Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-06-07
Misesllaneuus &eaaing.
THE ONE HORSE FARM.
How II Can Be Manipulated With
Greatest Profit.


the one-horse farm Is generally a
cheap mule, too weak, as usually fed,
to do good work, a boy Dixie and a
scooter plow provided with shovel,
scooter and half-shovel. This primi-
tive equipment in the hands of one
ignorant of the very fundamental prin-
c:pleS underlying successful agricul.
ture Is a guarantee Of not only fail
ure In production, but Of The deterior-
aticn of the. soil. The history Of
southern agriculture fully illustrates
and substantiates these statements.
What Is tho Remedy
The land owner has the matter largely
in his own hands from continued
waste, demand that he stop the present
practice Of superficial preparation, ig-
norant and wasteful use Of fertilizers
upon land incapable of retaining the
me isture necessary for their utiliza-
ton by the plant, and cultivation,
which Is destructive rather than con-
ducive to the best development Of plant
growth and production. The average
land owner tenants out his land to
any irresponsible person who can Sc
cure supplies from a merchant by
mortgaging crops not yet planted and
buy on credit some broken down horse
or mule blanketed also with a mort
gage. The landlord does this knowing
and acknowledging that what he re-
ceives from the tenant will not pay
for the deterioration Of the land from
which his profit is supposed to be de-
rived. This polic-' and practice are
suicidal in their results.
The tendency Of the age In all 9TH
er enterprises Is towards concentrated
effort combined. with the use Of the
most advanced and economical imple-
ments and machinery. The farming
industry must fall into line and keep
up with the procession.
Cotton mills are discarding antiquat-
ed machinery and installing instead
the most up-to-date appliances Of ev-
cry description. We find no one-horse
cotton or woolen mills-no stringer and
scrap iron railroad tracks. We never
now hear Of the whip saw or the up
right saw Of fifty years ago. but the
one horse plow is still in evidence.
Land owners can protect their land,
increase their products and benefit
their tenants by requiring them to
unite their teams in the preparation OF
the land. The writer did this thirty
five years ago. The tenants complained
In the spring but thanked him In the
fall. The best investment a one-horse
farmer can make Is the purchase Of
another horse or mule. Land cannot
be properly prepared by a single team
nor can the most valuable and eco
nomical implements be utilized with
less than two-horse power. The weed
er, which should be on every farm. is
the only exception to this statement.
Any small farmer can better afford
to buy the extra mule than he can to
attempt to farm with one, provided he
will determine to plant no more land
than he can thoroughly prepare and
fertilize and will diversity and rotate
his crops, thus producing ample food
for the stock and annually increas-
ing the productive capacity Of his land.
With improved implements, such as
the Chattanooga reversible disc plow,
the Mallory plow, the disc harrow, the
disc cultivator, the mower, etc., on all
Of which the plowman rides, better
crops can be grown at reduced cost.
By the use of such labor-saving I'M
plements the wages of one man can De
saved and this will buy an extra mule
while the improvement Of the land and
the increased crops will pay for the
implements.
Again, the improved preparation Will
not only reduce the fertilizer bill. but
will increase the effects Of those used
by enabling the soil to absorb and re-
tain more moisture. For the same rea-
son 1t will render the drouths Of sum-
mer less injurious. Again by having
full team, more work can be done
while the land Is in the best condition
in both preparation and cultivation
By using wide scrapes and cultiVators
the two mules will be able to cultivate
the corn and cotton promptly after
each rain and thus dispense with much
of the hoe work. More than twice the
load can be carried on a two-horse
wagon than on the one-horse.
One man with two mules can do more
and better work in preparing land than
two nen with one-horse plows. One
man riding a moving machine can do
more work and do it better than five
men with grass scythes. BY using a
double team, without increasing the
area under cultivation, twice as much
soil Is made available to plant roots,
while it's capacity for absorbing and
holding moisture Is quadrupled, thus
diminishing the risk Of injury to the
crops by either excessive rains or
summer drouth, thereby insuring larg-
er crops Of better quality at reduced
cost of production.
Not only is this true, but Instead OF
decreasing in fertility as Is usually the
case with the one-horse farm, with
judicious rotation and deep and thor
ough preparation. the productive ca
pacity of the wo-horse farm Is annu-
ally increased. A three-year system
of rotation in which cotton, corn, small
grain, peas and sorghum constitute the
principal crops may be made to COM
bine profit and progressive improve