The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1872-09-13
Diversity Of Farm Crops.

Ii is fault too common with farm
ers, that they confine their efforts to s
single crop, and rely upon the profit,
therefrom as their only farming income
for the year. This is certainiy A mis-.
taken policy. A diversity of crops il
as desirable in any view we may take
of it, as that one should keep a VARIETY
OF animals upon farm. No farmer
would feel that he was acting upon a
sound principle of domestic economy.
having ample feed for the whole wear.
should he neglect to keep few cows.
ana confine himself wholly to the rails
ing Of horses, merely because he pre-
fers horses to do the work of the farm,
Nor with an abundance of food in the
gleanings from the grain field, should
he neglect to keep a few hogs, or from
the small grain and screenings of the
tanning mill, to keep a few fowls it
would be greatly to his comfort and
convenience besides the immediate
effect upon his pocket, to have these
MINOR sources of income at his COM
mand, and almost every farmer does
cndeavOr to avail himself of them.
In every respect it is as necessary to
has thrift and convenience that he pro-
duce variety of grain crops and veg
etabies. Every large, and very many
small farmers, keep more or less farm
laDorers through the year, whose time
might as well be occupied upon
variety Of crops as only one, with o
result that would tell at the end Of the
year. 1t is impossible that q wheat,
barley, or oat crop, or all these together
can keep the farmer actively and
profitable busy the whole year; yet
to make farming profitable in the high
est degree, it is absolutely necessary
that his whole time, or that of his Ia
borers should be So employed.
There is really nothing to prevent
the cultivation of this variety of crops
the seed for the small grain crop is all
in the ground before the time for plow-
ing and for sowing field peas or plant
ing potatoes, rutabages and beets, and |
these again are finished up before the
time OF corn planting arrives, with its |
time honOred accomplishments of
melons, pumpkins and squashes, to
which should be added all the concom-
ltanfs of the vegetable garden.
In running an engine or thrashing |
machine, the great point to make is, |
that 1t be all the time going, except |
When II is necessary to Oil up and SO
with farm the labor employed must
be kept moving, doing something, and
during spring time let that something
be the rushing in of seed of every
variety that the soil is suited for.
Then the season Of Harvesting begins,
and is as constant as was the seeding
time and yet in hardly any instance
will it be found that the harvesting of
one crop interferes with another, and
at the end Of the year the farmer who
pursues this policy will find himself
with one or more Of those he has cul-
tivated, bringing unusually high prices,
more than sufficient to compensate him
for his loss on one of his other crops.
or the lOwness of the market price of
either OF his great staple productions,
wheat, barley, oats or hay. The far
mer who relies for success upon single
crop as a specially, be it wheat, barley,
hay, or silk growing, may in one year
perhaps, make fair showing Of profit,
or he may make so complete failure,
and having no other crop to fall back
upon. as to find himself greatly i'm ar
rears if not deeply embarrassed. The
only real security against this lies in an
annual diversity Of crops--Pacifc
Rural Press.