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 AGRICULTURAL "^ 
 LI6RARY, 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 — OF — 
 
 CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Y. B. Separate 509. 
 
 FARMING AS AN OCCUPATION FOR 
 CITY-BRED MEN. 
 
 By 
 
 W. J. SPILLMAN, 
 
 Agriculturist in Charge of Office of Farm Managementf 
 Bureau of Plant Industry. 
 
 ^ [From Yearbook of Department of Agriculture for 1909.] 
 
 44342—10 
 
 WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1910 
 

 <o^ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Success in mercantile, manufacturing, or transportation enterprises 239 
 
 Conditions affecting farmers 239 
 
 Limited opportunities of the farm laborer 240 
 
 Conditions the city man must meet in farming 240 
 
 As a gardener in the suburbs 241 
 
 Some instances of success 241 
 
 Changed conditions in recent years 242 
 
 Capital required 242 
 
 Equipment 243 
 
 Types of farming 243 
 
 Sources of information 244 
 
 The agricultural experiment stations 245 
 
 United States Department of Agriculture 245 
 
 Farmers' institutes --- 246 
 
 Movable schools of agriculture 246 
 
 Correspondence 246 
 
 Agricultural high schools and colleges 247 
 
 Books on farming 247 
 
 Departmental and private aid 247 
 
 Advantages of a farmer's life 247 
 
 n M^hi T.:b. 
 
 A^ric J3eyL 
 
FARMING AS AN OCCUPATION FOR CITY-BRED MEN. 
 
 By W. J. Spillman, 
 
 Agriculturist in Charge of Office of Farm Management, 
 
 Bureau of Plant Industry. 
 
 SUCCESS IN MERCANTILE, MANUFACTURING, OR TRANSPORTATION ENTER- 
 PRISES. 
 
 A study of the history of those men who direct the affairs of large 
 mercantile, manufacturing, and transportation enterprises usually 
 reveals a steady progress from a beginning as a low-salaried em- 
 ployee step by step to positions of greater responsibility, and finally 
 to the position of directing head of the enterprise. The men who 
 thus gradually work themselves up from lower positions are en- 
 dowed with the spirit of work. In nearly all industries of the classes 
 mentioned the hours of work are so limited that even the most humble 
 employee has some time which he can devote either to recreation or to 
 study. The men who go to the top in business affairs are usually those 
 who do not know what recreation means, but spend their spare time 
 in intelligent preparation for greater usefulness to their employers. 
 Many instances might be cited where men who are now directing 
 large enterprises began at a low salary in a position requiring hard 
 work. The humblest employee in such lines of business has the oppor- 
 tunity, if he has the ability, to rise to a high position. 
 
 CONDITIONS AFFECTING FARMERS. 
 
 In farming it is different. There arfe practically only three 
 grades in this business, namely, the farm laborer, the tenant, and 
 the proprietor. While it is possible for the laborer to become a 
 tenant, and then by careful study and great frugality ultimately to 
 become an independent proprietor, or even to become a proprietor 
 directly, in a small way, from his savings as a farm laborer, 
 generally speaking there is not the opportunity in farming for the 
 laborer to pass by gradual steps to a position of importance in 
 the industry, because we do not ordinarily find series of positions, 
 with graduated salaries, which form the stepping stones for the am- 
 bitious and able young man. In the first place, on the average farm 
 there is little or no profit; that is, if we count out wages for the 
 
 272720 239 
 
240 YEAEBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 farmer and his family and interest on the investment, there is usu- 
 ally no balance, and on many farms the balance is on the wrong side 
 of the ledger. 
 
 To state the reasons for this condition of affairs would lead us too 
 far away from our present purpose. It will suffice here merely to 
 state that ordinarily profits in farming are not large, and that 
 therefore farm wages are not high. It takes several years of self- 
 denial and careful saving for the farm laborer to lay by enough to 
 become a tenant or a small proprietor. Nevertheless, this has been 
 done repeatedly and can be done if the laborer has sufficient intelli- 
 gence and determination. 
 
 LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES OF THE FARM LABORER. 
 
