The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1911-01-26

DIVERSIFIED FARMING pAv9.
Logan Farmer Tells The Independent
Readers How Hs Has euoossdsd
Mell In The Various Branches Of
Farming.
Submitted In competition for pss--
MUM offered by Tho Independently.
logan. N. D. Jan. "a. 1911.
Editor Independent:
| will give your readers q little
idea OF what q North Dakota farmer
can do in the way Of diversifing. l
don't expect to win that premium. but
here goes anyway hoping that some
body will be benefited.
In the first place. want to say
that l have been q resident Of North
Dakota for many years. and 1t was
nearly 20 years ago that hrst learn
ed the secret Of diversified farming.
We old timers could not afford to
market all of our eggs in one basket
In the first place, we keep q num-
Dor Of chickens. I think that we
have 125 hens and they have been
laying all winter long, even during
the coolest weather. l am getting
seventeen eggs day now and this
number will increase steadily till
spring. 1 have made arrangements
with q Minot concern to buy my eggs
at IS cents a dozen. might get
more, but l have no bother market
ing them.
Then too, am milking eight cows.
It requires some work to milk them,
but I have found that you can't make
money in North Dakota without
little work. l make butter and on
the average l think sell from two to
three dollars worth of eggs and butter
a day. OF course I have some good
milch cows. / have bred them up for
years, getting rid Of the cows whose
various points did not show up well.
If had a particular vicious COW, I
would sell her for beef.
Then too, have eight or ten
cattle to turn of every winter. l
have found that it does not pay to
sell my cattle early in the season, for
the buyer will offer you ten or fifteen
dollars less apiece for them than he
will along towards spring. Today
sold to Gilroy & Hetherton of MI
not, six cattle at an average of $40
a head, some bringing fifty dollars.
l sold Minot business man a mich
COW for $50. ~.
The average farmer is about a
year behind with his feed. I never
burn my straw piles. don't think
that my neighbors will 90 20 in the
future. A few OF those straw piles
that were burned q year ago last
tall, would come in mighty handy
about now.
l manage to keep quite number of
cattle the year round. I have fifty
left and also have twenty head of
horses. will have eight horses to
dispose OF in the spring, and several
of my mares are in foal manage
to sell several head of horses every
year at a good price. OF course
have more land that many Of the
farmers, as l have five quarters. but
what l have accomplished, can be
done by any farmer, only on smaller
scale perhaps in some cases.
l raise q few hogs. Last season my
wheat did not turn out well, but cut
it and stacked It. My hogs have
been fattening on it ever since and
there are loads of the best kind of
feed left. It would not have paid to
thresh IT.
Al . means Of liberalization, it
often pays = farmer to have a rail-
road run close to his farm. Last
summer tho 500 burned over q few
acres Of brush. and I got 1896 from
the company for damages.
depend upon my crops Of grain
scarcely Ct Ill. II the season 10
favorable, manage to raise good
crops. II We have 4 failure or par
ttal lon, I manage to get along Just
the same.
Farmers, by oil means, diversity.
ALFRED STEDWlCh.