The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1874-11-13
waE FAE.SaING THAT Paws.

i A writer in the Dutchess Fa
ner on the above topic, remarks,
| The profit in agriculture, lib
the profit in other business, do
ponds on what they call in Wa
street "margin, and g very sma
one it is in farming, as in all SAT
and well-established industries
When we sold wool to the Bun
neis, many years ago, one of tn
firm told US that they had bee
making cloth without q profit, AM
when they found q waste OF abou
s cent 9 pound on their wool, An,
managed to avoid that waste, thei
business again became successful
A quarter of one per cent. receives
by broker, in q large finaneia
transaction, has made him q largt
fortune. And though in the linn
tied transactions of the manufac
turer and farmer, so small q per
centage would not avail much, il
is certain that the fortune of the
farmer, not less than of the mer
chant and manufactures, lie made
mp of the small net profits of his
business, accumulated by many
years of labor and carefulnees
This net profit is SO small that il
is liable to be impaired by any tri-
fling error in management, or lack
Of force. Any serious defect in
management, or any great degree
of slackness will spoil the profit
altogether. There are SO many
things to be well done in order to
succeed, that it is not strange that
so many fail. When every part of
farming is well done, there is no
mistake about the profit.
All of which is true enough and
we'll put. To do everything well
and with the best economy, to add
to the moderate profits realized
from other kinds of produce will
produce an aggregate result which
will rarely fail to be in favor of
the farmers pocket. And it is be-
cause so many do not do this,
that so many are complaining that
the farm does not pay. And
among all the little leaks upon the
farm, which added together make
q big leak, we believe the most Sc
rious will be found in the manage
ment, or rather want of manage
ment, of live stocks seen on many
farms. Something is made upon
the corn crop, there has bee n a
good hay crop saved, the growth
of grass in the pastures has been
all that any one could have desir-
ed-and SO far all the conditions
for a successful issue of a years
work are present. But there is
maintained upon the farm . GER
tain proportion of stock which
consumes the grass in the pas
lures, and a portion of the hay and
grain in the barns (if there are
any barns). With stock of prop
er character, the farmer would get
a good price for the pastnrage, q
good price for the hay and grain
by which it was supplemented, and
make a handsome profit above its
cost Of production, upon his stock,
which would leave him in a thriV-
ing, prosperous condition. How
ever, upon many farms the stock
is of very bad character, it eats
up the grass in the pastures with
out gaining enough to pay for the
grass, and when it comes to the
stable and it is a question of put
ting on SO many pounds more
weight of flesh, more hay and grain
are required than the increased
weight is worth. As o result, the
farmer gets little or no returns for
his pasture land, and his scrub
stock eats up very large share of
the profits realized by the farmer
on his hay and grain crops.
Of course such farmers declare
the farm does not pay. But it is
too seldom the case that they ask
the question, "Why
does it fail to pay?" If they
would ask themselves this ques-
ton, and then consider the cost of
this scrub stock, and what
they get for it, they would not fail
to perceive one Of the reasons why
their farm does not pay. How old
must q scrub be before it is sold?
how many acres of pasturage must
be surrendered to it each summer,
and what is fair rate Of interest
on the land? how much grain and
hay will be consumed during each
winter and what is this worth?
how much is it worth, aside from
feed, to care for an animal during
the time this one is maturing?
These and other inquiries, when
answered in figures, will show that
the scrub stock on the farm costs
more than it sells for. 1t is not
necessary to ask whether the i'm
proved stock will do any better
il the scrub stock will not pay its
way, common prudence will de-
mand that it be discarded. That
cannot be kept with profit, then try
something else. Aud when the
farmer has tried improved stock,
he can answer for himself the
question as to whether it pays.
But because he has not tried it,
and for that reason does not know
that it can be handled profitably,
is no reason why he should keep
scrub stock on the farm after he
knows it does not pay.-National
Ii 7e Stock Journal.