Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1870-01-14

dress at the late Calhoun County (Mich.)
Fair. A friend sends us copy, and we
find, upon perusing it. that 1t Is so replete
with sound sense and practical sugges-
tons that we shall give our readers the
benefit of some of it. Speaking of farm
ing generally, he says:
! rhoroughness in all farm operations is
essential to the highest success, but this
cannot be readily attained where labor is
dear without the aid of machinery.
Does not, then, the great gain in the
use of improved implements consist, in the
main, in a saving of time that can be pro-
ftably expended, not only in the more
thorough performance OF the work in hand,
but in other directions where an ample re-
turn may be reasonably expected
If required to point out the great defect
of American husbandry, / should unhesi-
tatingly reply, asant of system.
By this I mean the lack of attention to
the relations existing between the various
departments of farm economy.
Each operation on the farm and each
department of its management should be
conducted with reference to its influence
on every other department and interest, in
accordance with definite plan, extending
| through series of years. The aggregate
| of results should be considered rather than
numerous special interests that are en- tire
" disconnected and have nothing in COM
mon.
The farm is a manufactory-the soil
machine for converting mineral and de-
caying organic substances into vegetable
products.
Unlike other machines, O portion of raw
material for the manufacture of it's pecu.
liar products constitutes q part and parcel
of the machine itself, that cannot be dimin
ished without involving positive loss of
power and efficiency.
| in ho nf !
is necessary to furnish an abundant supply
of the raw material, or the manufactured
article cannot be produced. In other
words, the vegetable products of the farm
are obtained at the expense of the ele-
ments of fertility in the soil, where the
universally prevailing law of compensation
requires sn equivalent return to be made
to maintain it's productiveness.
If the hay and grain raised upon the
farm are all sold off, portion of the soil
goes with them, and the farm is by SO
much diminished in value.
| To prevent this enormous waste, other
machinery, in the shape of live stock, is
provided to convert the vegetable products
manufactured by the soil into animal pro-
ducts of still greater value, and at the
same time to return to the soil, for future
use, the waste material resulting from the
process.
Each set of machinery employed in this
farm factory is thus furnishing raw mate
rails to be worked up by the other, and a
constant circulation OF materials is pro
duced.
If we accept the law of modern philoso-
ply that motion is force, we cannot avoid
the conclusion that the more rapid and ac-
tive the circulation of matter in the ma
chinery of the farm the greater will be the
results accomplished.
A correct system of farm management
involves the adjustment of this machinery
so as to give the largest profit with the
least possible loss, to the farm, of the ele-
ments and fertility and wealth.
In carrying into practice any consistent
system, particular attention should be
given to the alienation or rotation of crops,
and prominent place should be given III
the rotation to those crops which, when
consumed on the farm, are of greatest
value in restoring the elements Of fertility
Ito the soil.
Moreover. by introducing q variety of
crops in rotation, and making Judiclous
selection of animals 70 consume the coars-
er and valuable vegetable products, the
farmer, from the variety of resources, is
more sure of obtaining remunerative re-
turns for his labor in the course of a series
Of years than when depending upon a
single staple, which, by a decline in the
market, may subject him to a serious loss.
It will be perceived from what has al
ready been said, that one great object in
planning a system of farm economy should
be to economic and make available suffi-
cient supply of mannres to mnintain, and,
if possible, increase the productiveness of
the soil. This is, in fact, the sheet-anchor
of good husbandry.
That eloquent writer 1t. @. Carey has
truly said:
"Of all things needed for the purposes
: Al - l.
tation is manure, and yet this is of all the
most important. Each crop draws from
she earth certain elements, and if these
are not replaced, that crop must soon cease
to be produced. It is indispensable that
man be enabled to pay the debt which he
contracts toward mother earth when taking
from the soil the elements of those COM
modities required for his support. It is
the condition upon which alone progress
! can be made"
Judgment, skill, and intelligence, are re-
quisite in devising and carrying out sys
tenn adapted to the wants of each particu-
lar farm. Although the general principles
} which should guide in practice are we'll
established and easily understood, yet in
their detailed application in each locality
much must be left to the Judgment of the
individual, who will have a wide margin
left for varying particulars. without con-
) ficting with those landmarks that cannot
with impunity be violated.
The farmer, above all other men. from
the very nature of his calling, is brought
most intimately into contact with the work.
ings of nature. In his day life he is
necessarily striving with nature for the
mastery, and aiming to give direction to
the natural forces around him.
Light, heat, motion, force, mutually
convertible, protean in form. pervading al
nature, and taking an active part in its
varied processes agents that he must
guide subservient to his will. or, like an
7 untamed steed that scorns control, they
mar his plans and thwart his purposes.
Western Rurdl.
, Horrible Attempt at Murder.