42 



m)c Javnici-'s iBoiitl)lij llxsitor. 



turer. Does not tlie smiie ol.jeciioii alreatly sta- 

 ted of lakins wool to niaikft towns ami tlirow- 

 iiv ourselves into lh« pouer of huyers, iii^ply to 

 thT-< ciise ? In ;ill instances where it is done, the 

 wool most he nnsaeke.l lor imiiicniar examina- 

 tion, and shonid not the price ofleicd he salislac- 

 tory, ilic tronhle of repacUing and transporialion 

 somewhere else must he submitted to, and whicli 

 ratlierthan <lo, the proprietor acceiits what is ol- 

 fered. In many instances, hy this mode, when 

 the maiiufaclnrer is honest, jiisure is done; mit 

 do we not put ourselves wholly in his power. 

 And how ofien does it result in chagrin and Uis- 

 nppointinent to say nothinf? of the ininns ot dol- 

 lars and cents. Is there a mannlaetnref any 

 where to he found so lilR.'ral and just, as not to 

 feel and act for his own interest first, and the 

 wool "rower's next ? Unman nature vs the same 

 the world over. Iloiv then shall we hest secure 

 and protect our ri-hts? Hosv shall we dispose 

 of o'lr wool more intelligently, and consequently 

 to hetter advantage. „ „ ■ 



Permit me tp convey briefly, liow, in my opin- 

 ion, such establishments should be conducted. 

 The head, or superintendent ot a wo(d depot, 

 should be a man of unquestionable integrity, in 

 order to secure the confidence of the manntac- 

 tiirers, and esiieciallv of wool growers. He^ 

 shonid he a critical and discriminaling judge of 

 wool and shonhl mak(! himself ihorouglily in- 

 formed of the state of the wool market both at 

 home and abroach In order to determmo the 

 home market from time to time, it should be Ins 

 business to ascertain as near as may be the cost 

 of manufacturing the various styles and qualities 

 of wool, and the prices the liihrics command in 

 the principal markets, lie should employ agents 

 in the chief wool markets abroad, lo forward to 

 him small parcels of stapled wool of all qualities 

 adaiited tn comlfmg and for cloths wilhthe pri- 

 ces attached which each quality will command. 

 This would be ctTected with trifling expense, and 

 the nuantily needed would not exceed a few 

 pounds. In this way only, can he he kept accu- 

 rately infornied of the slate of the foreign mar- 

 ket. I5y following these directions he will be 

 able to exempt himself from imposition by the 

 manufacturer, and do full justice in his sales to 

 his customers, lie shonid have a snfhcicncy ot 

 capital at command to enable him lo ailvancc a 

 reasonable amount in anticipation of sales when 

 required— hy so diiing he can mainlam indepen- 

 dent "round', of which llie inanul'acturer cannot 

 take advantage, bv forcing sales. Ills duty should 

 be to sort, carefullv, each lot of wool in his 

 charge, and in no instance to mingle lots where 

 there is a disparity of condition. Great injusiice 

 to the man who washes his fleeces carefully, will 

 thereby be avoided. After a sale has been effect- 

 ed, he should inomf.lly forward the amount ol 

 sales, and furnish every facilily in his |iowKr Im- 

 the iransmis.sioii of funds. Let it once get abroad 

 that he is dilalorv, in this particular, and conli- 

 donce will he seriously impaired. Confidence is 

 the motive pouer to complete success in every 

 nndertaking of this kind, and confidence Willi 

 fariner.s, particularly, is a plant of slow growth, 

 and easily wilhcred. Let siiperintendeiils of 

 wo(d depots, therefore, look well lo all their do- 

 ings. 1 will not weary your palieiice by dwelling 

 further on this subject", so fully satisfied have i 

 become that wool (iepois will aflin'd the hiirest 

 and easiest mode for the wool grower lo dispose 

 of his product. I shall; thereline, adoiil lliis 

 course; for my clips. l''or further iiiformalion on 

 the subject, as well as iniich else of a uscl'ul cliar- 

 aoier to the wool farmer, I refer yon loa series of 

 letlerx urilten liy the able secretary of the N. ^ . 

 Stale AL'ricullnral Hocieiy. .1. H. Noit, and which 

 1 Ibrwaid lo your address by ihis day's m.'ul ; and 

 I rcspc^clliilly urge their reading beliire that con- 

 vention. , , ,■ 



ll was my inti'iiliou to have proposed the lor- 

 tnalion of a society to he called '^The Naiional 

 Wool Grower's Society ;" but my tune will not 

 permit me lo enler into iletail respecimg all tlie 

 objects it should embrace ; I therefore merely 

 su'gijest it for the consideration of others. 



