The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1910-05-18

4 rounding Odebolt, Iowa. And the
business Of farming" takes on new
definition as the visitor drives out five
miles from this lively little prairie
town to Brookmont, one OF the most
famous farms in the whole Middle
West.
One Of the first sights to lay strong
visual emphasis on the word business,
~ one approaches the rather impress
I've group of buildings known as the
& home farm plant is snug one
story structure with large cattle and
hay scales in front. bearing the leg
end: Office" Entering that building
you will find yourself facing an iron
grating, beyond which are standing
desks, fiat desks. typewriter or two.
and the various bank furnishings sug-
gesting the atmosphere Of country
bank. Back Of the large room, in
which two or three clerks are busy
with ledgers, blue prints and Office
hles, is a smaller room the private
office Of Albert 3. Cook, the owner Of
Brookmont. Everywhere there is an at
mosphere which says: This is a bust
Ness. an industry, conducted in the
same orderly and systematic manner
as any other up to-date industry not
loose jointed calling run on the
rule-of thumb or hit-or-miss fashion.
But the thing which spoke most loudly
70 me the message, Farming is a
Business" was set of maps or plates,
In colors. arranged in the shape Of a
huge calendar and hung on the wall
Of the private Office.
Those are our crop rotation
maps" explained Mr.. Cook, as he no
ttced that this decoration had caught
my eye. They are the same thing to
my superintendent and foremen and
bosses as the architects working plans
are to the contractor. his superintend-
ent, foremen and workmen."
And SO found them. Brookmont is
subdivided into twenty-five farms the
home farm and twenty-one auxiliary,
farms. Each farm is mapped one
plat for each year. On these maps
every field is outlined and it's crop is
instantly indicated by color used.
What will be the crop scheme for
farm number IA in 1911? One glance
at the 1911 map of that farm reveals
the whole layout. field by field. And
In the files of maps for that farm is
the complete history of the crops
which each of it's fields has produced
Even the orchard of the home place
shows the kinds and varieties of the
trees with which it is planted. Here
is order, system, plan. And this is
the keynote of everything on Brook
monte the master Of this $50 acre
farm doesn't do lick of work from
one years end to another" to quote a
less methodical neighbor who carries
his account mainly in his hat and
prides himself that he puts in as many
hours in the field as his best hand.
4 4 "a II ~
The Recipe for Good Farming.
But to play the thinking part for a
chain Of farms embracing $3.50 acres
and have the work move forward with
almost automatic smoothness is a job
which may we'll absorb the energies
Of an active man, even if he doesn't
work" And especially is this true if
the balance on the big ledger never
fails to be on the right side and of
satisfactory size. Only a moderate gift
Of imagination is required to see
Bfookmont in the light of an Old
World barony and its owner as an
overload of q domain for Brookmont
wholly maintains four school districts
and mainly supports two more. Elk
pressed in American farm terms.
Brookmont contains forty-six quarter
sections; to drive completely around
Il would involve journey of fourteen
miles, but the fence repair man has
to keep up about one hundred miles of
road fence. It is stoutly asserted that
there are not five acres in the whole
property which can not be Immediately
and successfully cropped without
drainage. Mr.. Cook does not believe
that farmer should put all his eggs
fn one basket unless he is absolutely
obliged to resort to the one crop basis.
Therefore, Brookmont may be broadly
classed as a diversified farm al though
the foundation of its operations is
corn. The main sources on this farm
are: Steers and hogs for the live
stock market; corn for the grain mar
let; thoroughbred cattle and hogs for
the breeding market and seed corn
and seed grains for other farmers.
In the opinion of this man who
farms with his head. wears good clothes
and takes occasional trips to Europe,
good farming Is compounded of equal
portions of economical production and
Of successful selling. Unless these