183S] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



457 



hers, there are few good farmers in any country: 

 and even amontr the best of them, success rarely 

 resuhs in the accumulation ol' large fortunes. A 

 competency — a very moderate degree ol" indepen- 

 dence, is ail vvhichthe most of us aspire to, and 

 even that, many tail ever to get. To make a good 

 farmer, it requires a combination ol' prerequisites 

 rarely to be met with in the same individual: he 

 most possess the patience of Job, the wisdom of 

 Solomon, the eyes of Argus, and the equanimity 

 of a saint. 



It is said, that between man and the earth there 

 is a natural sympathy: the earth, "from which in 

 sorrow he came, and to which in sorrow he must 

 return." Every man, at some period or another 

 of his life, aspires to the honor of becoming a cul- 

 tivator of the soil; to plant a tree, the fruit of 

 which he may never taste; to build a cabin or a 

 villa; to enjoy a littleof the '■'Giimii cum dignitate,'''' 

 supposed to be incident to the profession; to rear 

 up an inheritor of his name and fortune, and to 

 deck the bosom of that earth, in which he knows, 

 at no distant day, he will find a grave. 



Adam, our great progenitor, was a farmer, or, 

 at least, it was intended that he should be one, 

 even before his fall; for, when placed in Paradise, 

 he was directed "to keep it and to dress it:"' f)ut 

 he lacked experience, and managed his affairs 

 very badly, for he lost his inheritance, "which 

 brought death into the world, and all our wo," 

 belbre he probably had pitched his first crop. 

 Most of the patriarchs were graziers ; and that 

 rich old gentleman, jkbraham, was one who did 

 no discredit to the profession. In his entertain- 

 ment of tlie three angels, who unexpectedly paid 

 him a visit, his running "to fetch a calf, both ten- 

 der and good," and his directions to his dutiful w'li'e, 

 Sarah, to cook the cakes on the hearth, we have 

 a most beautiful picture of primeval liospitality 

 and simplicity. The fare was plain and abundant; 

 but how different the style fi'om that of a wealthy 

 herdsman of the present day! 



To feed well, is one of those indispensable re- 

 quisites, that cannot be too often inculcated. A 

 farmer should feed every thing well, and last, 

 though not least, he should feed himself well. 

 His house should be tlie seat of social comfort, of 

 hospitality and atHuence. 1 hold no communion 

 with your lank-visaged Shylock: he, who exacts 

 "his pound of flesh," eats little himself, and 

 drinks — he drinks water; and there is, after all, no 

 real sociability without the occasional use of the 

 "wine-cup." We are pleased with the caricature 

 of a "turtle-fed alderman;" we are delighted with 

 the admirably drawn character of Falstatf^ the per- 

 sonification of good living, the very prince of good 

 eaters and deep drinkers; we can pardon, atleast, the 

 vice of a hospitable "landlord, who never suH'ers a 

 guest to leave his table, either sorrowful or sober." 



There is no truth in the adage, "that there is 

 no place like home, though never so homely;" 

 many a poor fellow, with at least an ordinary 

 share of the milk of human kindness in his soul, 

 roams through the wide deserts of this cheerless 

 world, until brought up at last by starvation and 

 death, lor no other reason, but that he has no 

 home, or none at least with such endearments as 

 to make life desirable — no blazing hearth — no 

 smoking board — no prattling children — and worse 

 than all, "no eye there, to look brighter for his 

 coming." 



Vol. VI.-58 



A farmer should retire early to bed, and require 

 no such monitor as Dr. Franklin, who once in- 

 formed the citizens of Paris of the astonishing 

 fiict, " that at 5 o'clock the sun was up, and that 

 it was quite light;" but willi his eyes wide open, 

 at early dawn, let him "first see that all is right, 

 and then go ahead," without the necessity, how- 

 ever, of wending his way, either to " the Devil or 

 to Texas. " 



1 cannot speak for others, but I know that farm- 

 ers like a warm fire — a cheerful candle — a comfort- 

 able bed; they like to dream of pleasant times 

 that are past, and of a joyous prospect to come — 

 "of wiltj, children and friends" — of' fat beeves, of 

 full hog-i)ens, of heavy stack-yards, with real old- 

 fashioned Eonaparte pieces booming in the dis- 

 tance. 



After this long preamble, it is time to come to 

 , the real object of this letter, and, to do it to your 

 satisfaction, I shall try and "begin at the begin- 

 ning. " Fauquier county is one of the largest and 

 most populous in the state, east of the Blue 

 Ridge Mountains. It is composed of two large 

 oblongs, joined together by a narrow neck of land, 

 just at Warrenton, a little above the White Sul- 

 phur Springs. The land in the lower section is 

 not good, the upper and larger section I shall now 

 attempt to describe. From Warrenton to Salem, 

 there is a gootl deal of poor land, but above Salem, 

 in the direction of Farrowsville, Upperville and 

 Middleburg, the land is generally excellent, some 

 very tolerable, and only a small portion ordinary. 

 The country generally is broken, rough, rugged, 

 fiilly, mountainous, stony and rocky. It is as 

 healthy as Montpelier, and as finely watered as 

 any portion of the habitable globe. It is a fine 

 farming country, though not picturesque; it is oc- 

 casionally romantic, but not generally pretty. 



A traveller, in passing along any of the public 

 highways, would not be impressed with the beauty 

 of thescenery, the good appearance of the houses, 

 or the excellence of the cultivation. Wood is in 

 many places scarce; but still Volney would pro- 

 nounce it, in comparison with France, " a great 

 forest;" so great is the predominating effect of 

 wood land over cleared and open fields. The 

 general surface, as presented to the eye, is not only 

 rough and broken, but intersected by numberless 

 branches and little swamps, left for the most part 

 intentionally uncleared. These, though unsightly, 

 answer the double purpose of protecting the springs 

 and streams of water, and of affording shelter for 

 cattle. 



The soil, in its natural state, is generally good, 

 but not first rate, as compared with that fine region 

 of country in Maryland, between Hagerstown and 

 Frederick, or with some localities beyond the 

 mountains. As far as I have been able to ascer- 

 tain the fact, it is composed of seven-tenths of 

 clay, two-tenths of sand, and the remaining tenth 

 of vegetable matter, a little iron, and a small 

 quantity of calcareous matter, with a substratum 

 of stiff red clay. There is certainly too little hu- 

 mus, and probably too much clay for a perfectly 

 good soil, or for it to be ploughed easily. 



Large crops of wheat are grown in upper Fau- 

 quier, and we consider it an excellent soil for that 

 grain, and inferior only to good limestone land ; for 

 corn and oats, it is better than any limestone; for 

 rye, it is unsuitable ; but for grass, when aided by 

 plaster, it is unsurpassed by any land in America. 



