The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1839-03-26
REgSCEHILA ~ EOUS.
From the GeneSee Farmer,
SIZE OF FARMS.


farms i'm the vicinity are swallowed up, and the
owners find n home in the new lands OF the
wide West. We disapprove OF this course for
several reasons, some of which we will lay be-
fore the reader. BY lessenjng the number of Ia
borers on a given number of acres, as in The
case where half dozen farms are melted into
one the price of labor is increased, and the get
ting in, or in the securing of crops in good
der and at a proper season, difficult, n not inn
possible The scarcity Of laborers in the grain
PROVING districts of New York is great, and is
greatly increasing and the system of enarging
farms has direct tendency to add to the evil.
Small farms are n source OF greater profit in
most cases, or in other words they return lar
ger interest on the capital invested, thnn large
farms There is usually greater proportion of
labor nut upon small farms than large ones, and
the products are usually in an increasing ratio
TO the labor expended. The well managed gar
den is by far the most productive part OF a farm,
and a small farm is much more readily brought
to such II state, than large one. There is ma-
nv Il man who wonltl attempt TO put fifty or one
hundred acres into high cultivation, who would
shrink from commencing on five hundred, and
the cause mentioned notwithstanding the mum.
Der of laborers-has the effect of preventing a
proper cultivation. There may he exceptions
to this rule but they are so rare, that they rather
confirm than invalidate it.
But the proper test of the question is the nc
ual stnte Of the small and large far'n-ihe COM
parative husbandry Of those parts of our own, or
other countries densely populated, and their ac'
tra prosperity. Judging by this rule, the I'D
vantages of small farms will, we think most
clearly appear. In our own country we have
hut to contrast the thckly settled farming dis
tricts of Duchess and Ontario, or some of those
of York and Lancaster, where the furms are Of
necessity mostly small, with the plantation sys
tenn farther south, or in the majority of the large
farms mt the north. The difference in the cult
va,ion in the fences, in the crops, and in the gen
ornl n tho marked
mistaken. In the districts 10 which we have for
the sake OF example referred where the farms
rarely exceed n hundred and fifty acres, and fire.
ouently much smaller the cultivation has rap
idly improved, the production and profit has
reached a high point, and the face OF the coun-
try wears an aspect Of prosperity aud happiness
which cannot be seen in districts where small
farms are unknown.
The same remarks hold true with regard to
those countries in Europe where the farming
population is the most dense, and the farms,
whether fee simple or on the tenant system,
are small. Belgium, parts Of Germany, Poland,
and England are sufficient proof OF tins. 80
in China, where every acre OF valuable iand sup
ports its man; and so it Will he every where,
where the capabilities Of the soil are developed
by the aids OF science and the skill OF the Guilt
vator.
As IA general rule, it may be ked that the
state of cultivation in any agricultural districts,
may be determined with great precision from
knowledge Of farms into which the country or
district is divided. VIII ere theysare numerous,
there will be the highest state Of Improvement,
the cutivators are more in contnct with euch,
the improved methods of agriculture spread
with greater rapidily, there is more emulation,
and more liberal feeling; and such men as Coke
in England and Stinson of Saratoga have sue
ceeded ia converting large farms into gardens
so far regards appearance and profit, the fact
is that such instances are so very rare, proves
that system of large farms, is not so well adap
ted to prosperous agricultural society as that
Of small ones.
CoLD WATER. We have often seen com
lamentations of this excellent beverage. But we
have seldom met with brief article which ,les-
cribes in more powerful manner the virtues of
cold water, than the following extract from the
Rev DR. Humphrey, in the New York Obser-
yer.
This is the true aqua vite-the very elixir OF
life. There is nothing like il to promote Health
md strength of days; to keep off the blues; to lu
breate the eye and TO energize the brain, IN the
whole Materid Medica. The habitua use of il,
both external and internal, from the tenderes
age, would, was going to say, prevent half the
"ills which man is heir to- There is nothing
like cold water TO cure sprains and bruises.
have tried it for thirty years upon myself and in
my family, with infallible success. A small
quantity of it, freely applied for few minutes,
when your child has fallen down stairs or cracked
his finger, instead Of his walnus, is worth more
than all the carnphored Jamaica in the apotheca
ny shops. And then those copous morning alb
lutions sparkling from The pure fountain, both
in winter and summer, how invgorang how
delightful You smile, suppose, but how de-
lightfI! Try 1t. Just accnstom your children
to il, at all seasons of the year, in cold room,
and see fthey do not become fond of it. Con-
tinue the practice OF washing them freely in cold
water every day in the year, As soon as they are
out of bed, and it will ere long become too great
ful to he omitted when they are too old 10 re-
quire your particular attention, For myself,
would almost as soon drink tunlber of luke
warm water,as even in the month of January, to
use the same temperaturein washing, or bathing,