KO. S. 



THE FARMEIIS CABINET. 



121 



intelligent, the enterpriziog, and the indus- 

 trious cultivators of the earth. 



Aii)Oiijj;St the causes \vhic!i may rea?onal)ly 

 and coutidently bo expected to produce the 

 anticipated chuniic in tlie agriculture of our 

 country, the following' are the most promi- 

 nent, and are of tiiemselvcs amply sufliciont 

 to produce it. 



First — The spirit of aj^ricultural improve- 

 ment is aroused and is rapidly extending it- 

 self over tiie whole coimtry. People are 

 beginning to discover at last, that the occu- 

 pier of exhausted land, badly cul^vated, 

 cannot successfully compete with tiie judi- 

 cious cultivator of improved, rich, and well 

 tilled land — because tiie latter, with less 

 expense, can maiie two busiiels of grain to 

 his one, and because this great disparity must 

 every year increase in proportion to the pro- 

 gressive exiiaustion of tiie tirst and improve- 

 ment of the latter. 



Secondly — The rapid extension of internal 

 improvements, sucii as rail roads and canals, 

 are fast placing the agriculturists of the 

 whole nation in a situation to compete with 

 each other on nearly equal terms as respects 

 the expense of transportation to market in 

 the sale of all the products of the country : 

 the consequence must be, that every section 

 will be compelled to confine itself to the cul- 

 tivation of such articles only, as are best 

 adapted to its soil and climate. 



Thirdly — The introduction of new articles 

 of culture, and especially of Silk, and Beet 

 Sugar, the speedy success of both which, to 

 1 an immense extent, there is every reason to 

 expect, will draw off a large portion of labor 

 from the cultivation of the articles now 

 reared — and fourthly, the great increase of 

 nanufuctures, the necessary consequence of 

 tie increased facilities of transportation, and 

 of the production of the raw material, by 

 increasing to an incalculable extent, the de- 

 maid for many articles now scarcely culti- 

 vatal for sale, except in the neighborhood 

 of liTge towns, will cause much of the labor 

 row Jevoted to other articles to be employed 

 h their production. The great body of 

 fa-mers, may, therefore, calculate with cer- 

 tanty, that the period is not very remote, 

 wken they will be compelled to give to their 

 incjstry a very different direction from that 

 whch habit and existing circumstances have 

 hertofore prescribed to it. How important 

 thenmust it be to every farmer to acquire 

 that igricultural knowledge, without which 

 he ir.ast be wholly unprepared for those 

 Changs in the state of his profession, which 

 are rafdly approaching and which he cannot 

 possiblyavert. Without the acquisition of 

 this knovledge, the farmers and planters of 

 the old ?chool, will soon find themselves in 

 most unomfortable situaiions, from which 



nothing sliort of its acquisition can relieve 

 them. This will require time and practice ; 

 the interval employed in theaccpiisitionof this 

 knowledge, if now neglected, mutt be most 

 adverse to their interests, and in many cases 

 will prove ruinous. — We exhort them there- 

 fore to spare no pains to keep pace with all 

 the agricultural improvements of the age, 

 that, when compelled to abandon their present 

 practices, they may be prepared to substitute 

 more eligible ones in their stead. 



Tennessee Farmer. 



New Mctlioil of stiickiuqr Oats. 



In passing a Farm belonging to Capt. John 

 E. Baker, and seeing a very large and sin- 

 gularly formed Oat Stack, 1 was led to en- 

 ([uire of liim his motive for saving his Oats 

 in this way, and his method of putting them 

 up. He informed me, that last year his 

 Oats were in danger of being lost from the 

 frequent showers which fell after they were 

 cut, ard th;it, from necessity, he fell on the 

 following plan to save them : he took forks, 

 and set them in a row, after the method of 

 making a Fodder-house ; then setting rails on 

 poles with proper slant against the ridge-pole, 

 (say six or ten inches apart,) ho commenced 

 building his Oats on the rails, and topped the 

 stack in a way to secure it from the weather. 

 Capt. Baker is a tolerably extensive farmer, 

 and is very methodical in his arrangements — 

 scrupulously economical in saving what he 

 has made, and pnnctual in his transactions. 

 Should any person feel inclined to adopt this 

 method of saving their Oats, there is no doubt 

 but they will be amply repaid for their la- 

 bor. The three following considerations I 

 would deem a sufficient inducement to try 

 the experiment. 1st, The air having a free 

 passage through the centre, the oats (if ne- 

 cessity require) may be put up (in a measure) 

 green or wet, and become thoroughly cured 

 and dried. 2d, A secure and comfortable 

 place may be made of this for ewes and lambs, 

 or young calves, in cold and stormy weather. 

 And 'Wly, As rats are extremely destructive 

 on this grain when housed in the barn, or 

 even when stacked in the ordinary way, this 

 metliod furnishes almost a perfect defence 

 against their depredations, as the buts and 

 tops lie alternately on each other in each 

 layer, and having only about two or three 

 layers on each side of the stack, it is so thin 

 they have little or no chance for committing 

 them. I feel satisfied that this method is a 

 good one, and would recommend a trial of it, 

 by all who are extensively engaged in raising 

 oats. I would further suggest, that if the 

 plan be a good one on a large scale, there is 

 no doubt but that it would be good on a less 

 extensive experiment. I am not aware of 

 having before seen or heard of this method 



