426 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JVSEm, 1840. 



and horticultural rkgister. 



Boston, Wednesday, June 24, 1840. 



AGRICULTURE IN MASaACHUSETTS. 

 At a dislanoe from home and keepinn- nu cnpi, of our 

 f«/rmer remarks, we :ire not certain lliiiL we may occa- 

 sionally be ehiiri.'e.-\ljl.- with sojni! repi^iii.ni. It will not 

 however, bp drme, if Hiine at nil, wiili iiialic" jiic/iense, 

 and tlierelore we sliall in such case (eel ihat u .; have 

 at least the common claim upun the Iciiily and cindor 

 of our readers. 



We allnded in ourlusl tnllie fad that, [iroperly speak- 

 ing, no ca|iital is invcsti.'d in rarniin;; in Massaclinsetis ; 

 and although capilal might often be iuvcstnl in ihis way 

 to great advantage, tlu! slutly nf our farnn'ri is in .lei on 

 with as little expense as possible ; avoiding any expen- 

 diture not only where the resnJ! rniglusRem lo bedoubt- 

 ful, but where even it is as certain as any thing future 

 can be. We were much impressed witli this circnin- 

 stance when the law authorising ;i bounty upon wheat 

 was enacted. Though the boiinly proposed was only 

 two dollars for the first fifteen bushels, and live cents 

 for each additional bushel, and seemed in truth a very 

 small affair; yet it was argued that the bounty would 

 at least pay for the .seed; and that this circumstance 

 would prove, as facts afterwards .showe.i, !i sufficient in- 

 ducenientfor many to sow wheat who otherwise would 

 not attempt it. This indicates a remarkable caution, 

 which many would pronounce a meanness. VVe think 

 it very far from being a meanness ; but a caution, which 

 springs from commendable motives. But at the same 

 lime it evinces a want ofenlerjirise which we may pro- 

 nounce excessive ; and which operates as a strong im- 

 pediment to agricultural improvement. 



There are certainly many cases in which capital with- 

 in reasonable limits might be invested to great advan- 

 tage in agriculture. 'J'he rock on which many of our 

 farmers have grounded, has been, where money hasbeen 

 laid out in expending too much upcm tliejr buildings and 

 fences, upon the exterior emliellishment and the inte- 

 rior furnishing of tlieir houses. In this matter there is 

 certainly too groat ambition of display; and many of 

 our farmers have houses v^■lllch cost them ti.'ur, five and 

 six thousand dollars, which ofien exceeds by fifty and 

 seventyfjve per cent, what ilie cnst in such c ise should 

 be ; brings upon them loo oficn a heavy debt, and effec- 

 tually cripples or deslroys their means iif improving 

 their lands. The difference in this respect between the 

 New England people and tlie iNew York faimers or th 

 farmers in the western States is remarkable. In New 

 York State the first object of the farmer is the improve 

 nientof his land and the cultivation of crops ; hisfjousi 

 is often a very inferior concern, and all his equipmenl 

 of the cheapest and most simple chaiaclcr. In the west 

 ern Slates even the richest farmers will be found living 

 in log cabins ; and a frame bouse wiili all iis various 

 comforts and elegam^ies, is a luxury which Iiardly pre- 

 sents itself to his imagination in the most (iislant pros- 

 pect. Whatever money he acquires bi-yund his absolute 

 wants, is expended in buying ni'To land, in enlarging 

 his stock, or in multiplying his crops. It must certainly 

 b^ pronoiiD-ei very bad pidicy for a larmer, where his 

 house on a farm of one hundred acres costs biin much 

 more than his land. Il is very bad policy, be 'ause the 

 money thus expended becomes not only an unpioduc- 

 tive but a deteriorating capital, because it leads to vari- 

 ous other expenses in maintaining a certain style of liv- 

 i'lgin keeping with the appearance and size of the house ; 



because in tlie next plac-e in case of a necessity of the 

 sale oltlie farm, either on account of death or misfor- 

 tune, such e.xtraorrliiiary expenditures are scarcely con- 

 deredaiall; and lastly, because it deprives him in a 

 great degree ofllie means of culture and iniprovenient. 

 We admit thai in this case there has been within the 

 last quarter of n century an evident improvement, and 

 instead of the large square two story and of\entimes 

 three sloiy houses, which wcie so common in the cnnn- 

 trv.and wliicb were .seldom built under an expense of 

 thousands, many both of our fa-niersand mechanics are 

 content to build neat one story houses, at a cost of seven 

 or nine hundred dollars. 



T'lieie are oiliercircumstauccsofexpen.se, v\liich arise 

 out of our luaniicrs, and in which it in.ay, with too much 

 truth, bo said we pay dear for our pride. We will refer 

 to one prominent example, and that is in respect to cuir 

 carriaKes or pleasure vehicles. .Anyone who iias trav- 

 elled in llic interior of New Yiuk, as in the neighbor- 

 hood ofAlbaoy, for ixaniple, will have often seen the 

 Dutch farmers, min of weallh and condition, going to 

 market with wheal or other produce in their firm wag- 

 ons, or bringing home from town a load of supplies, and 

 their wives and daughiers, though exceedingly well 

 dressed, gelling up along side of tliem. How totally 

 different are things with us in a large part of IVlas.-achu- 

 sett.s, where hardly ihe farmer himself, if he is above the 

 condition of a day-laborer, much less his wife or daugh- 

 t(us, would ever think of going to the city or from (me 

 town to another in a vehicle of burden ; and where men 

 whose means are extremciv' restricted, deem il I'S.seulial 

 to their condition to keep a cliaise or ca ryall exclusive- 

 ly for travelling. We do not speak of these things in 

 the way of censure or otherwise ; and allude to this ex- 

 ample among many others, which show by what oc- 

 casions the means of agricultural improvement wi:h 

 many of our fanners are crippled or desttoyed. 



