If you are raising the same crops that your neighbors do, harvesting at the same time, and getting the same prices that everyone else does, you may be sure that you are neglecting your chances. The money is in finding things to raise that will sell, and that do not have to compete with all the others. Says the _Farm Journal_: “Farmers need more time to plan their work and look after the business and economic end of their calling. The employer who makes a full hand in barn and field from 5 A. M. till 8 P. M., has no other time to devote to the real business of the farm than the hours in which Nature imperatively calls upon him to rest, and a man with aching muscles and tired limbs is not in condition to think clearly or plan intelligently. It is poor economy for a farmer to take the place of a dollar-a-day man in the field, when in so doing he has left no leisure in which to work out the details of his operations.” Think—think—it is true that we ourselves must work with the men if we are to get the best work out of them; there is a big difference between saying “Go, do that,” and “Come and let us do this.” But it is not enough to work; any jackass can do that. You know the old fable: “A farmer got his wheels stuck fast in a miry road. The man knelt down in the mud crying to Hercules to come and help him. Said Hercules, “Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel, I help only those who help themselves!” (There is a new part to that fable)—Now the mire was very deep and even Hercules’ help was not enough; so he called on Pallas, the Goddess of Wisdom. Said she, “Put this lever under the wheel.” Then the wagon was easily lifted out. Since then, some one else suggested using wide tires, so that the wheels would not sink at all, and another invented a split-log road-drag to keep the roads hard. But we are still waiting for the farmers to learn to use them. Maybe the roses in the bit of garden would bring you bigger money, if they were made to bloom at the right time, than the potatoes that take twice as much outlay and ten times as much work. Pick out as much land as you can attend to without walking your legs off, and raise on it the best crops that bring the best prices and let the rest take care of itself. The market is more important than the crop. Consult the editors of your agricultural papers about where to sell. Require bank reference from any commission merchant that you do not know, and write to the bank for its report on him before you ship to him. Make his acquaintance, if possible, and talk to him about what he can sell the best; naturally, he will take more interest in the affairs of a man that he knows than in a stranger. Don’t go to town or to the boat or railroad with half a load or with a load of poor stuff. Arrange with your neighbors to take enough for them to make your trip pay.