1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



407 



mistake. The progressive men said to the land- 

 ed aristocracy : "No, you are not sold, you are 

 not dead, we are not going to bury you, we shall 

 not get rid of you so easily." Mr. Mechi and 

 such men as he, saw that if the farmers could 

 get but half as much for their corn, they could 

 grow twice as much. They said to the grumbling, 

 woe-begone farmer : "Wake up from the stupid- 

 ity which the over-nursing of the government 

 has induced." They said : "Let the landlord in- 

 vest capital on his land, rendering it doubly pro- 

 ductive ; and then let the farmer go to work and 

 raise double crops ; for both will do -well enough 

 still, and the British poor will cease to need the 

 charity of cargoes of American flour." 



In this state of things it was, that Mr. Mechi 

 commenced his experiment, to see whether the 

 productiveness of land can be doubled, by a ju- 

 dicious outlay of capital ; and whether it is pos- 

 sible that the British farmer can live by growing 

 bread at such a price that British laborers can 

 live by eating it. A magnificent experiment ! 

 A misfortune was, that education and previous 

 business engagements had failed to educate him 

 a farmer. He is too impulsive to wait, after a 

 purpose is taken. Could he not farm, and learn 

 to farm, at the same time^ That is the only way 

 for such a man. He took it ; and like the early 

 Methodist preachers who preached and prayed 

 and learned to preach and pray all at once ; stud- 

 ied rhetoric and practised it, all at the same rid- 

 ing, with wardrobe and library in the same sad- 

 dle-bags ; and became inmost cases eminently 

 useful men ; so it has been with him. 



Mr. Mechi purchased a farm of 170 acres in 

 Kelvedon, Essex county, some forty miles from 

 London, near the Eastern Counties railroad, of 

 rather poor land, some of it very sandy, but more 

 a heavy clay. The annual rental was valued at 

 12s (about $3) the acre. He went at it — at chem- 

 istry and clay, philosophy and sand, farming in 

 all its departments, and learning some to farm. 

 He soon became wise enough to teach every body ; 

 but not yet has he become too wise to be taught 

 by every body, that understands the subject. In 

 1850, the rental of his farm was apprized at 36s 

 (about $9) an acre. He had not only doubled, 

 in the estimation of the judges, but had trebled 

 the productiveness of the land. Mistakes he 

 acknowledges he made, as any one would in a 

 new employment, and the fogies laughed, but he 

 corrected them the while, and went ahead. But 

 now for the extracts. The opinions they imply 

 may not all be correct, even in relation to Eng- 

 lish farming, and much less in relation to soil, 

 climate and circumstances eo different as ours. 

 But are they not worthy the consideration of 

 American farmers ? 



CAPITAL — ITS ORIGIN. 



"The physical and mental powers of a nation 



form its original capital. It is labor, directed by 



the mind, that feeds and clothes us, and psacures, 



for our social adjustment, the metals which form 



" the accepted standard of our currency." 



ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. 



"The more numerous and concentrated the 

 population, the more wealthy the nation, provid- 

 ed means are found for its employment. Can it 

 be denied that we have yet, in this United King- 

 dom, a wide and untilled field for agricultural la- 



bor and investment ? Look at our statistics of 

 moor, bog and waste. O, but I am asked, can 

 these be profitably reclaimed ? 



Request the poor peasant squatter to show 

 you his cottage garden or allotment on such soils, 

 and conviction will at once reach you." 

 CAN CAPITAL BE OBTAINED ? 



"I am asked, 'Where is the capital to come 

 from for all these improvements ?' I reply, 

 Where does the capital come from to make rail- 

 ways and docks ; to build steam-vessels ; to erect 

 a whole town of new squares and streets, and to 

 carry out every other useful and profitable un- 

 dertaking ? I believe the surplus profits of the 

 nation are estimated at fifty millions annually. 

 Every ten years, this accumulated wealth has 

 found vent in rash or dangerous speculations. 

 Fortunately, foreign loans have been superseded 

 by British railways ; and I can perceive clearly, 

 that the surplus gains of the present times are 

 destined to pass into agricultural improvement." 

 DEEP CULTIVATION AFTER DRAINAGE 



"Is essential to profitable farming on heavy lands. 

 I effect this by removing the breast from a plow, 

 and letting it follow, drawn by a pair of horses, 

 in the track of the first plow. We thus gain a 

 greater depth. In summer, I use a very large 

 plow with four horses, to open the work, and 

 follow with another plow and four horses in the 

 same track, 'i'his brings up immense clods and 

 blocks of the nasty, undisturbed subsoil. When 

 dried by the sun, the Crosskill roller, with 5 cwt. 

 added, cracks them ; the scarifier operates, and 

 again the Croskill renews the attack, all in dry, 

 hot weather, until you have a perfect garden — 

 yellow-looking, it is true, but aerated, and de- 

 prived of many noxious properties, and ready 

 for mixing with abundant manure and calcareous 

 matter. You thus bid adieu to root weeds that 

 have tormented you for years ; you facilitate the 

 percolation of water, air, manure and roots. 

 Your crops do not dry up in summer, or freeze 

 in winter." 



ARE EXHAUSTING CROPS TO BE AVOIDED? 



"For my own part, I like a heavy exhausting 

 crop. It implies a heavy return, with means for 

 restoring the deficiency occasioned by it. Mis- 

 erable crops, occasioned by the save-all and 

 cheese-paring principle, cause us to feel severely 

 the pressure of our rent, tithes and rates. They 

 re-act on the landlord, laborer, tenant, and com- 

 munity at large." 



HUSBANDING OF FEED. 



"Experience has taught me, and will teach 

 others, that in order to succeed in farming, we 

 must produce a much larger quantity of meat on 

 our farms than at present, and at less cost. In 

 order to do this advantageously, it becomes nec- 

 essary to consume a large portion of the straw 

 of the farm, cut into chafl", and cook it with meal 

 or ground oil-cake. AYe are thus deprived of 

 the usual cattle bedding, and must find a substi- 

 tute. ' 



"I believe it is the great quantity of stock 

 kept, that enables the Lothian farmer to compete 

 at so great a distance, with the south country 

 farmer ; and I believe it is the still greater quan- 

 tity of stock kept by Mr. M'CuUoch, of Auch- 

 ness, that enabled him to surpass the Lothian 



