Middletown transcript. [volume] (Middletown, Del.) 1868-current, 1920-05-08
FARMS and FARMERS
The Difference Between Good Pro-
ducing Land And Poor
THE ANSWER-PROflT ONLY

As SSSSS AV uAVAS w PiVW 81 oSAS "
land that produces 60 bushels of shelle'
corn than to plow an acre that produce
Is bushels of shelled corn. 1t costs NJ
more to till the rich scre than the poo
: acre. The seed costs no more. Th'
difference in the cost of the two crop
is mostly in the plant food that it take
to grow them. The difference in tn,
crop is mostly profit. OF course, there
are farmers who do not till their crops
properly but even in this case the state
ment is substantially true. There is M
profit in growing only one ton of to-
matoes to the acre, but there is a gooc
profit in growing ten tons of tomatoes
to the acre. There is no profit in grow.
ing ten bushels Of corn per acre, but
there is good profit in growing Il
bushels of corn per acre. There is NJ
profit in growing fifty bushels of po.
tatoes an acre but there is q good
profit in growing 200 bushels of pota.
toes per acre. There is no profit in five
bushels of wheat per acre but good
profit in twenty-five, or forty.
The average crop in Delaware pays a
little: the poorest pays nothing, the
largest crop pays well.
Every thing should be done to make
land productive. Much must be done to
bring all Delaware lands to their great
degree of productiveness. 1t is on
record that Delaware has produced as
much as So bushels of wheat per acre.
The average yield of wheat in Della
ware may be II or l8 bushels per acre.
AS much as ITO bushels of crib-dry
shelled corn pei acre have been grown
on ten acre field, the average is per-
haps IS bushels per acre. A Kent
County farmer cut seven 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 in ccrn 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.
kinds of land, sandy land. loan, clay,
black land. Any kind of land in Della
ware 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
heavy clay. Condition and not charac-
ter 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 drainage.
tillage. plant food, humus, moisture.
lime, good handling, good management.
good seed. The successful farmer mus:
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 good farmer will make his
farm rich.
BY the way. what is a rich farmer
One who has a rich farm, or 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 home, who is
his children: one who is con-
tented and happy in his work and is not
making anyone suffer because he is in a
hurry to get out of debt.