1846.] Letters on Farming. 91 



considered very ridiculous for a farmer to tan his own hides, and 

 make his own shoes, simply because he is obliged to wear them. 

 There was a time when oiu' farmers' wives carded and spun and 

 wove, oftentimes, the materials for their husband's coat and pant- 

 aloons. But they did it because they were obliged to, and be- 

 cause they could do it cheaper than they could buy the materials. 

 There are few or none who do this now, and they w^ould be set 

 down as possessed of little prudence or economy if they were to 

 do it. They would be throwing away their time, w^hich could be 

 employed to better purpose. They would be throwing away the 

 materials, which they could sell for more, in proportion, than they 

 are worth in their homespun fabric. They know they can sell 

 the material, and employ their time and labor in the production of 

 other things, which will purchase the clothing they used to man- 

 ufacture, and will leave them a handsome profit. This is a view 

 of the case perfectly on a parallel with the farmer who continues 

 to raise, at the present day of universal and far-reaching compe- 

 tition, an article of food simply because he is a consumer of that 

 article. He is infinitely more foolish who grows an article for 

 market, when he can buy it cheaper than he can grow it, or can 

 raise an article w^hich he can barter for it, at a large profit. As 

 well should the cotton manufacturer be also a manufacturer of 

 linens, and woolens, and silks, only because he wears shirts and 

 pantaloons, and his wife and daughters wear dresses of the latter 

 material. 



Must you sow no wheat? Not a bushel. No rye? None. No 

 corn? No, nothing that another can raise cheaper than you, 

 while at the same time you can raise on the same amount of land 

 anything else which will purchase all you w^ant of these and 

 leave you a profit. If you do, you show a lamentable want of 

 - foresight, and it is not to be wondered at that you are not making 

 money, and that your farm is getting behind hand. You need not 

 run away to the west to avoid the evil, as so many have already 

 done. You have the ability — the skill — all but the enterprise — 

 to revolutionize your business and put yourself at once in the way 

 of becoming a rich and thriving farmer. And how? That is 



