18C8] 



F A R M i?: R S ' R K G I S T f: R 



737 



balance, as applicable lo each year, is siifllcipnily 

 Hccuraie (or use. A form of the accouni will be 

 given at the end. The only oilier that is kept i.« 

 one liir the ham. In this there is a plai'e liir each 

 kind of jirain— the irrain thiatjhcii is f^et (low;; on 

 one side, and the di.-^posal of it on the other; and, 

 when milled, the meal is entered separately in a 

 similar way. 



General character of the di'^trict and of its tigri- 

 cultural occupants. 



The .'oil is, frpnerally speakinir, thin and tena- 

 ip.ioiis, and of difficult culiivaiion. There are few 

 Jarfretarm?, and ii^w of the tenant? have any cap- 

 ital beyond what is invested in their stock. The 

 pasture is universally occupied with dairy cattle. 

 Din-incr the latter j^ears of the last vv^ar, from the 

 hijjhpiic" of rrrain, too irreat a proportion of the 

 land was bronirht in!o cultivation; wheat was sown 

 to a prrcat extent with little manure, and the land 

 reduf'ed to a slate iVom which it 1?=, except in the 

 vicinity of towns, extremely difficult to recover 

 if. The tenants had afterwards to struggle be- 

 tween hiffh rents and very reduced prices, which 

 led still to a continuation of the evil, as well as to 

 crippling; their subsequent ability. The alteration 

 in the value of money, the distressed state of the 

 classes of the community, have also had their 

 share in the difficulties of" the tenants' conditions, 

 and in the consequent injury to the land. Thousih 

 landlords have, on the whole, adjusted rents as 

 liber illy a-^ coidd "be expected, the necessiiy for 

 further abatement has been reirularly progres- 

 sive, and there is no reason to doubt that for sev- 

 enteen years past, rents have been too high. The 

 effect of this slate of thinirs is, that if a tenant 

 had capital, he lost it; he was unable to make the 

 necessary outlays on his fiirm, and forced to 

 scourore as fiir as he cotdd. But the price of every 

 item of" airriculiural produce seems now to have 

 reached its lowest verije; and if the. value of mo- 

 ney do not increase furlher, and if the nation al- 

 low the land-owners to retain their monopoly, 

 there is a prospect that rents will come to be pro- 

 perly and permanently adjusted; an amcliaratmir 

 system of manaijement pursued, and the soil 

 brouerht to be as productive as its nature will per- 

 mit. In the course of years, by less fi-equent 

 cropping", by pasturing longer and stockin?^ light- 

 ly, improvement may he accomplished. No 

 hay should be sold, and no wheal sown where 

 there is not an abundant command of manure. 

 When a landlord can get a tenant of tolerable 

 skill and iniejirify, it is had po'icy to exact a bur- 

 densome rent from him. Farmers, especially 

 those of little capital, a'e apt to ofii^r too much for 

 their farms: they can turn themselves to no other 

 occupation, and are disposed more than any other 

 class to be content wiih the smallest profits. 



Pea'iantry. — The farm servants and laborers 

 are in general in a situation of comfi)rt. The an- 

 nual wages of a married plouirhman are from 

 £12 to £15 in money, a house and <rarden, six or 

 six and a half bolls of oat meal of one hundred 

 and forty pounds, and five bolls of -4.32 'bs. of po- 

 tatoes. The people who compose the agricultu- 

 ral population are of the best description. Thev 

 are industrious and well-disposed, and as fr-ee from 

 vice as consistent probably with the existincr state 

 of society. The instances of their requiring pa- 

 Vo'. V— 93 



rochial aid are rare, and in the parish to which 

 this fiirm belon<rs, the whole list of poor is made up 

 of aged and infirm persons, and widows with 

 young children. There is no poor-rate levied in 

 ibis parish. The fiinds for the poor are derived 

 from the collections at the church-doors, and from 

 a small voluntary contribuiion by the proprietons 

 of land. The population is about seven hundred; 

 the number on the poor-list last year was ten, and 

 the sum expended on the poor £42 10s. The 

 situation of' ihe whole district in this respect ur 

 understood to be similar. 



Form of ihe farm account for one year. 



1829, Dr. 



Jan. 1st. To stock at 

 this date 

 1st. Barn imple- 

 ments - 

 2d. Field do. 

 3d. Stable do., 



harness, &c. 

 4th. Dairy do. 

 5th. Work hor- 

 ses 

 6th. Live stock 

 7th. Debts of 

 last year due to 



the farm 

 8th. S^ed sown 

 for ensuina; crops 

 9th.Produc m 

 hand 



(Here follow the 

 entries of ex- 

 penditure forthe 

 year, which 

 would include 

 rent, if the farm 

 were occupied 

 by a tenant.) 

 18.30. 



Jan. 1st. To debts 

 due liy the farm 

 To .5 per cent, 

 on the value of 

 live stock 

 To 5 per cent, 

 on value of seed 

 To .5 per cent, 

 value of produce 

 on hand 



To balance be- 

 ing profit 



1829. Dr. 



Jiin. 1st. By debts of 

 last year due by 

 the farm 

 (Here follow the 

 receipts for the 

 entries of the 

 year.) 



1820. 



Jan. 1st. By value 

 of stock at this 

 date per inven- 

 tory, including 

 dehts due to the 

 farm 



From Silliman'i Journal. 

 PRAIRIES OF OHIO. 



Although prairies have been almost universally 

 adndred, yet little has been said in relation to their 

 special tbrmalion. or the <reoIocy by which they 

 are distiiio-uished from other lands. This is spe- 

 cially the case with the wet prairies, in the north- 

 ern sections of Ohio. It is true their origin has 

 given rise to various conjectures amofig geologists, 

 but their structure has never been studied, with 

 sufficient care, to enable them to arrive at correct 

 conclusions. Their botany and zoology have met 

 with more attention than their geology, but, even 

 here, much still remains to be done. 



