The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1922-02-23
MOUNTAIN AGRICULTURE
Conducted Farm Demonstration and Special
Investg

while with wheat at a dollar all
would result in loss.
The plain conclusion is that so far
rs fertilizer is concerned, unless the
farmer has long bank account, he
must feed his farm libcraly when
prices are high and starvc it when
they are low. Otherwise he is likely
10 see another man draw the burrows
over his fields.
Labor follows the same law as fcr.
tl'izcr So far as extra amounts are
concerned; that is To say, the first
cultivation is more effective than the
second. the fifth less effective than
the fourth OF third. As to cost per
hour. mo- man cam pay union wages
and keep his farm, and for the most
part the farmer is thrown back up.
ON the labor of himself and family,
even working, as he is doing now,
his cattle and his hogs in husking
TIE corn.
The farmer must make much Of
those factors Of production whose
cost is relatively low, and yet whose
influence is relatively high. | refer
now to such factors as good seed,
timely planting and cultivation, and
good workmanship Good seed costs
more than poor, it is true, but the diff
ference is slight, and the effect upon
the crop is past all computation.
The same is measurably true of good
animals, whether at work, in the feed
ing yard, or in the dairy stables.
There is said to be tide in the
affairs of men which, taken at the
flood. leads on to fortune So runs
an old saying, and it is nowhere more
true than on the farm as to the time
of planting and of cultivation.
So sensitive are our crops, and so
rapidly do our seasons progress, that
a few days, even few hours some
times, make all the difference be-
tween good crop and poor one
possibly a slight profit and heavy
loss. 1t behooves the farmer, there
fore, to be forehanded with his crop,
and for that reason, with his short
ened labor, he will let more acres go
to grass.
Good workmanship is tremendously
effective in securing yield. For ex-
ample, an even stand of corn is nee
essary to profit, no matter what the
price. However good the seed, if the
planter is badly operated. so that the
stand is uneven, or if cultivation is
so unskillfully done as TO plow out
four or five hills in every hundred,
then all hope of paying expenses has
vanished. By as much as the farmer
is forced to do his own work, to that
extent can he the better control the
quality of workmanship; and tina. is
one of his chief gains under the pres
ent conditions.
We are going thru a difficult Pc
riod in American agriculture, aoc
every individual farmer must adjust
his business, first, with a view to
making ends meet year by year; and,
second, with a view to taking the best
possible care of his land.
Drainage in moderate amounts,
when the outlet is not too far or too
expensive to reach, will come about
as near paying today as will any i'm
provement, especially when directed
to the clearing up of wet spots in
the middle and the corners of culti-
waited fields. The blowing and the
cultivation of these spots cost as
much as it would cost if crop were
growing, and this loss can be turned
into an income, often with an exceed
ingly small outlay.
II is a time to get all the labor
possible out of animals as they fit
themselves for market, even if the
feed is not used to the highest pos.
sible efficiency. The great object is