The Charlotte journal. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1835-1851, 1842-03-31

ECONOMY OF AGRICULTURE.


more generally mistaken than this nor any
more essential TO the prosperity of agricul.
ture. Sufficient TO afford matter for an en-.
tire treatise, il cannot be embraced in a
short chapter. Blu, short chapter may
put minus upon the track, able to uufo!d its
invelutions with every branch of sgricul.
tute, and more especially 10 disclose lis
value.
Diunu,ions Of comforts, necessaries and
expense, are too often mistaken for the
means Of producing the ends they obstruc,;
and the rapacily which starves. frequently
receives the just retrlbution of dlsappoiu..
tnen,, beeoi!ea by vicious mode of avoid.
ing il. From the master down 10 the
meanest utensil, the bes, capacity for fol.
filling the contemplated ends, is invariably
the best economy and the same reasoning
which demonstrates the bad economy Of
shattered loom, will demonstrate the bad
economy Of shattered constitution, or an
imperfect state Of body. The coitagers
who inilict upon themselves and their fam.
lilies the discomiofts Of cold houses, bad bed.
ding and insufficient clothing, 10 acquire
wealth, destroy the vigor both Of the mind
aud body, necessary for obtaining the con.
( lemplated end, 4, which, Of course, they can
never arrive. The farmer who starves his
aborers IS still greater sufferer. He 10.
SEES The profits produced by health, strength,
aud alacrity; and suffers The losses caused
by disease, weakness, aud detection. In
like manner, the more perfect, the more
profitable are working animals and nipple.
neDis, and every saving by which the ca.
paciiy OF either TO fulfill their destiny 10 the
best manner is diminished, terminates with
certainty in some portion Of loss, aud no,
unfrequently in eItravagant waste. Even
the object OF manuriDg is vastly effected
by tue plight Of those animals by which il
is aided.
I A pinchiug, misery system Of egricul
;ure may indeed keep farmer out Of pris
on but il will never lodge hin in palace
Great profit depends on greet Improvement
Of !he soil and great improvements car
never bs made by penurious efforts. The
I DISCRIMINATION between useful and rroduC.
/ tive, and useless and barren-expenses, con.
! tains the agricultural secret for acquiring
happiness aud wealth. A good farmer will
show the first with an open hand. and era.
dicaie every seed Of the other.
Liberaity constitutes the economy Of ag.
riculsure, and perhaps it is the solitary hu-
man occupation, 10 which the adage, {" The
more we give, tho more we shall receive, u
can be justly applied. Liberaii.y to earth
in manuring and culture is the fountain Of
its bounty TO US. Liberaliiy to laborers
aud working animals is The foundation OF
their profit. LiberalI'y 10 domestic brutes
is tho fountain Of manure. The good weri;
Of strong team causes profit beyond the
bad work Of q weak one, after deductng
the additional expense Of feeding ii and i,
saves, moreover, half the labor of driver,
sunk in following bad one. Liberaliiy in
warm houses, produces health, strength,
and comfort; preserves the lives of mul.
titude of domestic animals; causes all ami.
mails TO thrive on less food; and secures
from damage all kinds Of crops. And lib.
eralty in the utensils OF husbandry saves
labor to vast extent, by providing the
proper tools for doing the work both well
and expdItiously.
Foresight is another item in the eccno.
my Of agriculture. II consists in prepar.
ing work for all weaihers, ard doing all
work in proper weaihers, and at proper
times. The climate Of the United State:
makes the first easy, and the second less
difficult than in most countries. Ruinous
violations of this importan, rule are yet IRE,
quent, from temper and ,mpatlence. No
thing is more common than persistence
in ploughing, making hay, cutting wheat
and other works, when a small delay might
have escaped grea, loss, and the labor
|, employed to destroy would have been en-
poyed TO save. Crops Of all kinds arc Of
ten planted or sown at improper periods oil
uuseasonably, in relation 10 the state of the
weather, to their detrimeut or destruction
from the want Of an arrangement Of the
work on farm, calculated for doing every
species of il precisely at the periods aud in
the seasons most likely to enhance the pro.
6ts.
A third item 10 the economy Of agricul
iure is not 10 kill time By doing the same
thing twice over. However laboriously at
work, we arc doing nothing during one Of
the operations, and frequently worse than
nothing, on accoun, of the double detrimenl
Of tools, teams, and clothing. The losses
to farmers, occasioued by this error, are
prodigious under every defective system oil
agriculture. Shifts and contrlvances innu
merable are resorted to for saving time,
T by bad and perishable work, at an enor.
nous loss of future time, until at length the
several fragments Of Time thus destroyed
visbly appear spread over a farm, in the
form of ruined houses, fences, orchards, aud
soil; demonstrating that every advantage
! Of such shifts is the parent of many disad
vantages. and that habit of finishing every
& q Il 4 4 ..