St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1899-12-16
FARMER AND PLANTER.
CROP DIvERs1FIcAr1oN.
The BOundlcss Possibilities OF the
Soil of Texas the Small Fara-
er's Opportunity.

farming. When cotton seed, corn
oats, rye, barely, all the sorghums
saccharine and non-saccharine, alfal
fa and other forage plants, grasses oi
hundred varieties, annual, biennial
and everlasting sweet potatoes, beets
tuTniPs. peanuts, artichokcs and other
feed and forage crops too numerous tc
mention can be grown in great guam
titles and at little expense by reason
Of the adaptability of oar rich prairie
soils to the use of labor-saving imple-
ments, what does the fact indicate Z
These are all valuable food stuffs for
live stock. and all that is wanting to
make farming profitable to the farmer
Is animals to consume the crops by
converting them into concentrated hu-
man food. The inherent powers of the
soil are set at naught and labor is
sGuandered reckiessly when these pro-
d'ictive resources are neglected. Farm
ers are the salt of the earth, but salt
that has lost its SAVIOR if they do not
utilize the opportunities they possess.
We have stated before, and wish we
could shout it into the ears of every
farmer in the land that there is not
and never was profit in growing crops
and selling them in crude state to be
utilized by others. With the one en-
csption of specialists, propagating and
growing special high-priced products
requiring special skill, the above state
ment is strictly true. To state the
same fact in other words is to say that
the only profitable general system of
farming is stock farming. The range
cattle kings are proclaiming this truth,
though it lies athwart their industrial
system. And the range cattle kings
are gradually drifting into stock farm
ing as far as their conditions will per
init. But we are more directly inter-
ested in the farmcrs-thc comparative
~ small farmers-who can not run a
combined agricultural and mercantile
business and make their large planta-
tions yield per cent. interest as do
the class known as "cotton planters"
Small farmers feed and clothe the
world and are destined to be the beef,
pork, butter, cheese and poultry rails
ers of the world. Population is in
crcasing and the soil being limited in
Enust be utilized to the best
advantage. Soon this will become i'm
pcrative. large plantations producing |
to half their capacity will not meet the |
Nothing will meet it but
small farms in vast numbers, worked |
to their full capacity hy the steady in
dustry anu alert intelligence of practi-
cal men who take pride in their hold /
ings. Texas has for many years been
noted for her vast herds Of cattle,
raised on free grass at the rate Of one
head to twenty five acres. What a
wCeful waste this indicates. The aver
age 16C acre farm can grow four times
IS many and feed ten times that num-
Der per acre. Some of the western
states have produced more than 1,OOO,-
)OG pork hogs in year. II Texas
armers would give the same attention
% hogs she would butcher or sell S.
900. These hogs at 200 pounds
.ach end cents per pound Qess than
he AVERAGE weight and price, would
,ring the farmers 40,00O, ,OO0, or near
y rs much as full crop of cotton,
md besides. to grow these hogs and
hese beeves, Though it might somewhat
educe the cotton crop, the crop would
ring as much money to the farmers as
crop not SO reduced. The correct
Ian for diyersification of crops is to
roduce feed and stock to eat the feed,
aise convenient amount of cotton,
nd sell to the best advantage all sur
lus, taking special care to produce ev-
rything possible that the family or
arm animals GIN consume, discarding
S utterly nntenable the old and grim
BIKE that q farmer can buy anything
G can produce cheaper than he can
rocuce it. Here is an axiom that ev-
~ farmer should base his business
n: Buying takes money nnt of his
ocket; selling puts money into it,
exas Farm and Ranch.