Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1888-02-25

will simply say that [ give back the lihel
OF one of our county papers which says.
1.-THE farmers in the East would MT ra;aa
crops any better than we did in 1887 #
they planted and neglected them az we
do" prepare thoroughly for eyery-
thing, and care for it well until it is safely
harvested; and the most OF our farmers
here do the same.
I am an advocate of deep planting in
this country. On old land I pillow deep, and
drag as fast as plowed, and often enough
to make good compost seed bed: then
plant deep. For cultivated crops, stir
the surface over often, so as to kill all
the weeds while small, and keep the
ground moist. I prefer, in addition, to
mulch for potatoes. If the season is
early, I plant early; if late, I plant late.
I try never to get ahead Of Nature.
make lots of mistakes. and as soon
discover them, I adopt other methods.
In other words. I try to adapt myself to
this country and my surroundings; and I
think am making success of it. Now,
my friends, don't take this for piece of
egotism. It is only my way, and I want
you to know of it: and, if you think it is
all right, try it. Last year the corn and
millet crops were practical failures, but,
by having diversity of crops, I have
enough to see me through. Ny wheat,
rye and oats gave me over $50 bushels of
grain for horses, hogs and poultry; and I
have from 6 acres of sod sorghum, about
rs bushels of sorghum seed for sale this
spring. And that 6 acres of sorghum
paid better for the work and use of the
land than any 15-acre piece of corn in
Trego county. The seed alone is worth
at least $3.50 per acre, while the cane
paid for all the work of planting, harvest
ing and threshing; and in the same field,
joining it, I had 1917 acres to corn that
that did not produce ! bushel, and most
of it was very poor fodder. If you have,
say 40 acres, to put into crops this spring,
I would say put 1215 to corn, 1211a to sor-
ghum, 10 to oats, and the balance to po-
tatoes, garden, etc. [ take it that general
agriculture means, or includes, the plant
ing of fruit and shade trees, small fruits,
vines, etc.; also the keeping of sufficient
stock to eat up and work over what you
raise. If this view is correct, then devote
few acres of your land, which are best
adapted to the purpose, to the planting of
apples, pears, plums, cherries, grapes,
crab-apples, apricots, strawberries, rasp-
berries, native currants, gooseberries,
blackberries, etc. These will do well in
Trego county. Do not plant peaches,
tame currants, and fancy fruits, except
few by way of experiment. Plant plenty
of walnuts, elms, white ash, box-elder,
cottonwoods, acorns (oaks,) hard naples,
and perhaps a few other varieties, and
you will have good windbreaks and CRATE
full shade, besides identifying your farm.
It will be more pleasant to live on then if
you desire to retain it, and bring better
price if you desire to sell it.
The keeping and raising of stock to use
up what you raise, and work it over into
more salable shape, is important. It does
not pay to raise grain and hay to sell, but,
by feeding it to stock, one can get fair
price for it. Cattle are now deprecated
sadly in price, but still I think it will pay
to keep them well if you keep them at all.
Meanwhile, improve your stock all you
can. If you breed to beef qualities in
cattle, make it an object to secure the
best, and then never starve them. Also
provide them good shelter and water. Do
not be discouraged because cattle are low
in price now; for, depend upon it, reac
ton will soon come. Good beef cattle
will soon be in demand. IF you breed for
dairy purposes, keep only those which
prove profitable for butter or cheese. I
believe IN pedigree. Like produces like,
and you will be more sure of good milk
COW by seeing to it that the ancestors of
your COWS are from good milk stock than
in haphazzard selection. I do not mean
that it is absolutely necessary for one to
pay high price for pedigreed, thorough
bred stock for ordinary purposes; but, by
selecting calves from the best milk stock,
which is itself descended from the best,
for series of generations, you will
be very likely to get good mixers. Six
or eight generations are generally suffi-
cient to fix the milking qualities on de-
scendants. In general-purpose diaries,
we want beef qualities as we'll as milk
qualities, hence keep both objects in
view. L have always made my dairy pay
well. In fact, in the aggregate, it is the
most profitable part of my farming.
It also pays well to raise horses. if you
raise good ones. Make up your mind |
what kind you want, and then breed only |
for that object. When you wean your
colts, don't starve them, but be liberal |