$arm Ctonomg. 
THE IRREPRESSIBLE QUESTION. 
DOES FARMING PAY ?-NO. II. 
BY CONRAD WILSON. 
Thebe are some farmers who continually im¬ 
agine that they are making progress, or making 
money, when in truth they are doing neither. 
On the other hand, there are those who are 
nearly always successful, and who make the busi¬ 
ness pay without being aware of the fact, or 
easily convinced of it. Strange as it may seem, 
it is doubtlCHH true, that although a majority of 
those engaged iu agriculture are, in reality, pro¬ 
gressing and bettering their condition, they are 
often in doubt on the subject, and report results 
that seem to be failures which, when further ex¬ 
amined. are found to indicate unmistakable sue- 
l/cpn. 
This is a curious fact and well worth consider¬ 
ing, for it ahedB much light on the (location in 
hand. It goes to show that farming is not. aftor 
all, so unprofitable as it is often made to appear. 
It shows that a wrong mode of estimating the 
cost and profit of the business, has produced an 
erroneous impression, and thattho apparent fail 
ures in agriculture are not all of them real, but 
are often due to errors in the accounts rather 
than to wrong modes of culture. It showH, 
iu fact, that a nmu may be a sound farmer and 
yet a poor hand at figures, and that, even when 
he has achieved a successful crop, slight errors 
in the estimate, or faots omitted from his state¬ 
ment, may change the apparent result and leave 
the impression that he has blundered in bis farm¬ 
ing when, in fact, he has made money, and the 
blunder is only in the estimate. 
Cases of this kind are continually met with. 
In a number of instances that have come to my 
knowledge during the past year, I have called 
the attention of farmers to errors in their esti¬ 
mates, by which, when corrected, their actual 
profit has been found larger than it seemed. 
There is, therefore, ample reason to believe 
that if the facts and figures as reported were al¬ 
ways accurate, no reasonable doubt ivould re¬ 
main as to whether agriculture is a paying busi¬ 
ness, and the inquiry would no longer be, “ Im 
farming profitable?” but rather, 
“WHERE DOES THE PROFIT LIE?" 
and how may it be increased ? These questions 
are entirely pertinent, and always interesting. 
Lot us then, briefly inquire in what direction we 
are to look for tho best results in agriculture. 
It will be found true, as a general rule, that the 
profit of nearly every crop tho farmer raises—if 
Jfiis methods are sound—is chiefly due to the last 
few dollars added to the expense per acre. Most 
farmers admit this truth, iu the abstract, while 
few, comparatively, have tested it iu their prac¬ 
tice. A few examples taken from the experience 
of successful men, will be sufficient to illustrate 
this point. In a case reported by Prof. John¬ 
ston, tho yield of a turnip crop in an average 
soil moderately manured, was increased by 6j-£ 
tons per aero simply by tho additional expense ol 
subsoiling. Iu an experiment of Prof. O'Off of 
New Brunswick, it was shown that when 100 lbs. 
of muriate of potash were applied to an acre of 
corn, tho product was increased from 85 to 100 
bush., reducing the cost of tho last 16 bushels to 
about 10 cts. each. In another case, the yield of 
hay was increased by Ool. Warino from 1,000 to 
4,000 11is. per aero, solely as the effect of top- 
dressing, while the quality of the hay also was 
greatly improved. I» a crop of barley reported 
by an English farmer, tho increase from subaoil- 
ing was found to be seven bushels of grain and 
eight cwt. of straw per acre. 
But it is not only iu reference to field cropB 
that this principle operates. It holds equally 
true iu all oases of feeding, whether the object 
in view is beef, pork, mutton, milk, butter, or 
cheese. Whatever the aim or purpose may be. 
it is the last addition made to the daily ration of 
feed that gives either the gain of flesh or the 
increase of milk and butter. Experience has 
proved that after an ox has received the amount 
of food necessary to sustain life, every four or 
five lbs. of corn (or its equivalent) fed in audi¬ 
tion, will, under favorable conditions, give a 
pound of beef. Hence, it is clear that the more 
grain or other suitable feed a steer can be made 
to consume and digest, beyond the point of mere 
subsistence, the lees will be the cost per pound 
for the beef and the larger the profit. 
