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Show The Farmer at School By Thomas Tapper i. AGRKAT many inquiries have been addressed to this paper In regard to the work of the forest ranger. It la the purpose of this scries of articles to :ive as much Information In-formation on that and kindred subjects as Is available. The subject of work in the open Is at present In the air. Many people are anxious to know what can be done to gain independence of fortune, to some extent, by means of. the soil of the earth and lis products. This general Interest has heen awakened In two ways'. I'lrsi. by the state and national governments; Second, hv the farmers and land owners themselves. Men are beginning to understand that the abandoned farm Ih a community disgrace dis-grace They are beginning lo Budy what can be done to bring property up to Its most fruitful condition. In the week of February 1! there was held at Cornell university, at Ithaca. N. Y. a farmers convention. The agricultural department depart-ment of the. university, supported larpe). If not wholly, bv state funds. Is reaching out for the land workers, bringing them Into contact with scientific men, and making a material study of the farm problem In all Its phases. This was the fifth annual meeting at Cornell. The care of soil was discussed new farm Implements shown and demonstrated, demon-strated, and lectures were given on scientific sci-entific farming. The care of 'utile, their feeding a.nd profit was another SUbjei t farmers In New York state realize that to get much out of the soil, much must be put in Not only must fertilizer ferti-lizer be supplied, but an abundance of clear understanding of the soil. Its needs and Its power. Information on these subjects Is not yet common enough Rut such meetings as the one referred to will bring out much Informal Ion of value, It being already a comforting fact that the more publicity a man gives to his own unpractical id'-as the better for the community In which he works. A community com-munity with "tic high! developed farm Is in a measure fortunate, hut with ten or fiftv il Is vast!;, more fortunate. 11 Several nun ha'e written books on how to get a living out Of farming a small acreage. They are helpful and Instructive. Bu the main facts to keep In mind are very Important. Anyone who cares for life in the open will, If he 's in earnest. ge himself a piece, of laud If he In ten da to raise something for .-ale on that la.nd. Ids first care should be the housing .f himself and family Secondly, he should not buy without expert ex-pert advice. The department of agriculture agri-culture of many states will help him in that He should learn exactly what the soli he, proposes to buy is good for and now Its efficiency may be kept up. 1 hen the question f geography is before be-fore him Can he get his crop to a market, mar-ket, and is what he proposes to raise something that he can cultivate with S lair profit to himself? Quite a few peopl,. have gone into the raising of ginseng. And a lot of them have failed, not having first worked out these primary questions. Where Is the best seed to be had:' What kind of soil is required? Whai core should the young plants have? What Is the best way of harvesting the crop? Where Is It to be sold? Many people have had the same lack of fortune with the poultry business. To get a piece of land, to build a hen yard and to buy hens Is the simplest thing In Iho world. But before one can make a hen the source of a dollar or more net profit annually he must be provided with something to put bis trust In besides luck. The abandoned farm Is an everlasting advertisement that there Is no luck In farming, It is a matter of knowledge, and of scientific knowledge a.t. that There Is a large farm near Cleveland, Ohio, that has become famous as a profit-niaker Inquiry Shows that It Is run by a thinker, who Is doing nothing else. Much has been written about Intensive In-tensive farming In Franco, and one of these articles will be devoted to It, but analysis of what the FYenoh farmers do shows that they know the soil, the plants, the weather and the market as familiarly as a mother knows her children. chil-dren. If you have a great ambition to get your living out of the soil and are tempted to begin, count ten hefore acting act-ing anrl then le7i again. There Is much to be learned before you take the deed of the place you want to buy. And these things to be learned may be called method |