Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-01-29
INTENSIVE FARMING.

1.-THE most successful farmer in the
United States" is the title which has
been bestowed by the government up.
on Arnold Martin. So successful Is
he that the department of agriculture
1t Washington sent an expert to In.
vestigate Mr.. Martins system, n al
ter the experts report issued a bull
letin telling Just how this Nebraska
farmer manages things on the plot OF
sround which he calls his farm.
"Arnold Martin" says the govern.
mcnt bulletin, lis = Swiss farmer OF
Pawnee City, Pawnee county. Ne.
braska. who has demonstrated that 1t
Is not necessary to have one hundred
and sixty acres to live. THIS has gen.
orally been considered the least
amount OF land q farmer should have;
but this Nebraskan has proved to the
world that he can provide for his
family. and save 4 snug sum besides,
from twenty acres. Mr.. Martin raises
a certain amount of fruit, u his prin-
cipal crops are the usual crops OF the
state.
Mr.. Martin came to America from
Switzerland without q penny some
twenty-one years ago. All he knew
was farming. He went to work as q
farm hand and In three years managed
to save $273. Then he started out for
himself. He found his twenty acres.
It was rocky and not worth farming,
40 the owners Of surrounding farms
said. Martin paid only $3.50 an acre
for It. while decent" land near by
was selling from $50 to SIS an acre.
The purchaser paid 500 down and
rave . mortgage for the balance. The
remainder Of his money he used to
buy farm implements and live stock.
Seven years after Mr.. Martin purchas-
ed the little farm he was out of debt,
had Q good home, fine barns, cash in
bank, and. q standing offer OF $1,000
for his!twenty acres.
Hissecret Of success Is that he does
not permit a foot Of his land to remain
idle. and two or three crops are raised
on every acre each year. The In
tensive methods pursued by him are
Of particular interest. The land Is
kept busy from spring until fall. At
the last cultivation of potatoes corn
ii planted between the rows. A full
crop Of potatoes and a fair crop OF
corn Is produced from the same
ground. AS many as seven hundred
bushels of potatoes and se~venty-hve
bushels of corr are produced from
each acre planted in this way.
After the potatoes ripen, the corn
keeps the weeds down. By the time
the corn needs the ground, ne pota-
toes are ripe and the corn is In The
shock before it is time to dig the po-
tatoes. Some parts Of the potato
patch are sown with millet and sorS-
hum just before the last cultivation.
This makes a good crop OF feed and
does not hurt the potatoes. Squashes
are sometimes planted in the same
q The onion patches grow corn
and melons, which are planted in rows
between the onions.
Part of the orchard is set with small
fruit and part is planted with pota-
toes and truck. In dry spells all the
water that the windmill will pump ls
used for irrigation, and it is here that
the intensive farming reaches Its
height. The water from the well
fows directly to the bitches as pump
ed. A little manure is scattered IN
the bitches to prevent washing. The
orchard at one time contained 900
pear. 200 cherry, 800 peach and q few
apple trees. The trees are planted in
straight rows, and between the trees
are raspberry bushes, tomatoes, cab
bage and sweet potatoes, with beets
close by.
IA small field of two acres is kept for
annual crops. The slopes are rocky IN
places and the soil is residual clay
loan formed from the weatherfng and
distntegrating of the limestone which
underlies it. Mr.. Martin set eight
acres of this in orchard, n acre in
alfalfa, one in timothy and clover
three in pasture and a little in annual
crops.
1.-THE best school for agriculture"
v Mr. Martin, sis the small farm,
personally operated, where the boys
and girls are raised and taught by
their own parents. Our agricultural
institutions are small in number and
At present don't reach the mass OF
people. The science of botany in re-
lation to agriculture should be- taught
more in our public schools. 1t is a big
problem, and should be me- in the
average farm home or public school"
Mr.. Martin said: Twenty acres
Is all / want to farm. That's enough
land for any man; 800 acres is a mis-
fortune, and $40 acres is a calamity"
Besides the actual value of the
crops he has raised, exhibitions Of the
product of his t~wenty-acre plot have
netted him more than $4,000 in cash
Nrnpni,ypoS ord Oor,ntlooc nioooc ~ mo.