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FARMING 
 
 A. S IT IS! 
 
 AN 
 
 OBIGINAL TEEATISE ON AGRICDITUKE, 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF FARMERS. 
 
 / 
 
 BY T. J. PINKHAM, 
 
 ^ 
 
 We will speak out, we will be heard. 
 Though all earth's systems craok ; 
 
 We willnot bate a single word, 
 Nor take a letter back." 
 
 AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM." 
 
 BOSTON: 
 BRADLEY, DAYTON & COMPANY, 
 
 1860. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by 
 
 T.J. PINKHAM, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 Printed by 
 
 Bazin & Chandi^b, 
 
 37 Comhill. 
 
TO 
 
 ^t immm at g^to inglanJ^, 
 
 AND 
 
 ALL WORK-PEOPLE E V B R Y W H E K E , 
 
 THIS WORK 
 
 13 
 
 MOST CORDIALLY DEDICATED, 
 
 BY 
 
 your friend and fellow citizen, 
 
 The Author. 
 
PRE FACE, 
 
 For some time it has been my firm conviction that the Agricul- 
 turalists in this country were laboring under many evils, and that 
 the tendency of some of the institutions and laws of the States 
 and the General Government, was to fasten these evils more firmly 
 upon the people, that the non-producers may be benefited by the 
 over-exertion of the laboring community. Thus I have spent 
 some time and much thought, in coming at some conclusions by 
 which a better and wiser system can be introduced among the peo- 
 ple, that a more perfect equality may obtain. What I have com- 
 mitted to paper is but a fair reflex of the ideas that have long been 
 fixed in my mind, and that although nearly all the views are orig- 
 inal, — taking new grounds, and arriving at conclusions that are 
 in antagonism with the ideas of most Agricultural writers, yet I 
 have aimed at a truthful delineation of the facts as they exist, — 
 suggesting such remedies as seemed to me wise and for the gen- 
 eral good. 
 
 If those who have set themselves up as teachers of the people 
 in Agricultural matters, shall discover that I have committed any 
 errors in my facts or conclusions, or in the philosophy of my rea- 
 soning, there is no one who will be more ready than myself to be 
 set right in the matter ; as my only purpose is to disseminate cor- 
 rect principles, and entertaining no feai's of a thorough investiga- 
 tion, where the object is that the people, and not individuals, are 
 to be benefited. 
 
 Nothing would suit me better than to see the farmers of the 
 rural districts wake up to a thorough investigation of all the mat- 
 
Tl PEEFACE. 
 
 ters pertaining to their rights and interests, yielding to all what is 
 right, and submitting to nothing that is clearly wrong. If you 
 believe that I have spoken truly, and suggested anything that is of 
 value to yourselves and the people, then keep up the investigation, 
 and frown down the idea that inquiry must be stifled, and your 
 rights subverted. 
 
 And to the mechanic and laborer, let me enjoin upon you the 
 importance, to j'ou and your children, of a constant watchfulness 
 of your rights ; affording all the time that is necessary, to stay the 
 insinuating grasp of the cunning, lest capital becomes the tyrant 
 in this country, also, to oppress and dishonor labor. 
 
 If at any time my language has been such as to convey a differ- 
 ent meaning from what I intended, or is capable of a double mean- 
 ing, I regret it. I have endeavored to talk about things, using 
 words only to convey ideas, preferring the substance to the shadow, 
 believing that the true office of language is to express thoughts, 
 rather than words. 
 
 I have considered this tampering by the State and National 
 Government with the industrial institutions of the country, as in- 
 volving important National interests and policy, the end of which 
 seriously involves the best good of the people, and is not in har- 
 mony with a government obtaining all its powers from the govern- 
 ed. And as furnishing argument sustaining this position, I have 
 frequently had recourse to public statements and declarations of 
 individuals, looking upon thtm as public property ; my only motive 
 or reierring lo tnem was as furnishing the most intelligent and 
 comprehensive arguments sustaining my position. Therefore, I 
 desire all to take this view of the matter, as individual rights, in 
 some degree, in all civilized communities, must succumb to the 
 public good. 
 
 Individuals, being units, should never consent to become 
 ciphers, — their aggregate, nations, — and although man's first 
 duty is to himself, yet that self, if rightly understood, is in har- 
 mony with the whole. 
 
 Having spent some time and thought reflecting upon the expe- 
 diency of any legislation in regard to the industry of our country. 
 
PREFACE. Vii 
 
 and looking down into the long future, reasoning from analogy, 
 from history, and the laws of a people, I am fully persuaded that 
 it is highly pernicious, having a tendency to degrade us as a nation. 
 Therefore, I have briefly, possibly too freely, written out these 
 thoughts in connection with the influence this has had, and is hav- 
 ing, upon the habits and livelihood of the American people, in 
 these pages, and submit them with all deference to the verdict of 
 my brother workers. 
 
 If the kind reader agrees with me, after giving this work a care- 
 ful perusal, then it is his duty and privilege, as it is mine, to give 
 currency and circulation to the principles here advocated ; and 
 touching this point, I am ready to hear any suggestions by letter 
 or otherwise, in regard to the best means to place them generally 
 among the people. 
 
 I shall retain the right to manufacture this work in my own 
 hands, availing myself of fresh statistics as they come to hand, for 
 subsequent editions ; also, making from time to time such other 
 additions, alterations and improvements, as a larger experience 
 may suggest. T. J. P. 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 In presenting this little work to the public, the writer begs 
 leave to say that he has for a long time thought that there was a 
 positive necessity existing in New England, to arrest, if possible, 
 the alarming and growing evils which pervade her Agricultural in- 
 terests ; and from these spreading out into society in general, per- 
 meating throughout all classes, and every year reducing the wages 
 of unskilled and honest labor. Not that this class of labor, of 
 which I speak and shall speak throughout these pages, receives 
 fewer dollars and cents, nominally, but that the demands upon the 
 laborer, by society and intei;course with men, are continually aug- 
 menting ; making it more difficult to sustain their former position ; 
 consequently, every year widening the space between skilled and 
 unskilled labor, concentrating more and more the wages of labor 
 into the hands of the few, to inevitable poverty, with all its hor- 
 rors, upon the masses. To arrest this in some measure, now that 
 our country is comparatively in its infancy, by inducing thought 
 among the people, and honest, healthy and correct sentiment among 
 those who undertake to shape and mould public opinion, and give 
 tone to society, and happiness, peace and prosperity among all 
 classes, is the highest ambition of your humble servant. 
 
 I am not vain enough to suppose that I can accomplish much in this 
 vast field which spreads out before me, but that some one who has 
 talent, genius and intelligence, equal to the task of setting the ball 
 in motion, will catch up the ideas here promulgated, and with en- 
 thusiasm and a love for his kind, waft them to the breeze, that 
 they may permeate into the very dregs of society, and raise the 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 oppressed everywhere, and make them feel that they, too, are 
 
 MEN. 
 
 Long years since, when the writer had not seen so much of men 
 and things as now, — had had far less opportunity to know the 
 •workings of the human mind, — to study the impulses by which 
 men are governed, — to look into the acts of man, reading his 
 heart's desire, and his power over himself to persuade what he 
 thought to be for his interest, to be right ; he thought he saw a ten- 
 dency to the same evils in society, which still exist, although less 
 apparent then than now. He labored in conjunction with others, 
 to establish certain institutions which were new and merely exper- 
 imental, yet he and they have the satisfaction to see and know that 
 those efforts which were thought to be visionary and imjiracticable, 
 still exist, and have been the means of establishing prosperity and 
 happiness into many a household, which is not bounded by either 
 section or clique. 
 
 And, although I shall address myself in these pages mainly to 
 *armers and their children, — their sons and daughters, who are 
 far more deeply interested in the events which are now transpiring 
 in the country, by the institutions, the laws and public sentiment, 
 which are to give form and character to them and their children, 
 when we shall have, passed away : and believing that no commu- 
 nity can be long prosperous whose interests are so extended and 
 diversified as ours, without a free and independent yeomanry, and 
 that in the success of these, all interests are blended, — when this 
 interest suffers, all others must follow ; and to show how it is that 
 in the disposal of all Agricultural products, we are selling our 
 labor, and if they yield no adequate return for the time bestowed 
 and capital invested, we are crushing out of the business the poor* 
 — those who have no capital, and driving them out from amongst 
 \is to seek employment elsewhere, thereby virtually inflicting evils 
 upon us as a people, which can never be remedied nor counter- 
 acted. 
 
 Of some of the statute laws, also, I shall speak, and endeavor to 
 show how that they practically, although intended for good, but in 
 
INTRODUCTION. m. 
 
 their workings they operate to the disadvantage of the farmer, and 
 that they cannot be applied to other classes, and if they could, no 
 other class would submit to them. 
 
 Also, I shall speak of the press in general, and the "Agricultu- 
 ral press" in particular, that the people may see how that these 
 stand in a false position to the tillers ot the soil,i — that although 
 they professedly claim to be the farmer's friend, and derive their 
 support to a great extent from him, yet they do in fact work to 
 his disadvantage. 
 
 The various Agricultural Societies, also, will be referred to, and 
 think that I shall be able to show how that they in their practice, 
 do the farmer much more evil than good. I shall show, also, 
 that this interest needs no class or special legislation, — that the 
 evils which these seek to remedy, are greatly augmented by them, 
 and that the tendency is to fasten upon us a mercenary and aristo- 
 cratic " Board," which will every year present new claims upon the 
 treasury, that placemen may ride roughshod over the people. 
 
 Further, I think I shall be able to show, by statistics and other 
 facts, that while this interest, for various causes which will be 
 made to appear, should be far less productive of pauperism and its 
 attendant evils, is greatly in excess of any and all other interests 
 combined to produce them. 
 
 I shall introduce many figures and facts to prove the positive 
 cost of most Agricultural products, showing that the whole cost 
 has seldom been reckoned in estimating their value. 
 
 I shall also speak of the manner of disposing of the products of 
 the soil, and show that the present system of marketing is full of 
 evils to the farmer. 
 
 Further, I shall endeavor to explain some way by which the 
 wrongs under which we labor can to some extent be remedied. 
 
 I shall also show that too large a proportion of the people are 
 Agriculturalists, — that it is often owing to over-productiveness, 
 that brings embarrassment upon the country. The material of 
 which products are made, will come into the investigation, — the 
 amount of labor to produce them, — the interest on the capital, — 
 the general management of the farm, &c., &c. 
 
SU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The writer will introduce many facts, and what arguments his 
 limits will admit, to show the absurdity of separating the me- 
 chanical from the Agricultural interest, — recommending the farm- 
 ers to learn their sons some systematic and well-digested plan of 
 earning a living in their own neighborhoods, by introducing trade 
 and mechanical business that will afford constant employment, in- 
 citing remunerating industry among the people. Our true policy 
 being to build up the country towns, allowing the cities to take 
 care of themselves. 
 
 I shall also introduce many facts and statements to show 
 the cost of whatever is produced upon the farm, and some plan by 
 which a better recompense can be obtained. Hoping to introduce 
 more mind into the business, and a better system of coming to 
 correct conclusions. Believing that more time sliould be given by 
 farmers to improvement, study, reflection, investigation, aiid less 
 to drudgery. I shall avail myself of the statistics of the State and 
 country, and the declarations of others, to prove, as I go along, 
 the position taken. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 AaKICULTUBAL SOCIETIES 15 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 Happiness 26 
 
 CHAPTER ni. 
 
 Massachusetts Boaed of Ageiculture 4 
 
 Premiums by the State Board of Agriculture. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Bo.iED OF Agricultuke , Continued 81 
 
 The State Fau-. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Boaed of Agriculture, Continued Ill 
 
 Scieuti&c and Educational. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Agricultural Press 146 
 
 How to Reckon the Cost of Farm Products — Cost of Farm 
 Products — Is Farming Profitable? 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Agricultural Press, Continued, and Important Corres- 
 pondence 172 
 
 Is Farming Profitable ? — A Plain Question in Arithmetic — 
 Subjects for Discussion for Farmers' Clubs — The Corn and 
 Other Crops — Is Farming a Profitable Pursuit ? — Concord 
 River Meadows — The First Convert. 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER Vin. 
 
 The Stattttb Laws, The Law of Custom, and How the Farm- 
 ers Live 221 
 
 How do Farmers Live ? — Profit and Per Cent. — To Farmers. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Cost of Farm Products 242 
 
 Philosophy of Agriculture — Neat Stock — Milk Making — Pork 
 Making — Cost of Beef — Cost of Wood — Farming in the 
 West. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Mabeeting 276 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Farmers' Sons 290 
 
 The Duty of Young Men. 
 
 CHAPTER XII, 
 His Excellency Gov. Banks 307 
 
 Legislation — The Cattle Disease — Agricultural College — Con- 
 cord River Meadows — Inquiries. 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 
 The Future 338 
 
 The Farmers' Sons and Daughters — Foreign Degradation of 
 Labor — Market Days — Cattle Disease — Conclusion — Ques- 
 tions. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 C. L. Flint and His Lettee 379 
 
FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 AGRICULTUEAL SOCIETIES. 
 
 riieir influence upon the people and prosperity of the country — State 
 Appropriations — Number of Societies in the country — Where the 
 idea originated— Whnt the farmers themselves think of the business 
 — The opinion of the press and the Board — The farm at Westboro. 
 
 In the latter part of the last century, it was thought 
 to be wise, and for the general good, for the State, in 
 some degree, to take the agricultural interest under 
 her special control and care. In 1792, a Society was 
 organized under the title of the " Massachusetts 
 Society for Promoting Agriculture," and John 
 Hancock, then being Governor of the State, approved 
 the act of incorporation. From that day to this, I be- 
 lieve this Society has had an existence, although a con- 
 siderable proportion of the time it has been in a " chrys- 
 alis" state, yet at no time has it been so torpid as to be 
 unable to reach out its hand treasury-ward, to receive 
 its $600, the annual stipend, which report says, has to 
 a considerable extent been expended in good dinners, 
 
 by "the old-fogy, aristocratic farmers of State street." 
 15 
 
16 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Long before this, it had been a part of the settled 
 policy of many of the old European countries, to foster 
 and encourage their system of agriculture, by making 
 large awards in premiums, and establishing agricultural 
 exhibitions, to encourage their famishing laborers to 
 greater efforts in drawing from the soil the essentials 
 of life, that the non-producers might enjoy, at a cheaper 
 rate, the products of the earth. This, however, I do 
 not intend to discuss in these pages ; but merely refer 
 to It, that the reader can see where and by whom the 
 idea originated ; and it is to be lamented that our 
 ancestors after, having completely broken the chain 
 which bound them to the mother country, had not 
 sought out a more rational system or rather no system, 
 but have left those things to regulate themselves ; 
 as it is undoubtedly the part of wisdom, to regulate 
 and establish those affairs, which under our policy 
 of government,no legislation — certainly no class legis- 
 lation — can change for good. It has been wisely said, 
 " that those communities of people are governed the 
 best which are governed the least." 
 
 In 1816, Agricultural Exhibitions were commenced 
 at Brighton, by the State Society to which I have re- 
 ferred, and were continued till they were found to con- 
 flict with the Exhibitions of the County Societies, 
 which have extended throuo-hout the State. Some of 
 the counties have as many as three Societies, also in 
 addition to these there are several Town Societies, 
 besides a State Board of Agriculture • — all, or nearly 
 60, receiving the bounty of the State. 
 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 17 
 
 To examine these a little, and see what they are 
 doing and have done for the people, will be a part of 
 the object of this work. If they have and are doing 
 good, or more good than evil, then it would seem to be 
 the part of wisdom to continue them. But if not good, 
 but evil — being a hobby by which certain men hold 
 power and place, and live by the emoluments of their 
 offices, drawn from the people, and the tax upon the 
 citizens, being the smallest item in the list when com- 
 pared with other and wide spread evils, then the soon- 
 er they are discontinued, or so modified as to be made 
 serAdceble, the better. There is an Italian proverb 
 running in this wise, " Acader va chi troppo alto saU.^' 
 " He who climhs too high, goes to fall^ I am not 
 going to say that this is all wrong and that there is no 
 good coming out of it ; it is not necessary for me to 
 make thig appear, but that there is a great pre- 
 ponderance of wrong, I firmly believe, and will with all 
 fairness endeavor to make this appear to all un- 
 prejudiced minds. 
 
 In the first place, let me state what these men who 
 move this machinery and absorb the funds, claim for the 
 fiirmers and the farming interest. In their speeches, 
 in their papers, in their transactions, they claim that 
 the farmers have more happiness, have more health, 
 have more meams of supplying their wants, have more 
 of the conveniences of life, have more opportunity for 
 improvement, and have fewer reasons to seek out other 
 callings or pursuits, than all, or any other classes of 
 
 men. 
 
 2* 
 
18 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Upon each and all of these I shall differ from, and I 
 take issue with, those who claim this position. 
 
 I presume it wiU not be necessary for me to go 
 into any argument to show or prove what I have 
 above said, because the record is before the world, 
 in their publications, &c. Before going into the 
 argument, I want to say that I have no honeyed words 
 for the farmer — he ought not to be deceived. I do 
 not intend to build up one party at the expense of 
 another, but intend to speak truly and fearlessly, and 
 let the consequences take care of themselves. I have 
 always thought that truth was better than error, and 
 that although it may be slow, and wrong may 
 luxuriate for awhile, yet the " sober second thought" 
 will eventually appear. And although it may appear 
 to be for the interest — I say interest — of some, that the 
 farmer should work at a loss, yet I expect to be able 
 to show that this is short sighted, and if the reader 
 will give these pages a careful perusal, without preju- 
 dice, I think he will find sufficient argument to es- 
 tablish the position taken. The success of one is the 
 success of all, and if one suffers, all suffer with him. 
 You ask an intelligent shoe-maker if his interest and 
 that of his employer is identical, and he will say yes. 
 Any other view of the matter is short sighted, and so 
 it is. The State, neither in its corjiorate nor civil 
 capacity, has ever undertaken to direct, control, foster, 
 improve, or in any way interfere with this interest. 
 Neither have any disinterested, humane, or philan- 
 throphic individuals undertaken the same thing, either 
 for the public or any other good. 
 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 19 
 
 The genius of the American people, particularly the 
 Yankees, their habits of industry, discriminating facul- 
 ties, keenness of perception, with their proverbial 
 shrewdness and love of gain, precludes all possibility 
 of any business, occupation or trade, being left to suf- 
 fer or neglect, that is useful, and for the general good, 
 as long as the people are left free to prosecute it at 
 pleasure. And how it happened that the people con- 
 ceived the idea that the Agricultural interest stood in 
 need of Governmental or State aid, is certainly an 
 anomaly in the history of our country. It must be ac- 
 counted for, I think, in this way, that the restlessness 
 of a certain portion of the people, who exist in all 
 communities, their love of notoriety, and the power to 
 control others, coupled with the desire to live on the 
 earnings of the masses, has induced it. No less an 
 anomaly is it that the people submit to it, acquiesce in, 
 and to some extent encourage it. 
 
 " Liberty is the price of eternal vigilance." 
 
 Among no other class of the American people could 
 such an idea for a moment prevail. I submit it then, 
 if this is not a fit subject to engage the attention of 
 those minds who are looking with some apprehension 
 to the future of America. 
 
 As the kind reader follows me through these pages, 
 and with an unprejudiced mind sees clearly what I 
 expect to show him, that evils of no small magnitude 
 have crept into the legislation and the social habits of 
 our people, to the detriment of the masses and the 
 
20 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 injury of all, ought we to look supinely on, and not 
 even raise a finger to arrest it. " If these things are 
 found in the green tree what can we expect in the 
 dry." 
 
 There is an old adage which says, " In time of peace 
 prepare for war." 
 
 Perhaps, however, before going more particularly 
 into the various subjects under examination, and upon 
 which I intend to speak, it will be well to state that I 
 do not intend to pull down without building up ; 
 rearing the fabric that is now disjointed and out of 
 proportion, into something more comely and better 
 adapted to the capacities, habits, genius, and wants of 
 the American people. Allowing to honest labor a re- 
 compense that will afibrd the useful things of life, by 
 showing that it is not for the want or lack of the pro- 
 ducts of the earth that the people suffer, but because 
 they are outwitted by the few who manage to appro- 
 priate the "lion's share," making the masses believe 
 that they must dictate, while the people work. It is 
 good for all men to work, but it is not good for any 
 man, or class of men, to be excessively worked, yielding 
 all the finer sensibilities of our nature to a mere phy- 
 sical development. And if at any time, when judicious 
 labor fails to yield a suitable provision for the conve- 
 niences of life, it is then time to pause. 
 
 And that, although the reader may be led to infer 
 that the object of this work is to raise the price of the 
 necessaries and conveniences of life, yet, let me say, 
 that it is not relatively so. It was not the j»)Wce of the 
 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 21 
 
 potatoes, you know, that the Irishman complained of, 
 but the difficulty of getting the shilling to buy them 
 with. This is my position, and where I stand. Things 
 are now disjointed and out of proportion, as I have 
 above stated. And that there may be a more perfect 
 union or harmony among all workers, that one class 
 shall not constantly war against all other classes, but 
 that their interest, being mutual, if rightly imderstood, 
 shall be so blended, that a more just and perfect state 
 of society shall exist. And that I do not intend to 
 build up the agricultural interest at the expense of the 
 mechanical or professional, but that they, and all other 
 interests that are useful and for individual and the gen- 
 eral good, shall find a more just reward. These, and 
 these alone, are the objects for which I labor. 
 
 I have no enemies to lash, or friends to elevate, but 
 am an honest foe to all hypocrisy, subserviency, and 
 wrong ; and that while I would see the condition of all 
 improved, I cannot look tamely on and see the meager 
 rewards of honest labor, grasped hold of by the cun- 
 ning and crafty, that the few can luxuriate at the ex- 
 pense of the many, and ride rampant throughout the 
 land. Therefore, entei'taining these views, and believ- 
 ing that the soil, and the condition of the workers 
 thereof, is the hinge upon which the success or adver- 
 sity, — the elevation or degradation, of a people rests, 
 and that as they are well or illy paid, — as goes agri- 
 culture, so goes aU. If we inquire into the cause of 
 the last panic, we are told that the Western farmers 
 could not sell their products only at great sacrifices ; 
 
22 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 hence, they could not pay the merchant for his last 
 year's supplies. The merchant finds his Eastern bills 
 and notes to the manufacturer and middle men, accu- 
 mulating and maturing, without the means to meet 
 them ; and although the farmer sees the difficulty in 
 which all the parties are getting, in consequence of his 
 inability to pay, yet there are the cattle, the pork, the 
 grains, &c., which he is ready to pledge ; but because 
 he has been slow to make up his mind to meet extrem- 
 ities, a general mistrust has pervaded the business 
 world, the banks are unyielding, the weaker parties 
 have given way, and a general calamity is the result. 
 This is attributed to all sorts of reasons but the right 
 one ; and that although great excitement and apparent 
 distress is hearalded from one end of the country to the 
 other, yet I ask, who have suffered, — who have retired 
 to their rest at night cold and hungry, — who have wit- 
 nessed and seen the many wants of families and inno- 
 cent children, — who have been unable to lay in their 
 weekly stores and daily bread, but the mechaxics and 
 LABORERS ? Amid all the distress, they alone have 
 suffered. So it is, and so it will be, till a more rational 
 system is devised. 
 
 Go into the farming districts of Maine, New Hamp- 
 shire, Vermont, and Massachusetts, and ask the me- 
 chanics, lofers, idlers, horse and watch jockeys, why 
 they do not work upon the lands, and they will tell you 
 " the soil is exhausted, — it does not produce as former- 
 ly, — they can buy their flour, corn, &c., cheaper than 
 they can raise them ! " Ask the farmers in these sev- 
 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 23 
 
 eral localities, where their sons and daughters are, and 
 they will tell you " that they leave as soon as they get 
 big enough to work, — the boys go West, and the girls 
 to the factories ; " thereby making an excess of males 
 in one section, and females in another. Ask them how 
 they themselves are getting on, and they will tell you 
 " bad enough, — they live and that is all." 
 
 Go to Lynn, Haverhill, and Natick, and ask the shoe- 
 makers there if their work is as regular and as well 
 paid as it used to be, and they will tell you " it is 
 greatly fluctuating, continually changing, up and down, 
 from bad to worse ! " Ask them the cause, and they 
 will tell you " it is the country workmen, who are con- 
 tinually underbidding them in prices, and they are so 
 numerous as to supply any demand in a few weeks, 
 however great ! " 
 
 Ask the agricultural press how the farmers are get- 
 ting along, and they will tell you, "nobly, coining 
 money hand over fist, at the rate of from fifty to some 
 one or two hundred per cent, on their labor and capital 
 invested." Ask them why three-fourths of all the 
 young men leave the farming business, and they will 
 tell you in rather a faltering voice, as though the inter- 
 rogatory was somewhat presumptuous, " O, our young 
 men don't like farming, — it is not popular enough ! " 
 Here the subject is changed. 
 
 Ask the " State Board of Ao-riculture " if farmino-is 
 a good business, and they will tell you " that the far- 
 mers need to be encouraged and instructed, and it is 
 the duty of the State to appropriate liberally for this 
 
24 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 object. That we need an Agricultural College, an ex- 
 perimental farm, with a liberal distribution of county 
 and town Societies over the State, to disseminate infor- 
 mation on agricultural matters 1 " Ask if the farm 
 under their care at Westboro' paid its way. " O, no, 
 we labored under many disadvantages there." How 
 is that ? I thought you had a market in the State in- 
 stitution there for all you had to spare, and the boys 
 done the most of the work, at your own price. "O, 
 well, I see you don't understand agricultural matters." 
 Very likely I 
 
 The above subjects will also furnish subject matter 
 for consideration ; and although they have been briefly 
 alluded to here, I shall endeavor to consider them more 
 in detail, as I proceed in presenting these thoughts to 
 the public. Antagonistical and conflicting as these 
 various interests are, yet they may be made one, and 
 one only. 
 
 " That man to man, the world o'er, 
 Shall brothers be for a' that ; 
 For a' that, and a' that, 
 
 Shall brothers be for a' that." — Bums. 
 
 The following table exhibits the number of the vari- 
 ous Agricultural Societies and Boards of Agriculture, 
 in the United States : 
 
AGEICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
 
 25 
 
 STATES AND TERRITORIES. 
 
 C <U ,—1 
 
 <! W 
 
 Alabama 7 
 
 Arizona Ter 
 
 Arkansas 2 
 
 Califuruia 6 2 
 
 Carson Ter 
 
 Columbia, District of 
 
 Connecticut 10 
 
 Daliota Ter 
 
 Delaware 3 1 
 
 Florida 
 
 Georgia 10 
 
 Illinois 86 2 
 
 Indiana "^'^ 2 
 
 Indian Ter 
 
 Iowa 66 1 
 
 Kansas • 1 
 
 Kentucky 6 2 
 
 Louisiana 2 2 
 
 Maine 1'^ 
 
 Maryland ^8 
 
 Massachusetts • 34 7 
 
 Michi£;an 26 2 
 
 Minnesota 28 1 
 
 Mississippi 13 1 
 
 Missouri 16 
 
 Nebraska Ter H 
 
 Nevada Ter 
 
 New Hampshire "^ 
 
 New Jersey . • 13 
 
 New Mexico Ter 
 
 New York 79 9 
 
 North Carolina. ■ . 8 . . 
 
 Ohio 69 5 
 
 Oregon 2 .. 
 
 Pennsylvania 65 3 
 
 Rhode Island 2 
 
 South Carolina ^^2 1 
 
 Tennessee 1^ 
 
 Texas. 23 
 
 Utah Ter 1 
 
 Vermont 16 
 
 Virginia 23 
 
 Washington Ter 2 ■■ 
 
 Wisconsin ^ _ 
 
 Total "799 43 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 16 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 94 
 77 
 
 74 
 1 
 14 
 4 
 17 
 10 
 43 
 28 
 29 
 16 
 32 
 11 
 
 7 
 
 16 
 
 97 
 
 8 
 74 
 
 2 
 71 
 
 2 
 13 
 20 
 24 
 
 1 
 16 
 26 
 
 2 
 35 
 
 70 912 
 
CHAPTEE II. 
 
 HAPPINESS. 
 
 Definition of the term — Pauperism — Intemperance — Insanity — 
 Idiocy — Mechanical Industry — Agriculture — Trade — Population 
 — Comparative Analysis — Foreign Pauperism — Comparison —Emi- 
 gration — Immigration, &c., &c. 
 
 I HAVE said in the preceding chapter, that the agri- 
 cultural wire-pullers in this State who have or presume 
 to have this interest under consideration, more particu- 
 larly in their keeping and care, claim that the farmers 
 have more of the above quality, viz., Happiness, than 
 any or all other classes. Therefore, to examine this 
 somewhat in detail and in general, and give an impar- 
 tial view of the matter, it will be proper in the first 
 place, to inquire what happiness is ? What is it to be 
 happy ? 
 
 If I had been asked what I understood the term to 
 mean, what language would briefly and comprehensive- 
 ly define the term, without looking to either Walker 
 or Webster, I should have answered decisively, " a 
 consciousness of being and having heen in the right, 
 with a ''pocket full of rocks T " 
 
 If the same question had been put to the State 
 Board of Agriculture, and they had answered without 
 premeditation, it is fair to presume, the answer would 
 
 26 
 
HAPPINESS. 27 
 
 have been expressed in these words : "a smothered con- 
 science and libercd State appropriations I " 
 
 But the subject will not be examined by either of 
 these tests. I shall look into Webster and see what 
 he has to say, considering it fair that he should act as 
 umpii-e. '"'' YLawin'E^s^ state of enjoyment ; unstudied 
 grace ; good lucJc ; good fortuned This is Webster's 
 definition, and he is authority in the matter. Although 
 it in nowise conflicts with my own definition, yet, it is 
 more full and expressive, certainly, in his day, if not 
 now. 
 
 The reader will see, then, that a considerable pro- 
 portion of the argument on the whole subject rests upon 
 the disposal of this single word, Happiness : "state of 
 enjoyment." What is it to enjoy and what are the ne- 
 cessary requisites for supplying this condition ? In the 
 first place, health — good health is one of the essentials 
 necessary to this condition of the mind ; for without 
 health a high state of neither mental nor physical en- 
 joyment can exist. 
 
 The next requisite to the full development of this 
 condition, is grace, " unstudied grace." To be grace- 
 ful, is to be kind, to be polite, to be dignified ; to be 
 well adorned, well dressed, afi'able, courteous. " Good 
 luck," comes next. What is good luck ? To be for- 
 tunate in financial affairs — to sell above the cost — to 
 make a good profit ; circumstances that constantly 
 have a fixvorable turn. A child may be said to have 
 good luck when he escapes a chastisement or repri- 
 mand, and is a httle indulged. A youth has good luck 
 
28 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 when lie is not compelled to over-exertion or labor, 
 is well provided for in regard to an education, and a 
 favorable position into society. The young man is said 
 to be lucky when he meets with successes in his ef- 
 forts to distinction, wealth and position ; gets a good 
 wife, &c. And the young woman, when she gets a 
 good and kind husband, and is favorably established in 
 society. 
 
 The last requisite, according to Webster, to complete 
 HAPPINESS, is " good fortune." He defines fortune 
 thus : " chance ; lucky ; position ; riches ; futurity ; 
 destiny." It must be evident to all that there are no 
 tests upon which all of these requisites can be estab- 
 lished, but the test of public opinion. And every one 
 must judge of these in a measure for themselves. 
 That the farmer ought to possess these to a greater ex- 
 tent than most other classes of people, all observing 
 men must admit, and for these reasons : He is more 
 prudent, more industrious, and less given to excesses, 
 than other men. And theee go far, I know, to estab- 
 lish the position claimed. But, also, he has less good 
 luck, less enjoyment and less fortune. His enjoyment 
 is less positive, and partakes lai-gely, or may be ex- 
 pressed perhaps better, by the term negative — nega- 
 tive enjoyment. 
 
 I have thus briefly analyzed the word, in its posi- 
 tive, absolute or substantive sense. Evidently, how- 
 ever, the idea to be conveyed is better expressed by 
 the comparative word, happt, because no man is sup- 
 posed to be supremely happy here. It is only by de- 
 
HAPPINESS. 29 
 
 grees that we use tlie term. Thus, we say a man is 
 happy when compared with some other man or person. 
 Yet, again, he may be very unhappy, when compared 
 with some other man or person. The adjective hap- 
 py, Mr. Webster defines thus : " Lucky ; being in the 
 enjoyment of good ; 'prosperous ; dextrous ; blessed, 
 harmonious^ as a happy family.^'' 
 
 Therefore, when we say a man, or a class of men, 
 are favorably situated for a higher state of enjoyment 
 than any other class of men, we mean either something 
 or nothing. If we mean anything, then it is capable 
 in some degree, of demonstration. If nothing but a 
 mere subterfuge — a deception — a sham, then the 
 quicker the facts in the case are known the better. 
 
 " The evil that men do, lives after them : 
 The good is oft interred with their bones." 
 
 I come now, more particularly, to the examination 
 of this part of the subject. If the farmers have a high- 
 er state of enjoyment than other classes, let us see in 
 what they consist. To show this, they should have 
 less pauperism, less intemperance, less insanity, less 
 idiocy. If I should take the carefully prepared statis- 
 tics, under authority of the State, and, by a careful 
 and impartial examination of them, show that all of 
 these are very much in excess in the agricultural dis- 
 tricts then it would j)lainly appear, that this is not 
 that lucrative and blissful state of society, that it is 
 claimed to be. 
 
 Then it should be borne in mind, that almost all 
 3* 
 
30 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 farmers are men of more or less property, Avliich they 
 either inherited or earned in some other business ; and 
 the income of this and their more than average indus- 
 try and frugality, they ought to show less of these 
 evils than we should expect to find in mechanical dis- 
 tricts, where the people are more directly imder the 
 control of the monied power, and have little or no cap- 
 ital to work with. But the reverse is the fact ; and 
 among others, for these reasons : All other classes of 
 men expect to make a living out of their trade or pro- 
 fession, and act up to this principle, knowing what 
 they are about. In other words, they do their own 
 figuring and thinking. Not so with the farmer. They 
 are content to let others think and figure for them. 
 And how they have done this and to whose benefit, 
 will appear in these pages. 
 
 I propose going through the State by Counties, 
 showing the relative condition of each class, by com- 
 parison. 
 
 COUNTY OF BARNSTABLE. 
 
 PROVINCETOWN. 
 
 This town lias the largest relative population of any in the 
 county, engaged in other pursuits than agriculture. 
 
 Population 3,096 
 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 Slate 29 
 
 No. of paupers unable to perform labor 5 
 
 " Insane persons suiiporbcd by the town. 
 
 " Idiots " " " 
 
 " Paupers, made so by intemperance in themselves or 
 
 others 
 
HAPPINESS. 31 
 
 BARNSTABLE. 
 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 120 
 
 " Paupers unable to perform labor 18 
 
 " Insane persons supported by the town 8 
 
 " Idiots " " " 4 
 
 " Paupers made so by intemperance in themselves or 
 
 others 48 
 
 " Population of this town 4,998 
 
 Out of this population, there are 218 fishermen and mechanics. 
 This town is more purely agricultural than any other in the 
 county. 
 
 BERKSHIRE COUNTY. 
 
 PITTSFIELD. 
 
 This town is engaged extensively in manufactures and trade. Out 
 
 of a population of 6,501, there are 744 mechanics. 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or \ 
 
 State 84 
 
 " Paupers unable to perform labor 
 
 " Insane persons supported by the town 3 
 
 " Idiots " *' " 1 
 
 SHEFFIELD. 
 
 This town has a population of 2,624, and but 28 mechanics. 
 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 53 
 
 " Paupers unable to perform labor 5 
 
 *• Insane persons supported by the town 3 
 
 " Idiots " " " 
 
 This is more purely agricultural than any other town in the county. 
 
 BRISTOL COUNTY. 
 
 FALL RIVER. 
 
 The city of Fall River has the largest relative population engaged 
 in trade and manufactures, of any city or town in the county. 
 It has a population of 12,080. But a very small proportion of 
 these arc engaged in agriculture. 
 
32 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the city or State, ex- 
 clusive of foreigners 16 
 
 " Insane relieved or supported by the city 3 
 
 " Idiots " " " " 
 
 " Paupers made so by intemperance, including for- 
 eigners 
 
 44 
 
 BERKLEY. 
 
 This town has a population of 924, pretty much all agriculturists, 
 
 — there being but 60 mechanics, according to the statistics. 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the State, exclusive of 
 
 foreigners 14 
 
 " Insane persons relieved or supported by the town.. 1 
 
 " Idiots " " " . . 1 
 
 " Paupers, made so by intemperance 5 
 
 COUNTY OF ESSEX. 
 
 LYNN. 
 
 The city of Lynn has a population of 15,713. Comparatively but 
 
 little attention is paid to agriculture. 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the city or 
 
 State 404 
 
 " Insane relieved or supported by the city 6 
 
 " Idiots " " " 
 
 " Paupers, made so by intemperance 550 
 
 BOXFOED. 
 
