COMMENTS FROM WEBSITE QUESTIONS

RE: Best Places to Farm
Hello, As far as best places to farm, I'd have to vote for right here in Wayne County, Ohio and the counties south and west, although I'm not writing to brag up our area, but more to ask a question that I can't resolve in my own mind. I have paternal relatives in Cattaraugus County, New York, which is near the western border and only about 3.5 hours from here. It's quite rural and has good medium-textured, to coarse soils with a lot of gravel quarries in the area. I'd swap dirt with my cousins farms immediately, if that was possible, yet their land prices are about 10% of ours. Whole farms of 160 acres, or better, go for $300-$400 an acre. The very best land reportedly goes for $800. The prices they get seem to be comparable to ours for their goods, yet farmers seem to be leaving at an alarming rate. I've got lots of theories, such as too many democrats in power, which brings high taxes that stunt initiative. Maybe a little more winter and less sunshine than we enjoy here or perhaps even a different breed of people, but all in all, the area seems like a gold mine to me. Land that close to Buffalo can't stay so cheap for another 20 years. They don't make land anymore and I will always believe it's the best investment you could ask for. So while appearances wouldn't make Cattaraugus County, NY the equal of Lancaster, PA, I gotta think it's one of the best deals in the country, even if I can't figure out why no one seems to agree with me...I guess only time will tell. Paul Zollinger

RE: Organic Standards
Howdy,
This farm is OEFFA (Ohio Ecological Food and Farms Assoc.) and OCIA (Organic Crop Improvement Assoc.) certified and I, for one, am very happy about the new NOP standards. I think they were a long time in coming (Speaking historically and not from my own experience) and I think the end result is very satisfactory.
Jumping through the hoops to become "certified organic" IS tiresome and costly, BUT it is well worth it, at least here and for now. In my opinion, the new rules are stricter and that's real good news, as it keeps mega-farms out of the game for a little while. If you don't like the rules of the game don't play along. It's a free and great country. Call your product anything you want: "all natural", "nature's way", whatever, but keep in mind - there has to be some standard and rules to go with it and there's no way everyone's going to agree and/or be happy about it.
I'd like to close by reporting that I averaged about $4.60 a bushel this year on my corn sold as OEFFA organic. My conventionally grown corn, left over from 1999, brought me about $1.70, sold during the same time period. These are all honest figures, with no intent to misrepresent. These numbers are possible because I played by the rules and because we have a system, while not perfect, that is still a very good one and a valuable tool for a small farmer near the proper markets. Best to all, Paul Zollinger Sterling, OH OEFFA #760 OCIA #17928

RE: straight vs. jointed snaffles
There are two areas to cover when discussing bits; one is the comfort of the bit at rest (or when line pressure is lessened as a reward ), two the effectiveness of the bit when pressure is applied to the lines. In general I think that staight snaffles are more severe of a bit than jointed snaffles. Jointed snaffles are more comfortable when hanging in the mouth with slack lines. Straight bars put more pressure on the corners of a horse's mouth, bars and tounge, even when there is no pressure on the lines, the bit can create and higher degree of discomfort for an equine. A jointed bit puts less pressure on the bars of the mouth and the tounge. even a severe jointed mouth piece can have a higher degree of comfort with slack lines than a straight snaffle. During the use of a bit for control, when pressure is applied to the lines, straight and jointed snaffles can have varied effects. Straight snaffles tend to have more stopping power than an ordinary jointed snaffle. How ever there are jointed snaffles that have a high degree of severity. The single or double twisted wire snaffle, the wedge shaped snaffle, corkscrew snaffle and the twisted snaffle all offer comfort at rest, but deliver a good deal of stopping power when needed. Jointed snaffles can also be the mildest of bits. the more joints in a snaffle the more it conforms to the shape of an equines mouth, therefore the lower the degree of discomfot. A french link or french mouth snaffle is a good choice for the starting of young stock, it is smooth and round and has two joints in the mouth piece. Also the smooth side of a mule bit is technically a multi-jointed snaffle, it takes the shape of the mouth nicely and offers a more severe alternative on the rough side. Over-all both bits have there advantages and disadvantages, the straight is the least comfortable and rewarding at rest and the jointed is more comfortable and comes in a variety of styles that make them more severe or milder. My bit collection is rather large because I like to find the right bit for the job. If one is too harsh or mild, I always have another type of bit to turn too. Often at auctions I pick up cheap bits that I may not need at the time, but may be agood option in the future. I like to start with mild bits and try to teach my animals well so that they can be usedwith the least amount of bit in there mouth, but ineviatbly there is always a horse or two that need the biggest piece of metal you own just to slow them down. My name is Erika Marczak, I am currently a substatute teacher looking for a better job, and I am a 4-H leader in Schenectady County, NY. I attended SUNY Morrisville for two years where I trained various draft horses and a mule, and competed on both the stockseat and huntseat riding teams. Then I attended Cornell Univ. where I played polo for two years, worked at the equine quarintine station and trained Haflingers at a private farm. I hope you are able to use some of my two cents. Eric Marczak

