Year: 1871

prOuucuNeneSs Ot Ills lain. He should re-
Ject the stand-still policy and strike for
progress. The question before us is how
To do all this 10 the best advantage. The
first of the year is the time to examine and
look for the answer.


Farmers may sometimes learn from mill
tary men. When Bonaparte was in Egypt.
he and many of his officers were riding a
dark night on the wide sea beach. They
s-fddenly found the tide rising up the
horses legs, and they were threatened with
drowning. All was fright and confusion.
but Bonaparte was sufficient for the emer
gency. He instantly ordered his men L.
form hollow circle, horses heads out
wards Now ride ahead every man who
hnds the water growing shallOwer, ride on ;
every one who finds the water growing
deeper, turn about and follow the first. "
This brought all safely to land


The farmer must do the same. Among
the multitude of his operations he wants
to know which is involving him in loss.
and which is leading him on to profits.
ihese two points he must ascertain; and
then, In the words of Ricardo, "cut short
his losses, and let his profits run on"


One of the first things to do, therefore,
is to make accurate observations on his
labors and their results He must weigh
and measure accurately. A scale for
weighing all his cattle, that he may know
what management does best for them; for
weighing every load of hay, corn or DO
tatoes, that he may know the product of
each field, and to determine readily the
value of every animal which he proposes to
dispose OF, Will more than pay him its cost
every year, if properly used; without it,
he Is like sailor deprived of compass.
If not already done, every field should be
carefully measured with chain or tape line,
and the whole laid down on a map. By
this he may know at a glance the number
OF acres he allots to each crop, the time re-
quired to plow each field, and seed to sow
1t, and the value of the product per acre
after 1t is harvested. 1t is obvious what
an advantage the cultivator must possess
who adopts this mode of accurately de-
termining causes and results over the one
who knows only by vague guessing
whether he is gaining or losing by his
different movements.


| The farmer who is about to begin the
year should learn with a reasonable de-
gree of accuracy, how much money and
manual and team labor he will require to
carry his work handsomely through the
season. The builder who is about to erect
a house learns beforehand the exact ex-
pense, and knows every stick and plank
that will be wanted. He would be soon
involved in confusion if he should mis-
take the cost, and attempt to build ten
thousand dollar house with five thousand
dollars capital There is no more fruitful
cause of bad sccess in farming than a want
of means. Other things being equal the
more man expends to carry on the
work of his farm judiciously, the more he
will make and the greater will be hi,
profits. In England the enormous taxes
| linau 10 70.
and the only way he can do is to expenG
freely wherever necessity demands it
Josiah Quincy once said: AT the great
Exposition in Paris met an English far
mer, who told me he had Just leased an es
tate for which he paid eight thousand dol
lars year. | asked him what was the
first thing he did. With a smile he re
piled, The first thing | did was to invest
ten thousand pounds sterli fifty thou
sand dollars) in stock, utensils, seed and
manures."


Now, the object of capital is not merely
to spend large sum of money; it is for the
purpose of saving. We once heard far
mer of limited means say II am not ricl
enough to be economical !" The weeds
we're overgrowing his crops, and he haC
not the men at command to destroy then
while it could yet be done with little labor
Another lost over a hundred dollars il
the diminishing product of oats from late
sowing when few additional dollar:
paid to hired help would have put the
crop in early. Still another lost half hi:
turnip crop, with heavy cost besides, be
cause he could not kill the weeds as they
came up, but allowed them to grow foot
costing ten times the labor to eradicat,
them.


But what shall we do if we positively
have no means to do work well and i
good timer" This is exactly the question


we wish to answer. Examine carefully


beforehand, and see how much work yoJ


will have to do, and if you certainly hav,
not the means to do it, reduce your land


This may be done in different ways. OnC


is to sell part-which few can be per


suaded to do. Another is to rent a par


or let it out on shares. Another is to ge


as much of the farm as practicable int
grazing fields and meadows. In whatever
, way the difficulty is met, determine not Il
} cultivate more land than you can do well
J But another step must be taken. Selec
such a course as will accomplish as mucl
} as practicable with a given amount o
: means. Do not attempt to do with you
: fingers what horses may do more rapidly
If your land is weedy land there are yer,
, few fields which are not), clear out th'
NCCuo PAS'AON1
by blowing and narrowing, and harrowin!
: and plowing, and do not plant crop tina
will require the slow and expensive pro


cess of hoeing and hand wedding till thi
e thorough cleaning is done. Again, tw'
or three plows are broken or prematurel
! worn out by few fixed stones. The,
{ could perhaps be removed with the none,
e that would pay for one plow, and yo1
4 save the others and have an easily tile
: piece of land in the bargain. Again, tn
4 wet parts of your fields keep you fron
4 blowing the rest in season, and you los
/ in this way ten times as much as the cos
G of running few good underdrains throug
r the bottoms of the lowest places. 1t
1 by applying money to the best advaptag
e that YOU can make it go thrice as far a
= expending it without judgment


The farmer who has never kept account


of his work will find it hard to de eide hoy


much he may be able to do next summe
+: in the best manner; but one who has keI
= a constant reckoning" may now, thes
1 long winter evening, lay out his worl
|. estimate the time that will be necessary


plow and fit each field for crops, the labo
d for their cultivation, and the amount ft
J. harvesting and drawing in. He shoul
q allow at least twenty-fiv per cent fC
= rainy days and contingencies.


e There are many other ways in which
4 saving may be made. The man VIII
c wastes one-fourth of his cattle fodder b


allowing it to be trodden under foot an
c in the mud, will, in feeding forty tons
e his twenty-five cattle, lose ten tons-wort
e more in one year than the cost of goo
J. feeding racks. He who leaves his broke
Il tools unmended till they are wanted wi
f sometimes be thrown backward a week
= the delay happens just before Ion
# storm. A selection of the best domest
e animals is a matter of great economy.
l. COW that is a good mixer will cost I


more to keep than the most bony amin


and the worst milker in the world; and
s half. blooded Berkshire, Suffolk OF Esst
a. pig will manufacture twice as much pol
st as d-pike, from bushel of corn
~ But whatever course in adopted in CO


Quoting the farm, let distinct, well unde


stood system be carried ott keep we
es digested plan before you; work up to II
/ iF have tp anrAl,