The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1880-05-12
THE FARM.
The Distribution of Labor on the Farm.
IAmerican Asriculturistl

The Distribution of Labor the Farm.
lAmerican Asriculturistl
There are abou. as many kinds OF farm
management as there are kinds Of men. To
n certain extent this is natural, because
there are 50 many different products OF the
farm, almost any one of which may be taken
as the primary, and all the Others thus be-
come of Only secondary importance. II
butter is the leading crop" the system OF
the farm will be OF one kind; If wheat is the
primary product, the methods pursued will
be different from those for butter, and this
again will not be the same as when
sheep are the main tource of the
farmers income. Circumstances of coil,
climate, nearness to market, personal tastes,
etc, will decide these matters. But what
ever the system, whatever the leading crop
grown-and we by no means believe that in
all cases, or even In most cases. it is always
better for q farmer to have crop that is the
leading One-there are certain general prin-
cipIes that should be binding upon one so
soon as he becomes farmer. He who by
the soil would thrive, no matter what he Is
to maze that soil produce, should so plan
his work that there will be the
least number of idle days, in fact,
this means that there should be no days
when the farmer has. as the common express
sion goes, to kill time" Every worker of
the solI. whether he owns or rents the soil,
81
put definite market value upon his labor
This very many farmers fail to do, and over
looking this important fact, 1t easily and
naturally becomes q source of loss. Ii is ss
much to the farmers advantage to have
full supply Of labor for each and every work
day as for the day hand that gets his living
from his daily labor.
The vital importance of the proper distri-
button of farm labor throughout the season
yes, the whole year-beiDg accepted as
leading fact in profitable agrIculture-the
question is, how 10 make the most of itp In
the first place it demands careful planning
of the whole seasons work, If not the work
for several years. This plan should account
for work for not less than 300 days In
the year-and the work of each OF
those days should be of such
character as to pay-not work to be done
for the sake OF doing something, but season
able profitable labor. This principle at once
points toward variety of farm crops, mixed
farming, a rotation of crops, the ideal farm
ing, and the one toward which substantial
agriculture is tending.
A single example will suffice TO illustrate
and enforce the point, Let it be supposed
that farmer is growing roots, and that il is
10 his advantage to have the labor OF the care
of his roots distributed along through the
season. Instead of putting his whole land
into Swedes, and that in early summer when
other labor is pressing, he can SOW portion
of the land TO maDgels as early as the ground
can be worked, aud later, after the Swedes
are in, part of the field may be put into
fat turnips, which grow rapidly, and must
be fed 50 coon as grown. Ii soiling is prGc.
ticed, the fiat turnips may follow the early
rye in July. In like manner there are many
cases where the work that would otherwise
come "all in a heap" can be distributed
through the season, and ''all hands" can be
kept for several months and furnished with
steady and profitable labor. The farmer
who can best eqdallzs his work and portion
10 each week it's part, other things being
equal, will be the most successful.