RE: Crossbred Draft Horses
Small Farmer's Journal:
From my research over the last several decades I've found that crossbred draft horses were the mainstay of farming in American history, especially here in the west. A poor farmer couldn't afford to keep a bevy of registered, purebred (and likely imported) draft horses but he might be able to take his mares, often gathered from the wild herds of the west, to the neighbor's stallion for a $2 or $5 fee. Eastern Oregon became well known for its "Oregon Lummox" which were the result of range mares bred to Clydesdales. The Idaho country was known for the "Percheron Puddin' Foots"--the result of range mares bred to Percheron stallions. These "chunk" horses were well known throughout the country. They often brought most respectable prices at the big horse sales of the east. I quote from the Cultivator & Country Gentleman (1887) "Last season Mr. Robert Ford of Salem, and Frazer, his partner, fill two contracts for heavy draft horses, one to go to Leadville, Colorado, and another for Puget Sound. These were to be without a blemish, to weigh over 1,300 pound each, and average 1,400 pounds, and to be low built, with heavy bodies. They received for them $450 a span, and actually paid $500 for one span to bring up the average. These horses were not easily procured, as they scoured the Willamette counties to get them." The C&CG goes on to say "In purchasing such horses, Ford says, they found an average of three Percherons, or French draft horses to one Clydesdale or English horse, and the supply of heavy draft stocks includes these two classes or breeds. A well-bred grade of either of these distinguished families affords a much better and hardier work animal than the thoroughbred itself, and we get a good half-blood by breeding our large common mares to thoroughbred sires" [meaning purebred drafts, not galloping race horses]. In 1892 according to the Breeder's Gazette, Chunk horses were selling for $100 to $130 for approximately a 1200 lb. horse. That was a high price considering purebred draft horses were selling at the same time for $160 to $240. The last useful historical reference I could find to crossbred "Chunk" draft types was in Margaret Cabell Self's book Horses:Their Selection, Care and Handling, in 1943, where she pictured a nice pair of pinto "Heavy Western Chunks".
I became a crossbred convert the first time I saw a purebred Haflinger horse (just happened to be at the Small Farmer's Journal Draft Horse and Equipment auction). All I could think about is how the Haflinger would cross on a mustang. I now have two in my barn; a two year old colt, Mica Mist, that is out of a Barb-type palomino Nevada Mustang (Sundust Dolly) and sired by the beautiful Golden Slippers Haflinger, Meiko. I also have a three year old filly, Nighthawk Echo, that was bred by the living legend John Sharp. She is out of his BLM demonstration mare, the Warm Springs palomino, Mitzi, and sired by Joyce Sharp's good Haflinger stallion, Aladdin. I wish I had five more just like them! They are stout without being dumpy, wiry, intelligent, mellow and as charming as horses can be. They are also short (will mature around 14:1) and are the perfect little draft horses for our golden years. If that's not enough, folks have referred to them as "breath-taking", "striking", and "classy". I believe there's a lot to be said for hybrid-vigor, especially when you take the relatively pure genetics of the draft horse, large or small, and cross them with a naturally selected tough breed-type like the Mustang or any breed for that matter. I've cast aside the registration papers and have taken up the cause of draft horse crossbreds to pull my covered wagon. I couldn't be more thrilled. Gale Emmons Round Lake Buggy Works Nighthawk Ranch Klamath Falls, OR My other sources not named were: Mustang by Anthony Amaral America's Last Wild Horses by Hope Ryden Horses in Harness by Fox

