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V->_. I. 



!(»( '.EHTER, NOV. 19, 1831. 



NO. 46. 



PUBLISHED BY _. TUCKER & CO. 



u cue OITice of the Daily Advertiser. 



Terms— $2.50 per annum, or 



sj im if paid in advance. 



N. GOODSELL, EDITOR. 



TO FARMERS. 



THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR. 



Farmers, the close of the year is approaching, 

 and we sincerely hope that yorj will all be aware 

 of the importance of closing your fanning busi- 

 ness and accounts with it. Not that there should 

 actually be a suspension of business at that lime, 

 but that you may say to yourself, I have finished 

 the year's labor; I have settled all my accounts, 

 and I know exactly what the profits of the last 

 year have been. Under such circumstances, 

 man can commence a New Year with more hopes 

 than when his accounts are unsettled, and he at a 

 loss whether his last year's labor has been attend- 

 ed with gain or not. To those who have hither 

 to neglected to keep accurate accounts of their 

 farming operations, we would earnestly recoin 

 mend that they immediately make preparations 

 for so doing, tiie coming year; and as an induce- 

 ment, we offer one year's numbers of the Genesee 

 Farmer, to the one who shall keep his farming 

 accounts in the plainest and most accurate man- 

 ner ; keeping Dr. and Cr. with each important 

 crop, and giving the full amount of capital em- 

 ployed in lands, stock, utensils, &c. &c. ; and 

 transmitting to us at the end of the year, a dupli- 

 cate or copy of such account, which we will pub- 

 lish, if requested. Were a few such accounts 

 kept by our practical farmers and published, the 

 public would be in possession of facts from 

 which they could draw conclusions as to the in- 

 terest which might be expected from capital in- 

 vested in agricultural business, which informa- 

 tion they are deficient in at this time. 



It has been said that farming is a hard labori- 

 ous business, and is attended with but small pro- 

 fit; and with these impressions, parents who have 

 sons to provide for, have selected professions in 

 preference to agriculture ; but we think that were 

 the accounts of the farmers as accurately kept as 

 those of merchants and mechanics, and they 

 as industrious, that the balance of profit would 

 be in their favor. Other reasons are advanced in 

 favor of professions, as inducements for young 

 men to engage in them, many, whih we think 

 are ridiculous and absurd ; but many of them are 

 rendered so by the farmer's own consent, and of 

 course they ought not. to complain. One power- 

 ful reason advanced is that "the farmers have lit- 

 tle or no influence in public business:" this we 

 grant is correct, and why 1 It is not because they 

 have not as much interest at stake as other classes 

 of society; — neither is it because there is a want 

 of intellect among them • but because they under- 

 rate their own consequenee, both as to numbers 

 and capital ; and if they abandon their own inter- 

 est, who can they expect will take care of it. If 

 any society is formed of which the farmers com- 

 pose the majority, and officers are to be appoint- 

 ed, who do they elect'! — any but a farmer. If 

 town officers are to be chosen, who do they vote 

 for 1 — any but farmers. If for the county % some- 

 times a mechanic, is taken, out of compliment ; 



but rarely a farmer. If for a State or Congress- 

 ional representation, who do farmers make choice 

 of, or rather who do they vote for, (for they are 

 not allowed to select; this is done by the office- 

 hunters themselves) 1 Not for farmers. Why is 

 all this Egyptian bondage, that farmers must 

 serve task-masters whose interests are sepa- 

 rate and contrary from their own"? Is it because 

 the retirement of an agricultural life has a tenden- 

 cy to render those who pursue it modest and reti- 

 ring, that they allow themselves to be brow bea- 

 ten by a class of people who consider brass a more 

 useful metal for many purposes than gold ; or be 

 cause from their constant occupation, they have not 

 time to collect together and form compacts for self- 

 aggrandizement 1 What class of men were the 

 pride and boast of Rome, during her days of pros 

 perity and glory 1 Her Farmers. Who was it 

 that led our armies, which repelled the despotic 

 power of England, and gained for us our Liber- 

 ty and Independence'? It was Washington ; a 

 name which will stand first upon the roll of fame 

 when all the tyrants of the old world shall be for- 

 gotten ; and he, be it remembered, was a Farmer 

 Now let us conjure you to have that respect for 

 yourselves, which you are entitled to — Spend 

 now and then an evening making calculations up- 

 on your numerical strength and importance; then 

 npon your capital compared with that of all other 

 classes, in which, remember there are but two 

 kinds of capital, — landed property and labor — 

 all other kinds of property being representations 

 of these two; then reflect upon what proportion 

 of influence belongs to you in national affairs, and 

 whether you do justice to yourselves and families 

 by delegating it to others. Finally, qualify your 

 selves for any business, and so consider your own 

 that you may think it worth reducing to order, 

 which will be sure to convince you, that when so 

 followed, it is attended with as fair a profit, and 

 as much peace of mind as any other; and that 

 many of the greatest as well as the best of men 

 of all enlightened nations, have been Farmers. 



