Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 142, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 June 1916 — Farmstead Improvement [ARTICLE]

Farmstead Improvement

The size of a farm business is not necessarily measui ed or limited by the number of acres in the farm. One ol the field men of the department, en gaged In far survey work, reports the case of a Wisconsin fanner, so situated as to make it possible for him to buy or rent more land, who solved the problem of small acreage by speeding up the 80 acres that he had. This farmer’s first move was to dis ; pose of his scrub cows and to replace them with grade and purebreds; next, without great expense, he improved the sanitary condi ions of his barns He established a cropping system bas ed on corn and alfalfa, choosing the latter rather than clover because or. his farm it produces at least 50 per cent more per acre than does clover, and is much more dependable. Pastures have now entirely disap peared from this farm, because its owner has demonstrated that one acre of corn and one of alfalfa together furnish him with ore feed than do five acres of pasture. His improved, well fed herd, housed in a clean, well lighted and thoroughly ventilated barn is yielding him more than double the milk he formerly got from his scrub herd. Furthermore, the quality of the milk has Improved and he demands and gets the price of a first class article. The largely Increased net income which this farmer now receives from the sale of milk and of purebred cattle Is based on the comparatively small changes in his type of farming, which have augmented his business without entailing any Increase in the size of his farm.