_THE FARM AS A SOURCE OF INCOME_
If it cannot be shown that the profession of agriculture offers as good
opportunities for securing, with a fair degree of certainty, what all
should prize,--a beautiful and comfortable home and a modest
surplus,--then this little volume will be for the most part useless and
uncalled for, as the following chapters presuppose an income sufficient
for maintaining a home, and for gratifying, in part at least, the
simple, educated tastes of the better class of American farmers.
In “The Fertility of the Land” I attempted to set forth some fundamental
principles which, if followed, should result in such increased incomes
as to justify the present book. A comfortable home must be secured from
the products of field and stable, with a reasonable expenditure of
physical energy, or farming in its highest sense is a failure. In
addition, farming must give fair opportunity for training and educating
families, and for making provision for old age and unforeseen
contingencies.
In the previous chapter the annual income of the farmer has been set
forth, and, approximately, the accumulated earnings of the rural
population. Unfortunately, we are so short-sighted that the present--the
dollar--blunts the appreciation of the higher and more enduring values
which spring from well conducted farms. This being so, of necessity much
stress must be laid on immediate benefits which flow from a well ordered
farm life. While it is not proposed to write here of the details of farm
management along the lines of greatest financial results, yet something
must be said, at least in general, about the methods most likely to
produce the necessary competence.
A fairly liberal income and financial reserve give, or should give, some
leisure. Leisure gives opportunity for study and recreation, without
which life becomes one ever-revolving round of work, and results in
producing an automatic animal. If this is to be avoided, far-reaching
plans must be laid, energy directed into its most efficient channels,
and time and resources economized. All this implies training and
education directed, primarily, along the lines which broaden and
ennoble, and those of the occupation to be followed.
For centuries, the higher education has been in the direction of the
humanities, while education along technical and non-professional lines,
until recently, has been conspicuous by its absence. Prior to the
present century, what provision was made for coördinating the hands and
intellects of the industrial classes? None at all. Is it any wonder,
then, that the farmer and mechanic, until recently, received but meager
rewards for their efforts?
All this is now changed. Already the industrial classes are enabled to
secure far more of the necessaries and luxuries of life for a given
period of work than could their ancestors. In every state and territory
one or more colleges have been equipped and endowed to teach, among
other things, “such branches of learning as are related to agriculture
and the mechanic arts, ... _in order to promote the liberal and
practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits
and professions of life_.” In addition to this provision, Congress gives
to each state and territory $15,000 annually for conducting experiments
and investigations in agriculture. In 1890 the Federal government
supplemented the benefactions of 1862 by appropriating annually $15,000
to each of the Land Grant colleges; this sum has now been increased and
finally fixed at $25,000, for the purpose of strengthening the
departments of agriculture and mechanic arts. Most, if not all, of the
states have made additional appropriations for agriculture, in some
cases very liberal ones. At first, there was a strong prejudice against
these colleges devoted to the improvement of the industries and those
engaged in them, but this has nearly disappeared.
A broader view of education now prevails than formerly. The modern
colleges and universities think it not undignified to offer other than
four year courses of study preceded by difficult entrance requirements.
Many courses of from six weeks to one or two years are now open to those
who prize knowledge above a diploma. Most of these courses are given at
such seasons of the year as best suit the pupils. In America all doors
which lead to knowledge have at last been opened, and all earnest
students may enter and find teachers awaiting them. The effect of the
recent changes in college courses has been most marked and beneficial.
Many of the colleges have, as far as possible, adopted the words of the
founder of Cornell University: “I would found an institution where any
person can find instruction in any study.”
