The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1873-07-23
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Waste in Farming.

ing In this country, says the New
York Sur, is wasted This is a lo7
estimate, for on many farms the
amount Of waste is more thar
double the suE1 named. Perhaps
the scarcity and high price Of labor
in a few localities may be considered
q reasonable excuse for this loss, but
we hold' that no man should under
take more than he can accomplish
without waste. The first and most
prolific source of waste can readily
be traced to large farms, as nine ont
of every ten of our farmers own or
undertake. to work twice IS much
land as they are able to, with any
sort Of credit and profit to them
selves or others.
In Spring, more corn, potatoes,
and other crops requiring culture du-
ring the period Of growth, are put in
than can be attended to and the re-
suits are that haying 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 OBJ
tain the required amount long before
his crops were put into the ground,
and should have known just how
many men were required to take
care Of and harvest any certain num-
Der Of any particular crop. We are
not disposed to excuse a man for
waste on the score of ignorance, es-
Pecially in farming, because the bus
mess is one we'll understood.
Contrary to the general idea, we
believe that the curse of American
agriculture is cheap lands, producing
low standard of farming, and en-
eouraging a grasping disposition to
possess broad acres, with a cores
bonding neglect Of the same when
once they are obtained. The first
thought Of the farmer or his sons is,
how much land can purchase? not,
how much will nay capital permit me
to buy and improve? In ninety
mine cases out Of every hundred, a
man, puts his entire capital into land
and then runs in debt for q few acres
more, reserving nothing with which
TO make improvements or purchase
stock. A merchant who would put
his entire capital into q building, and
leARc himself no capital with which
20 commence trade, would not de
serFg pity il. he did fail in business
and ,get this is just what majority
of cur fsrEBars- have been and are
still doing. The result of sech a ;
system is skAgish life for a term Of
years in orylee 10 procure stock, i'm
plements, bans and, finally, q com
hoase for the wife and
family
Now thsre IS but one way to rem
edy this zidespread evil. and that is
to own less land ;. make it produce
better crops, and thereby prevent a !
waste of time and labor A man
shon3G never put more than one-half 6
7is capital into land, no matter how :
npeh or how little he may have :
We can offer no better proof of this :
evil Of owning more land
Than can be judiciously cultivated, :
bhan the average yield of any Of our :
farm products. The aver ;
age yield Of corn, for instance, in
some of the Middle and Southern
States, is not above ten bushels per !:
acre, and in Illinois seldom above !.
twenty; while those farmers who j
plant only on good, rich land, and
attend to the culture, in these same
localities, obtain from fifty to one
hundred bushels per acre. These
results prove conclusively that thous- !
ands of acres are annually planted :,
With this grain, and the labor ex-
pended thereon is almost, If not en-
,irely, wasted. The same is true in !,
'egard to all kinds Of grain cultiva- :
ed in this country. A man starts
'ut in the spring to plant twenty ;,
lcres of corn, when really he has not :,
ufficient help to put in ten, and the !,
esult is q very small return for the :
abor expended. and less than would !,
ave been obtained upon ten acres, :.
With seventy-fve per cent. of the :,
apital expended thereon. Manure !
) wasted by being spread so thinly :,
'ver large surface of ground that :,
he benefit is scarcely to be per. q
eived, while if less area received =
he entire amount, it would not only g
ring immediate and large increase 3
n the crop grown, but be perma- =
emily enriched. :
We frequently hear the old story -
f unfavorable weather, and that the
Theat suffers for want, or supera
'undance Of moisture; which means
imply that the soil has been hur
ledly prepared for the reception of u
he seed, being neither worked deep, a.
under-drained, nor other. ty
wise put in a proper condition to in q,
ure a good crop, in favorable or I'M !.