Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1883-10-25
Substantial Improvements.


scythes, there is no excuse for not inn
proving the farm. Notwithstanding
the time farmers have to devote to this
purpose, a great many do not avail
themselves of it, and year after year
goes by and the farm looks the same,
only worse, and its value decreases in
stead of increases. Is not this all
wrong? Men in other business who
| took such course would be called
| fools. The merchant who kept less
and less goods to sell, and at last gave
| his customers a choice from empty
shelves and naked counter, and the
manufacturer who had neither material,
raw or manufactured, to stock his mill,
would be fools. A farmer cannot afford
| to look on, an Indifferent spectator, and
allow things to take their course.
| When this is done the course is always
downward. Things get out of order;
! drains get stopped; fences tumble
down; stones work up to the surface,
and the wear and tear of time shows
| itself on every hand. There must be
care and work to offset all of these
things.
Holding ones own is good, but going
ahead is better. 1 always feel like COM
plimenting farmer who fills the first
|
or his farm, to retrograde, and might
add most approvingly, his wife also; but
| there is higher need of praise for the
farmer who not only does interchangeable
in these things, but goes ahead. There
are many ways to do this. If there is
a field too wet to be plowed it should
/ be underdrained or open bitches cut
through it; which kind and where
depends upon the conditions. AS
rule most fields must be made dry by
understanding, and this is the most
lasting form of ditch. An open ditch
may be necessary at the mouth, or to dis
charge the blind drain into. When this
is the case, make it broad so that the
sides will not fall in and stop the flow.
Put the underdrains below the frost line
if possible, or the work will have to be
done over again in a short time. Doing
such work well always pays. On Kirby
Homestead there are stone drains which
have been down more than half cen
fury, and the water flows as freely from
the mouth as when first laid, and the pillow
follows a dry furrOw, showing how well
it was done. Ihave known fields where
q large expenditure had been made to
underdrain them, to repay the entire
cost with the first crop. l have in my
mind now field of Dogs which has pro-
duced nothing but frogs, flags and bog
grass ever since it was cleared, nearly
one hundred years ago, which has been
underdrained with tiles this season, and
been twice plOwed, and is now in admi-
rable condition to SOW in winter wheat.
The crop of wheat will undoubtedly pay
for the entire outlay.
There is no single improvement which
will give so prompt and satisfactory a
return to farm as making the surface
dry and tillable An expenditure of
good Judgment and moderate amount
of labor in this direction will often fur
nish a supply of living water in field,
or on farm which is deficient in this
respect. This is worth digging for
wherever it is lacking, and it should be
one of the first efforts of farmer to OBJ
tain it. Very often by running a ditch
deep down along side hill veins of
water will be struck which may be con-
Quoted to point to be made available
for abOve-ground watering. The con-
venience of such watering places and
the benefit to stock will compensate for
a considerable expenditure. Where
water is found oozing out of the ground,
at the foot of q hill, as it often does,
making a wet spot, if deep ditch is
put through above it, it may be caught
in this drain, and when collected in this
way will make sufficient for the farm if
run into a large trough. The overflow
may be saved by conducting it into an
other receptacle. If I had a farm want
ing in springs or convenient water places,
l should make most thorough efforts
to obtain needful supply. Wells and
windmills offer a solution, but an artifi-
ciaI spring, as I have indicated, is the
cheapest in the end, and doubles the
benefit by improving the land at the
same time. Many farmers will not buy
farm which does not afford water in
the fields. When it is to be had, it adds
very much to the value of 4 farm.
A farmer who turns his energies and
surplus toward substantial improve
ments, is wiser than he who delves and
pinches to get money to put at interest.
In the long run, (and he will not have
to run far the man who improves his
farm and adds to his capital in this way,
and increases its productiveness, will
make money the fastest. A hundred
dollars at interest will return six more
in year; but who cannot see that the
same amount expended in doubling
crops, or in making good crops grow
where before comparatively nothing was
obtained, is better investment. There
is profit in clearing land of stones. 1t
saves breaking machiney, delays in
blowing, and adds to the area of pro-
ductiveness. Under this head we might
do a good work in clearing away I'M
necessary fences, and so bring consider
able more land into profit. Rough
waste places may be leveled, and spots of
land which have never been cultivated
be cleared and made smooth and brought
into profitable use. The roadside may
be made into a permanent meadow.
Many farmers in New York State have
done this to advantage. The State law
protects the grass, and the wash and
dust from the roadway enrich it, and so
that which was formerly a nursery of
weeds is turned to good account as a
I