Gather ‘round people and let me tell you the Parable of the Poor Farmer.

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Not so long ago there was a poor farmer who lived in the land of Opportunity. He was really smart and had learned his lessons all too well. He knew that if he worked hard he would do well and be able to provide plenty of food for his family while still having some produce to sell so that he could buy more seeds for the next planting season.

In the early years the poor farmer barely managed to eke out a living, but he was satisfied because he knew that if he worked at a factory job he could earn only when he worked. There was no production or income when he slept or when he rested on the Sabbath or took a vacation. But if he planted a good crop it would grow and produce even when he slept.

Relying on his intelligence, the farmer figured that if he planted early he could yield a bigger crop, so one year he did just that. He took his plow and made several long narrow furrows in the frozen ground and planted some of his precious seeds. Some of his seeds sprouted, but most did not. And those that came up produced scraggy, underdeveloped plants that bore poor fruit. It was made pretty clear to the farmer that year that if the ground was not ready then the results would be poor.

So the farmer tried planting much later in the year after a good deal of spring growth had occurred. He grew many strong and beautiful plants. But when the time came for the fruit to ripen the weather turned cold, and the bitter winds blew the fruit to the ground, destroying much of the crop.

Through these endeavors it was made fairly obvious to the farmer that when he planted in the springtime, when the other natural plants were beginning to grow, that the conditions were most optimal to yield a bountiful crop.

One spring as the farmer was getting ready to sow he examined a new bag of seeds. As he checked the bag he discovered some very strange looking seeds. He muttered to himself, “I wonder what kind of seed this strange looking one is?” As he studied the seed, the seed suddenly exclaimed, “You don’t recognize me? I am the seed of the Money Tree.”

The poor farmer almost fell over from the surprise of hearing the little seed speaking to him.

“If you plant me at the right time, and take care of me and harvest my fruit in a timely way you will prosper and grow rich,” the seed advised.

Well, because the poor farmer lived in the land of Opportunity where the soil was very fertile and the best time for planting was in the spring, he groomed the soil and planted a small grove of Money Trees. And many of the trees grew and thrived, but others developed blight with diseased leaves and branches. The wise farmer recognized he had to get rid of the disease so he sprayed them and pruned away the dead and dying branches before the whole tree withered away. And when he did this the tree slowly recovered and was again able to bear fruit. And the farmer’s grove began to produce abundant fruit.

Just as he had discovered earlier with his other crops, if the farmer planted a money tree too early the buds would freeze and he would get a poor crop. If he planted too late in the season there wouldn’t be enough time for high-quality fruit to mature and ripen. He had to plant when the growing conditions were prime.

As the fruit began to develop the poor farmer became very excited. He was so excited that he took much of the fruit off the tree before it was really ready. As a result the harvest was small and poor quality. But the fruit that was left on the tree grew larger, sweeter and was delicious when picked.

He figured that leaving the fruit on the tree was beneficial and the fruit would get better and better with time.

You can imagine his shock when later in the season the fruit became wormy, dried up and fell to the ground, useless. It was rather clear that he had to harvest the fruit at the right time.

During the next growing season, he took about a third of the fruit off the tree when it looked like the fruit had ripened nicely. There was still plenty of fruit on the tree for further ripening and he harvested another third of these at the peak of the ripening season.

And the nearly ripe fruit still on the tree he watched very prudently. At the first sign of drying up and withering he harvested the rest of the fruit. This plan of working the Money Tree grove was very successful and the farmer prospered and grew rich and he was no longer referred to as the Poor Farmer.

The moral of the story is that when you invest in stocks you’re really planting a Money Tree. You must use high-quality seed and only plant when conditions are favorable. You must ruthlessly and quickly prune away your losses. You should harvest your fruit appropriately and not get greedy. You must quit before the last of the fruit withers and dries up. And in so doing, just as the little seed said, you will prosper and grow rich.