Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1882-08-30
New York Tribune.

which ought TO be OF interest anu SCI
vice 10 a large number of our readers,
women as well as men. In the spe-
cill bulletin issue1 by the Census
Bureau recently, showing the size ana
number of farms held in the States,
the total number was stated to be A.
OOs. .9O7. Of these only 9,24l were
less than ten acres in size. That Is to
saw only 139, ,24l persons in this coun-
try have thought it worth while to
cultivate for profit patches OF ground
of less than ten acres. The fact is al
most incredible, but it is fact. How
many Thousands of women and tens OF
thousands of men are struggling for
life in our great cities who could rent
those small farms and make healthy.
comfortable living from them! But
how? Let US look into the matter and
see. The reason why any man or
woman should need any information
on the subject is that Americans have
the misfortune of living in an enor-
nous country and dealing with large
stakes in life. Their eyes and ideas
are used to sweeping over such I'M
mense spaces that petty business
with petty profes seems to them con-
temptible. Farming" to most OF our
readers, means vast sweep of land IN
Minnesota given up to wheat; or
few miles in Texas or Colorado with
tens of thousands of cattle; or, at least
couple of hundred Of riah acres in
Ohio or Pennsylvania, all of which are
to be controlled by the owners eye,
but with which his hands shall have
but little to do.
Such chances fall to very few.
But how many men or women could
cultivate from one to ten acres, grow
ing the kind of vegetable or fruit for
which they can find the most prohta-
BILE market? Take cucumbers for exam
pie. The average crop is from $4,000
to 10000 per acre. Ready sale is
found at this market or to picklers at
from 81. SO to 50 per thousand. Yet
cucumber is not considered one OF the
most profitable for small farmer.
Let him cultivate the finer fruits, the
berries, the better class OF pears or
grapes, if be wants to make market
success and high profits. The bner
the grade of crop and the more skill
and Intelligence which are put into the
work the better it will pay, OF course.
Flower and herb raising are industries
wkich are only just beginning TO at
tract notice iu this country. They
are especially suited for small plots OF
ground and for women. A quick wit
will find new paths in this trade as In
any other. The first man who grew
mushrooms in cellar for this market
made fortune.
Bee keeping is another exceedingly
profitable use of small farm which
our people are just finding out. The
report of the Beekeepers' Association
shows that during the seven years end
ing with 1879 the average yield per
hive was ninety pounds weight
Twenty-Five hives are allowed to each
acre. Our readers, who well know the
average price of honey in the nearest
market, can estimate the probable profit
Poultry raising is business which, on
few acres, can be made to pay well.
One woman we know who, beginning
with ten dollars worth of eggs, in
eight years possessed forty yards of
the finest stock in the country, which
yield her competency.
Mr.. Gladstone for three years has
been urging on the small proprietors
of England increased attention to what
is there called villa farming-the culti-
vation of every inch of tillable ground
in small patches in the raising of food
supplies. "If," says recent number
of the Estates Roll, "every acre in
England was carefully farmed, what
an immense difference there would be
in our imports and exports returns 7"
The same argument comes home forcibly
to us now when the price ofevery kind
of farm product is almost doubled.
But, argue the timid, what if our
crops fail, our bees are frozen, our
poultry die? Such mlshaps are not
unlikely. Failure is probable in every
business. The only remedy or pre-
vention is constant care and hard work.
Farming, aud especially small farming,
requires more than any other employ.
ment the actual personal attention of
the owner 1t can in no case be done
by deputy. That personal care insured,
intelligence and industry will pay, we
believe, in this work as we'll as in any
other.