1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



23 



good horse deserves it. Because he cannot com- 

 plain of sleeping in the Avet and dirt of the stable, 

 or on a hard plank, let no man think that his horse 

 does not appreciate such favors as a good bed. He 

 will lie down during the day occasionally, if he is 

 well cared for. For summer use, saw-dust makes 

 excellent bedding. It is cool, sweet and even ; and 

 also keeps the stall in a healthy condition. 



A supply of fresh, clean water is indispensable 

 to the comfort of man and beast. I have noticed 

 that my horse drinks the most heartily after eating 

 her supper, about eight o'clock in the evening. 



Grooming is one of the civilities of the stable, 

 and ought to be attended to daily. It not only 

 causes a horse to look well, but it promotes health. 

 A faithful grooming is equal to 2 quarts of oats. 



Such attention paid to a good horse is by no 

 means like "casting pearls before swine." He 

 who does it, and treats his horse kindly, is sure of 

 his reward. — Maine Farmer. 



For the New England Farmer. 



FARMING PROFITABLE. 



Mr. Editor : — It is frequently said, that farm- 

 ing is unprofitable. This assertion I do not believe 

 to be true. On the contrary, I believe, that all skil- 

 ful farming is profitable. Some, I know, who have 

 tried the experiment and failed in their business, 

 have come to a different conclusion. But the rea- 

 son why they failed of success in their business, 

 was a Avant of skill, — they did not understand and 

 skilfully manage their business. Had they possessed 

 suflScient skill and a moderate degree of economy, 

 they would have found farming to be profitable. 



Many farmers, without any practical views, of the 

 subject, skim over and attempt to cultivate too 

 much land without cultivating any well ; the con- 

 sequences of which are, that the amount of their 

 crops continue to diminish every succeeding year, 

 and their lands grow poorer and poorer. If our 

 farmers, who now attempt to cultivate ten acres, 

 were to confine their efforts to six, and do their 

 rvork thoroughly and well, their harvest would not 

 only be equal the first year, but the prospective 

 value of their farms would be enhanced. A more 

 complete pulverization of the soil and a greater 

 amount of manure upon a less number of acres, 

 would leave it, after the crop is removed, more mel- 

 low and in better heart. It would not only yield 

 more now, but afford greater returns hereafter. If 

 two farmei's, with the same degree of industry, 

 skill, and means of labor, were to cultivate lands of 

 the same quality, the one doing his work thorough- 

 ly and well, the other skimming over a large ex- 

 tent of surface in a very imperfect manner, it is 

 easy to see, that he who cultivates the less number 

 of acres, would not only have an equal harvest an- 

 nually, but find at the end of ten years that his 

 farm was worth double that belonging to his com- 

 petitor. This consideration, by showing the extent 

 of what can be done by a different method of culti- 

 vation, should excite every one to exertion. The 

 farmer of many acres should be ashamed of being 

 so far out-done by his successful neighbor. If he 

 finds a man, in the same county, and on similar 

 land, can raise sixty bushels, where he only gets 

 ten or fifteen by his skimming process, he may be 

 induced to alter his method of cultivation. He 

 may be led to bestow his labors on a less number 



of acres, and reap an equal, if not a greater crop. 

 This spirit of improvement will naturally lead to 

 the selection of the finest aud best animals, and to 

 raising those only which have the requisite quali- 

 ties for being productive and profitable. A poor 

 man, who keeps but a single cow, or a single pig, 

 may partake of this improvement; while, to the 

 wealthy farmer, it is in itself sufficient to make all 

 the difference between a productive and unproduc- 

 tive farm. 



No pursuit is more useful than tilling the earth ; 

 none nobler, none more pleasing ; and yet, none 

 has been so much neglected. Few attempts have 

 been made to improve the art of cultivation, and 

 the inclination has been strong, almost universal, 

 to devote the whole skill and capital of the country 

 to commerce,; trade, or manufactures, considering 

 all exertions to derive a greater profit from agri- 

 culture as hopeless. Our fathers never thought of 

 making any improvements in the art of cultivation. 

 If their land was not sufficiently ])roductive, their 

 remedy was to sell it, and to go in pursuit of a rich- 

 er soil. It was not by the employment of greater 

 skill, but by a change of location, that they sought 

 to improve their condition. Those who remained 

 upon the soil, continued to cultivate too much land, 

 so that the labor applied to it only produced a very 

 small crop. There was hardly a farm where the 

 quantity of ground in tillage was not too much for 

 the strength that was employed upon it. Hence, 

 not only the labor but the manure was diflfused 

 over too large a surface to produce much effect. 

 The consequence of such a kind of farming was not 

 only to lessen the amount of produce year after year, 

 but to prevent a permanent improvement of their 

 lands ; and its effects have extended down even to 

 our times. And, even now, the eAil in question is 

 so radical and extensive, that its bad consequences 

 cannot be too often pointed out, in order to be avoid- 

 ed in future. 



The lesson to be taught, to be believed, insisted 

 upon, and reduced to practice, in our day, is, that 

 skilful farming is profitable, and "will pay." Nev- 

 er, since the creation of the world, was there a 

 time in which all the articles of produce raised on 

 a farm bore a higher price, or met with a more 

 ready sale, than the present. This has been the 

 state and condition of things for the last ten years. 

 There has been little or no competition among far- 

 mers with regard to the price of their produce, so 

 that they have received whatever they saw fit to 

 ask. They have had the best market in the world, 

 and met with a ready sale for all they could pro- 

 duce. So that farming, on the whole, has been, and 

 still is, a ])rofitable business. It is true, it does not 

 open the door to all who are in "hot haste to be 

 rich," to rush in and accumulate large fortunes ; 

 but to all the skilful and economical who are con- 

 tented vvith mod.erate gains and reasonable profits, 

 it holds out the strongest inducements. 



John Goldsburt. 



Scraps and Refuse Economised. — The chem- 

 istry of art, like a prudent housewife, economises 

 every scrap. The horse-shoe nails dropped in the 

 streets during the daily traffic, are carefully collect- 

 ed by her, and reappear in the form of swords and 

 guns. The clippings of the travelling tinker are 

 mixed with the parings of horses' hoofs from the 

 smithy, or the cast-ofF woolen garments of the poo.. 



