148 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



the prudence of such a step, will acknowledge they 

 have not taken it, though they intend to do so. We 

 earnestly press upon them now, at the commencement 

 of the new year, to set themselves right in these re- 

 spects, and bo thus provided against all casualties 

 that may liappen any day or hour, to their otherwise 

 utter destruction. What peace of mind can a farmer 

 enjoy, whose life and property are risked from year to 

 year, when the remedy is so cheap and so continually 

 at his call ? On the other hand, he who has made the 

 necessary provision against all casualties, can sleep 

 with an easy mind, and, so far as his family are con- 

 cerned, with a clear conscience too. Depend upon 

 it, the man whose prospects and those of his family, 

 arc destroyed by events against which he might have 

 provided, will feel a self-reproach that must embitter 

 his future days. 



Let us take an illustration of the contrary con- 

 duct. A friend had occasion to borrow £^2,000 of 

 his banker, for which his brother-in-law became se- 

 curity. The latter was a hale, hearty farmer of about 

 60 years of age, and, so far as his constitution was 

 concerned, likely to live to an advanced period. Upon 

 signing the security he said to the other: "Now, 

 life is uncertain ; and if I die the bank will in- 

 stantly call in their money, which my executors will, 

 of course, look to you to pay. This will break you up, 

 unless my life is insured. Go to-iay and pay 

 the deposit, and then you will be safe." His friend 

 went immediately and gave instructions for the 

 insurance, paid the deposit, and left the secretary to 

 make out the policy at his leisure. Mark the 

 result : one month after, and only two days after the 

 policy had been delivered, his 1)rother-in-law was 

 mounting a spirited young horse, which he had himself 

 broken in. As he put his log over the saddle the 

 horse started and tln-ew him. His head came in con- 

 tact with a stone, which rather stunned him ; but he 

 recovered, again mounted, and rode round his farm. 

 On his return home he said to his wife : *' My dear, 

 send for a doctor : I have had a fall, and my head- 

 aches." He then lay down upon a couch, and very 



soon became insensible. Ho had sustained a concus- 

 sion of the brain ; and before the doctor arrived, he 

 was beyond the reach of medicine, and died in a few 

 hours. His relative thus received the immediate benefit 

 of the trifling sum he had paid, and at once discharged 

 his obligation to his bankers, while the family had the 

 further advantage of this commendable caution and 

 forethought. " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do 

 it with thy might." 



A careful and vigilant attention to the motto, then, 

 in business-affairs, is confessedly of great importance 

 to the security and peace of mind of the farmer ; but 

 we may be allowed to remind him that, in this respect, 

 it is but secondary to that which is its proper applica- 

 tion. There is a sequel, too, to the passage, which en- 

 hances its strength and meaning to an indefinite de- 

 gree : " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with 

 thy might ; for thei'e is no work, nor device, nor 

 knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou 

 goest." 



In spite of infidelity and scepticism, the belief 

 in the existence of the soul of man after death, 

 in a state of happiness or misery, is that of the 

 large majority of men. At the same time, we fear 

 that a provision against the consequences of death is 

 too often procrastinated to the last moment, when the 

 mind is distracted as well by disease as by a multitude 

 of questions necessary if possible to be settled. If then 

 it is madness to neglect the precautious requisite for the 

 security of our temporal affairs, how much more unwise 

 is it to put off the preparation for that eternity to which 

 we are daily hastening, and of the nearness of which 

 we are so uncertain ! If the insurance of our property 

 imparts peace and a sense of security to the mind, how 

 much moi-e will an insurance in that Bank which never 

 fails divest the mind of all anxiety for the fatui"e, 

 whether in life or death! '^ Religion," says an old 

 writer, " procures peace of mind under prosperity, con- 

 solation under affliction, the prospect of God's blessing 

 in this life, and the assurance of eternal happiness in 

 tlie life to come." 



THE AGRICULTURAL TRADE OF SCOTLAND. 



At this season of the year the annual circulars of 

 brokers and merchants crowd in upon us from every 

 port and district of the kingdom, and to the most im- 

 portant of these we endeavour to give extended publi- 

 city for general information. The comparison of 

 opinions, and the elaborate details collected by many 

 an observant mind in the course of extensive business 

 transactions, cannot fail to be useful. There has been 

 of late a manifest improvement, year by year, in the 

 style and matter of these circular reports, in which the 

 United States were wont to be before us. 



A collection of these would form the best history of 

 the progress of agriculture and commerce in its several 

 departments, and we are surprised no one has hitherto 

 thougtit of arranging and publishing them. It is true 

 that they are, to some extent, only interesting to those 

 who have transactions in particular articles, and the 

 produce brokers and merchants keep themselves well 

 advised on all these matters. Still there is a large out- 

 side circle of persons more or less interested either in 

 production, shipment, speculation, and consumption, 

 as well as the legislatm's and political econoiaiists, 

 who could not fail to gain much valuable information 

 by watching the advance or retrogression of particular 

 trades— the increase or decline of imports and consump- 



tion of particular articles — the sources of supply, and 

 the gradual changes that arise therein — the varying 

 costs ;of freight and range of prices. All these, and 

 many other topics incidentally connected therewith, 

 arise out of a careful study of the trade circulars. 

 They supply too, to some extent, an index of our ex- 

 ports of manufactures and customers, and the fluctua- 

 tions that arise in the shipment of our great manufac- 

 turing industries, whether they be cottons or woollens, 

 iron or coal. 



The Chambers of Commerce, of which there are 

 now so many in the country, have thrown themselves 

 energetically into the creditable work of watching and 

 developing trade interests. And although there is no 

 combination of this kind among the agricultural in- 

 terest, if we except the occasional business meetings 

 and casual discussion on market days at Mark Lane, 

 and at the Metropolitan and local Farmers' Clubs, yet 

 there are many very admirable agricultural circulars 

 issued by importers and merchants. 



This prelude has drawn us somewhat aside from the 

 object we had in view, which was to direct attention 

 to the agricultural trade of Scotland for the past year. 

 The agricultural statistics collected for several years 

 past in the northern part of the kingdom kept us 



