242 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



CHANGED CONDITIONS IN RECENT YEARS. 



In some respects it is more difficult at the present time to break 

 away from city employment and establish oneself on the land than 

 it was a generation ago. At that time there was plenty of land to be 

 homesteaded. Especially in the Middle West, where most of this 

 land was available, the soil was rich and its fertility needed no at- 

 tention. It did not take long for the beginner to learn how to grow 

 crops successfully on this rich virgin soil and to make farming dis- 

 tinctly profitable. When good land w r as thus available for the taking, 

 thousands of farm homes were successfully established by men having 

 little previous knowledge of the business. At the present time there 

 is practically no desirable land left for homesteads. The beginner 

 must buy land usually at a considerable expense. Not only that, but 

 in most parts of the country the land has been farmed so long with- 

 out attention to fertility that it will no longer produce crops by the 

 slipshod methods formerly in vogue. Experience and a knowledge of 

 principles are therefore much more necessary at the present time than 

 was the case a generation ago. In fact, many experienced farmers 

 to-day are not making a good living for the simple reason- that they 

 do not possess the knowledge of the principles involved in their busi- 

 ness, and unfortunately only too often the farmer is not aware of his 

 lack of knowledge. The city man has the advantage that he realizes 

 his ignorance and is willing to learn. 



On the other hand, agricultural science has developed wonderfully 

 in the last quarter of a century, and the literature of the subject is 

 correspondingly more abundant and more reliable. Hence, the be- 

 ginner may receive more help from others than was the case a gen- 

 eration ago. The sources of information on which the farmer may 

 draw will be referred to more specifically later in this article. 



CAPITAL REQUIRED. 



No definite amount of capital can be stated as a sufficient sum on 

 which to begin farming any more than it can be done in the mer- 

 cantile business. A great deal depends on the price of land and the 

 magnitude of the undertaking. Just as the merchant may begin with 

 a modest stall and a few dollars' worth of goods, so the farmer may 

 begin with 1 acre of land or less, on which he may raise part of the 

 food for his family, eking out a living by working part of the year for 

 someone else, or he might buy a large farm and equip it fully. It 

 may be said, however, and with some assurance, that the man with- 

 out farm experience and without a knowledge of the principles in- 

 volved in farming who starts the business on an elaborate scale is 

 foredoomed to failure unless he is so fortunate as to command the 

 services of a trained manager. Furthermore, it is next to impossible 