RE: Old verses new equipment
First of all I think that the real questions need to be answered first. What are you going to do with these animals and these items of equipment? Alot of plowing commands the act of getting a good old plow and spare parts, or contacing one of the remaining plow makers and getting a new plow. Older equipment that needs repairs can be a mental challange as well as a physical liability. Can you make repairs, i.e. are you able to weld cast iron and steel or do you have some one close by that can affect these repairs for you and teach you for the next time. Are you fairly mechanically inclined? To look at an old hay loader or manure spreader cleaned and painted will not be the same item when it is broken. (Proven fact that Manure spreaders do not break down empty and clean). If you are going to purchase something be it new or old take a good look at it before you do to give yourself an idea how the thing is put together and how the pieces are assembled because the repair person that shows up is the same one that greets you in the mirror every morning. Alot of equipment can be found in ok shape in fence rows old barns and farms. Some of the older small tractor equipment, if it is never going to leave your farm, i.e. on the road will work good as well. Our farm is rather strange as farms might go as we actually have equipment ranging from walking plows and cultivators to implements that need a engine driven power cart to make them run. Bottom line is that these tools of the farm dont know what they are hooked to and still function just fine. Blaisdell Library

RE: Bits
Straight bar or snaffle? I'm a recent convert to the French Link Snaffle! Oh, for a bit maker who would custom make driving bits! What I found over my rather long tenure driving horses, its that a broken snaffle will cause some horses to lift their heads or otherwise fight the bit--they pull against it or gap their mouths. I suspect the structure of the jaw and mouth creates a poking of the roof of the mouth by the broken snaffle on some horses (it certainly did poke the roof of my skeleton horse's mouth although I don't know if that's a good test as he's only bones--I call him Napoleon because of his BonyParts). The French-link however, does relieve this poking action and acts mostly on the bars and tongue of the horse rather than the roof of his mouth. I still have a couple of horses in regular broken snaffles but most are going to the French-link snaffle as they seem more comfortable. I have a plethora of straight bar bits but over nearly half-a-century of driving no one seems to respond well to them. It seems to act mostly on the tongue with doesn't impress them much. Something else I've discovered is that there are some horses that aren't safe (particularly for a woman) to drive in a snaffle at all. Men very often don't care if the horse is strong because they are strapping and strong too. For myself I want a horse that's light on the bit and if he wants to take ahold of me too much I'll put him in a little curb bit--I like a mullen-mouthed curb bit for the stronger driving horse because I think the mulled-mouthed bit is the mildest, but just try to find a mullen-mouthed curb bit at all! There's only one source that I know of and they only have the mullen-mouthed Liverpool in Stainless Steel (no brass). But I digress--I vote for the French-link snaffle with the broken snaffle in distant second. Sincerely, Gale Emmons Round Lake Buggy Works Nighthawk Ranch

RE: Organic Standards
The new organic standards make it almost,if not impossible for the small farmer.If you have enough money to become certified will the policing protect you from those who do not abide by the rules? I think these new regulations have set the organic community back and will hurt the sales` of "organic Produce".

RE: Colic and twisted gut
Dear Lynn:
According to some of the letters to the editor of the Journal, there seems to be some confusion about colic and "twisted gut"or twisted intestine. For what it is worth I thought I would write some of my obervations. First, I got to thinking about colic and twisted ntestine some time ago, aqnd thinking about it I realized that ever case of twisted intestine I had ever seen, and there have been quite a few, that the horse had been fed alfalfa instead of grass hay. Alfalfa digests faster, creats more gas and I think that is why colic happens--the intestines can not move it out before it accumulates. I really don't think the horse in its native environment had access to alfalfa, and therefore was not designed to handle it. Sound reasonable? Next, no one knows for sure why intestine gets twisted. I think it is because something irritates a portion of the gut, it moves faster, and catchs up with the part in front of it, finally twisting around the slower portion. People seem to think that walking the horse will help, keep him from rolling that that is what twists the intestine. All they are actually doing is tiring themselves and the horse, that the twist had already occured, and they achieve nothing by walking the horse. Gives them the idea they are doing SOMETHING. Since I have had to quit working with other peoples horses, I have recieved seveal calls for colicy horses. So I tell them to use an old time remedy--a teaspoon full of ginger, a teaspoonful of red (cayenne) pepper in a pint or so of water, and make them drink it. In other words hold their head a little above level and drench them slowly. Everyone has told me "It worked, Doc". Maybe we were just lucky! See you at the sale.
Regards, Doc Mustard

