Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1874-01-21

TO be done, can never find moro favorable
time than now Instead Of leaving The wood
pile as the sawyers left it in the block. to be
split after springs work is upon us, now is the
better time Instead Of leaving muck in the
bed that nature gave il, until it is wanted for
summer use, now is the time TO set your team
10 work, hauling it from the bed in massive
pile near your barns, and the more the better,
rs it will receive no injury though IL should
lay for years, but would, in my opinion, i'm
prove by laying. Instead %! stopping your
team in the hurry of spring To go To mill with
a gtist for your cnttle or for family use, when
the travelling is bad indeed the winter is the
better time 10 get your milling done, when you
can not only draw twice the amOuutuf load, but
make wise exchange Of time, day Of leisure
10 winter for ono OF hurry and drive in spring
who Of you, my friends, would he ashamed to
be- seen going to the blacksmith to get your
harrow. teeth sharpeucd during those winter
months, that they might be- ready for use 10
time Of need, causing no delay IN spring.
Those OF you whose pride has thus Ear gained
the osccndancy over you, would do well. in my
opinion, to cover your pride or your harrow
teeth with blanket, that, notwithstanding at
your pride, they might he slurpencd reycrthe-
less. The greater evil lies iu-t here.
\ neglect Of these and many more important
duties that might be mentioned, drive uuf
farmers into such a hurry and furry that ten
chances 20 one they will slight their work -e
riOuely, and necessarily be SD late holnrc the
last seed is In the ground that they must lrcv-
itably suffer loss beyond the comprehension OF
most men. think every man ul sou Willagrcc
with me On this one point ID on mo- other, that
a field Of oats s0wn as late as June 1t % l0lh.
will not, ona average Of years, Nicldoyor two
thirds the amount of those s1wn from the first
t. the middle of May And wheat in tie same
proportion and we may safely apply 10 TO other
crops, but not, perhaps, in the same ratio.
Now, gentlemen, please make your own figures
TO satisfy your own minds, aud fCo whether
you have not met with a loss by this neglect oi
duty on your part and bear in mind that 10
such neglect occurs, the evil and the burden is
upon you, and You never will rid yourself Of
it without effort.
Every laboring man in the busy drive Of
spring finds employment without extra cxcr-
ton, and, aside from cur sonson help. it is all
most impossible TO hire help by the day until
seed time is past. orat least sufficient amount
10 carry our work through ia due time. And
Il We should succeed In finding help for q few
days our business drive, the lah0ring class are
fully aware that they can demand about such
wages as they please to ask Consequently
the scarcity Of help and the high price Of labor
almost ncccssiates the farmer to slight his
work, greatly 10 his disadvantage, and while il
N'N'i'7 Nii VI illt lhN~A NAAf@ iilht
deyolycs upon our farmers To most thoroughly
get their seed into the ground by a sufficient
working Of the soil, they are almost obliged to
leave the ground incomplete.
The great amount OF loss accustomed hy these
serious negects 10 keep our work up in time,
has embarrassed many farmer financially, and
filed his whole soul with Encouragement. 1t
is one great reason why we hear 80 much com
plant Of hard times among our farmers at the
present day. | believe it to be one great
cause Of real estate changing hands 50 often,
and why we find so many poor among the
! farming community For the want Of success
in farm enterprise they sell and buy, hoping to
better themselves, like men in jockey-yaId,
until they trade themselves nearly homeless,
and, as the last resort, 90 into some hackwood-
! place, or among the rocks, where land can be
bought for about iour-andsixpcnse per acre,
with stone and bushes thrown in, with per.
haps a little old hut for house, and plenty of
room outside for hay-stack. and 50 settle
down for life, without one ray Of hope boaming
upon their vision, only that when they die
their property will cause no anxiety among the
heirs
! 1t will not be expected that shall be able Ia
mako any indelliho Impression upon the mind.
Of those much older 10 years aud experience
than myself bat it | can impress the minds Of
any Of our young, enterprising farmers, with
any thought that will be new and profitable tu
themselves | have accomplished my purpose.
