The twice=a=week herald. (Amarillo, Tex.) 1887-1906, 1906-06-19
MODEL FARMING.
An Example In PennsyIvRnia--A FAf-
teen Acre Dairy Farm.

BY W. ]. SPlELMAN, department of ag-
riculture.
The method Of management on a ff-
teen acre farm that raises all the
roughage for thirty head OF stock, sew
enteen Of which are cows in milk,
cannot fail to be of interest to farm
ers In all parts of the country, The
farm in question Is situated in south
eastern Pennsylvania, near large
city. About thirteen acres are in cul-
tivatlon, the remaining two acres be-
ing occupied by farm buildings, yard,
etc. This farm came into the posses.
sion of the present owner Rev. J. ID.
DERRICK, minister with no previous
experience in farming, in 1881, with a
mortgage Of 5000 upon 1t. For the
first year the farm lacked SAC of pay
Ing expenses. During the next six
years the mortgage was paid.
Systematic Management.
The writer has never seen another
farm on which system is so pronounced
feature. Without referring to notes
Of any kind, the owner detailed the
crops growing Oh each small subdivl.
sion, the crops that had been grown on
each for two TO three years past and
those that would be grown for as long
In the future. In most cases the dates
Of seeding and harvesting were given.
A peculiar feature of the management
is that each Of the principal operations
is performed on fixed day each sue
ceeding year or as near to 1t as the
weather will permit. Not pound Of
solid or liquid manure goes to waste
on this farm, and the soil Is in such
condition that it is more nearly indie.
pendent of weather conditions than any
other soil the writer has ever seen.
Torrential rains are soaked up in IA
very short time, so that the soil may
be handled after rain much sooner
than that of adjacent farms. 1t Is
therefore not difficult to adhere ap.
proX!mately to a prearranged pro
gramme. For instance, early corn for
solling is planted May s; late corn for
sllage, June 20; grass seed, about Aug.
90, and so on.
Products Sold.
The farm Is strictly dairy farm,
the only products regularly sold being
milk and few head of young cattle
each year. The cows are all register
ed Jerseys, except one or two picked
up at sales on neighboring farms. They
are not only pure bred, but they are
well bred. There Is not star boarder
In the herd. Male calves, if worthy Of
1t, are reared for breeding purposes,
but none is ever vealed. II male
calf is not fit to raise for breeder II
Is killed at birth. 1T doesn't pay to
feed $lS worth of milk to calf that
will sell for 49," said the owner. The
young cattle sold from this farm bring
on an average 500 apiece, and about
FIVE are sold each year
The milk is sold at % cents q gallon
the year around to a state institution
located two miles distant In a neighbor-
ing suburb. 1t tests on the average
SIS per cent. 1t will be seen that this
Is n very moderate price. considering
the quality.
The amount of milk produced is
nearly the same at all seasons and
averages about twenty-slx gallons a
day. or 1900 pounds year for each
OF the seventeen cows kept-not an
enormous yield. but a good one. This
gives an income from milk of about
$2,400 a year The outlay for concen-
trated feeding stun is about $625 a
year.