The Savannah morning news., 1904-06-13
The One Horse Farm.

The chief enemy to progressive agri-
culture in the Southern states is The
''one horse farm" says Bulletin 81 of
the South Carolina Experiment Sta
ton. The equipment of the one horse
farm is generally a cheap mule, too
weak, as usually fed, to do good work
a boy Dixie and a scooter pillow pro-
vided with shovel, scooter and half
shovel. This primitive equipment in
the hands of one ignorant of the verv
fundamental principles underlying slc-
cessful agriculture is a guarantee OF
not only failure in production, but of
the deterioration Of the soil. The his
tory of Southern agriculture fully illus
trates and substantiates these state
ments.
What Is the Remedy ?-The land own
er has the matter largely in his own
hands. elf-preserva ton, and the pro-
lection of his lands from continued
waste, demand that he stop the present
practice of superficial preparation. ig-
narant and wasteful use of fertilizers
upon land incapable of retaining the
moisture necessary for their utilization
by the plant. and cultivation. which is
destructive rather than conducive to
the Dest development of plant growth
and production. The average land
owner tenants out his land to any ire
sponsible person, who can secure sun
plies from a merchant by mortgaging
crops not yet planted and buy on credit
some broken down horse or mule blank
eted also with a mortgage The land
lord does this knowing and acknowl-
ecging that what he receives from the
tenant will not pay for the deteriora-
ton of the land from which his profit
is supposed to be derived. This policy
and practice are suicidal in their re-
suits.
The tendency of the age in all other
enterprises is towards concentrated ef-
forts 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 antiault-
ed machinery and installing instead the
most up-to-date appliances of every
description. We find no one horse cot
ton or WOODEN mills-no one horse cot
ton oil mills-no stringer and strap iron
railroad tracks. We never now hear
OF the whip saw or the upright saw OF
fifty years ago, but the one horse plow
is still in evidence.
Land owners can protect their land
increase their prOQuCtS ana benefit
their one horse tenants by requiring
them to unite their teams in the prep
aration Of the lard. The writer did this
thirty-five years ago. The tie ants COM
planned in 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 can
not be properly prepared by a single
team nor can the most valuable and
economical 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
10 buy the extra mule than he can "a
attempt TO farm with one, provided ne
will determine TO plant no more land
than he can thoroughly prepare anG
fertilizc and VIII diversity and rota.,
his crops, thus producing ample foo
for the stock and annually Increasing
the productive capacity Of his la1d
With improved implements. such III,
the Chattanooga reversible disc plotv
the Mallory piow. the disc harrow. the
dice oultivator. the mower. etc. on ~
of which the Ul0wman rides, bettel