The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-05-21
The New World Of Farming.

Inc new WOIVn Va = dxIQluRs
The great revolution which has taken
place in our system Of labor forces upon
the AGRICULTURAL eommunity an entire new
system Of farming. To them there must
be - new heaven and a new earth. All
old customs must be abolished, and new
regulations and rules must take their place.
The humiliation of the property in slaves
Is only announcement with reference to the
credit that property gave its owner, or to
its convertibility into money. But con-
sidered as mere labor, the change Of its
character is no loss whatever. AS Siace, It
was, indeed, more expensive than as free.
The owner had the charge Of all the helpless
and unproductvc part of the community
e., the women, children, and aged. This
more than counterbalanccd any gain OF the
system compared with free labor from the
able-bodied and productive part of the
slaves. If We bring ourselves to look upon
the subject in this light-which is the true
one--we may proceed to adapt ourselves
to the revolution in labor with more cheer
fulness and energy.
In the agriculture Of free labor there
must be close economy-an economy
marked by accountability and accurate
settlements. Labor must be promptly
paid and results regularly ascertained, so
that man will know we'll what he is doing,
what he has made, or what he has lost.
This will force him into the adoption of
such system as will insure the greatest
vigilance and the smallest degree of waste
and extravaganza. The leading measures
for this purpose may be thus stated:
Beginning at the dwelling, that must be
so arranged, and the system of house keep
ing so retrcnched, as to diminish the number
of attendants to as few as possible and to
promote the convenience and dispatch of
the household economy. For, under the
new system, men will be altogether unable
to keep as many servants as heretofore
lounging idly about, some of them doing
little more than to black pair of shoes in
aday. 1t is true this unavoidable economy
may diminish the unrestrained and hearty
hospitality SO characteristic of Virginia
homes heretofore but since it is inevita-
BILE, We should have the resolution and
selfdcnial to acquicsce and to acquit our
selves in a crcditable manner with energy
and constancy.
Every man should provide apartments
sufficiently near his own residence for his
supervision, and sufficiently far of to pre-
serve proper respcct-for the habitation
of laborcrs. Those apartments should be
so arranged as to be comfortable and to
enable the laborcrs who ought to be scpa-
rate to be SO; and in that way TO encourage
something like order and sclf-rcspcct
among them. They will be all the better
of it.
The gamers, the stables, the sheds for
agricultural implements, wagons and gear
should be near the dwelling, and should be
kept in order. The way to them should
be short and good, 50 that the master or
his sons may go at all seasons without dis
comfort, to look after things and to saddle
and harness their own horses; for this will
become matter Of economy, if not of ne
cessity, as the hired labor should be more
proftably employed. With these depart
ments thus compactcd, and under proper
economy, things should go on beautifully
and without waste or extravaganza. The
labor would be at call the grain, proven
der, and all supplies, under the eye; the
gear and the implements sheltered and
kept in order; the stables clearly, and
their occupants cared for.
Next, as to animals. Not one more than
needed should be kept. There should be
few horses, well-kept, strong, and always
in good order. There should be no more
cattle than necessary for supplying milk
and butter, and an occasional beef for the
family, unless the farm be a grazing farm
and then everybody knows what would be
needed for that. But any other farm
should have no more of horses, COWS, sheep,
and hogs, than can be kept well and in
good order without impoverishing the fields
by too close grazing. 1t is better to Craze
but little and feed under shelter a great
deal. The wretched sight of miserably
poor cattle, dragging their feeble frames
over blasted and impoverished fields, Is
enough to drive man out of the land.
There is no picture so like Famine.
Lastly, reduce the surface cultivated to
a boundary fully within the power of the
labor employed to cultivate it well, and
cultivate it upon plan of vigorous i'm
proyement. The fields should have that
improvement, either through rest or pro-
per manuring, to bring them soon to that
degree Of fertility which will alone repay
the owner for cultivation with hired labor.
He cannot now find the means of making
up his annual deficit-his yearly back
sliding in the matter Of receipts and ex-
penses-in the increase of his slaves. He
cannot now make up the lee-way occa-
stoned by the feeding of many mouths from
an exhausted farm by the occasional sale
of negro. lie must make his expenses
out Of the ground, and that only. He will
not be able or willing to pay taxes on gull
lied and CALLED fields, that, like spawned
and wind-broken jade, can yield no service,
and is only a nuisance. His land must be
good for some immediate use. Il he can't
make il SO, he must sell it, and let some