Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1857-02-20
Agricultural.
System of Farming.

Of order and thoroughness. NeglVe an
extract Of an address delivered while
since, by the Hon. j. B. Hunt, at Oak
land, Michigan, which viii be found
worthy of pofusal;
+" There is no great branch Of business
carried on at the present day, which is
managed with as little system as farm
ing. On looking over the whole oorn-
nv, how few you finG who conduct the
whole operation right. We are happy
10 say that VIC can find many successful
farmers among them, but they fall in.
fnitely short Of what they should be-
The whole business appears to be carried
ON without any certainty not one farm
er in ten knows the exact quantity OF
land he has in each field on the farm,
and when be has seed he is not certain
whether he has put on bushel or a
busbel and half to the acre--whether
he has put on six or ten quarts Of grass
seed to the acre, and when the grain is
cut he cannot tell how many bushels he
has grown to the acre, it is guess work
all around.
:. Another great defect is, we under
take the cultivation of two much land
every season--wc have not sufficient force
to carry it out; we arc compelled to hur-
ny the work-leave one thing unfinished
to commence another which is in a more
suffering condition, and in this way the
whole is sighted and run over, We I'M
dertakc to put in large crop of wheat,
and for that purpose the team is divided,
if more than one, and if there is but one
team. the plowing is done as shallow as
possible, tohasten tie process, instead Of
taking time and blowing deep. We put
in a large crop of corn when we havenot
manure for more than half of it, and not
half enough to give thorough hoeing.
Large meadows and little grass, because
the ground has been worn out in raising
wheat years before. The fences are al
lowed TO rot down, because there is such
long string it. The bushes grow ur
over the fence, because there is SO much
other work to be attended to, and so the
bushes are put OF to more convenient
season; all goes on in this slovcnly man
her. We have class Of men who call
themselves farmers, who make the street
their COW yard in the summer, and fire.
quently through the year, while the hog
pen is made to grace the dooryard. With
such men, manure has no value, decI
Flowing is all folly, and ditchihg doe.
not pay. b'o
awe would not, if VIC were capable Of
doing so, give a system of farming on
an occasion like this; but there are Ger.
tain, features to. which the attention O
every farmer should be called, although
they are perfectly well known to every
man who has worked on farm, and al
most as uni e!Z u Z neglected as they ar
* known S;n - a. are the Foundation
. In the FIRST place, the land must b
kept clear from surplus water, if he is dc
sirous OF raising anything but wild an
miserable grass z Il must be made ricl
or il will not grow anything Of value, an
when it is thus made dry and rich, if
is allowed to be overgrown by weeds, til
grain is deprived of all sustenance.
"These three things are absolutely an
essentially necessary, and yet some on
,ortwo Of them are coustantly neglecte
on almost every farm in the country. !
the ground is not kept clear of the sun
plus water, its value is gone. 1Ifitis nc
we'll MANFRED the grain or grass will nc
grow for they require food as well a
your horses aud cattle, If, when thi
kind of food is furnished by the prope
kind Of manure, what avails it if you al
low the weeds to get in, and eat it u
from your plants? But if these tire
prerequisites are faithfully attended to
then with a proper rotation of crops
deep blowing, aud clean seed, sown ii
due season, with Gods blessing on you
labors, you will have full and abundan
crop. If you fail in either of these, al
though the bow of the covenant may still
span the heavens to show that the seet
time aud tho harvest are still allotted t
.as BY our heavenly Father 10 you thu
harvest will come in vain, or shorn of it
richest blessngs.'DHa .ec0Ca VgV
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