The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1883-03-24
A Plan of Farm Operations.

SOME KIM Oh pldu, however IouSh IL
might be, of The contemplated structure.
He would certainly need something OF
this kind in order to get out the timber
of the right size and lengths, also to de-
termine the quality of the boards required
! to enclose it, and the number OF thou
sands of shingles needed for the roof, as
well as the quality and size of nails and
other materials required in its construc-
| ton. If the farmer himselfis not good
mechanic and does not know the rules
| for making estimates for such structures,
he will call some one TO his aid, perhaps
the carpenter to whom he intends to
| give the lob, and with his assistance the
| plan will be drawn up and every detail
carefully studied, even to the size and
number of stalls for the horses or other
stock and the space for storage of fod-
der: in other words the farmer will
count the cost before beginning to build.
But we regret to say that good many
men who would be extremely careful in
making preparations to build so simple
a structure as barn, proceed year after
| year in their farm operations without
drawing up any sort of plan in advance
of actual labor in the field. Perhaps it
is understood that such field will be
planted to corn if it can be put in order
| by the time of planting, and another in
| oats, if work does not crowd too much
somewhere else, and so on all over the
farm but there is no fixed plan of opera
ton, with careful consideration of the
chances of getting the ground ready in
| time and in the best possible order. Of
course, every farmer knows very nearly
how long it will take to pillow given
number of acres, also to harrow, roll,
cross pillow, plant or SOW broadcast or
in drills the various crops he expects to
put in; consequently it would not be any
more difficult to draw up plan of these
operations than to draw up one for a
! barn. In both cases bad weather might
| interrupt the work, but this must always
be taken into consideration, and allow
ance made for it.
But the exact number of acres to be
titled, the kind of crops, the amount of
labor required for each, with the time at
which the seed should go into ground,
! plan When this has all been done, the
questions of cultivation and of harvest
ing each crop arise, for it often happens
that some kinds of crops requiring at
! tention with cultivator and hoe will in
| terfere with the harvesting of another
equally valuable, and the farmer needs
to look out for such clashing in time to
avoid it, unless he has an abundance of
assistance in the way of farm laborers,
which, we regret to say, is seldom the
case. The result is loss on one crop be-
| cause it is oyerrun with weeds, or on
another because it cannot be harvested
at the proper time and in good order.
| Now, the builder knows in advance
about how much stone or brick q man
| lay in day, also how many shingles,
and how many days work it will take
to frame the building, enclose it and
finish the various parts, or he could
never make an estimate of the cost of
any structure; and while the farmer
might do the same thing in all his opera
tions, he seldom attempts it. Hence the
annual cry of "overrun with Weeds"
''crops wasted for the want of help"
grain rotting in the field" etc., all of
which is due to the absence of plans of
operations and simple rules of business
among average farmers.
If the farmer once gets behind in his
work it is hard to catch up, for the weeds
grow while he sleeps, and every day
they are left undisturbed only increases
the cost of their destruction. Those
who cultivate the soil know these things
| by heart, and many TO their sorrow; and
while we would not hold out any encour-
agement to those who are seeking to find
some method OF farming without labor,
we do think that much hard work and
vexation might be avoided by being
more careful in drawing up plans for
future operations on the farm. Nine
tenths of our farmers undertake more
than they can accomplish with profit.
They will plant twenty acres of corn,
when ten is all they can possibly hoe and
cultivate properly, and the result is
hurry, veXation of mind, and poor
yield. The same is true with nearly
every other crop; and while all will
acknowledge thdsfault, they will try it
again next year, hoping to come out
better. although just how it is to be done
they have no idea beyond the faint hope
of being lucky.
1t is no wonder that in the absence of
all system or plans so many farmers
have hard time of it, and their chill
dren are glad to escape on the first oppor-
tunity and try something else. We have
an idea that more than one farmer
might, if he would, call to mind the fact
that his first note was given for reaper,
mower, or other implement, because he
put in bigger crop of some kind than
he could conveniently gather without
outside aid. The implement was pur-
chased, the note given, and when at
maturity it was exchanged for mort
gage on the house. From such misstep
many farmer can date his beginning
to go down-hill and his annual struggles
to raise money to pay interest. Too
many are over ambitious, and like to
have it said they have the largest num-
Der of acres in corn Of any in the neigh
borhood, or have raised the most wheat,
oats, or other farm crop. The ambition is
well enough and laudable under certain
conditions, but if is to end in loss, and
make slaves of the members of the
farmers family, then it would be far
betterif the fields remained uncultivated.
Before the busy season is at hand is a
good time to draw plans for farm opera
tions, and we urge all our farmers to try
it, and see if they cannot avoid some of
the vexations and hard work which they