The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1860-11-08
GA Little Farm Well Tiled

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Republican says large estates are seldom
productive in proportion to small ones. A
farm is class Of property that cannot take
care Of ITSELF and rarely pays dividend
without great pains from its owner. Hence
sometimes the smaller the farm the greater
the profit. A few acres well cultivated may
be more remunerative than twice the acres
carelessly run over. The story Of the old
vineyard owner is case in point When
the eldest of his two daughters married, she
received as dowry, one third OF the fathers
vineyard This diminished the superficial
area of his property, but by bestowing the
same labor ON what remained, his profits
were undimnished. At length the young
est daughter married and again the paternal
acres were sundered and apportioned. The
same industry was applied to the one. third
left, as had previously been bestowed upon
the whole when together To the surprise
of the venerable husbandnan, there was
still no difference in the profit, and late in
life he learned the important lesson of our
text 1t would not be difficult to mention
modern cases Of a similar nature. Many a
man sacrices profit on the altar of an insane
greed ofland.
Land ownership is not all that is required
in good farming. High farming is acconpa-
MED with limited acres. The time is coming,
if it has not already, when an ordinate an
bition for more land, by poor farmer, will
be prima facie evidence of lunacy; and when
the man who blocks the wheels of prog es>,
by perslsting to hold unimproved lands at
such eyorbtant rates as to preclude improve
ment, will be accounted a criminal. No
person has either legal or a moral right to
perpetrate an evil, and what else can we call
a weedy soil, an unsightly barren, or an Of
fensve quagmires These are nu;sances to
be abated principally by snail lind own
ers.
We have been led to these thoughts by a
recent letter from Mr. Dan Hatch. of Alstead.
n. H., a mechanic and farmer subscriber,
who, since 1854, has owned and cultivated
a little farm of 2 acres and 9S rods. The
constant increase Of productive power is
worth examining. In 1854 he raised ]
tons of hay, 1S bushels OF corn, 6 bushels of
barley, 10 bushels potatoes, 64 bushels turn
ips, and 2 cart loads pumkins. In 1885, the
record is lost, except that his carrots were
increased to SO bushels, and his turnips to
6S bushels In 1856, his crops were 2l tons
hay, 25 bushels potatoes, Is bushels corn,
65 bushels carrots, so bushels turnips, 4
bushels barley, bushel peas, and 4 bushels
beans In 1867, he had from his ground 3
tons hay, 6 bushels barley, 8 bushels corn,
56 bushels carrots, 30 bushels potatoes, 81
bushels turnips, II bushels beans +
bushels peas. In 1858, tons hay, IA bush
els corn, 40 bushels potatoes, 20 bushels car
rots, so bushels other roots, b,.she beans
II bushels peas. and cart load of pump
kins. In 1859, tons hay, 10 bushels corn,
II bushels potatoes, 20 bushels carrots, %
bushels bests, II bushels each peas and
beans.
During all this time, he has had an am
pie supply from the garden for two families,
and notaingis included above, except what
was harvested in the autumn. Besides on
the same ground, he has small supply of
cherries, plums and currants, and apple
trees, six of which are in bearing, and have
yielded from 2 to % bushels per annum. He
also states that his carrots have grown year
after year on the same Is square rods OF
ground. His cultivation consists in piowing
with one yoke of cattle as deep as he can,
once in the autumn and twice in the spring.
He applies about loads of barn yard ma
nure in the spring, broadcast, and uses ash
es and other fertilizers His absorbents are
brakes, shavings, and turf, and he usually
has enough of those things to hold the liq-
uids.
Where is the owner Of hundred acres
that gets as much product in proportion
to his land9 The cases are rare, but not i'm
possible. Depend upon it, nothing pays bet
ter for high feeding than land. This starv-
ing the soil is the cause of much of the COM
plaint of bad luck in farming. High culture
is the only elixir to develope fully either
farms, cattle or men.