154 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



dangerous one, especially in the hands of the in- 

 experienced. We now know thai it is a most 

 caustic thing, but we did not know it till we had 

 first burnt our fingers with it. And as no one 

 is disposed to blame himself, but if possible to fix 

 it on others, we are disposed to give a portion ol 

 the blame to (he editor, who, by representing it 

 "as the one thing needful,"'' has unintentionally 

 induced some of us tyroes to inflict this injury on 

 ourselves. In my next, (unless I have to delend 

 myself from the attacks of others,) 1 shall detail 

 my course of cropping^.* J. H. Tukker. 



THE FARM AND FARMING OF THE REV. J. H. 

 TURNER — KO III. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



lo the last number I promised to detail in this 

 my course of cropping. But I must beg lor 

 quarters a little longer, whilst I lake aiioiher 

 Blight excursion on my favorite pony, economy. 

 And at ihe sight of the word economy, the reader 

 will probably exclaim, " Monsieur 'I'onson come 

 again !" But with the risk of this, i must stiy 

 that a well regulated economy is one chief branch 

 of agriculture, so much so that no treatise on the 

 latter can be considered as any way complete, 

 without an important bearing on the Ibrmer. 



I would then state, that in the several pur- 

 chases of my land, negroes, slock and other things 

 connected with the fixtures of the farm, I made 

 it a rule to carry out the principles of Jack Ran- 

 dolph's " philosopher's stone — pay as you go." 

 To this rule, 1 rigidly adhered, until I conceived 

 the idea of buildin^ the house in which I now 

 reside. Up to this time, I had boarded and lodg- 

 ed in town, but I spent every day at ilie larm. 

 By this time, I had become so interested in the 

 farm, in its improvements, crops, stock, &c., that 

 to spend the whole day there did not satisfy me. 

 1 wished also to spend the night there, and to 

 have my family with me. The air, the water, 

 the scenery and the whole routine of empioy- 



* We shall be gratified if Mr. Turner will state 

 particularly the mode and circumstances of his appli- 

 cation of lime. We have entire confidence in all his 

 statements of facts, and of course, in the want of any 

 manifest operation, and of profitable success of the 

 application. Still, such a result as total failure, or 

 loss, if of judiciously conducted liming, is altogether 

 opposed to general experience ; and in the absence of 

 all knowledge of the d:tails of the experiments, we 

 must suspect that there either existed some peculiar 

 obstacles to the operation of the lime — or that benefit 

 really was produced, but so late, that it could not be dis- 

 tinguished separately from the greater effects of the 

 subsequent heavy and repeated applications of putres- 

 cent manures. We shall be glad also to learn Mr. 

 Robinson's opinions as to what he may suppose was 

 the cause of his failure, and whether there is any 

 ground for our supposition expressed above. We will 

 submit some comments on Mr. Turner's general opi- 

 nion on liming ; but not until his own views have been 

 fully presented, and completed. — Ed. F. R. 



ment were so much more congenial to my taste, 

 than those of the town, that ! longed to have my 

 lamdy at the larm. that we might fully enjoy our 

 country emplcyineuls. This made a house ne- 

 cessary. But here was the difficulty : 1 had by 

 this time so exhausted my little fund, in purchases 

 and various improvements, that 1 had almost 

 none left for the proposed building. In thia 

 Slate of things, 1 had concluded lo postpone the 

 comfort of a house, until 1 could command the 

 means to build one. But a kind friend, learning 

 my wishes in ihis matter, generously ofiered to 

 liirnish the necessary (unds. Build, said he, such 

 a house as you choose, and draw on me lor the 

 cost, and pay me when convenient to yoursell."^ 

 Now here was a kind olfer, which almost any one 

 would have lelt himself warranted in accepiing. 

 1 did accept it, but in doing so, I involved myself 

 in difficulty in several particulars. 



Eitherio I had dug all my money from the 

 ground, and every dollar camelo me moistened 

 with the sweat of my face. But now money 

 came to me in large suras, and ii came so very 

 easy, that I was tempted to build a much larger 

 and a much mure expensive house than a plain 

 farmer's lamily, such as mine was, had any need 

 o(^ i investeiJ iherelbre in a house a considerable 

 sum, which ii would have been far more to my 

 interest to lay out in enriching my lands, and in 

 other more profitable improvements. 1 now have 

 a comloriable house, it is true, but 1 have it at 

 the expense of a considerable unproductive capi- 

 tal, and this is by no means a comloriable reflec- 

 tion. Ill the mean time, after the bargain was 

 concluded, and euch progress made that it would 

 not do to abandon the undertaking, my friend died, 

 and I was lelt to make such other provision as 

 I could. 



Nor is this the only evil growing out of this 

 misiake. I conslanily felt mysell lettered and 

 hampered in all my operations. A debt to a con- 

 siderable amount hatJ been coniracled, and dur- 

 ing its pendency, I lelt it my duty, (not to suspend 

 payment as the banks have done, but) to suspend 

 all the improvements, and indeed all other ex- 

 penses, which were not absolutely necessary. But 

 I record the fact with gratitude, that this ha- 

 rassing debt is now paid olf, and thai 1 "owe no 

 man any thing but to love him." Herealter it is 

 my purpose to cling to Roanoke's philosopher's 

 stone, with a tenacity which nothing but death 

 can sever. 



Perhaps I ought to apologize for this long and 

 minute detail. I can truly say ihat, in making 

 it, 1 have no selfish end in view. 1 hold myself 

 up, in this prominent manner, as a beacon of 

 warning to other farmers. Debt is at all times 

 an exceedingly inconvenient thing. It is a very 

 easy thing lor one who has credit to contract a 

 debt, but it is exceedingly difficult to pay it. A 

 countryman some time ago in Richmond asked a 

 citizen, who happened to be deeply involved at 

 bank, and lelt all the pain and inconvenience of 

 his situation, "Sir, will you have the goodness to 

 show me the way into the bank ?" Pointing out 

 the way with his finger, he replied "That is the 

 way, sir ; but I can tell you, friend, it is much easier 

 to find the way in than to find the way out.^' This 

 good citizen was an honest but unfbrlunate man, 

 and as such spoke feelingly on the subject. I too 

 can speak feelingly ; (or I can truly say, that in 



