The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1886-08-14

oHe OF tne economies WHlCn most neeC
to- be learned by farmers is the best man
agement of team help. A great proportion
are overstOCked with horses, by which we
mean keeping more n, res than can le
probably employed all the year. There
was possibly some reason for the notion
that prevailed at an early day that teams
cost little or nothing for keeping. Much
that they ate was either unstable or cost
about rs much to get to market as Il
brought. On land worth little or nothing
only the most valuable grains would pay
for transporting to market. Ii was possibly
true under sucn circumstances that d
horses keep may have been small matter
but now that the COarsest fodder can be sold
even straw bringing much more that either
manurial or nutritiye value, the food that q
horse eats is as good rs cash and amounts t
fully 81 per week, and when working hard
and well fed often 10 twice that sum. A
working team will cost to keep nearly OF
quite $40, and if we allow $3.50 per day
for use OF the team il much work 100 days
or e-third the working year, under favor
able circumstances, to merely pay its way
allowing nothing for accident, disease and
depreciation in value
On thousands Of farms, where only few
kinds of crops are grown, teams get little il
any more than 100 days work per year. All
through the winter, weeks and sometimes
MOnths pass without getting horses out ex
cept for exercise. When the busy season
begins, it is altogether too busy for little
while, though even then the farmer |,
lucky whose teams are not kept idle one OF
two days in the week by storms. Team
help at seeding time in spring and in har
vest IL we'll worth whatever its owners con
science will allow him to charge. We
have known good farmers to pay So 80 or
even 81 per day for man and team al pillow
ing in order to hurry in crops in season
Even these seemingly high prices are less
expensive than keeping through the yeaI
extra team help required al these special
seasons.
Without doubt the greatest and mos,
common loss in team management Is from
keeping poor horses, unable ut any time &c
do full days work 1t is the most diff
cult thing possibl" for many farmers &c
get the idea into their heads that horse
capable Of doing but little is entirely value
less. An old, worn out horse will always
sell for something, no matter how poor he
may be, and always for greater price IL
proportion TO his value when most worth
less. For farm purposes, with the dear
wages now paid farm help, il does not re
quire much deduction from a full days
team work each day TO make up the value
OF tirstclass team in every respect. The
poor horse costs fully as much, and gener
ally more, for keeping than good ones do
Suppose that with a good team two acres
per day would be fair days work, while
with poor team an acre or an acre and a
quarter would be all that could be accom-
plished. The hired help is paid the same
in either case, while with poor team near.
ly or quite half their efficiency Is lost. AND
yet the poorer farmer is the invariably
his team will be poor. The two things al
ways 90 together as cause and effect, and
the poor team Is oftener the cause of gener
al poverty than the reverse.
Having a good team of horses, the farmer
should either work them himself or EN-
plOy some one who will not abuse them
who will feed them well, and 80 manage AZ
70 keep them employed nearly or quite all
the working days in the year. Stormy
weather will interfere with this somewhat
on the farm, and ii Is difficult TO get more
than two hundred days of profitable team
work on most farms in our northern climate
Many get not much more than half this
number, and horses laying idle in the stable
in fair weather, because no work has been
provided for them, furnish proof of the
announcement that So often result in fail
ure II is a difficult matter 20 keep teams
profita5ly employed all the time during the
working season, and the effort 70 do this
has, as il should have, much Ia do will
methods Of cropping AMI the kind of crop,
20 be grown. Keeping the teams busy, anC
men Is well, is one of the bestarguments tol
growing a large variety of crops rather thar
only few.
No positive or definite rule can he given
as 20 the number of horses or teams tina
may be kept on given area. If the horses
are good animals their numbers may b,
greatly increased with profit, n the land Il
made more fertile and suited 20 greatei
variety of crops. Market gardeners otter
keep several teams on a few acres, but they
are always busily employed either in dra"