62 



Instruction to Young Farmers. 



Vol. VIL 



gencies, and shall not therefore, expect your 

 essays to be entirely free from these disad- 

 vantages. But you may suppose certain 

 preliminaries, and you may make more than 

 one or two, or three hypotheses. Then tell 

 us what particular attendant circumstances 

 of soil, &c, should determine our selection of 

 a Farm — of how many acres it should con- 

 sist, — what tools should be procured, — at 

 what season we should commence, — and in 

 regular order, how we should proceed. Thus 

 we shall have a basis upon which to place 

 all the excellent things which your paper 

 contains; and thus many, who have now 

 lost the run of " matters," will know just 

 where things stand. I am aware that all 

 this may appear very simple, to those whose 

 passing years have not failed to accumulate 

 wisdom and knowledge ; but I am also certain, 

 that such good men will rejoice that we, who 

 are now coming among them, should come 

 under such especial advantages. 



A Subscriber. 

 Philad., Aug. 17, 1842. 



We publish the above letter entire ; not because we 

 are able, very thoroughly to comply with the wishes 

 of its writer, but to give expression to feelings, which 

 we think it likely, are common to many others who 

 are looking forward to the time, when they may lay 

 aside the occupations of a city life, and take hold of 

 the plough and the scythe, on a farm of their own. 



To a person who is entirely ignorant of farming 

 operations, or who has for so many years been uncon- 

 nected with them, as to have lost the " run of matters," 

 it appears to us, that books can hardly give the infor- 

 mation in detail, that is inquired for. The size of the 

 farm, for instance, should depend upon the capital to 

 be invested, anil tin.' tact of the occupant to manage a 

 large or a small concern. The kind of soil and loca- 

 tion, would be regulated by the purposes to which it is 

 to be made subservient. Shall it lie a grazing, or dairy 

 farm— a meadow, or upland farm— for pasturage only, 

 or for tillage only— or for both combined? Shall it be 

 particularly adapted to sheep husbandry — or shall it be 

 for the growing of perishable articles, suited to the 

 daily wants of our city market? Upon the decision of 

 these questions, and considerations connected with 

 them, would depend the size of the farm, the soil and 

 the location. Every man too, would have his predi- 

 lections in relation to neighbourhood, as well as to the 

 general aspect of the country. Would a mountainous, 

 r'>l li uir, or flat country be sought? Would the vicinity 

 of our commercial cities on the seaboard, be preferred, 

 — or the interior of the Atlantic States? Or would the 

 boundless variety of situation and of soil, be examined, 

 over the great valley of the Mississippi? These, and 

 many other analogous questions would be asked, by a 

 person who might be requested to advise another, about 

 to leave tin' city, fur the purpose of cultivating his own 

 land. From the granite rocks of New England to the 

 palm and orange groves of Florida— from the marl re- 

 gions of New Jersey to the cane-brakes of Louisiana, 

 Providence has spread before our enterprising citizens, 



every variety of climate and of soil — every variety of 

 production, and almost every difference in the facilities 

 with which a market may be reached. Some will give 

 the preference to one situation, and some to another;— 

 none, however, will complain, that there is not the 

 most ample room for the broadest enterprise. 



But, supposing our unknown friend would locate 

 himself in our own vicinity, in the midst of his own 

 people; — he would, if ignorant of soils, of course, ad- 

 vise with competent persons, previously to purchasing, 

 and they would be governed in the advice given, by the 

 main object which the purchaser had in view. If he 

 depended mainly upon books for the details of his ope- 

 rations, he must unquestionably fail in his experiment. 

 They generalize, and give the broad principles of agri- 

 culture, and many times also important details; but the 

 minutiae— the every day operations — depending upon 

 the ten thousand varieties of circumstance, must be 

 gathered from close observation and experience. When 

 your neighbour plants his corn, or sows his wheat, or 

 harvests his turnips, it is a fair inference that it is sea- 

 sonable for you to do the same. This closeness of ob- 

 servation we have spoken of, rendered doubly valuable 

 by his acquaintance with works of merit on agricul- 

 ture, will soon enable our beginner to improve upon 

 his own mistakes, and bring the unchanged routine of 

 his neighbour to the test of a well informed judgment; 

 and thus having for a while closely watched the opera- 

 tions of the judicious around him, and been regulated 

 in his own movements by theirs, stepping only as they 

 stepped, he will be able to reciprocate the favour, by 

 showing an improved practice. 



As respects tools, we may say of them as of other 

 things— good tools, good stock — and if the land is not 

 already good, make it so. But how it shall be made 

 good, is quite another thing. We could give no direc- 

 tions on this point, without knowing where it is, and 

 what it is, and what it is mainly intended for. — Ed. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 The Cattle Compost-Yard. 



Messrs. Editors. — I was much interested 

 with the article at page 362 of the Cabinet 

 for July last, on the subject of "Compost- 

 yards," as distinct from the stable or cattle 

 yard of the farm ; and can readily believe, 

 that such an establishment is more likely to 

 prove a mine of wealth to the possessor, 

 than the new gold mine's in the South, of 

 which we again hear so much. And I was 

 prepared to ask, if any one could point 

 out a difficulty or objection to the mode 

 there recommended] In your last num- 

 ber, under the head of "running Com- 

 mentaries on the July number," a corres- 

 pondent observes, "The great obstacle to 

 the formation of compost heaps in this coun- 

 try, is the scarcity and dearness of labour;" 

 and yet he q-oes on to say, " Some gentle- 

 men in Talbot county, Maryland, amongst 

 those who compose a society for agricultural 

 converzatinncs, contrive to collect and haul 

 out y,OU0 loads a year," and this they, no 



