1853, 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
11 
Farm Economy. 
(C I am not rich enough to be economical/’ said 
a young friend of ours, when we strongly recom¬ 
mended to him the profits of a certain improve¬ 
ment. “ The want of means compels me to work 
constantly to a disadvantage, and I cannot enjoy 
the privileges and profits of my richer neighbors.” 
This is a difficulty in which many intelligent, farm¬ 
ers have found themselves placed, and from which 
they would most gladly be extricated. Innume¬ 
rable instances are occurring in their daily prac¬ 
tice, where they could secure golden results, had 
they only the lever of capital placed in their hands ; 
but as they are now situated, they seem to them¬ 
selves like the man who is digging the earth with 
his unassisted hands, or the one who is compelled 
to carry water in an egg-shell, while their more for¬ 
tunate neighbors are turning up the deep soil with 
the most perfect instruments, or sending streams of 
refreshment and fertility through easy channels 
over their entire farms. Now, we are not about 
to plan a “ royal road ” of escape from this diffi¬ 
culty; it must be met and conquered. If the at¬ 
tack is rightly made, the conquest will be compa¬ 
ratively easy; if wrongly, it will be the discourag 
ing and formidable task of a life time. 
The eager inquiry is now made, What is the 
easiest mode of conquest? We answer, the first 
and great leading means, is a large fund of tho¬ 
rough and practical knowledge. The man who, 
by a close observation of results in his own prac¬ 
tice and in the experience of others, in connection 
with the immense amount of useful suggestions, 
(to say nothing of distinct practical directions) 
contained in the best publications of the day, pos¬ 
sesses, even with a very short purse, a vast ad¬ 
vantage over the.short-sighted, ignorant, and un¬ 
observant capitalist. He will turn to advantage, 
even with his very limited means, a thousand re¬ 
sources which others would allow to sleep unem¬ 
ployed forever. 
We once had occasion to observe the contrast 
in the condition of two young farmers, one of 
whom had a four-hundred acre farm “left” to 
him; the other had but fifty acres, which he had 
paid for in part, by previously laboring on a farm 
for some years by the month in slimmer, and 
teaching a district school in winter. The one had 
the capital of money which his own hands had 
never earned; the other possessed the more valu¬ 
able capital of knowledge and indomitable perse¬ 
verance. The young heir was more interested in 
riding about, in parties, balls, and in jaunts to the 
city, than in the details of farming, and knew the 
contents of the tri-weekly political newspaper, and 
of a certain frivolous magazine, much better than 
of any agricultural journal, or of Norton’s Ele 
ments. His farm became an exact reflection of 
its owner’s character. Fences were soon obscured 
by belts of alders, blackberries, and burdocks; 
and buildings showed marks of premature age, 
and became dilapidated. There was a thirty-acre 
marsh, which might have been drained, but it 
never was. And there was a patch of Canada 
thistles which filled one twelve-acre field, and part 
of another, which he could have destroyed in one 
season, had he known how others had done. One 
hundred and eighty loads of manure, as estimated 
at one time by a neighbor, were allowed to lie a 
whole year about his barn, without application. 
His cattle were of the long-horned, big-headed, 
sharp-backed breed. His swine were the Long- 
bristled Racers. His profits in farming may be 
easily guessed. There was a general complaint 
among his neighbors, that his debts were never 
met within six months after the appointed pay¬ 
day, and that he endured a sharp dun with extra¬ 
ordinary patience. It is true, necessity drove him 
to retrench his expenses, and the improved ex¬ 
amples about him induced him to amend his prac¬ 
tice, but not until his farm was reduced to less 
than half its original size, by portions sold off at 
three different times to satisfy mortgages. 
Well, what become of the young fifty acre far¬ 
mer, we are asked. He has ceased to be a “ fifty- 
acre farmer.” He began by examining closely 
what improvements could be made, of whatever 
character and kind, whether cheap or expensive. 
Among these he was compelled to select first 
the cheap improvements, or those which promis¬ 
ed the largest profits for the smallest outlay. One 
of the first of these was the draining of a three- 
acre alder swamp, a large portion of which he did 
with his own hands in autumn, between seeding 
and husking. He had read of Judge Euel’s suc¬ 
cess with brush drains; he constructed all the 
side or secondary channels by filling them at the 
bottom with the bushes cut from the ground, which 
enabled him to accomplish the work at less than 
half the usual price. These brush drains have now 
stood many years, and the brush being wholly ex¬ 
cluded from the external air, has not decayed, and 
they carry off the little water required, being nu¬ 
merous, and at regular intervals. Now, observe 
the result: The alder swamp would not have sold 
originally for five dollars an acre; it now brings 
crops of corn, broom-corn and meadow grass, 
more than paying the interest on a hundred and 
fifty dollars per acre, besides all expenses. He 
doubled his manure by drawing from the most 
peaty portion of this drained swamp, large quan¬ 
tities of muck to his farm-yard, where it was kept 
comparatively dry till wanted, under a cheap slab 
