1880. 



NE^V ENGLAND FAEMER. 



187 



For the New England Farmer. 

 IS FARMING PROFITABLE? 



This question is worthy of all the consideration 

 which it has received in the able articles published 

 in your columns, and naturally leads to others 

 equally important. That agriculture is profitable, 

 the results of particular crops have been relied up- 

 on as proving the affirmative, while it is well 

 known that a farmer may raise seventy-five bush- 

 els of Indian corn per acre, and have many acres 

 of it, and yet the same year lose a fruit crop, Avorth 

 three times his corn crop ; so with his other crops. 



In the latter days of Mr. Jefi'erson, it was pro- 

 posed to obtain an act of the Legislative Assem- 

 bly of Virginia, by which his property might be 

 disposed of by a lottery, to extricate him from 

 debts incurred by his generous hospitality, in en- 

 tertaining almost daily a great number of distin- 

 guished guests, foreign and domestic. An objec- 

 tion was made to this project, that it savored of 

 gambling, and was derogatory to the fame and in- 

 compatible with the dignity of the Ex-president. 

 This probably prompted Mr. Jefi'erson to Avrite 

 his essay on ganil)ling, in which he says "that the 

 farmer is the greatest of all gamblers." A quar- 

 ter of a century ago, Avhen I first read this essay, 

 the remark was not particularly noticeable, but 

 much subsequent reflection, and some little obser- 

 vation, have convinced me, that this remark, as 

 most others of this great man, contains more 

 truth than poetry. 



I do not believe that farming in Massachusetts 

 is a profital)le business compared with other pur- 

 suits. Farming is a term that admits of many 

 definitions, varying according to the systems tof 

 particular localities, climate, soil, &c., &c. I use 

 it as applying to the cultivation of every thing 

 raised in this State, and farming is gejierally prof- 

 itable according to climate, natural fertility of the 

 soil, facility of production, the price of land and 

 labor, taxes, competition in the market, and the 

 style of living and doing business, demanded by 

 the imperious decrees of fashion. 



Now, is farming a game of chance as declared 

 by Mr. Jefi'erson, or is it a pursuit in which a man 

 can make as definite calculations of expenses and 

 results as are made in the sister arts ? Must the 

 mass of farmers live as cheap as they can, and 

 trust to God, for the result of their labor ? The 

 painter, if he is master of his business, knows the 

 exact cost of his paints, the quantity necessary to 

 cover a square yard, the number of yards to be 

 covered, the cost of laying on the paint, the mar- 

 gin of his profits, which his capital Mill return, 

 and how often he can turn it ; the mason, the 

 number of bricks necessary for a given wall, the 

 time required to lay them, the cost of labor, and 

 the exact result of his operation ; the carpenter, 

 the quantity of lumber necessary for a given struc- 

 ture, &c. So it is in regular and legitimate trade 

 and commerce, with the advantage of insurance 

 against shipwreck, &c., while the farmer, in the 

 failure of crops, must seek his insurance in the de- 

 claration that "while the earth remaineth, seed 

 time and harvest' shall never fail." 



In the sister arts generally, skill, sound judg- 

 ment, experience, and definite calculations, are 

 not the sport of chance, but accomplish their pur- 

 poses with almost as much certainty as instinct 

 attains its ends. 



How is it now with the farmer ? Can he, when 

 he plants his potatoes, or his orchard, with the 

 greatest skill and judgment, teU anything about 

 the result ? Can he hasten the completion of his 

 job, prevent drouth or rain, frost or the rot? 

 These are things over which he has no control, 

 but things controlled by a power before which 

 his puny wit must bow, his boasted skill and sci- 

 ence become foolishness, and as fruitless as an 

 iceberg. Now let a general farmer cultivate all 

 the crops ; in no season will more than half of 

 them be successful in Massachusetts. The rot may 

 strike his potatoes, his carrot seed may not vege- 

 tate, his corn may fail, his turnip seed, sowed 

 the 25th of July, wet or dr)', may not sprout till 

 frost comes, his grass land, stocked down with 

 great skill and care, may fail in various ways, and 

 in no season are but a few of the carefully calcu- 

 lated results realized. Man sows, but God gives 

 the increase. Hence that strange faith so charac- 

 teristic of the farmer. 



Does any such uncertainty as this attend the 

 sister arts ? Can any business in which man's 

 best i'aculties are thus baffled and contracted, 

 (other things being equal,) be compared with this, 

 where the operator may be master both of the 

 inception and result of his labor ? 



That Indian corn may be raised for fifty cents 

 a bushel, or is more profitable than other crops, 

 does not prove agriculture, in general, profitable, 

 for the character of the soil limits the number of 

 acres which can be planted, and admitting that a 

 farmer may raise 100 bushels per acre, tlie same 

 season in which he does this, his loss from the 

 failure of his oats, rye, barley, potatoes, hay or 

 fruit, may be three times the value of his corn 

 crop. 



That agriculture is unprofitable, compared with 

 other business in ^lassachusetts, is the practical 

 judgment of farmers generally, deny it as jou may, 

 gloss it over as you will ; else why do so many of 

 their sous desert the plow, hardly enough remain- 

 ing at home to take care of the good old fathers 

 and mothers ? Have they not seen their fathers 

 and neighbors, hard-working and frugal, farmers 

 till sixty years of age, still relatively poor, whilj 

 their relatives and equals who have engaged in 

 other pursuits are rich, clad in fine linen, and 

 fare sumptuously every day, with leisure to enjoy 

 life, Avith means to purchase its pleasures, and 

 comforts, too ? Why are farmers willing, even 

 desirous, to have their sons quit the farm, and 

 seek an easier and shorter road to fortune and 

 happiness, than they have trod ? 



The truth must be told, they desire a better life 

 for their children than they have had, and sigh 

 for the means to put them into a position to at- 

 tain it. 



The inevitable conclusion to be drawn from 

 this general desertion of agriculture is, that farm- 

 ing is unprofitable. The almighty dollar is the 

 moving principle, the stepping stone to command 

 the blessings of life, and not the avoidance of hard 

 work, but work that does not pay ; the condition 

 of eminent success in all the arts, is honest hard 

 work, indomitable labor with the head and hands 

 united. There is no other ])otent to success. Far- 

 ming is the most delightful of all occupations, 

 where it can be pursued for its unalloyed pleas- 

 ures, and not for its dubious profits, 

 i Perhaps God, when he ordained that man- 



