Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1860-03-22
Letters From a Farm No. 8.

partihehl Oh agriculture mas mere Dcen so
great degree OF Improvement manifested, as
in that which relates to farming implements.
Even within my remembrance,-an that
extends back score IF years. there has
been most porccptible change.
| well recollect, when quite young, strip
ping the irons from a sOooden plough that
had passed through its term of service, and
given place to a moe modern Implement
I Farmers, at the present day, would hardly
know how to use such plough, that some
one has aptly comp red to " sharpened
saw-log, with which to fare up the soi."-
But relics Of the b. gone should not be des-
pissed, for they form the starting point from
which No are to date our progress.
The plough is very lmpor aut implement
perhaps NC should say the most important
one and has been brought to great degree
of peri. ction. Then it is constructed Of
every conceivable style or pattern, and
adapted to all kinds Of sur ace and soils, so
that by inspection or experiment farmer
may easily find hose suited to his lands.
The harrow stands next to the plough in
usefulness, and this implement has also un-
dergone various changes, at the hand of in
ventive genius. As a tt orough pulveriza-
ton and working of the soil is essential to
the full development of growing crops, what
ever has tendency to do away with, or
abrdge manual labor. commcnds itself to the
attention of farmers, al we find that much
Of wearyiug TILL in the cultivation of hoed
crops, may be avoided by the proper use of
the best cutivators horse-hoes, poughs, &c.
But IS much must, from necessity, remain
to be performed by hand, the hoes now in
use present somelhi Z of contrast to the
heavy, clumsy implements of Lalt century
ago
Ii the laborious and hurryiug season Of
haying and harvest, the We tive genius Of
mar has done much to ALLEVIATE the tolls Of
the farmer. He is no longer obliged to go
TO the woods TO find "crooked stick" from
which to manufacture a Scythe snafh, or pre-
rare, as best he may, with the aid Of the
blacksmith, his rakes and forks
Ii he as taken the prccaution to level
and smooth off hi, meadows, which, if a
thrifty farmer he has douc, and his "means
are adapted to the ends" by the use of now
ers aud horse-rakes, haying would b pleas
ant occupation, and could be performed in
the season when the grasses were in the right
stage for harvesting.
There are also many other farm imple-
menrs, of different degrees OF usefulness
among which e should mention the :" field
roller This is cheap, of simple construc.
ton, and can be made by any farmer; or, if
lie chooses, he can have one more durable and
costly, from the manufacturers OF implements.
By the use OF the roller, the field is left in a
suitable cond ton for the er, the seed
terminates evenly aud quickly, and thick
grow h is ensured. We rolled a piece Of
wheat the past season, and in Jour days the
plants were visible over the hole fed. aud
a handsoncr field of wheat, probably, was
never raised in the neighborhood.
Farmers shoul by all means, have good
impleme is, and those that are esp cally
adapted to the different kinds of Soils Much
inferior work may thus be avoided, to say
nothing of the loss Of patience, ard, per-
haps, the ruin of crop, by the use of all
improper plough or other implement.
Next to the ownership and judicious use
Of farming Tools is some regard for the care
Of the same. 1t is shiftless and unprof-
table way, Of leaving ything with which
We perform our labor, jus where it hap
pens" How often in passi upon the
DAD do We sec carts, wagons, poughs. har-
rows, &C., by the wayside, leaning against
fences, and in dOor-yards, left exposed to the
weather of e cry season, losing annually,
by this exposure, sufficient to pay the interest
on their cost, and telling a tale to tn passer-
by, that does no credit to the owner.
In closing this article, we ould say: if
means will permit have good farming ins-
p ements all that will pay well the cost of
purchasing; use them properly, and, if pos
sible, have a building in which to store them,
and an advance step will have been taken,
that it will be neither profitable nor desilab
to rGtrace. FARMER.
March, 1860