 This is a farming town again, and has a population of 1,034. 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 9 
 
 " Insane relieved or supported by the town. 1 
 
 " Idiots " " " 1 
 
 " Paupers, made so by intemperance 3 
 
 The whole cost of supporting paupers in this town is $700, or 
 
 G7 cents to each person. 
 In Lvnn the whole cost is $7,500.00, or 47 cents to each person. 
 
HAPPINESS. 
 
 33 
 
 COUNTY OF FRANKLIN. 
 
 GREENFIELD. 
 
 This town his the largest relative proportion of trade and manu- 
 factures of any in the county. Population, 2,945. 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 20 
 
 " Insane persons relieved or supported by the town. . 1 
 
 « Idiots " " " "•••• 
 
 AVhole cost of supporting poor, $800, or 27 cents to each person. 
 
 WARWICK. 
 
 This town has the largest relative proportion of farmers of any 
 town in the county. It will be proper to state, however, that 
 the females do much in this town by their work on palm-leaf 
 hats, towards a support. This being introduced in almost every 
 family. Population, 1,002. 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State • • • • ^2 
 
 " Insane persons relieved or supported by the town. . 3 
 
 " Idiots " " " "••• 1 
 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $950, or 95 cents to each person. 
 
 COUNTY OF HAMPDEN. 
 
 CHICOPEE. 
 
 This town has the largest relative proportion of manufactures of 
 
 any town in the county. Population, 7,57G. 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 1* 
 
 " Insane persons relieved or supported by the town. . 2 
 
 " Idiots " " " " 
 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $1,200.54, or 15 cents to each 
 
 person. 
 
 MONTGOMERY. 
 
 This town is almost purely agricultural. Population, 413. 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 2* 
 
34 TARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 No. of insane persons relieved or supported by the town. . 
 
 " Idiots " " " " 1 
 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $338, or 81 cents to each person. 
 
 COUNTY OF HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 NOKTHAMPTONj 
 
 The people of this town are largely engaged in manufactures, and 
 according to the best information I have, more purely so than 
 any other town in the county. Population, 5,819. 
 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 30 
 
 " Insane persons relieved or supported by the town.. 6 
 
 " Idiots " " " " . . . 3 
 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $1,500.00, or 25 cents to each 
 person. 
 
 PKESCOTT. 
 
 But little done in this town but farming, although there are some 
 
 125 females at work on palm leaf. Population, 643. 
 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 2Q 
 
 " Insane persons relieved or supported by the town.. 1 
 
 " Idiots " <« " "... 
 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $490.00, or 75 cts. to each person. 
 
 COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX. 
 I propose to give here the whole industry of two towns in this 
 county, to show the workings of the two systems, the influence 
 each has upon the people at home, and the State and country. I 
 have selected two towns of about the same geographical size, 
 not but little difference in their distance from the metropolis, 
 and in many respects being somewhat analagous. 
 
 NATICK. 
 
 Daguerreotype artists, 1 ; daguerreotypes taken, 2,191 ; em- 
 ployed one ; capital, $500. 
 
 Carriage manufactories, 3j value, $5,960 ; employed 10. 
 
HAPPINESS. 35 
 
 Cap manufactories, 1 ; value of caps made, $413 ; capital, $25 : 
 employed, 1. 
 
 Boots of all kinds made, 570 pairs ; shoes of all kinds made, 
 1,281,295 pairs; value of boots and shoes, $1,163,808: men em- 
 ployed, 1,070: females employed, 497. 
 
 Firewood prepared for market, 1,001 cords; value of fii-ewood, 
 $4,246 ; employed, 3. 
 
 Sheep kept, 2 ; value, $18 ; wool, 11 pounds. 
 
 Number horses, 256 ; value, $28,160 ; oxen over three years old, 
 80 ; steers under three years old, 10 ; value of oxen and steers, 
 $5,878 ; milch cows, 291 ; heifers, 25 ; value of cows and heifers, 
 $9,975. 
 
 Butter, 18,159 pounds; value of butter, $4,539; cheese, 625 
 pounds ; value of cheese, $62 ; honey, 92 pounds ; value of honey, 
 $19. 
 
 Indian corn, 271 acres ; Indian corn per acre, 31^ bushels ; val- 
 ue, $8,491. 
 
 Rye, 51 acres ; rye per acre, 171-f bushels ; value. Si, 189. 
 
 Barley, 14^ acres ; barley per acre. 18i bushels ; value, $268. 
 
 Oats, 56 acres; oats per acre, 24 bushels ; value, $1,008. 
 
 Potatoes, 136 acres ; potatoes per acre, 91 bushels ; value, $10,- 
 625. 
 
 Onions, ^ acre ; onions per acre, 500 bushels ; value, $2X7. 
 
 Turnips, 2 acres ; per acre, 295 bushels ; value, $218. 
 
 Carrots, 31 acres ; per acre, 636 bushels ; value, $689. 
 
 Beets and other esculent vegetables, 61 acres ; value, $4,878. 
 All other grain and root crops, 2 acres ; value, $31. 
 
 English mowing, 1,226 acres ; English hay, 1,312 tons ; value, 
 
 $25,580. 
 
 Wet meadow or swale hay, 375 tons ; value, S3,715. 
 
 Apple trees, cultivated for their fruit, 5,580 ; value, $2,830. 
 
 Pear trees, cultivated for their fruit, 310 ; value, $428. 
 
 Cranberries, 810 bushels ; value, $1,620. 
 
 Bakeries, 1 ; capital, $1,100; flour consumed, 620 barrels; val- 
 ue of bread made, $9,110 ; employed, 4. 
 
 Establishments for manufacture of shoe boxes, 2 ; capital; $5,- 
 600 ; value of boxes made, $19,100 ; employed, 10. 
 
36 FAKMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Value of fruit, $810. 
 White beans, 253 bushels ; value, $525. 
 Milk, 50,380 gallons ; value, $7,035. 
 Swine raised, 68 ; value, Sl,507. 
 
 Establishment for manufacture of pulp for paper, 1 ; stock used, 
 490 tons ; capital, $16,500 ; value of pulp made, $70,475 ; em- 
 ployed, 12. 
 
 Establishments for manufacture of shoe fillings, 2 ; capital, 
 $500 ; value, $1,500 ; employed, 3. 
 
 Establishments for manufacture of clothing, 5 ; value of cloth" 
 ing made, $30,800 ; capital, $5,500 ; employed, 61. 
 Value of treenails or ship pins, $4,136. 
 Value of ship timber, Si, 730. 
 
 Value of ship plank, $260: capital, $1,250; employed, 5. 
 Population of this town, 4,138. Here foUoM's the paupers' 
 account. 
 No. of persons relieved or supported as paupers during the 
 
 year 26 
 
 " Paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 6 
 
 " State paupers 
 
 " Almshouse 1 
 
 " Acres attached to almshouse 70 
 
 Estimated value of almshouse establishment $2,500 
 
 No. of paupers relieved in almshouse during the year.. . . 26 
 
 Average No. supported in almshouse 5 
 
 " Weekly^ cost of supporting each pauper in alms- 
 house ,42 
 
 No. of persons in almshouse unable to perform labor 26 
 
 " Insane relieved or supported 1 
 
 " Idiots " » 1 
 
 " Paupers, made so by intemperance in themselves or 
 
 others 26 
 
 Amt. received from the State for support of State paupers 
 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $642, or 15^ cents to each person 
 in town. 
 
HAPPINESS. 37 
 
 CARLISLE. 
 
 Boots of all kinds made, 250 pairs ; shoes of all kinds made, 
 5000 pairs ; value of boots and shoes made, $4,500 ; men era- 
 ployed, 4 ; females employed, 4. 
 
 Lumber ijrepared for market, 112,000 feet ; value, $1,568; em- 
 ployed, 50. 
 
 Firewood prepared for market, 1,500 cords ; value, $5,625 ; em- 
 ployed, 40. 
 
 Horses, 83 ; value of horses, $5,800 ; oxen over three years 
 old, 126; steers under three years old, 70 ; value of oxen and 
 steers, $7,030 ; milch cows, 290 ; heifers, 72 ; value of cows and 
 heifers, $8,535. 
 
 Butter, 8,575 pounds ; value of butter, $1,715. 
 
 Indian corn, 175 acres ; Indian corn per acre, 20 bushels; value 
 of corn, $3,500. 
 
 Rye, 28 acres; rye per acre, 12 bushels ; value, $380. 
 
 Oats, 20 acres ; oats per acre, 25 bushels ; value, $250. 
 
 Potatoes, 121 acres ; per acre, 66 bushels ; value, $7,986. 
 
 English mowing, 762 acres ; English hay, 650 tons ; value, 
 $13,000. 
 
 Wet meadow or swale hay, 600 tons ; value, $4,800. 
 
 Apple trees cultivated for their fruit, 1,300 ; value, $2,000. 
 
 Cranberries, 32 acres ; value, $1,600. 
 
 Swine raised, 73 ; value, $500. 
 
 Beans, 12 acres ; 100 bushels ; value, $200. 
 
 Value of turnips, onions, carrots and beets, $300. 
 
 Value of milk sold, $800. 
 
 Value of hand-screws made, $400. 
 
 Value of blacksmi thing, $2,000; capital, $1,000; employed, 2. 
 
 Population, 630. 
 
 Pauper Account. 
 No. of persons relieved or supported as paupers, during 
 
 the year 21 
 
 " Persons having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 21 
 
 " State paupers 
 
 " Almshouses 1 
 
 4 
 
38 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 No. of acres attached to i\.lmshouse 160 
 
 Estimate value almshouse establishment $4,000 
 
 No. of paupers relieved ia almshouse during the j'ear. ... 18 
 
 Average No. supported in almshouse 13 
 
 " Weekly cost of supporting each pauper in alms- 
 house .89 
 
 No. of persons in almshouse unable to perform labor 8 
 
 " Insane relieved or supported 2 
 
 " Idiots " " 
 
 " Paupers, made so by intemperance in themselves or 
 
 others 5 
 
 Amount received from State for support of Sta*:e paupers. $68,75 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $811, or $1.28 to each person in 
 town. 
 
 It is not to be presumed that this gives every item of industry 
 in either of the towns enumerated; but it is supposed to approx- 
 imate as closely as could be ascertained. 
 
 COUNTY OF NORFOLK. 
 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the city o* 
 
 State 50 
 
 *' Insane persons relieved or supported by the city. . . 4 
 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $7,484.68, or 40 cents to each 
 
 person in the city. Population, 18,469. 
 
 There is a greater variety of enterprise in this city than can be 
 found in any other town or city in the Commonwealth, of the same 
 population, or in proportion to population. 
 
 This town has the largest relative population engaged in agricul- 
 ture of any in the county. 
 No of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 16 
 
 " Insane persons relieved or supported by the town. . 1 
 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $593.00, or 79 cents to each per- 
 son in town. Population, 745. 
 
HAPPINESS. 39 
 
 PLYMOUTH COUNTY. 
 
 * ABINGTON. 
 
 This town exceeds any other in the county in variety and magni- 
 tude of its mechanical industry, when compared with its agri- 
 culture. Something more than half of the people are engaged 
 in the shoe business. 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 41 
 
 Average No. supported in almshouse 9^ 
 
 No. of insane persons supported or relieved by the town. . 3 
 
 " Paupers, made so by intemperance in themselves or 
 
 others 2 
 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $1,3G2.30, or 18 cents to each 
 person in town. Population, 6,937. 
 
 HALIFAX. 
 
 This town is pi-incipally engaged in agriculture, although there are 
 considerable many shoes made, and many of the ladies are en- 
 gaged in making gentlemen's clothing. But according to the 
 best information I have, its agriculture has a larger relative pro- 
 portion to its manufactures, than any town in the county. 
 
 In looking the county all over, I find that a-ricultural and me- 
 chanical industry is more evenly divided in each town, than any 
 other county in the State ; there being no town but what u con- 
 siderable proportion of the people are engaged in agriculture ; 
 also, in manufactures. So that I should judge that if a farmer 
 had any thing to sell, he would find a customer in his mechanic 
 neighbor, and vice versa. 
 
 I shall have more to say about this in another place. 
 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 8 
 
 " Insane persons relieved or supported by the town. . 2 
 
 Whole cost of supporting the poor, $o28.32, or 67 cents to each 
 person. Population, 786. 
 
4U FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 COUNTY OF WORCESTER. 
 
 WORCESTER. 
 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the city or 
 
 State 77 
 
 Average No. supported in almshouse 17 
 
 No. of persons in almshouse unable to perform labor 8 
 
 " Foreign paupers who have come into the State 
 
 within one year 16 
 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $7,184.44, or 32 cents for each 
 person in the city. Population, 22,286. 
 
 HARDWICK. 
 
 This town has the largest relative agricultural population in the 
 
 county. 
 No. of paupers having a legal settlement in the town or 
 
 State 39 
 
 Average No. supported in almshouse 11 
 
 No. of persons in almshouse unable to perform labor 4 
 
 " Foreign paupers who have come into the State 
 
 within one year 
 
 Whole cost of supporting poor, $1,298.04, or 85 cents to each 
 
 person in the town. 
 It will be noticed that I have avoided the fractions of the cent in 
 these estimates, as they are of no practical use. 
 
 Before going into an examination of the foregoing 
 figures, it will be proper to state the source from 
 which they have been derived. I have had before me 
 three separate works, got up by authority of the 
 State : viz.. Statistical Information relating to 
 certain Branches of Industry in 3fassachusetts, 
 for the year ending June 1, 1855. Returns relat- 
 ing to the Poor for 1856. Also, the Census of 
 Massachusetts, for 1855. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that these statements are sup- 
 
HAPPINESS. 41 
 
 posed to be as accurate as anything of the kind can be 
 estmiated ; for it is well known that all such statistics 
 are nothing more than approximations to the true state 
 of the case, and may be more or less erroneous, de- 
 pending much upon the judgment of the parties hav- 
 ing the matter in charge. I refer now, more particu- 
 larly to the first named work, as the others undoubted- 
 ly are nearly correct ; although in the Returns re- 
 lating to the Poor, I found many omissions, which per- 
 haps has varied the case a little. Then it will be ob- 
 served in these returns that I have given, the foreign 
 element has almost wholly gone into those estimates 
 which have been given in the towns and cities which 
 have been considered as mechanical ; consequently have 
 swelled the number and expense of the paupers, far 
 beyond the true reasoning upon the subject. In these 
 estimates the foreign element should not have gone 
 into these calculations at all. For it is clear to see, 
 that neither our institutions, nor our manner of indus- 
 try, is in any way responsible for this class of pauj)ers. 
 They often come here with no means of a living, and 
 by habit and education are wholly unprepared to earn 
 a support, consequently are thrown upon those places 
 for aid, where they mainly congregate. Consequently 
 out of the thirty-eight paupers in Fall Eiver, twenty- 
 two are foreigners, while in Berkley, in the same coun- 
 ty, there is but one of this description. 
 
 The same is true in regard to the cities of Lynn, 
 Worcester, and most of the other places which have 
 been considered as anti-agricultural. And as agricul- 
 4* 
 
42 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 ture is more or less practiced in all those towns and 
 cities denominated meclianical, so is mechanical indus- 
 try more or less established in the towns considered as 
 agricultural, which goes far to reduce the pauper list 
 of one, and increase it in the other. 
 
 While those toAvns and cities denominated as me- 
 chanical, and being the most purely so in the eleven 
 counties considered, representing a population of 106,- 
 154, there are but 771 of that class of paupers referred 
 to. On the other hand, the eleven towns in the same 
 counties which are considered as farming towns, and 
 representing a population of but 14,342, have the large 
 number of 325 of the same class of paupers. While 
 the population of the former is more than seven times 
 that of the latter, the pauper list is but a little more 
 than double. If then, the foreign element of pauper- 
 ism should be divided ^ro rata between the two class- 
 es, as it should, to give a fair comparison, what a field 
 for thought and investigation, it would open to the 
 wise and good of all classes. For if these figures are 
 correct, and the argument deduced therefrom is relia- 
 ble, it plainly follows, that while our system of agricul- 
 ture makes more than two per cent, of all her people 
 paupers, and all other branches of industry and profes- 
 sions less than one-half of one per cent., certainly it 
 must be apparent to the most obtuse mind, that great 
 wrong exists somewhere, and somebody is responsible 
 for it. But when I go further in my argument, and 
 show why this is so, the reader will only be surprised 
 that these evils are not more glaring than they are 
 
HAPPINESS. 43 
 
 shown to be. Verily, " the evil that men do, lives 
 after them." 
 
 There is another view of the matter which it will be 
 well to consider here. I have before said that a very 
 large proportion of all the young men leave the farm- 
 ing towns and emigrate to some other State or country, 
 or to some of the cities or larse mannfacturino; towns 
 of this State. The practical effect of this is to keep 
 down the pojiulation of these towns and build up other 
 towns, cities and States, at the expense of their native 
 towns. For, I hold that the very worst thing that a 
 town, State or country can do for itself, is, to export its 
 young men and women. How infinitely more wise it 
 would be to learn the people how to earn a living at 
 home, rather than to compel them, by a false state of 
 society, to abandon the place of their bii'th, that they 
 may live ; although we are often told that there is 
 really no necessity for this, only in their own minds. 
 But let any one go into the country towns as I have 
 been, and see the people as I have seen them, and if 
 they do not see sufficient cause for this, then their 
 minds must be either wilfully blind, or their power of 
 discernment unpardonably obtuse. 
 
 The people generally, do not want to leave their 
 coimtry homes, and only do so from necessity ; that 
 they may better their condition, which they have no 
 hopes of doing there. Introduce into any country 
 town, a business by which the masses of the people 
 may earn a little more than a living, without making 
 more than slaves of themselves, and you will find them 
 
44 
 
 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 generally content. That farming is not this business, 
 we have already seen ; although we are frequently 
 told that all other kinds of business and professions are 
 overdone, yet, it is evident that the people do not be- 
 lieve it. " There is no fence against fortune." " Af- 
 ter having praised their wine they sell us vinegar." 
 Perhaps it is not generally known to what extent 
 the people of this State have emigrated to other States 
 in the Union. According to the returns in the census 
 of 1850, there were 199,582 natives of Massachusetts 
 in other States, divided as follows : 
 
 In Maine, 16,535 
 
 New Hampshire, . . . 18,495 
 
 Vermont, 15,059 
 
 Rhode Island, 11,888 
 
 Connecticut 11,366 
 
 Xew York, 55,773 
 
 New Jersey, 1,494 
 
 Pennsylvania, 7,330 
 
 Delaware, 113 
 
 Maryland, c 1,421 
 
 Dist. Columbia, 331 
 
 Virginia, 1,193 
 
 North Carolina, 261 
 
 South Carolina, 407 
 
 Georgia, 594 
 
 Florida, 235 
 
 Alabama, 654 
 
 In Mississippi, 330 
 
 Louisiana, 1 ,62 
 
 Texas, 414 
 
 Arkansas, 174 
 
 Tennessee, 331 
 
 Kentucky, 665 
 
 Ohio 18,703 
 
 Michigan, 8,167 
 
 Indiana, 2,678 
 
 Illinois, 9,230 
 
 Missouri 1,103 
 
 Iowa, 1,251 
 
 Wisconsin, 6,285 
 
 California, 4,760 
 
 Territories, 653 
 
 Total, 199,582 
 
 It must be recollected that this Avas ten years ago, 
 and undoubtedly the census which is to be taken this 
 year, will greatly increase these figures. Although, 
 on the other hand, it will be argued that large numbers 
 
HAPPINESS. 45 
 
 of natives of other States have immigrated to this 
 State, which is true, to the tune of 134,830. But the 
 candid reader will see that this in nowise affects my 
 aro-ument, for not only is this immigration concentrated 
 in the cities and manufacturing towns of the Common- 
 wealth, but large numbers of the natives of the farm- 
 ino- towns in the State, have also become citizens of 
 these same localities. 
 
 Although much more might be said to substantiate 
 the position I have taken, yet, I think the candid read- 
 er must admit, without going any further into the argu- 
 ment, that according to Mr. Webster's definition of the 
 Avord HAPPINESS or happy, it is perfectly apparent 
 that the farmers are not that happy class they have 
 been represented to be. Unless to work at a loss, — to 
 waste their substance, — to see their sons depart to dis- 
 tant localities, and their daughters to be entombed 
 within the brick walls of our city prisons ; thereby 
 paving the way to lower haunts of vice and crime, — 
 raakino- a larg-e excess of females in some localities, and 
 of males in others, — to see the products of the farm 
 hawked about our cities, at prices that would not re- 
 turn the raw material to the soil, to reproduce them, — 
 to people our work-houses, — to be taxed to support 
 men to perambulate our country towns, who concoct 
 measures to degrade them ; who know little about the 
 laws of vegetation and plant-food, and whose principal 
 study is to make the products of the earth cheap in our 
 cities and market places, to the advantage of none but 
 the idle and vicious; except, perhaps, the money- 
 
46 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 lender, who is willing to sacrifice the future of our 
 country and their children, to present gains, — to see 
 their farms cheapened in the market, and the soil robbed 
 of plant life, without the means to reinstate them. If 
 to the intelligent farmer, all this is happiness, then, and 
 then only, is he happy. 
 
 To change a few words in a single verse, of " Hood's 
 Song of the Shirt," it would be somewhat expressive 
 of what has already been said, and quite as applicable 
 as in the orijrinal. 
 
 O men with mothers dear ! 
 
 O men with brothers and wives ! 
 ' Tis not only the earth j-ou are wearing out, 
 
 But human creatures lives ! 
 
 Hoe — hoe — hoe, 
 
 In jjoverty, hunger, and slop ; 
 Digging at once, with spade and hoe, 
 
 A grave, as well as the " crop ! " 
 
CHAPTER m. 
 
 THE MASSACHUSETTS BOAED OP AGRICULTURE. 
 
 The State Farm — Agricultural Experiments — The Press — The Far- 
 mer's Interests — Degradation of Foreign Farm Laborers — The Ob- 
 ject of the Board to Cheapen Agricultural Products — Raw Material 
 — State Appropriations — Members of the Board — The Cost to the 
 People to Support the Various Agricultural Societies — Experiments 
 Through the County Societies — Statistics in Regard to the Board of 
 Agriculture — Way the Board make money — Price of a Piggery. 
 
 In the spring of 1854, the State Farm at West- 
 boro' was transferred into the hands of the above 
 Board, by the Legislature. The State having two ob- 
 jects in view : 1st. To give the children at the State 
 Reform School an opportunity to work upon the Farm 
 as heretofore ; and 2d, To establish an " Experimental 
 Farm," which was supposed to be of great value to the 
 people of this and other States, to learn folks how to 
 "produce large crops at small expense. 
 
 This farm contains about 300 acres of land, and, in 
 their own language, the Board says : 
 
 " Its location is beautiful, and it embraces great vari- 
 ety of soil and surface ; is well adapted for the usual 
 modes of cultivation, and for agricultural experiments, 
 and may be made both attractive to the eye, and very 
 productive^ 
 
 Not only was this farm, which was so attractive to 
 the " eye," and so valuable for " agricultural experi- 
 
 47 
 
48 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Tnents" placed in their hands, but the whole of the 
 large stock of cattle, both " blood " and native, and aU 
 the tools and other conveniences to the value of nearly 
 $7,000. And although they had a head farmer, and 
 nearly a hundred boys, who worked for ten cents per 
 day upon the farm, yet they thought it wise, and for the 
 public good., to ask of the State an appropriation of six 
 thousand dollars, which was granted, to start with. 
 
 It will be admitted that this was a very fair fit-out 
 for some twenty practical farmers to estabhsh them- 
 selves in the business of learning common people how 
 to do things. In the second Report which was sub- 
 mitted by the Secretary of the Board, to the Legisla- 
 ture, he took occasion to say, that 
 
 " The want of reliable and accurate experiments in 
 agriculture is now very generally felt, and it has been 
 the desire of the Board to have such conveniences as 
 would enable them to conduct a series of experiments 
 in such a manner as to secure the confidence of the 
 community. Those made by individuals in various 
 parts of the State, have been very valuable, and in 
 some cases, very costly^ 
 
 As much as to say, if we can have all these things no- 
 ticed above, we will show the people how they can be 
 done cheaply. We shall see. That they have great facil- 
 ities for doing this, no one will deny. That a farm 
 having the fertiUzing material that might reasonably 
 be expected from a family of five or six hundred per- 
 sons, thirty to forty head of cattle and horses, and 
 nearly a hundred swine, with a plenty of labor at a 
 cheap rate, ought to do something a little extra, seems 
 reasonable, with the State Treasury to back them up. 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 49.. 
 
 Those who have read the preceding chapter care- 
 fully, must be convinced, I think, that something is es- 
 sentially wrong with our system of agriculture. My 
 object in this chapter is to trace out some of the rea- 
 sons why this state of things exists. Undoubtedly 
 there are many reasons, and among others, the tinker- 
 ing by the State ; or perhaps it would be more in ac- 
 cordance with the facts in the case, if I were to say, 
 by a few uneasy individuals, who for selfish purposes, 
 or for a love of notoriety, or perhaps both, have grasped 
 hold of this idea, to give character to their efforts, and 
 thereby involve the whole people in the responsibility. 
 
 I have thought it well to lay out before the people 
 such thoughts upon the subject as seem to me wise and 
 for the general good. In the outset I want to say that 
 I have nothing to do with any one's private affairs. It 
 is only in their public capacity, in their acts that in- 
 volve serious evils upon community, that I wish to con- 
 sider them. As a citizen and a farmer, having interests 
 and rights which cannot be separated, and I desire not 
 to separate them if I could, from those of all true men, 
 I think I have a right to speak and compare my 
 thoughts with those of my fellow men, that truth and 
 right may prevail. 
 
 I am perfectly aware that this " Board " are com- 
 paratively in their infancy, and are in no wise respon- 
 sible for many of the evils which have been considered. 
 But in this I can see a link in the chain which is to 
 bind the working-men of this country, as it has done 
 in the old countries of the earth, making the poor 
 5 
 
50 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 poorer, and the rich richer. I hold that all tampering 
 with any of the industrial interests of the country, 
 either by the State or General Govei-nment, is to be 
 lamented, and the sooner we Avash our hands of this, 
 and leave all these interests free, and the people free, 
 to make their own selection, the better it will be for us 
 and those who are to come after us, — the better it will 
 be for the future of our people. The great principle 
 of supply and demand is sure to find its level, and the 
 law of equivalents will preclude all possibility of any 
 interests suffering, where the people are left free to act for 
 themselves. There may be temporary embarrassments, 
 but this law to which I have just referred, will soon rem- 
 edy the evil. Every effort by the State or nation to 
 circumscribe this or any other interest, will be another 
 step in the ladder to the more perfect degradation of 
 the people. 
 
 I will now proceed to show how it is that the Board 
 of Agriculture can never do anything to advance the 
 interest of the farmer ; and that although they can do 
 him no good, they may do him much evil. Perhaps I 
 may be asked, Why seek to disturb them before they 
 have had an opportunity to make a fair trial ? I an- 
 swer, because in all countries where this idea has been 
 long established, — where it has grown into a perma- 
 nent and fixed law or institution, — it has universally 
 degraded the laborer, and will do the same here. And 
 through this universality of degradation of the farm 
 laborer, it has permeated into all branches of industry, 
 till labor and poverty are nearly synonymous. I see 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 51 
 
 in this country a tendency to these same evils. Then, 
 again, I have never been able to learn that the farmers 
 themselves have sought for, or desired any such thing ; 
 although I do not intend to consider them entirelv 
 blameness, because they have been too much carried 
 away by the show and tinsel with which they have been 
 enveloped, and by their passiveness, it may have been 
 thought pleasing to them. That some farmers have 
 entered into this, is not to be denied ; but that they are 
 a large minority, all must admit. There are in all 
 communities certain individuals who are in affluent cir- 
 cumstances, and certain others who, perhaps, have not 
 thought deeply upon the subject, and have not been 
 able to see how it would in the end affect them, who 
 have taken hold with those who have only sought to 
 promote their own interest, by sacrificing the dearest 
 rights of a nation. 
 
 That the object of the Board of Agriculture is to 
 cheapen the value of all farm products in the market, 
 thereby to return the smallest pittance possible for the 
 labor bestowed, over the cost of the raw material, there 
 is too much evidence on record for them to attempt a 
 denial. I know that they will argue that they also in- 
 tend to cheapen the cost of production, but they forget, 
 in this, the law of supply and demand to which I have 
 referred, and which no sophistry or cunning can abro- 
 gate. The moment a surplus is in the market, down 
 goes the price, and labor, and the small capital of the 
 laborer alone, have to suffer. 
 
 In the examination of the subject now under con- 
 
52 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 templation, I shall be under the necessity of using the 
 word raw material^ and tearing all may not understand 
 this alike, I have thought an explanation of it, as it is 
 usually understood by manufacturers, and in commer- 
 cial parlance, and as I wish to have it understood here 
 by the reader, might avoid a complicity of opinion. 
 For, what is the raw material to one, is the manufac- 
 tured article to another. Thus, to the shoemaker the 
 raw material is the leather, the cloth, the kid, threads, 
 cottons, &c., — in fact, whatever his shoes are made of, 
 are to him the raw material ; — while these are the man- 
 ufactured articles to the tanner, the morocco dresser, 
 the cloth and thread manufacturer, &c. And then, 
 again, this raw material to the tanner, &c., becomes 
 the manufactured article to the farmer, the butcher, the 
 wool and cotton grower, &c. So the reader will see 
 that it is the connection in which the word is used, that 
 ffives it its meanino;. 
 
 There is one other difficulty that it will be well to 
 notice, which meets us at the threshold of the argu- 
 ment, and which, perhaps, I cannot so easily explain, 
 but is of vastly more importance than the preceding, 
 and that is this : A shroud of mystery is thrown over 
 all, or nearly all farm operations, by the supposition 
 that whatever grows out of the soil comes of nothing, 
 — that is, something is made or grown of nothing. 
 We look upon a field of grain, grass, or any plant, and 
 grasp hold of it, and tear it from the soil, with the faint 
 hope of making it yield a return equal to the amount 
 of labor bestowed upon it, without reflecting that the 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 63 
 
 raw material of which this crop is composed, is our 
 capital, and every particle of the matter must be in some 
 way returned to the soil, in order to obtain a similar 
 crop. It is no more absurd to suppose that the mer- 
 chant can sell his goods at the cost of clerk-hire, rents, 
 &c., without regard to the first cost of the article sold, 
 than to suppose the farmer can sell any farm product 
 at the cost of the labor to produce it. That he has 
 done this, and is now doing it, needs no other proof than 
 is afforded in the second chapter of this work. This is 
 one of my charges against the Board of Agriculture, 
 for so mystifying the various processes of agriculture, 
 by running one crop into another, attempting to make 
 the farmer believe that if he loses on the corn crop, he 
 will make it up on the grain or the grass, and if on 
 neither of these, on his cattle, when every turn of the 
 screw, as has been proved, reduces him lower and 
 lower still. 
 
 In this connection let me say to the farmers, that 
 you have no hopes in any supervisory head or Board, 
 of whatever color or pretence ; and, if possible, evade 
 the whirlpool of destruction that has engulphed the ag- 
 riculturists of all other countries who have instituted 
 a tampering head, by doing your own thinking and 
 fiorurino;. Although the loafers and idlers of our cities 
 may desire cheap bread, that their vocation may not 
 be disturbed, yet let us institute no power to any class, 
 whose object is to rob us of our rights. This may be 
 plain talk, but, if it is untrue, it is easy to refute it, — 
 if not untrue, but true, it will stand. 
 
54 FAKMIXG AS IT IS. 
 
 There is one other difficulty which might as well be 
 settled here, and then, when we get into the argument, 
 there wiU be less inclination to stop to explain. It is 
 presumed by many that one industrial interest is in an- 
 tao-onism to all other industrial interests. Thus, all 
 those who consume the products of the farm, without 
 producing them, are apt to suppose it to be for their 
 advantage to cheapen whatever the farmer has to dis- 
 pose of. This is short-sighted, as we soon shall see, 
 yet such is the fact. And these non-producing classes 
 being composed of many true, and highly useful 
 classes of men, are yet composed, also, to a great ex- 
 tent, of the idle, the vicious, the cunning, and the 
 scheming, who are up to anything but honest work, in 
 order to live by their wits. The truth is, that among 
 all true men there is but one interest, although separate 
 as the States, we are one as the Union. 
 
 Although capital may get a temporary advantage of 
 labor, when coupled with the various combinations to 
 which I have just referred, and degrade it, yet, in the 
 end, that also becomes degraded, and yields a small re- 
 turn, crushing out, in time, the smaller capitalists and 
 building up an aristocracy of capital, that has been 
 the bane of most of the older nations of the earth. I 
 know very well that self-interest is apt to warp the 
 judgment even of good men, and that tliere seems to be 
 some inducement for our city friends to institute such 
 measures as will brino; to them the laroest amount of 
 the essentials of life, at the lowest possible rate ; yet, 
 when they claim to be tlie friends of those whom they 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 65 
 
 seek to destroy, it is time to ask them to pause a mo- 
 ment, that a better reckoning can be had. 
 
 It must be perfectly amusing to all thinking men to 
 see what means they resort to, to effect the various ob- 
 jects to which I have referred. A few of the many 
 reasons, as they occur to me, I will stop a moment to 
 notice. Perhaps as effective as any is this : They say 
 that all other kinds of business is " over-done," and 
 therefore advise all young men, indiscriminately, to 
 stick to the farm. If they were honest in this, and be- 
 lieved what they say to be true, and it was for the pub- 
 lic good, they would make fiirmers of their own boys, 
 or advise them to be such, would they not ? Certainly, 
 that is a fair inference. I refer now more particularly 
 to our city friends and others, who are mainly influ- 
 ential in moving the various machinery by which a 
 public opinion is created, that the people are led to 
 submit to the gross injustice that is heaped upon them. 
 The Board of Agriculture at this time seem to be the 
 most prominent, although other classes of individuals 
 and corporations are acting in conjunction with them, 
 to mould and shape this condition of thought among 
 the people, to which I refer. Well, then, if farming 
 is the desirable business which they claim it to be, and 
 fit for all young men to engage in, hoAV is it that the 
 sons of these very men so universally shun it, and seek 
 out some other way to obtain the conveniences of life ? 
 While many of these individuals have large families of 
 children, yet some of the trades or professions monop- 
 olize the whole, as far as I know. And although they 
 
66 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 may be very fond of all the " goodies " that come from 
 the farm, yet they, like the cat, you know, that Wiis 
 fond of fish, prefer not to wet their paws. If all other 
 kinds of business is " over-done " but farming, how is 
 it that the wages of most of the professional laborers 
 have nearly doubled within the last ten or twelve years, 
 and farms have depreciated, where there is no pros- 
 pective value aside from farming purposes, in about the 
 same ratio ! The Board, with all its genius, will find 
 it difficult to answer this ; and that the assumption is 
 strictly correct, the record is too plain for them to 
 deny ! 
 
 The pay of the judges in most of our courts has 
 been very much increased ; the per diem of our con- 
 gressmen has also more than doubled ; the same is true 
 in regard to the pay of the members of our Legisla- 
 ture ; clergymen, lawyers, and doctors, get more pay 
 than formerly, and even the Board of Agriculture had 
 a couple of thousand or so granted last year, that was 
 entirely additional to everything they liad ever before 
 had. 
 
 It seems that by an act of the last Legislature (1859) 
 that all of the Agricultural Societies of the State are, 
 to a great extent, to be placed under tiie care and con- 
 trol of the Board of Afjriculture. 
 
 Sec. 4 (chap. 232,) reads thus: "The Board of 
 Agriculture shall have power to require the several 
 Agricultural Societies receiving the bounty of the 
 State, to offer premiums from time to time for xlgricul- 
 tural experiments^ to be conducted in such manner as 
 said Board may direct." 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 57 
 
 It now seems that the Board, after having failed in 
 establishing any successful experiments on the farm in 
 their charge at Westboro', and having given up the 
 idea of putting in successful practice their vague theo- 
 ries, have got an act through the Legislature, nriving: 
 them the power to control the County Societies, thereby 
 throwing the responsibility upon them, and in this way 
 expecting to evade the censure which they so justly 
 deserve. Any practical farmer could have told them 
 this before they commenced. Upon most all subjects 
 men may theorize, with some degree of success, but 
 agriculture. Here it will not answer, but must off 
 coat and go to work. 
 
 I am perfectly aware that the Board is a child of the 
 State, and were it not for the treasury thereof, would 
 be perfectly harmless of evil ; and as long as the State 
 follows the delusive idea of oppressing one class of the 
 people to the supposed advantage of other classes, and 
 the oppressed class remain perfectly passive, so long 
 men can be found to put in practice any measures how- 
 ever absurd, without any thought of the future of the 
 people. 
 
