The Red Cloud chief., 1888-04-06

How Western Land May Re Made to Pro
due" More Than It Ever did.
The tii.ing of soil and growing 81
crops-that is what n usually char
acterizes as farming; but that term Cal
scarcely be applied with justice Il
much of the work done on our farm,
to-day. Farming should mean the per
feet handling of Il given portion o
land So that it shall produce II max:
mum amount Of products. cereals
roots. vegetables. fruits and grasses
and their secondary products. horses
cattle. sheep. swine. poultry. eggs. but
ter. cheese and milk. Regarding it in
this light. then, can we say tina: farm.
ing, so-called. deserves the name? l.
not 4 great majority of it a mere at
tempt ut farming-a work begun and
only half finished; Il profession prac-
ticed but no; thoroughly understood; i
pursuit capable of the profitable intro
ductiOn If more brain work into the
mechanism of its machinery. and in
short demanding the better education
of those employed in it? Years
ago when the great Western plains
Of America lay in undisturbed
repose. the prairie grasses gannL-
ally growing up and falling down.
thus gradually but surely enrichin- tho
soil whence they came. the pioneer
the farmer of his ~day-came. saw
and settled thereupon. Possessed Of
limited means and but crude implc-
ments for cultivatinS the soil. with no
railroad facilities AMI few marketing
points. his requirements We're of neccs-
sity those merely of himself and family.
Thus no great efforts were needed by
him to secure sufficient returns from
the soil for the maintenance If
himself and children. He merely
'tickled' the soil. So to speak. SCAT
tered seed and the fertile earth re-
warded him an hundred fold. This
man was \ farmer sufficiently well
versed for his day and opportunities.
when manual labor alone was almost
all that the pursuit required. Since
then what 4 change has come to these
Western farms and to the descendants
of those pioneer farmers? The present
generation inherits. not virgin sol to
cultivate. but farms that have been
hard run and badly worked; a legacy
of poverty this to the man who has no:
learned more about farming than his
forefathers knew. and worse yet t. his
children after him. With the stern he
ces>ities of the farmers position of to-
day. surrounded by thousands of men
competing with him in the markets Of
the country. middlemen. high freight
rates and consequent low prices for
products. with land no longer rich in
natures store of crop food for the man
ufacture Of farm products. farming has
become = most difficult profession.
Men. who. finding themselves in these
circumstances. surrounded by difficult
ties and possessed Of unproliiic soil.
content themselves with farming Us
their fathers did must fail. or ut best
make but u hard-earncd living for
themselves and families in the sweat Of
their brOws. Those who would make !.
success of farming are Of an altogether
different class. They are men whose
headwork precedes their manual labor
in every department Of the farm; whose
manual labor is the carrying of science
practice. and whose practice is
in detail and correct in prin-
ciple. Their farms are farmed in the
proper sense Of the word. Crops are
taken from the land. and in their place
is returned to repair the
loss consequent upon cropping. The
land is thoroughly worked. every inch
d it: the crop is thoroughly removed.
no ten-inch stubble being LETT behind.
thoroughly threshed. no good grain
its way into the chaff. and is
fed to thoroughbred" int
proved stock. In short. the successful
is the thorough farmer. who
understands farming principles and
practically applies them. Such farmers
nave not each day to look put upon
surroundings and miserable.
,nthrifty scrub stock. but live COM
themselves because they have
he better feelings of ''thoroughbreds."
md warmly house and properly feed
heir stock because it too has 4 dash of
thoroughbred blood in it, enhancing its
Ialue. and therefore rendering it
of proper attention. Our farm
ng has improved because our farmers
ave improved themselves. to enable
hem to cope with d~eteriOrated soil and
prices for products. BY
farming the land may be made
produce more than ever it did. and
y improving the quality of its products
he prices commanded by them will be
.rcater and more remunerative than
'efore. ReUieU.
- -
"A man named Rurdick. who re-
moved from the East to Kansas several
ears ago. recently found 4 tax receipt
TO his grandfather in Allegany
New York, t%hirty-fivc years