The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-12-05
SPREAD-ouT FARMING.
Its sSrAw backs, and tiisstratioos OF the
Better WAY

I
We should bear in mind that profits are
not always proportional 70 the size Of
the farm The more acres the more
profit is rarely true; 1.-THE fewer acres
the more profit'' is more apt TO be true.
Take for your motto; "a little farm well
titled" Many man spreads himself
over one hundred acres of cultivated
land. and manure and labor are put on
so thinly that he but just holds his own,
or perhaps not that in poof season,
who, If he would Concentrate effort on
third OF the land, might find both
profit and pleasure. | know of a
farmer who this year, on as good
wheat land as one need ask for. raised
$40 bushels OF grain on forty acres. and
he put on phosphate in the bargain.
His next neighbor on one third as many
acres raised as much wheat with no
phosphate. Yields of trn bushels or
less are quite common on large farms
and yields of thirty and thirty-five
bushels per acre are often obtained, on
an average, Tor a term Of years, on
small farms where every care is taken
to have present all the conditions
necessary TO success.
With a yield of ten bushels per acre.
farmer is barely getting interest on
money invested, and money paid for
help; for his own time he actually gets
nothing. except perhaps the pleasure of
doing business. A yield of thirty-five
bushels per acre means interest on all
money invested at fair rate, a good
salary to the farmer and fair profit
besides. Many large farmers are con-
tent with yield of about one ton of
hay per acre and little fall feed.
Four times this quantity can be OBJ
tanned if man will reduce the number
OF acres until there are no more than
he can tend in the very best way he
knows or can learn how. From a six
acre strip of clover and timothy, last
year, when it was unusually dry,
Scarcely any rain falling during the first
half OF the season. we cut at least
twenty-five tons of nice hay. The first
cutting was done about the middle of
June, the second early in August, and
the last about the first of October We
have twelve acres of wheat stubble this
year on which there is crop of clover
ready for the mower that farmers used
to raising clover estimate will yield at
least two and half tons to the acre
The clover seed was sown last spring.
and the yield of wheat was good.
! would be willing to have that
clover, as fine crop as one often sees
in June, all trampled down. if could
take thousand or more of these farm
ers who spread out so they rarely get
more than ton to the acre through
that field and let them see with their
own eyes what can be done when one
does not undertake too much. II there
is living to be made from average
crops of hay. does any one doubt that
the profit would be something hand
some from crop of four tons to the
acre, particularly if one or two tons of
rowen had been cut the fall previous,
after wheatP So with potatoes. The
statistics, which are not over and above
accurate, however, say that the average
yield in Ohio in 1888, the best year
ever had on my farm for potatoes, was
about ninety-nine bushels. Now have
figured this all out carefully. and there
was not in that crop single cent of
profit to the raiser, on the average.
My potato crop that year brought me
more than $1,000 clear net profit after
deducting the cost of all labor, my own
or hired, and of seed, manure, interest
on value of land, ETC., etc.
Farmers sometimes, in figuring the
profits of any crop, fail to figure their
own time as worth anything, and per-
haps they throw in the use Of the land
also, and thus they may make fair
showing for the crop, as they charge ii
only with actual cash paid out. But
this is not the proper way. Your crop
should be charged at least six per cent.
interest on the value of land, a fair
price for all labor put on it, your own
or that of hired help. or of your chill
dren. cost of seed and of manure, and
fair price for the use of teams and tools
"a price that will pay you at least ten
per cent. an their cost, over and above
keeping. After all these are deducted
then one can begin to talk about net
profits. Figured in that way no farm.
ing will pay" some one says. can not
help it; that Is the only business-like
way; if your farming will not stand il
it needs overhauling and improving.
Very likely you are spreading your
Thus much for the profits. But ! |
spoke of pleasure as well as profit being
found in connection with this concen-
trated farming. Do | need to say any
thing to prove this? There is pleasure
in making two bushels of wheat grow
where but one grew before. There is
pleasure in trebling the crop of grass or
potatoes 1t is the joy of conquest with
no harm done any one-no bloOdshed. |
1t is pleasure to have your work so |
concentrated and in hand that you can
avoid much of the worry of spread-out
farming. Haven't you ever noticed |
that the large farmer usually brags |
about the number of acres he raises, OF |
the number of cows he keeps, and that
the small, thorough farmer usually tells |
of how. many bushels he raises to the |
acre or of how much money he gets
from each COW? There are exceptions,
of course. Some men have executive |
ability that will enable them to handle
successfully much more land than |
others.
The point is, of course. to adapt the
amount of your cultivated land to yom
capacity for thorough work in the
particular line of farming you pursue
Machinery has made it possible for the
farmer to handle successfully tar more
land than he could a few years ago, but
think it has also increased the |
tendency to undertake too much. il
can with the manure-spreader put or
two loads of manure in the time il |
used to take to put on one. and do il
better. With the potato planter car
put in, in nice shape, more potatoes in
a day than ten smart men could in the
old way. and have just been riding
digger that saves about as much labor
And the list of great labor saving tools
is constantly having additions made tc
it. But because you can put in a croI
easily, or harvest it rapidly by the aid |
of these improved implements, do not
be beguiled into undertaking so much
that you can not do your level best all |
the way through from the time you
prepare the ground until the cash is in
your pocket. If you do you will lose
this chance for the greatest profit and
the greatest pleasure. N. Y.
Tribune.
How DYNAMITE Is Made.