, 1883-07-14
fsc theoretical Farmer.

. ne htt'NS tlAr Slid4s iaiitis ut-hit N''f
waited ATE more profitable beeAuse they
ae: lnots ta tle acre frumtbe su.ali farms
IN EelyiGm, France, and some ether
countries than We get from the large
farms al America. THIS worthy lecturer
recent, turned himself loose again, and
told the reading public that n lSSe, oai
OF 4.Ge1, ,010 farms, there wcrc oniy lSS,-
2il Of less than ten acfes each; tbat an
avers.r acre q cuegmbers or cabbages IN
New Eugland OF Pennsylvania yieldS a
net profit of 500; that an average acre
/ Il vines asi iyGst trees e.gGt years Old
! ye,lds profit Of Sl00 10 $3.50; that the
/ best pes-h orchards in New Jersey and
/ DvlaSare are wurth s,iiI more: that Der
ries and cherries often yelld $3.50 10 500
so-ih ,e the acre. And So ou.
Nov, granting that the fsc's are rs
stated, and tha; dozens more Of the same
I kind csn te SGT IN array, they are vcry far
/ !rosa wa.rsatiu! the writer's conclus,oa
tkat ~ fara', therefore, Of ten acres,
carefully cultivated, raay b depended ga
70 libers.lly support large family, ani
/ leave 4 surplus iu- 'harl,imes, OF Oh ssr.
! or sickness" Nor does it necc ss1r..y iul-
| low from the i.,cls, ~ the writer suggests
without putting it IN PLAIN English, TIA,
American farmers would Has .J ma-r
profitable to cultivate less ground.
Granting, t-u that ,rogu can bc ~: from
al acre Of yuLd ~ ;ae iuj.c.oua Use 1t
fertilizers and ~ careful trilas. than
otherwise, i; does no5 follow tins more
can be got upon Ihe slms expenditure o,
capital ald labor.
The winter rs Illogical enougd 10 uIls-
;aks certain pl,enomens Of progress ami
development f,r proofs that sths great
mass of American farmers do Eyt under
stand their own business or know ~hat as
i.- thci- own Interests 50 WyL - some
literary feller' VII, may never have seen
q isrm excepting from the window OF
sai,Ray-car, and Who geuerli.z-s f,r The
heued; oi practical men, ami geneTai'zss
badly, fgo.a the tables oi the census,
The facts stated illustrate the general law
that where land Is cheap, aud where LABOR
ani cspi'si zyc dear, high cultivation does
not pay so well relatively as It does where
land Is dear and capital and labor are
cheap The particular iacts also point 20
The general fact that wEon i country Is
new and .auch land can be bought for lit
lie money, farms are comparatively large,
and that as the country grows older farms
naturally become smaller Dy me process
Of subdivision among hsi,s Of the oriS.-
inai owners The facts also 20 to show
that as population grows GeDse and
larger proportion of the people are eu-
saged in pursuits other than farming,
small farms and high cultivation become
relatively more profitable. They do not
prove as = rule farmers IN the newer parts
IF iio country cui,ira,e 700 much iaud
anu would make more II they cultivated
less. That may be the case, or i may
not; the facts stated do not prove any
.hns either gay AS to that.
|. may &c '.ue thai the New jersey 81
th, Delaware farmers can got proht OF
$50 an acre from peaches, aud that the
Ne.g York 0r Pennsylvania farmer can
make Si00 aa acre clear by growing Gu
cunbcrs and cabbage; but 1t does not
follow that the AVERAGE western farmer
can get 500 worth of produce from an
acre OF ground He is not situated with
respect to the great city markets as tie
eastern farmer is. He can not follow
market gardening 50 extenaiyely. Ii isn't
every farmer IN the country that can
make a living toy growing eabbases, Gu
cumbess, peaches, grapes, cherIlts, and
small fruits Somebody must grow Wheat,
corn, oats, potatoes. etc, and 1t wonid
puzzle any Of the great agricul.urists who
write articles tor the instruction Of farm
ers IA the seciGsioR of their city homes or
editorial rooms to tell how tn get 800
rorih Of any one OF these products from
the average acre And 1t would puzzle
the learned instructor OF farmers sti!i
more 20 prove that it would pay TO get
500 worth Of corn from an acre OF ground
in ! single season, even if the feat we're
possible Of accomplishment.
The sm4ll-farm "crank" who disports
himself in the newspapers from time 70
time IS probably harmless sor. Of luna
tic, for II u, not recorded that farmers
hive followed his advice to any alarming
extent. L. would hardly be worth while
to notice him, therefore, were 1t not that
farmers may have received an impression
that all eiry people are afflicted with that
p71tcula- form Of lunacy- 1t is well
enough that our country friends should
knoN that some city people are wiling 70
assume tha. the fa.mess know ghat Is for
their own interests about "a we'll as those
who are SO ready 10 volunteer advice.
There are indeed very many people IN the
cities sAo do no.wcriy about the size OF
farms. eai are quite willing 10 take It for
granted that farmers as q class are intelli
gent enough to knos sLen /; IS 10 their
advantage 20 expend more labor and cap
.tal upon smaller areas, and wise enough
b go.ara themselves accordingly
/ 4 bartender in Denyer saloon on a
wager, the Cthcr day, swallowed i've
bullirog and then drank glass II @hisky
aud sad be fslt remarkably yell It's
supposed that the bullirog was all that
saved his !lfe, as It eommsncej swimming
around IA the whisky and didn't give the
WHISKY chance 70 get n its horrible
w5ri. /, should become popular that
every man who drinks glass Of whisky