Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1855-10-17
OBJ farmer.
What a Poor Farmer cannot Afford

What Poor Farmer cannot Afford.
The Buffalo Courier furnishes report
of Horace Greeley's address at the annu-
al Fair, in Erie county, on the 18th Sept.
from which we select as follows
THE truth | am most anxious to i'm
press, is, that no poor man can afford to
be poor farmer. When | have recon-
mended agricultural Improvements, have
often been told this expensive farming
will do we'll enough for rich people, but
we who are in moderate circumstances
can't afford it. Now, it is not ornamental
farming that recommend, but profitable
farming. 1t is true that the amount of
mans capital must fix the limit of his
business, in agriculture as in everything
lelse. But however poor you may be, you
can afford to cultivate land we'll if you
can afford to cultivate it at all. It may
be out of your power to keep large
farm under high state of cultivation,
but then you should sell part Of it, and
cultivate a small one. If you are a poor
man, you cannot afford to accept Ealf
crop from land capable Of yielding
whole one. If you are poor man you
cannot afford to fence two acres to secure
the crop that ought to grow on one; you
cannot afford to pay or lose the interest
on the cost of hundred acres of land to
get the crops that will grow on fifty.
No man can afford to raise twenty bushels
of corn to an acre, not even if the land
we're given to him, for twenty bushels to
the acre will not pay the cost Of the
miserable cultivation that produces it.
No poor man can afford to cultivate
his land in such a manner as will cause
it to deteriorate in value Good farming
improves the value of land, and the far
mer who manages his farm so as to get
the largest crop it is capable of yielding,
increases its value every year.
, No farmer can afford to produce weeds.
They grow, to be sure, without cultivation;
they spring up spontaneously on all land,
and especially rich land, but though they
cost no toll, farmer cannot afford to
raise them. The same elements that feed
them, would, with proper cultivation,
noursh crop, and no farmer can afford
to expend on weeds the natural wealth
which was bestowed by Providence to fiji
his granaries. | am accustomed, my
friends, to estimate the Christianity of the
localities through which [ pass by the alb
sence of weeds on and about the farms.
When | see farm covered by gigantic
4 growth of weeds, take it for granted
that the owner is heather, hereto, or
an in6del-Christian he cannot be, or he
would not allow the heritage which God
gave him to dress and keep. to be deform-
ed and profaned. And if you will allow
me to make an application of the doctrine
!, preach | must be permitted to say that
there is great field for missionary effort
on the farms between here (East Ham
burg) and Buffalo. Nature has been
bountiful to you, but there is a great need
OF better cultivation.
i Farmers cannot afford to grow a crop
on soil that does not contain the natural
elements that enter into its composition.
When you burn vegetable, a large part
Iof its bulk passes away during the pro-
cess of combustion into the air. But
there is always residue of mineral mat
ter, consisting of lime, potash, and other
ingredients that entered into its compo-
sition. Now, the plant drew these mate
rails out of the earth, and if you attempt
to grow that plant in soil that is def
Icient in these ingredients, you are driving
an unsuccessful business. Nature does
not make vegetables out of nothing, and
you cannot expect to take crop after crop
from field that does not contain the ell
ements of which it is formed. If you
wish to maintain the fertility of your
farms, you must constantly restore to them
the materials which are withdrawn in
cropping. No farmer can afford to sell
his ashes. You annually export from
Western New York large amount of
potash. Depend upon it there is nobody
in the world to whom this is worth so
much as it is to yourselves. You can't
afford to sell it, but farmer can well af-
ford to buy ashes at higher price than
is paid by anybody that does not wish to
use them as fertilizers of the soil. Stu
ated as the farmers of this county are in
the neighborhood of city that burns
large quantities of wood for fuel, youl
should make it a part of your system of
farming to secure all the ashes it produces.
When your teams go to town with loads
of wood, it would cost comparatively
little to bring back loads of ashes and
other fertilizers that would improve the
productiveness of your farms.
! No poor farmer can afford to keep fruit
trees that do not bear good fruit. Good
| fruit is always valuable, and should bel
raised by the farmer, not only for market.
but for large consumption in his own
family. As more enlightened views Of
diet prevail, fruit is destined to supplantI
the excessive quantities of animal food
that are. consumed in this country. This
change will produce better health, greater
vigor of body, activity of mind, and elias
ITCHY of spirits, and cannot doubt that
the time will come when farmers, instead
of putting down the large quantities Of
meat they do at present, will give their
attention in autumn to the preservation of
large quantities of excellent fruit, for
consumption as a regular article of diet,
the early part of the following summer.
Fruit will not then appear on the table
as it does DOW, only as dessert after din
tner, but will come with every meal, and
be reckoned a substantial aliment.
No poor farmer can afford to work with
poor implements, with implements that
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