 As a farm laborer a young man has some chance to study agri- 
 cultural literature and to learn many necessary details of farming, 
 without which knowledge it would be unwise to undertake farming 
 as a means of livelihood. But the opportunity for study on the 
 part of the farm laborer is not as great as it ought to be. Many 
 farmers attempt to overcome low profits by long hours of labor 
 instead of by intelligent study of the details of their business. Com- 
 paratively few farmers limit the hours of labor in such a way as to 
 give time for a proper study of their business. Under ordinary cir- 
 cumstances, therefore, it is hardly practicable for the ordinary city 
 employee to become a farmer through the position of farm laborer. 
 In the first place, even the farm laborer must have a knowledge of 
 details which it takes some years of experience to acquire, in order 
 to make his services of value to the farmer. In the second place, the 
 standard of living of the average farm laborer would greatly dis- 
 courage the city-bred family. Yet where it is possible to secure 
 employment with a view to learning the details of farming, it is wise 
 to do so, provided the city man who is trying to-break away from the 
 city and get on to the land has the courage to undergo the hard- 
 ships incident to such a change — speaking, of course, of the man who 
 has little or no capital with which to begin business for himself. 
 
 CONDITIONS THE CITY MAN MUST MEET IN FARMING. 
 
 It is still less feasible for the city man with no knowledge of 
 farming to begin as a tenant farmer. The tenant must pay rent 
 and must know how to farm in order to make ends meet. To move 
 from the city to the country, with no capital, would appear, there- 
 fore, to be a very serious undertaking, and the writer would not 
 advise city people to undertake it. However, if a small capital has 
 been saved up the move can be made; but in practically all cases 
 the beginning should be made not as a farm laborer or as a tenant, 
 but as a small proprietor, the size of the establishment depending, of 
 
FAKMING AS AN OCCUPATION FOR CITY-BEED MEN. 241 
 
 course, upon the capital available. It is a good plan for the city- 
 man who has the means to take some sort of course in a school of 
 agriculture as a preparation for farming. Schools of this kind are 
 multiplying rapidly in this country. Every State has its agricul- 
 tural college, and many of the States are building agricultural schools 
 of secondary grade. The latter are particularly valuable to the city- 
 man who would learn how to farm, as they give more attention to 
 the practical details of farming than the colleges do, the function of 
 the agricultural high school being primarily to turn out men fitted 
 for farming, while the main function of the college is to turn out 
 men fitted for agricultural investigation and teaching. 
 
 AS A GARDENER IN THE SUBURBS. 
 
 Whenever it is feasible a very good plan for the city man who has 
 no knowledge of farming and who desires to become a farmer is to 
 move to the suburbs and begin in a small way as a gardener. At 
 first the principal aim should be to produce truck crops for home con- 
 sumption. As experience is gained the industry may be enlarged and 
 a market established. Many men have made the transition in this 
 manner. Others have started with one or two cows, and have let the 
 business graw from the profits obtained in it. Others have succeeded 
 by beginning in a small way with poultry or fruit. The knowledge 
 gained in this way, both as regards the details of farming and concern- 
 ing methods of marketing, finally enables the beginner to abandon 
 his city employment and become a farmer. 
 
 SOME INSTANCES OF SUCCESS. 
 
 A few men have succeeded without this gradual transition. They 
 have moved boldly to the country, put their capital into land, and by 
 hard work, much study, and exceedingly frugal living for a few years, 
 until the business has been learned and a profit assured, have been 
 highly successful. Farmers' Bulletins Nos. 242 and 355, issued by 
 the United States Department of Agriculture, give accounts of two 
 farmers who have succeeded in this manner. Such changes are 
 usually accompanied, for a few years, by the severest kind of hard- 
 ship ; but if the man is intelligent, a close observer, and not afraid of 
 work, it is possible to succeed under such conditions. 
 
 An interesting case of this kind came to notice recently. At the 
 Iowa State Corn Show in 1909 the ear of corn which took the grand 
 championship prize, and which sold at auction for $160, was pro- 
 duced by a farmer who ten years previously was a driver of a laundry 
 wagon in the city of Des Moines. It must be recognized, however, 
 that men who have thus succeeded have invariably been men of un- 
 usual ability. 
 
242 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 CHANGED CONDITIONS IN RECENT YEARS. 
 
 In some respects it is more difficult at the present time to break 
 away from city employment and establish oneself on the land than 
 it was a generation ago. At that time there was plenty of land to be 
 homesteaded. Especially in the Middle West, where most of this 
 land was available, the soil was rich and its fertility needed no at- 
 tention. It did not take long for the beginner to learn how to grow 
 crops successfully on this rich virgin soil and to make farming dis- 
 tinctly profitable. "WTien good land w^as thus available for the taking, 
 thousands of farm homes were successfully established by men having 
 little previous knowledge of the business. At the present time there 
 is practically no desirable land left for homesteads. The beginner 
 must buy land usually at a considerable expense. Not only that, but 
 in most parts of the country the land has been farmed so long with- 
 out attention to fertility that it will no longer produce crops by the 
 slipshod methods formerly in vogue. Experience and a knowledge of 
 principles are therefore much more necessary at the present time than 
 was the case a generation ago. In fact, many experienced farmers 
 to-day are not making a good living for the simple reason- that they 
 do not possess the knowledge of the principles involved in their busi- 
 ness, and unfortunately only too often the farmer is not aware of his 
 lack of knowledge. The city man has the advantage that he realizes 
 his ignorance and is willing to learn. 
 
