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HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION
Home and Farm Magazine Section Editorial Page
Suggestions From Our Associate Editors, Allowing for an Interchange of Views, Written by Men of Experience on Topics With
Which They Are Fully Acquainted—Hints Along Lines of Progressive Farm Thought.
WHO WOULD FIGHT THE WAS?
HE air is full of war and ru
mors of war.
You hear jingoes on every
corner.
“ What is a jingo, father! asked
the small boy.
“ A jingo, my son,” answered
that wise man, “ is a man who de
votes his time to thinking up op
portunities for other people to go
out and be shot a t.”
We wonder if the fellows who
are shouting the loudest for war in
saloons and cigar stores would
really
to the front.
We imagine the farmer boys and
the high school boys of the cities
would have to shoulder their mus
kets and help fight the battles, as
they did in the days of '61.
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SUCCESSFUL FARMERS.
EAKLY all highly successful
farms are unique in their man
agement.
In the absence of a science of
farm management they represent
systems wrought out by men of
unusual energy and intelligence,
who have gone resolutely about dis
covering and utilizing the full pos
sibilities of their farms.
These men have been governed
largely by chance in the locations
chosen, or, in some instances, by
narental desires; and, to some ex
tent, in the type of farming fol
lowed.
Hence It is they are distributed
here and there over nearly the en
tire country and represent every
type of farming that can be made
highly profitable.
From such men, who utilize the
full possibilities of their land with
a given system of farming, we are
learning the facts which, when
properly classified, will constitute
the science of farm management.
Although such farms are widely
distributed they are seldom plenti
ful in any section.
Few men have comprehended the
system of farming fully and de
veloped it to its full possibilities.
Cropping systems are rarely
planned with a view to keeping the
land busy and to meeting the ex
act requirements for highest suc
cess in the system followed.
But when problems of this kind
have been met successfully on a
given farm, that farm becomes an
object lesson of inestimable value
to every farmer.
The lesson part is not so much
how to work to a given system as it
is how to meet the problems that
present themselves.
Such farms demonstrate the great
value of intelligent management as
compared with hard work applied
unintelligently.
Their achievement, when the
cause of it is understood, lends en
couragement to other intelligent
men.
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WATCHFUL WAITING.
INCOLN STEWART was a boy
i in Wisconsin when his father
went away to the war of ’61.
“ Every child of my generation
breathed in a mingled air of ro
mance and sorrow,” he writes in
Colliers. “ AU through those first
years of my life the words Lin
coln, Grant, Sheridan and Sherman
rang in my ears like solemn bells
timing a majestic march. All let
ters, papers and messages rpelled
battle and death. What the war
meant to my mother I shall never
fully know. Her side of those long
months of waiting was never de
lineated, for she was naturally very
reticent and markedly shy of emo
tional expression; but piece by piece
in later years I drew from her an
eUiptical tale of her long vigil—
some faint hint of the anguish of
her suspense after each great
battle.”
Yes, this is another k h .i of
watchful waiting. Lincoln Stew
art’s father fortunately came back.
Think of the thousands who
didn’t I
And of tho anguish of the women
left behind.
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HOW TO SELL THEM.
HE United States Reclamation
Service has a number of irri
gated farms for sale.
Why not advertise them in the
newspapers!
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GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.
NEW YORK woman draws ali
mony of $20,000 a year. No
doubt her chief worry is that
her ex-husband might get paralysis
of the pen.
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IT S NO BED OF ROSES.
|T NO LONGER is the vogue for
I the country editor to come
breakfastlcss to work, a pro
fane prayer on his lips that a sale
bill may turn up during the day,
thus helping to pay for lunch and \
dinner,” says a writer in Colliers.
“ It no longer is the custom for
the editor to feed on contributions
brought by the folks of the country
side, as a modest exchange for the
newspaper he gives them. Introduc
tion of the perfecting press, the
linotype and the gas engine in the
country newspaper offices has taken
from the business ’ he haphazard
methods that marked its early day.
The veteran ‘print,’ who wandered
from town to town, establishing
newspapers that flourished a few
short weeks, has written ‘ thirty. ’
His class is extinct.
“ Among the ‘ home folks’ the
editor is not considered ‘poverty-
stricken.’ His automobile takes him
to and from work. His income is
rated equal to that of other pro
fessional men. A change in admin
istrations hes given him opportunity
to refuse postoffice appointments
and embassies that would take him
from his lucrative field.
“ From his pedestal of affluence
it is quite natural that the country
editor should find much that is ob
jectionable in his own pet adjective,
‘poverty.’ Also it is natural that
he should seek, through his own
channels of publicity to let the pub
lic know that: ‘We (the editor and
his wife) drove our machine to the
county seat Tuesday and later at
tended the opera.” '
Everyone likes to be considered
prosperous and to be well spoken of.
The article in Colliers is appreci
ated. But please don’t get the idea
that the newspaper business is a
rose-sprinkled money-paved path.
I t ’s a hard game rustling ads, sub
scriptions, etc., and meeting bills.
It takes nerve, energy and hard
work.
Getting paid for accounts due
sometimes requires a special train
ing in hypnotism.
No, we editors may no longer ap
pear “ poverty stricken ” (we often
feel that way), but we refuse to ait
idly by and be hoisted onto a
“ pedestal of affluence. ”
We are not yet in the plutocrat
class.
We may attend the opera. But
we go in on a pass.
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POWER DELIVERY.
'ARMERS on all hands are dis
cussing the question of motor
trucks.
Do they pay!
Yes and no.
The motor truck will prove profit
able to the farmer just so long as
he can keep it running.
