Nebraska advertiser., 1869-02-18
Have You paid the Debtl

There is not a farmer who reads this
article thath has not received ideas from
some Of his neighbOrs in relation to
the cultivation Of certain crops that
are worth to him as much as the labor
of an entire year. Perhaps you are
raising something on your farm which
is twice as Temunerative as the old
standard productions, the introduce
ton Of which is due to some entepris-
ING. liberai-minded man in your vi
cinity. The horse you drive to-day is
abettera animal by far, than the straight
necked, slOw-paced nag that used to
drag you over the road. The fact is,
Capt. Brown, who lives over on the
hdll yondeT, bought a fine stallion a
few years ago, and you are enjoying
the good that has-c0me from his in
PRODUCTION. Your cows, too, give more
milk and make better beef than those
YOU used to keep when you first set
tied on your present farm. You have
bought no new stock but Esquire
Smith al the risk of importing some
fine Devons, and you have enjoyed
the use of them to improve your own
herd You can hardly distinguish
your animals from his now, as they
feed in adjoining pastures.
You kept some hogs, too, in those
old days, the like OF (which you would
not tolerate now. You can remember
doubtless, when Col. Gates brought
home from the State Fair, the first
-Chesters that had ever been i'm the
neighbOrhOOd. You thought he was
wild in paying fifty dollars for a pair
of spring pigs, when you would have
let him have any number for five dol
lars a pair, about as good ones, too, in
your estimation. But a year or two
convinced you Of the difference. His
pigs ate less corn, but were, after all,
in the best order; they always looked
fat and plump, while yours resembled
walking fence rails.
In the matter of sheep and poultry,
too, there have been great improve
ments since you came into the neigh
bOrhOod. The same, too, is true of
fruits and garden vegetables. Some
man has started off in making i'm
~pTOYements in some one thing, till
now, everything about the farm is
better than a few years ago. You
have been the gamer by other mems
ideas, money or enterprise. Have you
paid the debt? is it not true that you
have waited to see what success at
tended their exeTtions, and then APP
p~ropriated what you could of their
fruits and labors, without giving any
just equivalent, or doing anything in
return?
II this Is 50, do not let the coming
season pass without doing something
to compensate others for what they
have done for you. If your e do
not permit you to purchase an i'm
proved bull, or to import a Norman
stallion, why, at least invest in some
fine poultry, and let your neighbors
have the advantage of them i'm cross
ing their own breeds. Don't be al
ways in debt for your ideas, and for
the improvement of your crops and
the introduction of blooded stock.
Look out the thing that your neighbor
is most deficient in, and bend your
energies in that direction. If YOU
cannot find a better kind of wheat or
corn than that raised there now, why.
procure a more productive grape vine.
or a more prolific rOsebush. If your
knowledge of science is not sufficient
to enable you to make a scientific ex-
animation of the capabilities of the
soil where you live, you can at least
test its a~daptability for some new crop.
If you cannot underdrain your farm,
that others may see the advantages of
it, you can at least introduce the cul-
ture of cranberries, and give to your
neighbors vines, and the benefit of
your experience. In short, pay your
debts, if not in the coin you received,
in something else that is as valuable.
Prairie Farmer.