The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1876-02-29

paper read before the late meeting OF inc |
board Of agriculture at Orwell, by D. A. Forbes,
ESQ. Of Orwell.
would say that / have hastily
thrown together few thoughts amid
the pressure of my daily labor, not so
much for criticism, as perhaps to make
few suggestions, or throw out few
hints that may be of use TO my brother
farmers. The question twill 1t pay,n
is one that has agitated the minds of
mankind in all ages. Since first the
stern edct went forth "In the sweat of
have sought to find out how in the best
and easiest manner they could solve
this great problem OF life, and not alone
Of physical life is this the great ques-
ton of all the ages-in the mental, the
moral and the spiritual world, always
and everywhere we hear the question
repeating ITSELF twill 1t pay?"
The youth In whose breast has early
been implanted love of learning, asks
himself often and earnestly the ques-
ton will 1t pay for me to devote years
to the acquisition Of knowledge, to the
development Of these faculties OF mind
with which my Maker has endowed
me? Shall be better, a happier,
more useful and more successful man?
And akin to this, the moralist asks,
will 1t pay for me- to cultivate and de-
velop my moral nature? Does drunk
enness, RIGHTEOUSNESS, or careless re-
gard of the rights and property of 9TH
ers ever pay? And since more than
eighteen hundred years ago, the great
pounded the question, what shall it
profit man, if he shall gain the whole
world and lose his own soul /" man.
kind again and again repeats the ques-
ton, and each, according to his faith
or his philosophy strives to answer it.
But it Is of the present day that wish
especially to speak, and of our best in
terests as farmers for being farmer
from my childhood, and the son of
farmer II magnify my calling" The
field for inquiry is wide, but we shall
be Obliged to confine our attention to a
few of the most salient points. And,
first, will it pay for us to undertake the
management of more acres than we can
thoroughly develop. and cultivate.
The time and labor expended upon a
large number of acres might be expend-
ed upon fewer with equal or even great
er profit. / have in my mind now a
farmer who, by intelligent manage
ment of his sixty acres of land, makes
them yield him an annual profit equal
to many farms of five times that size.
Science tells us of latent forces. This
soil of ours is full of latent energies
waiting only the touch of the master
hand to call them into life and service.
Our mother earth Is exceedingly gener-
Gus but also lust generous.in that year
after year we may gather from hillside
and valley supplies of food for man and
beast, but II we thoughtlessly with
hold what is her due by failing to make
an adequate return for what she yields
to us, sooner or later her justice is man.
ifested by diminished harvests and
lands becoming more or less sterile
Does it pay to crop our mellow year
after year without fertilizing them ?
Does it pay to let our grass remain un.
cut until 1t has passed from Its palatable
and most nutritious state to the ripen,
ed, woody and more indigestible cond!.
tion?
Does 1t pay to make pasture of ou
meadows IN the fall and thus diminish
the crop of the coming year? Can W,
put in our crops on poorly prepared
ground, giving weeds chance to chok,
and overrun them, and then expect
profitable harvest? In the use of ma
chinery to carry on our work can w
afford to do without the best and whel
we have the best shall we not see tina
1t Is we'll cared for? Does 1t pay L
house our crops and stock in small cold
lily constructed barns, and to exp pose tn
manure 10 the open air and dripping
from The roof? Will it pay to feed an
care for inferior stock? The difference
In the cost Of keeping COW that wi
make one hundred and fifty pounds c
butter per year and that of one while
will make two hundred and fifty pc
year is but slight, and the same rule
true Of horses, sheep, hogs, all kinds
stock. Shall we repel our animals
rough and Indifferent treatment {
shall we attract them by kindness an
sympathy and thus enable ourselv,
more completely to direct and contr,
them? In the making of, butter can "
afford to disregard rules OF entire clear
illness from first to last, of freedom frol
all offensive odors? Can we negle
any of those means which modern T
search and experiment have prove
necessary TO make a uniformly GOO
article? VIII it pay for us to depri,
ourselves Of the knowledge to be o
tanned from agricultural books al
periodicals, or can we afford to negle
opportunities like the present whe
we may avail ourselves of the though
and experience of our most intellge
and practical men?
In conclusion, let me say that what
true In the professions is equally tr
OF farming. Earnest love for our wo
and patient faithful endeavor to do