SELECTION OF FARM
Having some of these preliminary questions settled, or at least well
in mind, the young farmer is ready to inspect individual farms with a
view to purchasing or renting. He should examine each farm from four
general aspects, namely: (1) The character and topography of the soil,
(2) the climatic conditions, including healthfulness and water supply,
(3) the location, and (4) the improvements.
It may be well at the outset to emphasize the advantage which even a
small difference in fertility may bring. Suppose one farm is capable
of raising fifteen bushels of wheat per acre and another twenty
bushels. If wheat is 80 cents a bushel, then the gross income is $12
and $16 respectively. If it is assumed that it costs in either case
for seed, labor and interest on investment $8 an acre to raise and
harvest the crop, then it will be seen that an increase of five
bushels an acre doubles the profit. The comparison is perhaps not
quite fair, since it costs slightly more to harvest the larger crop,
but it serves to illustrate the point.
Neither the crop adaptation nor the crop-producing power of the soil
can be determined by taking a sample and submitting it to a chemist
for analysis. These factors can best be determined by the character of
the vegetation, both domestic and wild, and by a knowledge obtained
through observation or reading as to what this particular soil type
usually does. Every type of soil has certain characteristics which
under like conditions it may be expected to reproduce, much in the
same manner as each species of animal reproduces its characteristics.
The first essential is to be able to recognize the different soil
types. This can only be done by close observation and study. The second
essential is to determine what the crop-producing characteristics of
these types of soil are. This knowledge may be obtained by personal
observation; but as most persons' opportunities are limited in this
direction, it should be supplemented wherever possible by a study of
the soil surveys of the United States Department of Agriculture
wherever these are available. When this is not possible samples of soil
may be submitted to the Bureau of Soils of the United States Department
of Agriculture or to the soil division of the state experiment station,
together with a suitable description and such knowledge of the history
of the land as is obtainable. In this way you may obtain information as
to the natural adaptation of the particular type of soil.
[Illustration: Walter S. Tomlinson, Bryan, Ohio, began thirteen years
ago with 225 acres, partly rented, to determine whether a farm could be
made a satisfying enterprise. As tenant he has paid to himself as
landlord $1,000 each year for rental and $500 each year as salary. The
rest of the profits have been invested in 240 acres of additional land
and in improvements. Mr. Tomlinson's specialty has been hogs, but he
says it does not matter so much about the lines one adopts as the
attention that is given them.]
[Illustration: Dr. W. I. Chamberlain, Hudson, Ohio, graduate of Western
Reserve University, former state secretary of agriculture, later college
president. Farmer and institute lecturer and widely known for his
editorial work on farm journals; has been able, amid his other
activities, to manage his farm of 116 acres. The net cash income above
all expenses from the farm for 1890 to 1907 was $113,966 or $1,370 per
year. Of this income $8,877 were obtained from a ten-acre apple orchard.]
There will still remain the question of the present condition of the
land. For example, the Pennsylvania station obtained in a certain
season 42 loads of hay from nine acres of land. The same season, from
exactly the same soil type, the station obtained eight loads of hay
from 20 acres. The condition of the soil was different, which the
previous history of the two tracts of land fully explains.
It is of the utmost importance, therefore, to distinguish between the
natural fertility of the soil and the condition of the soil. A further
example will help to illustrate this point. At the Rothamsted Station
a certain type of soil has for over 60 years produced annually about
12 bushels of wheat an acre without fertilizer, while with a complete
fertilizer the same type has produced 30 or more bushels. The 12
bushels may be said to represent the natural fertility of the soil,
while the additional 18 bushels may be said to represent the condition
of the soil due to fertilizers or to other conditions. On the other
hand, the natural condition of some other soil type might be only
eight bushels, or still another type might be 16 bushels.
This principle is of considerable practical importance, especially in
the eastern third of the United States. Generally speaking, clay and
silt soils have a greater natural fertility than sandy soils;
limestone soils than those that are deficient in lime. Thus soils that
naturally grow chestnut trees, indicating a low lime content, have a
tendency to deteriorate under exhaustive cropping much more rapidly
than limestone soils. More fertilizers and other methods of soil
improvement are necessary in the case of chestnut soils than in the
case of limestone valley soils. One of the first questions to ask,
therefore, concerning an unknown farm in Pennsylvania is whether or
not chestnut trees grow naturally. It does not follow, however, that
chestnut soils are undesirable. Much will depend upon the crop or
crops it is desired to raise. For example, in some regions they are
well adapted to potatoes and peaches. In these cases the cost of the
fertilizers necessary to keep the soil in proper condition is small
compared with the total return from the crop.