The following data show the incomes of the United States Land Grant
colleges for the year ending June 30, 1897. The table is condensed from
one recently published by the United States Department of Agriculture:
_Income of the U. S. Land Grant Colleges for the Year Ending June 30,
1897_
============================+===========+===========+=============+
|Interest on| Interest | U. S. Appro-|
STATES AND TERRITORIES | Land Grant| on Other | priations, |
| of 1862 | Funds | Act of 1890 |
----------------------------+-----------+-----------+-------------+
Alabama (Auburn) | $20,280.00| ...| $12,012.00|
Alabama (Normal) | ...| ...| 9,988.00|
Arkansas (Fayetteville) | 10,400.00| ...| 16,000.00|
Arkansas (Pine Bluff) | ...| ...| 6,000.00|
California (Berkeley) | 43,619.33| ...| 22,000.00|
Colorado (Fort Collins) | 3,238.99|$109,997.18| 22,000.00|
Connecticut (Storrs) | 6,750.00| ...| 22,000.00|
Delaware (Newark) | 4,980.00| ...| 17,600.00|
Delaware (Dover) | ...| ...| 4,400.00|
Florida (Lake City) | 9,107.00| ...| 11,000.00|
Florida (Tallahassee) | ...| ...| 11,000.00|
Georgia (Athens) | 16,954.00| ...| 14,666.66|
Georgia (College) | ...| ...| 6,333.00|
Idaho (Moscow) | ...| ...| 22,000.00|
Illinois (Champlain) | 23,241.10| 500.00| 22,000.00|
Indiana (Lafayette) | 17,000.00| 3,830.48| 22,000.00|
Iowa (Ames) | 47,729.75| ...| 23,000.00|
Kansas (Manhattan) | 50,689.50| ...| 22,000.00|
Kentucky (Lexington) | ...| ...| 18,810.00|
Kentucky (Frankfort) | ...| ...| 3,190.00|
Louisiana (Baton Rouge) | ...| ...| ...|
Louisiana (New Orleans) | ...| ...| 11,346.00|
Maine (Orono) | 5,915.00| 4,000.00| 22,000.00|
Maryland (College Park) | 6,142.30| ...| 22,000.00|
Massachusetts (Amherst) | 7,300.00| 3,820.23| 14,666.66|
Massachusetts (Boston) | 5,896.00| 35,000.00| 7,666.67|
Michigan (Agricultural | | | |
College) | 39,009.66| 386.34| 22,000.00|
Minnesota (St. Anthony Park)| 27,410.55| 21,856.00| 23,000.00|
Mississippi (Agricult’l | | | |
College) | 5,914.50| ...| 10,217.08|
Mississippi (West Side) | 6,814.50| ...| 11,000.00|
Missouri (Columbia) | 16,100.00| 6,469.58| 20,804.02|
Missouri (Rolla) | 4,025.00| 6,469.58| 5,201.00|
Missouri (Jefferson City) | ...| ...| 1,195.98|
Montana (Bozeman) | ...| ...| 22,000.00|
Nebraska (Lincoln) | ...| ...| 22,000.00|
Nevada (Reno) | 4,464.89| 1,803.55| 22,000.00|
New Hampshire (Durham) | 4,800.00| 3,880.50| 23,000.00|
New Jersey (New Brunswick) | 6,644.00| ...| 22,000.00|
New Mexico (Mesilla Park) | ...| ...| 22,000.00|
New York (Ithaca) | 34,428.80| 314,407.51| 22,000.00|
North Carolina (West | | | |
Raleigh) | ...| ...| ...|
North Carolina (Greensboro) | ...| ...| ...|
North Dakota (Agri. College)| ...| 392.96| 22,000.00|
Ohio (Wooster) | 31,450.58| 1,511.63| 22,000.00|
Oklahoma (Stillwater) | ...| ...| 22,000.00|
Oregon (Corvallis) | 7,164.68| ...| 22,000.00|
Pennsylvania (State College)| 25,637.43| 5,382.57| 22,000.00|
Rhode Island (Kingston) | 1,500.00| 1,000.00| 22,000.00|
South Carolina (Clemson | | | |
College) | 5,754.00| 3,512.36| 11,000.00|
South Carolina (Orangeburg) | 5,000.00| ...| 11,000.00|
South Dakota (Brookings) | ...| ...| 22,000.00|
Tennessee (Knoxville) | 23,760.00| 1,650.00| 22,000.00|
Texas (College Station) | 14,280.00| ...| 16,500.00|
Texas (Prairieview) | ...| ...| 5,500.00|
Utah (Logan) | ...| ...| 22,000.00|
Vermont (Burlington) | 8,130.00| 1,500.00| 22,000,00|
Virginia (Blacksburg) | 20,658.72| ...| 14,666.67|
Virginia (Hampton) | 10,329.36| 30,264.61| 7,333.33|
Washington (Pullman) | ...| ...| 22,000.00|
West Virginia (Morgantown) | 5,223.00| 1,485.00| 17,000.00|
West Virginia (Farm) | ...| ...| 5,000.00|
Wisconsin (Madison) | 12,250.00| 14,000.00| 23,000.00|
Wyoming (Laramie) | ...| ...| 22,000.00|
----------------------------+-----------+-----------+-------------+
Total |$609,992.64|$574,120.08|$1,009,097.07|
============================+===========+===========+=============+
============================+=============+=============+=============
| State | ...|
STATES AND TERRITORIES | Appropria- | Miscellane- |
| tions | ous | Total
----------------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
Alabama (Auburn) | $8,746.83| $2,821.20| $43,860.03
Alabama (Normal) | 4,000.00| 16,898.44| 30,886.44
Arkansas (Fayetteville) | 26,911.00| 1,200.00| 54,611.00
Arkansas (Pine Bluff) | ...| 418.25| 6,418.25
California (Berkeley) | 133,415.46| 12,180.48| 311,212.45
Colorado (Fort Collins) | 38,892.01| ...| 64,131.00
Connecticut (Storrs) | 26,800.00| ...| 55,550.00
Delaware (Newark) | ...| 1,620.74| 24,200.74
Delaware (Dover) | 4,000.00| ...| 8,400.00
Florida (Lake City) | 5,000.00| 1,896.88| 27,003.00
Florida (Tallahassee) | 4,000.00| ...| 15,000.00
Georgia (Athens) | 29,000.00| 1,600.00| 62,220.66
Georgia (College) | ...| ...| 6,333.00
Idaho (Moscow) | 6,000.00| 339.80| 28,839.80
Illinois (Champlain) | 121,214.93| 41,305.09| 211,591.60
Indiana (Lafayette) | 58,562.96| 29,552.35| 127,115.31
Iowa (Ames) | 37,232.10| 49,397.49| 157,359.34
Kansas (Manhattan) | 16,557.70| 9,323.88| 98,571.08
Kentucky (Lexington) | 32,429.32| 6,680.61| 57,819.93
Kentucky (Frankfort) | 5,000.00| 76.00| 8,266.00
Louisiana (Baton Rouge) | ...| ...| ...
