Milford chronicle., 1920-05-07
RICH fARMs MAKE RICH FARMERs
By Wesley Webb

It costs no more to plow an acre OF
land that produces go bushels OF
shelled corn than to plow an acre that
produces Is bushels of shelled corn
II costs no more TO till the rich acre
than the poor acre. The seed costs
no more. The difference in the cost of
the two crops is mostly in the plant
food that it takes to grow them. The
difference is mostly profit. OF course,
there are farmers who do not will
their crops properly but even in this
case the statement is true. There is
no profit in growing only one ton Of
tomatoes to the acre, but there is a
good profit in growing ten tons of to-
matOes to the acre. There is no profit
in growing ten baskets of corn per
acre, but there is good profit in grow
ing 20 bushels of corn per acre. There
I is no profit in growing fifty bushels of
potatoes an acre but there is a good
profit in growing 200 bushels of pota-
/ toes per acre. There is no profit in
I five bushels of wheat per acre but
good profit in twenty-five, or forty.
The average crop in Delaware pays
little; the poorest pays nothing; the
largest well.
Everything should be done to make
land productive Much must be done
to bring all Delaware lands to their
greatest degree of productiveness. It
is on record that Delaware has pro-
duced as much as SO bushels of wheat
per acre. The average yield of wheat
in Delaware may be II or is bushels
per acre. As much as 10 bushels OF
crib-dry shelled corn per acre have
been grown on a ten acre field, the
average is perhaps 30 bushels per
acre. A Kent County farmer cut sew
en- tons of alfalfa in one season on
one acre, and another Kent county
farmer grows from three TO five tons
of hay per acre, and after cutting the
hay he Immediately plOws the land,
plants it to corn and gets from IS to
100 bushels of shelled corn per acre
the same season. Such crops as these
grow on fertile land. not on barren
land, and these farmers are making
money.
Big crops have been grown on var
ious kinds of land sandy land, loan,
clay, black hand. Any kind Of land
in Delaware will grow big crops if it
is rich and properly handled. Some of
the biggest crops have been grown
on very sandy, leachy land; others on
very utdNt clay. AOUQILlDu anu uOL
character of the land; determines the
yield. How shall the farmer make
his land rich? Easy to ask. hard to
answer. Harder to answer on the
farm than on paper.
Land is made productive by drain +
age, tillage, plant food, humus, mois-
ture, lime, good handling, good man
agement, good seed. The successful :
farmer must plow, till, SOW and reap
at the right time and in the right way
The big thing, the key to all. is the .
man behind the job, the farmer. Still,
it is true that the rich farm makes
the rich farmer Not always, of
course. The exception proves the
rule. Any farmer may squander his
inheritance; he may despise his birth
right. On the other hand a good far
mer will make his farm rich.
By the way, what is a rich farmer?
One who has a rich farm, or a farm
that is in the process of being made
rich; who is doing good farming and
is living comfortably without too
much hard work; providing his wife
with all the conveniences of a home;
who is educating his children; one
who is contented with life and hap
Dy in his work and is not making any
1ne suffer because he is in a hurry
10 get out Of debt