Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-03-29
SUCCESSFUL FARMING
Diversity in Farming Found to ne
the Most Successful Hethod-Farm-
ing is a Profession that Require
brain as Well as Muscle.

The following essay was awarded
first prize in the Dakota Farm eompeu-
ton. 4 was written by ]. Il. Hartman,
Of Potter County South Dakota:
In March. 1887, / settled on the north
west quarter of section 26, l1S!I, Pot
| ter County, South Dakota, with Il team
| of old horses, wagon, pioTs, drag, feed
and seed enough 10 put in sixty acres
of wheat and abcut S12o.G II cash.
I had a family consisting Of a wife, lii
lie girl and gr0wn up sol The son has
| been away three years out Of seven.
| No hands have been employed except
| in harvest.
The soil here IS a black loan, slightly
yellow when first broken; the suhsoil is
! of a nature well adapted for the reten-
ton Of moisture and is full Of lime.
The land is nearly free from stone and
gravel beds and is a solid mat OF bunch
grass roots which makes the breaking
very hard. 1t takes -four good horses to
break two acres per day with a six
teen inch pillow while the ground is in
good condition. Every acre broken is
with cow ~ VIVA NhS"N N G~
tougher the sod the better and harder
the quality OF wheat ii viii raise.
The first year. 1887. l had in 60 acres
of wheat: So. % acres Of wheat; 50.
l60 acres OF wheat; 20, $50 acres Of
wheat and 40 of f1ax;'91. 40 acres OF
wheat and 20 of fax: '92, 80 acres of
wheat and % of flax. Each year l
have had in from 10 to 10 acres Of oats
--l l,-YN g., cod Have pnunr had n
good crop in the seven years, but have
always made a little profit. Have made
money cutting with my header for
neighbors, and in 80 did about $4,000
worth of work on the T. G. & S. G. Ry.,
near me, which gave my farming a
much needed lift.
have bought but two horses and sold
two. Now have five high grade and
three common work horses, four
high grade two year Old colts. / raise
none but the best grade and find that
IL pays Many farmers have made the
mistake of buying horses on time. in
stead OF raising them. My mares work
side 10y side with geldings while raising
their colts.
The second year here my son worked
three months at $1,000 per month for n
two-year aid heifer without the calf.
The next year / bought another one.
During 1890 / . we MIXED three cows.
Made the mistake of selling the calves.
Last year / had six miRh COWS. Sold
enough butter to furnish the table well
from them. In justice TO the cows
should add, that in November '92, i lost
my house and all supplies by fire, and
i'm July, .93, my garden by hail, thus
necessitating the purchase of everything
eaten by us for over n year. Butter
, making qualities Is my test in the pur-
chase of a COW, although size Is not al
together lost sight Of. / have learned
!, that large COWS are just as liable 10 be
: good mixers as small ones, and should
their calves be steers. are much more
: profitable on that score. OF my nlne
} mich cows eight are at least fifty
| pounds heavier than the average cows
of the neighborhoOd: the ninth is a
[ high-grade Jersey. | have in the past
: fed my COWS nothing but wild hay or
oat straw, but shall feed chopped feed
hereafter as it will pay every time
when fed to good cows. Good warm
quarters and plenty of pure water di-
rect from the wen / find TO be indispen-
sable for both cattle and horses. We
!, feed our calves fresh milk until they
| are three or four weeks old, and after
that SKINNED milk slightly warmed
lin winter. They are as large N
: twelve months of age as many that
have run with the cows and represent
l a great deal more of profit. | have
1 learned that COWS sho-lld come fresh
about September 1st. Butter is nearly
always 20 cents during the fall and -
: during the winter months. AT this sea
son the cows require more or less care
anyway. and ! believe the profit to be
much larger than at any other season.
Z Anyway the men folks have more time
to milk and look after them then than
{ during the spring and summer months,
A few spring COWS are handy TO have
over the period the others are dry. j
+ never began to get ahead until i began
paying my grocery bills with butter
. and eggs: since then / have found IL
, much better shedding.
I The hen rs the farmers friend in need
and a friend indeed. My five dozen
hens are worth probably II or 16 dol.
lars and the best horse on the farm
,, $4,000 yet the hens net me more pro.
!. fit than two or three horses. Our fami-
: " have not been out of eggs for years
except for a short time last year when
all our chickens We're roasted alive.
I From nine hens last spring we raised
' five dozen pulle:s and probably as
many cockerels, which we have eaten,
e besides about three dozen killed in a
hail storm. Dakota IS the ipoultry-
mans paradise. No disease, M stag
nant water. or other deadly enemies.
Warm. well lighted quarters and plenty
2 of whole wheat and good fresh water
e will make hens lay at all seasons of
the year. The refuse from the table
, and some sour milk can be probably
. fed them. We shall devote consider.
. able time to this industry from this on.
Gardening has been followed with us
with various degrees of success. We
: have expended from So to $40 for seeds
per year MT the best northern seed
houses for their choicest variety of seed
always getting what they term their
I, "~specialties." and we have no good rea-
; son for disseminating the practice. OF
e course we save choice seeds also. We
have learned that freshly broken sod is
5 best for a garden as little or no hoeing