HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
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Home and Farm Magazine Section Editorial Page
Timely, Pertinent Comment Upon Men and Affairs, Following; the Trend of World News; Suggestions of Interest to Readers;
Hints Along Lines of Progressive Farm Thought.
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WISDOM AND ABILITY.
AN ERROR that is very common today
is the confusion of wisdom with abil
ity. A man has gained great knowl
edge of agriculture and stock breeding
through study; this, per se, argues that he
should be a most successful farmer. He may
become such, but it does not follow. A per
son may have learned much but this only
points out what he has to work with, not
what he will do. Learning may prove a bur
den until a man understands the uses of it.
The story is often told of two men, who,
with the same opportunities and the same
aptitude for .study, took up farming as a
vocation, one making a notable success of
it, the other a failure. One has been cited
to show the value of a thorough technical
training; the other has been used to illus
trate the,, failure of an agricultural collega
to turn out a farmer. Either conclusion is
entirely wrong. It was not learning that
made one man a success and that made one
a failure; it was the knowledge of how to
use that education that made the distinction.
This but illustrates the inaccuracy of basing
conclusions on results rather than indi
viduals. But for the personal equation there
was every reason for the two men to meet
with the same degree of success, for they
ware equally well-equipped. The difference
was that one made the right use of his equip
ment, tho other let it prove a burden in
stead of an aid.
Wisdom merely as wisdom is valueless,
both to oneself and one's neighbor. It is
when that which is learned is put into prac
tice for the benefit of oneself or one's neigh
bor that the true reason for study is found.
Too many people can tell others just how
things should be done but lack the actual
ability to do any of the things themselves.
It is this which has given "book-l'arning"
ill repute in some sections. The lack of prac
ticality in graduates has been the principal
criticism the schools and universities of our
nation have had to face. Sometimes it is the
fault of the institution, but too often it is
the person who is crammed with knowledge
he has not fully digested and does'not know
what to do with, that is to blame.
HEALTH PAYS.
WHETHER you raise chickens, horses,
apples or potatoes, you are vitally
interested in methods of prevention
and of fighting the diseases to which they
are susceptible. It is an economic saving to
prevent disease from destroying a portion
of your income, and looking at it in that
light you take what precautions you think
are necessary.
Do you give as much attention to your
own health as you do to that of a favorite
steer!
Irregular meals, long hours and hard
work tend to undermine the health, if pre
cautions are not taken. And, considered
from the viewpoint of dollars and cents, it
k far mora valuable to you that you retain
your own health than to ruin the delicate
machine of the body. If guarding oneself
against ill-health means a certain amount of
neglect of stock or produce, just consider
the neglect which would ensue were you con
lined to bed. Aside from monetary consid
erations, which are, or should be, secondary,
what profit it though you gain a fortune and
lose your well-being t
Health is the most valuable thing on earth
to the human animaL "With it he may enjoy
life in its simplest aspect; without it he
cannot enjoy the most pretentious of pleas
ures. And in the long run, health pays.
THE HORSE AGAIN.
VETERAN HORSE TRADERS are al
most unanimous in declaring that the
past summer was one of the worst
they had ever known for their business.
Prices were low and there were few buyers
even at sales replete with good bargains.
From one of the greatest slumps it has.
known since the inroad of the automobile,
the horse market suddenly revived on the
declaration of war in Europe, with the re
sult that it is in a better condition today
than it has been in a long while.
The horse is yet far from being, a thing of
the past. In spite of the marvelous heavily
armored land cruisers the automobile manu
facturers have given to the military man,
the cavalry is an essential part of an army
in the field. This is probably as much so
today as it ever was, though before the pres
ent conflict had begun many had predicted
that the cavalry would prove of little value
in modern fighting with high power, long
range guns, and aeroplanes to do the scout
duty hitherto assigned to the cavalry. Yet
as it has turned out thus far, the German
cavalry is one of the most effective forces
the Kaiser is using against the allied armies.
The gallant Uhlans have shared much of the
laurels of victory with the mighty siege
guns and marvelously trained infantry. And
the cavalrj corps in the British and French
military machines have rendered excellent
account of themselves.
A horse is a splendid, mark for a bullet,
however, and it is no't to be wondered at
that. the supply is rapidly decreasing in
Europe. For many weeks the fighting has
been principally between the foot soldiers
and artillery, with only occasional sorties by
the cavalry. But each mounted raid costal
dearly in the lives of horses and men.
