The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1888-11-06
A LITTLE FARM WELL TITLED.

These two little words " well titled.
mean a good deal. And they mean
much more now than formerly, much
more even now than our fathers
dreamed. What was thought good
tillage a generation ago would be
thought poor tillage now blythe edu-
Gated and progressive farmer, There
have been many and happy changes,
not only in the methods of tilling the
soil, but also the opinions of men as
to what is good tillage.' Farming,
like most other things, has improved.
Good farming is, and has been, a
growing quantity. Its standard OF
excellence is all the time rising. And
with me these two words well titled"
mean the best farming possible in our
present state OF. knowledge and skill.
And besides they mean a vigilance,
a constant investigation, and untiring
effort to improve, to find something
still better, and SO carry the standard
of farming higher.
Again, what will be, called well
titled" by one might not by another,
for men differ here as well as else
where. But I-suppose a general view
of representative farmers as to what
is good farming is what is meant by
"well titled /" in the subject. To do
all kinds of work in season, and what
most intelligent and progressive farm
ers would say-in the best possible
manners for our day a.well titled"
If we could have a great symposium
of representative farmers as to what
constitutes good farming, the main
thought would be that it was the best
thought of the best minds, and the
best skill of the most skillful applied
to farming. 1t would thus be expert
work. 1t would be the largest scope
and most perfect action of every hu-
man power ripened in the school of
experience.
If a little farm is " we'll titled it is
done with neatness and taste. The
buildings, though plain and cheap, are
yet trim and neat. The grounds
around them are SO kept as to show a
refined taste. The fields are laid off
with great care and judgment, with a
view to the rotation Of crops, and ease
and facility of cultivation.
Well TILED implies the best tools,
and used only as the skilled workman
can use them. The pillow turns a
straight even furrow. The mower
and reaper move with the precision of
a lathe. The rows of corn ruiz as if
by line. And there is system, order
and timeliness to everything.
Well titled" means the best seeds
and the most approved ways of cult1-
waiting them. 1t means in farming,
and does for farming, what intelligent
breeding means and does in stock
raising. 1t mean IN intelligent aiap-
tation of seeds to soils. And this i'm.
plies knowledge of soils, a knowledge
of the various growing crops, a knowl-
edge of fertilizers and their adaptations
to soils, sc as to supply to soils in the
quickest and cheapest way what is
needed to feed and nourish any crop.
To till a farm we'll is to treat it
kindly, as if it were a friend. And
just as kindness to a person will bring
back kindness in return, so such treat:
ment of the soil causes it to respond
in a bounteous harvest. The little
farm does its best to him who has
been kind to it. Thus the timely
thorough, wise and well titled farm.
yields all it is capable of. Good filth
draws vast treasures from the air
above and the earth beneath. which
poor filth knows not of. .@'1
By being well titled " a little farm
yields the income of a much larger
farm poorly. titled. Good filth takes
the place of more land. And hence if
one wants more land he need not buy,
more surface acres; but he will, by,
good filth, find as many more acres
beneath those he now has. And l
may add above them too, for the very
sky is propitious and smiles upon and
gives up its invisible treasures t o a
{" little farm we'll titled" And 20 I
say, good filth takes the place of more
land, or it doubles or trebles the pro-
ducing capacity and profit of the land
one now has. 1t makes two blades of
grass grow where but one grew before.
Poor Richard had this thought in
mind when he said "Plow deep while
sluggards sleep, and you will have
corn to sell and to keep" So Solomon,
that wise man of old, had this idea in
mind when he said, ale that tilleth
his land shall have plenty of bread"
"a little farm well titled" not only
yields the most of everything, but the