Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1869-11-20

Mark Twain writes 20 the Buifalo
Express .
MIR. Deecher's farm consists OF
thiriy,six acres, and is carried ON
on strict scientific principles iie
never puts in any part OF a crop
without consulting his book, iie
plows, aud reaps, and digs, aud sows
according TO the best authorities
aud the authorities cost more than
the other farming implements do,
As soon rs the library is complete
the farm will begin To be profita-
bic investment. But book farming
has its drawbacks, Upon one oc.
easiOn. when II seemed morally cer-
tain that tho hay ought 10 DO cut,
the hay book could not DO found,
and before it was found is was too
late and tho hay was MI spoilod.-
Mr.. Beeoher raises some OF the finest
crops Of wheat in the country, but
the unhyorable difference Between
the cost ofproducing il and its mark
ct value aner il is produced has ia.
terfered considerably with its sue.
cess as n commercial enterprise
His special weakness is hogs. lie
considers hogs the best game farm
produces. He buys the original
pig at n dollar and a half and feeds
him forty dollars worth ofcorn, and
then sells him for about nine dollars.
This is tho only crop he ever makes
any money on. Ilc loses on tho
corn, but ho makec seven and n half
on the hog. He does not mind this,
because he never expects to mako
anything on corn, any way, And
any way II turns out, he has the cx-
citement ofraising the hog, any how,
whether he gets tho worth Of it or
not. His Strawberries would bo n
comfortable success If the robins
woul | eat turnips, but they won't,
and hence tho difficulty. One OF
Mr.. Becchcr's most harassing diff.
culties in his farming operations
comes Of tho close resemblance Of
different sorts Of seeds and plants
to each other. Two years ago his
far-sightcdness warned him that
there was going to be a great scar
city Of watcrmelons, and therefore
he put in q crop of twenty. seven
acres of that fruit. But when they
came up they turned out to be pump
kins, and dead loss was the con-
sequence. Sometimes a portion of
his crop goes into the ground the
most promising sweet potatoes, and
comes up Tie infcrnalist CARROTS
though l never heard him express
it, just in that way. When he bought
his farm he found one egg in every
hens nest on tho place. IIc said
that here was just the reason why
so many farmers failcd-they scat
tered their forces too much--con-
centration was tho idea. So he
gathered those eggs together and
put them all under one experienced
old hen. That hen roasted over
that contract night and day for
eleven weeks; under the an&iots
personal supervision of Mr.. Bcechcr
himself, but she could not "phasc"
those eggs. Why? Because they
were those infamous procelian things
which arc used by ingenious and
fraudulent farmers rs "ncst eggs"
But perhaps Mr. Bccchcrs most dis
astrous experience was tho time ho
tried to raise an immense crop of
dried apples. He pIanted fifteen
hundred dollars worth, but never a
one ofthem sproutcd. He has never
been able to understand, to this day,
what was the matter with those ap-
pies. Mr.. Beechor's farm is not q
triumph. 1t would be easier on
him if he worked it on shares with
some one; but he can't find anybody
who is willing to stand half the cX-
penses, and not many that are able.
Still, persistence in any taisc is
bound to succeed. He was n very
inferior farmer when he first begun,
but q prolonged and unflinching as
sanlt upon his agricultural difficul.
tics has had its effect at last, and he
is now fast rising from afflucnce to
poverty. sw .sitaus,f= ss1's +.
| UIf tho iurv helisve frofIi the cvi-