42 



GENESEE FARMER. 



Mais. 1845 



REPORT OF THECOMMITTEE ON FARMS. 



From the Second Annual Kopurt of the Transactions of the 

 Monroe County .'igricultiira! So':ie?*. 



The Committee on whom devolved the duty of 

 examining such farms as applications were made irom 

 the owners, in accordance with the regulations of 

 the societ)', may be expected to make a more parti- 

 cular and extended report than was given at the 

 annual Cattle Show and Fair in October last, at 

 which time some general and commendatory re- 

 marks were made by the Committee on several farms 

 which they visited, which were not com[)etitors ; as 

 well as upon those that were, which did not quite 

 come up to that point of excellence in genera!, sys- 

 tematic management which the committee had laid 

 dov/n as their guide. 



This Committee may be expected to lay down 

 some general rules, as a criterion of what they con- 

 ceive to be a true system of farming for a majority 

 of the land in this county, and that manner of fenc- 

 ing, draining, manuring, and rotation of crops, and 

 general management, upon which they predicated 

 their premiums ; and although some of those points 

 are still unsettled, and some important questions 

 still remain debatcable by our best and most experi- 

 enced farmers, yet, to exhibit the grounds upon 

 which they arrived at their conclusions, they " will 

 also give their opinions.*' 



This Committee are decidedly of opinion, that the 

 wheat crop, (combined with wool growing,) is the 

 only crop, in this county, that farmers can depend 

 upon for producing at all times ready money, at a 

 fair remuneration for thoir labor^^especially if they 

 are located at any great distance from market. Corn, 

 hay, oats, potatoes, pork, fcc, cannot be depended 

 upon as ready cash articles, to any great amount ; 

 with the exception therefore of those farmers whose 

 lands are not adapted to the grain crops, and are 

 more natural to ojrass, grazing and fattening cattle 

 may succeed well, and in some hands we know it 

 does ; but yet, they can hardly compete with the 

 more hilly, cheap, and broken lands of the southern 

 and eastern parts of this state, the outlay for which 

 is not over one quarter of the amount that our lands 

 were purchased at. Therefore, it recurs with great 

 force to the minds of this committee, that the wheat 

 crop is the only one adapted to a profitable and suc- 

 cessful course for the farmers of this western coun- 

 try to pursue, as a main dependence to make money, 

 pay for their farms, and gel out of debt. 



The committee will therefore proceed briefly to 

 State what they consider a good, judicious, and suc- 

 cessful system for conducting a farm, and what 

 state of preparation and rotation of crops it is neces- 

 sary to pursue, to come up to that point of excel- 

 lence which should be the perfection of the art ; and 

 those whose exertions come nearest to that course 

 v.'ill, consequently, be the successful competitors for 

 thoir favors. 



liOt a farm consisting of any number of acres, not 

 too large-^say, for example, one hundred acres of 

 arable land, independent of wood lands, orchard, and 

 garden — ^l)e in the first place well fenced, if with 

 rails, well staked and ridered ; or what is better, with 

 corner stakes and yokes, the yokes placed at two or 

 three rails from the top, in which case the stakes 

 need not be set in the earth ; or what is better still, 

 where there is a sufficiency of stones, let the fences 

 be made with them, and it can hardly be conceived, 

 by those unacquainted with the process, how small 

 and inferior an article will make a good and lasting 



fence, merely by the plentiful use of cedar, pine, or 

 chestnut sticks laid in crossways with the stone, al- 

 v/ays reserving a sufficient quantity of stone to copd 

 the wall, and form a cap, to cover and retain the 

 whole line. Divide the whole into such sized fields 

 as shall comport with the size of the farm, and in 

 such a manner as will allow it always to be nearly 

 equally divided into a three-course rotation. The 

 fences to be clear from weeds, brambles, and shrubs, 

 and of a sufficient height to protect against all de- 

 predation : for there is no better opiate to induce 

 good nature, and calm and uninterrupted sleep at 

 night, than good strong and high fences. If there 

 are any low or springy lands, let them be thoroughly 

 open, or under-drained — under-draining is by far the 

 most convenient, safe, and economical. 



The barns should be large, with an under^ground 

 basement, if possible ; sheds and stables, large and 

 roomy enough to house every hoof on the farm ; 

 barn yards not too large, with water handy ; a pig- 

 gery, with boiling apparatus ; and proper protection 

 and fixtures for the sheep ; with a well-built, snug, 

 and convenient house ; an industrious wife, not too 

 handsome ; a lutchen and flower garden ; a well- 

 chosen fruitery, and orchard — and that is what this 

 Committee would consider a pretty smart chance of 

 a beginning. Now, we would propose that there 

 should be a flock of sheep, of a hardy, Jlne-u-ooled 

 variety if for the fleece, or of a large-framed long- 

 wooled variety if for the carcase- — as an indispensa- 

 ble requisite to commence with, not only as to profit 

 from themselves, but as an important element in 

 wheat husbandry. A greater profit will be realized 

 from the sale of the wool and carcase than is lost to 

 tlic farm by the food they consume, as their manure 

 is the perfection of food for the wheat plant, and, 

 from its intimate division and distribution, it is in a 

 better state to feed they ou:ig plant than any other, 

 except, perhaps, the artificial compounds. 



The true v,-heat farmer should have no more cows, 

 oxen, or horses, than are necessary to carry on the 

 farm, and subsist the family — and those of the very 

 best breeds. It must be very bad econoiny to be 

 obliged alwa}^s to keep half the farm in pasture and 

 meadow, merely for the sake of keeping a great herd 

 of cows ; coupled with the privilege of foddering 

 20 or more tons of hay, and making a few pounds 

 of butter, to sell at 8 cents per pound, the market- 

 ing of which costs more than its produce. 



We would premise, that a farm, when it is right, 

 should not have one square foot but what is arable, 

 and capable of producing any crop put upon it ; and 

 as nearly as convenient, always to have one-third in 

 wheat, one-third or more in clover and grass, and 

 one-third or less in summer crops. Now let us 

 explain the viodus operandi : It is now spring— one- 

 third in wheat, properly seeded ; one-third or more 

 in meadow and pasture ; and such portion of the other 

 third as shall be convenient fall-plowed, for summer 

 crops, which is to be devoted to oats, corn, potatoes, 

 bagas, wortzel, carrots, &,c. — on which is to be 

 expended the fresh barn-yard manure made the win- 

 ter previous, or so much as is needed, and the ba- 

 lance composted, for dressing the summer fallow. 

 All of the oat, corn, and potato ground, or so much 

 as the season will admit, should be sown with wheat, 

 after the crops come ofl' ; if any lays over, it may 

 be sown the next spring with peas or barley, and 

 followed with wheat. 



The manure which was applied to the summer 

 crops, is now in the best possible state for produ- 



