Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1910-01-14
CORN AND HOGS PROFITABLE
Fred Hungate, One CT Most Enter
prising Farmers Near Pull
man, Makes 1t Pay.

That there is a good profit in )
corn instead Of summer !,
following the land, has been con
tended by the experiment station
staff Of Washington State College
farm. and many who have tried it
for several years. Among the lat I
ter is Fred Ilungate, the well
known young farmer. who lives
southwest Of Pullman and has 10
made fortune by farming in theNh
Palouse country. S
For several years Mr. Hungate3
has raised corn on "A rather large 'h
scale and he has found it to yield d
good profit, in addition to plac- O.
ing the land i'll better condition III
for fall seeding than if it had been We
summer fallowed. Last year Mr.. y
IIungate planted 24O acres Of corn III
on large farm he Owls in Gar
field county eight miles north of I
Pomeroy He cultivated the corn 1t,
several times with harrows, whenW
it was small; and with cuItivators[,
when it grew larger, and after the5oI
summer rains he had his men 90 \
through it with hoes and clean outaf
the weeds. This is just the sametI
method he has always followe, d
with his summer fallow, and as a
result his farm is pointed out as a
model, beig freer of weeds than 1
almost any farm in the Palouse
country.
Il have walked many miles
with a hoe over my shoulder look
ing for weeds ON the summer fall
low when working for Mr.. Hun
gate" said a man who had work
ed for him for several years, when
talking to the writer Of Mr.. Hun
gates farming methods Continu-
ing, he said: When seeding time
comes, Fred puts a number of
seeders drawn by six or eight
horses in his fields. Every man has
strict orders to keep his eye open
for weeds or any foul growth,
and when such is seen, to stop the
seeder and pull it up and destroy
il" To many it would seem like
small business to stop an eight
horse team to pull up single
weed. but Mr.. Hungate has made
it pay. He believes that anything
worth doing at all, is worth do
ing right, and that is the plan he
has followed and which has made
him one Of the most successful
farmers of the Palouse country.
But, to return to the corn story
Mr.. Hungate recently sold a lot
of hogs fattened on this corn, and
he is beginning to realize how well
it has paid. He turned 325 head OF
hogs. which he had raised on his
farm in Whitman county, where
he has alfalfa and other pasture,
into his corn field in Garfield com-
ty. in October These hogs had had
no grain except what they had
picked up in the stubble fields. lie
"hogged off" the corn and cannot
give an estimate of the yield per
acre. but he has fattened 325 head
of hogs. worth fully $4,000 from
the 24O acres of corn, and that is
a pretty good return from $40
acres of summer fallow. had he
followed the old methods he would
have done as much work and been
at as much expense and his re
turns for the work and expense
of summer following would have
been nothing. He expects to raise
a better crop Of wheat from this
land that has produced between
$4,000 and $1,000 worth of pork,
than if it had produced nothing.
Some time ago Mr.. IIungate sold
1877 head of hogs which had been
fattened in this corn field. They
averaged 231 IL pounds each,
and brought his little more than
1900. He got $3.50 per 100
pounds for them live weight. He
expects to sell theremaining 1873
mead IN short time Ind has been
'ffered $3.50, live weight for them.
He fed these hogs no grain and
hey have picked their living"I