782 SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



farm management. These investigations have given rather exact informa- 

 tion relative to the cost of producing various crops, and of feeding and 

 maintaining the different classes of livestock. It also has shown what it 

 costs to produce one pound of butter, one dozen eggs or a hundred-weight 

 of meat in different classes of animals. Likewise, it has shown the cost per 

 hour of horse labor in many farm districts. This data is all available to 

 the student of farm management and to the man who is about to embark 

 in practical farming. It gives to him the means of calculating the probable 

 cost and returns in a particular line of farming on a given scale. 



Farming is so different from most other occupations that its advan- 

 tages and disadvantages as compared with others call for careful consid- 

 eration. 



The Farmer as a Naturalist. — In no other occupation are men brought 

 so intimately in contact with nature and nature's -laws as in the occupation 

 of farming. A knowledge of the laws of plant and animal growth add greatly 

 to the interest in crop and animal production, even though the farmer may 

 not be able to apply this knowledge. The fund of knowledge acquired by 

 many generations of farmers is now being organized on a scientific basis, 

 and new knowledge acquired through investigations is being added. 



The Farmer as a Mechanic. — The rapid development of agricultural 

 machinery and its extensive use in farming has increased rather than 

 diminished the necessity of the mechanical ability of the farmer. This 

 mechanical skill is a necessity, whether the farmer work by himself or 

 whether he directs the labor of others. The farm laborer without mechan- 

 ical skill may do more damage in an hour's time, if charged with operating 

 a complicated machine, than his month's wages would cover. Machines 

 often do work much better than when done by hand, and do it at a reduced 

 cost, but their efficiency calls for proper adjustment and operation. 



The Farmer as a Laborer. — While the introduction of machinery has 

 reduced the necessity somewhat for brute strength and endurance, it has 

 not and never will obviate the necessity of the farmer being able to perform 

 manual labor with skill and dexterity. Farm labor is so diversified and 

 calls for such a variety of motions on the part of the laborer that the highest 

 skill in it is attained only through a number of years of practice. This is 

 most readily acquired during early life, and men who have never been 

 accustomed to farm work seldom find it advantageous to make the change 

 after middle life. The same rule applies to men who have always lived on 

 farms and who contemplate changing to some other form of business as 

 conducted in cities. 



The Farmer as a Business Man. — A little more than half a century 

 ago farms were largely self-supporting. Farming then was not capitalized. 

 It was diversified and most farmers produced nearly everything required 

 for their livelihood. The wool produced on the farm was carded, spun 

 and made into cloth on the farm, and the cloth in turn was made into 

 garments, either by the housewife or the neighborhood tailor, who went 