 On the other hand, agricultural science has developed wonderfully 
 in the last quarter of a century, and the literature of the subject is 
 correspondingly more abundant and more reliable. Hence, the be- 
 ginner may receive more help from others than was the case a gen- 
 eration ago. The sources of information on which the farmer may 
 draw will be referred to more specifically later in this article. 
 
 CAPITAL REQUIRED. 
 
 No definite amount of capital can be stated as a sufficient sum on 
 which to begin farming any more than it can be done in the mer- 
 cantile business. A great deal depends on the price of land and the 
 magnitude of the undertaking. Just as the merchant may begin with 
 a modest stall and a few dollars' worth of goods, so the farmer may 
 begin with 1 acre of land or less, on which he may raise part of the 
 food for his family, eking out a living by working part of the year for 
 someone else, or he might buy a large farm and equip it fully. It 
 may be said, however, and with some assurance, that the man with- 
 out farm experience and without a knowledge of the principles in- 
 volved in farming who starts the business on an elaborate scale is 
 foredoomed to failure unless he is so fortunate as to command the 
 services of a trained manager. Furthermore, it is next to impossible 
 
FARMING AS AN OCCUPATION FOR CITY-BRED MEN. 243 
 
 to secure such services. Competent farmers are usually engaged in 
 business for themselves, and our schools of agriculture have not yet 
 fairly begun to supply the demand for men of this class. There is 
 hope, however, that in the not distant future many young men with- 
 out the capital to start into business for themselves will be trained 
 for the management of agricultural properties, as a few are to-day. 
 When the number of such men is sufficient to meet the demand we 
 may expect an important development of large agricultural enter- 
 prises. 
 
 We shall not attempt here to deal with the case of the wealthy city 
 man whose farm is to be simply a country home. Usually such farm- 
 ers spend more in equipment than the farm can ever be made to pay 
 for.. It is our aim rather to deal with the case of the man with small 
 or moderate means, who must make his living from the farm. The 
 first and most important principle to get fixed in mind is that of 
 avoiding unnecessary expenditures. The commonest mistake of the 
 city man who undertakes farming is the purchase of equipment 
 which is not necessary to his business. The natural impulse is for 
 the beginner to purchase all he thinks he will need. It is decidedly 
 the best policy, at least until one has become experienced and has a 
 good knowledge of what equipment is necessary, to buy nothing not 
 absolutely essential until the farm begins to pay. After that one 
 may do as he likes with the profits of his farm. 
 
 EQUIPMENT. 
 
 The question of farm equipment has been little studied, the only 
 deliberate study of such equipment known to the writer being that 
 inaugurated by the Office of Farm Management a few years ago. It 
 is a very complex and difficult subject. The character and amount of 
 equipment are determined by many elements, such as climate, the 
 character of the crops grown, the kind of live stock kept, the character 
 and condition of the soil, and the extent of farming operations under- 
 taken. Even if complete knowledge of farm equipment were avail- 
 able, it would be impossible in an article as brief as this to outline the 
 subject in full, because it is too extensive. Yet, when the farmer has 
 chosen his location and determined upon the type of farming he is to 
 follow, the Office of Farm Management can give him a good deal of 
 valuable information concerning the equipment he will need. We 
 hope at some future time to have an ample list of publications on this 
 subject. 
 
 TYPES OF FARMING. 
 
 Perhaps the most important point the beginner must decide is the 
 type of farming to be followed. This question is discussed at length 
 in an article in the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture for 
 
244 YEARBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 1908, pages 351 to 366. It gives a general discussion of practically all 
 the types of farming found in the United States, and suggestions are 
 made about those types best suited to beginners. There is also some 
 discussion of the amount of equipment required. 
 
