46 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



AVGt'ST IS, 1^38. 



AND gardener's JOURNAL. 



generous meal 

 tliere is a kind 



Boston, Wedsesday, Aogost 15, 1838. 



torniciiting desire of accumulation ; and 



and aillltlive dread of want ; there is a 



for the wandering and friendless beggar ; 



shelter for the respeotabic and way-worn traveller ; and 



there is always a hearty welcome for the honored friend 



and guest. There is little labor and no anxiety. If one 



THE SIZE OF FARMS. 1 crop is cut ofl' anotlier succeeds. Some little improve- 



The size of farms is often matter of conversation and '; ment is made on the farm ; some little comfort is yearly 



of considerable diversity of opinion. The subject dc- ; added in the house; and the stream of life flows calmly 



I on to its close, without any violent agnations and distur- 

 ! bances other than lliose which are incidental lo all human 

 I affairs. In such cases one hundred acres are equally suffi- 

 I cient with live hundred. Tlie great object in such cases is 



I a good deal of reflection ; and the proper ar.swe 

 to the question, what size is to be preferred must depend 

 on such a variety of circumstances that no general rule, 

 applicable to all cases, can be laid down. For example, 

 it is first to be determined what is the object of fanning ; 

 is it a mere subsistence for yourself and family that you 

 ■re seeking from the eartlx, or do you propose to pursue 

 agriculture with a \iew to pecuniary profit, and accumu- 

 lation, as any other commercial business or mamitactu- 

 ring or mechanical trade is pursued ? Next what kind 

 of farming is proposed to be pursued; is it tillage hus- 

 bandry ; or the keeping of a dairy, or a wool farm, or a 

 grazing farm and the raising of live stock ; or is it a sort 

 of mixed husbandry, vvliich comprehends a little of many 

 {hings, and much of nothing. Or is it a market garden- 

 er's ^m like those in the neighborhood of a city, where 

 like the shop of a retail trader there must be a variety of 

 little and great matters, suited to the season, the peculiar 

 demand, or the caprice of the community. Then again 

 the capital which can be commanded ; and the facilities 

 for procuring labor and manure, must be taken into the 

 account before the size of the farm most eligible can be 

 determined. 



The size of farms in Massachusetts varies greatly from 

 t«n acres to five hundred ; we mean cases where five 

 hundred acres are liolden in one body, but we know no 

 case in which any number of cases approaching this can 

 be said to be used for agricultural purposes by one indi- 

 vidual. Ill most instances where tracts exceeding one 

 hundred acres arc holden, a large portion remains in for- 

 est ; perhaps not even enclosed ; and from which merelj 

 the fuel for the family is from year to year obtained. We 

 know a few farmers in New England who mow from 

 fifty to scvcntyfive acres in grass ; and we know one ex- 

 traordinary ease, where fifty acres of wheat have been 

 sown in a single season, and two hundred acres in all 

 have been under cultivation at the same time. In gen- 

 eral however the farms in New England average from 

 acventy to one hundred acres ; and it is not common on 

 any farm to find more than twentyfive acres under til- 

 lage. The kind of farming pursued is altogether of a 

 mixed character, combining a variety of crops and pro- 

 ductions, with the exception of some few farms where 

 wool or liny are the principal and almost exclusive ob- 



culture, and especially a prevalent opinion that agricul- 

 ture among us can never be made profitable in a pecu- 

 niary view, and the universal disposition to try readier 

 and quicker modes of pecuniary acquisition and gain, 

 rather than wait for what in the best cases are considered 

 its slow returns. 



to ascertain with how little labor and tiitiguc the common 

 wants of the year can be supplied ; and so long as this 

 is accomplished the number of acres, which compose 

 wliat is called the farm, is of no consideration, be it more 

 or bo it less. 



But it is a difierent use when farrajng is pursued as 

 matter of pecuniary profit; and here the only proper 

 measure of the size of the farm is in the capacity and 

 means of its owner to manage it to advantage. Farming 

 cannot be pursued to advantage without the requisite 

 skill, a skill founded upon intelligent observation and 

 mature judgment; and that observation and judgment 

 enlightened and improved by inquiry and practical ex- 

 perience. Fanning cannot be pursued to advantage 

 without exact, assiduous, and diligent personal superin- 

 tendence. We know no position better established than 

 the old adage, 



" He that hy the plough would thrive 

 HiinseU'must either hold or drive." 



Human machinery is of all other the most difficult to 

 manage ; the most easily disturbed and put out of place, 

 and requiring, in order that it may go right, unremitted 

 care and vigilance. Common laborers are liable to be 

 ignorant, obstinate, conceited, or unfaithful, and think lit- 

 tle of their employers' interest compared with their own 

 ease and pleasure. They require constant direction and 

 superintendence, and the master's eye is as ijnportant as 

 the laborer's hands. Farming to be prosecuted to advan- 

 tage requires capital. The farmer in every case must 

 wait a rear for his returns. Seed, manure, labor, all in 

 advance, require capital ; and then likewise he should 

 not be compelled to sell at once immediately upon gath- 

 ering the crops, in perhaps an unfavorable condition of 

 the market, and when his necessities and not the value 

 of the article must determine the price. It will he far- 

 ther necessary to the farmer's success that he should be 

 able to command what labor may be necessary to culti- 

 vate or to secure his crops seasonably and perfectly. Now 



LONG ISL.'i^ND AGRICULTURE. 



