Tumbledown Farm .9 Acres (give or take an acre or two)

CHAPTER XIV

FARM IMPROVEMENTS

111. Farms Not Highly Improved.

Few farms in America are improved or developed to their highest producing capacity. On the open prairies, land is comparatively easily subdued and little waste land is encountered. Frequently, however, a stony ridge, a clump of bushes or small trees, a dry run, a slough, or piece of wet land will break the regularity of the fields and interrupt the easy tilling of the land. In forest regions the wet lands frequently are found and as a consequence the cleared fields are often irregular in shape and difficult to work. Where land is cheap such portions may be omitted from the area farmed, without great loss, but as land values increase and tillable areas become scarce, these waste spots should be subdued as a matter of convenience and economy in working the fields. Land clearing and drainage, stone picking, fence building, road making, and the water supply are regarded as land improvements and become part of the real estate. In many cases the value of the improvements to the land cost more than the land itself. Timber land can be bought in the North for $5 to $30 per acre. It will cost to clear it, $10 to $40 or more an acre. Only when land becomes scarce is clearing wise. Likewise, when land is cheap great sums cannot be profitably invested in draining or clearing it, if other cheap land can be had that does not need these improvements.

112. Land Clearing.

One must not be misled in the matter of clearing the land. Brush and small trees of the hardwood varieties can be quite easily removed. The expense seldom exceeds $15 to $20 an acre unless the land is rough and stony, in which case it is unwise to clear it. The timber crop is one of the most valuable that can be grown on such land. Timber

153

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land of good quality that can be purchased for $5 to $25 and cleared for $10 to $20 more an acre, must be compared in value with cleared land in other localities or in the immediate region. If cleared land of equal value can be purchased for $20 to $50 an acre, it is more profitable to buy that than timber land at $15 an acre for which $25 additional must be expended in clearing. The cleared land will have the advantage also of being ready for immediate cropping, while time will be required to clear and subdue the timber land before crops can be raised. Timber land bought at $15 that costs $25 to clear, is in reality $40 land, even though the purchaser may clear it with his own labor. In some localities the wood or timber will pay part or all of the cost of clearing. In other localities it is not salable. It is best

[Fig. 59.--It requires much labor to clear timber land and prepare it for cultivation.]
not to consider the timber on a piece of land as an asset until you know the market value and whether or not there is any sale for it.

Methods of clearing land differ widely. On brush land or on land where light timber is growing, clearing can be done with but little equipment and at a small cost. Mowing the brush with a brush scythe in August, cutting off the small trees close to the ground and the larger ones two or three feet high, removing the wood and burning the brush are the preliminary steps. Pulling the stumps with a stump puller or blowing out the larger ones with dynamite is the customary way of finishing the problem. The expense will depend upon the amount of brush and stumps to be removed. Land that is heavily timbered presents a much more difficult task. Pine land is harder

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to clear than hardwood land as the stumps are preserved by the pitch and resin contained, and rot out more slowly. The roots of the trees are larger also and more difficult to remove. Land that has been heavily coverd with pine will cost $30 to $60 or more to clear, even though it has been cut over for a number of years. Two to four years will be required after clearing also to work the roots out of the land and to bring it

[Fig. 60.--Cleaning land of stumps by use of dynamite.]

into good producing condition. the usual method of clearing such land includes brushing out the land, logging if any saw timber remains, and in blowing out and shattering the stumps with dynamite or virite. The roots of the shattered stumps are pulled by horses or stump pullers, piled and burned. Stone picking when necessary, adds greatly to the cost of clearing. The purchase price of the land and the cost of clearing should be combined in comparing the cost of the land with the value of cleared land in the vicinity.

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Where irregular portions of the farm are covered with wood or brush, it is often best to clear and subdue them though the cost may be high. The advantage of regular shaped fields, of a good crop rotation, and of easy access to farmstead and fields will in most cases warrant the expense of making the improvements. Clearing on pieces of brush land or timber land that are not immediately needed for crops can be greatly simplified by mowing the brush, taking out dead trees, and sowing to grass, using it for sheep or cattle pasture for a few

[Fig. 61.--Clearing light timber land by the use of a team and pulleys.]
years. On cut-over land this method has been used very profitably. The tramping of the cattle firms the land and helps to decay the roots of the stumps. The hardwood stumps under such treatment, will frequently rot sufficiently in a few years so that they can easily be pulled with a stump puller or team. This is the least expensive and most desirable way of starting the subjugation of cut-over lands.

113. Drainage.

Land cannot produce large crops unless the proper moisture conditions are provided. Much of the rolling land of the prairie regions is naturally well drained and

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needs only to be well plowed and tilled to produce abundantly. The more level areas are greatly benefited by drainage. Either open ditches or tile drains may be used as outlets, depending upon the amount of water to be carried, and the cost of installing the drain.

