farmers Jlautljlg i^tsit^r, 



^^~ CONDUCTED BY ISAAC HILL. 



"Those who labor in the earth are the chosen i-eople of God, whose breasts he has made his peculiar de^ohite for substantial and genuine virtue." — Ji^ffirson. 



VOLUME VII. 



CONCORD, N. H., AUGUSTS], 1845. 



NUMBER 8. 



THE FAKJIKR'S MONTHLY VISITOR, 



PUBLISHKU BY 



ISAAC HILL, Si SONS, 



ISSUED ON THE LAST DAY OF EVERY MONTH, 



At Athenian Buildiug:. 



0:*?-General Acests.— B. t'.u.R, Ktcne, N 11.; Thomas 

 R.Hampton, WasIhiiElon Cily, U. C; John Maush, Wash 

 Ingtoii St. Boston, Muss.; Charles Warren, Briuley Row, 

 Wurccdtcr, Mass. 



TER3IS.— To slnple subscribers, Fifty Cents, Ten per 

 cent, will be allnweil (u the ptTson who shall send more than 

 one siilHcriher. Tw.lve copies will be sent for the advance 

 pay lt\fi\l of Ficc Dullars; I weuty-tive copies t'.ir Ttn Dollars; 

 sixty copies for Ttccntij DuUurg. The payment in everj- case to 

 be made in advance. 



Jf^Moncii-iiiiil .subscriptions^ by a re^rulation of the Post Master 

 Onirraff may in all cases be reinttted by tUe Post Ma.iter, free oj 

 postil:!C. , 



iO" ^" gentlemen who have heretofore ^ted as Agents are 

 req'iL'Sti'd lo continue their .Anency. Old subscribers who 

 conv iind 'r th;' new terms, will please notify us uf the names 

 already on uur book3. 



LETTERS 

 On Agricultnral ImproTement in England. 



BY I. J. MECHl. 



(These are dislrihukd, graliiitouslt/, by the fiiiler lo 

 promote the ^rent and important cause of JVationnl 

 Agricultural Improvement.) 



LETTER III. — Concluded. 



AS TO THE NON-APPLICATION OF CAPITAL TO LAND 

 IMPROVEMENTS. 



It seems siiiiriilar that in this age of siipera- 

 hiiiiilaiit ca|>ital and sii|iei'H(ioiis iiiieinplnyeil la- 

 bor, there shoiihl never have been a coii- 

 reiilralion of wealth for the |)ur|>ose ol'iiijprove- 

 iiieni ill A:.'rii-.iiltiire. We have had coinpaiiies 

 »itii iiiiliiiiiieil capital tor the wildest and ninst 

 iiiiprolitalile srheines, as well as the most trivial. 

 We lend wilhoiit coinpiinctioii onr liinidreds of 

 niillioiisto employ the lahor and strengthen the 

 hanils of Forei;:n Nations, who are now our 

 cimii'fclitors in A>;riculture, Coiniiierce,anil iManii- 

 fautiires, and wh" m.iy he to-morrow our great- 

 est enemies in warfare. 



It seems liUe a national disgrace, that whilst 

 we have had companies for almost everything, 

 from a railway ton steam- washing and niilU rotn- 

 paiiy.we have had no 'Improvement of our Native 

 Land (^oiiifiany." And yet there is nothing so 

 grateful as the soil — so satii — so permanent — so 

 large in pecuniary amoimt — so honoralile and 

 pleasant in pnrsnit. 



There may appear difficnities in the way—hut 

 in what nndertaliings are there not? L'nder a 

 well-.ii ranged Act of Paiiiainent, thousands of 

 landlords whose mortgaged estates are now al- 

 most an incnnihrance to them, would readily avail 

 of an opporlnnity that would render their at pres- 

 ent sterile laiiils vahiahle properties, inciease the 

 capil.d employed on them, improve the condition 

 and diminish the conipetilion of our farmers, re- 

 duce pauperism and discoiitc-nt hy fnrnisliing 

 employment to the willing lahorer without emi- 

 gration, and keep in our own country and for onr 

 own heiu'fit that large sum annually paid liu" for- 

 eign corn. If there had heensiich a company, i, 

 for one, would have invested my spare capital in 

 it; hilt there not heiiigone, 1 havt rarried out 

 individually, at no small personal Irouhle and 

 thought, those improvements w hich I hope to see 

 some day effected, as a matler of course, hv a 

 «ell-regiil.ited charier of associated •■apiialisis, 

 who will <lerive not onlva good pecuniary hene- 

 fit, but tbe more enviable gratilication of having 



conferred a valnalile boon on their fellow-cuiiiitry- 

 inen. 