Louisiana (New Orleans) | 9,000.00| 439.46| 20,785.46
Maine (Orono) | 20,000.00| 20,001.13| 71,916.13
Maryland (College Park) | 9,000.00| 18,000.00| 55,142.30
Massachusetts (Amherst) | 15,000.00| 1,920.00| 42,706.89
Massachusetts (Boston) | 25,000.00| 253,076.23| 318,638.90
Michigan (Agricultural | | |
College) | 10,000.00| 12,825.62| 84,221.62
Minnesota (St. Anthony Park)| 174,332.59| 74,496.48| 321,095.62
Mississippi (Agricult’l | | |
College) | 22,500.00| 14,597.96| 53,227.54
Mississippi (West Side) | 7,000.00| ...| 24,814.50
Missouri (Columbia) | 3,762.34| 5,022.73| 52,158.67
Missouri (Rolla) | 5,476.65| 2,192.16| 23,364.39
Missouri (Jefferson City) | ...| ...| 1,195.98
Montana (Bozeman) | 2,500.10| 2,439.57| 26,939.57
Nebraska (Lincoln) | 123,572.50| 7,801.53| 153,374.03
Nevada (Reno) | 16,250.00| 327.35| 44,845.79
New Hampshire (Durham) | 5,500.00| 1,148.00| 40,328.50
New Jersey (New Brunswick) | ...| 21,170.37| 49,814.37
New Mexico (Mesilla Park) | 19,792.01| 875.70| 42,667.71
New York (Ithaca) | 25,000.00| 191,660.07| 587,496.38
North Carolina (West | | |
Raleigh) | ...| ...| ...
North Carolina (Greensboro) | 12,500.00| 157.92| 12,657.92
North Dakota (Agri. College)| 27,000.00| 3,446.62| 52,839.58
Ohio (Wooster) | 118,906.53| 175,140.39| 349,009.13
Oklahoma (Stillwater) | 500.00| 3,391.00| 25,591.00
Oregon (Corvallis) | 1,854.79| 1,342.37| 32,361.84
Pennsylvania (State College)| 45,000.00| 8,340.27| 106,360.27
Rhode Island (Kingston) | 10,000.00| 6,000.00| 40,500.00
South Carolina (Clemson | | |
College) | 54,053.29| 700.00| 75,019.65
South Carolina (Orangeburg) | 13,000.00| 1.00| 29,001.00
South Dakota (Brookings) | 5,900.00| 8,038.12| 35,938.12
Tennessee (Knoxville) | 1,674.00| 7,271.89| 56,355.89
Texas (College Station) | 22,500.00| 9,361.39| 62,641.39
Texas (Prairieview) | 15,700.00| 10,836.78| 32,036.78
Utah (Logan) | 22,000.00| 5,811.83| 49,811.83
Vermont (Burlington) | 6,000.00| 16,603.09| 54,233.09
Virginia (Blacksburg) | 15,750.00| 12,352.48| 63,427.87
Virginia (Hampton) | ...| 109,110.46| 157,037.76
Washington (Pullman) | 29,000.00| ...| 51,000.00
West Virginia (Morgantown) | 38,060.00| 10,315.13| 72,083.13
West Virginia (Farm) | 14,500.00| 600.00| 20,100.00
Wisconsin (Madison) | 285,000.00| 47,000.00| 381,250.00
Wyoming (Laramie) | 7,425.00| 775.59| 30,200.59
----------------------------+-------------+-------------+-------------
Total |$1,821,072.01|$1,239,902.90|$5,203,580.82
============================+=============+=============+=============
It has been thought strange that the farmers did not more quickly see
and appreciate the valuable opportunities offered to their children. But
why should they at once appreciate and value the princely provisions
which were being made for them? With no opportunity for education along
the lines of their profession, following a more or less despised
calling, from being the butt and jest of those who had had educational
advantages from time immemorial, how could they at once understand the
value and far-reaching effects of the new order of things? Then, too,
these liberal provisions were made somewhat in advance of the times. The
pioneer must first redeem the land from the wilderness, fight the
physical battles and endure the hardships of a new country. As soon as
these primitive conditions passed away, the farmers made an effort to
bring their profession up to a high intellectual plane and make it a
delightful and honorable calling. The evolution from the primitive to
the complex, from the age of toil to the age of thought, from excessive
muscular effort to a more intelligent direction of energy, from the
narrow and prejudiced to the broad and liberal, from the coarse and ugly
to the refined and beautiful, is proceeding rapidly, and is in part
realized. What happier task than to give direction and help, sympathy
and encouragement to these new-born desires! The part which the youths
on the farm are taking in this evolution leads naturally to a higher
intellectual plane, and hence to a more rational understanding and
fuller comprehension of what the rural home should be. This desire to
gratify the love for the true and beautiful, which has been growing up
by reason of the better education, leads directly to the securing of an
income sufficiently large to gratify the more refined and newly acquired
tastes.
