316 WISCONSIN AGRICULTUEE. 



the place of that which we have sown. They take from the soil 

 very much of its productive properties, therefore they not only 

 make this year's crop much less than it should be, but also in- 

 jure the land for coming years. Then again, since vegetation 

 derives a great portion of its life and its growth from the atmos- 

 phere, it follows that weeds mast materially injure the crop in 

 this respect, by inhaling those gases which go to form vegetable 

 matter. And I am. fully satisfied that raising weeds will do but 

 little toward getting a comfortable living. Perhaps I cannot 

 present this point more forcibly than to quote the words of an 

 old farmer of Ohio, who, by-the-bye, was a "Pennsylvania 

 Dutchman." In speaking of raising Indian corn, he said, "those 

 who plant and don't hoe get thirty bushels to the acre ; those 

 who ^oe once get sixty ; and those Avho hoe twice get ninety." 

 Now, although this ratio of increase may seem large, yet this 

 principle will apply to the raising of all kinds of produce. If I 

 were asked how to prevent the growth of weeds, I would answer, 

 first, never let weeds go to seed ; then always plow in the Fall 

 instead of the Spring ; always plow deep ; and as often as once 

 in four years plant a crop that needs hoeing, and hoe it thor- 

 oughly. But some will say, the price of labor is veiy high. 

 Here the mechanic steps in and offers us labor-saving machines, 

 by the help of which one man will do the work of half a dozen. 

 And it seems to me that no farmer should fail to avail himself of 

 the advantages arising from their use. Franklin said that " time 

 is money ; " consequently, he who saves time saves money. 

 Another of his proverbs was, " a penny saved is two pence gain- 

 ed." Then, if this be true, that man is the prudent farmer who 

 uses those helps that enable him to do a large amount of work 

 in a little time. Some years ago the Russian farmer plowed his 

 land with a pointed stick ; for a harrow he took a fir tree, cut off 

 the limbs about a foot from the trunk, and then drew it top fore- 

 most, to harrow in the seed ; in harvest he cut his grain with a 

 sickle, tied it up in ropes, carried it to the place of threshing on 

 horseback, and then threshed it with a single stick in his liand, 

 not even putting two sticks together to make a flail. This we 

 should not call scientific farming, neither will such a method so- 