I am, Sir, 



Your obedient Servant, 



I. J. MECllI. 

 P. S. I am preparing Drawitigs and Ground 

 Plans of my IJuildings and IMachinery, which, 

 with copies of my l>elters,l shall be happy to give 

 lo any genileman interested ill agriculture. 'J'lie 

 Plans and Designs are my own. The general ap- 

 plication of tbe expenditure is as follows, viz: 



£ ». d. 

 Draining. Fencing, Levelling, Ditching, and 



K.inds 2200 



Barn, Slalihiii!. Tuiiks, Sheds, Y.irds,&c 2000-0 



House and OlFiccs 1000 



Machinery, Implements, Steam Apparatus, 



&c 500 



Manure, Marl,&c •'JUO 



£5200 

 The item for House has been objected to, but 

 i have yet to learn that a Farmer is not entitled 

 to be as well boused as a tradesman or manuliic- 

 tiirer, and I am convinced brick and slate build- 

 ings are ultimately much cheaper than board and 

 thatch. 



1 would caution gentlemen wdio may visit tny 

 Farm this year, against raising their expectations 

 too high, for although the land is all cropped and 

 iloing well considering the dry season, I would 

 have them remember that last year it was consid- 

 ered the poorest Farm in Essex; that since Jan- 

 uary 1843, we have cut eighty miles of drains, 

 and spread their contenls(nasty yellow siiffloam) 

 on the surface; that we have removed 5000 yards 

 of banks and fences, filled up the ditches, cut 

 new ditches (on the heavy land there should be 

 one every seven or eight acres,) made new roads, 

 cut down and converted between 200 and 300 

 trees, carted across the land 00,000 bushels of 

 stones, 300,000 drain-pipes, 400,000 bricks, 200 

 loads of timber, slates, iron, stone, sand, lime, 

 and huihling materials ; that we have removed all 

 the old buildings, and erected new ones on a dif- 

 Itirent site ; that everything has been out of or- 

 der and out of time, and that all this was done in 

 sixteen inontbs, without long fallowing a single 

 field. 



LETTER IV. 



Sir, — Having in my three former letters dis- 

 posed of the details of my Farming Operations, 

 I will now proceed to consider. 



First, The imperative necessity of .Agricultural 

 liiipiovemeiits in a national point of view ; and, 

 how those Improvements can be most readily ef- 

 fected. 



Secondly, The defects in the present system 

 of Farm Valnalions; and evils resulting there- 

 from to Lanillord, Tenant, and Counlry. 



Thirdly, The relation of Landlord and Tenant 

 to each otiier in a pecuniary point of view; their 

 identity of inierests, and the importance of Long 

 Leases with Corn-rents. 



Fourthly, Suggestions for rendering the Royal 

 Agricultural Society a standard and model of Ag- 

 ricultural Improvement in every essential point. 



Lastly, Popular but prevalent errors as regards 

 Agriculture, with a few general remarks. 



The existence of a supei tliious c.ipital, with a 

 superabundant unemployed population, is a dan- 

 gerous anomaly^threalcning, in its continuance, 

 ultimate destruction to our nation. Luxury for 

 the wealthy i'ew, ami poverty for the willing, but 

 unemployeil many, must produce discontent, an- 

 archy, and ruin. It is an alariiiing lad, that much 

 of onr income is derived from the capital we lend 

 lo Foreign Coimlries; whilst, in our own, we 

 dole out grudgingly, in rales and in charities, a 

 tithe of what ought" to be the just and well-earn- 

 ed wages of the industrious, but not employed, 

 Laborer. 



