70 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



Annual Production of the I'nited States. 



We have received the report of the Secretary 

 of State, giving the vahie and quantity of the 

 Agricultural productions of tliis country in 1839. 

 It is a most valuable document, and was careful- 

 ly compiled and arranged by Wm. A. Weaver, 

 Esq., the superintendent of the last census. A 

 more able and efficient person could not have 

 been selected. 



From the detailed statements, we have made 

 the following abbreviation. We have added to 

 each article its price, as current in this market, 

 and therefore reached the aggregate value of the 

 prodnce of twenty-six states and territories. 

 Production of the United Stales and its Value in 

 1839, as officially published. 



Aggregate value as officially known, $697,766,456 

 Returns from North Carolina, Kentucky, Flor- 

 ida, and Wisconsin, not having been received, 

 their product is not included in the alx)ve. Even 

 the present returns are not complete, and iv 

 will be. As an instance, Massachusetts is set 

 down in the assessor's return, as having produ- 

 ced 158,9234 bushels of wheat in 1839. In that 

 same year bounty was claimed for 190,869 bush- 

 els, making a difference of nearly 32,000 bushels 

 It is the same in Maine, and the same all over the 

 country. And we do not hesitate to say that the 

 production, as published, is fully ten per cent, 

 below the actual product. Enough is known, 

 however, to satisfy all ]>arties that we possess the 

 elements of immense wealth. No previous esti- 

 mate ever reached the quantity of articles produ- 

 ced, as shown in this rejjort. Above we see that 

 the same annual value of agriculture alone, as of- 

 ficially given, is nearly $700,000,000, and if all the 

 returns were in, the aggregate would he increas- 

 ed to $800,000,000. This was the product of 1839. 

 That of tlie last year was ten per cent, greater, 

 and that of the present year, 1841, will be still 

 larger. All this is exclusive of our immense 

 mineral and other pi'oductions. At a fair esti- 

 mate, the annual aggregate results of industry 

 may be set down at twelve hundred millions of dol- 

 lars, according to the present prices and vieasures of 

 value. 



These curious statistics must give rise to the 

 most original and important reflections. Fifty 

 years ago cotton was not produced to the value of 

 $1,000 a year— now it is equal to $114,000,000, 

 by the census, and we are persuaded that this is 

 below the average. The soil and climate of the 

 United States, are as well adapted to raise wine, 

 silk, coffee, sugar, and such like articles as Italy 

 or India, yet with the exception of sugar, the 

 other articles are in their infancy. Why is this ? 

 It arises from the fact that there is no compre- 

 hensive agricultural system yet organized in the 

 country — by which every article would be raised 

 in proportion to the demand. The great prices 

 of flour in 1836, impelled too much capital and 

 labor into wheat growing— the same may be said 

 of corn and cotton— hence the ruirtbus "low pri- 

 ces in consequence of over production beyond 

 the demand. Had the same labor and capital 

 been judiciously distributed on the production of 

 every article, we might now be drinking Ameri- 

 can wine, and wearing American silks, as clieap 

 iu proportion as flour is. 



Our agricultural system wants adjustment and 

 equalization as much as the currency. The first 

 process to reach such a result is to know the fact 

 of want of adjustment, and this fact is developed 

 in the census, which ought to be the basis of ag- 

 ricultural action, as well as legislative and finan- 

 cial action — to the whole country. — Bennett's Her- 

 ald. 



Among the best agricultural writers of the pre- 

 sent day, is the venerable James M. Garkett, a 

 practical Virginia Farmer, whose name deserves 

 to be placed on the same page with that of John 

 Tatlor of Caroline. The Farmers' Register and 

 the Albany Cultivator are the organs tliroiiirh 

 which he communicates his opinions to the pub- 

 lic. From the latter paper we extract the fol- 

 lowing : 

 Maxims and Precepts for Young Farmers. 

 I. — Regard all persons whose time and labor 

 are wholly at your conmiand, as beings for vvho.se 

 health, comfort, and good conduct in this life, you 

 ttill be held most fearfully responsible in the life 

 to come. 



II.— Never forget that both moral and bodily 

 health depend on the same thing; that is,teinper- 

 ance in food, drink, and all sensual indulgen- 

 ces ; and temperance iu the use of means to get 

 rich. 



III. — To leish well, is not enough ; you must 

 also do well, or your benevolence, like faith with- 

 out good works, will be dead and utterly worth- 

 less. 



IV. — Ever bear in mind, that useful knowl- 

 edge, and the j)roper application of it, are to the 

 health of the soul, what wholesome food and ap- 

 propriate exercise are to the health of the boily. 



V. — Value as you ought, the experience of oth- 

 er.*, and your own will cost you far less than « itli- 

 out such aid; since to use theirs costs only an 

 efl^ort of memory, whereas the price paid for your 

 own will often be the loss of health, fortune, and 

 character. 



VI. — The more you strive to enrich your minds 

 with every good thing which men and books can 

 teac-li, the greater will be your power to gain 

 wealth, honor, fanse, and every rational enjoy- 

 ment. 



VII. — Trust not others to do for you, what you 

 can readily and as well do for yourselves. 



VIII. — The farmer who is ashatned of manual 

 Inhfir, will vpi-y onnn find cause to be much more 

 ashamed of himself. 



IX. — If you ever make a business of yoiu- plea- 

 sures, they will most assuredly soon make an end 

 of your business. 



X. — Leave show to spendthrifts and fools, while 

 you and your families consult only tasteful simpli- 

 city, comfort and usefulness, in all your arrangi-- 

 ments and expenses. 



