Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1884-08-01
Henry Ward Hcechcr's Farm.

Mr.. Bcecher's farm consists Of thirty
six acros, and is carried on strictly sell
| entilic principle. He never puts In any
part of crop without consulting his
books. lie plows and reaps and digs and
sows according TO tho best authorities
| and the authorities cost more than tho
other farming implements do. As soon
| as the library IL complete, the farm will
begin to he q profitable investment. But
book farming has its drawbacks. Upon
| one occasion, when it seemed morally cer-
tain that the hay ought TO be cut, tho hay
book could no. be found-and before IL
Was found the hay was spoiled. Mr..
Bceeher raises some OF the finest crops OF
wheat In the country, but tho unfsyornblo
difference between the cost OF producing
1t and its market value after Il Ia produced
has intcrfsred considerably with It's suo-
cess rs = commercial enterprise. His spe-
oial weakness is hogs, however. He con-
siders hogs the best game farm produces.
Ho buys tho original pig for dollar aad
shalt, and foeds him forty dellars' worth
Of corn, and then sells him for niue doll
lars. This ia tho only crop he ever mskea
any money on. He loses on the corn, but
makes seven dollars md a-half on tho
hog. lie does not mind this, because he
never expects to make anything on corn,
any way. And any way it turns out, no
has the excitement of raising the hog any
how, whether hc gets the worth OF him or
not. His strawberries would be a COM
Portable success II tho robins would eat
turnips, but they won't, hence the dlai-
Guilty.
One Of Mr.. Boecher's most harsssing
difficulties In his farming operations eomes
Of the close resemblance Of different sorts
Of seeds and plants 10 saoh other. Two
years ago, his far-sight warned him that
there was going TO be a great scarcity OF
watermelons, and therefore he put In .
crop Of twenty-sevcn acres OF that fruit.
But when they came up they turned out
70 be pumpkins, and n dead loss was the
consequence. Sometimes 4 portion Of hIs
crop goes into the ground tho most prom
ising sweet potatoes, and comes up tho In
fernalcst carrots-though I never have
heard him express IL In just that way.
When he bought his farm he found one
egg In every hens nest on the place. He
said that here was just the reason why 30
many farmers faIlsd-they scattered their
force too INSTRUMENTATION was tho
idea. SO he gathered those eggs togsthor
and put them all under one experienced
old hen. That hen roasted over that con-
tract night and day for eleven weeks, un-
der the anxious personal supervision OF
Mr. Beecher himself, but she could not
"phsse" those eggs. Why? Because they
were those infamous porcelain things
which are used by ingenious and fraudu-
lent farmers as inert eggs" But per-
haps Mr.. Beeeher's most disastrous ex-
periehce was the time he tried to raise an
immense crop Of dried apples. lie planted
fifteen hundred dollars worth, but never
4 one Of them sprOated. IIo has never
been able TO understand, 70 this day, what
was the matter with those apples.
Mr.. Beeeher's farm is not triumph.
Il would be easier on him II he worked Il
on shares with some one; but he cannot
find any body who Is willing 70 stand half
the expense, and not many that are able.
Still, persistence In any cause il bound TO
succeed. He was a very inferior farmer
when he first began, but prolonged and
unfiinching assault upon his agricultural
difficulties has had its effect at last, and
he is now fast rising from afIluoncc 70
povariy.-Kark Toain.