 One important consideration, which is not brought out in the 
 article referred to, is that, if in a community the farmers generally 
 buy a commodity they can produce, the price of that commodity 
 will be high and its production profitable. A conspicuous example 
 is found in the tobacco and cotton growing regions, where the farm- 
 ers usually buy their hay. This hay is produced in the North, and 
 the high freight rate on so bulky a commodity causes it to be high 
 priced. Occasionally one finds in those regions a farmer who devotes 
 most of his energies to the production of hay. Such farmers usually 
 make more money than their neighbors who buy hay. In fact, hay 
 growing is a fairly simple type of farming that is usually profitable, 
 and there are extensive regions in the United States where hay grow- 
 ing is the best type of farming for the beginner, provided he has 
 capital enough to begin on a considerable scale. The principal diffi- 
 culties met with in this type of farming are that considerable 
 equipment is required and a considerable area of land is neces- 
 sary from which to secure an adequate income for a farm family. 
 The curing of hay, so as to be able to put on the market a good quality 
 of this product, is also something which can not be learned entirely 
 from books, but requires considerable experience for its successful 
 conduct. On the other hand, the hay crop is fairly certain if the 
 right crops are chosen, and if large yields are obtained the returns 
 are good. 
 
 SOURCES or INFORMATION. 
 
 Farming requires not only experience but a great deal of detailed 
 knowledge of many things. For instance, one must be able to judge 
 when the soil is in condition to be plowed or tilled. This is especially 
 the case on heavy soils. If a clay soil is handled while it is wet and 
 dry weather supervenes, the soil becomes baked into hard clods, which 
 rain alone can pulverize. On the other hand, if it is plowed when 
 it is too dry, a clay soil breaks up into large lumps, on which it is of 
 little use to plant any kind of crop. But if the plowing be done when 
 the soil is of a proper consistency, clay soils pulverize readily and the 
 subsequent tillage operations are simple. On sandy soils one does not 
 need to give so much attention to the condition of the soil for plowing 
 or tilling, though even on this class of soils some experience in soil 
 management is necessary in order to secure the best results. 
 
 The farmer must also understand how to maintain the fertility of 
 the soil ; hence he must have a knowledge of fertilizers, of manures, 
 of the effect of lime, etc. He must also know the nature of many 
 
FARMING AS AN OCCUPATION FOR CITY-BRED MEN. 245 
 
 kinds of plants and understand their requirements. In practically 
 all kinds of farming some live stock are necessary, and the farmer 
 must know how much shelter these stock require, what kind of food 
 they need, how much, etc. He must also know the time to plant and 
 to harvest, and how to secure and manage labor, unless he is so fortu- 
 nate as to be able to dispense with hired labor. 
 
 Part of this knowledge may be obtained from books, but a great 
 deal of it can be obtained only by experience. This is especially true 
 as regards knowledge of the soil. Even the agricultural scientist does 
 not yet know all about the soil, and the best books on the subject 
 leave much to be learned by experience. 
 
 In most communities the beginner can gain much information from 
 his neighbors, especially about the time of planting and harvesting, 
 when the soil is in condition for plowing and tilling, the amount of 
 feed necessary for his live stock, etc. On the other hand, one's neigh- 
 bors are often poor advisers, especially if the new farmer is attempt- 
 ing to do something which has not before been successfully done in 
 the community. The average farmer is inclined to discourage inno- 
 vations of all kinds and is ready to predict failure of new methods 
 and of men new at the business. 
 
 Fortunately, agricultural papers are abundant, and many of them 
 are very reliable in what they teach. Every farmer should take sev- 
 eral of these. Some of the best farm papers relate to general farm- 
 ing, while almost every phase of farming is discussed by special 
 journals. For instance, there are numerous journals devoted to poul- 
 try, and practically every kind of stock has one or more journals 
 devoted to it. There are also good journals which give special atten- 
 tion to truck growing, fruit growing, and the like. It is a good plan 
 for the farmer to take one or two of the best of the journals devoted 
 to general farming in addition to a few^ of the special journals relat- 
 ing to the phases of farming which he is practicing. 
 
 THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 
 
 In every State there is an agricultural experiment station which 
 issues bulletins on various phases of farming. These bulletins are 
 sent free to all applicants in the States where they are published. 
 Some of the stations send bulletins to farmers in other States. 
 
 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 In addition to bulletins from the experiment stations, the United 
 States Department of Agriculture issues an extensive series of bulle- 
 tins covering very many phases of farming. Most of these bulletins 
 are sent free to all applicants. This is especially true of the series 
 known as Farmers' Bulletins, of which there are now several hun- 
 
246 YEAKBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 dred. There is probably no farmer in the country who will not 
 find some of these Farmers' Bulletins highly valuable. Complete 
 lists of all the publications of the Department of Agriculture may be 
 obtained for the asking, and from these lists such publications as are 
 desired may be selected. 
 
 farmers' institutes. 
 
