New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1911-04-22
WHAT THE OLD FARM MIGHT
BE WORTH.

old farms of ours over which "
have worked, perhaps. for year
and wears. In fact, most Of II
do not realize what these farm
! are worth rght now. The ave
rage farmcG-, IN his comparisons o
the farm with other businesses
! fails TO give the farm credit fol
much Of what it Yields the OWE
er. Suppose. for example. Mr.
Reader. that You had to pay rent
at t, Wn prices on n home such Il,
yomS; suppose YOU had TO buy
there fuel and water and vege
tables and butter and eggs and
a. the dozens Of little things YOU
get on the farm without thinking
,of them; suppos1 you had to pay
out of a salary or from the pro
ceeds of another business for
every horseback ride and buggy
drive You now have without cost
If YOU had to do all this. you
would soon revise your ideas as
to what you get off the farm. The
writer has put this problem up to
two or three farmers who were
figuring out how much greater re
turns they could get from their
capital invested in some other
business. and when they began
considering tthis feature of the
ease they had to make AN entire
ly new set of comparisons.
The man in another business,
has to pay for these things. too,
in hard, cold cash. The farmer
who elves at home" as "a far
mer should. gets them and scare
ly thinks about them, they seem
so much matter of course.
Yes, the old farm gives us. as
a rule. great deal for which
we fail to give it credit; but
there are few of lis indeed who
get out of it what we might. We
have. in fact, never realized what
a little piece of land can do.
Look at these facts about the
island of Jersey, from which our
Jersey cattle come. There are
about the island Of Jersey, from
which our Jersey cattle come
There are about 100000 acres of
land in the island. OF this.
4 4,095 acres is pasture, 1865 for
1000 is heath and noun
tain. 1000 is in orchards. Nearly
400 acres is devoted to root crops,
tufnips and mangels. 1,414 acres
to grain, 1857 acres to potatoes,
and 1,S45 acres to miscellaneous
crops.
There are on the island more
than $4,000 cattle. about 1000
being exported yearly. There are
over 1000 horses, over 5000
swine, and sheep and goats
enough to bring the total num-
Der of animals to more than 90
400, more than one to each acre
If land.
The sales of cattle and dairy
Of course, constitute the
main source of income; but cattle |
md dairy products are not all
hat the islanders raise. They |
xport about 100000 bushels of
potatoes yearly. The average po-
ato yield is about 400 bushels
,er acre, not of mature tubers,
nut Of those dug mostly for the
arly market when about the size
f large egg.
OF course, the soil is rich, but
t has been made and kept so BY
'ood husbandry. Over in China
nd India, where the population
) less dense than on these islands
nd where the soil is naturally
s fertile, famine stalks almost
very year.
1t is intelligence on the one
and against ignorance on the
ther. And it is intelligence on
he one hand and igorance on the
ther that make one fertile farm
I neighborhood and a poor one
light beside it. When any tract
f land becomes poorer through
than it was in its nat
raj state, that land has been bad
' treated. We talk of restoring
md to its "virgin fertility; but
ur "new-grounds' may be and
hould be so handled that they
ill grow larger crops ten or
years from now than at
resent. The lands of the South
an. by good farming, be made tol
roduce twice. three times, five
ime. as much as at present. Five
ines our average yields would
My mean about 50 bushels of
orn or $50 pounds of lint cotton
0 the acre, and both these yields.
)ok small when compared with
that dozens of mere boys have
one.
No. We do not know what the
Id farm might, be worth, and |
rs cheaper too to build up the |
I'D farm you own than to GO
Vest and buy .one somebody else
WINS or go into town business
'ou know nothing about. Nor
All you find finer work than
o help those acres of yours to
ealize their hidden possibilities. |
Farmer.
Kicked BY A Mad Horse.