Taking the rural population as we find it, with added wants and new
aspirations, and with a somewhat better understanding of the value of a
more extended culture, it will be seen that a more rational system of
agriculture, a more economic expenditure of energy, and a clearer
comprehension of the highest and most economical use of money must be
secured if the objects sought are attained. To secure the results
desired, it must be shown how a competence can be secured without
excessive toil, how the results of work may be put to the best uses, and
lastly, but not least, it must be shown what is really valuable, what
real, what substantial, what polite, what beautiful, what worthy of
intelligent Americans. On the other hand, vulgar display must be shown
to be vulgar, shoddy must be unmasked, the effect of aping the
uncultured rich set forth, and that which is unreal and that which goes
for naught but vanity displayed under their true colors,--that
comparisons may be made, and that truer conceptions of life, its duties
and obligations, may be secured.
How may a competence be obtained? Briefly, by securing a knowledge of
the laws which govern the business or undertaking entered into, and by
conducting the business or undertaking in obedience to the modes of
action or laws which apply to the specific case in hand. What are some
of the dominant laws which should govern the farmer and farm practices?
The farmer should specialize along those lines for which his taste and
training, in part at least, fit him. To be more specific: A farmer will
show you his potato patch with pride, but not a word will be said about
his work animals and their offspring, which look like Barnum’s woolly
horse. Then the first principle of agriculture is, follow up successes.
In this case, the man has land and skill in potato culture which should
lead him directly to success. Why not each year increase the output of
potatoes, and let some horseman breed the horses? I have no ear or taste
for music; why should I spend time in thrumming a piano and in making
the life of my neighbors miserable? I love a bird and am interested in
all its ways, its beauty and its life. Why not study the birds, and let
them make the music?
Much of life’s energy is spent in trying to adjust square pegs to round
holes and round pegs to square holes, and life may be spent before the
adjustment is complete. Modern civilization tends to specialization. Men
vary as widely as do the stars. There is a place for everyone and some
one to fill the place, if this great mass of unlike units can only be
sorted and fitted into the complex problem of civilization.
The first question, and the question which should be repeated often is,
What am I good for; what branch or branches of agriculture will give me
the greatest pleasure and profit? Having answered this question, pursue
the work through all discouragements to a successful issue. It is
possible you have no capacity for farm life, and, since you cannot buy a
capacity, better go directly to town and there fit yourself into your
environment. I have known men to toil many years on a farm, and near the
close of life to be driven to town by the sheriff. There they made not
only a living, but secured a modest competence in conducting some little
one-horse business, the profits or losses of which could be counted up
every night. The farm, with all its complexities, with its profits and
losses a year or five years in the future, was too large and
far-reaching for their narrow understandings. All are not so fortunate.
Some remind us of the Quaker’s dog which he sold to his friend and
recommended as a good coon dog. The dog proved to be a failure and was
returned to the seller, who said, “I am much surprised. Thee believes
that nothing was created in vain, does thee not, Ephraim?” “Most
certainly I believe that the Creator made all things for some beneficent
purpose.” “I, too, believe this, and I had tried that dog for everything
else under the heavens but coons, so I was certain he must be a good
coon dog.”
