30 



THE FAliMEKS' REGISTER. 



paper, and as such, I have always been pleased 

 to see that your colunms are open to a lempertUe 

 diacussion ol mailers and ihings, even when men 

 d'j diHf^r, and this lacl is the cause of my trou- 

 tilmg you lor the first time wiih my observations. 

 This IS, however, digre.-sion. In the firsi place, 

 ilien, the Berkshire liog.s arc, rot what ihoy liave 

 been " cracki d up lo be." 1 have a neighbor, 

 who has given ihem a fair iri.d, to which I have 

 t)eeii an eye-witness. The ex|.erimeiii w. is made 

 in this way: — two Berk.-hires were p'aced in a 

 stable with two o the common breed, all of ihe 

 same age, and were careiully led, and at the end 

 of nine months they were killed, and the result 

 was, that the common breed exceeded the Berk- 

 shires in weight, one fifty and the oth' r sixty 

 pounds. Experiments liave been made, lo my 

 knowledge, in other instances, with similar resulis, 

 and even wiih worse credit to the far-iamed Berk- 

 shires. They are not polific : a gentleman of my 

 acquaintance had lour sows, each of which had 

 but one pig, being a loss of at least ten per cent. 

 a head, and the generality of them, I believe, do 

 not get more than (bur or five. The only redeem- 

 ing quality which they possess is, that ihey iatien | 

 easier and quicker than some breeds of the native ' 

 hog; but even this is counterbalanced by their 

 diminislied weight when slaughtered. They may 

 be considered an improvement on the common 

 China hog, and that is about all. I have a num- 

 ber of common hogs in a pen lor killing, which 

 are but nine months old, but they will weigh 300 

 pounds a-piece by Christmas ; they have been 

 fed on nothing but ihe otial of" a kiichen, and a 

 run at grass, until within about (bur weeks, since 

 which they have been (ed on corn and boiled 

 potatoes. Considering their leed — (or after all 

 that makes the hog — these hogs of mine will 

 challenge competition with any Berkshires in the 

 land, for symmetry, heavy hams, finely turned 

 shoulders, thick and deep in the sides, &c., &c. 

 1 purchased them when small, but not being 

 aware of their qualities, I did not preserve the 

 breed ; I shall, however, endeavor lo get others, 

 and by a judicious crossing, I have no doubt ihey 

 will make a far superior hog to the Berkshire, 

 which a number of my neighbors have given up, 

 preferring the best of Ihe common kind to them, 

 and in so doing, I think they are perfectly right. 

 I have no disposition lo discourage the propaga- 

 tion of a superior bleed of animals; on the con- 

 trary, I would do all in my power to further so 

 laudable an object; but the Berkshire pig mania, 

 like the mulberry speculation, is upon the wane, 

 and if A. B. Allen, of Buffalo, New York, has 

 •in his late trip to England, brought no better 

 epeeimen of improved animals than Berkshire 

 hogs, he might have saved himself the risk of a 

 duckinff in the Atlantic lor such an object. 



II. S. B. 

 Hanover township, Northampton Cb., Pa., 

 Dec 5, 1841. 



AGRICULTURE VERSUS COMMERCE. 



From the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Mr. Ediior : — On reading the article of your 

 city errespondent, G. M., in the last number of 

 the Cabinet, I have been led to the conclusion 

 that the writer is either an extravagant liver, or 



that mercantile business is not what it has been 

 " cracked up to be." He informs us that he in- 

 vested i§ 15,000 in the year 1827 in commercial 

 business, and has been considered ever since a 

 successful merchant, and that for the fifieen years 

 he has been in business, his living has consumed 

 all the prufiis, and that he is now not worth more 

 than when he t;egan, if so much. 



Now, il that hvmg which has absorbed all the 

 profits ol a business with a clear capital of ^ 15,000 

 has been an economical one, I should say that 

 the sooner the capital is diverted to another chan- 

 nel of indusiry, the better; and as your corre- 

 spondent wishes to escape ihe reverses incident to 

 his present business, and seems desirous to turn 

 his attention lo the independent and noble pursuit 

 of agriculiure, (br which he is prepared, at least 

 in capital and theory, 1 would, therefore, lor his 

 in!bnnaiion, and that of like inquirers, contrast 

 fiis mercanii'e operations, and the results as given 

 by l)i:i!self, with the agricultural operations of my 

 neighbor, S.»G., and their happy results worked 

 out, through an experience of 17 years, on land 

 that in ihis section of the country is considered 

 naturally ihird rate. Mr. G., by close af)plication 

 fur some ^ears to a mechanical trade, and at the 

 same lime living economically, accumulated a 

 considerable sum, -with which he purchased a 

 poor (arm of about 1.30 acres, and the necessary 

 stock for the same, which consisted of a yoke of 

 oxen, a horse, and two cows. In conveying an 

 idea of the condition of" this larm, I could not use 

 language more significant than that used by JNlr. 

 G., when speaking on the subject of his cona- 

 mencemenl in larming. He stated, that his farm 

 was so poor when he purchased it, which was in 

 ihe sprmg of 1824, that "he did not believe 

 that his two cows, pair of oxen and horse, got a 

 belly- full of grass on the farm the first summer." 

 This poor land cost him 30 dollars per acre ; his 

 stock and farming utensils amounted, perhaps, to 

 about ^400 ; this will increase the investment to 

 $4300. The farm-stock and utensils, he informed 

 me, " he had about clear." The first year he put 

 on ihis worn out land 2000 bushels oflime, and the 

 manure made in the yard the preceding winter, 

 which was carted out with a yoke of oxen in less 

 than a day. This lime was spread on the land 

 at the rate of 100 bushels to 3 acres, or 33J bush- 

 els to the acre; and Irom an experience of 17 

 years, he finds that a top-dressing ol about that 

 quantity repeated every five years, keeps the land 

 in a better condition than when put on in larger 

 quantities at more distant periods. But this ex- 

 perience, it may be remarked, has been altogether 

 confined to the treatment of mica slate land. 

 The lime acted with magical effect. The 

 manure-heaps, (the farmer's gold mine,) which 

 in the (all of 1824 had been quarried out, and 

 carted on the land with a yoke of oxen in less 

 than a tiay, increased, until double that power 

 was required from ten days to two weeks to re- 

 move it Irom the yards and stables. The capa- 

 city of the farm to support animal life consequent- 

 ly increased ; and in a little time Mr. G. s'ood by 

 the side ol his more fiivored neighbors as a re- 

 spectable farmer, no more to receive the jocular 

 expressions of "poor farm," "starved stock;" 

 and the thousand and one mortilying thrusts of 

 home-spun wit and neighborly jest. Actuated by 

 the right agricultural spirit, he has continued his 



