The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-05-29
SMALL FARMS.
An English Experiment Having for HI
Object the Betterment Of the Condition
of Farm Laborars.

England. chiefly of philanthropists, for
The purpose of purchasing large es-
lates, dividing them into farms of from
ten to thirty acres. and selling them on
terms of gradual payment to men Of
small means. 1t is represented that the
present is very suitable time for in
augurating such an undertaking. A
large NUMBER of extensive landowners
are anxious to dispose of their estates,
as rents are low and the demand for
farms small. There is great desire
on the part of persons who own no land
to become the possessors of a few acres
The story of the success of the very
small farmers in France has been told
in England probably for more than the
many wish the experiment of small
farming to be tried. They apparently
forget that it has been tried in ireland.
where it has not been successful. 1t is
true that the occupiers of the land di-
v.ded into small farms have not gener-
ally owned it, because they have little
or no capital But most persons famll-
lar with Irish agriculture state that the
very small farms yield smaller profit
per acre than the large ones. This APP
pears to be the case in nearly every
country in the world. If the large
farms in the British islands that are de-
voted to tillage do not pay. little can be
expected of verv small ones.
The prospectus of the association in
referring to the method that will be en-
ployed for working the land says: 1t
should be borne in mind that it does not
simply consist of spade cultivation. As
we already see in some parts of the
country, where sufficient number of
men are in occupation of small hold
ings, in size, say, from one to four
acres, they cultivate it in the usual
farming fashion. Some of their number
keep pair of horses, and do the plow-
ing for the rest. The Importance of this
distinction in the manner of cultivation
is that the mass of men thus holding
land are enabled at the same time to
work for wages; the call upon
both their time and their strength
being quite different from that
in the case of spade cultivation. In the
spring the man will usually ask forleave
from his work for day, or half a day,
to get in his crop with the assistance of
the owner of the pair OF horses. The
owner OF the horses will not be farm
man. He will probably havesome six, or
ten. or more acres in his possession, and
find various kinds of occupation for his
horses besides blowing. etc. for the other
men; he himself only working OCCASION
ally. Is perhaps on thrashing days, for
the farmers. The hoeings will be done
in the spring and summer evenings after
the farm work is done. The small crop
will in large measure be got in by the
wife and children, sometimes labor be-
ing hired, sometimes by the man him.
self at the end OF the farmers harvest,
sometimes by the help of days leave
from the farmer, as can be convenient
" arranged. 1t must. however, be re-
nembered that this system does not sue
coed unless there are a certain number
of small cultivators existing side by
side. When they are very few and very
scattered it is not worth the while of
any man to keep horses for their ac-
commodatiop, and on their power to
get horses the system absolutely de-
ponds. As they increase in number
some of the men are sure to begin to
occupy more land, and to work more
and more for themselves, and only ir-
regularly for the farmer. This irregu-
lar work, however, is of the highest I'M
portance to the farmer, for he thus
becomes able to supply the occasional
calls for extra labor during the year,
while at the same time the small men
who are engaged regularly by the
farmer can get help for their own small
holdings when they want it. The sys-
tenn thus works rs usefully for the farm
er as it does for the men.
The persons who have interested
themselves in this scheme doubtless
mean well. The plan of encouraging
men of small means to acquire home
OF their own is good one. 1t is a
pleasant thing for family to have q
few acres of land, on which q COW, pig
and fowls can be kept and food pro-
vided. There are serious difficulties,
however, in carrying out the plan pro-
posed in England, which is substantially
the one that has more than once been
tried in several of the eastern States of
this country. 1t is hard to keep land in
cultivation unless the farmer has team
of his OVID. There is no assurance that
one can procure the services of a plow-
man when he requires them. A large
number of persons wish to have plOw-
ing and other work requiring horses
done at the same time. A variety of
implements are required to use in cult
vatng even a small plot of land which
can not be obtained for hire, and which
are not profitable to own. as they are
needed for only short time each sea-
son. The time has passed for raising
grain that must be cut and thrashed by
hand, and machinery can not be en-
plOyed with profit when only 3 few
acres are raised. A man can engage in
few pursuits that will allow him time at
the proper season to get in. cultivate,
and harvest the crops on place of his
own, while farm of ten or twenty
acres will not afford him support
Mechanics, traders and persons en-
gagged in other empleyments on their
own account can manage garden so
rs to make it profitable. If necessary,
the ground can be spaded and all. the
work of cultivation performed by the
aid of hand-tools. The garden may be
made to produce all the vegetables and
small fruits required for home con-
sumption. and some for the market.
In some places few acres devoted 10
grapes, berries or asparagus may be
lnade.to pay expenses and yield a con-
siderable profit No team or costly
machinery is required after the ground
is orce prepared and the plants estab-
lished. Considerable labor is required.