RE: Best place to farm
My brother has been reading your journal for years - he has a small dairy in Michigan and milks jersey's and even does some of his farmwork with his Belgians. He and my husband are thinking of moving and starting a small ranch together. We're really open as to where we would go and were wondering if you could give any tips as to where would be a good place to start a ranch that would accommodate about 100 cow/calf pairs. While we are looking for some good land, we are also hoping to find something reasonably priced - say between $100,000 and $200,000. Any help you could give in this area would be great. Thanks! Shari Ladd

RE: Bits
I am an Animal Science student and I arrived at your site searching for info on sustainable animal production, but was interested in this bit topic because I have ridden a number of large warmbloods dressage and there might be some insight to bit function your readers' might gleam from dressage literature. As for just my own experience, I use a single jointed or a double jointed (french) snaffle with a very small center piece. With dressage we keep constant contact {here your application may be different if you do not have constant contact/feel and a non-jointed may be better, ?} and so we don't aim for the stronger motion action of the joint up in the roof as much, but I like the subtle feel of being able to use one side of the bit on the lips more independently of the other. I also like to use an egg butt joint between the bit and the ring to offer a little more security to a horse that is either plenty sensitive or a young horse who is all over but not necessarily hard in the mouth. I believe dressage suppliers have plenty of snaffle options for atleast 18 + hand animals, maybe more. There is alot written on snaffles with dressage and it might help somebody to look in that direction. From photos I would guess you also want horses to always move forward through their back, etc. Thanks for the info/page

RE: Mad Cow
Lynn:
The only reason we have mad cow - in addition to mad deer and mad sheep (scrapie) - disease is because dairy cows live to a ripe old age. If we let other animals live long enough (and watched them closely enough) we'd have mad pig, mad chicken, mad turkey, etc. The best science says that all chordates (animals with spinal cords) are vulnerable if born with the birth defect that causes it, or if fed the remains of an infected animal. Check out www.mad-cow.org but, be prepared to dig deep.
Tom Davis, Fairfield, CT.

Dear Sirs,
Just a line or two about these devastating diseases over in Europe. I read yesterday in a beef periodical that Germany is planning on banning large 'Corporate' farms there because of the devastating effect that an outbreak like this can have on the country when all the cattle are so concentrated. Perhaps the US should take some lessons on this and act proactively now rather than reactively if such a travesty were to happen here?
Marvin J. Meyer, Meire Grove, MN.

I'm pretty nervous about the whole problem! How are we going to keep it out of our farms? I've heard nothing from our Gov. or Pres. on it.
Susie De Lano
Williams, MN

RE: Bar Bits
Hello, I'm putting in my two cents worth.
I ride and drive a 14.1hh Canadian Horse. He is 1050 lbs so although he is short, he is by no means small and if you know anything about this breed of horse, they are extremely powerful. Initially when I bought him I tried my usual jointed, loose-ring, hollow mouth snaffle thinking I was doing him a favour by being so kind to him, but consistently he would throw his head up and run. A few months into owning what I was starting to call "My Wild Beast" I spoke with an "old timer" who had been driving horses all of his life who gave me a very sound piece of advise; SOME HORSES JUST DO NOT GO IN A JOINTED SNAFFLE. The next day I went to the tack store and bought a D-ring straight snaffle with an even width (i.e. not thicker for the bars) and a slight curve in it for his tongue. We have never looked back. He is now competing at Basic 3 Dressage and winning, and our drives down the road in the country do not turn into mad gallops into the sunset.
From what I understand now, because he has a small mouth (4.5"), the jointed snaffle would rub into his soft pallate when you pulled on the reins, causing him to throw his head up to relieve the pressure; couple this with his lack of training at the time and he would just run to get away from the pain.
Every bit I use with him now is a straight bar bit (if it is metal I always use one with a tongue groove) but his favourite is the Happy Mouth grooved straight. It is warm in winter (with our frigid Canadian winters) and very light; and if you believe the manufacturer, tastes like apples. Louis certainly slobbers well with it in his mouth.
Gwyneth Freeman, Canada

