274 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE; 



is ready for him at any time, and he will work with a great 

 ' deal more courage than if he expected to wait for his pay. 

 The worst difficulty with help in my vicinity is on account 

 of the easy access to the bar-rooms of the city ; and many of 

 the men being shoemakers, when that business is good, make 

 it an excuse to leave, no matter how disastrous to the farmer. 

 With regard to drink, I have had more trouble from this 

 source than from any other, and have had to turn away 

 many of the best workmen I ever employed, on this account. 

 As I use liquor in no form myself, I will not have it used on 

 the farm if I know it. I consider it one of the greatest 

 curses in existence. I only keep what help I really need, 

 and can always hire by the day in case of getting behind on 

 my work. In the winter I draw a plan of all the land to be 

 planted the next season, and mark out on each piece what I 

 want it planted to. During the fall I also haul and heap my 

 manure on the ground, for the crops, as far as I can, and put 

 the manure on my asparagus and rhubarb beds, and generally 

 clear up the fields for winter. 



In winter I look over all carts, wagons, ploughs, chains, 

 mowing-machines, &c, and get them repaired, ready for the 

 next season. I keep an assortment of nearly every kind of 

 bolts I think I shall need ; so that, in case of any breaking, 

 I do not have to go to the city to replace it. I keep dupli- 

 cates of all parts of mowing-machines, tedder, &c, liable 

 to break. This painstaking has saved me, in time, when 

 wanted, more than twice what the parts have cost, especially 

 in haying-tools. 



Every farmer needs a set of carpenter's tools, saws, chisel, 

 hatchet, hammer, &c, also an assortment of nails and spikes. 

 I have all of my bolts, small tools, nails, &c, kept in a closet 

 by themselves. A few dollars spent in this way pays a very 

 high interest, besides saving the worry and perplexity of not 

 having any thing to do with when a machine, or any other 

 implement, is broken. 



It would be greatly to the advantage of a farmer to spend 

 a year of his early life under the instruction of a practical 

 carpenter, so many are the calls upon one's ingenuity, and 

 skill with tools, to keep in repair and construct the various 

 implements to be used on a farm, also in building gates and 

 fences. A word in regard to gates : they should be hung so 



