606 



FARMERS' R E G I S i £ R 



the means ofstocking his soil with that pest of the 

 farmer. I have some wheat that is in ^rcat de- 

 mand for seed, [ am aware that it is full oC stehi 

 icroiit or charlock-, but tiic purchaser does not 

 notice their presence, and I make a good bargain 

 in common parlance, by saying noihing about it. 

 I have some corn, that resembles some valuable 

 and celebrated varieiy, and I take advantage of 

 the ignorance oCmy friends and others, to sell it to 

 them for high prices, while I am aware that it has 

 not a single leauture of the corn they imagine it to 

 be. 1 misht enlarge this catalogue of similar acts, 

 but enough has been given to illustrate my mean- 

 ing. 



I repeat the question, wherein does the guilt of 

 the man who feeds his neighbor's horses with 

 arsenic, difler from his who sells his neighbor the 

 seed of the Canada thistle? For my part I am 

 simple enough to consider the latter the greater 

 ofltince. The crime is the destruction of property. 

 In the one case it is the destruction of a few 

 anxTials that can be replaced : in the latter the 

 iarm itselt is comparatively ruined. Ask a Penn- 

 sylvania farmer which he would choose, to lose 

 his best span of horses by poisoning, or have his 

 fifty or his hundred acres stocked with the thistle, 

 stein krout or charlock ; and if he understands the 

 nature ol' these plants, he would not hesitate an 

 instant. The injury in one case would be but a 

 trifle, compared with the other ; why then should 

 not a corresponding estimate be formed of the 

 crime? 



I make these remarks because I do not imagine 

 the crime of injuring others in these ways, is 

 eufficienlly realized by farmers and others. The 

 man who puts ofi' spurious animals (or good ones ; 

 who sells impure or bad seed lor clean or proper 

 ones; who knowingly injures his neighbor or the 

 j)ublic in these and other common methods of 

 fraudulent imposition and puffing, is not to be held 

 guiltless, because he does not put his hand in a 

 pocket and extract its contents directly, or because 

 he does not commit other overt acts! against the 

 ?najesty of (he laws. He, does 7iot do as he would 

 be done by J a plain unsophisticated test of conduct, 

 to which all would do well to take heed ; at least 

 such is the opinion of an 



OcD ScHooi. Max. 



BERKSHIRK HOGS. 



From the Farmers' Uabiuet. 

 Mr- Editor. — I have just peen a Bement, 

 which, for the honofjr of old Berkshire, I trust 

 is no Bemeni. It would he in vain to attempt to 

 describe him, for from the sole of his foot to the 

 crown of his head he is about one of the ugliest 

 little wretches that can be imagined ; his capacity 

 for improvementis however great, for his belly 

 would serve two such and to i^|)are. If, however, 

 upon trial, it might not contain quite all that iwo 

 may wish to eat, there is a hollow behind his 

 shoulders that woulil take some, and add not a 

 little to his figure. But, strange to say, this pig 

 i.s the best of four that were sent from Albany, to 

 a person in this part of the country, as very su- 

 perior— in short, as \\\\\& Bements! Where the 

 oiher three are located I know not ; but if this pig 

 were minei he would soon find his way "bock 



agin.*' 1 understand that hia present possessor 

 cannot believe that he is so old as he is represented 

 to be — he is ?n small. This reminds me of the 

 negro's pig, which, although he was very little^ 

 as the purchaser complained. Sambo assured hitn 

 he was " berry ole." There is, however, a Loss- 

 ing'm the same pen with him, which has been 

 sent to show the diffisrence ; he is much better to 

 be sure, but if that gentleman would come this way 

 sotae day, the ownf^r could show him a pen of piora 

 a single Berkshire cross that would asionish him, 

 although he is not a native. 



Now. I have a strong suspicion, that the foui' 

 very inferior pigs above-mentioned, were pigs of 

 the first litter — and if so, all is accounted for; for 

 ii is a fact that [ have often proved, the first litter 

 of pigs are always very inferior, and it is often- 

 times with difficulty that they can be raised at all 

 — 1 should say never to credit or profit, unless the 

 breeder has an order for pigs from persons living 

 at a distance, who are pretty sure to come in for 

 the cullings afier the best have been selected by 

 the purchasers in person, — then, there might be 

 profit, but I should prefer the credit, I must confess. 

 The .fact has been so long known, namely, that 

 pigs oCa first litter are always inferior, that out of 

 it has grown the old adage, " The callofa young 

 cow, the pig of an old sow," that is, for rearing 

 stock ; and 1 have had repeated proofs of the truth 

 of the observation. 



There is no one who approves more of the Berk- 

 shires as a cross than I do, but I fear there are 

 some men in some parts who are hasting to grow 

 rich ; and there is another proverb, you know — 

 but which I am not of course going to apply to 

 them — which snys, " he that hasieth to grow rich 

 will scarcely be" — but there . Siam. 



N. J., July 30, 1840. 



THE SMALL FARMS OF BELGIUM. 



[Fromliie 'Third Report of George Nielioll!!, Esq., containing 

 the Result of an Inquiry into tlie Condition of tlie Laboring 

 Classes nnd the Provision for the Relief of the Poor in Holland 

 and Belgium.] 



The extensive manufacturea which at no very 

 remote period flourished in Belgium appear to 

 have congregated a numerous population of arti- 

 sans in and around the great towns. As the scene 

 of manufacturing industry changed, this population 

 was deprived of its means of handicraft employ- 

 ment, and was compelled to resori to the cultiva- 

 tion of the soil for subsistence. This seems to 

 have been the chief; though possibly not the sole 

 origin of the system of small farms, which still 

 prevails, and which are cultivated by the holder 

 and his family, generally without other assistance. 

 The farms in Belgium very rarely exceed 100 

 acres. The number containing 60 acres is not 

 great. Those of 30 and 20 acres are more nume- 

 rous, but the number of holdings of fiom 5 to 10, 

 15, and 20 acres is very considerable, especially 

 those of ibe smaller extent ; and to these I chiefly 

 confined my inquiries. 



The small farms of from five to ten acres, which 

 abound in many parts of Belgium, closely resemble 

 the small holdings in Ireland; but the small Irish 

 cultivator exists in a state of miserable privation 

 of the common comforts and conveniences of 

 civilized lifle, whilst the Belgian peasant fiirmer 



