No. 9. 



Dialogue between a Father and Son. 



269 



county the last autumn, I was struck with 

 the ability of himself, and his laud, which 

 were of the highest order; but also at the 

 same time, with the strange manner in whicli 

 things were conducted; and all "according- 

 to the custom of the country, too." " They 

 do so here," was the reply, when I atiimad- 

 verted upon what I saw, with the freedom 

 which one friend is apt to take with another. 

 For instance, when I pointed out the weedy 

 state of the crops — weedy in proportion to the 

 natural fertility of the soil, [ was answered, 

 " But the people here find it will not pay the 

 expense to clean them." Or, the turning in 

 of a heavy crop of weeds in full seed — " Oh, 

 the people here find there is no harm in that ; 

 the grain will grow and come good." Or, 

 the wretched bad ploughing, on light land, 

 with a very short and light plough, which 

 was oftentimes no sooner in than out of the 

 soil ; with the furrows too large and high, 

 and sometimes too low ; with baulks and cor- 

 respondent hollows, large enough in which 

 to bury a sheep ; with no well-defined head- 

 lands, and a crop of couch beyond any thing 

 that I ever before witnessed — " Oh ! that's 

 well enough; the harrows will make all 

 level, and we find it will not pay to be too 

 particular." 



His stock of cattle was very large, and 

 truly delightful was it to see with what kind- 

 ness every animal upon the farm was treat- 

 ed — a whip was not permitted to be used on 

 any occasion — and when my friend and his 

 amiable partner would walk amongst the 

 cows and heifers, calling them by endearing 

 names, and feeding them with salt, with 

 which upon these occasions he would always 

 provide himself, it was pleasant to see the 

 animals run and thrust their noses into his 

 pocket, to obtain a lick of the precious mor- 

 sel — follow him all over the pasture, and into 

 the house if they should ! All this was love- 

 ly, and spoke a language which could not be 

 misunderstood : but when I saw that the cat- 

 tle were of the coarse, wiry-haired breed ; 

 of a colour and feel in the handling, that in- 

 dicated any thing but milk and butter and 

 beef, and heard that they had been selected 

 from amongst the most valuable stock in that 

 part of the country — "for they would winter 

 cheaply" — I was satisfied that my excellent 

 friend had imbibed the prejudices of the igno- 

 rant people about him, and had adopted the 

 old system of cheap farming. And often- 

 times, when I took the liberty of represent- 

 ing to him the advantages of a different 

 course of management, I was answered — 

 "But it won't pay, my dear sir; the people 

 here find that it won't pay." 



He had no stock of hay for the winter, for 

 the people in that part of the country found 

 that it would not pay the expense of making ! 



Now, my friend, with bodily and mental 

 powers of the highest order, with a capital 

 sulBcient to manage a farm of unprecedented 

 richness and fertility, and all his own by late 

 purchase, with an elegant partner and two 

 lovely children, had permitted himself to be 

 infiuenced in his judgment by about as igno- 

 rant a set of men, calling themselves agricul- 

 turists, as I ever met in my life. One of them 

 told me they had tried lime, but it would not 

 do in that part of the country. That to plant 

 potatoes in any other way than in hills four 

 feet apart, and by hand, would not answer in 

 that part of the country: that although it 

 might do very well to plough them in and 

 plough them out in some other places, yet — 

 although he had never known it tried — he 

 knew very well it would never answer in 

 that part of the country ! That it was a bad 

 plan to weed the crops, for it had been tried, 

 and found that such management would not 

 pay in that country. But amidst plenty of 

 land of the very highest fertility, requiring 

 only good management to produce a return 

 of a hundred fold, he was a strong advocate 

 for draining the most beautiful natural fish- 

 pond in front of my friend's house, for he con- 

 ceiled it would make " a most almighty mea- 

 dow." This man was a smith also, and as 

 the shoes of my fi-iend's horses were always 

 dropping off before they were half worn, I 

 took the liberty of recommending a plan of 

 clinching the nails, which I had known prac- 

 tised elsewhere, and by which they would be 

 sure to be secured ; he replied, he had never 

 known that done, but he supposed it would 

 not answer, for it was not the practice in 

 that part of the country ! 



Frank. — Now that is the "old school," 

 and a wretched one it is ! I do not wonder 

 that such farmers should have the character 

 of being, and I am sure they deserve it, the 

 most unenlightened class of the community. 

 Why, it is a downright insult to say of any 

 art or science " It won't pay for good man- 

 agement;" did any thing in the world ever 

 pay for bad management ? % 



Father. — Good — but we have known a 

 case which will prove that good management 

 will pay in any country. There is our friend 

 Daniel Finley, who took the farm of Shields, 

 in ^— county, in the midst of the most igno- 

 rant and besotted class of farmers that can be 

 conceived of! they had already driven off 

 two very respectable men from distant coun- 

 ties by their persecutions; terrifying and 

 threatening their servants, and driving away 

 their cattle to distant parts of the country. 

 Daniel's coming amongst them was a source 

 of merriment to them, and they nick-named 

 him " The New-School." Fortunately, he 

 was a man of strong mind and body, with a 

 determined will, which would have required 



