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About St. Helens mist. (St. Helens, Or.) 1913-1933 | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1915)
HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION 14 The Farmer in UY JACOB M'KINNKY MRIUIIIX. FARMING Is the big business of the futuro! It has more possibilities thnn any and all other businesses com bined. No line of human endeavor has been so belittled and lied about as that of the farmer. He has been called a niosnbaeU, a hayseed and a sod-buster, terms that have silenced tho longings of ninny a young heart and driven young, aspiring men from the tilling of the soil to the city office and the city swirling, sweating en deavor, breaking lives on the altar of public opinion when, had there been no sneers at the fanner's culling, thousands of third rate lawyers, mer chants and office men. with a bare subsistence for their endeavor, would be gentlemen of tho soil, rich In good health and dollars wrung rrom a win ing and smiling earth. As a boy, working In my father's sawmill, afterward In the backwoods store, waiting on jobbers, mlllmen and drivers, with now and then a scattering of "inossbacks': from the rear townships, I bad this intense loathing for the farmor and his call Ing instilled Into my goal till I Imag ined the very nnmo farmer carried with It a belittling significance. Many of the farmers In the new- country were mere shack hogs, llv ing from band to mouth, eating their Johnnycakc, fat pork and "tators" with a sodden disregard for the niceties of life. I had no fellow feel Ing for the breed. In fact I shrank from them with a sort of contemptu ous loathing hardly to be accounted for. Lumbermen and Farmers. Tho mlllmen, loggers and drivers were princes In comparison with the backwoods sand-pipers. I learned to despise them even when waiting on their varied wants across tho counter. Of all tho customers we had to do with these men on the new lands back from the river were the least desired. They were always and for ever asking for tick. "Charge It. boy till wo sell our craps," was the fre quent remark after the man had got through with his day's trading. Often we did "charge it" to our sorrow. Nine out of 10 of these fel lows were shiftless, good-for-nothings who had escaped from the older re gions south and east, hoping to bet ter their fortunes In the uew region adjoining the Great Lakes. Now and then, one there was who came to this western wilderness Im bued with a Bplrlt of determination to make for himself a home; perhaps a comfortable fortune In the wilder ness. Such as these I could count on the fingers of one hand. I call to mind three men who were honest In their dealings, though "mcissbacks." They won out magnificently. One be came In after years a judge on the bench, another a member of the State Legislature, the third content ing himself with owning a dozen farms, with a bank account that would shame even that of the big lumbermen. For many years the occupation of tilling the soil was considered rather beneath the dignity of a gentleman. Nobody with a thimbleful of brains would be caught behind a plow, turn ing tho soli for future cropping. Fre quently the remark, "What became of Dan Weston (name not particu lar), who was driving things here on the river 10 years ago?" "What, him! Well, what do you think, he's gone to farming, actually gone to seed up on the Island!" "Poor fellow; I thought he knew more'n that!" Better have been dead In estima tion of the majority, and I felt the same way toward the "poor fellow" who was working out his independ ence next to Nature's bosom. Need of Funning HusincN. A good many of the early loggers made their pile, took the money cut out of Michigan pine, removed to Chi cago and became men of Importance In that new and bustling city by the lake. Not one out of 10 who moss- backed It In the back townships ever made good. And there were they scratching their bare living out of a virgin soil the richness of which ought of have made at least thou sandalres out of the owners. The slackness of those early farm ers acted as a deterrent for better men, who, bad they put their talentB Into tho farm work, might have re deemed themselves and become men of wealth and standing. Kvery man to his occupation. Our great men In the scientific, financial and profes sional world have made their mark by being on the Job all the time. There is a lack of Napoleons, Wel Years to Come lingtons and Kockefellors In the ranks of the farming community, but It Is not because of any Inherent weakness In the boII method of rising to eminence. 