Jfarm^rs Jlcmtljlg Msit^u 



CONDUCTED BY ISAAC MILL. 



" Those who LaBOR is the earth are the chosen I'EUPLE of Gi>D, WHO^E nilBASTS he has made his I'ECtJLIAR DEPOSIT E FOR SUBSTANTIAL AND GENUINE VIRTUE." — JeffcrsOTi. 



VOL. 8. NO 4. 



CONCORD, N. H., APRIL 30, 1846. 



WHOLE NO. 88. 



TEIK F.VR.UER'K 3tO>THL.Y VISITOil, 



^^'Kl,I^Hl:l) BV 



ISAAC HILL, & SONS, 



ISfJUFD ON TMF, LAST UAY OK FVEKY MONTH, 



At Athenian Uuilding. 



{^Oencbai. Ahents.— If. A. Rill, Krrnc, N H. ; John 

 I\1ap9H, Washington tr'L Hoslon, Mais.; Charles ^VAKBE^■, 

 Itriiilry How, Woici-'stcr. Mass. 



TKRHIS.— To sinsle sub:!friliprt;, Fipy Ccnt^. Trn p.-r 

 mil. will be nllowt-d to the person wlio shall si-iid inure ihnn 

 ont* subscriber. Twelve copii-s will he scut fur the advance 

 \\^\mv:uX of Fivr. Doliars; iwclily -five c<»pics Tur T^n DoUars; 

 sixty copies for Tvottij Dollars. The payment in every case to 

 lie made in advance. 



t^-Mo»nj andsab.'icrijft.iuii.-'', by a rdf^nl'itioJi of the Pout Master 

 Ovneraljinaij in all cases be remitted by the Post Master., frceoj 

 pn.siu^t, 



5::5"-^" gentlemen who liave herelolbrc acted as Agents aie 

 re()nestpd to continue their As^ncy. Olt! siPiscribers wlio 

 come under ilie new tt-nns, will please notify us of the names 

 already on our books. 





SJsy 



CONCORD, N. H., APRIL 30, 1846. 



All Address to Farmers. 



We have lieeii pitseiited v\iili a paiiiphlet with 



lliis title, priiitecl at Sulcm, ftls. in 1791), upon 

 course paper, (•oiitaiiiing sixly-four duoileciino 

 pages, every pa^e of wliieli contains some gooil 

 snirgcstion lor ilie use of the practical fanner. — 

 We will e.\tr.ict from this pamiililct lor the pr(!s- 

 ent iimnbcr of the Visitor Com' of these essays', 

 VIZ : " The character oj Ike complete Farmer" 

 " 7'he profits of a JVursery" " TIte adimnlages of 

 an Orcharil," and " The management of Cider." 



Fifty years ago orchards were principally 

 valued for the cider extracted from ap|ile.s, which 

 was then deemed indispen.^able to every fanner's 

 tahle. Cider, as a common drinU, has been gen- 

 erally discarded, as well as rum. But so valuable 

 have become fine fruit orchards, that single 

 acres of them in some neighborhoods are esti- 

 mated as high as a tbon.-and dollars. No won- 

 der for this, when we titul New England apples 

 not only in general ni^e in all the cities of the 

 South, but the best of Newton Pippins retailing 

 ill London at twenty cents a piece ! A common 

 price of Baldwin apples at Washington cily last 

 winter was two and three cents and two dollars 

 per bushel. The truth is, the demand for fine 

 New England fruit ap|)les will always he greater 

 than the supply. Farmers cannot too soon make 

 preparations for orchards of choice frnil.*^. Bear- 

 ing orchards may be produced from the seeds in 

 ten years. Every farmer should have his lot for 

 an orchard well protected from cattle depreda- 

 tions, with the trees well nursed: while the trees 

 are growing the land may be profitably culrivated 

 — even after the orchard bears, the land may be 

 made to hear oilier products. — Ed. Vis. 



Opinions of a Practical Farmer f fly years ago. 



