The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-07-30
- Canse of Failur in Farming.

:, Home and Farm about the cause Of
t.inre in farming TIE following is
-1sc;nen of his treatmat of the subject:
Yankee peddler sold in old lady & pair
n bellows, telling her 1t was new and
f.sbionable kind of fat and she created
1T amusement in chyrch the next Sab
potb as she sat deliberately blowing herself
nth the bellows As she bad never seen a
,.ir of land bellows )efore, and there was
no difficulty in raising cooling breeze with
them. her mistake vas pardonable. There
ara 1osts of farmerswho, to use a metaphor,
have been tryingo raise the wind" by
-,rtting their farm to use for which they
are not adapted, nd although they have
been trying for yers and have failed Of
success, they still persist in following the
I'D plan. havenow in my mind a farm
If rolling land With about one-fOurth of
its area suited tothe pillow, and the balance
excellent grass and. The former owner
recognized the flct that his farm was suited
10 grass, and KEEP it in good condition and
made money. The small area plowed was
well MANFRED and thoroughly cultivated,
and stock always in good condition. He
and left it letter than he found it,
The present owner has been on the farm
but six wears and both he and the farm
have grown poorer with each passing year.
And the reason has been not that he has not
worked bard, for he is Industrious, but he
has been trying to run as hog farm one
iDtened by nature for dairy farm. This
year all the hillsides and hollows are
Flowed and on the farm there is but six
acres of pasture and not rod to cut for
hay. which now in June When pastures
ought to be flush his is gnawed short, and
his cattle are herded on the road; fortunate
" we have a stock law 50 they cannot be
turned out to run at large. The result is
that his farm is running down at fearful
rate and 'all his eggs are in one basket, and
should the cholera take his hogs, he would
be so discouraged and cramped that | should
expect to hear of his selling out and going
/ west Now, if this was q solitary case, |
should not write about it, but the great
cause of failure in farming, it seems to me,
comes from mistakes and blunders which
ought to be avoided, and which it requires
but little discernment to see.
If should ask the farmer of whom |
write what the chance for a profitable
yield of corn on his worn hillside was, he
would acknowledge that the season must be
an exceptionally favorable one if on good
part of his land he gos paid for his labor.
Then if 1 should ask him how long he could
follow this system of farming without re-
ducing the fertility of his farm to a point
where he could not hope to make living on
it, I think he would at once acknowledge
that it would not be many
years, yet for the want of thought and
management he persists in this plan of
farming. The wheat on this farm for some
years has averaged less than 10 bushels per
acre and his land cost SO per acre. Add
the interest on the investment the cost Of
seed the wear of machinery and threshing
and it does not leave day wages for the
work done Now if this farmer would only
put half his farm in blue grass and one
fourth in clover to both of which it is natu-
rally adapted, he would soon be able to
grow more grain from one-fourth of the
land than he now does from the three
tourths which he plows and his grain would
cost less than half per bushel than it now
does
We have taken a long step toward max
ing good farmer when we can get the idea
into his head that the test of farm prosperi-
ty is bushels, not acres. under cultivation,
and thai success is oftener a result of
thought and wise planning than of hard
work. | believe that more farmers are
poor because they do not work according to
wise plan than for any other reason.
Paul exhorts christians "tO be able always
togive reason for the hope that is within
them" and | say that a farmer ought to al
ways be able to give a good reason for the
plan he is following. One prolific
source Of failure, believe, to be that in de
termining what line of farming to follow,
they are guided by the success of some one
differently situated, rather than by study
OF their own soil, surroundings and capa-
biities. This leads to frequent changes of
plans, which are generally waSteful and re-
suit ia loss
There is no plan of farming that can be
learned to perfection in u short time, and
this is particularly true of what is called
special farming. Thousands of farmers
specialist, some one who has realized from
500 to $500 an acre in growing tobacco,
broom-corn, sweet potatoes, onions or ber-
rles, and without knowing that their farms
are suited to its growth or that their mar
ket will justify it, or that they have the
technical knowledge of details which will
enable them to make it profitable, they at
Vompt TO grow a crop, to manage which re-
quIres as careful Apprenticeship as to be-
come cabinet maker, and failure is sure to
follow. For some years was II grower of
Hover seeds and there were certain varie-
Ties which sold at wholesale at 81 or upJ
ward an o-nce, as they must be picked by
hand. Aftor growing them a few years, l
learned that there was u stsge Of their
growth, when these flowers could be cut
with scythe, and cured on large sheets
and threshed with frail, and that | could
produce prohtobly at 81 pound, what be-
lore cost sixteen timos Us much. This,
though an extreme case, illustrates the nd
vantage training gives in any special do
artment Of farming and accounts FOR
many failures by those who attempt special
farming without the necessary training an
knowledge