Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1898-09-05
FARM WASTES.

FARM WASTES.
Someone having special facilities
for reaching the farmers OF the coun-
try recently undertook ito collect
their opinions on the question, docs
Farming Pay?" We do not now re-
member who it was that took the
vote nor the precise figures of the,
result, but somewhere between
seventy and eighty per cent. voted no,
q few voted yes, and few didn't
know. Whatever may be the actual
facts. it is probable that vote OF
the entire farming population of the
country would show not far from tna
same proportion who believe that
farming does not pay, and IL Is
rrobablv quite true that average
farming has not, paid for several
wears past. while 1t is equally tru9
that some farmers who have given
more thought to their own special
circumstances and to the study OF
SUPERIOR methods adapted to these
circumstances have made money.
One of the essentials to remuner-
alive farming when prices are low
"a the study Of economical Droduc-
+ion. When one can get but little
from a product, he can still make
profit IL he can make 1t cost some
thing less than that little to produce
n Tn a great many ways there Is
great deal Of waste on nearly all
farms. Some Of it is quite unaVolo-
able. for while the farmer sees that II
i a waste. he sees also that 1t VIII
cost him more to save it than 1t VIII
10 let It go. Other forms OF waste
are unavoidable, and in so Tar as
+bev avoided will contribute toward
making farming profitable, even IN
der adverse circumstances, and IN tne
face of inadequate prices
A very common mistake is that
which occurs in the care OF manure
II is not our purpose here to discuss
4he most economical mothods OF
handling manure, for this would
carry us too far a-field, and the ques-
+ion is one that is very much doml-
mated bv circumstances, but under
any circumstances, that management
~ manure which allows its liquid por-
tions to escane and which throws the
solids through a hole in the stable
and niles il up under the caves %
1eecb with every rain and permit the
barance IF it's valuable constituent TO
exhal4 in the atmosphere, is in the
highest degree wasteful. S"me nave
estimated that at least so per cent. o.
the manure on the farms goes to
waste We think the estimate very
low.
Another source of waste lies in
very common lack Of economy In Ia
Dor. Sometimes this is due to the
sIovenly management which does not
know how to direct labor. Sometimes
It is due to the insufficient quantity
of the labor at times when work
needs to be done rapidly as for IN
stance during haying and harvest
fng. Tn the corn b~1+ this season,
for example, a great deal Of the corn
is quite backward and needs cultiva-
ton at the very time when haying
and harvesting are on. If the whole
force went into the harvest field, by
the time the corn was reached again,
the weeds had obtained start that
would require a good deal of labor to
overtake them Sometimes q waste
Of this kind is unavoidable, but one
should be sure that It is so before
permitting it. Poor tools to work with
are wasteful. and so, too, are those
that have not received proper care
when not in use and are not kept
in repair
Every one knows what waste Of
labor every now and then occurs
when there is a break down in ma
chine. Sometimes wastes of this
kind can not be avoided by ordinary
foresight. but very often they can
If the farmer will keep himself fully
advised as to the exact condition Of
his tools. Ineff1cian help is another
very common source of waste, and as
things go, there is too much OF a
disposition to regard farm hand as
a farm hand; whereas, the truth is
that, speaking comparatively, some
Of them are only half a hand and
some of them are a hand and half
The farmer who employs the former
kind very considerably increases his
cost of production and hence oc
casions waste. Poor teams, team
in bad order for work that hav
poorly fitting CELLARS and that from
one cause or another are liable to
break down or that have to be nursed
and cannot be called upon to do full
work when work is most needed, ara
another common source of waste. and
it is generally an avoidable waste if
reasonable foresight be exercised
Nobody would think of hoeing corn
in these days instead Of cultivating
it, and yet high priced human labor
is often put at work with tools t.
which the same wastefu1 idea is ap-