54 ILLINOIS DAlRYMElff'S ASSOCIATION. 



think out his work, and then work out his thought. He cannot afford to do 

 simply as his father or some other good man did, simply because he is not 

 somebody else, and, if he succeed at all, must do it in his own way, and for 

 the further reason that the man, or men whom he attempts to copy, did not 

 have all the truth, and at the best were mere experimenters. This entire 

 and foolish absorption, by a farmer or other, in the material details of his 

 business, does seem a very high price to pay for the result obtained, and I 

 marvel to see so many men continue it. It reminds me of an Irishman 



On the contrary, let him reserve some of his income, and a little of his 

 energy, and take and read some of the agricultural journals, see what the 

 most intelligent of his class are doing and thinking, and thereby be roused to 

 thought and experiment himself. One who has felt, or even observed much 

 of mere routine— rut farming— should know that it pays to investigate, to 

 learn something of soils and fertilizers, draining, methods of tillage and har- 

 vesting. In short, to understand the principles involved, and the most 

 approved and intelligent method of applying them. "The artist mixed his 

 paint with brains." 



In the trades and mechanic arts, there is not the imperative demand for 

 real independent, vigorous thought and trial that there is on the farm. A 

 very large part of chose men work under the immediate direction of a fore- 

 man, made so because he does possess intelligence and special skill in his 

 department, and he is largely to do the thinking for his men, so far as their 

 work is concerned. But the farmer is necessarily left alone and must be 

 laborer, foreman, superintendent, and board of directors ; and if he has not 

 the power or the inclination, to think carefully, and plan wisely he fails, 

 although he may not get his discharge as promptly as the stupid mechanic. 

 Successful farming is a difficult business, and like any other intricate work, 

 to do it well one must learn how. Not every unsuccessful mechanic or trades- 

 man can be a successful farmer. It is not yet established that every foggy 

 doctor lacking patients, not every worn out minister, nor superanuated 

 school-master can run a farm. Usually something is run, but it is not al- 

 ways the farm. 



Who of your acquaintance are the really successful farmers? Aren't 

 they the ones who read and think? He who believes otherwise, must be re- 

 lated to the boy John, of whom his mother averred he was a genius. He 

 could build anything. He had made a fiddle out of his own head, and had 

 wood enough left to make another. 



The farmer, as such, needs not only agricultural journals, but books upon 

 stock, fruits, rotation of crops, nature of soils and fertilizers. It is not a 

 matter of sentiment or taste, but of cold dollars, of net income. Such a 

 library, and the ability to use, is as much a necessity to the best results as 

 his plow or his harrow : and if he can do better work than his father, it is 

 because he knows more— m^xes more brains with his work. 



So far we have considered the necessity of reading and thought, in ob- 

 taining better material returns for labor. We have looked at it simply as a 

 business proposition. Let us now think of it in its relation to the farmer as 

 a husband, a father, a citizen, a man. 



We all receive a large amount of instruction and polish from our asso- 



