The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-02-09

hT9 eltIu6uko VI C4lO9 uIGlb hVb OAAl avs
ourselves but our friends; let him not fancy
that all the land viii soon be gobbled up
and held ut Gxorbitant prices, but believe
that money will almost always command
moneys worth ofwhatevern may be needed,
10 tlllt he need not embarrass himself 10.
day through fear that he may not he able
to find sellers tomorrow, and he can hard.
" IiIil to buy judiCiOusly and thus escape
that worst species Of lOmPSiCkness- sick
ness Of home,
Laying on n Farm.-.Pasturing.
Whoever finds himself the newly in
stalled owner ind occupant Of farm,
should, before doing much beyond grow.
Ing a crop in the ordinary way, Studywcll
It's character, determine its capacities,
make himself well acquainted with Its pc
culiarities of soil and surface, with intent
TO make the most of II in his future ope.
rations. would devote ut least q year TO
this thoughtful observation and study.
To one reared among the rugged scene
~ of New England, or on either slope OF
the Allegheny ridge, all prairie farms look
alike, Just as q European supposes this to
be the case with MI negroes. A better
acquaintance will show the average pnirle
Quarter-scction by no means m unbrOkcn
meadow, "level as IL House floor" but Ill.
verSiflcd by water-courses, "sloughs," and
gentle deCiivities-s sometimes by consider.
able ravincs and "barrens" or elevated
"Swulcs," thinly covered with timber, or
brush, or both. But I will contemplate
more especially Northern tilrm, made
up of hill and vale or glade, rocky ridge
and sllirting bog or other lOw-land, with
w00d-l0t on the rear or not far distant,
and clumIs or belts Of timber irregrlarly
lining brook and ravinc, or lurking in the
angles and sinuosities Of walls and wood.
en- fences, and o ragged, messy orchard
sheltered in some quiet nook, or sprawl
ing over some gravelly hillside. A brook.
nearly dry in August, gurglcs down the
hillside or winds through the swamp;
while fields, moderately sloping here and
nearly level there, interposcd here and
there, have severally been devoted, for u
generation or more, alternately to grain
and grass-the latter largely preponder-
ating. We will suppose this farm to
measure from so to 100 acres.
Now, the young man who has bought
or inherited this farm may be wholly and
consciously unable to enter upon any ex-
pensivc system Of improvement for the
next ten years-may fully realize TINT
four or five days Of each week must mean
time be given 10 the growing or earning
Of prescnt brcad-yet he should none the
less study well the capacities and adapta-
tons Of each acre, and mature II compre.
hCnsive plan for the ultimate bringing Of
each field into the best and most useful
condition whereofit il susceptible, before
he cuts living tree or digs D solitary
drain. lie Is morally certain Of doing
sOmething-pcrhaps many things-that
he will sadly wish ltndone, If he falls ~
study peculiarities and mature plan be.
fore he begins TO improve or 10 fit his sew
eral fields for profitable cultivation.
And the first selection TO be made is
that Of pasture, since lam compelled to
use an old, familiar name for what should
be essentially new thing. This pasture
should be rs near the centre Of the firm
rs may be, and convenient TO the barns
and barn.yard that arc TO be, II should
have some shade, but no very young trees
should be dry and rolling, with m abun
dance Of the purcst living water, The
smaller this plstureIlot Inay he, the better
I.sllall like Il, provided you fence II very
stoutly, connect 1t with tho barn-yard BY
a lane iftlley are not in close proximity,
and firmly resolve that outside Of this lot,
this lane, this yard and the adjacent
stable, your cattle shall never be seen, un-
less on the road to market. Very posi-.
bly, the day may come wherein you will
decide to dispense with pasturing alto.
gctller; but that Is, for the present, I'M.
probable. Ono pasture you will have; If
YOU live in the broad West, and propose
10 grllzc extensively, II will doubtless be
large one but permitting your stock TO
ramble III Spring and Fall all over your
own ticlds-(and perhaps your neighbors
also)- lin quest Of their needill food, Bit
ing off the tops of the finer young trees,
trampling down or breaking down some
TINT arc older, rubbing the bark off Of
your growing fruit trees, and doing dam.
age that years will be required TO repair.
most vehemently protest against.
The one great error TINT mislcatls md
corr,Ipts mankind Is the presumption that
something may b had for nothing. The
average farmer imagincs that whatever
of flesh or Of milk may accrue to him
from the food his cattle obtain by brQYs'
ing over his fields or through his woods
Is so much clear gain-that they do the
nccdlll work, while no pockets the net
proceeds, But the universe was framed
on plan which requires so much for 80
much; and this law will not submit To
defiance or evasion. Under the unnatural,
transitOry conditions which environ the
lone squatter on a vast prairie, something
may be- made by turning cattle loose and
letting them shirk for themselves; but
this Is at best tranSitory, and at war with
the exigcncics Of civilization. Whoever
lives within sight Of u school.lOuse, or
within hearing Of cllurClI.bell, Is under
the dominion Of law alike memorable
and bencfcCnt-th law that requires each
10 pay for all lie gets, and reap only where
he Inns SOwn.
You can hardly have u pasture so small
that 1t will not afford hospitality to'wccds
and prove source of multitorm infesta.
tons The plants sth0t should flourish
and be ditfused will be kept down to the
earth; those that should be wNrrcd upon
and cradicated will flourish untouched,
ripen their seed, and ditfuse 1t Ear and wide.
Thistlcs, White Daisy, and every plant
TINT impedes tillage and diminiShcs crops,
are nollrished and dtiFusUl by means Of
pastures.
hold, therefore, that tho good farmer
will run u moving machine over his pas.
ture twice each Summer-say early in
June, and then late In July-or, If his lot
he too rough for this, will have 1t clipped
ut least once with scythc. Cutting oil
manner Of worthless IL not obnoxious
plants in the blossom, will benefit the soil
which their seeding would tax; it will
render the eradication Of weeds from your
4iil... q. nnsinr Ln,l.: md Il will L,rnMnnt