The progressive farmer and the cotton plant., 1905-02-07
SOME THINGS TO PLAN FOR NOW.

UnOuRnU % every operation WIN WHICH NE i COLI
cerned, and to carefully plan the larger things
as well as the details, if he wishes to secure the
highest success. And the farmer is rightly a bust
ness man. He is even more than that, for he is
a manufacturer as well. The nature of his bust
ness requires him to take raw material, such as
soils, fertilizers, plows, and harrows, and with
these implements and materials he makes finished
products. There are a lot of details that must be
met, and the attention and carefulness with which
these details are met determine the reward that
comes.
There are ten things at this season of the year,
it occurs to me, the farmer should prepare for,
and 1T is just what I am doing now that suggests
what I write about five of these ten things; the
other five we shall consider next week.
1. Farm machinery. We no longer can farm
successfully without the use of farm machinery.
A good cultivator is worth a half dozen indiffer-
ent laborers. A good pillow cannot have it's value
estimates in words, and so on with all of the
necessary tools and machines incident to success
full farming. And so at this season I am writing
for the catalogues of the various implements
and machines that I think are of value, and I am
making as careful a study of those machines as
any other phase of farm work. And reader, don't
YOU thiak it would be worth your while to de
the same2 Maybe you have never heard about the
Importance of such an implement or tool, but it
is education within itself to know that nipple
ment and tool, even if you do not purchase it.
That is the plan I am working on, and the cata-
logues you can receive for the asking, and the
information you will receive-yes, L will say the
inspiration as well-tha Twill result will amply re-
pay for the few cents of postage and the short time
for writing for the same.
2. Now is a good time to prepare a small area
for some green food to feed your cows with when
the dry summer comes on. 1t does not take a
very large area. An acre will be large enough
for fifteen or twenty or thirty cows. One-tenth
of an acre will be sufficient for two or three or
six. Select for this land an area of land that is
well drained and that can be plowed in the spring
and can be put to corn earlier than the usual
planting can be done. Plant this corn thickly.
Make the rows not over three and a half feet
apart, and put the grains from three to four to
five inches apart. Understand that it is not grain
that you are after, but forage. Green succulent
forage to take the place of dry grass that hot
weather brings. Almost every farmer has ex-
perienced every year or so dry weather.; then the
grass dries up and shrinkaGe of the milk follows.
It is good farming to be prepared for just such a
time. You will be surprised how much forage a
little patch will give you for just this purpose.
Then If you do not need 1T tor your COWS, you can
use it for other animals like horses, or you can
let it mature, and it makes fine, bright fodder
for winter feeding.
8. Now is a good time to prepare for hog
raising. Hogs do a great deal better if they have
something to Craze upon during the summer and
fall or winter. 1t will be too late, however, to
wait until each of these seasons come on. We
must prepare ahead of time. An acre will give
a great suficiency for a good many hogs. A small
patch of sweet potatoes, another small patch OF