The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1912-07-05
TIE BUSINESS OF FARnINo


A great deal has been said In a 100.
ular way about the rXzor-back hog and
his sun.splitting abilities, but IL Is q
very encouraging fact that he Is rap
idly becoming extinct. Ills happy
hunting grounds consist now " only
small part Of the total hog produc,
ing area. lie has been succeeded by
the more domesticated and more
highly developed type of hog, which
someone has properly dubbed 1.-THE
mortgage raiser" Many farmers can
easily attribute the possession Of
homes, wealth and all that goes there
with, to the domesticatedh hog. Misplace
In the scheme Of industrial progress
has been won not by any unusual trait,
but Is largely due to the fact that his
profitableness is result OF instructive
economical habits. BY nature he
seems to tit into the whole scheme Of
farming as utilizer, to the best pos
sible advantage, of many Of the farm
products that would otherwise he .
total loss.
We can draw q very valuable lesson
from this all but artistic animal,
whose only language is his squeal Of
disapproval and his sturdy grunt Of
satisfaction. lie saves where others
waste, and makes his living by roofing
around - sometimes In places where
wanted, sometimes not. II there Is
anything within reach that he likes
he usually finds II and proceeds tO
make good Use Of the opportunity
without any manifest concern or sx-
citement. He seems to make It his
business to look after small things,
even the holes in the fence II the out.
side looksmore inviting.
Profitable farming is becoming more
and more business proposition In
which 1t h necessary to look after
the small things and To use to the best
advantage every opportunity to pro-
duce more economically. The best
and most profitable farmers have
adopted systems of farm accounting,
or, In other words, they have become
bookkeepers, have kept such com.
plete records as to enable them to de-
termine which fields were profitable
and which were not. To begin with,
IT is not absolutely necessary to follow
up all little details, but it is a good
plan to do so as completely as possible.
If we were to go into manufactur.
ing plant, one Of the first things to
impress us would be the system Of
doing things and the strict principles
of economy that are followed. All
products that can be used for other
purposes are saved, properly stored,
and used when the time comes. At
the end OF each month, and possibly
each day, the manager knows the
exact status Of affairs the amount VI
stock on hand. and the quantity Of
finished product ready for the market
Every part Of great machine is
numbered and each must be accounted
for.
III the same unsyStematic methods
were practiced in factories As are used
on some farms, they would soon lose
their identity with the worlds pro-
gress, and become nothing but idle
monuments to some mans failure.
On careful consideration it Is plain to
see that with farming it is a, import
ant. If not more so, to keep definite
and strict records of all expenditures
Of time, money and labor.
The space allotted to this article
will not permit detailed explanation
of all the possibilities of an account
ing system on the farm and what 1t
will accomplish, but carefully kept
snriS uill ha ipAav 6,nar 70 vA,nt
the farmer to loop holes through which
the profits are now slipping. He
would know which are the profitable
fields; which are the most profit
producing crops; which cows were
boarders, that he might at the end Of
the season sell such animals to pay
their board bills; he would know
whether he was utilizing his horse
power to the best possible advantage.
In this connection it might be said
that one of our foremost universities
has Just found that on = l60-acre farm,
equipped with six splendid head Of
work stock, the average daily labor
per horse was only little over three
hours for the entire year - a very
small average labor record, indicating
a lack Of efficiency.
Well kept accounts would enable US
to determine the most satisfactory
way of utilizing our dairy products
Experiment Stations have found that
the cream separator reduces the loss
of butter fat per COW to one-eighth
that of the deep setting; one-twenty-
first of the shallow pan, and one
thirty-third of the water dilution
methods of cream separation. This
shows that with the ordinary farmer
who is milking ten average cows,
figuring butter at the market price,
will save more than the price of .
separator in a single season. 1t not
only is economical from the stand
point of obtaining more Of the butter
fat from the milk and other methods
of cream separation, but makes 1t
possible to utilize the milk before it
has undergone the action of detri-
mental bacteria, to which 1t Is very
susceptible. Every farmer knows
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