300 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JULT 



FuT the New England Farmer. 



OPPORTUNITIES AND DRA"WBACKS OF 

 FAEM LIFE. 



Boston, March 8, 1861. 

 F. HoLBROOK, Esq., Brattlcboro' , Vt. 



Dear Sir: — I have just received the Coun- 

 try Oentleman for this week, and have read and 

 re-read your letter headed "Opportunities and 

 Drawbacks of Farm Life," which interests me as 

 much as it will our unknown friend "E.," of Chi- 

 cago. I have read the several letters of John 

 Johnston, J. W. Proctor, J. W. Colburn, and last, 

 that by yourself, in reply to "E.'s" inquiries, with 

 much interest, as it has been a question in my 

 mind for some time, whether a man bred to busi- 

 ness life in the city, could, with a few thousand 

 dollars, purchase such a farm, and so stock it as 

 not to be required to lead a "slavish life," to eke 

 out a decent living. That men bred to farming are 

 enabled to live "generously and independently," 

 my own observation has taught me was the truth, 

 and I have often envied that comparative freedom 

 from "harrassing toils and care" that prosperous 

 farmers appear to enjoy, and which is the lot of 

 but few business men in large cities. Now, sir, 

 being weary of the ups and downs of a business 

 life, and having been for some years studying this 

 matter of the probabilities of my succeeding in 

 farming, I am about decided, by the concurrent 

 opinions and testimony of yourself and the gen- 

 tlemen previously named, to gratify a long cher- 

 ished desire. Therefore, if not too much trouble 

 to you, may I ask you to inform me Avhat I could 

 purchase a good farm, with good buildings, for, 

 in your vicinity, or in that section of Vermont, 

 for if I attempt farming in New England, I should 

 prefer the valley of the Connecticut to any other 

 section. If I could do so, I should much prefer 

 to lease a farm for one or two years, so that I 

 might settle the question by practice and expe- 

 rience, whether I could do well ("not support an- 

 expensive or showy style of living,") at the busi- 

 ness, before purchasing. I do not expect you to 

 give me anything more than a general idea of the 

 prices of farms, &c., but for that, (if not inconve- 

 nient,) I shall be obliged. Should any of your 

 friends or acquaintances have a farm that he 

 would like to let, I should like to hear from him 

 or them. 



Very respectfully yours, E. B. w. 



Brattleboro\ March 14, 1861. 

 To E. B. W., Esq. 



Dear Sir : — I have your esteemed favor of the 

 9th inst., and would certainly be happy to render 

 you any assistance in my power towards the ac- 

 complishment of your desire to enter upon farm- 

 life. I shall venture to send your letter'and my 

 reply to the New England Farmer, of course 

 withholding your name. I do this, because the 

 letters I am receiving from time to time from 

 business men who are desirous of going back in- 

 to the country to purchase a farm and secure a 

 rural home, decidedly indicate that a considerable 

 interest is felt in such subjects as you now intro- 

 duce to my attention. I trust you will receive 

 this as a sufficient excuse for the liberty I take 

 with you. 



I do not just now think of desirable farms for 

 rent, or for sale in this vicinity, though there may 



be several such. Should I hear of a favorable 

 opportunity for you to purchase, I will communi- 

 cate it hereafter. The prices of desirable farms 

 hereabouts would range from five, to ten or twelve 

 thousand dollars — the value depending consider- 

 ably upon size and location, and quite as much, 

 perhaps, upon the latter as the former. You could 

 hardly determine whether or not you could do 

 well at farming, by leasing a farm for a year or 

 two. . Successful farming comes from a taste and 

 tact for the business, and the steady prosecution* 

 of a plan of cultivation and management adapted 

 to the land and markets, and which must neces- 

 sarily reach through at least five years, to begin 

 to indicate its full results. After two years of 

 pi-actice, you would more readily plan well than 

 at the first start, because you would see more 

 clearly what was needed. 



If you conclude to embark in farming, you 

 would find the valley of the Connecticut a desira- 

 ble section to settle in, all things taken into ac- 

 count that ought to be considered — such as well- 

 ordered and refined society, schools, churches, 

 good roads, great through thoroughfares of travel, 

 good local markets, healthy climate, &c., &c. As 

 you have been accustomed to city life, do not buy 

 a farm too far back from these great thorough- 

 fares, especially in our northern latitudes, where 

 there are the snows of winter to contend with. 

 Do not buy a farm that has not a plentiful supply 

 of muck upon it, accessible for use in compost 

 with manure. I regard this as an important point 

 for the successful improvement and profitable cul- 

 ture of our long worn New England soils. With 

 this resource, and the muck judiciously managed 

 in composting, we can fill our old soils with more 

 than primitive fertility, and indeed make thera 

 nearly as productive as the prairies of the West, 

 while our markets are far superior to those there. 

 Within a week or two, you will see in the Farm- 

 er a letter addressed to me by an old and early 

 friend who has recently gone to farming, and asks 

 for information upon various matters. You will 

 also see the first one of three communications 

 from me, in reply to his letter, in which the mat- 

 ter of composting muck with various substances, 

 is discussed. [See May and June Nos. of. the 

 Monthly N. E. Farmer.'] 



Vicinity to a good local market is quite desira- 

 ble in farming, notwithstanding that with that 

 consideration, the price of the farm to be pur- 

 chased would be greater than if you went further 

 back into the rural districts. Each hundred miles 

 you go north, makes a perceptible difference in 

 the earliness of winter, and lateness of spring. 

 But then there are various considerations which 

 go to influence one in fixing his location ; and 

 some of them that would point him decidedly to 

 one section, would be overborne by others lead- 

 ing him to another. 



If you have a decided taste for the country, and 

 for farming, and can command capital enough to 

 buy a farm, and have a little floating means left, 

 to operate with, I see no reason why you may not 

 find pleasure and satisfaction in that way of life, 

 and make a fair profit at the business besides. 

 After a man has got on somewhat in life, as per- 

 haps you have, and has been accustomed to other 

 pursuits than farming, it is desirable and perhaps 

 necessary that he should have capital to do with, 

 in entering upon his new pursuit. If he has been 



