FARMERS' REGISTER— REFLECTIONS ON FARMING. 



17? 



ing a oOhsideral)!c portion of oil tlierefrom;' and 

 then thoj^ Ibrin them into a "town made shape," 

 and sell "them as "home manutlicturcdj" which, in 

 point of liict, they really are. . • 



To couch ale tliis outline of -ihe manner in which 

 corn is produced abroad and shijjped to this coun- 

 try^-it remains only to remark, that all the principal 

 shippers of corn in the Bai-tic are also ship owners; 

 consequently they keep their vessels employed in 

 trarrs[)orting grain, seeds, or oil cakes,, which they 

 do at a more moderate li'eight thaa an English 

 captain will engage for. But so much more es- 

 teemed are an Enirli.sh master and his vessel, that 

 frequently more height is paid.theui by the mer- 

 chant here in ])rflerence to shipping in a Ibreign 

 bottoui. ThcEntjlishman Avill h'Cfiuehtly make 

 the voyage ui half the time that a tijreigner can, 

 and sometimes even arrive before, or as soon, as- 

 the bill of ladingj and thus save tire expense of 

 insurance, which, from the distant ports, is fre- 

 quently very heavy. If I made a choice, I should 

 always prefer Scotch captains; they are generally 

 shrewd, pushing fellows, and I need not say how 

 much dependence may not be placed on an active, 

 honest, and" clever master of a vessel to go a long 

 voyage to a distant port, where the purchaser of 

 a carg-o is at the mercy of a man many miles dis- 

 tant, who, as he takes care to get paid for the 

 corn, before it arrives, is not always very particu- 

 lar as to its. quality. * * * * 



I believe 1 have now touched on all the topics 

 likely to interest the general reader, but before 

 concluding, I will take the opportunity of redeem- 

 ing from disgrace a most useful part of the com- 

 munity, I mean "the speculators hi foreign corn,'''' 

 who are too frequently held up to public odium. 

 In Sweden, Prussia, Spain, Denmark, ^c. maga- 

 zines or storehouseti of grain are obliged to be 

 erected in different places, in order to guard 

 aii:ainst bad seasons. In Spain alone, there, are 

 upwards of 5000 of those depositories (denomi- 

 nated ";5osi7as.") Every occupier of land is 

 obliged to bring a certain quantity of corn, propor- 

 tionate to the extent of his fai'm; the following 

 year he takes back the corn he has thus dejXisited; 

 and replenishes the empty garner Avith a. larger 

 quantity, and thus he continues annually to in- 

 crease the stock by these contributions, called 

 "cresws," till a certain measure of grain is deposit- 

 ed; then every one receives back the whole corn 

 which he has furnished, and replaces it by an 

 equal quantity of new corn. Whenever a scarci- 

 ty lia])pcns, these repositories are opened, and the 

 corn dealt out to the people at a moderate price 



of popular hatred, when, in fact, the}' are amongst 

 the most serviceable members of the community; 

 but for their operations, the people must either in- 

 cur the chances of famine, or the clumsy machine- 

 ry of- government be resorted to. In ofiering these 

 remarks, I do it solely from a sense of justice, as 

 I iiiyself do not belong to this class of individuals. 



THE FIRE-SIDE REFLECTIONS OF A BUCKING- 

 HAM FARMER, ON AGRICULTURE* 



From the Virginia Farmer. 



Our ancestors came to this country to acquire 

 good lands and realize independent fortunes — to 

 obtain .the first object was .easy, but the attain- 

 ment of the second, required activity and labor. 

 Extensive and unreclaimed forests, a virgin soil 

 of great ferlility and a congenial climate, admon- 

 ished our fbreiathers, that the cultivation of tobac- 

 co would be profitable. Land being abundant 

 and cheap, it was not to be expected, that an en- 

 lightened system- of -agriculture would prevail, and 

 but little effort was made to improve or preserve 

 the fertility of the soil. To clear the forests, make 

 tobacco, so long.as the land would produce the ar- 

 ticle, then plant corn, plough it up hill and down, 

 and in a fevv years convert the field into a common, 

 was, ins-hor-t, the practice of our ancestoi-s. When 

 land could, as then, be purchased for a trifle, they 

 perhaps did not act very unwisel)''. Men of intel- 

 ligence and wealth entrusted the management of 

 their estates to overseers, and those in middle life, 

 instead of superintending their own farms, obeyed 

 the dictates of vanity and they too employed over- 

 seers. Thus to a great extent, the land and labor 

 of the country, were under the control and super- 

 vision of a class, (I do not mean all, as there are 

 honorable exceptions) who were then, and are 

 now, as ignorant and self-conceited, as they are 

 avaricious and obstinate. Each succeeding gene- 

 ration, unmindful of the fact, that population was 

 increasing and tliat land would necessarily appre- 

 ciate in value, reverencing the habits and usages of 

 the previous one, pertinaciously adhering to the 

 same system, and deriving no instruction from the 

 improvements of other countries or the sad expe- 

 rience of past times, has persisted in this plan of 

 exterminating the forest and devastating one of 

 the fairest portions of the civilized world. Now 

 that our farms scathed with gullies and studded 

 with pine thickets, and presenting other indicationg 

 of poverty, our citizens becoming dissatisfied with 

 the state, because they cannot go on to make to- 



bacco, corn, and wheat as heretofore — are lasting 



In some places, seed corn is distributed to ne- 1 evidences of the impropriety of our management 



cessitous husbandmen, who are bound to restore — the almost entire change'ln the aspect of our 



;is much in lieu of it the next harvest. The institu- 

 tion of such a system as this, is no' doubt highly 

 necessary in a countiy .only in an imperf^ict stg,te 

 ol ci\-ilization; but that whicdi requires the au- 

 thority of government to accomplish abroati^, is in 

 England brought about by less questionable 

 means. The commercial and enterprising genius 

 and spirit of our countiymen, induce them to en- 

 ter into speculative purchases, and risk the invest- 

 ment of their capital in grain at one period, with 

 a chance of reaping a profiit during the deficient 

 season that may succeed, and thus the supplies of 

 a good season and a bad one, are in a great mea- 

 sure equalized to the consumers. In the ruder 



land and situation, in connexion with the great 

 importance of an alteration in the mode of con- 

 ducting our agricultural affairs, calls for mature 

 ■reflection. The system, that at one time might 

 have been profitable and called for by the situa- 

 tion of the country, inasmuch as the land was 

 mostly in woods and selling for a mere trifle, may 

 be ruinous under a different state of circumstances. 

 Whether our situation in an agricidtural point of 

 view, and the objects to which our attention 

 should be called, are not materially diflerent fi-om 

 what they might justly be considered some time 

 back, I shall leave to others more fully to discuss, 

 but that this is a critical and important crisis to the 



states of society speculators in corn are the objecxs ' planters and fiirmevs generally, "and those whose 

 Vol. II.— 16 