Ask the majority of your independent friends 



whence they derive their income? The wirlow 

 will tell you, "I\Iy money is making a road, cut- 

 ting a canal,or huihling a town in Americi'." The 

 orphan will say, "Mine is supporting a civil war 

 in Spain or South ,\mi,'ri(;a, or growing corn in 

 Russia for the London market." Tbe ca|iilalist 

 will report his strong-box full of bonds — ('hdian, 

 Columbian, Peruvian, Mexican, French, Spanish, 

 Dutch, Portuguese, Uussian, Austrian, Prussian, 

 and Neapolitan (some of which by-the-by do not 

 pay interest or principal ;) but neither the wid- 

 ow, the orphan, or the capitalist will tell you, 

 their Money is profitably and deligbtfully engag- 

 ed in growing liiod for themselves ami their (iiini- 

 lies — in providing Binployment and profit for their 

 fellow-countrymen of every gr.ide, from the la- 

 liorer to tbe merchant. No! Agriculture has had 

 as yet no ch.iims for the capitalist or speculator. 

 We must reform, and ipiickly too,soi()e of our er- 

 rors, both as capitalists and farmers. Tbe one 

 lends bis money to strengthen foreign competi- 

 tion in agriculture, commerce, and manufactures; 

 the other sows uselessly and prejudicially more 

 seed than the total annual amount of our wheat 

 importation — the extra ipianlity sown actually di- 

 minishing the produce to a similar extent ; yet 

 all this takes place whilst we are complaining of 

 superabundant capital and population, us if an 

 industrious population could be too great. My 

 opinion is, the more numerous we are the more 

 prosperous we shall be, for we live by one anoth 

 er. The denser the population the greater our 

 power and our trade, provided we keep our 



CAPITAL AT home and AT WORK AMONGST ODR- 



selves. 



To ship off our laborers and our money is 

 nothing less than suicide. It is giving away,eco- 

 noinically and politically, the sinews of our 

 strength; and Icall upon every man who has the 

 welfare of his country at heart to put a slop to it. 

 This leads us to tbe question, " How is this to be 

 done ?" I answer easilij ; and point to my opera- 

 tions at Tiptree Hall Farm, as a solution of tbe 

 difticulty. If every capitalist ex|)ends, as I have 

 done, forty-six pounds sterling money in improv- 

 ing each acre of poor and indifferent land, the 

 sum total required would be )Ha»n/ hundred mill 

 ions. I need barilly point to the magical effect 

 of this expenditure" on our trade, commerce, and 

 manufactures. Every individual in this country 

 would feel it. It is too grand and delightful u 

 prospect to hope to realize. There is too large a 

 mass of miscalculation, ignorance, prejuilice, 

 pride, and long custom to be removed. Facts 

 and results will scarcely doit; but reason and 

 truth must prevail at last: and I look forward 

 with hope that the wise, the patriotic, the intelli- 

 gent,and tbe wealthy will exercise their influence 

 by example and precept, to procure so desirable 

 aresult. Agriculture is our sheet-anchor ; to 

 that we must look for employment and for [irofit: 

 it is a vast field for enterprise : it is our vital 

 strength as a nation; and our pride of country 

 alone should stimulate us to be independent of 

 foreigners for the supply of our daily bread— the 

 staff of our lives. 



In consitlering bow these improvements can be 

 most readily effected— it is quite clear that indi- 

 viiluals generally have sehlom tbe means, the 

 ability, or the inclination to carry out a perfect 

 system of Aricultural Improvement : it must be 

 done by companies of associated capitalists, tbe 

 same as our railways and other great undertak- 

 in-s. 1 will venture to assert from experience, 

 that there is not, in agricultural undertakings,o»ie- 

 fdhe of the diflicully or uncertainly that attended 

 railway operations. 



Rival Companies will be beneficial to the piib- 

 lic by the protection of competition. General rules 

 however, on fundamental principles, must be ob- 

 tained by sanction of Act of Parliament: and 1 

 apprehend an examination of competent authori- 

 ties would lead to a table of laws adapted to the 