By that we mean that if a farmer
has enough hauling to keep a truck
trundling along six or eight hours
a day, he will have his investment
more than repaid in saved cost
But there is another angle to this
truck question.
One farmer alone may not have
enough hauling to keep a truck
busy.
We are not all like the big grain
F
farmers of Eastern Oregon and
Washington who can use power six
months in every year.
So, why not co-operate!
Two, three or four farmers—even
half a dozen—might organize a
little company purely to haul for
themselves.
They would be enabled to pur
chase a good truck, engage an ex
perienced man and be money ahead.
It would not need very much
bookkeeping to divide up the cost
every month.
But before one farmer or a num
ber of farmers decide on a truck,
there are a number of important
points to be decided. Some of these
are:
What type of car for your par
ticular needs—gas or electric!
What horsepower!
How many pounds capacity shall
it have!
Should several small cars be used
or one big one!
Should it be equipped with pneu
matic or solid tires!
Can an inexperienced man be
given charge of the running and
repair work!
Should the car always be loaded
to capacity!
Etc., etc., etc.
Today there are motor trucks of
every conceivable size and design,
therefore, it is the problem of the
possible purchasers to choose care
fully the kind of a car best fitted to
serve their purpose with the great
est efficiency.
A very good rule to stiek to very
closely is to have the car filled very
nearly to capacity on every trip
that is made.
A motor truck should not be
chosen having in mind a maximum
or minimum load, but an average
load.
To get the greatest efficiency out
of a commercial vehicle, keep it
loaded and moving the largest pos
sible number of hours during the
working day.
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A DIPLOMAT
UR neighbor, J im ’s boy Sam, is
never at a loss for words.
The other night he was sit
ting in the front room on the sofa,
and this is what we heard little
sixteen year old 8ally talking to
Sam:
“ Which do you like the best,
Sam,” inquired the little minx,
“ black eyes or b lu e!”
“ Why, really,” replied Sam slow
ly, “ the light is so dim here, I
Can’t say just now.”
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FEEDING THE BRUTE!
HERE’S just one thing to re
member, my dear, ’ ’ said one
of the old-time mothers to
her eldest daughter the morning of
her marriage.
“ There’s just one thing to re
member if you want to be happy.
“ FEED THE BRUTE.”
This seems cynical. It isn ’t.
It is based on cold, hard facts and
solid reasoning.
Man is a work machine.
He needs food properly cooked
and properly served.
Otherwise the work machine runs
down.
A run-down man is a cross, can
tankerous creature.
Cross, cantankerous men are a
great factor in the divorce figures
of today.
But there is another side to the
story: ’
Kansas Agricultural College has
been compiling a number of inter
esting figures about its women stu
dents.
The college has found that domes
tic science makes against divorce.
Eight hundred and twenty-nine
girls have graduated in 20 years and
all have taken the ecurse in
domestic science.
Four hundred and twenty-seven
have married and only four have
been divorced.
O
T
That is, instead of one in 12, less
than one in 100.
But there’s more to the story:
Of the four divorced, two have
remarried their i »mer husbands.
So the percentage drops from one
in 12 to one in 200.
Which shows that “ feeding the
brute” pays in home happiness—if
you know how to do it.
And domestic science courses
show the way.
In many parts of the country
domestic science courses now are
included in public school work.
The course included cooking,
dressmaking and millinery.
And it knocks a hole in the high
cost of living bogie, for, as Tom
Lawson points out, the high cost of
living is usually the cost of high
living.
A woman is more likely to be in
terested in running her home if she
knows how to run it.
All of us are interested in doing
those things we do well.
Practical usefulness makes our
selves and others happy.
Education ought not to be based
on the needs of a small class. It
should meet the fundamental needs
of everybody.
The girl who can take care of
herself and her whole family has a
feeling of self-respect that makes
for mental and physical health and
therefore for happiness.
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A PREVENTABLE LOSS.
HE ENORMOUS sum of $150,-
000,000 was the aggregate loss
sustained by tho United 8tatss in
meat animals as the result of dis
ease and exposure in 1913, accord
ing to estimates announced by the
Department of Agriculture.
The figures indicate a total loss
of 7,005,000 hogs, valued at $73,-
000, This represents more than 1,-
000,000,000 pounds of meat de
stroyed mostly by cholera.
“ If there had been no such
loss,” it is stated, “ probably in
creasing scarcity of meat would
have been largely prevented.”
The hog cholera epidemic of 1913
caused an estimated loss of about
$65,000,000.
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THE FARMER A8 MECHANIC.
ACH year the profession of
farming—for it is a profession
—becomes more difficult.
The farmer needs science and he
needs mechanics.
The farmer is becoming consid
erable of a mechanic.
Ono only needs to glance at the
power equipment on even the
smallest farm to recognize this.
Some farmers complain that they
have been compelled to purchase
much labor saving machinery.
On the other hand, had it not
been for this machinery, many of
them would have had to go out of
business.
The latest thing is steam-cured
hay, which makes the farmer inde
pendent of cold or rainy weather in
haying time.
Some of the details will be found
on the Science Page in this issue.
The green grass is hauled to the
hay factory, unloaded at one end
of the plant and, 30 minutes later,
emerges at the other end perfectly
cured, ready for the barn or bale
press.
In case of rain, a canvas cover
insures arrival at the barn without
wetting.
Frequent showers make good
grass.
But much of this is ruined in the
process of sun-drying.
Old Sol is no respecter of persons.
The steam drier is independent of
weather, and moreover turns out a
better product, and can work
nights.
Maud Muller might get a job
checking the weights, but there
isn ’t much romance about watch
ing the steam gauge and a lot of
eonveyor belts.
E