Ql{)t im-mei'5 iHouti)i|j bi gitov- 



3^ 



relief, \vlie!i icileclini: on (lie errors ol" past 

 times, to be aliln to [)oiiit to sucli an iiiiplpincnt 

 ;is llie CnitiR Draft Plongli of Pruiity & IMears, 

 \vliicli, vvilli a pair of niulo« ami a coloreil 

 })loiigliinaii, took tlic lirst [jrHiiiiiiiii at tlic, Balli- 

 iiioro Coi-uity Agricultural Society's nicetiiig at 

 Govimstown, and again at the Prince George's So- 

 riety's meeting at Marllioroiigli— carrying a fur- 

 rou 16 inches in width and 8 inches deep, as an 

 experinicnl, wiih tlie greatest ease. This plough 

 Imd hefore lai<en the lirst prize at the Newcastle 

 Couiilv Airicnlturai Society's meeting, in Dela- 

 ware, Vrcun IG of the best ploughs in tliat and 

 ihe adjoining States— "the team scarcely linovv- 

 iiig what ihey were arter," as the ploughman ob- 

 t;,.|-ved — the i'urrow, 7 inches deep, after being 

 turned and broken up, exhibiting mellow and 

 well pulverl/.'^d earth, as a seed-bed for wheat— 

 reiiniring no harrowing prior to sowing, nor 

 (nore than two tinings after, both given the way 

 I he lanil was iilnnghr'tl— leaving the sm-face as 

 level as a floor, and exhibiting such work as 

 caused tlie chairman of the comnfittee on plough- 

 ing to exclaim, '-This might be termed the poe- 

 try of ploughing." With such a plough, in the 

 bands of a careful man having an interest in the 

 soil, would it be too much to calculate on an 

 extra profit of 25 percent on a lease of 21 years? 

 This is not a question connected with what is 

 .sometimes sneeringly called '^book knowledge" — 

 it is ))utling the mailer on a plain dollars and cents 

 tootiiiu', and wise men will know how to answer. 

 —.V. E. Purilcin. L. 



Extracts from an old volume. 



KEEPI.NU A DAY BOOK. 



Both merchants and mechanics are greatly in- 

 debted to their books of accounts, for informa- 

 tion and success in the several branches of their 

 business, by regular and correct entries. The 

 transaction of every day should be correctly 

 noted. The time when you plough, sow, plant, 

 mow, pull flax, cut fuel, gather corn, potatoes, 

 iVc, ai.d the quantity and quality of manure laid 

 on each field, should bs carefully noticed. Yon 

 will then know the season when labor must be 

 done the next year, in those fields, and the kinds 

 and proportions of manure required to dress 

 them. Farmers should weigh nil their pork, 

 beef, liutter and cheese; and measure all their 

 grain, corn, (lotatoes, &c., and indeed, every arti- 

 cle they lay up ftr winter ; and also the lime 

 when they kill their creatures and the food on 

 which they were fatted. This will show the 

 quantity they consume, what, and how much of 

 each article, and how much they may have to 

 dispose of. Days on which they hire laborers; 

 the labor performed on those days', and the price 

 paid for that labor, should be entered. This will 

 show what time and labor must be perfi)rmed 

 the next year, the price of it, and the money 

 which may be wanted to carry on the business 

 of the farm. Every farmer should mark the day 

 on which his cows, mares, &c. associate with ihe 

 males of their several kinds; he will then be 

 able to provide proper room, &c. for Ihe recep- 

 tion of their young, .ind to attend to their keep- 

 ing in due season, and which ought to be a little 

 belter than coinmon, at those periods. For want 

 of tills attention, multitudes of calves, lambs, 

 pigs, &c. are annually lost. The ages of lambs, 

 calves, colts, &c. sho'uld be carefully noted, and 

 the weight of them when killed ; as this will 

 point out those ewes, cows, «Sic. which are best 

 for breeders ; which is a very material branch of 

 knowledge, in regard to the growth juid value of 

 .■1 stock of cattle. In short, the farmer should 

 note the business of every day, how and where 

 he iiast it, and what the weather was; and he 

 should not forget, that so much of the goodness 

 of his cro|)S depends ufion early and seasonable 

 f iiltivation, that he had belter give any jjrice tor 

 labor tliau be belated ; more depends on this ilian 

 farmers in general seem to be sensible of Flax, 

 sowed early, will have abetter coat, and more 

 seed than when sowed late. l?arley sowed early 

 uill not be liable to blast and mildew; and In- 

 dian corn planted and hoed in good season, will 

 not be so liable to siift<;r from drought, ami (rom 

 frosts, and will be fuller and heavier than when 

 planted late, poorly ploughed, and indifterently 

 iioed. Grass land on which manure is spread 

 early, will yield a much better crop than if spread 

 late, and one load of grass cut when ripe, and 

 before it wilhcis and tiini-j white in the field, will 



be of more value than two loads of the same 

 kind, cut after it is ripe, dried awgy and weather- 

 beaten : it has lost i'.s juices in this stale, which 

 is all that is valuable. Oiirsiimmers are so short 

 tliat every jiossihie advantage should be lakenfor 

 early ciiliivation: for negligence and inaltention 

 in the spring will certainly be followed by cold 

 and hunger of the following winler. 



