The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1856-01-04

gOOI crop. mt WIS Tic tIOuOio' iha
) there was a I" screw loose somewhere "whicI
had let the bottom out of that crop he Wa
certain, but where and how to find it is tn
question. The winter evenings come on, h
says to himself, Z" now | will make thor
ough examination Of the New England
Farmer, and my books, and see If canno
ascertain what was the reason / did not &c
better crop Of corn OFF that ten-acre lot
that took so much pains with last season. ,
So he proceeds to examine; he finds tina
certain kind of manure are peculiarly adap
ted to certain formations Of soil, while th'
same manures used on other formations
have little or no effect. "And this" say
he, is my error. / have not applied thu
proper manure to that particular soil next
summer | shall know better, and then prof
iting by his examination Of the subject, he
obtains one Of the best crops in the yicin-
| ity.
We believe the prejudice which existed
some years since against "boOk-Gsrming'
has nearly died away, and iarmerhave now
learned that a man can no more be an ex-
cellent husbandman without the study Of
books, than he can be Clergyman, Law
yer or Doctor.
We recently spent few days at the house
ofa friend who glories in being tiller OF
the soil. His harm was well filled with hay
and grain-underneath was large root-cel-
lar, clean, ventilated, and lighted, and still
another, new and warm, where his Fat pork
ers We're enjoying all the luxuries of hogdom,
among the fallen leaves, used-up horse-bed-
ding decayed weeds, &c. &C.. his house eel
lar was amply stored with as fine lot Ofpo-
tatOes, apples, turnips, and other of the
products Of his land, as we have seen for
many day. Abundance was all around
him he had been successful even beyond
his cxpcctatiOns-and his farming was chiefly
learned from books. We desired TO write
a. letter, and so said to our friend. "There," I"
said he, pointing into Il room which many
would dignity with the name of library, sis
where | do both my writing and my study
ing; it Is at your service" And there we
found comfortable writing-desk, with all
the materials for writing, in the most perfect
order, and directly over the desk large
bookcase, holding, say, from one to two
hundred volumes of the best books on farm
ing that could be procured. There was no
mystery in our mind why our friend was u
successful farmer. Those books told the
story.
Although winter is the time for the farm
er to study, it is also the time Cor, him to
make preparation for the coming SPRING
If the handle of a plOw happens to be brok-
en-, do not wait till the days comes for using
it, before either msndinS it yourself or en-
ploying some other person to mend it for
you. Winter is capital time to repair
broken tools, and no one can better Oppreei-
ate the old adage that "stitch in time
saves ninc," than the farmer.
We never shall forget the tantr1m into
which farmer Of our acquaintance once
got just for the want ofa simple iron ring. lie
had few tons of as good herds grass as any
one would desire to see, just ready to go in,
when the western heavens began to be OBJ,
scurcd with the blackest kind Of coming
shower. Allwas hurry and hustle, ofcourse
the oxen were yoked and attached to the
hay-cart in double quick time, the men and
boys were all on the qlls rire, the akes and
forks were thrown on, and away all went
upon the run, about half mile, to the hay
field. One large fork with which to pitch
on the hay, was taken along, and mono othci
ut all suitable for that purpose. Tom wa'
ON the cart to lay the load, the stout hiret
man was to pitch on, and the farmer and
one or two boys were to rake after. TIVE
or three cocks were pitched on, and the pros
pect was fair that ut least one large loaC
would be got home dry, when 10, crack wen
the end of the fork handle, just as its holde
was about hcaving up a large forkfull, an'
while the handle went up with jerk, tn
shining iron was left in the hay! Th
handle was split ups about foot,-and Their
stood our friend, looking the very picture o
despair, while he exclaimed, "There now
didn't tell you to 90 and get ring put oi
to that fork handle before il was used again
-didn't 1, and why upon earth didn't yo'
do it? And now here we are, and ever,
spear of this hay will be just as wet as mucl
before we can get another fork" We al
did the best we could-but our main sta,
was eone-and the consequence was that u
came the shower before the load was half on
and hay, men, cattle, and all concerned wer
drcnched by one of the worst pouring show
ers it was ever our lot to be out in.
II that farmer, instead of trusting to Tom
Dick and Harry, to have that ring put OF
had done it himself, he might have saved hi
hay dry, and we might all have escaped
soaking that, if it did not make any of u
sick. might have done 50, and entailed
a physicians bill sufficient to purchase al
the forks in a gOOd-sired agricultural ware
house?
This, then, is one Of the months in whic
to $40 that every pitch-fork has ring on
to prevent il from splitting-every rake ha
all its teeth in-every hoe is well fastened ;
its handle, &C., &c.
: Besides study IND work, the farmer vii
find ample time to be merry, and to cnjo,
} his winter holiday, and we wish him wv
use the words as applicable to all our reader
"A Happy New Year.