25^ 



NEW ENGLAND FAllMEil. 



Marcli 2, i8:i7ii 



THE FARMING INTEREST. 

 Extract from tlie speech of Mr Pearco, of R. I. in 



the House of Rcpfesentatives, on the bill for the 



protection of the Woollen Manufactures. 



What class of the community deserves the pro- 

 tection and encouragement of the Government 

 more than the farmers .' I would not give my 

 vote to aid an interest that would injure this. It 

 has been truly said, they never petition nor com- 

 plain, but are patient and quiet under their suffer- 

 ings, in the worst of times. Our own observa- 

 tions, as well as the history of our country, show 

 this. During our restrictive system, our embar- 

 goes, our non-importntion acts, and our war, none 

 suffered more, and none complained less. They 

 were nor. for rebellion bfcause their interests 

 were affected, nor did they array themselves in 

 opposition to the constituted authorities, nor un- 

 furl the banner of opposition. On this class of the 

 community the primeval curse still remains ; the 

 farmer has still to delve the earth, and to work, 

 and labor, and live by the sweat of his brow ; the 

 earth is still taxed for a great share of our suste- 

 nance, and cannot be cultivated by steam-power, 

 water-power, or any of the labor-saving machines 

 which modern inventions have introduced : under 

 the most favorable circtimstance.s iiis profits are 

 small, and never sure or certain. The agricultur- 

 ists are never forgotten when the exirjsnces of 

 the country require the aid of its citizens ; their 

 lands are pledged, fur the nation's debt ; and, 

 whenever the tax gatherer, or the tax assessor 

 calls, their estates cannot bo hidden, or their prop- 

 erty placed under a bushel. The farmer, by his 

 labor, sustains nearly all, and his property is liable 

 to pay all. 



Sir, if this interest is modest and unassuming, 

 shall we negle.^ it? I trust not. For the last 

 five years, no intere.-?t lias suffered so much as that 

 of the farmer. Where grain has been, and still is, 

 the staple; where large flocks of sheep are rais- 

 ed, the wool-growers have incurred heavy expen- 

 ses in improving their flocks ; and I can very v. ell 

 recollect when a merino buck sold for $1,000, I 

 can very well recollect the time when wool was 

 sold at from $1 to $2 per pound, according to 

 quality ; when, by tiie quantity, the sales were 

 quick at -SI and at 75 cents. But, sir, how stands 

 the case now ? Sheep of the choicest kind are 

 sold at $3 to .f 4 ; and flocks at ,f 1 or $2 per head; 

 wool from 20 to 35 cents per pound. What inter- 

 est has suffered so mucli, according to this state- 

 ment, (and I vouch for the correctness of it.) as 

 the wool-growers ? And what interest has better 

 claims on the Government for aid and protection .' 

 And what protection can be given but a home 

 market. The calamities and suflferings to which I 

 have referred are not confined to''the Eastern 

 States. The grain-growing States of New York, 

 Pennsylvania, and other States, have their full 

 share. But a few years ago, flour was 10 and $ 15 

 per barrel, wheat $2 per bushel. What is now 

 their condition, notwithstanding the high price of 

 labor ? Why, sir, \vheat at .50 cents per bushel, 

 and flour at three and four dollars per barrel, and 

 the same falling oflT in other articles. How can it 

 be said that, in creating a home market for these 

 articles we are taxing the interests of the poor, 

 the interests of those who raise thein ? Sir, I am 

 in favour of this bill : Fir.st, because I admire, and' 

 consider myself in duty bound to encourage and 

 protect the enterprise and exertions of the^wool- 

 ten manufacturers ; and I know ths industry and 



enterprise of those I represent. But, sir, I am 

 more in favour of the bill because it protects or is 

 calculated to protect and sustain, the cultivators f 

 of our soil, the interest of those with whom I be- 

 came connected by the earliest associations — in- 

 terests which, I trust, I shall never forget, and 

 which I hope I shall never neglect. 



From the Hampshire Gazette. 



SALT. 



The duty on imported salt is 20 cents per 56 



pounds, which will amount to near 30 cents per i 



bushel on Turk's Island salt. The importation in I 



1826 was about four millions of bushels, and the | 



rrevenue $800,000. The average net revenue for | 

 10 years has been about 050,000 dollars a year. — ] 



I The greatest part of this tax falls upon the farm- j 

 ers. As the cost of salt abroad is not over 10 or 

 12 cents per bushel, the duty ranges from 180 to . 

 300 per cent — a much higher duty than the great- i 

 est luxuries pay. I 



A bill for reducing the duty on salt to 10 cents , 

 per 56 pounds passed the Senate of the U. S. Feb. ; 

 2, by a vote of 22 to 20. The bill was opposed on ; 

 the grounds that it would reduce the receipts into 

 the treasury, and operate injuriously on the do- 

 mestic manufacture of tlie article. It was stated 

 that tlie manufactories of salt on the coast of Mas- ; 

 sachusetts were valued at two .millions of dollars, i 

 employed 1000 persons, and produced annually : 

 600,000 bushels, worth from .3:3 to 37 cents perl 

 bushel. It was estimated that the New York salt' 

 springs yielded annually about 1,000,000 bushels ; 

 those of Virginia as much more ; and other parts 

 of the United States 2,000,000 ; making in all , 

 from four to five millions of domestic production. I 



A LYNX. 