But to return. A (iu-nier should keep a caie- 

 ful enlryof all his fodder; the quantity and qual- 

 ity of each kind : for, he may wi,-li to [lurchase 

 and winter a cow or two extraordinary — and an 

 account of the manure made by his swine, by 

 scraping of the roads, his yards, by mud, barn 

 dung, &c. itc, for this will show him at once 

 how much land to break iqi, and the strength^ he 

 will have for the next year's cullivalioii : if he 

 neglects this branch of good liusbandry, be can- 

 not ex|iecl to form a ju.-t esiimale, either of the 

 labor or profits of the next year. To avail him- 

 self of many of the advantages which stand con- 

 neclei! with his siluation and farm, he must at- 

 tend to these things, many ol' which may appear 

 of little or of no consequence in the eyes of ihe 

 mass of farmers; but they certainly de.serve their 

 very serious attenlion. Laborers, unless upon 

 some urgent occasions, should never be hired by 

 the inonlli, nor even for a single day, in Ihe win- 

 ler season ; when the days are short, coKl and 

 stormy, and when an industrious man can hardly 

 earn his living. The quantity of pork, beef, ci- 

 der and other provisimis exiiended, — in other 

 words, almo.st thrown away, by this imprudent 

 practice, will certainly be missed and severely 

 felt in the following spring and sumn;er; unless 

 an additional stock of each be laid up to support 

 it in the fill preceding. The farmer may hire 

 labor in the spring, to get a good crop in the 

 ground in due season ; in the summer to secure 

 his grass; and in the fall of the year, to gather 

 in his harvest; but not in the winter, when noih- 

 iiig can be raised, either for the use of man or 

 beast. 



And here I observe, that every Ijirmer should 

 endeavor to cultivate and take care of his own 

 lands; and not let the jirofits of them depend on 

 hirelings more than he cannot possibly avoid. 

 And he should never work within door, while 

 any thing can be done to advantage without ; nor 

 let himself, or his laborers, do that work in fair, 

 which can be done in Ibul weather. 



CONTRACTING DEBTS.' 



A farmer, as his lands yield but one crop in a 

 year, and as the proceeds of that cannot be re- 

 ceived 'till late ill the tall, or the winter, should 

 lake as little as possible on credit: l()r of all that 

 he raises -lie will have but little to spare, unless 

 he ileprives his family of some of the comlbrts 

 and conveniences of llieir lives. It will take a 

 considerable proportion of a large stock of cat- 

 tle, as they rise, to raise even nn hundred dollars, 

 in common times; ;md these are the only times 

 on which l/e ought to Ibrm his ealciilafioiis. 

 What by over dry, or by otherwise unprofitable 

 seasons,' he shouhi bear in mind, that every sev- 

 enth or eighth yer.r will be but iiidifierent in 

 point of profit; and on which all his exerlions 

 will but just render his family comtbrlable. In- 

 stead, therefore, of spending all, in years of |)len- 

 ■ he should endeavor to lay up somelliing. 



keep clear of debts. 1 acknowledge anil lament 

 ihe trnlh of his observation ; but lliercare reme- 

 dies at hand, with which to (uiimteract these evils. 

 A good share of produce, and a manly spirit of 

 self-denial, will secure him, at all limes, against 

 them. Let him, in the first place, guard against 

 the cry of good bargains, fiir, it has often been 

 the case, that men, for a liltle and convenient 

 piece of land, have paid very dear. Either the 

 day of payment was not duly considered, and 

 providetl for; or the soil did not answer their ex- 

 pectations— was not rich, well fenced and water- 

 ed ; or it was a purchase beyond their ability. 

