ADVICE TO A YOUNG FARMER. 273 



Objects of attention^ with a viezv to the settlement and suc^ 

 cess of a young agriculturalist. 



Let this be held the Farmer's creed, 



For stock, seek out the choicest breed ; 



In peace and plenty let them feed. 



Your land soav with the best ef seed ; ^- 



Let it nor dung, nor dressing need ; 



Inclose and drain it with all speed. 



And you will soon be rich indeed. 



Sinclair. 



It is an object ef extreme importance and difficulty to 

 awaken due attention, without exciting useless anxiety. 

 In selecting a situation in which to exercise tiie occupa- 

 tion of a fai'raer, various circumstances are minutely and 

 deliberately to be regarded, and great consideration is 

 required to form an accurate comparison of advantages 

 and disadvantages. After these have been fully ascer- 

 tained, a balance is to be drawn, and a decision to be made. 

 More attention than time is requisite for this purpose, 

 and hesitating, broken application, v/ill often occupy a 

 longer period in arriving at an inj'o.dicious determination, 

 than, with persevering and dispassionate examination, is 

 necessary to obtain a correct one. The soil is an ob- 

 ject of particular consideration, in reference to a vast 

 variety of circumstances ; as to its stiffness and moisture ; 

 levelness or slope ; its exposure or its stoniness ; the 

 manuring, draining, and fencing that may be required ; 

 the state of the roads ; the accessibility of markets ; — 

 the prices of manufactures, of produce, of labour, &sc. 

 To tix on good land is a prudential general direction. — 

 For such it is not easy, with ordinary discretion, to pay 

 too much, while for pour soils a small price very fre- 

 quently exceeds their worth. No degree of fertility 

 should tempt a man to purchase in an unhealthy part of 

 the country, nor the pleasantest situation in a barren 

 part. Examine how the neighbouring inhabitants fare. 

 It is best to purchase from a good husbandman and a 

 good improver. 



Independently of the general salubrity of the place 

 where farm mansions are proposed to be built, the nature 

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