246 PROSPECTS OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



For my part, I like our climate. But it makes no sort of differ- 

 ence whether we like it or not. We cannot change it. What we 

 need to do is to study the climate and adapt our crops and our 

 methods of cultivation and manuring to it. One thing may be 

 safel^^ said, that at least three-fourths of our seasons are very bad 

 seasons for bad farmers, but good seasons for good farmers. 



Take the barley crops as an illustration. In Western New York 

 20 bushels per acre, weighing 48 lbs. per bushel, is a good average. 

 It probably will not average more than this the present year. And 

 yet we had rather an unusually favorable season ; so favorable 

 indeed, that the maltsters expect to get barley at a low figure, say 

 75 cents per bushel. 



Now I feel safe in saying that on well-drained, well-prepared 

 and properly enriched soil our climate is capable of giving us an 

 average yield of 40 bushels of barley per acre ; and I think the aver- 

 age price of six-rowed barley is fully $1 per bushel. 



I have said that 20 bushels is a fair average crop ; and this is 

 taking good and bad crops together. There are many crops which 

 yield 30 bushels, and consequently there must be many that are 

 not over 10 bushels. But we will take 15 bushels as the average 

 crop of a rather indifferent farmer. He sows two bushels, and 

 will be very apt to leave two bushels on the ground in harvesting 

 the crop, and so, after deducting seed and scatterings in harvest- 

 ing, he has 11 bushels to sell, which, at 75 cents is $8.25 per acre. 



The good farmer has 40 bushels. lie sows two bushels, and we 

 will reckon that he loses two bushels of scatterings, though a good 

 crop does not scatter half as much as a poor crop. This leaves 36 

 bushels, which, at 75 cents is $27 per acre, or over three times as 

 much as from the poor crop ; and this, mark you, is in a good 

 season. 



Now, how is it in what we call a bad season, that is, in a season 

 unfavorable for the growth of barley on ordinary laud. 



In such a season we have hundreds of farmers whose barley 

 crops will not be ever 12 bushels per acre. Deducting, as before, 

 2 bushels for seed and 2 bushels for scatterings, we have 8 bushels 

 of merchantable barley, of rather an inferior quality, weighing 

 perhaps, 46 lbs. to the bushel. 



Owing to the unfavorable season, barley will be likely to bring 

 $1 50 per bushel. The net returns from such a crop, therefore, 

 will be (8 bushels of 46 lbs. at $1.50 per bushel of 48 lbs. $11.50) 

 $11.50. 