The pioneer's best guide as to the value of new land was and is the
vegetation growing upon it, and, especially in a wooded country, the
native trees. Basswood, crab apple, wild plum, black walnut, ash,
hickory and hard maple generally indicate a fertile soil. White oak
indicates only a moderate soil; bur oak, a somewhat warmer and better
drained soil. Beech indicates a rather poor soil; a heavy clay,
lacking in organic matter. Certain species of elms, maples and oaks,
as red maple and the Spanish swamp oak, indicate wet soils.
The occurrence and vigor of certain herbaceous plants are especially
indicative of fertility of the soil, as, for example, ragweed,
bindweed, certain plants of the sunflower family, such as goldenrod,
asters and wild sunflowers. Soils adapted to red clover and alfalfa are
usually well drained and contain plenty of lime. Alsike clover will
grow on a soil too wet or containing too little lime for either of the
former. Soils that produce sorrel and redtop when red clover and
timothy are sown need drainage or liming or both. Sedges usually
indicate a wet soil, although certain species grow on dry, sandy soils.
The point of this paragraph, however, is not to give comprehensive
advice but to cause the young farmer to observe the conditions and make
his own applications, which will vary in different regions and under
different circumstances.
Perhaps the one feature that the young farmer is most likely to
overlook in the selection of a farm is the relative proportion of
tillable land. One farm of 200 acres, may, on account of stony land,
wet land, comparatively unproductive woodland, or because of the
arrangement of fences and roadways, contain only eighty acres of
tillable land, while another may contain 160 acres. This is one reason
why a 160-acre farm in the central West may be more valuable than a
farm of the same size in the northeastern United States.
Columella says with regard to the selection of land that there are two
things chiefly to be considered, the wholesomeness of the air and the
fruitfulness of the place, "of which if either the one or the other
should be wanting, and notwithstanding anyone should have a mind to
dwell there, he must have lost his senses and ought to be conveyed to
his kinfolk to take care of him."
In selecting a farm do not fail to inquire whether there has been any
recent illness, and if so the nature of it, either among the persons
living there or the domestic animals kept.
Aside from healthfulness, climate is a fundamental and controlling
factor, both in productiveness and economic farm management.
Temperature and rainfall affect the number of days that work can be
performed upon the land and hence affect materially the economy of
labor. It is this fact that prevents the systematic organization of
labor so common in manufacturing and transportation. The climate also
affects the cost of producing live stock by modifying the food and
shelter required.
The climate of a region is best studied from the reports of the United
States Weather Bureau rather than from the statements published by
interested parties. So far as the production of crops is concerned the
distribution of rainfall is more important than the annual amount, as
may be shown by comparing the rainfall in such places as Columbus,
Ohio, and Lincoln, Nebraska.
The average temperature during the growing season is, of course, of
more importance from the standpoint of crop production than the
average annual temperature. Maximum and minimum temperatures or the
range of temperature must be considered as well as the average
temperature.
One of the most practical questions to determine is the average date
of the last killing frost in the spring and the date of the first
killing frost in the autumn; in other words, the length of the growing
season. Both altitude and topography enter into this problem. In a
given locality killing frosts will occur on a still night in the
valley before they do on the elevations, because the air as it cools
becomes heavier and flows down into the lowest places just as water
would do. On the other hand, as the altitude increases the growing
season shortens.
Whenever I am asked a question involving the production of farm crops
by a Pennsylvania farmer before answering, I ask three questions: (1)
Where are you located? (2) Do chestnut trees grow naturally upon your
land? (3) What is your altitude?
One factor that is often overlooked by the young farmer needs only to
be mentioned to be thoroughly appreciated. It is the amount and
character of the water supply. Not only is this of the utmost
importance from the standpoint of the household, but it is fundamental
to the best farm management. Thus, if the water supply is limited the
amount of live stock kept will be curtailed, and thus the proper
utilization of farm products prevented and maintenance of the
fertility of the soil made more difficult.
The young farmer should recognize that some kinds of farming are more
dependent upon the climatic conditions than others and should,
therefore, select the location best suited to the type of farming
desired or else modify his type of farming to suit the climatic
conditions. If one studies critically the types of farming in various
parts of the United States, it will be seen that they have already
been adjusted in large degree, either consciously or unconsciously, to
the climatic conditions. The young farmer should be careful that he
does not undertake to butt his head against a stone wall.
Having found a farm that suits our ideal as to the natural conditions,
such as the crop adaptation, fertility, topography and climate, what
may be called the artificial conditions must be studied.
The location may be studied, both as to local and distant markets and
the means of reaching each, which includes roadways and shipping
facilities. Here again much will depend upon the products which are to
be sold. The man who raises tobacco, hogs or beef cattle does not
suffer any great economic disadvantage by living ten miles from a
shipping station, but a man does who produces milk, peaches, potatoes
or hay.
