Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1870-02-25
BUYING II Farm
BY HORACE GREELEY :.


If / were asked by a young man in
tent on farming to indicate the proper
area for him, would say, BHy Just So
large a farm as halt jour means nil Pay
f0y. In other words, IF YOU are worth
SIC, 900 invest half of it in land, the res
idue in stock, tools, &C.; and observe
the same rule of proportion, whetheryou
be worth 81 ,ooo,oOO or only 81 900. If
you are worth just nothing at ALL Iwould
invest in land the half of that, and no
more. In other words, | would either
wait to earn $500 or over, or push West
ward till found land that cost practical
ly nothing.
This, then, take to be the gist Of the
popular criticism on our farmers as hav-
ing unduly enlarged their borders: They
have more land than they have capaci-
ty to stock and till to the best advantage.
He who has but fifty acres has too much
if he lets part of his land lie idle and
unproductive for lack of ateam or hands
to till it efficiently; while he who has a
thousand acres has none too much if he
has the means and talents wherewith to
make the best of it all.
/ have said that consider the soil of
New England as cheap, all things con-
sidered, for him who is able to buy and
work it, as that of Minnesota or Arkan-
sas-that urge migration to the West
only upon those who cannot pay for
farms in the old States. doubt wheth-
er the farmers of any other section have
in the average, done better, throughout
the last ten years, than the butter-mak-
erS of Vermont, the cheese-dairyrnen OF
this State. And yet there is, in the ridgy.
rocky, patchy character of most of our
Eastern farms, an insuperable barrier to
the most economic, effective cultivation.
If the ridges were further apart-if each
rocky or gTavelly knoll was not in close
proximity to a strip of bog or morass-
It would be different. But the genius
OF our age points unmistakably to cult
Vatlon by steam, or some other mechan-
ical application of power; and this re-
quires spacious fields, with few or no OBJ
stacles to the equable progress of the
plow. l apprehend that, for this reason
the growth of bread-corn eastward of
the Hudson can never be more consid-
erably extended, 50 long as the bound
less, fertile prairies can so easily pour
their exhaustless supplies upon us
Fruits, Vegetables, Roots and Grass, we
must continue to grow, probably in ever
increasing abundance; but we of the
East will buy our bread-corn largely if
not mainly from the West.
He, therefore, who buys land in the
Eastern States should regard primarily
its capacity to produce crops in which
the East can never be supplanted- Grass.
Fruits, Vegetables, Timber. Ifa farm will
also produce good Corn or Wheat. that Is
a recommendation; but let him place a
higher value on those capacities which
VIII be more generally required and
drawn-upon.
In the West, the case is different: for.
though Wheat culture still recedes be-
fore the footsteps of advancing popula-
uon, and Minnesota may soon cease to
grow for others, as Western New Yorlr
ONO, Indiana and Northern Illinois
have already done, yet Indian Corn. be-
ing the basis of both Beef and Pork.
viii long hold its own in the valley of
the Ohio, and in that of the UpDer Mis-
slssIppI. As it itrecedes slowly Westward.
Clover and Timothy, Butter and Cheese
Will press closely on its footsteps.
Good neighbors, good roads. good
schools, good mechanics at hand, and
good church within reach, will ALWAYS
be valued and sought few farmers are
likely TO disregard them. Let whoever
Duys a farm whereon to live resolve to
buy once for all and let him not forget
that health is not only wealth bat happi-
ness-that an eligible location and
beautiful prospect are elements of en-
oyment, not only for ourselves but for
our friends; let him not fancy that all
the land will be gObbled up and held at
eXhorbitant prices, but believe that mon
ey will almost always command MONEYS
worth of whatever is needed, so that he
need not embarrass himselftoday through
fear that he may not be able to find sell
ers tomorrow. and he can hardly fail to
buy judiciously. and thus escape that
worst species of Observation-Disclosures
of home-pezv York Z116Nne.