New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-11-30
FORTUNES IN FARMING
SUCCESS SECURED IN THE GREAT
SOUTHWEST-MOD METHODS
AND RESULTS

part of the United States where a farmer aristoc-
racy already controls. Men in the West are grow
ing rich on farms. When dozen years ago the
farmer in Kansas poor he had to burn
buffalo chips and there exodus from al
most every part of the State, the future of coun-
try life seemed dismal But favorable seasons and
influx of another class OF workers have changed
rything Fortune has smiled on the Western
farmer; he is now in a fair way TO become leader
among the captains of industry
The future of farming is believed to lie in its
union with the cattle business. for the one Is IN
reality necessary to the other When there was
plenty of free range in the West. when cattle
barons controlled the State lawmakers and when
cowboys knights of the plains then the cattle
business prospered within itself. Cattle kings were
numerous. But to-day the cattle king is no more
He cannot come into the hotel of large city with
canking spurs and wide sOmbrero and attract the
least bit of attention. for in nine cases out OF
ten to-day. such is some sef-important
cowboy. The cattle barous of this era are tinid
and mild hammered citizens. who attend closely to
their own affairs and are concentrating their eff
forts in their farms and ranches
In the last ten years these farm ranches have
increased in number. The great farms are in
reality cultivated ranches. Men who engage exclu-
sively in the cattle business are getting scarcer
every day The income of the farms and ranches
for 1902 about $3.50 100000 The value Of the
farms and ranches and the stock and implements
thereon is nearly $25.OO0C000O0 The income OF the
farm and ranch in comparison TO its value is over
p per cent Surely. from these vast profits some
farming industry. men who have seized upon the
new conditions and prOfitinS thereby.
Men OF to-day who manage large farms have
ideas that would seem queer indeed TO the oldtime
farmer For instance, farmer in Missouri refuses
to sell of his corn. although he raises
four hundred thousand bushels annually. He buys
cattle and fattens them on it, He has made money
Another equally successful farmer in Kansas will
not devote an acre Of his ground to raising
He has several thousand steers, but claims it is
cheaper o Men IF he
farm will ever continue TO carry out eccentric and
widely different notions but some OF these men
certainly know their business. Two-thirds OF the
farmers in the Southwest are out of debt and
many of them have money in the bank.
The business of farming to-day requires tudE-
ment and a strict system of economies Its whole
future lies in the systems OF fertilization soil
Improvement and strict attention TO the teaching
Of scientists employed to instruct in new uses OF
old soil There sixty million acres of semi-arid
land in the West that may some day be reclaimed
but for the present land is scarce, and the
price is going UP all the while As values advance
naturally the earnings Of each acre must be more
A million dollars is being spent every year by the
government and State legislatures in opening new
fields of wealth and giving new resources to the
American farmer. Remarkable results have been
obtained in recent years, as the farmers seem 10
have conquered the soil that refused
spond TO careful cultivation. Experiment stations
where the farmer and ranChmen of to-day in
structed in their different fields numerous in
State They were put into operation twelve years
ago, and nearly 100000 is given annually for their
support. and a thousand trained scientists and
farmers and cattle breeders are employed The only
thing required of them is investigate the posi-
biIties of the soil and range in the vicinity ot
where they located, and issue bulletins OF in
structious to the farmers thereabout. More than
five hundred thousand farmers and CattIemen are
on the free mailing lists of these institutions. and
are. in reality, students Of the government.
Besides securing help from these institutions.
every State has its agricultural college. where
the sons and daughters OF the farmers and cattle
sent 10 learn from actual experiment the
work required Of them TO become more successful
than their parents. These schools have accom-
pshed a great work. The farmers and cattle
growers have themselves united in the formation
societies for their seIf-advancement. There is a
National Live stock Association and auxiliary
in each of the Western cattle raising States. Be
sides these the darymen have their national as
ISOLATION and auxiliary in each State. where
dairy products are sold TO the market. The sheep
raisers, the goat ranchmen and the hog men
have their individual organizations. while. OF
course, the farmers all united in the Farmers
National Congress. Fruit growers. bee keepers
cotton growers. etc. doing good work in
their behalf Thirty years ago the State legis-
latures after another showed their interest
in farmers colleges by appropriations About
$4,000 is spent every year upon such tnsti-
buttons. which separate in measure from
the ones run by the government, under the head
of experiment stations. These stations are not for
the pursuit of study IN academic sense. but
many interesting in agriculture discoy-
cred and the work has become OF sreat Importance
to the actual growers Of cereals and raisers Of
cattle.
1t is now believed that in the near future farms
are TO be controlled by great corporations ". C
Green. of New-York has recently purchased a
tract of seven million acres in Northern Mexico.
which he will operate corporation In Mis-
souri, recently an eight thousand farm was
placed in the hands of company TO be managed.
and this company is now buying surrounding mnds
TO make gigantic farm ranch In North Da-
kota the Dalrymples twenty thousand
wheat ranch. which is managed in the same man
as any mercantile establishment The general
trend outside of agriculture has been toward con-
solidation. and the present captains of the farming
and ranChiug industry have already caught the
fever, and they. too. will perhaps consolidate their
interests Whether unity of capital viii be sue
cessful in carrying crop and beef production can
only be determined by trial and experience
Competition in farming is getting 70 be more and
more intense, The man who understands the SOL
the best Is the one who succeeds Modern farm
ers do not trust 10 luck I'm sowing their crops in
through the experiment stations. and. a result.
each kind of soil now receives the crop best adapt
ed its nature. Crop rotation is followed on every
well regulated farm; fertilization is a part or the
annual Improvement
one of the most successful millionaire farmers IN
the West is David Rankin. of Tarkio, Mo, who
has made $1.ot0OtO in farmlnS, and who actuslS
OWNS the largest farm IN the WoIId fStt-AlI He
23000 acres under his personal supervision. al OF
which is under cultivation The Mlllers, IN Okla
homa. have 1910 acres under cuiuNatl9I GUY IueLe
are several members u the company, John Stewart
owns nearly two hundred farms in Kansas. but ne
operates none OF lhtil anu Samuel w -te f -
Chicago is the owner of $4,000 acres OF 1arnllnSs
them. managing the whole vast area from MS once
Rankin began farming with colt which his
father gave him when he was lad lie traded lhs
colt Tor a pair OF oxen ana i WIN I'm ineh c TT
illinois. but thought better of Missouri as farm