82 



On the Adaptation of Farming to Circumstances. Vol. XI. 



North Devon heifers have calved since their 

 arrival — the four calves furnishing a fine 

 specimen of this beautiful stock. 



The appearance of the cattle on their ar- 

 rival in Boston was very gratifying to the 

 trustees and all who saw them, and such as 

 was highly creditable to the skill of Mr. 

 Bickett, and to his indefatigable care and 

 attention to them while on shipboard. 



The cattle on their arrival were placed 

 under the care of the subscriber, at his farm 

 in Lexington, where the public are respect- 

 fully invited to call and view them. 



From the American Quarterly Journal. 



On the Adaptation of Farming to Cir- 

 cumstances. 



An article which appeared in the April 

 No. of your Journal* has arrested my atten- 

 tion, on the impossibility of the East offer- 

 ing any competition to the West in the ordi- 

 nary products of the farm, and if I had time, 

 I should take pleasure in investigating the 

 matter at large, in some important points 

 which I think the author of that communi- 

 cation has neglected. The fact is a very 

 important one, that farmers in the middle 

 and eastern States are wasting their ener 

 gies, and throwing away tlieir resources, in 

 the hopeless effort to produce the same arti- 

 cles that are grown in the new States, and 

 to sell them in their own markets at a price 

 which will ])ay the interest on the value of 

 their land — then, the expense of cultivation 

 — and lastly, the cost of getting them to 

 market — and after all this, yield a fair pro- 

 fit. These four particulars must strike you, 

 as they perhaps often have, as obstacles of 

 no small magnitude in the way of the east- 

 ern farmer. 



The greatest of them is unquestionably 

 the first, and is fairly and satisfactorily ex- 

 amined, quite at large, by your April cor- 

 respondent. Col. T. J. Carmichael. In fact, 

 he has done justice, as far as possible in the 

 short space he employs, to all these hin- 

 drances, and it really strikes me that if our 

 farmers would now '■'■think on these things," 

 a cliange of immense magnitude would be 

 brought about. 



It seems to be a settled conviction in the 

 minds of all our agriculturists now-a-days, 

 that if a farmer does not grow a certain ar- 

 ticle for the market, yet, if he is a consumer 

 of that article, he must at least grow as much 

 as he consumes. No idea can be more false, 

 nor founded upon more fallacious grounds, 

 as may be shown in very few words, not in 



* See last No. of the Cabinet, page 03. I 



the shape of argument, but appeal to every 

 man's own practices in his pursuits. It 

 would be considered very ridiculous for a 

 farmer to tan his own hides, and make his 

 own shoes, simply because he is obliged to 

 wear them. There was a time when our 

 farmers' wives carded and spun, and wove, 

 oftentimes, the materials for their husband's 

 coat and pantaloons. But they did it be- 

 cause they were obliged to, and because 

 they could do it cheaper than they could 

 buy the materials. There are few or none 

 who do this now, and they would be set 

 down as possessed of little prudence or 

 economy if they were to do it. They would 

 be throwing away their time, which could 

 be employed to better purpose. They would 

 be throwing away the materials, which they 

 could sell for more, in proportion, than they 

 are worth in their homespun fabric. They 

 know they can sell the material, and employ 

 tlieir time and labour in the production of 

 other things, which will purchase the cloth- 

 ing they used to manufacture, and will leave 

 tliem a handsome profit. This is a view of 

 tlie case perfectly on a parallel with the 

 farmer who continues to raise, at the present 

 day of universal and far-reaching competi- 

 tion, an article of food simply because he is 

 a consumer of that article. He is infinitely 

 more foolish who grows an article for mar- 

 ket, when he can buy it cheaper than he 

 can grow it, or can raise an article which 

 lie can barter for it, at a large profit. As 

 well should the cotton manufacturer be also 

 a manufacturer of linens, and woolens, and 

 silks, only because he wears shirts and pan- 

 taloons, and his wife and daughters wear 

 dresses of the latter material. 

 • Must you sow no wheat 1 Not a bushel. 

 No rye] None. No corn; No, nothing 

 that another can raise cheaper than you, 

 while at the same time you can raise on the 

 same amount of land anything else which 

 will purchase all you want of these and 

 leave you a profit. If you do, you show a 

 lamentable want of foresight, and it is not 

 to be wondered at that you are not making 

 money, and that your farm is getting behind 

 hand. You need not run away to the West 

 to avoid the evil, as so many have already 

 done. You have the ability — the skill — ail 

 but the enterprise — to revolutionize your bu- 

 siness and put yourself at once in the way 

 of becoming a rich and thriving flirmer. 

 And how 1 That is the question we are 

 about to answer, and we hope to do so in a 

 way to open your eyes to the truth. 



The products of a farm must be adapted 

 to the peculiar circumstances under which 

 it is situated — its value in money — its con- 

 tiguity to, or remoteness from market — the 