Greetings!
My comments on snaffle vs straight bar bits. Lynn and/or Doc will roll eyes over. My Belgian and I began to test each others patience in his snaffle. I would brace, he would brace against me. I have been raised in the school of "ask, then receive", and am acutely aware that what is happening between us is negating. I switched to a straight bar. I keep my lines buckled high. I was very aware that I needed to stay light. I did, and consequently, he did. Obviously the leverage plays a part. I have gone back to snaffle and basic training to "recapture" that lightness. No way. As soon as it's in, he starts pulling against me, and inevitably, my arms start to react. Being so aware of the sensitivity of the big guy's mouth, it frustrates me to no end that he and I have this challenge. Going to a stronger bit is not something I advocate. I almost always assume that it is I that need to reevaluate my actions. I've put the big guy back into round pen training, trying to reestablish our usually great communication, but the same things keeps happening. Seems like the straight bar for now, is my option, (notice I'm not fool enough to say "only option". Cheers,
Kelly Holbrook, Woodside, CA.

RE: Crossbred Draft Horses
Crossed with what? Riding horses? Donkeys? Other breeds of draft horses? If we find this practice agreeable, at what point have we lost the genetic uniqueness of that particular breed and condemned its genetic heritage to death? I understand that there's a current rage for "spotted draft horses" right now...altho I must confess to not understanding why the rage exists. My concern is that we are being neither concerned enough nor careful enough with our existing breeds and their genetic makeup, and that we are in danger of eventually losing what we have. The question has already been raised regarding the ramifications of the hybridization of crops...I think it would serve us well to give the same consideration to our animals.
Lynne Howe, Lena, Il.

RE: Old vs New
I have farmed and logged with horses for a number of years and there is no end to the adaptations that we have thought, read about, or done here on the farm to make our farm more than a labor of love. I have gone to the point of purchasing the manufacturing rights to a forecart that is like none other I had ever seen before.
My biggest efforts in the learning curve is that the plow and the harrow are blind to the power that makes them move and that many items are adaptable for use behind draft power. Our fuel bill here on the farm last year was $37.84 and we aren't looking forward to the possibilities that this year are going to bring.
J C Boyd, Bullsgap, TN.

I can find very few instances when new equipment is better than used. But I only fix and sell, I do not use, so maybe you do not want my opinion. My main opposition is cost. Why buy a new cultivator for $1100 or more when you can buy a used one for $100? Why buy a new plow for $800 to $3500 when you can buy a used one for $100 to $700. I can go on.
Another consideration is if you are in an area with old equipment and parts are available, it makes economical sense.
What if you are not mechanically inclined? I think even new stuff breaks down and you will have to learn sooner or later.
Norm Macknair
www.macknair.com