In a series of trials made by the West of En¬ 
gland Ag. Soc., six lbs. of barley produced a 
pound of beef while iu this count.iv it haB been 
shown by an experiment of G. H. Chase of West¬ 
ern Now York, that a little over three lbs. of bar¬ 
ley, under favorable conditions, will make a 
pound of beef. Mr. A. P. Bronson of Western 
New York, has found that two quarts of oorn 
meal per day, added to pasture, increased the 
yield of butter at the rate of nine lbs. for each 
bushel of corn. From some experiments of Jo¬ 
seph Harris, it appears that two or three lbs. of 
oorn per day will sustain a pig, and that whatever 
is fed beyond this amount, goes to increase the 
weight at the rate of two lbs. of corn for one of 
dressed pork. Examples like these might be 
cited in endless variety ; but the point to be en¬ 
forced is, perhaps, sufficiently clear, viz.,—that 
the extra outlay, intended to increase the profit, 
will increase it if rightly applied. 
Another condition essential to success in hus¬ 
bandry, is found in giving due attention to 
THE COST OF PRODUCTION. 
The farmer who never knowB what anything has 
cost him, is sure to discover, in the end, that 
everything he raises costs too much. But when 
he begins to study the question and look after 
the expenses of his crops, that moment he begin 8 
to find that the cost is already diminished; for 
the very act of investigation tends to reduce the 
outlay and to increase the profit. Though the 
market price of his products it a matter that he 
cannot always control, yet the cost of production 
depends very much on himself. 
A series of intelligent experiments, if devised 
in reference to this object and persistently fol¬ 
lowed up, will shed new light at caoh successive 
season, until the point is finally reacbod where 
the largest yield per acre and the lowest cost per 
bushel meet together, and reveal u margin of 
profit before unsuspected. 
Mr. O. W. Htevkns of Kansas, raised a corn 
crop last year that cost him about 10 cts. a hush., 
and during the same season, John Howard of 
Michigan, converted corn into pork at the rate 
of 24 lbs. per busb. of grain. Now if these two 
facts had been united in the experience of one 
man, a marvelous possibility would have been 
disclosed. That is to say, if Howard had raised 
his corn at the same cost as Stkvenr, or if the 
latter had oonverted hiB corn into pork at the 
same rate as Howard, the result would show, in 
either case, a product of 24 lbs. of pork at a total 
cost of 10 cts., making less than half a cent per 
lb. for the pork. Again, if Mr. Bronson had 
raised the corn fod to his cows at the same cost 
per bushel as Mr. Stevens, his butter, or that 
part of it resulting from oorn meal, would repre¬ 
sent a cost of a little over one cent a pound. Is 
it not clear, then, that the cost of production 
goes far toward solving tho problem, "Does 
farming pay ?” 
The man who can raise a bushel of grain or a 
ton of roots at a lower cost than any before 
reached, if his method is capable of general ap¬ 
plication, creates at once a new and wider market 
for his product, a larger profit for the producer, 
and in the end, a lower market price for the con¬ 
sumer. The farmer who accomplishes results 
like these, however humble his position, sheds a 
luster on hts calling, and holds a rank among tho 
world's great men infinitely superior to the time¬ 
servers of political parties. 
astonishing advantage it would be to have a 
large farm to be worked scientifically, for the 
convenience of supplying farm products for 
the UBe of the inmates, as well as to offer em¬ 
ployment to those who are harmless and only 
partially Insane. Were the management con¬ 
ducted in an intelligent and progressive manner, 
it could be clearly demonstrated what a grievous 
wrong is being inflicted on our descendants by 
taking from the soil wheat, meat, etc., and not 
returning the matter which would reimburse it. 
Wo certainly thus rob our descendants. 
A Wobkino Farmeb. 
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS AND HUS¬ 
BANDRY. 
walk through Washington street and see baskets 
jammed about, sometimes half spilled, and then 
see the contents partially scraped up and thrown 
with dirt back into the basket. He might be 
surprised to see cartmen eating the nicely-placed 
fruit from the top of the basket, or store boys 
selecting the best for their neighboring friends. 
No wonder that city people blame the fanners 
for sending poor stuff to market. The stuff is 
mangled and deteriorated every way by the com¬ 
mission merchants after it gets here. Somebody 
ought to raise a mighty big row. 
CHANGES TOO FREQUENT IN AMERICA. 
If the authorities of all hospitals, insane asyl¬ 
ums, and poor-houses would have first-rate su¬ 
perintendents on their farms, and encourage 
them to proceed on modern, progressive systems, 
and contrive to utilize all the means for utiliz¬ 
ing the manure afforded them by the numerous 
inmates of the institutions, the results might 
cause a great sensation iu the agricultural com¬ 
munity. 
