The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1879-11-20
Farm villages:

THERE are large sections of the terri
tory included in the United States that
are not adapted to general agriculture.
Colorado and several of the Territories
afford excellent grazing, but, owing to
the small rainfall or the broken char
acter of the land, general farming can
only be carried on in few favored To-
calities. Nearly all the territory along
the line of the Northern Pacific Rail-
road is We'll adapted to predicting small
grain in abtindante, as well as to gen.
eral stock raising; but for various
causes is not suited to the variety of
field and orchard crops that are pro-
duced further south and east: On this
account it seems likely that CONNER
cial rather than domestic farming will
be carried on there. Farmers will con-
duct operations on an extensive scale,
raising those crops that are adapted to
the soil and climate, and buying those
that are produced cheaper in other
parts of the world.
When large tracts of land are devoted
entirely to the production of grain it is
not necessary for the owners to reside
on them during the entire year. The
land is plowed in the fall, or early
spring, and the seed. is sown as soon as
possible. From this time there is
nothing to do in the field till the sea-
son for harvest, which lasts, at most,
but few weeks. Experience in Cali
fornia and Dakota has shown that
threshers propelled by steam are more
economical than those run by horse
power, since small proportion of the
straw is sufficient for fuel. In many
cases the grain is Immediately put on
board cars and sent to market. The
entire time devoted to field operations,
on farm exclusively devoted to grain,
is limited to about two months: There
is really no occasion for being on the
farm at all from the last of October till
the 1st of April.
Commercial farming calls for large
farms, and extensive farms result in
placing families at a most ihcontei1ient
distance from each other. Persons
living on a farm comprising several
thousand acres are virtually cut off
from all companionship. They can
avail themselves of the advantages of
churches and schools only by travelling
long distances. Common observation
shows that persons who live in compare
tive isolation become rude in their man.
ners and lack much of the refinement
they acquired while living in places
somewhat thickly inhabited: Some of
the sheep-farmers in remote portions
of Australia degenerate to such an ex-
tent that they are scarcely entitled to
be classed with civilized people. There
is nothing to stimulate them to improve
their condition. They lose all desire
for reading and study. They become
negligent of the proper care of their
persons, and altogether careless of
their clothing, language and manners.
In many portions of the old world
farmers live In villages and go to their
fields as occasion requires. The prac-
tice was doubtlessly commenced at a
time when it was necessary for con-
siderable number of people to live to-
gether for the purpose of affording
mutual protection. They continued to
live in villages, however, after the
danger of living in isolated houses had
passed, because it was found to be more
pleasant and convenient to do SO. A
very large proportion of the farmers in
Turkey, Hungary, Bohemia and Russia
live in villages, and the same is true of
smaller number of farmers in the
various countries in northern Europe.
The early French settlers in Canada
either established themselves in villages
or laid out their farms long and narrow
SO that the buildings erected along the
public road in front of their places con-
stituted a continuous village, often
many miles in extent.
Farmers may derive many advantages
from living in small villages that they
can not enjoy if they are scattered over
a large section of country. In a village
they can have good schools, churches,
libraries, reading-rooms, lectures and
public amusements without the expense
and Inconvenience of travelling long
distances over roads almost impossible
during large portion of the year. The
services of doctor, surgeon and
dentist, can also be secured without de-
lay. Every village is almost certain to
contain a grocer, dry-goods dealer, and
mechanics of various kinds. It will
also be able to support daily mail, a
post-office and telegraphic communica-
ton. In short. farmers who live in