178 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



DECEMBER 13, ims 



countries! A p'ople thinly scattered over a land 

 unequalled in fertility and exiiatistless in its resour- 

 ces, are buying liicir bread at ennriiious prices 

 frrm countries so overbiirtliened with inhabitants 

 thit political economists have feared that the earth 

 would fail to piodiice siitficient to support them. 

 Such an extraordinary and unnatural circutn- 

 Btnnce she ild excite attention and awaken the in- 

 quiry as to its cause. 



The fault as we have seen, is not in the soil ; 

 Bor is the country overrun witli inhabitants. It 

 is therefore evident that the cultivation of llie soil 

 is neglected, otherwise we should be exporting 

 instead of importing agricultural products. But 

 it is easier to shew the fact, that agriculture is 

 neglected, than to find a sufficient reason for such 

 neglect. We apprehend, however, that it will be 

 found to spring in a great measure from the same 

 causes which have produced much evil in this 

 country and the bitter fruits of which we are now 

 reaping, 'flie first and chief of thesa causes is 

 the inordinate thirst for wealth which pervades 

 every class of society, and induces men to aban- 

 don their legitimate business to engage in some 

 wild hazardous speculation with the hope of be- 

 coming suddenly rich. It is also too often the 

 case that the farmer becomes tired of the moder- 

 ate and gradual accumulation of property by the 

 products of his land, and leaves th.e cultivation of 

 it to engage in the business of commerce or man- 

 ufactures. He finds out liis egregious mistake 

 when it is too late. The property he had accu- 

 mulatul is often squandered and lost in conse- 

 quence of his ignorance of new business, and he 

 again sighs for the cheerful and independent mode 

 of life which he has abandoned, when it is out of 

 his power to resume it. We have in our mind 

 numberless instances of this kind, where inrfus- 

 Irious and prosperous farmers have been lured to 

 their ruin by being induced to lay aside the im- 

 pletnents of husbandry, and engage in the univer- 

 sal scramble after sudden wealth. 



There is another great error prevalent upon this 

 subject, and that is the business of agriculture is 

 generally looked upon as less respectable than that 

 of commerce, manufactures, or the professions; 

 and wealthy farmers, instead of teaching their sons 

 their own business, most usually transform them 

 into merchants, lawyers, doctors or dominets. 

 This is all wrong. Agriculture is the very back 

 bone of all business, the main spring of all wealth, 

 and should be regarded as a profession of the 

 highest respectability. It gives those engaged in 

 it a feeling of independence, genuine nobleness 

 without ostentation, honor, honesty and firmness, 

 well calculated to perpetuate the free institutions 

 of our happy country. The truth of the eloquent 

 panegyrics of the ancients upon this empU yment 

 may be more easily realized here than in any oth- 

 er country upon earth. We confidently hope to 

 see public opinion speedily righting itself upon 

 this subject, and to find people seeking their per- 

 manent interests and advancing the prosperity and 

 glory of our wide domain by engaging more gen 

 erally in this healthful, honest and independent 

 business. — JV. Y. Sun. 



Alum in ]>aste will prevent mice from gnawing 

 at the backs of books which have pap>"r titles 

 pasted on them. We wish our hinders to think of 

 this, or something better that will answer the same 

 purpose. 



[From the Mechanic Sl Farmer.] 

 Mannfactiirlng Oats Into Bread Stafft. 



Mr Satwarp : — Believing that you are strong- 

 ly inclined to the interest of the Agriculturist in 

 this section of the country, I therefore, through 

 the ntedium of your valuable paper, offer a few 

 hints to my brother farmers on the objects and 

 advantages of raising and manufacturing Oats m- 

 to bread stuff. The cause of my writing this ar- 

 ticle at this time is, that a considerable number of 

 my friends and neighbors are making j-reparations 

 to move to the for West, because, they say, " we 

 can't raise no corn." Now, sir, it is my firm con- 

 viction, that the region in this latitude is not adap- 

 ted to the culture of corn. This, every man of 

 moderate understanding does, or ought to know. 

 Hut, sir, one thing is certain — we can raise a 

 plenty of good potatoes, and get as much forthem 

 per bushel, in our cellars, as can be got for a bush- 

 el of corn, in their barns, in either Ohio, Indiana, 

 Illinois, or Missouri. We are positive that we 

 can raise good crops of wheat, and that this sec- 

 tion of the country is excellent for the culture of 

 that article. A friend of mine, who I can believe, 

 told me yesterday, tnat he has this season raised, 

 after two bushels sowing, sixty bushles of good 

 wheat. I myself had, last year, over 46 btishels 

 after two bushels sowing, on burnt land ; this year 

 I cannot tell how much will be the increase, not 

 having threshed any this season — but it looks 

 well. We have in this section, generally, good 

 health, caused, no doubt, by a pure attnosphere, 

 and good wells of water — which no writer of 

 any candor has ever stated (to my knowledge) is 

 possessed by the settlers who go from New Eng- 

 land to the West : there they have the bilious fe- 

 ver and ague, to an alarming extent. Besides, if 

 they wotild only consider the high prices they 

 would have to pay for sheetings, shirtings, cali- 

 coes, and cloths of all kinds — not to mention teas, 

 spices, and other luxuries, which the people of 

 New England have been accustomed to, from their 

 childhood — I think they would be more content 

 with thfir present situation. 



