174 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
How Shall I become a Farmer? 
This question is frequently asked of us per¬ 
sonal^ and by letter. The inquirers are ofmany 
different classes. Mechanics tired of confine¬ 
ment in close workshops, look to the green fields, 
and long for the freedom of the plowman. Citi¬ 
zens who have accumulated enough for a mod¬ 
erate income, find'themselves straitened by the 
expensiveness of city life, and see in the econo¬ 
my of rural habits a remedy for their perplexi¬ 
ties. With bread from their own fields, butter 
from their own dairy, chickens from the poultry 
yard, and vegetables fresh from the garden, at 
only the cost of raising, they could afford to fare 
sumptuously every day, and as for the purple and 
fine linen, that need not be worn in the country. 
The school-boy too, who has spent the happy 
weeks of his Summer vacation in frolicking over 
the hay field, scampering through the woods and 
feasting on bread and milk, is charmed with the 
idea of being a farmer, and enjoying the pleasures 
of the country the whole year round. From all 
these and many more, the question has come, 
“ How shall I become a Farmer 1” 
First, a word of caution is needed. Though 
country life is desirable, it is not all a round of 
pleasure; though its gains are reasonably certain, 
they are yielded only to patient, continued hard 
work. The plowman sweating in the blazing 
sunshine, envies the mechanic in his shop ; the 
economizing farmer sighs for the quick returns 
enjoyed by his fortunate city acquaintance, and 
the weary boy who follows the cart with his rake, 
would often gladly exchange his lot for that of 
the schoolboy who wants to be a farmer. Hun¬ 
dreds are every year deluded with mistaken no¬ 
tions of the pleasures and profits of farming— 
they do not count the cost. We fully believe 
that the benefits are worth the cost, but we are 
certain that of every ten who leave other 
avocations for farming, without some previous 
practical experience of the realities of farm life, 
nine will meet with discouragingdisappointment. 
The multitude of places for sale at a sacrifice in 
the neighborhood of all our large cities, by men 
who have tried the experiment, is proof of the 
assertion. They met with unforeseen obstacles— 
the business of cultivation of itself difficult enough, 
was rendered doubly so to them from want of ex¬ 
perience. Crops were put in at wrong seasons 
and in the wrong manner; the garden would 
yield weeds as well as flowers, and insects com¬ 
pleted the destruction ; good help was not obtain¬ 
able, and the dairy was a failure ; and at the end 
of the year, the accounts properly balanced, would 
read “ Cr. by experience gained, many dollars out 
of pocket’ - —more or less according to the extent of 
the experiment. This too is in addition to the 
deprivation ofmany privileges which long habit 
had rendered necessary to enjoyment. Dark as 
this shading is, it need not have spoiled the final 
picture, had it been seen in time and calculated 
upon. A few years, and steady perseverance 
even under discouragement will bring all right, 
and he who would make the change proposed, 
should enter upon it expecting a period of hard 
times, then, he will not be disappointed, and may 
go on courageously to final success. If you can 
stand the “ toughening ” process, you can become 
a farmer, if not—and it will be severe—don't at¬ 
tempt it. 
But we will suppose all this has been settled, 
and a young man knowing little or nothing of 
farming, has fully determined to go through thick 
and thin, and make soil culture his profession ; 
how shall he best accomplish it 1 He needs first 
radical knowledge of the use of farming im¬ 
plements, and this he can gain by engaging to 
work as a “green hand ” with some intelligent 
farmer, upon whom he can rely for kind treat¬ 
ment and judicious oversight. The first season, 
he must be content with apprentice’s wages, sat¬ 
isfied if he may receive enough to board and 
clothe him decently. Let him learn to handle 
the plow, the hoe, the scythe, and make a busi¬ 
ness of “getting the hang” of every tool used in 
farming. While doing this, day by day, let him 
keep his eyes and ears open to all that concerns 
the various operations, and not be ashamed to 
ask even the simplest necessary questions. 
Occasional leisure moments will be well occu¬ 
pied in studying agricultural periodicals and 
books. At the year’s end he will, if atten¬ 
tive, know wheat from barley, be able to plant 
and hoe corn, and dig potatoes, to cut a rag¬ 
ged furrow with the plow, and perhaps a rag- 
geder swath with the scythe, in short, will 
have made a beginning; and if careful, will find 
his muscles better able to perform the increased 
labor of the following years. Having in one or 
more years as may be necessary, thus learned the 
first steps, let him begin to walk alone, by under¬ 
taking something on his own account; it would 
be well to hire a small field, and arrange for time 
to work it. Let him advise with others, and then 
decide for himself, as to the best crop and manner 
of cultivating, and expect but a small return, and 
he will, when the crop is harvested, have learned 
more of management, than years of merely work¬ 
ing for another would have taught him. His pro¬ 
gress after this will be easy, if he have studied as 
well as worked. Hfc may soon, with little aid from 
others, conduct a farm successfully, working it on 
shares, or hiring at a stipulated price, and by skill 
and economy begin to accumulate capital for the 
purchase of a few acres as a nucleus of his future 
farm. This is but a mere outline, but sufficient 
to indicate what may be done by a young man in 
earnest to become a farmer—with ordinary in¬ 
telligence he can arrange the details, without it 
he need not try the experiment. We have not 
space to pursue the subject further, and illustrate 
how a man engaged in other business, and hav¬ 
ing a family, may secure a home in the country 
which shall give him a livelihood, but may recur 
to the subject on another occasion. 
