88 



GENESEE FARMER. 



April. 



"Agricultural Information Wanted/' 



Mr. Editor : — In answer to D.'s inquiries 

 ■i>n page 64 of the Genesee Farmer, it may not 

 J»e improper to say, that the amount of men's 

 5ielp h-e will want will depend upon tlie area of 

 land he^liall cultisale and the kind of grain, &c., 

 ■lie shall raise. Wjten he makes up his mind how 

 man}' acres lie will have plowed, and sown or 

 planted, and then calculate that one team will 

 ])low from an acre to one and a half acres a day, 

 and l.arrow about six acres in a day, he can eari y 

 see how much team work he will want — for the 

 ■same teams that do his plowing and harrowing 

 ■■can do all his otlser work. 



He will of coarse want one hand to each team, 

 and an extra hand in the summer ; and, as he is 

 ■'' not accustomed to labor himself," the extra 

 hand should be more than an ordinary laborer. 

 Ife should be well enough acquainted with prac- 

 tical work on the farm to see that all hands do 

 their duty, and advise Mr. " D." how much they 

 •©ught to do, and how to do it. 



Whether some of his teams -should be oxen de- 

 pends on his taste, for there are too many opin- 

 ions on this point for settled advice. As to " wliat 

 quantity of other stock it will be profitable for 

 him to keep, viz : cows, sheep, and swine," I 

 'have no doubt that the present and prospective 

 prices of wool will not sustain the wool growing 

 business, where land costs •'^50.00 per acre, (the 

 price D. paid.) The great facilities for trans- 

 porting such a light article as wool from the 

 •western cheap lands, will monopolize tliat busi- 

 •«ess. The number of cows and swine will de- 

 •^)end upon how many acres of pasture and mead- 

 ow he has. In this section of country, we make 

 the keeping of cows our principal business, and 

 generally allow ii acres for a cow — 2 of pasture 

 and one of meadow, with some coarse fodder. 



Mr. "D." has probably bought a '-grain farm," 

 and if his land is suitable for all kinds of grain, 

 .he should sow enough of barley, oats, peas, &c., 

 to enable him to rest his wlieat fields, which 

 should be his main crop. If Mr. "D." contin- 

 ^les to he " a faithful reader of the Genesee Farm- 

 er, (after becoming a. practical farmer,) au6 oth- 

 er agricultural journals," he will be better ena- 

 bled to realize their usefulness. 1 fear he will 

 be greatly disappointed in his profits ; for he says 

 as the average nott profits df the premium crops 

 is #30 per acre, he has reason to expect $20 per 

 acre nctt profit from his l.">0 acres of improved 

 land. Now the accounts of premium crops gen- 

 erally .show the bright side of tlie picture. They 

 D.re nev<er chavged with fencing, with their pro- 

 portion of sustaining farm building, or agricultu- 

 ral implements, cVc. Besides, if we could see an j 

 expense and income account of the whole farms' 

 to which they belong, they would virobably show ! 

 ■the other side of the picture. j 



The only expense account, d;c., which has' 



been presented by any of the competitors for tlie 

 premiums on whole farms since the formation of 

 the N. Y. State Ag. Society, is that of Mr. Wm. 

 Garbutt, in 1845, and he figures a nett profit 

 of about five dollars per acre — and lie did not 

 charge any thing for dry-goods, groceries, his 

 own or his family's services. Some of the other 

 competitors give some items, which seem 'o show 

 a similar result. We hope, however, that our 

 new brother "D." will persevere in his new vo- 

 cation, which he will not find to be tlie doubtful 

 road to princely splendor, but the sure way to a 

 competency. A. P. 



Li/l/e FaUs, N. Y., March, 1847. 



Your correspondent D., in the March num- 

 ber of the Farmer, wishes information as to how 

 much team, &cc., he shall want to cultivate prop- 

 erly a farm of 1.50 to 200 acres — and how annu- 

 ally he must manage his farm, as to succession 

 of crops, (Sec. He is desirous, or rather will be 

 content, to secure $20 per acre nett profit. — 

 That will be, I think, " a pretty fair business," 

 if he realizes it on his farm of 200 acres. 



But as to the team and laborers needed, I 

 would refer him to a Prize Essay in the 5th vol- 

 ume of the Transactions of the State Agricultu- 

 ral Society (pp. 78 to 81,) which gives all the 

 information necessary. I would also suggest to 

 your correspondent, that if he will carefully read 

 the j)apers that have been published by the Soci- 

 ety, he will find from the experience of practical 

 and experienced farmers, mi:ch that will enable 

 him to make his investment a profitable one, and 

 pleasant otherwise to himself, if he actually erh- 

 gages in the culture or superintendance and man- 

 agement of his farm. 



In the same Essay he will also find, at page 

 92, suggestions as to rotation of crops, which 

 will be found useful and worthy of his attention. 



As all that D. wishes to ascertain, except as to 

 the #20 nett profit, is to be found in the Essay 

 refered to, 1 forbear any further suggestions. 

 Yours, H. 



Albany Co. March, 1847. 



In addition to the above, we have received 

 an excellent though somewhat lengthy article, 

 upon the same subject, from C. Robinson, Eisq., 

 of Clarendon, Orleans county. Want of space 

 prevents its publication in this number. 



Crkdit. — Many of our exchange papers are 



in the habit of taking articles from this journal, 

 without the least acknowledgment. The Louis- 

 ville Journal copied our "Study of Agriculture," 

 which cost us a good deal of labor, and an article 

 on "Wheat Culture," together, and gave no 

 credit. The able and valuable letters of our cor- 

 respondents are appropriated by leading journals, 

 and made to appear as original therein. 



A favorable spring, thus far, in this section. 



