1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



323 



jumping out of the toasting-pan into the red-hot 

 coals. In that land of sheep, there are many 

 more dogs, in proportion to the number of inhab- 

 itants, than in this section. Wishing, however, 

 not to dispel his good intentions, I would add 

 that dogs there are not known to trouble sheep. 

 Why ? Because they have no dog-law. 



Oeorgetown, Mass., 1861. H. M. CoucH. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SUGGESTIONS TO FARMERS. 



Mr. Editor : — In my opinion, farming is the 

 foundation of all other employments. With it, 

 all other kinds of business are intimately connect- 

 ed, and upon it, they all chiefly depend. Should 

 the labors of the farmer, from any cause whatever, 

 only for one short year, utterly fail of success, the 

 failure would not only produce an indescribable 

 amount of human suffering, starvation and mise- 

 ry, but it would paralyze all other kinds of busi- 

 ness, and produce a complete stagnation and em- 

 barrassment in the community. Such would not 

 be the case, should a similar failure take place in 

 any other business, which is a convincing proof, 

 that farming is the foundation of all other em- 

 ployments. 



In these United States, in which agricultural 

 pursuits form the basis of individual and nation- 

 al prosperity, and in which the sum of the vari- 

 ous productions is limited, not by the number of 

 acres cultivated, but by the quantity of labor and 

 by the skill of the laborers, a more judicious em- 

 ployment of that labor and skill would be a clear 

 gain to the individual as well as to the nation, 

 now lost to both by a want of application and 

 skill. That it is skill and labor in cultivating the 

 earth which produce abundant crops, requires no 

 proof. Every one must have seen farms, other- 

 wise equals, the one producing the double of the 

 other by the superior culture and management of 

 its possessor ; and every one must have under 

 his eye numerous examples of persons setting out 

 in life with no other possession than a skilful 

 knowledge of the business of farming, and speed- 

 ily, by the exercise of skill, diligence and econ- 

 omy, acquiring wealth and independence. But 

 to acquire wealth and independence was not the 

 grand object of their labors, but to procure great- 

 er means of subsistence and of enjoyment for 

 themselves and their families. 



It would be well for farmers generally to culti- 

 vate a variety of crops. If they cultivate one crop 

 only, of any particular kind, it may so happen, 

 that, after all therr skill and labor, that particu- 

 lar crop may entirely fail, and leave them entire- 

 ly dependent on others for a subsistence. Where- 

 as, if they cultivate a number of the most useful 

 and profitable crops, all the different kinds will 

 not be likely to fail in any one year ; so that they 

 will have something to depend upon. Besides, a 

 variety of such crops as are absolutely needed for 

 the subsistence of every family, is not only very 

 desirable, but contributes much to human com- 

 fort and happiness. The most desirable produc- 

 tions, and the most profitable, too, are all kinds 

 of fruit, such as apples, pears, peaches, plums, 

 cherries, grapes, currants, gooseberries, quinces, 

 &c. The next most desirable crops are grass, 

 corn, potatoes, wheat, rye, oats, barley, and last. 



not least, all kinds of garden vegetables. Those 

 farmers who cultivate the greatest variety of these, 

 and cultivate well, lire generally the most success- 

 ful and the most independent. 



It is a very obvious remark, that intelligent 

 farmers ought not to be carried away by any of 

 the fancies of the day ; such as fancy stock, fancy 

 poultry, fancy manures, fancy farming, &c. There 

 is enough that is real, genuine, substantial, well- 

 known and practicable, without dealing in fan- 

 cies. One "hen fever" and one "morus multi- 

 caulis" excitement ought to satisfy us. We 

 should leave all the fancies to the fanciful and the 

 wealthy, who have plenty of money and plenty of 

 time to try experiments ; and who are able to 

 bear the loss and to meet the disappointment, in 

 case of failures. The wealthy and the fanciful 

 consider it their peculiar province to be the first 

 in the field of discovery ; and we should be ready 

 to adopt in practice every well-known and well- 

 established improvement, from whatever source 

 it may come, and to unite the useful with the 

 agreeable and the beautiful. If we try any ex- 

 periment at all, we should do it on a very small 

 scale, and endeavor to keep up with the improve- 

 ment of the times. 



Into whatever classes or occupations men may 

 be divided in different nations, it is obvious, that 

 there must be in every nation such a class as 

 farmers, or agriculturists, who till the earth and 

 practice the arts of husbandry so necessary to the 

 subsistence, the comfort and the ornament of hu- 

 man life. No nation, except it be in a savage 

 state, can exist, much less prosper, without farm- 

 ers. They are the very backbone of every na- 

 tion ; for upon their strength and skill and efforts, 

 more than upon any other class of laborers, all 

 depend for their subsistence. Success in the 

 business depends chiefly upon the skill, the in- 

 dustry, and the economy of the laborers. These 

 are the characteristics of every good farmer. 

 Neither of these will do alone. They must be 

 united. Skill, without application and without 

 frugality, will not accomplish the object. Indus- 

 try, without knowledge and without economy, 

 will fail of success. And economy, without la- 

 bor and skill, will also fail. But all three united 

 will make a successful and profitable farmer. 



Warwick, Mass., 1861. John Goldsbury. 



Love of the Wonderful. — What stronger 

 pleasure is there with mankind, or what do they 

 earlier learn or longer retain, than the love of 

 hearing and relating things strange and incred- 

 ible. How wonderful a thing is the love of won- 

 dering and of raising wonder ! 'Tis the delight 

 of children to hear tales they shiver at, and the 

 vice of old men to abound in strange stories of 

 times past. We come into the world wondering 

 at every thing ; and when our wonder about com- 

 mon things is over, we seek something new to 

 wonder at. Our last scene is to tell wonders of 

 our oion, to all who will believe them. And amid 

 all this, 'tis well if truth comes off but moderately 

 tainted. — Shaftesbury. 



A Lady asked her gardener why the weeds al- 

 ways outgrew and covered up the flowers. "Mad- 

 am," answered he, "the soil is mother of the 

 weeds, but only step-mother of the flowers." 