 Perhaps all are not aware of the cost to the people, 
 even now, to support the several branches of machinery 
 to which I refer. These institutions are called by the 
 act of the Legislature, " scientific and cdAicationaV 
 The following are some of the appropriations for this 
 purpose : 
 
58 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 For bounties to Agricultural Societies, $12,800 00 
 
 Salary of the Secretary of the Board, 2,000 00 
 
 Travelling expenses of members of the Board,. . . . 2,200 00 
 
 Travelling expenses of the Secretary of the Board, 250 00 
 
 Other Incidental Expenses, . t 1 50 00 
 
 The Salary of the Clerk of the Sec'y of said Board, 600 00 
 
 Collecting Information on Agricultural Subjects, 1,000 00 
 
 Printing Abstracts of the Reports, 1,000 00 
 
 Ten thousand of the Report of the Board of Agri- 
 culture, 5,500 00 
 
 $25,500 00 
 
 This twenty-five thousand five hundred dollars is 
 drawn directly from the people by taxation, and fi3r the 
 several purposes named above, annually, and will be 
 increased every year. 
 
 It costs to support the State Government, in- 
 cluding the County taxes, nearly one million dol- 
 lars, of which about eight hundred thousand is 
 raised by direct taxation. Therefore, the sum which 
 ffoes to maintain the various Agricultural branches of 
 the govei'nment seems but small. Comparatively it is 
 so. But the reader must remember that the whole of 
 this great sum is made up of various small items, 
 whether wise or not, is not our purpose now to con- 
 sider, only as far as relates to the subject under consid- 
 eration. It must be borne in mind that the amount 
 drawn directly from the people by taxation, is but a 
 very small item in the sum total, to the people, of the 
 whole expense to keep up this deceptive and delusive 
 
BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 69 
 
 idea, which in so brief a space of time has taken such 
 a strong- hold of community. We have some twenty- 
 five or thirty pubHc exhibitions each year, which, if the 
 cost coukl be estimated, would without doubt, super- 
 cede the amount raised by taxation, more than a hun- 
 dred thousand dollars. I very well know that a very 
 considerable proportion of this comes from that class of 
 men who are not, by their position, sensibly affected by 
 this, only as communities of peoj)le are made up of in- 
 dividuals, and what injuriously affects the working 
 classes, will in the end affect all classes, since the rich 
 of to-day may be the poor to-morrow, and vice versa. 
 
 I have before said, and I repeat it here, that the 
 mere money cost of the thing is nothing, comparative- 
 ly, in the present ; but in the long future, when we be- 
 come the greatest people of the earth, as the present 
 seems to indicate, then we shall see that we have follow- 
 ed a phantom, a delusion, by entanghng our various 
 States and the National Government, with the indus- 
 trial institutions of the country, till the people are com- 
 pelled to look to the treasury and not to their own 
 right arms for support. When our poor rates, as in 
 England to-day, are more than our whole National ex- 
 penditure, then we shall say, why could not we have 
 profited by the experience of past ages, and left our in- 
 dustry free. The natural law of supply and demand 
 will preclude all possibility of any interest suffering as 
 long as the people are left free to rely on their own ef- 
 forts for support. Mix this up with cei'tain conditions 
 and contingencies, building up an aristocracy of feeling 
 
60 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 and sentiment, and labor becomes degraded, and the 
 country is paralyzed, and we fail, as a nation, to fulfil 
 our destiny. Far better would it be for the people to- 
 day, to erect a sort of privileged hospital, or loafer's 
 institute, wherein all this class of men could resort at 
 pleasure, to enjoy to an unlimited degree the droppings 
 of the treasury, if they Avould keep aloof from those 
 interests about which they know but little, and save 
 untarnished those institutions which are best cared for, 
 when left entirely to themselves. 
 
 Perhaps many of my readers may have a curiosity 
 to know who these individuals are, constituting this 
 " Board," and possibly the best argument that could 
 be given in favor of my position would be to name 
 them, as farming, like everything else, is a trade, and 
 can be best prosecuted by those who best understand 
 it, unless such are above the practical part of their 
 business, and choose to dictate, while others do the 
 work. How this is, the reader must judge for himself 
 First in the list stands the 
 
 Ex - Officiis. 
 His Excellency, Natiiamkl P. Banks. 
 His Honor J^i.ipiiai.kt 'J'kask, 
 Hon. Oliver Wakner, Secretary of State. 
 
 Appointed by the Governor and Council. 
 Ephraim W. Bull, Marshall P. Wilder, William S. Clark. 
 
 CJiosen by ike Societies. 
 HiciiARD S. Fay, George B. Loring, SmoN Brown, 
 Henry H. Peters, John C. Bartlext, John Brooks, 
 Freeman Walker, Jaeez Fisher, Oliver C. Felton, 
 
 Paoli Lathrop, Levi Stockbkidge, Geo. M. Atwater, 
 
 Cyrus Knox, James S. Grinnell, Ciias. K. Tracy, 
 
 Sam. H. Bushnell, Ciias. 0. Sewall, Nathan Durfee, 
 Chas. G. Davis, George Marston, Eew. W. Garlner, 
 
 Ch.4S. B, Allen, Mathew Smith, 
 
 Chas. L. Flint, Secretary. 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 61 
 
 With these men, individually, as citizens, I have 
 nothing to do ; but as the Board of Agriculture, acting 
 in this capacity, I claim I have a right in common with 
 all other citizens, to speak. 
 
 At the commencement of this chapter I made a few 
 quotations from the Secretary's report, showing that 
 they expected to render the farmers much service by 
 instituting a course of experiments at the farm. At 
 the expiration of five years, having failed in this, they 
 have given it up, and now expect to act through the 
 county v^ocieties, to effect this object. In this, also, 
 they will fail, and for these reasons. In farming, what 
 seems reasonable and practical in theory, will seldom 
 stand the test of actual experiment. For instance, 
 when they agreed to pay those boys ten cents per day, 
 for six hours work, without doubt it seemed to them, 
 as they say, " low," hardly enough to clothe them in 
 the most economical manner. Yet, Mr. Flint now 
 says, in his report that the old adage among a certain 
 class of farmers is literally true, " one boy is a boy, two 
 boys half a boy, and three boys no boy at all." This 
 is practice, and from the fact of their not having known 
 this before, shows they did not understand what they 
 were about. I think it grossly wrong to saddle any 
 considerable proportion of their errors upon those un- 
 fortunate boys ; for this io among the smallest of their 
 mistakes. Again Mr. Flint says : 
 
 " The estimates on a preceding page of the amount 
 earned by the boys on the farm are based on the rate 
 of ten cents a day, which is the amount agreed upon 
 
62 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 between the Board of Agriculture and the Trustees of 
 the school, by the original contract made in 1854. 
 That amount seems at first sight to be small, but in 
 point of fact, as already intimated, it was far more than 
 double what the labor, under all the circumstances, 
 was worth to the farm." 
 
 Here is a large farm, as we have seen, with a plenty 
 of men to oversee these boys, of from 14 to 18 years 
 of age, and the Secretary of the Board says, that 
 they cannot earn anything like five cents a day, and 
 board themselves. Yet these men claim that farming 
 is a good business, and fit for everybody's sons to en- 
 gage in, but their own. In fact all other business but 
 this is " overdone," and at this a well-grown boy can 
 earn hardly enough to salt his porridge. All this occurs 
 after half a century of effort to establish the business 
 upon a solid foundation. The Secretary further says 
 that " a systematic debt and credit account was to be 
 kept between the farm and the school, the Board cred- 
 iting the school Avith the labor of the boys, at ten cents 
 a day, of six hours each, and with the sum of three 
 hundred and fifty dollars a year for the offal, and chai'g- 
 ing it with the produce of the farm, at the usual prices 
 in the neighborhood, with labor performed for the in- 
 stitution," &c. Here is a ready market for everything 
 that the farm produces, at the door, with all the labor 
 they can possibly use, at rates scarcely suflScient to half 
 pay the board of the ojjeratives, and yet the reason as- 
 signed for the losses to the State is, the labor bill was 
 more than double what it should liave been. The 
 amount the Board received from the State in estimate 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 03 
 
 of farm, stock, tools and funds, from the treasury, ac- 
 cording to this report, is $29,081. The simple interest 
 on this sum Avould be $1,744.86. This is what every 
 farmer should look to, — the simple interest on his in- 
 vestment ; and the Board should so consider it ; yet I 
 can nowhere find a single word said about it, although 
 they think they have cleared $1,000 a year for the 
 State. 
 
 Here is another item which is rather amusing, as it 
 shows what close calculators these economical farmers 
 are, who can calculate so accurately on the wages of 
 the boys, when making up their account, but forget 
 some other items, perhaps, that would interest the peo- 
 ple quite as much. 
 
 " The operations at the farm (this was 1856) 
 have been continued as heretofore, though embar- 
 rassment has been occasioned by the insufficient ap- 
 'propriations made, on account, it is presumed, of a 
 want of a full understanding of the circumstances of 
 the case. From this cause the Board has labored under 
 disadvantages of various kinds. Thus they have had 
 only old and unsuitable farm implements, in many cases, 
 to put into the hands of one hundred and fifty boys 
 worked daily on the farm, and have lost an exceedingly 
 valiiahle fertilizer in a liquid manure, which has run in 
 such abundance that a man, boy and horse, would have 
 been constantly occupied in distributing it over the 
 farm, had the appropriation been sufficient to allow of 
 their employment. This liquid manure, thus applied, 
 would give the Board the power of increasing the pro- 
 ductions of the farm many fold^ and of improving, if 
 not enriching, the lands, which were in comparatively 
 poor condition when its operations com.menced, while 
 its removal would be a sanitary measure of great im- 
 
64 FAEMIXG AS IT IS. 
 
 portance to the comfort nud well-being of the institu- 
 tion." 
 
 Thus, it seems, they lost, or had run to waste, man- 
 ure enough to keep a man, boy and horse constantly at 
 work, which if it had been applied would increase the 
 ^'■productions of the farm many fold^ 
 
 In order to get at, as near as may be, what they lost, 
 we shall have to see what they raised, because the Sec- 
 retary tells us, they lost enough to have produced many 
 times more than what they raised. Here is what they 
 raised this year, (1856.) 
 
 Corn, Oats, Rye, Peas, Beans . . 1,639.5 bushels. 
 
 Eoot Crops 4,370'' " 
 
 Hay 103 tons. 
 
 I think that no observing farmer would estimate the 
 value of sufficient manure to produce these crops with- 
 out exhausting the soil, much less than $1,000. Mr. 
 Flint says, "the amount lost exceeded that applied many 
 fold," or in his own words, " the manure thus applied, 
 would give the Board the power of increasing the pro- 
 ductions of the farm many fold," besides being a great 
 " sanitary measure." If I am right on the value, and 
 we interpret " many fold " to mean three fold, it would 
 seem that in this little item of manure, for one year, 
 they lost the snug sum of $3,000. And these arc the 
 men that claim their competency to show folks how to 
 farm. It is said that " the world is full of wonders." 
 In this same paragraph, from which I have just quoted, 
 is other important matter. 
 
BOAED OF AGEICULTUEE. (35 
 
 " Moreover," says Mr. Flint, " five or six milch cows, 
 in addition to the present nnmber, might be Avintered 
 without difficulty on the hay raised upon the farm ; and 
 these cows are even now greatly needed to enable the 
 Board to supply the school with milk, v^diile this ad- 
 ditional number would considerably increase the facili- 
 ties for the economical management of the farm the 
 coming year ; but the want of the means to imrchase 
 them has compelled the committee having charo-e of that 
 dciiartment to defer it to a more favorable time. Ju- 
 dicious expenditure is true economy, but the commit- 
 tee did not feel authorized to incur a debt." 
 
 With farmers generally, manure is money, but money 
 is not always manure. How it is at Westboro', I do 
 not know, but down here in Chelmsford, it would not 
 have taken a very smart man if he was troubled with 
 the "shorts," as farmers sometimes are, to have found 
 some neighbor who would have been willino- to ex- 
 change a few cows for this manure, to have saved a 
 friend from such a loss of plant-food, as we have just 
 seen. And if our unfortunate friend had any friends, 
 I think they might have been seen inquiring for one of 
 those institutions, where the inmates are apt to think 
 everybody " crazy " but themselves. " Judicious ex- 
 penditure is true economy." A better motto is seldom 
 written, and with the first word ''judicious" italicized, 
 I am willing to leave it, and would be glad to see it 
 placed in gold letters over the Speaker's desk at the 
 State House, to stand forth as a warning to all this 
 class of pleaders for the people's money, who are will- 
 ing to do anything for a living but honest Avork. Al- 
 though, as I have before said, tlie money-cost to the 
 
6() FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 people is comparatively nothing, even if the Board 
 took to themselves the whole of the $40,000 appropri- 
 ated by the State to the institution, in addition to those 
 sums already named. This is nothing. Three-fourths 
 of the people have to rely on their ovrn right arms for 
 support, and any tampering with those industrial insti- 
 tutions, building up monopolies to circumvent the free- 
 dom of labor, and forestalling the poor man's capital, , 
 by the institution of a central power to dictate to labor 
 its price, is mischievious and paralyzing. 
 
 Sections 4 and 5 of the Act of 1859, chapter 232, 
 reads thus : 
 
 " The Board of Agriculture shall have power to re- 
 quire the several Agricultural Societies receiving the 
 bounty of the State, to offer premiums from time to 
 time for Agricultural experiments, to be conducted in , 
 such manner as said Board may direct. A Society 
 which shall neglect, in any year, to comply with the 
 several general laws concerning Agricultural Societies, 
 or with such reiTulations of the Board of Agriculture, 
 shall not be entitled to the bounty of the State, the 
 year next succeeding." 
 
 In accordance with the provision of this law, the 
 
 Secretary of the Board issued the following mandate : 
 
 AN EXPERIMENT FOR THE COUNTY SOCIETIES. 
 
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts — Agricultural Department. 
 
 Boston^ December 5, 1859. 
 At a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture, 
 held on the 1st inst., it was 
 
 " Voted., That the several Agricultural Societies 
 receiving the bounty of the State, be required to ofter 
 three premiums for the most thorough, exact, and 
 reliable experiments, upon the proper depth of applying 
 manures, ]3ayable in the fall of 1862, as follows : 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 67 
 
 "" Select a level piece of land, of any convenient 
 size, from twenty square rods up to as many acres or 
 more, which should be as nearly equal in its character 
 and conditions as possible. Divide it into five equal 
 parts, numbering them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, for a rotation of 
 three years. 
 
 " Divide the manure which it is proposed to apply, 
 and which should be of a uniform character, into four 
 equal parts. At the time of fii'st plov\ang in the 
 spring, spread evenly one fourth of the manure upon 
 plot No. 1, and then plow the whole field of an equal 
 depth. Apply another fourth of the manure to plot 
 No, 2, and then cross ploAv the whole field to about 
 half the depth of the first plowing. Spread another 
 fourth of the manure upon plot No. 3, and harrow or 
 cultivate the whole field ; after which sow or plant the 
 whole evenly with any crop preferred. Finally, spread 
 the remaining quarter-part of the manure upon plot 
 No. 4. 
 
 " Observe that by pursuing this course, each of the 
 five lots will receive equally a deep plowing, a shallow 
 plowing, and a harrowing or cultivating, the only dif- 
 ference in them being that in No. 1 the manure is 
 buried deep, in No. 2 shallow, in No 3 buried only 
 slightly, but coated with loam, and in No. 4 left 
 exposed upon the surface, while No. 5 gets no manure. 
 The manure is to be spread broadcast, and as evenly 
 as possible. The after cultivation should be the same 
 on each of the lots, and the harvest of each should take 
 place at the same time. 
 
 " Let a statement of the character of the soil, whether 
 light or heavy, dry or moitt, leachy or retentive of 
 manures, the crop of 1859, kind and amount and mode 
 of application of manure in 1850, size of field covered 
 by the experiment, depth of first plowing, kind and 
 amount of manure used in 18G0, kind of crop, when 
 and how sown, number of times and manner cultivated, 
 and weight of product on an average rod of each plot, 
 be made in 18G0, and returned in the annual report of 
 each Society. 
 
68 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 " If there is a double product, as grain and straw, 
 corn and stover, let the weight of the secondary pro- 
 duct be given on each plot. 
 
 " If the competitor weigh the whole crop, instead 
 of cstiraatino; it by an average rod, there will be no 
 objection to such a course. 
 
 "A brief synopsis of the weather for each of the 
 following months, by dividing each month into three 
 parts, and using the terms dry, moist, and wet, to 
 indicate the general character of the weather, will also 
 be expected : 
 
 First Third. Middle Third. Last Third. 
 
 May. 
 June. 
 July. 
 August. 
 September. 
 
 " A similar report of all the above Items, except the 
 nature of the soil, will be made in 1861, and in 1862, 
 when the pi-emiums will be awarded. No manure is 
 to be applied to the second and third crops." 
 
 " Voted, That the Secretary of the Board be re- 
 quested to offer premiums which Avill secure an 
 adequate compensation for the time and labor con- 
 sumed in the experiment." 
 
 I hereby notify your Society of the above vote. 
 Evidence of a compliance with it will be required, 
 before I shall be authorized to draw a certificate for 
 the bounty to any Society. 
 
 One of the greatest (obstacles in the way of agricul- 
 tural progi-ess is the dltliculty of obtaining reliable 
 facts and statistics, as a basis upon v.hlch to establish 
 principles and construct theories. As a general ride, 
 tlieories are first advanced, and then isolated facts arc 
 brought forward for the purpose of proving their 
 truthfulness. It is true that agriculture is not, in the 
 usual sense of the term, and probably never will be- 
 come, one of tlic exact sciences; yet there are mnu}^ 
 things in connection with it which ought to be taken 
 out of the region of conjecture, ami placed, by repeat- 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 09 
 
 ed and multiplied experiments, upon a more substan- 
 tial basis. A sinpile fact or experiment may be of 
 only trifling value in itself considered, but when add- 
 ed to scores or hundreds of others, the whole col- 
 lectively may elucidate a doubtful point, or settle a 
 vexed question. 
 
 With these considerations in view, the Board asks 
 and requires the attention of every Society in the 
 State to render any aid in the solution of the question 
 here considered, and to act in concert with it and with 
 each other, in such a way as to give to the result the 
 greatest possible practical and scientific value. I 
 would suggest that the rotation be limited to com, 
 grain, and grass. 
 
 Allow me to call your attention to the Act of 1859, 
 
 chapter 232, sections 1, 2, and 3, and especially to 
 
 sections 4 and 5, authorizing the Board to make the 
 
 above requirement, and the penalty of a disregard of, 
 
 ■ or a failure to comply with it. 
 
 I would simply suggest that premiums of $25, $20, 
 and $15, have been ottered by some of the Societies, 
 and that it is desirable that no offers should beVsmaller 
 than these amounts, as the object above indicated is to 
 induce a multiplicity of experiments. 
 
 Charles L. Flint, 
 Sec. State Board of Agriculture, 
 
 This speaks for itself, and clearly shows the incom- 
 petency of the Board to comprehend the subject upon 
 which they are engaged. Any observing farmer will 
 see at once that to expei"imcnt upon the cultivation of 
 the soil according to this programme, is totally imprac- 
 ticable, as far as any beneficial results would occur. 
 For instance, the idea of Mr. Flint is, to deposit the 
 manure at the bottom of the furrow over plot No. 1 
 and No. 2. Now every fai-mer knows that if manure is 
 
70 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 spread upon the land, that in plowing, some of it will 
 go to the bottom and some will not. Then in harrow- 
 ing much of it is brought to the surface, which ren- 
 ders this part of the experiment not only of no use, but 
 positively injurious, as nothing has been learned, and 
 the whole experiment fails, because there is no com- 
 parison. 
 
 Then again, after the manure is spread upon the 
 land, and before it is possible to plow it, suppose a 
 storm of a week's duration sets in, how does that affect 
 the experiment, Mr. Secretary Flint ? 
 
 *' Select a level piece of land, of any convenient 
 size, from twenty square rods up to as many acres or 
 more, which should be as nearly equal in its chai'acter 
 and conditions as possible." How many pieces of 
 land can be found in Massachusetts, containing even 
 ten acres, which will come up to those requirements, 
 so as to make the experiment tolerably conclusive ? 
 There may be some, but they are not very plenty. 
 
 The five years that the Board had charge of the 
 farm at Westborough, was the most favorable oppor- 
 tunity to experiment upon agriculture that can well be 
 imagined. Yet if they could do nothing there to 
 either satisfy themselves or the public, it is not to be 
 supposed that they can institute any through the 
 County Societies. In farming, we cannot calculate 
 even for a day. A neighbor told me that he sent his 
 men to hoeing potatoes one morning, and started for 
 the city. When the men got on to the piece, they 
 found the potatoes several inches under water. An- 
 
BOARD OF AGRICUTUEE. 71 
 
 other told his men to mow till nine o'clock, then spread 
 it out, and have the haj all raked and cocked up bj 
 sunset. At ten o'clock it commenced rainine:, and 
 continued dull for several days. In England, manure 
 spread upon the land, and there left for several weeks, 
 exposed to the elements, is said to produce the best 
 results. Climate and the nature of the soil evidently 
 have much to do with the best mode of cultivation. I 
 hold that neither this Board nor any other Board that 
 can be instituted, can sit dov^^n in their office at the 
 State House, and devise any plans, or recommend any 
 measures, that will be of any practical use to them- 
 selves or any body else, in regard to agriculture ; and 
 the longer the effi)rt is continued, the more they will 
 be convinced of the truth of what I say. Of course, 
 as long as the people quietly submit to being fleeced, 
 and the cupidity of man is such as it is, men enough 
 will be found to engage in this or any other movement, 
 that their own individual interests may be subserved, 
 even though a nation be led to mourn. 
 
 1 came across an article in an agricultural journal 
 on the above subject, written by a practical farmer, 
 which had many good points in it, and I saw but little 
 but what I could endorse, and will here insert it : 
 
 PREMmMS Br THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICiJLrURE. 
 
 I have seen the vote of the State Board of Agricul- 
 ture, requiring the different county societies to offer 
 premiums for the best experiments in applying ma- 
 nures at different depths. 
 
 This is a subject of much importance to the farmers 
 of this Commonwealth, and any experiments which 
 
72 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 will give us reliable instruction upon this subject will 
 be a public good. 
 
 In looking o^er this offer, and the plan marked out 
 by the Board, it appears to me that we may strictly 
 comply with the letter of the instructions, and jet not 
 get any reliable information upon the proper depth of 
 applying manui-es. 
 
 They do not tell us whether it is to be sward land, 
 or land that has been cultivated one or more years. 
 If we take sward land, and plow the manure for lot 
 No. 1, underneath the sward, how shall we know 
 whether it was the fact of its being beneath the sward, 
 or the depth at which it was applied, that caused 
 the different results ? 
 
 When we come to lot No. 2, and try to cross plow 
 it, and get the manure at half the depth, we infer the 
 Board intended the experiment should be tried upon 
 old land. 
 
 We will take a piece of mellow ground, and spread 
 the manure upon lot No. 1, and plow ten inches deep, 
 and if the manure is fine and well composted, as the 
 furrow slice ri:?es and cracks, the manure falls in, and 
 gets well mixed with the soil, instead of being buried 
 at the bottom of the furrow ; if the manure is coarse, 
 much of it will be left where the plow will draw it 
 up, when we come to cross plow at half the de2)th : 
 thus we may follow the directions, and yet not furnish 
 any reliable instruction upon this subject. The only 
 way in which I could get the manure at a unitbrm 
 (IciUh when plowing it into mellow laud, would be to 
 follow the plow with a hoe, and draw the manure into 
 the furroAV, and then turn the next furrow upon it. If 
 the Board had required this, the experiment might 
 have been useful. 
 
 I will now go upon lot No. 2. It has been plowed 
 deep, according to the directions. I will tiy to spread 
 the manure upon the rough iurrows, for, according to 
 the directions, I must not put the harrow upon it yet ; 
 much of the manure falls into the holes ; 1 then cross 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 73 
 
 plow it five inches deep ; at what depth does any one 
 suppose the manure is covered ? To test it fairly, I 
 think that No. 2 should have been rolled down smooth, 
 and the manure placed in the bottom of the furrow, at 
 half the depth of No. 1. 
 
 I next spread the manure upon No. 3, and then I 
 am told to take a harrow or cultivator, and go over 
 the whole lot. What is the effect of this upon No. 2 ? 
 Does not the harrow move much of the manure, and 
 mix it with the soil, and may not the result be affected 
 by the mixing as much as by the depth ? I think there 
 should have been nothing but a bush harrow upon it 
 after it was plowed. 
 
 I am now to plant the whole lot, and then take the 
 team and cart the manure upon No. 4. This looks 
 some like book farming, to drive over the corn after it 
 is planted I have always been taught to think a 
 planted cornfield as almost sacred. We have all read 
 of the honest English farmer, who complained of the 
 hounds treading down his wheat in the spring, and 
 was paid for the injury done ; but at the harvest time 
 he found that the trampling had been an advantage to 
 him ; so if No. 4 does the best, who can tell whether 
 it was owing to the trampling and beating it got after 
 it was planted, or the manner in which the manure 
 was applied ? 
 
 I think there will be but little practical difference in 
 the condition of the manure upon lots No. 3 and 4, 
 except for the first three or four weeks. I begin to 
 run the cultivator through the corn about the 1st of 
 June ; then the manure will be mixed with the soil the 
 same as on No 3. They tell us that the after cultiva- 
 tion must be the same upon each lot. But they do not 
 tell us what that shall be. By using the plow, or 
 Sawyer's imjjroved cultivator, we may hill it uji so as 
 to spoil the whole experiment, and yet be entitled to 
 the premium, according to the offer. 
 
 An experiment conducted in so loose a manner is 
 worse than none. They say nothing about how we 
 7 
 
74 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 shall plow it the second year. If the manure has been 
 where they supposed it to be, when we plow No. 1, 
 it will bring the manure to the surface for the second 
 year, and the others will be buried. What instruction 
 can we derive from such an experiment ? 
 
 I have endeavored to take a practical view of this^ 
 subject, feehng that when the Board hold the rod of 
 state over the backs of the county societies, and say, 
 thus shalt thou do, the public have the right to ask, 
 what will be the practical benefit ? 
 
 I submit at the close of this chapter, a schedule of 
 the property at the farm at the time it came into the 
 hands of the Board, also at the time it went back into 
 the hands of the Trustees, or as they have taken it, in 
 December. 
 
 Further I submit the account of the Board with the 
 Commonwealth for the year 1858. 
 
 These statistics speak in stronger language than any 
 thing that I can say, of the absurdity of the position 
 that farming is a paying business, and fit for young 
 men to engage in, when with all this capital to begin 
 with, all the labor they want, at a less price than any 
 farmer can clothe his boys, to say nothing of their 
 board, and some five thousand dollars yearly in cash 
 besides, and a market at the door for everythuig they 
 raise — when with all these unprecedented advantages, 
 they claim, as a reason for their short-coming, that the 
 labor bill was too high, and the appropriations insig- 
 nificant. Study and ponder. 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 
 
 Schedule and Apj)raisal of the Stock, Tools, and Implements, to- 
 gether loith the estimated value of the Land and Buildings referred 
 to in the afireement between the Ti-ustees of the State L'eform 
 School at Westboro' and the State Board of Agriculture, received 
 April 1, 1854 : — 
 
 1 Pair Fat Oxen $170 00 
 
 3 Pairs Oxen— Red, $150; 
 
 Brindle, flOO; Bay, 
 
 $150 460 00 
 
 25 Cows, at $32 each 800 00 
 
 2 Heifers, at 8 1 5 each .... SO 00 
 
 1 Grade Devon Bull 50 00 
 
 2 Horses— Charley, #150; 
 
 Kate, $125 275 00 
 
 35 Swine 575 00 
 
 12 Tons English 
 
 Hav, ati?17..$204 00 
 
 8 Tons Meadow- 
 
 Hay, at $8... 64 00 
 1 Ton English 
 
 Hay, at $17.. 17 00 
 ^ Ton Straw 5 00 
 
 4 Tons Corn Fod- 
 
 der 24 00 314 00 
 
 500 Bushels Corn, at $1 . . . 500 00 
 40 Bushels Oats, at 50 cts. 20 00 
 500 Bushels Carrots, at 20 
 
 cts 100 00 
 
 160 Bushels Turnips, at 20 
 
 cts 32 00 
 
 4 Straw Cutters 50 00 
 
 1 Feed Trough 4 00 
 
 12 Hay Forks 3 00 
 
 6 Rakes 1 00 
 
 12 Manure Forks 1200 
 
 20 Shovels 5 00 
 
 9 Spades 5 00 
 
 12 Picks 12 00 
 
 Manure Troll 1 00 
 
 7 Iron Bars 7 00 
 
 3 Stone Hammers 5 00 
 
 1 Ox Wason 40 00 
 
 1 Horse Wagon 20 00 
 
 3 Carts 70 OOl 
 
 2 Horse Carts 35 00 
 
 3 Stone Drags 5 00 
 
 G Ploughs 30 00 
 
 3 Harrows 12 00 
 
 2 Cultivators 4 00 
 
 2 Hand Cultivators 4 OOl 
 
 REAL ESTATE. 
 
 Land, supposed about 285 acres $8,400 00 
 
 Farm Barn 1 ,600 00 
 
 Two Dwelling-houses 2,000 00 $12,000 00 
 
 Total $16,08100 
 
 8 Ox Yokes 10 00 
 
 8 Draft Chains 8 00 
 
 4 Trace Chains 3 00 
 
 4 Stake Chains 3 00 
 
 20x Sleds 10 00 
 
 2 Horse Sleds 12 00 
 
 1 Buffgy 50 00 
 
 1 Sleigh 25 00 
 
 Harness 65 00 
 
 Stable Furniture, Buffa- 
 lo Robes, &c 15 00 
 
 Articles in the Tool Room 10 00 
 
 1 Iron Roller 20 00 
 
 1 Fanning Mill and Corn 
 
 Sheller 12 00 
 
 Seed Corn 4 00 
 
 5 Bushels Beans 10 00 
 
 8 Door Chains 2 00 
 
 1 Seed Sower 5 00 
 
 2 Pairs Steelyards 3 00 
 
 54 Bushels Potatoes 40 00 
 
 150 Pounds Guano 4 00 
 
 Superphosphate 48 00 
 
 1 50 Strawberry Boxes 4 00 
 
 17 Hoes 3 00 
 
 1 Drill 2 00 
 
 10 Wheelbarrows 6 00 
 
 Beetle and Wedges 2 00 
 
 Lot of Measures 1 00 
 
 Grass Shears 1 00 
 
 Iron Rakes 1 00 
 
 4 Water Cans 4 00 
 
 3 Bog Hooks 
 
 9 Axes 
 
 3 Saws 
 
 3 Ice Hooks 
 
 Tongs 
 
 2 Cross-cut Saws. 
 
 2 Hand Saws 
 
 12 Baskets 
 
 6 Scythes 2 00 
 
 12 Snaiths 6 00 
 
 Grindstone 7 00 
 
 $4,081 00 
 
76 
 
 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 INVENTORY 
 
 Of Personal Property on ilie State Farm, Westboro', Dec. I, 1858. 
 
 30 
 20 
 200 
 100 
 50 
 25 
 25 
 20 
 
 60xen ^'530 
 
 17 Cows 850 
 
 2 Hereford Cows 300 
 
 1 Hereford Bull 200 
 
 1 Hereford two yearling 
 
 Heifer 100 
 
 1 Hereford Bull Calf.... 75 
 1 Jersey Cow, (diseased 
 
 in udder) 40 
 
 1 Jersey Heifer 100 
 
 1 Devon Cow 100 
 
 1 Devon Heifer two years 
 
 old 
 
 1 Devon Heifer one year 
 
 old 
 
 1 Devon Heifer Calf. . . . 
 
 1 Durham Cow 
 
 1 Durham Bull Calf. . . . 
 1 Durham Heifer Calf. . . 
 1 Grade Devon Heifer. . . 
 1 Grade Jersey Heifer . . . 
 
 1 Grade Ayshire Calf 
 
 lAyshireBuU 75 
 
 5 Horses 500 
 
 2 Fat Hogs $>30 00 
 
 4 Breeding Sows.. 60 00 
 
 1 Boar 25 00 
 
 52Shotes 300 00 
 
 14 Sucking Pigs. . . 'k5 00 440 
 81 tons English Hay . . .. 1,215 
 
 4 tons Rowen 60 
 
 36 tons Meadow Hay 250 
 
 2 tons Millet 24 
 
 6 tons Straw Hay 48 
 
 15 tons Corn Stover 1 20 
 
 536 bushels Shelled Indian 
 
 Corn 53G 
 
 590 bushels Ruta-Bagas. . . 118 
 
 1520 bushels Turnips 304 
 
 107G bushels Carrots 269 
 
 117 bushels Seed Potatoes. 58 
 50 bushels Oats 27 
 
 2 bushels Buckwheat 1 
 
 30 bushels Wheat 45 
 
 8 bushels Barley. . . 'r> 
 
 3 bushels Rye 3 
 
 670 bushels Beets 167 
 
 400 bushels Parsnii^s, by es- 
 timation 100 
 
 4 Hay Cutters 40 
 
 1 Feed Trough 4 
 
 10 Hay Forks 4 
 
 30 Hay Rakes 5 
 
 26 Manure Forks 32 
 
 50 00 
 
 100 
 22 
 61 
 2 
 15 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 4 
 3 
 10 
 4 
 1 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 5 
 9 
 2 
 6 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 Shovels 50 00 
 
 Spades 18 00 
 
 Picks 61 00 
 
 Manure Hooks 100 
 
 Iron Bars 15 00 
 
 Stone Hammers 5 00 
 
 Ox Wagon 35 00 
 
 Two-Horse Wagon 20 00 
 
 One-Horse Wagon 15 00 
 
 Lumber Wagon 50 00 
 
 Job Wagon 60 00 
 
 Ox Carts 60 00 
 
 Horse Carts 140 00 
 
 Stone Drags 6 00 
 
 Ploughs 90 00 
 
 Harrows 20 00 
 
 Cultivator 3 00 
 
 Horse Hoes 12 00 
 
 Hand Cultivators 2 00 
 
 Horse Harrow 4 00 
 
 Ox Yokes 12 00 
 
 Draft Chains 12 00 
 
 Derrick Chains 10 00 
 
 Stake Chains 4 00 
 
 Ox Sled 4 00 
 
 Horse Sled • 5 00 
 
 Two-Ilorse Double-run- 
 ner Sled 10 00 
 
 Pleasure Sleigh 10 00 
 
 lot of old Harnesses. . . 32 00 
 
 Harness 10 00 
 
 Horse- Cart Harnesses. 32 00 
 
 Trace Chains 3 00 
 
 Stable Furniture 10 00 
 
 Furniture in Scale Room 5 00 
 
 Iron Roller 20 00 
 
 Fanning Mill and Corn 
 
 Shelier 12 00 
 
 Stone Elevator 165 00 
 
 bushels Seed Corn 4 00 
 
 bushel Seed Beans 2 00 
 
 Seed Sower 3 00 
 
 Platform Scale 7 00 
 
 Strawberry Boxes 100 
 
 Hand Hoes 20 00 
 
 Hand Drills 6 00 
 
 Hand Hammers 3 00 
 
 Wheelbarrows 40 00 
 
 Beetle, with Wedges.. 2 00 
 
 Grindstones 10 00 
 
 Water Cans 2 00 
 
 Bog Hoes 5 00 
 
 Axes 5 00 
 
 WoodSaws 5 00 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 ii 
 
 Glee Hooks 2 00 
 
 1 pair Ice Tongs 2 00 
 
 2 Cross-cut Saws 6 00 
 
 Carpenters' Tools 18 00 
 
 G Scythes and Snaiths. . • 3 00 
 
 20 Baskets 6 00 
 
 18 Milk Cans 10 00 
 
 500 feet Pine Lumber 7 00 
 
 4 Buckets 1 00 
 
 3 Milk Pails 60 
 
 1 Siu-cyor 's Chain 2 00 
 
 1 Ox Shovel G 00 
 
 I Spirit Level 2 00 
 
 1 Swill Cart 40 00 
 
 1 Uct'rigerator 10 00 
 
 2 Derricks 75 00 
 
 Household Furniture.. 100 00 
 
 1 Garden Rue 75 
 
 15 Corn Cutters 2 00 
 
 1 Root Cutter 10 00 
 
 1 Saddle 4 00 
 
 8 Iron-Toothed Rakes. . . 3 00 
 
 3 Wheel Hoes 3 00 
 
 1 AVheel Stone Drag 8 00 
 
 G Stone Boat Pin nk 5 00 
 
 Plank for six Sled Run- 
 ners fi 00 
 
 Furniture in Black- 
 
 smitl^'sShop 30 00 
 
 Gate Hangings 5 00 
 
 20 Weedine Trowels 1 2U 
 
 1 Corn Fork 1 50 
 
 Carboy Sulphuric Acid 6 51 
 
 1 I'run'g Saw and Chisel 1 00 
 
 8 Corn Bags 1 00 
 
 4 Sack Bags 50 
 
 15 Acres of Winter Rye on 
 
 the Ground 75 00 
 
 $^: 
 
 870 56 
 373 48 
 
 Cash on hand Bee. 1, 1858, 
 
 Total $59,244 04 
 
 C. L. Flint in Account with 
 
 The State Boaed of Agricultuke. 
 
