The Forrest City times., 1892-01-15
TEE FARM AND HOME.
A FARMER.s COMPARISON OF
 THE EAST AND WEST.
Asricuiturists of Both sections Can Isarn ef Each Other-Destroyiny Tree Borers--stock Notes
 and Home Hints-
From Main. to Missouri.

From Maine to Missouri.
 There are many things that farm ct going from the extreme East to the West and Southwest cannot help but notice. It would do many New Eng land farmers good to take trip through the West. and many western farmers could learn something from a visit 10 the East You say conditions vary 90 that people in one section can- not do as may be wisest in some other locality. and that the general way of doing in any given section is the wisest and safest for the place. This is a remark often made by intelligent men. But it isn't always true. For example have attended an institute in a section where stock keeping was followed largely by all writes T. E. Terry in the Practical Farmer. There were perhaps 200 farmers present. Out of that number there were but 7 or who had water-tight stable floors and saved sil their manure in busi- ness-like way. Was common custom right or these two or three cranks"
 Now let us consider one point wherein a little change both in the East and West would be wise. Let us look at Maine, which is the extreme northeast They can grow good corn there of the early maturing kinds. 1 saw plenty of it and know of men who grew large paying crops. ] know what it cost them and just how much profit there was in it. They can also grow spring wheat oats and barley. But they do not do very much in this line. A farm is measured in Maine by the number of tons of hay 1t will cut Hay is king. l rode many miles by carriage: Invariably when l was told about farm we were passing they spoke like this: There is 2oO- acre farm that GUS 135 tons of hay. Here is one of sixty acres that bought last spring. that cuts thirty-Iive tons of hay. This is the way the ninety do Is it the best? No sir They had better raise more grain. pow more and reseed oftener.
 Grass should be the foundation, but not the whole end of their farming. The first year or two after re- seeding they get large crops; then the yield grows less and less. It dwindles down to half ton or less per acre l am told by good authority. Now this they can do, establish say a four year rotation, and raise good deal of grain and have more hay than they have now. Suppose one has forty acres of blow land. He is moving it all and getting thirty tons of hay on the av craze. He can put out ten acres to corn each year and ten to spring grain. seed largely with clover and now it two years and get fifty tons of hay, cay. per year from the twenty acres Perhaps not at first but eventually. il he manages wisely. Oh' said some farmers to me but we cannot sell cIe7er hay. No and l wouldn't want to- would feed it out if living where you do, and save the manure care fully. Some said to me but it is no use to put out any crop without put ting on dressing" Clover in short rotation. and all manure saved. and the grain that you raise fed out prop erly will soon settle the dressing" matter. Maine farmers in some To- calities need to pattern after western ones to the extent of growing more grain to turn into butter beef and wool and lambs. They can get more for all these products than western farmers Under skillful management they may raise as much grain per acre as their western friends do as they are now managing.
 One point is very noticeable the eastern farmer saves every spear of what he grows. There was no corn to be seen outdoors. every stalk was se- cured; nor were there any straw stacks even. The waste in this line is enor- nous in the West Millions and mil lions are wasted that would be saved by New England farmers. By SO doing they can we'll afford to grow grain if soil and season are not as favorable as in some western states.
 But now what can the western farm CT learn of the eastern onep Why to save what he grows; more carefully and turn it into money; but more par ticularly to grow more grass in his rotation. In many sections here it is most all grain. They need rotation with clover perhaps clover anC Timo thy. brought in more. They could thus grow more grain than they now do and have lots of grass and hay be- sides. Much of the land has been grained to death. True most of the land between here and my home in Ohio is natural corn land; but the yield is getting down altogether too low. By good management in the way spoken above. it would be doubled.
 Again, do not suppose that change in the single line mentioned East and West is all that is needed to make farming more profitable. We can all improve in many directions. l have tried only to point one way