Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1871-09-15

n nat tOTD tVSts u bushUke
The great tendency among.agricui.
81 turists in the Nest II % cuitivn'e TOO
much land with loo little labor
Fancy and newspaper tanners are
aiding very much in this fatal policy.
The fact too, thai the virgin prairies,
when first brought into cultivation,
will produce abundantiy with scarce.
ly any -attent ton leads many new
farmers into bad practices. But the
great lesson of thorough cultivation
cannot be too often nor too urgently
impressed upon the present and COM
ing generations of farmers. Nor can
the farmers who are now OCCUPYING
these rich lands, be warned too soon
Sof The pecessiy of preserving the
present fertility of their lands
Thousands i'm Iowa are burning all
their straw every year, or throwing
it into sloughs or on waste lands,
where it will be out of the way
a.r. Others are hauling their stable ma
nure into the public highways or on
the commons owned by others as
'@ though 1t were nuisance instead of
the very soul or their farms. s
We commend this article with a
view of estimating the real cost of
raising q bushel of corn. And our
~ attention was called to this subject
by the following from Champaign,
try. Gentleman, to-wit :.sses s.a
. - Ten hours and ten minutes are
gg required to make an acre of corn, acs
cording to the experience and judg-
ment of that great forty thousand
acre faraer, Hon. NJ. j.. Sullivant of
.aa.u lroquois county in this State. In
s..s. conversation recently with this writ
or, Mr.. Sulivant said in substance >
I raised six thousand acres of corn,
- nearly, last year; this year have
co. Bten thousand, and next year Intend
''f'to have sixteen thousand. My crop
averaged forty bushels an acre last
ear, and think it will do as well
""H'h My land issnew, and of course
comparatively free of weeds-I am
sati- fled it ought not to require over
one day to the acre to make a crop of
~ .cprp,., Last year the average time
per acre was one day of ten hours
- and ten minutes over. plowed the |
and. narrowed, planted, rolled. and
cultivated three times. / required
mytpams to plow, two acres, plant
q, sixteen, cultivate seven and half,
for IA days work. One man with a
Am Team and wagon, will not huslz, haul
and crib over one, acre per day, aver
ena age, so that making the crop is not
more than half the expense of rails.
ing it.
Whether L own the teams and
a rFs hire the nen, and feed and lodge
both, or whether / hire by the days
work, 50 per day is saboat the worth
Of man and team and the use of
the necessary tools. / estimate it
costs fifteen cents bushel to grow
corn. Ills about the only crop that
will pay to go into largely. because
it isthe only sure one, year i'm year
out. The Decatur and Chicago Rail-
land. Ii will he finished this fall
gave the company the right of way
and thirty thousand dollars gratuity,
considering that its. construction
7 would add $10 an acre TO forty thous-
and acres. Such is Mr.. Sullivant,s
present estimate Of the cost of rails
ing corn and the value of railroads In
Gppreciating farm lands"
The foregoing may look very plaus-
lille and fine to reader who knows
g~gz nothing about practical farming.--
&-e Neither Mr. Sullivant, nor any other
- man, can raise an acre Of corn with
ten hours and ten minutes labor
Even were their no mishaps, no
rainy days,and the land always clean,
which it would not be with such
slight cultivation, yet Mr.. Sullivant's
own showing does. not agree, The
Z tplewing, narrowing, marking, plant
ing, rolling and cultivating three
times, allowing the teams to do as
much as sets forth, and it will re-
quire some hours more to raise an
acre of corn than stated above. The
y truth isl there rs no place in the
United States, with the present price
of labor, and in view of the many
accidents to crops, cost and repair of
implements, feed and care of teams,
loss by bad weather and accidents to
teams, where corn can be raised for
fifteen cents per bushel. Nor can it
- vbe-raised by hired labor, teams, inn
- plements,s seed, feed and boarding,
for less than thirty cents per bushef. |
When man in Iowa is selling his
corn at % cents per bushel, if he
raised it himself he is not getting
three dollars day for himself, team,
feed and board. e-aRh
Let us, with ten thousand farmer
readers as witnesses; try what it costs
q. 70 raise ten acres ofscorn, at 50 per
u day, to-wit: HkRHs E# -