148 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



who are called farmers. But it is not because they 

 know how to prepare a compost that will certainly 

 effect it. 



A farmer is one who knows the properties of a 

 farm, and what may he effected by their application; 

 and who also makes the application according to 

 knowledge, not blindly. 



What should we think, if we saw a man who 

 pretends to be a farmer, go into the forest and cut 

 down a brandling tree, and then sharpen a stump 

 of a limb to plough with, while he used a part of 

 the main stock for a beam] This was the kind of 

 instrument used in ancient times as a plough; but 

 should we think a man a farmer who would be sat- 

 isfied with such as instrument to use as a rooter of 

 the ground ? I think it would not be proper. 

 Nevertheless, we see many men about us, who from 

 day to day may be seen at work with the most 

 worthless and wretched tools, which never did good 

 work. Such a mau works two days to get a piece 

 of the ground ploughed, which he might have done 

 ill one with a good plough. Then he must harrow 

 it, and he has got twice as much work to do upon 

 it as would have been necessary if it had been 

 ploughed well. His harrow is as bad as his plough, 

 and what could be easily done in one day with a 

 good harrow will take him two days. In addition 

 to all this loss, is the heavy labor of his team, in 

 ploughinof with a plough that goes with difficulty 

 through the ground. Then the crop is but half a 

 crop, because the ground was not half prepared. 

 Now a little calculation will show us that it costs 

 such a man four times as much, wear of team and 

 all considered, as it would cost with good tools. 

 Then he raises but half a crop. In harvesting we 

 may fiud him again wasting timi, to make a saving 

 by using worthless tools which ought to have-been 

 cast off. 



Such a man complains that there is no profit in 

 farming. Truth says that he is no farmer. 



We look at him again. What kind of seed does 

 he sow and plant? Why, his economy is to avoid 

 outrages; and he sows and plants such remnants of 

 earlier crops as he has. His products, then, are of 

 second rate quality, and of course quite unsalable. 

 Poor man ! He finds farming a very unprofitable 

 calling! He says so, in hearing of his sons; and 

 they long to get into some other kind of business. 



We look at his farm, and the fruit trees are moss- 

 covered, the border of his field has become perni- 

 cious hedges, and we ask why these things are so. 

 He tells us that his sons take no pleasure in farm- 

 ing, and he is not able to hire and make a living for 

 himself. 



There is no young and thriving orchard, no grow- 

 ing pear, cherry, peach or plum tree; for trees cost 

 so much that he could not think of buying them. 



Now I ask, "Is he blind!" He thinks he is a 

 farmer, and that there is no profit in farming. I 

 think he is no farmer, but a living, walking, and 

 unconscious mistake. 



When I shall have learned what a farm is com- 

 posed of, what use may be^t be made of it, what 

 tools will work it best, and what trees, plants, and 

 seeds will afford the most profitable crops, and 

 then use tint knowledge, I shall be able to report 

 myself a farmer, and say whether a man can live 

 by farming. 



It is probably true that in the State of New 

 Hampshire, and perhaps so in all the eastern 

 States, there are a large majority of farms which 



do not produce enough to pay for the labor spent 

 upon them, the taxes a.ssessed, and give six per 

 cent, profit on the valuation of the farms. But 

 why is it so? Is the soil guilty of ingratitude to 

 the cultivator? Does it return evil for good, curs- 

 ing for blessing ? No, never. 



He who feeds the soil according to its wants, and 

 taxes it according to its ability, liberating it from 

 the oppressive hand of up-springing evils, always 

 finds that nature appreciates kindness; and when 

 man blesses her, she smiles upon him with grateful 

 affection, breathes the most agreeable odors in his 

 face, spreads before him the most delicious fruits, 

 and surrounds him with the most beautiful flowers, 

 saying, "These are God's gifts, which are placed at 

 my disposal to entertain and reward my friends. 

 Come now and know my gratitude." c. 



Mason, N. H., April, 185 1. 



For the. New England Farmer. 

 SPRING WORIC. 



Mr. Cole: — Spring, and particularly the month 

 of May, is a busy and important time to the farmer. 

 The amount and profit of his harvests depend very 

 much upon the manner in which he conducts the 

 fann-operations of this hurrying season. I have a 

 few brief suggestions to offer upon the proper mode 

 of executing a part of the work of Spring, and if 

 you think they can be of service to any body, you 

 can use tliem for that purpose. 



The first and the great point, in attempting to 

 grow renumerating crops here in New England, 

 is, to manure the Land well; and if we cannot bring 

 our minds to this, and govern our operations ac- 

 cordingly, we may as well quit farming and go at 

 something else, — for without a liberal application 

 of manure, our primitive and barren soils will not 

 afford us a living. I cannot, at this time, go into 

 the particulars about making manure, for I have 

 neither time nor room to do so; but perhajjs at 

 some future time you may hear from me on the 

 subject. 



In the application of manure in the Spring, if it 

 is fine, or is a compost of various materials, and is 

 to be used on land to be broken up from grass, it 

 will work the best if spread on the inverted furrows 

 and thoroughly mixed with the surfice by the har- 

 row. If it is to be applied to stubble land, it will 

 he well to turn it under with a shallow furrow. 

 Fine manure produces the best results with me 

 when kept near the surface. If the manure is 

 coarse, or unfermented, it is generally b-^st to 

 plough it in, whether the land to be ploushed be 

 grass or stubble land. Manuring in the hill, ex- 

 clusively, is not good farming. It may produce a 

 good first crop, and the natural strength of the soil 

 may (jive good crops for the rest of tiie rotation; 

 hut this process soon ends, and sterility succeeds. 

 The only way we can improve land, or keep it 

 stationary as to productiveness, is by giving it lib- 

 eral broadcast dressings of manure. Otherwise, if 

 we crop it year after year, we surely reduce it as 

 to fertility. If we fail to return to our soil an 

 equivalent ff)r what we carry off in our crops, the 

 time soon comes when we are emphatically re- 

 minded of our parsimony. That time is especially 

 when we try to seed the land to grass; for we if have 

 been niggardly towards it, we find it difficult to ob- 

 tain a good catch of the seed; or, if it starts at all, 

 it forms but a feeble sward, and the crops of hay 

 are li^ht. 



