CROPS AND PROFITS 



I think it must be fairly admitted that with 

 most amateur farmers, the business (if we 

 reckon it business) is only an elegant luxury; 

 absorbing in a quite illimitable manner, all 

 loose funds at the disposal of the adventurer, 

 and returning — smooth fields, sleek cattle, de- 

 licious fruits, and possibly, a few annual pre- 

 miums. We never get at their "memo- 

 randa." Mr. Mechi, indeed, of the Tip-tree 

 Hall, gave us an exhibit of his expenses and 

 his sales; but he found it necessary to sup- 

 port the statement with sundry affidavits ; peo- 

 ple showed wanton distrust ; and I think there 

 is an earnest belief among shrewd observers, 

 that the razor straps, soaps, and dressing- 

 cases of Leaden-Hall street (where his original 

 business lies), are, in a large degree, creditors 

 of the Tip-tree Hall farming. 



But Mr. Mechi is something more than an 

 amateur ; he is an innovator ; and has sustained 

 his innovations with a rare business capacity, 

 and that inexorable system, which can make 

 even weak ideas exhibit a compacted strength. 

 Amateurs then, cannot take shelter under 

 cover of Mr. Mechi's figures. Farming re- 

 mains an elegant amusement only, for those 

 who can afford to buy all that they need, and 

 to sell nothing that they raise; and a profit- 



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