Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1839-05-29
Agricultural.
Improper nIanagement.

Improper Management.
There is with some farmers DISPOSE
ton to. devote. their farms exclusively TO
one crop, or one kind of business, to the
neglect Of all others and the crop or bu-
siness is chosen not so much with refer.
ence 70 probable prices for the future, as
those fthe present time or the last year.
There are cases where exclusive farming
ofthis kind may be justified; as on a sure
growing wheat farm, for example, wheat
and clover NAV well be made a substitute
for other and inferior crops; but such
farms are few, compared with those on
which exclusive farming would be ruin
Gus. Exclusive farmers usually manage
much in this way;--this year for instance
cattle are low and sheep are high, he fam
'cies that there must be the most profit ia
raising sheep so he sells his. cattle and
purchases sheep. In. a year or two the
scale changes, cattle rise and sheep fall,
and his sheen are disposed of at sacri-
fee to purchase cattle. One year wheat
IS low and oats are high; an exclusive
farmer the next year sows has whole farm
with oals, and Is of course obliged to take
what he can get for them after the harvest.
And so it is with all other crops, snd with
all kinds of stock. Mr., Co!nan in his
report states that two years since, some
families in one Of the best towns in the
county of Berkshire, were for some time
without bread Of any kind from the i'm
possibility of obtaining It. They asked
for money for their labor; but money. was
not to be had, because, owing to the press
ure Of the times, wool could not be sold.
They asked for grain, but the farmer had
abandoned the cultivation of grain, for
raising wool. They asked for pork; but
farmers who raised no grain could make
no pork. Such is usually the result of
exclusive farming. In some years it may
do well, but too often in turn of times
leaves the follower in the lurch. Where
il can be- done. every farmer should pro-
duce on his own farm dls the articles he
requires for the domestic consumption -
his grain, wool, cattle, .heFses, roots, &C.,
leaving as little to chance. or the fluctuat-
ions Of the times. as may be.-Gen. Far.
Tho Garden am Index er the Mind.
Some old sage writer has said, that if
you desire 70 Judge correctly ofihe char
acter Of a mans mind, go into has garden,
and observe how much order or disorder.
how much neatncss or negligence appears
there. We suspect there is more in this,
as a test of a mans mental character, than
there Is ia phrenology or physiognomy
Solomon has said--"I went by the field of
the sIOtkfil. and by the vineyard of the
man cold Of understanding; and 10, it was
grown over with thorns. and nettles had
covered the face thereof; and the stone
wall thereof was broken down." Such
was the phresology Of Solomon's time
He considered sloyenly vineyard or
garden, good evidence of sloveniy mind,
or mind void Of understanding.
You may depend upon il, when YOU
see mans fields and gardens laid out !
with good order and taste, and notice the
neatnes Of its cultivation, that that mans |
mind is like a well arranged library--ey-
cry class OF books has its general depart |
IEent, and every book its appropriate place
within that department. So with that
mental library room-the brain. A good
garden is an evidence, that all his knowl. |
edge is reduced TO system. and is readily
~ COmtnduu.# Ills ucdu ~ not fuiI OF cob /
webs, but is as neat as 5 parlor swept and
gaFnished. The external will generally
correspond with the internal. A mans
plans will appear in bis operations. His
theory may be judged by his praciice.-I
The tree IS known by its fruits. It is on
these universally conceded principles,
that the order and taste which prevail in
garden. are to DO regarded as an evidence
ofthe condition Of the garden ofthe mind.
lie who conrives to produce much fruit
by cultivaiing the earth, may be expected
10 be a valuable man in the comaun;tv
bv the fruits of his judgment, counsel and
philanthrophy. II he allows no noxious
weeds to choke the valuable plants, equally
careful may he be presumed to be. that no
bad principles are allowed to obtain an
over the virtuous sentiments
Of bis sonl. Such men may generally be
lrosled and ifthe test zee have suggested.