170 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



DECEMBER la, 1833. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 AGRICCIiTURAI- ESSAYS, NO. VIII. 



CONTRACTING DEBTS. 



A FARMER, as his lands yield but one crop in a 

 year, and as the proceeds of that cannot be re- 

 ceived till late in the fall, or the -winter, should 

 take as little as possible on credit : for of all that 

 he raises he will have but little to spare, unless he 

 deprives his family of some of the comforts and 

 conveniences of their Uv.es. It will take a consid- 

 erable proportion of a large stock of cattle, as they 

 rise to raise even an hundred dollars, in common 

 times ; and these are the only times on which he 

 ought to form his calculations. What by over 

 dry, or by otherwise unprofitable seasons, he 

 sliould bear in mind, that eveiy seventh or eighth 

 year, will lie but indifferent in pouit of profit ; 

 and on which all his exertions will but just render 

 his family comfortable. Instead, therefore, of 

 spending all, in years of jilenty, he should en 

 deavor to lay up something, against those days of 

 scarcity. Debts may soon be contracted, and to a 

 ruinous amount, if care be utjt taken to avoid 

 theiTi. When a Fanner owes his merchant, his 

 schoolmaster, laborers, &c. and when he has paid 

 them all oft', he will find that a very considerable 

 iiart of his crops are dispo.<ied of and gone. Anc 

 he ought to reflect, when he lays himself under 

 pecuniary obligations to bis neighbors, that some 

 of them are entirely ignorant of his resources, and 

 of the only season in which he can conveniently 

 discharge them. A man who never sows, think 

 not of the time for reaping. Creditors may call 

 for their monies, when it will not be in his power 

 to satisfy them, without making a most injurious 

 sacrifice of his stock, or some other things — they 

 may call when his crops are on the grdimds ; or 

 in the spring, before they are put into tke earth : 

 and when ail his imlustry and labor oaiinot sa\e 

 him. It is greatly to the disadvantage of any 

 man to be in debt, most commonly, aiM to no 

 man more, perhaps, than to thi! Farmer. But here, 

 1 expect the Farmer will observe that thej-e are so 

 many temptations, and that such is the rtshinn nf 

 the times at present, that it is almost iupossilile 

 for him to keep clear of debts. I ackitowledgc 

 and lament the truth of his observation ; Uut there 

 arc remedies at hand, with which to cobnteract 

 these evils. A good share of jirudeucel and a 

 manly spirit of self-denial, will secure hiii, at all 

 timos, against them. Let him, in the fir^ place, 

 guard against the cry of good Ijargains, fori it has 

 often been the ease, that men, for a little aitl con- 

 venient piece of land, have paid very deal-. Either 

 the day of payment was not duly considereS, and 

 provided tor ; or the soil did not answer thir ex- 

 pectations — was not rich, well fenced and watered ; 

 or it was a purchase beyond their ability. 4S'""' 

 the Farmer sees his neighbor, not more wdalthy 

 in lands, stock, or ready money, than hiitiself, 

 mounted on an excellent horse, or riding in an 

 elegant chaise quite at his ease and pleasure ; 

 wliile he has but an ordinary creature, both fir his 

 own, and for his wife's accommodation ; and) feels 

 himself most sensibly aftectcd. Pride, or a desire 

 of appearing to an equal advantage, steps in at 

 OBce to the relief of his mortified ioelings, and he 

 immediately resolves to excel, or at least to equal 

 him iu outward appearance. But before he takes 

 a single ,step in this weiglity aftair, he ought to 

 consider li»e age and circumstances of the man 



who he wishes to rival. He may be an older 

 man than liim, and have labored more years ; he 

 nuty have been more industrious, careful and 

 economical ; or his family may not have been so 

 large and expensive — he may have more sons, — 

 possess better faculties, and know how to save in 

 one thing, what he expends extra in another. 

 And if he has labored more years, and taken bet- 

 ter care of his lands, crops, stock, manure, &c. he 

 may well ride while others go on foot who have 

 not paid an equal attention to their farms. But if 

 he had not labored more years than you had — had 

 no peculiar advantages above you, nor been a bet- 

 ter husband, and you cannot aflbrd to buy an ele- 

 gant horse, or afine chaise, the man deserves your 

 pity, rather than your envy. Consider this mat- 

 ter, and how painful the reflections arising from 

 it, after a few years of gay and flashy appearance, 

 to be turned out of doors, and to leave your wife 

 and children to the cold hand of charity 1 Surely, 

 this must operate against tlie passion you wish to 

 indulge ; get the better of all these idle and fool- 

 ish sensations ; render you quite ea.sy, although 

 you see your neighbors finer than you are, and 

 lead you to avoid all needless and ruinous ex- 

 pences. 



It is true, there is a peculiar pleasure in appear- 

 ing and livmg <:^^\\l\x\ to those of our rank and sta- 

 tion, and which we hardly know how to reUn- 

 quish ; but it is much wiser to sacrifice a little, 

 yea a great deal to our feelings, than to be reduced 

 to dependence. Nothing, indeed, can exceed the 

 folly of those, who live beyond their stated in- 

 comes, and who are ambitious to maintain an ap- 

 pearance, without the means with which to (h) it. 



Let it thereibre be the desire of the Farmer, to 

 cultivate and improve the soil on which he lives, 

 with the greatest atl: ntion, and to confine his ej- 

 pences to the annii. 1 income of his lands. This 

 will save him from the ])aiuii of many an aiixiou.* 

 and distressing hour as he passes along through 

 life, and sotlen his pillow, when in the hoiu- ol' 

 death. 



