88 Fessendeti's Complete Farmer 



respect than the thick settlements of our own countrj'. We wantonly destroy 

 trees as if they were of no value ; here they are planted and nursed with as 

 much care as if they bore choice fruit.' 



" Although we think the writer last quoted has somewhat exaggerated the 

 ■defects of American husbandry, we must allow that his strictures are not so 

 destitute of some foundation in reality as could be wished. We, however, 

 have of late improved, and are improving, in every branch of culture, and bid 

 fair soon to possess a system of agriculture as well adapted to our climate 

 and circumstances as Great Britain, or even Flanders, can boast of at present. 

 Our fields may have a less imposing appearance, and our products may be 

 less in proportion to the quantity of land we have under cultivation, and still 

 our tillage be, on the whole, judicious. The agricultural implements and 

 farming operations of the United States are, in most particulars, very similar 

 to those of Great Britain. Circumstances and climate, however, require 

 variations, which the sagacity of the American cultivator will lead him to 

 adopt, often in contradiction to the opinions of those who understand the 

 science better than the practice of husbandry. In Europe land is dear, and 

 labour cheap ; but in the United States the reverse is the case. The Eu- 

 ropean cultivator is led by a regard to his own interest to endeavour to make 

 the most of his la7id ; the American has the same inducement to make the 

 most of his labour. Perhaps, however, this principle, in this country [America], 

 is generally carried to an unprofitable extreme ; and the American farmers 

 would derive more benefit from their labour, as well as their land, if they 

 selected such parts of their possessions as they could afford to till thoroughly, 

 and to manure abundantly. A man may possess a large estate in lands, with- 

 out being called on by good husbandry to hack and scratch over the whole, 

 as evidence of his title: he may cultivate well those parts which are naturally 

 most fertile, and suffer the rest to remain woodland ; or, having cleared a 

 part, lay it down to permanent pasture ; which will yield him an annual profit, 

 without requiring much labour. 



" The climate and soil of the United States are well adapted to the culti- 

 vation of Indian corn, a very valuable vegetable, which cannot be grown to 

 advantage in Great Britain. This entirely, and very advantageously, super- 

 sedes the field culture of the horse bean ( Ffcia -Faba), one of the most common 

 fallow crops in that island. Root-husbandry, or the raising of roots for the 

 purpose of feeding cattle, is, however, of less importance in the United States 

 than in Great Britain. The winters are so severe, that turnips can rarely be 

 eaten by stock on the ground where they grow ; and all sorts of roots are 

 with more difficulty preserved and dealt out to stock in this country, than in 

 those which possess a more mild and equable climate. Hay is more easily 

 made in the United States than in Great Britain, owing to the season for hay- 

 making being more dry, and the sun more powerful in the former than in the 

 latter country. There are many other circumstances which favour the American 

 farmer, and render his situation more eligible than that of those who pursue 

 the same occupation in most parts of Europe. He is, generally, the owner, 

 as well as the occupier, of the soil which he cultivates ; is not burdened with 

 tithes ; his taxes are light, and the product of his labours will command more 

 of the necessaries, comforts, and innocent luxuries of life, than similar efforts 

 would procure in any other part of the globe." 



On looking over the body of the work, we find, as may be 

 expected, little that is not already in works well known to the 

 British public; though, occasionally, there are passages which 

 are new or interesting to many of our readers. Under the head 

 of pasture grasses, it is observed, that " few of the grasses most 

 valuable in Great Britain for pasture are the natui-al growth of 

 the United States; but it is believed that if the seeds were once 



