, 1840-09-12
"wHAT SHOULD A FARMER BE-"

An important query this, and one that
deserves TO be we'll pondered. We answer
it thus:-
A Farmsr s1ouldbe Industrious. in no de-
partment of life, without industry, can any
thing valuable or important be achieved
There is such a thing as an idle farmer, ''true
it is, and a pity tits tits true," but an idle,
successful farmer, is something this world has
not vet seen. No where is persevering indus
try more indispensable than on the farm, and
no where is we'll directed labor better rewar
ded. When we say the farmer should be
industrious, we do not mean he should be a
slave. There is, among some farmers, per-
haps a majority at the present tlIre, a fever
ish anxiety to become rich, n disposition To
20 ahead, which renders rest impossible, and
hardly allows time to eat or sleep-such men
are subject to a task-master of the most impe-
rious character, and one which they should
make no delay in freeing themselves. The
farmer can have, and he who manages
his affairs well, will always have. his hours Of
relaxation-hours to spend with his friends.
and hours to devote to the improvement Of
his mind. The way to ensure this, is al
ways to be beforehand with the labor of the
farm, and never allow himself to be crowded.
More work should never be laid out than is
compatible with this rule; and the work that
is required to be lone to-day should never
be deferred till tomorrow. The difference
in the ease with which labor is performed,
when done in the right time, or when We
are driven TO it by urgent necessity, is so
great, that attention TO this point alone.
would, in performing a given amount of Ia
Dor, make a most material addition TO the
farmers hours of rest and Improvement.
A Farmer should be EconomicdL.-Let
the farmer labor rs hard as he may; let him
deny his soul and body every required good;
let him abridge his hours Of sleep, and toll
from s'morn ill dewy eve," without rest, or
relaxaiinn; it will amount t. hui little. unless
his affairs are in other respects managed with
economy. B~veconomy, we do not mean that
closeness or littleness; stinginessii you please.
which some are pleased to call economy, but
which is Infalibly connected with meanness.
and is one of the most ~effeciual preventitives
Of all improvement, and the surest precursor
Of utter degradation that can be found in a
man, and of all other things, is most out of
place in a farmer. The great secret of econ
olny, is knowing what is useful and necessa-
nv and what not; of knowing when to ex-
pend and when to withhold expenses; in
keeping our out-goes clearly within our in
come, and never purchasing what we can
ourselves produce, or which a corresponding
amount of our own labor will not procure:
and in having every thing in doors and out
in its proper place, nothing wasted or de-
stroyed, but n general supervising care direc-
ted 10 every thing connected with our bust
ness at all seasons Of the year. 1t is miser-
able economy 10 undertake to labor without
the proper tools; to undertake 10 see how
cheaply we can summer or winter our ami
mails; or to see with how little knowledge and
intelligence, or the means Of obtaining either,
we can ~contrive to plod along through life.
A Farmer should Be free from Debk-IfI
the farmer wishes to bind a milestone round
his neck, to sink him beyond the possibility
of hope or rescue-to keep him constantly
restless, and struggling for subsistence if not
for existence, let him keep in debt; if he
would be able to call what he has his own,
and breathe the air of a freeman, let him re-
ligiously eschew debts. We would almost
60 so tar as to say that nothing excepting the
purchase Of land, can justify Il farmer in con-
tracing a debt; and bef,re he sells himself
for more land, he will do we'll to inquire
whether he has capital TO work it proftably.
or whether what he now has, is brought to
the proper degree Of fertility. We are con-
fdent that if men were to pay ready money
for a thousand things they fancy they need,
and can obtain on credit, they would not he
purchased. The habit of contracting debts
has a direct tendency to induce needless risks,
and bad domestic economy. Two-thirds of
the law suits that arise, and which are pro-
ductivc Of so much expense and i'll will,
spring from this single cause. But whatever
circumstances else may occur to render debt
necessary, Indebtedness to banks is what
should never happen TO a farmer, and he
should never be seen within the doors OF one
OF those institutions. They were never in.
tended for the farmer; and. necessary and
beneficial as they may he for the purpose of
exchanges and trade, the man whnse busi-
and transactions are as those Of the
farmer should be, Gin never with safety allow
his name to be used too familiarity within
their walls.
A Farmer should be hhNigenL.-It is an
old and true maxim, that :ignurance Of the
4 ,r -o,.