Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 July 1878 — The Difference. [ARTICLE]

The Difference.

The country is full of examples showing by contrast the difference in productiveness between farms similar in character, belonging to different mon. Nature originally made the lands of such farms' alike; but the management of their occupants, after the soil was brought under cultivation, has produced widely varied results. Few persons have failed to notice this feature, which is often met with in the rural districts, and it is suggestive of the difference in methods employed in the farming operations of different men. One man generally gets good crops and remunerative returns from his land, and the latter is notlosingin fertility, while the other barely makes a living, and the outlook is more unfavorable from year to year in, the reduced yield of his land.

In almost every neighborhood one man has the reputation of being the best farmer in it. The distinction is one which certainly entitles such a man to consideration, wherever he may reside, and the higher the standard of excellence in agricultural pursuits in his immediate vicinity, the greater is the credit deserved, It will invariably be found that where this standard is the highest, or. in other words, where the greatest success in any rural pursuit is attained —these farmers are a reading, observing, thoughtful body of men, anxious to obtain ail the information in regard to their business that experience and science have shed upon it. They avail themselves of all sources of useful knowledge applicable to their calling, and the results are seen in the position they occupy, which is on a higher plane than that with which less enterprising men are content—men who neglect to acquaint themselves with the experience of others, and the recorded knowledge of those who have preceded them, and who many times spend their strength and time in a fruitless contest with forces in Nature which others have overcome, but of which they are ignorant. Did they consult standard works, or reliable agricultural journals, and attend meetings and associations, where practical questions are discussed, much fruitless effort would be saved, and losses might be turnod into gains. v - Nothing is'plainer'than that the value of a farm depends greatly upon the knowledge and industry of its owner. We have known of instances in which, in the hands of an intelligent man, a poor sandy' farm, in a few years became fruitful and remunerative; wet, marshy lands under skillful management. are often rendered the most productive portions of a farm; on the other hand, who has not seen rich and productive farms so run down by injudicious management as to bo comparatively valueless? The lesson in all this simply is, that the productiveness of farms can be better improved by gaining all the information which it is possible to obtain, and making it available in their management, than by any other means. This is the strongest possible inducement to increased knowledge, and by emulating the example of the best farmers in the country, an improvement in the average greater than has yet taken place, will be seen, and there will not only bo an increase in the profits of fanning, blit an enhanced value to the farms throughout the country- 7-Western Mural.