1'nmilng In America Is In Its Infancy. Tho great, grand men who shall succeed ut the plow have not yet come to the front In sufficient numbers to attract the world's atteu Hon, but this Is not to be always so. The tlmo will surely como when from the fields of agriculture, horti culture, too. If you please, Bluce I nm speaking of the soli as a maker of great fortunes the creator of the Ideal life, there will spring meu o eminence and power as great as any this free lnnd of ours has ever pro duced. Millions of acres of smiling, not unfruitful, soil lies fallow plead ing from every grassblnde and bush Tor the hand of the husbnndmaii to como and make good with plow and harrow and spade. Ho Is coming It cannot be long beworo the great empire of unturned sod fields of tne West shall become teeming gardens of living realities. l'oKsllillltii-n hi Funning. Tho possibilities of soil culture are so amazing as to cause one who un derstands to lift his hands In won der that the opportunities have re mained so long unattached. Five acres are enough to care for a family of five. Five acres! No farm at all, you exclaim. Let mo tell you what I have done on three acres of the despised sand of Western Michi gan. I began as an Invulld from the heated office of the town, came as an amateur at the game of land culture. I posted myself In book lore on the subject. Then I got down to business on three acres of soil left untenanted since the cutting of the pine 20 years before. There were three of us In the fam ily, I the only worker for the field. I will not go Into particulars only to state that my Inclination led me Into the fruit field. Strawberries first, then the bush fruits, followed by peaches, grapes and apples. Such berries! They were the nstoulshment of my neighbors. No body had seen anything like the lus cious, meaty strawberries that grew on my first llttlo patch. I hnd to buck low prices all along the line. Tho first year was a discouraging one. Kven the second wag not much better. We managed to live, how ever. My health Improved and I be gan to work and study, study and work In earnest. From a trembling. halting, hesitating amateur fruit grower, I came In five years Into the full sunlight of a successful horticul turist. I had my land paid for, a good team, plenty of tools, a nice cottage home, small fruit of all kinds grow ing better and better ench year, with a half acre of the finest Worden grnpes that ever purpled In an Octo ber hnze. My grapes were the wonder of the town and county nnd they grew on the sand. Around about some of the richest farms In the state were lo cated. Some of the fanners had tried to raise grapes, but one and all mndo a failure of It. Why? Wrong con ception of the requirements of tho vine, for one thing: no ideal love for the work. I.ovc Your Work. Love! That Is the word thut com passes all things that are good. lie In love with your work, man and woman. If you would succeed. The fruitgrower must love every plant and tree on his place If ho would make a success of his operations, I was in love with mine. I went diillv and talked with the berries, talked affcrtionutely with my Klberta pcacnes as tney yellowed In tho Au tumnal sunshine, walked among the raspberries, tho luscious blackberries, giving them friendly good mornings. Ami me ninis: I never had a mm on the place; I never killed a bird. not. even the despised Knellsh snar- row, ana tnere were hosts of these fighting my battles against destruc tive Insects, aiding me In evprv pos sible way known to feathered friends or tne Husbandman. I nm a friend of the birds. Kven the hated crow was to tne a friend. One field of potatoes, nn ncre, was completely cleared of bugs by my crow friends. The first year or two the small birds insisted on tnking a lot of my red raspberries. I circumvented tho little chaps by a device of my own In vention which frightened them away, without harming a feather on any of them. My small fruit gained for mo a reputation that spread the country roundabout. I soon made a name for myself as "the Rtrawberry man." Lit tle children waited beside the garden gate for the wagon of tho berry man. rtB prllieltet, SSSfS SYRUP is not the most used article of diet, but its purity and food value should have the most careful consideration of the discrimin ating housewife. Tea Garden Syrup measures up to the highest standards of purity, food value, flavor and economy. Tea Gar den is packed in full-measure cans is healthful and nutritious. T OarfJan It a ayrun or varlad utll-Itj-uaa It for avnry cuokluif purpoaa and It will Rlva uniform aatlarauion Wa will (Iva 7S for the bt ravlim Cur Its ui and lit fur the aatouil baot. For Good Molttsci Get PACIFIC COAST SYRUP CO. PORTLAND. OREGON I had no trouble In selling all I could raise. My bank account grew and I was happy In the work thut was most pleasing to me. There can bo no disguising tho fact that the great men and women of tho future will be tillers of tho soil. 1 am as sure of It as I am sure that tho sun will rise tomorrow morning. it Is in tho air. It breathes from every hilltop, glitter fron every plain. Young men: ambitious boy or girl look not to tho crowded marts of the city for your future Inspiration: turn rnthor to Nature nnd to Nature's gods. Dig In the soil, build your fu turo greatness fum tho snnd hills and dales now smiling uselessly un der cover of wild roots and grasses. The Farming Business. C'itlex lllw from KuIiin. London Chronlclo: When the wur Is over wo may bo sure that most of tho towns and rltlei) destroyed by tho Germans will, Ilka tho I'hoeiilx, rlso from their ashes. Tho teaching of history is that a city la hard to kill. For Instanro, London has been decimated five times by plagues. 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