NOTHING NEW. 

 " There is no new tiling under the sur.," said 

 Solomon, and surely he was a wise man. Some 

 of our readers may feel disappointed at not find- 

 ing something new in every paper — some dis- 

 covery of plants or animals which were never 

 heard of before, or some new invention for ma- 

 king sugar out of potato tops, or fattening hogs 

 with saw-dust, or some short way of procuring 

 riches without labor. Now all these would be 

 very pleasant, and we will keep a good look out 

 for them ; and should any such improvement be 

 made, we will be sure to give our readers the ear- 

 liest information : but in the mean time, we would 

 remind them of an old decree, which we believe 

 is yet in full force, which is that we " must eat our 

 bread in the sweat of our brow." The march of 

 improvement is slow : wise and cunning men 

 have been engaged in agriculture for many cen 

 turies, and it requires much study to learn what 

 has been done before us ; otherwise, we might 

 rack our brains to invent something new to our- 

 selves, which when we had perfected, we should 

 find had already been done by those of old ; and 

 we should subscribe to the declaration of the wise 



man — To learn what has been, and take the ad- 

 vantage of known principles by suiting them to 

 existing circumstances, is as useful as to be search- 

 ing for the Philosopher's Stone, which is to con 

 vert all our iron into gold. 



CALVES. 



It will be found particularly useful before the 

 weather becomes severe, to pay attention to calves, 

 as they are tender stock the first winter. They 

 should he learned to eat provender, Indian meal, 

 &c. ; and this should be done before they begin to 

 lose flesh, which they will do before Christmas, 

 unless they are strictly attended to. Those calves 

 which were not allowed to suck the cows, will be 

 learned to eat more readily than others, but all 

 should be attended to until they eat readily, after 

 which, it is an easy matter to winter them in such 

 condition as you choose, but according to the old 

 maxim, " it is bad policy to keep a calf all winter 

 and allow him to die in the spring ;" which some- 

 times happens, unless they are early learned to 



FENCES. 



We have noticed what we consider to be an e- 

 vil in farming operations, and one which is veiy 

 common ; that is. alloying fences to get out of re- 

 pair in the fall of the year. 



There appears to be an inclination in cattle to 

 congregate ; and they seem much more disposed 

 to ramble, than at other seasons ; therefore, unless 

 fences are in repair, they contract unruly habits, 

 which it may be difficult to break them of, the 

 coming year. Fences which have stood through 

 the summer, are not as strong after the fall rains 

 have commenced, as they were during the dry 

 weather: posts and stakes are more easily pushed 

 down, and rails, when wet, slide more easily than 

 when dry ; therefore, those who would keep their 

 stock in order, should give a little attention to 

 their fences. Besides contracting bad habits, cat- 

 tle do much damage when they are allowed to 

 range over the. whole farm. Trees are browsed 

 off — grass grounds which are soft are trodden up, 

 and the surface rendered uneven, stack yards are 

 broken; and hay consumed before it is necessary. 

 Instead of allowing fences to go out of repair, this 

 is a proper season for repairing them. The 

 weakness of rails is quite as easy discovered 

 when wet, as when dry, and such as are unfit for 

 any other use, should be taken to the wood house 

 before covered with snow. Stakes and posts are 

 more easily driven in the ground, than at mid- 

 summer; and by doing repairing in the fall, 

 much will be gained in the spring. Besides 

 these reasons for repairing farms in the fall, when 

 we see the fences down, and the whole farm laid 

 to the common, we are apt to form unfavorable o- 

 pinions of the occupant. Now some of our read- 

 ers will say this is nothing new. No; its being 

 common, is the reason why we have mentioned 



it. 



LAYING DOWN PLANTS. 



There are many tender plants that do not en- 

 dure the winters of this latitude without protec- 

 tion ; which, nevertheless, are sufficiently hardy to 

 prevent the necessity of taking up the roots, and 



