The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-08-14
HOGS FOR LIMITED CAPITAL.

How Young Farmer Succeeded With Then
When There is Progress There Is Success.
Correspondence of The Progressive Farmer.
After all the talk about the latest
methods of farming, and the neces-
sity of keeping up to date, there are
many young farmers who would like
to do all this, but they lack the neces-
sary capital to begin with. have
been particularly struck with this in
hog raising. When young man
starts in he has only small amount
Of capital, and he has to struggle
along the best he can. tits absurd
to tell him that he should adopt all
the latest improvements and breeds
and conduct a first-class farm for
raising hogs. He does not have the
capital to begin with, and he must do
things that he knows are not the
most approved. The way that some
of these young farmers struggle
along and gradually build up q good
business and add to their incomes
and capital would make mighty in
teresting reading for the more sloth-
full if it could be written out. Think
of starting out with half q DOZEN pigs,
a few acres and a mortgaged home,
and within, ten years be the happy
possessor of one hundred acres, two
hundred head of hogs and cattle and
a pleasant home with no debt on it
That is what one young man of my
acquaintance accomplished, and to-
day he says that he made his success
in hogs.
He realized that he had to econo-
mize in every way possible, and,
while reading all thatswas printed
about high grade stock and scientific
methods of feeding he knew that he
could not go and initiate it. He did
not have the money to buy the stock
with, or to get the feed. But he
had good health, d few hogs and
chance. So he proceeded to raise
grass, corn, milk and hogs. From
these four products Of the farm he
made a living and saved up some
thing each year except the first. That
was the hardest time Of all because
the land was run down and poor,
and the grass did not grow well. He
seeded it over the next year, raised
more clover and timothy than had
ever been raised there before, per
mitted the hogs to feed on it only to
a limited extent, fearing lest they
would destroy the young grass roots.
In two seasons he had converted the
poor grass pastures into good grass
fields where his hogs could feed.
After getting the grass field into fine
condition he secured some adjacent
land on lease for corn. He plowed
: and fertilized this until he had in
creased his debt, and then he raised
such a crop of corn that he felt jus
titled in increasing the number of
his hogs With grass and corn -four
ishing he was prepared to add cows
to his stock, and with good skim
milk to wean the young pigs he soon
found no difficulty in increasing his
herd He did all the work himself
and never thought of hiring a man
even in the busiest season until the
fourth year of his farming. Then
he had SO far succeeded and demon
strated to himself that he was on the
right track, that he hired a man dur
ing the rush season. Two years later
he married, and ever since he has
I,steadily added year by year to his
capital and income His theory Of
success is based upon hard and in
telligent work applied to the raising
of grass, corn, milk and hogs
! JAMES RIDGwAY.