1863. 



THE ILLmOIS f AEMEE. 



275 



ther. The Cottonwood wheu planted close leans 

 this and that way, and the top grows rough and 

 uneven, but the Lombardy grows upright and is 

 purely ornamental in form. M. Greenman, 



— ^Now that our people are cut loose from old 

 notions in regard to hedging, and have entered a 

 wide field of experiment, ^e shall see some pro- 

 gress in the cheapening of this heavy draft on the 

 farmer. The cost of fencing is the great draw- 

 back, and we now look forward to see it reduced. 



From the Country Gentleman. 

 By the Month or by the Year- 



Eds. Co. Gent — ^In the old countries of Europe, 

 the practice of hiring farm labor by the year is 

 prevalent, and has been, I suppose time out of 

 mind. More than that it is common for the farm 

 laborer to remain with the same employer life long. 

 A farmer in Buckinghamshire once told me that 

 he, meaning himself, his father and his grandfath- 

 er had rented that farm (the one he was showing 

 me) 120 years, and that scarcely a farm loborer 

 had been dismissed from it in all that time. There, 

 and in many parts of Europe, the farm laborer has 

 his cottage, small but substantial, neat and com- 

 fortable, on the farm which he assists to work, with 

 his flower plat and vegetable garden around him. 

 He knows all who live near him ; is known by all; 

 and he is loved and respected by all, if an honest 

 and worthy man. Were farm labor as well paid 

 there as here, he would be a happy man, and could 

 easily educate his children in a way to qualify them 

 for any pursuits in life, for which their tastes and 

 talents might ad^t them. 



Now if there is not to be a class of men here as 

 well as there whose business is farm lab.or, and not 

 farming on their own account, I know not how 

 the farming operations of our country are to be 

 sustained, for I fa»cy it will be long before each 

 landholder will cultivate all the land he owns with 

 his own hands, or with his own and those of his 

 sons. If there is to be such a class — men who cul- 

 tivate the soil under the direction of others — does 

 it not become the agriculturists of this country to 

 look to their welfare, and bo to modify the system 

 of farm labor, that while the farmer himself shall 

 not suffer by the change, the farm laborer shall be 

 put in a better position than that of being hired 

 three, six or nine months, and then turned adrift 

 the rest of the year. 



I would by no means advocate the cause of the 

 farm laborer at the expense of the farmer. The 

 farmer who owns the land, works it himself, and 

 trains his sons to work it with him, limiting the 

 extent to so much as he and they can work well, is 

 among the most useful and the happiest of men. 

 That a few cultivators should be lords of the soil, 

 and that the many should be "farm servants" to 

 them, is just what we do not want, and hope never 

 to have in this country. What then is to be done? 

 Shall we limit our ownership to so much land as 

 the owner can cultivate without going out of his 

 own family for muscle ? That would be neither 



possible nor desirable. It often happens that men 

 of feeble constitutions prolong life and usefulness 

 by carrying on a farm mainly by hired labor. 0ft- 

 ener still, are farmer's widows and orphans left in 

 a condition in which, to conduct the farm by hired 

 labor, is their only resource. 



Both farmers and farm laborers are essential to 

 the welfare of any country. But it is not farm 

 laborers for life that we want. Young men in the 

 lack of means to hold and conduct a farm on their 

 own account, often find it to their interest to hire 

 out a few years, to husband their wages the while, 

 to learn the business well first, and then to com- 

 mence farming on their own account. After such 

 apprenticeship with a good farmer, they are very 

 apt to become good farmers themselves. Others 

 there are, who, though good at farm labor, and per- 

 haps hardly fit for anything else, yet lacking the 

 skill to manage a farm on their own account, may 

 better remain longer, in some cases perhaps for 

 life, laboring under the directions of others. One 

 thing is certain — our vast domain will never be all 

 awned and cultivated by the same men. Farmers 

 will be wanting help, and farm laborers will be 

 seeking situations. Farmers in the vicinity of 

 cities and villages will always find it to their in- 

 terest to hire some labor by the day in hurrying 

 seasons; and everywhere mechanics, more or less, 

 will afford assistance in harvest time. 



The question is, whether beyond these mere 

 temporary resources, farmers will hire by the 

 month or the year. The practice for only hiring a 

 part of the year — three, five, or seven months — 

 seems to have grown out of circumstances, as the 

 condition of settlers in a new country, peculiari- 

 ties of climate, &c. Vegetation with us is more 

 rapid than in most parts of Europe. Many a farm- 

 er will ask, why hire a man for the whole year, 

 when from the very nature of the climate, most of 

 the work must be done in April and the four or 

 five following months ? I grant that here is a 

 strong argument. But is it unanswerable ? You 

 say you have nothing for a man to do in the winter. 

 But is this so ? I grant that a large part of the 

 plowing, all the planting, sowing, weeding, and 

 harvesting, have to be done in a hurry, and you 

 have not much choice as to the time. But there 

 is muhh to be done on a farm, which can be done 

 when the growing and securing of crops can not. 

 I am not without experience on the farm ; and I 

 know that while much of the work must be per- 

 formed, not when we might wish, but when the 

 advancing season requires, there is also much that 

 awaits our convenience. It is possible to distrib- 

 ute farm work over the year more equally than 

 many suppose. How to do this, deserves the farm- 

 er's most earnest study. If by careful forethought 

 the problem can be solved, as both to enable the 

 farmer himself to avoid excessively severe labor in 

 summer, and to reserve moderate employment for 

 himself and his men through other portions of the 

 year, I believe great benefit will result to both em- 

 ployer and employed, and to the cause of agricul- 

 ture, and I sincerely wish that the question may 

 be fairly and ftilly discussed. / 1^. 



-»•*- 



Leicester Sheep. 



The new Leicester breed was brought to its grea 

 perfection through the skill and perseverance of 

 Robert Bakewell, of Dishley, in the county of 



