76 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



SEPT. 14, 1830. 



A LE VP FROMTHE SO TE BOOK OP A F \ R9IKR. 



Some ex|)LTifiic't', and more oliscrvatioii, lias 

 conviiiceil iiic that one of tlii^ most common er- 

 rors inio wliicli faniiurs fall, is undertaking more 

 work tliaii they can perform ; hence I insert the 

 folloninii .Vein. Never to lay out more work 

 than there is a roasonahle probaliility of my fin- 

 ishing in good tiiue, an<l in goo<l order. Labor i;; 

 capital, and tinie is capita', and a man shonltl know 

 liow much ofholli he can bestow on any given 

 jmrt of his farm liefnre he undertakes its cultiva- 

 tion. Serious losses result from a neglect of this 

 rule, for there aie many farms, and many opera- 

 tions in fariningj in which a failure in time or la- 

 bor is fatal to tije ho])e of profit. There are ma- 

 ny (arms so situated lluit the crops will not pay 

 the cx|)Knse of cultivation, uidess manure is used 

 to a considerable extent; now if the farmer plans 

 liis business on so extensive a scale that he lias 

 Jio time to collect and apply this essential article, 

 his inferior crojis will prove a source of loss in- 

 stead of gain. iC he plants a field of corn, but has 

 *o inuch other work to do that he can hoe it but 

 once, and that slightingly, when two thorough 

 ones are required, he must not complain if his 

 neighbor, who (Miiploys a capital of both time and 

 l.tbor on his corn, sliou'd gather a harvest far ex- 

 ceeding his own. If he allows his manure to lie 

 in the barn yard through the summer, washing in 

 the rains, and wasting in the sun, because he had 

 not time to apply it to his corn or barley grounds 

 in the spring, he may be sure that he is not in the 

 way to get the most profit from his fann, or the 

 most benefit from his barn-yard. The man who 

 has no time to clean his seed wheat, because he 

 is so driven with work, will most likely find some 

 five or ten y.v cent of his crop will be chess ami 

 cockle at harvesting. But there is no end to the 

 inconveniences that rcsidt from attempting too 

 iniicli on the farm ; from beginning to end it is 

 evil; it makes the whole process of farming np- 

 liiil work ; it allows net a moment for relaxation 

 or improvement of the mind; it places the fiirmer 

 and his work in wrong positions, the latter always 

 driving the former ; and he who <ioes not correct 

 the error in time, will find himself driven out of 

 liouse and home. 



Mem. Never to willingly subject myself to a 

 charge of ignorance on any subject of permanent 

 utility or general knowledge, not of a kind strictly 

 technical or professional. The notion so preva- 

 lent, that the farmer, from the \ery nature of liis 

 avocations, must necessarily be ignorant of every- 

 thing that does not relate to his employment, should 

 b'! ex])loded, and none are more interested in the 

 matter than the fanner himself. It may be assert- 

 ed, that few professional men, who are zealously 

 and successfully engaged in their several pursuits, 

 have more hours to devote to the acquisition of 

 general knowledge of a iisefid kind- than the far- 

 mer. .41! that is wanting is the taste fiir knowl- 

 edge — and this taste is usually an actjuired one 

 — and the means of information will follow as a 

 matter of course. Papers, periodicals, books, are 

 nil so plentiful and so cheap, and information on 

 most topics has been so condensed, that to (ilead 

 want of means, or want of time, for the acquisi- 

 tion of knowledge, in sealing our condemnation 

 with our own hand. True, a farmer must work, 

 and work hard — to labor is his glory, and in it he 

 finds his reward. The free laborer who tills his 

 own farm, has a prouder patent of nobility, and 

 can trace a longer pedigree, than any monarch- 



made race of peers on earth ; but he must never 

 be ashamed of his i-alling, or ape the follies or 

 vices of those who rirlicniously deem themselves 

 above him. 



Mem. Always to |)erform whatever I under- 

 take. The celebrated John Hunter, towards the 

 close of his life, was asked how he had been able 

 to accomplish so much labor. He re,)lied, "by 

 always performing what I undertook. If an ob- 

 ject presented itself to me as desirable to be ac- 

 complished, I first inquired vvheti.er it could be 

 done — if it was necessary it should be done — 

 and these two points once settled, the conclusion 

 was I could do it as well as any one else, and by 

 perseverance it was d(me." This is the true course 

 to be pursued by the fanner. Only let him de- 

 termine what is indispensable, and necessary to 

 success in any firming operation, and he will rare- 

 ly fail. The object and the means of attaining it 

 should be distinct in the mind, and these .should 

 be unhesitatingly pursued. Perseverance has 

 wrought wonders in the farming world, and its 

 efficiency is not by any means lost. The most 

 highly cultivated parts of Europe, were consider- 

 ed as hopelessly barren; and our country exhibits 

 some more honorable examples of what skill ami 

 determined industry can accomplish. 



