Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-10-06
A FARM OF $4,000 ACRES
A GREAT OKLAHOMA RANCH AND
HOW 1T IS RUN.

A ranch of $4,000 acres is not consid-
cred extra large when. the land is
stocked with wild long-horned Texas
steers and there are no fences around
it, writes the Wichita CKan.) cores
pondent of the Sun. But if $4,000
ncres be cut up into fields and fenced
in pastures and the whole placed under
one management, it makes a farm
worth considering among the many big
things of the Western country.
In Northern Oklahoma there lies
tract Of $4,000 fertile acres, all sur
rounded by one fence and under one
management. 1t is known as the 101
ranch. George w. Miller & Sons op-
crate the ranch property, the land itself
being owned by the Ponca and Otoe
tribes of Indians. They pay the In
dians 800 annually for the use of
this land, $1.25 an acre for farming
land and % cents an acre for pasture
lands.
In the Southwest there are many
large ranches and farms, but none
equals the 101 ranch in extent. The
Sherman farm, in Western Kansas,
has under fence about 10000 acres,
and there are pastures in both the
Greek and the Usage Indian nations
covering 10000 or 10000 acres, but as
strictly farm ranch the 101 outclasses
all of them.
The annual expenses of the ranch
are $4,000. Two hundred men are
employed during the busiest seasons,
fifty to seventy being employed the
year round. The fence line of the
ranch is more than $50 miles long. The
profits are S150,000 per annum.
The 101 ranch is so large that half
the time the superintendent at head
quarters cannot tell where one-third of
his employees are working. That is,
he could not tell offhand, but by con-
sulting his assistant and using his tele-
phone he would have them located.
The season of hardest work has just
ended and the men are resting after
the harvest. The ranch harvested 150,-
900 bushels of wheat and like amount
OF corn this summer. There were 5000
acres in wheat and 5000 acres sown in
corn.
The wheat is sold in the Kansas City
market at from sixty to sixty-three
cents bushel. The profit from wheat
alone this year has been more than
$4,000. The profit on corn is quite
as much, while 10000 steers are mar
keted every season.
Joseph Miller, once bank President,
Is manager of the business affairs of
the ranch. He employs experts in ev-
cry department. The wheat and corn
fields are managed by an expert farm
er, the cattle are bought and sold by
an expert stock salesman. There is
even an expert bunco buster or two
to attend to the breaking of young
mules brought upon the ranch to do
the farm work
The 101 ranch is conducted so that
nothing goes to waste and every acre
of ground is utilized. There is sys-
tenn for the management of each de-
partment.
| The system of wheat producing on
| the 101 ranch has been widely copied
throughout the Southwest and has been
the foundation of excellent yields in
many parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and
! Nebraska. 1t is so effective that the
ranch has produced forty bushes of
wheat to the acre, while neighboring
| farmers have raised less than fifteen.
| The average yield is eighteen bushels
to the acre.
The wheat grown on the ranch comes
from seed brought from Russia and
Australia. Some wheat is also brought
from Paraguay. This is known as
May frost proof wheat and late frosts
have little or no effect upon the grow
ing stems.
The corn seed comes from Paraguay
and is said to be drouth proof. The
cost of sowing wheat and harvesting
it, including the cost of the seed, Is
S6.05 an acre, while even the most eco
nomical wheat growers of Kansas can
not harvest this cereal for less than
S6.65 an acre.
Land that is to be sown in wheat is
plowed in late July and sown broad
cast in Kaffir corn. In October, after
the Kaffir corn has grown several
inches above the ground, the wheat
is drilled in without any other cultiva-
ton of the ground.
Cattle are then allowed to run on
the Kaffir corn until April. Mean
while the wheat continues to grow, but
cannot get high enough above the
ground for winter frosts to destroy it,.
The cattle keep it eaten off at the top
Of the ground and it earns for the own
ers of these cattle good profit in fat
meat when shipping time comes.
The Kaffir corn when once eaten off
does not come up again and thus does
not interfer with the growing of the
wheat in the spring. On the other
hand, the dry under stubble crowds
back the weeds, and gives the threshers
clean field of grain.
Corn planting begins in April. The
cultivating is finished by early June.
|