Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-04-18
What Shall We Cultivate!


THIS is a question that is puzZling many
a farmer this spring. Perhaps the crops
grown last year did not command remu-
nerative price, and there is much specula-
| ton as to what changes are necessary To
produce better result in the cash receipts
of the farm the present season. 1t is GER
tainly a safe plan to look ahead and make
calculations as to what kind of crops one
can cultivate with profit, but 1t is not best
to change too often; for an article that
sells at a low price one year is very likely
| to advance the next, simply because thou
sands will cease cultivating it when it is
cheap and commence again when it is
dear, A man who is wise enough to take
advantage of the vacillatng habits Of his
fellow man, is the one always in market
with large crop when there is a scarcity
and prices are correspondingly high.
There are three distinct classes of agri-
culturists found in every community,
First, those who pursue a steady, systemat-
ic course, always raising the staple crops
best suited to their soil and climate, never
varying the quantity or quality, no matter
how great the fluctuations in price. They
win when high prices rule, and perhaps
lose little when they are low. But in the
long run we thing this class is the most
prosperous. We have known farmers to
cultivate a certain number of acres each
year with particular kind of crop, and
not to vary the quantity more than an acre
or two in twenty years, and this proved to
be profitable system.
Secondly, those who watch the markets
throughout the country and make changes
as often as it appears to be advisable.
When certain products are very low in
nsrtt, to
enough will cease to raise them to send
up the price. An overstock of beans,
onions, cabbages or other vegetables, or
of grain, is hint that there will be a
scarcity the following year. A man who
does not visit the markets or read an agri-
cultural paper need not attempt to become
one of this small class of prosperous
farmers.
But the most numerous class we place
as our third, which includes the many
thousands who are always undecided what
to do, but continually change from one
thing to another. This year they believe
sheep will be more profitable than cows,
and change is made and a good flock
secured by the time wool and mutton are
down TO zero in the market. Then next
year they go back to the cows and butter
or cheese making just in time to find wool
up and dairy products low They are the
unlucky part of the human race, and are
always swindled by middlemen, as they
call those who purchase their products
We hope there are none of this class
among the readers of the Weekly Sun; but
If there are we ask them to look back a
few years and see how many mistakes
have been made by shifting about from
one thing to another Notice the fluctua.
tions in the price of all the products of the
farm Wool has been up and down in
price, and so have beef pork, and all
kinds of grain, within the past ten years;
but If the ruling price Of any one Of these
articles is taken for the whole time, the
average, we think, will be quite satisfac-
tory TO the producer. There is no good
reason known why this will not be the
case for the next ten years, and we think
any man who will make out plan for
that length Of time and stick to II will be
far more likely to prosper than If he
waits, Micawber-like, for something to
! turn up whereby he can make fortune,