Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1868-01-30
Aaritmltnral department,
BRAIN FARMING,

| AgElEAMMEal BKFatlMkh1
BRAIN FARMING.
It is to be lamented that so much of ou
farming is mainly matter of muscle. Th'
routine farmer uses about as little mind il
the cultivation of his fields as the OK that h
drives. His team always goes in the rut
made by his fathers. He has no well-de
vised system embracing many years of i'm
provement for his farm. His object seems
to be to get through the year as easily al
possible, and get a subsistence from the soil
Now we want something better than this
and are beginning to have it. So mucf
more productive is brain than muscle, II
manipulating the soil, that We know of in
stances of frst-rate farming by men who
never put hand to the plow. 1t is undoubt
edly more satisfactory to man to give hi:
whole attention to husbandry, and ordinari
l. ly this is the law of success. But so great
is the need of more capital and more mine
in this business, that we welcome from any
quarter the men who can show US how tc
make farming profitable. The best cult
vators that we have found in the country
are men bred to other pursuits !; professional
men, mechanics, merchants and bankers
diverted temporarily from their chosen pur'
suits to husbandry, or adding this to their
other business. We have seen so many co.
ses of eminent success in this kind of farm.
ing, that we think favorably of it, and do
not hesitate to recommend it to any man
who has capital and taste for husbandry.
Men of this class, generally have abun-
dant capital, and are not afraid to invest ii
in this business. They bring the mental
discipline and tact of the town on the farm,
and work with as much faith in the field as
they once did in the shop or counting-room.
Their skill, trained in other schools, tells in
the field. The shoemaker turns his atten-
ton from taps to tap-roots, and turns out
such crops of beets, carrots, and turnips, as
are the envy of the neighborhood. The
lawyer pleads his case with the soil, and
wins such verdicts as he never obtained
from juries. The physician medicates the
barren field, and infuses into it such health
and productiveness that all the old fogies
wonder what sort of manure the doctor uses.
The minister. tills his glebe with so much
skill that he brings both the butcher and
the grocer in debt to him at the close ofthe
wear. The banker runs farm as skilfully
as bank, and makes it pay surer dividends.
1t is not necessary that a man should live
upon his farm, in order to make it pay. 1t
is desirable that it should be near his resi-
dence, that he should see it every week, and
Law out the work for the foreman. But very
good farming is done even without this, if a
man will give his attention to it. Washing
ton planned his farm crops and rotations
with his campaigns in the the fields of war,
during the dark years of the Revolution.
Webster, at Washington, dictated the plan,
and most of the details of his farming, at
Marshfeld, and that was certainly quite re-
spectacle. Professional men in villages and
cities often have farms. in the suburbs that
they cultivate with great satisfaction and
profit. Sometimes the foreman is part
ner in the business, and takes the farm at
halves, furnishing half the stock, tools, seed,
etc., and taking half the crops. But this
does not always work well. If the land
owner has liberal notions Of improvement,
it works quite i'll; for he looks to the per-
manent benefit of his place, while the fore
man very naturally looks for large receipts
at the close of the year. The best method
is for the landholder to hire a competent
foreman with family, on salary, and if
he wishes still further to stimulate his en-
deavors, give him small share in the profits
of the business. It should be stipulated
that he should board what laborers are need
ed, at given price, so that the crops may
not suffer for want of working at the criti-
cal time. This will save all disputes about
the application of manures, rotation, sale of
crops, and other details. With good fore
man capable of directing labor, man of
capital in the village or city can carry on a
farm, and make it pay. But he will not
find it sinecure. If his time is already
fully occupied, or if he is averse to the bust
ness, he should not attempt it. But if he
has taste in that direction, and is willing
to plan, and labor with his brain, he can
find great deal of pleasure and sure profits
in cultivating the soil. The amount of the
dividends will depend good deal upon the
skill of the operator, the seasons, the facili'
ties for marketing, and the contingencies
which affect all other industries. Farms
located near cities and villages usually rise
in value, and this consideration often deter
mines capitalists to these enterprises.
american Agriculturist.
ELEvATING IDEAS AND ENNoBLING SEN
T1MENTs. Ts.-There are products, however:
more important to the farmer than wheat
or corn, or choice animals or delicious fruit