Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1919-02-18
Partnership Farming.

Two farms are better than one, II b0tt
are good farms; but those two farms
operated a. one, make the winning com
oination. Ny neighbor and I operate
our farms In that way.
Fred Nye 10 q good neighbor. We
we're chums In boyhood, knew each
others good and bad points unusually
we'll. We helped each other tbresh.
borrowed his potato planter, he bad my
corn-drill and corn-barvester. we even
borrowed each others milk cans in q
pinch. One Of my men lived over BY
him, nearly half q mile from me. 1t set
Us thinking.
"say. Fred" said one day, shave
you ordered that side delivery rake9'
Nope; going to get along with the
old one another year"
Fred was blowing a field about third
OF mile long, and said, "How would
you like to drive q tractor turning two
or three furrows down through there9"
Like 1t! You bet I'd like It; but this
farm isn't large enough for tractor"
Neither 10 mine, although | have
some long fields, too, where 1t would be
fun 10 turn one of those things loose"
"How many cows you milking nowP"
"Only six. / traded seven of my
grades for three dandy pure -brsds. How
many have you?"
"Eleven. want milking machine,
but / haven't enough cows"
Lets see. Eleven and six make
seventeen; that's enough to make a
milking machine pay have room
enough in my barn for twenty, and our
pastures open up together"
$50 do some of our other fields, speak
ing of tractors"
We fell to discussing the question
thoughtfully, eagerly, the full possibili-
ties and advantages of combination
gradually unfolding. The farms are
nearly equal In size, both we'll equipped
with buildings, stock and machinery-in
fact, already overloaded yet lacking sew
eral modern labor. savers. Together,
with more than 200 acres of good farm
land adjacent to markets, we could add
these profltably. We did 1t. "Mallory
Farm" and "Nye's" became the "Mal-
lory-Nye Farms" of West Springfield,
almost over night. We wouldn't advise
others TO follow our method unless their
mutual confidence is without reserve.
We meant to arrange q detailed plan 10
advance, but In the spring rush the
thing dragged on until late in May, when
I said to Fred, "Better turn 'em In to-
gether June 1, hadn't weP" And thus
we started.
The details OF our partnership farming
are being handled as they arise, and we
can see economy at every turn. There's
only one trip with the milk; one milk
serator, one set Of milk utensils to wash,
one icing-and so on through the daily
routine. But the greatest economy Is
expected from working bigger fields,
acreages of all crops, quantity
buying and selling and with more and
better equipment, better tillsge with
less rush and less getting behind.
Why does the western farmer have an
advantage when he is much farther from
bis market? Is 1t soilP Only in part.
A great big reason lies In bigger fields
and wholesale methods.
But, You say, the big farms OF the East
1on't pay. Why2 Those big farms that
ion't pay are usually owned by city men
Ind are managed and worked from start
10 finish with labor to whom the owner
typifies "capital." Farming is too diff
,ult trade to win that way. But i'm
,gine that same 500 acres handled by
i've practical farmer owners working
together and drawing no
pay except their share Of the profits. Ia
{ too optimistic to expect harmonyp
Much larger combinations succeed In
business.
True, millions of families are living
IN the earnings of small farming. But
he world moves on. The rural delivery
brings the daily paper. The rural tele-
phone and the hard-surfsced roads estsb- |
ish quick connections with neighboring
owns. Bill Jones is getting IS q day In
he shovel factory and rides home on the
John Olson draws still bet.
.er pay now on the docks and rides back
md forth In new flvver. Bills wife
md Johns girls are holding their heads
l trifis higher. When the factory or
-silrosd beckons to small farmers they
listen, they figure, and many of them 60,
Just as their sons have already gone.
It is time to call halt. We can not
thrive without small farmers. They
must be shown q way to earn as other
nen can earn and still have little left
'or interest on their investments. In
,ur case combination seemed to be the
answer. So far our plan is working
butlit Is too indefinite to be
like between neighbors in gen |
q. Mallory.