In the first place, il you are wise. you will
make a wise selection in choice OF farms, and
as an exercise of your wisdom and better judg-
ment, you will see, rs already suggested that
your huildingsare all in good repair especially
careful TO have your barns not only c0mmOdl-
Gus and warm for your stock, but as an almost
indispensable requisite for your success in farm
ing have them just suited for the convenience
Of both making and saving manure-without
which your farms will dcprecate in value year
by year, and the chances are you may want II
sell out in few years
| believe that we ought to manufacture our
own fertilizers at home, lust as far as possible
with the means we have, in preference to buy
ing anything, however good, that is offered in
our mafkets But when we have done the
best wc can with the material we have to work
with, and then find we are deficient inQuantity
to do Justice to our soil then, as an alternative
! would recommend commercial fertilizers which
are reliable and which can be obtained at fair
value. Who of US would think to entertain a
beloved friend VIC had not seen for many years
who had come from some lar-oii country, with
the crumbs that fell from our table, and would
not rather give him the best the house Affords
Have we truer friend than our mother soil
If we have not, then let US treat her with all
uuf respect, ltfuiiE ltI Nlln tNNIN hilu VI lDUN
for which her bowels yearn, and God, who
alone eau give the increase, according to Ills
divine nature, will allow her to make due re-
turns according to the strength she has re-
cciyod And ii her strength should prove in
efficient to produce two abundant crops at the
same time, | would earnestly recommend thai
we thoroughly cultivate the one that will bt
likely to make us the best returns, and DESTROY
the other, which is the more common one, anC
, which is SO detrimental to the highest good o.
our farming community that is, the ohnox
ious weeds which so much trouble our soil
and sap the very vital breath Of plant looC
from the land.
We may chance TO learn many good idea,
from books and agricultural papers, and yc
they are not all reliable authority for fine
I there are about as many minds rs men
Therefore, as nm indispensable requisite, W,
: should allow experience TO be our best teacher
: | would not wish to be understood, however
+ that | would discard book farming entirely, OF
treat lightly the columns Of our agriculture
papers, for esteem them all as valuable to th,
husbandman. | am not sure but the teachin.
of st. James would apply Just here, when b,
says, Faith without works is dead, being
alone Give me experience with the books
, that we may not BIO obliged, in case of failure
1 to condemn the books and the writers thereo
because our labor is not fully rewarded.
g To enter into all the particulars pertanin!
I to the proper treatment of the soil, would ex
D haust your time, but never the subject. There
D fore | must defer speaking upon the many i'm
portant points, and coniine myself more par
: ticularly to few of the more prominent ideas
We read that d" Holiness becometh Thy house
4 o Lord of Hosts For convenience sake, let II
! change few words of this beautiful sentence
r and we get at our doctrinal point CLEANLINESS
D becomcth thy farm, o tiller of the soil and
] verify believe 1t to be one of the great secret
0 of success, and that If we would more thor
p oughly eradicate everything obnoxious to tn
, crop we cultivate, we should find our crops re
b muncrating us two-iold above the extra ex
q pense of labor. Only by thorough working O
! the soil can we accomplish this desired result
G And besides the increased value OF our products
e there ought to be n satisfaction sufficient T.
d stimulate our farmers 10 faithful discharge O
o this duty, and as q result instead Of iron
I forty 10 sixty bushels Of marketable pOtat0e
2 to the mere, we might have from one hundre,
7 and twenty-five TO two hundred bushels in
o stead of from forty to fifty bushels of corn, Vi
3 might have from sixty 10 eighty bushels; in
9 stead of from twelve to eighteen bushels O
y wheat we might have from twenty five t
5 thirty.fve; instead of from forty to sixt
y bushels Of oats, we might have eighty bushels
6 or more-and other crops in like ratio,
=, In regard 10 the most profitable grain crop
Tor man to raise, think every man shoul
n be his own Judge in the case, as he should b
y the better acquainted with his own locality
! nature of soil, etc One locality and nature O
soil may be far better adapted to thooat cro
/ than another one farm may produce a GOO