The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1864-03-10
From the Country Gentleman aud cultivator
SMALL vs.. LARGE FARMS.

Farming operations, like man
others, are often attempted on to
large scale for the means of tn
operator. There is no fault NOR
common than this. Our farms ar
almost all too large, and yet it !
ueeless, perhaps, to speak Of il
except to remind those who hav,
email farms of the fact, and tba
they can, ifthey manage their bust
ness well, make more clear profi
than is made by those whe own toe
much land. 1t is all idle to pre-
tend to lay down exact rules for
the number of acres in each iarm
but this may he assumed, that ne
farmer should occupy more land
than he can cultivate thoroughly,
and these keep in n constant state
OF improvement, Ms to capacity for
crops. Its extent will then depend
ON the ability of each occupant,
not only rs to physical force, but
this combined with other consider.
ations, such as every farmer can
estimate for himself. In other
cases he would do this safely but
"a TO quantity Of land, each one
desires more ! We have known
many farmer made absolutely
poor by owning too much land, or
toe large 4 farm ; and others be-
come rich owning toe small a
ya,m!
In proof of the above, We will
state that we once knew the owner
Of a very large farm in this State,
Of excellent land, embracing vii
lage. He WAS Il man of substance
--one Of our great farmers in the
carly part of the present century,
having houses full OF working pco.
pie, and, as usual in those days,
abundance of horses for teams, and
plenty ofncgrocs (slavcs) to drive
them. They used to summer fal-
low and SOW with winter grain,
one hundred or more acres, besides
having immense fields. of corn,
oats, barley, buckwhcat aud mead.
ow, with pastures and great stock
Of cattle,
Some fifty years ago, an English
man, a farmer, rented small
piece of ground near the village,
say of forty or fifty acres, and had
the audacity TO call it n farm, and
totcll the owner that he thought
1t such, and large enough p! A
fc years after the owner informed
the writer, and with wonder, that
this english farmer actual made
more clear profit every year from,
this small piece Of ground, than he
did from his farm of perhaps n,
many hundred acres. This English
farmer had the benefit of succeed.
ing n very sloyenly and ncglectful
tenant, and knew well how to use
what he had neglected, immense
quantities of well rotted manure -
But the main secret OF his euccess
is, that he was careful to apply al
his manure skilltully, at tho righ,
time and in the right place, SO rs
TO concentrate and condcnso his
applied labors, mauuros and means
OF all sorts, that nothing should b,
lost by being spread to thin, ex.
tended over too much ground. II
it were not for giving oiltnse, We
might cite instances OF both kinds.
To avoid lkis, let us invite every
one to the task his own recollec
tion u little, end produce instances
from his own observation. Wher
he shall have done so. let each b,
lesson to him,
A thrifty farmer generally per.
spades himself that he must b,
buying more land, piece from
this neighbor ana a piece from
that (; and as readily persuade,
himself that those who sell must
be unthrifty. Both positions ma,
be true, and both may be false.
The very idea, to most farmers
selling offpieces of their land
is OF the extremely repulsivo kind
asort OF dampef mortally dreaded
Yet we have known men who had
the courage to do it, because they
thought it best, and who have ney,
er had occasion TO regret hayino
done so. In all neighborhoods
there are some men overmnch wise
as to the business af their neigh,
bors. Such men grow tat upon i,
whenever a farmer sells or some
of his land, never once doubling
that he who does so mnst ha o,,..,,,,