The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1880-09-02
Specialties in Farming.

Specialties In Farming.
Time was, and in no remote past,
when nearly every farmer in the North
ern States endeavored to raise not only
all the articles Of food required for his
family, with the exception of fish, but
all the materials for clothing. He pro-
duced all the food crops that the ma
ture of the soil and climate rendered
possible. He raised, however small
his farm might be, q few bushels OF
wheat, rye, barley, buckwheat, pota-
toes, apples, plums and pears. He had
a little field of fax, the fiber of which
was worked upon the place. He kept
q sufficient number of sheep to supply
the wool necessary to make cloth for
winter clothing. This wool was manu-
featured into cloth at home. The skins
of domestic animals were dressed BY
local tanners on shares, and lumber
was sawed at mills in the same way.
Many farmers raised tobacco and
hops for domestic use, and all of them
made their own butter and cheese.
The object of every farmer was to
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supply the wants of his family. BY
adopting this course the demand for
money was exceedingly small. Some
was required for paying taxes, but
taxes were often paid without money.
The highway tax was worked out or
paid in material for constructing
bridges and culverts. Other taxes
were sometimes paid by boarding
school teachers, furnishing wood for
warming school-houses, or by taking
care of padpers. Nearly all the farm
ing in the Northern States was domes-
tic farming. Few crops were produced
for the market. In fact, the demand
for farm products was small, since
most persons were engaged in their
production.
Two circumstances favored the kind
of farming that has been described.
There were no means of cheap trans
portation in portions of the country re-
mote from the sea or from lakes and
rivers. If an article had to be hauled
by oxen over rough roads, the distance
of fifty miles, its price would not pay
the cost of transportation. As a con-
sequence, no articles were conveyed
long distances, unless they were of con-
siderable value. Farms near navigable
waters were valuable, because the own
ers could send their crops to distant
markets, and could obtain in return
articles of food and clothing that were
produced at a distance. Farmers liv-
ing in the interior, however. were
obliged to live and to clothe themselves
by the use of such articles as they could
produce on their estates. If they want
ed variety they must raise it.
Want of means was another circum-
stance that favored domestic farming.
The production of specialties requires
capital as well as facilities for Transport
tation. To produce but single article,
as wool, hops, hemp, tobacco, or fruit,
farmer must have sufficient capital to
support his family and to carry on his
business for at least year. As con-
siderable risk attends the production of
one crop, farmer should have suffi-
Gent means to carry him over at least
one partial or entire failure. Lack of
the means for transportation and lack
OF capital are common in most new
countries and they were especially SO
in this country. Indeed, till railways
were constructed there was great diff
Guilty in transporting heavy farm prod
ucts in any portion of the country that
was remote from navigable water.
The time has now arrived when all
the conditions are most favorable to
specialties in every department of
agriculture. The facilities for trans
pOrtation are abundant and excellent
in almost every part of the country.
Farm products can now be carried
from Oregon to New York in less time
and for less money than they could
have been transported three hundred
miles seventy years ago. A large
proportion of farmers have become
wealthy. They no longer ''live from
hand to mouth" They have capital
to invest in enterprises that afford good
promise of large returns. They can
afford to run risks providing there is
hope of large rewards. They have
more business knowledge and expert
ence than the farmers of q previous
generation had, as they do more trad
ing and have more opportunities for
travel.
Already we see many examples of
farmers who are engaged in specialties.
The dairy farmers constitute distinct
class. They make everything SUBJ
sidiary to the production Of milk. If
they raise corn, grain. and hay, it is be-
cause they require them to feed to
mich COWS. Many of them purchase
a large proportion of the articles they
feed, and most of them buy the cows
they milk. After cows have outlived
their usefulness they sell them to
others who fatten them for the mar
ket. They pay very little or no at
tention to domestic farming. They
purchase the food for their families
and lab0rers the same as manufacture
ers and merchants do. Receiving cash
for milk, they have money to spend
for any article they desire to purchase.
The dairy business, as it exists to-day,
is the outgrowth of capital and our
present means of transportation.
The raising of tobacco, hops and
small fruits intended for the market
has passed almost entirely into the
hands of persons who make them spe-
cialties. The like is true in the main
of honey. The erection of canning es-
Establishments in various parts of the
country has caused many farmers to
devote large farms to the production of
tomatoes, sweet corn and berries. The
instances are now becoming numerous
of farmers planting forty or more acres
to cucumbers or melons. The number
of persons who are devoting their entire
attention to wheat-growing is increas-
ing year by year. Many Of them hire
their land plowed, employ costly ma
chimes for harvesting. and do their
threshing by steam power. They de-
vote as little attention to general farm
ing as the mechanic or merchant does.
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