1848. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



247 



riosity excited by what he has seen — that his 

 future course in farming will be marked by that 

 intelligence which the study of the elementary 

 principles of vegetable growth and structure 

 alone can give to rural labor, making its reward 

 certain, and its burden light ; so that, instead of 

 transmitting his freehold to his children as so 

 many worn out acres, he will surrender it intact, 

 used only, not impaired in any of the elements 

 necessary to reproduction. 



If conventional rules place the occupation of 

 the farmer in point of respectability below that 

 of some other professions, on the contrary. Na- 

 ture has placed him at the head of every other 

 class in the social circle, for he is alone depen- 

 dent on God and Nature. The merchant calls 

 on his government to protect and secure his 

 maratine interests — the fisherman clutches with 

 ill disguised rapacity the bounty awarded him by 

 government, as a sort of double pay for pro- 

 ducing from the ocean instead of producing from 

 the soil — and the manufacturer clamors for a 

 bounty on his products, in the shape of a tax on 

 imports, that he, too, may obtain " a morsel of 

 bread." But the farmer, in the pride of his 

 manhood, asks no other bounty but the protection 

 of Heaven, the health and strength which nature 

 has given him, and which are consequent upon 

 the truth and simplicity of his life and calling. 

 So far from asking protection from the other in- 

 dustrial classes, the American farmer is enabled 

 by his superior industry, economy, selfdenial, 

 and simple living, to aid and protect every other 

 class of his fellow men, by cheaply supplying 

 them with the necessaries of life. 



But a propos of the address. It was an inge- 

 nious effort -of an astute practiced man and a 

 scholar, to disprove the free trade doctrines of the 

 last year's address,by the lamented Silas Wright. 

 But, thanks to the good sense and sound philoso- 

 phy of the honorable gentleman himself, he came 

 to a ripe judgment at last, as the following just and 

 eloquent conclusion of his remarks will show: 



"The diversified employments of our people, which 

 have been created, fostered and extended, by this policy of 

 the government, with few exceptions have been pursued. 

 Friendly and just relations have been maintained with for- 

 eign nations ; treaties have secured us access to their 

 ports and markets upon the most favorable terms ; discrimi- 

 nating duties have compelled the abandonment of onerous 

 charges upon our products, or upon the ships that trans- 

 ported them : exchanges of our surplusses for theirs, have 

 iDeen freely made, and thus a healthful, mutually beneficial 

 foreign market has been opened and preserved for that 

 which we did not consume at home, and for the products 

 of our manufartiirmg and mechanical industry. At the same 

 time the home market has been nursed, established and 

 expanded, by judicious duties upon foreign fabrics, until it 

 has come to consume an amount of our bread stuffs and 

 provisions greater than that exported to the other countries 

 of the world." 



Methinks these historical facts go far to prove 

 that our agriculture has suffered nothing from 

 legislation thus far, and that its future prosperity 

 cannot be promoted by any additional strictures 

 on our foreign trade. S. W 



Salting stock. 



1 HAVE read in your Journal of the 16th inst. 

 a communication signed H., from the Genesee 

 Farmer, on the subject of salting swine. H. 

 doubts its utility to that kind of stock — nay his 

 facts seem to indicate its use a decided injury to 

 them. I have witnessed the same results fre- 

 quently in giving salt to swine, and always, de- 

 cided it to be injurious, although I was probably 

 mistaken as to its injurious tendency. 



Whilst on this subject 1 wish to say a word or 

 two on the subject of salting stock in general. 



Do any of your readers know that salt is 

 beneficial to any kind of stock ? or do they give 

 it because everybody else does ? or because 

 stock are fond of it ? ^ 



I have conversed frequently with stock raisers 

 on this subject, and have yet found none that 

 have made satisfactory experiments. My own 

 experience is, that it is of little or no use. I 

 have salted a part of my stock regularly once 

 a week leaving a portion without it for a period 

 of four or five months during several different 

 years, and was unable to discover any difference 

 in their condition. 



Will some of your numerous readers who 

 have made experiments on this subject be good 

 enough to give the public the benefit of them. 



It must be admitted by all farm.ers that this is 

 a subject of sotiie importance ; for, if my theory 

 be correct, the State of Kentucky is expending 

 annually many thousands of dollars for no val- 

 uable purpose. — Louisville Journal. G. 



Keeping Farm Accounts. — Let any farmer 

 make the experiment, and he will find it inter- 

 esting as it is useful, and both interesting and 

 useful, to know from year to year the actual pro- 

 duce of his farm. Let everything, therefore, 

 which can be measured and weighed, be meas- 

 ured and weighed ; and let that which cannot be 

 brought to an exact standard, be estimated as if 

 he himself were about to sell or purchase it. — 

 Let him likewise, as nearly as possible, measure 

 the ground which he plants, the quantity of seed 

 which he uses, and the manure which he applies. 

 The labor of doing this is nothing compared 

 with the satisfaction of having done it, and the 

 benefits which must arise from it. Conjecture, 

 in these cases, is perfectly wild and uncertain, 

 varying often with diflerent individuals, almost 

 a hundred per cent. Exactness enables a man 

 to form conclusions, which may most essentially, 

 and in innumerable ways, avail to his advantage. 

 It is that alone which can give any value to his 

 experience. It is that which will make his ex- 

 perience the sure basis of improvement ; it will 

 put it in his power to give safe counsel to his 

 friends, and it is the only ground on which he 

 can securely place confidence in himself. 