RE: Place to Farm
Dear sir,
The subject line caught my interest as I have often pondered the same question. In my youth my classmates and I were in complete agreement that not only was Minnesota "The best place to farm", but our individual farms were better than our friends! After high school, I was pushed more by society than by my parents to earn a college degree and move up and out of the small time town. I had decided that I would become a conservation officer or better known as a Game Warden and that I would have to excel in all I did to enter such a competitive market. So I started my college career by studying biology.
A big school in a big town and more time on my hands than I had ever had on the farm made me restless. I soon learned that I could not last in a college atmosphere, not at this time anyhow. I enlisted into the US Army after my second semester of college. What I thought as a poor choice a short year ago, I was crowing my decision like a sole farmyard rooster in a henhouse. I was really going to get out and experience the world. I justified this action to my folks as a stepping stone of sorts when I would again pursue my dream of becoming a Game Warden.
Basic training taught me many things about life that I thought I already knew; how to tie your boots, make your bed, and sit at the table. It didn't take long before it was very apparent that I was about the greenest recruit in the unit. I could not believe some of the stories the guys told, they had lived lives that I only saw in the movies. Most were either married or already divorced, some married their third time at the ripe age of 22. Many had committed petty offences by today's standards, some already had spent time in prison but we were all together and we were all on the same team.
That all changed after basic training. As a construction engineer we spent alot of our time digging in culverts under tank roads. I stood out of the crowd as a farmboy who would do as he was told and work until the job was finished. I was quickly promoted ahead of the others and I somehow instilled the same attitudes in my men.
I genuinely felt sorry for my buddies. They were, after all, cheated in their upbringing not to have had the opportunity to pull a calf or to feed it from a bottle 20 minutes later, or help their dad milk the herd before eating breakfast and running the 1/2 mile driveway to catch the bus for school. Most of them didn't have a relationship with their father at all. Somewhere between years 1 and 2 I knew that I would need to raise my kids on a farm.
There were several other farm boys in my unit. They were from New York, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. When talking to these guys I would wonder where I should consider settling down when the time would come. The wide open plains, the Appalachian mountains, the Rockies, they all had their own draw to them and I wanted some of each. What I had that the other's didn't was that I came from a very close, and very tight community. One of which nobody but me enlisted into the army voluntarily. This tight family community welcomed me home each time I came back. I would see most of them during our church services on Sunday morning. Most of my classmates were either home from college or working on the farm. It was great to come home, it was the happiest moments of my four years in the army.
Against my superiors' advice to reenlist and make the army a career, I went back to college but this time I was studying production agriculture. After two short quarters of school I had a terrible auto accident that left me with a broken back, leg and pelvis, intestinal damage and a stroke. While lying on that hospital bed, able to move my head and one hand, family, neighbors and friends visited me daily for over two months although I was an hour away. This is when I KNEW that I needed to go home.
I recovered fairly well after 1 1/2 years of hospitalization and rehabilitation but farming as I knew it was no longer a possibility. I then switched gears a little bit and went to a community college to study pre-engineering in hopes to transfer into an agricultural engineer program, which I did. I continued my recovery and by the grace of God I can not only walk again without a walker, cane or even leg braces, I can run. I have since been able to pass the Army Reserve's 2 mile run, of which I am still a member of. I took work in Minneapolis for the sole reason to experience that life first hand. I didn't enjoy it but realized how some people could get caught up in the lifestyle and just bear it. I quit and then worked on some farms in Europe for a summer.
After meeting my wife, we bought my uncle's farm across the road from "home". This farm was the original homestead over 150 years ago and part of the house is as old. I fixed the place up for my new bride and we are setting the foundation to begin farming. I consult from home and will continue to while we enter production agriculture in a sustainable and potentially organic methods. Our two Belgian mares are our newest addition and provide us with much pleasure as we proceed on this journey. I believe some day we will be able to provide for our family solely from our 60 acres and a grass based dairy herd.
I feel that farming should be a part of everyone's life but realize we as society have moved too far for that to happen. But for those fortunate enough to have the willpower to farm, should strongly consider their families and their roots. For me to farm elsewhere would be very much a possibility, but it would have many of the same similarities as me holding down my job in Minneapolis. My community has maintained its heritage pretty well. Some would say that we are ignorant but having seen the other side, ignorance may just be bliss!
MJ Meyer, Meire Grove, MN.

