364 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
of freedom from wasting excitement, and may enjoy 
what is worth more than large returns accompanied by 
sleepless nights. This is all very plausible, but the mis¬ 
fortune is, that they don’t think as you represent. lean 
speak for 10,000 young men now in New-York, who are 
compelled to struggle onward in the almost hopeless race 
for competence, who would cut loose from such confine¬ 
ment, could they have the evidence before their eyes, 
that with a small capital, competence is attainable on a 
well cultivated farm. 
I heard it remarked by an intelligent man of Massa¬ 
chusetts, before a county audience, that were all the far¬ 
mers in the state to sell off their farms, and invest the 
proceeds in bonds and mortgages, &,c., they would be 
much better off. Now will you be kind enough to in¬ 
form your many readers the names of ten intelligent far¬ 
mers in our state, who realize a competence from their 
respective farms—whose business for a series of years can 
be pronounced profitable? I fear it cannot be done. I 
hold it decidedly wrong for a retired merchant to live 
without occupation, and inasmuch as I have chosen, from 
a long cherished preference, a country residence, I must 
cordially acknowledge that I am possessed with the com¬ 
mon feeling of my fellow men, and find it hard to swal¬ 
low a yearly loss, after the pains, labor, and expense of 
producing crops, and getting for an equivalent the only 
satisfaction of knowing that I could support my family 
cheaper in town, and have less trouble. 
Don’t think me impertinent, or wishing to cast any dis¬ 
credit on you or your compeers of the press, but I am 
desirous of being encouraged, if in your power consis¬ 
tently so to do, and will persevere if I can see a fair pros¬ 
pect of success in the future. Mercutio. 
Eemarks —The gist of the above anonymous com¬ 
munication, is comprised in the question, whether the 
person who wrote it can support his ‘‘ family comforta¬ 
bly” from 40 acres of land? How does he suppose it 
possible that such a question can be answered from the 
data he gives? We know nothing about the land, its 
capabilities of production, or the value of its produce. 
We do not even know where it is situated. He tells us 
there is 11 a market not far distant,” but we have no in¬ 
formation as to what market is meant, the prices of agri¬ 
cultural and horticultural articles, or what could be raised 
from the land to the best advantage. He is just as in¬ 
definite in regard to the amount of income he requires 
from his 40 acres. He wants to support his u family 
comfortably ;” but how do we know what his family is, 
or what expenditure of money would keep an indefinite 
number of people in that indefinite state called 11 comforta¬ 
ble?” Upon the whole, he has given us as a poser —we 
acknowledge the proposition is too hard for us to solve. 
As to the general question of the profits of farming, 
it is easily answered. Take the whole farming interest 
of the country. Does it lose or gain? Obviously gains. 
What but agriculture supports four-fifths of our popula¬ 
tion? In our own state, we have many sections where 
agriculture constitutes the only resource of the inhabi¬ 
tants. Is our friend so ignorant as to suppose that there 
has been no increase in wealth in these districts for a 
scries of years?” 
As to the remark charged to l: an intelligent man of 
Nov. 
Massachusetts,” that all the farmers in that state would 
do better to sell out and invest their money in bonds and 
mortgages, we think there might be some question as to 
his “ intelligence.” As to the names of u ten intelligent 
farmers in our state,” who make farming profitable, we 
do not wish to make an invidious array of names, but 
if our correspondent will give us his own name and resi¬ 
dence, we will send him the names of one hundred men 
who, for “a series of years,” have made money by farm¬ 
ing, and who will be ready to show the way it was done. 
In the mean time we would refer our friend to our vo¬ 
lume for 1847, pp. 180, 205, 265; for 1848, pp. 169,192, 
297; for 1851, pp. 85, 88, 897. Eds. 
Agricultural Resources of the Great West. 
The Hearing and Feeding of Horned Cattle.— 
Next to wheat, and corn, the rearing and feeding of 
neat cattle, on the western prairies, may take rank in 
point of importance. Some locations are of course 
much better adapted for stock than others, and the same 
applies to all branches of agriculture; but the undevelop¬ 
ed agricultural resources are comparatively so boundless 
throughout the entire states and territories forming the 
upper Mississippi valley, that a person desirous of engag¬ 
ing extensively in any department of agriculture, will 
find no difficulty in selecting an appropriate location. To 
an eastern grazier and feeder, the prairies could not be 
otherwise than fascinating; and the facilities for the busi¬ 
ness are such that it may be extended to any given ex¬ 
tent, without exhausting the summer range for cattle. 
The sleek and fat appearance of cattle, that are fed up¬ 
on the prairies, is good evidence of the fattening proper¬ 
ties of the herbage; and where cattle are well wintered 
they may be fattened fit for market on the natural grass¬ 
es, without the aid of grain. 
The extent of the prairies bordering the large streams 
can only be estimated by the length of the rivers or 
streams along which they stretch. A very common size 
is from ten to fifteen miles in width, and from thirty to 
fifty miles in length. A long the edge of those prairies, 
or skirting the timber (the latter being confined entirely 
to the streams,) the settlements of the country are main¬ 
ly located, leaving the range for stock in the centre of 
the prairie, which of course is occupied free, to all who 
choose to allow their cattle to graze upon them. Tens 
of thousands of acres of high rolling pastures, are thus al¬ 
lowed to remain in commons, owned principally by east¬ 
ern capitalists, at points near the main thoroughfares, 
and even in many cases contiguous to populous towns 
and cities. These cattle ranges are admirably adapted 
for the groth of corn, and all the variety of grains, and 
cultivated grasses; and where necessity requires it, corn 
and root crops, may be grown at a nominal cost, to be 
fed upon the ground, to finish the fattening process for 
market. Prior to the California emigration, stock cattle 
for feeding could be bought at one half the prices asked 
in Ohio; but the outfit for the overland route being made 
almost exclusively along the upper Mississippi and her 
tributaries, tens of thousands of oxen, steers, and coats, 
have been bought up at nearly eastern prices, thus chang¬ 
ing materially the market value of stock cattle for feed¬ 
ing. The inexhaustible capacity of the country for the 
