Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-06-27
II Does not Pay.

Wherever we have good thing
for the Farmers we do not like to de-
lay in making it known to them, and
We shall undertake at this time to
show that farming on a large scale
ia more often failure than a sue
cess. By farming on large scale,
we mean trying to utilize more lana
than the farmer can attend to judi
c;ouslv with the time and means
which he has at his disposal. We
will first cite few facts Cleaned
from various sources, and let oul
friends draw their own conclusions.
The largest wheat producer in Call
fornia, or perhaps in the world, Is
DIR. H. J. Glenn, represented to 1c
. man of great energy. His farm rs
in Colusa county, and comprises
about sixty thousand acres, and
nearly all of it is s7able land. FOR
ty.fiye thousand acres are sown to
wheat this year. Now supposing
this to yield NO more than afrac-
ton of over twenty-five bushels to
the acre, the harvested crop will ag-
gregate one million bushels. For
this, the owner can easily realize
eishty-fve ceuts per bushel, or $780,
600. DR.. Glenn has been 'farming
for ten years, and it would natur-
ally be supposed that he might have
q small fortune placed to'his credit
in the banks that hold his deposits.
But this is far from being the true
state of the case. Those who are init
mately acquainted with him and his
affairs foot up his indebtedness at a
round million of dollars. TO recount
the circumstances that have caused
his embarrassment would only be to
repeat the old story OF failure OF
crops, injudicious management and
unwise ventures. Last year, his
crops failed and so did bis credit.
This year, he hopes to make good
both his cash account and credit.
OF course, time only can determine
what tho sequel will prove to be.
He is harrassed by creditors and
driven to desperation by debtors;
and to keep his business in opera
alton, he works harder with his
hands and brain than any one OF
his day laborers. Here is another
instance. The Dalrymple brothers,
# St. Paul Minnesota, were the larg-
eat wheat growers in the state, a
few years ago. Although their av-
erage crop, fer years together,
aetted nearly half million bushels,
their dekts got the start Of them
and now they are driven to the
wall. Still another case turns up
in California. Mr.. M. D. Reaves
OWNS modest farm of fifteen thou
sand acres on the borders of Colusa
and Butte counties. OF thie, he
has .sawn thirteen thousand acres to
wheat and is counting on thirty
bushels to the acre. And yet this
prinoey farmer is SO " hard pressed"
that he is paying large intereston
. couple of hundred thousand dollars
for the sake Of carrying on. his basi-
mesa. TIE instances we have cited
are the Legitimate resuEs of trying
to farm on high-toned scale.
We believe it is contrary to the laws
of God and nature for men to un-
dertake to till mere land than will
suffice to bread his family AID leave
him a reasonable surplus for his
neighbor VINO is a mechanic. Farm
ers in the NeE England States raise
large families and educate theirehild-
dren on forty acres. And it seems
to make Pacific coast farmer blush
to be forced to own that he has oalv
a few hundred acres Of land. Al
gentleman who has travelled exten-
sively through the agricultural die
triets of California, makes the fol-
lowing sensible remarks: eff farm
ers raising half million TO million
bushels of wheat cannot get out Of
debt, it might be we'll to inquire what
is the use Of having SO much land +?
The truth is that from tae frequent
failure of crops in California and the |
waste that attends Oh large opera
lions of that kind, farming on gi- !
tyantie scale in tbic por+ion re &ho I