The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-10-12

prosperous from an agricultural stand
 point, is more intensive or thorough sys-
 tenn of farming First, take just what land
 the forces at the farmers command can
 manage, put this land in a thorough con-
 dition, for the crops before planting
 and after planting give regular necessary
 cultivation, and in this way secure the
 best of results. We find that in all coun-
 tries where the farms are small and the
 owners live on the farms and cultivate
 them by their own labor, the people
 are out of debt and prosperous.
 l was very much surprised with thls
 system of farming while travelling in Can
 ada, where one may travel all day and
 never see poor farm Here the farms
 are kept up to the highest state of cultiva-
 ton. Such conditions are brought about
 as stated. The small farms are cultivated
 by their owners. This is a grass. grain and
 stock section, while the dairy industry
 contributes largely to the prosperity of
 the country.
 These conditions must come to the
 south before 1t can be prosperous in ag-
 riculture. The richest man today in Amer
 ica is the man who owns his farm, is
 free from debt and has his help within
 his own family. All countries, to be pros
 porous in agriculture. must prepare the
 land so that improved farm implements
 may be used and in this way the cost of
 ldT dTInlfB IS ItuuCtu lD luS ioNCSt tOSl. iif
 country is improving along these lines
 and it Is onl va question of time when
 we will have a great agricultural coun-
 try.
 Economy of Labor.
 There is still another side to this ques- tion of intensive farming It is much
 cheaper to pick ten bales of cotton from ten acres than from twenty; 1t is cheap
 CT to gather two thousand bushels of corn
 tl,t, tlNof, ha tn n tra
 to go over sixty acres for the same amount and the same will hold true in all crops, as well as in live stock.
 Think of poor fruit farm half cultivated and compare it with the orchard that Is well taken care of and always produces fine fruit. Think of the Texas man who mlked twenty cows to get enough milk
 for his family and compare him with the Iowa man who kept but one milk COW and this COW kept the family of six and hired man in all the milk and butter needed I know a man who prunes and cultivates his orchards, keeps the trees in a first-class condition at a very small cost and sells his apples for one dollar per bushel, while his neighbors are self ing their inferior fruit for only fifty cents.
 Grow a first-class article that will ap- peal to the taste of the buyer and you will always get a fancy price. A little knotty strawberry or scrubby apple never appeals to the taste of the buyer in our markets and this class of goods never | sells except as a last chance when noth- 1 ing better is to be found So the better | plan will be to take what land we can afford to fertilize and cultivate well; give | this our best efforts and attention, grow good crops and get the very best prices | for everything that we do grow.
 l Now our readers know that there has l always been a general complaint among | farmers that merchants set the price on | their crops that they have to pay the ! merchant his price for his goods and sell him theirs at just such price as the merchant sees fit to give them. We have given the only practical way to rid your selves of this condition of affairs. First. make 1t rule to keep out of debt; sec | ond, be sure to grow all the feed that is required for both man and beast on your | own farms third, grow and place only | a frst-class article on the market; and | fourth, never put yourself at the mercy of the market with a perishable article. | By following these rules you can always | drive into your market and fix your own ] price on your crops and compel buyers l to pay you this price But if you are in
 debt and are compelled to have money, i and if your crop, no matter what 1t is 1 made up of, is poor, you may be assured | that you will have to sell for what the ! buyer offers you.
 l Wheat in Oklahoma.
 1 Many of our readers no doubt have l heard of the wonderful crops of wheat l grown in Oklahoma. We have been tray | cling the last three weeks in the two ter | ritories, Indian and Oklahoma, and at the l time of this writing we are well out Tn