JNo. ;5. 



Bud Times. 



91 



their iiourihhinent should be drawn from op- 

 pa-iite sources. 



The medium distance has ever since been 

 followed from three to four inches, which 

 appears to answer perfectly in this climate. 



It may be well to notice, that nature lias 

 in some measure pointed out that wheat may 

 be sown quite superficial, as self-sown wheat 

 is frequently seen very rich and tine, under 

 which circumstances it may not have been 

 buried a quarter of an inch, even supposing 

 the wind and rain to have favored its depo- 

 sition. 



Hence, it may be argued, that wheat does 

 not require to be sown very deep, but that a 

 medium depth, sufficient to protect it from 

 frost, so as also to enable its distinct set of 

 roots to seek their food in difteient channels, 

 la the safest practice ; the exact depth being 

 a question of local experience, in relation 

 with the nature of the soil and climate. 



The extraordinary and valuable propensity 

 of some varieties of wheat, to tiller, which 

 others will by no means do so much, is con- 

 nected with this chapter. 



One plant from a single grain of a downy 

 variety, in 1^;33, threw out \\2 tillers; all 

 produced ears with an average of .50 grains 

 to each, or 1600 grains from one ; an enor- 

 mous produce, which no field cultivation 

 could be fairly expected to attain, as it is not 

 the extraordinary quantities, which art may 

 produce, either by extreme care, subdivision, 

 and transplantation, tlial should be brought 

 under the consideration of farmers; but the 

 fair and legitimate mode of llu^ban(lry, attain- 

 able to all who will devote to its pursuit that 

 industry and inquiry, without which, their 

 art is a mere mechanical operation, throwing 

 in a little seed, and leaving nature to do the 

 rest. The average tillering on that produc- 

 tive variety I have alluded to, ViSiS fifteen 

 on forty plants, clearly evincing a prolific 

 habit which has since been established. To 

 ascertain this prolific habit, was one of the 

 great objects I had in view. 



[To be continued.') 

 For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Bad TiiRics. 



Wrong practice has its ori;:iii in wrong principles of 

 action. 



We oflen hear the opinion advanced bv 

 young farmers, and sometimes by others, that 

 agriculture is a bad business, no money is to 

 be made by it, that the tiine.s that have passed 

 by were much more propitious to the acquisi- 

 tion of property, and in fact that it is now 

 ebb tide wi h \i.\ the golden stream having 

 ceased to irrigate ourfidds. These opinions 

 give rise to de.spondonce, which in some con- 

 stitutions produce a hig'a degree of indolence ; 

 io others it excites to unsettlement in busi- 



ness, and creates a desire to enter on some 

 new and untried project which it is supposed 

 will produce a rellow of tiie golden streams, 

 which ii is taken for granted have for .some 

 years been dried up. This unsettlement in 

 business, and disposition to try new experi- 

 ments has been the entire ruin of thousands 

 of people in our country within a lew yeans. 

 Persons leave occupations that ihey have been 

 brought up to and understand M)mething 

 about, and embark in some new and untried 

 concorn that they are wholly ignorant of, in 

 the fond Impe of realizing some golden dream, 

 at the same time entirely forgetting that old 

 and sound maxim, that there is no Icarninn^ 

 a ncio trade without paying an apprentice 

 fee. I know many, who have paid eveiy cent 

 they were worth in the world as an appren- 

 tice fee for learning a new business, and were 

 not successful in acquiring it at lai-t ; and were 

 landed in insolvency and ruin in the bargain, 

 and their noses kept hard pre.^.-fii on the grind- 

 stone during the remainder of their lives as a 

 punishment for their folly in deserting an 

 honest and honorable calling vvluch has al- 

 ways rewarded those who have pursued it 

 with industry, diligence, care and economy, 

 with a comt()rtable and even luxurious' subsist- 

 ence, moderate and wholesome acquisitions 

 of property, and often with as much wealth 

 as was good either for its possessor or those 

 to whom it descended by inheritance. Let us 

 now examine how the present times will com- 

 pare with the by-gone days in which the old 

 folks got rich by farming, and see where the 

 advantage lies. Does not grain of all kinds, 

 butter, poultry, potatoes, fruit, and indeed all 

 kinds of produce sold by a farmer, command 

 a much higher price now than it did fitly 

 years ago? And is it not a fact that imple- 

 ments of agriculture, clothing, and articles of 

 houes.'iold consumption geneially are pur- 

 chased for less money at present, than corres- 

 ponding articles were bought tor, half a cen- 

 tury since ? Whence then, is farming a less 

 money making business than it was in times 

 that are gone by. We must search for the 

 cause of this di.=crepance, if it really exists, 

 in some other direction than the one we have 

 been examining. Perhaps there is on the 

 whole, less industry, less economy, less good 

 management, commingled with more extrav- 

 agance, more unsettlement in families, and 

 more traveling about in search of recreation 

 and pleasure, instead of keeping a clo.?c look- 

 out fur these at home, forgetting the maxim 

 ih'vi a farmer^ s pleasure ought to be where 

 his business is. Some assistance may per- 

 haps be furnished in solving the question of 

 new-times vs. old-times by adverting to the 

 history of a worthy old mechanic who became 

 ricii by following the business of saddler and 

 harness maker in the villigeof Germantown 