Already dealers in the United States have
been commissioned by European powers to
purchase horse flesh for use on continental
battlefields. This means an increase in value
that is certain to be taken advantage of by
breeders. There is money in raising good
horses now, more money than there has been
in years, and Northwestern breeders will be
among those who profit by the increased de
mand.. .
THE FARMER'S, OPPORTUNITY.
THE FARMER'S HOUR has come. The
products of his skill, energy, "capital
and labor will be wanted as never be
fore in the history of modern times. In the
Irish Homestead appears the following com
ment, whioh is surely applicable to American
fanners:
"Lord Kitchener, whose viewB as a soldier
one must respect, seems to be of opinion the
struggle will be a long one, and if that is
true, the exhaustion of the agricultural har
vest of Europe, only half gathered in, and
the certainty that until the war is ended
there will be very little further agricultural
production, should ensure a rich reward for
the farmers in these countries who are for
tunate enough to be able to work uninter
ruptedly on their land. When the present
European harvest is consumed, what har
vests will there be to be gathered except
those of the farmers in countries like our
own. We believe the utmost agricultural
production possible to us will pay farmers
and prove profitable even if they find pro
duction more expensive than hitherto. They
must not think that the prices prevailing
when the present harvest has just been gath
ered will be the prices of next year. If the
war continues for such a time as Lord
Kitchener anticipates, we will really have
famine prices all over Europe,"
DEPRESSION TEMPORARY.
THE LAMENTABLE war waging in
Europe, the most widespread, costly
and probably to be the most destruc
tive of human life ever waged on the sur-.
face of the earth, is felt all over the world
in Borne degree. The navies of the belliger
ents are so numerous in their units, so swift
and so powerful as a whole, that the high
seas in every quarter of the globe are ren
dered unsafe for merchant ships. Never be
fore has a war prevailed which was felt so
widely over the earth as that now raging
in Western Europe. ,
It is impossible to see how this should
continue long. The crops of the United
States are the largest ever harvested in
cereals, and the cotton crop is immense.
The belligerent nations will need these com
modities, not only as much as usual but far
more. The exportable wheat crop of Amer
ica is exceedingly large. So is the corn crop,
and also the cotton crop. If these staple
should be permanently tied up it would be
in. a way as disastrous to our people as to
those engaged in the combat If the embargo
on commerce should last many months tha
effects would be felt in almost every house
hold in Ameriea.
It is a matter of astonishment that tha
great English fleet, aided by that of Franca,
has not already driven all the ships of war
of the Teuton nations from tha waters of
the Seven Seas. From London have coma
assurances that the sea between our country
and Great Britain was. open and safe to
ships of commerce, but there is some doubt
in the minds of the shippers, and more in
those of the insurance people as to tha ac
curacy of this statement.
There is, to be sure, another reason for
the temporary stay in the export business of
foodstuffs and cotton, so greatly needed in
Great Britain and other Europeanscountriea,
namely, the lack of money to pay for tha
cargoes. To be sure, there is no very great
scarceness of provisions yet in most parti
of Europe. It is harvest time all through
these countries, and in spite of the absence
of the able-bodied men in the war most of
the crops will be gathered. When the homa
supplies of food are exhausted, as will ba
the case in a couple of months at the most,
and when the spot stock of cotton is all
used up, we may be assured that ways and
means will be devised to get new supplies
into the country.
The prices of these commodities are sura
to be good, and it is difficult to reason out
any wherefore that would indicate any long
continued depression in business in America,
Did you ever notice what a splendid thing
a club is in a social or intellectual way untu
politics enters itf
Even the oldest inhabitants can't remem
ber when last Delavan's comet that celes
tial visitor visible in the northern sky this
month paid its respects to Mother Earth,
It was something like ten thousand years
ago, say the men who claim to know.
Funny how close together Christmas sea
sons are in stringent years.
Eat, drink and be merry, but don't forget
tomorrow's bill.
The Russian Jews may profit by the war.
They are well treated in the Czar's army and
receive prompt promotion. And this treat
ment may survive the war.
Some say the aftermath of war novels
and dramas will rival the horrors of war.
Even the most optimistic have about lost
hope that it will be a brief, decisive war.
Funny how non-committal some candidates
are on the prohibition question. They art
equally prepared to support either a wet or a
dry state, according to the election returns,
Isn't it easy to tell a person what you
think of him over the telephone ! And isn't
it fun to hang up before he can answer back!