Oxford Democrat., 1914-09-08
A Down.East Farmer That's Made
Good.
(Hoard's Dairymap.)

| UolI6I tudl u agriculture 10 put w " Po'
manent paying basis a man may farm
and be a gentlemsn-here We pause fol
fear some one may misunderstand US,
there is no suggestion of the snob, the
parasite, or the idler But by industry,
business sense, and intelligent planning
man may be able to acquire an ed.
ucation, a taste for literature, art and
science, and be able to take his place as
social, economic, and political fac
tor In his community, and his state,
such is Professor Sanborn's conception
of q gentleman and he is living exem-
plification of such farmer and gentle.
man. As we were saying, a man may
farm and be a gentleman; he will have
no desire to leave the farm for the CLAM
our of the city, and the estate will pass
from father to son for many genera
tions.
Such men were the Sanborus who set
tied in the town of Gilmanton, New
Hampshire, over $50 years ago. Several
generations lived prosperous and happy
until the changing economic and agri-
cultural conditions and worn-out soil
put check to New England agricultural
prosperity aud the SanbOrns, in COM
mon with many another old New Eng
land family, found themselves in posses.
sion of an estate that did not pay. 1t
was inevitable that these down.east
farmers should not be able to change as
rapidly as the times demanded. A worn
out soil and the competition of the west.
ern virgin farms drove the New England
farmers almost to distraction and the
result was the decline of agriculture.
Professor Sanborn's boyhood days
were passed just before these changes in
the agriculture of his country began to
be so keenly felt. When his father was
still in bis active manhood, Professor
Sanborn became the head of the Agri.
cultural Department of the University OF
Missouri. 1t was during this time that
his friends back home began to feel the
pinch and with his fathers advancing
y ears he decided to give up the work OF
teaching and rebuild the fortunes of his
ancestors. It was not for him to deter
mine bis career at this time, however,
for the state of Utah was just organizing
her agricultural college and Professor
Sanborn was called to this work, expect
ing to stay six months, but when he
finally set his face towards the granite
hills he had been in Utah six years as
president of her college of agriculture.
Now for nineteen years Professor San
born has been doing his real life's work.
We had the pleasure Of visiting him re-
Gently and although the day was dark
and rainy, not 30 the atmosphere about
his home nor his thoughts concerning
New England farming. As we sat in his
we'll stocked library which showed the
many sided tastes of the man, We won-
dered what sort of man is this who
would leave a position of honor and
trust to return to an old New Hamp.
shire farm. The best years of his life
had been spent amid the rich fields OF
the West. II he wanted to farm, why
didn't be locate there, we asked him.
"There was perhaps more of senti.
ment than good business about it," he
said. "This was the home of my ances-
tors. The title to this land has never
passed from the Sanborn family since
early Colonial days and l had an idea
that could, by adopting to some extent
western farm practice, make this farm a
profitable institution. The first few
years we're discouragiDg to those who
watched my efforts, but not to me. The
old home farm was mortgaged and / had
no money. My father, in common with
many another man Of his generation
among these hills, had lived the latter
part of his life on his capital by mort
gaging the farm. l went at it with a
we'll defined idea as TO where was COM
ing out, but before things began to turn
was $4,000 in debt and generally con-
ceded a fool by my neighbors."
"What was your theory or the philos-
ophy back of your work." we asked.
1.-THE m easure of farm is crops and
the measure of crops is plant food. The
source of plant food is tillage, rotation,
barnyard manure, nitrogen fed to the
land through stock, and the free use of
chemicals. The New England farm is
too small the farmers don't understand
the plant food problem. They have no
faith In the SOIL"
Professor Sanborn now has HOO acres
in the home farm and 100 acres of
mountain pasture. he has 500 acres of
tillable land in one body. During all of
these nineteen years he has been buying
land, tearing out old fences, enlarging
fields, 80 that he can use machinery eco.
uomically and build up his soil. There
is herd of $50 cows in milk and 100
head of young stock on the farm.
We visited the old original barn.
"This barn." the Professor said, "was a
model for it's time, but wanted space
for cows and while it is IS or 40 feet
wide and over 800 feet long, built in the
shape of an L, as you see, it held but
very few cows. There was 18-ft.
driveway through the center from end
to end and this left very little space for
stock. had no money to build new 80
had to make the best of this. By cut
ting out the driveway 1t could be made
to hold about four times as many COWS
as it was originally planned for"
he now has modern barn holding
100 COWS and is going to build another.
Grade Holsteins are kept but he Is grad
ually working into pure.breds.
The crop rotation and fertilization is
worthy of study. One hundred tons of
chemicals and 2300 tons Of manure are
used each year. The manure Is all pro-
duced on the farm. There are eight
fifty-acre fields on which the following
rotation and fertilization take place:-1,
corn for silage, six loads of manure and
800 pounds of chemicals; 2, oats and
peas, six loads of manure; 8. clover,
sown with oats aud peas the year before;
4, potatoes, six loads manure and 1900
pounds chemicals; 8, Hungarian, millet,
six loads manure; 8, timothy, six loads
manure and 500 pounds chemicals; 7,
timothy, 500 pounds chemicals;S, timo-
thy for pasture, 500 pounds chemicals;
then back to corn for silage and the rota-
ton repeated.
1t will be noted that every. acre gets
six loads OF manure and chemicals &C.
cording to the crop planted every time 1t
is plowed. It will be noted that this
crop system furnishes clover, timothy.
and silage for the live stock, and pota-
toes and timothy for the market. Forty
acres of potatoes and 100 tons of hay are
sold each year.
This farm had the finest meadows and
pastures 1t was our privilege to see In
New Hampshire. As an example OF
what can be done with these old farms,