American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1858-12-10
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The Farmers Department.
from the Ohio Valley Farmer
FARMING WELL.

FhNMlNU NELLh
The great difficulty in the way of
good farming is too much land. Farm
ers are hurried in tho getting in and
harvesting of their crops, so that they
have really no time to devote to the
improvement of the soil. Let any one
visit some of the ten acre farms in the
neighborhood of Cincinnati, and the
truth will soon become apparent; that
more profit can be made from ten acres,
properly titled and MANFRED, than can
be realized from 100 acres run over in
the usual negligent manner. The oc-
cupants of these "ten.acre farms" are
growing richer every year, while many
who occupy largo farms barely 'hold
their own"
Travel where we will, over the wide
expanse of this great and glorious West,
and we will meet field after field where
the corn crop does not average over
twenty bushels to the acre. We will
suppose that farmer, who practices
this skinning process, has a corn field
Of 20 acres, and that his crop is 400
bushels. Now let US turn to the small
farmer, whose corn field is only acres
but which has been placed in high con-
dition for a crop. From these FIVE
acres he also gathers four hundred
bushels of corn, being at the rate of
eighty bushels to the acre. Now We
would ask if the ownership of the small
er field would not be more desirable to
the reader than the larger field In
the one case how much less fencing to
keep up? And how much less labor
in the tending of the land? And,
besides, how much greater the pleasure
and pride in showing to others the grow
ing or matured crop.
We remember reading, some years
ago, of farmer who owned 100 acres
of land. He had three daughters, and
when the first married, he gave her IS
acres of his farm. But he found that
he made just as large crops from the
remaining rs acres as the 100 had
previously produced. Two or three
years passed away, and another daugh-
ter married, who received as her portion
likewise rs acres Of the farm. Still
the farmer obtained from the remaining
SO acres as large produce as had been
cropping from the rs acres. Finally
the youngest daughter married, taking
her portion of land, of equal amount
with the others, and leaving the father
with the small farm of 25 acres only.
And yet, for series of years afterward,
he succeeded in making Just as much
money from this fourth of his original
farm as he had been able to do when
he tended the 100 acres.
AS further proof of the advanta ges
Of farming well, wo refer the reader to
the letter of our Texas correspondent in
another part of this paper. Here we
SEQ that the worn out, sandy fields
near the Gulf shore, while tended in
the usual careless manner, produced
only little over bushels of corn to
the acre. But, by farming thoroughly
and manuring properly, more than TT
bushels to the acre produced. Now
would not 10 acres of farm land, pro-
ducing such crop be better than a
thousand acres, if tended in the usual
manner, without extra culture or man
ure?
The truth is, if our farms are large
we should place only so much land under
the pillow as we can cultivate and man
ure in the best manner. Any excess
of land had better be turned into past.
urage, to enable us to increase our live
stock and thus add to the manure of
the farm. But let us never rest satisfied
till our wheat crops average 40 bushels
to the acre, land for corn 80 bushels. In
this age of Improvement in agriculture,
let the farmer of progress he satisfied
with nothing less.