As a brother wool grower, pcrinilnie, through 

 you, sir, to tender my most respectful n-gard to 

 those who may ass.nnbic, wilh the assurance thai 

 my hmiible siu-vice may ho commanded to carry 

 out llic resohilions of the cmivetition, so far as it 

 1 ^ ;...i;v;,liinllv nracticahlo. 



rrofits of Farming. 



The best inforniation for farmers is our own 

 experience, and what is doing, anj has been 

 done hy others situated neajly as we are placed 

 ourselves. If we see one neighbor increasing 

 liis crops and the capacity of his land every year 

 to produce, while another with the same means 

 at the beginning, lessens his crops every season 

 with the land growing poorer— we can readily 

 see ami make up our opinion of what has caused 

 the difti^rence. We are becoming better and 

 better satisfied that the business of the farmer in 

 New England maybe iTiade a good business: 

 we believe this may be done in many locations 

 where every part of the labor is hired ;^ but, 

 where the farmer himself has that strength of 

 arm which qualifies him for the privilege of la- 

 bor, and one or more sons the hest part of whose 

 education will he the teaching of the hands and 

 the body in farm labor; what a glorious oppor- 

 tunity is his to grow and prosper in every thing ? 

 It has become but tl|e too prevailing sentiment 

 that our sons must quit farming lo attain to the 

 most desirable positions in life: so general is 

 this notion, that, early after ihe birth of a sot), 

 the whole family sit about contriving schemes to 

 see how hard farm labor is to he avoided as his 

 destiny. The event proves in the two cases the 

 speculation turning towards mercantile or pro- 

 fessional "respectability'' fails in four attempts 

 of every five, while not one man in ten fails who 

 judiciously instructs his son in bis business of a 



farmer. 



For several years there has been ke|)t uj) dur- 

 insr tlie winter sitting of the Legislature of Mas- 

 sachusetts evening weekly meetings for dis- 

 cussing various toiiics connected with Agricul- 

 ture. Many members from the country towns 

 are among "the best farmers of the State, where 

 a constantly improving system has been becom- 

 ing more extended tlian perhaps any other State 

 of the Union. 



The subject of the eighth agricultural meeting 

 at the State House on Tuesday evening, March 

 9ih,1847, was " Proftls of Farming'" and from 



ihe remarks, as reported in the Boston Cultiva- 

 tor, we extract the following: 



Hon Mr. Denny, of Westhoiough, said that in 

 considerins this subject we should not uiulerval- 

 ue other professions, as a division ol labor was 

 necessary. Soine'are an.xious to get rich, ami 

 they join in the excitement in the city. 1 he 

 voung think that they can get along wiili less 

 labor so they forsake the solid and prohtahle 

 bu-iii'ess of farminL', for other pursuits less sure. 

 One fiiult with farmers is in not training llieir 

 sons so that they will become iiilcrcsted iii larm- 

 iii.r Mr. Deiiiiv gave statistical estimates show- 

 iii"/|hc luimbeiMMigagcd in agriculture m diftcr- 

 eiit Slates, and the vast amount of agricultural 

 products, us an evidence of llic profit in this 

 uirsuit. He said that the produce ot the cow, 

 used in Hoslon, would iimounl lo a dollar a min- 

 ute for every minute in the year. There cannot 

 bea loss in'allcndingto a business ol so mucli 

 nin-nitude. If the same skill and capital were 

 Mpidied 10 agriculture Ihat are engaged in iner- 

 cliaiidise,lhere would be a greater profii, I'arui- 

 ers do not labor so har.l throughout the year as 

 llii; merchant or maniifacliii-er. One reason liiat 

 liu-mlu" is no more profuahic is lliat farmers do 

 iiol learn Ihe trade of faiiniiig, which rcqmres 

 more skill and lalcnls than any other piolcsMOii. 

 Some merchants become very rich ; but ihesc 

 cases are. exceinions. It is not generally the 

 case. Ho had known tiirmcrs to become very 

 rich ; and llieso are exceptions also. As lo the 

 cxpcnse of cullivaling cr.qv.s, he slated a case in 

 which a man was hired lo do all < i^' I"''"'- ''' 

 rnisin" an acre of corn, fm- which he had !'.,21,.>tl, 

 and was well paid for his labor. Allowin;; per 

 01.1. for ihcUand, uhi.h was rated at .sjlOOali 



bushels, which cost 61 cents a bushel. The 

 stover paid for the manure. Other crops were 

 equally profitable. [If one-half of the manure 

 he charged to the improvement in the land, the 

 fodder woiihl pay tor manure.— £</.] 



