The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1895-01-24

question the Station has nothing to do
Doubtless something might and should
be done by legislation to restore conf
dence and revive business activities;
but every farmer must rely upon his
own good sense and judgement, and
mark out course for himself indie
pendently of'what others may do. 1t
is vain to rely upon general co-opera-
ton in an effort simply to reduce the
area to be planted in cotton or to wait
for favorable legislation. Each indi-
vldual farmer must be led to see that
he must act for himself There are too
many to engage in a combine" or
trust" even if the idea were correct in
principle.
The remedy is nothing new, but the
more urgent than ever before. The
remedy is Intensive Farming" High
Farming" A better name is
Common Sense Farming.
What is common sense farming? The
essence of it is: Not to do one dollars
worth OF work for return in results
OF seventy-five cents; not to pay one
dollar for fifty cents worth of work;
not to keep horse or mule at cost Of
nifty dollars year and get only twenty
five dollars worth Of service of him;
not to put ten dollars worth of labor,
taxes, superintendent, interest, fer
tlIlzers, etc, on an acre of land that
will not return more than ten dollars
worth of corn, or oats, or cotton, or
anything else. 1t means that farmer
must not let his animal manures go to
waste, and his soil wash away, while
he buys commercial fertilizers to re-
place the loss. 1t means that he must
not buy so-called high grade" guanos
at twenty to twenty-five dollars ton
when he may buy the raw materials
and compound just as good fertilizer
at cost of $1S, or less, per atom. 1t
means that he must not plant unselect-
ed, turnout" seed, when an investment
of one dollar in improved seeds will
frequently yield an increase of FIVE dol.
lars. Common sense farming, means
improved implements. such as 2-horse
plows, that will deeply and thoroughly
break the soil; harrows that will put
the land in proper condition for plant
ing; cultivators that will cultivate the
crops more effectively and twice as
rapidly as the scooter and heel scrape,
or the common sweep.
The fundamental idea of the whole is
that larger results must be produced at
less cost. The cost must be cut down,
while the results must be increased.
The cost is what eats up the profits.
The cost is within largely the farmers
control; the market price, or value, of
what he produces, is entirely beyond
his domain.
1t is not my purpose, in this article;
to go into the details-farther than has
been done. The Station, for several
years past, has been working to find
out the details, and the results have
been published, from time to time, in
bulletins that are free to every farmer
who will ask for them. The officers of
the Station are in full sympathy, and
desire to be in close touch" with the
farmers, and are prepared to answer
all practical inquiries, either by private
letter, or by sending marked bulletins.
We endeavor to anticipate many ques-
tions-to answer them before they are
asked. But let no farmer hesitate to
write for any explanation needed, or
additional information that may be de-
sired. Short letters of approval of
methods advocated by the Station, with
practical results, will be gladly re-
ceived.
"Figures Do Not Lie"
The experiments made at the Station
farm show that IS. 90 worth of a well
balanced commercial fertilizer, applied
to one acre Of land in good heart" and
we'll cultivated, may be reasonably ex-
pected to produce an increased yield of
1000 pounds of seed cotton. That is to
say, on land that would produce 800
pounds of seed cotton without fertilizer
the application Of $500 worth of fer
tilizer brought the yield up to 1900
pounds Of seed cotton. (See Bulletin
No. 20, pages 20, 81, 2S). Let us see:
At present prices the 1000 pounds
would be worth:
1893 pounds Of lint @ Sl6.6
Total. ......................... .sl0.0g
What was the cost Of the 1913 pounds
of lint, ready for market Let us see:
500 pounds Of lint cost (fertilizers) ..... $500
1913 pounds Of lint cost to pick it........ 300
1873 pounds of lint sost to gin and bale it, lOO
sl2OO
Less the value of G67 lbs. of seed9hc. =. 3.s4
$S&
Then each pound of the 333 pounds Of
lint, the result Of fertilizer used, cost
$S.6e divided by S33-2.6 cts! Is there
any flaw in the calculation? Is there any
other item to be charged against that
1888 pounds Of lint? Is there anything
more to the credit of the fertilizer, not
allowed for? Yes, the land may be
sown in wheat or oats and make good
yield without any more fertilizer. But
what about the 800 divided by 3-267 lbs
of lint that the acre would have made
without any fertilizer? What did that
cost? 1t depends on the skill and in
dustry and economy brought to bear in
the cultivation. Probably between SO
and S!2 per acre, including everything !;
or between 81 and cents per pound
of lint. That is pretty good farming!
G&o4o