The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1877-07-27

4 New system of Farming I'm Central Kan
Wheat Fields Of Four Thousand
Acres Worked on Contract.

$500 f'' ~ NNffAW AAUHHfI
The readers of the TriJune will doubt
less be surprised AZ the statement tina
there Is a place in the United State
where farming is done on the same plal
as here IN Dickinson County, Kan, az,
where. except in California, II Il don.
on SO large "A scale. The peculiarly o
the country consists in what i Gale,
the I" contract systcm"-that Is, where
the owner Of the land hires all his work
done by the acre, the man who does Tho
work furnishing his own teams and i'm.
plements. The plan was first tried BY
Mr.. r. q. Henry in 1873, when he had
900 acres Of prairie broke and put in
fall wheat. II was rcaped in 1874,
yielding nineteen bushels per acre. The
same land, with 700 acres more. was
sown in the fall Of IA, making the great
l~,2OO-acrc fenceless wheat-field that was
50 much written and talked about al
that time, being, | believe, the largest
field Of wheat raised anywhere east Of
the Rocky Mountains up To that time.
This year Mr.. ii. has in about 1900
acres, all Of which was done on the same
plan. Many others have gone to work
on the same system, farming to wheat
from 800 to 5000 acres this year. The
wheat is just beginning to ripen. and If
harvested safely will be much the best
yield and much the largest acreage ever
harvested in this county. And the
amount Of ground now being prepared
for fall seeding indicates that the acre
age next year will far exceed this.
Many Of the readers Of the Tribune
would like to know the profits OF this
method Of farming. ! will give ii AZ
nearly rs | can. We will take the bare
prairie 70 start with. Ii costs 81. 80 ain
acre 70 get il plowed the first time: saw
Sl.2j for seed. and - for narrowing
three times, which would mrke SAB
per acre. An average crop is eighteen
bushels. twill cost about "a 10 harvest.
thrcsh and market il. or say - per acre
for all the expense connected with the
crop-leaying a net profit Of - per acre,
with eighteen bushels per acre, and the
price ~ per bushel. And your real in
vestment is only the expense Of putting
in, or $40 per acre. The harvesting,
threshing and marketing can be paid
Of the crop itself. That is certainly
a good showing for land that can be
bought AT "a 10 $40 per acre, and the
yield ia this country Is ~oftener over
eighteen bushels than under.
but the contract system has other adj
vantages public or social advantages |
may call them. Ii is not only d very
profitable and easy way OF farming
bodies Of lend with comparatively
small capital. thus paying The large
landholdcr handsomely. bnt ii Is 4 great
benefit 70 the smaller land owners and
farmers. II gives them i chance
az do some cash work. Cash Is the thing
they need, and IN this country. in adj
iltion to getting IN their own small crops,
They take contracts from the con-
traci farmers, and thus there Il mutual
advantage. A great many people lin
Iaci a majority come ~ the West VERY
poor. They have No money. and till
hey raise a crop they have a hard life.
Now, with y few ~ the large contract
ii Il nei1hbnrhood, It i very
iifcrent. The new corners can "gct 4
oh" At once. ia May Or june prairie
\ @ be- broken and corn planted aud
cultivated; then comes harvest. threSh-
ne, hauling, blowing for fall wheat,
irilling. narrowing, etc. All Of which Is
ash work, and. a Godsend 10 hundreds
a the poorer class If em%igrants.
When we consider the quality If The
and in Central Kansas. The price and
on which il can be bought. the
al which il can be worked. |
question whether there i another place
n the country which offers the same in
luccments 70 either rich or poor people
Who think Of changing their location. A
of good land can be bought on
lcyen years time If desired 1T from -
. $40 per acre. according u distance
railroad. For 5000 the whole
can be broke and seeded to
Fheat. Ii the crop i an average, il viii
more than pay for both the labor aud
he land the first year. III maly cases
1iS has bean donc. A man having. say.
1000 or $1,000, can easily purchase and
eed a section on the cont act system.
IL lac takes 4 quarteror hall section.
nd. instead ~ having il all producing
Omething, improves sixty or eighty
ores each year, and puts his money III
cams and machinery. etc. he will make
progress compared with the man
rho owns nothing but his land and puts
his money In crops. This method III
j. also much facilitated hy the
Icrd law. Farms do noi need io be
here. The man who owns stock
+, responsible for his stock, aud part Of
j. responsibility l. To keep II or his
.eighbor's crops. This l. a great adj
antage ~ 4 new country All the
money and time that would otherwise
70 he spent in fencing can now be
cvoted ~ buying more land ana Ia cul-
And Il costs for herding but
tithe ~ what fencing would cost. In
ict, All the stock IL this county l. Rot
fcrih what Il would take 10 fence the
that are now growing without an