Rev. W. B. Randolph, of Lexington, said that 

 there were proiils in farming otlicrwise than m 

 property; the improvement in health was ot 

 '-reat importance. One reason that young men 

 dislike farming is that when boys they are re- 

 quired to work the whole day from early tilllate, 

 which becomes tiresome and they dislike farm- 

 in^ and seek for lighter employmsnt. hey 

 should be allowed time for recreation, and aii 

 opportunity to cultivate a lot for themselves and 

 thus learn" good management ami system. U 

 fiirmcrs do not succeed it is generally owing to 

 sluggishness, negligence, or extravagance in 



buildings, &c. ■ , .i . 



Mr. Asa P. Sheldon, of WdmrngtoB, sawl that 

 his estimate for raising an acre of corn was much 

 the same as Mr. Denny's. On some soils the 

 labor in raising an acre of corn is not more than 

 $15 while on other land it is *30. The cost is 

 usually from aO to 25 dollars. Mr. Sheldon said 

 that if= he was bringing up a soil for other pro- 

 fessions than farming, he would rather that he 

 shonid work one fourth of the time at arming 

 from five to twelve years, than attend school al 

 Ihe time. He had observed that scholars that 

 attended school half the time generally learned 

 as fast as those who attended all the time. 

 When mechanics are at work, they seem to iliiiik 

 that they do all that is performed ; but the farm- 

 er appears as a co-worker with God; be may 

 plant and culiivate, but he is looking to a higher 

 power for the growth of the crop. Ihus tlie 

 business of farming has a good moral and relig- 

 ious influence ; it leads to reflection, bome- 

 thiu" had been said of the profits of larinmg m 

 years past, but he never knew a time in which 

 flirmii." was more profitable than at present. 

 La*t selison we had good crops, and prices are 

 .rood. He named a cheap mode of raising |.ota- 

 Toes on corn land. Drop the potatoes between 

 the rows, throw on the manure, then with the 

 plou"h split the corn hills and turn furrows on 

 the potatoes. In this way potatoes had been 

 raised at 8 cents a bushel, and put in the cellar 

 at 2 cents, making the cost 10 L^ents. _ 



Mai. 15enjamin^Vheeler, of Framingham said 

 that farming was the best business in the Com- 

 monwealth: He had liied fannwe:, mcclmmcal 

 busimss, mercctnllk busimss, «,«/ ./Iimi",? "§■'"«• 

 He fbmid farming the most ideasant and prohla- 

 l,le lie would not change his farming business 

 for the situation of the most successful merchant 

 in Boston. He once let out a farm that was 

 worth $10,000, and it produce.l him SbOO a y'ear. 

 and the man who occupied it did well. tJui 

 meadows are our hest lands HfX »"^ ,"1, ""'.'" 

 the prairies of the West. On land which was 

 onci a worthless bog, a Mr. Wethcrby of Marl- 

 horoush, cut in one season (.>0 ions ol l'"J "• '•> 

 acres." It was mowed twice, and a pari tinee 

 times These meadows ar» also a f^ountam of 

 m nurc for enriching the uplands. 1 ho reason 

 that liuuier's hoys dislike farming is because 

 there is nolliim: but work, work, work. Let 

 them ho educated for the business, in the science 

 of .'colo-v, chemistry and botany, and then they 

 win see Uiat liirming is a beautiful einp oyment, 

 „„d they will take pleasure in it._ A boy will 

 '.,. nioretoworkonafarnihalfthetime ban 



o'Votoschoolalllbetime. If ho is kept al ihe 

 liineiii the school house he will grow up like a 

 lio" weed or poialoes in the shade. 



Col. William Schouler, ..f Lowell, gave an ac- 

 count of the profits made by a distinguished 

 I.rcedcr of sheep in Fnglaml, as he learnc.l in 



,slourinihai'-onn.ry,andof the .ntelbgenco 



of F.nglish lluiners, and the great altention to 



bea.Uifving grounds in it".'' ^;"|"";.^'' . . ,, . . , 

 lloniTruman Clarke of Walpole.saul iha i it 



that part of the Slnlo which he reprcsenled, 

 ,;,rming is «« profnable as any other '"'^'"css 

 „,„1 if „s great improvements were -""^ « .'' 

 ,-„rmi,ig»sinnianut;.cturii,g,itwouhl be n oi o 

 piolitahle. Many finniers 1;^"! become ... 

 .-.very L'ood fanner found his business proluahle. 

 In Wnipole twice as much hay conhl be pioduc- 

 ',|hy improving the laa.ls. He Imd improved 

 l„„.l^ which hail yielded a ,,roht ot 2:. per cent 

 On reelaimcd lands he cut 3 tons ol hav lo the 



[•Clll. forlhcUl , Wm.U was iau:>i ... ,;;.v-v, . .. t,„ le. l.ou.v... 



, ,!,„ rroii co^t 27,5U. Tlio yield was •15 ncre, and it sold at good pi 



r..„..:r.inmmr\ot t-M\ef,mi >y<', ^r-, --, „,„„...,. Rg wnen i 



rices. TI'O nvoraga 



