350 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Attg. 



by, the able Solicitor of Patents, and the other 

 from M. M. Tidcl, the >vell-known Artist and De- 

 signer, are to the point, and there can be no 

 doubt that those who use the Kidder hive are li- 

 able to a prosecution for an infringement of the 

 Langstroth patent, E. A. Brackett. 



Winchester, June 17, 1861. 



June 19, ISGl. 



Dear Sir: — In reply to your inquiries I have 

 to inform you that I have examined the hive 

 commonly known as "Kidder's." 



In my opinion it is a plain infringement on 

 Lan!;stroth's patent of Oct. 5, 1852. 



It is true that there are some variations from 

 the exact construction recommended by Lang- 

 stroth, but the changes do not evade the patent, 

 and are anything but improvements upon it. 



Parties using, selling or making the Kidder 

 Hive may be proceeded against for infringement 

 of the Langstrorti patent, and I have no doubt but 

 that damages would be recovered for the in- 

 fringement. Yours respectfully, 



J. B. Crosby, 70 State St. 



E. A. Brackett, Esq. 



Boston, June 19, 1861. 



Dear Sir: — I have carefully examined the 

 copy of Mr. Kidder's book that you sent me, and 

 I am fully satisfied that with the exception of the 

 portrait of Mr. K. and the little hive on page fif- 

 teen, the cuts are taken from Mr. Langstroth's 

 book by that somewhat piratical process known 

 to engravers as "transfer." I feel confident of 

 this, as it is hardly possible that I should mistake 

 a transfer from my own drawings anywhere. 

 Respectfully yours, 



E. A. Brackett, Esq. M. M. Tidd. 



jFbr the New Ensland Farmer, 

 SKILIi IN FARMING. 



Mr. Editor : — Skill, in its common accepta- 

 tion, means science or knowledge ; and perhaps 

 it includes, in its signification, the idea of art. In 

 this popular sense, I apply the term skill to farm- 

 ing. Skill in farming is no less essential to suc- 

 cess than skill in any other business or pursuit. 

 It is as important and as necessary to the success 

 of a farmer, as it is to the success of an artist, a 

 mechanic, a manufacturer, a merchant, a lawyer, 

 a doctor, or a divine. There is no such thing as 

 success in any calling or pursuit without skill. 

 Every thing depends upon it. And, in general, 

 the degree of sucesss is in due proportion to the 

 amount of skill, in each particular case, as well 

 as in each particular calling. 



The farmer is no exception to this general rule 

 or principle. He is generally successful or un- 

 successful in exact proportion as he manages his 

 business skilfully or unskilfully ; so that, what- 

 ever may be said about good or bad luck, in par- 

 ticular instances, it is skill that leads to success in 

 all kinds of business. There can be no doubt of 

 this truth, as a general principle. There can be no 

 doubt, that skill, activity, industry and ecoaomy 

 usually carry off the prizes which turn up on the 

 wheel of fortune. At the same time, it is un- 

 doubtedly true, that something is due to the cir- 

 cumatances of life, as well as to the influence 



which wisely controls human destiny. But all 

 who expect to be successful in farming, or in any 

 other kind of business, without the exercise of 

 skill, prudence and economy, will most certainly 

 meet with sad disappointment. 



This I know is doubted by some, and denied 

 by others. "How comes it to pass," say they, 

 "that such men as the late Lord Timothy Dexter, 

 of Newburyport, without skill or even common 

 sagacity, have been able to accumulate such mon- 

 strous fortunes ? Besides, there have been men 

 who did not know enough to go to mill, without 

 a large stone in the mouth of the bag to balance 

 the grain in the other end ; and yet these men, 

 by mere good luck, have blundered into great 

 fortunes," 



It is true, that the late Lord Timothy Dexter, 

 as he was familiarly called, sent a large cargo of 

 warming-pans to the West Indies, a region al- 

 ready too warm for human comfort, on which car- 

 go he would have lost instead of maJcing a for- 

 tune, had it not been for the skill and ingenuity 

 of a Yankee, to whom the cargo was consigned, 

 who converted the top part of the warming-pans 

 into strainers of molasses, and the bottom part 

 into dippers or ladles, and sold them at enormous 

 prices ; so that the blunder of Lord Dexter was, 

 by the skill of the Yankee, converted into a very 

 profitable investment. The same may be the case 

 with regard to the blunders of an unskilful far- 

 mer, if he happen to have an agent sufficiently 

 skilful to turn all his blunders to good account, 

 so as to accumulate a fortune. 



But, after all, it is skill that accomplishes the 

 object. It is skill that makes the successful and 

 profitable farmer. It is skill in practice — in the 

 expenditure of money, time and labor. It is that 

 kind of skill which enables a farmer to do every 

 kind of work at the right time, and in the best 

 manner possible. 



The number of farmers is comparatively small 

 who employ all their means and resources to the 

 best advantage. They have, perhaps, money 

 enough, time enough, and a certain kind and or- 

 der of talent enough ; but, for want of skill and 

 a suitable education in their calling, they fail of 

 success. They know that they must plow their 

 grounds, work in their manure if they have any, 

 sow and plant their seeds, and cultivate their 

 crops, some time in the spring; but the exact 

 time when they should perform these several op- 

 erations, they know not. The same is true with 

 regard to the best way and manner of doing the 

 work. In plowing, they are liable to do it a lit- 

 tle too early or a little too late, a little too deep 

 or not quite deep enough. The same is true with 

 regard to all the operations on the farm. They 

 all suffer tor want of skill in the operators. 



Skill in farming depends, in a great measure, 

 upon thought, study, observation and practice. 

 There is mind in the work, and a will to work. 

 And such farming is always successful, and gen- 

 erally profitable. It is successful, because all the 

 operations of the farm are directed by skill, and 

 performed in the best manner possible. For the 

 same reason, it is generally profitable, and either 

 results in great crops, or else in great improve- 

 ments on the farm. It may be the object of a 

 skilful farmer not to obtain a great and valuable 

 crop the present year, but to make some lasting 

 and valuable improvement on his land. And such 