 Again, the fanner see-s his neighbor, not more 

 wealthy in lands, slock, or ready money, than 

 himself, nioimled on an excellent horse, or riding 

 in an elegant chaise (jiiile at his ease and plea- 

 sure ; while he has but an ordinary creature, both 

 for his own, and for his wife's accommodation; 

 and feels himself most sensibly al^ected. Pride, 

 or a ilesirc to appear ro an ecpial advantage, steps 

 in at once to the relief of his mortified feelings, 

 and ho immediately resolves to excel, or at least 

 to equal him in outward appearance. But beforo 

 he takes a single step in this weighty affair, he 

 ought to consider the age and circumstances of 

 the man who he wishes to rival. He may be an 

 older man than him, and have labored more 

 years; he may have been more industrious, care- 

 ful and economical ; or his family may not have 

 been so large and expensive— he may have more 

 sons— possess better fiicnlties, and know how to 

 save in one thing, what he expends extra in an- 

 other. Anil if he has labored more years, and 

 taken better care of his lands, crop.s, stock, ma- 

 nure, &c., he may well ride while others go on 

 foot who have not paid an equal attention to their 

 farms. But if he had not labored more years 

 than you had — had no peculiar advantages above 

 you, nor been a better husband, and you cannot 

 afford to buy an elegant horse, or a fine chaise, 

 the man deserves your pity, rather than your en- 

 vy. Consider this matter, and how painful the 

 reflections arising from it, after a few years of 

 gay anil flashy appearance, to be turned out of 

 doors, and to leave vonr wife and children to the 

 cold band of charily ! Surely, this must operate 

 against the passion you wish to indulge; get the 

 better of all these idle and foolish sensations ; 

 render you ipiite ea.sy, allhough you see your 

 neighbors finer than you are, and lead you to 

 avoid all needless and ruinous expenses. 



It is true, there is a peculiar pleasure in ap- 

 pearing and living equal ti) those of our rank and 

 station, and wliicli we lianlly know how to re- 

 linquish ; but it is much wiser to sacrifice a little, 

 yea, a great deal, lo our feelings, than to be re- 

 duced to dependence. Nothing, indeed, can ex- 

 ceed the folly of those w ho live beyond their 

 stated incomes, and who are ambilious to main- 

 tain an appearance, without the means with w hicli 

 to do it. 



Let il thorefbre be the desire of tlio fanner to 

 cnltivale and imiirove the soil on which be lives, 

 with the greatest ultenlion, and lo confine his ex- 

 penses to the annual income of his lands. This 

 will save him from the pains of many an anxious 

 and distressing hour as he passes along through^ 

 life, and soften his pillow, when in the hour of 

 death. 



,.j,..iiist those days of scarcity. Debts may soon 

 be contracted, and to a ruinous amount, if care 

 be not taken to avoid them. When a firmer 

 owes his merchant, his schoolmaster, laborers, 

 ike, and when he has paid them all cfl', he will 

 fiiul that a very considerable part of his crops are 

 disposed of and gone. And he ought lo reflect, 

 when he lays himself under (leeuniary obligations 

 to his neigiibors, that some of them arc enlircly 

 ignorant of his resources, and of the only season 

 in which he can conveniently discharge tliein. 

 A man who never sows, thinks not of the lime 

 for reaping. Crcdilors may call tor their monies, 

 when it will not be in his power to satisfy them, 

 uithout making a most injurious sacrifice of his 

 siock, or some other things — they may call when 

 bis crops arc on the ground; or in the spring, 

 belbre they are put into tlie earth ; and when all 

 his industry and labor cannot save him. It is 

 iireaily lo the disadvantage of any man to be in 

 debt, most commonly, and lo no man more, per- 

 haps, than to the firmer. Rut here, I expect Ihe 

 fariiKM- will observe that there are so many temp- 

 talions, and that such is the fashion of the limei 

 at present, that it is idinott impossible for him to 



Spring AVork. 



There is no season of the year in which ener- 

 gy, activity, and good caleulalion is more requisite 

 than the" present. Animals of all kinds, young 

 and old, and particularly those intended tor labor, 

 demand increased care "ami attention. March is 

 one of the most trying months for animals, as 

 they are, as the saying i.*, "between hay and 

 grass," and loo often the supply of either they 

 can obtain, is barelv sutficicnt to support lite. If 

 fiirmers would consider the much greater quan- 

 tity of milk a cow will .\ield in a season that is 

 in good condilion in the "spring, than one that ha? 

 "been on lifl" through iMarch or April, we are 

 confident there would not be so many skeleton 

 cows on our farms as llierc now is. If loo, they 

 wonid fi)r one moment reflect that a large part 

 of nil animal's power of draft lies in bis weight, 

 anil that where this is wiinting, and ihe whole is 

 thrown on muscular exertion, the animal must 

 soon give way, they would fi'el the necessity of 

 having their working stock, horses or cattle, at 

 this sc.-ison, in good heart, their flesh sound ami 

 durable; mid \n; should be spared the iiiortifica- 



