36 



holder. They do not depend on the proceeds of farming to mam- 

 tain their famiUes. It is to them a pleasant and healthy pastime. 

 But in the example of the working farmer given above, there is 

 encouragement to the young man, who shudders at the prospect 

 of years of labor and looks longingly to the West. It is a hard 

 life, yet not painful, not unpleasant, not without many compensa- 

 tions. Is it not better to live at home, in a land of schools and 

 churches, and among old friends, and to work for these advan- 

 tages, than to encounter the sickness and to experience the incon- 

 venience insei)arable from the settlement of a new country ? 



The working farmers of this county, who annually increase the 

 value of their farms, do not depreciate agriculture by represent- 

 ing it as an undesirable employment. A comparison of any number 

 of such farmers with an equal number of men who started with 

 them in business as mechanics or traders, will show that the bal- 

 ance is not always with the latter. Great fortunes are not made, 

 but a comfortable support, exempted from the fluctuations incident 

 to mercantile pursuits. May we not hope that the present finan- 

 cial difficulties will turn the attention of young men from the over- 

 crowded paths of trade to the more natural, and in the long run 

 equally profitable business of farming ; more natural because 

 agriculture is the foundation of the support of a being sprung from 

 the earth and living upon its bosom ; equally profitable, as may 

 be proved by a comparison of the results of various forms of in- 

 dustry extended over a term of years. Let them bring the same 

 enterprise and skill to farming, which they display in other lines 

 of business, and rural life will be attractive and delightful. 



The potato crop has almost every where suffered from rot, and 

 from the unproductiveness which the disorder has occasioned, a 

 great variety of experiments have been made to avoid the rot, 

 and to increase the crop, with generally unsatisfactory results. 

 It seems to be tolerably well estabhshed, that strong and rich 

 manure promotes too rapid fermentation, and while it increases 

 the growth of the tubers, causes them to decay. It may also be 

 stated that potatoes have usually done best on light land, old pas- 

 tures, or fields recently reclaimed from the forest. Also, that 

 potatoes planted early succeed better than those planted later. 

 Perhaps the same result would be attained if they were planted 

 very late ; for if the object of early planting is to secure cool, 

 moist weather, that may be had in the fall as well as in the spring. 

 The idea is that the disease is caused by rust, and that rust is 

 occasioned by warm and sultry weather, and the object of very 

 early or very late planting is to avoid the rust at a time when the 

 vines are most easily affected by it. Whether any importance is 

 to be attached to this view, every farmer must determine from his 

 own experience. 