In these days there is not much danger that the character of the
roadway will be overlooked by the intending purchaser of the farm,
although sufficient importance may not be given to the advantage of
really good roads, both as to grade and surface. Perhaps the one most
important question to consider in connection with the transportation
facilities is whether products may be shipped without change from the
shipping station to the market it is desired to reach.
Although at first glance we may not like the thought, it must be
conceded that neighbors are not only important morally and socially,
but they also may have economic advantages and disadvantages. While it
may sometimes happen that it will be wise to raise in a given
neighborhood some product that no one else has undertaken to supply,
yet as a rule, if a given neighborhood is raising Jersey, or Guernsey
or Holstein cattle or Chester White, Berkshire or Poland China hogs,
or Southdown or Shropshire or Cotswold sheep, it will be wise to raise
the breed commonly raised instead of the least commonly raised breed,
as it is sometimes supposed. The more potato growers or cabbage
growers or celery raisers or orchardists in a locality the better for
all concerned, for a number of reasons, among which may be mentioned
(1) the more and the better the products raised the more buyers will
seek the region and hence the higher will be the price obtained for
the product; (2) the more of a given product there is to ship the
better the shipping facilities for that product are likely to be; (3)
all the necessary supplies for the type of farming can be more readily
and cheaply obtained; (4) there will be a better knowledge of the
business when more men have had experience in raising the particular
crop.
These principles apply in all classes of business; thus we find woolen
factories in Philadelphia, silk factories at Paterson, N. J., cotton
factories at Lowell, Mass., plow factories at Moline, Ill., and steel
mills at Pittsburg. Many of these centers possessed originally some
natural advantages which caused the location of the first factory, but
others have been drawn there on account of the principles enunciated.
The farmers of a given region have a community of interest as well as
railroads. The young farmer should recognize this fact and if
necessary should exert himself to develop such interest in his
community, both for his own benefit and that of his neighbors.
There are two classes of farms for which the purchaser is in danger of
paying too much, one on which there are extensive improvements and one
on which there are none at all. A farm with just barely enough
improvements for the conduct of the type of farming it is proposed to
develop can usually be purchased most advantageously. The purchaser
should understand clearly that the previous cost of the improvements
has no necessary relation to their present value, any more than the
value of a second-hand suit of clothes is dependent upon its original
cost. All depends on how badly they are worn and how well they are
adapted to present conditions. The value of farm improvements is not
unlike those in other business enterprises in this respect. Their
value depends upon present and prospective earning capacity and not on
former cost.
No rule can be laid down as to the relation which should exist between
the value of land itself and the value of the improvements. In
practice it varies greatly. In the United States the farm improvements
constitute on an average 21% of the total value of land, being as high
as 45% in Massachusetts and as low as 15% in Texas. The young farmer
may well consider, therefore, whether he can earn interest on his
investment when the improvements cost more than 25% of the total value
of the real estate. Certainly when it becomes one-half it is
excessive. The man who runs a farm as an avocation usually errs in
putting too much money into permanent improvements for the farm to be
a paying investment.
If it is admitted that the farm unit is limited because of the
physical difficulties of managing large areas, then it must at once be
seen how important the arrangement of the farmsteading must be to the
successful conduct of the farm. In the older farming communities where
the present farm holdings are the result of several purchases or sales
the shape of the farm, the arrangement of the fields and the place of
the farm buildings become an extremely important matter. Sometimes
satisfactory rearrangements are easily made, at other times they are
quite impossible. No attempt will be made to discuss this subject in
detail here, but the young farmer should bring to this question all
the experience and study possible.
When the young farmer goes to inspect a farm it is to be assumed that
he will be conducted over the farm by the owner or his authorized
agent. It is proper to give respectful attention to everything that is
told him, provided he follows carefully the California adage to
"believe nothing you hear and only one-half what you see."
If a farm consists of 200 or 300 acres of land, it is possible for the
agent to convey the purchaser over the farm in such a way as to
prevent the least desirable portions being seen. If the farm has
attracted the seeker of land, he should not purchase until he has made
another visit, preferably some days or weeks after the first one. He
may then very properly visit the farm alone, passing over quite a
different course from that pursued hitherto. Sketches and notes will
be found very helpful, and if the use of the soil auger is understood
it may be well employed to study the character of both soil and
subsoil. During the interval between visits some casual inquiries may
be made among those who know the history of the farm in question,
because the past history of the farm obtained from unprejudiced
witnesses is of prime importance in arriving at a conclusion
concerning its value.
A farm is much more attractive when a crop is growing upon it than
when it is without active vegetation. Poor land looks relatively
better than good land during or just after a rain. Many matters
concerning the selection of a farm can only be learned by some years
of practical experience. The young farmer will do well, therefore, to
secure the help of some more experienced person. If he has among his
acquaintances a successful farmer of mature years he will be fortunate
if he can secure his advice.