No. 5. 



A Singular Circumstance. 



167 



managed — of the great improvements in agri- 

 culture, (fcc. 



In the morning I subscribed for his paper. 

 He went iiis way, and I turned my attention 

 to the duties of my farm. But his advice 

 made so great an impression on my mitid, 

 that I could not rest until I had made the 

 effort to sell in the manner he proposed. I 

 accordingly encountered the expense ; and 

 one of the advertisements fortunately brought 

 me a purchaser, cash in hand, wlio took two 

 hundred acres at forty-three dollars per acre, 

 or eight thousand six hundred dollars ; so I 

 had a trifle left, besides twenty-eight acres of 

 wood land. I was at once released from my 

 trouble — but the gain — much as it may seem 

 to some, can never recompense me for the 

 intense suffering of mind which for years I 

 had endured. 



I promised my wife and children, that if 

 ever I got well out of that speculation, that 

 they would never find me engaging in an- 

 other : and I will preserve my word inviolate. 

 I immediately set about arranging for future 

 operations. I was liberal in the application! 

 of manures to my old place— my fences were! 

 all put in excellent order — outhouses repaired, I 

 and all about or around the dwelling neatly 

 whitewashed — better accommodations were 

 made fijr cattle, &c., and now the old home- , 

 Btead not only looks as plea.sant as ever, but 

 is the abode of real contentment and rural 

 enjoyment 



But this is not all — reading my agricul- 

 tural works has stimulated me to endeavor to 

 keep pace with the improvements-t^and what 

 is a mystery to some of my neighbors is, that 

 now on the old " ninety-five,''' as they call it, 

 I raise more saleable or disposable produce 

 than I ever did, with the addition of the large 

 farm. This is a fact. But is easily explain- 

 ed; the three hundred acres were partially 

 cultivated — the homestead is now in the 

 highest state of fertility, and I have from the 

 free use of lime been under the necessity of 

 contracting for an additional barn on the pre- 

 mises. Before I purchased the addition, I 

 laid by about two hundred dollars a year, but 

 when I cultivated the whole I could scarcely 

 make boln ends meet Now I am, thank Pro- 

 vidence, doing better than ever. — " I am doing 

 well, and intend to let well enough alone," 

 and not be led away by a spirit of emigration, 

 the mulberry mania, or the making of beet 

 sugar. I shun these things as I would a pes- 

 tilence, but shall content myself with raising 

 the sugar beet for my stock, which is increas- 

 ing, satisfied that nothing is better calculated 

 for them, or more advantageous for the farmer 

 — the stock fanner especially. 



Now I am going ahead without keeping 

 accounts, save certain memorandum books. — 

 I feel the want of a correct eystem, and I 



hope that your correspondent "A. E. T.," or 

 some person competent to the task, will furnish 

 through the Cabinet, the information desired, 

 for 1 consider it almost as important for the 

 farmer to have a correct system of accounts, 

 as it is for tlie merchant or mechanic. 



A Singular Clrcamstance> 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Sir — I received a letter from a friend in 

 England, who, speaking of the almost inces- 

 sant rains which were falling during the lat- 

 ter part of the harvest, says, " Our friend W. 

 R. has sixty acres of fine Barley, which will 

 be quite spoilt — scarcely a dry day since it 

 was cut, and it is growing as it lies upon the 

 ground." This reminds me of a singular 

 occurrence which took place some years since, 

 and which was related to me by the person 

 concerned. " I had," said he, " about fifty 

 acres of capital Barley, which, after it was 

 cut, was exposed to uicessant rains, until it 

 was grown into a mat as it lay upon the 

 ground, when, all at once, the weather be- 

 came dry and hot, and by continual turning 

 of the crop, it became so dry and hard as to 

 thresh well, and being a remarkably fine 

 sample, I sent it to my salesman in the corn 

 market at Mark Lane, saying, T send you a 

 cargo, which I fear you will have trouble to 

 dispose of, but pray do your best. In a short 

 time he wrote me, saying, he had sold my 

 consignment, but was sorry to add, at a price 

 which he feared would not satisfy me, but it 

 was the best he could obtain for it, as it had 

 in some way got damaged, so as to spoil the 

 color ; tfie person who purchased it, admitted 

 it was a remarkably fine sample, but he 

 could not afford to give a first rate price, in 

 consequence of the injury which it had sus- 

 tained. In this letter was contained the 

 bill of sale, by which it appeared he had sold 

 my damaged crop of Barley to one of the first 

 brewers in London, as malt .' At that time 

 the price of the best Barley was £2 10s. per 

 quarter of eight bushels; the price of the best 

 malt was £4 8a. per quarter, the duty on a 

 bushel of malt was 4-8, or £1 17s. 4tZ. per 

 quarter, so that I received more than double 

 the price which I had expected for my dam- 

 aged Barley." The rain had caused the 

 Barley to spear, as it lay upon the ground, 

 and the dry and hot weather served as a kiln- 

 drying operation; thus, in fact, malting thd 

 crop without incurring the government duty! 



Should our friend of the present year be so 

 fortunate, he will have abundant cause to say, 

 " Whatever is, is right." C. R. 



Germantown, Nov. 29, 1339. 



" Bear and forbear" is good philosophy. 