We can have no disposition to see our farmers living 

 in rude log cabins or hovels or deprived of a single luxu- 

 ry or comfort to which they may aspire as the fruit of 

 their honest earnings We rejoice indeed in every re- 

 finement, elegance, or improvement of their conditiiui ; 

 but we deem it a cardinal error to sacrifice subsiantial 

 improvemenis to matteis of mere embellishment ; and 

 lo adopt any manners or habits which woull seem lo im- 

 ply any distaste fir the circumstances of our condition, 

 or an opinion that there can be any degradation in any 

 thing except meanness or vice, or in any mode of hon- 

 est frugality 



W e have oiiur topics in coniiexi<in with the subject 

 under consideration, upon which we cannot now enter, 

 without taxing too severely ihe indulgence ofourreaders. 



H. C. 



hope of the country. We do not mean to say that we fear "' 



ny signal catastrophe ; any rupture of the union ; or 

 any extraordinary attack or encroachment upon public 

 liberty. But patriotism, honesi, unmixed and disinter- 

 ested patriotism seems to hive departed ; and ambition, 

 selfishness, and a .spurious devotion to the public ca- 

 price and one's own personal interests are loo much the 

 order of the day. We mean no disrespect nor would 

 we imply any distrut of many eminent men both in 

 public service and out, whose talents and virtues are alike, 

 a blessing and an ornament lo the country; and who, 

 beyond a doubt, in any signal enieigency would hes- 

 itate at no sacrifice for the public go id ; but such men 

 r.se infinitely above the vulgar herd both of ins and 

 outs, whose impulses ate wholly selfish, and who seek 

 nothing save their own emolument. H. C. 



and 



St of 



CONGRESS. 

 Congress have now been in session nejirly seven 

 months; and in looking back upon the course [lursued, 

 it is difficult to point to any great measures of public 

 utility, to which their labors have given birth. As the 

 country grows older, the sessions of Congress, unless 

 where prcdiibited by the constiliition, may be expected 

 to be continually lengthened, until presently they be- 

 come a permanent assembly. It is but right and jii.st 

 that those, who give up their time lo the public business, 

 should be fully compensated. It would not be advisa- 

 ble to abolish all pay, because then only the rich could 

 afford to accept the place ; and many of the best in- 

 formed and most useful persons would be incapable of 

 serving ; but it is greatly to be regretted that there are 

 those perscms who arc anxious to protract the session of 

 Congress only for the sake of the per diem allowance. 

 For ourselves we are frank to confess that we have little 



WHEAT. 



(jreat complaints 'are made at the south 

 the destructive rav.iges of the Hessian flv. This is a 

 Severn scourge ; and against it no remedy has been 

 discovered. Early sowing has sometimes succeeded ; 

 late sowing has sometimes carried the wheat beyond 

 the time of ihc fly ; hut his hatching is at best twice a 

 year ; and his biding place is so concealed and secure, 

 that there is no rnaehing him with any common applica- 

 tion. Every plant which grows has its peculiar ene- 

 mies ; and yet in spile of the Hessian fly, the grain in- 

 sects, Ihe wee\il, tlie wire worm, and a host of others, 

 divine Providmice takes care Ihat industry, persever- 

 ance, and fiithfulness shall never want bread. 



H. C. 



THE SEASON 



At Ihe West has been uncommonly wet— rain after 

 rain h'ls come; the rivers are at their height; the 

 me-.idovvs have been flooded; the fields watered to ex- 

 cess. If the corn is backward, oats and all the grasses 

 exhibit an extraordinary luxuriance. Dr Holyoke's 

 record shows about an equal quantity of aqueous vapor 

 as falling each year, so that if the spring be excessively 

 wet, we may look for a warm and ilry autumn. 



H. C. 



Reet Sugar ExPEKiMEiXT. — A farmer from Genesee 

 counly, whos ■ name we have mislaid, gave us a verbal 

 account of a small ex(>eriinent which he tried the past 

 season, in making sugar from beets. 



He took two barrels full (,-iboul 5 bushels) of yellow 

 and white sugar beets lo a ciiler mill, and ground them, 

 and pressed out of them a barrel of juice. This he boil- 

 ed down in the same manner as for maple sugar, and it 

 yielded twenty pounds of cood sugar. A little milk 

 and the white of an egg was put i.'.to the syrup to clari- 

 fy it; but the sugar was of a dark color, and evidently 

 requires some other process to purify it. He is convinc- 

 ed that beet sugar can be made with profit by common 

 farmers, without any oilier apparatus than a common 

 cider mill and press, and two kettles. He intends to 

 try a larger quantity this year, and hopes to succeed in 

 makitig abetter quality of sugar. — Genesee Farmer. 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



EXHIBITION OF VEGETABLES. 



Saturday, Juitc 20th. 

 By James L L. F. Warren, Brighton— Hill's earlj 



peas, seven weeks from planting 

 For the Committee, 



RUFUS HOWE. 



There was a large and splendid display of flowers at 

 the Horticultural Rooms on Saturday last. The report 

 of the exhibition on that day may be found on another 

 page of this paper. 