For the arable fields, tile drains are most economical as they are under ground and do not interfere with laying out the fields in regular shapes. They can be worked over in tilling the fields. Open ditches must be crossed or worked around. In crossing them they are likely to be fled up and in going around them time is lost which adds to the expense of working the land. An open ditch in the center of the field doubles the number of turns


[Fig. 62.--Plan of farm showing waste land and irregular fields before draining.]

that must be made in working the field. The cost of working the land is increased from 18 to 25 per cent. Some loss of crop is sure to occur also along the banks of the ditch and some will be tramped down by the teams in turning. A tile drain will

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carry off the water as well as the open ditch and will not cause any loss of time or crop. There are tracts of a few acres on many farms that are so wet that they do not produce full crops except in very dry years. Such tracts can often be made highly productive by tile draining. Where the drainage does not cost more than $10 to $20 an acre, the reclamation of wet land is often one of the best investments that can be made. The cost of draining a tract of two acres of land in a corn field that is too wet to grow corn may be paid for in a very few crops. If the corn is yielding 45 bushels an acre and worth 40 cents a


[Fig. 63.--A crop of corn grown on land that a year before was too wet to crop. Tiling made the difference.]

bushel, the annual value of the crop is $18 an acre. The crop from the land would pay interest on an investment of $300, assuming that the labor of raising the crop is no more than was required in turning and working around the wet tract. If there is no loss from this source, the cost of raising the crop of corn, $10.40, deducted from the value of the crop would still leave a profit of $7.60, on the investment, or 6 per cent on $126.66. It would therefore pay to drain the two-acre tract even at so high a cost.

Aside from convenience in working, the drainage of land pays in many instances through the greater variety of crops

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that can be grown on the land and because of increased production. Thorough drainage provides better conditions for bacterial life, which is essential in elaborating plant food, and results in a more thorough penetration of air. A well drained soil is sweeter and freer from plant disease than one that is poorly drained. Production from the farm in most instances will be sufficiently increased to pay the cost of draining.

Where a tile drain is decided upon it is best to have the levels taken over the proposed route and the grade line established. This will best be done by competent engineers who understand the principles of drainage. Where only a slough is to be drained or a comparatively simple system put in, the farm manager himself may be able to determine the grade with a carpenter's level mounted on a frame, or with some other simple mechanical device. to work well the tile must have the proper fall and be laid on an even grade. Otherwise there will be trouble from dirt settling in the low places causing the tile to fill up. Where laid close to a row of willows or other trees, there is danger of the roots following the tile and filling them. Alfalfa and other deep rooted crops may also cause trouble of this kind. Tile is laid anywhere from 2 to 5 or 6 feet in depth, depending on the nature of the soil and the outlet that can be obtained.*

114. Fencing.

The fence problem demands the attention of the farm manager also. In early times fences were required to mark off the boundaries, to afford seclusion, and to exclude live stock. Farmers are now required to fence in their stock where formerly it was allowed to run at large. The question of fencing the farm, therefore, becomes an individual problem, depending on the kind of land and live stock the farmer desires to keep. Fence lines must, of course, follow the lines of the fields. The rotation followed affects the problem, and the shape of the fields will determine the amount of fencing.

*For a treatise on land drainage, see "Practical Farm Drainage," by Chas. G. Elliott.
[Ed. or Practical Farm Drainage]

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Square fields call for the least amount of fencing per acre. A square forty-acre field will be eighty rods on each side. Three-hundred twenty rods of fencing will be required to enclose it. A 40-acre field, 40 rods wide and 160 rods long would require 400 rods of fencing. Such a field however, is tilled at less expense than the square field. If the land is to be used largely for pasture, a square field is best. If it is to be used for cultivated crops in rows one way, the rectangular form is best. The farmer must decide whether the cost of working the land or the expense of building the fence is of greatest importance. A balance must be made between the saving in fence building and the convenience of working the fields.

The value of fences is returned in numerous ways. They are erected mainly in order to lessen the labor in caring for stock. By lessening the labor, live stock may be kept more cheaply. A farm that is fenced will permit the use of all of the fields for pasture when crops are not growing on them. The aftermath in the meadows, the volunteer grain in the stubble fields, and the catch or cover crops may thus be con­verted into marketable products without any unnecessary labor. Good fences increase the value of a farm, as the fences are a part of the real estate and go with it if sold. The chief value of fences lies perhaps in the greater adaptation of the fields to rotation, thus bringing and distributing the manure or droppings from live stock onto all portions of the farm. The production from the whole farm is usually greater when so handled. A well fenced farm will be freer from weeds than one that is not, because live stock aids in destroying them. Sheep are especially useful in cleaning up weeds on the farm.

