852 



SUCCESSFUL' FARMING 



economical fence and the one occupying the minimum of space is the 

 woven wire fence. This calls for very strong deeply-set and well-braced 

 corner posts. Fields of irregular shape have more corners and increase 

 the expense of brace posts. 



It is much better to have a few large fields than many small ones. The 

 number of fields should be determined by the crop rotations, there being 

 one field for each crop or each year in the rotation. In some cases, streams, 

 woodlots, roads or railways may interfere with the regularity in shape of 



A 100-Acre Farm Poorly Arranged. 1 



fields and uniformity in size. The plan for the fields should be such as to 

 obviate these difficulties as much as possible. 



Distance to Fields. — The distance from the farmstead to fields should 

 be as short as possible and the reduction in this distance will depend greatly 

 on the size, shape and arrangement of the fields. Time spent in traveling 

 to and from the fields is unproductive. The number of trips in the course of 

 a year are many. If the average distance to fields is reduced by twenty rods 

 as a result of proper planning, many miles of travel and many hours of 

 time on the part of the men and teams will be saved in a year. Even 

 though the average distance of the farmlands from the farmstead is not 

 changed, bringing the nearest portion of the field close to the farmstead 

 greatly facilitates the work. All tillage, seeding and harvesting operations 

 should be so planned that the machine and team begin work at once upon 



1 Courtesy of The Macmillan Company, N. Y. From "Farm Management," by Warren. 