About two weeks since, Mr Zenas Sikes, of 

 Westhampton, had 14 geese destroyed in one 

 night. Traps were set near the carcases, and the 

 depredator, a large lynx, was caught. 



We notice this animal for the purpose of cor- 

 recting a very common error. The lynx is called 

 the ivild cnt in almost all parts of New England, 

 but these animals belong to different species, and 

 it may be doubted whether the latter is ever found 

 in the Northern States. The wild cat is of the 

 same species as the domestic cat, and has a long- 

 tail.' The lynx has longer legs tlian the wild cat, 

 its size is that of a middling dog, and its tail is 

 only five or six inches in length. All the wild 

 cats, so called, that we ever saw or heard of in 

 ;this part of the country had short tails. — Ibid. 



SHOES IN LYNN. 

 The population of Lynn is over .5000, nearly all 

 of whom are supported by the slioe business. — 

 From 1,200,000 to 1,400,000 pairs of shoes are 

 made annually in the town, of an average value of 

 75 cents per pair, making near 1,000,000 dollars. 

 The females of the town earn more than 60,000 

 dollars annually by binding and ornamenting shoes. 

 Millions of low priced fancy shoes have been sent 

 to South America, and sold at a profit. There is 

 a chocolate manufactory in Lynn, which makes 

 sixty tons of chocolate in a year. The Lynn fish- 

 ermen at this time bring in 6000 pounds of fish 

 daily. — Ibid. 



A bill is before the legislature of Maine to abol- 

 ish all military trainings in that slate, except the 

 annual one for inspeption. 



AN ADDRESS, X ;'' 



Delivered before the Saratoga Agricultural Ss§L ;, 

 by Eaul Stimson, Esq. 



(Concluded from page 2«i 'p 



Tilling nr.y land with hired hands, I fouaj' 

 posting my account, was running mo in del 

 stead of being a source of profit. This ini 

 nie to try some other method, and after soverfS 

 periments having for their object the ccono 

 of labor, the procuring and application of maa, „ 

 and the rotation of crops — the following has ~ ^ 

 ed the most successful, 



In the first place I drew a plan on paper ar| 

 ing the land into square and convenient loti 

 taining from five to ten acres,having an eye t( 

 convenience of water for each field and 

 transportation of its produce to the barn wh 

 was to be housed, but witli no regard to thi 

 evenness of the surface on the swales of spi 

 land. This ian.l cost about twenty-eight d 

 per acre. I commenced fitting the lots and 

 tinned year after year in succession. The 

 ageraent of one may be taken as a specimen 

 whole. 



I removed the rubbish at an expence of 

 $2 per acre. The loose stones were then rem 

 ed and with posts and rails placed into pcriiMiii 

 fence at an average expense of $6 per acre. T 

 expense added to the first cost of the land, mal 

 an average of !t;.3G per acre, e.xcepting repairs 

 buildings, when the land was fit for till 

 then arranged my barnyards a little dishing~wh( 

 it v.as convenient, for making and preserving n 

 nure. I drew into them in the fall a quantity 

 turf and dirt from the knolls around my builJi: 

 and the adjacent roads and yarded my stock up 

 it during the winter. This course I pursued fo 

 few years until my crops so increased as to fu 

 isii me with manure in a sufficient quantity tog 

 each of my lots a slight coat once in five or 

 years. In the spring it was thrown into so 

 piles in the yard. In the fall commenced plouj 

 ing with a good ami faithful ploughman who tu 

 ed over the sol about three inches in depth, c 

 from eight to ten inches in width. The dry p 

 was back furrowed into lands of twelve pa( 

 and the wet into lands from five to six paces wi 

 leaving a deep dea<l fuitow to answer the purp( 

 of a drain. I spread over it from six to eight thi 

 horse loads of manure per acre, and on the drii 

 and most barren I have added three or four loE 

 of old leeched ashes — rolled it down with a rol 

 five feet long and twenty inches in diameter. Tl 

 was done to pulverise the lumps, and settle t 

 manure and land together.* 



* SliaUow ploughing and the application of n 

 nure on the surface, is contrary to the comni 

 theory, as it is contended by some writers tli 

 the manure loses its strength by evaporation, wh 

 so much exposed to the sun. There njay 

 some loss by the exposure, but not so much 

 there is by ploughing it in deep. I should alwaji 

 wish however, that the manure after being gpren 

 from the wagon, might be immediately mi.xed wi' 

 about one inch of the surface, either with tl 

 plough or harrow after rolling, as the decompos 

 tion is much quicker when it conies in conta 

 with the soil, and in this situation it becomes 

 better conductor of the vegetable elements to tl 

 plant. Keeping the vegetable mould as near tli 

 surface as possible, I have found not only a gre 

 preservation to the plant against the frost, heai 



