Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / April 15, 1909, edition 1 / Page 2
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I THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER. Thursday. April 1 $500 More a Year Farmieg : How fco Make m m mm .Hi' m 'I' 1 3 J XV. By Raising Your Own Horses and Mules and a Few to Sell. HE FACT that we do not raise our own J horses and mules has an important and di M x rect bearing on our agricultural produc ;ion, both as affecting its quality and cost. It is not merely to save a part of the money paid out for the mules we are each year compelled to buy, nor for the profits that would come from raising a few horses and mules to sell, that we in sist on the absolute necessity of raising our farm work stock; but because the question is of funda mental importance in determining the amount and cost of our agricultural products. The amount of our products per agricultural worker will be in creased and their cost decreased in direct propor tion as we increase the number of horses and mules used. If any reader wishes to convince himself of the fact that the number of horses used is a direct and accurate index of the earnings of the farm worker, let him take the last Census Report and compare these three classes of facts for each State: (1) The number of farm workers.. (2) The number of horses and mules. (3) The earn ings of each farm worker. The relationship which he will find invariably present, is not a. coincidence, but is simply cause and effect. A careful and comprehensive study of the whole- question of the relation of farm work block to agricultural production reveals the fact that not only the past history of agriculture, but also present facts give unmistakable assurance of the accuracy of' the following statements: i l ) We must double or treble the number of our farm work animals and increase their indi vidual efficiency before we can raise the earnings of the average farm worker to anything near the maximum. We have about one-fourth as many horses and mules and earn less than one-fourth as much money as some other farming people. (2) Xo farming country ever had sufficient farm work stock for economical production that bought it. We buy ours and have on an average .77 of a horse to each farm worker, whereas we should have at least 3. (3) Xo farming country ever bred sufficient farm work stock to supply its need that bought feed on which to raise that work stock. We are buyers not sellers of feed stuffs. In other words, there are, among many others, two inseparable problems which we must solve in order to get that "$500 More a Year Farming" for the average farm worker; the breeding of our farm work stock and the production and intelli gent use of feeds for live stock. We Need Heavier Work Stock. S LONG as' the negro is largely me iarm .laborer of this suction the mule will be a nonular and well nigh indispensable farm work animal; for he-not only fits well our condi tions, but is also an animal of moderate efficiency at comparatively low cost. The mule has, there fore, won and will probably maintain a perma nent place in our agriculture, and since mules cannot be had without .horses, the question may be 'promptly settled that both horses and mules shall be used as farm work stock. The next problem is, What sort of horses and mules do we need for farm work? Any one who has kept in close touch with market conditions during the last fifteen years has not failed to ob serve the gradual and certain tendency towards According to the last census each farmer In the NORTH Atlantic States earned $984 a year, and each farmer in the SOUTH Atlantic States only $484 or ex actly; $500 a year less for the average farmer In The Progressive Farmer's territory than for his brother farmer just north of him. The object of these articles Is to set forth the plans by which we may bring up our Southern farming to Northern profits, the next four articles in this series being as follows : April 22. By Keeping More Stock to Clraze Tdle Lands. April 2J. My Feeding the Products of the Farm to Live ' ' Stock. May 6. liy Learning the Difference Between Scrub and ( lood Stock. May .-13. By Ijearnine How to Make a Balanced Ration. heavier farm work stock in the South. There are more 1,100-pound mules now sold for farm work than ever before, and there are more 1,200-pound mules sold now than there were 1,100-pound mules ten to fifteen years ago. When human labor was abundant the hoe and the other small implements were used. With light, narrow-working implements speed was a prime necessity if the mule was to do sufficient work; but when cultural and labor conditions changed so as to necessitate' larger and heavier imple ments in order to do more work and thereby economize human labor, increased weight, rather than speed, became the most important factor in determining the usefulness of a mule for farm work. The markets have responded to these con ditions, for to-day anywhere in the South 1,200- pound mules bring from $50 to $75 more per head J superior than do 900- to 1,000-pound mules. If we are to do farm work most economically, and raise high-priced mules weighing from 1,100 This Week's Guide Post to "$500 More a Year." IEFORE we, the farmers of the South, can. raise pur average earnings to anything like they should be, we must double or treble the number of our farm work stock. The only way for us to get this work stock is to raise it, since no farming coun try which depended on buying its work stock ever had enough for economical pro duction. There is nothing in our soil, water or climate to prevent ns from growing mules of the best quality and of the highest mar ket price. To grow such mules, however, we must have good 1,300- to 1,4 00-pound mares and 1,000- to 1,050-pound jacks of good quality. Then We must feed property, us ing the legumes to balance our corn, fod der, and grass. The direct profits from raising horses and mules will help us on toward our "$."00 More a Year," but a greater profit will come from securing in this way sufficient work stock for economical crop production. 