Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-01-17
A Few Thoughts ut the Threshold Of
the Year.

VIC lCuIs
The commencement of a new year
is an appropriate time for men in all
lines of business-the farmer no less
than the merchant and mechanic-to
take calm survey of the field, and
profit by the lessons of experience
| which the past year has brought. To
this country it is the beginning of a
new century, and TIE time is suspicious
| for many men engaged in farming to
take a new departure. 1t will not be
questioned that up to this time the
| large majority of farmers have followed
system which results in the steady
depreciation Of the fertility of their
lands. They have farmed for the
present, with little thought of the flu
| ture, and another century of similar
management will result in fearful dis
aster to the agricultural classes, and
to the whole country as well. 1t de-
ponds upon farmers whether their
farms shall go up or down; whether
| the process of exhaustion shall pro-
coed, or a policy be adopted which
shall arrest this gradual deterioration
and improve the land 1t is hardly
necessary to say that, as rule, the
income from the farm decreases in
the ratio of decrease in fertility,
and therefore the farmer who fails to
cultivate so as to keep his land from
being exhausted is decreasing his own
income. The value Of land, as in the
case OF other property, depends on the
income it yields, and if it is permitted
to run down, it is only a question Of
time when it will not pay for cultiva-
ton. The WORKOUT lands of some of
warning evidences of these truths, and
appeal to the judgment and common
sense of men to employ better meth
DDS in the cultivation of their farms.
1t is an opportune moment for new
departure on the part of our agricul-
tural friends throughout the country.
They can, if they will, signaliZe the
threshold of our second century by the
inauguration of policy which shall
mark an era in better farming, and
revolutionize the system now SO gen
orally in vogue of a gradual exhaustion
of the soil.
The cost Of producing various crops
is another matter deserving more at
tention from farmers generally than it
receives. In the economy of farm
management the ways and means of
lessening the cost of production, and
at the same time increasing the yield
and quality of the product, do not re-
ceive the consideration which their
importance demands. In fact, it is
hardly too much to say that this is an
infirmity which is almost universal
among farmers, where lands are good.
Here is the keynote of success.
There are various other points of
inquiry which suggest themselves as
deserving of the special attention of
our friends, and which will repay in
vestigation. 1t is well to look back
over the season and give its peculiari-
ties and results a thoughtful consider
alton. It's lessons are suggestive and
useful, and may be studied with profit.
The best system of husbandry for a
particular section, the highest o-sible
yield of product per acre under judi
cious system of tillage, the improve
ment of existing varieties of cereals
with regard to quantity, quality,
weight, and early maturity, the pro-
duction of new varieties, the needs of
certain soils, the breeding and care OF
domestic animals, the feeding of ami
mails with reference to increasing the
quantity of beef, pork and mutton. the
cultivation of grasses suited to various
ATTITUDES, these, and many other sub
jects, are problems which may well
challenge the best thought of the farm
ing class at this particular time. when
farmers generally have leisure to think
of them. - Western Rural