NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



197 



rpose intended, that of dressina;flaxat a small 

 pense, without rotting', (and that they may is 

 nfidently expected.) then may we assuredly 

 il this as a new era in agriculture, inasmuch 

 we s^ll be in immediate possession of an 

 e^nt staple, to which our soil is generally 

 ell adapted, equal at least in value to the cot- 

 n of our southern brethren, and which we can 

 rnlsh at a less expense per pound than thev 

 in their cotton, with all their unenviable and 

 ihallowed aids of " sinews bought and sold." 



en 5th. In selecting implements of husbandry, 

 ay no regard 4o fashion, but examine each ar- 

 cle for yoiirself. See that it is fit for the use 



111 itended. If choosing a plough, for instance, 



if ever buy it for its name, whether made by 

 mall, or Wood, or Burden, or Wright. Is your 



(d eld free irom obstructions, and do you wish to 

 o your work well, and with the least possible 

 ower of team, choose a plough that presents 

 he least resi»;tance to the soil, and which, from 

 ts length and just proportions, enables you to 

 Dake neat and thorough work : but if your land 

 5 still covered with stumps, which leave you 

 carce room between one stump and another, 



parade your team with a plough a <lozen feet 

 ong at their heels, then try to contract the 

 englh of your plough as much as you can, and 

 till be enabled to make tolerable work, as this 

 vill save you many balks in your field, and much 

 lifliculty and delay in managing vour team. Is 

 rour land new, and filled with roots which you 

 wish to exterminate — see that your plough be 

 inn, compact and strong, relying on your addi- 

 ional strength of team to carry you throagli. 

 .n short, suit your means to the end designed, 

 md this single simple rule will save you a vast 

 leal of loss and trouble in all respects. 



From the foregoing remarks, we may see the 

 lecessity of examining facts on general princi- 

 ales, and the danger of relying on authority in 

 ".he importation of grains, implements and modes 

 of husbandry from abroad, and of trusting to 

 experiments made under circumstances that are 

 unexplained or misunderstood. We see that in 

 England, whence are drawn many of our most 

 valuable improvements, things are often profit- 

 able and necessary, that are useless hero. — 

 Hence, often, English farmers, on first viewing 

 our style of farming, think it utterly inferior to 

 theirs, when, perhaps, it would be no difficult 

 task to prove, that in the legitimate pursuits of 

 agriculture, viz. the comforts and moral im- 

 provements of our population, and for profits of 

 capital employed, we far excel them. Hence 

 too, we are often urged to adopt modes and 

 projects, which, though justified by favorable 

 circumstances abroad, are preposterous here. 



To illustrate this, I might refer you to the 

 opinions of many respectable men daily pub- 

 Jished among us, which are utterly fallacious. 

 Let me point you to a single instance : In one 

 of our most valuable agricultural publications, 



1 have noticed several able letters on Flemish 

 husbandry recommended to our attention — one 

 leading trait of which style of farming is, that 

 the lands are to be dug over with the spade to 

 the depth of eighteen inches, every three or 

 four years! Now this may doubtless be good 

 llisbandry in Flanders, where the country is 

 crowded with a population that must be emplo)'- 

 ed and fed, and in order to which the last bush 

 el of grain must be wrung from the earth, with- 

 out regard to the labor required to produce it — 



ivhile in our fertile and happy country the case 

 is entirely different, and the attempt would be 

 absurd and ridiculous. 



Here then let us pause for a moment, and call 

 to our aid sober reason and observation. Let ns 

 scan closely the claims of every innovation, in 

 order to adopt it if useful or reject it if use- 

 less. So far from retarding improvcmeol, 

 this will accelerate its progress, by sweeping 

 from its path much useless matter that now en- 

 cumbers it. The fashion of the day leads us too 

 f.ir into wild theories and visionary projects; — 

 we go on loosely and unprofitably, without ac- 

 curacy and without method. 1 repeat it then, 

 we want at present, not so much crude materials, 

 as accuracy and system in iiivestigatiiig and ar- 

 ranging, that we may reject or adopt lor practi- 

 cal purposes. 



I might proceed to remind you, Gentlemen, of 

 various rules which should not be forgotten, but 

 I have already been led to detain you longer 

 than 1 had intended. My object has been chief- 

 ly to draw your attention from splendid theo- 

 ries and experiments, to the ordinary but im- 

 portant concerns of your own farms. 



Permit me now to add a few remarks on the 

 objects of our agricultural association, and par- 

 ticularly on the rewards we bestow on prize 

 stock and crops. Their effects are, I fear, in 

 some respects injurious to the true interests of 

 agriculture, by encouraging the growth of mon- 

 sters by inordinate means. 



