The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1908-10-09
COLLEGE.BRED FARMERS.
Tell How They Made The Old Farm Pays
Many Good Points of Interest.
NOT AS DAD DID IT.


the university had no farming ex
perience whatever, and when tool
charge of the farm / now control
four hundred and sixty acres--i
had been rented for several years
and was in sad condition as Il
fertility and cultivation.
My first problem was to build VI
the productivity of the soil; this
considered fundamental; the next
to decide upon the precise line Of
farming l should follow.
l decided to specialize; and with
out dairy COWS, poultry, orchard OF
garden l planted alfalfa and clover
to fertilize the land, bought cattle &c
eat the alfalfa, and hogs TO scavenge
the cattle.
started with ten acres of alfalfa,
which l cut with mower, put 10
cocks, pitched by hand upon and off
the wagon, and stacking two or
three tons in half day. Now |
have nearly a hundred acres of alfal-
ia, which / cut with three mowers
and put up with sweep and stacker
directly from the field, and handle
somtimes twenty tons in half a day.
The first year | fed one car Of cat
tie and a few hogs. Now We ham
die three or four cars of each every
year. / grow corn on the best land
! have eventually / expect to grow
corn on alfalfa sod. When this is
done the farm will have come into
its own, and then / shall be disap-
pointed If my neighbors do not sit
up and take notice.
But always bear in mind that farm
ing is long-winded game and that it
moves exceedingly slow for city man,
because from the conception to the
contamination of each move is a
season; year must elapse, as gen.
eral rule. ..... .-
Now, do you ask, what relation
has all this to the training given by
an agricultural college? Let me be
frank with you; when ] was gradual
ed from the university in SO far as
farming was concerned my head was
in a buzz confusion, Had l been a
farmer before ! attended school /
no doubt would have seen things
In very different manner, and hav-
ing a plan of action laid out or
certain farm in sight, would have had
special precise knowledge on definite
psints. Once fairly started as a
farmer however, knew the
proper balanced ration to feed cat
,.e and hogs under given conditions;
this one point saved me great loss
aad delay. Then, again, knew GER
IAN things about animal diseases and
their remedies. This saved me not
only from large loss but also from
Ealing into the hands Of great
horde of quack veterinaries with
quack remedies. When farmer is
losing his stock he is an easy vic
i'm for the quacks and their stock
I HING a
insect pests that damage farm pro-
uucts, and the ways Of overcoming
nem.
All this knowledge was of certain
value to me, but the thing | learn
ed, above all other things, which
oas at once the justification OF my
agricultural course and its best
.,sult, was an openness Of mind with
regard to farming Farmers as a
class are life members of the grea.
fraternity Of Do 1t as Dad Did 1t.
TAey cling to the old way and old
methods simply because they are ul-
;r4-conervative. They are .reiudiced
against things set forth in type or
) oxen from the platform. The neck
OF the agricultural graduate is free
i'm the weight of these millstones
Of tradition, prejudice and consar-
/, tism which would hold him back
rom all progress. He is a student
ri his business; bulletins of ex-
pertinent stations and reports of the
perience of others-these are his
textbooks. His work in school is
rut the beginning of his education.
H. w. DAVIS, Jr.