 1854. Dr. 
 
 April 13, To cash received from State Treasurer, $500 00 
 
 " 18, " cash received frorc State Treasurer, 500 00 
 
 May 23, " cash received from State Treasurer, 300 00 
 
 June 20, " cash received from State Treasurer, 900 00 
 
 " 25, " cash received from State Treasurer, 200 00 
 
 July 1, " cash received from State Treasurer, 500 00 
 
 " 3, " cash received from State Treasurer, 100 00 
 
 Aug. 3, " cash received from State Treasurer, 750 00 
 
 Sept. 4, " cash received from State Treasurer, 850 00 
 
 Oct. 5, " cash received from State Treasui'er, 800 00 
 
 " 7, " cash received from State Treasurer, 200 0;> 
 
 Nov. 4, " cash received from State Treasurer, 400 00 
 
 *' 27, " cash received from Treas. State Ref. School,.. . 500 00 
 
 $6,500 00 
 1854. Ck. 
 
 April 13, By cash paid fe-r two yoke of oxen at $1C0 $320 00 
 
 " 13, " cash paid S. N. White for expenses on the firm 153 00 
 " 19, " cash p .id Rngglc^, Kourse and Mason for tools, 
 
 guano, (Sic." 328 92 
 
 May 17, " cash paid Davenport for sujjerphosphate 23 97 
 
 " 17, " c ish paid Stearns for potash to be used on the 
 
 firm 31 76 
 
 " 19, " cash 15 ud Morrill for ground bone 12 50 
 
 " 20, " cash paid J. Newell for farmdiorsc 170 00 
 
 "^ 23, " cash paid Hammond for nails, posts, &c., tor 
 
 piggery 200 00 
 
 June 20, " cash paid Eaton for lumber for piggery, i^c. .. 827 29 
 
 " 28, " cash paid Hammond fur shini:;les, labor, &c 209 00 
 
 7* 
 
- 78 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 July 
 
 1, 
 
 (( 
 
 13, 
 
 Aug. 
 
 3, 
 
 " 
 
 3, 
 
 Sept. 
 
 7, 
 
 *' 
 
 16, 
 
 Oct. 
 
 5, 
 
 << 
 
 7, 
 
 Nov. 
 
 3, 
 
 " 
 
 7, 
 
 " 
 
 15, 
 
 ti 
 
 28, 
 
 cash paid S. N. White to pay laborcis on farm G50 00 
 cash paid Stevens for scales lor tlie farm . ... . 17 81 
 cash paid Hammond for labor, lumber, &c., for 
 
 Pii 
 
 5.50 00 
 
 S. Nrwhite to pay for hay 212 00 
 
 cash paid S. N. White for expenses on the farm 135 00 
 cash paid Hammond fjr labor on piggery and 
 
 tool house 594 00 
 
 cash paid S. N. "White for laborers on the farm 828 12 
 
 cash pail S. N. W'liite for expenses on tlie firm 240 00 
 
 cash jjaid S. Brown for mounting map of survey 1 50 
 
 ' cash paid Hammond for labor on tool house. . . 300 00 
 
 ■ cash paid Hammond for labor on tool house. . . 175 00 
 
 cash paid S. N. White for labor on the farm 125 00 
 
 $0,095 87 
 By cash on hand Dec. 1, 1854, 404 18 
 
 $G,500 00 
 
 Boston, Dec. 1, 1854. 
 I have examined the foregoing account, and find it correctly cast and 
 properly vouched. 
 
 J. H. W. PAGE, 
 
 Chairman of Auditing Committee. 
 
 In presenting tliese estimates I want the reader to 
 distinctly understand, that the object is not to find fault, 
 but a desire to place things truly before the people ; for 
 the Board of Agriculture claim that they can benefit 
 the farmer, by instructing him to farm in a way that 
 will be lucrative and pleasant. And of course if they 
 can show other folks how to farm profitably and pleas- 
 antly, they can do so themselves, for they cannot im- 
 part to others what they do not know. 
 
 This is where I take issue with them, for I believe 
 that they do not know how to farm profitably them- 
 selves, and if they undertook to do so, it could not be 
 done pleasantly. Also, that they do not intend to ben- 
 efit the farmer, and if they did so, the State, with ex- 
 isting public pohcy, would not appropriate a single 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 79 
 
 dollar to aid tliem, and they (the Board) would be the 
 last men in the world to ask it. For they practice upon 
 the belief that their interest, and the interest of their 
 aiders and abetters, is in antagonism with the interest 
 and good of the farmer. The power behind the throne 
 being more potent than the throne itself. 
 
 Therefore, I again call attention to the schedules 
 here presented, as a part of my argument against them. 
 In their estimate of the property when it came into 
 their possession, April 1, 1854, they appraised 36 head 
 of neat cattle at $1,510.00, or SllH a piece. On Dec. 
 1, 1858, they make their 41 head of cattle worth $2,- 
 810.00, or $68|f a head. Making cattle worth some 
 50 per cent, more in the fall of the year than in the 
 spring, after being wintered through. This is not all, 
 for every intelligent farmer knows that, ail things be- 
 ing equal, the sale value of cattle in the fall of 1858, 
 was some 50 per cent, less than it was in the spring of 
 1854. 
 
 There are many other items in these inventories that 
 I do not care to notice, but are worthy of a moment's 
 attention to the reader in passing. And then, in view 
 of all these facts, and the many others I shall notice in 
 these pages, with what claim of fairness can they say 
 they have cleared or saved money for the State, unless 
 in their definition of the term (" State ") they mean a 
 few speculators, stock jobbers, and State House farm- 
 ers. 
 
 And then the idea of Mr. Flint, that they required a 
 special " appropriation " by the State, to possess them- 
 
80 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 selves of a simple contrivance to cart liquid manure to 
 the field, to be used by a " man and boy," and for the 
 lack of vv^hich, they lost some f 3,000 worth a year, of a 
 " valuable " fertilizer, and run the risk of breeding a 
 disease among the people that might have depopulated 
 the whole village ; and according to his account of the 
 matter, they should have been indicted as a common 
 nuisance. A simple contrivance of a half hogshead 
 rigged upon a pair of horse cart wheels, that might 
 have cost 50 or GO cents, would have answered very 
 well as a temporary affair, till they could have got an 
 '■ act " through the Legislature making a special appro- 
 priation for the purpose, as follows : 
 
 An Act to protect the olfactory nerves of the Board 
 in their peregrinations at Westboro', from the effluvium 
 escaping from liquid ammoniacal destruction. 
 
 Just think of it, two dwelling-houses, f 2,000 ; 1 pig- 
 gery, $2,500 ! And let me say that Westboro' is not 
 the only place where the pig-sty is the most costly of 
 the two, for this is the " poetry " of the Board, (if I 
 understand it,) reduced to plain "prose." Human 
 farm cattle is but the adjunct to improved " Durhams " 
 and grunting " Berkshires." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BOAED OP AGRICULTURE, CONTUSrUED. 
 
 Public Meeting at the State House — Resolutions — Massachusetts Society 
 — A New Society — The labor of the Old Countries — We have as yet 
 done nothing for Agriculture — Price of Products — Glut the Markets 
 — Keep your Heifer C.ilves — Plant one acre more — The i^rice of Farms 
 — Agricultural Fairs — Calf Raising — Cost of Raising — Net loss— No 
 funds of their own— Another State Fair — Three thousand dollars — Mr. 
 Fay and the Hay Crop — Profit — The Price of Cattle — Auction — 
 50,000 Paupers — Legislators — City Property — Fancy Farming — Fast 
 Horses — Distress in the West — Farm Products not Remunerating — 
 No. of Agricultural Societies — Currency. 
 
 In the early part of 1857, a public meeting was 
 called at the State House for the purpose of deliberat- 
 ing upon the expediency of establishing a new State 
 Agricultural Society. This was in addition to the 
 Massachusetts Society and the Board of Agriculture. 
 
 The meeting was called to order by Mr. Marston, 
 of Barnstable, and on motion, Col. J. H. W. Paige, 
 of Boston, was called on to preside, and Benj. F. Mills, 
 of Williamstown, was appointed Secretary. 
 
 Mr. Comstock, of Springfield, introduced the follow- 
 ing resolution : — 
 
 Ilesolved — That a Committee, to consist of one member from 
 each County here represented, be appointed by the Chuir, to con- 
 sider and report on the propriety of organizing a State Agricul- 
 
 81 
 
82 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 tural Society, and if deemed proper by them, to report a plan of 
 organization for such Society. 
 
 This resolution was discussed by Hon. M. P. Wilder, 
 Mr. Proctor, of Danvers, Hon. Simon Brown, and 
 others. 
 
 Mr. Lewis, of Framingham, said " he was a member 
 of the old chrysalis society, and of the Board of Agri- 
 culture. He found great ignorance among the people 
 concerning the State Agi-icultural Society ; many knew 
 nothing about it. It had a respectable existence, he 
 believed, in State street, and was likely to be a money 
 making concern. The State paid it $600 per annum, 
 and some said it was spent in good dinners ; and he was 
 glad that the Western people had come here and de- 
 manded to know what was really done with the money. 
 The result of this meeting would propably be to bring 
 out the State Society to the doing of some good, as it 
 ouGfht to do, and it would not be a bad thin2; that the 
 incorporation of some Young American blood should 
 speedily take place among the old-fogy, aristocratic, 
 but respectable members of the Society." 
 
 It came out in the discussion of the above resolution, 
 that the Massachusetts Society had done some good, 
 according to the interpretation given by the various 
 speakers, who seem to be, as far as rej)orted, mainly 
 composed of the old Massachusetts Society and the 
 Board of Agriculture. They had imported some blood 
 stock, had appropriated $1000 for the best mowing ma- 
 chine, and had also appropriated another thousand to 
 be distributed in premiums by the United States Agri- 
 cultural Society. 
 
 Mr. Copeland, of Lexington, " complained that noth- 
 ing yet had been said in favor of estabhshing a new 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 83 
 
 society. And no one had stated, in describing tne ad- 
 vantages held out by the old society, that these advan- 
 tages were such as the farmers in the State demanded. 
 *•' He thought that, as compared with the associations 
 of other countries, the labors of agricultural societies 
 were as nothing. They have never had, in the first 
 place, a sufficient support from the State, and they 
 were not able to penetrate below the crust of informa- 
 tion which the farmer demanded. They had never 
 encourased the talent of such men as Liebio:, Bous- 
 singault, or Johnson, or had a literature that was as 
 respectable as it ought to be. The agricultural news- 
 papers of the country," Mr. Copeland said, " were 
 much beloAv the standard of those of other countries ; 
 and he Avould not be satisfied that the literary duties 
 of our agricultural societies were properly done, until 
 they established a quarterly journal of agriculture, as 
 other countries had. Agricultural professorships in 
 our colleges should also be established, and the farmer 
 inade to know that wearing a green jacket and blue 
 overalls and driving a team, was not all that designated 
 a farmer — but that he was a man of mind, and should 
 impart it to his occupation. He moved that a com- 
 mittee of five be appointed to take into consideration 
 whether anything can be done to benefit the cause 
 of agriculture in this Commonwealth in a permanent 
 shape." 
 
 The above, among others, are the things that were 
 said and done at this meeting. And I place them in 
 these pages, because they foreshadow what I have all 
 along said, that we have just commenced, as it were, 
 to tamper with the agricultural interests of this coun- 
 try. Not a word has been said about the cost 
 and market price of a single article produced upon the 
 farm. Their whole object seems to be to glut the mar- 
 ket with all the goodies of the farm, at the lowest pes- 
 
84 TARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 slble price. They are fond of nice roasts, porter-house 
 steaks, and plum pudding, and they know tliat the way 
 to get them cheap is to keep the supply in excess of 
 the demand. Therefore all manner of plans are insti- 
 tuted to deceive the farmer, professing great friendship 
 for him, till his crops are well started and the largest 
 breadth possible is appropriated, and twice as many 
 cattle are raised as are needed, and then they turn 
 round and laugh at them for their stupidity. Thus in 
 1855 and 1856, the hue and cry went round the coun- 
 try, — " keep your heifer calves." At this time cattle 
 had been selling at prices nearly remunerating. That 
 is, a prudent farmer could get some pay for his labor 
 and some per cent, on his capital, by producing milk, 
 beef, cattle, butter, &c. But this did not suit our city 
 friends. 
 
 To elucidate what I have said, I will give a state- 
 ment which is published in the Secretary's Ecport of 
 the Board of Agriculture. I shall suppress the name, 
 because I presume the owner is not very anxious to 
 have it in this connection made any more notorious. 
 
 " The ten calves which I have entered for premium, 
 do not come under the rules for premium, as they are 
 not over four months and ten days old. They are ten, 
 taken from eighty-six, that I have raised since the 1st 
 of November, 1856. I then began to raise calves by 
 getting them from milk farms, where they could be 
 obtained at one dollar per head, thinking that 1 might 
 raise eight or ten heifers for cows, but they did not 
 want to part with heifers and not males, so I took 
 both, and continued through the winter to the 20th of 
 May, 1857. 
 
 " I then had sixty three living, and had lost seven by 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 85 
 
 the scours and cold weather. The herd had beccme 
 so hirgc that I then turned them to pasture in Kew 
 Hampshire, about ninety miles off. I lost three by 
 having to leave them out over night, in a cold rain, 
 snow and hail storm, on the journey. They became 
 chilled and died after they were turned to pasture. I 
 lost two by scours and one by getting mired. The 
 rest, fifty-seven in number, are doing well. I have 
 continued to raise all that I could get since the 20th of 
 May. There are now twenty-nine calves, at home, of 
 which these ten are the oldest. 
 
 " I have tried to raise them as cheap as I could, and 
 in order to do this I have tried various ways, as milk 
 has been high and sells well on account of the high 
 price of cows ; and many families are not willing to 
 pay for fodder and cows the money asked, choosing to 
 buy their milk. The price for milk is four cents per 
 quart at the house, in Beverly, and six cents delivered. 
 I tried oil cake boiled and mixed with milk, which does 
 well if too much is not given at a time, as in most cases 
 it will give calves the scours. I have used scalded In- 
 dian meal and milk, and scalded flour and milk, all of 
 which does very well if care is taken not to over-feed, 
 so as to bring on the scours. This disease is bad, for 
 it takes a long time for the calves to recover from it, 
 and if over-fed it will come on again. 
 
 " The cost of raising is about |2.50 per head, until 
 weaned. The last twenty-nine have been turned to 
 pasture as soon as taken from the cows, at one, two and 
 three days old ; thete they learned to eat grass and 
 drink water while young. When from three to four 
 weeks old they would eat sufficient to wean, and were 
 left to graze for themselves. No meal has been given 
 the last twenty-nine ; scalded meal and flour, milk and 
 grass, has been their keeping." 
 
 Thus it seems, our friend went into the calf-business 
 quite extensively, and I suppose then had fuU faith in 
 
86 FAEMJiSG AS IT IS. 
 
 the judgment of the fancy, and thought their philan- 
 thropy unbounded, as they had calved out an expedir 
 tious way to those bhssful days when a man can sit 
 down under his own " vine and iig tree," and enjoy the 
 well-earned fruits of a successful speculation, I pro- 
 pose to bring those calves up to the present time and 
 see what they have cost, — what they will bring in the 
 market, and count the profits ; as this is the time to 
 sell them when they are just coming into use. The 
 steers it would be well to let them run another sum- 
 mer, but the heifers we will suppose all to come in this 
 spring, (18G0,) and although they must be small, and 
 what would be termed ordinary, if the eame process 
 was continued in feeding, that was commenced. Yet, 
 it costs less to bring cattle up in this way than it does 
 on better keeping. But, I suppose our friend had an 
 eye to the profits, rather than the fancy of the article. 
 I shall have to make an average thing of it, and if I 
 deviate at all, it shall be in favor of my ambitious 
 friend. 
 
 If I understand my friend correctly, he bought in 
 all, 86, and lost in various ways, 10, leaving 76. If I 
 do not understand him correctly, he will please excuse 
 me, for if he had a larger number than this, his profits 
 will be greater, and if less, less. But, as I shall reckon 
 them by the head, it will not make any essential dif- 
 ference. 
 
BOAED or AGRICULTURE. 87 
 
 Calves Dr. 
 
 To first cost $8G 00 
 
 " keeping till weaned, at $2.50 per head 190.00 
 
 " two men, horse and wagon 8 days, to drive to pasture 
 
 90 miles 24.00 
 
 " expense on the road 40.00 
 
 " pasturing and salt, at $1.50 per head, 1857 114.00 
 
 " expense returning from pasture 50.00 
 
 " wintering 76 calves, at S8,00 per head 608.00 
 
 " driving to pasture, pasturing, and return, at $3,00 
 
 per head, 1858 228.00 
 
 « wintering, at $9,00 per head 684.00 
 
 " pasturing, driving, &c., 1859, at $3.50 per head. ... 266.00 
 
 " wintering, at $11,00 per head, 1860 836.00 
 
 " interest on investment 120.00 
 
 Total expenditure $3,246.00 
 
 Cr. 
 By 76 three year old steers and heifers, at $25,00 per 
 
 head $1,900.00 
 
 Nett loss $1,346,00 
 
 All the explanation this needs, is this. The cattle 
 must be pretty nice to bring these prices this spring, 
 and the keeping has been such as would make only or- 
 dinary cattle, as every farmer can testify. Coarse 
 meadow hay and a Httle meal the first winter, (1857,) 
 and the last part of this winter, (I860,) is all that 
 could be allowed. It would take a man but a few 
 years to spend a fortune in this business. How this 
 man managed with his cattle, I do not know ; perhaps 
 some died the first winter, if so, it would seem to be 
 fortunate, as far as profits are concerned. But this I 
 know, that there has been no time they could be sold 
 without a loss, and the sooner the smaller. Perhaps 
 my friend did not think when commencing the business, 
 it would be so general. But he must recollect that a 
 
88 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 very large joart of the fanners hare no other way for 
 means to pay their taxes, etore bills, and the thousand 
 other things they must have, but to sell their stock. 
 
 It seems th.at it cost to raise these cattle, to reckon as 
 closely as I have reckoned, $42,71^*^ each. I have 
 made no allowance for accidents or mishaps, which un- 
 doubtedly there must have been many ; and yet a loss 
 of $17,71^*j has been sustained on each creature. If it 
 should be claimed that the sale price is too low, let me 
 say that I have this month, Feb. 1860, bought of a cat- 
 tle trader, second handed, from a member of the Board 
 of Agriculture, a three year old heifer, forward in calf, 
 and in all particulars, as far as I could judge, having 
 the requisites of a good cow, for $22,00, or three dollars 
 less than these are appraised at. One fact in agriculture 
 is worth a bushel of theories, and, that truth and right 
 may be established, ought to be a satisfactory reason to 
 all, for this reference. I know of my own knowledge, 
 that no man can make moderate wages, and a small 
 per cent, en his investment, by raising medium cattle 
 at a less price than $20 for the first year, $15 for the 
 second, the same for the third, and then the price must 
 be increased, unless we get either milk or work from 
 them. I also presume that few farmers need be told 
 that generally it is better to sell cattle from the farm 
 than cattle food ; but, if this does not pay for the labor 
 bestowed, every farmer ought to know that it is better 
 to cease cropping the land, as the crop of this year is 
 the very best material to make succeeding crops that 
 can be devised, and to remove them without sufficient 
 
BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 89 
 
 compensation for the labor bestowed to do this, and 
 also pay for labor and expense to return to the soil the 
 fertilizing material taken off, is idle, and wasting one's 
 energies to no good to himself,, and a positive injury to 
 others. 
 
 In another part of this work I shall explain more 
 particularly how this is, and how it is that the farmers 
 live, and how that, by the sale of their products below 
 the cost, they are putting their capital and labor com- 
 bined against the poor man's labor, thereby crushing 
 the poor to the condition of the serfs of the old coun- 
 tries, and hastening those " halcyon days " that has 
 been so eloquently and graphically elaborated upon, by 
 those particular friends of the farmer, in the resolutions 
 and remarks which are partially introduced at the 
 commencement of this chapter. 
 
 Any one to read over carefully the report of the 
 meeting to which I have referred, also the speeches of 
 the various individuals who compose the Board of Ag- 
 riculture, and many others, who are at work through 
 the press and in other ways, cannot help seeing that a 
 strong effort is being made to establish in this country 
 similar institutions that exist in the old countries, to 
 keep down the pi'ice of labor. I class all workmg far- 
 mers with all other working men, and think they all 
 should be tenacious of their rights, and look sharp to 
 their Interests. It does not follow that because a man 
 has a farm he should continue to crop it, unless the 
 crops yield a return equal to a small ])er cent, as profit 
 8* 
 
90 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 after paying for the labor, over the value of the raw 
 material composing the article produced. 
 
 For as long as the farmers sell their products below 
 the cost of production, a man would be a fool to buy a 
 farm. And this is the reason why farms are continually 
 growing cheaper. When the population and wealth of 
 the State are rapidly increasing, this class of property 
 is going the other way. And to this cause may be 
 attributed neai'ly all of the revulusions in trade and 
 manufactures, which are so common of late, and so 
 alarming in their extent and influence upon the people. 
 The former's sons throu2;hout this and other New En^;- 
 land States, as soon as they come to years of discre- 
 tion and obtain their majority, become disgusted with 
 the rewards of their toil upon the farm, seeing that 
 they have no means of supplying many of the most 
 common and reasonable wants of life, rush into anything 
 and everything, having no previous culture or training, 
 hoping to strike a favorable vein, but soon learn to their 
 horror that they have not only made a mistake, and lost 
 their time, but in too many instances, the funds of some 
 kind friend has been sacrificed. They then either re- 
 turn to the farm, or if too proud for this, choose rather 
 to become the " hewers of Avood and drawers of water" 
 in some city, and too often bring disgrace and pain upon 
 their friends when they are least able to bear it. This 
 is a brief but too true a picture of every day life in 
 " fiirming as it is ; " and shows conclusively the absurd- 
 ity of supposing that our sons can do, what we never 
 have done, earn a li\ing at farming. It is true we live, 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 91 
 
 but not by our trade. And that farmer who does not 
 often make success outside of his calling, has got to 
 either half live, waste his acres, or sell for a price what 
 little plant-food yet remains in the soil, without the 
 means to reinstate it. 
 
 This is New England farming, and although this and 
 other States spend large sums, and stop at no means to 
 create a large surplus in the market, seldom do any- 
 thing to ascertain the prime cost of a single article pro- 
 duced. 
 
 What they denominate good farming, that is, over- 
 stocking the mai'ket with farm products, is to the far- 
 mer the worst kind of farming, for when we fail to get 
 the cost of our products, not only is our labor in the 
 same proportion lost, but our past earnings has to be 
 sacrificed, that the non-producers may eat the bread of 
 plenty at a small cost. 
 
 If the Board of Agriculture really wanted to benefit 
 the farmer, as they profess, it would be the simplest 
 thing in the Avorld to institute measures to do it. Not 
 that the farmers desire to have them do this, for I am 
 very sure that if they cannot do their own cyphering, 
 no body of men that can be instituted, will do it to 
 their advantage for them. 
 
 But supposing this, supposing that the State in her 
 corporate capacity, acting through the Board of Agri- 
 culture, desired the elevation, remuneration and posi- 
 tive good of the farmer, and this Board were the expo- 
 nents of this idea, what then would the Board do ? 
 Would they say that farming was the most profitable 
 
92 TAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 business In the world, paying a profit of several hun- 
 dred per cent., and at the same time healthy, respect- 
 able and honorable ? Would they not, in the first 
 place, go to work and ascertain if such was the fact? Af- 
 ter having tried it for five years under the most favorable 
 circumstances that any man or body of men ever went 
 to farming, and there ascertained that they could not 
 make the farm pay the labor bill, to say nothing about 
 any per cent, on a capital of some $30,000, when this 
 labor, much of it, was to them comparatively of no 
 cost at all. For if those boys were bad, that is no evi- 
 dence that they were not good to work, and many of 
 them Avere capable of doing more than half a man's 
 labor. 
 
 If they were really honest, and meant to return to 
 the farmer information that would be some compensa- 
 tion for the cost to the farmer of their support, would 
 they in their next report, after having failed in their ex- 
 periment at Wcstboro', cited as evidence of the mon- 
 strous profits of farming, the fact of a man who in order 
 to obtain a premium, reported that he made nearly 200 
 per cent, profit on a crop of oats, when to do this he 
 had sold to a neighbor straw enough to fill a bed, and 
 charged him a cent per pound for it, and then called 
 his 4,500 pounds worth $45,00. Is that " publishing 
 only what is useful,' or is it deceiving the people ? 
 Every farmer knows that ordinarily oat straw is worth 
 but little for the purpose to which it is usually put. 
 And this is the purpose which the Board recommend 
 tlie farmers to put it to, viz., feeding to ttock. 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 93 
 
 For the last few years, nearly all the straw, and most 
 other food, that has been fed to cattle has been a total 
 loss to the farmer, as the value Increase has been hardly 
 enough to pay the labor bill. Perhaps my friend will 
 pardon a single suggestion if he should think of com- 
 peting for the society's premium another year on the 
 oat crop, as the straw hed invention may possibly be 
 overdone, as most original ideas that are made to pay, 
 soon are, from coming in contact with a ruinous com- 
 petition that most inventive geniuses have to meet ; 
 therefore, he will please excuse this intimation: that 
 the straw, after being well threshed, might be arranged 
 into hen^s nests, and a smart pedler would soon dispose 
 of enough to establish the price, even though the "hen 
 fever " did not rage to much extent, at possibly some 
 $40 or $50 per ton, as most people are not very partic- 
 ular about what they pay, when purchasing an article 
 in homoeopathic doses, thus putting an end to all con- 
 troversy in regard to the profits of agriculture. 
 
 If the Board had desired the farmers benefit, would 
 they have recommended some four years ago for them 
 to keep their heifer calves, when stock was at the prices 
 then obtained, hardly a day-wages business. Or did 
 they all, like Mr. Fay, think that the crops might be 
 increased five-fold and not decrease the value. Either 
 their honesty or their simplicity Is here at fault ! 
 Either or both positions prove that however valuable 
 they may be to the speculators and loafers, they are of 
 no benefit to the farmer. 
 
94 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 THE STATE FAIR. 
 
 At the meeting called at tlie State House to form a 
 new State Society, to which I have referred at the 
 commencement of this chapter, in order to stave off 
 the object of those who called it, the Board of Agri- 
 culture voted to hold an exhibition in conjunction with 
 the Massachusetts Society. The Massachusetts So- 
 ciety have some three hundred members, is in an 
 annual receipt of $600 from the State, besides gifts 
 and bequests from other sources, and have a fund of 
 some $34,000, mostly in banks. You have seen what 
 one of its members says in regard to how it spends its 
 income, &c. 
 
 In due time, the Board issued what may be termed 
 a manifesto to the public, containing a declaration of 
 their intentions. The following is taken from its pages. 
 
 "First State Exhibition by the Massachu- 
 setts Board of Agriculture, with the patronage 
 of the Massachusetts Society for the Promo- 
 tion OF Agriculture, to be held in Boston, Octo- 
 ber, 1857." 
 
 Eight thousand dollars was offered in premiums, and 
 some one or two thousand in discretionary premiums. 
 
 The list of officers was as follows, all taken from the 
 Board : — 
 
 President — Marshall P. Wilder. 
 Secretanj — Chas. L. Flint. 
 Treasurer — William G. Lewis. 
 
 Committee of Arrangements. 
 
 Marshall P. Wilder, Samuel Chandler, 
 
 John Brooks, George Marston, 
 
 William G. Lewis, Moses Newell, 
 
 Thomas J. Field. 
 
BOARD OF AGRICUTURE. 95 
 
 "Premiums," (our) [their] manifesto says, "will 
 be paid in silver plate or money ^ at the option of suc- 
 cessful competitors." 
 
 Mr. Flint says, in his report, page 15, 1858 : — 
 
 " The trustees of the Massachusetts Society for the 
 Promotion of Agriculture, with their characteristic lib- 
 erality, very generously volunteered to contribute two 
 thousand dollars towards defraying the expenses of the 
 Fair. In addition to this, a guarantee fund ^i fifteen 
 thousand dollars was immediately raised, with the un- 
 derstanding that the Fair should be held in Boston." 
 
 Our Secretary further says, on the page above re- 
 ferred to : — 
 
 " These preliminaries arranged, no pains were spared 
 to make the preparations for the Fair as complete as 
 possible. The schedule of premiums was extensively 
 distributed, and ample and liberal encouragement of- 
 fered for all classes of farm stock, farm products, farm 
 implements, domestic manufactures, and the mechanic 
 arts." 
 
 The " schedule of premiums " covered about twenty 
 pages of their manifesto, and embraced about every- 
 thing that can be thought of in connection with fancy 
 farming. The premiums had a wide range of from 
 five to fifty dollars, although some small articles run as 
 low as two dollars. 
 
 In this same report the Secretary further says — 
 
 " Exhibitors appeared in great numbers, and with 
 spirited emulation, and the judges being nearly all 
 present, proceeded promptly with their examinations." 
 
 Thus it would seem, according to our Secretary's 
 
96 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 account, that nearly all things were favorable for a 
 successful operation. 
 
 There were two things, however, which operated 
 against them. One was, it was hard times in the busi- 
 ness world, and the lateness of the season, (Oct. 20th, 
 21st, 22d, and 2od,) was another reason why a failure 
 was the result. This is the reasoning of the Board, 
 according to their published account. 
 
 To make a short story of it, the " fifteen thousand 
 dollars " came up missing. When the facts came out, 
 that the farmers went there with their cattle, &c., after 
 the forty and fifty dollar premiums, and not to spend 
 money, but chose rather to sleep in the stalls with their 
 stock, as they had no money to spend at the hotels 
 and grog shops of the city, finding that they Avere 
 badly sold, and the best they could do, the larger pre- 
 miums would hardly make them whole, even at the 
 most prudent rates, yet judge of their surprise, when 
 after a long delay, it was announced that not even the 
 money they paid, as an entrance fee, could be returned, 
 but must be paid off in twenty-five cent pictures, at the 
 rate of five and ten dollars apiece. The farmers think 
 this was paying rather dearly for the- autographs of 
 H, J. Gardner and C. L. Flint. At any rate, it is not 
 what they bargained for. Although, if it sets them to 
 thinking, as perhaps it will, it may prove the best in- 
 vestment they could possibly make. 
 
 It seems that when these cunning fellows, the Bos- 
 ton speculators, got into a " sled," they thought to 
 make a " cat's paw " of the Board, and some of them 
 
BOARD OF AGRICUTURE. bi 
 
 being on the Board as members, thereby coiitrollng the 
 country members, and they even hoping to make a 
 good thing of it, readily subscribed, as Mr. Flint says, 
 to a guarantee fund of fifteen thousand dollars to have 
 it in their city. But when the time came and went, 
 and brought them little in the way of " cash,," they 
 concluded to " knock under," withhold the subscrip- 
 tions, for as the farmers had brought them no cash, 
 and in their anticipations had failed, therefore they left 
 the Board to reconcile the matter to suit themselves. 
 The ten thousand dollars that was offered by the Board 
 to be distributed in premiums, dwindled down to some 
 four thousand, paying about forty per cent, on their 
 declaration, after taking nearly one thousand dollars as 
 entrance fees, and the total receipts amounting to the 
 snug little sum of $11,671.82, making the expenses 
 $7,485.32. How a part of this was expended, will be 
 seen by the following, taken from the fourth page of 
 the manifesto before alluded to : — 
 
 " The Judges, Marshals, Superintendents, and In- 
 vited Guests, will dine with the officers of the Society, 
 daily, at 1 o'clock." 
 
 Straws sometimes tell which way the wind blows. 
 
 It seems by the above that $4,086.50 was actually 
 paid in premiums, or perhaps it would be nearer the 
 truth to say "awarded," as a part of it never has been 
 paid, only as the Jockey paid for his hundred dollar 
 nag, in puppies at twenty-five dollars each. Then it 
 will be seen by the report, that a large amount that 
 actually was paid, went to the owners oi fast horses^ 
 9 
 
98' FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 &c. And the whole show was more of a racc-ooiirse, 
 where the fast " nags " were brought out by still 
 " faster " men. Such is the Board of Agriculture, 
 and for this the people must be taxed, that the fancy 
 may dine at one, and pay off in autographs at ten dol- 
 lars a pair. 
 
 I know that the Board claim that they have no funds 
 of their own, and I am thinking that they are not 
 alone in this particular, and if these things continue, 
 they will be growing less so every day ; but the Mas- 
 sachusetts Society have a fund, as v/e have seen, of 
 $34,000, and some of the members of the Board are 
 not closely pinched for means ; therefore, looking at 
 the subject in any light you may, the conclusion is 
 inevitable, that they are not the men to hold to such 
 an extent the interests of the people. 
 
 But we are told that this fall (1860) the thing is to 
 be repeated. At a distant city from the metropolis, if 
 a " sufficient guarantee fund " can be raised, the scenes 
 of '47 are to be repeated, and to further this object, 
 and make the thing sure, in gaining the confidence of 
 the people, the State Treasury, to the tune of $3,000, 
 is to be taxed. I submit it to the best judgment of 
 all good citizens, if it would not be wise to submit at 
 some State election the question to the people, if they 
 desire these things ? If a few uneasy individuals, who 
 know little about agriculture, and nothing about it as 
 a means of living, are to trifle with the dearest rights 
 of a people, that the sharpers of our cities may be ben- 
 efitted at their expense, is it not time to pause ? 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 99 
 
 I do not wish to be understood as saying that any- 
 other number of men that could be selected, as a Board 
 of Agriculture, could do any better than this Board 
 have done, and meet the expectations of those who con- 
 trol them. The idea with me is that the whole thing 
 is wrong ; wrong in principle, wrong in policy, wrong 
 in practice, and cannot be made useful to the people. 
 
 For, if I understand them, their policy is to cheapen 
 the price of farm products in the country. This is 
 what those men who are instrumental in making appro- 
 priations for their support, expect of them. They 
 mainly have no sympathy with, nor care nothing for, 
 the interests of the farmer. All that part of the sys- 
 tem is the veriest humbug. They would have the far- 
 mer live on browse, and work himself into an " Egyp- 
 tian mummy," if that would make farm products cheap 
 in the market. There is not one particle of soul in the 
 matter, and if any of the " Board " believe there is, 
 their simplicity is their best plea for the wrong they 
 commit. 
 
 If any one doubts one word that I say, let them 
 spend a brief period among the sympathizers of the 
 " Board " in Boston or any other city, and if they can- 
 not see through the crust of the " crocodile tears " 
 that are shed for the farmer, without a more practical 
 illustration, let them take to market some of their pro- 
 ducts, and tell those men the amount of labor it took 
 to produce them, and see if a price can be obtained that 
 will pay day wages, all things reckoned. Very likely 
 you will be told that the market is over-stocked, and 
 this is the fact. ,' , 
 
lOO FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 For this purpose they are anxious to be taxed, for 
 this purpose they subscribe to the " guarantee funds," 
 for this purpose a public sentiment is created, and the 
 people's money is sacrificed. 
 
 To show how little they know or care upon the sub- 
 ject, allow me to spend a few moments by way of illus- 
 tration. At one of the Legislative Ao-ricultural Meet- 
 ings at the State House, Hon. Eichard S. Fay, of Lynn, 
 presiding, he took occasion to say, in discussing the 
 question of Agricultural education, that " the hay crop 
 of Massachusetts which he estimated to be worth $20,- 
 000,000 per annum," saying that we could produce 
 " five times as much without decreasing the value of 
 the article ! " 
 
 This Mr. Fay is one of the most wealthy and influ- 
 ential members of the Board of Agriculture. He esti- 
 mates the hay crop of Massachusetts to be worth $20,- 
 000,000. At the last census, when the crop was esti- 
 mated, it was declared to be 648,610 tons, being less 
 than a ton to the acre. At ten dollars per ton, the 
 value would be $6,486,100, not one-third of the value, 
 according to Mr. Fay. So much for Mr. Fay's figures. 
 When it is recollected that one-third of the hay crop 
 of this State is meadow hay, usually reckoned by far- 
 mers to be worth five dollars per ton, it will be seen 
 that the estimate on the whole crop at ten dollars per 
 ton, is suflSciently high. At the same census the num- 
 ber of cattle and horses in the State was 340,842, giv- 
 ing nearly two tons of hay to each creature. 
 
