248 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



PROFITS OF FARMING. 



We believe there ave many farmers, as well as 

 others, wlio take an incorrect view of the business 

 of fanning, as fav as its profit is concerned. They 

 seem to suppose tliat what is sold from the farm is 

 all that is to be counted as profit, while no note is 

 taken of what goes to support the family, or is in- 

 vested in improvements on the farm. To give an 

 instance, I will refer to a conversation I had with a 

 man who was once a farmer, but now has his capital 

 in money at interest. He has some four thousand 

 dollars out, and he tells me that it is only with 

 strict economy that he makes the interest support 

 his family. In this section of country, the average 

 value of the farms is below the sum referred to, 

 and, notwithstanding the long cold winters, the 

 farmers are in a thriving condition. So, we doubt 

 not, it often is with the farmer : that which he and 

 his family eat, drink and wear, is often overlooked 

 in considering the profits of the farm, — not count- 

 ing anything but the cash left at the end of the 

 year. This is not treating the farm fairly. In one 

 case the farm is capital, and in the other the capi- 

 tal is funds; that which goes to the support of the 

 family, is as much the product of capital in one 

 case as in the other, and in both should be consid- 

 ered as profit; and if the farmer, after the mainte- 

 nance of his family, and paying the expenses, 

 (which in these times are no small matter,) has 

 one or two hundred dollars left to do as he pleases 

 with, it surely can not be inferred that the farmer's 

 profits are least. 



But, say some, the farmers have to work so hard 

 for a living that they do not like the business; but 

 I would like to have you show me a class of men 

 that have so many leisure hours as the farmers. — 

 Quite too many young men, at the present day, 

 seek other employments than farming. In this 

 section of country, stock-raising is one of the most 

 profitable branches of farming, and the dairy busi- 

 ness is beginning to attract considerable attention. 

 The country through -here — say the northern tier 

 of counties in Pennsylvania and the southern tier 

 in New York — is as good a stock-raising or dairy 

 country as there is in the Union. Before the farmer 

 concludes that there is no profit in farming, let him 

 look at the whole ground, and a different conclu- 

 sion will be reached. j. o. dawes. 



Za Saysville, Pa., July, 1S58. 



TO MAKE FARMING PROFITABLE. 



In order to make farming pay, the science of 

 farming must be understood. To those who pro- 

 fess to cultivate the soil, and find it unremunera- 

 tive, I think their want of success might be attrib- 

 uted, generally, to tlieir ignorance and want of 

 system in their general management. 



Remember, farmers, your pursuit is a noble one ; 

 but to make it noble and elevated, requires the 

 exercise of mind as well as muscle. It is a vocation 

 '•''quiring intellect of a superior order; and Avho- 

 evji- would attain that intellectual greatness requi- 

 hite for a scientific and systematic agriculturist, 

 must read, study, and reduce to practice. 



Take, for instance, the man who has risen to 

 eminence in his ]jrofession, and who makes that 

 profession pay, and he will tell you that ease and 

 idleness have been strangers to Iiim — that years off 



hard study and deep research have earned him his 

 high reputation and his well filled coffers. 



Again, look at the successful merchant, and 

 where does the secret of his prosperity lie ? In his- 

 perfect knowledge of his business, his marked at- 

 tention to it, his systematic management, and his- 

 prudent forethought. 



Another comparison might be found in the skill- 

 ful mechanic, who commands high wages and 

 steady employment because of his superiority as a 

 workman. He, too, will tell you that the pecuni- 

 ary advantage arising from the knowledge he now 

 possesses is ample compensation for all the sacri- 

 fices he had to make during his four or five years 

 apprenticeship. 



From these comparisons, then, I think the infer- 

 ence may be drawn that knowledge is necessary in 

 order to conduct any business profitably and hon- 

 orably. Is it surprising, then, that "farming wont 

 pay" while the majority of our farmers think it 

 madness to devote an hour to study the nature of 

 the soil they pi-ofess to till, and would consider it 

 folly unpardonable to subscribe for an agricultural 

 paper, because, say they, the ideas and suggestions 

 contained therein are theoretical only,, and to make 

 them practical would bring ruin upon us? To 

 those farmers whose ideas are so contrswted, whose 

 reasoning powers are so rusted, I would say, culti- 

 vate your minds, as well as your fields ; you will 

 find worldy wisdom in it ; and in order to make- 

 your farms a source of profit, you must aim to un- 

 derstand your vocation and to conduct it system- 

 atically. Go at it energetically and perseveringly, 

 and you will profit by it. Farmei's ! arouse from 

 your lethargy ; make the eflfort : success and pros- 

 perity will be your reward, i. r. 



Uamilton, C. W^ 1858. 



Rarey's Method of Hoese-Taming. — The Sci- 

 entific American says: 



"This new system of taming is founded on the 

 well-known process employed in subduing buffalo 

 calves and wild horses taken by the lasso, and con- 

 sists in simply gradually advancing towards the 

 horse to be subdued, until you are able to place 

 your hand on the animal's nose and over his eyes, 

 and then to breathe strongly and gently, as judg- 

 ment may dictate, into the nostrils. We have the 

 authority of Catlin, in his ' Letters and Notes on 

 the American Indians,' that this process is the one 

 practiced by the Indians in taming the wild horses 

 of the prairies, and that it is invariably attended 

 with success." 



Oatlin says : 



"■J have often, in concurrence with a known cus- 

 tom of the coamtry, held my hands over the eyes 

 of a buffalo calf, and breathed into his nostrils, 

 after which I have, with my traveling companions, 

 rode several miles into our encampment, with the 

 little prisoner busily following the heels of my 

 horse the whole way, as closely and aff'ectionately 

 as its instincts would attach it to its dam. This is 

 one of the most extraordinary things I have wit- 

 nessed since I came into this wild country; and 

 although I had often heard of it, and felt unable 

 exactly to believe it, I am now willing to bear tes- 

 timony to the fact, from the numerous instances 

 which I have seen since- 1 came into the couatrj/* 



