The Richmond Indiana palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1854-1855, 1855-09-06

Out of Debt--in Debt--Who Is doing WelE
We do not counsel farmers to run in debt.
But it should be understood that one may be
out of debt. and yet doing badly; and that an
other may be in debt. and yet doing we'll
The lamest point in New England farming is.
the reluctance of farmers TO the employment
of capital in their business. Better be in debt
than not have money to improve the farm with
Let US illustrate.
Ten years ago A. and B. bought each of
them farm, each farm containing about a
hundred acres, each having little good land.
considerable that was capable Of being made
good. but more that must always BE- poor. The
buildings in each case were too old to think Of
occupying long. Both gave the same price;
paid down, and had few hundred dollars to
purchase stock and commence operations.
A. has hired no help-coul6nt afford il. He
has been diigent with his own hands; has
put up great many fallen rails. but has
brought few from the woods; has mended
great many old walls, but made no new ones;
he raised pretty good crops on the little good
land he had, but has made not an acre of good
land out of poor; has occupied the same build
incs, but has not much improved them; has
HUed, by making his own wants and those Of
his family very small. He still holds the
farm, not improved in value, but clear Of debt;
and if you were to pass by you would knoU it..
for it has not altered much. All this time he
has kept yoke of oxen and horse. but has
had work for them to do less than half of the
time: and he has paid perhaps two-thirds as
much for implements, as if he employed more
hands to use them. Could an original be
found for this picture?
B. begun by hiring two men months in
the year He saw that the farm was not good
enough to enrich him, perhaps not to support
him. unless he could make it better There
were lands so full of water that they could
produce nothing of value till drained. Others,
with a strong soil. We're full Of stones that
the labor of working them would equal the
value of the crops There was wanted sever
al hundred rods of wall. from three feet un-
aer ground to FIVE feet above. for the three
fold purpose of stopping the cattle. draining.
the soil, and swallowing up AS many stones as
possible Other fences must be removed
Better buildings were necessary. His own
hands could not do all these things. The
crops from what little feasible land he had
would not pay the extra help. What should
be done. Perhaps the increased productive
ness Of his improved lands would pay the
debt, if he should incur one. He ventured.
For several years he expended on the farm
more than its insome. His farming ran him
III ucUl DuL now le lidS Soou idIu DTodu
fields are cleared of stones and thoroughly
walled in. What were useless boys are pro-
ductive meadows. The whole farm is fenced
somew hat above the requirements of law
New and substantial buildings are just com
peted All this has been done by degrees
cautiously but as fast as he could see the
way clear, and now he owns that farm, doub
led in value (could sell it day for twice as
much A. could his;) and although not
quite clear of debt. he owes less than half as
muchas his farm has increased in value. All
this time he has paid larger taxes than A; has
done more to keep business astlr in the place;
has given away more, has been no sharper in
buying; and has spent less time in getting the
last cent than a thing he had to sell was worth.
Could there be an original found for this pic
ture?
If there could be hundred originals found
for both these pictures, and we think there
might, then which of the two is doing best.
the man who has always kept clear of debt
and is clear still. or the one who has always
been in debt and is not yet out?
The time has been. when farming could be
done, in poor sort of way, without other
capital than that invested in the land. But
that time has gone by We do not mean to
say that man must be rich in order to farm
successfully. May that time never be.
But in the progress of things, the time has
come in this country, as It came in others long
ago. when floating capital, equal to nearly
half the value Of the land, is almost as neces-
sary as the land itself.
In order to reclaim our waste lands. while
at the same time we are cropping our fields al
ready good, we must hire labor. The labor
must be paid long in advance of the return to
be expected from the improvement. Hence
the necessity for capital borrowed, if it must
be- to fill up the interval,--Mass. Farmer.