Year: 1875




en- seeds, and various other things thai
our soil and climate is often bettel
adapted to than the soil and climate o.
those who send them here to sell
You will very soon see by little calcu
lation that the amount cuts a prett.
deep hole in few acres of poor ground
tobacco. And this poor ground tobacco
this idolized crop ofthis section ofcoun
try, is one of the main causes why yor
do not raise and save yourself many O.
the various seeds and other thing;
thatyou. in the course Of theyear, have
to expend so much money to get. Now
in all eaudor, would it not be better tc
leave ont one half Of your tobac-
co crop, make the half you raise bring
as much money as the whole usually
brings, cultivate in the other half Of
the ground such things as you annual
ly buy, and then instead of going tc
your country town to buy these things
carry them there to sell. aEd in place
of bringing back a wagon loaded with
seed oats, Irish potatoes, &c. and an
empty pocket, bring back your pocket
loaded with money and an empty
wagon, provided you don't need fsrtil-
izers enough to load it with. The
farmer should make an effort to raise
everything needed for family use that
his climate and soil is adapted to, and
in order to be more certain of having
enough for home use try to make a
surplus and have some to sell.


There is probably no business that
needs more regular attention than
farming and none that furnishes more
constant employment to the industri-
Gus and thrifty individual. A farmer
can never truthfully say that he has
nothing to do. The entire year work
that will pay to do can be found, and
they who trust the management and
work of their farms to hands on the
shares or hired labor. whilst they de-
vote their time to loafng around vii
lagos or country stores, may ever ex-
pect to be able to say that farming
don't pay. There is very much COM
plant about hands not working, but
my opinion is that much good work
can still be gotten out of a large major
ity Of the hands by the farmer who is
able to do good werk himself, if he
will take the lead and stay with them.
One very important thing about the
management of the farm is, let nothing
be wasted, but save everything possible
and turn it to some advantage. Even
the soap suds in which your clothes
have been washed, or those in which
you have washed the tobacco gum from
your hands. may be used proftably as
fertilizer in pouring it over young
fruit trees or other things needing it.
Wheat straw scattered over land, and
thus left exposed to the rains and sun
of a summer is a great waste of fer
tilizing material. 1t should be left in
bulk to decay and plowed under i'm
mediately after being scattered over
the land. All barn yard or stable
manure should be sheltered from the
sun until ready to be used. Many
people make their hog pens on places
they do not expect to cultivate in order
to get one end of it a pond and thereby
save themselves the little trouble of
watering their hogs. This is a very
"old fogy notion. Twenty hogs fat
tened on an acre of poor land will make
it rich enough to bring 800 or 1000
pounds of tobacco. Yet many people
who have poor land in abundance not
only lose an opportunity every year of
making portion of it rich in this way,
but have their stock ponds filled with
the filth and trash that necessarily ae-
cumulates in a hog pen. And besides,
it is not best to allow hogs to wallow
in mud, but water them in troughs
made for the purpose. Many of the
best Northern farmers have pens with
plank floors, aud these floors often
cleansed in order to keep the hogs out
of the mud and filth, always using for
fertilizing purposes the trash thus
gathered. might mention an hundred
different ways that many of the farm
ers of this country allow waste of
various kinds that is saved by the
thrifty Northern farmer. Indeed. |
have often thought that many families
waste in various ways enough to sup
port another one of equal size. These
little wastes, though amounting to but
little when taken separately. amount to
considerable when all are summed up
together. As the good general in time
of war il ever wary and watchful, keep
ing all points Guarded, it mattering not
whether they be important or unim-
portant ones, so must do the farmer
who expects to make farming pay.


Since | have been a farmer have
often thought that the old time notion
of making lawyers, doctors and mer-
chants of your brightest and smsrtest
boys, and leaving the dull ones to man
age the farm, is about as far from be-
ing the right way as can be imagined.
have tried various occupations my
self, and am fully satisfied that no
business requires so much good judg-
ment and sound practical sense for it:
successful management as that of farm
ing; and had / half dozen boys
(Which, by the way, I wish | did have)
| would select the brightest and mos
sensible for farmers and mechanics
and If one them should happen to be
so unfortunate as to be too dull for 4
farmer or mechanic, why, should
then have to try TO make doctor or Q
lawyer out Of him.


Now, I propose to recapitulate anC
mention in few words about all tina
1 have said as being necessary to make
farming pay. First, have a good farm
good stock, good farm tools, and a good