St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-03-18
ABOUT WHEAT CULTURE.


4 Crop That Leaves Little Except Seoooey
asd Depleted S0ll.
Why 20 many farmers continue 70
raise wheat year after year when its
market value Is less than its cost lean
only explain ON the theory that they do
not know its cost do not take the
trouble to think about II; or that they
keep on sowing with something Of tho
gamblers trust in the turn Of luck, /"
. hope that favoring conditions will
next season enable them to resp .
much larger yield than they have any
reason to expect. or that great failure
In some part Of the world will % cd
vance prices that even their scanty
product may afford some profit The
government report places the average
yield Of wheat Of the United States for
ls99 at Is bushels per acre; the average
BY states is given at from 6lS to eex
bushelA Nearly one hundred Kansas
farmers report yields Of considerable
areas. ranging all the way from 80
bushels TO - high ~ 65 per acre. quite
. large proportion running above 20
bushels Now. 1t 80 to 20 bushels per
acre there may be fair return to the
farmer on cheap land ut even 60 cents
per bushel; but. at 13 bushels and be-
low. what can there be. even ut 80
cents . bushel? At so cents 13 bushels
bring ouly 5000. How well will that
pay for blowing once. narrowing and
rolling two or three times. cost Of seed,
drilling. harvesting. thrashing. and,
perhaps, hauling several miles TO mar
lxet? Added to this. there il interest
or rent of land-not less than 8 peP
acre. Then there is another factor of
cost that don't believe one farmer in
ten ever stops. seriously, to think Of
namely. the value Of the plant-food
sold with the wheat This plant-food
is really the farmers capital-his in
vestmeut Remove the plantfood. tho
life. the fertility. from the soil and
what il the remainder worth? Moth
ing but to wear the life out of the
farmer without return for his toll
When that il gone he might ~ well
abandon his farm, unless he has
scenery TO SELL
A bushel of wheat takes from
the soil about LES lh Of nitrogen.
81 lh. Of potash and At lh Of phoss
phoric acid. These at market prices
for chemicals amount to about -
cents bushel At this rate, in selling
10 bushels of wheat per acre 81 - Of
your receipts would be for the cream
of your soil: 20 bushels per acre would
take $3.50. so bushels per acre q. 20 an.j
40 bushels % 60. Now . farmer il not
farming economically. judiciously, un-
less he Is able to return to his farm. in
some form, the plant-fo0d he sells In
his crops and still have left . balance
sufficient to pay all cost of crop. includ-
ing interest ON the value of the land.
How can . stop be put to the great
loss through producing each year more
wheat than the world will buy at re-
prices? Farmers viii not
to reduce the acreage sown.
Low - the price was 1T seeding time
last autumn, the great wheat statea
have extended rather than contracted
their areas sown. Every intelligent
farmer can settle the matter forhimseh
He can resolve TO cut
down the area of his sowing one-hali
usually spread thin over two acres on
one, and as much of the labor n may
be necessary to put his reduced area
into first-ratc tilsh Then he will Be
prepared probably 70 meet wha.ever
the next harvest may bring.
Should there be an overpr0duction
again, he will probably have such .
large yield per acre - to reduce cost
per bushel below the market price,
md should there be IN advance in
price he will be in position to realize
To cultivate . less area
md cultivate that better should be the
MOTTO Of every intelligent farmer.-C
P. Reynolds, in N. Y. Tribune