Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-09-17
TALK ON SMALLER FARM

NIr. George Q. Dow, well known by repu-
talon TO all readers Of agricultural htera-
ture, writes that farmers all over the coun-
Try, and particularly all over the South,
sre, as a rule attempting TO cultivate too
large an acreage for their means. This, in
his opinion, is why we hear SO much to the
eject that farming don t pay. In the days
Of our grandfathers, before soils had been
worn down as at present, and before there
was any particular competition relative to
Agricultural products, it was all well enough
for the farmer TO possess many acres and
cultivate them il Z slovenly kind of way,
but the present days are not the days OF
cur grandfathers. The times are very diff
fereut now. The farmer who now follows
tie old methods Of Our grandfathers will
be left, every time. and will help TO swell
the ranks of those meL who are constantly
wailine over the failure OF farming to pay.
II must be admitted that many farmers
are slow 10 see the changes that have taken
place They decline TO accept new ideas,
and hence remain about one generation
behind the present times so far as relates
20 progress. 1t takes the son greater por-
ton Of his life 10 discover that the careful
training his father gave him, and methods
his father had IN force in his day, are not
adapted 10 the present, which fact, could he
have realized it in his youth or when he be
gan TO farm, would have been worth very
much 10 him IN the way Of dollars and cents
as ! result CT his labors.
The grandfathers often operated farms OF
two and three hundred acres. 4 large por-
ton OF il, to be sure, may have been wood
land and pastures, but the feed in these was
plentiful! and rich, which afforded feed for
L large number of cattle in summer, and it
required little cultivation to produce hay
enough 70 carry the stock through winter.
Bat many of those old farms are now worn
TO thiuness, and were this otherwise they
would not pay if operated to-day as our
graudfathers operated thom.
Notwithstanding all these facts there Is
still plenty Of good money to be made at
farming, but it must be farming conducted
Oh the modern plan. 1t must be good farm
ING audcr the direct supervision of the pro-
pret0r II must not be on the slip-shod
under ne prop,ietors personal supervision
the farms must nor be SO large as formerly,
Tie large, cld style farms must be reduced
10 lhaJ number OF acres that one can afford
20 cultivate in the most thorough and i'm
proved manner-not skip over it, blowing
up u piece here and there, planting so much
laaG that yOa cannot half cultivate it, pick
H.. over three acres Of land for one bale OF
cotton, moving over three acres OF ground
10 get 4 ton Of poor hay, driving over and
into open bitches or wet bog holes in your
field. your fences only half built for
lack Of time, and as a consequence animals
ia on the crops destroying them, TO say
nothing of the travel required by your
Teams and men in getting from one job to
another On such farm. Stop all this at
once, is Mr.. BOWS advice, and cut the size
Of your farm down one-half, two-thirds-
yes, even nine tcnths. or until you can get
It within the bounds of your ability TO care
Tor il N iirSt-class shape.
You hate to give up this field or that, and
think you viii get what you can from it
once more and SO you 20 on. Cut it of
from your farrn--sell it, If possible-and get
il Of Your mind. II there is no market for it,
you can let il grow up 70 bushes and take
rest Then, continues MIR. Dow, conccn-
tra'e all your thoughts, energies, labor,
etc, upon yoar smaller acreage unGer cul-
ture, and no matter what line Of farming
you may adopt, You viii soon realize that
your farm is paying you better than it ever
did before, and that all your land is imprcv-
ins IN condition from year TO year. Under
mis- energy, associated with correct man
ayelnent, you will have as many bales of
cotton for sale as you had before, as many
bushels Of corn for home use and your barn
VIII be just as fun of hay, and better hay,
than il ever was. In a word, you can make
. single acre OF your well-tilled and we'll
managed land yield you more than three or
four acres Welded You under the old meth
obs.
Concentration is the order of the age--in
Jha; magic word lies The secret OF success
nj farming. or course 4 man or syuGi-
ca'e with immense means might make
money farming on u large scale, but the
farmer who expects his farm 10 pay It's own
way as It goes, had best draw in his acre
age 10 such Az extent Is will enable him to
get out Of every square foot of surface all
there Is N IL