St. Landry democrat., 1888-06-30
PROFITABLE FARMING.
,ow to Make Cultivation of the Son q
Remunerative Industry.


Remunerative Industry.
One of the principal reasons why so
many cultivators of the soil are not
making money these times is because
they have never learned how to farm.
In most kinds of business, other than
farming, failures are usually and prop
erly ascribed to lack of knowledge of
what needs to be done, Or a lack of ex-
perience in knowing how to do it. But
usually the farmer ascribes his i'll sue
cess to low prices, drought or hard
times, never attributing it to lack of
knowledge. Simply because a man
has been brought up on farm is no
assurance that he has been taught how
to farm. 1t is an easy matter to learn
routine work; to cultivate crops in a
certain prescribed manner, and GER
tain number of times, regardless of
season or condition of soil. The very
poorest farmers know are men who
never did days work excepting on a
farm, while ON the other hand, some
of our leading agriculturists to-
day knew nothing whatever
about the farm or farm
work until they had arrived at
the age of maturity. The best way to
learn farming is to serve an apprentice
ship at it, as the beginner does in other
trades and industries, doing every de-
tail of farm work until practice en-
ables the tyro to perform it. Expert
ence should proceed theory to some
extent. If during his apprenticeship
his eyes and ears are kept open, .vari-
GUS improvements upon manners and
methods will suggest themselves from
time to time. After good founda-
ton is thus reached the beginner is
ready for the supplementary lessons
which agricultural science teaches.
Our agricultural colleges are good in
situations and are doing good work,
but most frequently they begin at the
wrong end, teaching theory and science
before any experimental knowledge
has been gained. They could accom-
plish much more good if they would
amount of practical work upon the
farm before entering upon the theore-
tical and scientific branches of the
business [ am glad to see that the
old notion that anybody can be farmer
without experience or training has ex-
ploded, and that farmers feel the ne
cessity of finished education and ripe
experience as much as those of other
avocations.
In addition to fertile lands and a
favorable season there must be fair
amount of tillage to insure good crop.
A large percentage of the crop depends
on the tillage. After the spring crops
are all planted the cultivators must be
kept going. 1t is much easier to keep
them moving and keep ahead of weeds
than it is to wait till the weeds get
start and then have to smother them
out. In fact, it is hard matter to re-
deem the crop after they have allowed
the weeds to get d healthy start, and a
good crop can not be realized from
land that is allowed to become Weedy |
or sour, Or that remains cloddy from
insufficient working, or. from working
when too wet We usually have al
good deal of wet weather in cultivating |
time, and it behooves us to keep the |
cultivator moving when the weather is |
favorable and soil in the proper con-
dition. And the drier the weather the
more we need to cultivate. The moist
ure of the soil can only be retained or
increased in dry weather by frequent
light surface cultivation. A finely and
freshly pulverized surface acts as
mulch, absorbing deWs, which a
packed surface soil could not do.
Weeds are not a bad thing, but
rather a blessing in disguise, every
thing considered. Very little cultiva-
ton much of our crops would get were
it not necessary to work the soil to keep
down weeds. Where one farmer stirs |
his soil to loosen it and put it in condi-
ton to absorb food from the atmos-
phere, half-dozen at least cultivate
only to keep down weeds. Nor should
the cultivators be stopped too soon.
Where corn stubble is to be seeded to
wheat, which / find is the most certain 4
and profitable way Of growing wheat
crop, the cultivation should be kept up
as late as possible without injuring the
corn crop, In order that there may be
no weeds or grass to interfere with the.
work of fall seeding. There are yet
TOO many farmers who think that /,
no matter what the soil or season, no !,
matter what the crop that has proceed !.
ID or is to follow it, the time-honored J.
custom OF giving just three cultivatings
must not be violated. And we don't
suppose these old stiff-necked fellows
IAN ever be convinced of the error of ,,
heir way. but the next generation OF !.
armers can be advised properly and
induced to make change when they
,ecome tillers of the lands that are be- =
ng SO badly abused. " W. Stevens, =
~ Ohio Farmer.
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