Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1895-06-21
Small Farms.

4 .Ny 0ITldtI r dtHlDs
| One Of our most prominent farmers
I(Who prefers his name withheld from
publication) offers the following sensible
argument TO show why small farm in
this country can be made TO pay better
than large one. lie writes:
1t has seemed TO me for several years
that the great trouble with the farmers
Of Gillian county has been they are try
ing 10 farm too many acres and as d
consequence are farming too poorly.
And especially is this true Of the last
few years. As the prices Of farm pro-
ducts have gone down they have farmed
more acres in order to keeptheir incomes
up TO what they were in former years,
not realizing that the more acres farmed
the more ones expenses are bound TO he.
Ii 10 being asserted by practical farmers
all through the east that ten acres Of
land properly cultivated TO vegeta bles or
fruit will make good living for fam
lily. II thisis true surely eighty or even
forty acres here will do the same thing.
l believe there is more money made I'M
farming eighty acres than one hundred
ard sixty, provided the same amount OF
work is put on each. To prove this let
us take the following example:
Suppose A & b begin with l60 acres
apiece and A farms 80 acres and B bis
whole 100, putting it in wheat.
A plows 70 acres at 81 per acre ,.. $50 90
narrowing. seeding, at 81 per acre m 20 90
Heading at 81 per acre e.....,.,........... so %
Threshing 2,400 bushel at Sc a bushel 100 90
Total .,..,...... .........4........$ $3.50 90
Twenty-four hundred bushels at % cts
per bushel equals 100000. From this
take 10000 and he will have $24O.00
for his work.
b plows le0 acres at u per acre ...... f160 90
Seeding, narrowing at&i per acre ... 100 90
Heading at 81 per acre .,....,.... lG0 90
Threshing 300 bushels at &c bushel . I6O 90
Total ..... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. $40 90
Thirty-two hundred bushels at 25- cts
per bushel equals 10000 From this
take $4,000 and he will have $l60. 90 for
his summers work, or just two-thirds as
much as A has made on his 80 acres.
In the above example have reasoned
AS crop at 80 bushels per acre and BIS
at 20, but | believe the difference in
the yield will be far greater than this.
Now suppose that A rents his other 80
acres to a neighbor, who farms it as
we'll as he does his own, and gets one
third for rent. He will receive 400 bush
els more from him, which, at 25 cts per
bu. will bring him $4,000 more. This
will bring hisincome up to $4,000 while
BIS will only be $4,000.
Now there may be some who will say
that man cannot raise 30 bu. per acre
without summer-fallowing; but know
man not far from here who threshed
So bushels per acre, and another one
who sold IS tons Of hay from IL acres be-
sides putting up several tons for himself,
and this on bunchgrsss land and not
summer-fallow.
II IL said that there is more waste land
from an agricultural standpoint in this
state than in the Mississippi Valley.
All the land capable Of cultivation in
this county should be in small holdings
and made to produce to the limit.
Small farming means much. It
means better roads, better schools, near
er neighgors, and better markets. It
means companionship, sociability and
touch with the world.
Our climate invites outdoor life, It i'm
vites people from more rigorous sections
to come and prolong their. lives and nse-
fulness.