502 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



ordinary or sadJen gains, as (or example, like 

 drawing tiie capital prize in a lottery wliere fiiere 

 are two blanks to a prize; like some suci.'e.'^sru! 

 East, India voyage, where the sale of the cargo 

 yields a net profit of one linndred per cent; or hke 

 Fome sudden rise in the storks, or some monopo- 

 lized ariicle of produce, where a shrewd op'.'raiion 

 draws its thouyanJs, or twenties oi'ihousaruls, into 

 our pockets. But that skill, experienr.e. as>iduiiy; 

 and industry will, in agriculiure, yield aliiir, and to 

 a reasonable mind an ample coiDpensaiion, there 

 are too miny and reiterated prouts to aduiil even 

 of a doubt. 



As we said in the beijinning, we do not design 

 at this time to go largely into this subject, and 

 we refer to it in particular at this time, (or the sake 

 ol' relatmg some parts o(" a conversation which we 

 once had with a respectable and independent but 

 com[)laining I'armerin our own despised state. 



This man then had a farm which was liilly val- 

 ued at four thousand dollars. The (iiiher, who 

 had given the farm to the son, had begun life wiih- 

 oul a dollar, had run into debt for a large part ol 

 the purchase money, but had somelinie since, 

 while he supported his family, earned li-om the pro- 

 ceeds of the farm, sufficient to pay for it. With- 

 out any incumbran e he had then put it into his 

 son's possesion, and now lived with him under the 

 eame roof. 



Said the son. Farming is a miserable business! 



But why so? Let ns look into ihis inaiter. 

 What is ihe estimated value of your farm? 



Four thousand ilollars. 



Is il iricreasiuix in value? 



Yes; by its favorable location, and by every im- 

 provement that is ma le upon it. 



Do you net all the produce from it wliich it can 

 be luade to yield? 



No, not one-third. It consists of one hundred 

 and twenty acre.s. At least (illy acres of it are in 

 wood, and a considerable portion in pasture. Be- 

 sides ihat, I have several acres ol peat bog, whi(di 

 might be redeemed and brought into English 

 grasses. 



What is the value of the wood land? 



We supply our family with fuel, and besides 

 this the growth of the wood and the hoop poles 

 which we obtain from it, pays a large interest 

 upon the current value of Ihe land, so that we 

 consider this as one of the most profitable parts of 

 the (arm. 



Have you done any thing to improve your pas- 

 ture lands? 



No — I suppose I ouffht to. I tried one hundred 

 weisfit of plaster spread upon a part of it, and the 

 effects were visible as faras the land could t)eseeri; 

 but then after that, plaster rose half a dollar on a 

 ton, and 1 thouubt I would not get any more. 

 Then the huckleberry bushes and the sweet lern, 

 and the rushes and alders have come in so that I 

 cannot keep so much stock as I could formerly. 



Have you attempted any improvement upon 

 your bog meadows? 



No— sometimes I have thought T would. My 

 neighbor J. B. has redeemed eight or ten acres, 

 and now gets two tons and a half of hay to the 

 acre, herds grass and clover and red-tnp of the 

 best quality, where formerly he got scarcely any 

 thina; but tJien itcost him atleast twenty or twenty- 

 five dollars an acre to drain and manure it; and he 

 will have to top-dress it at least once in five 



years, or it will never hold out. Then too, he has 

 put on at least half a bushel or more of grass seed 

 to the acre; and grass seed which I used to buy for 

 twelve cents a pound, or two dollars and a half per 

 bushel, is now -twenty cents a pound, and herds 

 grass three dollars per bushel. Then loo, labor is 

 BO hiijh, I cannot afiord to hire. 



H ive you plenty of nianu/e? 



No; thai is a iireat want. I have a bog hole 

 where I suppose I could get two hundred loads a 

 year, but then I should have to go mure than a 

 mill! liir it, and ii is wet work. 1 have not any of 

 the advantages which the farmers who live with- 

 in six or seven miles of Boston, and can go in 

 and buy a load ofirood dun<T whenever they want. 



Do you know what these farmers have to pay tor 

 manure in Boston? 



' Why, yesL 1 hav'e been told they have to give 

 sometimes three to five dollars a cord at the sta- 

 bles. Sometiiues our tayern keeper sells a lew 

 loads, but he asks five dollars a cord. 



Have you a barn cellar? 



No. I have often thought it would be n very 

 good thing, and my barn is well situated liir one; 

 but then it would cost, besides what work I should 

 do with my own team, full fifty dollars to make one. 



Do you keep cows? 



Yes, I keep some just to eat up our coarse fod- 

 der; but our women folks do not like dairy 

 work, so we buy our butter and sell our milk to 

 ihe milk-man (or eleven cents a gallon. 



J)o you keep swine. 



Only one or two lor our own pork. We do not 

 have/any skim-inilk or butter-milk lor them. Be- 

 sides there is no ijreat profit in fatting hogs. They 

 Will noi mucbi more than pay for wdiat li^iitl they will 

 eat. I know they will make a large quantity of 

 manure, but then you must cart in a great deal of 

 s'ull' into iheir pens or else they carVt make any. 

 But come! i must show you a sow I have got : 

 shi' is only fifieen ninnths old, and I sold her pigs 

 f)r more than forty dollars. I su|)pnse I shall make 

 her weigh four hundred in the fall. 

 ^Do you raise your own grain and potatoes? 



Not all. I r,use about three acres of corn and 

 about as n)uch rve, an<l about six hundred bush- 

 els ofpotaioes. We sell hay and buy (ienesee flour. 

 We have tried wheat, but f^ometimes it is blasted; 

 and it don't make white flour; and our women 

 folks sayihat they cannot make handsome pie- 

 crust or white bread with it. 



How many have you in your family? 



I have a wile and eight children, and my father 

 liv^es with me. 



Have you any, trade? 



No; I'have noihinii but my firrn. 



Does your farm support your lamily and pay your 

 labor? 



Why, j'es! I have nothing else, excepting a 

 little interest that comes from some money which 

 I received (or the sale of wood from the (arm, some- 

 time afjo, which came to about five hundred dol- 

 lars, and wliich I put out at interest. We sell 

 ennuiih produce from the farm to pay our hired 

 labor, which co>ts about a bandied dollars per year, 

 ami our store bills and taxes. 



We have very much abridged this conversation, 



and we shall leave it without (iiriher comment. 



But here is a husbandman on a farm valued at four 



thousand dollars, not producing more than one- 



! third of what it might be made to produce, yet 



