The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1859-04-14

as WltnI-tnat the only uluefenee 10 Ihey edt
q little more, the reason why do not tell
him he lies is, | consider his nonsense un.
worthy of notice. If such be fact, let him
take his bread and cheese, and eat 1t on the
manure heap, and then curl down on the eide
of stump, or under the fence fer the night
during a northwest snow storm, and see il
he will thrive well and grow fat, under such
treatment. II their food must all be burned
up in the stomach to produce animal heat to
sustain the system, they cannot thrive, but
must constantly deteriorate. Some farmers
waste feed enough to half keep their stock,
by throwing it out at random, without prop
er hangers and racks TO keep it from being
trodden under foot and destroyed. And by |
such a process the manure, that should be
husbaRded to enrich their soil, becomes al
mo8t dead loss. Manure needs care and
attention in order to retain its value, as we'll
Us the animal that produces it. Men who
despise all improvement, and especially book
farming often err on this point. With them,
The product OF the barnyard is manure, il oil
its fertilizing properties have been leached
out, and washed away, or cvuporated. Many
u load is often drawn to the field, that is
about as worthless as the sand in the street.
The want Of forethought and system prevents
a man from taking proper measures to re-
taia or increase the amount ond value of his
manure heap, ard he thus loses a mine of
wealth, that might otherwise enrich both his
fields and his pockets And while the thor
ough systematic farmer grows rich, his fields
grow poor, his crops fail, and he spends his
time in hurried, fretful, anxious toll, without
hardly securing u comfortable livelihood.
System will aeo give on air of neOtness
to farm, that will not fail to please. In
this respect, the owner will seek to copy ma
ture, ard exhibit in every department, SYM
metry and order. know that anything like
taste or beauty about farm is despised and
deridcd by many, and their premises are in
keeping with their sentiments. The thistle,
the burdock, and the dwarf elder, are the
adornments around their dwelling. The
pig.sty is in closep roximity to their door, il
not directly in front of the house. Their
fields furnish a fair tablet for the study oil
geometry, exhibiting triangles, hexagons,
octagons and segments Of circle,-eVery
shape except what they should be. Their
fences, from q straight line, vary to all points
of the compass, and the rails Of which they
are composed, are some like the work Of al
, idiot once knew, who on being set to cut
ting rail timber, and told to cut it twelve fee
in length, cut some ten, some eleven, twelve
and thirteen feet. And when expostulatet
with for SO doing, he replied, he thought il
would average about twelve feet. Every
thing is thus cut of proportion, and done q
random. But what of that they can eat
and sleep, and enjoy life as well, they say
; as II every thing was in the most perfect or
der. And so can the hog, after he has lait
waste the most thstefully cultivated flowe
garden, stretch himself cut on its ruins, ant
bask in the sun perfectly unconscious Of tn
Il beauty he has destroyed.
But where the farmer works by system
il will be seen in the division of his fields
All will be SO arranged as to be easily &C
cessible, fences will be erect and in straigh
lines, gates and bars in good condition, an,
in their proper place, and stumps and rock
and all unaightly objects removed. Th
: orchard will be in The right place, and prop
erIy cultivated. The garden will be includ
u ed in his plan of operations, and attended tt
in the right season, and not left for tn
work of leisure hour which he never finds
1t will exhibit not only order and beauty
. but the promise Of an abundance OF the lux
. urics of life. The dwelling and the fixture
u around it, will show their owner TO be ma
. OF Industry and taste. All things will con
) spire to render the situation an inviting res
: dcnce, and to put to the blush, the careless
u ignorant, and chaotic farmer.
e The systematic farmer secures time fc
y making Improvements upon his farm. Fl
j. will drain the morass, and render it fertile
d remove or bury rocks and stones,--bur
u stumps and log heaps, that furnish shelte
: for the vermin that infest his crops, and de
l. stroy much of his labor. He will level tn
J. uneven surface, and under-drain those part
u where surface water renders the soil col
e and heavy, and thus hnders the growth {
vegetation. He secures time also for eXpeg
G ments with different kinds of grain and veE
n etables and thus learns the most economic,
j. and profitable method of cultivation. II
Is secures time for the enjoyment Of social lil
g for the fulfllment of relative duties, and fl
o the interchange of those acts of frendsh
: and civility, that tend to soften the asperti'
y of life, to bind US in close affinity, and
> Danish that coldness and distrust, that ofte
y eat out the life Of enjoyment in commun
, ty. Every thing being done in its prop'
Is season, he is seldom hurried and worrie
II with vexatious care. He ia not obliged
u leave his plow in the furrow, nor his scytt
o in the swuth, to mend dilapdated fence,
keep his own or his neighbours cattle out
r mischief, (unless he be so unfortunate, as
l. be obliged, for the sake Of peace, to maintai
ID both his own and his neighbor's line fence
$, nor to get oven.wood for his wife, to kee