There are objections to fences as well as advantages in them. Fence lines are hard to work. Often they harbor weeds unless live stock is allowed to crop them down. The fence line obstruct the free operations of the teams. Often grain or hay is left along the fence and weeds may accumulate and spread to other parts of the field. Fences are expensive to maintain

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and certain classes of fences are dangerous to live stock. Barbed wire is especially bad for horses. Wire cuts are in common evidence where horses are confined in pastures enclosed in barbed wire fence.

Fences are commonly built of the following materials: (1) board; (2) barbed wire; (3) woven wire; (4) combinations of woven and barbed wire. Wood, steel, and cement posts are used. Board fences are short lived and expensive. They are hard to keep in repair and except around barnyards or the farmstead where they are desired for shelter or ornament, they should not be erected. Barbed wire fence has the advantage of being cheap and is efficient for certain classes of live stock. It is dangerous, however, and disagreeable to handle. It should not be used except for cattle pasture or in combination with woven wire for hogs and sheep. A good barbed wire fence of three strands, one post per rod, can be built for 25 to 35 cents per rod. The life of such a fence will be about twelve years, so that the annual cost per rod would be 2 to 2.6 cents, exclusive of repairs. This probably would not add more than .5 cents, so that a barbed wire fence can be erected and main­tained at an annual cost of about 3 cents per rod. Such a fence is suitable for cattle only. A combination fence of 26-inch woven wire ribbon with a single strand of barbed wire above, is very satisfactory for cattle, sheep, and hogs, and can be erected for about 45 to 60 cents per rod, depending upon the locality. The life of such a fence would be twelve to fifteen years. The cost of maintenance would be about the same as for the barbed wire fence. The annual cost, therefore, would be 3 to 4 cents per rod.

Woven wire fence, 48 to 60 inches in height, is the best all around fence for any kind of live stock. The only objection that can be made to it is the cost of building. A ribbon 48 inches high would cost 40 to 50 cents; A ribbon 60 inches high will cost 50 cents to $1.00 per rod, depending upon the weight of the wire used. The life of such a fence would be twelve to

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fifteen years. The annual cost, including the interest on the investment at 6 per cent, repairs at 1/4 cent per rod, and depre­ciation at 5 per cent, would amount to 5 to 10 cents per rod.

115. Roads.

The public roads surrounding the farm and the farm roads themselves, should be looked upon as a farm asset. A large amount of farm produce must be hauled to market and other products must be hauled from the farm to the farmstead, and the manure must be returned from the farmstead to the fields. Economy in getting the produce from the fields to the farmstead and from the farmstead to town is determined to quite an extent by the size of the loads that can be hauled. Good roads to town or market are easily possible in a progressive community. The farm roads, how­ever, must be built by the individual farm owner. It is not always possible to have good roads leading to all the fields. The lanes through which connections are made with the main fields, however, can be graded up and made sufficiently compact so that large loads can be hauled over them the greater part of the year. A day or two expended annually in putting the roads on the farm in good condition, will often save much loss of time. Five minutes saved on each trip to the field throughout the year will much more than offset the time spent in putting the road in repair. Aside from lessening the work on the farm, good roads in the community add to the value of a farm.

116. Water Supply.

A good water supply is an important factor. The kind of supply that can be had is determined by the natural advantages. Springs, creeks, or running water of some sort may be had on some farms. Ordinarily, however, farmers must depend upon dug or drilled wells in connection with the farmstead. It pays to give careful consideration to the location of the well and to the matter of piping the water to the buildings at which it is likely to be used. Much time of the men is wasted in carrying water to the live stock or in driving the stock to a watering place. The women are also

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required to carry water for house use which could quite easily and for much less expense, be piped directly to the house. A windmill affords the cheapest power for pumping water from a drilled well. If it can be supported by a 200 or 300-barrel cistern or reservoir, located high enough to permit water to flow by gravity to the buildings, it is as reliable a water supply as can well be had. A one or two-horse power gasoline engine is often used to supplement the windmill on days when the wind does not blow. It may even be made to take the place of the windmill entirely and serve the additional use of grinding the feed, churning or separating the milk.

117. Farm Buildings.

Good buildings add greatly to the comfort of farming. They also add to the selling value of the farm upon which they are erected. It is easily possible to over-capitalize in buildings and make it difficult to realize a direct profit on the money invested, but when one considers the saving in labor that may be made through well arranged buildings, the greater production from animals well housed, the increased selling value and the personal satisfaction in a farm well equipped, at least a fairly large investment in build­ings would seem to be warranted. As a matter of caution, however, it is well to make the land improvements and insure good crop production before extensive building investments are undertaken. Comfortable barns, proportionate in size to the stock to be housed, suitable outbuildings and convenient yard arrangements are among the necessities of a well managed farm. Electric lighting systems, gasoline engines, grain elevators, litter carriers, and feedcarts, where large amounts of stock are kept, aid materially in cutting down the manual labor of operating the farm and should be provided for as soon as the financial condition of the farmer will allow. Frequently it will be economy to borrow money for some of these conven­iences. If one carefully determines the need for each building erected and calculates the use and the returns that may be had from it, there need be no idle capital tied up in the business.

