upation 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
purp