26(1 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



with all his might and strength ; he is persevering and untiring in his efforts 

 to get as much of his farm into wheat as possible; he works early and late; 

 keeps a hired man, two teams, and sows from 40 to 70 acres of wheat ; he puts 

 a great deal of time and money into his crop, which is to he; he harvests, 

 threshes, and what is the result. It has been one continual outgo all the time 

 until he gets his crop ready for market. Perhaps has had to hire money to 

 pay for help, seed, and feed for teams, expecting his crop would pay all and 

 leave him a handsome proCt besides; and perhaps it would with a good crop 

 and a fair market. But, on the contrary, suppose his crop is a failure, or 

 partially so, which is very often the case, the markec low, his time and money 

 has been thrown away besides impoverishing his soil. Tiiis is no idle fancy, it 

 is what we have all seen, not only in wheat raising but in other crops when they 

 have been made a specialty. 



Mr. President, I believe that experience is the best teacher by all odds that 

 farmers can have. We can learn useful lessons from our own experience and 

 from our neighbors. We should not be satisfied with old methods if there is any- 

 thing better; and by continual experimenting, careful observation of different 

 methods and kinds of crops we learn what is practical and beneficial. The 

 greatest benefits to be derived, the most money to be made in farming, depend 

 upon certain conditions. It depends in a great measure upon the kind of farm 

 you have, whether it is by nature a grain or grass farm. On a farm that is natur- 

 ally low and wet, which produces grass abundantly, and one that is not adapted 

 to grain, raising stock would be the only thing to engage in profitably, and at 

 the present prices of stock I believe that more money could be made and made 

 easier than on a grain farm ; and on such a farm mixed husbandry would be 

 out of the question at any great extent. But we have vei'V few such farms as 

 I have described. Most of our farms produce grain as well as grass, and we 

 have a chance to diversify our crops as much as we like. One of the greatest 

 benefits to be derived from mixed husbandry is the different funds we have to 

 draw upon during the year, which is very convenient, to say the least, where 

 we have no bank account, which I venture to say most farmers have not. In 

 the winter we have some fat steers or wethers perhaps we have been feeding to 

 sell. Then comes our wool, which is no small item. Then after shearing some 

 more sheep and lambs to sell. Then comes our surplus wheat and oats. Later 

 on comes our hogs that we have to sell off from our stubble, and a thousand 

 and one other things too numerous to mention which every good farmer that 

 practices mixed farming has to sell at different times ail through the year. 



The raising of various kinds of grain and stock are essentially blended in 

 farm economy. It would be very unwise to separate them. AYe have a good 

 grain growing State; it is conceded to be one of the best in the Union for its 

 fine quality of wheat, one of the very best in its fine horses, second to none in 

 its fine Hocks of sheep, and hard to beat in thoroughbred cattle and hogs. In 

 any mode of farming there are two important questions the intelligent farmer 

 will ever keep in mind, namely : The maintaining the fertility of the soil, and 

 that mode of farming that will give him the greatest income with the least 

 expense in labor and money. To maintain the two there are many reasons in 

 favor of mixed husbandry and there can be no general failure because if one 

 crop fails others are maturing at different seasons that are not likely to fail. 

 A rotation of crops on certain soils at least seems better for keeping up the 

 fertility of the farm than to continue it in certain special crops. The produc- 

 ing qualities of our soil, its fertility, is what we should look after all the time, 

 and our constant aim and study should be to feed our soil with food that will 



