378 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. 



deep, and from one and a half to two acres per day. ITis dressing 

 is spread broadcast, after which the improved harrow or cultiva- 

 tor, or both, thoroughly pulverizes the soil and mixes it in. He 

 then lines his rows, by a chain, a cultivator tooth, or a small 

 plow, and drops his seed, covering it with a horse hoe. At hoe- 

 ing, the cultivator is put between the rows and passed back and 

 forth until the ground is as mellow as at planting. It is mere 

 fun ; he does not make mountains around the hills, but merely 

 keeps the weeds down and the ground smooth. And so not only 

 has he an improved plow, but a mowing machine, a horse rake 

 and a horse fork, to unload with ; and in all that he undertakes, 

 seeks to do with as little manual labor as possible. 



Improvements in farm houses and other farm buildings, is quite 

 as great as in implements and methods of conducting farm 

 operations. In place of the ungainly and inconvenient structures 

 formerly used for dwellings, situated at a distance from the other 

 dwellings, we now find houses occupying less space, but contain- 

 ing more room and conveniences so numerous and well arranged 

 that the good housewife is saved half the labor formerly required. 

 Barns and other farm buildings have been improved fully as much 

 as the houses, and contribute as greatly to increased comfort of 

 the animals kept therein as the houses do to their occupants. I 

 do not allege that the improvements have been as great as they 

 ought to be ; and I know they are not as great as they might have 

 been if it were not for some other changes which have taken place 

 and which have not contributed to the prosperity of farming. 

 Fifty or sixty years ago, a young man would take a new piece of 

 land, clear an acre or two, put up a log cabin, get married, move 

 into it, and contentedly live and labor, pay for their land, raise a 

 family, educate their children, and in twenty or thirty years 

 would own a good farm, well stocked, and have some cash on 

 hand. They do not do so now. Why? Let me tell you. They 

 do not want to creep before they walk. The young man of fifty 

 years ago, when he went to his new farm, obtained a few sheep, 

 and the wife had her spinning wheel. The sheep and the spinning 

 wheel meant home-made clothing, and this they wore, and their 

 children wore it, and when they grew to be young gentlemen and 

 ladies they wore it, and thought it good enough for meeting, or a 

 party, or any other place. 



It required but little cash to run the affair. They lived on the 

 products of their farm, which were good enough for anybody. 



