Thursday, April 19, 2012
L.H. Bailey Message for Earth Day
The
planet is part of a program we
do not comprehend but in which we may partake. We manipulate
the surface of the earth for good or for ill. We must
keep and protect the heritage for the millions who are to
come after us. This is a moral obligation. We
did not make the earth. We have received it and its bounties.
If it is beyond us, so is it divine. We have inescapable responsibilities.
It is our privilege so to comprehend the use of
the earth as to develop a spiritual stature. When the epoch of
mere exploitation of the earth shall have worn itself out, we
shall realize the heritage that remains and enter new realms of
satisfaction. -L.H. Bailey, Retrospect for The Holy Earth, 1943
Monday, April 02, 2012
The Country Point of View
Half of country life is in the living. It is in the
point of view. It is in the way in which we look at things. Thoreau
rejoiced when it rained, because he knew that his beans were happy. One
day my man was agitated because the woodchucks were eating the beans. He
would go to town at once and buy a gun. I asked him how many beans the
woodchucks would probably destroy. He thought from one-eighth to
one-quarter of an acre. Now, one-quarter of an acre of field beans
should bring me a net cash return of three or four dollars. I
told him that he could not buy a gun for that money. If he had a gun, he
would waste more time killing the woodchucks than the beans would be
worth. But the worst part of it would be that he would kill the
woodchucks, and at daylight, morning after morning, I had watched the
animals as they stole from the bushes, sniffed the morning air, and
nibbled the crisp young leaves. Many a time I had spent twice four
dollars for much less entertainment. -L.H. Bailey, Farm and Forest, 1911
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Three Pieces of Advice if You Want to Become A Farmer
City life is a social machine; or, rather, it is a congeries
of machines. A few men are managers and engineers,
but the ninety and nine are cogs and pins and links. Most men
desire to be cogs, or at least they are willing to be. The daily life is a
routine which is made and prepared. Having reached
a position that insures a comfortable financial return, the struggle for
existence is reduced to its lowest terms, and the
person is content. Now and then a person longs for
a broader view, more dependence on personal initiative, a more perfect
individualism. Perhaps such a person may not go on a farm,
but he may consider it.
This, then, is the first advice that I can give you, if you
think of leaving the city to become a farmer, — do not consider the proposition
for a moment unless your ideal is individualistic. You are to depend on
yourself. You are to make your own way. You are to live your own life. You must
be resourceful.
Of course you are to work in
cooperation with your fellow farmers, and
cooperation will be more necessary every year; but you are to be your own
manager.
My second advice is this, — be sure that you love the country
and everything there is in it. Be sure that you do
not go with the feeling that you are giving up the pleasures of life. Be sure
that a dandelion is worth as much as a theater. You are to be company for
yourself. The birds will sing as no opera singer ever sang. The flowers will
bloom in the meadows. The brooks will laugh on the pebbles and sleep under the banks. The clouds will float above
you. Be sure that your heart is ripe before you move to the country.
My third advice is that you learn farming. A farmer could not
expect to succeed in a city business until he had learned it; and perhaps his type of mind would be such that he could never learn it. Neither can a city man
expect to succeed in a farming occupation until he has learned the facts and the business of farming. Books and periodicals and
bulletins will help, but they are only helps; the business must be
learned by actually working in it, as any other business must be learned. The
city man can not expect to revolutionize farming. If any revolution comes, it is
to be worked out by farmers, whether they are city bred or country
bred.
You must not be afraid to work with your hands. At times the
work will be hard, and the days will be cold or
hot. This you are to accept as part of the business; but if your mind is right,
labor will be its own reward.
My city friend must remember that farming is a family
business. A single man can hardly expect to be a thoroughly successful and satisfied farmer. So I hope that you have a wife. If
she thinks as you do about the country, the problem is half solved. If her heart
is wedded to the city, stay where you are. I hope you have children, — and what healthy, natural child under twelve years of age
would not love the country?- L.H. Bailey, Farm and Forest, 1911
Friday, March 16, 2012
The Demand for Cheap Food is Fallacious
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Happy Birthday Liberty Hyde Bailey
"we have another son a full Blooded Yankee boy... Mother said to Sarah
if she ever had another one she wanted to name it... we sent to her for
a name... we think it will be L.H. Jun... the boy smart and bright as a
dollar...born the 15 of March and weighed 7 1/2 lbs." Letter from Liberty Hyde Bailey, Sr. to his parents, March 22, 1858.
It is a marvelous planet on which we ride. It is a great privilege to live thereon, to partake in the journey, and to experience its goodness. We may co-operate rather than rebel. We should try to find the meanings rather than to be satisfied only with the spectacles. My life has been a continuous fulfillment of dreams.-L. H. Bailey. “Words Said About A Birthday”, 1948, Printed on the occasion of Liberty Hyde Bailey's ninetieth birthday celebration
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Put Walks Where They Are Needed
Put walks where they are needed-this is the universal rule; but be sure they are needed. In the beginning you will think you need more than you actually do need. How to get the proper curve? Perhaps you do not need a curve. There are two fixed points in every walk-the beginning and the ending. Some walks lack either one or the other of these points, and I have seen some that seemed to lack both. Go from one point to the other in the easiest and simplest way possible. If you can throw in a gentle curve, you may enhance the charm of it; and you may not. Directness and convenience should never be sacrificed for mere looks- for "looks" has no reason for being unless it is related to something.
For main walks that are much used, cement and stone flagging are good materials, because they are durable and they keep down the weeds. There is no trouble in making a durable cement or artificial stone walk in the northern climates if the underdrainage is good and the cement is "rich." For informal walks, the natural loam may be good; or sharp gravel that will pack; or cinders; or tan-bark. For very narrow walks or trails in the back yard I like to sink a ten-inch-wide plank to the level of the sod. It marks the direction, allows you dry passage, the lawn-mower passes over it, and it will last for several years with no care whatever. In flower gardens, a strip of sod may be left as a walk; but the disadvantage of it is that it retains dews and the water of rainfall too long. Some of the most delightful periods for viewing the garden are the early morning and the "clearing spell" after a shower. L.H. Bailey, The Spirit of the Home Garden, How to make a flower garden: a manual of practical information and suggestions, 1903
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