402 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October. 
is so evident that, with the engraving, the 
whole thing will be perfectly plain to all. 
A Valuable Flood Fence. 
A practical and inexpensive plan for con¬ 
structing a fence across the bed of a stream, 
especially that of a rocky one through which 
the water rims only after heavy rains, is sent 
by “A Subscriber,” and is shown in the en¬ 
graving. “The ‘logs’ are the trunks of 
straight trees about 18 inches in diameter, 
which are hewed on two sides ; posts are mor¬ 
tised in each of these logs, and on them planks 
are firmly nailed. The logs are then linked to¬ 
gether with inch iron rods, and the first one 
A FENCE FOB A SMALL STREAM. 
connected by means of a long link to a tree, 
or post firmly set in the ground upon the 
banks of the stream. The links must all work 
freely. When high water occurs, the fence 
is washed around and left on the bank ; after 
the water has subsided sufficiently, the logs 
may be dragged back to their places, as shown 
in the above engraving, by means of a horse 
hitched to a staple in the end of the log.” 
System in Farming. 
BY MANLY MILES, M. D., “HOUGHTON PABM,“ MOUNTAIN- 
VILLE, OBANGE CO., N. Y. 
There is perhaps no department of business 
in which a definite and consistent system of 
management is so much needed as in farm¬ 
ing. In England and Scotland, where an 
extended experience is the guide in practice, 
and where, from the great value of land, the 
highest rents are paid by the tenant farmers, 
we find in each locality a very general con¬ 
formity to a well-planned system of farm 
practice, which is reasonably claimed, under 
the circumstances, to give the best results. 
The low price of the virgin soils of America, 
when first brought under cultivation, together 
with a lack of markets for a variety of prod¬ 
ucts, and the many other conditions insepar¬ 
able from the settlement of a new country, 
have led to habits of practice that are perhaps 
best defined by their lack of system. Under 
these conditions, presented in what may be 
calleed pioneer farming, the tendency is to 
grow, almost exclusively, some particular 
crop, that commands a ready sale at paying 
prices, without taking into consideration the 
effects of its continuous growth on the future 
productiveness of the soil. The pioneer who 
is subjected to the hardships and privations 
that are of necessity connected with the first 
settlement of a new country, is undoubtedly 
entitled to receive the full benefit of the ac¬ 
cumulated riches of the soil he brings under 
cultivation, and the “scouring” practice he 
resorts to, although uniformly censured by 
theoretical writers, is without doubt, under 
the circumstances, the best he can possibly 
adopt for his own immediate interests. 
This “ spoilation system,” as it is frequently 
called, has, without reason, been too generally 
condemned by those who have not taken into 
accoimt the peculiar conditions that have 
given rise to it. The most conclusive argu¬ 
ment that can be brought against this system, 
is, that it leads to habits of farming that pre¬ 
vail long after the conditions that made it 
expedient have passed away. 
It would not perhaps be difficult to show 
that the defects of American farm manage¬ 
ment, so widely prevalent, 
are, to a great extent at 
least, attributable to the 
habitual practice of methods 
that were for a time found 
desirable, but which in the 
older parts of the country, 
under the changed condi¬ 
tions as to markets, and the 
decrease in the natural fer¬ 
tility of the soil, can no longer 
be defended. As the condi¬ 
tions favorable to the prac¬ 
tice of a more intensive and 
complete system of farming 
have been devoloped, the 
tendency is to follow the old 
routine methods that had 
given the best results during 
the early settlement of the country, without 
reference to the modified surroundings that 
render a change of practice desirable. 
At the present time there can be no doubt 
that a better system of farming may be 
adopted, with advantage, in the older States 
that have passed the pioneer stage of develop¬ 
ment. The profits of the average farm may 
be materially increased by the practice of a 
complete system of management, that pro¬ 
vides for the full and symmetrical develop¬ 
ment of every interest of the farm, in con¬ 
nection, of course, with a more thorough 
cultivation of the soil, and greater attention 
to the preservation and use of manure. 
