No. 63. 101 



the most highly cultivated farms, and those that yield the greatest 

 profit on the capital invested, belong to those called small; that is, 

 those ranging from forty to sixty acres each. Considerable observa- 

 tion, and an experience of some thirty years, has convinced us that 

 unless under very favorable circumstances, thirty acres of land in cul- 

 tivation will furnish employment to one man, and one boy of an age 

 sufficient to drive a team for plowing, and unless a suitable portion of 

 this is in meadow and pasture, even this thirty acres will not be pro- 

 perly tilled. Where sixty, acres are in cultivation, two men and two 

 boys, or three men, will find abundant employment; yet how often 

 is the labor of three men spread over from 100 to 150 acres, and the 

 result is such as might be readily anticipated. In England, it is es- 

 timated that one span of horses will do the work of 50 acres of til- 

 lage land, but it must be remembered that the plow can be kept mov- 

 ing there the whole year, with the exception perhaps of a month or 

 two of the most severe weather — and one hand, called the plowman, 

 is exclusively devoted to this business. Here, M'ith our limited time 

 for the use of the plow, it is believed one team to 30 acres would 

 be nearer the truth than the foreign estimate; certainly would this 

 be the case where the team was used, as is generally the case in this 

 country, for both the plow and the road. 



The proper division of farms, with reference to cultivation, is an 

 important item in farm management, and a proper rotation of crops 

 Division ^^ almost impossible unless attention is in the first place paid 

 of Farms, ^-q ^]^jg point. In the reraaks to be made, it wall be suppos- 

 ed that the farm contains one hundred acres, of which eighty are un- 

 der culture, leaving twenty acres for woodland, buildings, gardens, 

 &c. This eighty acres is either naturally, or has been artificially, 

 brought into that condition which renders it suitable for any of the 

 cultivated crops. As a general rule, it may be stated that a soil 

 which will produce good wheat and clover, will be fit for any other 

 crop of grain or roots, and the first thing to be done is to bring it in- 

 to that condition. This course has been already explained; and this 

 being done, the division into fields of proper size, by good substan- 

 tial fences, must be attended to. The objection to large fields is, 

 that they are not favorable to rotation; that to small ones is, that too 

 much land is occupied by fences. Where the animals of a farm are 

 only cattle and horses, and these kept in stalls throughout the year, 

 as they are in many parts of Belgium, France and Holland, fences 