A competency is always in sight in this country for those who do well
those things which are suited to their tastes and training. A competence
may be secured by following those branches of farming which require the
minimum of labor and the maximum of skill and training. My friend of
Westfield, Mr. G. Schoenfeld, from Germany, has six acres of land, a
part of which is covered with glass. He did that terrible thing,--ran in
debt for the full purchase price of the land. It and the valuable
improvements upon it are now paid for. His modest home is valued at
$6,000. While paying for it a large family has been raised and educated,
the eldest boy entering Annapolis Naval Academy with a high standing. It
is possible that this son will one day be acknowledged as the
intellectual and social equal of the aristocracy of Germany should he
ever visit the fatherland of his parents. But why this long account of a
not infrequent occurrence? To show how it was done: This German, though
untrained, succeeded from the first in producing superior carnations. He
followed up his successes, and sold the product of brains instead of the
fertility of his little farm. Mr. Schoenfeld sold in Buffalo during one
year--October 1, 1896, to September 30, 1897--carnations (80,946
flowers) for the net sum, over commissions, of $719.08. The amount of
plant-food removed by the 80,946 carnations was as follows:
Nitrogen Phosphoric acid Potash
5 lbs. 4 ozs. 2 lbs. 3 ozs. 10 lbs. 8 ozs. (valued at $1.32)
The table below shows the amount of plant-food removed by 856 bushels of
wheat, being the amount which, at 84 cents per bushel (the average price
of wheat for the last ten years in central New York), would bring
$719.08, the amount received for the carnations.
Nitrogen Phosphoric acid Potash
904 lbs. 437 lbs. 298 lbs. (valued at $158.34)
In addition, 20,000 flowers used in making flower displays for
weddings, and the like, were sold at retail, by the dozen, for
$450.80. The net returns for flowers sold during the fiscal year ending
September 30, 1897, amounted to $1,169.88. The expenses, including
taxes, insurance and 10 per cent on the capital, were $790.67. This
includes the cost of raising 12,000 plants, about 6,000 of which netted
$263.24. In round numbers, then, the net income from the one leading
industry--flowers--after paying 10 per cent on invested capital, coal,
commission and workmen’s bills, was $642.45, with an additional
prospective income from the 6,000 plants which remained unsold.
When I last visited this gentleman, he informed me that he had all the
land he wanted. Since that time he has purchased eight acres adjoining,
has made some improvements upon the land, and now values it at $2,000.
He stated incidentally that the reason he made his purchase was that the
land was in the market, and he wanted control of it that he might choose
his neighbor. The land, he says, is now in the market, although it paid
9 per cent, clear of all expenses, on a valuation of $2,000. The
question is often discussed as to how much land is necessary to secure a
competence. Here we find that six acres suffices. A large family has
been fed chiefly from the products of the orchards, vineyard and garden,
and the children are receiving a practical and, in some cases, a
liberal education. All this has been accomplished because the man
quickly learned the value of scientific agriculture and was wise enough
to follow up his successes.
Not only follow up success, but learn to do the difficult things; there
will always be a throng seeking to do the easy things,--things which
require the maximum of muscle and the minimum of brains. Why do such
multitudes seek this hard, easy work? Because they will not consent to
endure the toil, shall I say, of acquiring the power to think deeply,
accurately and effectively. Some of our sympathy is thrown away upon
these muscular workers. Their desires are few, their wants simple, their
appetites good, and their sleep peaceful. Let us show them the way to a
higher life, open the doors to those who choose to enter, and fret not
because all will not enter in.
“Some are and must be greater than the rest,
More rich, more wise; but who infers from hence
That such are happier, shocks all common sense.”
The man who fells the trees in the woods may receive 15 cents per hour;
the man who controls the carriage of the great sawmill and decides on
the instant what shape and dimensions the lumber shall take may receive
25 cents per hour for simply moving a little lever; a third man causes
a piece of the wood to take on the forms of beauty for the great
staircase, and may receive 50 cents per hour; the fourth furnishes the
design for this beautiful staircase, and may receive $1 an hour. The man
who does the so-called “hard” work receives the least pay. Why? Because
it is the least difficult. This difference of remuneration holds good on
the farm. Mushrooms sell for 50 cents per pound; maize for one-half cent
per pound. Why? Because anybody, even a squaw, can raise maize, but only
a specially skilled gardener can succeed in mushroom culture. Hothouse
lambs bring from $6 to $10 when two months old; a poorly bred sheep at
two years of age may bring from $2 to $4. Why? The breeding and feeding
of the one is easy; of the other difficult.
In 1897 the raising of potatoes was difficult. The blights, the bugs and
the beetles were present in full force. Good potatoes in the middle and
eastern states rose to 65 cents per bushel wholesale. The man who
watched and fought intelligently secured 300 bushels per acre and a
ready market; the careless man and the man who should have been raising
horses or chickens secured 30 bushels per acre and a slow market. Why?
Because unusual difficulties were present, and the man who was able to
cope with them drew the prize of $195 per acre for his potatoes. This
successful potato raiser the previous year secured more than 300 bushels
per acre, and sold them for 25 cents per bushel, but even at this low
price they brought more than $75 per acre. If from 200 to 300 per cent
profit can be secured and the limit of profit not reached by raising one
of the most common products of the farm, what possibilities loom up for
securing a competence from those products which require greater skill
and knowledge than the raising of potatoes?
