THE FARMER'S MOiNTHLY VISITOR. 



23 



frequently of a morning- without takinj: a tliouglit 

 until after breakfast of what himself and his 

 sons should pursue as the business of the day. 

 If it be in the season of winter schools every son 

 and daughter tliat ran lie spared irom mere 

 household afl.-.'u - ;)ii<::" ilit' vilUiiie school or 

 academy throM : i ! :, ;.l in the evenings 

 the v\hole famil' .i "M, lind abundance 



of leisure for : i.:i! i;. of various kinds. 



Now there have been and continue to be hun- 

 dreds and thousands of farmers who bring the 

 year i-ound in this easy way, and who not only 

 do not dissipate their property, but often add to 

 the \alue of their estates. If an extensive me- 

 chanical or manufacturing establishment should 

 be managed in the same way, with no more 

 economy and system in the use of time, with as 

 little concern and vigilance as to losses and gains 

 — it would be certaiu of failure and prostration. 



Presenting such considerations as these, 

 the farmer, (himself not of the indolent class, be- 

 cause he had accumulated a handsome estate by 

 enterprise, diligence and industry,) succeeded in 

 deinonstrating to the city operator that the small 

 farmer of New England might enjoy much of 

 his time at ease and leisure in safety, where it 

 would be extremely dangerous, if not fatal for 

 men of other business to take to themselves the 

 same liberty. 



For tlio Farmer's Montlily Visitor. 

 Hon. Isaac Hill: Sir : — In one of you late ed- 

 itorials you alUido to the satisfainory increase of 

 your subscription list by the addition of subscri- 

 bers both far off and near ; and that they need 

 not be disappointed, you intimate that much of 

 the Visitor's future interest v.ill depend on their 

 contribution. In this I heartily agree with you ; 

 — and I add, that whether dependent on them or 

 your own experience, you must never let the 

 spirit of your Journal flag. It is incumbent on 

 you to pursue it with vigoi-, and the more you 

 devote your experience and that of others to it, 

 the more enlarged will be your sphere of influ- 

 ence for good. Too mauv of our agricultural 

 journals are filled uiih tlie V:lioit details of their 

 raising con; and iMitatui .-, — :is it' cnni and pota- 

 toes were the oiily i.ici-iiiv.' to r. Ihrmer's life, 

 and his only de[)eiidei]r? for [jiolit :irii\ comfort. 

 Others seem to tinge on exact statements, reduc- 

 ing to the staud-Jid of dollar:; ,a1k! cents the items 

 of their labour— hire — mantn-- — iioard — value of 

 days work by oxen — interest, iVc. &e. as a mer- 

 chant taking account oi' ?tnck— l)Ook dilits anil 

 liabilities to discern the result of a year's busin- 

 ess, as if the cases were parallel. I am not lind- 

 ing fault with others. I only wish to guard far- 

 mers against a fallacious system of calculating 

 their profits and adopting a system which v. ill 

 do very well with merchants who are compelled 

 to balance their books to ascertain their nominal 

 worth and their losses. It is the modus operandi 

 I object to ; and as proof of its erroneous tenden- 

 cy just take the accounts ibtuid iii various joiu-- 

 nals. A Rhode Island liirnier sends a statement 

 of his yearly oiierations to the county liiir lo ob- 

 tain the" premium— aiid gives his es-timate ^of the 

 cost of production ; — for an acre of coin 47 ifti!- 

 lars— 'Wheat — Potatoes — Turnips 48— Car- 

 rots 53.— Is this so ? Does this farmer find when 

 his crops arc harvested that lie has paid nut in 

 cash so nnicli to obtain so Uiuch ? — It siiikes me 

 that produce could be better bought, and rash 

 paid out at once for the same amount of produce 

 and for better advantage, and his force employed 

 towards improving his farm yards and gardens, 

 — orchards and mantire beds — his swine and 

 jjoultry houses ; and vX the end of the year, would 

 he not find himself in a far better condition — find 

 his farm better off by the cultivation of grasses 

 for hay or ploughing in, to enrich forfutin-e crops, 

 instead of toiling over his acres at such a hea- 

 vy expenditure ? The truth is, a farmer makes a 

 great mistake in estimating his own and his fam- 

 ily's labour into the accounts. It is his duty and 

 his pleasure as well as his privilege to labour il 

 his farm is in good heart : his healtli was given by 

 a beneficent Creator without charge ; and for- 

 sooth if he and his animals unite to enrich h 

 he charges his own and their participation in 

 labour by dollars and cents.— It is about as con- 

 sistent as winding up his yearly account 

 with— By Doctor's bill saved, 30— health account, 

 self and family for winter hauling, .'50 — which he 

 triirht do with just as much propnelv. and nt the 



same time credit a handsome amount for animals 

 that didn't die and inipletnents that wouldn't 

 ear out. 



