Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1871-09-22
Leaks on the Farm.

Nat SA
We have q few words to say to a
large class of Western farmers about
the many small leaks there are on
the farm, ever open to let the profit
run through. 1 will speak, as a
sample, of men owning 100 acres of
land, 80 head Of hogs, two-thirds as
many cattle, six head of horses, and
q few sheep. as e&
The small losses of which / wish
to speak, are almost universally
a~pologied for by the phrase: ~ am
not able" The following are some
of the expressions you might hear If
you talk with them a few hours on
the subject of farming:
when 1 get able, / intend to inn
prove my stock of cattle; when |
get able ] intend to have me a good
shed for my stock when / get able
I'll get a better breed of hogs; when
l get able I'll take al agricultural
paper, for me and the boys TO read :;
when J get able I'll tear down these
old bars. and have good gates in their
stead when / get able I will cart my
manure to the fields at the proper
season when l get able / will have
a comfortable place for my young
pigs; when L get able 1 will put
brass knobs on my cows horns, to
keep them from booking; when /
get able l will have a dry place for
my Wye to milk in when | get able
l will have q separate lot for differ
u kinds OF stock" Thus | might
go u filling IL column win express
sions Of this kind hat are given by
The farmer as reasons for not being
more provident and painstaking with
his stock.
Now allow me. if you please, to
Try and show why ! think these mel
allow the fvecent piece before their
eyes to hide the dollar IN the dis
lance. That many OF them are gain
ing good financially, at a good rate,
IN the lace of all these little drains
on their business, | am ready to adj
init, yet L think those energetic men
who are prospecting might still do be-
tier If all those losses which neglect
brings upon them, were avoided by
small investments Of time aud
money, so invested as to stop some
or all of those small leaks which are
continually carrying away the
profits. A yearly account of loss
sustained by n farmer of the class
previously spoken of, in many cases,
would present in the aggregate some
thing like this:
Loss during the year 1870, 20 head OF pigs.
Cause: exposure to the weather ... $40 90
One horse, hooked by COW. w 95 90
One young calf, death by mule ............ 10 90
Amount OF manure wasted by not hauling
al the proper time. ....... . 80 90
Had grain destroyed by hogs getting
through the bars and holes in fences. So 90
Had one distempered colt die for want of
proper shelter. so 90
............. sac 90
De you say this Is too high an esti-
mate? Is it not larger in many
cases? Think over you w losses
Tor the year 1870. Could they not
have been prevented with proper
care? Are you able to stand such
losses every year? Are you able to
stand one-half or one~third of this if
you could do better? "Well, but"
says one, I'VE hav'nt the money to
make these preparations you speak of
for stock. We must wait awhile, till
we get something ahead" tell YOU,
gentlemen, you have waited too long
already, and just here is the secret of
your waiting. You like to have your
worth estimated by the number of
your fat cattle and your hogs, rather
than by the quality and the weight
OF them. One hundred and sixty
acres of land, with one hundred in
poor cultivation, is more charming
In your eye than one-half the
amount nicely fenced, under thor
ough cultivation. decorated at one
end with a neat little house among q
beautiful grove of soft naples and
evergreens. Thirty head of scrub
hogs that will weigh $50 lbs at eigh-
teen months, looks better i'm your
eyes than u dozen good feeders that
will weigh 800 lbs at 8 months. You
prefer hundred hens roosting in
the stable, and on the fences, to fifty
in a comfortable little house, where
they would give you plenty of eggs
all winter.
Now, gentlemen, just so long as
you put all your money that the sale
of your stock brings, into increasing
the numbers Of your herds, so long
will you have TO be pulled back by
these Nttte losses. Think over the
matter-see If you ale not loosing in
m way what you are gaining in
other. If you have twenty head of
cattle, sell enough to procure you
good stabling for the remainder. If
that horse, that has been such a
faithful servant to you, is standing in
the cold rains I'm manure up to his
ankles, sell off some of those colts
and build you "a barn. If your land
is yielding you, through the want of
thorough cultivation, but 33 bushels
OF corn per acre, sell one.half and
give the remainder the manure and
attention 1t needs, and make it yield
70 bushels per acre. Replace those
old bars with new gates; tear down
those old fences, and build them up
'hog-proof; beautify your homes with
nice trees of some kind. Because
you will not reap the reward of tree
planting in six months, do not hest
tate; If you are an old man they
will be a blessing to your children
If you have but a few years to live,
you may yet enjoy them If a young
man, they will increase your wealth