Consider the crops which are supposed to give promise of securing little
or no profits at the present low prices, as wheat, maize, hay and oats.
One man, on land naturally below the average, has secured during the
last fifteen years an average of nearly 35 bushels of wheat, and in a
few cases 40 bushels per acre. The average yield for the whole United
States in 1889 was a shade less than 14 bushels per acre. During the
same year the average yield of oats was 28.57 bushels per acre, and hay,
including such other crops as are used for forage, averaged 1.26 tons
per acre. Good farmers secure 40 to 50 bushels of oats, and 2 to 2¹⁄₂
tons of hay, and in propitious years 50 to 60 bushels of oats and 3 tons
of hay per acre. (Compare Figs. 1 and 2.) These latter yields always
show large profits and lead to a competency, while the average yield
usually gives no profit. If the average yield gives only a bare
subsistence, what must be the condition of those who secure much less
than the average? If one man raises 35 bushels of wheat, five other men
must each raise 10 bushels to secure an average yield of 14 bushels per
acre. Some entire states--as, for instance, Mississippi, North Carolina
and Tennessee,--have an average of 6, 6 and 9 bushels, respectively, per
acre. What is the remedy? Stop raising wheat, and raise something better
adapted to soil and climate, or go to town and sell peanuts. Some of
these men who utterly fail to comprehend the laws of wheat culture may
be good “coon dogs,” after all.
[Illustration: Fig. 1. Thirty-five-bushel wheat field (Cornell
University).]
[Illustration: Fig. 2. Eight-bushel wheat field, on a farm adjoining
that shown in Fig. 1.]
It will be said that if the yield per acre be doubled, the market will
be so flooded that no one will receive profits. This is the old
scarecrow. No farmer can control the prices of his product. The law of
supply and demand is inexorable. What he may do is to improve quality,
diminish cost, reduce area, find the best market and the products most
sought, and increase the production from a given area. If he raises the
yield from 20 to 35 bushels, while the yield of his neighbor remains at
10 bushels and prices remain low, we shall soon see a fine illustration
of “the survival of the fittest.” The 35 bushels will yield a fair
remuneration for the work expended in production when prices are at the
lowest. When they are high the profits are 200 to 300 per cent. Wheat,
for the last ten years, has averaged 84 cents per bushel in June in
central New York. Allow $3 for the straw of the lower yield, and if the
wheat was sold at the average price, the total income per acre would be
$11.40. For the straw of the larger yield allow $6, which, added to the
wheat at the average price, would give a gross income per acre of
$35.40.
The cost of raising and marketing an acre of wheat, including $5 for
rental of land and $2 for fertilizers, may be set down at from $15 to
$20 in New York. If the most successful compels the less successful
farmer to stop raising wheat at a loss, what will the latter do with his
land? Better give it away than lose by farming it. Better abandon the
farm and go to town and set up a second-hand clothing store. There is
always at least a small profit in that business.
In central New York a large herd of dairy cows was tested, and the owner
of the herd was informed that about one-fourth of his cows were quite
profitable, one-half paid their board bill and a little more, and
one-fourth were kept at a considerable loss. He was advised to dispose
of the unprofitable cows. His answer was, “But what will I do for cows?”
Then, to secure a competence, the crops and the land which uniformly
produce loss must be abandoned. How it worries the city penny-a-liner
and how it rejoices the successful farmer to see land thrown out of
cultivation--“abandoned.” To me nothing is so encouraging in agriculture
as this lately acquired knowledge which reveals the fact that vast areas
have been cleared and brought under cultivation which should have been
left undisturbed, except to harvest the mature trees and protect the
young plants from ravages of fire and cattle. As the blackberry bushes,
year by year, creep down the steep hillsides and over the rock-covered
fields, one rejoices at the pioneer work these modest, hardy, tap-rooted
plants are accomplishing. How wisely and well they fit the soil for a
higher and more noble class of plants, and how surely in time they cover
the shame and nakedness of mother earth!
The rural population has made many serious mistakes, toiling to reclaim
land which was not worth reclaiming, not worthy of an intelligent
farmer. But how could they know better? Not one college of forestry in
all this great land up to 1898, and as yet but one in its infancy! Until
the last generation not a single school of agriculture, scarcely a book
obtainable which might give direct help to the rural American boy and
girl! Therefore, the farmer should not be blamed for the wasteful and
unscientific treatment of forest and field. All this leads to the
conclusion that to secure a competence, lands of high and varied
agricultural capabilities, lands worthy of an intelligent American,
should be selected upon which to build and maintain rural homes.
Quantity of farm products we have in abundance; better quality is what
is wanted, since quality may improve prices and widen markets. To assist
in securing a competence some specialization is advisable. Sometimes
this has been carried so far as to work serious disaster. Many farms in
western New York have been almost exclusively devoted to the raising of
grapes, which, when abundant or moderately so, sold at ruinous prices.
