114 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



wait for tree seeds to form trees. A pine seed will 

 make boards in twelve years. Apple seeds will 

 make fruit-bearing trees in four years. Grapes in 

 eight and tpn years. Peaches and plums in two 

 years. The China tree seed will make a good shade 

 tree in four years. A man may have a forest or an 

 orchard from seed, if he will. Even the acorn and 

 hickory nut may be planted with profit. Plant 

 tree seeds, reader, and you will be astonished at 

 the work of your hands in a few years." — Ex- 

 change. 



For the New England Farmer, 



GOOD AHD BAD FARMING. 



BY JOHN GOLDSBURY. 



Whoever has travelled much, in any part of our 

 country, whether North or South, East or West, 

 cannot have failed to notice the different appear- 

 ance of different farms with regard to neatness, 

 economy and thrift. On one farm, everything is in 

 good order, and appears neat and tidy. The build- 

 ings are all in good repair, and the yards, about 

 the house and burn, look as though they had just 

 been swept and garnished ; no litter, or lumber of 

 any kind, is to be seen about the establishment. 

 "There is a place for everthing, and everything is in 

 its place." Everything on or about this farm, be- 

 tokens neatness, economy and thrift. On another 

 farm, how altered is the scene ! Here, everything 

 looks as though a hurricane had swept over the 

 place, scattering litter, rails and lumber in every di- 

 rection. The house, and barn, and fences, ajjpear 

 in a dilapidated state ; and all the yards about the 

 establishment are filled with broken-down carts and 

 carriages, j^lows and harrows, wlieelbarrows and 

 ox-yokes, and implements of husbandry of every 

 description. Everything on or about this farm, in- 

 dicates a want of taste, neatness, economy and 

 thrift. 



The same is obsei-vable with regard to towns. 

 Go into one town, where considerable attention has 

 been paid to agriculture, as a science — a town not 

 remarkably distinguished for the richness and fer- 

 tility of its soil, or the care with which it may be 

 cultivated — being rather a poor, hard and rocky 

 soil, and there you will Ijehold comfortable, conve- 

 nient and well-built farm-houses and well-filled 

 barns, cultivated fields and fruitful orchards, good 

 walls and fences, large stocks of cattle, horses, 

 sheep, swine, &-c., and everything indicating the 

 taste, neatness, economy, industry and tlirift of the 

 farmers. Go into another town, in which little or 

 no attention has been given to the cultivation of the 

 earth — a town possessing all the natural advantages 

 of a fertile, well-watered and exul)erant soil, and of 

 a favorable location and mild climate, —and there 

 you will behold a scene, which, if it do not make 

 you "stare like a cat in a strange garret," will, at 

 least, induce you to quit the town as quick as possi- 

 ble, lest the contagious infiuence of such a scene 

 should overshadow your spirit with gloom. For, 

 as you cast your eyes about jou, and behold the 

 miserable prospect on every side, — houses, barns, 

 and other buildings, grown old and going to'decay, 

 fields covered with weeds, brambles, briers, thorns 

 and thistles — as you behold all this, you will be 

 con%anced, that some blighting, withering curse 

 must have fallen upon the inhabitants of that town, 

 and paralyzed all their energies. Otherwise, why 

 have they neglected to cultivate and improve their 



lands, to repair their rusty old buildings, and to re- 

 pair their broken-down fences ? In order to ac- 

 count for such negligence on their part, one would 

 be inclined to think that they must have been the 

 worshippers of Bacchus, or of the drowsy god Som- 

 nus. 



Having taken a comparative view of the condi- 

 tion of different farms in the same town, and of 

 whole towns imder different cultivation, let us now 

 endeavor to arrive at some just estimate of their 

 comparative values. Evei-ytliing is said to be worth 

 what it will bring in the market. Whether or not 

 the market price be the true standard value of 

 everything, it is not necessary for us to determine. 

 The value of a h\n\, all other things being equal, 

 shculd be estimated by the abundance, variety and 

 richness of its productions, and by the facihty and 

 ease with which it can be carried on. 



A farm, which is made to produce twice the 

 amount of productions, with the same labor and 

 ex])ense bestowed upon another, is cert^unly, for all 

 ]n-actical purposes, worth twice as much money, 

 though it may not liring twice as much in the mar- 

 ket. The same is true with regard to a farm, on 

 which the owner is ol)liged to skim over twice the 

 number of acres, and perform double the amount 

 of labor, in order to ol)tain the same amount of 

 crop. It is cheaper — it is easier — it requires less 

 labor to cultivate a few acres and cultivate them 

 well, than to attempt to cultivate a large number, 

 and do it imperfectly. We see, then, that the 

 highly cultivated flirm is the most valuable and 

 productive farm, and will generally bring the most 

 in the market. It is skilful, practical and scientific 

 agriculture, which renders a farm truly valuable and 

 productive. 



The same is true Avith regard to towns which arc 

 made up of. the different farms contained therein. 

 Every town is to be estimated according to its j)ro- 

 ductiveness ; and this de])ends, in a great measure, 

 upon the degree of the attention which has been 

 paid to agriculture. No matter how a town stands 

 on the State valuation list, its real value de])ends 

 upon its resources — its ability to produce all the 

 necessaries, the comforts, the conveniences, and the 

 luxuries of hfc ; and these depend, in a great meas- 

 ure, upon the knowledge and practical skill of its 

 cultivators. A town, in which the science of agri- 

 culture has never been developed, cannot vie with 

 another, in which art and science and persevering 

 effort, have, for a long series of years, been carrying 

 forward the great work of improvement. The riv- 

 er does not gush up at once in full tide from the 

 ground ; but it commences in a thousand springs, 

 whose waters flow on and mingle until they become 

 a flood, when the ships float and the sea monsters 

 play. The sun does not rise up instantly, deluging 

 the earth with a sudden burst of light ; but faintly, 

 at first, his rays tmge the eastern horizon ; and 

 while the shadows of the dark night are still upon 

 the earth, higher and still higher mounts the sun, 

 until at last his broad light is poured in full splen- 

 dor upon the world, and it is day. So it is with 

 the science of agriculture. Its beginnings are small ; 

 but it increases as it advances, till it finally changes 

 the whole aspect of a town. 



The Merchant's Clerk and the Plowboy. — 

 The young man who leaves the farm-field for the 

 merchants desk or the lawyer's or doctor's office, 

 thinking to dignify or ennoble his toil, makes a sad 



