1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



51 



gladly remain upon the homesteads they now de-j 

 sert for the factory, the machine-shop and the 

 railroad. Jie who delves and digs the earth fromj 

 morning until night, has little time and lessinclina-j 

 tion for thought — he becomes a mere toil-worn 

 machine at last; but if he is connected with an 1 

 implement the working of which he is to guide 

 and direct, his position is completely changed ; hei 

 is then a master over a slave, a truly soulless slave, 

 that labors without sweat to do his bidding. | 



MASSACHUSETTS A LAND OF SMALL FARMERS. j 



Massachusetts is aland of small farmers, andi 

 we must therefore resort to the principle of asso-j 

 ciation, so well known and practiced upon for 

 various other purposes, to accomplish what is be- 

 yond our individual means. We must combine! 

 together in the purchase of expensive agricultural 

 implements, and arrange for their use in a way to 

 secure perfect lairness and equality. This is only , 

 one of the many ways by which the cost of themj 

 may be very much reduced. If sufficient en- 1 

 couragement were given, persons could be found 

 in every community to work them on their own 

 accounts, going from farm to farm as a regular 

 bflsiness, profitable to all parties. This is practiced 

 to a very considerable extent among the small > 

 farmers in England. I 



THE TURNIP CROP. ] 



To grow turnips, the land must be well plowed,! 

 highly manured and kept free from weeds. It 

 was a crop, which in a proper rotation, prepared! 

 the land in the best manner for those which follow , 

 it ; more than this, it would do well on his light 

 loams, although perhaps better adapted for a 

 heavier soil. Its yield was large and bulky, and 

 to dispose of it to the best advantage, it ought to 

 be fed off the farm to the cattle during the winter ; 

 to do this, he would be forced to increase his stock, 

 and in this way he would augment his barn-yard 

 manure, which in its turn would add to the fer- 

 tility of his soil. He would ha>'e better cattle, 

 better and mot e pigs, and if he kept a few sheep, 

 as every farmer should do, his lambs would come 

 earlier to market, and would be in good condition 

 and command high prices, instead of being sold 

 for their pelts. 



This recommendation to grow turnips must not 

 exclude, nor was it intended to do so, the cultiva- 

 tion of other roots. Beets and carrots for some 

 lands, are more profitable than turnips, besides 

 being better food for milch cows. Every farmer 

 can soon learn by experience which root thrives 

 best on his land, and having learned this, he will 

 be blind to his own interest if he does not cul- 

 tivate it. 



A leading English agriculturalist has said, I be- 

 lieve with perfect truth, that the failure of the 

 turnip crop in that country would be a heavier 

 blow to its prosperity, than the failure of the Bank 

 of England. It is owing principally to the liberal 

 use of the turnip, that English cattle and sheep 

 have reached their present high state of perfection, 

 making the land support four times the number 

 that could be maintained under the old system of 

 bay and pasture feeding. If we should adopt 

 their practice in this respect, there is no reason 

 why we should go abroad to purchase at enormous 

 prices, animals which in all essential qualities are 

 no better, if as good as our native stock. 



Gov. Washburn's Address at Worcester. 



Through the attention of the Secretary, W^il- 

 LiAM S. Lincoln, Esq., we have before us the 

 Tranmclions of the Worcester County Society for 

 the last year. Like its predecessors, it contains 

 many valuable papers. The Address by Governor 

 Washburn is written in a clear, comprehensive 

 and terse style. He does not attempt to teach the 

 farmer what are the best breeds of stock, how 

 deep and when they must plow, or how he shall 

 drain and reclaim his lands. He takes a view of 

 the subject more consistent with his own habits of 

 thought, study and occupation, and presents some 

 of the means whereby the farmer may elevate his 

 profession and raise himself to his true level. And 

 while he is very happy in the particular current 

 or turn of his theme, there is an equal felicity in 

 the language he uses. 



We know that farmers, while they criticise 

 themselves with unmerciful severity, are exceed- 

 ingly sensitive to the criticisms of others, especial- 

 ly of lawyers ; but in this Address the sentiments 

 uttered are so pertinent and just, and the words 

 so gentle and truthful, that we believe no laboring 

 brother can take exception to them. Perhaps the 

 best commentary, after all, that we can make, is 

 to say that we shall copy liberally from its pages, 

 and begin with the following now. 



THE FARMER HAS COMFORT AND INDEPENDENCE, 

 BUT DOES NOT TRULY ESTIMATE THEM. 



Sure I am, that no portion of God's heritage 

 can offer more signal marks of comfort and inde- 

 ' pendencc than those we witness everywhere among 

 I the farmers of Worcester County. And yet I 

 \ shall venture to affirm that no class do more in- 

 I justice to their true condition, in the estimation in 

 I which they regard it, than do the farmers of 

 Massachusetts. 



To hear their remarks, to watch their move- 

 ments, and trace the course they are inclined to 

 adopt in relation to the education and training of 

 their children for the business of life, one would 

 be led to suppose that Agriculture had few claims 

 upon the respect of those who pursue it. And 

 while I do not believe that such is, in Hict, the 

 true sentiment of the masses, there is enough of 

 discontent prevalent among the farmers of New 

 England to justify, if it does not demand, a brief 

 discussion of the true position of Agriculture, as 

 a profession, here. If it is not so, why do we see 

 so many young men crowding into other employ- 

 ments and so few settling down contented on their 

 ! paternal acres ? Why are farms in the country 

 in so little demand, even at prices scarcelj- higher 

 than they bore twenty years ago, although specu- 

 lators arc coining gold out of town and city lots 

 'in our new cities and villages that are springing 

 ' up throughout New England ? 

 j Our professions on the othgr hand are overrun- 

 ning, till lawyers and doctors starve amidst plenty, 

 and ministers go hungry while they are breaking 

 the bread of Life to rich churches and congrega- 

 ' tions. And if we find a young man who has self- 

 I respect enough to rely upon his own powers, and 