It is noticed that where only an eighth or a fourth of the farm was
devoted to vines, the yield was not only proportionately larger but the
quality better than where nearly all the land was used as a vineyard.
Wherever diversified agriculture was carried on to a limited extent and
plantations were restricted, the low price of grapes made no serious
inroads on the income. Where all the land was given up to grapes, work
was intermittent, the farmer being overtasked at one season of the year
and idle at another. The demoralizing effect on the farmers and their
families of this army of unrestrained youths and loungers of the city,
which, for a brief period, swarms in the districts devoted to
specialized crops, as grapes, berries and hops, is marked.
The baleful result of raising a single or few products in extended
districts may be seen in California and the great wheat districts of the
northwest. In such localities there is little or no true home life, with
its duties and restraints; men and boys are herded together like cattle,
sleep where they may, and subsist as best they can. The work is hard,
and from sun to sun for two or three months, when it abruptly ceases,
and the workmen are left to find employment as best they may, or adopt
the life and habits of the professional tramp. It is difficult to name
anything more demoralizing to men, and especially to boys, than
intermittent labor; and the higher the wages paid and the shorter the
period of service, the more demoralizing the effect. If there were no
other reason for practicing a somewhat diversified agriculture, the
welfare of the workman and his family should form a sufficient one.
Happily, many large and demoralizing wheat ranches are being divided
into small farms, upon which are being reared the roof-tree, children,
fruits and flowers.
To secure a competence, no more activities should be entered into than
can be prosecuted with vigor and at a profit. On the other hand, too few
activities tend to stagnation and degeneration. Mental power, like many
other things, increases with legitimate use and diminishes with disuse.
The farmer who simply raises and sells maize is often poor in pocket and
deficient in understanding. The college graduate who attempts but a few
easy things seldom becomes a ripe scholar.
To secure a competence, the petty outgoes should be met by weekly
receipts from petty products. I have known so many farmers to succeed by
specializing moderately along one or two lines, while holding on to
diversified agriculture, in part at least, that I am tempted to give a
single illustration as a sample of thousands which have come under my
notice.
A Scotchman and his family of four little children landed in northern
Indiana with three to four hundred dollars; to this was added as much
more by day labor. A farm of about one hundred and fifty acres was
purchased, one hundred acres of which were adapted to wheat, corn and
clover. Thirty acres were marshy pasture land; the balance, timber.
Wheat was selected as the great income crop, which was supplemented by
the sale of one to three horses yearly. The butter from a dozen cows,
the chickens, ducks, and their eggs, were taken to the city once each
week. The result was that at the end of the year there were no debts of
subsistence to be paid. This left all the money received for the wheat
and horses to be applied towards liquidating the mortgage. In a few
years a large, comfortable house was built. This was followed by the
purchase of another farm, and still another, until each child was
provided with a home and facilities for securing a modest income. This
shrewd Scotchman succeeded because he neglected neither little nor great
things.
With what pride the writer, in 1863, deposited $1,700 in bank, the
product of a single wool crop!--and the little farm of one hundred and
twenty acres was not all devoted to wool-raising. If a young man can
secure a loving, helpful wife, four good cows and enough land to produce
feed for them, with room left for an ample garden, a berry patch and a
small orchard, he may consider himself rich, and if he be able and
intelligent he will soon have a competence.
The farmer, of necessity, goes to the city or village once each week for
supplies which cannot well be produced on the farm. He should return, if
possible, with more money than he had when he left home. It is not the
big mortgage which was given for part of the purchase price of the farm
which should make him unhappy, but the steadily increasing little
charges accumulating on the tradesmen’s ledgers until this “honest”
farmer dreads to meet a score of his town acquaintances.
The farmer who, from his well-painted covered democrat wagon, sells the
product of his skill and labor looks to me quite as dignified as does
the merchant who sells nails and codfish, turpentine and bobbins, patent
medicines and jews’-harps, none of which represents his own skill or
labor.
Farming will never be carried on in America by trusts or syndicates. A
combine can run fifty nail factories or breweries, but not fifty farms,
at a profit, because farming is too difficult, requires too close
supervision and frequent change of details and combinations, and new
plans to meet the ever-changing conditions of climate and soil. The
conditions which surround agriculture in America put a quietus forever
on “bonanza farming,” and tend to the rearing of ideal homes and the
accumulation of modest incomes. Mining-farming on virgin, fertile,
unobstructed areas can be successfully prosecuted only for a time.
