The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1857-09-05
agricultural.
THE CHIEF AIM IN FARMING.

There are many cutivators of tho soil who
seen to have no well defined purpose in their
husbandry. They have no plans hi d far
ahead. which they are seeking to realize in
their practice. They exist rather than live,
are liStless in their efforts, and effect no
beneficial changes in the soil they attempt to
cultivate Every thing about them wears
the aspect Of decay. The farm buildings are
never repaired while it is possible to get along
without 1t. You can see the gaps in the
roof where the wind has blown off the shin
giles, and the missing boards and swinging
clap boards from the sides Of the building
The fences are never re- set, no stones are dug
from the moving fields, and no drains are
made in the swamps and low lands They
simply contriye to get along, their land and
themselves growing poorer every year.
There il another class. who have purpose
and energy enough, but it is not wisely drec-
ted. Their aim is in farming is to get the
most possible out the soil. and to put tile
least possible back, in the shape of compos.s
and fertilizers. Their whole farming opera
tons are based upon the theory that the soil
is living well that will always send forth its
waters as long as there is anybody to draw
| They plant and SOW as long as they can get
remuncrative crops. and then either sell ont
or resort to concentrated fertilizers, which
stimulate the soil to part with Its last ele-
ments of fertility, and leave it nearly barren
They are generally energetic men, work hard,
and push their help as hard as they do their
acres. They plant a very large breadth of
land, and in few years exhaust whole
farm. They do not believe in blowing in
crops. or in making composts, or i'll saving
The stable manures. They cannot see any
utility in carting DIRT into the barn yard and
then carting it out again. It looks like
waste of labor. If near the shore, they rely
upon fish to stimulate the soil when it fails
to produce otherwise and thus crop after crop
| of grain and grass is taken off, until the land
is exhausted OF its carbon. and runs to sorre
IL inland, they rely upon Peruvian guano,
which In few years serves the soil in the same
manner. The theory of these farmers is to
get great crops, at whatever expence to the
land. This is the skinning method of farm
ing, and the more energy these farmers have
the sooner the land is ruined.
| Now, We believe the chief aim in all good
farming to be the improvement of the soil I'M
til it reaches the point where maximum crops
are produced at the least expence. Wise
husbandry regards the farm simply as a
machine for turning out crops. The machine
is the matter of first Importance. This al
ways to be kept in good running order, and
its efficiency is to be increased by all econo-
meal methods. The man who farms upon
this system will never sacrifice soil for a great
crop His aim Is to have every crop
on, leaving the land in better condition
th"n he found it, He aims in every working
OF the soil to increase its depth and to add to
1t ore elements of fertility than he removes
IN the crops, and to make the crops not only
pay tor them selves, b1t to pay for the i'm
provenent OF the acres upon which they are
grown.
In carrying out this him, so as to realize
these results, man shows his skill as a Gull
s''ator' II IS a comparatively easy thing
t"r any one, who has money, to improve the
sou so that 1t shall produce crops paying for
the labor of growing them, and the interest
on two or three hundred dollars an acre.
Stable manure enough well plowed in will
10 this. But it is altogether another matter
to make this improvement pay for itself
Yet it is possible thing to do this. and
there arc farmers skiful enough to accom-
plish this result, and this we hold to be the
true aim in the cultivation of the soil.
All good farming, ther, must look to per-
manent occupation of the soil. Economical
movements cannot be made in single year.
The most judicious improvements those which
finally pay the largest profits, require sew
eral years to bring in their full returns. 1t
lsa matter Of great importance that our farm.
ing population should not only be settled.
but that they should feel settled, and nlan
their operations upon the farm as if they
expected to spend all their days upon it.
Here is ten-acre lot now in moving, cut
ting ten tons of hay, worth one hundred
dollars. 1t has in it some stumps, more
powders, some brush by the wall, and
few wet places, growing nothing but sour
grasses and flags. 1t can be cleared of all
distractions, be undetermined, SUBSIDIZED, and
manfred, SO as to produce three tons of hay
to the acre for the sum of say one thousand
dollars. 1t will not pay the present occu-
pant to DO this the coming year, if he is going
to sell out the year following. But he may
accomplish all this economically in five years.
furnish profitable employment for his help, |
Introduce the moving machine, and cut more |
fodder upon the field than he now cuts upon
the whole farm. He may get crops enough |
from the field during the five years to pay for
all the improvements, leaving the increased |
value of the land, certainly not less than a
hunared dollars an acre, as the reward of his
skill in husbandry.
ms Is an Illustration OF what a farmers
aim should be, and good example of the
kind of Improvements that are needed upon
most farms, at least upon the seaboard. The
fields want tc be cleared of rocks the swales
need deep underdra,ns cut through them, with
smaller side drains running into them at rigt
angles; old walls want removing and the fields
charging to ten or twenty acres; the whole
surface needs to he thoroughly worked and
MANFRED, so as to produce maximum crops
By this thorough method horse labor may be
substituted fer that of man, so as to save full
onc-half of the present expence of raising and
harvesting the crops. In smooth land, nearly
all the planting and hoeins can be done by
horse all the moving, reaping. grading,
and raking can he done by the same method.
The man who will lay his plans wisely to
improve his soil, making this his chefobject,
and who will juditlously expend his capital
in the improvements we have indicated, is in
a fair way to gain competence. This kind
o. farming, in the long run. will pay amply,
and we believe more surely than any other
business. The skinning process, which is
reckless Of the soil, and looks only to the
crops, is bad policy both for the farm and it's