Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-04-26
BEECHER'S FARM.

Mark Twain has written of Mr.. Beech
er's old farm on the Hudson river as fol-
lows: MIR. Beechers farm consists of SO
acres and is carried on on strict scientific
principles. He never puts in any part
OF crop without consulting his book.
He plows, and reaps, and digs. and sows
according to the best authorities, and the
authorities cost more than any other
farming implements do. AS soon as the
library is complete the farm will begin to
be profitable investment But book
farm ng has its drawback Upon one
occasion, when it seems morally certain
that the hay ought to be cut, the hay
hook could not be fonnd, and before it
was found it was too late and the hay
was all spoiled. Mr. Beecher raises some
OF the finest crops of wheat in the coun-
try, but the unfavorable difference be-
tween the cost of producing it and its
market value after it is produced has in
terfered considerably with its success as
commercial enterprise. His special
weakness is hogs, however He cousid-
ers hogs the best game farm produces
He buys the original pig for $3.50 and
feeds him $40 worth of corn, and then
sells him for about &c. This is the only
crop he ever makes any money on. He
loses ON the corn but makes 81 so on the
hog. He does not mind this, because he
never expects to make anything on corn
And any way it turns, he has the excite
ment of raising the hog, whether he gets
the worth Of HIN or not. His Strawberries
would be comfortable success if the rob-
ins would eat turnips, but they won't,
and hence the difficulty
One of Mr.. Beechers most harassing
difficulties in his farming operations
comes OF the close resemblance of differ
ent sorts of seeds and plants to each
other Two years ago his far-sightedness
warned him that there was going to be
great scarcity of watermelons, and there
lore he put In crop OF twenty seven
acres of that fruit. But when they came
up they turned out to be pumpkins, and
dead loss was the consequence. Some
times portion of his crop goes into the
ground the most promising sweet pota.
toes, and comes out the infernalest carrot
though | have never heard him ex-
press it just in that way When he
UOuSuI Ills IdTlH n0 lOu0u one egg III
every hens nest on the place. He said
that here was just the reason so many
farmers failed; they scattered their forces
too much; c0ncentfa ion was the idea.
So he gathered those eggs together and
put them all under one experienced old
hen. That hen roos. Led over that con-
tract night and day for eleven weeks,
under the anxious personal supervision
OF Mr.. Beecher himself, but she could
not ''phase' those eggs. Why? Because
they were those Infamous porcelain
things which are used by ingenious and
fraudulent farmers as "nest eggs" But
perhaps Mr.. Beecher's most disastrous
experience was the time he tried to raise
an immense crop of dried apples. He
planted $4,000 worth but never one of
them sprouted. He has never been able
to understand to this day what was the
matter with those apples.
Mr. Beecher's farm is not a triumph.
1t would be easier on him if he worked it
on shares with sone one; but he cannot
find any body whs is willing to stand
half the expense, and not many that are
able. Still persistence in any cause 10
bound to succeed He was very infer
ior farmers when he first began, but a
prolonged and unfinching assault upon
his agricultural difficulties has had its
effect at last, and he is now fast rising
from affiuence to poverty.