New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-12-24
WHAT KNOW OF FARMING.
Ely HORACE GREELEY.
KILN.
1ApGE AND SMALL EARMS.


ScI;gbts Inherent in a great Western farm, with its
',ar miles Of eorn-hclds and it's thousands of cat
.Io T,,h of them is partly right and partly wrong
,17or. m, generals capable Of Commanding
,,oooo men. Napoleon Gays there were two such in
his day-himseh and another; and these generally
end the work they ct for without special effort
OF asriration. 50 there are mon, each of whom can
RALLY farm q township not merely let herd of
c,t+le r,am over il unfed and Unsbeltered, living
and diving as may chance: the owners expecting to
grow rirh by their natural increase. This rdnchiHg
s no. properly farming at all, but very different
and flr udcr art. Judge that the farmers who can
rail, tl-or even grazo-seycral thousand acres Of
land so as realize fair interest on its value, are
even scarcer than the farms capacOus.
But there is such thing as farming on large
scale. and II is good business for those who under
stand IT, and have all the means it requires. The
farmer vho annually grows q thousand acres of
GOOD Grain and takes reasonable care of thousand
head Of Cattle. is to be held in all honor. He viii
usually grow both his Grain and his Beef cheaper
than small farmer could do it, and will generally
find a good balance on the right side when be makes
M and squares his accounts Of years operations.
could recommend no man TO run into debt for q
great farm expecting that farm to work him ont of
IT, But he who inherited or has acquired great
farm. wei stocked. and knows how TO make it pay,
NAV well cling TO it, and count himself fortunate in
his possession. But the great farmer is already re-
gardcd with sufficient envy. Most boys would gladly
be such ashe is the difficulty in the case is that they
lack the energy, perSistcncy, resolution, and self
denial requisite for its achievement.
We will leave large farms and farming 10 recon-
mend themselves while we consider more directly
he opportunities and reasonable expectations Of the
Imall farmer.
The impression widely current that money cannot
be made on a small farm-that in farming the great
Ssh eat up the little Oncsis deduced from very i'm
perfect data. i have admitted that Grain and
Beef usually be produced at less cost on great
than Oh small FARMS though the rule is not without
exceptions Iony insist that there room and hope
for the small farmer also and that large farming can
never absorb nor enable 10 dispense with small
farms.
l. And first with regard TO Fruit Some Tree
Fruits as wen as Grapes are grown a large scale
In California-it is said. with profit But nearly all
pur Pears Apples Cherries Plums, &c, grown by
small farmers gardeners. and are not likely TO be
grown otherwise. All Of them need at particular
peasons personal attention and q vigilance which
can seldom or never be accorded by the owners OF
renters of large farms. Should small farms be gen
orally absorbed into larger our Fruit-cuure would
thenceforth steadily decline.
H. The same is even more true Of the production OF
Eggs and the rearing of Fowls l have had knOwl-
edge Of several attempts at producing Eggs and
Fowls on large scale in this country, but have no
trustworthy account Of a single decided success IN
euch an enterprise. On the contrary, many attempts
o. multiply Fowls by thousands have broken down,
just when their success seemed secure. Some con
fagous disease some Unforeseen disaster, basedthe
eanguine expectations Of the eXpermenter, and
transmitted his gold into dross
Yet judge that there is no industry more capable
Of indefinite extension with fair returns than Fowl
breeding on moderate scale. Eggs and Chickens
are in universal demand. They are Injuries appre-
ciated alike by rich and poor; and they might be
doubled in quantity without materially depressing
fhe market. Our thrOnged and fashionable watering
yaces are never adequately supplied with them our
cities labitually take all they get and look /
around for more. / believe that twice the largest |
number Of Chickens ever yet produced in one year
might be reared in 1871 with profit to the breeders
Even if others should fail, the home market found
In each family would prove signany elastic Of re-
ception.
This industry should especially commend itself 10
poor widows struggling TO retain and rear Their
children in frugal independence. widow who, in
Che neighborhoOd Of a city or of a manufacturing
village. can rent cottage with half an acre of
southward-sloping sunny land which she may fence
A. tightly As to eOnfne her Hens therein, whenever
fbeir roaming abroad would injuro OF annoy her
Ysighbors and who can incur the expense of con
etructing thereon n warm, commodious Hen-house'
NAV almost certainly make the production OF Legs
aud Fowls a source of continuous profit. Ii she can
obtain cheapy the refuse of slaughter-house Tor
feed giving with il meal OF grain III moderate guam
titles and according that constant personal lntel-
gent supervision, without which FOwl-breeding
rarely IrospeTs she may reasonably eXpectlt 10 pay
while Attending her an occupation not subject to the
cauJioe of an employer, and not requiring her TO
spend her days away from home.
Ill Though the ordinary Market Vegetables may
fe grown on large farms, the fact that they seldom
are Is significant Cabbage, Peas Pooled Beans,
Tomatoes and even Potatoes, are grown on small
farms as they always have been. There are sections
wherein no cash market for Vegetables exists OF can
Oe relied on and here they will continue TO be grown
60 the extent only of the growers respective needs
but wherever the prevalence Of manufactures or the
neighborhoOd Of great city gives reasonable as
smrance Of a market, they are grown at proht per
acre which is rarely realized from Grain-crop No
less than 500 per acre Is often, II not generally
achieved by the growers Of Cabbage around this
city and this not from rich. deep garden mold but
from fair farming land, under-dralped supSohod'
and literally manfred.
The careless slipshod farmer may do better-that is,
he will not fail So signally-in Grain cutivaton but
Sbere are few more decided or brilliant successes
chan have been achieved within tbe last few years
within sight of this city, and wholly IN the tliage OF
ANAL farms
thrust have here said enough to show that there Is
q Legitimate and promising field for agricultural Gu
ferprise and effort, other than that swmch cohtem
,lates the ACQUISITION and rule Of a township and
chat while farming large area Is to many at
fraciye and aspiring there are scope ana Increment
also for tliage on a humber scale-fOr ulage tnat
permits no weed 10 rpen seed and no nest OF cater
pillar, 10 flourish a month undisturbed-for tlllage
md