Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-04-05

SOME UAX anu saluA ~ MViC pASas
able than wheat, especially at pres
ent prices.
Ii is far more profitable for he
farmers 10 have d diversity Of crops
so If n fails they can fall back on
another; also u few head of stock
what they a take care of properly
and with profit. Yet We see many
that call themselves farmers going
to town buying meat, butter and
even eggs, and then wondering why
they are not better off. 1t is obvi-
Gus every farmer ought to raise what
he consumes, then he would raise
less mortgages.
Talk about gardening, South
Dasots is the garden spot of the
world. All kinds of vegetables
grow here that surprise even the
natives. l take quite an interest
in gardening; the only drawback
being no ready market.
keep about 100 hens of the
Plymouth Rock variety, some years
raising 200 chickens, and inG them
profitable, but it takes care.
My method of sowing wheat
has been, for the past six years, by
the S~trowbridge broadcast seeder.
| sow from 60 to 20 acres a day, II
bushels per acre; drag it once each
way, and quite often roll the ground
to make 1t more solid and retain
moisture. 1t proves fully as good
as hat sown by a seeder or drill,
except for a dry spring a drill is
superior, as it sows the seed deeper
where there is moisture, hence rapid
termination; but We do not witness
many dry springs. In regard to
summer following, generally it is
beneficial. July is the best time to
do it, yet a season like 1892, when
We had an abundance of moisture,
old ground that had been cropped
10 years vas just as prolific as sum-
mer fallOw or breaking so all We
want in this fertile Paradise 10 IN
sure bOuntiful crops, is sufficient
moisture. Yet that alone will not
make a successful farmer, for with
out thrift and intelligence to make
the most of time and labor he will
not attain tina. adccess the progress
sive farmer enjoys.
More farmers are poor through
ignorance and m:smanagement than
any other cause. 1t has been said,
Ignorance is a sin. and | believe
it an objectionable one, when in
this enlightened country education
is SO widely diffused; yet it isl de-
plorable fact to see so many devoid
of it, more lamentable still to see
them bring up a large family of
children with scarcely any school
ing. for in summer they must work
and in winter it is too cold to go to
school, not mindful of the fact
that the labor that pays best is &C.
quiring knowledge.
Enjoying life as the writer does,
in cellbacy, / do not receive help
from family sources. yet / know
a persons own help is better than
any hired help, whose only thought
is shutdown and pay-dsy.) Far
mers argue with me that / ought
to succeed, having no family to
support, but | beg to differ with
them, for | do not know a farmer
with a family whose wife and chill
dren, as soon as they are able, will
not earn their own living. but they
must fnd some excuse, so like
Adam Of old they lay the blame on
poor Eve.
ANY man with little ambition can
IN this country, work 100 acres
with the help Of one man during
harvest.
/ have $50 acres of land as fer
tile as the sun ever shone on; two
houses, barn and grsnary; all free
frem membranes; besides farm
machinery and nine head Of horses.
Why others are not as fortunate.
| reiterate, is more their own fault
than The fault of the country
their procliyities to run In debt is
far greater than their capabilities