MODERN FARM METHODS 

 Essential Features to Be Observed 



A FARMER should have two important objects in view, namely: 

 1. To produce wealth from his land sufficient to compensate 

 himself and family for their labor and give him a reasonable interest on 

 the value of his investment. 



2. To till the land and manage his operations so that the fertility of 

 the soil will not become exhausted. 



Haphazard methods and careless work will not accomplish those 

 results, but systematic management, modern methods and a scientific 

 knowledge of plant and animal requirements, will surely bring success 

 in a high degree. 



Farming is a profession no less important nor less difficult to master 

 than many of the so-called learned professions, and the man who 

 believes that farming is a fool-proof occupation will usually make an 

 abject failure of the business. 



Two Features 



must be observed, namely, stock-raising and crop-raising. They are 

 inter-dependent; they lean on each other, and neither one will long 

 endure alone. The crop consumes plant food from the soil, but the 

 supply is no more inexhaustible than the farmer's bank account. The 

 soil fertility must be replenished from time to time, and it must be stimu- 

 lated to activity; otherwise, the soil becomes sick, anaemic and unpro- 

 ductive. Live-stock should consume the major portion of the product 

 of the soil in order that many of the organic substances essential to 

 make inorganic elements (which exist in most soils in abundance) 

 available, may be returned to the soil in the form of manures. Also, 

 eighty per cent of the fertility removed by the crop is restored to the 

 land, if the manure is properly preserved and applied. 



Stock-Raising 



Stock-raising involves features requiring knowledge of breeds, means 

 of caring for animals, and the science of feeding them. A high-bred 

 animal, whether a beast of burden or for meat or dairy products, is 

 manifestly far superior to a scrub. A well-bred animal requires no 

 more feed than one with an inferior or inbred record, and the production 

 is usually more profitable. 



The difference in the amount of feed consumed by a well-bred dairy 

 cow and a poorly-bred one is insignificant, but the production in milk 

 makes one very profitable, while the other may not pay for the feed 

 consumed. 



The science of feeding is of even more importance. To obtain the 

 best results, the ration must be balanced; that is, nature's requirements 



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