228 STATE BOARD OF AGKICULTURE. 



wheat or i)lant coru, the cro]) would not sell for enougli to pay one-lialf of the 

 expense of iri'owinc^. Therefore I say, we can only improve our methods to a 

 certain extent with profit. 



In the August and September numbers of the Scientific Farmer for 1879 is 

 an exceedingly valuable article by Mr. J. B. Lawes, of Kothamstead, England, 

 on "Is higher farming a remedy for lower prices." Mr. Lawes has been carry- 

 ing on a series of experiments on a large scale for over 30 years on a variety of 

 crops, some with no manure, others with large or small quantities of eitlier 

 barn-yard manure or concentrated fertilizers, or both together. It is in fact 

 the most valuable series of experiments the world has known, and probably no 

 man is better qualified to give advice on this subject of high farming. He 

 "believes the English farmer can carry high farming only so far and have it 

 profitable, and proves it by his experiments, which are pretty conclusive. He 

 could make his wheat average about 30 bushels per acre without an extrava- 

 gant outlay for manure, but when enough manure was applied to grow 35 

 bushels or more the increase in crop would not pay for the extra manure. The 

 same principle held true with other crops. 



High farming means applying large quantities of manure and growing great 

 crops. Suppose we take a field that without manure will produce !^0 bushels 

 of wheat to the acre, and that an application of ten loads of manure, worth 

 five dollars, would increase the yield to 30 bushels, with wheat at one dollar 

 per busiiel, there would be a gain of five dollars by the operation, or the ma- 

 nure would be sold for one dollar per load. If ten more loads, or twenty in 

 all, were applied, the second ten loads would not give as much increase as the 

 first ten, but would perhaps increase the crop five bushels, just enough to pay 

 for the manure. If now twenty more loads of manure, or forty in all, were 

 applied, the latter application would not increase the crop a half bushel for 

 each load and would be applied at a loss, so far as the present crop is concerned. 

 These figures are of course only approximate, but the idea is applying or ex- 

 pending a certain amount in manure will return a fair profit ; as we go beyond 

 that amount the profit will be proportionally decreased till finally the cost of 

 the manure will not be paid by the increase in crop. The more valuable the 

 land and crop grown, and the greater the amount of labor required, the more 

 we can afford to invest in manure, other things being equal. 



I believe in better farming, feeding stock and making manure, thorough 

 cultivation, etc. I believe farmers must do all these things, but they must 

 understand their business well, and expend carefully and cautiously to make 

 higher farming profitable. They will have to rely mostly on their own judg- 

 ment. No man writing a book or paper in New York, Chicago or Detroit, 

 can tell you how best to manage your farm. Heading books and papers, learn- 

 ing what others have done, will suggest many new and valuable ideas, will 

 make a man think, and is therefore of great value, but after all a man must 

 rely mostly on his own judgment. 



One farm will need one style of treatment, another something different; 

 vre can hardly imagine anything that varies more than different soils. Each 

 farm requires a certain management to produce the greatest profit. 



The outlook for the coming farmer in this State is a bright one; but to 

 prosper, he must be an intelligent, thinking man. You remember there was 

 a time when the stupid boy of the family was kept at home to work because 

 he didn't know enough to be anything but a farmer, and his brighter brother 

 sent to school and educated for some profession. There is going to be a 



