Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1859-01-19
MAKE A MAP OF THE FARM.

covered from the consequences of the bad
masag, ment of their former occupants.
They are yet chaotic, and it will take
more than six davs of labor to round
them into form, TO separate land from wa
ter. and 10 turn the waste into fruitful
held. They are yet to BE- made as much
as the house that has only its frame wo: 1
reared, or the ship that stands on the
stocks. with unplanked ribs and beams.
Many are waking up 10 this unfrished
state of their farms. and have already
begun certain Improvements. and have
planned certain others, which bide their
time.
But the Improvement of particular
fed is too often undertaken without any
references 10 the rest of the farm, and a
great deal Of labor is needlessIy expen-
ded. We have seen one field drained,
and its water carried off ON to the aoi4-
cent field. only 10 make it more wet and
valueless than ever. The only way in
which farm improveu enis may be man
aged with economy, is 10 regard the farm
as who!e. and to make every improve
ment with reference to a system which
shall embrace the whole. A house to
suit the occupant can be built much chea
per at the outset, than 10 modify the plau
ano make successive additions in so many
successive years. The architect finds a
plan indispensable TO his work. The
whole work is projected from cellar tc
garret. the size of every room and its es-
timated cost put down. The ship build
er does not touch a stick of timber unit
he has his model completed, and the
length and size of every timber 10 the
vessel estimated.
The farm, as it ought to be, is simply
a machine for the production CT crops. a.
The ship is machine for navigating tn,
wafer 1t has to be made out of the na
1 TeTTaIs which nature furnishes. all requi
ring more or less modification 10 adap
them tc the purpose of production. Ii il
manifest, then, that The first step Of th,
farmer toward improvement is TO form {
clear idea Of what he wants in a farm
He is the owner OF, say three hundred
acres Of land. embracing the usual vari
ETY. of forest, swamp, pasture, and ti!lage
Snme OF it is light. sandy lfnd, som,
heavy clay. and another portion is 81
rocky that it has never been plowed.--
The forest of fifty acres he wished TO re,
tain for fuel and timber, so that that may
be regarded as a GxIure. He has deter
miued upon a rotation of crops, embrac.
ing SIX years course. He therefore
needs but six large fields to carry on hi'
course of cropping. Deducting ten acres
for his farm buildings, lawn. garden
orchard. ect., he has 240 to be cut up in
to six lots of forty acres each. This il
his plan. His farm, as it lies now, is di
vlded into twenty lots or more, has rock.
to be removed, brush pastures to b'
cleared up, snd swaups to drain. This
cannot all be done in enc year, but in si1
year he can do it and make it pay. S,
he draws his map of the farm es it is
and determines TO begin his improve
ments upon the lower side, where Iher,
is good outlet for all the water that h,
wishes TO drain off. He finds upon thii
side of the farm four or FIVE acres to b,
drained /; and swale OF three acres will
a hard subsoil, that must be furnished
with tile; and several gravelly knobs
that need coating of clay.
With a map before him, the farmel
can project all these improvements as hi
sits by the winter fire. He can calculate
very accurately how many rods Of ditch
must be dug, and how many tiles he mus
order, and about what will be the cost o.
the wdole operation. He can tell within
fraction how many loads of clay and
muck he will need upon the gravel hills
TO cever them an inch thick. His whole
pathway of improvement will be clear
and luminous, and be will not become
discouraged, and leave thing half done
like man who is feeling his way in the
dark. The assurance that be is on the
path of improvement is worth every ev
erything to the farmer. There is nc
geod reason why he should not pursue
his purpose with as much cheerfulness,
and confidence of success, as the house
or the ship builder. Let him map his
farm. ard go forward in the execution o.
a plan, resoiutely and patiently, and il
due time he will have machine for pro-
ducing crops admirably adapted to bis
wants and to his market.-Ans. Agricul-
turist.
The same pride which makes US con-
denim the faults we imagine ourselves
exempt from, inclines us to despise the