With such extraordinary manurial resources, a 
farm in conjunction with any one of these insti¬ 
tutions, might be brought to such an exceedingly 
productive state that any of the model farms 
which have been drawing the attention of tho 
public, would have to give place to the admira¬ 
tion excited by the generous abundance flowing 
from a Boil thus enriched, and, at the same 
time, pulverized and fructified by the labor of 
tho inmates, many of whom would be available 
in helpiug to put the soil in a state of perfec¬ 
tion. 
The sovereign people of the United States 
ought to seriously reflect on the deplorable 
waste of fertilizing matter. As they are pretty 
severe on the errors and follies of the reigning 
sovereigns of Europe, who often trample on the 
rights of their subjects and tax posterity in or¬ 
der to bo able to carry out questionable projects, 
they, in turn, have no right to complain if they 
are shown how they are inj aring future genera¬ 
tions by their neglect to protoot them from rob¬ 
bery by the present. The Government and the 
bodies of men who represent the people, coolly 
and knowingly witness the carrying away from 
cities and all large towns, of all the valuable 
fertilizing refuse derived from the consumption 
of the productions of the soil. The great distil¬ 
leries, too, often throw valuable manorial matter 
away, and the public buildings of all descriptions 
have sewers and supplies of water which annu¬ 
ally bear away millions of dollars’ worth of fer¬ 
tilizing substance, which, if economized, would 
renovate the country aud benefit posterity by 
preventing the impoverishment of the soil. 
Now, I happen to have some of the annual 
reports from the Willard Ayslum, in Seneca 
County, N. Y., and from them I can see what an 
Farmf.br are very slow in changing their opin¬ 
ions on agricultural operations, on the systems 
they or their fathers have adopted, or on the 
merits of particular broods of stock ; hut they 
are continually changing their help, and those 
who rent change their location very often. Gen- 
tlemen-farmerH change their head farmer fre¬ 
quently, so that it is UBUa.1 for every man who is 
left to farm and crop according to his own incli¬ 
nation, to make all he can for tho first year, re¬ 
gardless of the effect of this on the future. 
Thus it is easy to account for tho running down 
of soil in such cases. There is a fooling of com¬ 
ing change everywhere, and every community is 
so different to what it was, that in a few years 
the vicinity is not recognizable. This is had for 
agriculture, as It causes a disposition te> farm for 
the present moment, and to get all that is possi¬ 
ble from the land, leaving those who follow to 
find an exhausted, barren soil. Though Amer¬ 
icans generally deny this state of facts, it is too 
true, as nothing can bo plainer than tho inability 
of whole districts to grow wheat, and whore it is 
still a crop in rotation, the yield, has fallen from 
thirty or forty bushels down to fifteen or less, 
per acre. 
In some instances changes will, of course, 
prove to have been made for tho best, and a 
thorough change of Western farming, from con¬ 
tinuous cropping, without renovation, to a sys¬ 
tem of restoring the fertility that is extracted 
from the soil by the crop, would bo a blessiug to 
posterity. In this case, however, and in any¬ 
thing else tending toward making present sacri¬ 
fices or some effort for the future, farmers are 
slow in action, and are either so blind or pretend 
to be so ignorant as not to see how selfishly they 
are robbing the next generation. 
There are many changes among other than 
agricultural classes: lew firms stand loDg, and 
the principals often change their managers. Even 
journalism has changes which startle the read¬ 
ers, aud the leadership often passes from one to 
another with great rapidity. 
Succoss is a teat not to he despised, and if 
the ground is not poor, or if there has been en¬ 
croachment on the store of fertility, aud there 
are moans left at command lor restoration, so as 
to increase the returns in time to come, tho chief 
manager ought to he able to recover all that is 
lost, and go on upon a system which is entirely 
self-supporting—makiug two crops iu a year, 
where practicable,—ftnd instead of naked fal¬ 
lows, do as the English have done—cause the 
fallow year to produce the greatest return of all, 
by growing extraordinary vegetable crops for 
consumption. This will afford food for succes¬ 
sive future crops; for the food eaten on the land 
gives food again to produce further crops. 
BRIEFLETS. 
Rotation in Chops, though now practiced by 
every intelligent farmer, yet sometimes produces 
unexpectedly favorable results. A certain field 
in Ontario County, N. Y., had been rented lor 
many years to different parties, and every one 
bad sown it to oats until it had grown seventeen 
successive crops of oats, and was so reduced that 
the crop failed to pay cost. Finally, it came into 
possession of a young man, a stranger in the 
neighborhood, who commenced summer-fallow¬ 
ing it for wheat. Neighbors at once said to one 
another, "Poor fellow! he won't get enough 
wheat off of there to pay for his labor,” and 
some of them thought seriously of going to him 
and remonstrating against his course; but keep¬ 
ing in mind that maxim so popular among farm¬ 
ers, " Mind your own business,” they let him 
alone. The result was, he had a splendid crop 
of wheat, one of the best in the neighborhood. 
