1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



653 



KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED IN FARMING. 



There are many who look upon farming as 

 rather a small business, who think that its suc- 

 cessful prosecution requires only a little com- 

 mon sense — ^_iust enough to prompt the hardy 

 worker to seek shelter in a rain storm, and a 

 very little knowledge just sufficient to count a 

 flock of sheep, or read a political newspaper. 

 This opinion was once more general than now, 

 for the world is growing wiser, yet at the pres- 

 ent time it is entertained by many. It is an 

 old and true saying, that "honor and shame 

 from no condition rise," that honor is only ac- 

 quired by acting well our part ia whatever 

 situation we may be placed. A man of ability 

 and knowledge who devotes all his energies to 

 bis business will make it honorable and profit- 

 able no matter how insignificent that business 

 may at first seem. 



There is no business requiring such varied 

 acquirements, so much knowledge, so much 

 good judgment and commercial ability com- 

 bined, as is necessary for the thoroughly ac- 

 complished farmer. He stands first among 

 the manufacturers of the land, he makes the 

 wheat and corn, the beef and mutton and 

 pork, the wool and flax ; and manufactures 

 from the earth, the air, the water nearly all 

 that we eat and wear ; and this is not only 

 done by farmers as a class, but almost every 

 one produces many if not all of these ar- 

 ticles. 



The manufacturer usually confines his la- 

 bors to the production of one article, but the 

 farmer is by necessity compelled to make 

 many. It he would make grain he must also 

 make beef or butter and cheese, or mutton 

 and wool. Hence the necessity of extensive 

 knowledge. It is an easy matter for the 

 manufacturer to ascertain how much wool will 

 make a yard of cloth of a certain description, 

 and wha't will be its cost ; but it is not so easy 

 for the farmer to ascertain how much grass or 

 hay or grain will make a pound of wool. 

 The manufacturer can test a new machine and 

 ascertain by a few simple trials whether it will 

 manufacture the desired article cheaper or bet- 

 ter than the old one ; but to ascertain how a 

 pound of beef can be made the cheapest, what 

 machine will convert hay into rich cheese in 

 the cheapest and best manner, is a matter re- 

 quiring a good deal more care and skill. 



Among his varied acquirements, the farmer 

 should possess a knowledge of animal physi- 

 ology, so as to be enabled te keep his stock 

 in health and administer proper remedies in 

 case of sickness. Vegetable physiology too 

 must not be overlooked. Every day during 

 the growing season, the farmer performs work 

 for the growth of his crops founded on the 

 known laws which govern vegetable life. 

 Entomology is a science which the farmer is 

 compelled to study to some extent, and often 

 much more perhaps than he desires, but the 

 more he does so the better he is fitted to wage 



a successful war against thousands of destruc. 

 tive foes. 



In addition to all this, the farmer must be a 

 merchant, for he must sell as well as manu- 

 facture. He must in some measure take ad- 

 vantage of the rise and fall of prices, select 

 the best time for selling and the best market, 

 or after all his toil and anxiety he may hnd 

 but a poor return. 



When we cotemplate this subject, at which 

 we have merelv glanced, in all its bearings, we 

 are led to exclaim. Who is competent to this 

 work ? Heartily do we pity those who think 

 that farming furnishes no scope for the exer- 

 cise of knowledge or abdity. If this opinion 

 were entertained only by those engaged m 

 other pursuits, it would be of no serious con- 

 sequence ; but we judge that many farmers 

 have themselves imbibed such unfounded and 

 unjust opinions in regard to their calling, and 

 where this is the case there is an end to all 

 improvement and all desire for improvement. 

 A man must have a good opinion of his call- 

 ing, a proper appreciation of its importance 

 and the means and information necessary for 

 its successful prosecution or he cannot hope to 

 succeed.— .4. J. 1)., in Ohio Farmer. 



The Wilson STKAwnEUKY.— I have known 

 the Wilson for many years, have eaten it ri- 

 pened in western New York, in Cincinnati and 

 in Missouri, and I do not hesitate to say that, 

 when fully ripe, it surpassed in flavor, the 

 Hovey, Russell's Prolific, Agriculturist, and is 

 fully 'equal to the Jucunda or Triomphe do 

 Gand. And for size and beauty of form, I 

 think it surpasses, at least in this section, 

 either of the above varieties. The fact that 

 this berrv colors early and looks fit to pick at 

 least a week before it is ripe, has induced 

 many to condemn It as an amateur fruit. Let 

 any of your readers try the experiment of 

 leaving the Wilson unpicked till it assumes a 

 rich, dark color, and then try it with any of 

 his favorites, and I believe he will find that for 

 size, richness of flavor and general accepta- 

 bility, it is hard to beat.— Car. Bural New 

 Yorker. 



Remedy for Bone Spavin.— I have found 

 the following remedy entirely successful, ap- 

 plied to a mare I 'have. She was spavined 

 three years ago, and had been lame about two 

 months when I began to use this remedy. I 

 applied it about three weeks, and cured it so 

 that she has not been lame since. The en- 

 larf^ement of the joint remains the same as 

 when using the remedy: Take cantharldes, 

 1 oz. ; mercurial ointment, 2 oz ; tincture 

 iodine, 1 1-2 oz. ; turpentine, 2 oz., corrosive 

 sublimate, 1 1-2 dr. Mix the above with one 

 pound lard. Clip the hair on the enlargement 

 and apply for three days. Then wash clean 

 with soap suds and grease it for two days ; 

 then apply the remedy again as before. — S. ^ 

 S. Gardner, in Rural New Yorker. 



