Year: 1860

EEOcTA5LluaIlou


The following excellent remarks should be
read by every farmer who promises to do on


the morrow that which should be done to-day.


There is saying, as old as Solomon, but
it may with much propriety be adopted both
as a motto and as a rule Of action, for the ell


suing year. 1t Is " Whatsoever thy hand


fudeth to do, do it with thy might" This


proverb applies to every station in life and ev-


cry department OF business, especially to that


of agriculture; on the punctual and timely


performance of the operations ofawhich so


mainly depends ther success Frunklip has


homely illustration of the folly Of procrasiina-
ton, and Of the evil consequences that fire.
quently arise from apparently slight neglect ::


For want of a nail the shoe is lost for want
of shoe the horse was lost ; and for want of


horse the rid r was lost, being orertakcn and


slain by the enemy and all for the want OF
little care about horseshoe nall Let us
proceed to apply these aphorisms and illustra-


tions to the subject of agriculture.


Many years ago there farmer in Nor


folk who in the management of his holding,


adopted the reverse course, his motto on all


occasions being" There's no need to be in u


hurry there's plenty Of time" And so uni
vcrsally did he act upon this procrastinating


principle, that, his house happening TO take


fire whilst he was at breakfast, he replied to
! to those who rushed in to apprise him OF it,
Well, we shan't need to he in hurry I'll


just eat this mouthfu of bread and cheese first,
and Ill then come and see about it." And he


sat in the chmney-corncr till the fine fell at
his feet, so that he was literally burnt out.
Fortunately, the accident was confined to the


chimney, and the neishbors had taken precau-
tions necessary 10 extinguish it before he made
his appearance. But it may readily be con-
ceived that with such a rule of action his


farm went TO rack and ruin,' und he was re-


duced to poverty. In the same county there
is another farmer, who cutivates about thou.
sand acres. Ii was at the commencement of
the general harvest, and considerable fall of
rain had taken place. Well, Farmer said


friend, who was miller, how goes the har-


vest?" Why he replied, avaiIed myself


of the fine weather, and began cutting my


wheat early; ard got one hundred acres un-


der cover before the rain fell and as it is
likely to be catchy time, shall leave the
rest till il is ripe enough to cut ard carry"
as it is free from rubbish MY men are now
engaged in plowing up the stubbles.'


" Ludcrous as the conduct of the first man
may have been it is but the transcript of that
of many, who, instead of 'seizing Tine by the
forclock,' allow the right moment for the right
work to slip by, and afterwards endeavor to
overtake Time by a hurried effort to atone for
their neglect Lord Chesterfield says: A
j man of sense may be in haste, but will never
be in a hurry The distinction may appear
fancifu but it is strictly true. Hasts implies
a consciousness of the impottanUe Of perform
ing an act or operation at the season in which
, it is most proper to be done hurry, on the
contrary, displays conviction of having, hy
neglect, allowed the proper season to pass
unimproyed, and is but a nervous attempt to
make up the loss by accelerated speed in per
forming the work. Whatever is done in
hurry, is, in most cases, done ill--the very
! speed with which, by implication, the opera
! tion is performed, being inimical to anything
being done properly.


But mark, next. the forethought OF the
other example. His crop of wheat was early
ripe, because it was sown in good time in the
previous autumn. 1t was free from weeds or
/ rubbish because the horse-hoc was well en-
ployed during the summer. The consequence
was he was enabled TO cut the first ripe before
his neighbors had any ready. Thus acting up


on his own judgment regarding the weather.


he secured half his crop whilst the cleanness
of the land afforded him an opportunity of


cutting and carrying the rest, at any time
when a'dry day occurred. The plowing up
Of the stubbles, too, as an iuterlude, when fhc
| weather was too damp for harvest-work, was a


further illustration of>seizing Time by the fore
lcck, aud of the principle embraced in the


motto d" whatsoever thy hand fndGh to do,
do it with thy might. "