Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-06-30
Agriculture East and West.
Western Farm Journal.

The western farmer who cultivates
his sell ordinarily well, and who has
never visited the east with a view to
inquire into the systems of farming
here, upon seeing the manner Of work
ing the land east Of the Alleganies,
will 60 home thoroughly content
with the West, and thereafter will be
prepared to successfully combat the
assertion, too often made in the west,
that our system of farming is sloven-
ly. We haye been pretty well con
versant in years past, with the systems
of farming in the east, and the pains
taking necessary to secure a crop
AS . rule the fields are small, the land
must be manured, and worked in the
most thorough manner possible i'll
order to succeed in getting a crop
that shall pay for the labor and cx-
pense in making it.
We asked a New Jersey farmer,
and one well to do, how much corn
he had planted this season. "Well,"
said he, 81 have rather more than
usual this year-about twelve acres;
l generally plant only eight or ten."
elbow much corn do you expect to
get per acre?"
"About eighty to one hundred
bushels of ears-equal to forty to
fifty bushels Of shelled corn"
Upon asking for the process of fit
ting the ground and tending, he re-
piled that as much manure was ap-
piled as could be spared; the ground
was narrowed, marked with one
horse pillow, planted by hand, covered
with hoe, and generally some spec
ial fertilizer is used in the hill.
The cultivation Is usually by means
of a one-horse implement, and it is
hoed by hand, always once, and some
times twice.
"Now," said he, "what is the sys-
tenn west?"
"Oh," we replied, eve pillow the
land, harrow, plant with machine
that plants and covers two rows at a
time. The corn is narrowed once,
sometimes twice, if the weeds show
themselves before the corn comes up.
1t is then tended with a two-horse
cultivator, and generally husked in
the hill"
"But," SAID he, how do you keep
weeds from growing in the hill?"
"By working the pillow thoroughly
while it is young" we replied; re-
minding him at the same time that it
was not usual to manure corn land in
the west, and therefore weeds grow
no stronger in the hill than anywhere
else.
"Ah," he replied, " that seems a
slovcnly way to farm"
"Not at ALL" we replied, "you for
get that we have no stones nor
stumps, nor anything that will inter
fere with the continuous working of
machines. We can make a crop of
corn for about one and quarter days
work per acre of man and team"
This seemed to him incredible,
and after we had explained the pro-
cess he could not then understand,
but at last said:
"My corn has always cost me all it
was worth, but one always likes to
raise what they feed. think in the
future I will let you Western men
raise my corn for me, and l will turn
my attention to something that pays
better"
"Grass and hay, for instance" we
suggested.
"That Is just it," he replied; 81 get
more net money for my hay than any
other crop | raise"
Here is just the point. The West
is gradually forcing Eastern farmers
to change their crops for cultivation
just as the opening Of direct railroad
lines into the South has caused gar
deners both East and West to change
the crops formerly grown under 6 lass
to those Of a more perishable nature
and which will not bear long trans
portation, and depend more largely
upon special crops than formerly
and those who have appreciated this
have made the most money. Manure
they must have; and to get manure
they must feed stock. If they get
the manure clear they are so much
ahead. They do, indeed, spend large
sums for concentrated commercial
manures, but are finding that these,
if used alone, soon carry the soil,
through their stimulating effects, to
infertility. We were shown the re-
mains of pile of manure for which
our New Jersey farmer had paid
thirty dollars a car load. Now,
while this proposition of feeding cat
tie will apply to the East, it will APP
ply with fully as much force to the
West. Our farmers are beginning
to appreciate this fact more and
more, year by year. Nevertheless, the
West will, for years to come, raise
more corn than she can consume
Until such time as she can consume
it at home, the East may draw on our
granaries for material to fattcn their
surplus stock. When that fails them,
they must adopt to still greater de.
gree than now, the English system
of raising largely of roots, which,
while they fatten stock, add to the
manure pile, and bring the soil year
after year into the finest possible filth
This exceeding filth, after all, is the
key which unlocks the storehouse OF
wealth in the soil, and renders con.
tinuously large crops possible.