The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1903-06-08
ON THE RIGHT LINE.

UN HE hlGhI LINE.
I received a letter the other day from
which the following Is extracted:
Thanks for your suggestions regard
ing the different grasses and forage
crops l hope within the next year or
two to make better showing on my
farm. and to produce some heavy crops
| now have considerable stock on the
place and am MAKING WHAT LAND I
CULTIVATE PRETTY RICH. In this
way ! make it pay to farm. I have now
225 head of sheep, Twenty-Five head of
Angora goats, about fifty head of pure
bred and grade Jerseys, besides my herd
of Berkshires. These, you see, give me
a great dSal Of manure. Besides, all my
corn and wheat stubble is turned over
and put in cowpeas. thus helping to en-
rich the soil"
The letter was not sent to me for pub
licatIon: indeed l doubt If the writer OK
It is d subscriber to The Weekly Consti-
tuition. but he is in touch with the work
of the experiment station. and is pur-
suing the policy that has long been adj
vsed and emphasized by the best agri-
cultural authorities, and by none more
persistently than the editor of this de-
partment 1t is a simple, modest state
on which he is conducting his farm.
My reply was, in part, as follows
Il congratulate you upon the line Of
farm work that YOU nave Inaugural ted on
your farm | especially pleased with
your appreciation of the Importance of
live stock see no reason why you may
not succeed in highly improving your
soil and at the same time make money
by the sale of high-bred animals for
breeding purposes and by supplying the
wants of the butcher. The general prin-
cipe that underlies all good farming is
that nothing should be sold from the
farm in its crude state This rule applies
especially TO grain and grass. Every
thing Of this sort should be fed TO live
stock and by this means put on the
market in highly developed form thus
securing far better price for the small
quantity of plant food that is contained
in the bodies of the live stock products.
while retaining and returning to the soil.
in the form of the manure, very much
! the larger part of the plant food that
was temporarily removed from the soil
and In addition a large amount Of valua-
BILE material that WAS not supplied by
the soil-to Wit, the vegetable matter
(humus) that came mainly from the
air
The above extract. fully amplihed
would include a very large part of the
theory and practice of successful farm
ing. How long Will 1t be before every
! farmer finds out that he cannot get rich
| by an endless succession of corn and cot
! ton-in broad fields, with only a corner
here and there In small grain-the first
two, particularly the cotton fertlized
exclusively with bought fertilizers. and
! on his whole farm no more horses and
mules than are absolutely necessary to
do the farm work mo colts, no more
cows than enough to supply the family
/ with a little milk and butter, and not
/ all the time a that?
I wish I could impress the idea that
farm cannot be built up to a high de-
gree OF productivencss by the system
that has prevailed in the past viz, rum
ming the land In cotton year after year,
relying almost entirely on corn and
/ fodder" buying bacon. lard and flour.
! and doing without" many things that
should be either produced on the farm
or easily bought with money obtained
from the sale of other surplus products.
But the central Idea here sought to be
impressed Is the Importance Of live stock
as q factor in successful and prosperous
farming. We do not have enough cows
and sheep and goats and hogs and
/ chickens. All these should be consd-
cred working together with the farmer
to improve and enrich his farm.
a farmer, by favor of a good Provi-
dence-in the form Of good seasons and
/ other favorable conditions-mak a few
/ hundred bushels of grain and a few tons
Of hay, or other cured forage more than
this present live stock require. What does
lie do with It? In four cases out OF five
/ he viii haul 1t ito town" and sell it
for what he can get for II, and haul
home the receipts in the form Of bacon.
lard sirup, etc. What should he have
done with it? Buy up a few '2year-
ulds' tcattle). or a few healthy shoats,
some sows and a good boar q pure bred
B bull Keep II on the farm and convert
it into something that can be sold to
better advantage. Return the manure
/ TO the soil and make it richer
y ron OF cowpea hay is worth $15. 1t
has removed from the air and the soil
about ST or 81 worth Of plant food VIII
the farmer sell the ton Of hay, or will he
feed il to a steer or to a COW and realize
the SIS in the increase In beef or butter.
besides returning to the soil the IS or 81
worth Of plant food which The hay con-
tanned. to say nothing of the vegetable
matter Of the manure that was supplied
by the air?
saw a farmer hauling hairy vetch
hay : miles TO market and getting $l5
per ton for IT. In n way he was doing
very we'll He probably needed little
ready cash But would 1t not have been
better TO feed It to cows next winter and
sell a least 500 worth Of butter or other
products from the ton of hay and yet
make the soil richer by returning the
plant food 1t had supplied to produce the
hay? Yea, verify r, J. REDDING-