1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



119 



For the New England Farmer. 

 FARMING INTERESTS NEGLECTED. 



Mr. S. Brown : — I have read with pleasure, and 

 I trust profit, the Farmer the past year. In this 

 vicinity there has been little done beyond what 

 the fathers and grandfiithers used to do in the 

 farming line. There is not a subsoil plow in this 

 town, nor have I ever known any of our farmers to 

 plow more than six inches deep. The farming in- 

 terest is far behind what it should be. There is a 

 great deal of poor, Avorn-out land in this region of 

 country, and few are doing but little towards im- 

 proving their forms, while the greater part are just 

 living from hand to mouth, as the saying is. Farm- 

 ing is so unprofitable, that most of our young men 

 seek some other employment for a living, and those 

 that choose to farm it for a living, are in most cases 

 driven to the necessity of hiring out several years 

 to get something to buy land with ; and then they 

 must go to the West where land is cheap, or go 

 without a farm, (a) The reason is, that those who 

 have land which could be spared as well as not, 

 hold it so high that it would take quite a fortune 

 to buy a farm here. 



The south half of Woodstock numbers about 

 thirty less families now, than it had in 1800, that 

 were then farmers. The Avestern fever has carried 

 off a good many, but the worst feature is, their 

 lands have fallen into the hands of the rich, or those 

 who will keep them at all hazards as long as they 

 can get enough from them to pay the taxes on the 

 land, unless they can get an extravagant price for 

 them ; this is the reason why Vermont does not 

 keep her population good, and increase, (i.) There 

 are, at the present time, some signs of reform ; if 

 nothing more, some are inquiring if there cannot 

 be something done to restore our worn out lands. 

 There are but few that have any faith in what they 

 call book-farming ; Ave have no farmers' club, and 

 only a few interest themselves enough to take or 

 read an agricultural paper. But the great work 

 must and icill go ahead ; necessity ,will bring our 

 farmers to the work before long, or they will have 

 to abandon their lands. 



I had no thought of Avriting but a very few lines 

 when I set down. It will give you, at least, some- 

 thing of a picture of what is, and has been, doing 

 here in relation to agriculture. Enclosed is $1 

 for the Monthly for 1853, and with my best re- 

 spects to you, dear sir, and your coadjutors. I 

 hope you may all enjoy a long, useful, and happy 

 life, and that through your instrumentahty and 

 the spread of scientific truth, thousands may be 

 turned from ignorance to knowledge, and prove 

 blessings to their race. 



I should like to ask Avhat time to cut those fruit 

 sprouts to be stuck in a potato before planting, 

 and how long before planting, or whether they 

 must be planted immediately after cutting, (c.) 



Cephas Ransom 



Woodstock, Vt., Jan. 15, 1853. 



Remarks.— (a.) Certainly. The young man who 

 wishes to purchase land must first earn the money 

 to purchase with, unless he is otherwise supplied. 

 It is just so Avith the merchant, and mechanic. 

 But they take a different course, — they hire cash, 

 or start upon credit, and if they succeed in busi- 

 ness, pay up, if not, they fail. So many of our 



best clergymen and lawyers, having the stamina 

 in them, and being determined to "go ahead," 

 obtain the means of acquiring an education partly 

 by teaching and partly by loans or credits. The 

 young farmer, in this respect, stands on as favora- 

 ble ground as others. 



(b.) In this particular, other professions have 

 great advantages over the young farmer. There 

 is no monopoly in learning, none in carpenter's or 

 other tools ; but the evil complained of by our cor- 

 respondent often operates injuriously to the growth 

 and prosperity of a town. There can be no ques- 

 tion, it seems to us, but that small farms and hif^h 

 cultivation are the most profitable for all. 



(c.) Last spring we made the experiment of 

 inserting scions in potatoes and setting the latter 

 in the ground. The suggestion was made in some 

 foreign agricultural work. The potatoes grcAv and 

 gave us a small crop, but none of the scions lived. 

 One experiment, however, is not a fair trial, and 

 as the cost is very trifling, we intend to try again. 

 Cut the sprouts or scions about the first of March, 

 and keep them moist on the bottom of the cellar, 

 and set them as soon as the ground is warm in the 

 spring. 



FARM LABOR— ITS MISAPPLICATION. 



It is no uncommon thing to hear farmers com- 

 plaining of the small remuneration they receive 

 for their labor, when compared Avith that received 

 by other classes of society. I have been led to re- 

 flect upon the subject, and have come to the con- 

 clusion, that if these complaints are well founded, 

 it must be because our efforts are not put forth sys- 

 tematically ; because they- are not governed by 

 intellect — in a word, because, like Cyclops, we are 

 content to "go it blind." 



I find that labor is the most expensive item in 

 the management of a farm, and I presume this 

 will be admitted by all practical men. 



NoAv, whenever, and wherever the amount of 

 manual labor can be lessened either by more judi- 

 cious application, or by the substitution of machin- 

 ery, the profit of the farm must be increased. We 

 see the manufacturer continually upon the alert to 

 adopt means, whose end shall bo the saving of la- 

 bor, and consequently the increase of his profits. 



Now, farmers of the State of Maine, cannot we 

 profitably abridge human labor, in many of the 

 operations of the farm ? Cannot we produce fifty 

 bushels of corn on an acre, with an outlay of three- 

 fourths of the labor usually applied. Cannot we 

 harvest our hay, and grain, Avith one-fourth less 

 expense, by the (substitution of machinery,) than 

 Ave now do. In a Avord, hoAV many farms are 

 there in the State, on which the same amount of 

 crops might be annually raised, as at present, with 

 three-fourths of the outlay of human labor? 



IIow many thousands, (might we not say mil- 

 lions,) are annually lost to the State, by the inju- 

 dicious application of the motive poAver. Let far- 

 mers think of these things ! Let them remember 

 that if they would not ahvays be like Issachar, 

 "a strong ass crouching down between tAvo bur- 

 thens," they must rouse up and use their 2>i/e//cc^5, 

 as well as their "huge paAvs" and brawny shoul 

 ders. 



