Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1886-01-15
The Farm Thai Paxs.

The farm that pays is the farm where thrift
and order regus from the front yard gate to
the line fence in the back pasture. 1t is the
farm where the fences, whether made of
stone or rails, or boards, whether on divid-
ing lines or cross sections, are kept erect and
in good repair. A large portion of the best
land on some farms is taken up by struggling
fences and the hedges of brush and briers
that are permitted to grow up alongside of
them. Fences should be kept in order for
mere appearance sake if for no better rea.
son. Nothing impresses the would be pur-
chaser of property more unfavorably than
rickety, tumble-down fences. 1t is au almost
infallible sign that there is something wrong
with the farmer, or with the land, or with
both.
That farm pays where every square foot of
the surface is, if possible, brought under cul-
tivstion and made to yield its share. On
such farm the CORNERS" are all cleared out,
the sloughs and swamps drained, the stumps
pulled, the stone heaps removed, and the
waste places utilized. No wide stretches are
left here and there, around buildings and by
ways, covered with debris and grown up to
weeds and brambles. Every acre is made to
do its best. 1t is surprising how much can
be produced on a farm of limited area if it is
managed in this way. 1t is for this reason
that small farms generally pay much better
III pIOpOIllOu u lutlE hlLb ludu lhIBt Outbs
Few begin to realize what wealth of resource
there is in the most ordinary soil until from
necessity, or other cause, they give it a full
opportunity to display its yielding power.
Even with all the improved methods of farm
ing at the present day, the increased use of
fertilizers and other aids to successful agri-
culture, no one can yet measure the POSSIBLE
tiles in the way of harvests that may be pro-
duced from genial and cultvabe soil.
That farm pays where the buildings for
storing crops and sheltering domestic animals
are neatly, conveniently and comfortably ar
ranged. The very worst drains on the prof
its of farming are in the direction of shabb-
ly built, inconyenient, open and leaky barns
stables and granaries. We sometimes think
that it requires more foresight and good judg-
ment to take care of crops after they are har-
vested than it does to raise them. 1t is GER
tainly one Of the main points in profitable
farming to have such buildings that crops
put in them are kept from waste and spolia-
ton, and such shelter for stock that they can
be kept in a healthy and thriving condition.
Sheep and cows and other animals that have
the run of the fields during the summer need
clean and roomy quarters in winter if they
are not to lose all the benefits of good pas
turage.
That farm pays where all care is taken to
put back in the soil in the shape of fertilizers
part at least of that which is taken out in
the shape of crops Some farmers seem to
act on the principle that the soil is something
like bank from which they can draw year
after year without making deposits, as if il
were an institution from which they could
never overdraw or run in debt to. But such
course of procedure is sure to end in the
bankruptcy of the soil, if not of the farmer
The deposits must be made or the drafts will
not be honored. No SOIL however great iii
natural fertility, however abundant its re
sources, can long Withstand constant run
upon it. Figuratively speaking it must sooI
orlate close its doors. The farm that pays is tn,
farm where there is a generous return to tn,
soil of enriching substances An abundanc,
of fertilizing material, as a rule, is neithe
difficult nor expensive to obtain. Enough
goes TO waste around many farms every yea
to keep them in productive stately y
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