Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-03-19
Farm Talk.

Farm Talk.
To the Editor oftac Iatet,tyencer.
tsoping that . few thoughts about
farm management will not be amfss
to lay before your numerous readers,
Twill first speak
ABOUT FENCING.
; In travelling over the county, I
And many farms arc joiued together
with little or no cross fencing. Now,
10 say nothing about the amount Of
tims lost in travel, (and here let me
say that time is money, when used as
II should be), look at the loss in
pasiurage. Each acre, in proper cul-
.tivation, 10 worth one dollar to each
,and csery farmer, was his farm so
situated that he could use it at the
proper time, with suitable stock
whic.a every farmer conld and should
have. Admitting that my estimate
j. correct, how many thousand dol.
Lars would the farmers Of Lafayette
realize in the growth of stock in one
year? To ascertain, just fiud the
number of acres in cultivation, and
vou have the amount in dollars, and
II you are not willing to allo Y one
dollar per acre, take half of it and see
the amount of loss to the county.
The pasturage is certainly worth
something; put your own estimate
on it, and add up and see the amount
oftoss. But, says one, 81 can't cross
fence; l am not able" How long
would it take to pay for all the fence
YOU need at one dollar per acre to
say nothing about the convenience
and the bushels of grain saved by
ksepiug your stock out o:your crop
and in some cases your neighbor's
stock gets in by accident. Many
bushels of grain are lost in this way.
All that 10 clear loss to tho farmer,
and often much damage is done in
that way. Now, at the above rate, ii
would not be long till you would
have all your fence paid for; after
which you would bcgiu to realize the
profit.
Many of us, + might say almost ali
ofus, neglect to prepare the necessary
fuELTER AND BEDDING FOR OUR
STOCK,
T., keep them out of bad weather !:
consequently it takes onc-third more
feed during the winter, and our stock
isnot worth as much in the spring.
perhaps by one-fourth. Here is u great
] hss. and all of us could procure tenn
J orary shelter if We would. if moth
ing more. Another thing is, mauy
of our farmers, when they thresh
their grain, burn all their straw,
which should never be done, but it
should be stacked in soma convenient
place on the farm, SO it could be
fenced, Unnecessary, where your stock
can go to it all winter, by day or
By night. With q little trouble you
could make a good shelter for all your
stock, and keep them out ofthe bleak,
cold winds, SHOWS and sleets. Sleets
are very hurtful to stock, and VIC
should keep them out of it by all
means. In this way we will save an
amount of manure. This is a thing
much neglected, and there is nothing
that will pay as well for the time
occupied, as
SAVING AND SCATTERING MANURE
don't care how rich your land is,
say again, that nothing you can dc
on a farm, will pay as we'll for the
time, as 10 saw aud scatter manure
on it. If you have not scattered you.
manure, the ooncr you do il the
better. The time is at hand for far
mers to he ready to commence
SPRING WORK.
Let every farmer see that he has til,
necessary tools, and that they are ii
good order, and then he will lose NJ
time in good weather for blowing, OF
any other work, to hunt up his tool
or take them to the smith or carpen
Ter. do not tell you this becaus,
yoh do not know it, but because yo,
do, and to encourage you to be NOR
energetic. You s .ou!d have q plac
Tor everything, and sec that every
thing is in it's place ; then when wor
time comes, there will be no tim
lost hunting up your tools.
DURING TIE WINTER,
while we are feeding our stock, is
good time to select seed corn. BY S
doing, we can get the very best 70
seed, then when we get ready to plan
we loose no time in searching and n
searching, 10 get our seed corn; plan
ing is o busy time, and if we have t
getour seed, VIC are in suchsa hurr
We seldom get the best corn fo
want Of time.
Let me travel as often ms 1 NAV, an
] have travelled over LAFAYETTE an
adjoining counties considerably in I'll
last five years, l am always looking
the improvements of each and eve.
farm ! pass, to see tho condition IL
in, and to see the convenienccs, Il
time and labor saving fixtures, &
When we are
III IMPROVING A FARM,
We should have our plans we'll lai
and make everything for convcnicn
aud comfort, SO that we will II
. have 10 pull down and rebuild. r.
first farm l ever improved was
heavy timber. no roads, and only O.
erials track across the land. L q
iesied my building site and col
inenced clearing some distance of,
that my fence, running straight o
WOULD take In just what I wanted
he In my yard ; In short. 7 cor.;o5 -