New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-01-15
WHAT KNOW OF FARMING
com AND RAD HUSBANDRY.
BY HORACE GREELEY.

..,',,o,s for deem Moving as Iam-may hrihly
belieye that the soil should be thoroughly Dioh' w
ond pnlyerized TO depth of fifteen to thirty ,n'ios
oooordino N the crop; but If all the team he ''i
muster is yoke of thin, light steers OF sI
old. spawned horses, which havenot even c. NO
ACQUAINTANCE with grain, what shali nc w. -
NAV heartily wish he had a thousand lo"u' - 90
ward manure and know how 10 inaho So 81 = not
everv ounce Of 1t but if he has it not, anu Is NV
- - be CONT always afford 20 forbear SOW
inr ord piantinp and so because he cannot secure
ct cons do without any crops at ali Ii he uo0'
tha hast be can. what better can he doF
80. wanv farmers have fields that must await
tb oleasure of Nature TO fit them tor thoroue" '"'
$50 Here is a feld-sometimes whole iarin-
81 - nartiay Invested of the primitive loreSLis
Till tblckly dotted with obstinate stumlS anu h'u
,,itb green tenacious roots, which could Only W 10
moved at a heavy. perhaps ruinous' cost N IN
man might order them all dug out IN MONTH 'l,
oaa his order fully obeyed but except to clear spot
for a garden or under very peeuhar crcuns''nV0 "
would not pay; and poor man cannot anoru 70 III
orr heavy EXPENSE merely for appearances SAKE Vi
20 r,ae theatrical display of energy In the great
ai,rit,, of cases he who farms for hVlhg can
aor5 4, null green stumps, but must put his newly
cleared land into grass at the earliest day' mo" 'ne
smoother and pasture the roueher portion oil H. ana
wait for rain and dIouth, heat and frost TO i't his
stumps until they can easily be pulled or burned out
as they stand
so with regard to a process detest known as Pas,
turing do firmly believe that the time is at manu-
when nearly all the food OF cattle WILL III our l'''i'
and Middle States, be cut and fed TO tbeh-'n"' We
can't afford much longer, even II we can a' l''oi'
Iet them roam at will over hill and dale through
-, and forest biting of the better plants and
letting the worse 20 to seed; often poaching up the
sof. wet soil. especially IN Spring. so that their
boofs destroy as much they eat nipping ana often
Killing IN their infancy the finest trees, such rs the
Sugar Maple and leaving only such as HemiocK'
Red Oak Beech. DC, 10 attain maturity Our race
generally emerged from savagesm and squalor INTO
industry comfort and thrift through the Pastoral
condition-the herding, tanning, rearing and training
Of animals being that department OF husoanury 10
which barbarians most easily attracted; henoe'
we cling To Pasturng long after the reason Tor IL mas
vanished. The radical, ncurable wee OF Fasturlng-
that of deyouring the better plants and leaving the
worse TO form and difuse seed--can never be wholly
obvated: and deem it safe to estimate that almost
any farm. will carry twice much stock if their food
be mainly cut and fed to them as 1t Will IL they are
required to pick up where and as it grows or grew
am sure that the general adoption of Soiling instead
of Pa,turiug will add immensely TO the annual pro-
duct 10 the wealth, and to the population OF our
older States. And yet, know right well that many
farms are now so rough and otherwise so unsuted to
Song as to preclude its adoption thereon for many
years TO come.
Let me indicate what mean by Good Farming,
through an illustration drawn fomthe Great west;
All over the settled portions of the Valley Of the
Upper Mississippi ana the Missouri there are large
and small herds Of cattle that are provided with
little or no shelter The lea of fence or stack, the
partial protection of a young and leailess WOOD
they may chance to enjoy; but that 1t is Tuinous
waste to leave them prey to biting frOsts and pierre
ing northwesteTs their owners seem not to compre'
bend. Many farmers far above want will TINS VIM
ter feed out fields of Corn and stacks OF Hay to nerds
OF cattle that will not be pound heavier on the
1st of next May than they on the LIST OF
last DeCember-who viii have required that fodder
merely to preserve their vitality and escape freezing
to death 1t has mainly been employed fuel rather
than As nGuTishment and has served, not TO put on
flesh but TO keep out FROST
Now am familiar with the excuses for this waste,
but they do not satisfy me. The poorest pioneer
might have built for lis rude shelter of
stakes and poles and straw or prairie-grass If he
had realized its importance simply IN the light OF
economy He who has many cattleis rarely without
both straw and timber and might shelter his stock
abundantIy if be only would. Nays he could not have
neglected or omitted it if be had clearly understood
that his cattle must somehow be supplied with heat
and that he can far cheaper warm them from without
than from within.
The broad, general. unquestonable truths on
which insist in behalf of Good Farming are these;
and 30 not admit that they are subject to excepton
]. 1t is very rarely impracticable to grow good
crops if you are willing to work for them. If your
land is too poor to grow Wheat or Corn and you are
not yet able to enrich it, SOW Rye Buckwheat If
YOU cannot coax it TO grow good crop of anything
let 1t alone; and, If you cannot run away from it,
work out by the day OF month for your more fOrtu
nate neighboIs The time and means squandered in
trying to grow crops where only half or quarter
crops can be made, constitute the heaviest item on
the wrong side of our farmers balancesheet taxing
them more than their National. State and local Gov
euments together do.
H. Good crops rarely fail to yield profit to the
grower. know there are exceptions, but they are
very few. Keep your eye the farmer who almost
uniformly has great Grass, good Wheat, heavy
Corn. &c, and unless he drinks, or has some other
bad habit you will find him growing rich. am con-
fdent that white blackbirds are nearly abundant
as farmers who have become poor while usually
growing good crops.
Ill The falrest single test Of Good Farming is the
increasing productiyenoss Of the soil. That farm
which averaged twenty bushels OF Grain to the acre
twenty years ago. twenty-five bushels ten years ago.
and will measure up thirty bushels to the from
this years crop has been and in good hands. know
10 other tOuchstOne Of Farming unerng that of
the increase OF decrease from year TO year OF It's
aggregate product. II you would convince me that
X. is good farmer do not tell me of some great
crop he has just grown, but show me that his crop
has regularly increased from year 10 year, and am
satisfied.
Il shall have more TO say on these points as pro-