The Monticellonian., 1915-01-28
BY c. o. Carpenter. Assistant AgriouI-
turist For Iron Mountain Railroad.

tuftSt r or iron mountain railroad.
The gravest criticism against the
one-erop system is its inability to EN-
ploy the farmer and his work stock
for a sufficient number of the working
days in the year to enable him to Sc
cure a living income. No man, no
matter what his business, can make
a success when he works at that bus
mess as little time as does the aver
age actual producer of cotton. This
farmer may add some to his income
by hauling wood, but he can no more
expect TO be success as farmer
than can the merchant. banker or pro-
fessional man who leaves his business
to cut wood Most people who sue
coed at farming, as well as any other
business, are those who peg away at
that business for full three hundred
and sixty-fve days in the year.
The average one-horse cotton farm
er will not work in his crop more
than rs days, while his horse will
work but sixty-fye. The average man
with two horses, according to data
gathered on Arkansas farms by Mr.
A. D. McNair, will cultivate fifteen
acres of cotton and fifteen acres of
corn. This crop will require an aver
age of $50 days labor by the farmer,
102 days by hired labor, and 81 days
by the team. At the average rate of
production this farm would produce
$500 worth of cotton and $3.50 worth
of corn, a gross total income of $780,
or $37S for the farm, after the outside
labor is paid The team in this sys-
TEN will not pay for its keep by the
work done on the farm, for it Is esti-
mated that the lowest average cost
of keeping a team on a farm is 500.
By practicing threeyear rotation
of cotton, corn and oats and hay, the
farmer would cultivate 22h2 acres per
mule, or As acres in all He would
work $50 days in his crop, would re-
quire hired man for lao days, and
his team would work 1876 days. The
farm will produce an equal amount of
cotton and corn, and 5000 worth of
oats and $3.50 worth of hay, a gross
total of $3.50, which. after dedueting
the hired labor, would leave farm
income of 1920.
Four Year Rotation Best.
With four-year rotation system,
including cotton, peas or soy beans,
corn and oats and hay, there would
be thirty acres in cultivation for each
horse, or sixty in all. The team
would work 162 days in the year, the
farmer 1914 days, and hired labor 1874
days. The income would include an
additional 5000 for the pea or soy
bean crop and amount to a gross to-
tai of $1,000, which, less the hired la
Dor cost would leave 1906 for the
farm income. The labor income
would, of course, be much lower.
These figures are not intended to
give system for any Sirm. They
are merely suggestive. and are not as
theoretical as might appear to some
people, for they were taken from ac-
tual work on farms in the state They
point to how the farmer can increase
! the farm income simply by planning
the work of himself and team so that
they can work a few more days in
the field The additional income that
might be gained from live stock grown
on the feeds produced and on pas
lures has not been taken into con
sideration. Such live stock would add
materially to the income. 1t Is an un.
fortunate fact, however, that many of
the people of the state have not as yet
come to realization that a pig will
grunt and grow and a COW give milk
on the days when the owner cannot
work in the field.