THE CHARACTER OK A COMPLETE FARMER, 



A com|ilete farnifr is a most rarelul, industrious 

 Olid frugal, as well as reputable and useful man : 

 and unless carefiilne.ss, industry and economy are 

 nulled in the clKirarler, it will lie an imperlect 

 one. Although a farmer cannot live without la- 

 bor, by labor alone he never can grow rich and 



reputable. Much deperuls upon his l;i\iiigonl 

 and prrlbrmiug cerrain kinds of labor in the 

 times and si/asous when Ihcy ought to be pcr- 

 foruied. If he will not cart out his sinnmcr dimg 

 nor lilough tin .'<e lanils in thi" fall, uhich he 

 means lo seed in ihe follov.ing spring— if ho will 

 not [)ut his seeds into the ground early, and as 

 soon as the sejison will admit — if he will not at- 

 teiul lo his fences and see that they are suflicient 

 — and if he will not cut his grass whim it is ripe 

 and do every thing necessary to secure it in good 

 order; he will be fierpetually hiu'ricd from one 

 kind of labor to another, and every one will be 

 slighted : bis flax will not he well coaled, nor his 

 grail) properly filled out ; bis corn will Ix; short- 

 ened for want of being well hoed, and his grass 

 will become dead and dry away in the field. — 

 Let every kind of labor, therefore, he performed 

 ill due season. 



A complete f niner is also a man of great care- 

 fulness and solicitude ; wiihont care, the sever- 

 est labor on rhe best fin'ms, will never produce 

 riches nor plenty. If the firmer will not milk 

 his cows ill season — see that they are properly 

 tended— go to the male in the right time for the 

 next year's |irofit ; and that his dairy is neatly 

 and careliilly managed, he may labor without 

 ceasing, will have a small, poor breed of cattle, 

 and never enjoy a fulness of good butter, and 

 cheese. It is care which makes a flock increase 

 and grow to a good size, which brings forth 

 the profils of a dairy, and wliicli fills the house 

 of the faniH'r with good lliings. If he will not 

 carefully inspect his fields mid meadows, and see 

 that his IfMices are in good order, his grass and 

 his corn will be crept by his cattle : and if he 

 will not gather and juit them up carefully and in 

 due season, he will have a short and a mouldy 

 crop. Jf he mows, rakes, and fiidders, his cattle 

 in a careless slovenly manner, bis flock will be 

 pinched through ilie winter, anil become poor 

 and lou.sy in tin' spring — poor oxen, too poor to 

 do the labor of the seasofc — poor cows, with lit- 

 tle or no milk, and wretcheil calves and poor 

 horses, too feeble to draw, and loo weak to ride 

 with safety. If his swine, poultry and stock in 

 general, and if his carts, rakes and tools of all 

 kinds, are not carefully attended to, the farmer 

 never can grow rich and respectable. It is at- 

 tention which gradually collects from various 

 sources, and covers the soil with manure; it is 

 attention which causes the hills, fields and val- 

 leys to yield their increase, and advances and 

 com[dcles the most beneficial iniprovemenls. 



There is a third virtue wiihout ilie practice of 

 whirl), ihefiirmer can never allain to wealth and 

 inde|ienilciice : I mean economy. Without this 

 both labor ill raising, and care in preserving the 

 fruits of the earth, are absolutely thrown away. 

