The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-13
what Crops to Cow.

One of the most difficult problems for the
farmer is to decide every year to what use
his land shall be put, says the American
Cultivator The farm and the stock upon
it are the farmers working capital, and as
with every other business man, profit
mainly depends on the way his capital is
invested. A system of rotation makes the
problem less difficult. But there ere sea
sons when this rotation cannot be followed
according to rule. 1t Is here thar the great
difference between routine farming and
that Of the wide-awake progressive far
mer IS chiefly noticed. To be able to adapt
ones self to emergencies shows executive
ability and skill anywhere On the farm it
is harder than almost anywhere else be-
cause the farmer Geals with the mechan-
ical processes of nature, and when he
misses the ability to grow one crop by late
rains and inability to prepare q seed bed
he must be able promptly to change to
something else. In Western New York in
our bOyhood, old farmers used TO tell the
story of a man who was congratulated on
the fine field of buckwheat he was grow
ing. WAL 1t ought to be good" was the
farmers response. Il set out a year ago
last June to summer falloW that field for
wheat, but the ground got so hard that
had to quit blowing it. Then I thought
would plow and plant corn in the spring
June, that I concluded.the corn would not
do anything and so here 1t is in buck
wheat at last" AS wheat was in those
days reckOned the great money crop and
buckwheat the least reputable of all the
grains the farmers waste of misused OPP
pOrtuntieS could hardly have been more
strongly put
There are many reasons why farmers
dislike to change their crop rotation. All
their machinery and farm buildings and
stock are adapted to growing certain
crops, and they cannot be changed with
out loss. This, however, Is what the mer-
chant always expects. If poor Judgment
causes him to stock up with unstable
goods he is obliged to sell at a loss, and
stock up with something else. The agility
with which he can do this determines his
business capacity. 1t is also, as farmers
so well know, the chief reason why so
many merchants fail in business, so that
farming land has always, until very re-
Gently, been regarded as the safest secur-
ity 1t, at least, cannot run away, and at
the present time land is much more likely
to rise in price than is anything else. The
products of the farm have had their rise.
Labor and land will advance later.
Another reason why change of crop rota-
ton is difficult is that it requires more
skill, more labor, and greatly more ex-
pense to make the change than to con-
tinue farming in the old ruts For one
thing, by the time most farmers in New
England gave up growing corn and other
grains, and turned their attention to mar
ket gardening and milk production, most
of them had lost much of their capital
and their capital, and their soil had at the
same time been equally depleted Of its
fertility. 1t Is no wonder that under such
circumstances there were abandoned
farms in New England, and that all farm
values have decreased 1t is slow work
rebuilding rundown farm. To grow
garden crops or those farm vegetables like
potatoes, cabbage and celery. which bring
In most money per acre, requires very rich
land and much labor Unless a farmer
has large capital and knows how to get
effective work out of employees. it will
be impossible to do this with profit, except
on small scale at first, gradually increas-
ing the area of highly fertilized soil until
the whole farm is fitted for any use the
farmer may wish to put it to.
The time has, we think, come for a great
revival Of farming everywhere. It is not
the war with Spain that makes the higher
prices of wheat and most other agricultu-
raj products. Wheat and potatoes at least
were high before the war and from the
natural result OF lessened supply of those
crops, not only here, but almost every
where else, It seems likely that our present
war VIII not last very long. But if Europe
gets into the great conflict for the pos
session Of Southern Asia and adjacent ISL
ands that will be a contest which will re-
strict agricultural production over nearly
one-half the civilized world, and will make
much higher prices for farm products
than have been seen since our own civil
war. Land values cannot remain at pres
eut low rates under such conditions. Thev
are generally the last to rise but when
they once 90 up, though they may fail
again under temporary influences, the price
of good land seldom or never reaches the
low level from which IL started to rise.