1,000 pundsj will not produce a l.nuu-pu. mule, lh fact, with our methods of feeding ' ' a cross will usually produce about a l.oou"' J miile. We must, therefore, have larger mar we are tp projduce these 1,200-pound mule , get these mares there are two methods op us; we tay ""j mares weigning from 1,2' 1,400 pojunds;j or we may breed them. The method has the advantage of being quicker, the second mdy be otherwise equally satistaC and has Ihe strong point in its favor of requi a smaller investment to start with. If mart- jm to be purchased, we strongly advise the puiv of maresj having an infusion of draft blood, Jij of the draft s breeds, our preference for 'i;,.,;,. have demonstrated that grade Percheron n to the', grades of the other draft for mule production. This is probably bec;p the fact; that the Percheron is the smallest draft breeds imd consequently usually of b- ' :ry nr quality, are also The J clean, hard legs of the Percla hnother strong point in their superi: To To purch breed "t ait foil the bleedijig of first-class mules. If mares Of sufficient size to produce la high-priced mules are ever to be had by the So ern farmer, . hb will probably have to breed th m use such mares would cost too mwrh these mares it will also probabh necessary to use the small mares now hero their mothers; If this be done it is again aj j ent that the sires must be of the draft breeds. 9 to 1.300 pounds each, we must have mares weigh ing from 1,250 to l',400 pounds. It is not claimed that a 1,200-pound mule is as fast as a 1,000-pound animal, nor that a 1,300 pbund mare is as good a roadster as a 1,050 pound horse; but the work of the. farm horse is chieily at the walk, and the horse that will do the most at that gait is, therefore, the one needed for farm work. j '- - How to Breed Heavier Work Stock. O produce mules of good quality weighing 1,200 poundsj will require 1,300- to 1,400 poundmaresand 1,000-to 1,050-pound jacks in addition, liberal and intelligent feeding. In the past we have too often sought to increase the size of our mules by the use of extra large jacks. These extra large jacks are almost certain to lack quality; A good foot and leg are essential to a good mule, and he inherits these largely from his sire; therefore, since a large jack is almost certain to be weak in these points he transmits these weaknesses to his progeny. A weight of 1,100-pounds is about the extreme limit in jacks of good quality, and is, therefore, rarely seen. It is much easier to purchase a jack of good quality weighing 1,000 pounds, but a 1,000-pound jack, or even a 1,100-pound jack, crossed on our small mares weighing from 900 to and. to is Aue use uijurait siaiuons ior Dreeaing on on native mjares:j wrould not only produce a class oi mares tljat rould give sufficient size to th ir mule colts, but it would improve immeasurably the valu of oiir farm work horses. For crossing on our native mares we would again select the Percheron as unquestionably the best of tfie draft breeds for this purpose. We do not needstalfions weighing more than from l,yio 1,600 pounds to breed on our native stock. It always easier to get the best quality in the -. n 1 I tiL-. ' li il 1 1 1 . omaiiei miemuei& ui tue icirg orueus, tnereiort, stallions of this weight of the very best quality may be bought because too small for use where high-priced draft horses are bred. On pae 3; of this issue is presented an illus tration rnadetfrom a photograph of a Percheron stfjllion of this type. . If he had weighed a ton wih his quality and conformation he would hav sold for $3,0)0,or- $4,000. but since he weigh"-! oniy 1,C(I() pouifds, he was bought for $1,000. lb is a goodpspecinien of the type of stallion nee !.'1 to breed on Our native mares for the purpose (i improving our farm work horses and the raisinu'. of iiiiaresl for !bmle breedincr. Why We Must Have More Horses. m E AItl WELL aware that in our territory the mule is generally regarded, and prob ably is, the most satisfactory farm ' w'rk animal henj the driver is a negro, especial!: a the ownr ddes not directly supervise the farm Work; but the mule does not reproduce, and we must either continue to buy our farm work stock, which also means an insufficient supply for eco nomical farm production, or we must keep suffici ent horses to produce the mules required. The saying on the purchases now made, or the pv- .it.-; on the breeding of good mules, or the greater profits oi the crops resulting from cheaper pro duction throiigh the use of better and more farm work stock, will either one compensate for an inconvenence this may cause. With broner management, nil thr? farm stock may be horses, even though the driver. negroes, landilwe are not sure that the mule ; w 1 1 rk any sense formance! of the superior of the horse in th' ; - economical farm work. He stand abise and hardships better, but, as we have stated before!' that is not what live stock is ;! for, sue and i, no when farm work stock is subject Imatter whether horses or mules be it is a loingbusiness. If twos mules are needed, three mares v:; as much ivork and raise two colts. If three a. The Beginning of Wisdom in Farming is a Two-Horse Plow
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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April 15, 1909, edition 1
2
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