104 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



implement might very properly be superseded by the use of some of the most approved kinds 

 of harrows for stirring and pulverizing the soil, which might be followed by the ordinary 

 roller for crushing the smaller clods that would escape the harrow. 



How to Construct a Farm Roller. On small farms where often the moderate 

 means of the farmer would not warrant the purchase of a good iron roller, a substitute for 

 light work is sometimes found in a log drawn over the ground without rolling. 



Some farmers use a square piece of timber for this purpose, either of which will do fairly 

 well where the lumps are not very hard, as in some clay soils. In using the log for this pur 

 pose, a pair of shafts will be needed for one horse, and a pole like that of a wagon for two 

 horses. Of course, the round stick of timber, or log, will approach nearest the roller, and will 

 be the more desirable substitute, as it is less liable to clog and become obstructed in the work. 



A very cheap and serviceable roller can be easily made from a round piece of timber of 

 suitable size and length, (which should be eight or ten feet; if too long it would not be conve 

 nient to manage in turning round,) and inserting irons of sufficient size and strength in the 

 center of each end, as axles on which the log shall turn. The box attachment can also be 

 added, and a roller, simulated after the common iron roller in finishing, be made to answer 

 the requirements of a small farm. Of course, it will be necessary that the log of which it is 

 made should be as nearly straight and as near the form of a perfect cylinder as possible. 

 Almost any farmer can find such a log in his woodland, and but little ingenuity and labor 

 would be required in the construction of such an implement, which would be found very 

 serviceable on those farms where the iron roller is not used. 



WHAT CROPS TO RAISE. 



FARMING is constantly becoming more of a mercantile business than formerly. 

 In the earlier days, it was the custom for farmers to raise everything for home 

 use, even the clothing worn by the family, and scarcely a farmer was known who 

 did not produce his yearly crop of flax and wool for this purpose. The old maxim was, 

 that farmers should sell and not buy. At present this idea is in a great measure ignored, 

 and although it is customary for farmers to raise what is used on the farm, as far as practicable, 

 there is a tendency towards the opinion that division of labor, or specialties, are as applicable 

 to farming, as to other kinds of business. 



That the shoemaker should endeavor to make clothes, hats, and bonnets for his family, 

 would be thought absurd ; and that the tailor should attempt to make the shoes, furniture, 

 etc., for his- household would be considered, to say the least, very poor economy, when by 

 working at his trade he could earn many times as much as those articles would cost, and the 

 purchased goods would be in every way superior to any that he could manufacture. That 

 the farmer should endeavor to cultivate everything consumed, or in demand upon his farm, 

 without regard to the expense attending it, the nature of his soil, the relative market value 

 compared with other crops, the demands of the market, and other considerations, would also 

 be very poor policy, since the real profits, or the attainment of the largest possible excess of 

 receipts over expenditures, is the aim of the farmer as well as those engaged in other depart 

 ments of business. 



A Judicious Choice of Crops Essential. There are few things that have so impor 

 tant a bearing upon the success or failure of the farmer s business, as the choice of crops to 

 be produced. Of course his success also depends upon many other considerations in connec 

 tion with this one great essential, such as the manner of cultivation, judicious management, 



