1871.] 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



643 



was fed on cheap horse flesh, which went the 

 rounds of the papers a few years ago. This writer, 

 who is supposed to be Mr. Tegutmeier, regards 

 these statements as "ridiculous sensational stories 

 of impossible poultry farms that never existed ex- 

 cept in the fertile imagination of some wretched 

 scribblers, hard up for a subject out of which to 

 earn a few shillings," and he gives some very good 

 reasons for this opinion. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 DOES INTELLIGENT FARMING PAY IN 

 MASSACHtrSETTS ? 



This is a fast as well as a luxurious age. 

 As money furnishes the means of fast and 

 luxurious living, so it has become the standard 

 scale that weighs the common events of life ; 

 bence the question at the head of this article 

 will be considered and weighed in the pecuni- 

 ary balances alone. 



The subject has been suggested by notes of 

 wailing that have occasionally appeared in the 

 columns of this paper in regard to the profits 

 of farming, which it is feared will foot up on 

 the wrong side of the ledger. The past two 

 years have indeed produced short crops, and 

 perhaps it would be too much to expect to 

 hear songs of rejoicing at the present time. 

 The children of Israel, when a song was re- 

 quired of them, could not sing in a strange 

 land, and hung their harps upon the willows. 



If farming pays in the heart of the Com- 

 monwealth, ought it not in other sections of 

 the State, in the long run ? In this town, 

 (Barre,) there are three cheese factories, 

 which may be designated as Central, Southern 

 and Western. Within the area of a mile of 

 the Central and Southern there is scarcely an 

 instance to be found where a farmer who has 

 devoted his whole attention to legitimate farm- 

 ing for ten years or more, that is woith less' 

 than three thousand or five thousand dollars,' 

 while some will approach to twenty and even 

 fifty thousand dollars, which has been acquired ' 

 through agricultural pursuits. As "a live dog 

 is better than a dead lion," I will select some i 

 instances of successful farming from repre- j 

 sentative men. Their names are legion, and : 

 there is such a uniforuiity in a general sense ! 

 in the amount of business done, in the num- \ 

 ber of the herd, in selected stock, and to qtiite I 

 an extent in the size and value of the farms I 

 themselves, that when these are described a i 

 great many more would merit somewhat the 

 same description. Some twenty-five to thirty 

 head of dairy cows is the orthodox number, j 

 and part Durham is the ruling grade. | 



The Chairman of the Board of Directors of [ 

 the Southern Factory, is Dea. T. P. Root, 

 whose farm lies on the hillside, sloping to- 

 wards the east, occupying a beautiful and com- 

 manding situation, but which it may be pre- 

 sumed is hard to cultivate. Mr. Root com- 

 menced operations upon this farm some twenty- 

 •five years ago with his father-in-law, Reuben 



Haynes, clearing up new land, and if I mis- 

 take not the estate was heavily encumbered 

 with debt, — sometimes the hardest of all en- 

 cumbrances and will make the farmers' heart 

 ache the most — since which time all these have 

 been removed, and the owner of this fair do- 

 main "goes on his way rejoicing." Mr. Root 

 has experimented much in manures, sowing 

 grass crops and ploughing in, &c. I omitted 

 to state in the proper connection above, that 

 it is characteristic of all these farms, that the 

 sons, or sons-in-law remain on the farm. The 

 venerable philosopher of the Tribune, who has 

 enlightened the world on "What I know about 

 Farming," says, "I can understand very well 

 the reason why the boys leave the farm. 

 Epitomized it is thus : their school books and 

 reading matter contain nothing calculated to 

 interest them in agricultural pursuits, and 

 their fireside reading is not of geological or 

 chemical lore, or related sciences, but of tour- 

 naments, or knightly troubadours, of fairies 

 and sensational fiction." This is true to a 

 certain extent ; but it is also true that every 

 improvement made, every stone wall and out- 

 house erected, and every tree planted, identi- 

 fies youthful affections and associations with 

 these improvements, and is a living prayer to 

 the Heavenly Father that the successor will 

 stick to the farm and beautify it still more. 

 The subject of this short sketch has a goodly 

 family of boys, of which one or more will re- 

 main on the farm. I believe in big families of 

 children — that it pays, especially on a big farm 

 — although like some railroad stocks they are 

 not immediately remunerative. During the 

 vernal months this farm, as seen from the vil- 

 lage below it, is a perfect Acadia of beauty. 



H^If a mile below is the farm of Luke 

 Adams, which is carried on by himself and 

 son, whose fertile fields show high cultivation. 

 Mr. Adams, senior, has kept a diary for many 

 years, carefully noting every fact connected 

 with his business, and the high culture and 

 successful results of his well laid plans attest 

 the value of this method. The past two 

 years, though a most unprecedented season 

 of drought, the meadows have worn their 

 green mantle as of yore, and yielded abun- 

 dant hay crops. Mr. Adams, junior, is of the 

 third generation who have occupied the farm. 

 The next farm is owned and worked by Job 

 Stetson and his son, George Stetson. Ten 

 years ago, or such a matter, Mr. Stetson 

 bought this farm partially on credit, but years 

 ago it was redeemed from all encumbrance. 

 Last year they cut fifteen tons of hay, more 

 than any year before. 



The Chairman of the Board of Directors of 

 the Central Factory, is Henry E. Rice, who 

 has a fine place under good cultivation. Mr. 

 Rice, senior, is still living on the old place, 

 and walks about with a firm tread and form i 

 unbent, at the age of eighty-six years. This 

 is a square built farm with a square built 

 owner upon it. 