For the Aew Kngland Farmer. 

 REPORT OP COMMITTEE ON BUTTER AND 



The Committee on Butter and Cheese, consist- 

 ing of E. HeRST DEr.BY, -GOKHAM Parsons iind 

 Benj. Guild, Esqs., report as follows : 



For Butter there were twenty-five entries. 



1 from the city of JV.ston, ^ 



16 do. county of Worcester, > Massachusoits. 

 3 do. do. Essex, ) 



3 do. Vermont. 



2 do. New Hampshire. 

 No. 1 Henry Spraguc, l*rinccton. 



il Boyd, Shrewsbury, 



3 William Eager, Norlhboro', 



4 Joseph Robinson, 2d. Hardwick 



5 Samuel Sawyer, 2d. Sterling, 

 (i Richard Hildreth, do. 

 7 Oliver Johnson, do. 

 S Timothy Bayley, Berlin, Vt. 

 y Isaac Hubbard,' ClaremoutjN.H. 8 kegs. 



10 Ezra B.Newloii, West Boylslon, Nol less than 300 



11 John Prince, Merino Island, N.H. ii tubs. 



12 Milo Furbush, Boston, IJ tubs. 



13 Hector Coffin, Newburj-porl, 3boxesconl'gl2pot5 



14 Moses Newell, West Newbury, 



15 Richard Heath, do. 

 IG W. and J. Roper. Princeton, 



17 Cloud Harvey, Bamct, Vl. 



18 Fitch Winchester. Southboro', 



19 Saml. Chamberlain, AVesboro', 



20 Luther Chamberlain, do. 



21 Walter Bigelow, Worcester, 



22 Seth Davenport, Mcndon, 



23 I.ee Prouty & Co, Barrc, 



24 Gabriel Parker, Souihboro', 



25 Au5tia& Caldwcll,Whiiingham,Vt.93lubs. 



10 tubs. 



8 tubs. 



3 tubs. 



19 tubs. 



7 lubs. 



G tubs. 



Not less than 3001b. 



C tubs. 



Nol less than 300 



7 tubs. 



j6 tubs. 



Not less than 300 



Several of the competitors brought other lots of 

 butter for e.xliibition only. Several of these were 

 quite large, and generally of a good quidity ; some 

 of them very superior, and put up in beautiful or- 

 der for immediate use. 



The Committee consider the exhibitioa of batter 



lenerally as very good ; but they feel compelled 



state, that one lot, comprising nearly six thou- 



nd pounds of butter, exliibited in behalf of twenty- 



ven individuals, wlio were reported a» owners,. 



IS unaccompanied by any statement hi writings 



the particulars of making, &c. required by the 



lies of the society ; and after a full examination' 



each of the lots, all of them were prooaunced tO' 



of a very inferior quality and not propeu butter 



ti be off'ered for sale by auction under the sanation 



(a tlie society. They were, therefore, exelUdcd 



rtoin the sale. 



The Committee, after a veiy careful examination 

 of all the statements made by the several clsimants 

 respecting the number of cows kept upon the farm ; 

 tje mode of keeping, the treatment of the milk and 

 cream before churning ; the mode of churning, 

 wiiitei and summer ; the measures adopted to ex- 

 press he butter milk, the quantity of salt employed, 

 whctler salt-j)ctre or any other substances hsTe 

 been used in the i)rocess, the best time for chiirn- 

 ing and keeping butter iu hot weather, and tike 

 St Method of ])rescrving it in and through the 

 iinin er and winter, and in what vessels. Report, 

 ■ith the exceiition of two instances, they find 

 no (lifTerence from the usual mode practised iu this 

 port of the country. In one of these statements, 

 (iJmt made by Isaac Hubbard of Clareinont, N.H.) 

 the lijilowing process has been pursued. " As soon 

 as lite milk comes in from the cows, it is turned 

 into a kettle kept for that purpose, set over the 

 fir? and made scalding hot, then dipt out into 

 paiis and set in the dairy-room. In this way the 

 cream rises soon, imd may be taken oft' before the 

 milk turns sour. As soon as the cream is taken 

 otf it should be churned ; and when churned it is 

 taken out and put into a clean bowl kept for that 

 purpose, luid salted with pure salt, and no more 

 .salt is used than to make the butter palatable ; 

 then; is nothing but .salt j)ut into it, no colouring 

 matter, &c. The next day it is worked over until 

 all tlie butter-milk is out, and the butter worked 

 down into a solid mass, then put down into kegs. 

 In this way butter will keep any reasonable length 

 of time sweet, and it need not be over-salted. The 

 scalding of the milk has this advantage over the 

 common way, the milk will keep longer sweet, the 

 butter comes more readily, and the butter works 

 do^vn into a solid mass more easily, and also it 

 does not injure the flavor but rather improves it." 

 In the other statement, made by Samuel Sawyer, 2d. 

 of Sterling, after describing his mode of making 

 the butter exhibited, he states, " that in winter he 

 considers a milk room so cold as to freeze tke 

 milk the best place to set milk ; gather the cream 

 from the milk into pots, and set it in some place 

 where it will warm gradually, and stir it several 

 times tintil it is nearly as warm as new milk ; then 

 it is put into the chum and churned moderately. 

 I use the same proportion of salt as I did in the 

 butter which I exhibit, (which is of double refined 

 table salt, manufactured by J. Woodruff, Salina, 

 lib. to 151b. of butter,) put it down in firkins, keep 

 it in a dairy-room, which is better than a cellar to 

 keep butter in through the winter. Butter should 

 be kept in a cool place all seasons." 



The premiums on butter are awarded asfollowa; 



