Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1855-12-07
THE FARM:
The G.ardeE...The Orchard.
What Draining did.

4 Short Chapter for Hired -Nen and
their Employers.
Some years ago the son Of an English
farmer came to the United States, and
let himself as a farm laborer, in New Y ork
State, on the following conditions: Com
mencing work at the first Of September, he
was to work ten hours a day for three
years, and to receive in payment deed Of
field containing twelve acrcs-securing
himself By an agreement, by which his
employer was put under bonds of $4,000
to fulfil his part of the contract; also du
ring these three years, he was to have con-
troll of the field; to work it at his own ex-
pense, and to give his employer One-half
the proceeds. The field lay under the
south side Of hill, vas Of dark heavy
clay resting on bluish-colorcd solid clay
subsoil, and for many years previous had
not been known to yield any thing but 4
ycllowish, hard, scrunted vegetation.
The farmer thought the young man was
asimpleton, and that he, himself, was most
wise and fortunate but the former, no.
thing daunted by this opinion, which he
was not unconscious that the latter enter
tanned Of him, Immediately hired a set of
laborers, and set them to work in the field
trenching as earnestly as it was well pos
sible for men to labor In the morning
and evening, before and after having work
ed his ten hours as per agreement, he
worked with them, and continued to work
in this way until, about the middle of the
following November, he had finished the
laying of nearly 5000 yards of good tile
uuderdrains. He then had the field plow-
ed deep and thoroughly, and the earth
thrown up as much as possible into ridges,
and thus let it remain during the winter.
Next spring he had the field again plowed
as deep as before, then cross plowed and
thoroughly pulvcrised with heavy har-
row, then sowed it with oats and clover.
The yield was excellent-nothing to be
compared to it had ever before beeu seen
upon that field. Next year it gave two
crops of clover, of rich dark green, and
enormously heavy and luxuriant; and the
year following, after being manurei at an
expense of some 81 an acre, nine acres of
the field yielded 936 bushels of corn, and
20 wagon loads of pumpkins while from
the remaining three acres were taken 100
bushels of pOtatoes-the return Of this
crop being upwards of 81, 200. The time
had now come for the field to fall into the
young mans possession, and the farmer
unhesitatingly offered him 81, 500 to re-
linquish his title to it; and when this was
as unhesitatingly refused, he offered
$1,000, which was accepted.
The account stood thus:
Half proceeds of oats and straw lst year Sl65
Half value of sheep pas,urage, lst year -
Half of first crops of clover. lst year ll2
a ttA Va SNSN'''A. - VI S'N'S', -HSANN-HS
seed. I'd year l35 |
Half of sheep paSturase. 2t year ID
Half of crops of corn, pumpkins, and po-
tatoeS. 81 year GOO
Received for REIMBURSEMENT Of title 1000
Accou>r DR.. S3,l5s I
To understanding. labor and tiles S325
To labor and manure, three seasons i75
To labor given to farmer, $40 per
month, SO months 576I:l ,3II /
Balance in his favor, Sl,776 .
Our farmers must learn that knowledge
and enterprise and perseverance exercised
in their business, Will not only add hun
drcd fold to their own income, but will
also confer more permanent benefits upon
our country than these qualities exercised
in the same degree in any other business
l. n Y