Mem. Always to pay particular attention to 

 the garden. Home farmers, by tiieir continued 

 borrowing, seem to believe in the maxim, that 

 '^ good neighbors are half ojie's living" but this I 

 would have apply to my garden. H' properly se- 

 lected, well manured, and carefully p'anted and 

 tended, a garden plat of half an acre will half 

 support a moderate family. The garden forms a 

 place into which a thousand scraps of time can br. 

 profitably cast, and health and pleasure be. as they 

 unhappily not often are, condiiiied. Flowers may 

 be called the poetry of the farm, and they are so 

 closely allied, that he who loves not both of them, 

 may be said to have but half a heart, and the wo- 

 man who neglects them is — is unpardonable. 



Mem. Never to suffer the season of gathering 

 and securing seeds to pass, without laying insuf- 

 ficient quantity for my own use, of the very best 

 of all the necessary kinds than cm be ])rocured. 

 It costs but litilc trouble at the time; it enables 

 you to he certain of the kind and quality ; and 

 when the season of planting or sowing arrives, 

 saves you an infinite deal of vexation and irnuble 

 in looking them up. i he governing maxim of 

 him who woidd be a thrifty farmer, so far as 

 coucerns what can profitably be raised on hisovvn 

 farm, must be — always to sell, never to buy. 



Mem. Always to pay ; articular attention to the 

 boundary fences of the fiirm ; certainly to those 

 which serve as division fi'iices bi'tween me anil my 

 neighbors. It can hardly be (piestioned that two 

 thirds of the difficulties and hard feelings which 

 exist among neighbors spring from this very 

 source. A law suit and a protracted quarrel has 

 been beipieathed to a third generation in conse- 

 quence of a single neglected rail. This source of 

 contention may be stopped m the .very bud, by a 

 little attention to the fences early in the season, 

 and occasional repairs as they are required. If a 

 mail was to judge by the condition of the fences 

 on many farms, by the top rails fallen off and ly- 

 ing rotting in the grass, by the unruly cattle, sheep, 

 and horses, that seem to have taken undisputed 

 possession, he would arrive at the conclusion that 

 the owner thought it beneath liiinto pick up a rail, 

 replace a post, or pile a few stones, that may have 



fallen down. Many farmers adopt a course, of Jtll 

 others ;he best adapted to make their animals un- 

 ruly and troublesome. If a few rails get down, or 

 a top bar or two falls, instead of making a thor- 

 ough repair of the damage at once, they go to 

 work by piece-meal, adding a rail or barat a titne, 

 giving their cattle and colts the very practice ne- 

 cessary to enable them to obtain perfection in • 

 jumping; a practice which rarely fiiils of Qomplete 

 success. It may be laid down as a inaxim, that 

 one unruly ox or horse, or even sheep, when not 

 confined, lint allowed to run at large or with the 

 stock on the farm, will occasion more damage dur- 

 ing a season than they are worth ; not to speak of 

 the vexation and loss of time they produce. The 

 only safe place for an unruly horse is a stable : 

 the only fit place for a troublesome ox or sheep is 

 the slaughter house. 



Mem. " Never to put oft" till to-inorrow what 

 what may as well be done to-day." This maxim, 

 if acted up to, would prevent an infinite deal of 

 trouble. Pure laziness, or pure carelessness are 

 coiitimially prompting us to lake our ease and let 

 the world slide ; and in no sphere of life d pes the 

 indulgence of this disposition to procrastinate pro- 

 duce more injurious effects than in that of the 

 farmer. I never knew a " time enough yet " man, 

 svho was not always behind his work, and in con- 

 sequence a serious annual loss. There are some 

 crops in season, had better not be put in at all, as 

 labor and seed are thus pievented from being 

 thrown away. It is besides always easier to per- 

 form work in the pro|)er season than at any other 

 time ; for instance, how many cold fingers would 

 be prevented if farmers' corn was gathered and 

 husked in October, instead of remaining on the 

 stalk or in the shock till November or December ; 

 and how certainly would the waste and inconve- 

 nience of frost-bitten potatoes be obviated if they 

 were secured in the cellar, or buried in thi^ holes 

 the last of September or the first of October. All 

 crops should be gathered when they are ripe : e.x- 

 posure after that period must, from the nature of 

 things, be injurious. 



JHem. Always keep out of debt. This rule 

 must be inflexible ; or if not absolutely so, the 

 only exception must be in the purchase of laud. 

 The man who pays down will save twenty dollars 

 in the hundred in his trading. l!y running in 

 debt a few times, a man acquires the habitof pur- 

 chasing a thousand things of which he stands in no 

 nef'd ; one of the very worst fiabits a farmer can 

 acquire, and which is sure, if persisted in, to re- 

 duce to poverty. Never buy an article because 

 it's cheap, till yon have inquired whether you 

 cannot as well do without it as to have it; and 

 whether the money you must use cannot be more 

 prohtably employed. If you need athingpayfor 

 it ; and save your 20 per cent, by paying your me- 

 chanic, your day laborer, your bookseller, and 

 your Printer, down. — Gen. Far. 



The Barre, Mass. Gazette, gives the following 

 account of a farmer in that town named Ebene- 

 zer Johnsen, who is in the 94th year of his age. 

 He has been swinging the scythe the present hay 

 season, with considerable vigor, and he sneers at 

 the idea of being outdone by the younger wights 

 of the sneath — he also performs a share of al- 

 iriost every kind of agricultural labor, and caii 

 truly boast of having been longer in the field, and 

 of accomplishing more hard labor, than any other 

 man he ever saw or heard of. 



