18B1, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMEH. 



347 



For the Neve England Farmer. 

 RUBAI. ECONOMY. 



Mr. Editor : — I wish to offer a few brief re- 

 marks on rural economy, a subject which com- 

 mends itself to the consideration of every farmer 

 as it lies at the very foundation of all good farm- 

 ing. In fact, I do not believe there is any such 

 thing as good, successful and profitable farming, 

 without economy in the use of all the means em- 

 ployed to promote the object, that is, in the use 

 of money, time and labor. There is no economy 

 in spending $150 in money, time or labor in 

 raising the best piece of corn in the county, 

 which, after all, is not worth more than $140 in 

 the market, without some other valuable object or 

 end is also attained, besides the price of the 

 •corn as an offset to the expense. With a great 

 expenditure of money, time and labor, a farmer 

 of ample means can make all his lands "ftourish 

 and blossom as the rose," can raise prodigious 

 great crops, and obtain, perhaps, all the premiums 

 at the cattle show, in spite of the utmost efforts 

 of his poor neighbor ; when, in fact, his poor 

 neighbor, by his skill and economy, in adapting 

 all his means to his ends, shows himself to be the 

 better, the more successful and profitable farmer. 



Farming is always profitable, when conducted 

 with skill and economy. Either alone will not 

 be sufficient ; they must be united in order to 

 render farming successful and profitable. If any 

 have failed in the business, it has been owing to 

 either to the want of skill, or to the want of 

 economy, or to the want of both united. 



Poverty is a great and terrible burden to the 

 young and intelligent farmer ; and it imposes 

 upon him the most rigid economy. None but the 

 rich can farm it as well as he knows how, or in- 

 dulge in any of the fanciful operations and exper- 

 iments of the day. The poor man has not the 

 means to carry out all his own plans of farm op- 

 erations. He has not the means to cultivate fif- 

 teen or twenty acres, to purchase fancy fertilizers, 

 and to try experiments on a large scale. No ; he 

 is a poor man, and, as such, he is obliged to 

 practice the most rigid economy, and use all his 

 means to the best advantage. He has not the 

 means to purchase manure of any kind for his 

 land 5 he must, therefore, plant one acre instead 

 of twenty ; and to enrich this one acre, he must 

 resort to' the sink-spout, the hen-roost, the ash- 

 heap, the hog-pen, the barn-yard, the privy, for 

 his fertilizers. He must, also, scrape up and 

 gather together all the odds and ends of every-, 

 thing on and about his premises, which can he 

 composted with the above and converted into 

 manure, such as leaves from the forest,, mud from 

 the meadow, peat or marl from the bog, together 

 with turfs, sods, roots, weeds, waste straw and 

 hay, chip manure, &c. These, and such like 

 when thoroughly composted, must be skillfully 

 applied to his one acre ; and he must continue 

 the operation, till he is prepared to lay down this 

 acre and take up another. 



A farmer of moderate means must economize, 

 not only in making and saving all the manure 

 he can, and in applying it skillfully to a small 

 extent of surface, but he must confine himself 

 chiefly to the use of domestic manure of his own 

 manufacture. In his circumstances, it will not 

 do for him to purchase foreign fertilizers, such as 



guano, phosphates and superphosphates. At 

 their present high prices they are too expensive 

 for him ; and in the end they will prove to be un- 

 profitable. When first applied, for a year or so, 

 their stimulating effects are truly wonderful ; but 

 they do not hold out ; they do not, like domestic 

 manure, increase the natural strength and fertility 

 of the soil. Their effects upon the soil are very 

 much like alcohol upon the human system — very 

 exciting and stimulating for the present, but re- 

 quiring a constant supply to keep up the excite- 

 ment. 



It is the chief concern of a good farmer, Avheth- 

 er rich or poor, to practice economy in every line 

 of his business, and in all his domestic affairs. 

 All his money, all his time, all his talents and all 

 his labors are directed to the one great, grand ob- 

 ject of his calling, the enriching and cultivating 

 the earth, the production of various kinds of 

 crops, fruits and animals, the feeding and man- 

 agement of stock, the disposal of every kind of 

 surplus productions, the saving of everything 

 which can be converted to a useful purpose, or 

 made to improve his condition. Above all, he 

 avoids running into debt. He also avoids run- 

 ning to the banks to get his notes discounted ; 

 for he knows full well, that though they may be 

 very polite and accommodating in granting him 

 every bank facility in their power, and in shaving 

 him very handsomely and gracefully when money 

 is quite plenty ; yet that when money gets to be 

 scarce and the pinch comes, they will leave 

 him to take care of himself by consulting the ten- 

 der mercies of his creditors. He has made up 

 his mind, therefore, not to spend his money be- 

 fore he gets it, but to live within his means, and 

 upon his present income and profits. More es- 

 pecially has he made up his mind to disregard 

 the croakings of those everlasting harpies, who, 

 being too lazy, too proud, and too shiftless, to 

 gain an honest and honorable living by their in- 

 dustry, economy and labor, are forever repeating 

 that "farming is unprofitable." 



Warwick, Mass. John Goldsburt. 



Mice Utilized by a Scotchman. — A man in 

 Scotland has trained a couple of mice to spin 

 cotton very successfully. The work is so con- 

 structed that the common mouse is able to make 

 atonement to society for past offences, by twist- 

 ing twine, and reeling from 100 to 126 threads 

 per day. To complete this, the little pedestrian 

 has to run 10^ miles. A half-penny worth of oat- 

 meal serves one of these tread-wheel spinners for 

 the long period of five weeks. In that time it 

 makes 110 threads per day. At this rate a mouse 

 earns 7s. 6d. per annum. Take off 5d. for food, 

 and Is. for machinery, there will rise 6s. clear for 

 every mouse per annum. 



To Correspondents. — We have published 

 several letters giving opinions of the merits of 

 several mowing machines, and giving the names 

 of the writers. We admit these discussions in 

 the hope that it may be ascertained which the 

 the best machine is. We have before us a letter 

 from Hatfield, signed "J. E. W.," which we will 

 cheerfully publish if he will send us his name. 



