Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-03-10
British Farming.

hfHa iha faop'e. and accessible 90 an Of
thorn o. replied that the offer would be
ua udncomant io their best farmers. since
sarl men were Ton well satisfied with their
eaaiitiou 40 home to be induced 10 emigrato
Recently ve saw % stated that the utelli
rlc0 ani cultivation of farmers families in
fHe.ani bah So much advanced that many
tunai farmers refuse 90 take farms that do
200 har. large and elegant house. upon them,
uIh greenhouses. c1navatorics and all the
uain Improvements and yet landlords
rr .Hrsl Obs class OF tenants, because they
t universally the best farmers.
And y.i these luxurious agrculturists are
not landowners on the contrary, in The
sonls Of one OF these conceited "blowers,"
vha.e VOICE B. .o often heard at our agricul-
tua' meetings they are q tcnantry paying
al he profits that severe labor can wiring
ium tlie soil 10 great landowners" while
're are lords Of the soil, dcyoting the profits
% our lands to their improvement, and to
uo education Of ourselves and our children"
Such talk as this, poured ont on every occa-
SION, is simply nau.eating to any man who
knows the facts Of the case, and we do not
wonder at al when we find as we do in an
exchange lthc Rural Mar Iori,) an intel
lg.nt English farmer settled among us,
writing as follows upon this subject.
Genuine improvement u the soil is bringing
soil into condition 10 grow double The crops but
instead ~ this being The case there are thousand.
g La, Tor
Improvement. cos that is, for loss than the cost
Of ihe erection Of fences and farm buildings /
uas a farmers son. my father the same and can
rcmcmhg seventeen uncles aud great uncles, two
grndfa,hcrs, one great uncle and two great
grndiathers ali farmers renting farms averaging
from two hundred 10 five hundred acres. or. say
three hundred acres each have visited these
relatives at an seasons Of the year and never saw
one who severely labored and only three or four
who lanored At an with their hands and those
were The ones who prospcred the least But set
ting aside ones own KIN have known hundreds
Of other farmer, intimately yet never knew an
instance where all the profits that severe labor
could wiring from the soil went to the landlord
have been Ia tbs youatry nearly twenty years.
aud have never seen the profits Of the son go to
improvement Of the land
English lords of the soil purchase land which
does not pay them Two per cent, and yet rent
their old cnaed estates at ~nms paid half yearly
which would purchase land In the United States,
but the system Of cropping which the customs Of
the country make IL imperative for the tenant
Go follow and the numbers Of sheep and cattle |
necessary a. he kept 90 eat the green and other |
crops, bring and keep the land in such riel state
81 fertility that il requires no wringng 10y severe
al .Fft al. L.. H.
You'd the conditions custom demands and feed |
great quantities ot extra forcing food, which feeds
the land 10 fairness while laying flesh and fat ON
the bodies Of the live stock Thus it is altogether
mistaken idea that the English tenant is hard
done by for, on the contrary, the tenant farmers
Of England are the most independent Of any class
whatever aud lot any American see them at home,
at the weekly markets or out with the loN-hounds
and he will at once say it Is a most extraordinary
case Of lack Of information for any one to repre-
sent the farmers Of the two countries in such |
light as above stated for it is very nearly exactly
the reverse
But here in America the lords Of the soil are
always spoken Of and thought Of as men who |
must earn their bread by the sweat Of their |
buwsi who must dig into the work themselves
from morn tin night, and. not content with the |
along from an hour before the mechanics turn
out, who have double the pay, till two hours later
in the summer Yet the singular idea is enter
tanned that English farmers pay all the profits to
the landlords aud that American lords Of the
soil cSpend them in improving the land when.
statistics prove the United States soil does not
bear half the number Of bushels it used to do.
and instead Of being improved and the profits
lqiuu nVupuNDd la imurpyqnputa tho soil il /
bereft Of all fertility, and the universal cry is |
Farming don't payl" 1t is well known that
during the time American land has gone down to .
grow only half what it used to do, English farms
iamed by tenants. have doubled their yield
The profits arc also represented to he spent in |
education Of children. Now, | ask any disinter- |
ested and impartial reader, how education by |
farmers acts on the rising generation? Docs it
not open their eyes 10 the sla,ish condition Of
farmers and disgust them with farming? and is it |
not q general lament that the Sous will not re-
main with their fathers on the farm, but go of |
Ia other pursuits? They show wisdom IN doing |
50, II living cannot be made without working |
more hours and sweating in the sunshine more
than is required in any other calling. II is not SO
in England; the only cause for sons leaving |
farming business being the difficulty Of obtaining |
farms to rent and this is complete contradiction
to the SANDER that all the profits 20 the landlord
for there is never a farm at liberty hut there are |
scores Of applicants all anxious 10 get it; but |
generally the nearest relative TO the deceased ten
ant gets THAT is, the nearest one who applies |
and is eligible. When a father Of family dies |
there l. mo- change takes place, excepting such ns
the hers think proper Ia make themselves; aud il /
is notorious that under the tenant system in Eng
land the changes are not nearly frequent as in
this country Of lords Of the soil 80
This competition for farms proves two things
first that sons would not leave farming for other
occupations If farms could he had and this proves
that it must be the wearing drudgery Of farming
aud the little recreation la America that drives
spirited young men to leave it,
Now we wish that the flir-rninded, intelli-
gent Vermont farmers who read these col
umns, would carefully consider this matter,
look into it thoroughly, and ask themselves
how it can be that tenant farmers, paying
from ten to thirty dollars Of annual rent per
acre for their land, can live so well upon
the profits Of moderate-sized farms. It isal
vital question for as ALL
1t will be said that English farmers have
better markets than We do. This is true il
confined to the west, but English pricc-cur-
rents show that it is not true Of New Eng
land except 50 far as our farmers have al
lowed middlemen 10 engross more than
fair share Of the profits for their work in
making our exchanges.
II will also be asserted that farm labor is
much dearer with as, and this is fact. al
though il is in a measure offset by the much
freer u.s. of machinery in this country. To
balance this we have cheap land, and so long
az none Of our farmers expend half as much
for labor per acre as an English farmer pays
for rent alone, ii cannot be the cost Of labor
that so affects our prosperity.
The true reason of English agricultural
prosperity lies not in any peculiar advantages
that English farmers POSSESS over MS, but IN
better Turning. This is the truth let us look
it fair in the face, like men. If Engishmen
can buy our corn, our cotton seed aud lin
seed cake our bones, or send 10 the Pacific
ocean for guano, and make money hand over
fist, 50 as 10 live like gentlemen on three
hundred acre farms after having such enor.