Again, why do farmers charge manure to their 

 crops ? The soil is entitled to it — it belongs to 

 his cornfield as a matter of right, and he has no 

 right to fix a value on what, though in his pos- 

 session, is not his. 'Tis true he can sell it readi- 

 ly. So a man may rob himself, if he chooses, — 

 " how very valuable (I mean money value) 

 would it become were every farmer to rob his fields 

 to supply the manure market? Now to raise good 

 crops requires money, there's no question ; and a 

 beginner on a farm requires more at first than 

 bsequently. But surely if our Providence 

 friend is right in representing his outlay of capi- 

 it gives a sorry return for money and labour. 

 He had better buy his corn and potatoes, and turn 

 ►is labour to something else. A far better way 

 of determining his profits seems to me to set 

 down his outlay for hired help — I mean what he 

 ally pays in money, and credit his crops in 

 the gross at a fair market value. If the balance 

 his favor, he should add to it his increase 

 of stock. Then let him ascertain what he would 

 lave to pay in his neighborhood for the board of 

 his fiuniiy, and add this to the balance. Then to 

 his amount add the increased value of his farm 

 (that is if it has yearly received the benefit of all 

 his manure) — graduated in the scale of interest 

 on his capital united ; for instance : — 

 To Farm OOCO 



Interest one year 360 



Tools bought this year 30 



Amount for wages paid 220 



Butcher's meat 30 



Shoes — clothing and shop bills for 

 fltmily ■ 250 



Rei)airs, Carpenter's bill and Black- 

 Einith's 53 



2 Cows this year 60 



1 voke of Oxen 70 



L'itter of Pigs 25 



$-7107 

 By Farm GOOO 

 Increased value 300 

 Pi'oduce unsold at fair Market val- 

 ue 1000 

 Stock on hand cost 155 

 Animals born this year, 2 calves 10 

 Pork, cheese and biitter unsold 120 

 Sales in all this year for cash 300 

 lioard, rent or expense of family 400 



8345 

 7107 



To Balance 1238 



Now I ask, sir, would it not be better to adoj)t 

 a style of account-keeping similar to that ? It 

 cannot deceive, and any farmer can see exactly 

 how far his investment supports — what he can 

 depend on for the future — and what per centago 

 his cai)ital contributes to his family yearly, and 

 then he can find out if he pleases where the same 

 .^umean be invested to equal advantage if he can. 

 Another reason I w^ish to call your attention to 

 this subject is on account of the amazing igno- 

 rance existing among us town's people respect- 

 ing these matter.?. We want to know liow a 

 young man on a fiirm in New England can man- 

 age with such labor as he can bestow himself and 

 by employing labor. 'What yearly expenditure is 

 afair average for a young man of moderate de 

 sires, with a small family supposing his farm 

 paid for — his tools and manure to start on ? Let 

 him have a fair portion of wood land, and about 

 fifty acres of tillable land. Th.at w ould bo con 

 sidered a fair estimate — I mean to include onl\ 

 family expenses, leaving put the education of 

 children and farm expenses. What I want to 

 come at is, how far a good farm will contribute 

 to the support of a small family, and how mucli 

 of independent income he should possess. 



You will perceive by these remarks that I am 

 unable to bow down to hard labor as a man 

 brought up to it can -while I can do much to- 

 wards it. Such as planting, thrasliing, hay mak- 

 ing, &c. and steady too, and I have thought 

 since taking your paper that your experience or a 

 practical farmer was just the thing I needed — be- 

 fore entering on my new vocation. While I do 

 not expect to make by it, certainly it would bf 



gratifying to know if by reasonable labor and 

 good management I can at least make it pay its 



ay along ; — or if you please, not sink money. 



