No. 85. J 93 



In reviewing the various items which are most immediately essen- 

 tial to good farm management, some of the most obvious will be — 

 capital enough to buy the farm and to stock it well ; to select a size 

 compatible with these requisites ; to lay it out in the best manner ; to 

 provide it well with fences, gates, and buildings ; to select the best 

 animals and the best implements to be had reasonably ; to bring the 

 soil into good condition, by draining, manuring, and good culture ; to 

 have every part under a good rotation of crops ; and every operation 

 arranged, so as all to be conducted systematically, without clashing 

 and confusion. An attention to all these points would place agricul- 

 ture on a very different footing from its present condition in many 

 places and with most farmers. The business then, instead of being 

 repulsive, as it so frequently is, to our young men, would be attend- 

 ed with real enjoyment and pleasure. 



But in all improvements, in all enterprises, the great truth must 

 not be forgotten, that success is not to be expected without diligence 

 and industry. We must sow in spring, and cultivate well in summer, 

 if we would reap an abundant harvest in autumn. When we see 

 young farmers commence in life without a strict attention to business, 

 which they neglect for mere pleasure, well may we in imagination 

 see future crops lost by careless tillage — broken fences, unhinged 

 gates, and fields filled with weeds — tools destroyed by heedlessness, 

 property wasted by recklessness, and disorder and confusion trium- 

 phant ; and unpaid debts, duns, and executions, already hanging over 

 the premises. But, on the other hand, to see cheerful-faced, ready- 

 handed industry, directed by reason and intelligence, and order, energy, 

 and economy, guiding the operations of the farm — with smooth, clean 

 fields, and neat trim fences — rich, verdant pastures, and fine cattle en- 

 joying them, and broad waving meadows and golden harvests, and 

 waste and extravagance driven into exile, we need not fear the suc- 

 cess of such a farmer — debts cannot stare him in the face, nor duns 

 enter his threshold. 



It is such enterprise as this, that must place our country on a sub- 

 stantial basis. Agriculture in a highly improved state, must be the 

 means, which next to the righteousness which truly exalts a nation, 

 will contribute to its enduring prosperity. All trades and commerce 

 depend on this great art as their foundation. The cultivation of the 

 soil and of plants was the earliest occupation of man ; it has in all 



