34 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Jan. 



buttock of the near ox, will make them gee. But 

 the words of command should always precede the 

 motions and touches of the Avliij). It is very seldom 

 necessary to strike good oxen a smart blow with 

 a whij) ; and raw hands should always be very 

 careful how they touch their oxen, and above all, 

 how they strike them. It is always attended with 

 no good consequences to whip any oxen, unless 

 we know they are in the fault, and know how to 

 obey better ; and when oxen are verv spirited, 

 they will always obey infinitely better with a gen- 

 tle touch of the lash, and a good round word of 

 command, than with all the whippin.g and yelling 

 that a boisterous teamster is able to bring out on 

 the occasion. Whipping obedience into spirited 

 oxen, is not unlike Aunt Chloe's whipping her re- 

 fractory boys ; '"while she whip])ed out one devil, 

 she whi])ped seven more in." Let young ox-drivers 

 always be taught to spare the whip, and to give 

 the v.ords of command correctly, and the jn-oper 

 touches of the whip. — Homestead. 



For the New Enr/lmul Farmer. 

 "IS THERE ANY PROFIT IIxT FARMING?" 



Mr. Editor: — It will, without doubt, be recol- 

 lected by many of your readers that I wrote an ar- 

 ticle, which you were kind enough to publish in the 

 Farmer of Aug. '2()th, with the above ca])tion. The 

 position M-hich I took in that article will also be 

 recollected, viz., that farming in New England is 

 not a paying business ; that the public, and even 

 > the farmers themselves, to a large extent, are de- 

 ceived in the matter. This I undertook to show 

 with what logic I ])ossessed ; also, I gave some 

 statistics, and a few quotations from what I deemed 

 good authority, to ])rove my position. 



Now, I must in candor say, that when I ])enncd 

 that article, I su])i)osed it would be replied to, if 

 at all, by just that class of farmers of whom I 

 spoke in the article, who, having "money to spend," 

 &c. &c., consider this as a good business. 



It will, ]K'rhaps, be as well for me to state in the 

 outset, that I intend in this article to reply to my 

 "Sjjringfield" friend, who undertook, in the Far- 

 mer of Oct. 2'2d, to review the article to which I 

 have above referred, and to show that farming is 

 profitable. 



It is an old saying, and a very good one, that 

 "circumstances alter cases." As this is one of the 

 "cases" that '"circumstances" have altered, and as 

 but a very small proportion of the farmers can bo 

 located in a thrifty and growing city, comfortably, 

 pleasantly, and, for the sake of the argument, and 

 for nothing else, profitably if you please, at farm- 

 ing. Springfield is situated on the banks of the 

 Connecticut Piiver, in Ham])den County, in this 

 State. It is a city of some 15,000 inhabitants, and 

 is at this day making great ])rogress in wealth 

 and population. The Western Hailroad passes 

 through this place ; the United States Armory is 

 here located, which adds largely to the thrift of 

 tlie city, also factories of various kinds are in suc- 

 cessful operation. Further, the soil on the banks 

 of this river is well adapted to the growing of to- 

 bacco, and large quantities of it is put to this n,se. 

 Here, also, land is sold by the foot. Is it neces- 

 sary for me to look any further for the solution of 

 the argument of my friend J. A. A. ? What say 

 you, brother farmers, all over New England ? If 



your ancestors had left you the broad acres in a 

 great and ])opulous city, how^ monstrously "prof- 

 itable" farming would seem. Do store and other 

 bills accumulate, and the crops come in light ? 

 Have you become worn out by hard toil, and the 

 doctor's bill looks you in the face P Have the wife 

 or the little ones been on the sick list, too ? Or, 

 is it necessary to send the boy to college ? A few 

 corner lots Avill harmonize the whole. What a 

 beautiful thing farming is. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I suppose I must take up 

 your correspondent's article, somewhat system- 

 atically, and treat of it as he goes along. In the 

 first ]3aragra])h, he says the writer "must be lo- 

 cated in a very ill-favored portion of the coun- 

 try." In the old town of Chelmsford, joining Low- 

 ell, the second city in New England in wealth, 

 population and enterprise, (saving tobacco — we 

 don't grow the weed here, we profess to be a mor- 

 al people,) is the M-riter's residence. Of the capa- 

 bilities of the town in the agricultural line, per- 

 haps I can give it in no better way than in the 

 language of one of its most distinguished citizens. 

 Dr. Bartlett, in a lecture before the Agricidtural 

 Society of this town, said, "that in his o])inion, 

 not a farmer in town was getting a living, witliout 

 he had either fruit or wood to sell." Now. although 

 Chelmsford produces a large su])ply of both of 

 these articles, and there are but few farmers who 

 have neither to sell, so that oil the whole, this may 

 compare favorably with most farming town.s, yet, 

 with all the jn-ivileges that this has over most ])la- 

 ces, even here it is uji-hill work. The truth of 

 the matter is just here — that no farmer could, for 

 any considerable length of time, sustain his ])osi- 

 tion, were it not for the outside helps that lie is 

 constantly obliged to resort to. lie must have 

 capital, and it is folly to think to f\irm without it. 

 Then, this capital is dead ])roi)erty, for with this, 

 he has to combine a larger amount of labor and 

 economy than would give him a better living at 

 many of the trades that are in vogue, that are much 

 more easily attained than to know how to farm. 

 One of two things is true ; the farmer has to re- 

 linquish all ho])es of any per cent, on his ca])ital, 

 or throw away his labor to get a fair per cent, on 

 his investment. Does any one believe that a man 

 can take a fiarm and its ap])endages entirely on 

 credit, and jiay his interest, and in the course of 

 time, free himself from his liabilities, and retain 

 the farm ? This is Avhat a large ])rojK)ition of those 

 engaged in other pursuits are constantly doing. 



If my friend "J. A. A." will be kind enough to 

 stop guessing, and go into the figures, the facts, 

 as they actually exist, and from these obtain or 

 arrive at his conclusions, he will be quite as likely 

 to be correct. This guess work should be aban- 

 doned, and facts and figures should take its ])lace. 

 Now if "J. A. A." has made a fortune at farming, 

 or any considerable portion of one, he has the 

 ability to tell how it was done. This would do 

 much to establish his ])osition. In this State, there 

 are 3j,()()0 farms, and allowing two men to each 

 farm, Avould give 70,000 farmers, equalling in 

 numbers all other trades. If "J. A. A." will find 

 one solitary individual (Springfield included,) out 

 of this army of farmers who has for a series of 

 years made fair mechanic's wages over and above 

 a reasonable per cent, on his investment, at farm- 

 ing, then I shall learn something that I never be- 

 fore have seen. And, unless he can do this, and 



