The Washington union., 1858-06-30
VISIT 10 A MISSOURI FARM
iron the valley rarmer.l

"A
Frca the Valley Tarmerl
we recently visited the farm OF Mr. Richard Gentry
of Pettis county Missouri and have frequently
seen atterng accounts OF large in other States
have concluded furnish description Of this farm 10
readers in order to show that Missouri IL not behind
her sister States in large iarnA good farming
The farm Of Mr. Gentry contains seven thousand acres
Of land three thousand five hundred acres Of which
under excellent fence and in high state OF cultivation
1t is divided chiefly into lots of forty making
thirty miles Of fence the farm The fence most
made Of rails with stakes and riders and kept up ia
the best condition There is however. mile and a
quarter Of post and board fence on the ia and some
miles Of Usage orange hedge, which, however, has
not vet been turned out
There the farm sxtyye large gates, Of the best
construction, apd about the number of drawhars
The gates and bars made in large carpenter shop in
rainy weather, when the hands be employed at moth
ing else All of the implements put ia repairs al such
times, and many Of the simpler ones manufactured.
About two thirds Of the farm consists Of high, rolling
prairie of excellent quality of soil and the other thid
is in timber, immediately adjoining the prairie
There fourteen hundred Of the farm set in blue
grass seven hundred and fifty in clover and tim
othy meadow three hundred and sixty in corn
hundred and sixty in oats, twenty in Hunga
rim llct and the balance Of the farm under fence is in
woods pasture
There are on the farm twentyseven large artificial
ponds, many Of them of much depth, afording stock
and abundance of wstcr at all of the year Du
ring visit, three stonenasons were empioyed IN
the outlets Of streams in which large wafer gates
were to be hung chat in OF freshcts, which
large praities the gates would open by the
action of the water and close when the water had passed
and prevent the fence from being washed and the escape
Of stock from one field to another.
One of the most striking features observable s that on
this immense farm not single weed Is to be seen Even
the fence corners that receptacle Of all that is
foul most FARMS clean of weeds any city
lawn. What do farmers who have only two or three
hundred under cultivation say Of tis Here are
upwards Of thirty miles of fence, without weed OF briar
surrounding it, while many farms, with only mile or
two ecc raise enough weeds TO eed the whole neigh
borhood The whole farm is pattern Of neatncss The
hands pass every field often it is necessary. and
pull every burr bar, and weed that dares to show Itself
This has been done for many years, until the weeds hava
been subdued ~
Mr.. Gentry has been large shecp-grow Some ff
years ago, finding tho market dull for horses and
mules, he concluded to try sheep He accordingly pro-
cured from kentucky four hundred head OF the best
Saxon and Spanish inerino ewes, the foundation for
the future flock These he raised for number OF years,
increasing the size If his flock until it ranged for many
years from thousand eight hundred to three thousand
head He went to great expense in procuring the best
bucks, and, by judicious management obtained very
superior flock For the last four ve years he has been
crossing hM focks with the French merino paving as
high $50 per head for the bucks He has somc I'm
ported bucks of this breed his farm He thinks
the French merino superior to the Saxony Spanish
rno possessing constitution greater weight Of
carcass much greater weight Of wool though not Of
fine quality, though sufficiently 50 to command high
a price in market He has had the very best success in
raising sheep his ocs have been affected h1ny
contagious disorders and many OF tho discases pTeya
lent in the East have been entirely unknown in his rd
He has recently reduced the size Of his flock to Abont
thousand head for the purpose of giving attettio
to raisng mules He is already quite extensively
gagged in this business but intends to give it more
inence hereafter
There are kept constantly employed the farm twelve
grown hands and boys. Our realen may wonder how
so large farm he well managed by this small
number of haniAx 1t wonder to us until we saw
the perfect systeh of Mr. Gcntrys plans. Everything
moves like clock work There is time FOX everything
and everything must I've done in its time There is
hurry and Hurry-but everything moves along evenly
and quietly Each piece Of work i attended to till Is
done But system is not the only secret OF success All
of the best labor-saving implements and machines
used by him. SO that with one le i aiIs IN many
kinds of work. to perform the labor Of ten BY this
means he is able to accomplish this vast amount Of
work.
Mr. Gentry has a number OF buildings erected in
which he carries on for his various operations
not common among farmers. For instance there Is a
large housc, where all the meal for the family and
stock is ground and where various other mills and
chimes used There Is also large slaughter house.
with kettles set in arches aud excellent apparats for
rendering out lard. Then there s tool house, car
pcntcr shop harness house. shop for making shingles.
&C. There is also excellent pair OF Fairbanks cIe
scales which will weigh six tons at each operation with
all the appcndags for weighing cattle, sheep swine, hay
grain, &c. f
But the next question is viii farming such mag
nitccnt scale raw OF course 1t will Any kind Of hon
orable BUSINESS managed wen ~ tins farm y, woud
pay large profits Upon our inquiry, Mr. Seniry IN
formed that the GROSS receipts from this farm last year
amounted ~ over twenty Thousand dollars, r.
larger sum than the President Of the United States
ceives annuallyl