The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1891-12-02
DIVERSIFIED FARMING--ITs ADvAN-
TAGES.
Read before the H,tnterdon Co,aatv
Farmers Institute, Noe. II, 1891,
By ROBERT X ToMIINsoN.


ers OF this State anything relating to ag.
riculture. One of the farmers whose
buildings and grounds are most plainly in
sight of my own, resides In this State, and
while am sure that have always looked
up to his farming, l am equally sure that
be has always looked Gown upon my own.
might say in passing, however, that he
has the advantage in looking down, as bis
farm lies some 800 feet higher than mine.
| presume, however, that the invitation
comes from the desire to mingle brotherly
feeling and gain mutual encouragement,
rather than great knowledge, and in this
spirit l heartily respond.
But could not help remembering when
approaching this beautiful town, and es-
pecially when entering this court room,
of the last time l was here, on the griev-
GUS charge of selling my own produce in
the nearest market town, which happens
to be in this State. But / don't believe
and wont believe that the farmers OF
this State had anything to do with tina,
farcical arrest. Still l much prefer to
think of the only other time entered this
town, long, long ago, in the happy days
of boyhood. We were coming to great
political mass meeting and l remember
seeing two huge OK teams, each contain,
ing thirty and odd yoke of oxen. YOU
couldn't fluid that many oxen In all Hun
terdon county now, could you farmers
| remember we had song made up fol-
the occasion, in one verse OF which, afteI
saying how we loved all Uncle Sans
boys, we sang,
Jersey Blues as we'll as any,
For we are the boys of Pennsylvania"
We'll, the topic you have assigned te
me is one that has been much discussed
by agricultural writers and papers. On
the one hand Mr.. Terry, of Ohio, and a
number OF others, have maintained tina
emily two or three crops should be grown
on the farm aud on these the farmer
should bestow all his care and skill until
he became a specialist in that line, and
could raise them in finer quality and
greater quantity than any one else, and
thus in a measure control the market.
Mr.. Terry himself has raised for long
time only potatoes and wheat, with clover
as fertilizer not keeping stock, except
for domestic use. Without doubt Mr..
Terry has been quite successful in his
farming, just as very able mau will be
successful under any system thoughtfully
laid down and persistently and zealously
followed. II must not be forgotten, how
ever, that even Mr.. Terry has helped to
prove that for successful cloveriug a
foundation must first be laid, either by
the slow accumuative processes of nature,
or artiticially, as in Mr.. Terry's case, by
the application of immense quantities of
swamp muck and manure, before he com
menced his present system.
On the other hand other, writers have
pointed out how one man has been sue
cessful In grain growing, how another has
made money in stock feeding, how this
man has made fortune with peaches,
pears, or apples, and that man has been
equally successful with small fruits. They
tell how men have filed their purses by
breeding fancy stock, or selling spring
chickens or lambs, by trucking or by sell
ing gilt-edged butter or milk and then
they exclaim, now, farmers all you have
to do Is to combine these ways of making
money and just see how immensely rich
you will become. As in most cases, the
trwth probably lies between these two ex-
tremes.
Instead of theorizing on the matter, |
propose to-day TO give you real instance
OF the two modes OF farming; then il you
have no glowing or wonderful accounts
to excite your admiration, you will at
least have some cold, hard facts on which
to base judgment. About war time, a
young man, with whom am so intimate
ly acquainted that have free access to
his books, and know perhaps almost as
well az himself, every detail uf his farm.
ing, took up the old homestead that had
been in the family for generations, giving
his share OF the estate in part payment,
aud mortgages or notes for the remainder
OF the purchase money. Although his
father, after II long struggle, had cleared
the estate from incumbTunce lust preyi-
Gus 10 bis death, yet rs there were six
children to share in The division. the
young man found that by the time stock
aud implements were acquired at the pre-
vailing high prices and some necessary
buildings erected, he was very heavily in
debt, owing IN facl $S, 900 ON a lO0-acre
farm that cost him about that. However.
he shouldered his burden with the hope
and determination that, happily, mostly
accompanies youth and strength, conf
dent-perbaps over .coniident-that the
same temperance and industry and probi-
ty, that brought his father to indepen-
dence, would also favor him. But after a
few years struggle he found out what so
many In late years discovered, that, al
though our fathers may have had 10 CON
tend with stnmps and boys and stones,
yet the financial problem OF the present
generation is harder than theirs. For
with prices almost as low as then, we
have to meet a great and mostly unavoid-
able increase In family, farm and public
expenses. The very nowness os their
land, which made many OF their difficult
ties, obviated any great expense for fer
tiizers. But our young friend soon found
that il he continued to raise the crops his
father raised, he must do something to
renovate the soil. Wrong plans generally
suggest themselves before right ones, be,
cause there are so many more of them.
The first attempt to improve the farm
was to buy largely OF Philadelphia ma.
nure and have 1t boated up the canal
which bordered his farm. He soon found
that the expense Of this was too great for
the increased returns to meet. Next, he
tried the artificial manures. These. on
his light sandy soil, he found were too
feeting and too feeble in their action to
restore lost fertility. At last, about the
Centennial year, which celebrated almost
every kind Of American freedom, except