So far as extraordinary crops can be produc- 

 ed from improved modes of culture, or superior 

 stock raised by introducing new species from 

 abroad, or skilful crossing at home, they add to 

 the valuable interests of the community ; but to 

 know how to produce one extraordinary animal 

 only hy starving liis mate, or to make t»vo blades 

 of grass flourish where but one grew before, 

 only by robbing the next field of its due propor- 

 tion of nourishment, adds nothing to our stock 

 of valuable knowledge, or the prosperity of the 

 country. 



Beauty, in every system, is founded on the 

 symmetry of its parts, and whatever tends to de- 

 stroy its just proportions in one particular, must 

 be viewed as injurious to the whole. If, then, 

 premiums for large crops, without regarding ex- 

 pense, tempt to an undue use of our farming re- 

 sources, and this is evidently their direct effect, 

 then it must follow, that they are injurious to 

 our interests. This idea, however, is suggest- 

 ed with great deference to the present general 

 opinion and practice ; but may I not ask, has 

 not this practice grown out of the erroneous po- 

 sition, that good husbandry consists in producing 

 the greatest crops? whereas, to judge of its ex- 

 cellence, we ought first to know the expense of 

 producing them, in order to estimate the profit 

 on the capital emplojed. 



Should not the premium be more justly due 

 to him who should instruct us by a skilful and 

 judicious application of labor to land, how to 

 raise a hundred bushels of grain at the least 

 possible expense, than to him who, by an un- 

 profitable and extravagant use of his farmhig 

 resources, should force it from a single jicre ? 

 In short, have we not adopted a wrong princi- 

 ple on which to ground our rewards, by mis- 

 taking the object to be attained, nou bestowing 

 them on the gross amount of prof'iucc, and not 

 on the net profit of the capital employed ? 



Let us then require of each claimant, at least 



a statement of his expenses, as well as the mode 

 of culture — we may then judge whether his 

 mode bo profitable, and ought to be adopted. 

 We want chiefly to learn economy in the skilful 

 application of liibor to land, in order to render 

 every acre most productive ; for we must still 

 bear in mind, that with us labor forms the prin- 

 cipal item of capital expended in our farming 

 operations, and that we are limited in our sup- 

 ply of it. 



Again — might not a competition of a higher 

 order among us be excited, by inviting each 

 farmer who wished to compete with his neigh- 

 bor in good husbandry, to keep for exhibition a 

 general account current with his farm, and then 

 award premiunw in proportion to his profits on 

 the capital employed, and his skill in managing 

 it ? This plan would seem difficult at first 

 view, but forms might be drawn and blanks fur- 

 nished by the society to its members, so plain 

 and simple that every man of common capacity 

 might soon learn to keep his accounts correctly. 

 This would tend directly to the practice I have 

 before recommended : it would enable us to 

 take more correct and comprehensive views of 

 our own operations, and shew in what respects 

 our efforts were well directed: it would exhibit 

 to us the amount of our farming concerns, and 

 prove to us whether we were applying our la- 

 bor to the best advantage, and rendering our 

 capital productive : it would, in fact, render each 

 man's grounds a pattern farm for his improve- 

 ment, as it would not only show him what was 

 most profitable, but would record the facts for 

 his future use ; and thus much valuable informa- 

 tion, which is now daily acquired, and gradually 

 lost for the want of some place in which to 

 treasure it up, would be preserved, and the/arm 

 book, if fairly kept, would soon become au in- 

 teresting repository of valuable knowledge. 



To conclude — let us never deceive ourselves 

 with the expectation of sudden or extravagant 

 gain. In every course of lite, but more especi- 

 ally in farming, such hopes are entirely falla- 

 cious. Every thing depends on patient industry, 

 properly directed, and a well regulated econo- 

 my in the use of means. It is an error to sup- 

 pose that this country is in vrant of valuable sta- 

 ples for market, in order to render it prosperous, 

 although I am aware that a different opinion has 

 prevailed. The difficulty lies, not in want of 

 subjects of profit, but of skill in selecting and 

 improving them. 



" Knowledge is power.'^ — On looking around 

 us, we see that each farmer who improves the 

 advantages of his situation with a moderate de- 

 gree of skill, industry and economy, lives com- 

 fortably, and renders his farm profitable ; while 

 his neighbor, who may be equally industrious 

 and economical in his style of living, but wants 

 skill to direct his efforts to advantage, is contin- 

 ually toiling on from year to year in difficulties, 

 and left to complain that the country is going to 

 ruin for the want of something that can be raised 

 worth carrying to market. 



General prosperity is composed of individual 

 successes, and where every farmer has it in his 

 power to succeed, we must conclude the country 

 is prosperous, or that causes operate of which 

 we are not aware. May not these causes be 

 traced to other sources than bad farming, to wit ■ 

 to bad living — to habits of indulgence and ease, 

 of waste and general extravagance ? 



It may be confidently asserted, that there io 



