THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



239 



the zeal of its working members seems to suffer no 

 abatement. 



There was introduced into the House of Representa- 

 tivep, during the last session of Congress, a bill by Hon. 

 Mr. Morrill, providing for donai ions of over six millions 

 of acres of the public lands, to the several States, to 

 provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the 

 mechanic arts. It is proposed to distribute the hind on 

 the basis of Congressionid representation, allowing 

 20,000 acres for each Senator and Representative in 

 Congress. This will give New York 700,000 acres ; 

 Pennsylvania, 540,000 ; Ohio, 460,000 ; Virginia, 

 300,000; Massachusetts, 260,000; and to the other 

 States in proportion. The proceeds of these lands are 

 required to be invested by the various States in safe 

 stocks, yielding not less than 5 per cent, interest, the 

 capital to remain undiminished — a perpetual fund. The 

 interest is to be applied to the internal economy of a 

 college for the teaching of agriculture and the mechanical 

 arts, and in no case to the erection of buildings. Any 

 State not providing such a college within five years from 

 the passage of the bill, forfeits its claim to its benefits. 



The bill was passed by a vote of 105 to 100, in the 

 House of Representatives, but no decisive action has 

 as yet been taken by the senate. It will, however, in 

 all probability be made the subject of special legislation 

 during the present session. It has met with great favour 

 from our press and the public, but I cannot but think 

 it is somewhat premature, for if each State were to erect 

 the required college, it would be a matter of impossi- 

 bility for us to find teachers and professors competent 

 to fill the several chairs, without importation from 

 abroad. The better plan would perhaps be to found a 

 national agricultural normal school, as complete ia 

 appointments and as thorough in course of study and 

 practice as our existing naval and military academies. 

 In such an institution a corps of teachers could be 

 educated; and when once this were done, the several 

 colleges might be endowed and erected. 



In my next communication I hope to give you a 

 sketch of the agricultural colleges already founded in 

 this country, and some further notice of the more valu- 

 able discoveries and inventions. 



New York, January \st. H. S. O. 



HINTS TO EMIGRANT FARMERS. 



Uncle Sam, it is currently declared, has farms for all the 

 husbandmen " in creation" — a fact which his immense terri- 

 tory, not to speak of what, through " inevitable destiny," he is 

 bound to annex, will almost sanction. But Uncle Sam, like 

 his progenitor, John Bull, has peculiarities of soil and circum- 

 stances which commend or condemn bis real estate, and to 

 some of both, with your leave, will I attempt to draw the at- 

 tention of the agricultural readers of the Express, and espe- 

 cially such of them as may contemplate emigrating here. I 

 write only of what I have seen and know iu both the eastern 

 and north -western sections of this country — the only two in 

 which Scotch farmers, judiciously advised, can have any inte- 

 rest iu choosing a settlement. 



New England farming is literally up-hill work — hard and 

 unremunerative. The soil is generally poor, stony, and sterile, 

 with the exc( ption of the river bottoms, where it is one-third mea- 

 dow, to two thirds quagmire, with but few exceptions — among 

 them the valley of the Connecticut. When natural circura- 

 stauces favour, money may be made ; but, generally speaking, 

 the New England farmers are hard working, poor men. I 

 might add, also, that they are generally poor farmers, and 

 blind in particular to the organic fact that "muck's the 

 mither o' the meal kist." As it may be of some little interest 

 to your readers to have an intimate description of the process 

 of farming here, I will take the liberty to give one, premising 

 that my data are drawn from facts connected with a farm in 

 which I had some pecuniary interest ; and, of course, their 

 accuracy may not be questioned. 



The farm alluded to was, seventy years ago, covered by a 

 dense forest of pine trees, which were hewn down by one of 

 the revolutionary heroes who had emptied his old " Queen 

 Anne" in the faces of the red coats from the top of Bunker's 

 Hill, followed Washington for a short time, and retired with 

 his honours— in the shape of sundry deeply indented acars — to 

 enjoy his ol'mm cum dignitate, when he had hewn, hacked, and 

 hoed it out of the realm of old Mother Nature. The farm, six 



years ago, when I became interested in it (and it is similar 

 now), consisted of 64 ^ acres. Of this surface, six acres are 

 covered with tall spruce, hemlock, beech, cak, and birch tim- 

 ber. There are two acres of orchard ground, all apples. Of 

 arable land there are 26 acres, one-half of which may he called 

 good— including the house and barn lot, and the garden. A 

 meadow, which produces a considerable crop of the aquatic 

 grasses, monopolises 4 acres ; and t'ne rest is pasture land, 

 which means land where the trees have been felled, and which 

 is three-fourths covered with scrub oaks and small bushes. 

 This description will hold good as to the average of inland 

 farms of the same size. It is situated 30 miles from the nearest 

 railroad, and 40 miles from any considerable market. The value 

 of this farm is now about £500. 



The stock kept on the farm comprises four working oxen, 

 one yoke or pair, five years old, and the other four years. 

 Other oxen or steers are variously kept, but at present there 

 is one yoke of three year-olds, three two year-old animals, and 

 four calves. There are four milk cows, three heifers rising 

 three years old, four two-year-old do., and five heifer cdves. 

 One horse, seldom used for farm work, and thirty sheep and 

 lambs, fill up ttie list. The value of the stock will range in 

 the vicinity of £150, which sum will include the value of three 

 hoggs kept on the farm. Add £100 for farm implements and 

 odds and ends, and as much for the fodder necessary to sustain 

 the stock throughout the winter season (for in summer it shifts 

 for itself), and the total value of farm and contingeucies— 

 house furniture calculated iuto the amount— will be less than 

 £1,000. And it must he recollected that this is the piice of 

 what is here called a good farm. Throw a light four-wheeled 

 waggon into the list of necessaries, and £1,000 will cover all 

 the expense. 



And now let us speak of the produce. The heaviest yoke of 

 cattle will bring about £30; a couple of cows £12 ; a dozen 

 of Iambs £7 ; a fat hog— say 500 lbs.— £6 ; hens, chicken?, 

 and turkeys, 3 dols.; butter (what can be spared from family 



