The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1894-04-07
FARMER AND PLANTER.
LIVING ON POOR LAND.

of Many Farmers.
With a large number of farmers the
absorbing question is how on a poor,
run down farm, without capital. TO get
enough supplies to last through the
year and the little money absolutely |
necessary. This question is often Hip |
PANTY answered by the advice to move
to a better farm, sas a tenant, or to go
west, etc, but this is generally imprac-
tica bic, as in most cases the farmer is
too poor to changc.and he and his fam
lily are neither able nor willing to do
the large amount of rough work which
such move would necessltatc. lie
sides u foothold or home of Your own,
with all its Accomplishments OF old
friends. local attachments and fixed
h:l bits, is "A gift of God not to be light
ly abandoned.
Having to face such conditions. the
first thought should be economy: not
| seeing how the family and animals
| could be fed on the proverbial one
| straw Il day of which the old horse
| died, but the management OF the land
| in such a way that the greatest net in
come could be produced from it with
| out injuring it.
If any farmer who feels hopeless of
| his ability to support his family will
sit down and figure up the supplies alb
| solutely necessary, he will be surprised
| at how small part of the products OF
| the poorest farm it takes.
My experience has been that the
| largest waste on the average farm is
| from unproductive stock. ] mean the
keeping of two or more poor. ill-fed an
finals when one good one would answer
better. Do not sell what you have and
buy fancy stock, but keep the best You
have, and feed and care for them bet
| ter. even if this reduces you to one
horse, one COW, and even one hog. 1
] put this waste first because it actually
wastes something in hand. viz: crops
already secured.
The most important waste comes in
| trying to work too much land This
means ill preparation and i'll cultiva-
| ton, the working of poor land which
might be Lett to rest and rccupcratc,
the taking OF what little profit might
be made on the better parts of the la nd
to pay the poorer, having to provide
pay, board and labor for-which you not
only receive no reward. but draw on
yourself vexation and loss, the forcing
| of your dearly bought crop on a glut
J ted ma l<ct. with the ]aborcrs waiting
: al your door for all the money received
Farmers are prone to denouncc spccu
lators All men are spectators who
by hired labor produce more of any
article than they need for their owl
use. What shall we say of the
, Spectator who speculates will
not only the probabilities. bu
, | tho ccrtaintieS against him, a
any man does who attempts tt
make staple crops for sale from poo
land, and with hired la Dor. And jus
| how many men. knowing this, plunge
from the frying-pan into the fire, b.
:; buying manipulated commercial fer
tilizers. From an experience datln;
= back to the conclusion of the war. as
, market gardner. farmer and travclin!
salesman of agricultural implements
l | ] can say that as 4 rule. it does not pa
to use for staple crops manipulate
| fertilizers land originally poor
! | either for the crop to which it is al
| piled, for the future benefit of tin
land. l do not mean 20 decry the us
of commercial fertilizers for specia
crops, or for giving tobacco a goo
start. or for getting stand Of clover
sary that the land shout
have been originally poor. I ais
| think that there is way SO cheap G
easy to improve land as by the free us
of pure bone flour and potash salt:
but this is like saying that the bes
way to improve poor land is to bu
good, for less than 400 pounds of bon
q and 200 pounds of KANT has no al
precia bic effect poor land, and lie:
than 100 pounds of each has no vcr
marked effect. Another waste is tr!
ing to do more than your own la'o
60 money on command and supplies .
. hand will allow you to do at the prcpc
~ ! time and in tho proper way. An
last, but not least, the ma king of
debt of any kind is to be avooic,
I Men on good farms may sometimes
right in anticipa ting future incon
from their property, but on 4 poo
j. Farm this is never justita bic
Home and Farm.