1863. 



THE ILIIKOIS FARMEE. 



Wi 



bre&d materials, and, of course, when cold, frosty 

 seasons ruled, grain was very scarce and dear, and 

 would sometimes rise to almost famine prices. 

 Under such circumstances the greatest economy 

 became necessary, or the scanty crops could not be 

 made to meet the next year's harvest. 



At that time the only resource for a supply of 

 corn was the Southern States, whence a small 

 quantity was annually imported to our northern 

 cities, to supply their wants in case of a failure of 

 the crops of New England. This corn was called 

 " Virginia corn — a flat, light grain, said to grow 

 on exhausted soils to the amount of seven or more 

 bushels to the acre. The skippsrs of fishing ves- 

 sels, after their summer voyages to the north, would 

 for a winter job, sail to Virginia, and take a cargo 

 of corn and bring it north. This corn, though very 

 dear, could be purchased cheaper than that of New 

 England growth. In those days of bean porridge, 

 hasty pudding and good meat, wheat flour was but 

 little used among farmers in country towns ; but 

 few of them were able to buy it. A little was af- 

 forded for the upper crust of pies, as a luxury, on 

 holiday occasions. Previous to the commencement 

 of hop raising in this vicinity, farmers depended 

 mostly on the sale of grain and meat to supply 

 themselves with money to pay taxes. If pork and 

 beef were to be fattened for market, grain was the 

 principal ingredient to effect that object. The 

 grain exhausting process of those days impoverish- 

 ed the land of New England to such a degree that 

 its restoration to fertility can hardly be expected, 

 with the present advantages of obtaining manure. 



The deterioration of pastures and grain fields 

 throughout New England is regretted by the farm- 

 ing community, as an evil, which has caused re- 

 flecting men to search for a remedy. The present 

 generation, reduced to the fare of their fathers and 

 grandfathers, would grumble loudly at the dealings 

 of Providence with them. T» be under the neces- 

 sity of resorting to the substantial food of their 

 predecessors, instead of hot biscuit, custards, pies, 

 cakes, green tea, coffee, &c., would create a rebell- 

 ion in words if not in deeds. Effeminacy has kept 

 pace among us in proportion to change in the man- 

 ner of living. Our fathers fared hard. To get 

 luxuries from the sterile soil of New England was 

 work indeed, and had not new avenues for busi- 

 ness been opened, luxuries would only be knewn 

 by name in this country of "ice and granite," — Si 

 LAS Brown, in Boston Cultivator. 



— Happy, thrice happy the New England of to- 

 day, the music of her looms, her work shops, the 

 loading and unloading of rich and varied cargoes 

 but keep time to the murmuring of her rivers, 

 whose motive power, gmided by the genius of her 

 workmen have made this change. No longer the 

 hillsides of New England are asked for bread — the 

 iron sinews of her work shops draw upon the prai- 

 ries of the West, and the draft is duly honored. 

 A thousand miles away from her surf-beaten iron- 

 bound coast, away where the sun smiles out upon 

 the far stretching fields of the "West, she seeks her 

 bread. Not only the wheaten loaf, but the juicy 

 ham and the stall fed ox are sent her. She luxu- 

 riates on the fat of the land, while the great West 

 IS clothed from her busy looms, and a thousand 



comforts go out from her turning shops. Such are 

 the ties that bind New England and the West in 

 indisoluble bonds of union — the ties of commerce, 

 the ties of reciprocity and the ties of consanguin- 

 ity. The blood of New England flows freely 

 through the families of the West. / :.'-/. 

 We have never seen New England, but we love 

 her for what she has done, and we love her be- 

 cause our interest is bound up in her. We need 

 for nothing from her energy, for she grasps the 

 riches of the earth, to make her homes happy, 

 and to build up institutions that give man power 

 over matter. Let us have more of New England 

 homes, aud more of her social virtues. En. 



What Shall We Pence With. ; 



This is a question that interests every farmer, as 

 the cost of fences makes up a large percentage of 

 the running expenses of every farm. 



Mr. Cornell, at the annual meeting of the New 

 York State Agricultural Society, delivered an ad- 

 dress from which we make the following extracts : 



My attention has been directed to our present 

 system of fencing, and the enormous outlay of cap- 

 ital it requires annually to support it, and hence 

 the question, have we been governed by correct 

 principles in the enclosure of our fields, or have 

 we been drifting along on the tide or apparent ne- 

 cessity, without reference to principle ? 



In England the Agricultural Societies are offer- 

 ing premiums to those who will eradicate the 

 greatest amount of hedge fence during the year. 

 Some of the tenant farmers insist upon a stipula- 

 tion in their leases, authorizing them to reclaim 

 the lands opcupied by the headges, thus adding to 

 the productive area of the farm, and lessening the 

 annual outlay for supporting the fence. I have 

 heard of one such farmer who had thus added for- .^ 

 ty-five acres to the tillable land of his farm within, 

 a few years. 



On the continent of Europe there are no fences, 

 or at least so few that they are an exception to the 

 rule. The traveller will pass hundreds of milea 

 without seeing a fence of any kind, or even notic- 

 ing any land marks dividing fa rms, and no encour*' 

 agement is offered there by Agricultural Societies 

 for enclosing farms with fences. 



May it not then be fairly questioned whether we 

 are not pursuing the practice of fencing our farms 

 into small fields at a large annual expense greatly 

 to our own disadvantage. With a view of inducing 

 our farmers to reflect upon this subject, I submit 

 the following remarks : 



To fence a farm into square fields of two and a 

 half acres each, crediting half of the fence to the 

 adjoining field, requires forty rods of fence, or six- 

 teen rods per acre, which at $15 per thousand for 

 rails, and $10 per thousand for stakes, will cost at 

 least 30 cents per rod, or $4,80 per acre, and en- 

 tail an annual expense in the interest of money, 

 natural decay of material, and labor for repair, of 

 nearly or quite $1 per acre. Fields of 5 acres each 

 require 11^ rods per acre, costing $3.45 per acre. 

 Ten acre fields require eight rods of fence per 

 acre, costing $2.40 per acre. Twenty acre fields 

 reduces the fence to 5^ rods per acre, at a cost t ' 



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