If the industrial activities of the world be divided into farming, mining, manufacturing, trade and transportation, it will be noted at once that farming is the only one which deals with living things. In fact, the definition of agriculture, in its broadest sense, is the economic production of living things. The farmer is thus brought face to face with some of the most difficult and intricate problems with which the human race has to grapple. It is this fact that makes farming, in some ways, the most uncertain as well as the most fascinating occupation known to man. The fact that the farmer is dealing with living things puts his occupation in a class by itself for a number of reasons, one of which is germane to the subject of this chapter.
In most occupations a larger part of the knowledge necessary to success can be acquired by doing than is the case in farming. Locomotive engineers are trained for their responsible duty while firing the engine. The brakeman becomes a conductor by assisting the latter. A bank cashier is usually a promoted bank clerk. Each obtained the knowledge essential to success largely by oft-repeated performance.
While, of course, there is much the farmer can learn only by experience, there are many things essential to his success that the mere performance of the necessary farm operations will not teach him. Spreading manure will never teach him that stable manure should be supplemented with phosphoric acid in order to get the best results. The growing of clover will not teach him that mineral fertilizer may keep up the fertility of the soil where clover grows luxuriantly and occurs in the rotation at definite intervals. Feeding cattle will not teach him that a good ration for milch cows is one containing one pound of digestible protein to seven pounds of digestible carbohydrates, provided it is palatable and, at least, two-thirds of the total ration is digestible. Nor will the feeding of such a ration teach the farmer how to calculate the most economical ration from feeding stuffs at current prices. The cause of potato blight and the methods of combating it cannot be learned from the operation of planting and cultivating potatoes.
These are only a few illustrations—they might be multiplied indefinitely—to show that farming is peculiar in that performance of the daily duties does not give the knowledge essential to success in the same measure that it does in such occupations as banking, trade and transportation. Yet, curiously enough, while no man would undertake to run a locomotive engine or perform the duties of cashier of a bank without thorough training, there are many who will undertake to farm without education or knowledge of the business.
The young man who intends to become a farmer should fully understand that if farming is not a business worthy of a thoroughly educated man, it is not a business worthy of him; because every young man is worthy of a thorough education, provided he is a man of clean habits and good purposes. Do not allow yourself to be persuaded that you lack ability to acquire a good education. All you require is opportunity, determination and honesty of intention.
Farming is worthy, moreover, of the most highly educated as well as the most capable. If lack of means prevents a young man from taking a four-years training in agriculture, he will find a two years course offered by many of the state agricultural schools. While it is obviously impossible to give in two years as much training as in four years, these two years courses contain the more technical subjects and are usually very thorough and efficient. No young man, no matter how thorough his previous training, need hesitate to pursue one of them.
There are, however, young men who cannot spare the time and expense of even two years training. For such many state agricultural colleges offer winter terms of eight to twelve weeks. These courses are arranged to allow the student to specialize along some particular line. The better prepared the man is who enters these winter courses the more he will benefit by them. This leads to the caution that such courses should not be substituted for the education offered in the public schools, but should only be sought after all the opportunities for education at home have been exhausted.
For the somewhat older young man who is now farming and cannot leave his farm or for the younger man as a preparation for the short courses, one or more correspondence courses will be found useful. Not all colleges conduct correspondence courses, but fortunately those who do will accept students from other states on equal terms. There are many persons who will testify to their helpfulness.
Every young farmer should have a carefully selected library of standard books on agriculture, not only for reading but for reference. An instance of the value of a standard book of reference came recently to the attention of the writer. An educated young farmer in Iowa paid $2.50 for a peck of crimson clover seed which he sowed in the spring in his oats. A reference to any standard publication on forage crops costing less than the peck of seed would have disclosed to him the probable hopelessness of success under the conditions named.
The books to include as well as to exclude from a select list will depend upon the previous training of the man making the purchase, the character of the farming to be pursued, and, to some extent, to the section of the country where the farm is located. Any bookseller can secure catalogs issued by firms making a specialty of publishing agricultural books. For the average reader these catalogs are sufficient to enable one to make intelligent purchases.