1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



255 



of the farm produce. lie used to say that the 

 first time he went to market, he drove his fatlier's 

 oxen and a load of pumpkins, the proceeds of which 

 amounted to ten dollars. His success encouraged 

 him. The demand for farm pi'oduce increases, and 

 home industry is inadequate for the supply. He 

 begins to speculate and buy of others. Winter 

 comes on, but he cannot be idle, and he takes the 

 school of a neighboring village. 



Here he matures his plans for the enlargement 

 of business in the coming spring. He hires land 

 and sows unsparingly and skilfully. He is the 

 only man of his trade in the community, and he 

 controls the market. The families of the wealthy 

 are pleased with theurbanity of the young farmer, 

 and ask him to call often. Success attends him. 

 As fast as his means will allow, he increases oper- 

 ations. He hires men and buys tools and teams, 

 and adds field to field. 



In 15 years from the commencement of his 

 Agricultural operations, he became the largest 

 gardener in the County, if not in the State. He 

 had about 40 acres under garden cultivation, and 

 some of it produced 2 and 3 crops per annum. Of 

 Asparagus and Onions he had several acres each. 

 Ho hired a great many men, and has been know to 

 employ in the busiest season of the year 60 persons. 

 It was instructive to pass through his grounds, 

 which were always accessible, and witness the 

 clean and careful culture and the skilful blending 

 of different crops, so arranged that when one was 

 removed, another would immediatelj' fill the place. 

 He undertook the culture of one piece of land, so 

 barren and sandy, that its improvement seemed 

 utterly hopeless. He carted on large quantities 

 of muck, ashes and manure, — he brought leaves 

 and mould from the woods, — he plowed in green 

 crops and used guano, until, literally, he made 

 •'the desert to rejoice and the wilderness to bud 

 and blossom like the rose. ' ' This ground , to-day-, is 

 like an X)a6is in the desert, a fruitful field in the 

 midst of surrounding sterility. 500 Baldwin apple 

 trees, planted by his own hands, grow thriftily on 

 this plain, a living monument to liis industry and 

 skill. 



Every thing he undertook was vigorously car- 

 ried to its completion. His motto was, "what 

 you arc resolved to do, begin it this minute," and 

 this was the secret of the immensity of his labors. 

 Some men accomplish more in a short life, than 

 others in a long one, and so this man, though 

 dead at 40, lived longer and accomplished more, 

 tlian most men at 80. His spirits never seemed 

 to flag like those of other men. He looked a dif- 

 ficulty directly in the face, and walked up to it 

 while looking. 



He considered a matter well, before he enlisted 

 in it, but once engaged, he worked with all his 

 might. Like Napoleon, he was just as courage- 

 ous the day after defeat as before. No sooner 

 was a difficulty vanquished than he sought out 

 and grappled with another. His presence, even, 

 inspired confidence. He had the power of infus- 

 ing ambition into those around him. Wherever 

 he went tlicrewas life and energy. He was regu- 

 lar and precise in all his movements, and required 

 regularity and precision in all whom he controlled. 

 Every workman had a place for his hat and cloth- 

 ing, labelled with the name of the one occupying 

 it. Every tool and implement had a place, and 

 was thoroughly cleaned after using. Printed reg- 



ulations for the government of his workmen, hung 

 in his kitchen. 



His defects consisted in an over promptness. 

 He seemed so anxious to reach the mark, that he 

 sometimes went beyond it. Take him all in all. 

 however, he was a good man, beloved by his fami- 

 ly, respected in the community and an honor to 

 the church of which he was a member. His life 

 and his burial will not soon be forgotten, by those 

 among whom he lived. He has left a worthy ex- 

 ample to all young men, showing clearly that en- . 

 ergy and intelligent industry is all that is needed, 

 to make forming profitable. 



West Springfield, Mass., 1854. 



THE CYCLE OF THE SEASONS. 



The following article was published in the .S'c<//s- 

 man, upon the cycle of the seasons, and will inter- 

 est many of our readers, we have no doubt. The 

 measure below called a hectolitre, is equal to two 

 bushels and five-sixths of our measure — the franc 

 is equal to 18 cents and 6 mills of our money. 



"The 'uncertainty of the weather' has been a 

 subject of complaint to the husbandman from time 

 immemorial. Science has shown, however, that 

 law and order prevail in many phenomena once 

 deemed to be under the blind dominion of chance, 

 and ingenious men have indulged the hope that a 

 key might yet be found to the irregularity of the 

 season — not that we shall be able to prognosticate 

 whether any particular day or week will be foul 

 or fair, but that we may have rational grounds 

 for expecting a good season or a bad one, 

 or a series of good or bad seasons. Intelligent far- 

 mers believe that a course of abundant crops is 

 pretty sure to be followed by a course of deficient 

 ones ; but whether the cycle of good and bad 

 crops is of a determinate or a variable length, and 

 if determinate, how many years arc required to 

 complete it, are points upon which opinions differ 

 widely, and certainty is perhaps despaired of- 



"A paper read a few days ago by M. Bacquerel 

 to the Academy of Science, on the culture of wheat 

 in France, supplies statistical facts of some value 

 bearing on this subject. They show that there is 

 a periodicity in the recurrence of good and bad 

 harvests ; that five or six years of abundance, and 

 five or six of scarcity, follow each other pretty 

 regularly. From want of capital and enterprise, 

 and good means of internal communication, the 

 French are more dependent on their own harvests 

 than we are in this country, and the difference be- 

 tween a good and a bad year telling more strong- 

 ly on their markets, serves better to test the in- 

 fluence of the season. M. Becquerel quotes from 

 Hugo the following table of the average price of 

 wheat for all France : 



Francs Shillings 



per hect. per qr. 



1816to 1821— period of scarcity 2-2.60 543. 5U. 



18-2'2 to 18-27— perial of abundance 15.80 Sfis. 4d. 



1828 to 18a'2— period of scarcity 22.00 503. "d. 



1S3:5 to 1837— period of abundance 16 16 37s. 2d. 



1838 to 184-2— niixcfl period 20.31 463. 8d. 



1843 to 1847— period of scarcity 25.63 5 J.s. Od. 



1840 to 1852- period of abundance 16.68 383. 4d. 



^V<i arrive at a similar result by comparing the 

 imports and exports of wheat, and taking the ex- 

 cess of the one over the other : 



