The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-11-11
Raising Stock on Small Farms.

nv oWuclS vi SIlldil IdTlllS, OF ldTul-
ers engaged in a system of mixed
huSoandry, often over-estimate the
advantages for stock raising possessed
by those with large farms and who
make this speciality. The latter do
possess important advantages, but
there are some compensations to the
stockman on a small scale.
The man with a thousand acres, a
herd of hundreds, etc., can haye men
employed who will give their whole
attention to one branch of the work,
and learn to do this better than the
average laborer. The large farmer
has advantages in selling. He can
make up one to a dozen carloads of
stock ready for the MAJ ket can sort
them to make them sell to the best
advantage: can have buyers come to
his place, or can ship as he chooses.
Full use at home is found for one or
more stations, bulls, etc, and the cost
OF Keeping them counts as a little
matter. But the small farmer, he
with one hundred acres, for instance,
has also his advantages. He can rear
and feed few colts, steers, pigs or
lambs without almost no outlay for
extra labor and very little perceptible
cost IN food. He needs horses for his
farm work. Often brood mares serve
his purpose equally well, and the one,
two or three colts dropped each year
cost comparatively little to rear.
Cows fora home supply of milk and
butter, of course, will be kept, and
often there is abundance of grass in
the pasture br few "young things"
and in the winter the stalk fields, the
straW-Stacks, the soft corn, etc., can
be eaten by these, when it might
otherwise be mainly wasted. In the
winter the large stock grower must
have men whose main business is to
feed and care for the stock. The small
farmer can add the little additional
work as part of Unnecessary chores
and scarcely notice the extra time or
labor, OF two farmers of the class we
are speaking of, the one with little
extra stock" will usually do as much
and as good work during the summer
in the fields as his neighbour who,
"only keeps cow or two, and enough
hogs for his own meat" In the win
ter the fact that some extra labor is
provided for each day is often posi-
tive advantage.
The small farmer has another adj.
vantage. 1t seems to be law of ami
NAL life that the fewer of any sort of
animals that are kept within given
area, the more healthy they are. We
once asked large and very successful
swine breeder this question: What
is the greatest number of hogs that
can be kept together with the highest
percentage of profit on each? To this
he promptly answered, Zone. The
profit on each hog decreases in pro-
portion as you increase the number"
His idea was that the health and
THRIFT of the herd decreased in pro-
portion as the number was augment
ed. The greater economy of feeding
and management which the large
farmer or feeder may practice may
possibly more than compensate for
this loss of health and thrift, but the
illustration serves to show that the
advantages are not all on one side.
1t is not necessary to money max
ing and deserved success in fine stock
breeding that there should be large
herd or flock. On the islands of Jer-
sey and GUERNSEY nearly all the herds
are quite small. In horse breeding,
there is no reason why the man with
three or four mares may not take
high rank as a breeder.
Even for the "renter,' If he can
secure lease of the land for three or
five years, fair degree of attention to
stock growing will be much better
than the exclusive grain growing,
which is so often the rule with this
class. We have known instances in
which two renters each seemed "to
Just about make a living :" but at the
end of five year one would have lot
of live stock worth a few hundreds of
dollars the other have less than
when he commenced.-BTeedeT'S Co.
zette.