 Economy is an excellent virtue in any man: it 

 is indispensable in the affairs and proli;ssion of a 

 firmer. And of this he should never he unmiiid- 

 liil when he looks iiilo his barn, his cellar, or his 

 garret, or even his pastures; to say nolhing of 

 his fields, mowing lands and meadows. But 

 farmers, as well iis other men, are too apt to for- 

 get, that in thi.'ir pursuits afier riches, almost 

 every thing ik'|)eiiils upon I'conomy joined with 

 care and industry. A liugal, industrious man, 

 blessed willi hiil a common share of imderstnnd- 

 ing', will uniloiibtedly succeed and advance his 

 interest, beyond what ever he expected, when he 

 firs', set out in lili" : provided no singul.ar provi- 

 ilenllal evil should overtake him. IMore is gain- 

 ed by saving than by hard labor. A farmer therB- 

 liire whose iilinost profits are small anil slow, as 

 hi, cannot grow rich suddenly from his jirofes- 

 sion, should be a rigid and steady economist.— 

 lie should consider the saving he may make in 

 every thing: iii his fuel, tools, clothes, meal, drink 

 and pocket expellees; above all in his Time, 

 which iserpial to so much money in hand. Eve- 

 ry day that his neighbor runs down lo market ou 



his horse, with a pound or two of butter and a 

 liiw egi.'S, if he stays at home and keejis steady 

 to his laboi, he gets two, if not three days the 

 start of him. While his neighbor wastes his 

 time and spends his money by this imprudent 

 and trilliiig pinsuit, he saves both time and mon- 

 ey, in ihessing and improving his lands, and 

 which demand all his attention. There is no 

 leisure hour to he found on a firm from early in 

 the spring, till late in the fiill. 'IMirough all that 

 wliole [leriod, a good liiriner knows how to spend 

 every hour profitably on his lands. He can have 

 no lime to spend in idleness — in chatting with 

 people as they pass by — in making needless vis- 

 its — III attending courts, horse races, taverns, and 

 the like. By these means the public is annually 

 deprived of many thousands of bushels of pota- 

 toes, corn, tons of hay, &c. and individuals them- 

 selves become poor, and fall into the worst of 

 habits — into idleness, gaming, drinking, &c. 



There is no kind of economy in the farmer, 

 which will not be well rewarded. Early rising 

 will contribute to his health, and preserve his 

 fields from the inroads of unruly creatures, which 

 commonly begin their trespasses just as the day 

 begins to dawn. Close mowing and careful 

 raking, will enable him to winter one cow extra- 

 ordinary. Feeding his hogs by weeds and other 

 vegetable substances, will enable him to pay his 

 shoemakers. Scraping his door and barn yards, 

 after rains and showers, will clothe his boy. — 

 Saving his early ajiplcs, which are commonly 

 lost entirely, will pay his taylor: his poultry well 

 attended, will pay bis maid. His calves will pay 

 all his taxes, and some part of his hired labor, if 

 pro[)er care be taken of them. In fine, let a farmer 

 who possesses only fifty acres of good land — who 

 owes no man, and who has a common blessing 

 on the labors of his hands, strictly attend to the 

 management of bis affairs; live a life of patient 

 industry, and practice agreeable to the principles 

 of economy, ami I think he may live well — may 

 be excused the hardest of labor— leave his hoe 

 and spade to the next generation, by the time he 

 has seen fifty years, when most men begin to 

 think of comfort, ease and independence. 



THE PROFITS OF A NURSERT. 



To this interesting subject so little attention 

 has been paid for many years past, that the scar- 

 city and price of fruit, are now so exceeding 

 great, as almost to prohibit the use of it. How 

 surprising a neglect in the farmer who lives in 

 New England, the climate and soil of which are 

 more than favorable to the propagation of vari- 

 ous kinds of delicious fruits. The citizens of 

 New York have resisted this cateless, indolent 

 disposition, and been well rewarded for their in- 

 dustry. Considerable sums of money are annu- 

 ally remitted them from this Stale for the produc- 

 tions of their nurseries, purchased at a most ex- 

 travagant price, allhough the risk of iransport- 

 iiig them is very great. And 1 have no doubt, 

 that the farmers of Massachusetts would soon 

 find it to their advantage would they engage in 

 I his business. Their labors are often bestowed 

 u|)on prodiiclions, not of one half the importance 

 and value. For, although it is commendable in 

 the farmer, to raise a portion of every article con- 

 sumed in his family, provided his lands can easily 

 be made to produce it; yet, a little patch of to- 

 bacco, or of pumpkins, ought not, year after year, 

 lo prevent the cultivation of a nursery : the 

 profits of which, within the term of seven year.«, 

 would be vastly greater than could possibly arise 

 liom the cultivation of those vegetables, in the 

 same period and proportion. 



Twenty years ago the writer obtained half a 

 pole of land, in the corner of a gentleman's gar- 

 den, and filled it with young appletrees; taken 

 up carefully with the point of a knife, when they 

 had four, or six leaves on them, as lliey shot out 

 of the pomace scattered round a neighboring 