 Absurd as his statement is shown to be in this esti- 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 101 
 
 mate, it is not a tenth part so absurd as his (Fay'.s) 
 other statement, viz., that this crop could be muhiplied 
 five times and not decrease the vahic of the article. 
 The Avhole hay and grass crop of the country at the 
 census of 1850, was estimated to be worth $300,000,000. 
 Calling the grass crop one-third of the amount in value, 
 then our cipherer, (Mr. Fay) thinks that Massachusetts 
 could produce half of the whole amount, and still keep 
 the price up. Increase the hay crop this year 20 per 
 cent, over last year, and you decrease the market value 
 in nearly as great a proportion. Hay now sells in Bos- 
 ton market for from 22 to 24 dollars per ton. Last 
 year it sold for from 17 to 20 dollars per ton. Why 
 this variation in the price, Mr. Fay ? Because the crop 
 last year (1859,) was the lightest crop we have had 
 for several years. Double the hay crop this year (1860) 
 from last year, and the market price would not give a 
 man a dollar per day to harvest and team it 15 miles 
 to market. This is what I believe, and further, it is 
 what the facts in past years will demonstrate in regard ' 
 to this and most other crops. What we farmers want 
 to know is this. We want to know how to earn a dol- 
 lar per day when we work on our own farms, after al- 
 lowing a fiir per cent, on the investment, aside from 
 the dwelling or house we occupy. All out-buildings, 
 such as barns, sheds, &c., fcncc"^, drains, lands, &c., 
 with stock, tools, and everything of that kind, arc our 
 stock in trade, and if we have got to combine these 
 with our labor, and the labor of our Avives and chil- 
 dren, for an ordinary living, such as any mechanic in 
 9* 
 
102 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 our villages and cities would be ashamed of, liow is a 
 poor man who has no capital going to live by his labor 
 alone ? This, Mr. Fay, is the problem I am trying to 
 solve. We farmers do not care to trouble ourselves 
 about your affairs, neither do we care anything about 
 your wild and vague speculations in regard to the hay 
 crop or any other crop ; all that we ask is, that you 
 stop professing to be our friends, and keej) your hands 
 out of the people's treasury for the means to keep us 
 }X)or. This is "vsdiere we stand. We ask to be let 
 alone. I think all the farmers of Massachusetts to- 
 day, who have to look to their labor mainly for a sup- 
 port, will ask nothing more than this, — let us alone. 
 Our croj)s are our labor and our cajiital, and when 
 these sell for half the cost to produce them, it either 
 makes work for the sheriff, or our children have to suf- 
 fer. You have seen what has been said in regard to 
 the law of supply and demand. This every man of 
 the most common intelligence ought to understand. 
 Fancy farming, and fancy farmers, without the State 
 treasury to back them uj), would be perfectly harmless 
 of ev'il. Continue this tampering for another fifty 
 years, and labor in this country is on a level with the 
 labor of the old countries. 
 
 This gentleman to whom I have just referred is full 
 of laudation to the institutions and the various pro- 
 cesses which he has seen over the water. Chcaji or 
 half-paid labor enables them there to do this, and I 
 hope never to see such in this country. There arc other 
 than four-legged cattle, both male and female, that have 
 
BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 103 
 
 peculiar charms for this class of travellers, and whose 
 condition thej desire to see established here. Their 
 motto is, take care of the rich, and let the rich take 
 care of the poor. How infinitely more v.ite it wcnld 
 be to leave each and every of cur iiu!u: trial institu- 
 tions frec,^ relying on the great law uf s-upj.ly and de- 
 mand to regulate, as it surely will, better tl.an any 
 legislation can, all these interests where free thcufiht 
 and free labor is left untrammeled and uncontrolcd. It 
 is no disgrace to be born poor, — over this we have no 
 control. Then how monstrous is the idea that inherited 
 wealth should leave no stone unturned to make more 
 glaring the line, and strengthen the wall, to crush the 
 one and elevate the other. 
 
 To illustrate the position. Suppose a shoemaker 
 could realize, over the cost of the raw material, a suffi- 
 cient sum to support his family, at a cost of one dollar 
 per day, by making five pairs shoes each day. This 
 was when he was young, full of health, life and vigor. 
 He neither gains nor loses anything. This is all very 
 well as long as these conditions exist. But when old 
 age or other calamities comes upon him, then cast him 
 off to the poor house, which is all ready to receive him. 
 These, in brief, are the institutions of the countries on 
 the other side of the water, carried to their finality. 
 
 Then, again, suppose any shoemaker, by doing the 
 same amount of work, could support his family, and 
 lay by fifty cents per day. This would give him about 
 12] cents per pair more^than by the other arrangement. 
 The surplus, 12^ cents, is to pay for the extra cost of 
 living. Because if the shoemaker is better paid, all 
 
104 TAKMIXG AS IT IS. 
 
 other classes will be, if all labor is left free ; hence the 
 extra cost. 
 
 Now then, it is seen that we have but little use for 
 poor-houses, as our mechanic can take care of himself 
 in case of adversity. This is what we want. We 
 want when young, to be so conditioned as to be inde- 
 pendent of the money power, and at the same time be 
 always prepared for a " rainy day," as the saying is. 
 Allow me to say here that these figures and calcula- 
 tions are ju?t as applicable to agriculture as to shoe- 
 making. And the reason that I did not illustrate the 
 idea by this was that agriculture has been so mystified 
 and distorted, that but few understand it, or any pro- 
 cess of reasoning in regard to it. In another place, I 
 am in hopes to be able to so simplify it, as to make it 
 intelligible, even to the Board of Agriculture. 
 
 Who, noAv let me inquire, are to be the losers by the 
 last calculation ? Suppose the same reasoning is applied 
 to farming, viz : the farmer is getting his dollar per day 
 for his labor, and six per cent, on his farm capital? What 
 will be the effect of this, and who are to be the losers ? 
 This is the question ; and the sooner all make up their 
 minds to meet it, the better. It will be claimed that 
 this will raise the price of provisions. Granted. Then 
 it will cost the j)oor in our cities more to live. Cer- 
 tainly. The rich, also, will have to share in the extra 
 cost. That also is granted. EecoUect that it was not 
 the price of the potatoes that the Irishman complained 
 of in in his own country, but the difiiculty of gettino- 
 the shiUing to buy them with. The most important 
 
BOARD or AGEICULTURE. 105 
 
 object for us to consider now is, to stop the drain of 
 young men from the country towns to the cities and 
 market places. Therefore, as long as most of the con- 
 veniences of life are cheaper in the cities than in the 
 country, a strong inducement is held out to continue 
 this evil. But to effect this, all these difficulties that 
 we have been considering are to be overcome. The 
 most important of which is the idea that has got into 
 the minds of many men, to cheapen all in their power 
 the products of the farm. The word cheap is a com- 
 parative word. So is the word dear. Anything may 
 with propriety be said to be cheap when it is below 
 the cost of production. The cost of any article is the 
 labor to produce it over the cost of the raw material. 
 If we apply certain conditions to the soil to produce a 
 plant, those conditions are the raw material, the cost 
 of which is just as important for us to know, as it was 
 for the shoe-maker to know the cost of the leather, 
 &c., of which his shoes were made ; for without such 
 knoAvledge he could not have known what his wages 
 were. If it is argued that these conditions were in 
 the soil and cost nothing, then let me say that that is 
 the great fundamental error of agriculture. The word 
 growth is but another word for manufacture^ and vice 
 versa. A plant is as much a manufactured article as a 
 shoe. Each is composed of certain component parts, 
 the one as much as the other. And it is just as absurd 
 to suppose that you can remove the plant from the soil 
 without detriment and compensation, as it would be to! 
 suppose that if you let the shoe go without being re- .. 
 
106 PAKMING AS IT IS. 
 
 compensed, another would take its place, and you 
 would be none the poorer. Therefore, if we take those 
 plants from the soil and lug them to the cities, without 
 sufficient compensation for our labor, expenses, and to 
 supply the raw material to make more of, we are .sell- 
 ing our labor and capital at such prices, the tendency 
 of which is in the end to the poor-house. If the evil 
 stopped with us, the system would not be so deplora- 
 ble. But in doing this, we are saying to our neighbor 
 and fellow-laborer, who perhaps desires to better his 
 condition, You have got to compete with us, and un- 
 less you have more capital or more bone and muscle, 
 we both shall find the same end. Therefore, it seems 
 to me that the farmer has no moral rig-ht to follow a 
 losing business, and that this conclusion is inevitable, 
 that because he has capital he can live even if he does 
 work at a loss, while his poor neighbor, who has noth- 
 ing, but his needs are equally as great and imperative, 
 must suffer and die. 
 
 I say here, then, that any man or body of men who 
 have this object in view, to cheapen any article below 
 the cost to produce it, reckoning fairly for the labor, 
 <S;c., are enemies to labor and the best interests of our 
 country. Suppose that by a close and systematic pro- 
 cess of reasoning some articles are found to cost double 
 or more than the price they have usually been sold for. 
 What of that. All those who cannot afford them, or 
 do not desire to do so, can do without them. This 
 is what the farmers have always done. How many 
 farmers ever drew the cork of a chamijagne bottle, in 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 107 
 
 IMassachufcetts ? Yet these are as common in some 
 localities as the cider mug is to the farmer. A pound 
 of good, nice rump steak, costing a shilling, and never 
 had ought to be sold for less than twenty-five cents, 
 has a hundred times more nutriment at per cent, cost 
 and value. 
 
 There are more than forty bushels of grain raised in 
 the United States to each person every year. This is 
 more than double what they need. Beef, pork, and 
 many kinds of vegetables are produced in excess of 
 the demand. My position is that the supply has been 
 forced beyond the demand to such an extent that the 
 labor to produce them yields no return, or the capital 
 no per ce.nt. Hence the constant depreciation in the 
 value of farms, and the increase of pauperism in our 
 country towns. The system or policy that the Board 
 of Agriculture seek to fasten upon the people, has the 
 tendency to populate the cities and large towns at the 
 expense of the rural districts. What the producers 
 want is to get the largest possible amount of money 
 for the smallest possible amount of products. If we 
 can manage to make a profit in our businese, our farms 
 will rise in value as the general prosperity of the 
 country advances, our aged fathers and mothers and 
 the unfortunates generally will have something to pro- 
 vide for their necessities, we shall be in a condition to 
 consume more of those articles that we do not produce, 
 thereby giving a larger amount of employment lo our 
 brothers in other professions and trades ; our poor rates 
 will be less, and we shall take the position in society 
 
108 TARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 that all good men everywhere should desire and try to 
 hasten. Now it is plainly evident that the Board and 
 I are at issue with each other. They say that our in- 
 terests are only advanced by " increasing the crops." 
 I say that the reverse is true. Mr. Fay says, "In- 
 crease the hay crop five times and the market price 
 keeps up." If this is true in regard to the hay crop, 
 it is also true in regard of all other crops. Within the 
 last five years the cattle crop of the country has been 
 increased by one quarter, and the coming census, I 
 think, will show it, unless some fatality takes them off. 
 How is it in regard to the price ? I attended an auc- 
 tion sale last fall (1859) of a fancy farmer, and saw 
 blood cows sold under favorable circumstances for the 
 seller, that he said cost two years before one 'hundred 
 dollars a head, for one-fourth of that sum. Native 
 cows sold at the same time for about twenty dollars 
 apiece, that he paid about three times that amount for. 
 In the fall of 1856 and 1857, two year old heifers were 
 sold in Cambridge and Brighton market for from $30 
 to $40 apiece. Last fall (1859) they were sold for 
 from $15 to $20. In the spring of 1857, I sold fair 
 cows for about $00 apiece. I will sell as good cows 
 now for $30. 
 
 Mr. Fay and the Board of Agriculture knoAv that 
 this position is true. Increase the crops of the coun- 
 try five-fold and you make 50,000 paupers. The 
 country j)eople to-day are groaning under the oppres- 
 sion caused by the excess of cattle over the demand. 
 They are literally eating the farmers up. I know that 
 it makes beef cheap in the cities, and who does not 
 
EOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 109 
 
 know that the laborers are cut short of the means to 
 buy even at these rates, to a greater extent than usutil? 
 
 I can sec very well how it Is that Avealthy and short- 
 sighted men, having large investments in city property, 
 can persuade themselves to believe it to be to their ad- 
 vantage to keep down the laborers by inducing them 
 to produce an excess of" products, thereby rendering 
 their labor nearly valueless. But how it is that legis- 
 lators, whose duty it is to look to the interests of the 
 whole jieople, should be induced to vote appropriations 
 to effect this purpose, is a little beyond my under- 
 standing. I know it is seldom that a working man is 
 elected to the legislature, but is there no virtue in 
 men ? has humanity and honesty all been crushed out ? 
 All fancy farmers farm at a loss. They will tell you 
 this in private conversation. Farming to them is a 
 mere pastime — a pleasure — a gratification — same 
 as the bloods in our cities delight in keeping fast 
 horses. They like to out-trot their neighbors. It 
 draws hard on the pocket, but then they think it a 
 harmless way to spend their money, and nobody cares 
 anything about it. They do not ask others to engage 
 in it, neither do they go to the legislature for means to 
 indulge. Now if these men (the fancy) can show 
 that they can live on the resources of their own farms, 
 without spending what would be to a poor man a for- 
 tune, every year, then they might talk with some 
 degree of honesty. 
 
 If I were asked the cause of the distress at the pres- 
 ent time in the great West, I should ansAver the inter- 
 rogatory by saying that they have for a long time sold 
 
110 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 their farm products at much less than remunerating 
 prices. Thev have not reckoned the cost, coni^equently 
 they are left without the means to return to the eoil 
 the plant food of which it has been robbed. Their 
 labor is lost, the soil is impoverished, and they have no 
 money in the pocket. Consequently they are embar- 
 rassed, distressed, and are getting discouraged. Their 
 Eastern friends are suffering in consequence of their 
 inability to pay, and being obliged to compete in the 
 market with them. If I were again asked the reason 
 for this state of things, I should answer by referring 
 you to the 912 Agricultural Societies in the States, 
 embracing every State in the Union but one (Florida.) 
 When it is known that farm products have been sold 
 all over the country for a price insufficient to return to 
 the soil the raw material of which they were made, 
 (as I intend to prove in another place,) some clue to 
 the cause of this state of things will be furnished. 
 
 If again I were asked who had been benefited by 
 those facts, I should emphatically answer, none. The 
 idlers and loafers in our cities undoubtedly have by 
 this been enabled to hold their position, as they could 
 not afford to work when the conveniences of life could 
 be obtained at so low a rate. Although the currency 
 of the countxy has nearly doubled within a few years, 
 and most all salaried or government men have kept 
 pace with it, yet labor has been growing cheaper. 
 Foreign influences arc at work in the country, and 
 unless the laborers pause awhile and estabhsh a land- 
 mark, it will be aU day with them. 
 
CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE, CONTINUED. 
 
 Secretary Flint — The Law — Wheat Raising Paying 200 Per Cent — 
 Analysis of AVheat — Analysis of Manure — The Amount of JIanure 
 it Takes to Make a Bushel of Wheat — Two Acres of Rye — Oats — 
 Corn — Commerce and Manufactures — Earnings of Wisconsin and 
 Massachusetts — Combination of Capital and Labor — The Raw Ma- 
 terial of which Crops are Made — Average Eaiuiings of Farmers and 
 Mechanics in Wisconsin — Mechanics and F irmers Earnings — A 
 Supposition — Butter and Flour — Mr. Minus — Mrs. Minus — John 
 and Jim — Catching a Weasel — High Prices — Peace and Prosperity. 
 
 In his preface, page 3d, Secretary's Report, 1855, 
 Mr. Flint says, " The plan adapted at the outset was 
 to exclude from this volume all matter which was not of 
 some general interest or value. This was evidently 
 the contemplation of the law which required the annu- 
 al publication of an ahstract of the returns." 
 
 This is what the Secretary says at the commence- 
 ment of the report. He thinks this was the meaning 
 of the law. And he should exclude every thing 
 " which was not of some general interest or value." 
 Let us see. 
 
 On page 2G4 Secretary's Report, 1857, there is a 
 statement of a man who made more than 200 per cent, 
 on raising wheat. No wonder farmers get rich. Here 
 is the statement. 
 
 " The land on which my wheat was raised is a clayey 
 111 
 
FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 loam ; it was in potatoes last year, yielding 308 bush- 
 els of the large ' Woods,' potatoes, so called, without 
 any manure except a small handful of plaster in the 
 hill. This spring I put on twenty loads of compost, 
 made by stabling my cows nights, last fall ; ploughed 
 the land twice, ploughing in the manure the last time ; 
 sowed two bushels of red flint wheat that had been 
 soaked in a preparation of air slacked lime and salt, 
 for twenty-four hours. It was sown April 25th, and 
 harvested August 11th and 12th." 
 
 Expenses of Crop. 
 
 Ploughing 2,00 
 
 Harrowing 1.00 
 
 Sowing seed and rolling , 1.00 
 
 Half of manure to crop 10.00 
 
 Seed 6.00 
 
 Threshing 3.62 
 
 Interest on Land at $50 per acre. 3.00 
 
 $26.62 
 Value of Crop. 
 
 29 bushels of Wheat, at $2.50 72.50 
 
 Straw estimated at 8.00 
 
 $80.50 
 Deduct expenses 26.62 
 
 Balance in favor of crop $53.88 
 
 Sept. 15, 1856. Cost per bushel, 91-|-|- cents. 
 
 I do not intend to make any extended comments on 
 the above statement. I introduce it here so that the 
 reader may see for himself and judge for himself, if 
 such statements are reliable, how they are to be recon- 
 ciled with what has alx'eady been said in the preceding 
 pages. 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 113 
 
 I now propose, after an explanation of the philosophy 
 of fertilizers, as I understand them, and the composition 
 of the grain of wheat, to estimate the cost of this acre 
 of grain. 
 
 Wheat contains about 15 per cent, of water, varying 
 a little as it has had an opportunity to dry, and 85 per 
 cent, of soUd matter. 
 
 (Dried at the temperature of 230° F.) that is, the 
 water dried out of it, it contains : 
 
 Carbon 46.1 per cent. 
 
 Hydrogen 5.8 
 
 Oxygen 43.4 
 
 Nitrogen 2.3 
 
 Ashes 2.4 
 
 100 
 
 Now, as I understand it, these substances are the 
 raw material out of which the wheat is manufactured. 
 This being so, the intelligent reader will see at once the 
 absurdity of estimating the cost of a crop by the 
 amount of manure or plant-food applied to the soil. 
 This has nothing to do with the cost. For a given 
 quantity of grain or any other crop is always composed 
 of nearly the same constituent parts, and whether we 
 apply the fertilizer to the soil, or make the crop of the 
 nitrogen, &c., that is already in the soil, the cost is the 
 same. Therefore, it will be seen that all bushel meas- 
 ure products should be reckoned by the bushel without 
 any regard to the amount applied as a fertilizer. For 
 if we apply much and take little, then more remains 
 for succeeding crops ; but if we apply little and take 
 
114 TAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 mucli, the reverse is the case. Now all who under- 
 stand this reasoning, will see the propriety of my re- 
 marks in the last chapter, in regard to the diflSculties 
 of the Western people. 
 
 This leads us to the inquiry of the cost of sufficient 
 fertilizing material to make a bushel of grain. When 
 this is ascertained, the cost of the crop is perfectly 
 simple, and no one need to seriously err in the, matter. 
 
 About one-seventh part of fresh excrements of a cow 
 in milk, is solid matter, the balance water. If the water 
 is dried out of it, it wiU then be composed of 
 
 Carbon 42,8 
 
 Hydrogen 5.2 
 
 Oxygen 37.7 
 
 Nitrogen 2.3 
 
 Ashes 12.0 
 
 Now if these figures are rehable, and the reasoning 
 is correct, the mystery is solved, the road is plain, and 
 we are already to figure up the cost of our crop. Be- 
 fore doing this, however, I want to say, what all suc- 
 cessful business men know, that a margin must always 
 be left for contingencies, somewhat proportionate to the 
 hazardness of the business. The more risky the busi- 
 ness, the larger the margin. The merchant whose ships 
 plough the mighty deep, makes a larger margin for 
 contingencies than the home dealer. Then if his ships 
 come home safe, and are well laden, he finds on making 
 out the balance sheet that his anticipations have been 
 more than reaHzed, and he sleeps all the sounder for it. 
 But, if the stomas and winds have blown adversely, he 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 115 
 
 hunts up his policies of insurance, looks over the books, 
 drops his eye upon the margin, and congratulates him- 
 self that whoever may have been deceived, it is not 
 No. 1. 
 
 The next thing to consider is this : what will it cost 
 to make seven bushels of the fresh excrements of a 
 cow ? Late years I have based all my calculations 
 upon this principle, that the manure of all animals 
 of this class, after they are one year old, will pay 
 for the labor to take care of them. Dr. Dana tells 
 us that a well-fed cow will void one bushel of solid 
 matter per day. I think that most observing farmers 
 will agree with me in saying that this is a little too 
 high. And as there is always some loss attending these 
 operations, and as the farmers are just beginning to do 
 their own figuring, and desire to keep an eye on the 
 balance sheet, and not be deceived in the final estimate, 
 suppose we say that all that can be saved of this ma- 
 terial is equal to one bushel of both solid and liquid 
 manure per day. Then the question comes up, how 
 many cows can a man take care of to the best advan- 
 tage ? If this number is fixed at twenty, and a man's 
 wages at one dollar and twenty-five cents per day, it 
 would give us Q{ cents for each bushel, or 6^ times 
 7 = 43f cents as the cost of the raw material that is 
 necessary to apply to the soil to produce a bushel of 
 wheat. 
 
 If I am told that the plant receives a part of its nu- 
 triment from the gasses that float in the atmosphere, I 
 should reply, whence comes these gasses. Are they 
 
116 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 not composed and made up of the ammonia that escapes 
 from the soil and the manure ? That the philosophy 
 of this mode of reasoning is correct, it seems to me 
 there is no doubt. The figures can be made to vary 
 according to circumstances. They seem to me to be 
 nearly correct At any rate, all farmers want some 
 data to establish a principle with some degree of una- 
 nimity, and practice up to that, for if this looseness 
 continues, it will not take much of a philosopher to see 
 the end. 
 
 Dr. The Cost of a Bushel of Wheat. 
 
 One acre of land , 
 
 To interest 3.00 
 
 " one man, one yoke oxen and plough, two days 4.50 
 
 " " boy, horse and harrow ^ day 1.25 
 
 " sowing seed and rolling. 1.00 
 
 " seed 6.00 
 
 " preparing seed ... .25 
 
 " fencing 1.00 
 
 " harvesting 3.00 
 
 " threshing and winnowing • 4.00 
 
 " barn rent l.f () 
 
 " fertilizer, at 43| cents per bushel of grain 12. G9 
 
 $37.69 
 Cost per bushel, $1.29|f cents. 
 
 If this man got his 29 bushels of wheat, the above 
 figures approximate pretty nearly to the cost. I have 
 said nothing about the straw neither way. But desire 
 to have it understood that this cannot be made of noth- 
 ing any more than the grain. I have Introduced the 
 above figures more to establish a correct way of calcu- 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 117 
 
 lating the cost of crops, than for any other purpose. A 
 crop of 29 bushels of wheat to the acre is possible, but 
 it is more than 2h times above the average in this State 
 or in the country. 
 
 RYE. 
 
 On page 186 in Mr. Flint's report, (1854,) is a state- 
 ment of Mr. , on a crop of this kind of grain. 
 
 " The land on which this crop was raised contains 
 two acres. In 1853, it was planted with corn, and 
 manured at the rate of twenty loads to the acre, spread 
 on and harrowed in. After my corn was harvested, I 
 sowed my rye, at the rate of one bushel to the acre. I 
 harvested in July. The land was ploughed deep, and 
 thoroughly harrowed. 
 
 Value of Crop. 
 
 50 bushels, at $1.25 62.50 - 
 
 Straw, by estimate 15.48 
 
 $77.98 
 
 Expenses. 
 
 Seed 2.25 
 
 Ploughing, harrowing, and sowing 3.50 
 
 Harvesting and threshing 8.00 
 
 Interest on land 12.00 
 
 $25.75 
 
 Net profit $52.23 
 
 It seems that this grain cost 51|- cents per bushel, 
 affording a net profit of more that 200 per cent. 
 
 If I were to reckon the cost of this crop, I should 
 make the figures in this way : 
 
 Dr. Two Acres of Bye. 
 
 To interest 12.00 
 
 " one man, yoke oxen and plough, two days. . . 4.50 
 
118 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 To one man, horse and harrow, one clay 2.25 
 
 «« seed 2.25 
 
 " sowing seed 50 
 
 " cradhng 1.75 
 
 " taking up and stooking 1.25 
 
 " carting to barn, &c .75 
 
 " fencing 1.00 
 
 " threshing and winnowing 6.00 
 
 " barn rent . 1.00 
 
 " fertilizer, at 40 cents per bushel grain 20.00 
 
 $53.25 
 
 The average quantity of rye in this State is about 10 
 bushels to the acre of grain, and perhaps i ton of straw, 
 worth from six to ten dollars per ton, depending on lo- 
 cality. 
 
 OATS. 
 
 On page 93 of Mr. Secretary Flint's Report for 
 1855, a statement by Mr. , will be found in re- 
 gard to this crop. 
 
 " I offer for premium a crop of oats, raised upon a 
 piece of rather ordinary land, which was broken up in 
 the faU of 1852, sown with oats in the spring of '53 ; 
 the crop was fair for sward ground. It was ploughed 
 in August following, the stubble well covered, and 
 manured in the spring of '54 with thirty cart loads, 
 of about fifty-five bushels each, of compost manure, 
 twenty of which were ploughed in, the remainder put 
 in hills and planted to corn. The crop, in consequence 
 of drougth, was rather a light one. This spring it 
 was well ploughed, the last of April, and sown the 
 first day of Ma}' with four bushels of oats, well har- 
 rowed, seeded to grass and rolled. The oats were cut 
 with a cradle the 4th of August, threshed and win- 
 nowed the 10th, and found to measure seventy-eight 
 bushels, two of which were weighed, and found to 
 weigh thirty-two pounds each. 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTUEE. 119 
 
 Value of crop at 66 cents per bushel, 45 of which I sold for 
 
 that price, in A.ugust last $51 68 
 
 Thirty hundred of straw, at least 10 00 
 
 Total $6168 
 
 The cost of raising said crop was as follows : — 
 
 To one day's work of myself and yoke of oxen $3 00 
 
 Cost of seed, at 80 cents per bushel 3 20 
 
 To one day's work of myself, man and one yoke of oxen, 
 
 sowing, harrowing, and roUing . 3 GO 
 
 To cradling, binding, getting in 3 00 
 
 To threshing, cleaning, etc 3 00 
 
 $15 20 
 Profit of crop $46 48 
 
 Thus it seems, according to our friend's figures, his 
 oats cost him 6|| cents per bushel, taking out the 
 straw according to his estimate ; and as he can sell 
 them, and did sell part of them at the price named, 
 making a comfortable little pro/?^ of about one thousand 
 per cent. If he did not get the premium, it was not 
 because he did not deserve it, for if they have got any 
 smarter men down there in old Essex, I pity the honest 
 ones. 
 
 I believe I shall not make any figures in this place 
 on the cost of this crop, as the reader must understand 
 pretty well how they would stand, and I do not wish 
 to weary him. I would say, however, that oats con- 
 tain about 20 per cent, of water, rye 16, wheat 15. 
 
 The analysis of this grain, according to Boussing- 
 ault, is : 
 
 Carbon 50.7 
 
 Hydrogen 6.4 
 
 Oxygen .36.7 
 
 Nitrogen 2.2 
 
 Ashes 4.0 
 
120 FAR3IING AS IT IS. 
 
 A bushel of oats weighs 32 pounds, and it takes 
 about 25 cents' worth of fertihzing matter, according 
 to this theory, to make them. 
 
 CORN. 
 
 On page 176, Eeport of 1854, will be found the fol- 
 lowing statement : 
 
 *' Having entered my name as a competitor for the 
 premium offered by you for the best field of Indian 
 corn of not less than three acres, I now proceed to 
 give an account of my management and expenses. 
 The field upon which the corn grew contains about 
 three and one-fourth acres of land ; it was ploughed 
 from green sward in the fall of 1853, it then having 
 been in grass about five years, without any manure 
 after it was laid down. The soil is a sandy loam. I 
 commenced drawing manure about the first of May, 
 and drew on thirty-nine cart loads, of thirty-five bush- 
 els each, which I put in the hill. I then furrowed it 
 three feet six inches apart, and on the 10th, planted 
 it with flesh-colored and yellow com, putting five ker- 
 nels in the hill ; it was cultivated and weeded out 
 about the 20th of June, and then cultivated twice 
 after. 
 
 Expenses. 
 
 Manure, thirty-nine cart loads $40 00 
 
 Drawing the same 7 00 
 
 Ploughing, $2 per acre 6 50 
 
 One and one -fourth bushels 1 50 
 
 Planting 10 00 
 
 Hoeing and cultivating for the season 10 00 
 
 $75 00 
 Deduct half of the expense of manure for future crops. . . 20 00 
 
 Profit $55 00 
 
 How this man arrives at the conclusion that he has 
 made a profit of $55, is the greatest puzzle I have 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 121 
 
 come to yet. He does not say that lie got any corn at 
 all, not so much as a pig ear, yet he is very sure that 
 he has made a profit, as above stated. And I presume 
 he got the premium. Any man that can cultivate and 
 produce 3^ acres of corn " for the season," for the sum 
 of $23.50, a little more than $1 per acre, ought to 
 have a premium, (over the left) if he did not get so 
 much as a husk. 
 
 Mr. Flint says that he did not intend to use the peo- 
 ple's money to crowd upon the community a worthless 
 article, and he thinks the law so construes it ; yet we 
 find the people taxed to the tune of more than $0,500 
 to forestall public opinion, by issuing such documents 
 in profusion among the people, the contents of which 
 would make even " Sinbad the sailor " blush in his 
 palmiest days. I know Mr. Flint does not say these 
 things himself, but he publishes many thousand copies, 
 and sends them all over the State, and perhaps the 
 country, circulating them among all classes of people, 
 year after year, thereby mducing people to engage in 
 a business which is not sufficiently remunerative to 
 afford to pay boys of various ages from 12 to 21 years, 
 " anything like five cents per day," when they board 
 and clothe themselves. Now I want in candor to ask 
 T.Ir. Flint how this is, admitting that those boys were 
 Lad, and knew but little about the business, when he 
 h:A help enough to control them, plenty of land to 
 work upon, and a variety of soil, crops and labor to 
 engage in, with a ready market at the door for all that 
 was or could be produced, and yet they could earn 
 11 
 
122 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 nothing, or so near it that a five cent piece would hare 
 to be divided to settle with them ? If these l)oys 
 could earn nothing, I do not see how other fi)lks' boys, 
 who are less favorably circumstanced, can do so well 
 as the above figures indicate. I have no doubt, my- 
 self, that what Mr. Flint said about tlie boys was 
 nearly correct, and refer to it in this connection merely 
 that the reader may see at a single glance the gross 
 exaQ-cjeration of the fig^ures which are here instituted 
 in regard to the estimates on the various crops. 
 
 I know of my own knowledge, that I have seldom 
 been able to earn anything, on either the grain, the 
 cattle, or the root crops, and for the reason that there 
 is most always a surplus in the market, suflScIently 
 large that the competition keeps them doAvn, nearly to 
 the per cent, on the capital and the cost of the raw ma- 
 tei'ial of wdiich they are made. Farming is full of 
 pleasures to those who have money to spend ; so Is 
 horse-racing, and many other amusements, such as 
 theatres, dancing, and the like ; but the question which 
 ought to interest us is, how are the poor going to live 
 by it? 
 
 A large majority of the business of Massachusetts 
 pays an annual dividend of less than fifteen per cent. ; 
 some, perhaps more than that, but comparatively but 
 little of this. Yet we find that thousands of men, 
 with millions of capital, are ready to embark in it at 
 these rates, while farming, according to these reports, 
 often pays a dividend of several hundred per cent., 
 and yet the business needs to be propped up at an 
 expense of more than a hundred thousand dollars every 
 
BOARD OF AGRICUTURE. 123 
 
 year in this State alone, to keep It from languishing 
 and dying. If farming is more pi'ofitable than other 
 kinds of business, then the farming: States would earn 
 more than the commercial and manufacturing ; would 
 they not ? This must be conclusive. Then Vermont 
 would earn more than Massachusetts, Wisconsin more 
 than Vermont. Certainly. According to the last 
 census reports, the latter State (Wisconsin) earned 
 forty-six dollars to each person, Vermont seventy, and 
 Massachusetts seventy-two. Now It is well known 
 that Massachusetts has a much larger relative popula- 
 tion who earn nothing than either of the other States. 
 Therefore, If the earnings could be divided among the 
 workers as it should be In a comparison of this kind, 
 (but we have no data for this) undoubtedly Massachu- 
 setts would exceed Wisconsin three-fold, and Vermont 
 very considerably more than these figures make It. 
 
 According to the last census, the following table will 
 give a condensed view of the population and earnings 
 of the States to which I have referred : 
 
 WISCONSIN. 
 
 Population, 305,391. Products and value of industry: 
 
 4,286,131 bushels wheat, at $1 00 $4,286,131 
 
 3,414,672 " oats, at 30 cents 1,034,401 
 
 1,988,979 " corn, at 50 cents 994,489 
 
 1,402,956 " potatoes, at 25 cents 350,739 
 
 278,662 tons hay, at $6 00 1,659,972 
 
 3,633,750 pounds butter, at 15 cents 545,061 
 
 400,283 " cheese, at 7 cents 28,019 
 
 253,963 " wool, at 40 cents 101,585 
 
 Slaughtered animals valued at 920,178 
 
l24 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Garden and orchard products 36,965 
 
 Other agricultural products not specified 357,076 
 
 $10,314,616 
 Home manufactures 43,624 
 
 Products of manufactures, the arts, &c., exclusive of 
 
 the raw material 3,878,137 
 
 Total products $14,236,377 
 
 VERMONT. 
 
 Population, 314,120. Products and value of industry: 
 
 535,955 bushels wheat, at $1 50 $803,932 
 
 2,307,734 " oats, at 40 cents 923,093 
 
 2,032,396 " corn, at $1 00 2,032,396 
 
 4,951,014 " potatoes, at 40 cents 1,980,405 
 
 866,153 tons hay, at $10 00 8,661,530 
 
 12,137,980 pounds butter, at 20 cents 2,437,596 
 
 8,720,834 " cheese, at 8 cents 697,666 
 
 6,349,357 " maple sugar, at 10 cents 634,935 
 
 3,400,717 " wool, at 40 cents 1,360,286 
 
 104,649 bushels peas and beans, at $1 50 156,973 
 
 Slaughtered animals valued at 1,861,336 
 
 Garden and orchard products : 34,108 
 
 Other agricultural products not specified 457,567 
 
 $22,341,823 
 
 Home manufactures 267,710 
 
 Products of manufactures, the arts, &c., exclusive of 
 
 the raw material 3,569,543 
 
 Total product $26,179,076 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Population, 994,514. Products and value of industry: 
 
 3,585,384 bushels potatoes, at 50 cents $1,792,692 
 
 481,021 " rye, at $100 481,021 
 
 1,165,146 " oats, at 50 cents 582,573 
 
BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 125 
 
 2,345,490 bushels corn, at $1 00 2,345,400 
 
 112,385 " barley, at 70 cents 78.609 
 
 43,709 " peas and beans, at $1 50 65,503 
 
 665,807 tons hay, at 10 00 6,518,070 
 
 8,071,370 pounds butter, at 20 cents 1,614,274 
 
 7,088,142 " cheese, at 9 cents 637,932 
 
 795,525 " maple sugar, at 10 cents 79,552 
 
 138,246 " tobacco, at 12^ cents 16,589 
 
 585,136 " wool, at 40 cents 234,054 
 
 Slaughtered animals valued at 2,500,924 
 
 Garden and orchard products 1,064,015 
 
 Other agricultural products not specified 153,953 
 
 $18,165,371 
 
 Home manufactures 205,333 
 
 Products of manufactures, the arts, &c., exclusive of 
 
 the raw material 65,280,374 
 
 Total products $83,651,078 
 
 I think that by a careful examination of these fig- 
 ures, we shall be able to get at a more comprehensive 
 view of the great and fundamental errors existing in 
 regard to agriculture, than what has heretofore been 
 made to appear. 
 
 My object is to show, taking the figures of the last 
 census as above, that while trade and manufactures 
 pays a living profit over a reasonable per cent, on the 
 capital invested, agriculture yields scarce a living profit, 
 when these (capital and labor) are combined, proving 
 conclusively that no man can live by agriculture alone, 
 only at the gi-eat sacrifice of the reasonable conve- 
 niences of life. Therefore, nearly all farmers must take 
 one of these positions : either yield all per cent, on his 
 
126 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 capital, bring in to his aid the hibor and capital of 
 others, or fail. These arc the reasons. All trades but 
 the farmers, in estimating the cost of their products, in 
 the first place estimate the cost of the raw material, 
 and over this, either by their own labor, or the profits 
 of the labor of others, live, or accumulate. Whereas, 
 the farmers in their estimates, reckon nothing for the 
 raw material, only expecting pay for the labor per- 
 formed, till their farms become exhausted, and then 
 labor and the raw material which they are obhged to 
 supply comes in direct competition with the labor alone 
 of all who act upon the principle of cropping the soil, 
 without returning to it the elements of plant life, and 
 to their horror, in a few short years find that their soil 
 refuses to yield but a scanty return, and they are with- 
 out the means of supplying them. 
 
