ON FARM MANAGEMENT. 



17 



dences. And were this subject fully appreciated 

 and attended with a corresponding practice 

 generally, it would doubtless soon increase by 

 millions the agricultural products of the State. 



But there is another subject of scarcely less 

 magnitude. This is a systematic 



Rotation of Crops. — If manuring is the 

 steam engine which propels the vessel, rotation 

 is the rudder which iT-inde.i it iu its progress. — 

 Unlike manuring, rotation does not increase the 

 labor of culture ; it only directs the labor in the 

 most effective manner, by the exercise of judg- 

 ment and thought. 



The limits of this paper do not admit of many 

 remarks on the principles of rotation. The fol- 

 lowing courses, however, have been found 

 among some of the best adapted to our State : 

 I. .1st year — Com and roots -well manured; 



2d 1/ear — Wheat, sown with clover seed, 

 15 lbs. per acre ; 



3d year — Clover, one or more years, ac- 

 cording to fertility and amount 

 of manure at hand. 

 n..lst year — Corn and roots, with all the ma- 

 nure ; 



2d year — Barley and peas ; 



3d year — Wheat, sown with clover; 



4th year — Clover, one or more years. 

 III.. 1st year — Com and roots, with all the ma- 

 nure ; 



2d year — B arley ; 



3d year — Wheat, sown with clover; 



4th year — Pasture ; 



5th year — Meadow ; 



6th year — Fallow; 



7th year — Wheat ; 



8th yeai- — Oats, sown with clover; 



9th j-ea?--— Pasture, or meadow. 

 The number of fields must correspond ■\vitVi the 

 number of the changes in each course ; the tirst 

 needing three fields to carry it out, the second 

 four, the third nine. As each field contains a 

 crop each, in the several successive stages of the 

 course, the whole number of fields collectively 

 comprise the entire series of crops every year. 

 Thus in tlie la.^t above given, there are two fields 

 of wheat growing at once, three of meadow 

 and pasture, one of corn and roots, one of bar- 

 ley, one of oats, and one in summer fallovs'. 



Operations in the order of Time. — The 

 vital consequence of doing everj' thing at the 

 right season, is known to every good farmer. — 

 To prevent confusion and embarrassment, and 

 keep all things clearly and plainly before the 

 fanner at the right tune, he should have a small 

 book to carry in his pocket, having every item 

 of work for each week, or each half month, laid 

 down before his eyes. This can be done to the 

 be.'^t advantage to suit every particular locality 

 and diifercnce of climate, by marking each suc- 

 cessive week in the season at the top of its res- 

 pective page. Then as each operation several- 

 ly f ilxnr.s, let him place it under its proper head- 

 ing ; or. if out of season, let him place it back 

 at the right time. Any proposed improvements 

 can be noted down on the right page. Inter- 

 esting experiments are often suggested in the 

 course of reading or observation, but forgotten 

 when the time comes to try them. By record- 

 ing them in such a book under the right -week, 

 they are brought at once before the mind. Such 

 an arrangement as this will prevent a great deal 

 of tlie confusion and vexation too often attendant 

 on multifarious cares, and assist very essentially 

 (65) 



in conducting all the farm work with clock-work 

 regularity and sati.sfaction. 



In reviewing the various items which arc 

 most immediately essential to good farm man- 

 agement, some of the most obvious will be — 

 capital enough to buy the farm and to stock it 

 well ; to select a size compatible wilh these re- 

 quisites ; to lay it out in the best manner ; to pro- 

 vide it well with fences, gates, and buildings ; 

 to select the best animals and the best imple- 

 ments to be had reasonably ; to bring the soil 

 into good condition, by draining, manuring, and 

 good culture ; to have every part under a good 

 rotation of crops ; and every operation an-anged, 

 so as all to bo conducted systematically, without 

 cla.shing and confusion. An attention to all 

 these points would place agriculture on a very 

 different footing from its present condition in 

 many places and with most farmers. The 

 business then, instead of being repulsive, as it 

 so frequently is. to our young men, would be at- 

 tended \vith real enjoynieut and pleasure 



But in all improvements, in all enterprise!?, tlio 

 gi-eat truth must not be forgotten, that success 

 is not to be expected without diligence and in- 

 dustry. We must sow in spring, and cultivate 

 well in summer, if we would reap an abundant 

 harve.st m autumn. When we see joung farm- 

 ers commence in life without a strict attention to 

 business, which they neglect for mere pleasure, 

 well may we in imagination see future crops 

 lost by careless tillage — broken fences, unhinged 

 gates, and fields filled with weeds — tools de- 

 stroyed by hsfcdlessness. property wasted by 

 recklessness, and disorder and confusion triumph- 

 ant ; and unpaid debts, duns, and executions, 

 already hanging over the premises. But, on the 

 other hand, to see cheerfiil-faced, ready-handed 

 industry, directed by reason and intelligence, 

 and order, energy, and economy, guiding the 

 operations of the fann — with smooth, clean 

 fields, and neat trim fences — rich, verdant pas- 

 tures, and fine cattle enjoying them, and broad 

 waving meadows and golden harvests, and 

 w^aste and extravagance driven into exile, we 

 need not fear the success of such a farmer — 

 debts cannot stare him in the face, nor duns en- 

 ter his threshold. 



It is such enterprise as this, that must place 

 our country on a substantial basis. Agriculture 

 in a highly improved state, must be the means, 

 which next to the righteousness which truly ex- 

 alts a nation, will contribute to its enduring pros- 

 perity. All trades and commerce depend on 

 this great art as their Ibundation. The cultiva- 

 tion of the soil and of plants was the earliest oc- 

 cupation of man ; it has in all ages been his 

 chief means of subsistence ; it still continues to 

 furnish employment to the great majority of the 

 human race. It is truly the great art of peace, 

 as during wars and commotions it has languished 

 and declined, but risen again in strength and 

 vigor when men have lived at peace with each 

 other — it has th.en flourished and spread, con- 

 verted the wilderness into life and beautj% and 

 refreshed and adorned nature with embelli.shed 

 culture. For its calm and tranquil pleasures — 

 for its peaceful and healthful laboris — away fi-om 

 the fi-etful and feverish life of crowded cities, — 

 " in the free air and beneath the bright sun of 

 heaven," — many, who have spent the mpining 

 and noon of their lives in the anxious cares of 

 commercial life, have long sighed for a scene 

 of peace and quietude for the evening of their 

 days. 



