Vol. xxhi.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, MAY 5,1888.
NO. 18
i rittes lor the Indiana Farmer.
.nrhar of Our Prize Essays on A Little
■-"-"-0 FarIn Well Tilled.
R| Tbat the little farm well.tilled shall se-
are the rewards due. to sustained effort
[epends upon three points—the location,
he owner and the amount of capital at its
immand.
Ihe 10,000 acre farm with its grand scale
ij operations may disdain the proximity
f railroads, or the daily wants of man as
hey have been evolved by residence in
awn—but not so with the farm of 80 acres
,r leas; if it 13 to be well tilled and obtain
^equate reward for such tillage it must
« near a town large enough to demand
he elegancies and luxuries of the table.
Possibly before location in degree of importance is the character of the owner—to
-odily vigor should be joined mental
nergy, tbat he may compass a broad and
ntelligent comprehension of the possibil-
ies and adaptations of this particular
irm. Business methods are indispensable
a securing satisfactory results. Irving
n his admirable life of Washington, says:
H He had acquired the magic of method,
' Jthich of itself works wonders." The
irmer more than another needs to have
he shrewd penetration that will discover
rhich special line  of farming will pay
1 lim. A man's best efforts are modified by
lis taste, his natural bias and early train-
i •*»• '     '      '   .
T KEEPING. FABM ACCOUNTS
r il»not essential to success, as we may ob-
erve all about us, but is of prime con^
enience in determining the comparative
'f 'refit of different branches of farming; lt
s the sole plan by which one can apply
iicardo's two famous  rules for acquiring
f fealth; first, cut off your losses; second'
etyoar profits run!
As for the third point, a certain sum
iiying been invested in the purchase of a
arm an equal sum should be available for
grating it; the lack of this last la just
he barrier that many a man must acknowledge as standing between his best
udeavors and success.
The best type of farmer recognizes that
lis is a business requiring to be prose-
:   -uted every week in the year;  he can no
! note suspend operations without loss than
*n the mammoth manufactory. The
«e is so close, competition so sharp and
. a' margin of profit so narrow in all business these days that one who loses the refills for a few months every year must
fcorea loss and risk eventual failure.
Wing acknowledged the  primary truth
[Mt intense farming is that best adapted
-* we small farm there will be found
nrl *_.     AMPLE BOOM FOB CHOICE
"a the gratification of personal  prefer-
■ leiv^' Sha11 the inteU1Sent owner of the
< Cr ly situated farm make of it a fruit
' W8'* market garden, a  feeding lot, a
P**? establishment, or a breeding farm?
fcf'tt ^ fiV6 avenues tor the expenditure
,j,, oney> energy and common sense, and
."-Mtobe most successful will require
cspital equal to the value of the land.
r«the       °" n-avb6  farmer narrowed by
• kc]D?SideraUon—shallonrfarmer-s plans
'Faan  i i°r excm<io  tfae  employment of
■ *iUri rer8? A decision on this point
r -J7^ai on hIs ability to manage men
' nhi, ,J , foremost talent will often lack
TiPWcJuf*1^ that tlie comn">n and familiar
* ^OutiM the*r,unily washing was con-
' **■>« »,!i UntU a genius proposed to do
r^itwiih      °ra hnndred  families—he
^Perior 8uperlor appliances and with
-" **«•." a Hrei*UUs* then U h6c&vao a "bnsl-
'ff-ect Th "laundry" enUtled tore-
' '--'tmm   t80810 of endeavor and not the
*' '-"ietUki d6temlne theQ,gnity of an
i , i_Ti_*wa. D^' Tne finest onions ever
7'* "eh n„n t20 ,oot ^ed would make no one
*"**      n°r famous,
-»*In,
'Scare
s,  but the same pains-
R*I*WonMeXpendedoneveryfooto-* -20
FWt or „ count> and so it will with any
•    -°r vegetable.
There is a steadily increasing demand
for fruit aud vegetables and more and
more does quality fix the measure of profit
in producing them. . A hearty acquiescence in the fact that the labor required
for one acre cannot profitably be stretched
to cover 80 suggests the need of the reserve
capital.
I_ord Bacon, says: "A man shall ever
see that when ages grow to civility and
elegance men come to build stately sooner
than to garden finely, as if gardening
were the greater perfection." Does my
lord Verulam here suggest the reason of
slow progress of agriculture—Is it destined
to be
THE CBOWNING BLOSSOM OF CIVILIZATION?
