The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-14
diversified Farming.

The principle Of the largest possible de
versity in farming operations that is con-
sistent with ones situation, is one that
has long been recognized as based upon
many sound reasons, says the Homestead.
Bonanza farming has, In few exceptional
cases. proved very profitable for short
period, but 1t is. after all, only a method
of quickly skimming the cream, and 1t
leaves the agriculture of the locality in
which II is pursued in a worse situation
than before. There are special cases where
by reason Of the adaptation of the farm
or the farmer, a large measure Of success
has been attained by the grower of special
crops These cases, however, are a law
unto themselves, and for the great bulk
OF the farmers of the country the rule
ought to be a large and well selected di-
versity This gives the farm the advantage
Of thoroughly good rotation, without
which land must gradually fail in fertility
unless commercial fertilizers are used, a
thing that will not be likely to occur in the
west for many years TO come. 1t may be
made to provide work, too, for the entire
year, nearly as possible, so that the far
mers energies may have regular, contin-
uous employment without undue strain in
the specially busy season which pertains
20 all considerable growing Of single crops
and without subsequent period OF COM
parative idleness that Is neither morally.
mentally or financially profitable. Divers
ty, too, guards against the fatal effects
of bad seasons. With the single cropper,
weather, ruinous to his crop, may easily
come to destroy II at a particular juno
ture, when the season as whole Is not
especially bad. The maxim about not put
ting all Of one's eggs in the same basket
applies here. With well diversified crops,
fairly good results can often be
reached when for some purposes
the season has been strictly bad one. A
well-chosen diversity enables the farmer,
too, to have something to sell all the time:
and he Is not 50 much at the mercy of
giut in any staple product. II is not hard
to see, for example, that the farmer who
doing the past season raised wheat and
corn Is dn better shape than one who rails
ed little else than corn. This example Is
of course a very narrow illustration of d.
yersity, and with wider range, results one
year with another would be still better.
We are strongly impressed with the view
that the primary end and aim of the gem
eral farmer should be to make home,
and TO raise on the farm everything that
will contribute to home-making and pro-
vide an abundance Of those things that
promote home comfort so that the outlay
from the farm may be reduced to the min
imum The fortunate situation to be in
Is to have the smallest possible outlay for
necessities so that when SURPRISES are sold
all the money received for them Will not
at once have to be laid out to supply actual
wants There is no pretense, In the pres
ent state OF society, that this can be done
absolutely; but il can be done TO much
greater extent than 1t Is habitually done
among the farmers throughout the c0un-
try When 1t Is done, although low prices
which give little or no profit are always to
be regretted yet the hardship Is not so
keenly felt, because II goes 10 the reduc-
ton OF profits instead of to the cramping
OF the necessary income for running ex-
penses.