Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1836-11-08
RURAL ECONOMY.
. LEAF FROM THE NOTE BOOK OF a FAR
NER.


common errors into which farmers lall'
is undertaking more than they can perform;
hence insert the tollowmS-
Mem. Never to lay out more work than
there is a reasonable probability Of finishing
in good time, and in good order. Labor is
capital, and time is capital, and man
should know how much of both he can be-
stow any given part ofh farm before he
undertakes its cultivation. Serious losses
result from a neglect ofthis rule, for there
are many farms, and many operations IN
farming, in which failure in time or labor
is fatal to the hope of profit. There are
MANY farms so situated that the crops will
not pav the expense of cultivation, unless
manure is usedtoa considerable extent: now
if the farmer plans his business oa so eS-
,ensive scale that he has no time to col
lect and apply this essential article. MS inte'
rior crops will prove source OF loss IN
stead of gain. If he plants field OF corn
but has so much other w-.k TO do that ne
can hoe it but once, and that sIIghtlngIy,
when two thorough ones are required, ne
must not complain if his neighbor, who en-
plovs capital of both time and labor on
his corn, should gather a harvest far ex-
ceeding;his own. If he allows his manure
to lie in the barn ward through the summer
washing in the rains, and wasting in the sun,
because he had not time to app y 1t to his
corn or barley grounds in the sprung, he
mavb he sure that he is not in the way to get
the most profit from his farm, or the most
bene6t from his barn yard. The man who
has no time to clean his seed wheat. be-
canse he is so driven with work, will most
Eke]v find some five or ten per cent. OF MS
cron will be chess and cookie at harvest
;nc But there is no end 10 the lnconVe-
niences that result from attempting too
much on the farm; from beginning to END
il is evil: it makes the whole process OF
farming uphill work it allows not mo-
n,ent for relaxation or Improvement OF the
mind; it places the farmer and his work IN
WRONG positions, the latter always driving
the former; and he who does not correct
the error in time, will find himself driven
out of house and home. :,
Mem. Never to willingly subject mvseit
10 a charge of ignorance on any subject OF
nermanent utility or general knowledge,
not of a kind strictly technical or protes-
sional. The notion so prevalent, that the
farmer, from the very nature OF his avoca-
lions. must necessarily be ignorant OF eve
rv thing that does not relate to his employ.
ment. should be exploded, and none are
more interested in the matter than the far
mer himself. 1t may be asserted, that few
professional men, who are Zealously and
successfully engaged in their several pur-
suts. have more hours 10 devote to the ac-
QUESTION of general knowledge OF a useful
kind. than the farmer. All that is wanting
is the taste for acknowledgements this taste
is ususally an acquired one-and the
means of information will follow as mat
ter of course. Papers, periodicals, books,
all are so plentiful and so cheap, and lnfor-
nation on most topics has been so con-
densed, that to plead want Of means, or
want oftme, for the acquisition of knowl.
edge, is sealing our condemnation with our
own hand. True, farmer must 60 to
work, and work hard-to labor is his glory
and in it he finds his reward. The free Ia
borer who tills his own farm, has prouder
patent of nobility, and can trace longer
pedigree, than any monarch-made OF peers
on earth, but he must never be ashamed OF
his calling, or ape the follies or vices OF
those who ridiculously deem themselves
above him.
Mem. Always to perform whatever l
undertake. The celebrated John Hunter,
towards the close of his life, was asked how
he had been able to accomplish so much
labor. He replied, "by always perform
ing what | undertook. If an object pre-
sented itselfto me as desirable to be accom-
plished, first inquired whether it could be
done-if it was necessary it should be done
and these two points once settled, the
conclusion was, could do it las well as any
one else, and by perseverance it was done. "
This is the course 10 be pursued by the far.
mer. Only let him determine what is in.
dispensable, and necessary to success In any
farming operation, and he will rarely fail
The object and the means of attaining II
should be distinct in the mind, and these
should be unhestatingly pursued. Perse-
verance has wrought wonders in the farm
ing world, and its efficiency is not by any
means lost. The most highly cultivated
parts of Europe, were once considered as
hopelessly barren; and our country exhlb-
its some most honorable examples of what
skill and determined industry can accom-
plish,