The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1874-08-13
Prepare for Good Farming.

In the older settled portions of the
West we are in the transition state in re-
gard to farming. We are no longer pio-
neers, dwelling on the borders of civil
cation, living on isolated farms surround
ed by unfenced prairies. The land about
our farms no more belongs to spectators
who hold it for rise, nor does it form a
part of the great national domain, open
to entry. We no longer pasture our
stock or cut hay on land of which no one
knows the rightful owner. We are no
longer q semi-pastoral people, herding
stock on uninclosed land, but raising
crops on soil of which we are the owners
in fee simple We have outlived the or
der of things common to q new country,
inhabited by "squatter. sovereigns," and
are entering the era of settled life known
in the older portions Of the country. This
new order of things calls for change in
calculations, in management, and in
farm economy.
Many who read this article obtained
their farms at the Government price of
land, 41.25 per acre. For years they
used for grazing and hay-cutting an
amount of land equal to that which they
bought, rent free. In some instances
they obtained their fuel on the land of
spectators. In old times to cut wood or
fencing on the land of Spectator was
not regarded as crime, but. as just
and merited punishment for the crime of
holding land to increase in value by the
industry of actual settlers. This land,
so cheaply bought, has increased in value,
some twenty, some fifty, some an hun
dred fold. The owners of these lands
have received, at least, q fair remunera-
ton for their industry. They have also
become well-to-do in the world, if not
wealthy. Hardly any class of men have
received so large an increase from so
small an investment of capital. No
stocks during q run of years have paid
as well as the money invested in prairie
lands.
But that which has happened in the
past is not likely to take place in the
future. Except in rare localities, land
has not risen in value since the warm
some sections it has decreased. For
legitimate farming purposes it may be
said to have reached its maximum value.
At least, it will not rise in value because
the property round it, unfenced and un-
improved, is rising: Farmers will not
continue to grow rich from what is so
often called the natural rise In property.
Az manu- uOuCy IA tAAC COSY SAAOy
must sell out the farms they now own,
go west, and commence life anew. In
many entire sections land is showing un-
mistakable marks of decreased fertility.
Instead of producing several crops OF
wheat in succession without manure, it
has not produced one paying crop even
with the aid of manure.
With lands no longer rising in value;
with no outside land to use for pasturage
or hay-cutting; with an additional crop
of weeds each year to keep in subsection !;
with decreasing fertility and rapidly-in-
creasing taxation, how is the farmer to
better his condition in the future? In NO
other way than by doing better farming
In the future than in the past. He must
make every acre of taxable land pay. It
must pay the taxes imposed upon it, and
pay interest on the investment. Other
wise the ownership of the land involves
. loss. To do this, bogs and marshes
must be drained, and all hitherto unpro-
ductive lands must be made to produce
at least crop of grass. Even the old
natural grasses must give place to better
varieties, both In the pasture and In the
meadows, while attention must be given
each year to sowing seeds on the land,
and to giving t0p-dressing Of barnyard
manure, plaster and ashes.
Again, barren fruit trees must not
cumber the ground, but be digged about
and made to produce crops, or rooted out
that new ones may take their places, An