PART III 

 FARM BUSINESS AND LIFE 



CHAPTER XIV 



THE BUSINESS OF FARMING 



The fanner a business man. Farming must be considered 

 not only as a productive industry, but as a business and a 

 mode of life. In the early days of farm life the farmer 

 raised about everything his family needed. The village 

 store supplied his extra needs, and a few dollars a year 

 sufficed to meet all expenses. With the improved methods 

 of agriculture now coming thick and fast, the farmer needs 

 more money. He must produce more, buy more, and sell 

 more. All these changes demand that the successful farmer 

 be a business man. He must organize the farm, as do busi- 

 ness men of other large lines, into a successful business 

 enterprise. The average land owner of the Middle West 

 has as large an investment as the city business man. Suc- 

 cessful business men are not easily made. There seems to 

 be a certain native business sense born with some men, 

 yet a business training in the principles and methods of 

 good business helps to make the farmer a better manager, 

 as much so as such training contributes to success in other 

 business careers. Common sense business ability combined 



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