THE MODERN FARM, 



BY JOEL SHOEMAKER. 



r~nHE Modern farm differs very materi- 

 JL ally from the, old broad expanse of 

 timbered hills and grassy prairies. In 

 former days our fathers owned up the 

 hill and down the hollows, across the 

 woods and over the creeks and rivers. 

 The old homestead included many hun- 

 dred acres untouched by ax or plow and 

 valuable only for gratifying the desire for 

 possession and increasing the annual 

 amount of taxation. Almost every per- 

 son brought up on the farm of twenty 

 years ago has fond remembrances of the 

 great woods, filled with nuts and grapes, 

 the big pastures of blackberries and hazel 

 bushes and the immense prairies, the 

 homes of wild fowl, crafty wolves and fleet 

 foxes. 



But the farm of today shows few of the 

 old landmarks and the future will make 

 more wonderful changes. The tillable 

 area has been divided and subdivided un- 

 til there are in round numbers five million 

 families in the United States occupying 

 farms of varying dimension. This num- 

 ber is a little over one-third of the entire 

 family population and practically repre- 

 sents the food producers of the country. 

 When the farm products are scarce the 

 whole people suffer and the one-third 

 must extend aid and sympathy to the two 

 thirds living in the cities or employed in 

 other industrial pursuits. The farm being 

 the base of food supplies is therefore the 

 most important subject for consideration 

 by our thirteen million families, constitut- 

 ing the population of the nation. 



Any system of farming that will in- 

 crease the soil production in ratio with 

 the multiplying population is that most 

 desired by all and the new agriculture 

 founded on modern irrigation is destined 

 to fill all the requirments and furnish a 



remedy for the evils of an many of the un- 

 employed. Small farms under close culti- 

 vation produce more than four times the 

 area did by old methods, and diversified 

 crops yield better returns than former 

 special farming of large sections. With 

 the practice of irrigation began an era of 

 better cultivation, which will no doubt 

 become universal, especially in the west- 

 ern half of the United States. In the ir- 

 rigated sections a twenty-acre farm has 

 fully demonstrated its capabilities of pro- 

 ducing sufficient fruits, vegetables, cereals 

 and meats, for supporting a large family 

 in luxury and giving its share to the 

 world's food supply. 



This modern farm may be divided into 

 the following convenient areas or fields. 

 The house and barn should occupy one 

 acre, bordering on a public highway. The 

 barnyard and corral, fronting on road 

 would have ample room on one acre. An or- 

 chard should occupy five acres in which 

 all varieties of fruits can be growing and 

 have a small corner left for the poultry 

 house and yard. Three acres sown to al- 

 falfa or other grasses and cut two or three 

 times each season would furnish enough 

 hay for horses, cattle and sheep. A simi- 

 lar area enclosed separately and rotating 

 with the hay field should be sown to 

 mixed grasses and used as a permanent 

 pasture. The remainder will be sufficient 

 for orre man to cultivate after attending to 

 the other divisions. Larger farms can be 

 divided in a similar manner and every 

 parcel except that allotted for house and 

 barn ought to yield a handsome surplus 

 every year. 



THE BARNYARD. 



The barnyard of most western farms has 

 been much neglected in the past because 