Should the dairy be chosen, 25 cows selected and fed as recent experiment and
practice direct, will, with butter at 35
cents per pound, or cream at 74 cents per
gallon, bring in $2,000 dollars or more a
year. Of course this implies the best
cream and dairy interests, aa well as a
manager who has the snap to find and retain the 35 cent customer. The old time
theory tbat the farm must produce all
consumed thereon is false in practice—a
dairy farm may be a success and yet
never grow a ton of hay nor wisp of
straw, but it will have rich pastures and
its manager will be wide awake to buy
the corn fodder and clover of a neighbor,
or to induce him for a consideration to
thresh his wheat on the dairy farm, thus
"providing a generous straw stack, that
will afford the cows some comfort (I will
not say nutriment) on sunny days and
furnish the abundant bedding so essential to cleanliness. An eastern writer
says," I know
BUTTER TASTERS
who are paid f 5,000 a year simply to test
it, and the farmer's product must go
through this test in the New York market—they (the farmers) may impose on
themselves,.but I assure you they cannot
on these tasters." There is a subtle
aroma, an exqusitely delicate flavor that
eludes the efforts of the ordinary dairyman, If such high priced talent must be
employed to discover the precise and rare
package adapted to the palate of the epicure. It appears that there is a reward
for the maker of this superlatively fine
butter. ".Aim at the sun" would seem a
good motto for the butter dairyman.
So eminent and ancient an authority as
Cicero has said, "The feedingjof cattle is
the most important part of agriculture."
The intuitions and observations of his
day coincide with the dictum of modern
chemical analysis and scientific deduction. The fertility of the soil can best be
maintained under a system of animal
feeding. To feed stock on a small farm
with profit, involves the use of large capital; it also requires the soundest judgment in buying animals that are "good
feeders;" it compels too, the selection of
skilful help that feed may not be wasted;
it calls for nice discrimination to note the
animals that will bear forcing to the last
ounce, a rare patience at the same time to
nurse along the troublesome fellow that is
inclined to get off his feed"—all this demands arrangements for feeding each animal separately. The manager must have
a judgment almost more than human if
he is to determine the best time to sell.
Will the market advance? Will it recede?
Will the stock bear longer feeding? Has
the ration necessary to sustain condition
already outrun that required for growth
in fat and muscle?   These are
THE QUESTIONS EVER PBKSENT.
The actual outlay required to equip an
eighty acre farm for grain raising is surprisingly near to that for a two hundred
acre farm—a wagon, corn-plat, ter, wheat
drill, binder, mower, roller, etc., are none
too much for the small, and quite enough
for the larger farm. Statistics show that
the average gross income'_ per acre Jor
either corn, wheat, oats or hay is about
eight dollars. No inducement to look
that way for a system adapted for the little farm.
The prudence embodied in the old saying, "don't put all your eggs in one basket" commends itself to many persons.
It is true that general or mixed farming
can be made profitable if a good town
market is near. Twenty acres given to
the high cultivation of potatoes, early
sweet corn, cabbage, or a similar crop,
would demand labor and vigilance, but if
marketed with discretion would bring in
a snug sum. Twenty acres in a corn,
clover and wheat rotation should go far
toward providing for three or four mares,
ten cows, a few pigs or sheep and chickens. The saving in inside fences will
however induce the small farmer to discard sheep and hogs. The mares would
do the necessary farm work and besides
raise at least two colts every year. The
cows, choice and selected ones, might supply milk or cream to some one dealer and
thus yield a fine profit, while the calves
produced would be a considerable item.
The sows would produce a litter, perhaps
two, each year, and the pigs sold at weaning should find a paying market with the
thrifty housekeepers ln town, who want
them to consume the refuse from the
kitchen. Karly lambs of a mutton breed
always command a fancy price in city
markets, while the wool from the ewes
will pay for their keep.   It should be
A SETTLED POLICY
on the small farm to sell the young things,
never yielding to the temptation to keep
the colts and calves. With .this practice
the price is almost a" clear profit and. all
risk from accident and disease avoided.
Observation proves that young things as a
rule come nearest to bringing full value,
for as they grow, defects will develop that
In the beauty of babyhood were not noticeable. The selling of farm products
when ready for market wilt bring good
average results and the proceeds can be
used in some new interest.' Farmers
too often lose that advantage of trade
known as "turniDg over your money._i
The grain raiser can indulge in that pleasing exercise but once a year.
