The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., December 28, 1912, Image 1

About The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920

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A Farm and Home Weekly for
Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee.
__ BIRMINGHAM, ALA.,—MEMPHIS, TENN.
I Vcl. XXVII. No. 52.SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1912. Weekly : $1 a Year.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING THESE DAYS? I
EVEN if it is midwinter and the Holiday season, we feel sure that, as
a progressive farmer, you find plenty to do these days. We know
from experience that on the average farm there is something wait
ing to be done every day in the year. We know, too, from observa
tion that some farmers fail .
tions, to lay plans and make prepa.^^ns for the coming year, to study I
your crops, your soils, your stock—a**^, is is work of the most profita- E
ble kind, and it is just as pleasant as it iv^?fitable. |
So we would say, keep busy these wi lays, for long idle spells |
to improve the winter days,
and therefore leave undone
many things that should be
done, with a correspond
ing decrease in the profits
from their year’s work.
We don’t know what
you ought to be doing at
his season, for we do not
A know your conditions! It
’ is safe to say, how&er,
I that, if Tv-cather admits,
you ought to be busy;
ought to have your help
busy, if you have help;
ought to have the teams at
work.
Only two weeks ago
Professor Duggar pointed
out that team work costs
many farmers an exorbi
tant price simply because
they get so few days work
/M«4- /\# a!i* ianmo in n irnnt*
HERCULES STUMP PULLER AT WORK—PHOTOGRAPH FROM MAURICE FLOYD. j I
Therefore, let us say that the teams ought to be kept busy during the
winter. We do not mean, of course, that they can be kept as busy as
in the crop-making season, but there can be found something for them
to do most winter days.
There is land to plow, for example—not all land, and not at all times,
but there should be twice the winter breaking in the South that there
is. There m&y be stumps to pull, too; ditches and terraces to make;
gullies to fill; hauling of many kinds to do; rocks, in some places, to
clear off the fields; certainly manure to haul out on the fields. All
these jobs and dozens of others can give the teams occupation on favor
able days. Then there is one you may not have thought of, for days
when it is too wet to plow—make a drag and drag your road. Oh yes,
it will pay. We are going to have a letter next week from a man who
has tried it.
For yourself and hands, all the jobs we have mentioned are availa
ble; and there may be draining to do; fences to build; grubbing and
clearing to look after; repairs about the buildings to make,—there is
never a shortage of pressing work on the farm!
On days when you cannot get out, you will still find plenty of tasks
in the house, and about the barns. One of these you should by no
means neglect, is to go over the machinery and see that it is all ready
for use. Look after the harness, too; oil and repair it. Use the paint
brush freely on buildings, tools and everything that needs paint. Give
| some time also to looking closely after the livestock. Take good care
f the work-stock, and keep them busy and they will meet the spring
rush in better shape than if they had been allowed to idle all winter.
And on cold days and evenings, you can still be at work. To take
an inventory of the farm, to make a review of the past year’s opera
i_ __ * •
and good farming seldom go together, and you wish of course to do
better farming next year than ever before.
Don’t keep so busy, however, at this or any other season that you
have not each day a little time for rest and recreation and mental devel
opment. It is not a long rest and then a season of rush and strain that
the farmer needs, but every day some work to do and a little playtime.
And work can be done now that will help you get the breathing spells
you will need next summer.
FEATURES OF THIS ISSUE.
ARKANSAS AGRICULTURAL HIGH SCHOOLS—Some Institu
tions Doing a Notable Work for the State. 15 |
$15,000,000 LOSS ON EGG^—That's What It Costs to Keep Use
less Males With the Hens. 14
GROW LEGUMES—They Supply Humus and Nitrogen, the Two
Things Most Needed by Southern Soils . 3
HOW HOG CHOLERA IS SPREAD—Germs Carried by People and
Animals, Not Spread by the Air . 12
LETTERS FROM ONE-HORSE FARMERS—Short Messages From
Men Who Are Making Good.. 5
TAKE AN INVENTORY—Find Out What You Have anil What
Work Pays You Best. . 6
THE BEST NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION — Happiness is Not Ex
ternal, but Comes From Within . . . . g
THE NEXT SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE — How You Can
Help Secure the Right Man. 10
WHY THE FARM DIDN’T PAY — Because the Farmer Didn’t
Know W’hat He Was Doing. g
WRITE LETTERS—Now is the Time to Let Your Legislators
Know What You Need... U