The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1879-02-07
fartuers' Column.
"Speed the PlOsU."
Do Not Let the Farm Run Down.

The fertility of the soil is the farmers
capital; on this depends largely his sue
cess or failure, and his great anxiety should
be how best to keep 1t up to the highest
point, at the least expense. 1t is q well
known fact that it is much easier to keep
it up as we go along, than, after it has
been allowed to run down, to make spas
modic efforts to restore its former vigor.-
1t does not pay to raise small crops Of any
kind; medium crops may just pay ex-
penses, while that part of large crop
which is in excess of the medium crop, is
nearly all profit. Hence we know where
to look for our profit, and study to devise
the best means of enriching our lands at
the least expense. There are several ways
suggested. One man feeds stock another
plows clover under another buys CONNER
cial fertilizers. The western man uses up
all the fertility of the soil, and then goes
farther west to repeat the process. / have
| seen something of this system, having
known lands in Central Illinois which O
few years ago produced 100 bushels of ears
of corn, and which now produce but IS
bushels in a favorable season. They tell
us that this soil will never wear out Il
know of none that wears out quicker.
The same is the case in our eastern
States. The writer was on some New Eng
land farms some months ago, that had
once been the home of thrifty but IMPROVE
dent people. The life of the land was
gone; families were separated, and there
was dull prospect for a young man to be-
gin life on such an impoverished farm, 80
these bright boys from the New England
hill-sides seek other and more lucrative
avocations. They are full of energy and
vitality, Injured to the rigor of the climate,
and the rough, hard land. Agriculture
cannot afford to sacrifice such men. If
farmers wish to keep their sons at home,
they must keep up the fertility OF the soil.
Stock feeding is one of the most impor-
tant branches of farming, and requires
much judgment, care and attention. A
prominent man said that to be successful
with flowers you must love flowers, and 90
to he successful with stock you must love
stock. The venerable John Johnston once
told the writer that he owed his fortune
and reputation as farmer to one pile of
manure. While poor and in debt he
bought an adjoining 80 acres, on which
there was an old barnyard containing an
accumulation of % years. manure. He
found it to be mine of wealth. He ap-
piled it to his crops, which in turn gave
great returns, and this not only gave him
notoriety as good cultivator, but gave
him credit with monied men, who freely
rendered him all the funds he desired to
buy stock with. After securing an i'm
mense crop of corn, he fed it to stock and
made another great quantity of valuable
manure, and so on year after year, Mr.. J.
has fed thousands of sheep and vast num-
bers of cattle. 1t has been stated that in
IS years of sheep feeding, buying in the
fall and selling in the winter or spring, he
never but once failed in getting pay for his
feed, and a handsome profit on the invest
ment. This shows that his judgment
mus have been superior, and that the stock
had his personal and undivided attention.
A wealthy stock farmer in Pennsylvania
once told the writer that one drove of cat
tie will half feed the next; meaning that
by applying the manure from one lot of cat
tie to the ground intended for corn, the
crop would be much larger, and that this
increased yield would cost almost nothing,
while the extra burden of stalks would
certainly make the increase a donation
year after year. After the farm has be.
come rich it costs almost nothing to feed
stock, as they will live on the surplus. !
believe it costs 80 cents per bushel to raise
corn, when you only raise so bushels of
RS to the acre, but when $50 bushels are
raised, the cost is rednced to less than 10
cents per bushel.-C Country Gentleman.