The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1903-03-07
AND PLANTER
OF INTEREST 10 FARMERS.
Intensive Versus Extensive Farm
tng AnteEestingIy Discussed b
a WelI-Enovn Writer.

The United States Of America IS q
large country. The American citizen
As gotten up on a large scale. He be-
gins at an early period to feel his inn
p%ortance. He reads Of large enter
prises. He sees large undertakings
carried to rapid and successful COM
pletion. He is familiar with large
streams, large mountain ranges, broad
prairies, extensive forests and bonan-
"a farms. Hence the average Ameri-
can farmer wishes a large farm. He
likes to speak of his broad acres and
count up crops in round numbers. If
he plants cotton he likes to talk of his
cotton fields by the hundreds of acres,
and his crop by the hundreds of bales.
And so it is Of other crops.
This is a new country, land has
been plentiful and cheap. The result
has been the laying Of undue stress
upon large farms, and feeling and
speaking disparagingly Of small farms.
We have fallen into the habit ofslight-
" cultivating large farms, rather than
thoroughly c~ultivating small ones,
and this has further resulted in super
fetal scratching Of the surface, there
by causing great damage from wash
ing. Millions of acres all over the
country are washed and quilted. Hav-
ing been cleared only a few years they
r already so butchered as to be con-
sidered no longer worth cultivating.
They have been abandoned, and
turned over to the r~ecuperative mer-
cies of an all-wise Providence.
Let us look for a moment at the
great cotton crop Of the South.
While cotton has been called "King,' ,,
while the plant is sometimes called a
money bush" this ruinous extensive
system of farming makes it necessary
to cultivate three acres to get a 500
pound bale of lint. Almost any acre
of this land can be easily made to pro-
dpce a bale. Many acres have been
made to produce two bales, some
have produced three, and five bales
have been grown on a single acre in
Georgia.
It is useless to say that the profits
increase as the yield per acre in
creases. The larger part of the ex-
penses are the same whether we grow
One-third of a bale or three bales per
acre. Then it becomes important to
know how we car grow these large
crops.
The first thing is to get a deep soil.
Use big plows aad heavy teams, or
take the light pillow and single team,
and run again and again in the same
furrow until you get your subsoil
broken up about Is inches. Then ma
nurs well with what home manure
you have. Mix with this as you
spread it one sack of acid phosphate,
and two sacks of kainit or one of
musiate of potash, and harrow this
in thoroughly. Do this work in the
fail if you can, but be sure your soil
and subsoil are dry when you do it.
Harrow this over just before planting
and you will get a big crop.
This is equally true of any crop you
wish to grow. Reduce the size of
your farm and increase the depth of
your soil and the quantity of manure
per acre. Plant less and make more.
Good farming does not consist so
much in the quantity you make as in
the clear profit you make. The profit
will be greater as the r over which
you have to get the crop is less.
If you have not saved home manure
and do not feel able to spread your
fertilizer broadcast, then mix
100 pounds cotton seed meal
200 pounds phosphoric acid
200 pounds KANT, and put from 500
to 1000 pounds per acre in the drill.
Then stir this with a small pillow or
harrow before planting. This will
pay you on any crop. Manure highly
and cultivate rapidly, but shallow.
Following this plan we have made
large crops and clear money OF a
small farm.
We are trying to cultivate too much
land.
The average corn crop of nearly
half this country is not above - bush
els per acre. The yield might easily
be raised to 25. The potato crop does
not run above 12O to $50 bushels. This
might be raised from 200 to 800 bush
els. The average yield can be more
than doubled, and the average profit
more than trobbled. But we are met
right here with the objection that
many farmers are poor, in debt, rent
ers, one-horse farmers, and so on. 1t
is claimed that these cannot do inRen-
sive farming. This is a great mis-
take. The truth is just the other
way. The poor men have been made
poor and kept poor by trying to culti-
vate too much land. This has made
the supply bills large and all the eX-
lenses heavy. Poor work has given
small crops, and so they will continue
unless they change.
Gut down the acres, cut down the
labor bill, cut down the expenses and
you will get out of debt, you will be
able to own a farm, maybe a small
one, but it will be yours.L. 3. Hans
nicut, in Texas Farm and Ranch,
Ducks are profitable to the grow
err. Their flesh is unexCelled, their