West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1916-01-13

management may accomplish on a So
called "worn'out" New York hill farm.
is offered in the case OF q place sur
yeyed In Broome county, N. Y, which
was bought for 1852 per acre. and In
two years was made TO pay over 30,
per cent on the investment.
This place was bought by farmer
who was already farming at a profit in
the valley below. 1t consisted OF 50
acres OF gently rolling land. The
land had been cropped with hay and
buckwheat for years, and little or no
manure or other fertilizing material
had been applied. Consequently the
soil was in verp poor physical condi-
ton. There was a good frame house
on the farm, and a rather poor barn.
A tenant was engaged to live in the
house and do the work on the farm
under the owners direction. Under
the terms of the agreement the owner
furnished all the lime and clover seed
and half of the other seeds and of the
fertilizer He also supplied a potato
planter and digger. The tenant fur
nished the rest OF the machinery, his
own teams, and all of the labor. In
return he was TO receive one-half of
the oats. buckwheat, and potatoes rails
ed, and the income from four COWS
which he was permitted to keep. 1t
was provided. however, that he was to
feed all the hay and roughage on the
farm and to return the manure, straw,
ETC., to the land. He was also to do
all the improvement work for which
he had time, such as picking up stones
and cutting hedgerows. 4
The new owner took possession on
April L. The cropping system adopt
ed for the first season was necessar-
lily a makeshift, owing to the lack of
time for putting definite plan for i'm
provement into execution. b
Four acres OF potatoes were plant
ed. The seed happened to be poor.
and only 400 pounds OF commercial
fertilizer being used, the yield was
only 80 bushels per acre. Five acres
OF buckwheat yielded 116 bushels.
Lime and acid phosphate were applied
to one S-acre tract and from this field
800 bushels of oats were harvested
AT the same time an excellent stand
or clover was obtained in the same
held. Ten head of young cattle were
pastured on a slope where the land
was rough and not available for til
lage. An old meadow was moved
yielding about ton of rather poor
hay per acre.
During the summer permanent re-
pairs were made at a cost of about
$500. At the end of the year the own
er's gross receipts amounted To
$4,000. of which $3.50 represented
his income from his investment.
The next year about 0 acres of sod
land were plowed and put into pota.
toes. The tenant left some of the seed
potatoes exposed for several DAYS.
and as result, a very uneven stand
was secured. Three paintings were
made. The first, from freshly chi
seed, gave an even stand and yielded
100 bushels to the acre. The next
and largest planting made a very poor
stand, yielding only so bushels to the
acre, while the last was good and II
yielded $50 bushels to the acre. From
the whole field SIC bushels were dug
These were worth a dollar bushe
at the farm, however, which in part
made up for the low yield.
The clover sown the previous veal
made a good showing. Over tons OF
hay were taken from a 2-acre piece
while the remainder of the new seed.
Ing cut about a ton per acre. Eight
acres of oats, in which the usual seed
Ing OF timothy was made, yielded
1856 bushels of grain. Lime and acid
phosphate had been put on this field
Buckwheat yielded 100 bushels oil
grain on 51k acres. Thirteen head OF
young stock were summered on this
pasture. An old orchard of about 2
acres, which the owner had reserved
was renovated and sprayed at a cost OF
$50.
At the end Of the second year. al
though number of fairly expensive
improvements had been made, incIud-
ing the repair of the barn at a cost OF
500, the owners share of the gross
receipts Of the enterprise amounted to
$9O6. This included $3.50 received for
apples from the orchard which he had
reserved for his own use. His net in
come was S694.6O, or 32.5 per cent on
his investment.
In this case the owners labor as gu.
perintendent is negligible, since he
was running his home farm and de-
voting only spare time to the hill farm
In question. However, even II the
owner were allowed $500 for his su-
perintendence and $50 for the use OF
the few tools which he contributed
the investment would still show a div
idend Of 9 per cent. At the same time
the tenant made z comfortable living
No strict record was kept ~ his re-
turns. but his share Of the field crsps
for the second year was worth about
$500, while the four COWS contributed
materially 10 the family living.
| -sf--
School Report
Report Of the Church school No. IL
! Of kingwOOd diatricf for third month,