Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-02-22

Mr. Waldo f. Brown, of Butler
county, Ohio, writes entertainingly and
i~DStructiyely to the Country Gentle
man on the advantages of Il small
farm. He says: For many years past
there has been a class of orators who
have depended on calamity bowling
to catch the ear of farmers, and who
have given us doleful pictures Of the
terrible evils, political and otherwise,
They have asserted that the farmer
had no voice in fixing the price of his
products. little voice in making the
laws under which he must live, and
that he paid more taxes than any
other man of equal property. Such
statements as these are always eX-
ceedingly popular with the ignorant
class of farmers, and are Il convenient
scapegOat for those who have failed to
make a profit on account of their own
mismanagement, and there is just
enough truth in them to make it diff
cult to retute them, but when 4 dis
outraged farmer sells out and moves
to town, he often gets al object les
son which is something of an eye
opener. | met one lately who had sold
his farm 4 few years ago and had just
$4,000 in cash left, which, fortunately,
was safely invested where it brings
eight per cent. interest. This farmer
has learned something about taxation,
for while | pay on real estate and per-
sonal property thirteen mills or the
dollar, this farmer in town pays
t~wenty-six mills, and he said to me:
My taxes use up almost one-third Of
my income"
Now, I believe there is no man who
can weather financial storms with so
little distress rs the fSrmer, and one
who can get sc large returns from a
small investment. He is never out OF
profitable employment. With wen a
small farm, all the fruit, vegetables,
milk, butter and poultry products
needed in the family car be produced.
and some surplus of al; and usually in
aduACiOn to this. the bread stuff and
most of the meat. The farm referred
to contained twenty-five acres. half of
it fairly good plow-Iand, and the re
mainder good pasture, set with per-
manent blue grass, and containing a
spring. 1t is on a free turnpike. with
in fifteen minutes drive of a good
market. All that is left Of the income
from what this farm was sold for.
after the taxes are paid. will not pay
the rent on as good q house as there
is on it.
There is another thing in favor of
a small farm-little time IS lost going
to and from ones work, and the man
is always Within call. IF it rains you
are at home to do some useful work
under cover. Oh tO 60 to the house and
read, and you your own master. All
the big shops may close, but you will not
be thrown out of employment, and no
labor union can dictate to you what
you shall do, or whom you shall en-
p1oy-
Now, if I had owned this farm /
| would have remained on it and so
managed as to get q good living from
1T. To begin with, I would keep but
one horse, for with the exception of
a very few days blowing n good
horse would do all the work, and there
would be no difficulty in hiring a
horse for this. I would Keep four good
jersey cows, from which I c01ld cor
tainly depend on an income of fifty
|dollars each, and ought in a few years
to increase this to seventy-five dollars.
I would devote three Of the remain
Snr frr,n1rTn nor-pc fn Tpar1nnIn~ nn6
small fruits, and from q experience
Of many years in this line I know
that I could rely on an income of
nearly. or quite. 500 an acre from
these three acresi. This would leave
iaine acres on which to grow corn,
wheat and clover; or such feeding crops
as would be most profitable. From
some experience I have had, I think I
can grow more summer feed from
sorghum than any plant I ever grew,
and I should depend On this largely to
tide over a summer drought. l GER
tainly would never be caught with
short pastures and no soiling crop, and
the area under cultivation would be so
small that I could put the land in fine
condition and give it the best possible
tillage. I would keep one or two good
brood sows-a little experience would
enable me to decide which number was
best-and raise two litters Of pigs,
spring and fall, and sell them young;
often they would give the best profit
sold at weaving time, but if not, /
would push them so that they would
be ready for the butcher at from four
and a half to six months old. The milk
and garden waste would go far
towards keeping them, and it would be
safe to expect an addition Of from fifty
dollars to 500 to the income from
them. Then 100 hens would produce
in addition to all the eggs and poultry
the family used, at least another 500.
This would be my plan Of starting on
such a farm but I would be ready to
change my plans a Don as [ was
sure I could do better.
One should keep an account with each
department of his farm, so that at
the end of the year he can know just
what each has paid. This might result
in banishing the hogs and feeding the
milk to the hens instead. 1t is quite
possible that some crops would prove
well adapted to the soil and market,
that most of the cultivated land could
be devoted to its growth. and all the
grain and q part Of the hay bought
the stock. If this crop should prove
to be strawberries, it would be fOrtu-
for the old beds can be plowed as