St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-04-14
9grien1tnfa1 department.
sloD1RaoAiaQN Or PLANss

''oD1vs 8 O. r+4A'ass.'sI
The season for putting in the Vari.
ous, oEeps has, commenced, and al are
busy With those making the earliest
demand upon our toll.
Those farmers VIM have made, q. iu;
dicious use Of Writer'S leisur6t hayee
adopted system of rotation Of crops,
that appnopriatos tosesohit its proportions
ate space. which should suffer no other
modification than the scarcity of labor,
growing out Of. the disturbed state of
the political elements Of the country,
which demands from the industrial
pursuits Of life ashalf million Of men.
Tho agriculture >ttbeI nation s,a1st,
furnish a large quota Of this force,
making a heavy drain upon the valuable
labor upon which the farmer depends.
Under this influence, a modification
Of plans becomes a necessity, that at
harvest time We may be able to secure
the Ho1D @h@ lesS 10 ] u
In our opinion the present is the
time to provide for this emergency, by
limiting the amount of the small grains,
to the available force at harvest time.
and proportionatelY increasing such as
will admit Of p@bD&cd harvest. y
The conviction is gaining ground
among aour. farmers that y great error
exists in eur method of farming IN
Minnesota. ,oD2e> !. ,n":.5 .
We have been cultigatins too much
wheat, and By far too little corn for the
good Of our Liant, and reform is neces:l
sary. BY increasing the corn and .idi-
diminishing our wheat crop, we eqqalize
our labor throughout the season Of cd .;,
ture alta hil9tSSst, giving Constant e. m>
ployment to smaller force, and tre-
Guiding the necessity of raising a large
crew at the time Of harvest It is
undoubtedly economy to harvest corn
at the proper time, soon after it is ripe,
but upon an emergency good farmer
may adopt, without much 1pjury, the
course Of : slcIenlly one, aud harvest
htz corn ahystimesin~ the:winter.
BY thus regulating our crops to our
labor, We subserve another very ir-
portant measure; the eradication Of ah
army Of noxious weeds from Tie land
occupied by our corn, for if corn is
thoroughly cultivated, the weeds. must.
be destroyed, and the ground left in
the beststats for a crsp Of wheat next
tiePel F1 system, in our judgment n
would; In to esH.lize these two crops,
and let wheat follow corn, occupying
ahAeqdal space Of land.
Some of our best farmers are coming
to the conclusion that the corn crop
should occupy as much land as all other
crops put together excepting, Of course,
the grass lands. Old or cultivated
lands are under consideration, and sus
gest th6 views here ex pressed: New
lands do not differ materially in refer
euee to these. views. Lands broken
this spring aud put to sod, corn and
turnips, WILDE followed by wheat next
year, upon the same place, and an
amount Of old land should be ptudown
to grass each year, equal to the new
land broken. +: 80.
This radical change from our old
meth ID of farming, would vsstly in
crease the capacity Of our soil, by in
ducing more thorough culture, and
sugeest the application of an accumuc-
lated amount Of manure.
By this method, VIC could keep, and
feed too, twice the amount of stock, we
now do. -------
Sheep husbandry, now an establish
ed branch Of industry among us, not
only sngggeas,e but insperatively de-
,'sonds the change to save it from par
'tial failures for the want Of suitable
winter food. This would be supplied
by increasing our cultivated grasses,
corn aud root crops.
4Fhis, is the true spstem of adjusting
the stock upon the farm to the forage
crops, which promotes the increase. of
each to limit far beyond our coneep-
ton Of the capacity Of our farms.-
,Mnneapolts Atla,..
=. Z