90 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



lions of pounds of wool from foreign countries, 

 because its farmers dare not and cannot safely 

 keep sheep ? 



Wc have sold oiu-last sheep this fall, and a fine 

 flock at that, and for a low price, because we dare 

 not keep them, through fear of dogs. That many 

 others are abandoning the business within tlie 

 range of our acquaintance for tiae same reason we 

 know. How long shall this condition of things 

 last ?" 



For the New England Farmer. 



COST AND PROFIT IN" FABMIJNTG-. 



Mr. Editor : — In a late Farmer you call at- 

 tentio)! to an article published in the same paper 

 with regard to the cost and profit, or rather no 

 profit, of farm productions. Witli your permis- 

 sion, I propose to revicAV some of the statements 

 of that communication, believing that a more 

 hopeful view of the subject can truthfully be pre- 

 sented. By his figures an acre of corn has cost 

 $10 more than the crop has brought in market. 

 I propose to trace out the probable future crops 

 of that acre of land, assuming the figures all cor- 

 rect, though I think some of them migh!: bo 

 changed, and not stopping to argue that more 

 manure would have paid, or that the crop might 

 have found a better home market. I will lay the 

 land down to grass with barley, entering it in 



debt. 



Dr. 



One acre of barley $10,00 



To interest on the debt one year 60 



To plowing, one man, a well trained yoke of oxen and 



plow one day 2,25 



To boy, horse, harrowand roller one day 1,50 



To seed barley, 1^ bushels 1,50 



To man sowing barley and grass seed, ,'j day 25 



To one man mowing, raking and getting in barley, to 



the amount of one day 1,25 



To a boy one day, and yoke of oxen \ day 1,00 



To threshing ar.d winnowing 4,00 



To all other expenses, consisting of taxes, interest on 



capital, labor, &c 4,00 



Crop $26,35 



Cr. 



By 18 bushels barley $1S,00 



By straw $5,00 



$23,00 

 The debt is now reduced to $3,35 



One Acre in Grass. Dr. 



To previous cultivation $3,35 



To interest on the debt 10 



To labor amounting to one man two days, and one yoke 



of oxen \ day, mowing, raking, and getting in hay 3,25 



To other expenses, consisting of storage, fences, taxes, &c. .6,00 

 To herds grass, red-top and clover seed 4,00 



$16,79 

 Cr. 



By 1 ' tons of hay, which finds a home market $18,00 



Nut profit 1,21 



Second Year in Grass. Dr. 



To three days' labor in consequence of dull weather, cut- 

 ting and curing hay $'lj25 



To one yoke of oxen, cart and wheels, \ day 50 



To another incidental expenses 6,00 



$10,75 



Cr. 



BylUonsofhay $18,00 



By amount brought forward from last year 1,21 



By interest 07 



$10,23 

 Net profit $S,53 



N<)w we have got the balance on the rigid side 

 of the ledger, and propose to ex])end $15 in to])- 



dressing, when we may safely calculate on three 

 more crops as'good as the last two have been. 

 No farmer should expect to be paid by the first 

 crop, after breaking up land exhausted by repeat- 

 ed cropping, but should lay it down to gi-ass in an 

 improved condition. Mr. Piukham seems to have 

 run into this error, though T find much to approve 

 of in his communication. I have for a long time, 

 been aware that some farm productions are often 

 sold below cost, but I have looked upon corn and 

 stock-raising as among the paying operations of 

 the farm, when judiciously managed. 



In farming, as in everything else, many persons 

 form too hasty opinions, and are too easily dis- 

 couraged. Intelligent and persistent cultivation 

 on a farm of no more than average facilities, is 

 sure to succeed. There are many men engaged 

 in farming who have no taste for, and no real in- 

 terest in the occupation. 



When a man finds out the business best suited 

 to his capacity, his fortune is more than half 

 made, and his happiness very much promoted. I 

 would then say to every young man, search dili- 

 gently to find out your capacity ; and if your mind 

 leads you into agriculture, take hold of it with a 

 will that is an earnest of success ; and let no 

 trifles nor apparent failures discourage you. Cul- 

 tivate the mind as well as the gi'ound, brin^jing 

 all the information you possess, or can gain, to 

 bear upon your chosen occupation, and before 

 many years pass you will be proud of your choice. 



If time and the editor permit, I will review Mr. 

 Pinkham's figures on calf-raising in a future ar- 

 ticle. H. Kimball. 



Kennehunk, Me., Nov. 19, 1859. 



Re:\iarks. — We cannot decline your kind prop- 

 osition, as no question connected with agriculture 

 is of more vital importance than this. The oft- 

 repeated tale, that farming is unprofitable, and un- 

 fashionable, crushes the occupation more than all 

 things else. 



We observe that you have allowed the farmer 

 one dollar per day for his labor upon his farm ; 

 is there not, also, a profit on that labor, as well as 

 to any other person who works by the day ? If so, 

 there is an increase of profit of even more than 

 you have presented. There certainly is a pi'ofit 

 in the labor of any person who eanis more than 

 a frugal subsistence costs. 



Vitality of Eggs Destroyed on Rail- 

 roads. — Eggs carried by railroad cannot be de- 

 pended upon for hatching — the continued jar 

 shaking the life out of them. The N. Y. Tribune 

 relates the experience of a man, who said that he 

 had found on trial that eggs could not be carried 

 twenty-five miles safely unless special precautions 

 were adopted. Packed carefully in a small basket, 

 and this held constantly in the hand, thoy v/ill 

 ride without jar and without injury to their vitality. 



Self-Acting F.\rm Well. — Persons desirous 

 of learning more about Ayefs Patent Self-Acting 

 Farm Well, may do so on application to Mr. Al- 

 VAN Ward, of Ashburnham, Mass. 



