Brenham weekly banner. [volume] (Brenham, Tex.) 1877-1907, 1879-01-10
Home and Farm.
Tendency 20 Large Farms.

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Tendency 20 Large Farms.
In his able address before the
Wisconsin Agricultural Society
published in last weeks issue,
Mr.. Doolittle spoke Of some of
the great farm estates in this
country-tkat of Mr.. Dalyrim-
pie in Dakota, and that of Mr..
Maxwell ia New Mexico. The
first contains one hundred thous-
and acres, thirtsen thousand of
which was in wheat the present
season, producing not less than
three hundred and twenty-five
thousand bushels. The Max
well estate is vastly larger, en-
bracing as much land as an
average western county. In
California a very large proper
ton of all the land available for
general agriculture is in the
hands of comparatively few in
dividuals. The like is true of
the grazing territory in Texas
and Colorado. In fact, in all
the western counties and Terri
tories, capitalists are securing
large bodies of land and con-
verting them into wheat fields.
or pastures. For a number of
years one farmer in Illinois
managed twenty-seven thous-
and acres Of land, alarge pro-
portion Of it being in corn. 1t
was started that he raised corn
enough in one season to supply
al the inhabitants of Massachu-
sets.
A Chicago gentleman, who
has spent the summer travelling
among farmers in the east, states
that small farms are fast being
absorbed by the largereal estate
owners. The owners of the
small farms are selling out and
moving west, where they can
get more land. In all the pros
porous dairy regions the num-
Der OF farms are diminishing
the ike is true of localities where
tobacco and hops are the Lead
ing crops. Even in Vermont
he found that the farms were
growing larger by annual acces-
sions. In the quaint language
Of the old adage:: The big fish
are eating up. the little ones"
Many prosperous farmers loan
cd money at a high rates ofin-
terest at times when the curren-
cy was inflated to small farmers
who wished to make improve
meots,s and the result was that
they look the farms, on which
they had a mortgage. During
the era of speculation, before
the panic, many small farmers
sought to make money in out
side business, because embar-l
raised, and were Obliged to give
up their place. "Ten per cent,
draws hard,7 especially on far
mers who borrowed paper mon
cy and are obliged TO pay it in
gold.
Another, and possibly the
leading cause of the increase of
The size of the farms, is the sub
stitution of machinery for man
uai labor. It is not practical
for one man to superintend sew
eral thousand acres of land cul-
sivated by laborers using hand
tools, though he may do it on
an estate supplied with labor
saving machines
There. is now every appear
a;iee that agriculture, as far as
the production of the great
sfanlps Is concerned will mass
through the same change that
Manufactures did on the intro
duction Of labor saving ma
chimes. The spinningjenny and
the power-loom crowded out
The hand-wheel, the distaff and
the hand-lcom. Occasionally I
the latter may be found to-day, |
but that cannot successfully
compete with the former. When
ingenuity has fashioned steam !
pillow which viii work as sue
cessfully as the steam thresller,
a stop win be put to the prof.
table production of corn, grain,
potatoes and cotton by means
Of Implements drawn by ami
mails, or tools handled by men.
Capitalists will engage in farm
ing as they now do in manufac-
turing cotton cloth, once made
entirely by hand. As one wo-
man now produces more cotton
cloth by she use of machines
han a hundred women did by
drawing ont the threads by hand /
md fastening them by means of 1
! hand-thrown shuttle and a
Eoot-rnoving treadlc, SO one man I
by the use of implements pro- :
pelled with the speed and :
strength which steam power is
;apable Of producing, may in no I
distant future produce more
sotton as well as more corn, {
grain, potatoes and tobacco than s
i hundred men did in the days '
# the not distant past, when the {
'oil was turned by wooden :
,lowshare drawn by slow-mov-
ng oxen, sown with grain taken
rom a bag hung from the Shout
Ter, the crop being harvested :
" the sickle, threshed by a t
land-faiI, and winnowed by the {
'assing breeze. Nothing is t
wanted bat a new motor to I
agriculture, and a
he discovery Of it may render !