Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1910-01-28
THE BEST FARMER.

Ihe following article with reference
to Mr.. Martin of Pawnee City, Ne
braska, who has been declared the best
farmer in the United States, may be Of
interest to a great many of the people
Of Mississippi. 1t is a striking example
of what can be accomplished with a few
acres of land in~telligently titled. What
Mr.. Martin has lone in Nebraska can
be done by a great majority of the peo-
pie of Mississippi. Read this very care
fully and file away for future reference:
1.-The most successful farmer in the
United States is a title which has been
bestowed upon Arnold Martin, living
near Pawnee City, Nebraska. So sue
cessful is he that the Department of Ag-
riculture at Washington has sent an ex-
pert to investigate Mr.. Martins system
and has issued a bulletin telling all
farmers who read just how the Nebraska
farmer manage things on the plot of
ground which he calls his farm
Martin is no amateur, but devOtes
his entire attention to agriculture. and
every cent of his income is produced
from his work on the and which he owns
and which is located seven miles from
Pawnee City.
In Nebraska, as in many other
States, it is generally considered that a
man must nave 16O acres at least in
order to live. Martins farm consists of
just twenty acres (2O), and from this
land Martin provides for his family and
saves 81, 100000 each year. While Mr..
Martin raises a certain amount of fruit,
his principal crops are the usual farm
crops in Nebraska. Not a foot of the
twenty acres is permitted to remain idle
and two or three crops of something or
other is raised OF every acre every
year.
"NTr. Martin came to Pawnee City ten
years ago from Switzerland without a
penny. All he knew was farming. He
went to work as a farm hand and in
three years managed to save $4,000.
Then he started out for himself.
""Twenty acres is all | want says
Martin. That's enough land if farmed
rightly for any man, 800 acres is a mis-
fortune and $40 acres a downright calam-
ity.'
Martin found his twenty acres. It
was rocky and not worth farming, SO
the owners of surrounding farms said.
As a proof of the poor quality of the
land Martin paid only $3.50 per acre
for it, while decent land nearby was
selling at from 5000 to $500 per
acre. The purchaser paid just $4,000
down and gave a mortgage for the bal
ancc. The remainder of the money he
used to buy farming implements and
live stock. The Bulletin which the de-
partment has issued concerning Martin
says:
His neighbors used to laugh at the
young farmer and nicknamed him
"Hazlebush," but they now say che is
making more money off his 20 acres
than we are of our 100" He does not
want any more land, but wants to farm
he has better than he is now
80 successful has the young farmer
been that today, seven years after he
purchased the little farm, he is out of
debt, has a good home, fine barns, cash
in the bank, and a standing offer of
So, 10000 for his 20 acres. Last winter
he spent three months in Switzerland,
and for the past three years has been to
the Colorado mountains every summer
"Says the Government Bulletin: The
intensive methods pursued by Mr.. Mar
tin are of particular interest. The land
is kept busy from spring until fall. At
the last cultivation of potatoes corn is
planted between the rows. A full crop
of potatoes and a fair crop of corn is
produced from the same ground. AS
many as 700 bushels of potatoes and rs
bushels of corn are produced from each
acre planted in this way. After the
potatoes ripen the corn keeps the
weeds down. BY the time the corn needs
the ground the potatoes are ripe and
the corn is in the shock before it is time
to dig the potatoes. Some portions of
the potato patch are strewn with millet
and sorghum just before the last c~ultiva-
ton. This makes a good crop of feed
and does not hurt the potatoes.
Squashes are sometimes planted in the
same way. The onion patches grow
corn and melons, which are planted in
rows between the onions. Part of the
orchard is set with small fruit and part
is planted with potatoes and truck.
I'm dry spells all the water that the
windmill will pump is used for irriga-
ton. and it is here that intensive farm.
ing reaches its height. The water from
the we'll flows directly to the bitches as
pumped. A little manure is scattered
in the bitches to prevent washing.
""The orchard contains 900 pear, zoo
cherry, 500 peach and a few apple trees.
The trees are planted in straight rows
and between the trees are raspberry
bushes, tomatoes, cabbages and sweet po
t~atoes, with beets close by.
ga small field of two acres is kept
for annual crops. The slopes are rocky
in places and the soil is a resident clay
loan formed from the weathering and
dis~integrating of the limestone which
underlies it. Eight acres of this is set