142 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



Robert Peel described it? Is it an example which the farmers of the world may advan- 

 tageously consult and imitate ? Now, as to this point, I must frankly say that my notions 

 are poised so very equally in my mental scales that I am unable to give a distinct or satisfac- 

 tory reply. I have seen better things in farming than Tiptree Hall, many better tilings ; but 

 while I declare this, I must also acknowledge that I never sUw so remarkable an example of 

 what industry and enterprise may accomplish under the most unfavorable circumstances. 

 Certainly no one but annn accustomed to get sharp edges from the collision of steel and 

 stone ever would have thought of trying to cultivate such a place at all. One would fancy 

 that Mr. Mechi had taken up an idea from his bhop that you could get a good crop out of 

 stones as well as a keen edge. You should have heard his own account of what Tiptree Farm 

 was when he came there ! "Vainly," said he, "did I try by solid manures to render this vile, 

 plastic clay a useful pasture. It was like bird-lime in winter, and like cast-iron in summer. 

 Poor, indigenous, and drab-colored grasses choked and eradicated the finer kinds I had 

 sown, and the animals wandered about hollow and dissatisfied. Now, fine and fattening 

 grasses clothe the fields with perpetual verdure, the land keeps three times as many animals, 

 and the close and shaven pasture indicates their affection for it." And this description of 

 Mr. Mechi's pasture is a fine description of his whole farm. Where the drab-colored grasses 

 were alone seen ten years ago, crops of the finest wheat, barley, and oats now clothe the 

 wold and greet the sunshine as it merrily glances from the heavens. Every one admits that 

 there can be no finer crops. They are grown from very small quantities of well-selected 

 seeds ; but these small quantities, under Mechi's system, seem to be more productive than 

 large quantities anywhere else. 



How, then, have these results been produced ? The answer is simple. By deep drainage 

 and liquid manures, regardless of expense. Mr. Mechi's knowledge of chemistry taught 

 him that the worst soil might become better by allowing their pores to be fermented by the 

 sweet rains of heaven. Every clod in the hard clay at Tiptree was choked by stagnant 

 water. He drew it off by deep drainage. Then the plow let in life and light upon heaps of 

 earth which had never felt the influence of either. Still, though the land was broken up 

 though from a hard, cold clod of clay it had been converted into a dry mould still it was 

 poor and needy. Mr. Mechi's next application to it was, accordingly, intended to give it 

 strength and heat. By means of pipes carried all over the estate, liquid manure was laid on 

 freely wherever it seemed to be required, and the ground soon showed how much it was 

 strengthened, and how much it was disposed to give a grateful and hearty acknowledgment 

 of the favor conferred upon it. 



In bygone times, it used to be a great joke with the farmers to ask Mr. Mechi where was 

 his "balance-sheet?" You may grow a crop upon one of your own razors, was the argu- 

 ment, but what will it cost you ? For many years, while the price of wheat was low, Mr. 

 Mechi was compelled to acknowledge that he had invested more in the soil than the soil 

 returned him. But things have now changed, and Mr. Mechi retorts the joke upon the 

 farmers. " It is not," says he, " the man who farms with the least expense who makes the 

 most money. When prices were low, and labor was low, I invested large sums of money in 

 the land ; now that prices are high, I invest no longer, but I reap the benefit of my invest- 

 ment at low prices. My fields produce more than yours; my returns are, consequently, 

 greater than yours. And it is the result of investment in improvements at periods when 

 improvements can be made at low rates of wages." Such are the arguments of Mr. Mechi. 

 They are, to a great extent, of world-wide application. 



Mr. Mechi held his annual gathering in July of the present year, 1855, as usual some 

 three hundred farmers, savans, and statesmen being present. Mr. M. stated that he realized 

 $3500 from Tiptree last year, and that his balance-sheet can no longer be considered unsatis- 

 factory. Stock, which is at present unprofitable to feed, is not kept by him in any great 

 quantity. Several of his largest sheds are empty pigs and bullocks in diminished num- 

 bers, and the sheep in the fields. 



Mr. Mechi does not like looking behind him. He seems afraid of the fate of Lot's wife, 

 if he did so ; and therefore, once a principle is conceded and successfully illustrated at Tip- 

 tree and other model farms, he leaves contentedly to time its full realization over the face of 



