The Raymer enterprise., 1912-11-28
FARMERS TOO CONSERVATIVE
More knowledge and Better Business
Methods Needed In South-urged
to Rotate Crops.

SAAS'A AAS NIB ous VI luc 6IOuAu lOT q
long time, and know the conditions
and the shortcomings of the people in
this line Of business.
And the thing that impresses me
most Is that most Of us are so apt to
go along in the beaten track, doing
the things We have been doing and
that our neighbors are doing, without
even thinking about making any
change in the regular program. And
there Is good reason for this, too,
says writer In the Farm Progress
When we branch out and tackle some
new kinds Of crops and new ways Of
doing things. we are pretty sure to
strike a snag. Where ! was raised, In
an eastern state, every farmer
knew in radius of ten miles planted
corn and tobacco. and sowed wheat
and oats. Some made money and
some did not; 1t depended on the
business methods Of the farmer.
l thought then, and l know now,
that 1t is foolish for a man to 20 on
doing the same things the others are
doing. just from force of habit. And
this Is notably true Of the people In
most Of the southern states and
those bordering on them. But It 10
quite true also Of many farther north.
What we need Is for men to rise
above the level Of the daily work and
Its associations and do some think.
ing for themselves. I have been in the
business most Of my life, and my
opinion Is that the man who gets his
living from the soil is more "sot In
his ways" than anybody in any other
business. And there is where we
make our mistake.
For third of a century have been
associating with the same men who
own farms In one OF the oldest
states, and l have never known them
to make any material change in their
methods. Their crops are composed
OF wheat, oats. corn and tobacco.
Their rotation is oats after corn,
wheat after tobacco. Some of them
save all the manure: all of them buy
some fertilizers for tobacco, and
some have them for their wheat.
Almost all Of them SOW clover on
the wheat. and generally get a good
growth Of both on tobacco land. They
may SOW some grass on the oats: but
most likely they do not. So 1t is very
natural that the tobacco lots" are
keeping up. and the rest Of the land
Is running down. But there are
some who are wide awake, and in
some neighborhoods they have taken
to sowing Canada peas, as we'll as
the common cowpea, on as much
OF their land as possible, and do not
know OF man who Is a crank on
cowpeas who is not making his farm
better every year. Some, not SO many,
sow a good many Of the Canada
field peas, which come earlier and
when there is greater need for some.
thing to supplement pasture for cat.
tie or hogs.
l have used both these forage crops
with great satisfaction, and am con.
fident that the general adoption Of
rotation including one or both Of
them will do more to cheaper produc.
tion Of pork or Of beef and milk than
any crop not Of the grass or clover
kind. II man is cropping his farm
to corn, wheat and oats, with some
other special money crop" he will
find that any such crop will make
better returns planted on clover
sod or peas than anywhere else;
no matter whether 1t is tobacco,
cotton or any Of the market crops
that prevail In the limits of the corn
belt.
Both corn and wheat can be
counted on for the best yields when
they follow any Of the legumlnous
crops. And. II the owner is wise and
up to date. no matter whether his
main crop is to be corn, tobacco, DO.
tatoes, wheat. oats or something else,
he will find that stimulating the soil
for the improving crop is by far the
best method to secure the largest
crop Of whatever he gets his profit
out Of. In some tests | have made
with corn l found that where the
soil was little thin In spots, and
the clover had to be helped by good
application Of fine manure, the clover
on such places was almost equal to
the rest, and the succeeding crop was
even better. like to see field In
any crop. particularly OF grain even
In growth. color and yield. and I can.
not but feel that man is a mighty
careless farmer who will let thin
spots In field mar the beauty Of
appearance and cut down the actual
profits. And It is really surprising
how many men seem to be extremely
careless about such things.
Perhaps. when all the young men In
the agricultural colleges get down to
practical farming all over the country,
their example will stimulate US older
ones to adopting better ways.