XI. — I.ove not money for its own sake ; still 

 less for the power it gives you to gratify' .selfish 

 and sinful passions. But fail not to regard it as 

 the most efficient means to accomplish all be- 

 nevolent purposes. You will thus make it a bless- 

 ing, instead of a curse, both to yourselves and 

 others. 



XII. — True economy, consists not so much in 

 saving money, as in spending it when made, sole- 

 ly and judiciously for purposes really useful. This 

 annually increases your profits, instead of dimin- 

 ishing or kee|)ing them stationary. 



XIlI.-^Avoid debt as you would a pestilence, 

 for it humbles, debases, and degrades a man in 

 his own eyes; subjects him to insults and perse- 

 cutions from others ; but still worse, it is a per- 

 petual temptation, however anxiously resisted, to 

 fraud, falsehood and thell — nay, not uufrequently, 

 to de.spair and self-murder. 



XIV. — To take advantage in a bargain, is vir- 

 tually to take money out of another's pocket, who 

 is not aware of it. Worldlings call it "fairplay," 

 but all lionest men call it "■cheatijjg and swind- 

 ling.'" 



XV. — The only just Tr.eans of increasing 

 wealth, are constant industry — true economy of 

 time as well as money — well directed labor, and 

 the regular application of a portion of our fair 

 profits to increase our capital. 



XVI. — Never expect your lands to give you 

 mitdi, if you give them little ; nor to make you rich 

 if you make tliem poor. Therefore, always ma- 

 nure them to the full extent of yoiu- means, and 

 they will ever make you ample returns in rapidly 

 increasing productions. 



XVII. — Economy, not less than humanity, re- 

 quires you to keep all your farming stock in thri- 

 ving condition ; for a working animal in good 

 oi-der, will do much more work, and eat less than 

 a poor one ; wl-.ile the rest of your stock, ivell 

 kept, will yield more of every thing, than double 

 their number, if half starved, as such animals of- 

 ten are. 



XVIII. — To ^^save at the spigot, and let out at the 

 hung," will soon en)pty the biggest hogshead ; so 

 will economy in small matters, and waste in large 

 ones, speedily sijuander the largest estate. 



XIX. — In all your farming o|)eralions, never 

 forget that time, like money, if once lost or mis- 

 spent, is forever past recovery. 



XX. — Constantly arrange beforehand, the daily 

 work of your farms. Then none of your labor- 

 ers need ever be idle in wailing to be told ^^■hat 

 he has to do. 



XXI. — Provide a place for every thing, and 

 misplace nothing. No lime will ever then be lost 

 in searching for what you want. 



XXII. — Keep double sets of such plantation 

 Implements as are most used, and most exposed 

 to wear and tear. The whole cost of extra sets, 

 will be amply repaid by .saving the whole time 

 lost in waiting fiir repairs, where only single sets 

 are kept. 



XXIII. — Never resort to what are called " make 

 shfts," when it is possible to avoid it ; for they 

 encourage carelessness and slolli, of which they 

 are almost always sure signs. 



XXIV. — The very reverse of the lawyer's max- 

 im — " de minimis non curat Lex," — the law regards 

 not the smallest matters — must be the farmer's 

 guide, or his largest concerns can never prosper 

 as they might. 



X.W. — To keep good gates and fences, saves 

 nuK'h time and labor in preventing trespasses ; 

 much loss of crops from depredations ; and best 

 of all, it saves much wrangling and ill will among 

 neighbors about mischievous stock. 



XXVI.— If you would excel in your profession, 

 the diligent culture of your mind is as indispen- 

 sable as that of your fields. 



XXVll.— Never commit the self-hurtful folly 

 of looking upon any of the honest trades, pro- 

 fessions and callings, as inimical to your own ; 

 for there is a natural bond of inlerest and amity 

 between Me zvhole, which cannot possibly be pr;- 

 served, without the cordial co-operation of all. 



XXVIII. — Encourage, both by precept and 

 example, the true spirit of Husbandry ; for it 

 promotes harmony, good will, and social inter- 

 course among all with whom you deal ; it tends 

 to elevate your own class to its j>roper rank ; and 

 above all, it advances the welfare of yourcoimtry, 

 by promoting the most important of all her great 

 interests. 



XXIX. — Never -flatter yourselves, as some silly 

 people do, that you know all wliich can be known 

 even of the most simple branch of your profes- 

 sion, or you will soon know much less than thou- 

 sands of your more modest, less assuming bre- 

 thren. But always act under the firm belief, that 

 there is no ascertainable limit to our acquisitions 

 in any art or science whatever ; nor any difficul- 

 ties which constant, diligent study can not over- 

 come. Your progress, then, towards the highest 

 attainable point in whichever you prefer, will be 

 as sure as fate itself. The accidents and vicissi- 

 tudes of life may possibly interrupt your course ; 

 but only persevere, and you will finally connuer, 

 will) absolute certainty, all obstacles that are not 

 insuperable. 



JAMES M. GARNETT. 



Forest Trees or Massachusetts. — We 

 learn from the New England Farmer, that at a late 

 Agricultural meeting at the State House, George 

 B. Emerson of Boston, who was some years ago 

 ajipointed by the Governor and Council to report 

 upon the Forest Trees of the Commonwealth, 

 made some remarks upon this interesting and 



i[iortaiit subject: — 



Compared with the native ti-ees of old England, 

 Mas^achnsetls is rich in what her soil produces. 

 We have given to the mother land more than 

 500 varieties of trees and shrubs. Oui- tall limber 

 trees amount to 56, while those that are natives in 

 old England number only 27. He has no belief 

 that 360,000 acres of unimi)roved lauds are in 

 fact unimprovable. Some of our trees woidd 

 grow on every soil. The most unpromising sands 

 in France have been made to grow the pine. 