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Farmer's Heart

Shared Goals

Thanks for the courage and caring it took to say what you said. If we who do this journal made you feel 'outside' because of your success I personally apologize. It was never intended. As for the wider Journal community, we have always worked to have the Small Farmer's Journal be an inclusive instrument - a place where all of us felt welcome to speak our minds, with civility. We have frequently published opinions, especially in the letters section, which contain sentiments I personally disagreed with or even found borderline offensive. We believe those thoughts should be here along with yours. We hope you appreciate this policy, this philosophy. We suspect you do. I suspect your observation will create some discussion - and that is as it should be. Thank you very much for sharing. LRM

Winter Wait
Hi Folks,
Though the snow is still 2-3 feet deep in central New York, my husband is anxiously awaiting this book. It will be several weeks before he can put a plow in the soil, but the new book will get him preparing! I ordered it as a late Christmas gift, along with your new audiotapes. We have enjoyed several winter evenings listening to the tapes. Some of Lynn's stories about his earliest experiences with a team should give any newcomer inspiration to try again!
Thanks,
Judy Cary
Cary's Springwater Farm
Canastota, NY

Coddled Codger
I'll keep this short, since I'm sure you have much to do. But here's a few notes for you:
1) Congratulations on your 25th anniversary! Twenty-five years ago, I was a youngster, living in a suburb and fantasizing about how big a "spread" I'd have when I got older. Now, my fiance and I have been on our place for almost exactly one year (tomorrow to the day!). It's small, and has a staggering amount of work to be done, but it's our little place. A small but neat little house, with very fertile land around it. Those who have come and gone before trashed both the house and the property, but we're putting it all back together. More than once we've thought the farm has expressed gratitude that someone has finally come along and started to take care of her again. Call it spirit, call it soul, call it mojo, call it what you will, it's a hard thing to describe. But our farm has welcomed us in so many subtle little ways, we can't help but think she's aware of us somehow.
2) I have been following the heart-felt editorials and responses for some time now. My personal opinion: you're right on track. The only thing I've ever disagreed with is the statement that the SFJ is a small voice with small impact. Lynn, you have more impact than you know. Yours was the first voice I ever heard that said horse farming is still a viable way of getting work done around the farm. Yours was the first voice that said family farms are not only viable, they are necessary to those values we hold most dear. Yours was the voice that encouraged me to keep dreaming and keep working towards farm ownership, when everyone else said I was crazy for rying. And the SFJ is still the place I look first for information about how to proceed with our little farm. For example, just recently I read the article about soiling crops, and that light bulb went off in my head, because that will help us solve a probable pasture shortage once we get stock on the property.
3) I love the idea of the readers picking the slogans to go on the front cover. Mr. DeBismark, whoever/wherever you are, you're a very warped individual but you had a heckuva good idea. My contributions to the slogans: Visualize One Million More Small Family Farms!", and "Serving Those Who Are Creating Our Future, One Family Farm At A Time". Use them if you wish.
4) As for viewing the past/viewing the future together in the pages of the SFJ: I think you very nicely do both. There's another magazine out there that features pretty pictures of barns and workhorses and such. But the attitude of the magazine is very much "this is the way it used to be; soak it up now because its time is gone". I refuse to send them money, even though their pictures are very nice. I don't buy into attitudes of hopelessness. The SFJ on the other hand gives us views of the past that can help with the present and future. That soiling crops article for instance: an article from the past, giving me timely information for future use. What more can you ask?
5) And one more little tidbit for you to pull out of your back pocket when you need it: I was walking our farm with our conservation district farm planner, trying to figure out where the fencing should go, what features to leave and what features to modify, etc. I don't quite recall what we were talking about, but she turned to me and said "Oh, and you might want to start reading the Small Farmer's Journal. It's really rather good." So there you have it, Lynn. You've hit the mainstream.
Well, I guess I didn't keep this as short as I'd hoped. Oh well. My very best wishes to you and yours. I have ambitions to join you for the horse and equipment auction in May, but not sure yet if we'll make it. If not this year, then someday. Because someday we'll have a team of our very own, in no small part thanks to you and your magazine. Never forget that there are thousands of us out here, who owe much of what we've accomplished to your words, your encouragement, your old codger stubbornness over the years. America is still the best country in the world, and you've helped to make it better. Take care and keep typing (and painting and philosophizing and all the rest that you do!)
Sign me: Kathryn Kerby
Joyous and Grateful, at Frog Chorus Farm, Snohomish, WA