Now, IMr Editor, if we should substitute Oats 

 for corn, by sowing them in season, (not sow them 

 in the middle of June, as soiuo do,) thatthey may 

 be filled — then husband them, as we would wheat 

 — catry them to mill, and have them floured — I 

 will be boimd in that case there never will be such 

 a cry for want of bread stutts as has been heard 

 the past year, in the County of Penobscot. This 

 county is as well adapted to the culture of oats as 

 Scotland, my native country, where the staple 

 bread stuff is oat-meal ; and if the people would 

 once get into the way of usitig it, they would pre- 

 fer it to brown bread, being sweeter and equally 

 as substantial. The flouring of oats is much prac- 

 ticed in some parts of Vermont, Rygate and Bar- 

 net ; they carry them to Dover and Great Falls, 

 N. H., and to Lowell and Boston, Mass. 



It must be observed that an oat-meal mill must 

 be built, or rather fixed on purpose for them — 

 besides, there must be attached to the mill, a kiln, 

 for the drying of them before they are ground. 



If these hints meet the eye of any brother far- 

 mer who may appreciate them, I shall be glad to 

 discuss tlie subject more at length. 



Bradford, Sept. 1836. Joh.v Pender. 



" A friend of mine informed me that he raised 

 his whe.-it principally by ploughing up his sheej* 

 pasture. After he had pastured his best tillage 

 about three years with sheep, he broke it up and 

 sowed it to wheat. .He had become so success- 

 ful in the mode of niising his grain in this way, 

 that he averred, that he would not let a man pas- 

 ture his sheep if he would do it for nothing. Last 

 season he sowed 26 bushels on about twelve and 

 a half acres of land. He has not threshed it yet, 

 but he believed from appearances, he was war- 

 ranted in saying that the yield was twenty-five 

 bushels to the acre. From this I am led to mak& 

 the following calculation. Wheat will probably 

 be worth two dollars and fifty cents the bushel to. 

 grind into flour, taking the present price of flour 

 as a data to go upon. If this is right, the amount 

 per acre will be $62.50. If the straw will pay 

 for threshing, f 8.50, vvill cover all the expenses 

 of growing it, we will however call it nine dollars, 

 this will leave him — to say nothing about rent, 

 taxes, or fences — $53.50 per acre, which, he 

 says, is profit enough to satisfy any honest man. 

 This has been done the present year, provided I 

 am right in tny calculation, and 1 have more fears 

 that wheat will be higher than lower. The pro- 

 fits of these twelve acres and a half, will amount 

 to six hundred and sixty-nine dollars and thirty 

 cents. He said that he had already ploughed 

 about thirty acres to sow in the ensuing spring. 

 In his neighborhood, he remarked, the rage was 

 all for lumbering, but he was determined not to 

 lumber, and he hoped not ts go to New York to 

 mill. What is not a little strange in this thing 

 is, that this profitable crop was grown on land 

 that would not bring more than ten dollars per 

 acre. 



Now, sir, I am fully persuaded that the mighty 

 jnachine called public opinion, ought to be .set 

 right as it regards Agricf.lture and the mechanic 

 Arts, not only in that neighborhood, but through- 

 out our whole State, or we will never be rich or 

 happy. AVe must give up the wild notion of get- 

 ting rich in a day. We must throw ourselves 

 on the foundations of industry and economy for a 

 living. 



Let a young man have a farm worth .$150t', 

 and understand his business, and a capital besides 

 of $500, and he can make more money than nt 

 any other business I know of at the present day. 

 Is it then a disgrace lor a young man of common 

 or uncommon abilities, to be a farmer .' If so, 

 then starve until it becomes honorable, for starve 

 you must, if you embrace such opinions. If noth- 

 ing else can, may the hard hand of necessity set 

 you right." 



Wheat. — If wheat can hn raised to advan- 

 tage in Maine, why not in Massachusetts ? A 

 correspondent of the Maine Farmer writes thus : 



CATTLE SHOW 



Of the Cumberland Agricultural and Horticultural So- 

 ciety, Oct. 18, 1836. 



HORSES, sheep AND SWIKE. 



The Committee Report, That there were ofTer- 

 ed for premium, three Stud Horses, and the first 

 preminm awarded by them, was to the horse of- 

 fered by Josiah Little, $5.00. 



The horse oflfered by Edmimd Masher, was ex- 

 amined by your comirtittce, who thought favora- 

 bly of the horse, but did not think it proper toad- 

 judge any premium to him. 



The horse 2 years old offered by Otis Brown, 

 the committee thought very favorably of, but ac- 

 cording to the Bye-laws of your society, is not en- 

 titled to a premium. 



