Litchfield enquirer., 1869-10-21
BEEoHER's FARMING.

~--M Mark Twain misrepresents Mir. Henry ' Ward Beecher,s farm expettiienee after the following atrocious manner:f8t cit 10
 sbn MrgBeechef's farm consists of thirty-six bScres and is carried ifona strict scientific ' principles He never puts in any part of z s crop without cons ting his book. He plonghs and reaps and digs and sows acc cording to the be best authorities, and the ,, authorities cost more than the other farm ing implements do.l As soon as the libra n yis completea the farm will begin to be Q f paof1table investment. id Bnt book farming ,shas its drawbacks. Upon one occasion when it seemed morally certain that the hay onght to be cut, the hay book. could 2 not be found 1t was 500 late and the hay was all spoiled. MT, Beecher raises some of tho finest crops of wheat in the country, but the ufayorabIe difference between the cost of producing it and it's market value ,9 after it is produced has interfered oconsidl 31 erAhly. with its success as commercial en-
 tetprise. His special weakness is hog, jhoRever.9 He considers hog the best game 'I the farm produces.G He buys the original E pig for dollar and a halt, and feeds him him for about nihe dollars. This is the on- N crop he ever makes money on. He loos- es on the corr, ,lbut he makes seven dollars and halt on the hog. He does not mind this because he never makes anything on
 corn. And any way it turns out he has the excitement of raising the hog. whether he gets the worth of him or not. His straw ( berries would be comfortable success if e robins would eat tnrnips, but they won't and hence the difficulty. i...a.g
 g One of Mfr aBeecher's most harrassing difficulties in his farming operations comes
 of the close resemblance of different sorts of seeds and plants to each other. Two
 years ago his farsightedness warned him that there was going to be great scarcity of watermelons, and therefore he put in a crop of twent-seven acres of that fruit.
 But when they came up they turned out to be pumpkins, and dead loss was the con sequence. Sometimes 2 portion of his crop goes into the ground the most prom
 ising sweet potatoes, and comes up the in- fernalest carrots-though l never have
 heard him express it in just that way. When he bought his farm he found one egg in every hens nest on the place. He said that here was just the reason so many far is mers failed; they scattered their forces too |, much; concentration was the idea. 80 he gathered those eggs together and put them [ |. hen roasted oyer that contract night and : day for eleven weeks, under the anxious personal supervision of MT. Beecher him. self, but she could not ''phase" those eggs. Why? Because they were those infamous porcelain things which are used by inge- nious and fraudulent farmers as "nest eggs" But perhaps MT. Beecher's most {. disastrous experience was the time when
 he tried to raise an immense crop of dried apples. He planted fifteen hnndred dollars worth, but never one of them sprouted.
 He has never been able to understand, to this day what was the matter with those apples. ,1, bia@ o5 5I.riie s3e.a5 E ;3l. rei -. - a Mir. Beecher's farm is not triumph. It would be easier on him if he worked it on shares with some one; but he cannot find anybody who is willing to stand half the r expense. and not many who are able. Still persistence in any case is bound to lsuc- ceed. He was inferior farmer when he first began, but prolonged and unfinch- q ing assault upon his agricultural difficult ties has had it's effect at last; and he is now i fast rising from afiuence to poverty. @ as' s,aa2 ,o@sir s,'r i...,'; le1 5abg. MARX TWAIN.