The Bad Lands cow boy. [volume] (Little Missouri, Dakota [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-1886, 1886-02-25

injured by the frost, for the reason .that
twas planted very late. He often nm.
dertakes to ploW more land than can
be turned by the teams he has. Ia
makes no allowance for rainv d,vs
which greatly interfere with dom farm fiji I:
work IN the spring. If he has; been ac-SS
custo 'l to work on a farm in a Sec
lion g'r OF country where the land is hilly;
OF rolling he is not aware Of the time
required for level prairie land to be-.
come sufficiently dry to work after q
heavy rain. In his anxiety to plant and
SOW many acres he plows land when Il
IS very wet, and often seeds it when it
Is in q like condition. In some cases
the seed does not germinate for the rea-!
son that the soil about sit is too moist
IN ( other cases the corn and grain pre-
sents a sickly appearance during the en-
TIRE season, because the ground ion
which it grows was never properly pre-
pared for producing crop, or was pre-
pared at an unsuitable time.
Farmers in the wly-settled portions
OF the west undertake to do a large
amount Of work with very little help.
Labor is high, and the farmer who is
struggling to pay for his place and to
make impr oYements often hesitates
about employing hire Omen. Perhaps he,
has got q very small house, that does not
contain sufficient DOM to accommodate
more persons than the members of his
own family and lives at q distance from
any place where o man can obtain
board. Still he lund ertakess to cultivate
a. garden, to raise small fruits, and, per-
haps, to keep bees. but fails in all these
operations for the reason that he had no
time to devoet to them. His field crops
require all his time from earlgs spring
till late in the fall. He may prepare
some ground for a garden in the same
way that he; does for ordinary field
crops, and plant some vegetable seeds.
But he has no time: to devote to the Gull
.tivation of the plants. In the majority
of cases the weeds get the start Of. the
vegetables, and keep it during the en-
tire season. As with the garden, SO
with the planting Of small fruits. Rum
ners can not be cut from straw berry
',lants at the season Of cutting grass for
lay or during the harvesting fof wheat,
oats, or flax. There is no time for pru-
ming grapevmes y or for cutting back
canes. a man who is under:
taking to do all the ordinary work on a
farm .hasSno time to devote to bees, and
the chances are that he will not add to
the number Of his colonies. The ma
jority Of western farmers who under
take 1 to keep bees@do not find them d
source Of profit, partly because they
have not learned how to manage them
properly and partly for the reason that
they have no time to devote to them.
Bees need the largest amount of atten-
ton ct the time when there is the most
to be done IN the fields. ss$
Tho task Of improving a new farm is
not aslight one:; It is true that there
are no forests to be. cleared in the prair-
lie req ions of the west before crop can
be planted. But the demands for mon
,ey are very numerous. It requires
much labor to clear up a farm that is
covered with trees. but the trees afford
materials for fencing, building and fuel.
On prairie farm all these things must
be purchased. Generally the price Of
them is high. Few men who take up a
piece Of raw prairie have sufficient
number of horses to break the sod, and
the crop that can be obtained from re-
Gently turned prairie sod will scarcely
pay for the seed and harvesting. y Gel
lars and wells on prairie farms are gem
orally costly, on account Of the stone
needed to make walls. There are many
acknowledgements to be surmounted in
improving q prairie farm. II there is
no considerable sum Of money to draw
from the improvements must be slowly
made Undertaking to do too much in
a short time often results in disappoint-
ment or complete failure. Especially is
this the case when the place is mort
gagged. Chicago Times: III