Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1860-11-15
November.
"'Tis easy TO resign toilsome place.
n..f -, i.ts,,ro xvtth N ...oaa.

Ranges at liberty, and snuffs the wind,
But when HE lord would quit the busy road
To taste Joy like that he had bestowed,
He poeves, less happy than his favored brute,
A life of ease difficult pursuit. t."-CowPER.
The only period of rest in the circle o. {
the farmers year is now at hand; period
Of enjoyment, but also one of peril. The
business Of cultivstion--tbe appropriate
occupation of the husbandman--is done.
He has passed through the pressing cares
of seed time and tillage, the joys of the
early and latter harvests, and has welcom.
the last of his crops to the barn and the
granary. His store houses are full, and
the hocks and herds now live upon the
accumulated provisions Of the Summer.
The last Of the flowers has faded. and the
frosts have turned the field and forest to
arusset brown. The leaves that put on
such gorgeous coloring in October, are
now either changed to a sombcr hue, or
fallen, leaving the forest bare and desolate
The skies have lost the roseate hne Of
Summer, and begin to look chill and win.
try. The weather is fitful, and every
sunny day is succeeded by cloud and
storm.
In the olien time farmers accomplish.
cd very little after the potatoes and tur.
nips were gathered and the cider was
made, until the opening Of the Spring. -
At home. the cider barrel had its potent
temptations, and abroad. the village tav-
ern and grocery held out their allurements
10 drinking and dissipation. The coun-
try was new, the soil fertile, and the farm
er did not feel the necessity Of those i'm
provements which prepare the way for
successful cultivation. Draining had
hardly been heard Of, and the muck mines
were not opened. lie fed his cattle, pre-.
pared his fuel for the Winter fire, market.
ed his crops, and the rest of time ran to
waste. At this season he visited his
friends, enjoyed their hospitaities, and
too often contracted their drinking habits
and prepared the way for debauchely and
ruin. 1t was the most perlous period
of the year, because he had not learned
how to improve its leisure.
We are SO constituted that we can not
enjoy idleness. This may satisfy the
toil-worn brute, as he quits the yoke or
the cart and regales himself in fat pas
lures. He knows nothing better than
the qualification of his appetite for food.
But man can not be satisfied while the
best part of him, lies waste. The mind
must have occupation OF some kind, and
the release from the more pressing cares
at this season, should only induce high.
or activity of the mind.
1t is indeed well to employ q portion
OF this leisure in visiting friend and rela.
tives, and in keeping alive the sympathies
and associations OF earlier years. Some
are 40 situated in their business, that this
is the .onl y time when they can return to
the old homestead, to look again upon the
familiar scenes Of childhood and to re-
ceive words OF blessing from father and
mother. These social reunions at the an E
nual Thanksgiving, are worth all they
cost, and more. There is reviying inlln-
ence in going back again to the old hearth
stone OF chilihood's home; the old wei |
and its oaken bucket. the ancestral trees
gathering new glory with their increas-
ing years. the garden, the orchard, the
fields the forests where our eyes first open
cd upon the world. The farmer is made
better citizen and better man by thus
cultivating his social nature, and keeping
alive the ties that bind him to his kindred.
These annual visits are also profitable
for his bushes, as they afford opportuni-
ties for observation. Farming is no long.
er u stereoty ped business. One can hard
ly visit the most limited and obscure ru-
raj district without seeing abundant evi
dence that the leaven OF new ideas is at
work. The tillers of the soil arc getting
out Of the old tracks of the fathers, and
are beginning to use mind in their hus-
bandry. The barn is no more n mere de-
pository OF the harvesls of the field. 1t
is q mandatory Of fertilizers, the one
thing needlul in profitable tilage. 1t is
the great hinge on which every thing in
tho operations of the year turns. Barns
arc now probable study to learn how
practical farmers contrive to shelter all
their cattle, and make the most of their
manure. The plow has become tool
constructed upon scientific principles,
turning tho lurrow with the least expend-
iture OF strength. and making it broad or
narrow. deep or shallow, and laying the
slice flat. or at sharp angle with the
surface OF the field, at the will Of the
plowman. Tools have become a prime
necessity of economical cultivation, and
the strength OF the OK and horse is more
and more taking the place of human sin.
ews. No one can observe the different
methods OF farmers in their business, with
out Learning something profitable. lie
will return with new ideas and new zest
to the cultivation OF his own acres.
Nor need the season upon which we
are entering, be wholly lost to the farm
In many parts of the North, plowing can
still DO done for the first half Of the month,
and the surface of hc fields left in that
rough, broken condition, in which the
freezings aud thawings Of Winter will
most benefit them. There is no human
invention that will break down rough
clods and pulveri1e them like the lrost.-
Farmers are using this season for labor,
much more than they did IN tho olden
time. Trenches are dug for walls, aud
stone fences are built. Some keep their
full laboring force at work-an arrange.
ment much better Tor the laborers, than
four months of idleness. OF occasional
work by the day, Many have muck de.
posits 80 situated that they can be work.
ell at this season. Muck thrown up in
Summer. can be carted, and the deposits