Notices fur a Young Farmer, xlvii 



A singular instance of the benefits derived from poultry, 

 was presented to a number of respectable witnesses of the 

 fact, some years ago, in a part of an unseated country in 

 Pennsylvania ; far removed from population. A solitary New- 

 England settler, was found clearing the woods and building 

 a cabin for the reception of his family ; who were to follow' 

 him with the rest of his stock. He had brought a number of 

 poultry ; and a flock were seen around him, which, by their 

 eggs, furnished the chief part of his support ; and with this 

 sustenance, he declared he was perfectly enabled to labour. 

 Occasionally he procured some grain from distant settle- 

 ments, which the fowls sparingly shared with him. This, 

 and the precarious supplies of the forest, kept them and him 

 in good plight. They never wandered, but always associated 

 with him ; as well for protection as from habitual attachment. 

 XXVII. Few farmers attend, sufficiently, to the necessity of 

 providing the best, (and the best are generally those the least 

 complex in their construction,) as well as the most appro- 

 priate instruments of husbandry ; and the implements, 

 utensils, and tools of their trade. All occupations require 

 those who follow them, to be closely attentive to the means 

 of carrying them on with facility of execution and conse- 

 quent profit, by tools appropriate to every operation in their 

 business. But a plough or two, some common harrows, a 

 cart or waggon, with some ordinary tools used in common 

 and minor operations, too generally fill the catalogue of 

 farming intruments and implements. Ploughs should be va 

 rious, and calculated for different uses. Among them is a 

 plough introduced in the hilly country of Virginia by Gol. 

 Randolph, for ploughing, horizontally, mountainous or hilly 

 lands. An account of it will be seen in the 4th vol. of the 

 Philadelphia Memoirs, in a letter from Mr. Jefferson. The 

 like practice is followed by the Germans inhabiting mountain- 

 ous countries; but their ploughs witli shifting mould-boards 

 are differently constructed from that mentioned. Every farmer 

 should accommodate his instruments to the local situation and 

 attributes of his farm ; as well as to the uses common to all 



