Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 July 1879 — Profitable Farming. [ARTICLE]

Profitable Farming.

There appears to be much confusion of ideas with regard to what is usually called profitable agriculture. In many instances—and, in fact, we might say as a general rule—the prevalent idea among farmers is that he who obtains most from bis land with the least outlay in money or labor secures the largest profit on the investment. Carrying this idea into practice has ruiDed millions of acres of farming lands, and left them little better than a worthless waste. To wear out soil as rapidly as possible by constant cropping, returning nothing to restore or keep up its fertility may appear for a while to be profitable farming; but it is far otherwise, as many have learned through bitter experience. The impoverished farms of tne older States, and the rapidly increasing number in the new, with the constant falling off in the yield of grain and other crops on land not long since declared to be simply inexhaustible, show that-to expect large returns at the expense of the capital invested in farming is a ruinous policy. If a man can obtain forty bushels of wheat per acre, or seventy-five of corn, and leave the land no worse for having produced the crop, then he can easily figure up his profits by counting tne cost of raising the crop, adding interest on the value of the land. But when he has impaired the intrinsic value of the land by diminishing its capabilities for producing a succeeding crop, this should also be charged to the capital account, and deducted from the profits. This charging loss of fertility to crap accounts would, no doubt, be considered by many farmers a rather unusual proceeding; but that it is perfectly legitimate and necessary, in order to arrive at anything like an accurate basis for calculating profit and loss, must be apparent to every ene who will give it a moment's thought We frequently hear farmers regretting the loss of fertility in their lands, ana they will tell us that twenty, thirty, or more years ago, when their land was new, they thought nothing of getting thirty or forty bushels of wheat per acre, at a cost not exceeding the value of ten; “and then,” say they, “there was money tq be made in farming.” It may be true that a little money was made, but the capital upon which they were obtaining an excessive interest was rapidly being impaired, as the results in loss of fertility plainly show. Had they pursued a different course, and kept tne land rich by raising more cattle, feeding the hay to their own stock instead of sending it to market, or practiced a rotation of crops, ployring one under occasionally for manure, the result would have been far different, and farming on these old lands would have proved even more profitable than when they were new. We have, however, a goodly number of farmers who do not count 'all taken from their land as profit, bat aim to keep their’ original oapital invested in the land good, and the crops raised as interest, less the cost of production. Farms of this kind are seldom for sale for less than the cost of improvements, for they are still profitable in hands that know how to use thorn. To. point out and explain how a certain class of fanners always manage to oome out ahead, whether prices of farm products rule high or low, would require a repetition of the history of sciontifio or good farming in all its details; but the foundation of profitable farming is, as it always has been, a fertile sou Judiciously managed, • >-

Wo frequently hear of good old farms, neat'gooa markets, being sold for less than the original improvements on them cost the owner; and while it maj seem hard that land should be given away to any one ‘who will pay tne value of the buildings, they no doubt fetch all they are worth. The large old barns on some of these farms cost a good sum, and there was, no doubt, a time when they were woll filled with grain and hay out from the Burrouhding fields; but a man would now have to scrape long and close to get weeds or straw enough from the same land to make a show in these capacious receptacles of farm products, and they are. consequently of little value in their present location. That these old worn lands will again be maije productive there is not a shadow of a doubt, but it will cost all they are worth; and ; it can only be done by men of means and intelligence, who are willing to invest their capital in farming in the same way that they would in any other legitimate business, expecting to realize a reasonable profit upon the amount invested. If every acre should cost fifty dollars to make it fertile, they will look .for a reasonable return upon the amount, and upon all other outlays. The days for speculating in farms and farm lands are probably past, except in some of the newer States and Territories, where land is worth a mere nominal price, and its future value is dependent upon local influences, of which little or nothing can be known in advance of their actual development— N. Y. Sun. A contemporary advises boys to learn to spout. Let them first learn to run,in debt, and “ spouting" will come as a matter of course, Tor further particulars inquire of "my uncle"— the citizen with three balls over his door. —Boston Herald.