 In practically every State farmers' institutes are conducted. These 
 are meetings of farmers at which various agricultural questions are 
 discussed. The speakers are usually practical farmers who have 
 made a distinct success of their work, or trained agriculturists who 
 have a wide knowledge of agricultural conditions in the State. 
 The most experienced farmer finds these institutes of great value. 
 
 MOVABLE SCHOOLS OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 In some sections of the United States traveling instructors are pro- 
 vided either by the State or by the United States Department of Ag- 
 riculture. This is especially the case in the cotton-growing States 
 and in dairy communities in the Northern States. Some of the States 
 maintain traveling dairy schools, which go about from place to 
 place giving a short course of practical demonstrations in the han- 
 dling of milk, the manufacture of butter, the use of dairy apparatus 
 and machinery, etc. These demonstrations are usually accompanied 
 by lectures on the feeding and care of dairy cows and other 
 kindred topics. In a good many of the corn-growing States in re- 
 cent years special corn schools have been held during the winter sea- 
 son, when the farmers can best attend them. As the price of farm 
 land rises and the original fertility of the soil is exhausted, schools 
 of this character become more and more necessary. There will un- 
 doubtedly be an extensive development of instruction of this 
 character in the near future. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 In addition to the sources of information already outlined, 
 farmers can usually secure much valuable information by corre- 
 spondence with the state agricultural colleges and the United States 
 Department of Agriculture. A number of the agricultural colleges 
 maintain correspondence courses in agriculture. There are also 
 some private schools which do the same. Xearly all of the agri- 
 cultural colleges, at some time during the winter season, offer special 
 short courses in practical agriculture. The expense of attending 
 these short courses is nominal, and the information to be gained 
 makes attendance well worth while. Such courses are of more help 
 to the experienced farmer than they are to the beginner, for the 
 reason that the information given can not be assimilated without 
 some farm experience. 
 
FARMING AS AN OCCUPATION FOR. X3ITY-BRE9"MEK,; , , > .^47 
 
 AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 The agricultural high schools and colleges have already been men- 
 tioned. In recent years the attendance at these schools from the 
 cities has shown a marked increase, and, where one has the means, it 
 is an excellent plan to take a course at such an institution before at- 
 tempting farming. While taking this course it is highly desirable 
 that the student spend his vacations at farm work. 
 
 BOOKS ON FARMING. 
 
 The number of books published relating to various phases of farm- 
 ing is very extensive ; so much so, in fact, that the farmer is at a loss 
 to know what books to buy. He can secure much valuable advice 
 on this point by corresponding with the agricultural colleges and the 
 Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C. 
 
 DEPARTMENTAL AND PRIVATE AID. 
 
 A few years ago there was established in the Bureau of Plant In- 
 dustry of the United States Department of Agriculture an Office 
 of Farm Management. In many cases the employees of this office 
 are able to render valuable service to farmers by way of advice con- 
 cerning types of farming to undertake, equipment to buy, crops to 
 grow, the relative acreage of these crops, how to secure good seed, 
 etc. Eepresentatives of this office are found in most of the States. 
 
 More recently a number of men have established themselves as 
 agricultural experts, who visit farms and give advice on many phases 
 of farm management, charging fees for such services. 
 
 While it has been necessary in this article to dwell more particu- 
 larly on the difficulties confronting the family who would change 
 from some other business to farming, the advantages of farming 
 must not be overlooked. In the first place, the farmer, if he is at 
 all successful, has no fear of being displaced. He commands his 
 own time and leads an independent life. In the second place, if he 
 is wise, he may himself produce nearly all the food necessary for his 
 family. He may maintain a good garden, an orchard, a flock of 
 poultry, keep a few cows and pigs, and grow most of his own bread. 
 If the wife and daughters know how to prepare food in an appe- 
 tizing manner and understand how to be frugal, the actual money 
 expense for the farm living may be made very small, while at the 
 same time the standard of living, from the standpoint of food, may 
 be much higher than is possible even with wealthy people in the city. 
 
 The income from farming depends more upon the farmer himself 
 than it does upon any other one factor. An intelligent man who 
 
2kJ:S , YEAii^OOK OF THE DEPAKTMENT OF AGRICULTUKE. 
 
 must depend upon his own labor may live well on the farm after 
 he has acquired a satisfactory knowledge of the business. If he can 
 command considerable capital he may profit by the labor of others, 
 and if his capital is large enough and he is a good business manager 
 he may live even luxuriously. But the beginner, even with consider- 
 able capital, must be prepared to bear some hardships while he is 
 learning the business. 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CAIvIFORNIA lylBRARY