Aussie Report
Hi all at the Small Farmers Journal:
As I am an avid reader of your journal and many miles away, here in Australia, I just wanted to say thanks. A little while back when I renewed my subscription, there was an offer of 3 back issues. As we own and breed Haflingers, I made a request for journals that may have something about this horse breed in them. I was very grateful in having my request met, but unbeknownst to us, there was an added bonus in one journal. It was a detailed article on the workings of the McCormick Deering No 9 mower. Now we purchased a pretty run down mower and had plans to get it back in working order. I had purchased a complete manual (well, a copy) earlier which was also great.
As this is a quiet time of the year for us, my husband decided NOW was the time to get the No 9 mower up and running. As it turned out, the article in the journal was more help than we could have imagined. This article filled the gaps that were in the working manual. So armed with all this information, my husband has totally dismantled the mower to clean, grease, repair seals and check for worn parts. It is in surprisingly good order and should come up well (getting it back together will be the fun part). Going by the pictures, the body was painted red and the wheels yellow. There are a few spots of paint remaining and we will be redoing it in the original colours.
I thoroughly enjoy the information in the SFJ and sometimes wish we weren't so far away. I would love to see more working equipment and learn more on the farming side by horse power. We even ordered some jingle bells (not sleigh bells) through the Victoria Leather advertisement in your journal.
So you can happily say you have some very happy and satisfied customers down under in Australia. Keep up the great work and I look forward to the next issue.
Warm thanks from
Cindy Poefinger
Enzian Haflinger
Bruce Highway
Mutarnee QLD 4816
Australia

Training Mules
Great website!
I've enjoyed the Small Farmer's Journal immensely over the last year, and I look forward to using the website to tide me over between issues! I also received the Work Horse Handbook for Christmas, and I'm looking forward to working with my own horses to see what I've learned!
Speaking of equines and books, we are expecting a mule foal in the next several months. He'll (she'll?) be a light mule - out of a thoroughbred, but we intend to use it for riding (pleasure and ranch work), packing and perhaps draft. Can you suggest any additional reading on training mules?
Thanks! Can't wait for the next issue!
Dan Macon
Auburn, CA

Warmth
Dear Lynn,
I was reading SFJ this morning and in the back, discovered for the first time, that you had a web site. The computer weasled it's way into our house last spring, so we thought we might try making a site for our syrup and beans. Nothing will ever take the place of the journal. It's hard to drag the computer over to the rocking chair by the cookstove. But it's easy to use and the links are helpful. Nice design, too. Gotta run, your friend,
Earle Mitchell
Bowdoin, Maine

Hogs In, the easy way
Dear Lynn,
I have seen two other effective methods to load hogs into a trailer. One way is to wait to load them at feeding time and simply put their favorite slop bucket with food in the trailer and they will load themselves.
The second way is to put a bucket over the snout and head of the hog and back them into the trailer. They want to get out of the bucket and will back away from you. All you have to do is steer them. I once watched for an hour as four husky young guys tried to load a 600+ pound boar who just didn't want to go. They tried everything. Then up walked a 75 year old retired hog farmer, over weight, out of shape, and with heart trouble. He grabbed a bucket, put it over the hogs head and had him loaded in 30 seconds without breaking a sweat. An impressive show!
Hope these suggestions are of some help. I read the SFJ from cover to cover each season. Keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
Steve Laymon
Weldon, CA

Kudos from Britain
Dear SFJ,
I had the great pleasure of taking a course in working with Shire horses last week, a new departure for me, but something I very much hope will become part of the organic farm I live and work on in the future.
The horseman and farmer who was my teacher pointed me in the direction of a stack of brown journals from the States as a little bedtime reading, and I was absolutely captivated. Your publication is the most exciting and important I have ever come across.
I have been known to be critical of your countrymen and your governments in the past, but it is exactly the ethos and determination of your journal that marks the finest contribution of America to liberty, ecology, and downright human scale decency.
I have passed your e-mail address on to the editor of a very worthy British publication in the hope that we might be able to make SFJ more widely available on this side of the Atlantic, but in the meantime I would like to subscribe...
Keep it up for the sake of all of us finding our way back towards the land and community orientated living.

Yours sincerely,
Paul Jennings
Buckinghamshire, England