520 



NEW ENGLAIsTD FARJtlER. 



Nov. 



ougli improvements are seldom undertaken, 

 or if commenced, are not carried to final and 

 successful results. 



Wlicn we consider our farms as homes that 

 ■we (U'.sire to transmit to our children unincum- 

 bered by niort<xage, by weeds, or by sterility, 

 then shall we begin to think of, and to prao 

 tlce a self-sustaining system of farming ; a sys- 

 tem in which the raising of roots, and the tat- 

 tening of cattle must become more prominent, 

 and the farmer a more thorough business man. 

 He must understand the capabilities of his 

 land and with judgment distribute his labor 

 and crops upon it. He must study the mar- 

 kets and decide when to buy and when to sell ; 

 when to hire, how to keep, and when to dis- 

 charge help. The seasons, too, must be re- 

 garded, in sowing and harvesting, in rearing 

 young animals or in fattening the old. 



Permanency of residence, then, is one of 

 the first steps toward permanent improvement 

 and high farming. But so long as the middle 

 aged (lock into the villages, where they may 

 preside at justice's courts, act as jurors, shave 

 notes for young farmers, sell liquor as town 

 agents, collect taxes and serve writs, at just 

 the age when experience (lualifies them to 

 be the most successful, is it not inevitable that 

 the young men, proverbially fickle, should 

 drift in the same direction, and watch for a 

 chance for work in shops or factories, or for 

 situations in stores and offices. The gist of 

 the venerable adage, '"Old men for counsel, 

 young men for war," must be recognized on 

 ihe farm. The wisdom and experience of the 

 father should guide and direct the ambition 

 and strength of the son ; and the expression 

 should never be heard again, that "a young 

 man prospers because his father died, and left 

 him property ;" but it should rather be said, 

 "ihe son prospers because the father lives to 

 direct him by his counsel, aqd to aid him with 

 the capital necessary to success in his chosen 

 vocation." Fathers and sons should be mutu- 

 ally blessings to each other. Our foreign 

 population may become industrious, worthy cit- 

 izens, but to none can our land be so dear as 

 to those who were bred upon it, who have 

 taxed themselves to found and to sustain its 

 institutions, and to defend its honor. The 

 young farmers must be kept in Vermont, for 

 111 fJre^ the land, to hastening His a prey, 

 Where wealth accumulates anj men decay. 



How, then, shall the young men be kept 

 upon the farms ? In the lii st place, the old 

 men must be satisfied with farming, and re- 

 main upon the farm themselves. The idea 

 that the disappointments and failures, inci- 

 dent to this calling, are more serious and dis- 

 heartening than in other occupations, must be 

 corrected by a better knowledge of the dis- 

 appointments and failurcis of others. 



If the son is thus trained up in the ^^ay he 

 should go, then trust him, and believe the 

 declaration of the sage, "that he will not de- 

 part from it." Train him to manage and 



trade, as well as to delve and dig. Don't be 

 too conservative about the purchase of labor- 

 saving machinery. Remember that you your- 

 self were once young and ambitious, and treat 

 your sons as you would have been treated 

 when young. 



Then we should gather together the facts 

 which justify a bright-side view of Vermont 

 farming. Do not statistics prove that our 

 grain yields more per acre, and bears a higher 

 price than at the West. What we buy is 

 cheaper, and real estate is advancing, as well 

 as in other sections. As an im-tance in point, I 

 may allude to a young man who went from 

 Orleans County to the West, obtained a farm 

 under the homestead law, and wrote back 

 urging his brother to come West, where be 

 could double his money in four years ! The 

 brother responded, "1 can do as well as that 

 here. Ten years ago I v/as worth $600, now 

 I am worth $3000," — all made from the crops 

 and from the rise in price of an ordinary sandy- 

 farm. 



Then our churches, schools, roads, mar- 

 kets, and neighbors make Vermont a desirable 

 place for a farmer's home. 



If the young men remain, and the care of 

 the estate is devolved upon them, how shall 

 the old men busy themselves while "the years 

 draw nigh when they shall say ihey have no 

 pleasure in them, and desire shall fail, and 

 the grass hopper be a burden ?" 



In referring to a few branches of agricul- 

 ture adapted to the aged, my purpose is less 

 to advise others, than to map out a road that 

 in due time 1 must travel myself. 



Where the preparatory work for an orchard 

 was made in middle life, fruit raising is a con- 

 genial employment for the aged. \Vith their 

 experience every kind of fruit can be made 

 to pay, if the best varieties are chosen and 

 that care given that is essential to success. 

 The markets are never overstocked with these 

 healthy productions of the soil. Fresh, dried, 

 or canned it is always in demand, and a new 

 seedling of rare merit is sometimes a fortune 

 in itself. 



Bee keeping is so nearly allied to farming 

 that it is an easy change even for the old to 

 adopt this. On 718 farms in Orleans county 

 there are kept only 014 swarms of bees. Yet 

 their products are in constant demand at full 

 prices, the capital required is small, and where 

 intelligent care is bestowed the profits are 

 large. J. D. Goodrich, of East llardwick, 

 has this year taken a ton of choice box honey 

 from sixty swarms of bees, at little expense 

 except removing the precious harvest. A 

 thousand farmers might pass their declining 

 years in this employment. 



The raising of blood stock is another 

 branch of farming which is well adapted to 

 engage and reward the old farmer who has 

 had the necessary previous training for this 

 pursuit. Almost the last animal relinquished 

 18 the cow. Let this favorite one be of some 



