Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1906-09-11
DIVERSIFIED FARMING.
Figures That Tell the Tale-Why
Not Try 1t?

Figures That Tell the Tale-Why
Not Try 1t?
Another harvest has come and
gone in the Willamette valley,
and in Benton county and else
where there is disappointment
for the farmer for his grain yields
have fallen below his expecta-
tions which, by the way, were
not such as would have made
him rich had they been realized.
After a hard years work the
average farmer may possibly have
enough money from his crops
this fall to square up his years
expense accounts, but it is by no
means certain. And when the
bills are all paid, it is the same
old grind all to do over again, in
order that next fall's bills may be
paid up at the proper time.
Each year the wheat yield de-
icreases,> and likewise the oats.
In Benton county there were
fields this harvest that gave back
only 12H bushels o. wheat
scarcely enough to pay for the
seed, to say nothing of the work.
A yield of thirty bushels per
acre this season would be called
excellent. An estimate of the
Willamette Valley yield is an
average Of Is bushels of wheat
per acre.
An unusually successful farm
er OF Polk county said in Corval-
lis last week, "There is no
money in farming, anymore, and
1 shall have to give it up or go
in the hole.' This man is
known as clear-headed, a good
manager and Tar ahead of the
average as a farmer. And his
statement is the statement OF
dozens of others in Benton and
elsewhere.
One of the best posted men on
diversified farming and its results
is K. c. Eldridge, who owns
aud operates creameries at Inde-
pendence, Jefferson, DAYTON, Eu-
gene and Junction City, and who
is cne of the largest dealers in
cream in the Willamette Valley.
Along with the question of what
the raucher shall do in the fu-
ture to ''pull even" from fnan-
cial standpoint, the following
statements and figures of Mr..
Eldridge are timely and convinc'
ing. He says:
ga large part Of the prosperity
of the Willamette Valley ha:
come from the milch COW.
Dairying beats wheat raising ou
of sight. And three or fou1
years of dairying on wheat lane
will double the wheat-growins
capacity of the soil. A number
of farmers in Polk are raising
more than thirty bushels of whea
to the acre on such land, which
several years ago would not pro-
duce more than 2 or IS bushels
"a farmer with, say SO cows
although that's pretty larg
herd, and with hogs and chick
ems as accessories, can .maks
more money than do many Of th
country banks-that is, if he use
brains as we'll as hands. It's
bonanza for him. Farmers ar
fast coming into realization G
this; in fact, many of them real
: ize it already. Dairy product
always can fnd market with
out hunting for it, at high price:
5 But dairying requires constan
: and close attention every day i
/ the year, and for this reason som
: farmers are unwilling - take u
j with it.
''Dairying has enabled man
a farmer to clear himself of del
and store up bank accoun
One man of my Acquaintance
l. who, six years ago, owned 8
y acres of land and was in deb
(: by going into the dairying busi
?. ness paid his debt, bought !
acres more for $3.50 and hs
: paid $4,000 of this price alread,
2 Tie other day he sold II 81.
II months-old hogs for Sal,
Il Another farmer with ID acre
II last January sold $133 worth
t|teggs, and &s7 worth of butt
III fat He has 600 chickens ar
Hj half n dozAni n0nS Aunfh