THE GENESEE FARMER. 



85 



1, good, as are the cows and hogs. In many 

 ses tliere is no limit to the number of these that 

 iiy be grazed in the unoccupied woods: all that 

 e fanner lias to do is to protect them from bears 

 ■d wolves at particular seasons, and to keep them 

 me, as in Russia and Switzerland, by giving them 

 It. Sheep are totally unfit for the cliniate and 

 ite of the country, thougli a number of proprie- 

 rs have been at great pains in attempting to in- 

 »duce the Merinos. MutJ»n, Birkbkck observes, 

 almost as abhorrent from an American palate or 

 ■\c.y as the flesh of swine from au Israelite; and 

 e stare of the manufactures does not give great 

 couragement to the growth of wool of any 

 [id, of Merino wool less, perhaps, than any other, 

 uttcn is sold in the markets of Philadelphia at 

 out half the price of beef; and the Kentuckian, 

 u) would have given a thousand dollars for a 

 srino ram, would dine upon dry bread rather 

 an taste his own mutton. A few sheep on every 

 •in, to supply ojarse wool for domestic inanufac- 

 re, seems to be all that ought at present to be at- 

 npted in any part of America that I have yet 

 jn. Deep woods are not the proper abodes of 

 eep. When America shall have cleared away 

 r forests, and opened her uplands to the breezes, 

 ey will soon be covered with fine turf, and 

 cks will be seen ranging over them here as in 

 lier parts of the world. 



'•^Agricultural Operations in America are skil- 

 ily performed by tiie farmersof capital, who have 

 the best implements of Europe; by the poorest 

 :.tlers this is not tiie case, from want of stock; 

 d by the native American farmers, from indo- 

 ice, which, according to all accounts, is their 

 neral defect. An American laborer is most ex- 

 rt at tlie use of the ax and the scythe ; the 

 ade he handles in a very awkward manner, and 

 8 no idea of banking, hedging, clijiping or cut- 

 ig hedges, and many other operations known to 

 ery laliorer in a highly-cultivated and ench)sed 

 untry like Btitain. But the versatility of talent 

 an American laborer amply compensates for his 

 experience in these operations, atidjjs more use- 

 in his circumstances. In handlini* tiie saw, the 

 mmar, and even the trowel, the British laborer 

 s no chance with him. Most of tiiem can build 

 louse, mend a plow or wagon, and even the har- 

 ss, and kill and dress sheep and pigs. 

 ^^ Field Labor's in America require to be per- 

 •nied with much greater expedition than in 

 igland. The winter is long and severe, and the 

 msition to spring is sudden ; this season in many 

 ovirices only lasts a few weeks, wiien summer 

 mmences, and tlie ground becomes too hard and 

 y for the operations of tillage. Tlie operations 

 seed-time nmst thei-efore be performed v^ith the 

 eatest rapidity. The climate of New York may 

 reckoned one of the best in North America, 

 lere the ground is covered with snow, or ren- 

 red bla'/k by frost., in the beginning of Decem- 

 r, and continues without a speck of green till 

 fiy. Phiwing generally begins in the last week 

 April; oats are sown in that month ; and maize 

 d potatoes about the middle of May. By the 

 (1 of May the wheat and rye which has stood the 

 nier, the sjjring-sown corn, the grass, and the 

 nt trees appear as forward as they are at the 

 lue period in England. There is very little rain 



during June, July and August, Cherries ripen in 

 the last week of June; by the middle of July the 

 harvest of wheat, rye, oats and barley, is half over ; 

 pears ripen in tlie beginning of August; maize, 

 rye and wheat are sown during the whole of Octo- 

 ber; corn is cut in the first week of September; 

 peaches and apples are ripe by the end of the 

 month ; the general crop of potatoes is dug up in 

 the beginning of November ; and also turnips and 

 other roots taken up and housed ; a good deal of 

 rain falls in September, October and November, 

 and severe frosts commence in the first week of 

 December, and, as above stated, continue till the 

 last week of April. Such is the agricultural year 

 in the country of New York. Live stock require 

 particular attention during the long winter; and 

 unless a good stock of Swedish turnip, carrot, or 

 other roots, has #een laid up ft)r them, they will 

 generally be found in a very wretched Btate in 

 April and May. 



'• The Civil Circumstances of the United States 

 are unfavorable to the domestic enjoyments of a 

 British farmer emigrating thither. Many priva- 

 tions must be suifered at first, and some, probably, 

 for one or two generations to come. The want of 

 society seems an obvious drawback ; but this Biuk- 

 BKOK has shown not to, be so great as might be 

 imagined. Wlien an emigrant settles among 

 American farmers, he will generally find them a 

 lazy, ignorant people, priding themselves in their 

 freedom, and making little use of their privileges; 

 but, when he settles among other emigrants, he 

 meets at least with a people who have seen a good 

 deal of the world and of life, and who display often 

 great energy of character. These can not be con- 

 sidered as uninteresting, whatever may be their 

 circumstances as to fortune ; and, when there is 

 something like a parity in this respect and in intel- 

 lectual circnmstances, the social bond will be com- 

 plete. It must be considered that one powieriuUy 

 operating circumstance must exist, whatever be 

 the difference of circumstances and intellect; and 

 tiiat is, an agreement in politics both as to the 

 country left and that adopted. For the rest, the 

 vpant of society may be, to a certain degree, sup- 

 plied by the press, there being a regular jjost in 

 every part of tiie United States, and numerous 

 American and European newspiipers and periodi- 

 cal works circulated there. Biukbkok mentions 

 that the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews, the 

 Monthly and other magazines, and the London 

 newspapers are as regularly read by him at the 

 prairie in Illinois, as they were at his farm of Wan- 

 borough in Suffolk ; and that all the difference is, 

 that they arrive at the prairie three months later 

 than they did at his British residence. We have 

 seen sketches of the houses erected by this gentle- 

 man, and by some others who have settled around 

 him, and we consider them by no means deficient 

 eithej in apparent commodionsness or effect. They 

 remind us of some of the best houses of Switzer- 

 land and Norway. Birkbfck and part of his 

 family were drowned in crossing the Wabash in 

 1825. an event which must be deeply lamented by 

 all who knew any thing of this intelligent, enter- 

 prising and benevolent character. 



'■^ The Want of Domestic Servants \» 2k considera- 

 ble drawback in most parts of the United States, 

 but especially in the new settlements. Families 