 All those who have studied these statistics carefully 
 will see that all their estimates are based upon these 
 principles. The labor alone of one class is reckoned 
 over the cost of the base of that labor, while it is pre- 
 sumed that the base of all agricultural products is sup- 
 plied by some magic power, a miracle having been 
 wrought, and something is made of nothing. Infinite 
 Wisdom has nowhere taught this. By means all 
 His purposes are effected. A miracle is no more per- 
 formed in the production of a grain croj), than in a 
 shoe crop. If by the manufacture of one, a man can 
 subsist, why not by the other ? If by estimating tlie 
 cost of a pair of shoes, a part is made to go to the 
 cost of the raw material, equally so should it be with 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 127 
 
 a bushel of grain, or anything that comes out of the 
 ground. 
 
 In these calculations, I think I can afford to be gen- 
 erous, and then leave a large margin, which my friends 
 on the other side will find some diffipulty in supplying. 
 
 WISCONSIN. 
 
 Total agricultural products, 1850, $10,814,G1G. To- 
 tal manufacturing, mining, and the mechanic arts, ex- 
 clusive of raw material, $3,921,761. If we double this 
 sum, we should then have a total value of all the man- 
 ufacturing, mining, and the mechanic arts in the State, 
 supposing the value of the raw material to be equal 
 to the labor applied, making |7,843,522. Now the 
 two estimates stand equal, making a grand total of 
 $18,158,138, as the whole value of her industry, raw 
 material included. But the intelligent reader will see 
 that this is giving about double what it ought to as 
 the earnings of a single year. For this raw material 
 in each of the estimates is capital, or past earnings, 
 and ouffht to be so divided in all census returns, in 
 order to form a correct estimate of the yearly industry 
 of the State. I have placed it in this form in order 
 that a true parallel may be drawn, as the census has 
 the estimate in regard to manufactures, &c., correctly 
 given, and not, as I think, in regard to agriculture, 
 inasmuch as it has made no allowance for the raw ma- 
 terial of which those articles are composed. If we 
 allow thirty per cent, only on the agricultural estimates 
 as propex'ly belonging to the farmers' capital, and not 
 
128 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 to the earnings of the year, we should then h.ave 
 $3,094,384 to return to the soil that which we have 
 taken from it, out of which another crop can be made ; 
 and by practicing upon this principle, we keep up the 
 fertihty of the soil, and repi'esent truly this branch of 
 the industry of the State. 
 
 Now then, we come to a correct estimate of the 
 yearly earnings of the agriculturists of the State, viz : 
 $7,220,232. 
 
 Now if we suppose that f of all the people of the 
 State get their support mainly from the soil, and ^ 
 from other pursuits, we can then easily arrive at the 
 average earnings of each class. The population would 
 then stand, agriculturists, 254,493 ; all others, 50,898, 
 This would give to each person, other than agricultur- 
 ists, $77.22, or to each family of six persons, $463.32, 
 as a yearly support. 
 
 Assuming these figures to be correct, the farmers 
 would earn $28.37 to each person, or $170.22 to each 
 family of six persons. Giving to the traders, manu- 
 facturers, mechanics, &c., nearly three times as much 
 as to the agriculturists. Proving conclusively, that in 
 the West as in the East, the farmers get but a meagre 
 support by their earnings. 
 
 The valuation of all the property of the State in 
 1850, was $42,056,595. If we suppose that $36,000,000 
 of this sum to be property yielding revenue, and con- 
 sequently ought to pay a per cent., and that $6,000,000 
 is invested in manufactures, and $30,000,000 in farms 
 and farm property, and we charge interest to each of 
 
BOARD OF AGEICULTURE. 129 
 
 these interests, pro rata, it would give us as the average 
 earnings of each class : farmers, $20.12, to each per- 
 son, or ($120.72 to each family of six persons ; me- 
 chanics, &c., $68.81, or $412.86 to each family of six 
 persons. Interest reckoned at 7 per cert. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Continuing the same process in this State, we have 
 total Agricultural products, $18,165,371. In regard 
 to slaughtered animals, it must be borne in mind that 
 a large per cent, of these are the products of other 
 States, and ought not to be credited to this account. 
 If we allow to other States and Provinces of this sum, 
 $2,000,000, we should then have as the Agricultural 
 products of this State, $16,165,371. Now if we allow 
 thirty per cent, of this as capital, or past earnings, we 
 should then have as the earnings of the year, exclusive 
 of the raw material, $11,315,760. The statistics give 
 us as a total value of all the farms and farm property 
 in the State, the sum of $120,000,000, in round num- 
 bers. This was in 1850. The last ten years has re- 
 duced the sale value of this property at least $10,000,- 
 000. If any one thinks differently in regard to this, I 
 have no objection. I prefer to look at things as they 
 are, and stand upon that. Statistics are the exponents 
 of individual opinion, to a great degree, although they 
 are valuable, and should be studied more than they 
 are. 
 
 Now we have as interest on this sum, $6,600,000, 
 taken from the gross earnings, would leave $4,715,760, 
 
ISO FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 as the true earnings of the farmers of the State in one 
 year for labor. In 1855, there were 57,031 farmers 
 and gardeners in the State over 15 years old. This 
 sum would give to each, $82.60, or 120.65 to each in- 
 dividual, calling this 57,031 one-fourth part of aU the 
 population depending on Agriculture for a support. 
 Being 53 cents only, more than the average earnings to 
 each person of this class in Wisconsin. 
 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 By the same census it seems that all the earnino-s of 
 this class over and above the raw material used, was 
 $35,485,707. Total capital invested, $83,357,642. 
 Hands employed, 165,938. Deduct interest from cap- 
 ital invested, it would leave $364.00 to each hand, or 
 $91.00 to each member of the family, calling this 165,- 
 938 mechanics one-fourth part of all who depend upon 
 this kind of business for a supjiort. 
 
 Thus it seems that poorly as the trades fare in this 
 State, they earn more than four times as much as the 
 ftirmers, and proving conclusively by figures and facts, 
 which seem to me to be impregnable, that it is only by 
 counting capital with labor in this branch of human 
 industry, that we can subsist. Thereby driving- from 
 the farm all who have little or no capital, into the ser- 
 vice of those who have money to spend. Whatever 
 view we take of the subject, either by plain figures or 
 by comparative reasoning, the same results appear. I 
 want here to fdlly impress it upon the minds of all 
 farmers, if they cannot see in these two considerations 
 
BOAllD OF AGEICULTURE. 131 
 
 which I have been examining, viz., the raw material 
 and per cent, on the capital invested, a sufficient reason 
 for the state of things that exists. 
 
 I know the great difficulty of seeing what seems to 
 be against our interests. We all have to buy of others 
 more or less, those things Avhich we do not produce. 
 Therefore there seems to be some reason to try to keep 
 down the price, because we have our minds so fixed 
 upon the cost of all articles of consumption which we 
 do not produce, not thinking that if others sell cheap 
 we must sell cheaper. If a man bought more than he 
 sold, and had outside means, and only sought his im- 
 mediate interest to the sacrifice of the future, then 
 there would be some reason for this, but we should sell 
 more than we buy, else we are growing poorer. I have 
 made one or two attempts to illustrate this, but lest all 
 may not have understood me, I will draw another par- 
 allel. 
 
 Suppose a farmer of the above class, whom we will 
 name Mr. Minus, meets his wife, Mrs. Minus, at the 
 breakfast table, and the following interesting conversa- 
 tion ensues : 
 
 3£rs. Minus — " George, we have been out of flour 
 for nearly a week, and it is a good day to-day, and 
 what say to going up to the village and get a barrel ? " 
 
 Mr. Minus — " Hang the village, and all the tribe oi 
 sharpers in it. I asked old Shrewd the other day, 
 what he sold flour for, and don't you tliink, he U,h\ 
 me ten dollars, and I warrant you it Avas none of the 
 best. I saw neighbor Joggle come along, and he had 
 
132 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 been to the city and bought a barrel for eight dollars, 
 and you know that Mrs. Joggle Is mighty nice about 
 all she has to eat. I am going to buy as cheap as 
 anybody, — I am hard to beat on that." 
 
 " Well, well," says Mrs. Minus, " I don't blame you 
 a bit, — your money is as good as anybody's; and if 
 Joggle can buy for eight dollars, I think you can too, 
 and let old Shrewd go. He has got enough out of 
 you, already. And while I think of it, Mrs. Neat was 
 in here yesterday, and she said she got 25 cents for 
 butter, a few days ago, and I know I can make as good 
 butter as she can. You know we have had two tubs 
 laid by all winter for a price. And I think you had 
 better take the butter and go to the city and buy your 
 flour, sell the butter, and make your own profits." 
 
 " John, my boy, harness the pony," says Mr. Minus, 
 *' I've got an idea in my head. Bring up the butter, 
 Jim. 'A penny saved is worth two pence earned.' " 
 
 Mrs. Minus — "Don't be so excited, George; eat a 
 good hearty breakfast; — perhaps you won't get any- 
 thing more till night. And while I think of it, I want 
 you to recollect that we are out of most everytliing. I 
 hardly know where to begin, for you knoAv just as sure 
 as you go to the city, and it gets round that you have 
 sold the butter, there will be a whole tribe here ; the 
 Jones' and the Browns, and I don't know who. So 
 you see how it is. Flour is one thing, and then there 
 is sugar, tea, coifee, spices, in fact, it is a good deal 
 easier to tell what we don't want than what we do. So 
 buy anything almost that you see into Smith's or Ham's, 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 133 
 
 dry goods or wet, — you can hardly mistake on that 
 score. And I woukln't stop at Shrewd's at all, he 
 will want to get the butter away from you for some of 
 his stuff, and you know you can get anything he has 
 got any time ; butter or no butter, he is always glad to 
 trust. And I think when anybody has got anything 
 real good they had always ought to go to the city with 
 it, where folks know something. And by the way, had 
 you not better let John go with you, he has ciphered 
 clear to the rule of three, and you are so easily excited, 
 and think that because you are so honest, everybody 
 else is ? I know Smith nor Jones, nor none of that 
 class, would not cheat you, but perhaps they won't 
 want the butter, and you may have to go some where 
 else." 
 
 Mr. Minus — "I can do my own figuring, as yet. 
 If a man gets round me this day he is smart, that's all. 
 You see to the cattle, boys, look after the pigs, carry 
 home Jones' wheelbarrow and the ladder, get in the 
 wood, and if old Dunn comes up here, don't tell him 
 about the butter, and keep a sharp look out for Scrig- 
 gins' sheep, keep them out of the field lot, and the 
 brindle heifer might as well stay where she is. Now I 
 am ' oph,' " whistling the tune of " catch a weasel 
 asleep." 
 
 Mr. Shrewd — " Good morning, Mr. Minus ; going 
 to the city ? What you got here, butter ? The col- 
 lector is in the Store, and he wants to see you." 
 
 Collector — " Mr. Minus, how is it about your tax, 
 the treasurer is dunning me up, says the schools are 
 12 
 
134 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 about closing, and he is as dry as a last years' bird's 
 nest." 
 
 Mr. Minus — " I'll see you when I come back, about 
 the tax. What do you pay for butter, Mr. Shrewd ?" 
 "We like to buy for 20, — how is yours ? Good, I dare 
 say !" " Fair." 
 
 Mr. Minus drives up to Smith's on C. street. " Ah, 
 Mr. Minus," says Smith, " what can we do for you to- 
 day ? " " What do you pay for butter ? " " We have 
 been paying 20." "I want a quarter," says Minus. 
 " Well, if you want a barrel of flour, perhaps we can 
 trade." " What do you ask for flour ? " " We are 
 selling the best for ten." " Joggle told me he bought 
 for eight a few days ago." " Very well ; he paid in 
 butter at 20. We will let you have the same for seven, 
 and take your butter at 20, same as we paid Joggle." 
 " The best kind of flour, do you mean ? " says Minus. 
 " Certainly, the very best." " 'Tis done ! " says Minus. 
 •*' That is a trade ! " Out went the flour, and in went 
 the butter. 
 
 " There is 100 pounds of the butter, you say." 
 " Yes, just a hundred." " There will be thirteen dol- 
 lars coming' to you, Mr. Minus ; what will you have 
 that in ? " " You mean what will I have that out of," 
 says Mr. Minus, much elated at his sagacity. " Well, 
 any way to suit." " Well, I don't care if the rest 
 comes out of the money drawer." " We expected to 
 pay the balance in goods." " That want the bai-gain." 
 " O, well, if you insist on the money, you can have it." 
 So the money was counted out, and a prouder chap is 
 
BOAP.D OF AGRICULTURE. 135 
 
 seldom seen than our hero. So he started for home, 
 conwratuhitino; himself on his successes. 
 
 In the first place, he had bought his flour for seven 
 dollars, and made three dollars on that, and then, on a 
 sly, he had got a cash balance, and outwitted Smith, 
 the trader. 
 
 He stopped at the village to pay his tax, — counted 
 out the thirteen dollars, which left a balance of two 
 dollars unpaid, and then started for home. After su^J- 
 per, and everything was arranged for a social chat, and 
 he (Minus) had become somcAvhat calmed down, he 
 thought to break his boys in, in cutting their " eye- 
 teeth " while young. So he commenced to unfold to 
 the family the transactions of the day, highly elated, 
 occasionally striking his favorite tune, " catch a wea- 
 sel," &c. 
 
 " Now, my boys, take the slate and pencil and figure 
 up what I have made." " Well, father, what was your 
 first oflTer ? " " Well, if I would pay him (Smith) ten- 
 dollars for the flour, he would give me 25 cents for the 
 butter. But do you suppose I would give that for 
 flour when I could get it a dollar less than Joggle, and 
 three dollars less than he first asked for it, and then he 
 thought he was going to pay me all out of the store, 
 and I fixed him on that too." " Tell me the whole, and 
 I'll figure it aU up." " Certainly." 
 
 " Well, father, I believe I understand it. If he had 
 allowed 25 cents for the butter, it would have amounted 
 to 25 dollars for the hundred pounds." " Yes, yes, but 
 I had got to pay ten dollars for the flour." " Keep 
 
136 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 cool, dad, and I'll figure it all up. 20 cents for the 
 butter, left you thirteen dollars, reckoning the flour at 
 seven. But if you had got twenty-five dollars for the 
 butter, and the Hour had been ten dollar.*, which taken 
 from the twenty-five would have left fifteen dollars, and 
 fifteen is two more than thirteen. So I do not see but 
 what you lost two dollars by the operation. Just 
 enough to have paid the balance on the taxes," " or 
 would have got," says Mrs. Minus, "nearly all of those 
 little articles that we wanted." Minus stops whisthng 
 and drums on the table with his fingers. 
 
 Mr. Minus., (pettishly,) — " How was it with Jog- 
 gle, — he paid one dollar more than I did ? " 
 
 John — "Well, it took just 40 pounds of butter to 
 pay for the barrel of flour, and it did not make any dif- 
 ference what the price was as long as one balanced the 
 other. It would have made no difierence with you if 
 your butter had only paid for the flour, but all the ex- 
 cess of butter over the value of the flour, was a loss of 
 nearly four cents a pound, or two dollars on the sixty 
 pounds." 
 
 Mr. Minus — " Well, boys, it is about time to go to 
 bed." [Exit boys, reflecting on the appropriateness of 
 the old gent's name.] 
 
 Mrs. Minus — " Just as I expected. Minus of most 
 of the useful things of life for the want of a little cal- 
 culation ! " 
 
 The reader will see by this simile the importance of 
 keeping the prices up, to all who sell more than they 
 buy. To those, also, who buy more than they sell, I 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 137 
 
 hold It is equally important to keep prices up, for when 
 prices of labor comes down to the standard of the old 
 countries, the per cent, on capital will come down with 
 it. If It is claimed that these things cannot be con- 
 troled, I should say that I do not want to control It. I 
 desire that labor, as far as legislation Is concerned, 
 should be left free ; let the law of supply and demand 
 have Its effect on society, and although we must per- 
 haps be governed, to some extent, by the price of labor 
 in other countries, yet let us not hasten this equality 
 by pursuing a blmd policy. If It Is claimed that we do 
 not legislate to cramp labor in this country, I should 
 say for what other purpose is all this legislation in re- 
 gard tj Agricultural Societies, extending to every State 
 in the Union but one, and most of the Territories, but 
 to keep down the price of all Agricultural products, 
 and as those represent labor, therefore labor has to 
 suffer. 
 
 All those who are trying to keep down the price of 
 what they have to buy, are like " Mr. Minus ; " got 
 their minds so fixed on this, thinking how shrewd tliey 
 are, when all the time they are cutting their own fin- 
 gers, and in the end find that somebody has cyphered 
 them out of their butter. Let the prices rule high, 
 then the laborer gets a good support, the Idle will have 
 to go to work, pauperism will decrease, the soil will 
 increase in value as the means of living rise. Boards 
 of Agriculture will be among the things that were, 
 and peace and prosperity will again reign in the land. 
 
 I have several times spoken of the habits and char- 
 
138 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 acter of the men who are principally or prominently 
 interested in moving the machinery by which the vari- 
 ous Agricultural Societies, Boards of Agriculture, &c., 
 are sustained. Here is a short extract taken from an 
 address before the Middlesex North Agricultural Soci- 
 ety, by B. F. Sherman, Esq. 
 
 " The subject of an address before an Agricultural 
 Society upon its annual exhibition day should have 
 some connection with agriculture ; but the speaker 
 ought to know that whereof he doth affirm. And it 
 seems presumptuous for one who can hardly tell a field 
 of growing rye foom a field of oats, or wheat from 
 barley, and who cannot tell a Devonshire cow from an 
 Ayrshire, or a Durham, or any imported breed from a 
 native, to address a society of practical farmers and 
 stock-growers. And what can he tell you about the 
 labor-saving of improved corn cultivators, who has 
 never wielded the hoc long enough to have the back- 
 ache, — or about mowing machines, who has never cut 
 grass enough with a scythe for one horse baiting ? 
 Nor can fruit culture be learned from one who knows 
 nothing about it. Ye cannot gather grapes of thorns, 
 or figs of thistles." 
 
 In this extract the speaker talks like an honest man. 
 He says he knows nothing about the business. He 
 has never " hoed long enough to have the back-aqhe," 
 and is perfectly inexperienced in all other kinds of 
 farm work. Yet these men, above all others, are the 
 men to talk to farmers, and tell them all about what a 
 profitable business it is, — how noble, how intelligent 
 they are, and all that. 
 
 Suppose Mr. Sherman wanted authority for deciding 
 a legal point in controversy of considerable import. 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 139 
 
 would he (y-o to some farmer's calendar, or to Black- 
 stone ? No more ridiculous is one idea than the other. 
 He knows he is fond of rump steak and plum pudding, 
 and perhaps thinks if he can get them cheap, he is the 
 richer. I think he is the poorer. 
 
 Now let us see what he says to the farmers, because 
 if he is going to talk, he must say something, of course. 
 
 " A plant now prominently before the community, is 
 the dioscorea batatis, or Chinese yam or potatoe. No 
 root has been on exhibition to-day, and so far as I 
 know, no farmer of this society has attempted its culti- 
 vation. The statement made with regard to this plant, 
 that it is everywhere cultivated in China, and affords 
 the chief alimentary support of its vast population 
 greatly surpi'ised me, and has caused me to give the 
 subject considerable attention. 
 
 Mr. Prince, of Flushing, L. I., is principally con- 
 cerned in introducing this esculent. Desiring of ascer- 
 taining the truth of the assertion regarding its exten- 
 sive use as food by the Chinese, I wrote to Mr. Prince, 
 that in all treatises upon China within my reach, no 
 mention was made of the plant, and asked for the 
 authority for his statement. In answer, he refers to 
 various publications, but principally to translations in 
 French, of five large Chinese Agricultural works. If 
 time permitted, I would read his entire letter, as it 
 would certainly interest you. He says : ' Your State 
 Agricultural Society, last year, awarded a premium 
 for 1000 bushels of carrots to the acre, and as this root 
 is larger and longer than the carrot, I verily believe 
 that 1000 bushels may be relied on as a regular crop. 
 I will name to you one thing more, viz : manure — 
 manure in quantity is absolutely injurious to the root. 
 I have not this year put any on my three acres, and I 
 do believe that a heavy crop could be produced on the 
 sandy barrens of New Jersey, and on the poorest and 
 most neglected lands of your State.' 
 
llO FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 The advantages of this esculent, as claimed, are : 
 That it is perfectly hardy during our severest winters ; 
 that it is more nutritious than any plant we possess ; 
 that it is highly agreeable to the taste — superior to 
 the common potatoe, which it must soon supersede ; 
 that its product is so abundant as to render it much 
 cheaper than any other food ; that its culture is easy 
 and simple. A kitchen garden, say fifteen feet square, 
 would grow the entire food of a family of seven, with 
 an overplus for company use. 
 
 The agricultural press of this country has, in gen- 
 eral, ridiculed the pretensions of Mr. Prince. It is 
 unfortunate, if the plant is really valuable, that a more 
 moderate course has not been adopted in bringing it 
 before the public. If, in fact, it is in extensive use in 
 China, and is nutritious and palatable, it will certainly 
 be soon cultivated with us. My opinion can be of no 
 value to you, but I will state the following facts : 
 
 French agricultural reports (some of them, at 
 least) arc extravagant in its praise. 
 
 The two last of our Patent Office Reports make 
 highly favorable mention of it. 
 
 The United States Agricultural Society, at Phila- 
 delphia, last year, reported in its favor." 
 
 This is what INIr. Sherman says. A kitchen garden 
 fifteen feet rquare is going to produce the entire food 
 of a family, and have some to spare. Then the Bible 
 declaration, " By the sweat of your face shall you 
 eat bread," is revoked; is it not? Because a family 
 of seven can cultivate a field of this size without sweat- 
 ing much, or having the "back-ache." Then what 
 would Mr. Sherman niake this crop out of, as " manure 
 is injurious " in any considerable quantity ? The com- 
 mon flat turnip contains more than \)2 par cent, of 
 water, and no man can live on that for any considera- 
 ble time ; yet this must be a good deal less nutritive 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 141 
 
 than that, if it can be made in a '* sand-bank." What 
 a blessing to the world it would have been had our 
 lecturer lived at a former period ; how many " back- 
 aches " might have been saved. 
 
 On page 178 and 179 of Mr. Flint's Eeport is a 
 statement of a farmer in Hopkinton, which would be 
 a remarkable production, if foimd anywhere else. Our 
 farmer, it seems, was after a premium on a crop of 
 43] rods of carrots. He says : 
 
 " Owing to the short and cold season, I have not 
 had .so S7nall a crop for three years. There have been 
 carrots raised on the same land for the last ten or eleven 
 years, and my crops have improved in quantity and 
 quality each ycarT 
 
 My friend, according to his statement, (and in order 
 that there may be no possibility of a doubt in regard 
 to it, brings forward a neighbor, who over his own sig- 
 nature certifies to the fact,) says that his crop amount- 
 ed to 251 bushels. This is at the rate of nearly 1,000 
 bushels to the acre, and it is claimed to be the smallest 
 crop that has grown on the land for three years. Does 
 your neighbor certify to this fact, also ? If this is 
 true, and your neighbor swears to it, what do you 
 mean when you say that " My crops (carrots) have 
 improved in quantity and quality each year ? " 
 
 According to this statement, the whole cost of the 
 carrots was $21.10, and the income from the sales 
 $70.80, making a profit of more than 250 per cent. 
 At this rate, Hopkinton ought to be a remarkably 
 thrifty town, and carrot raising so lucrative a business 
 
142 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 that a fortune might be made every year. I most 
 wonder that more attention has not been directed to 
 this locahty, as it seems that my friend commenced 
 this business about the time of the breaking out of the 
 gold mania in that distant and then inhospitable coun- 
 try, California. And I am very sure that but few gold 
 diggers can show any such profits as this, after all 
 their labor and privation. 
 
 Now let us see how extensively our Hopkinton friends 
 have gone into this business, and how rich it has made 
 them. For the benefit of all who may desire to emi- 
 grate to this town, I will say that it is a large territo- 
 rial precinct, in the southwest corner of Middlesex 
 County, Mass. In 1855, the population was 3,934 ; 
 the valuation in 1850 was |887,091.60. The people 
 are to a oreat extent enn:a2:ed in manufactures of 
 many kinds. The shoe business takes the lead. The 
 statistics do not show an average amount or yield of 
 agricultural products. For instance, the yield of In- 
 dian corn was 29 bushels to the acre ; wheat 1| acres 
 12 1 bushels per acre ; rye, 31^ acres, G^q\ bushels 
 per acre ; barley, 2| acres, 14:-^q\ bushels per acre ; 
 oats, 109^ acres, ^"2^-^-^ bushels per acre ; potatoes, 
 205^ acres, 82-=^^-^ bushels per acre ; onions, -| acre ; 
 carrots, 1| acres, 550 bushels per acre. Total value of 
 carrots, $232. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that what thrift there is in the 
 town does not come from its agriculture. 
 
 Take the 1,500 shoemakers from the place, and 
 would carrots bring 30 cents per bushel, or could a 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 143 
 
 man make milk from them at a profit ? This is what 
 should more deeply interest my friend, for of what use 
 is a surplus of agricultural products, without neighbors 
 to consume them ? Although this would be consid- 
 ered a poor town, yet that is of itself no evidence of 
 poverty among the masses of the people. For if my 
 friend can sell carrots at a profit of 250 per cent., let 
 me say that it is not the rich who pay these prices, nor 
 those who herald forth the immense profits of agricul- 
 ture, for they in their kindness for the farmer, keep 
 runners to hang upon the corners of the streets to catch 
 some luckless market man, who, tired and weary, is in 
 a fit mood to dispose of his load for a song. These are 
 the men who subscribe to the guarantee funds, and 
 think they are promoting the farmer's interest by re- 
 ducing the value of his products to starvation prices. 
 
 " I can sell them (carrots) quick for 30 cents per 
 bushel. I would recommend all who can, to cultivate 
 this valuable root every year." Suppose, friend, that 
 the business was prosecuted somewhat extensively, 
 would that be likely to reduce the profits any ? Try 
 it ; say, plant half an acre, and see what effect that 
 has upon the profit. And then, instead of *' declining 
 to sell them at all," let it be known that you want to 
 dispose of them, and actually sell them, and when you 
 have the cash in your hand, you can then calculate 
 upon the profit full as accuratelg as when they are in 
 the cow manger. It is cutomaxy in taking account of 
 stock to estimate all goods unsold at cost, if they are 
 worth cost, if not, at what they will sell for. This is 
 
144 
 
 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 among all that class of people who believe truth to be 
 better than error, — who do not care to deceive them- 
 selves, nor any one else, — who, when they make a 
 statement, would consider it an insult to be required to 
 get the affidavit of a neighbor to substantiate it. 
 
 The records of your town show that farming has not 
 been a profitable business ; that what thrift there is, is 
 from the earnings of mechanical industry ; and were it 
 not for this, your goods would have to be carted to 
 market, and then sold at a price that would change the 
 balance to the other side. These are the things I would 
 have all farmers consider, for the mere accident of in- 
 heriting a farm should neither make or destroy the 
 manhood of a free American citizen. 
 
 Such statements as I have in all kindness noticed 
 above, can in no wise benefit the farmer, for if the 
 people considered them reliable, a farm in Hopkinton 
 would not go a begging at a price a little above the 
 value of the improvements. And if those who have 
 been instrvmiental in manufacturing a public opinion, 
 which has induced all that class of statements to which 
 I have taken the liberty to refer, believed that would 
 benefit the farmer, it would be among- the last thine-s 
 of their lives to consummate. They want to make the 
 price of living cheap in our cities, as that induces thrift 
 there, and increases their dividends. This, with them, 
 is a regular business transaction, as much so as the 
 " hmris and hulls " in their note shaving and stock 
 jobbing operations ; and if any farmer wants any more 
 evidence of the facts, I hope he will lose no time to 
 
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 145 
 
 see them as they are at their own homes, and not trust 
 mucli to the papers, whose business it is to puff them 
 and their policy into the kind embraces of the unso- 
 phisticated farmer. 
 
 And the sooner the fai-mers make up their minds to 
 beheve this view of the matter, and practice up to this 
 belief, taking all necessary time to investigate and 
 elucidate for themselves, without any regard to what 
 " Mrs. Grundy " has to say, the better it will be for 
 them, for their children, for humanity, for liberty, for 
 the principles of our fathers, and for, at a future pe- 
 riod, Old America. 
 
 SCIENTIFIC AND EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 This is the headins: of the Act under which the 
 Board obtain their appropriations for current, travel- 
 ling, incidental, and oif^er necessary expenses. '•''Scien- 
 tific and Educational ." Science — knowledge ; col- 
 lection of general principles on any subject. — JVebster. 
 Science — three thousand dollars' worth of manure, 
 " run to waste, because the State did not make an ' ap- 
 2)ro2)7'iation ' to enable a man, boy and horse to trans- 
 port it to the field." — Board of Agriculture. Educa- 
 tional — pertaining to education. — Webster. Educa- 
 tional — the philosophy of attraction, cohesion, that 
 one object has for another of the same affinity, as the 
 pocket to the treasury. — Board of Agriculture. 
 
 Educational and scientific combined — a lean peas- 
 antry, a fat aristocracy. — State House farmers. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 
 
 A Boston Farmer — Figures and Faroiing — Following a Phantom — 
 "The New England Farmer"— An Article on how to Reckon the 
 Cost of Farm Products — The Manure for an Acre of Corn — Editor 
 New England Farmer— His Article — Note to the Editor— His Reply 
 — Miller Rule — Article of Aug. 20, 1859 — Reply to the Editor - 
 The Farmers must Conquer their Prejudices — Cunning and Friend- 
 ship — Agriculture in 1800 — Questions to the Farmers — Labor to 
 Cultivate an Acre of Corn — New England Not all a Sandbank — 
 Amount of Corn to the Acre. 
 
 In order to do full justice to the subject upon which 
 I am engaged, it will be necessary here to say a word 
 or two about myself. 
 
 About the year 1840, a gentleman went from Boston 
 up into a very quiet and pleasant town in the interior 
 of the Granite State, and purchased what had been 
 considered a very productive and desirable farm of 
 about one hundred and thirty acres. He took hold of 
 farming with a good deal of enthusiasm, expecting to 
 Improve on the old style of practices in that section, by 
 introducing what some termed " Boston notions." Af- 
 ter making some improvements on the buildings, trees, 
 &c., by the expenditure of considerable sums, and by 
 brlno-ino; the land Into suitable condition for successful 
 operations, and waiting patiently for some returns for 
 the outlay, all the time keeping the figures of expen- 
 
 146 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 147 
 
 dlture (as he was a good accountant) in view, and 
 when the first rotation of crops failed to represent suit- 
 able returns for the outlay, yet hoping the succeeding 
 ones to somewhat change the balance ; and after a few 
 years of enthusiastic effort to get returns at all ade- 
 quate to the expenditure, he backed right square down, 
 comino; to the conclusion that farmins; and figurino; had 
 no relation to each other, and could not travel the same 
 road in harmony. 
 
 Of course our friend was in a few years ready as 
 thousands of others are to sell out. After several years 
 of unsuccessful parleying, he found a customer in the 
 writer of these pages. 
 
 It so happens that every man that goes to farming 
 from some other business, thinks he can see exactly the 
 rock upon which others split. And it very much de- 
 pends upon the length of his purse, his enthusiasm, and 
 his bump of " don't-like-to-give-it-up-so, Mr. Brown," 
 to determine the time required to ascertain he has been 
 following a phantom. 
 
 In the year 1851, the writer left a tolerable business 
 to engage in " the business " of farming. A few years 
 took the starch all out of his enthusiasm, as furnishing 
 a prospective realization of the embryo fortune which 
 was only well commenced. The location was then at 
 fault. Who could expect to farm successfully away 
 from the large markets, from railroads, agricultural so- 
 cieties. Boards of Agriculture, blood stock, wood mar- 
 kets, and fancy farming generally. So the writer made 
 up his mind to leave the hills, rocks, and unyielding 
 
148 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 soil of New Hampshire, go down into the old Bay 
 State, where folks farm by the " card." After spend- 
 ing considerable time and a little money in " prospect- 
 ing," he finally came to the conclusion that the old 
 town of Chelmsford furnished the most desirable site 
 within his means, for returning a moderate reward for 
 the capital and labor bestowed. And to-day, after 
 eight or nine years of farming, the writer thinks that 
 on this farm he can produce the various farm products, 
 such as the several grains and root crops, hay, &c., at 
 as little cost of labor and capital, as can be produced 
 upon any farm within his knowledge. He is equally 
 sure that no man of ordinary strength and physical 
 ability, can keep up the fertility of the soil, the build- 
 ings and fences in condition, pay the taxes, insurance, 
 &c. &c., and get six per cent, on the capital, by the 
 whole waste of his own labor, if lie does nothing but 
 farm. 
 
 It is not on my own account that I speak in this wise, 
 but it is to make an effort to correct some of the evils 
 that exist ; that they do exist as has been claimed in 
 this work, nine farmers out of every ten in New Eng- 
 land, who " have no axe to grind," as the saying is, 
 will bear me witness. 
 
 Therefore, entertaining these views, and supposing 
 many people were not generally aware of the facts as 
 they exist, the thought occurred to me to call attention to 
 it through the public press. Some six months since, I 
 penned the following article for the "New England 
 Farmer," a paper published in Boston, claiming to have 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 149 
 
 a large circulation, and mainly among the farmers. 
 Feeling very confident that the influence of the Agri- 
 cultural Press was detrimental to the farmers' interest, 
 however honest it was intended ; yet such being the 
 fact, I supposed they would not shrink from a candid ex- 
 amination of the subject, inasmuch as they always seem 
 ready to publish the most absurd statements, the ten- 
 dency of which was, to keep down the price of Agri- 
 cultural products. 
 
 HOW TO PiECKOI( TEE COST OF FAEM PEODUCTS. 
 
 Mr. Editor : One of the great reasons why farm- 
 ers do not succeed any better in their business, is that 
 they do not stop to figure — they are negligent in this 
 particular, and seldom, if ever, know the precise cost 
 of a single article they produce. They work hard and 
 long, taxing their physical powers to the utmost, and 
 neglecting the mental, till they have been pursuadcd to 
 believe that it is all right that they should produce for 
 others to consume, without adequate recompense to 
 themselves. 
 
 Now, what I want to say is this : I want to see every 
 farmer who produces any article to sell, know exactly 
 what it costs — no guess-work about it; hut to know, 
 that's the point. I presume no one doubts but that 
 everything we produce has a positive, definite cost, for 
 whether we know it or not, such is the fact ; then why 
 deceive ourselves in the matter ? I know it is thought 
 to be very difficult to ascertain the precise cost of farm 
 products ; but if it is difficult it is not impossible. 
 Then let us try to systemize the business to such a de- 
 gree as to become familiar with it, and in time it will 
 become so easy that we should be almost ashamed not 
 to know all the facts in the matter. How long would 
 a merchant or manufacturer stand if they did not know 
 13* 
 
ir)0 FAIIMIXO AH 11' IS, 
 
 lli(! c.ohI of Hicir poo<lH. '^Fnlur, for Illh'liiricc, ;i, |);iir of 
 fiiK! p;iil<'r lioolH. How in llit; cont of tlictn to Ik; icck- 
 oncd ? 'J Im! inal(!rliil (tf wlilcli llicy ui«; <',(;iii))()(-:{(l Ih 
 tiikcri fnuii (svciy <|ii;ir<('r of llur j^lolx; ; iiiiiiiy i:-liin<lH 
 of flu; ()('c;iri iin; l>roii;;lit inlo r((|iii,silioii 1(» |)ni<liic<! 
 llitin. 'I'lu: J<V(!li('li, lli(5 lOlinliHli, (Ik; J(;iliiiii, iii'id llu; 
 Bhrcw<l Yjink(!(!, luivo all Imd a fin^cjr in llic niiiftcr; 
 alHo viirloiiH iDUcljiniTy, u« well an JjiiHy liandn, luivc, 
 b(M'i) l)roii;»;li(. inlo r(M|ijiMi(ioii by iniiny (liil('r(!Tit jjcopic, 
 and yd. any niunufiiclurcr would Ix; jiHliiina'd not, (o 
 know, vvidiin one; ccnl, tlic; cohI, of (ivcry pair \w. rnakcH. 
 Ji<(- HH I'cckon np (lie. cohI, of <'-ul(i\ ;i(in«^ iin uc.rt: of 
 corn in I.Ikj niiinc manner lliat a ninnuliiclurcr rcckonH 
 llic, coHf. of IiiH ^oodn, and hcc wiiaT w«! nhall make of it. 
 Wo will lak(! !in av(!r:i;i;c acre of New J'in{.fland land, 
 HU(!li a,H in iiisindly ptil, lo corn in lliiH Hcetion, :ind kcc; 
 wliat il «/o('M ('os(. <o i"aiH<! a. buHlicl. I will, in lIu; lirHl. 
 place, niuk(! flu; li}:;ureN, and (lien ji;ive Kona; rcin-onn for 
 re('koninjj; jih I do. 'llic rcjiditrwill iindccHliind lliat we 
 are coiihiderin^!; ihe nisillcr uh h achndly in, and not aH 
 it iH under Home extra<trdinary circumHtnnccM made to 
 a]ipcar. W(! will Kn|)poK(! lliiH acn; lo be worlli forty 
 doilarH in (lie m;irkcl, and located onc-fourfli of a niil<! 
 from (lie l)iiildiii;j-H, and vvc will cnl(i\a(c il, in tla; u^nal 
 way. 
 