The best plan proposed is the last  to be
presented.
THE   BREEDING*   OF THOROUGHBRED STOCK
is best calculated to yield profit on the Investment, and at the same time afford a
field for the exercise of a man's best faculties. It will meet and gratify tho impulse for research and investigation inspired by the highest education. It will
foster the enthusiasm kindled by an association with successful men of learning
and sound sense. It is no small gratification to be identified with a calling that
has enlisted the life devotion of able
men who have studied the laws of nature
and science and by their skillful use improved our domestic animals, until to-day
we have pure types that please the eye as
well as minister to our pleasure and comfort; the patient fortitude and abiding
faith in results that has 'by a system of
breeding produced the Jersey, the Shorthorn, the Clydesdale and the trotter and
fixed their characteristics so potently that
we may implicitly reply upon them to reproduce their type is one of the triumphs
of modern civilization. Inspection of public sale reports shows that both horses and
cattle of pure breeds produce many yearlings that are sold for two hundred or
more dollars each, and registered sheep
and recorded swine sell for high prices.
The demand for such stock is on as true
and unchanging a basis as is that for
strawberries or any other good thing that
we want. A very little figuring will show
that if we can raise and sell ten calves and
five colts at these prices we shall secure
A COMFORTABLE INCOME,
and the eighty acre farm is amply able to
carry the parent stock the year round. If
two hundred dollar yearlings are to be the
aim of course the foundation stock must
be of the best, and here again appears that
point recorded in the beginning that a
working capital equal to the value of the
farm is an essential element of profitable
management.
But can one conceive a more delightful
existence than the one here indicated,
close to nature in the calm beauty of
woodland, pasture and stream that distinguish the stock farm, the daily contemplation of the development of young
animal life—itself a humanizing influence undisturbed by the endless annoyance of the train of manual laborers on a
grain' farm,, free from anxious thought
about the weather and the aggravating
fluctuations in central markets.
So grand and complete a man as General Washington we know to have always
maintained.that '^tjie agricultural life was
the beau ideal of existence." With him
"it was no Utopian .dream transiently indulged;" "it was a deliberate purpose,
the result of innate and enduring inclinations." If a man of splendid abilities,
great achievments and elevated pc si tion
held such sentiments there must be a reality in the charm of farm life, and may
we not also take it as a logical inference
that in proportion as one has a trained
mind, a cultivated nature and noble soul
will this life be invitin g.
We conclude by asserting that he is a
man of superior abilities, trained faculties
and unflagging energy who solves the intricate problem of "the little farm well
tilled." Does not this suggest the companion line "a little wife well willed!"
Who may calculate the force she will
bring to the happy consummation of our
ideal farmer's plans and efforts? Possibly there have been good farmers who
were bachelors; if so, they do but unhappily illustrate the lines:
"All who Joy would win.
Must share it,—happ'ness wag born a twin."
Wheat Worse than Thirty Days Ago.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
Your report of April places the condition
of growing wheat in Tippecanoe county
at 72 per cent. No w,this percentage might
indicate a fair estimate of the crop two or
three weeks ago, but at this date it is entirely too high. Upon a discussion of this
question recently by several of the best
farmers of the county, the unanimous
agreement was that the probable yield of
wheat cannot exceed 10 per cent, of the
crop of 1887 And that, notwithstanding
all the Statisticians to the contrary, Tippecanoe wheat does not show more than 15
per cent, ot an average crop instead of 7:2
percent, as reported. Lack of moisture
and cold winds are reducing the percentage of condition every day still lower.
The same report lists clover for the
State at 59 per cent. Whatever may be
the condition elsewhere, in this county
all red clover of the second years growth
is killed by the severe winter, and of last
years seeding none remains alive, except
small patches protected by timber belts or
by heavy growth of wheat stubble. Upon
oats t_tubble or wheat stubble pastured
last fall it is all frczen out, and the condition might be estimated at about from
5 to 10 percent. White clover is also killed,
and many farmers will feel more keenly
the loss of the clover than of the wheat
crop. Hence wheat at 15 per cent, and
clover at 10 per cent is a very liberal estimate for Tippecanoe county.
Wm. M. Blackstock.
Li Fayette, Ind.
Mason L. Wright sold yesterday to the
Consolidated Coal Company, of St. Louis,
a quarter section of land flve miles north
of Falrmount Ills., for $47,000. Coal shafts
will be sunk there at once. .