No. 5. 



Small Farms. 



149 



the crops, and the owner of the land ; and if 

 persevered in, these benefits will ultimately 

 be of such value, as to stamp the system of 

 subsoiling as one of the greatest improve- 

 ments of the age. I consider it peculiarly 

 adapted to the counties of Lancaster and 

 Chester, as many of their lands are high and 

 rolling, with hard and gravelly subsoils, over 

 which the common plough is apt to pass, es- 

 pecially in seasons of drought, with but little 

 effect; on these, a pair of horses will be able 

 to work a subsoil plough to great purpose, 

 and with such ease as to astonish those who 

 have never witnessed its operations ; much, 

 however, depending upon the nature of the 

 subsoil, and the depth to which the plough 

 is sent. An ox-team is better adapted to the 

 labour than horses; the only objection to 

 them is, they are slower in their pace than 

 horses, and will in a degree retard their 

 working, as one team cannot proceed faster 

 than the other ; but this can be obviated by 

 employing oxen for both ploughing and sub- 

 soiling ; and in many cases the first furrow 

 can be turned by one pair, and the subsoiling 

 be done by another, it not being so necessary 

 to penetrate with the first furrow so deep as 

 would be requisite, were no subsoiling to fol- 

 low. In the case of balks, too, the subsoil 

 plough following, the evil is remedied effec- 

 tually, without pulling back. 



I find upon inquiry, there are two sizes of 

 the subsoil plough for sale at No. 176 Market 

 Street, Philada., the smallest of which will 

 be found large enough for common purposes, 

 stirring the subsoil to the depth of a foot or 

 more. A third size is, however, being manu- 

 factured, suitable for a single horse; but 

 whether the latter will be large enough to 

 answer the purpose of stirring effectually 

 the subsoil, is yet to be seen ; its small dimen- 

 sions would seem to fit it for horticultural 

 purposes, and the lands of small occupiers, 

 where one horse only is kept, but the fear is 

 that such an implement will not be equal to 

 the task, and then discredit might arise to a sys- 

 tem from which, if effectually pursued, there 

 would be no question of the most beneficial 

 results; these, however, must not be expect- 

 ed to show their full effects the first season, as 

 much of the richness of the surface-soil will 

 at first be expended in penetrating into and 

 fructifying the subsoil; and if this be re- 

 moved to a great depth and be very sterile, 

 the process might not be completed the first 

 year. It is to those only who contend man- 

 fully, that the promise is made, — "In due 

 time ye shall reap, if ye faint not." Vir. 



Nov. 2Cth, 1842. 



When men speak ill of you, live so as 

 nobody will believe them. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Small Farms. 



Mr. Editor. — Although I am not imme- 

 diately engaged in agricultural pursuits, yet 

 my avocations frequently call me into the 

 country, where I probably experience as 

 much pleasure while overlooking my friends, 

 as they do in the full enjoyment of their pos- 

 sessions. Perhaps there is not on earth an 

 employment at all comparable to that con- 

 nected with the tillage of the soil, and the 

 rearing of animals in all their varieties; but 

 there is not on earth a greater difference be- 

 tween the arrangements of a well regulated 

 farm, with means fully adequate to the end, 

 and an estate that is too large and unwieldy 

 for its possessor. And this brings me to the 

 subject on which I have long thought I would 

 trouble you with a few remarks, namely, the 

 relative proportions between the farm and its 

 occupant. The time has been, when a man 

 would measure himself by the number of 

 acres which he owned, without regard to the 

 means he possessed of cultivating them, or 

 rendering them profitable; but I find the feel- 

 ing is hourly gaining ground, that large pos- 

 sessions are a " wearisomeness to the bones," 

 and like all other cumbrous machines, are 

 every instant in danger of falling to pieces 

 by their own weight. Indeed it is strikingly 

 apparent, that the possession of thousands of 

 acres, is no longer considered synonymous 

 with thousands of dollars, on the principle, 

 it is presumed, that the most valuable arti- 

 cles are generally "packed in small parcels," 

 if you will allow the use of a term that 

 savors strongly of the store ; and a farm 

 might as easily be too large, as a store may 

 be too " large and long," and expensive. 



In a late journey to Pottsville, I made ar- 

 rangements with a friend who resides in the 

 neighbourhood of Allentown, to accompany 

 him home in his market wagon, where I 

 spent some days in an excess of pleasurable 

 enjoyment ; and if I had the power to de- 

 scribe my host, his wife and young family, 

 with his house and land, and the manner in 

 which every thing is arranged and conduct- 

 ed, I think you would feel an interest, second 

 only to my own, as I am not unacquainted 

 with the devotion which you also feel for the 

 delightful occupation. My friend purchased 

 five years ago, with the proceeds of a legacy 

 left him by a relation, 460 acres of land ; 

 settled himself upon it and married, with the 

 prospects of long life and prosperity, — so far 

 well; but he soon found that he possessed 

 too much land ; and to attempt to cultivate 

 it all, would be to make a toil of a pleasure ; 

 instead then, of cultivating a part, and al- 

 lowing the remainder to lie in a state of na- 



