No. 9. 



James Gowen^s St/sle7n of Farming. 



270 



For llic Farmers' Cabinet. 

 James Goweu's System of Farming. 



Mr. Editor, — In your last No. Mr. Gowen 

 insinuates, it' he does not directly make the 

 char^'e, that maliciousness or mischievous- 

 ness has been at the bottom of the observa 

 lions I made on his letter to Gen. Richard 

 son — as if he thought it treason against 

 right, for one to dilfer from himself in opin- 

 ion, or as if no one could so ditier, and be 

 lionest. Other people, nevertheless, will 

 venture to differ from him when they think 

 proper, as will also your humble servant; 

 and I beg leave even to suggest, that we 

 may by possibility do so, and be as honest 

 at heart, and as patriotic in purpose, as him- 

 self: and by your permission, Mr. Editor, I 

 may sometimes take the liberty of express- 

 ing this diflerence of opinion in your paper, 

 though with this communication I mean to 

 leave the present subject. I am more ac- 

 customed to handling the plough than the 

 pen, and like to confine myself to a plain 

 statement of facts. I feel compelled to go 

 over the whole ground, but I will be as brief 

 and condensed as possible. 



I have spoken of Gen. Richardson being- 

 led from the frying-pan into the fire, when 

 advised to raise exclusively, his own stock 

 of cattle, and of the Durham breed. I 

 pointed out what I considered a better plan, 

 in the following words: "If Mr. Gowen 

 will step over to his neigbours, the intelli- 

 gent farmers of Chester county, he will find 

 what I have asserted; they carry out his 

 plan in part, leaving three-fourths of the 

 arable land in grass for four or five years." 

 This shows that I agreed with Mr. Gowen, 

 in his views as to the advantage of culti- 

 vating more grass than grain. And here I 

 must also invite Gen. Richardson — who has 

 brought the name of II. S. not so very ad- 

 vantageously from the South — if he should 

 visit Pennsylvania again, to pass along 

 among the Chester county farmers, when, it 

 may be, he will not judge so severely of me. 

 Mr. Gowen, who has only a ?e\v years ago 

 stepped from his store on to his farm, will, I 

 trust, admit that the Cliester county farmers 

 have more experience than himself, and their 

 practice, I can assure him, is worthy his at- 

 tention. 



He has ni'ade a successful speculation with 

 the Durham cattle; his Dairy Maid, has 

 brought him golden calves ; but it does not 

 follow, that these have proved golden to 

 their purchasers. So long as he can sell 

 his young heifers and bulls at ip^lOO or §150, 

 it is indeed a good plan to raise cattle. But 

 the Durham delusion, like all other delu- 

 sions, will end. The old Maid, even will 



be neglected — the Durham breed will be 

 worth no more tlian our good domestic Gen- 

 esee cattle: but 1 need not repeat what I 

 have said in my former communication on 

 this subject. What will tiien be the situa- 

 tion of Mount Airy farm 1 A soil in its 

 primitive state, naturally poor, requirino- 

 annually strong manuring and e.xpensive 

 manual labour, can hardly comi)cte in rais- 

 ing cattle, which consume hay worth S18 

 a ton, and are pastured on land worth from 

 $100 to $200 per acre, and those cattle be 

 sold for little, or no more than Western cat- 

 tle, raised on the fertile plains I have de- 

 scribed, which have an inexhaustible allu- 

 vial soil, particularly adapted to raising 

 cattle — requiring but little manuring — no 

 manual labour but to make the hay, worth 

 on the spot, $Q to $8 per ton — pastured on 

 land richer than Mr. Gowen can make his 

 land, and worth from $25 to $35 per acre. 

 Now let me ask, does not the Chester county 

 grazier act much more wisely to buy his 

 stock from the Western drover, than to raise 

 it himself] 



Mr. Gowen in his last communication, 

 complains that I have placed him in the 

 category of those who abandon their cattle 

 to straw and the winter winds. To quote 

 his own language, " I never said such a 

 thing." How could he have so understood 

 me 1 Let any one read my paragraph com- 

 mencing on the 225th page of your seventh 

 No., and judge if I have so placed him — or 

 whether this category be not merely one ot 

 his own conjuring up. On the contrary, I said 

 his farm was in the highest state of cultiva- 

 tion ; and so it is; but whether it affords a 

 profit, is quite another question. What I 

 said, was plainly in reference to those who 

 purchase Durhams at high prices, expecting 

 every thing from them, while, at the same 

 time, by shameful neglect, they have re- 

 duced their domestic cattle to scrubs, which 

 are a disgrace to themselves and their man- 

 agement. 



Mr. Gowen further says, "If I make much 

 or little by farming, that is my own afiair." 

 Certainly — it is highly impertinent to pry 

 into any man's private matters: but Mr. 

 Gowen presents his farm as a pattern ; he 

 comes before the public with an improved 

 system; of course we all feel an interest, 

 and have a right to submit that system to a 

 close investigation, both as to the manner of 

 operation, expenses, profits, &c. 



Of Mr. Gowen's most singular account of 

 the produce of his farm, given in your last 

 No., page 254, all which he sets down as 

 the result of his $1000 outlay for labour, I 

 leave the reflecting readers of your Cabinet 

 to judge. He sets down $2160 as the value 



