b) The larger 

 profits to be derived from improved farming, (c) The overcrowded 

 conditions in cities, (d) The need for more knowledge in farming. 

 (e) Diversification and specialization in farming. 



The Knowledge Necessary to Manage a Farm. The farm 

 calls for men with knowledge along nearly all lines of science. 

 Engineering to manage the modern machinery and the farm 

 power; chemistry to manage the soil, the feed, the spraying of 

 plants and disinfection of premises; biology to understand the 

 nature of plants and their requirements. The farmer must have 

 a technical knowledge of each of the crops which he is attempting 

 to produce on his farm. He must be a thorough student of soils; 

 understand the best management of fertilizers and other means 

 of soil improvement. He must know the composition of plants in 

 order to produce those needed for his stock. He needs to be a 

 sanitary engineer to protect his family and his stock from diseases 

 and insect enemies. Above all, he must be a good business man, a 

 strict accountant, an alert financier, a man of quick decision, with 

 much natural intuition in all matters of farming, and wide experi- 

 ence in the management of men with whom he deals, both on the 

 farm and off of it. The successful farmer should be physically 

 strong if he is to manage and conduct the details of his business. To 

 succeed in his dealings with other men he must be morally above 

 reproach, and stand as an exemplary citizen among his fellows. 



The prospective farmer should have a natural inclination to 

 live in the country. He should have a natural desire to do things 

 with his hands, and ere long should attain some skill in the manipu- 

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