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118. The Farm House.

The farm house is usually counted as one of the farm buildings, because it must house the farm help. It also houses the farmer's family and in this way becomes a personal expense. The farmer is entitled to just as good a house as the banker or merchant if he can afford it, but it is hardly fair to the business of farming to charge the farm for the whole investment, give the farmer his living from the produce of the farm and then complain that farming does not pay. The farm house should be modern, comfortable and ade­quate for the needs of the farmer's family. It should contain bath rooms for the family and also for the hired help. Laundry, running water and electric or gas lights are convenient and desirable. Good ventilation and light, sunny rooms are essen­tial to health and may save doctor bills. And even the archi­tectural feature should not be overlooked.

In balancing the accounts, however, at the end of the year, the items which have been purely for family comfort should be separated from the others and charged as personal. Were this custom followed farming could more easily be compared with banking.

EXERCISES FOR PUPILS

1. Learn the price of posts and barbed wire in the vicinity. Calculate the cost of material for a four-strand barbed wire fence with posts one rod apart. Determine also if possible, or estimate the amount, and cost of labor to erect the fence. This will give the first cost of the fence. From this data calculate the cost per acre for enclosing the land. A fence of this kind will last about 12 years. Allow 5% for repairs and depreciation and determine the annual cost of fencing per acre.

PROBLEMS

1. A man purchased 9 acres of uncleared land at $15.00 an acre. He paid $64.20 for the labor of clearing and $141.40 for explosives. Similar land cleared produced 50 bu. of corn an acre. The land newly cleared produced 2/3 of a crop the first year; 3/4 of a crop the second year, and a normal crop the third year. Disregarding interest on money invested,

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how much an acre could the man have paid for cleared land and still have had the same cash balance at the end of the second year? Corn sold for 50¢ a bushel.

2. A field 40 by 80 rods is to be drained with 4-inch tile laid 3 feet deep and 4 rods apart. Tile costs $18.00 a thousand feet; trenching and laying can be done for 35¢ a rod, and filling the ditch will cost 3¢ a rod. How many rods of tile will it take to drain the field? What will be the total cost? What is the cost an acre?

3. What will be the number of rods of fence required for a square field and for a field 80 rods long if each contains 20 acres? What will be the cost of fencing each at 50¢ a rod?

4. A barbed wire fence can be erected and maintained at an annual cost of 3¢ a rod. What should a month's pasture be worth in a field 40 by 80 rods to pay for such a fence, if the field is pastured every third year?

5. It requires 2 hours' time to pump water by hand each day on a certain farm at 14¢ per hour. How long would it take to pay for a gasoline engine costing $62.00? The gasoline cost is 10¢ for each day the engine is used.

6. Eighty acres of uncleared land can be purchased for $1000.00. It will cost $3.00 an acre to cut the brush. Five cords of wood per acre can be cut at a cost of $1.25 a cord. The wood will sell on the land at $2.50 a cord. It requires $400.00 worth of explosives to blow out the stumps, $10.00 an acre to pile and burn the brush and stumps, and $3.00 an acre to break the land. What is the cost an acre for the land when cleared and ready to crop?

7. A 120-acre farm is to be tile drained. The table shows the size of the tile needed and the cost per thousand feet delivered at the railway station.

Size of Tile	Number Feet Required	Cost per 1000 Feet
12 inches	800	$107.00
10 inches	2700	88.50
8 inches	1100	52.50
6 inches	400	32.50
5 inches	2000	24.00
4 inches	3000	18.00

It will cost $60.00 to unload the tile and pile along the line of ditch. What is the cost an acre for the tile ready to lay?

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8. The price for trenching and laying the tile on the farm described in Problem 7 is as follows:
12-inch tile, 25¢ a rod for each foot in depth, to 4 feet
10-inch tile, 25¢ a rod for each foot in depth, to 5 feet
8-inch tile, 20¢ a rod for each foot in depth, to 4 feet
6-inch tile, 15¢ a rod for each foot in depth, to 4 1/2 feet
4-5-inch tile, 14¢ a rod for each foot in depth, to 4 1/2 feet

The 12-inch tile is laid 3 feet deep; the 10-inch tile, 4 feet; the 8-inch tile, 4 feet, and the 6, 5, and 4-inch tile, 3 feet. It costs 3¢ a rod to fill the trench with a team and plow. What is the cost per acre for the trenching and filling? What is the cost per acre of the tile drain complete?

REFERENCES

Farm Management.--W. M. Hays, pages 117-233.
Minnesota Experiment Station Bulletin No. 104, pages 89-95.
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin No. 187.