INSTINCT OF lUnnS. DUNG-HKAPS, &,C. 



587 



estates proved insolvent, only 14 wore farm- 

 ers; one of these was a lazy niun. and anoth- 

 er had been enj^aged in sliige-driviiig and 

 ondorsod paper lor his brother. A list from 

 the olliue of tlie Secretary of the State would 

 prove llie small proixution of firmiM's who 

 had become bankrupt. Every fourtliman in 

 the stores here could be dispensed with; yet 

 numbers are contiuually rushing here to make 

 their fortuaes. No real larmer in this State 

 has failed. 



Cajit. Hks.iamis I'oiiTKU of Danvers said: 

 Not a liinnei- m Esse-x (Jounty h.is failed. I 

 have been in trade, and I have been engaged 

 iu farming. I have been in dei)t, and have 

 lain awake many a night to contrive how to 

 tiike up my notes given in trade. I lost my 

 health, but 1 have recovered it on my farm. 

 1 bought a farm tliat had been neglected, 

 worn out. for .Jl.^jOl). It had numerous fruit 

 trees, but it bore no fruit. I commeuce<l by 

 plowing and cross-plowing amaig the trees. 

 I bought yearly 101) dollars' worth of manure, 

 and on the third year I had T'Xi dollars' worth 

 of apples. I had a sow that biought nine 

 pigs. When these were sold they brought 

 me 253 iloUars. My trees very soon com- 

 menced bearing in consequence of breaking 

 the sward. Farming is better than any kind 

 of mechanic employment in Essex County. 



Tiiere is the Howe Farm, on the Beverly 

 town lino, which has been leased out to half 

 a dozen men ; all have made money on it by 

 having half the proceeds. Several of these 

 men now own good farms. They purchased 

 them by the prolits of farming. 



Mr. LiNcoLV, a member of the House 

 from \V'i)rcester, did not think money the 

 sole object ; he would not have a man 

 " gain tiie whole world and lose his own 

 soul." He had made fanning profitable in 

 one sense, but in no other : it atVords a living 

 for a man and liis family, but he cannot be- 

 come ricli. The sUitement of the gentleman 

 from Princeton, Mr. Brooks, is not satisfac- 

 tory. Farms are generally incumbered with 

 mortgages. Why is it that farmers are so 



Ejenerally in debt? Some individuals in 

 arge towns make a little money by teaming 

 and othei- business otf from the farm ; Ijut 

 this is not farming. The same miy be said 

 of a few who have a chiuce to sell milk. 

 But all farmers cannot sell milk. Let n fann- 

 er lay out $3,000 in a fnin. He will be 

 obliged to economize. His clothing is less 

 expensive than that of mechanics. By living 

 very prudently he can hold his own, but he 

 cannot lay up money. Mr. Lincoln would 

 not have young men led astray by reports of 

 these meetings. His object in speakhig was 

 to put j)eople on their guard. 



Air. Dknny .said there are two sides to ev- 

 ery question. He was glad to hear the gen- 

 tleman from Worcester. He Inped to ln.'ar 

 in this place all the objections that cim be 

 stated to the profitableness of farming. All 

 of them are readily answered. Twenty 

 years will show clearly who lays up the most 

 (1157) 



money — farmers or those engaged in other 

 pursuits. 



Major Wheklkr here offered some resolu- 

 tions which were filed for action at the next 

 meetuig. 



Mr. ItussKT.T., a member, as we learned, 

 from Worcester County, answered some que- 

 ries [jroposed by .Mr. Lincoln. I leased a 

 farm worth )j3,000 at Hve percent. The le.s- 

 see told me he ki;pt five cijws on it and sold 

 the butter; lie did not sell milk. He sup- 

 ))nrted his fauiilv on the firm and he laid up 

 $100 a year. He had seven daughters, and 

 he brought them all up well educated. He 

 left the tarm in a lood slate. 



Tiie Gill Farm in 15oylston, GOO acres, was 

 rented i()r a number of years. The lessee 

 retired witli a handsome property. I have 

 been in trade ;md I have been on a fann. I 

 prefer farming. 



Lieut. Governor Reed expressed his high 

 gratification in learning that farming is con- 

 nected with so many good things. He 

 tliought we had an assembly liere of the very 

 b(\st of farmers, and he wished to come again 

 and hear more on the same subject. 



Ca[)t. E. Whickler of Fiamingham isaid 

 he had served as a Deputy Sheiitl' for thir- 

 teen years, and though some of the traders 

 there had failed in tliat time, not an individ- 

 ual whose occupation was farmuig had be- 

 come insolvent. 



Capt. I'oKTKR named two fanners who 

 went to Vermont several years ago; each 

 bought a farm of 100 acres. In a tew years 

 one .sold out for $1.^,000, and the other had 

 acquired a handsome property. 



Instinct of Birds. — When the lapwing 

 wants to procure f^iod it seeks for a woi-m's 

 nest, and stamps the ground by tli(! side of 

 it with its feet, after the manner of boys iu 

 order to procure worms for lishing. After 

 doing diis for a short time the bird waits for 

 the i.ssue of the worm from the liule, which, 

 alanned at the shaking of the ground, en- 

 deavors to make its escape, when it is imims- 

 diately seized and become the prey of this 

 ingenious bird. 



Dung-Hkaps. — The temperature of a dung- 

 heap is a pretty correct criterion of the state 

 of fermentation. If a thermometer plunged 

 into it does not ri.se above 100 degrees there 

 is litde danger of too much gaseous matter 

 being lost ; if the temperature is higher, 

 means should be taken to check the fer- 

 mentiition. 



Good Bay. — In Aberdeen the streets are 

 swept every day, at an annual cost of £ 1,400, 

 and the refuse brings in £2,000 a year. In 

 Perth the scavenging costs £1,300 per an- 

 num, and the manure sells for £1,730. Here, 

 then, is a gain of sterling gold — a premium 

 for sa\"ing immort;d life. 



