The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1889-08-10
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL.
To Young Farmers.

exhausted with old men, whose Drains
and vision are not as active as our
young farmers, whose hopes, energies
and ambition are in the spring-tide OF
life. 1t is as much as the old men can
do to carry on their farms as best they
can. for their activity and energies are
pretty we'll gone. SO all they can hope
for is to make a crop with as little
trouble and expense as possible. and
are satisfied if they make provisions
sufficient for the use of their farms
and a money crop to pay the expenses
of the farm and family. and If they
succeed in doing SO, they do we'll
that is all attempt, and SO far / have
been successful. But the changes
now going on in farming, which
science and improved farm machinery
is developing, is work for our
young farmers; they are young and
active, and they should have the am
bition, energy, perseverance and will.
to take advantage Of circumstances.
and make farming success. To do
this. they must read as well as work,
and make theory and work practically
beneficial. My advice to all young
farmers would be, not to over-reach,
have small farms, and farm on the
diversified and intensive system, and
let your first object be. to the keeping
up OF your land in state of fertility,
that will assure you its production will
amply repay you for the expense and
labor bestowed upon it; how many
young men have been discouraged,
and given up farming, because their
first" attempt at farming was failure.
Cause and effect should be one of
the first subjects the young farmer
should investigate and study, for ef-
fects are the results of some causes.
Like the failure that discouraged him.
the cause was, the lands he planted
were not in condition to yield a re-
munerative crop, hence. the effect was
a failure. If failure should be the
result of some cause, termed Provi-
Dental, such as extreme drought or
from storms, or sickness, be not in the
least discouraged. for that arises from
causes that could not be averted, but
take heart and try it over again. have
met with a great many such reverses
in my long experience at farming,
which expelled from my thoughts
by arousing my energies to try
it over again. and If the failure
was from any cause attributable to
any fault of my own, in judgment or
execution. / guarded against 1t in
future, and remedied the failure as far
as it was in my power to do so. Self
reliance is your main dependence. De-
pend mostly on your own resources,
and make the farm as self-supporting
as possible, first, by raising all your
own food supplies, and make all your
fertilizers as far as possible. 1t won't
do to depend on merchants and manu-
facturers to supply you with food and
fertilizers. If you do, failure is inevita-
BILE. Depend on the pillow to help you
out in fertilizing, by rotating crops,
and turning under all vegetable mat
ter on the land to decompose. By
this mode in a few years you
will see your fields recuperating
and producing better crops. Keep
all the stock you can without mourning
expense to do so. and that will help
greatly in making manures, as well as
enabling you to put your land in bet
ter order for planting and cultivation.
Stock is no expense when you can
maintain them out of your own cribs
and barns. They pay well for the feed
hey consume, especially now when so
much work is done by machinery,
which requires extra stock to work.
Let corn, oats, rye and clover be your
specialties, and the cotton your surplus
crop. paying proper attention to rotat-
ing your crops. By such system you
will improve your crops, and succeed
as farmer, at the same time observ-
ing judicious economy.
No farmer can expect to accumulate
wealth rapidly these days by farming.
so they need not attempt it; il at
tempted, failure is the result Farm
to accumulate by slow and sure proc
ess, that is. make the farm self-sup-
porting and self-sustaining, and with
judicious economy, and paying as you
go, by gradual increase of crops. and
stock, by accumulation. in few years
the increase is so much added to your
capital, which keeps increasing under
judicious management Farming il
not a speculative business, and should
not be made SO. 1t is a regular bust.
ness of system and methods, to be pur'
sued iudiciously and perseveringly
paying strict attention to details. Like
all other business it requires study