\Vc have just met with an intelligent Long Island 

 farmer, and we choose to fasten while it is fresh upon our 

 minds the information he has given us. 



He states that leeched ashes are greatly used upon the 

 Island both for wheat and rye ; and are as important to 

 the latter crop as to the former ; that it is usually spread 

 upon the land at the time of sowing the seed at the rate 

 of !)0 to 100 bushels per acre ; and usually harrowed in ; 

 that their crops of rye vary much ; of wheat the average 

 is about 20 bushels ; and are seldom subject to blight ; 

 that winter wheat succeeds much better with them than 

 spring wheat ; and that it is all essential to manure their 

 land the same season when the wheat is sowed ; and for 

 this purpose stable manure is considered much the most 

 valuable ; and that this is applied as brought directly 

 from the stable. Of lime they have made little or no use ; 

 but from experiments within his knowledge they are led 

 to a strong belief of its utility. Vie are entire believers 

 in its utility and always have been ; but of it.s indispcn- 

 sableness in the production of wheat we are not so fully 

 persuaded. He further stated that ashes were by no 

 means sufficient without manure. This accords with the 

 best doctrines of vegetable nutritions. They are not a 

 manure properly so speaking. Tliey are not the food, of 

 plants ; but like lime in its various forms are a mere 

 condiment or preparer of the vegetable food. 



if we suppose a case 



in which all these advantages are 



If a iiiaii chooses to limit his agriculture to the mere 

 supply of the wants of himself and family, with some lit- 

 tle gradually accumulating balance in his favor at the 

 dose of the year ; and will at the stime lime limit the 

 wants of his family hy rules of the strictest frugality, a 

 few acres well managed will alToril not only a comforta- 

 ble subsistence, but ample means of reasonable luxury 

 and kind hospitality. So many examples of this indus- 

 trious and frugal management and simple independence 

 have come within our own observation, that wc have no 

 hesitation in saying that a few acres well occupied and 

 improved will ^ustaiu in plenty and conif irt even com- 

 paratively numerous families. There are beautiful speci- 

 mens of New England comfort which arc scattered over 

 our whole territory. They are cases where there is indeed 

 nothing which may he called wealtli and there is no pov- 

 erty , (here is food enough, clothing enough and fuel en- 

 ougli ; th«re is no ambition of display ; no harassing and 



combined, where there is skill, industry, labor, capital in 

 ample abundance, and where the farmer is determined to 

 make agriculture as exclusively his business as the mer- 

 chant or manufacturer make their trade or manufiicturc 

 the object of their pursuit, then the size of the farm may 

 be limited only by the capacity of the superintendent to 

 take charge of it, and the amount of attention he is wil- 

 ling to devote lo it. It is impossible in this case to say 

 wilh any precision how many acres can be successfully 

 managed, any more than we can determine, without an 

 exact knowledge of all the circumstances of the case, 

 how many ships a merchant may have under his charge, 

 or how many spindles a manufacturer may superintend ; 

 this can only be safely determined by the particular cir- 

 cumstances of each case. We have few examples of 

 such farming in New England. For the most part the 

 small subdivisions of our territory forbid it ; add to this 

 the difficulty of procuring and managing labor, the want 

 of capital or the unwiUingness to invest capital in agri 



For the Now England Farmer. 



A-eu:ton,JuIy27, 1838. 



Miv*Editor — I am so much engaged in the various 

 industrious duties that I cannot find time to read your 

 useful journal, and had concluded to stop it ; but in the 

 last number I read " Materials for Manure." This single 

 piece, induces me to pursue your very plan of making 

 manure. I have adopted the same plan for more than a 

 vear. And yet, I am frequently told that I don't know 

 how to farm it, yet I practise just as you lay it down. 

 The reason is, that those who say I don't know, don't 

 know themselves, and not one of them read your journal. 

 The way I farm it is, I put practice and common sense 

 tooether, and " go ahead." Please to give me credit for 

 one voar's subscription which is enclosed. 



Yours, A Subscriber. 



P. S. I have cut this seas^, 50 tons of Hay, gathered 

 ■io bushels of Wlicat, 100 bushels of Rye ; Corn and Po- 

 tatoes look finely. 



Massachusetts Horticultnral Society. 



Exhibition of Flowers. 



Saturday, Avg-ust 11, 1838. 

 By Marshall I*. Wilder Esq. of Grove Hall, Dorches- 

 ter, by his gardener Mr J. Donald, two superb specimens 

 of Hibiscus fulgens. These flowers were very large. 

 They were much admired for their elegant shaped, pink 

 colored cups. We hope Col. Wilder will fiivor us with 

 other specimens of his new Capetown beaulij. 



Bouquets. — By Messrs Hovey, Winsliip, Sweetser, 

 Howard, and Walker. 



For the Committee, 



S. WALKER, Chairman. 



