Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1872-07-12
Mnste In Farming.

waste In FArmlngs
Nor less than twenty per cent. Of the
entire capital employed IL farming in
this codntry is wasted, This is a low
estimate, for on many farms the amount
of waste is more than double the sum
named. Perhaps the scarcity and high
price Of labor in a few localities may be
considered d, Reasonable excuse for this
loss but we hold that no man should un-
dertake more than he can accomplish
without waste. The first and most pro
life source of waste can readily be traced
TO large farms, as nine out of every ten of
our farmers own or undertake to work
twice as much land as they are able to
with any sort of credit or profit to them
selves or otbera,
in spring more corn, potatoes, and
other crops requiring culture during the
period of growth, are put in than can be
attended to, and the results are that hay
ing and harvesting of grain crowd upon
the hoeing, and waste occurs on all sides.
Scarcity of labor is always put forward
as an excuse for this waste, but the farmer
was well aware that he could not obtain
the required amount long before his crops
were put into the ground, and should
| have known just how many men were
|
certain number of acres of any particular
crop We are not disposed to excuse a
man for waste on the score of ignorance,
especially in farming, because the busi-
ness is one well understood.
! Contrary to the general idea, we believe
that the curse of American agriculture is
| cheap lands, producing low standard of
| farming, and encouraging "A grasping dis
position to possess broad acres, with a
corresponding neglect of the saTe when
once they are obtained. The first thought
of the farmer or his sons is, how much
| land can purchase, not how much will
my capital permit me to buy and improvep
In ninety.nine cases out of every hundred,
a man puts his entire capital into land,
| and then runs in debt for a few acres
more, reserviDg nothing with which to
make improvements or purchase stock.
A merchant " no would put his entire cap
| ital into building, and leave himself no
capital with which to commence trade,
would not deserve pity if he did fail in
business and yet this is just what ma
jority of our farmers have been and are
still doing. The result of such system
is a slavish life for term Of years IN or
der to procure stock, implements, barns,
and, finally, a comfortable house for the
wife and family. If the wife and some of
the older children are killed by hard work
it is put down as a "dispensation of
Providence" and the poor farmer is con.
soled by his neighbors by being told to
"bow to the will of God" and marry
again.
Now there is but one way to remedy
this widespread evil, and that is to own
less land; make it produce better crops,
and thereby prevent a waste of time and
Il. IL
than one-half his capital into land, nc
matter how much or how little he may
have. We can offer no better proof oi
this widespread evil of owning more lane
than can be judiciously cultivated than
the average yield of any of our principa
farm products. The average yield Of
corn, for instance, in some of the Middle
and Southern States is not above ter
bushels per acre, and in Illinois seldom
above twenty while those farmers who
plant only on good, rich land, and attenC
to the culture, in these same localities
obtain from fifty to one hundred bushels
per acre. These results prove conclusive
ly that thousands of acres are annually
, planted with this grain, and the labor eX
pended thereon is almost, if not entirely
wasted. The same is true in regard Il
all kinds of grain cultivated in this coun
try. A man starts out in spring to plan
twenty acres of corn, when really he la
not sufficient help to put in ten, and tn
result is a very small return for the labo
expended, and less corn than would hav
( been obtained upon ten acres with seventy
c five per cent. of the capital eXpende,
thereon. Manure is wasted by bein
spread so thinly over large surface O
ground that the benefit Is scarcely to b
perceived, while if less area received tn
entire amount it would not only Drln
l. immediate and a large increase in til
+ crop grown, but be permanently enriched
< We frequently bear the old story Q
uhfavorable weather, and that the whea
suffers for want of, or a superabundanc
of, moisture, which means simply tina
the soil has been hurricdly prepared fo
{ the reception of the seed, being neithe
. worked deep, subsoiled, under-drained
= nor otherwise put in a proper conditio
a to insure good crop, in favorable o
+ unfayorable seasons Meadows and pa
n lures fail from the same cause, and cl
Y mate comes in for all the blame. If Ian
S owners could be persuaded to sell one
t half their real estate, and eXpend tn
4 amount obtained on the other half, the
+ might obtain greater profits and nor
c leisure hours. Money and labor al
1 wasted in fearful amounts upon poo
Y stock and cheap implements, as well q
upon poor lands and light crops of grair
. in fact, we are a nation of spendthrift;
A although few are willing to confess it i
/ their own case, but can readily see this
some neighbor is sailing in the boat W
n have described.-NeU York Sun.