“The Red river valley native soils contain from .35 to .40 of nitrogen,
while the soils which have been under cultivation (in wheat) for twelve
to fifteen years contain from .2 to .3 of a per cent.”[1] Another
important point: When humus is taken out of the native soil as above,
only .02 of a per cent of the phosphoric acid is soluble by ordinary
chemical methods, while in the native soil three or four times as much
phosphoric acid is soluble and is associated with the humus. Allowing
that an acre of soil one foot deep weighs 1,800 tons, the native soil
would contain from 12,600 to 14,400 pounds of nitrogen per acre, while
the cultivated soil would contain from 7,200 to 10,800 pounds per acre.
If the average amount of nitrogen in native soils (13,500 pounds per
acre), and the average in the soil after it had been cropped twelve to
fifteen years (9,000 pounds per acre), are compared, it will be seen
that the soil has lost 4,500 pounds of nitrogen per acre, or more than
one-third (probably one-half) of the nitrogen which could well be made
available, and this in less than a quarter of a century.
[1] Henry Snyder, Bulls. 30, 44, Minn. Exp. Sta. See “Fertility of the
Land,” p. 256.
Fifteen crops of wheat of 25 bushels per acre require 433 pounds of
nitrogen, or one-tenth of the amount which the soil lost during the
years of cropping. This soil, under “bonanza farming,” has lost outright
nitrogen sufficient for 155 crops, each requiring as much nitrogen as
does a crop of 25 bushels of wheat per acre. When the amount wasted on a
single acre is multiplied by the acres of the vast, fertile wheat plains
of the west, where “bonanza farming” is carried on, the loss of nitrogen
to our country is seen to be so great as to appal the thoughtful man who
looks forward to the generations who will want this element in the not
distant future. Happily, this “bonanza farming” has its own cure. When
mining-farming reduces the yield so that profits vanish, then these
great farms will be cut up into modest-sized ones, true homes will rise,
intermittent labor and the tramp harvest-hand will disappear, and the
last and only condition which tends to produce an uninstructed peasant
class will cease to exist.
The other great “bonanza” industry which still remains and which affects
agriculture, and the land directly, is lumbering. This, like “bonanza”
wheat farming, may be classed as a mining industry, carried on at the
surface instead of in the bowels of the earth. Without rational
direction, restraint or control, this agricultural mining goes on until
the sources from which the profits are drawn are so depleted as to be no
longer profitable. There is no home or competency for the farm boys in
the lumber camp or on the great wheat farm. Here the rule is to
take all and return nothing. After the ax and the binder, comes the
fire to complete the wanton destruction. The shade-giving and
moisture-conserving brush, stubble and straw, and all living plants, are
destroyed, and nothing but the mineral matter, unmixed with surface
humus, remains. A blackened waste, devoid of animal or vegetable life,
is left behind. No homes can be reared here, no competence secured until
nature, assisted by man in the coming years, slowly restores the
covering and productivity of the soil. This unwise treatment of the land
must soon come to an end; then the hardy home-builder will have
opportunity to repair, by more rational methods, some of the wanton and
unnecessary waste.
Is it too much to hope that before the close of another decade every
state and territory will have a school of forestry, and that all
national forest domains will have been brought under rational
supervision and control? The future home-builders will need them, and
the present owners of homes have a right to a share of the benefits
which flow from intelligently managed forest preserves. It is not enough
to show that intelligent farming is highly remunerative at the present
time; provision must be made by which the children and the children’s
children, for all generations, may have opportunity for securing a
competence from rural pursuits.
Can a competence and a comfortable home be secured by the renter? If
not, why not? Shall the farmer put his little capital into a home and
run in debt for supplies and necessary equipment; or had he better rent,
and start even? This depends to a large extent upon the individual. A
successful country life does not depend upon owning the land in fee
simple. Here is a picture of what may be called “a country gentleman”
(Fig. 3). He, his father and his grandfather, all have been renters of
the same farm. He has a competence and an assured income. This hue and
cry about renting has no terrors for those who have been renters and
have found that this is often the most satisfactory way to start when
capital is limited. The merchant of limited means invariably rents the
building in which he does business, because it is safer and usually more
economical to rent than to purchase the business block.
[Illustration: Fig. 3. A farmer and a renter.]
In an old city of 12,000 inhabitants, it was found that 84 per cent of
the business was carried on in rented rooms. The trouble in renting
farms in the United States lies chiefly in the fact that there are no
well digested laws or old customs which help to guide the renter and
rentee. A few simple laws would provide for adjusting the value of
betterments removed from or put upon the farm at any time. Long leases,
with inducements to long occupancy, would give the rentee a permanent
occupier. The renter has quite as good a chance of finally securing a
home in fee simple as has the man who purchases and mortgages heavily.
The possession of a valuable farm and an assured income, especially in a
new country, is often most surely and easily secured by renting for a
series of years. Good farming pays liberal profits even on rented land.
If there is failure, it is the man and not the occupation which causes
it. The fault will not be “in the moon,” but in ourselves if we fail or
become underlings.