The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-11-12
Keeping Improbable Stock.

A serious loss in farming often re-
suits from stocking the farm with
animals that poorly repay the cost OF
keeping. Few farmers are entirely
exempt at some time from this kind of
property, but it is, think, much more
carefully guarded against than it once
was. Years ago, | can remember that
all the farmers in my vicinity kept lot
of animals which | now know must have
been a source of constant loss. OF
course, the cost of keeping was less in
those days, or rather, | should say, was
not then estimated as it should be.
Cattle and other stock were allowed to
run in pasture through the summer,
and their owner thought all they in
creased in value was clear gain. There
was little more care about winter feed
ing, hay and grain having CONNER
cial value. But it was scarcely thought
possible to make stock pay the cost Of
keeping, and this was rarely attempted.
The only caution was not to stock toe
heavily, BY which was meant not to keep
more animals than the farmer could
feed from homegrown produce without
paying OUT uiOuey
Western competition on lands much
cheaper than our own, has put an end
to much of this reckless kind of stock
keeping, but there is yet far more of il
than there should be. think on grain
growing farms there is not the care in
keeping only the best stock that there
is where the latter is made specially.
In dairy district, not many farmers
will long keep COWS so deficient in milk
and butter production as are often
found on farms where a mixed system
of husbandry prevails; yet the dairy
man may and often does keep inferior
work horses. An old plug will do a:
well as any to draw milk The result
is that all his farm work is hindered
and made more costly than it should be
by inefficient team help. In fact, thu
rule appears to be in every vocation
that the specialist in one thing shall b,
more or less deficient in every other
What money is made by the main farm
operations, is apt to be frittered ava,
on the incidentals.
Grain and fruit are the speeialities o
this section at the present time. Usual,
in the fall farmers will have severa
hundred bushels of wheat, corn. oat
and barley, on which they can figure
fair profit. Yet by the time the yea
comes around, most of this has gone
and excepting slight increase in farm
machinery, there is little to show for ii
Wheat, and sometimes barley, are casl
crops. They bring in money whicl
defrays other expenses. But howeve
large the oat crop, few farmers cal
reckon on selling any of it. The sam
is true or little more so. of corn, an,
if the barley is discolored or light il
weight, as most of it is this year,
great deal of that will go the same way
There ought to be some means TO
feeding all this grain SO as to get some
thing from it besides the manure
Farmers in other sections make none
by keeping stock as a speciality. Hw
exercise the same care in getting tn
best animals, we could do the same o
the smaller number of animals ths
grain farmers keep.
Almost all farmers are overstocke
with horses. They keep too many t
do the work that will pay for doing
What they do keep are not often til
best A poor work team makes ever
farm operation more expensive. BIZ
sides often delaying seeding until tn
crop is rendered very doubtful. 1t
; almost impossible to do good farmin
with poor horses. But when five c
six horses are kept the year through t
do the work that should be done by tw
or three; when two men are paid wage
and boarded to do the team work tbs
should be done by one, it is easy to Sc
that whatever is gained by gfain-grov
ing is more than lost before the gal
can be realized in money.-Cor. CouFtT
Gentleman.