THE GENESEE FARMER. 



2lt 



iiighest powers of created intellect have given ns the 

 jewels of experience, handed down to us by the long 

 varni of the past; loaves of antiquity have been lain 

 in^forc OHt ews by the chronicler. Shall we not heed 

 when they counsel ? Shall we not emulate their ex- 

 asiple? Shall this reging age of artistic progress, 

 and Rciontific ropearch, sec the cloak of apathy upon 

 the FhouldeiB of the agriculturist ? I will answer 

 afiirmaiively, unless his duties and labors become sys- 

 lemiz^d. A general system of agriculture is among 

 the greatest wants of this era. Agriculture is a pre- 

 vcocious science, with gray locks surrounding a boy's 

 intellect. There is a wonderful development locked 

 inp in th'!e science — that development accomplished, 

 ;and we pball see agriculture reduced to a general 

 system, extending at least over a tract of country 

 •consisting of a homog^eous soil. 



There are at present nearly as many different meth- 

 ods of farming -as there are farmers. Now, no one 

 vill deny that general principles, deduced from facts, 

 €hon5d be regarded asd adopted. No one will dis- 

 -pute the assertion that every plant contains the four 

 "clements^^ — hydrogen, nitrcgen, oxygen and carbon — 

 and that unices a certain soil possesses ail these at> 

 tributes, it will net generate grains. This leads me 

 ■to suggest the policy, and vindicate the propriety, of 

 establishing more Agricultural Schools, thus giving 

 agriculture the msrit'it has so long deserved — a syste- 

 matic development. Our sons should be thorough 

 •masters of agricultural chemistry. Then we should 

 cot see — &s we now often do — a sickly field of bar- 

 ley, striving vainly to mature on a heavy bed of clay, 

 "vrhere the hand of ignorance strewed it. We should 

 •not see so many oats weighiiTg twenty pounds to the 

 bushel. We should not see so many potatoes regem- 

 •bling marbles and puffba!ls. 'Give us a, scienti-Sc 

 cifstetti, and these difficulties will disappear. The 

 traveler mil then be able to feast his faculty of taste 

 upon the loveliness of nature, beaming forth from 

 among the artistic polishings of the systematic 

 farmer. 



A want of system is symbolical of ignorance 

 Many of our loveliest vales and grandest table-lacds 

 aje con'.'ertcd into African deserts. What a shame— 

 yea, wbat a sin — to destroy the only means by v.'hich 

 the inhabitants >f the earth are kept in organic ex- 

 istence. The scii of this eaith may be considered 

 the great salver which is served out to eight hundred 

 million.'! of persons; and how amply would the plat- 

 ter be filled— how much more beautifully would life 

 be enhanced — if each tiller T^ould bring kis wisdom 

 into a systematic focus, 



I have not space to parti eularize, but \ do claim 

 indulgence while I expose some few faults sequent 

 apon a want of system. Brutes, like ourselves, are 

 subject to frigid intensity, and when the mercury 

 -shrinks to thirty degrees bek).v zeio their eafiering 

 ■roust be excruciating, when kept Id some of the old, 

 rickety bams, wlrich have a ventilator to every p'lank, 

 board or shingle, stanrling, perhaps, alone, on a chilly, 

 bleak elevation. The nicest skill of the mechanic 

 must be employed in building and arranging habita- 

 tions for our comfort, while the brute must be given 

 •the very generous opportunity of a hardening pro- 

 cess. Gould t'h-e brutes speak, a;hey would call for a 

 system in the arrangement of their buildings, so as to 

 form a complete enclosure, bidding defiance to the 

 raging winds of our latitude; they would ask you to 

 double board joTir barns, to line the floorstightly, &e. 



The indubitable fact that your cattle will require 

 much k'ss food, ought to have a strong pecuniary in- 

 fluer.cc. If you Ijave a heart that throbs for animal 

 suffering, then let a moral prompting incite you to 

 the means of prevention. Finally, if you arc a man, 

 end desire to do right in every action, remember that 

 the best way to do all things, is the systemoUc way. 

 George W. Campbell. 

 PincJcney, Letcis Co., JV. Y. 



FARM ACCOUNTS. 



Messks. Editors: — Nine years ago T commenced 

 farming for myself, and from the first resolved to 

 know just how much I should gain or lose by the 

 business. Friends predicted that 1 would soon get 

 tired of keeping an account with my farm, and aban- 

 don the attempt; but I have persevered, for nine 

 years, and do not now feel inclined to change for the 

 ordiosry loose way in which farmers conduct their 

 operations. Being unacquainted with book-keeping, 

 I adopted a plan of my own, which I have improved 

 from year to year, in accordance with the suggestions 

 of experience. 



In keeping an accurate farm account, we first want 

 to ascertain what is justly chargeable to the farm. 

 As a ■general rule, it should be charged with all those 

 expenses that are caused, directly or indirectly, by the 

 farm — the interest on its cost, the depreciation in its 

 value, (if any,) the real estate taxes, the interest on 

 and wear of implements, the seed, the fertilizers pur- 

 chased, the labor of men and teams, always including 

 board, &c. The farm should be credited with the 

 value of all its products, pasturage included. 



I have not attempted to keep an account with my 

 kitchen garden, as that, for obvious reasons, would be 

 almost impossible. I think the best way to manage 

 that, is to credit the farm the amount for which yotrr 

 house and garden would probably rent. 



At the beginning of every year, the farmer should 

 take an inventory of bis stock and farming utensils, 

 and enter it on his farm-book at the commencement 

 of the year's account. When balancing his account 

 at the close of the year, he should charge the farm 

 the interest on the cost of utensils, the cost of repairs, 

 and the wear of utensils. The amount to be charged 

 for the wear of implements may be anived at -with 

 sufficient accuracy in this way: let him estimate the 

 number of years any implement will probably last, 

 with the wear to which it will be likely to be exposed 

 00. his farm, and assess a just proportion upon each 

 year. For example, supposhag a plow cost eight dol- 

 lars, and will last foar years — the annual charge for 

 ■jf-ear would be two dollars. The interest on the por- 

 tion unpaid, and the expense for repaira, should like- 

 wise be added. 



To keep a debit and credit account with the farm, 

 two account boots will suffice — one, a day-book, or 

 journal, in which should be entered, every evening, 

 the nature and value of the day's labor, thus: 



May 1st.— To 1 day's -worfc, self, sowing oats, (six acres,) on 



lot No. 4, containing ten acres, . $1.0fl 



•' " 1 day's woik, A, dragging in oats,; 75 



" " 1 day's work, tetini, •' " 1.00 



" " 12 bushels seed oatB, at 60 cents per buBhel, 6.08 



At the end of the week, copy the value of the week's 

 labor, seed, (fee, in your weekly book, or ledger. Tb« 

 products may be credited when harvested, at the 

 market value at home 