System in farming, in the sense in which 
the term is used here, is not to be confoimded 
with neatness and order in carrying on the 
various operations of the farm. Instances 
may be found in almost every neighborhood, 
in which the buildings and adjacent premises 
are models of neatness, and the necessary 
work is performed in an efficient manner, 
while an examination of the routine practised 
would show that nothing like a complete sys¬ 
tem had been adopted, embracing every in¬ 
terest and detail that contributed to the ag¬ 
gregate of results. Even under the pioneer 
practice that we have characterized by its 
want of system, it would not be difficult to 
find many farms where neatness and order 
prevail in the management. But something 
beyond this is needed in the advanced posi¬ 
tion the farmer should occupy with better 
markets, and land increased in money value, 
if not in productiveness. 
The farm, under these changed conditions, 
may be compared to a manufactory, in which 
there are many different departments and 
processes, each of which is essential to the 
success of the whole. In a complete sytem of 
farming these various interests should be so 
adjusted and harmonized that each would 
contribute its due proportion to the general 
result, and no single department should be 
developed to an extent that interfered mate¬ 
rially with the success of any other. It would, 
of course, be impossible to arrange the details 
of a system adapted to every locality, from 
the fact that peculiarities of soil and climate, 
to say nothing in regard to markets and the 
ability of the farmer himself in particular 
modes of management, would require modi¬ 
fications of plans in many essential details. 
The principles of farm economy are, however, 
well established and of general application, 
and they must be recognized in all cases to 
secure the highest success in any department 
of farm management. 
In deciding on the crops to be raised, it 
will be necessary to consider the peculiarities 
of the soil, the markets'available for the prod¬ 
ucts that are to be sold, the kind and num¬ 
ber of animals to be provided for, and many 
other special features of the system it is pro¬ 
posed to adopt. The arrangement of the crops 
in a systematic rotation, with reference to 
the greatest economy of labor, the opportu¬ 
nity afforded for thorough tillage, and the 
complete destruction of weeds might also be 
taken into the account, in determining what 
crops it would be profitable to grow, or the 
prominence to be given to any particular crop. 
The management of the live stock would 
likewise constitute an important feature of a 
complete system, as the leading purpose for 
which it is kept will have its influence on 
other interests, and some modification in de¬ 
tails might be required to promote the com¬ 
mon good. 
The cropping and general management of a 
farm, in which the dairy is a prominent in¬ 
terest, will differ in many respects from one 
devoted to stock raising, or one where winter 
feeding is extensively practised; yet, in all 
the relation of the live stock to the other gen¬ 
eral interests of the farm, should be based 
on the same definite principles. As the liberal 
application of manure is of the first imporance 
in the best farm practice, any system that 
does not provide for the largest possible sup¬ 
ply of this indispensable element of success 
would be open to serious objections. The 
relations of the system of cropping and feed¬ 
ing, to the manure supply of the farm, pre¬ 
sent too wide a field for discussion in this 
place, and attention is only called to it as one 
of the items of great importance that should 
be carefully studied in deciding upon a sys¬ 
tem of farm management. The question of 
manure supply has, in reality, a relation to 
almost every possible interest of the farm, 
and any provision for giving the best results 
in this direction will tend to ensure success 
in farm operations as a whole. 
Without stopping to discuss the varied rela¬ 
tion of each particular interest of the farm, 
we will proceed to indicate some additional 
topics that require consideration in deter¬ 
mining what particular system is best under 
the circumstances presented in any locality. 
The proportion of the farm it will be most 
profitable to devote to permanent pasture and 
meadow, will depend upon a variety of con¬ 
ditions, that can be better stated in a given 
case, than in general terms. As a rule, lands 
that are not adapted to tillage, will naturally 
be devoted to grazing or meadow, but the 
proportion required for each purpose will 
depend on the system of management. In 
exceptional cases, as, where an abundant 
supply of fertilizing materials can be readily 
obtained at reasonable rates, or where land is 