 (J7it: Arrc of Corn Dr. 
 
 May 10, Two TDca, two yoko oxen and jjIow ono day $-1.2^ 
 
 " 15, OiK! iiiiin, four oxen und curl, one day Imuliiif,' 
 
 Miiinnro rt.L'/3 
 
 " ir>, 'i'<ii joiidH iniuiurc 10. 00 
 
 " 10, One JMiui one diiy, iind yoke oxen mid liiirrow Imlf 
 
 duy, Hpicndiii;.' niiiiiiiri' iind liiirinwiiif^ 1.7/5 
 
 " 17, IMiiii, lioiHc und Iioy I day t'lirrowiiig ,76 
 
 " IH, Miiii und l)oy OIK! day plaiiliiiK, $1.<'>0, Heed 2/5... 1.7/5 
 
 " 10, J'nItinK n|i line, i<ci- 25 
 
 JuiK! (I, Two 111(11, liorwe and iilow cultivating und lioeiiig. 2.50 
 
 " 0, 'i'o i'('|ilaiilin(f and nulling 2.00 
 
 " 25, To Iiocin)^ and cultivatiii)r 2.50 
 
 July 10, To ))ul]ing vveedH .50 
 
 Hep. 10, 'i'o two men eiillinf,' ntalkH and Htookinn do 2,00 
 
 " 25, 'J'o carting HtuikH to liarn, &c .50 
 
'rin-: aoricultukal press. 1.01 
 
 Oct. 12, To liarvcHling 2.00 
 
 " l.'J, 'J'fj IiuHliiijg mid tukirif,' care of I>uUh 2.00 
 
 " ].'{, To intorcKt on land, capiful and taxcH .'J. 00 
 
 " l."{, 'J'o fcncin;,', and jcntH of l»arn and corn houHC. . . . .'J. 00 
 
 L)cc. 16, To Hhcliiiig and marketing corn r>.00 
 
 $47.00 
 Acre of Corn. (Jr. 
 
 Dec. 1.0, By ?,0 l)UHh. Hlicllcd corn Hold iJj.'JO 00 
 
 " 1.0, J{y IiumIi. c'urH KofI, corn m>\i\ 2.00 
 
 " 1.0, iJy htovcr and putnpkinn /3.00 
 
 $.'n.oo 
 
 Net loss on crop $10.00 
 
 Thus it will be Been that we have cultivated our (Top 
 ii) the most prudent iirid eeonornieul rruinner ; wc; have 
 (•,har}^<;(l nothing to tlie eroj) hut what rij^Jidy hch^nj^H 
 tluTc, and have alh)wed a hij^h average ylt^hl, and koM 
 it for nun;!) more than farmers UHually get, and yet have 
 made a net hjHH of ten dolhirH I 
 
 I want fo f^ny here, that, in my opinion, ihcre arc; hut 
 comparalively few aeren (jf corn planted in ihiw Slate 
 hut what run the owner in dcht nujre than thiw has. 
 And what i.s true in regard to thia erop in true of mowt 
 ot herH ; only muc^h more ho, for anide from the hay erop 
 tli(; corn Ih the mont reliable, as it is th(! most imj)ortant 
 upon the farm. J do not wIkIi tlx; r(!ad(!r to und(;rKtar]d 
 hy thiM, that I HUppone the farmers UHUally Hell their 
 corn. 'J IiIh in not ho. FamierH in thiw Feetif^n are gen- 
 erally huyerH of thin article, and eouKume upon their 
 farms thin and moHt other eroi)H, and hy this way of 
 doing liuHineHH do not g<!nerally realise more than one- 
 half what w(! have allowed. 
 
 'I'he farmerH, I think, have a peculiar way of myHti- 
 fiying their huhincHH hy running one thing into ari(jther, 
 iis hy feeding out their luiy, corn, tVcc., to mnke nn^re 
 maniire at a Iok.s of Kome llfty per cent. — to raine more 
 <-orn at ntill another Iohh, and in thiw way go on, year 
 after year, and do not find out their miHtake till their 
 
152 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 physical energies are broken up, and, unless they have 
 had some outside successes, a portion, at least, of their 
 capital is exhausted. 
 
 It seems to me that farmers, like all other classes of 
 men, should call things by their right names, and if hay 
 will bring a dollar a hundred, and corn a dollar a 
 bushel, why not sell it, and not feed it out to stock, 
 when we cannot possibly get more than one-third of it 
 on the growth of our cattle, and oftentimes not any- 
 thing. I very well know that stock makes manure, and 
 manure, judiciously applied, makes hay and corn ; but 
 all these things have a dollar and cent value, and 
 should not be purchased at too great a cost. What I 
 want is this, (as we have it from the best authority, 
 " that the laborer is worthy of his hire,") that the man 
 who labors upon his fami, (if judiciously,) should so 
 understand his business as to realize as much as other 
 laborers get. I can see no reason why a man who 
 owns a farm should throw his labor away, or any con- 
 siderable portion of it, any more than the merchant or 
 manufacturer, who, to save clerk-hire, do their own 
 work. One of two things is evident, that the farmer 
 gets no return or per cent, on his capital ; or, reckon- 
 ing six per cent, on his capital, he gets no pay for his 
 labor. I mean, of course, by work on the farm. 
 
 I know very well that it will be considered unusual 
 to reckon some things which I have put into this crop. 
 But what if it is unusual ? Do they not rightly be- 
 long there ? The old custom of half reckoning, or not 
 reckoning at all, is what I want to see broken up, and 
 let every crop and every animal upon the farm answer 
 for itself. In this way, and in no other, can the farmer 
 hope to stand on an equality with all other classes of 
 men. I am perfectly aware that different localities, 
 seasons and circumstances, will vary the figures some- 
 what, so that no positive rule can be given which will 
 always be applicable ; yet, the rule will ahvays hold 
 good, — never deceive yourself, nor cut your corners 
 too close, for there will always be some waste or losses 
 
THE AGEICULTUEAL PRESS. 153 
 
 which no system can pi'event. Our business Is extreme- 
 ly hazardous. Crops are liable to be cut off" or broke 
 in upon, cattle to sicken and die, and being exposed to 
 the extreme variableness of the climate, we find, after 
 the utmost care, that we are constantly runiiing great 
 risks to health and future enjoyment. 
 
 However, let us stick to our caption, and see what 
 we can do to make up this loss on our corn crop, for we 
 have made a positive loss there, and the shrewdest 
 Yankee that ever was made, cannot figure it any other 
 way. Suppose we go into the stock business, and see 
 if that will extricate us from the dilemma ? This is a 
 very important part of agriculture, and most of our 
 friends who are fond of good roast beef, and good 
 sweet butter and milk, (barring the naughty milk-man,) 
 consider it very profitable. Let us see. When a calf 
 is first dropt, his hide Is worth one dollar, the meat will 
 pay for taking it off for the pigs, and I presume that 
 no farmer would make any other use of it. The ac- 
 count will stand thus : 
 
 Calf, Dr. 
 
 To self $1.00 
 
 To 5 qts. milk per day one week, at 2 cts. per quart 70 
 
 To 6 qts. skim milk per day seven weeks, at 1 cent 2.94 
 
 To 1 2 bushels meal 1.50 
 
 To care and attention, 3 cents per day 2.94 
 
 To 18 weeks at grass, at 10 cents per week 1.80 
 
 To 26 weeks barn, at 50 cents per week 13.00 
 
 $22.88 
 
 Thus It will be seen that our calf has cost us at 
 one year old, $22.88. Now shall we sell it or grow it 
 up Into an ox or cow ? If it Is decided to sell it, a loss 
 of more than one-half must be sustained. If to keep 
 it, my word for It, the loss will be greater still. This 
 is stock-raising. It will be seen that there are several 
 smiill items that I have not put into the cost of this 
 calf, such as rent, interest, &c., which legitimately be- 
 long there. Usually in reckoning the cost of cattle. 
 
154 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 we offset the labor account against the manure ; but 
 no one will suppose that a calt" can be taken from the 
 cow at one week old and cared for until it is eio-ht 
 weeks for any such pay. 
 
 I know that the question comes up here, how is it, 
 then, that the farmers get along ? I can very easily 
 answer that question, but can do so, perhaps, in no 
 better way than in the language I have used before, 
 and say that no poor man can live by farmino-, unless 
 he works for wages. ^ I am perfectly aware that this 
 view of the matter is directly antagonistical to the 
 views of those who undertake to shape public opinion. 
 But what if it is ? If it is true, It will stand ; if not 
 it AvIll fall. To take a narrow view of the subject, I 
 might say the popular one, it would seem to be for the 
 interest of all other classes of men but the farmers to 
 have farm products cheap. But, if the farmers were 
 wise, they would at once dispel this popular clamor of 
 glorifying them in order to fatten upon credulity. I 
 freely admit that such arguments. In times past, seemed 
 plausible and generous, but I begin to see through the 
 film that has been placed upon my eyes, and rather re- 
 hictantly admit that it looks a little foxy. Why is it 
 that all farmers who have no outside help, find that it 
 is with the greatest difficulty that they can meet their 
 engagements, and are continually In debt to the mer- 
 chant, the mechanic, and the money-lender? It is, 
 because they have to sell their products, almost uni- 
 versally, under the cost — many less than one-half 
 what it costs to produce them. And I hesitate not to 
 say that many farm products do not pay mechanics' 
 wages, sim]ily to harvest and market them. The 
 amount of the loss to the farmers of New England this 
 year, on the corn crop alone, Is sufficient, if sustained 
 by the traders and manufacturers, to close the tills of 
 every bank in the State, and " nary red,'" would be 
 the universal response. In all other kinds of business, 
 as far as I know, some system or uniformity of prices 
 prevails. What the mechanic charges for a certain 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 155 
 
 job to-day will be the price all the year, always charg- 
 ing a small profit on the material used and a living 
 price for his woi'k. This is rioht, and with this ar- 
 rangement we find no fault. We expect to pay the 
 trailers and mechanics a fair jjrofit ; but how is it when 
 we have anything to sell ? Is there ever a word said 
 about profit or cost ? Not at all ! We can buy the 
 article so and so, and that settles the matter. Now, 
 what I want is, to have the farmer know what the ar- 
 ticle costs, and not scab the craft. 
 Chelmsford^ Oct., 1859. 
 
 This article was published in the JSfew England 
 Farmer., Nov. 12th, (1859,) and perhaps has excited 
 more comment than any similar article that has been 
 published. This was what I sought, and did not care 
 how extensively the ideas were circulated, if I could 
 have the privilege of meeting, by such argument as I 
 could furnish, the reasoning of those who took a dififer- 
 ent view of the matter. This seemed to me to be fair, 
 for if I was right, then, of course, others were wrong, 
 and vice versa. At any rate, I did not see how a dis- 
 cussion of the various subjects could do any hurt, if 
 the object was to secure a more equal distribution of 
 the rewards of labor. 
 
 Of course, I could not say but little in a single news- 
 paper article, nothing more than to break the ice, sup- 
 posing the same privilege would be extended to me 
 that was allowed to others. And I presume most of 
 those who have commented upon' this article in the 
 Farmer have supposed that I could reply if I desired' 
 to do so. That they have been honest, mainly, and 
 desired the general interest of the people, I have no 
 
156 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 doubt. Generally tliose who have written upon this 
 article, have mistaken the meaning of the writer in one 
 or more of the views taken. But all who have read 
 attentively what is here written, will need no other ex- 
 planation. In regard to the amount of manure it took 
 to fertilize an acre of corn to produce the thirty-seven 
 dollars' worth of grain and fodder, it will be seen cor- 
 responds very nearly with my previous estimates in 
 this work, and although it was there put a little too 
 low, the object of which was to keep within bounds, 
 that if I erred at all, it should be against myself, and 
 make the variation less than the facts would prove, 
 rather than otherwise. 
 
 Some who have commented upon this article, have 
 said the fertilizing material should be two or three 
 times as much, which would have more than doubled 
 the crop, and as the labor bill would have been but 
 little more, it would have told on the profits. My 
 answer to this would be, that the crop is now consider- 
 ably above the average, cither in this State or in the 
 country, and I believe that truth is better than error, 
 and although a man may have a right to deceive him- 
 self, he never has to deceive others. Facts are good 
 enough for me. 
 
 In the same paper in which this article was j^ub- 
 lished, (Nov. 12th,) the editor commented upon it in 
 an editorial article, the whole of which I here publish. 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 157 
 
 COST OF FAllM PEODUGTS. 
 
 " In another column we give an article upon this 
 subject, which may prove discouraging to some, but 
 one which well deserves attention and critical investi- 
 gation. We understand that the world is sustained by 
 agriculture ; that in it, it lives and moves and has its 
 being ; so there must be profit somewhere. Whether 
 that profit is to be fi^und among our New England peo- 
 ple, is the question to be solved. 
 
 In looking over the items set down by our corres- 
 pondent, we believe he has allowed about twenty-six 
 days labor as necessary to produce one acre of corn. 
 On refisrring to the ' Transactions of the Massachusetts 
 Society for the Promotion of Agriculture,' we find that 
 in the year 1800, they sent out a series of questions 
 all over the State, making such inquiries as would 
 elicit replies likely to show the average cost of our 
 common farm crops. Among these questions was the 
 following : 
 
 " How many days labor of a man are usually em- 
 ployed on an acre of Indian corn, including the getting 
 in of all the stover and stripping the hushs from the 
 ears i 
 
 No question among the fifty which they propound- 
 ed brought so many widely-different answers as this. 
 
 Dr. Payne, of Worcester, set it at ten days ; Dr. 
 Hubbard, of Concord, at fifteen; Mr. Babbit, of 
 Brookfield, at sixteen; Mr. Heath, of Brookline, at 
 fourteen, and Mr. Gardner, of the same town, at 
 eighteen ; the Middlesex Society at fourteen ; Mr. 
 Kent, of Newbury, at twenty ; Mr. Packard, of Marl- 
 borough, the same ; and Col. Parsons, of Gloucester, 
 at thirty-two. The average of these returns gives sev~ 
 enteen and two-thirds days' work for a man to produce 
 an acre of corn, beginning with the plowing and plac- 
 ing the corn in the bin. With the improved imple- 
 ments of the present day, we ought to be able to ac- 
 complish the work with two or three days' less labor 
 than they did then. 
 
158 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 The subject Is an important one, and we hope it will 
 receive careful attention." 
 
 In the next paper but one, (Nov. 26th,) the editor 
 had another leading article in reply to my article of 
 Nov. 12th. Also, two other articles on the same sub- 
 ject, one from an anonymous correspondent, (few of 
 whom shall I notice in this work,) and one from Asa 
 G. Sheldon, Esq., of Wilmington. Both articles are 
 here submitted. 
 
 IS FAMKG PROFITABLE! 
 
 No one thing operates more injuriously to the inter- 
 ests of agriculture than the widely-spread and popular 
 idea, that farming is not profitable. It is almost a work 
 of supererogation to reply to the charge, that the cul- 
 tivation of the land, as an occupation for the masses 
 of the people, is not a profitable employment, because 
 it is evident to all who will look, that it is from this 
 source that all supplies for the sustenance of man and 
 beast are mainly drawn. The art of agriculture un- 
 derlies all other arts, and sustains them all. Cease the 
 cultivation of the soil, and commerce, manufactures, 
 all sciences, and mechanic arts, and even breath itself, 
 would soon cease. 
 
 The pursuit of agriculture as an occupation, may 
 not be as profitable under all circumstances, as some 
 other pursuit. It may be better for the people of a 
 sandy tract of country on the sea-shore, to turn their 
 attention to fishing, than to raising grain or grass, or 
 for those in a mountainous and rocky country to make 
 the water of the valleys turn their wheels to transform 
 forests into various articles for household use. There 
 may be reasons why individuals in all our towns should 
 find employment in agriculture less profitable than 
 some others in which they might engage. But with 
 an average price of labor, land and implements, and 
 with that decree of skill which the land demands of 
 
THE AGRICULTUEAL TRESS. l^l) 
 
 all, we do not believe that many acres of land are ever 
 cultivated at a loss, when the crop is not injured by 
 blight, frost, or other casualty. 
 
 In the Fanner of Nov. 12, Mr. T. J. Pinkham, of 
 Chelmsford, Mass., sent us an article entitled, "//o^o 
 to Bechon the Cost of Farm Produce,'' m which he 
 intended to show, by a single illustration of the cul- 
 ture of an acre of corn, that the farmer loses, rather 
 than makes, money, by his farming operations. We 
 did not then, nor do we now, think that his premises 
 or conclusions were correct, but gladly published his 
 bold article for the purpose of arousing public- attention 
 to this matter, and if possible, of establishing a more 
 correct opinion in the public mind. In this, we are 
 happy to say, there is now a fair prospect of succeed- 
 ino-. As we then supposed would be the case, men of 
 great experience in farming matters have taken up the 
 glove thrown down by Mr. Pinkham, are criticising 
 his positions sharply, and reversing the picture he 
 
 drcAv. 11- 
 
 The past season has been an unfavorable one m 
 which to obtain a good crop of Indian corn, — too 
 much cold and wet weather prevailing early, and it 
 being too cold and dry in the latter part of the season ; 
 and yet, by exercising the proper care in selecting the 
 land, in manuring so as to give the young plants an 
 early and vigorous growth, as well as to sustain the 
 corn during Its time of maturing, we have never har- 
 vested a sounder or better crop of corn in any season. 
 It has given us sixty-five bushels to the acre, most of 
 which is suitable to be sent to the stores to be sold for 
 seed corn. 
 
 We have not kept the precise cost of this crop, but 
 near enough to show that it was not over seventy-five 
 cents per°bushel. Let us see — corn is worth now 
 one dollar a bushel. 
 
 Sixty-five bushels, at $1.00, is $G5 00 
 
 Cost of 65 bushels, at 75 cents, is 48 75 
 
 Profit $16 25 
 
IGO FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Stover, equal to one ton of best hay $10 25 
 
 100 bushels turnips on same land 10 00 
 
 $42 25 
 
 Such Is the present year's result with us, and under 
 the same mode of treatment, we have no doubt simihxr 
 results would follow nme times in ten. We believe 
 that the work of a good farmer for twenty days, 
 will bring a crop of corn on an average from forty 
 to sixty bushels to the acre. He must be a man 
 of judgment ; nmst not spend five or six days in get- 
 ting out the witch grass from an acre at the first hoe- 
 ing, instead of destroying it by very late fall, and very 
 early spring, plowing. If he makes this mistake, or 
 some other as great, he labors at a loss, and adds five 
 or six dollars to the cost of his crop ! And so with 
 regard to several other points which it is scarcely nec- 
 essary to enumerate. 
 
 PROFIT OF FARMING. 
 
 I notice a piece in your paper of Nov. 12th, 1859, 
 headed, " How to reckon the cost of Farm Products," 
 and signed T. J. Pinkham, Chelmsford, 1859. Mr. P. 
 gives us a very particular statement of the cost of 
 raising, and the value of one acre of corn in dollars 
 and cents, which statement I am not disposed to find 
 fault with, but am disposed to take it as it stands. I 
 would only simply remark, that in Chelmsford, and its 
 surrounding towns, where it is known that a farmer 
 has any coi'n of his own raising to sell, instead of so- 
 liciting purchasers, he will have five times as many 
 call on him as he can supply ; this shows that a shil- 
 ling a bushel Is rather a high price to charge for shell- 
 ing and selling corn ; but still I am willing to take all 
 his figures, just as they are, and thank friend Pinkham 
 for his close and fair calculation. It Is just what I 
 have been hoping some one would do, and hope we 
 will have more statements of the same nature, from 
 those who are disposed to believe there is no profit in 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 161 
 
 farming. But I think his story will leave the subject 
 as it is. I think it would have a tendency to lead 
 young men who are now thinking what they shall do 
 for a livino; into a ";reat error. There are two sides to 
 everything. His estimated cost of plowing is fair, and 
 sufficient tor plowing an acre of old pasture, trodden 
 by the cows for years. If this was the kind of land, 
 I will still add a little more experience to it. At the 
 last hoeing of the corn, charge fifty cents for a half- 
 bushel of rye, seventy-five cents for a bushel of red 
 top seed, and twenty-five cents for sowing it over the 
 ground, thus increasing the loss to $11.50. 
 
 After having been cultivated through the season, ac- 
 cording to the writer's account, what farmer, who has 
 his senses, when the sun shines on this acre of land in 
 1860, with the grass and rye then growing upon it, 
 will not say that this acre of land is worth double what 
 it was on the morning of the tenth day of May, 1859, 
 before the plow broke the sod ? I will suppose this 
 acre of land to be an acre of hay land, run down so as 
 to need plowing, which we cannot suppose bore more 
 than ten hundred to the acre. Is it not reasonable to 
 suppose if this ground is sown down to barley and 
 grass seed, that it will, for years, produce one ton to 
 the acre? And cannot any man buying standing grass, 
 afford to pay as much for one ton of grass standing on 
 an acre of ground, lately plowed, as he can for a ton 
 and a half, where he has to swing the scythe and the 
 rake over three acres of ground to collect the hay of a 
 poorer quality ? 
 
 Whether the acre of land the writer speaks of was 
 intended to be improved for pasture or mowing land, 
 it is plain to be seen that the cultivation of the ground, 
 while the corn crop was growing, rendered it capable 
 of producing double its former value of grass for years 
 to come. And this gives the profits of farming. 
 
 Although he did not tell us in words, that thei'C was 
 a profit in farming, he came so near it he unlocked the 
 door, and made it very easy to swing open and let us 
 14* 
 
162 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 look in. Go on, friend Pinkham ; give us more state- 
 ments, remembering that agriculture is so much like 
 pure old gold and silver, that it will continue to shine 
 as long as you continue to scour it, and a long time 
 after. But if you should ever be able to convince me 
 that there is no profit in farming, you will give me 
 more anxiety, and cause in me more alarm, fearing that 
 the world will come to an end by starvation, than Mil- 
 ler's preaching, and all his followers, ever did ! 
 
 Asa G. Sheldon. 
 Wilmington^ 3fass.^ Nov. 14. 
 
 I then wrote to the editor a polite note asking him 
 if I could have the privilege of replying to himself and 
 others, in the " Farmer." His answer to this note is 
 here inserted : 
 
 Boston, Dec. 3, 1859. 
 
 Dear Sir : In reply to your note of Nov. 27, I 
 have to say that the publishers as well as myself, are 
 obliged to you for the articles you have sent us that 
 have been published, as well as for those not yet in 
 print. Those, also, will be published. The reason of 
 delay is, that I am always crowded with communica- 
 tions, and must observe a sort of miller rule, — first 
 come first served, — though regard is paid to the impor- 
 tance of the subject, and to seasonableness. 
 
 I have given two articles in to-day's paper in reply 
 to yours, and have others on hand, so you have the sat- 
 isfaction of seeing that you have aroused a general in- 
 terest on the subject, even if they controvert your po- 
 sitions. I believe, with you, that there is great loose- 
 ness and uncertainty in most of our farm operations, 
 but do not believe that lands judiciously cultivated, are 
 ever cultivated at a loss, only in cases of casualty. 
 
 Your articles will appear in due time, mixed up with 
 those who arc paying you some attention. 1 think 
 great good will come out of the discussion, if not carried 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 163 
 
 too far. I am obliged to make up a variety for each 
 paper. Very truly and cordially yours, 
 
 Simon Brown. 
 
 The editor, it seems, evades the direct answer to my 
 question, but says " they are much obliged to me," &c. 
 — thinks I am doing a good deal of good in " arousing 
 public attention," and " my articles will appear from 
 time to time," &c. — observing a sort of "miller rule." 
 We shall see. In the "Farmer " of Dec. 3d, the edi- 
 tor, in a short note to correspondents, says : 
 
 " We have received several seasonable and valuable 
 articles, which we shall soon find room for ; and while 
 we express our obligations to the attentive and intelli- 
 gent correspondents of the Farmer^ for their numerous 
 favors, we would say their circle is constantly increas- 
 ing, and that in order to give a hearing to all, it be- 
 comes necessary for each to be as concise as the nature 
 and importance of his subject will pei*mit. The critics 
 are after Mr. Pinkham with a sha/i'p stick ; he has sent 
 us other important queries, and will not be alarmed at 
 any liair treatment, though it might be a httle severe." 
 
 Up to this time I had nowhere said a single word 
 by which the editor might infer or presume, that I was 
 anxious to call him or any one else out in discussing 
 the several subjects which had been mooted. I knew 
 that the reverse of what the Agricultural press taught 
 in regard to Agriculture, was true. I thought I saw 
 a systematic and well-contrived plan, having its centres 
 in the great cities of the country, to defraud Agricul- 
 ture of a suitable reward for labor bestowed. I ex- 
 pected that a strong effort would be made to controvert 
 my position, or cut me off entirely from an expression 
 
164 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 of my tliouglits through the channel or medium to 
 which I have referred. After the editor had tried his 
 own hand to effect this purpose, he then calls on any 
 one to come to the rescue, saying they are after him 
 with a " sharp stick," and the treatment may be a little 
 severe. For nearly six months, almost every number 
 of the " Farmer " has had something to say on what I 
 wrote ; and in some of the papers, as many as five or 
 six articles, written either by the editor or some of his 
 correspondents, in reply to me, many of them, how- 
 ever, either entirely, or in part, agreeing with my 
 views. 
 
 And now, although I have not had the privilege of 
 saying a single word for several months, yet I submit 
 to the readers of the " Farmer " if my position has not 
 rather gained, and stands better before the people than 
 when I commenced. 
 
 My first articje to the "Farmer" was published Aug. 
 20th, (1859,) the object of which was to see if the 
 "Farmer " would entertain an honest avowal of antag- 
 onistic views. This article was replied to by a friend 
 from Springfield. As I have not his name, I cannot 
 give his article entire ; but my reply to him, which is 
 here submitted, wiU convey something of his mode of 
 reasoning. 
 
 "IS THERE AKY PROFIT IN FxlRMING?" 
 
 Mr. Editor : It wiU, without doubt, be recollected 
 by many of your readers that I wrote an article, which 
 you were kind enough to publish in the Farmer of Aug. 
 20th, 1859, with the above caption. The position which 
 
THE AGEICULTUEAL PRESS. 165 
 
 I took in that article will also be recollected, viz., that 
 farming in New England is not a paying business ; that 
 the public, and even the farmers themselves, to a large 
 extent, are deceived in the matter. This I undertook 
 to show with what logic I possessed ; also, I gave some 
 statistics, and a few quotations from what I deemed 
 good authority, to prove my position. 
 
 Now, I must in candor say, that when I penned that 
 article, I supposed it would be replied to, if at all, by 
 just that class of farmers of whom I spoke in the arti- 
 cle, who, " having money to spend," &c., &c., consider 
 this as a good business. 
 
 It wiU, perhaps, be as well for me to state in the out- 
 set, that I intend in this article to reply to my " Spring- 
 field " friend, who undertook, in the Farmer of Oct. 
 22d, to review the article to which I have above re- 
 ferred, and to show that farming is profitable. 
 
 It is an old saying, and a very good one, that " cir- 
 cumstances alter cases." As this is one of the "cases" 
 that " circumstances " have altered, and as but a very 
 small proportion of the farmers can be located in a 
 thrifty and growing city, comfortably, pleasantly, and, 
 for the sake of the argument, and for nothing else, pro- 
 fitably if you please, at farming, Springfield is situat- 
 ed on the banks of the Connecticut Eiver, in Hamp- 
 den County, in this State. It is a city of some 1 5,000 
 inhabitants, and is at this day making great progress 
 in wealth and population. The AVestern Kailroad 
 passes through this place ; the United States Armory 
 is here located, which adds largely to the thrift of the 
 city, also factories of various kinds are in successful 
 operation. Further, the soil on the banks of this river 
 is well adapted to the growing of tobacco, and large 
 quantities of it is put to this use. Here, also, land is 
 sold hj the foot. Is it necessary for me to look any 
 further for the solution of the argument of my friend 
 "J. A. A." ? What say you, brother farmers, all over 
 New England ? If your ancestors had left you the 
 broad acres in a great and populous city, how mon- 
 
166 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 strously " profitable " farming would seem. Do store 
 and other bills accumulate, and the crops come in light? 
 Have you become worn out by hard toil, and the doc- 
 tor's bill looks you in the face ? Have the wife or the 
 little ones been on the sick list, too ? Or, is it neces- 
 sary to send the boy to college ? A few corner lots 
 will harmonize the whole What a beautiful thing 
 farming is ! 
 
 Now, Mr. Editor, I suppose I must take up your cor- 
 respondent's article, somewhat systematically, and treat 
 of it as he goes along. In the first paragraph, he says 
 the writer "• must be located in a very ill-favored por- 
 tion of the country." In the old town of Chelmsford, 
 joining Lowell, the second city in New England in 
 wealth, population and enterprise, (saving tobacco, — 
 we don't grow the weed here, we profess to be a moral 
 people,} is the writer's residence. Of the capabilities 
 of the town in the Agricultural line, perhaps I can give 
 it in no better way than in the language of one of our 
 most distinguished citizens. Dr. Bartlett, in a lecture 
 before the Agricultural Society of this town, said, " that 
 in his opinion, not a farmer in town was getting a liv- 
 ing, without he had either fruit or wood to sell." Now, 
 although Chehusford produces a large supply of both 
 of these articles, and there are but few farmers who 
 have neither to sell, so that on the whole, this may com- 
 pare favorably with most farming towns, yet, with all 
 the privileges that this has over most places, even here 
 it is up-hill work. The truth of the matter is just 
 here — that no farmer could, for any considerable length 
 of time, sustain his position, were it not for the outside 
 helps that he is constantly obliged to resort to. He 
 must have capital, and it is folly to think to farm with- 
 out it. Then, this capital is dead property, for with 
 this, he has to combine a larger amount of labor and 
 economy than Avould give him a better living at many 
 of the trades that are in vogue, that are much more 
 easily attained than to know Iioav to farm. One of two 
 things is true ; the farmer has to relin(|uish all hopes of 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 167 
 
 any per cent, on his capital, or throw away his labor to 
 get a fair per cent, on his investment. Does any one 
 believe that a man can take a farm and its appendages 
 entirely on credit, and pay his interest, and in the 
 course of time, free himself from his liabilities, and re- 
 tain the farm ? This is what a large proportion of those 
 engaged in other pursuits are constantly doing. 
 
 If my friend " J. A. A." will be kind enough to stop 
 guessing, and go into the figures, the facts, as they ac- 
 tually exist, and from these obtain or arrive at his con- 
 clusions, he will be quite as likely to be correct. This 
 guess work should be abandoned, and facts and figures 
 should take its place. Noav if " J. A. A." has made a 
 fortune at farming, or any considerable portion of one, 
 he has the ability to tell how it is done. This would 
 do much to establish his position. In this State, there 
 are 36,000 farms, and allowing two men to each farm, 
 would give 70,000 farmers, equalling in numbers all 
 other trades. K " J. A. A." will find one solitary in- 
 dividual (Springfield included,) out of this army of 
 fai'mers who has for a series of years made fair me- 
 chanic's wages over and above a reasonable per cent, on 
 his investment, at farming, then I shall learn something 
 that I never before have seen. And, unless he can do 
 this, and much more, then his whole argument falls to 
 the ground. 
 
 Perhaps I can illustrate the position I take, in no 
 better way than by relating an anecdote, which was re- 
 cently told me. A friend of mine who takes a similar 
 view of the matter with me, said " he had been several 
 times opposed in his view by a stout and rugged old 
 farmer who instanced Iws own case to prove that the 
 business was lucrative." " Well," said my friend, 
 " you have made money, have you ? " " Yes, I have 
 done well, and I know it is a good business. But, what 
 are you figuring about ? " "I was merely reckoning 
 up to see how much you have made." " I guess I 
 know how much I have made without your figuring." 
 " Weil, well, I merely wanted to sec ; figures, you 
 
168 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 know, wont lie." "Well, how do you make it?" 
 " Do you want I should tell you ? " " Certainly, you 
 can't alter it." " AVell, then, if I have got it right, you 
 lack $60,000 of having made a living." " How do you 
 make that out ? " " You say you had so much (show- 
 ing him the figures) left you ? " " Yes." " You are 
 now worth so much ? " " Yes." " Well, then, if you 
 had put your money at interest when you came in pos- 
 session of it, and kept it there, and got your own Hving 
 since, you Avould have been worth what I told you." 
 
 Now if my Springfield friend will furnish the evi- 
 dence of what he says, and will truthfully make it ap- 
 pear that this is " profitable," and that farmers are the 
 most independent people in the world, it is all I ask 
 for. * I think, however, that where we mainly difier is 
 in this — he has one class of farmers in view, and I 
 another. It is the poor farmer whose position I am 
 speaking of, and not these city folks who farm for 
 amusement, without regard to the cost. 
 
 Again, friend " A." says : " I suspect that Mr. P., 
 having probably been employed in other pursuits before 
 enQ;a2;insf in Ao;riculture ' some seven or eioht years ' 
 since, may possibly be lacking in Agricultural experi- 
 ence, so necessary to success, and has had the misfor- 
 tune to locate in a bad situation, both combining, per- 
 haps, to render him sick of his new vocation, and con- 
 sequently he looks upon the dark side." Here is more 
 guess work, at which friend " A " has been about as 
 successful as he is in guessing at the " profit " of fai-m- 
 ing. The truth is, 1 am not " sick " of farming, nor 
 ha\ e I " located in a bad situation." All that I want, 
 is, that the truth and right may prevail. When I see 
 all other classes of men making a living by their busi- 
 ness, and generally much more, (which I do not object 
 to,) I am led to inquire how is it with the business that 
 sustains all others ? I would not say a word, did not I 
 believe that there is a remedy for the wrongs that I 
 am speaking of. But, it is no use to say a word about 
 a remedy till we understand our position, and if things 
 are all right, then let them remain. 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 1G9 
 
 Again, " a good cow should give four quarts at early 
 milking, at least, or eight quarts per day, through the 
 greater part of the year, and even more than this, a 
 considerable portion of the time." I believe a cow 
 may be kept well, in most localities, for about forty-five 
 dollars per year, and should yield an average of six 
 quarts of milk per day. The milkmen generally get 
 from four to six cents a quart for milk, and, conse- 
 quently, the farmer should not receive less tlian three 
 or three and a half cents for his milk, at his door." 
 Now this is all guess work again, and you have not 
 given a single fact to substantiate a word of what you 
 have said. A cow that gives milk, requires 2. J per 
 cent, on her live weight per day of good English hay 
 or its equivalent to sustain her position. Is this keep- 
 ing her for forty-five dollars per year ? The farmers 
 have been selling their milk for eighteen cents per can 
 in this county, and in New Hampshire, on the line of 
 the railroads, this last summer. The cans hold, Massa- 
 chusetts measure, from nine to eleven quarts. Is this 
 " from three to three and a half cents per quart ? " No 
 supposition or guess work here. Now, if friend " A." 
 can put these items together, and figure up a " profit," 
 I am thinking it would take a larger city than Spring- 
 field to hold him. 
 
 T. J. PiNKHAM. 
 
 Chelmsford, Mass., JSfov. 7, 1859. 
 
 The following is an article which I wrote in reply to 
 the comments of the editor upon my articles, and which 
 he declined to publish. At the time I wrote this arti- 
 cle, I had before me his letter, on page 162. 
 
 Mr. Editor : — In discussing this matter of farm- 
 ing, I presume it would be well to lay down some gen- 
 eral rules, upon which all are wilhng to stand, and 
 from this stand-point take our observations ; for if the 
 premises are not well established in the commence- 
 ment, we shall strive in vain to arrive at correct con- 
 clusions. 15 
 
170 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 I presume that upon this point there is no contro- 
 versy, — that the pursuit of agriculture is useful and 
 important^ therefore should he remunerative and hon- 
 orable ; also, that those who follow this business for 
 a livelihood should be as well recompensed as those 
 who live by any other branch of human industry. 
 
 I wish to consider that we agree upon this brief 
 premise, and shall now proceed to estabhsh what I 
 have previously written by facts and arguments which 
 I think are incontrovertible ; also, to show that those 
 who have taken up their pens to controvert my position, 
 and those who sympathize with them, are doing great 
 mischief to the farmers of our country. 
 
 To the farmers, I want to say, that they must learn 
 to conquer their prejudices and open their eyes, that 
 they can distinguish the difference between cunning 
 and friendship I A merchant said to me the other 
 day, " We merchants are a mighty shrewd people, all 
 smooth and fair on the outside, but eyes were made to 
 see, and ears to hear." 
 
