The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-03

competition that average farmers who
grow grass. grain and the larger fruits
have been unable 10 compete Now. how
ever, market gardeners have learned TO
rely upon commercial fertilizers for quick
results. being more profitable than the
large amounts OF stable manure they have
had TO use.
1t is possible now in almost any locality
where there IS a village OF llacksmith :
shop to purchase occasional loads Of ma
nure to be drawn upon the farm. If this
manure is applied 10 fields newly seeded
with clover, IL will double ITS effectiveness,
making a larger clover grow %. ana the
roots remaining in the soil add 20 its fer
ulity for all time to come. OF course, the
clover alone will help the soil 90 some eX-
tent. but even with this Il Is something
like man pulling himself up by lifting
on MS boot straps to expect 10 enrlch
soil BY growing something on Dc TO he
ploWed under. The clover takes from the
soil both potash and phosphate, and ocn-
unued clover growing on soils deficient
in these materials Will in time exhaust
them This is often the fact with "a sandy
and gravelly soil, where mineral elements
are either deficient or reverted into iusOl-
uble forms, so that plant roots cannot take
them.
A few loads of stable manure purchased
every winter and brought u the farm,
combined with the saving and use of ma
nure which the stock on the farm
makes. will help to lift the farm into
condition where crops can be grown on
II with profit. This every farmer should
aim TO do as soon as possible Until he
or MS own labor must go unpaid. There
are thousands of farmers who work hard,
ana yet do not find at the eiiu Vi the year
that they have saved as much clear money
as the hired help which they employ.
This ought not to be. 1t is not the fact
IN any other business except farming. IL
Is recognized business rule that there
ought to be a certain amount of profit
from all labor employed. Make the land
rich enough and this Will be true also OF
the farm. Market gardeners employ much
more labor than does the farmer and they
generally pay better wages. But they
could not do 1t unless they every year pro-
cured large quantities of stable and min
eral manures, and thus made their labor
soil.
For most farmers to begin 10 make their
land richer win mean a diminution of
acreage. The average size of farms is
decreasing all over the country. This Is
perhaps, the best sign of better days for
farmers. Cultivating fewer acres and
making each acre pay some profit is far
better than cultivating a far wider area
ana selling its product at less than cost.
so soon as the land can be made rich
enough, crops can be grown which even
az low prices viii yield some profit
cheap as potatoes have been the past few
months, those who were able TO grow 200
10 800 bushels per acre made small profit
after paying for the labor their crop cost
lhem IL Is Just the same with other crops
especially corn. for which the land cam
not be made too rich. Larger yields of
corn per acre and fewer acres cultivated
IN this crop viii yield greater profits ana
cost the farmer less than the present
system. Take the whole country through
and our yield of corn is less than the
English average yield OF wheat Yet
every farmer knows that two If not three
bushels of corn can be grown on less
land and with less labor than one bushel
of wheat 1t is not likely after the pres
ent area of virgin wheat land in the
northwest is exhausted that wheat grow
ing viii increase much if any. In the
older sections 1t is being discarded for
other crops which pay better. This ten
dency Will extend westward so soon as
the northwest wheat crop fails. and that
under the system of successive grain
cropping without manure cannot fail to
occur within a few years at farthest
When that day comes all kinds of farm
ing Will pay better than now, and those
who improve the present opportunities
during the dull times in farming Will he
best able to profit by the revival in farm
ing which must come within a few years.