Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-03-27

proportion TO his gains, IL he manages we'll.
l do not believe IN farmers commencing
on n small scale. If we are going to do any
thing we must improve our younger days,
and II we have the capacity Il will show IT,
self Al once.
NJ. McCurdy: Statistics show that the NV
erage crop of hay in Vermont is n little more
than half ton TO the acre. This being the
case, II seems 10 me that we pretend to cul-
tivate more land than we really do. The
right kind of land. properly treated, should
yield three tons Of hay to the acre. Isaac
Smith, Of New Hampshire once related an
account Of man who owned n large farm,
but as his children married off one by one,
he gave them each II portion of his land,
keeping the remainder each time and rails
ing the same amount of produce from it. He
kept the same amount of help after the third
child had taken his portion rs he did on the
original farm, and his stock remained the
same. This shows that it is not altogether
the number Of acres II man has that makes
tho profit, but the .judicious manner in which
labor is applied.
s. Owens: Twenty nine years ago com
menced farming for myself on one hundred
acres. worked on 1t eight years and made
five hundred dollars. never worked hard
er in my lite, but was not used to that kind
of land. | went on to the place when the
snow was on the ground, and found when
it melted in the spring the general appear
ance Of the land was not improved much
Like the man who worked in the paper mill,
| think those eight years ought not to be
counted. Twenty years ago came on to my
present place, and bought ono hundred and
fifty acres and run in debt nine hundred,
which paid in two years. After that en-
larged my farm, and think did better by
that means. | am in favor Of large rather
than small farms rs general rule, though,
MS has been said, we must take into conside-
ration the different capacities of men.
f. l.. Hovey My experience has been
very different from most of you. | COM
menced on II very large scale, once owning
farm OF nine hundred acres and one of the
best in Caledonia County. By this | mean
that it was the best soil, and that is the main
thing. We can make buildings and fences,
/
soil over. From my nine hundred acres
dwindled down to seventy acres, which.
from Its position. is worth more than the 9TH
sr. My idea is that young men should start
with large farms. but not expensive ones
TO back where the intrinsic value exceeds
the commercial. but | do not hold to doub-
ling mp farms, and running out one or two
for the sake of improving one. think If Il
man has large farm and family of boys
he should let them have a part rs they be.
come of age, and encourage them to stay
near home. Some farmers will hre q
Frenchman rather than their own son IL the
former will work cheaper. This, think, is
II bad practice.
|. G. Smith: My idea is that we all try tC
work over too much land. Ten acres when
in the highest state of cultivation will pro-
duce as much rs the average of one hundred
acres. The more land we own and run ov.
er the higher our taxes are, and the greater
our expenses. II seems to me that the truC
principle is TO carry on just rs much land a!
we are able to keep in the highest degree
OF fertility, whether it bo much or little.
J. G. Hovey: Why is it not just as easy t.
keep one hundred acres in good condition ~
temp
|. Smith: 1t is, il we have the MEANS an,
capacity; but think some of us would hav,
to roll out of bed, and omit some OF ou
mo rning dreams and meditations.
| X. RIsLEY, Sec.