The semi-weekly Republican. (St. Francisville, La.) 1872-1872, 1872-03-12
An Active Farmer.

Among the many farms it has beer
our pleasure to visit has been that O
Mr.. John Wheeler of Westbrook.-
He cultivntes two farms, one con
tanning $50 acress, and another three
quarters of a mile distant, contain.
ing n acres.
He cut from these two farms 18C
tons Of hay, 1900 bushels of ears o1
corn, 5000 bushels Of turnips, which
he sold for 25 cents per bushel, and
oats estimated at 1000 bushels. He
has cut 300 tons of hay a year. His
facilities for cutting and harvesting
hay are excellent. He prefers the
Clipper Mower, the Bullard Teddea
and the Bay State horserake. Tic
sometimes gets into the barn 50 loads
of hay in u day. He has 40 acres
seeded down to grass last year and
has 50 acres more to seed down the
coming spring. He husked and
housed his corn i'll 62 days from
planting, and the year before in GS
days. His hay cost him last year
SLIP per ton.
On the smallest farm of Is acres
he has sold during: {hree years for
cash, to the amount Of $4,000.
He goes into the raising of horses,
not as horse jockey who happens
to have a smart horse spends all his
time upon him, but as a legitimate
business. He now has Al lorses.-
Among them is a two yetr old weigh
ing 1925 pounds, from IL Drew and
English two from a Drew and Mes
sengcr two from a Morgan Mes
senyer, from Robert Bonner ; one
from Kentucky Chief one from
Harnbletonian and Morgan one af
ter Conlueror, a Percheron horse
and a Clyde +; one from Rysayk
Hambletonian and Messenger !; two
from Sherman slack Hawk, weigh
ing 400 pounds each one pair
from Gilbrcth Knox one pair heavy
Pennsylvania horses, one pair Nor
gans, one pair half blood Clydes,
one pair, pedigree unknown, one
Clyde Weighing LOO pounds. He
also has 30 head of cattle embrace
ing full blood Durilams, Jerseys half
bloods Of Devons and Ayrshiras.
He has only nine acres of pasture
i'll both farms. He keeps his stock
,op s,a,u,4,er .u,d winter. Feed, Lilo
cows on cut feed with cotton seed
and corn cob meal, and sells his milk
in the village.
The wonder comes how he raises
so much. The simple answer is an
abundance of manure. Go into his
stables ana you see an abundance of
plaster spreads over the stalls. He
keeps team hauling manure about
nine months in the year. He hauls
his manure into the field near where
it is to be used and composts it large
" with earth. He estimates that he
now has 5000 cords of manure stack
ed ND. This is stacked up and slloy-
elcd over three tir,as before using it.
Lie top dresses the whole farm i'm
mediately after having, the sooner
the better f[e raised 35 tons, by
weight, OF manso!d murzel on three
fourlhs OF an acre of land requiring
about $50 loads of manure, but he
has raised no grass on it to speak of
since. He thinks that tyarnips, heets
and sweet corn are too exi'austing
to the soil to be profitable. Flo feels
his moving grounds Immediately az
ter haying. He made q curiovs ma
chine ior breaking up the c!ois of
manure after it is spread, and the
same is better than Il roller in seed
ing down land. He buys refuse rags
at the paper mill for $50 per ton,
which he composts into excellent
manure. He paid $1,000 for rs
acres, and the gross income the first
year WAS $4,000.
Such are some of the statistics of
this farm. There are some of the
statistics Of this farm. There are no
rocks ON it and tue soil is Il strong
clay loan.
MI. Wheeler's history is a roman
tic one. A traveller in s. America,
living in Mexico when the Mexican
war broke out, went to California in
1850 with party Of forty persons,
he assembled Feather river to the
foot OF Mt. Shasta, where al but two
persisted ; had the smallpox among
the Indians, crossed the plains three
times, drove a stage and dug for
gold an traded horses in California,
was IN orderly in our late war under
Gen'l. Butler, lived three months
among the Aiormons, has had Il bro
ken hip, broken shoulder, had his
skull split open. q part of his ear
shot off, q stiietto, through his hand,
and how much more we do not
know, but he has passed through
this and much more, and is now hale
and hearty. He settles down a
good and Industrious citizen, and
shows what a man can do with man-
ure. He how has 400 bushels of