Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1891-08-21
Did Our Wheat Crop Pay usP If not
Why not ?
Communicated

AS tho busy season is over, 1t would be
a good idea for tie farmer to rest from
his labors awhile, and do some thinking.
II he has kept an accurate account of all
costs and profits, be can soon tell what
his loss or gain is, for tie year.
If be has not kept an account be should
DO so for the Il year at least, then he
can figure better, and know just how
much he has gained or lost on his crop.
Many farmers cannot tell to any certainty
whether their crop has paid them or not I;
but if an accurate account be kept of
work done, with every item of expense,
they can tell to a cent, and not have to do
any guessing. itthen, his crop does not
pay him he should figure out the trouble,
and see if it can not be remedied. If the
crcp does not pay all expenses and fair
wages, and can not be made to do So, it
should be abandoned. 1t has often been
said that, "The farmer mnst not count
his time" Men of other occupations are
paid fer their time, and some of them
well paid. Ask a carpenter, blacksmith,
lawyer, doctor, or any one else but a
farmer to work simply for expenses aud
he will ca II you an idiot If we, on our
dllilto NduLOb iuhhb EOOh " osto ID Jul
brothers, in other occupations 90, there is
something wrong, and now is a good time
to look it mp.
Let MS see whether we did the very best
We conld with our crop. Did we get our
ground in the best condition, possible :
Did we SOW the cleanest seed that could
be found, and of that variety too, best
adapted to our soil Or did we SOW dirty
wheat simply becsse IL was handy 7 Did
we SOW fertilizer that furnished the ele
ments our soil lacked, or did we SOW a
certain brand because the agent SAID 1t
was the best in the market We should
remember that no agent knows az well a.
we ought, what elements our soll needs
to mature a good crop. He will puff the
brand that pnts the most money in bis
pocket-tbats his business. a few intel.
ligeut experiments on small plots will
soon enable us to know to a greater GER
tainty what our soil requires, much bet
ter than any experiment station could
tell MS. NV land may have enough
ammonia, but lack potash in that case |
am wasting time, labor and money, in
handling a fertilizer that has a high per
cent of ammonia. On my neighbours farm
INST the reverse may he true, ana III he
should buy fertilizer high in potash,
would lose money.
The best thing we can do is to test diff
ferent brands and mixtures, side by side,
giving each an equal chance, carefully
noting results. In this way we can soon
tell what elements are lacking, and may
be surprised to find that a mixture Of
South Carolina bone and plaster does fully
as well as brand costing $50. The aver
age yield of wheat in Virginia IS small,
and shows lack of business methods
among farmers. Shenandoah county can,
and ought to average at least twice as
much as she now does, at but slightly IN
creased cost. There is no profit, but loss
in the average crop of our county, IL
bushels. The way ont lies in growing
much larger crop per acre, and to do this
we must know what we are doing-must
know what variety to sow, how to pre-
pare our soil, what fertilizers, if any, to
use, and how much our crop costs. More
experimenting, better cultivation, mixed
with better business methods would more
than double our crops. Let US stop work
and think ami figure awhile.
LIKE HUNTER