Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1867-01-25

then marker. Almost everything goes through
their hands, from the fat beeye Of two thou-
sand pounds, to the egg oftwo ounces, s,--from
the big tree Of the forest, sawed into lumber,
to the blade OF grass packed in the hay bale.
MiddIemcn are no doubt necessary class,
bnt they now take advantage of the ignorance
Of a large class Of farmers and secure profits
that the iarmer would gain if he studied the
markets mere.
To stimulate thought and keep up with the
times, farmers should read more upon topics
connected with their business. The day has
gone by when the couaty political newspaper
! with its gross personalities, love stories and
advertisements Of quaek- medicines, win af
ford sufficient mental pabulum. Agricultural
and Horticultural papers and books are a ne
eessity Ct his calling. The best of these
journals perhaps, are not what they ought to
be, or what tIley might be with larger pat.
ronage; but tGe poorest of them are worth
much more than their cost to the man who
will read aud digest them. They are mainly
the records the experience and observation,
Of practical farmers who have sufficient lei
sure and culture to give their reflections to
the public. Every man @iIl find in their pa.
ges suggestions that will Snfuence his own
practice in husbaudry and make it more prof
liable. Our best farmers are now reading and
thinking men, and their success is the direct
result d thought applied to husbandry. They
have the bes. papers and books that treat of
their art, and brain guides muscle in all their
farm opegst5ous. The sluggards must imi
tate their example, or lose the profits.
Then we must have more capital invested
in the business A large part of what we
have is in the wrong place-in the land it
self, rather thar IN the stock, tools, manure
and labor to make the cultivation profitable.
It is well enough for the cutivator to own his
farm, if he have capital enough remaining to
work it with; but if he have not, let him sell
a part or mortgage the whole, to raise it. In
our New England hRsbandry we need from
thirty to fifty dollars for every acre under the
pioW, to make the crops pay fairly. Farming
with insufficient capital has been the curse Of
the business from the beginning In Eng
land, as a Tale, the farmer does not own the
soil, but hires on long lease, and applies all
his capital, or so much as he needs, to the
prohibition Of ths' crops. He spends more
upon the soil, and makes it pay better. Here
leasing is the exception. Every man has
strong craving for more land, rather than to
make what he has better. IF he has capital.
the probabilities are chat he viii invest it in
| bank-stOek, or more land, rather than in more
manure, or more stock and grain, 10 make
manure with.
If we could trace the history of every IN
dividual farm, as we do the history Of a town.
or of State, we should find it long strug-
gle with insufficient capital The farm was
originally carved ont Of the forest, by man
who.had little else than his two hands and
few tools to work with. With his axe he
made the first clearing, and with the help of
a neighbor's team, he did his first blowing
and put in his first crops The virgin soil was
in his favor and yielded bountifnlly for few
years, and furnished him with the means 10
put up his frame dwelling, his barn and other
outbuildinEs. IT, took one generation got
the land cleared of stumps and the buildings
paid for. It took another to accumulate a
little capital but that, unfortunately for the
homestead, was either spent in more land, or
in educating children for other pursuits, and
in starting them in business. The much
that needed doing upon the old homestead,
/ has been put off from one generation to an
other, and remains still to be done by some
man Who has faith in the business, and is
| willing to invest IN it, and to live by it. He
wants capital to drain the swamps and swales,
which are now the richest part of the soil !;
to work his muck mine, and add to his com
| post heap to secure the best farm imple-
ments and the best stock to use all the la
| Dor and manure that he needs for the most
economical raising of crops,
| And this brings US to the last element Of
more profitable husbandry that we shall touch
upon in this article. Most of our farmers
are sadly deficient in labor. tt IS not unfro-
| quent to find a two hundred acre farm worked
/ with a force of one hired man and a boy.
with the aid of the proprietor, and a little ex
ira help in the haying season. AS a conse-
quence, very little is planted or sowed, and
that is but half cared for very little is rails
ed, and the profits, if any, are very small.
| More than half Of the means of the owner
are locked mp in land that does not yield him
a cent Of income. It might as well be in the
| bottom Of the sea. A farmer who is compe-
tent to direct the labors Of one man and
make it pay, may just as well direct FIVE or
more. And we think it will be found that
two men pay better than one, and Eve better
| than two. 1t looks and feels good deal
more ike business, and more is accomplish
ed. 1t is disbeartening to any man to go in
to a ten acre corn-feld and hoe all day alone
But where are We to get the capital from,
that viii furnish the conditions of more
profitable husbandrY? just where the mer-
chant and mechanic get theirs There are
monied men and banks who make their prof
its by lending, and they are just as anxious
to lend on good security as the business man
is to borrow. Whist better security can they
have than the farm, which does not run away;
and which, with skillful management, pays as
uniform dividends as any other business ?
The trouble, we apprehend, is not so much in
| getting the money, as in lodnting it. Farm
ers must have faith in their business, must
invest their all in it as the merchant does,