Sharp County record., 1877-09-07
FARMING BY CONTRACT.
\ New system of Farming i'm Central Kan
sas-Nheat-FicldS of Four Thousand
Acres Morkeh ON Contract.


Acres Worked on Contract.
Letter from Abilene to the Chicago Tribune. ]
/ The readers of the IribURc will doubt
less be surprised at the statement that
there is place in the United States
where farming is done on the same plan
as here in Dickinson County, Kan, and
where, except in California, it is done
on so large Il scale. The popularity of
the country consists in what is called
the contract SyStem'-that is, where
the owner of the land hires all his work
done by the acre, the man who does the
work furnishing his own teams and inn
plements. The plan was first tried by
Mr.. +. c. Henry in 1873, when he had
800 acres of prairie broke and put in
fall wheat. 1t was reaped in 1874,
yielding nineteen bushels per acre. The
same land, with 700 acres more, was
SOwn in the fall of "A, making the great
1,20O-acre fenCeless wheat-held that was
so much written and talked about at
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 1000
acres, all of which was done ON the same
plan. Many others have gone to work
on the same system, farming to wheat
from 500 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 it as
nearly as | can. We will take the bare
prairie to start with. 1t costs 81 80 an
acre to get it plowed the first time; say
S1.25 for seed, and 81 for narrowing
three times, which would mrke S4.75
per acre. An average crop is eighteen
bushels twill cost about $4 to harvest,
threSh and market it, or say 50 per acre
for all the expense connected with the
crOp-leavinga a net profit of $9per acre,
with eighteen bushels per acre, and the
price 81 per bushel. And your real in
vestment is only the expense of putting
in, or S4.75 per acre. The harvesting,
threShing and marketing can be paid
out of the crop itself. That is certainly
a good showing for land that can be
bought at S4 to $40 per acre, and the
yield in this country is Oftener over
eighteen bushels than under.
But the contract system has other ad-
vantages-public or social advantages |
may call them. 1t is not only very
profitable and easy way of farming
large bodies of land with comparatively
small capital, thus paying the large
landholder handsomely, but it is great
benefit to the smaller land owners and
poorer farmers. 1t gives them chance
to do some cash work. Cash is the thing
they need, and in this country, in ad-
dition to getting in their own small crops,
they can take contracts from the con-
tract farmers, and thus there is mutual
advantage. A great many people-in
fact majority-come to the West very
poor They have no money, and till
they raise crop they have a hard life.
Now, with few of the large contract
farmers in a neighborhood, it is very
different. The new comers can "get
jobn at once. In May or June prairie
is to be broken and corn planted and
cultivated; then comes harvest, thresh-
ing, hauling, plowing for fall wheat,
drilling, narrowing, ETC., all of which is
cash work, and Godsend to hundreds
of the poorer class of emigrants.
When we consider the quality of the
land in Central Kansas, the price and
terms on which it can be bought, the
expense at which it can be worked, |
question whether there is another place
in the country which offers the same in
ducements to either rich or poor people
who think of changing their location. A
section of good land can be bought on
eleven years time if desired at from S4
to $40 per acre, according to distance
from railroad For $4,000 the whole
section can be broke and seeded to
wheat. If the crop is an average, it will
more than pay for both the labor and
the land the first year. IN manv cases
this has been done. A man having, say,
$4,000 or 5000, can easily purchase and
seed a section on the cont act system.
But if he takes a quarter or half section,
and, instead of having it all producing
something, improves sixty or eighty
acres each year, and puts his money in
teams and machinery, ETC., he will make
slow progress compared with the man
who owns nothing but his land and puts
all his money in crops. This method of
farming is also much facilitated by the
Herd law. Farms do not need to be
fenced here. The man who owns stock
is responsible for his stock, and part of
his responsibility is to keep it off his
neighbours crops. This is a great ad-