The Use or Windmills, wo have often thought, 
might with advantage ho much more frequently 
introduced on farms than is now customary. In 
this connection, the Charleston News remarks 
that talking recently to a Northwestern farmer 
upon the difference between farming in his coun¬ 
try and in tho South, he asked, " Do you use 
windmills iu the South ?” When we assured him 
wo had never seen such a thing in the cotton 
States, he expressed great astonishment, and 
assured us they were indispensable in his prairie 
country; "Fur,” said he, "where streams are 
lacking we sink a well, place a windmill over it, 
and by its power draw all the water for our stock, 
and occasionally irrigate' a piece of land.” Wo 
thought much of this subject during the month 
of May last. Not a Bhower of rain fell from May 
5 till Juno 10, and everyday the wind blew stead¬ 
ily for at least ten hours during tho day. Had 
our farmers orectod windmills near tho water¬ 
courses, they could have been made to pay for 
themselves during that time in Irrigating the 
low lands, which in most cases became too hard 
to work; and upon which the crops seemed to 
grow not an inch in six weeks. Windmills can 
be erected for less than $75 each. Why do not 
our farmers use them ? 
Grinding Hay before it is fed to stock, is said 
to increase its nutritive value by rendering it 
easier of mastication and more digestible. 
The Ayrshire Bbeed of Cattle originated 
about the middle of last century in the Cun¬ 
ningham, or most northerly district of Ayrshire. 
That county in very ancient times formed part of 
tho province of Galloway, which originally com¬ 
prehended tire western half of that portion of 
Scotland which lies to the south of the Forth. 
Hence the original breed of cattle in Ayrshire 
were Galloways. 
#tBr Crops. 
HOP CULTURE. 
The Office-Seerino Mania has often been 
reprobated in theso pages, aud we admire the 
sentiments of a writer in the New Orleans Times, 
who says" I would rather liave forty acres of 
land and a log-house with oue room—yes, and 
the woman I love, and some lattice-work over 
the window, so that tho sunlight would fall 
checkered on the baby in the cradle, and a few 
hollyhocks at the corner of the house—I would 
rather have that, aud a nice x>&th leading down 
to the spring, where I could go and hear the wa¬ 
ter gurgling; would rather live there and die 
there than be a clerk of any government on 
earth.” 
The Evils of Middlemen are, iu a measure, 
known to all; hut if some of our farmers could 
see how their fruits and vegetables are handled 
by this class in New York, they would not won¬ 
der why they receive low prices. Let any farmer 
This place seems well-adapted to tho raising 
of hops. Myself and a number of others set 
out hop-yards last spring for the first time, but 
most of us are ignorant in hop-raising. Will 
you please publish in the Rural New-Yoekkb 
the most proper and best way of raising hops in 
all branches of the art, from fitting tho ground 
for setting tho cuttings uutil the crop is ready f r 
market? If you can grant ua this favor and 
publish it in an early number of your paper, 
you will greatly oblige more than one sub¬ 
scriber. E. P* Turck. 
Cleveland, Oswego Co., N. Y. 
Deep, gravelly, or loamy uplands, exposed to 
free circulation of air and sheltered on the north 
by a hill or timber belt, are host adapted for 
hop-culture, but any Boil that produces a good 
crop of com or potatoes is suitable for raisiug 
hops. It should bo dry at all times, either natu¬ 
rally or through uuder-drainage. Plow it deeply 
late in the fall, and again early in spring, when 
it should be harrowed, rolled, and fertilized 
either with abundant compost or well-rotted 
manure, plowed in. 
So soon as the ground is dry and capable of 
being worked, the cuttings may be set. From 
the middle of April to the middle of May is the 
ueual time, but the earlier the better. A good 
way to mark tho rows is to run a light plow 
lengthwise of the ground selected, at intervals 
of from seven to eight feet, and again cross¬ 
wise about the same distance apart. Where the 
lines intersect, the hills should be made. It is 
now customary to plant in furrows or holes in 
the ground, and the only elevation generally 
about the vine is that produced by an extra ap¬ 
plication of manure. The slips for setting 
should be trimmed of all decayed parts, cut 
midway between the joints, leaving two sets of 
eyes on each piece, aud planted in rows perfectly 
straight and uniform. The best method of set¬ 
ting is to make holes with a stick or dibble, 
about seven inches in depth. In each of these 
holes, from three to five sets should be placed, 
with the eyes up, leaving the upper ends on a 
