460 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Oct. 



of agricultural wealth. First, sunk capital, which 

 is formed, in the course of time, by outlays of all 

 kinds, often through successive generations, for 

 bringing the land into good condition. Second, 

 working capital, consisting of animals, implements, 

 and seeds, &c. Third, iirtclledual capital, or agri- 

 cultural skill, which is improved by experience and 

 thought. In sunk capital — that is outlays through 

 successive generations, for bringing the land into 

 good condition — England is very rich, — New Eng- 

 land very poor. Of working capital, England used 

 to deem forty dollars to the acre sufficient ; now, 

 she deems eighty dollars to the acre not too much. 

 New England deems that sufficient which the 

 farmer happens to have. I shall not compare the 

 intellectual capital of the two countries, lest I should 

 hurt the feelings of my countrymen, or do injustice 

 to our ancestor's children, who remain in the old 

 home. 



I do not claim that the agriculture of New 

 England should be assimilated in all respects, to 

 thrl of England. I know this is impossible, and I 

 do not regret it. But I do claim, that we should 

 learn, from English experience in agriculture, as we 

 have in manufactures. 



England has settled it, that agriculture cannot be 

 conducted with success, without capital and skill. 

 I do claim, that we should not attempt 1o get along 

 without them, nor consider that our agriculture 

 cannot succeed, till we have tried them. England 

 has settled that agriculture cannot be rich, unless 

 it maintains many animals, sheep, cattle and l)igs, 

 which enrich the soil that feeds them. I claim, we 

 should consider this a settled axiom, as true here 

 as there. 



England has settled, that it is more than twice 

 as profitable to feed breeds of sheep, on its farms, 

 which are fit for the buLcher at from one to two 

 years old, than a breed that is fit for the butcher 

 at from three to four years old ; and that it is 

 twice as profitable to raise breeds of sheep, which, 

 when fit for the butcher, will yield from 80 to 100 

 pounds of net mutton, than a breed which will 

 yield from 40 to 50 pounds. England has further 

 shown, that there are such breeds, and how they 

 may be produced. New England, I claim, must take 

 notice of this fact, and act upon it. 



England has shown similar results in cattle. 

 England has shown that her agriculture is rich in 

 crops, and enriched by crops, according as she 

 connects the operixtions of three or four years to- 

 gether, by a rotation of crops. New England 

 must adopt a system or rotation of her own, or 

 show that England does not produce the results 

 claimed by her system, or that a similar system 

 will not produce similar results here. The Eng- 

 lish system is, first year, roots ; second, barley or 

 oats ; third, clover ; fourth, wheat. Is there no 

 Arthur Young who can settle ours in New Eng- 

 land? If we believe the Quakers, our Arthur 

 Young must leave wheat out of our rotation ; for 

 some of that sect have maintained that we have 

 never been able to raise wheat, in Massachusetts, 

 since we hung the Quakers. Our crime was bad 

 enough, and its punishment has been severe enough 

 if it has been the curse of our wheat culture ; but 

 I would recommend that we try a somewhat more 

 systematic culture, before we acquiesce in the Quak- 

 er doctrine. 



in a year ; and her cows average nearly double the 

 quantity of ours. New England must estabHsh 

 similar breeds, if it would have an agriculture as 

 rich as England's, in milk, butter and cheese. 

 England has shown that an agriculture can not be 

 prosperous in which the animal produce falls short 

 of the vegetable produce ; and the agriculture of 

 Ireland and France confirm this truth. Yet the 

 five stock of New England is said to be diminish- 

 ing. 



England has shown what can be done for wet 

 lands and a moist climate, by drainage. How long 

 are our wet lands to have their fertility obstructed 

 by standing water ? If our uplands need not drain- 

 age, like those of England, they need deep tillage. 



England has shown what cultivation with capital 

 and skill can do for a soil not naturally superior to 

 that of New England. Are we to despair of our 

 soil, because it remains sterile, when we have not 

 cultivated and enriched it P England has shown that 

 the love of country life gives vigor to a race, and 

 strength to a nation. Are we to learn the same 

 lesson, after we have wasted our strength in cities, 

 and lost the freshness of our natures, in the dusty 

 paths of gain ? 



I come now to the most difficult question, which 

 perplexes many minds, and spreads despondency 

 over many households in New England. Can agri- 

 culture be made profitable as a business, and fol- 

 lowed as an occupation, with a reasonable hope of 

 bettering one's condition in New England ? If the 

 farmers of New England should testify that they 

 had found it a profitable ])ursuit, and state what 

 these profits have been, this would be the most 

 satisfactory settlement of the question. I suppose 

 their testimony generally, would be that they made 

 both ends meet, and but little, if anything more ; 

 at least, this would be the general testimony, 

 though in some parts of New England it would be 

 less satisfactory than this. But if the farmers of 

 New England testified that they could not get a 

 living by farming, this would not settle the question 

 that farming could not be made profitable in New 

 England, because it might be they had not adopt- 

 ed the right system, or had not employed capital 

 enough, or skill enough, or had not the best and 

 most profitable breeds of cattle on their farms. 

 Let us approach this question from the English 

 side, and by comparison ; and see whether English 

 farming is profitable, and how, and from what caus- 

 es, and what advantages the English farmer has, 

 and what disadvantages we labor under. 



Farmers in England are, generally, tenant farm- 

 ers ; who hire the farms they cultivate, and pay rent. 

 They form, there, a class of men, early educated to 

 farming, and who devote their whole lives to it. 

 These men are not exactly laborers, but are in com- 

 paratively superior circumstances, and quite intelli- 

 gent. Farming is their profession, with all the 

 chances of loss and gain ; and if the cliances of loss 

 are sufiicient to keep their attention awakened, the 

 chances of gain are also sufficient, to excite their 

 emulation. England has many examples of for- 

 tunes made by farming, wb.Ieh induce many to be- 

 come farmers by j^rofesslon ; while, at the same 

 time, it is one of the most agreeable, the most 

 healthy, the most honoi-able professions in whicli 

 mind and body can be engasred. These 



_ed. inese larmers 

 . live, for the most part, in a quiet, comfortable style, 



England has established breeds of milch cows, have their newspapers and periodicals, and produce, 

 %.hich give three or four thousand quarts of milk I occasionally, on their tables, a bottle of claret or 



