Ch 



eop 



Times. 



Vol. v. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Cheap Times. 



Mr. Editor, — It is customary to consifler 

 the present times as awfully severe upon tlie 

 farmer; " every thing that is raised upon the 

 farm is so low in price ;" and truly so it is — 

 but, tell me, is not every thing else cheap 

 also? — except, perhaps, the single article of 

 manual labour, the comparative high price 

 of which has often and again been proved to 

 be an advantage, rather than otherwise. It 

 is true that food for the body is cheap, and so 

 is food for the mind ; books of every de.^crip- 

 tion, and instruction for our families; clothing 

 of all kinds was never before so cheap and 

 good; while every article in grocery, and all 

 kinds of machinery, with domestic and im- 

 ported goods, are unprccedentcdiy low in 

 value and plentiful in the market: so that 

 the farmer should put this and that together, 

 and by striking the balance, he will find that 

 things are not so bad as they appear. Be- 

 sides, it is a law of nature, that the cheaper 

 an article can be afforded in the market, the 

 greater will be the consumption and the 

 larger will be the demand ; — it is only there- 

 fore for the producer to find some less expen- 

 sive mode of raising the articles which he 

 supplies, and the excbange will be in his fa- 

 vour: the same end will be obtained by in- 

 creasing his crops by an improved mode of 

 management. And there is nothing which 

 offers such facility, as the production, on a 

 large scale, of winter food for cattle, espe- 

 cially tiie cultivation of root-crops: by these 

 simple means, he may double the quantity 

 and quality of his butter and cheese, his beef, 

 and mutton, and pork, the value of his young 

 stock, and the size of his dung-hill — articles 

 abundantly more than suflicient to make up 

 for the low prices at present to be obtained 

 for the few articles which are generally cul- 

 tivated upon our farms. I say few articles, 

 and really when one considers the numerous 

 articles v^hich are imported into our markets 

 from abroad, most of which might be grown 

 and furnished by ourselves, it would almost 

 appear that the subject must now be noticed 

 for the first time, else the general attention 

 would long ago have been directed to the im- 

 portance of increasing the niniibcr of our pro- 

 ductions, and furnishing our own markets 

 v.ith articles — brought at present from the 

 four quarters of the earth — at a price that 

 would amply remunerate the producers at 

 home. 



I am led to think on these things, by the 

 perusal of an interesting article at the head 

 of the Cabinet for the last month, recom- 

 mending the growth of flax and flax-seed ; 

 and there are many other crops which could 

 be grown amongst us, which would, at the 



same time, afford the means of manufacturing 

 therefrom, the articles which are now intro- 

 duced from foreign countries, at prices which 

 would amply repay the necessary investment 

 of capital. And amongst tlie lirst of these 

 may, perhaps, be mentioned the growth and 

 manufacture of the vegetable oils. In France, 

 this branch of industry is carried on to a great 

 extent and without difficulty; hundreds of 

 acres of land are sown with the poppy, from 

 which the finest oil is drawn, most of which 

 goes to I\larseilles to be mixed with the 

 olive oil, and from thence it is sent to differ- 

 ent parts, and sold as the best Florence oil 

 at extravagant prices; even to Paris and to 

 London. This oil is worth about 50 cents a 

 pint for the use of the painter; while for 

 burning in lamps, it is allowed by all to be 

 very superior. The cultivation of the crop 

 is the simplest imaginable, so also is the har- 

 vesting of the seed, which always sells for 

 ready money direct from the field, requiring 

 neither housing or cleaning: the cost of seed 

 for sowing is the merest trifle, which is 

 another advantage, as is also the circum- 

 stance that the crop does not require manure, 

 but only to be kept clean : the cakes remain- 

 ing after pressure are found to be one of the 

 most fattening articles that can be fed to cat- 

 tie and sheep. Here, then, is a single crop, 

 which would make up a considerable portion 

 of the losses whicii farmers incur by the pre- 

 sent low prices of the market. 



Then there is the rape crop, which might 

 bo made valuable either as green food for 

 cattle, or for oil, or both — the first cutting 

 being generally taken for the former purpose, 

 and the second for the seed ; from which, vast 

 quantities of oil are pressed for various pur- 

 poses, yielding large returns of profit. And 

 to this purpose might the sunflower be ap- 

 plied, to very great advantage, as has often 

 been shown ; while the castor-bean plant 

 has been found to flourish in this climate and 

 to yield oil of the finest quality; from all 

 which might be drawn sufficient quantities 

 of oil for our own supplies, as also for ex- 

 portation, the dry and warm climate of the 

 middle states being peculiarly adapted for 

 the development of oils, aroma and saccha- 

 rine. 



Here, then, is one branch of agriculture 

 which is unwrought, and only requires to be 

 taken up with judgment and a proper degree 

 of spirit, to render it a most lucrative em- 

 ployment, subserving at the same time the 

 manufacturing interest of the country, and 

 giving employment of the most legitimate 

 and healthy kind to thousands of our people. 

 Other resources are still on hand, and may 

 be pointed out in some future number of the 

 Cabinet. 



James Eaton. 



