Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1841-03-29
AGRICULTURE.
From the Ag icutural Recorder.
SIGNS OF A POOR FARMER.

He grazes his moving land late in the fall and
his pastures early in the spring, and consequently
ruins both. Some OF his cowa are much past
their time. He negiects to keep the dung and the
ground from the stills of his buildings, and it costs
him twenty dollars to make repairs when one dol
lars worth of work would have been sufficient, if
performed at leisure time, ten years before
He sows and plants his land until it is exhausted
before he thinks of manuring. He has generally
too much stock and many of them unruy.
He is sure TO have good deal OF stake and pole
stake fence. He says he cannot farm it for want
of money; this is frequently the case with good
farmers; but you may know n sloven by his in
attention to lille hings-his children's shoes are
spoiled for want of a little tallow to supple them
his door hinge comes off for want Of nail, and
the door is destroyed for want of hinge, and his
NOV is trampled on and gorged for wane of u
door, and all his loss is occasioned by not timely
driving and clenching n single nail.
Nothing is in order-he has pince for nothing
and nothing in its place. II he wants gimet,
chisel, or hammer, he hunts up chamber, out at
the barn, in the cupboard, and lastly when he
has spent more time in pursuit than il takes to do
the job, he finds it down cellar He keeps
stock of the smallest lhings-if button or bail to
pail gives way, or key to yoke, or pin TO a
sled, or an axe, string or swingle to a f1all or
even tooth TO rake, he has none TO replace
them. He seldom does any thing in stormy
weather, or in an evening, and is sure to keep no
memorandum of the little jobs that are to be done.
You will perhaps hear of his grooming about
hard Zines frequently in the bar room. Death
and the tax gatherer he knows must come yet he
makes no provision for either of them. Although
he has been on n piece OF good land for years
ask him for grated apple and he will tell you
that he could not raise them for he had no luck.
| His Incidence and carelessness subject him to
many accidents he looses soap and euler for
want of hoop in the midst of his ploughing,
| his plough breaks because it was not housed -
and when he is reapng away from home, his
hogs break into his garden for want Of al addi-
| tiunal board.
He does not take advantage of his business by
driving it when he can, and consequently he is
like the old woman's son, so busy that he nerer
does dny thing, or ut least he seldom finishes
any thing before he begins another, and therefore
brings little to pass, and is often seen i'll great
hurry. lie is seldom neat in his person and will
sit down to the table without coming his hair, and
suffer hil children to do without washing their
hands and faces. He frequently drives his cattle
with Il club and is generally late at public wor-
shilI-hs children are apt 10 he 100 la:e at school,
ms their books are torn and dirty--he s careless,
his children are too
As he has no enterprise, so he has no money,
and frequently makes great sacrifices 10 get il
and he is slack in his payments, aud buys alto
geiher Oh credit, he pays through the nose for
every thing lie wants forethought, economy,
exerlon. In fine, poor farmer, in The strict
sense of the word, is poor creuiure-he is n poor
husband aud a o"r citizen good fir'ner may
he poor but poor farmer cannot act his part well
in other words, he cannot be good as Il man or as
a christian.