Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-02-06
AN AUDRA1H M
Writes an Interesting Letter Regard.
ing Her Thrifty Farm Manage
ment Miss Hattie Rrad-
ford Talks Sense.

"Ah8 lotbST lIOm MISS a
tie Bradford, written from this CITY.
TO theSt. Louis Journal Of agriculture,
should be carefully read by all Of the
patrons Of the LEDGER:
AS read 50 many good, helpful let
tiers from farmers, | will tell alittle Of
my experience on 2 farm. ssy parents
are both dead and | have only one
brother, IL years old. So l have to
manage the farm myself. l thought
perhaps l had better explain a little,
or some n would think "a woman
has no business meddling with such
things.n Although not actually doing
the work, | have to study the best
methods Of farming and feeding stock.
| have to rent the land out, but l am
to say what crop to put on it. Last
year | let about twenty acres for corn,
OF which l received half in the shock;
about ten acres for sorghum and some
for cowpeas, Of which l received two
ffths. The drouth in this section was
very severe; the corn made about one
third crop in fodder and a few nub-
bins of corn. The cane and cowpeas
were about one-third crop also. The
cowpea vines were ruined by the early
frost, but the peas we're picked by
hand and saved for sowing another
year. The nubbins Of corn fattened
three hogs which were butchered
about Thanksgiving to get them clear
of bad weather, for our own meat. 1t
also fed four shoats till about the last
of November, which would weigh
about IS pounds each, for which l re-
ceived So a head; also a brood SOW and
gilt until now and will have enough
to feed them until spring, / have
three head Of grown cattle and one
horse and will have enough feed to
take them through January. From
that on l will buy baled hay at sl4 a
ton and baled straw at Sc so a ton, and
feed it mixed until spring.
All the stock is stabbed and all are
in fair condition. i think it a great
saving of feed for stock to be shelf
cred. They are turned out in nice
weather, but not In storms, only long
enough to get water. l give the COWS
about one-half gallon Of shipstuff a
day, which at present is s1.20 per cwt.
The COWS have not had any corn, ex-
cept what was left in the fodder when
husked; yet l sell from three to four
pounds OF butter a week from two
COWS, and the calf gets half its moth
er's milk and the other COW will be
fresh In April. or course, that is not
a very large amount of butter, but |
think it does very well for the feed,
and then we have all the butter and
milk We want for home use. | had
about one and a half acres Of clover
and timothy hay which Isayed for the
calf, which is about three months old
now. 1t will have enough to last It
until grass comes In the spring. The
hay was put in a shed over the hog
beds, and the cane as soon as dry
enough, was put In a granary. Another
room OF the granary was filed with
fodder with the corn still on; the rest
OF the fodder was hauled and ricked
in the lot handy to feed and the corn
put In the crib. So all the feed was
kept In good condition. All the
manure is carefully saved and hauled
out on the land direct from the barn
and not thrown out TO leach in the
storms. / seeded about five acres to
timothy last fall that was sown
already to wheat and will SOW clover
on il this spring. l do not know how
the timothy will turn out, as it is my
first experience with fall sowing. |
intend to SOW cowpeas on a few acres
this year aud seed IL to clover, and SO
continue until all the land is rested,t to
keep up the fertility of the soil.
One pasture of forty acres | rent for
dfty dollars a year, and the other ID
acres | keep for my own stock and
take In stock to Craze. After all the
expenses and wages are paid, which is
no small amount where there is no
man, l will have made $50 clear profit,
which is not much in itself, but is
better than having to run in debt as
many farmers had to do this winter.
Besides, / have one calf and one hog
more than when starting in the year.
| think one Of the most useful lessons
my father taught me was to keep an
ltemized account Of all that was
bought and sold. l can tell at the end
OF a year just how much the outlay
and income have been, and can guage
the expenses another year to suit the
income, and there is no danger OF run
ming In debt, as you know almost how
much your income will be, for you
know how much stock you have and
how many head you expect to keep. !
think all farmers should take a farm
paper, and more than one, II possible
You can always get some practical
hints from them. II farmers would
take more papers and read more they
would not have so much time to grum'
BILE because everything is not just as
they want It. HATTIE BRADFORD.
Mexico, Missouri.
Pate S. Morris, Jr., is located at
ChIckasha, /. T., and says that hi
unnts the LrnarR sent 10 him there