How to Mow. 
A smile wreathes the lip of our veteran farm¬ 
er, as he reads the heading of this article. Can 
an Editor teach me anything new in that line ! 
Oh no, sir, perhaps not, but let us hint a word or 
two to your sons, or to some young men who 
have not such skillful fathers to teach them. We 
want them to learn this art aright, then they will 
never forget it. 
This is one of the most fatiguing operations of 
farming, and the more so, as it has to be done in 
very warm weather. Any hints to lighten the 
labor will be very useful. In the first place, then, 
rise early, and begin before sunrise. By doing 
so, and having your scythe sharpened and in per¬ 
fect order the night before, you may get half a 
day’s work done by nine o’clock. The coolness 
of the morning air, and the dew on the grass, will 
both help along the labor. At nine o’clock, you 
may retire to the house, or to some shady tree, 
and rest yourself for several hours, while your 
slow neighbor is sweating through the mid-day, 
and perhaps hurting himself by over-work and 
by taking down large draughts of cold drink to 
allay his thirst. Between two and three o’clock 
you may begin work again, refreshed and vigor¬ 
ous, and may labor till sunset with little fatigue. 
By all means keep your scythe constantly in 
good order. Let it be adapted to the surface of 
the ground to be mowed. If that is level and 
free from obstructions, the scythe may be long 
and almost straight, and it will work easy. If 
the ground is broken, or covered with stones or 
low stumps, the scythe must be short and crooked. 
While the snath should not be too heavy, 
neither should it be so light as to tremble and 
shake in the mower’s hand : also, let it never be¬ 
come loose from the blade, as this will cause it 
to catch on every obstruction, and require a great 
waste of strength to make it cut. Many young 
mowers, in their haste to get over a certain piece 
of ground, often worry themselves by this little 
neglect. 
It is very pleasant to mow in company, but 
young and inexperienced mowers should be care¬ 
ful how they pit themselves against the brawny 
arms of older and stronger workmen. Many a 
promising young man has been injured for life by 
this ambition to be thought a great mower. 
Hoping that our young laborers will be careful 
when following close to each other, we commend 
them to their noble work, and hope they will 
pass through the hay-harvest in good health, and 
gather abundant crops. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Experience in Baising Spelt. 
In the April No. of the American Agriculturist , 
I notice an article on Spelt, (Triticum spei- 
ta,) which brought to my mind the fact that my 
father and neighbors cultivated the Winter varie¬ 
ty quite successfully some twenty five or twen¬ 
ty eight years ago, in the southern part of 
Pennsylvania, (York Co ) It was generally sown 
on soil that was thought to be too poor for wheat, 
and yielded good crops each year, being much 
more certain. The plant seemed to be much 
more hardy than wheat, less injured by freezing 
out, and seldom injured by the depredations of 
that arch enemy of the wheat crop, the Hessian 
Fly, which was so very destructive about that 
time. The color is a blueish green; it grows 
nearly as high as wheat, the head about 2^ to 3 
inches long, and somewhat closer than wheat. In 
threshing, the stalk breaks between the grain, 
leaving the grains enclosed, two by two, in their 
own husk or chaff, which is somewhat looser, 
but much thicker than oats ; and although Dr. 
Lobe describes the straw as being softer than 
wheat, yet to my certain knowledge the contrary 
is the fact,—in that section of the country the 
straw' being stiffer and harder to cut than the 
stiffest “blue stem wheat.” After threshing, 
tw’o bushels would generally yield one separated 
from the husk, which was usually done with the 
old fashioned shelling mill—viz: a pair of sand 
stones run loosely together, so as not to mash the 
grain, with a fan underneath, to blow aside the 
chaff as it fell from the stones. The grinding and 
baking w'ere about the same as wheat. It yield¬ 
ed a fine delicious bread, very light and spongy, 
but of a richer, somewhat more yellowish white, 
than wheat. The chaff, or husk, after shelling, is 
very useful for beds, and is much more cleanly 
and more elastic than straw. 
There was considerable raised for several 
years with good success. The farmers then com¬ 
menced improving their farms, and the Hes¬ 
sian Fly became less destructive to the wheat, 
w'hen their attention was mostly turned to that 
grain, and the spelt almost, if not entirely, aban¬ 
doned. 
My opinion respecting it is, that where wheat 
thrives well, it will not pay to raise spelt, bet 
