1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



25 



SOUND MAXIMS IN FARMING- 



{The following renuu-ks are from an old pam- 

 phlet ■which accidentally came into the hands of 

 our correspondent "P.," who has kindly sent them 

 for publication. They are well worth remember- 

 ing] 



The gentleman of fortune, whose farm is his 

 amusement, may wait years for his reward. The 

 common farmer wants his pay down. Plans of 

 improvement have been recomin.ended, practicable 

 indeed to the man of wealth, but wholly uninter- 

 esting to the mass of farmers, because beyond their 

 means. They can adopt no system which the /cidh 

 iisr/f wlW not support. It is a maxim in husbandry, 

 that no mode of management is worth pursuing, 

 that will not give a profit ; and that is the best 

 which will affjrd the greatest profit with the least 

 labor and expense. 



Great crops may be obtained at, great expense ; 

 but if the labor and expense is not remunerated, 

 the crops themselves will be ruinous. The ques- 

 tion is, not how a great crop can be obtained? 

 But how can it be obtained in a manner to pay 1 

 It is not a valuable improvement in husbandry to 

 increase your productions, if your expense is pro- 

 portionably increased. The great object is, to in- 

 crease the_ productiveness of a form, so that the 

 expense may bear a less ratio to the increase. By 

 purchasing more land, you impose a burden on 

 yourself difficult to sustain. Many have been im- 

 poverished, and not a few have been ruined, by 

 possessing themselves of land for which they could 

 not pay. The intelligent farmer, before he plunges 

 into del)t, will not fail to attend to tliis plain ques- 

 tion. Will the income of the intended purchase 

 more than repay the interest, the labor and the 

 taxes? If not, you are better without the land. 

 The possessor of more land than can be improved 

 is a tax upon the owner. — Rtv. Dr. Eaton's Ad- 

 dress, Oct., 1822, to the Farmers of Essex. 



SUSCEPTIBILITY OF ANIMALS TO AT- 

 MOSPHERIC CHANGES. 



In the common sensations of life, we perceive a 

 distinction, according as the exciting cause is 

 agreeable or otherwise, whether it presents itself 

 as pleasure or dislike, bodily strength or weakness, 

 activity or fatigue, warm or cold — by pressure or 

 tension of the atmosphere, &c. By these combi- 

 nations of sensations, all animals in which they 

 are strongly developed are enabled to anticipate 

 atmospherical changes before the most delicate in- 

 struments give any indication of them ; and, in a 

 minor degree, the same is tracealde in persons of 

 great nervous susceptibility. In the animal woi-ld 

 it extends not only to creatures of the land and of 

 the air, but also to those which inhabit the water. 



The actinife throw out their feelers and expand 

 themselves when a continuance of fine weather is 

 to be expected, but withdi-aw and contract them- 

 sidves. even in a room. Avhen a change is impend- 

 ing. The mussels, before the approach of a storm, 

 spm several new threads to secure their hold on 

 the rocks ; and leeches rise to the surface of the 

 water before rain. Spiders enlarge their webs 

 during fine weather, but spin only short threads. 

 Work seldom, or lid? themselves in corners, dur- 

 ing rain. _ Miny beetles, by their active flight 

 and humming sounds, give tokens of the morrow's 



brightness. Before rain, bees remain either in 

 their hives or in the neighborhood of them ; and 

 ants convey deep into their hills the pupje which 

 they expose to the sun in fine weather. 



The leeches rise anxiously to the surface of the 

 water before a storm, and hence in Germany they 

 are called weather-fish, and are kept in glasses, 

 where, by their uneasy movements, they denote a 

 change twenty-four hours in advance ; and, fi"ora 

 the same cause, many fish forsake the sea for the 

 rivers ; the groundling is roused into activity, the 

 silurus leaves the deep waters, and the eels be- 

 come lively. If the lightning strikes the water, 

 the perch sickens and dies ; the snake and the 

 slow-worm are restless before a storm ; toads leave 

 their concealment before rain ; ducks are busily 

 active, and swallows fly lower. 



Before a storm breaks forth, many birds, such 

 as the cross-bill and plover, are uneasy, and show 

 themselves less; and while many 'species of water- 

 fowl hurry for shelter to the shore, the petrel, as 

 if rejoicing in the coming conflict of the elements, 

 dashes forth and defies its power. If the atmos- 

 phere be lowering in the morning, pigeons feed 

 rapidly, and return to their cots ; and the hare 

 hides itself; but the mole comes to the surface of 

 the ground, and the squirrel seeks its nest, and 

 shuts its entrance. This susceptibility of atmos- 

 pherical changes, influences, also, materially, the 

 natural economy of some animals ; the wild rab- 

 bit, for instance, which feeds chiefly in the eve- 

 ning or at night, comes forth at noon-day if the 

 weather portends rain, and loses its natural timidi- 

 ty in its eagerness to procure food. 



Before the occurrence of an earthquake, ani- 

 mals become uneasy. In that which took place 

 in Calabria in 1783, it was noticed by Bartel, that 

 the sea- fish weje disturbed, and were taken in vast 

 numbers ; many birds fluttered about distressed 

 in the air ; dogs ran about howling ; the horses 

 and oxen trembled, pawing the ground and snort- 

 ing as if in agony, and the cats slunk about with 

 their hair bristled up. — Thompson on Animals. 



Transactions of the Wisconsin State Agricul- 

 tural Society for 1851. — This is the first agricul- 

 tural publication of the young and flourishing State 

 of Wisconsin, and is certainly creditable to the 

 enterprise of her citizens. The volume contains 

 336 pages, on good paper and type, and is printed 

 handsomely. The society was formed in March, 

 1851, and here we have in a little more than a 

 year this large and well-filled volume of its opera- 

 tions. The Address 1)y John H. Lathrop, Chan- 

 cellor of the Unitersity of Wisconsin, is a well di- 

 gested and valuable paper, and, scattered among 

 the people, will have an important influence in 

 awakening them to the importance and connection 

 of their several vocations. The reports from the 

 counties combine a great deal of statistical, geo- 

 logical, and geographical information, which is 

 thus brought together for the benefit of the whole 

 State. The communications upon breaking up the 

 prairie, manures, flax culture, and one upon butter 

 making, from Mr. Dodge, of Essex, in this State, 

 are admirable papers on the subjects which they 

 discuss. 