If these remarks rough as they are should 

 find a place in your columns, it would be of ben- 

 efit not only to myself but a large class of those 

 living in this city who would be induced to try 



country life were they satisfied they could hold 

 their own by it. 



Yours, very respectfully, 



A FRIEND AND WELL WISHER. 



New York, 25th Jan. 1841. 



For the Farmer's Montlily Visitor. 



Orange, .V. H. January 15, 1841. 

 Seed "VVheat for sale. 

 The sidjscriber has one Inmdred bushels of 

 prime seed wheat which he oflers for sale. By 

 long experience it is w ell known, by good farm- 

 ers, that all kinds of grain must be removed once 

 in a few years, fifty oi- one hundred miles, in or- 

 der to secure a good crop. 



SOWING AND HARVESTING WHEAT. 



I sowed in the spring of 183ii two bushels and 

 twenty-eight quarts of the Black Sea wheat on 

 one acre and three-fourths of land, and harvested 

 a little over fifty bushels, which was sold for seed. 

 It was sown thick and badly lodged, so that the 

 croj) was not so good as it was the following year 

 on the same land. Last spring, 1840, I sowed 

 three acres and tliree fourths of land with the 

 same kind of wheat, five pecks to the acre. Not 

 one shovel full of dung, lime, plaster or ashes 

 was applied to the land the same year. The 

 wheat was taken out of the barn and sowed on 

 dry; and from the land I harvested one hundred 

 and thirty-eight bushels of good wheat, without 

 one particle of smut, perfectly clean from all 

 wild seeds and other grains. This i)roverb may 

 always be remembered, "as you sow so you must 

 reap," if you sow smut you may also reap smut. 

 There are two kinds of' the so called Black Sea 

 wheat. The kind I raised, it is said will never 

 mildew or rust. 1 have not seen any half filled 

 or blighted kernels in my wheat for two years. The 

 straw is now perfectly bright, though it was con- 

 siderably lodged. 



My way of cultivating land for wheat is as fol- 

 low s: — I generally draw and harrow in fifty full 

 ox loads of manure to the acre before planting, 

 and cause the hoeing to be done so thorough 

 that scarcely a stalk of wild BtufTis to be found in 

 the field going to seed. The land is then prepar- 

 ed for two crops of wheat — the second as good 

 as the first. I plough my wheat land three times, 

 once in the fall and twice in the spring. I have 

 now ploughed the same land for another crop of 

 wheat for next year. I have ploughed in thirty 

 loads of barn-yard manure where wheat has been 

 two years. The other part of the land, where it 

 has been sowed but one year, is, 1 think, rich 

 enough without manuring. 



WHY HAY SEED IS BAD. 



There have been thousands and thousands of 

 dollars hist by sowing bad hay seed. One reas- 

 on is, that many farmers, after they have rotted 

 their seed in the bundle for thrashing, in order to 

 dry it, will stack it up in a close pile snug togeth- 

 er, and let it heat and burn until it becomes-dry; 

 this is sure to destroy the life of the seed. A 

 stranger from the north came into my barn while 

 I was at work on the hay seed,(herdsgras.s.) 'Said 

 lie, " how do you seperate the straw from the 

 chafi; or how do you get the seed out of the hull ?" 

 I tohi him of my practice of cleaning hay-seed. 

 Well, said the stranger, there is a better way ; it 

 can be done with less than half the labor. On 

 inquiry, for information, I was told to reap and 

 bind in my usual way and draw the sheaves to 

 the barn — then open them and stack them all up 

 in one good round stack, the buts out ; and while 

 you are building your stack have plenty of water 

 that evei-y head may be wet through ; let it stand 

 and smoke until it becomes dry ; it will then 

 shake off from the straw witliout much trouble. 

 I said to the beguiling man, not one seed will 

 grow. Well, said he, h will all sell ! 



There is another reason why seed is bad : there 

 are some tradesmen that have a little hay seed 

 left after they have supplied their customers in 

 the spring of the year with good seed. Instead 

 of spreading and shoveling it over orice a week, 

 they will pack it a^vay in some close place to se- 

 cure it from rats and mice, and there let it lay 