 In the Farmer of Nov. 12th, the editor refers to the 
 " Transactions of the Massachusetts Society for the 
 Promotion of Agriculture " in 1800, (going back some 
 ways for " Young America,") to elicit evidence to 
 controvert my position. In these "Transactions," he 
 finds, among others, this question : 
 
 " How many days labor of a man are usually em- 
 ployed on an acre of Indian corn, including the getting 
 in of all the stover and stripping the husks from the 
 ear?'; 
 
 This ends the business ; the corn is husked, and 
 there it is in a pile on the barn floor, if they had barns 
 in those days, and if it was like the corn that I raised 
 this year, (1859,) it would not be worth much if it 
 laid there long. The editor says that " No question 
 among the ffty which they propounded brought so 
 many widely different answers as this," some setting it 
 as low as 10 days to do this work, others as high as 
 32, the average being 17|^ days. 
 
THE AGEICULTURAL PRESS. 171 
 
 Now the candid reader will, by a careful perusal of 
 this article, (p. 157,) see at once that I did not under- 
 take to cultivate this acre of corn at all, but merely to 
 show the public what it costs to raise corn as it is 
 usually raised in this and other New England States. 
 I know very well that a man can hurry over an acre 
 of corn on our 2)lai7is land with, a little less labor than 
 I have allowed. But no one who has ever been so far 
 from home that his " mother has discovered that he 
 was out," need be told that the whole of New Eng- 
 and is not a sand-bank, and that ploughing and hoe- 
 ing is not always a desirable recreation. 
 
 Many fields of corn in this and other New England 
 States cannot be well prepared for the seed with a less 
 amount of labor than I have allowed for the whole cul- 
 tivation of this crop. Now, about the amount of corn. 
 It is said I have got it far too low. Upon this point, 
 perhaps, it will be well to let others speak. 
 
 According to the United States census in 1850, the 
 average yield of Indian corn in all the States, to the 
 acre, was l%y bushels, a small fraction over nineteen 
 bushels to the acre. This was in the whole United 
 States. In five of the New England States (Rhode 
 Island is not given,) it was 32 bushels to the acre. 
 This was according to the last census, viz : Massachu- 
 setts 31, Vermont 32, Connecticut 40, Maine 27, New 
 Hampshire 30. Does this look like trying to mislead 
 the people ? or does it look as though I meant to state 
 the thing about as it was ? I do not go back sixty 
 years, as my friend the editor did, but take the most 
 recent statistics we have, and regret that we have none 
 more recent. 
 
CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS, CONTINUED, AND IM 
 PORTANT CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 The Editor of the New England Farmer— Vote of the Board of Agri 
 culture — Ed. Emerson, of HolHs, N. H.,and his Article — Population, 
 Inventory, Business and Business Capital of Hollis — Wages of Hired 
 Help — Threshing and Husking Corn — An Article on Milk Raising — 
 Questions for Farmers' Clubs — An Article in Defence of the Writer — 
 "Farming Unprofitable," by H. C. Merriam — Important Sugges- 
 tions — Valuable Correspondence — Letters from Hon. Simon Brown, 
 Hon. Richard S. Fay, and Hon. George S. Boutwell — Farmers should 
 Keep the Figures — The Tailor and the Farmer — The Barre Corres- 
 pondent — Concord River Meadows — Unjust Taxation — Dr. Loring's 
 Letter — Farming in New Braintree — The Chinese and their Agricul- 
 ture—The Traders. 
 
 After the publication of my article of Nov. 12th 
 in the Farmer^ and the editor had called on the faith- 
 ful to come to the rescue, advising them that they need 
 not be particular about the " treatment," as " others 
 had spoken sharply," and come with " sharp sticks," 
 as much as to say, our " craft is in danger," and he 
 must be put down. As soon, however, as the editor 
 saw that the current was setting in my favor, and he 
 had got more than he bargained for, he softened down 
 in his ovm language, refused to publish anything more 
 from me, unless it come up to his idea of policy, and 
 from that day to this has had to fight hard to stay the 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 173 
 
 current of public opinion. Soon after the publication 
 of the article to which I have referred, the Board of 
 Ao-riculture (the editor being on the Board) called 
 up the subjects there presented, discussed them, and 
 agreed unanimously (save one, Mr. Brooks, of Prince- 
 ton,) that my positions and estimates were correct. 
 Has the public ever, from that day to this, been ap- 
 prised of the action of the Board in this particular ? 
 If so, I have nowhere seen it. If what I then said 
 was true, why seek to cover it up, or stifle investiga- 
 tion ? Although the action of the Board is often the 
 subject of public comment, and their doings are pub- 
 lished in their journals and reports, yet this vote, and 
 their action, has not been so treated. I presume the 
 intelligent reader needs no reasons for this from me in 
 this connection. 
 
 In order to give the reader an idea of the way that 
 some of the correspondents to the Farmer talk about 
 farming, I shall here publish entire an article written 
 by one of the editor's friends, and a man in whom he 
 has a good deal of confidence, and takes a great satis- 
 faction to himself that he is not a " fancy farmer, or 
 of giving undue credence to books." If, in the edit- 
 or's reference to " books," he meant the " Bible," no 
 one would presume to doubt a single word he has said 
 on that. 
 
 16* 
 
174 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 IS FARMIXG PROFITABLE? 
 
 " Mr. Editor : — I have just read in the JV. E, 
 Farmer of Nov. 12th, the article signed 'T. J. Pink- 
 ham, Chehnsford,' on the profits of tanning, or rather 
 on the losses of farming. I am surprised that any one 
 living in the counties of Middlesex and Worcester, 
 Mass., or Hillsborough, N. H., should write such an 
 article, when the farmers in these counties are the 
 most wealthy of any part of the population. 
 
 There are are forty or fifty farmers in the town of 
 Hollis, N. H., worth from $3,000 to $15,000, or more, 
 and I have known most of them from the time they 
 took possession of their farms, either by purchase or 
 from their fathers. I think at least two-thirds of them 
 either owed, or had to pay out to heirs or support the 
 old folks, to at least two-thirds of the value of their 
 farms at the time they took possession of them. 
 
 In almost every case where a young man has bought 
 a farm, and has been temperate and industrious, and 
 had tolerable health, he has made money. Nor have 
 these farmers been miserly or mean, either with them- 
 selves, their families, or the public. They have most 
 of them good, comfortable dwellings, well painted in- 
 side and out, for their families, good barns for their 
 stock, and sheds, &c., for wood, carriages, grain, &c., 
 most of which they have either built or repaired since 
 they came into possession. They educate their chil- 
 dren, and spend money for proper purposes as freely 
 as any other class of citizens. If farming is such poor 
 business, how have these men supported their families, 
 paid their debts, repaired their houses and barns, or 
 built new ones, and lent money, taken stocks, &c. ? 
 Could they do it by raising corn at a loss of $10 each 
 acre, or calves at a loss of $16 on each calf ? 
 
 Let us look at his estimate below on the cost of 
 raising an acre of corn, viz : 
 
THE AGEICULTUKAL PRESS. 175 
 
 One Acre of Com. Dr. 
 
 May 10, Two men, two yoke oxen and plow one day $4 25 
 
 " 15, One man, four oxen and cart one day hauling ma- 
 nure ^ 25 
 
 «* 15, Ten loads manure 10 00 
 
 " 16, One man one day, yoke oxen and harrow half day, 
 
 spreading manure and harrowing 1 75 
 
 May 17, Man, horse and boy k day furrowing 75 
 
 " 18, Man and boy one day planting, $1 50, seed 25. . 1 75 
 
 " 19, To putting up line, tfec ;•• 25 
 
 June 6, Two men, horse and plow cultivating and hoemg 2 50 
 
 " 6, To replanting and ashing 2 00 
 
 " 25, To hoeing and cultivating 2 50 
 
 July 10, To pulling weeds 50 
 
 Sept. 10, To two men cutting stalks and stooking do 2 00 
 
 " 25, To carting stalks to barn, &c 50 
 
 Oct. 12, To harvesting 2 00 
 
 " 13, To husking and taking care of butts 2 00 
 
 " 13, To interest on land, capital and taxes 3 00 
 
 " 13, To fencing and rents of barn and corn-house 3 00 
 
 Dee. 15, To shelling and marketing corn 5 00 
 
 $47 00 
 
 Acre of Com. CV. 
 
 Dec. 15, By 30 bushels shelled com sold $30 00 
 
 " 15, By 6 bushels ears soft corn sold 2 00 
 
 " 15, By stover and pumpkins 5 00 
 
 $37 00 
 Net loss on crop $10 00 
 
 Now, our land, (upland,) must be broken up, 
 whether we raise corn or lay down immediately to 
 
 grass. r. 1 1 • 
 
 Not over one-third of the cost of breaking up 
 should be charged to the first crop. The manure, if 
 spread, not over one-fourth should be charged to the 
 
 corn. 
 
 Few replant or ash, and as to pullmg weeds, you 
 had better let them alone than pull them in a dry time. 
 A boy will cut the stalks for half the price, and your 
 men will husk it out m an evening, if good com. 
 
170 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Shelling the corn is much too high. I have had fifty 
 bushels threshed out in a day by one man several times. 
 Now let us see : 
 
 1^ of the cost of first plowing to the first crop $1 42 
 
 y^ of the manure and hauling , 3 31 
 
 Harrowing, &c 1 75 
 
 Furrowing, jjlanting, seed and line 2 75 
 
 First and second hoeing 5 00 
 
 Cutting stalks and transplanting 4 50 
 
 Husking corn 1 00 
 
 Interest, &c 3 00 
 
 Threshing out corn 1 00 
 
 $22 73 
 
 All this help has been called one dollar per day. 
 Help hired by the month, for six months, does not 
 average over 68 cents per day, and this help, besides 
 doing the work set down in the above list, is expected 
 to get up in the morning, make the fires, feed the hogs, 
 milk the cows, feed what stock may be at the barn, 
 and cut wood, or work in the garden the rest of the 
 time till breakfast, and milk and do the other chores 
 at night — well nigh enough to pay the board. But 
 call it 75 cents per day — three-quarters of $22.73 is 
 $17.05. Allowing his estimate of $37.00 sold, the cost 
 that should be charged to the corn is $17.05. Profit, 
 $10.95. 
 
 I consider corn one of the best crops raised ; wheat, 
 oats and grass follow it better than they do potatoes. 
 
 If asked how our farmers had contrived to pay for 
 their farms, build, paint and blind their houses, have 
 money to let, and stock in corporations, — I should 
 answer the question by the above estimate. If ' T. J. P.' 
 can account for it in any other way, I should like to 
 have him. Ed. Emerson. 
 
 Hollis, Nov. 14, 1859. 
 
 " Eemarks." — [By Mr. Brown, editor of the Far- 
 mer.~\ — " Thank you, Mr. Emerson, we have no doubt 
 sreat good will come out of this discussion. Mr. 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL TRESS. 177 
 
 Emerson's name will be recognized by many readers 
 as that of a frequent correspondent to these columns, 
 — but for the gratification of those who do not know 
 him, we will say that he is quite largely engaged in 
 farming, working with his own hands and directing his 
 affairs in person. No one can justly charge him with 
 being a fancy farmer, or of giving undue credence to 
 books." 
 
 The writer would particularly invite the attention 
 of Mr. Emerson and the editor of the Farmer to the 
 following extract, taken from a rather ancient book, 
 and recommend that they give it due " credence : " 
 
 Thou slialt have no other god before me. 
 
 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any like- 
 ness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth 
 beneath, or that is in the water under the earth : Thou shalt not 
 bow down thyself to them, nor serve them : for I the Lord thy 
 God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon 
 the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that 
 hate me ; and showing mercy unto thousands of those that love 
 me, and keep my commandments. 
 
 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for 
 the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 
 
 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou 
 labor, and do all thy work: Eut the seventh day is the sabbath 
 of the Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor 
 thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, 
 nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in 
 six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in 
 them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed 
 the sabljath day, and hallowed it. 
 
 Honor thy father and thy mother : that thy days may be long 
 upon the land v^hich the Lord thy God giveth thee. 
 
 Thou shalt not kill. 
 
 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
 
 Thou shalt not steal. 
 
 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 
 
 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet 
 thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, 
 nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. 
 
178 FARMIXa AS IT IS. 
 
 I will now leave this article to speak for itself, after 
 saying a single word. If farming is as good business 
 as Mr. Emerson tells about in liis town, wliy do not the 
 people make more progress ? Certainly there are but 
 few towns but what would compare favorably with this, 
 either in population, enterprise or wealth. In 1855, the 
 population was 1,293. The total inventory was $597,- 
 992. All the active capital of the town was $7,118. 
 The business of the town consists of 2 stores, 4 carpen- 
 ter's shops, 11 saw and grist mills, 5 blacksmith shops, 
 3 wheelwright shops, and 16 cooper's shops. According 
 to my friend's statement, his " forty to fifty farmers " 
 must monopolize nearly all the wealth of the town, 
 and that does not show that labor meets a fair reward. 
 The mechanical business of the town is considerable, 
 but their whole capital is extremely limited. Now one 
 or two things, it seems, must be true ; either the farm- 
 ers are not that liberal people my friend talks about, or 
 the industry or morals of the people is at fault. 
 
 And then my friend must be extremely hard with 
 his help, according to his own statement. Here is 
 what he says : " Help hired by the month does not 
 average over 58 cents per day, and this help, besides 
 doing the work set down in the list, is expected to get 
 up in the morning, make the fires, feed the hogs, milk 
 the cows, feed what stock may be at the barn, and cut 
 wood or work in the garden the rest of the time till 
 breakfast, and milk and do the chores at night — well 
 nigh enough to pay the board." With a little altera- 
 tion, this would make a splendid " nursery hymn," 
 
THE AGRICULTUEAL PRESS. 179 
 
 which have not generally been supi^osed to be true in 
 fact. However, if all this only pays a part of a man's 
 board, most men would have to hire a man part of the 
 time (at least) to pay a full board. Then he commits 
 a great error in husking. A smart man will husk 
 two baskets in an hour, or the sixty-six baskets in 
 thirty-three hours, which he calls an evening's work, 
 or one dollar, if done for hire. 
 
 These are the statements that Governor Brown en- 
 dorses. What do the fiirmers think of them ? 
 
 Here is an article on milk raising, which any child 
 can reckon up and see how profitable the business is. 
 This was published in the Farmer^ Dec. 17, 1859. 
 
 A PLAIN QUESTION IN ARITHMETIC. 
 
 Mr. Editor : — Suppose a farmer buys a cow on 
 the first day of April, weighing 1000 pounds, and six 
 years old, for fifty dollars. On the next day after the 
 purchase she drops a calf, which takes all the milk she 
 gives daring this month but one quart per day, say 
 twenty-five quarts, which is sold for two cents per 
 quart. During this month she consumes two per cent, 
 on her Aveight of English hay, which is worth fifteen 
 dollars per ton, and two quarts of Indian meal per day, 
 at one dollar per bushel. On the first day of IMay, 
 her calf is sold for six dollars. During this month, 
 (jNIay) she gives nine quarts of milk per day, which is 
 sold for two cents per quart, and consumes hay and 
 meal same as last month. On the first day of June, 
 she is turned to pasture, which is worth eight cents 
 per day, and increases her milk to ten quarts per day, 
 which is sold same as last month. 
 
 On the next month, July, the same facts exist as 
 last month, except she falls oflf in ler milk one quart 
 
180 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 per clay. August she falls off two quarts of milk 
 per day from July, and consumes tv/enty-five pounds 
 of corn fodder daily at five dollars per ton, In addi- 
 tion to her pasturage. The next month, September, 
 her corn fodder is increased to fifty pounds dally, and 
 lier milk is reduced to six quai-ts each day ; her pas- 
 turage is also reduced half. During October she runs 
 n fall feed, or mowing fields, has nothing else, and her 
 milk is reduced to four quarts per day, which is sold 
 for four cents per quart. The cost of feed this month, 
 October, the same as pasturage, eight cents per day. 
 In November, she still runs in the field, but is put up 
 nights and fed with ten pounds of good hay and two 
 quarts of fine feed, at eighty cents per bushel, each 
 day. Her pasturage Is reduced to four cents daily 
 this month, November, milk selling for the same as 
 last month and reduced to three quarts daily. From 
 the first of December to the first of April, she is fed 
 wholly at the barn, and consumes ten pounds of good 
 hay, one peck roots, at twenty cents per bushel, and 
 twenty pounds of meadow hay, or corn fodder, at five 
 dollars per ton, daily. In this month, December, she 
 gives two quarts milk per day, and In January, one 
 quart, and dries up entirely the first of February. All 
 her milk from the first of October has been sold for 
 four cents per quart. 
 
 This, in my judgment, is a fair sample of milk rais- 
 ing in this vicinity. Now I should like to have your 
 correspondents in different milk-raising districts reckon 
 this up, and let us know whether the farmer has made 
 or lost by the operation, and how much. Also, how 
 this corresponds with the business in their locality. 
 Evidently, there are some minor considerations which 
 I have purposely left out of the account. In order to 
 see how people reckon in this important branch of 
 human Industry. Although milk, to some extent, is 
 one of the necessaries of life, yet, if it is sold below 
 its cost, the evil that is done to the community is far 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 181 
 
 greater than the good. At some future time I intend 
 to answer this, (with your permission, Mr. Editor,) 
 myself. In the meantime I shoukl like to hear from 
 some of your correspondents on the subject. 
 
 Perhaps I ought to state here that I have avoided 
 in this calculation the fractions of a cent which often 
 go into the prices of this article, but they will not vary 
 the account much ; at any rate will not make it any 
 more favorable to the raiser of milk in this section than 
 I have given it. For instance, one farmer told me that 
 he sold his milk through the first or spring and sum- 
 mer season for two and an eighth cents per quart, and 
 had contracted this fall and winter at three and a fourth 
 cents. However, I prefer the calculation made as I 
 have reckoned it ; holding that it is not very material 
 whether we make a very large or a smaller loss in the 
 business, as it in the end has about the same effect, 
 whether we dwindle along a whole lifetime to waste 
 our effects or be smart and find the bottom of the hill 
 at an earlier period. 
 
 Many people seem to apprehend that it is of but a 
 little consequence whether they make a loss in the sale 
 of their products or not, inasmuch as they can go 
 ahead and appear to be doing something ; as one man 
 remarked, " somebody will get the benefit of it." But 
 let me say to my friend, and all who take this view of 
 the matter, that you forget about those poor neighbors 
 and their families who have been less fortunate than 
 you, and who depend on their own efforts for a liveli- 
 hood, but cannot go into this branch of human indus- 
 try, except at a loss, on account of the ruinous compe- 
 tition, wdiich only can be prosecuted by those who 
 have an income equal to this drain upon their re- 
 sources. 
 
 T. J. PiNKHAM. 
 
 Chelmsford, Mass., Nov., 1859. 
 " Remarks." — [By the editor of the Farmer.'] — 
 " Our correspondent is determined to probe this busi- 
 16 
 
182 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 ness of farming, as a business on which loss and gain 
 is concerned, to the quick. He is doing the farmers 
 a good service, and is welcome to our columns." 
 
 Why did'nt you stick to that, Mr. Brown ? 
 
 On Dec. 31, the following and last article was pub- 
 lished. Notwithstanding, that just two weeks before, 
 the editor said I was doing a good work, and should 
 have entire liberty to his columns ; yet it seems that 
 the following were home questions, and it was easier 
 to satisfy his conscience than his purse. 
 
 My object in penning this article was, to break the 
 ice for a thorough investigation of the object of all leg- 
 islation upon the farmers' interests, and the effect it 
 has upon the people. The reader can read it, and if 
 he desii*es to object to it, I hope he will have the priv- 
 ilege to express his thoughts to the fullest extent. 
 
 SUBJECTS FOli DISCUSSION IN FARMER'S CLUBS. 
 
 Mr. Editor : As I see that an effort is being made 
 by the State to institute and promote Agricultural 
 Clubs throughout the Commonwealth ; and as I have 
 known such clubs to be at a loss to find subjects pro- 
 motive of their interest and the general good to discuss, 
 I thought I would send you tor publication in the 
 Fanner a few of the many questions in which the 
 farmers should take deep thought, and consult together 
 at the present time. 
 
 Has a man a rio'ht to follow a losino- business ? 
 
 Are any of the " Statute Laws " of this State op- 
 pressive and degrading to the farmer ? 
 
 Is the common system of marketing promotive of the 
 fai*mer's interests ? 
 
 Have the farmei-s a right to combine, or act in uni- 
 son, to promote their interests ? 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 183 
 
 Is it a public benefit to sell farm products below 
 their cost? 
 
 Is Xew England farming at the present time condu- 
 cive to health ? 
 
 Would a change of thought and effort among Agri- 
 culturists, from how to obtain a large surplus, to the 
 idea of a sure profit, result in universal good to all 
 classes ? 
 
 Can most of the evils of society be traced directly to 
 the improfitablcncss of farming ? 
 
 I want to say at some time, and perhaps I might as 
 well say it now, and in this connection as well as in any 
 other, that, as a citizen of Massachusetts, and a farmer, 
 and my interests and rights being inseparable from 
 those of my brother farmers, I am opposed noAv and 
 forever, to all State effort or State aid, to promote, as 
 it is thought by some, the farming interest. I can see 
 nothing in it but "ewY," and that continually. "Let 
 every tub stand upon its own bottom," is perhaps 
 not a very genteel expression, yet it conveys the 
 idea. For half a century our good and ever indul- 
 gent mother, the State, has fondled and caressed 
 the farming interests, till she has made fools of one 
 portion of the people, and nearly bankrupted another. 
 
 Repeal all laws that are antagonistic to the farmer's 
 good, and dry up the pap which has flowed from the 
 treasury of the State for a quarter of a century, and 
 in five years, if the farmers of the old Bay State don't 
 show signs of life and prosperity, whicli«rthey never 
 before dreamed of, then write me down as incompetent 
 to judge of the natural course of cause and effect. 
 " Where the carrion is, there also will be found the 
 vulture." Let the course which is fast gaining ground 
 in the State, be continued for another quarter of a 
 century, and if a " child " that is not easy to manage, 
 but Avill be extremely troublesome, is not fastened upon 
 us, then I am no judge. If the State has got any 
 stray change in its huge pocket, that it can find no bet- 
 
13-1 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 ter use for, let it pay its debts, and wean her offspring 
 before it has the power to kick her over. 
 
 Let the farmers put on and wear a clean dicky, be- 
 come more familiar with the slate and pencil, and learn 
 the difference betAvecn profit and the prime cost of an 
 article, and in five years not a man among- them could 
 be found who would be willing to acknowledge that 
 they were ever under cjuardiansMp to the State. Fur- 
 ther, let the lawyers, doctors, preachers, and the soft- 
 hand gentry generally, observe the familiar adage, 
 " shoemaker, stick to thy last," and if they happen to 
 feel the need of anything in our line, and have got any 
 loose change in their trowsers pocket, and will call 
 around and be civil about it, they can be accommo- 
 dated. T. J. PiNKHAM. 
 Chelmsford, Mass., Dec. 19, 1859. 
 
 This article was written in the fall of '59, and I sub- 
 mit to the candid reader if, in the two acts of 1860, in 
 regard to the State buying up the Concord Eiver 
 Meadows, and the Pleuro humbug, cannot be traced 
 with an unerring hand some of the warnings that are 
 of importance to, not only the people of this State, but 
 of the Country, there hinted at. 
 
 The excitement and damage done the farmers of the 
 country, by the extra session of the Legislature, will 
 soon pass away and be by many forgotten, but not so 
 with the act in regard to the River Meadows. This is 
 private property, owned by individuals, and in which 
 the public have no more interest than any other prop- 
 erty of a private nature. The wrong consists in taxing 
 the pubhc for sectional and private interests, and estab- 
 lishing a dangerous and unprincipled precedent. 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 185 
 
 There is one little article that Avas published in the 
 "Farmer," that seems to me to be plain common sense, 
 and without comment, I here insert it. 
 
 THE CORN AND OTHER CROPS. 
 
 You say, in your last paper, that the critics are after 
 Mr. Pinkham with a sharp stick, relative to his com- 
 munication of Nov. 12th. I have read, with interest, 
 what Mr. P. said, and I think his estimate nearest to 
 the cost of producing an acre of corn than those cute 
 men who have as yet criticised his estimate ; take, for 
 instance, Mr. Emerson, who hires his men so that the 
 cost of the day's work is but fifty-eight cents per day. 
 I would like to give more than one-half of that sum to 
 board my hired help ; I should think I was evading 
 some of the commands of the good Book, vvhere it 
 says, " the laborer is worthy of his hire," if I paid him 
 only one dollar for husking sixty-six bushel ears of 
 corn. Now for Mr. P.'s estimate ; he only charged ten 
 dollars for ten loads of manure, which four oxen hauled 
 out ; these oxen wiU draw out, easily, one-half cord 
 that is worth five dollars per cord, in any farmer's yard, 
 therefore, if as some say, one-half of the value of the 
 manure is left in the ground, he has not charged too 
 much for it. Mr. E. objects to the charge of plowing, 
 and seems to intimate that part of it should be reckoned 
 as improvement of the land, if the land was well laid 
 down to grass ; for myself, I should rather have it, than 
 to have it plowed ; for the amount of manure usually 
 put on by farmers, will do more good as top-dressing, 
 than otherwise applied. 
 
 In answer to the question put by those who attempt 
 to show up Mr. P., by asking how do the farmers pay 
 for their farms, paint their buildings, &c., I will say, on 
 most farms, there arc either wood, rock, or somctliing 
 else, Avhich the I'armer in the winter carries to market, 
 which will bring the cash ; if not, how does he do it ? 
 Five acres of corn will take the time of the entire sea- 
 IG* 
 
186 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 son to cultivate, so the best judges say, viz., 100 days ; 
 and he gets in profit, eighty-five dollars to do all these 
 things with, according to the estimates of the other wri- 
 ters. How many years would it take to pay the in- 
 terest, taxes, and fijr the farm, if he paid $2000 for it, 
 at the last estimate ? S. 
 
 Gafpe Elizabeth^ Dec.^ 1859. 
 
 Remarks. — We meant no disparagement to Mr. P. 
 or his article, by our remarks. — Editor Farmer. 
 
 In the " Farmer " of March 10, 1860, is an article 
 written by H. C. Merriam, which has many good ideas 
 in it, and I give it place here. 
 
 IS FARMING PROFITABLE % 
 
 This question is worthy of all the consideration which 
 it has received ■ in the able articles published in your 
 columns, and naturally leads to others equally impor- 
 tant. That Agriculture is profitable, the results of 
 particular crops have been relied upon as proving the 
 affirmative, while it is well known that a farmer may 
 raise seventy-five bushels of Indian corn per acre, and 
 have many acres of it, and yet the same year lose a 
 fruit crop worth three times his corn crop ; so with his 
 other crops. 
 
 In the latter days of Mr. Jeflferson, it was proposed 
 to obtain an act of the Legislative Assembly of Vir- 
 ginia, by which his property might be disposed of by 
 a lottery, to extricate him from debts incurred by his 
 generous hospitality, in entertaining almost daily a great 
 number of distinijuished guests, foreign and domestic. 
 An objection was made to this project, that it savored 
 of gambling, and was derogatory to the fiime, and in- 
 compatible with the dignity of the ex-president. This 
 probably prompted Mr. Jefferson to write his essay on 
 gambling, in which he says " that the farmer is the 
 greatest of all gamblers." A quarter of a century ago, 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 187 
 
 when I first read this essay, the remark was not par- 
 ticuhirly noticeable, but much subsequent reflection, 
 and some little observation, have convinced me that this 
 remark, as most others of this great man, contains more 
 truth than poetry. 
 
 I do not beheve that forming in Massachusetts is a 
 profitable business compared with other pursuits. 
 Farming is a term that admits of many definitions, 
 varying according to the systems of different localities, 
 climat (T, soil, &c., &c. I use it as applying to the cul- 
 tivation of every thing raised in this State, and fiirming 
 is o-enerally profitable according to climate, natural fer- 
 tihty of the soil, facihty of production, the price of 
 land and labor, taxes, competition in the market, and 
 the style of Hving and doing business, demanded by the 
 imperious decrees of fiishion. 
 
 Now, is farming a game of chance as declared by 
 Mr. Jeiferson, or is it a pursuit in which a man can 
 make as definite calculations of expenses and results as 
 arc made in the sister arts ? Must the mass of farm- 
 ers live as cheap as they can, and trust to God, for the 
 result of their labor ? The painter, if he is master of 
 his business, knows the exact cost of his- paints, the 
 quantity necessary to cover a square yard, the number 
 of yards to be covered, the cost of laying on the paint, 
 the mar<3-in of his profits, which his capital will return, 
 and how often he can turn it ; the mason, the number 
 of bricks necessary for a given wall, the time required 
 to lay them, the cost of labor, and the exact result of 
 his operation ; the carpenter, the quantity of lumber 
 necessary for a given structure, &c. So it is in regular 
 and legitimate trade and commerce, with the advantage 
 of insurance against shipwreck, &c., while the farmer, 
 in the failure of crops, must seek his insurance in the 
 declaration that " while the earth remaineth, seed time 
 and harvest shall never fail." 
 
 In the sister arts generally, skill, sound judgment, 
 experience, and definite calculations, are not the sport 
 
188 FAKMIXG AS IT IS. 
 
 of chance, but accomplish their purposes with almost as 
 much certainty as instinct attains its ends. 
 
 Plow is it now with the farmer ? Can he, when he 
 plants his potatoes, or his orchard, with the greatest 
 skill and judgment, tell anything about the result ? 
 Can he hasten the completion of his job, prevent drouth 
 or rain, frost or the rot ? These are things over which 
 he has no control, but things controlled by a power be- 
 fore which his puny wit must bow, his boasted skill 
 and science become foolishness, and as fruitless as an 
 iceberg. Now let a general farmer cultivate all the 
 crops ; in no season will more than half of them be suc- 
 cessful in Massachusetts. The rot may strike his po- 
 tatoes, his carrot seed may not vegetate, his corn may 
 fail, his turnijD seed, sowed the 25th of July, wet or 
 dry, may not sprout till frost comes, his grass land, 
 stocked down with great skill and care, may fail in 
 various ways, and in no season are but a few of the 
 carefully calculated results reahzed. Man sows, but 
 God gives the increase. Hence that strange faith so 
 characteristic of the farmer. 
 
 Does any such uncertainty as this attend the sister 
 arts ? Can any business in which man's best faculties 
 are thus balBed and contracted, (other things being 
 equal,) be compared with this, where the operator may 
 be master both of the inception and result of his labor ? 
 
 That Indian corn may be raised for fifty cents a 
 bushel, or is more profitable than other crops, does not 
 prove Agriculture, in general, profitable, for the char- 
 acter of the soil limits the number of acres which can 
 be ]>lantcd, and admitting that a farmer may raise 100 
 bushels jier acre, the same season in which he does 
 this, his loss from the failure of his oats, rye, barley, 
 potatoes, hay or fruit, may be three times the value of 
 his corn crop. 
 
 That Agriculture is unprofitable, compared with 
 other business in Massachusetts, is the practical judg- 
 ment of farmers generally, deny it as you may, gloss it 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 189 
 
 over as you will ; else why do so many of their sons 
 desert the plough, hardly enough remaining at home to 
 take care of the good old fathers and mothers ? Have 
 they not seen their fathers and neighbors, hard-work- 
 ing and frugal, farmers till sixty years of age, still 
 relatively poor, while their relatives and equals who 
 have engaged in other pursuits are rich, clad In fine 
 linen, and fare sumptuously every day, with leisure to 
 enjoy hfe, with means to purchase its pleasures, and 
 comforts, too ? Why are farmers willing, even desir- 
 ous, to have their sons quit the farm, and seek an easier 
 and shorter road to fortune and hapj)Iness, than they 
 have trod ? 
 
 The truth must be told, they desire a better life for 
 their children than they have had, and sigh for the 
 means to put them into a position to attain it. 
 
 The Inevitable conclusion to be drawn from this gen- 
 eral desertion of Agriculture Is, that farming Is unprof- 
 itable. The almighty dollar Is the moving principle, 
 the stepping stone to command the blessings of life, and 
 not the avoidance of hard work, but work that does 
 not pay ; the condition of eminent success in all the 
 arts, is honest hard work, Indomitable labor Avith the 
 head and hands united. There is no other potent to 
 success. Farmino; Is the most dello-htful of all occu- 
 pations, where It can be pursued for its unalloyed pleas- 
 ures, and not for Its dubious profits. 
 
 Perhaps God, when he ordained that man should 
 earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, designed to 
 protect him from the dangers of excessive wealth, from 
 that effeminancy and deterioration consequent upon 
 self-indulgence and sloth, and from that debasing sla- 
 very to avarice which grows with the power and facil- 
 ity of accumulation. 
 
 I admit that a man can live by farming, but how 
 does he live ? liow does he dress ? what are his pleas- 
 ures ? when has he leisure ? at what age can he retire 
 from business, and live at case with dignity upon the 
 
190 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 fruits of his labor ? How often can he go to the White 
 Hills, to Saratoga ? when can he visit the battle-fields 
 of his fathers, or the monuments of their fame, with 
 his family, and have his business support it ? Trips to 
 Europe, or even to the National Capitol — can he make 
 them ? 
 
 Yes, a man can live In Massachusetts by farming, 
 but only by economy and self-denial, unknown and un- 
 practiced in other pursuits. Take a survey of any 
 common country town ; who are the rich ? Men that 
 live, and not stay on the earth. They are men who 
 have done something collateral to farming, traded, 
 shaved notes, lumbered, &c. True, there is noAV and 
 then a man with the strength and constitution of a 
 giant, with a Yankee wife to match him, with mind 
 enough to have been a Webster, with a will like Na- 
 poleon's, who by working sixteen hours a day In culti- 
 vating the earth, and selling his products, has made a 
 few thousand dollars, but this man is an exception. In 
 commerce, he would have been an Astor or Girard; 
 in manufactures, an Abbott Lawrence ; In science, a 
 Morse, Humboldt, or a Stephenson ; in law, a Mason 
 or a Dexter ; in the pulpit, a Channing ; in letters, a 
 Prescott or a Macauley, but he is obliged to be un- 
 known to fame, and as untravelled as a Japanese. 
 
 Now, I know a very skilful farmer who boasted that 
 he made $1000 in 183G. One of his neighbors said 
 that " he could prove that he lost $100. On being in- 
 formed of It, he replied that " Mr. knows nothing." 
 
 " I don't know about that," replied his friend. " Well, 
 what was your investment?" "$10,000." "Well, 
 the Interest on that is $300. What was your wear and 
 teai% which you have not calculated ? " " About $350." 
 " What was your own labor worth ? The man who 
 took your place on the market wagon has $500 a year; 
 you have earned as much. Set this down at $500. 
 Well, your wife has worked hard, kept no girl, and 
 has done all the work in your great family of hired 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 191 
 
 men ; had she worked as hard for others, two or three 
 dollars per week would be considered little enough. 
 Set her work down at $150. Now, how does your ac- 
 count stand ? 
 
 Interest on investment $600.00 
 
 Your labor 500.00 
 
 Wear and tear 350.00 
 
 Wife's work 150.00 
 
 $1,600.00 
 Ofifset improvements 250.00 
 
 $1,350.00 
 
 " Had you not gone on to the farm, you might have 
 had $1,350. Instead of which, you have but $1000, 
 and a net loss of $350." 
 
 Take a survey of farmers generally in this State. 
 Have they doubled their property in twenty years? 
 C^ertainly not. Then they have not made six per cent, 
 on their investments, and all the labor is lost. Well, 
 they have reared families. What of that ? All the 
 members of their families have done work enough to 
 have commanded in other pursuits much more than a 
 living. 
 
 Again, compare men of like ability and habits en- 
 gaged in fai'ming and the sister arts, and what is the 
 result ? I know two brothers of equal education, (not 
 an uncommon case,) the superior of the two inherited 
 the homestead, the other went into trade in Boston and 
 inherited nothing. They are both well off. The farm- 
 er is worth $25,000, and the other $150,000, and has 
 not done a quarter part as much hard work. Just 
 such was the case with their father and uncle. Now 
 the farmer, by his mere skill and labor in other ])ur- 
 suits, might have been worth $30,000, for his equals in 
 the vicinity have done it in the sister arts, — masons, 
 carpenters, overseers and traders. I com2:)are equals in 
 habits and integrity. 
 
192 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 These facts and results are confirmed by general ob- 
 servation, and are too true to be overlooked, and natu- 
 rally lead to the inquiry, why is not farming in this 
 State as profitable as the sister arts, and what can be 
 done to make Agricidture (the nursing mother of all 
 true greatness, and the most noble, elevating and pleas- 
 ant of all human pursuits,) as profitable as other 
 business ? 
 
 In the New England Farmer of Dec. 24, the follow- 
 ing article was published : 
 
 IS FAMING A PROFITABLE PURSUIT? 
 
 "Facts are stubborn things." 
 
 "/s farming prqfitahle ? " 
 
 Mr. Pinkham says not ; I would not say it Is the 
 most profitable business, but a man can live at it, if so 
 disposed. I was bred a mechanic, but left my trade 
 and took hold of farming, and when I commenced was 
 not worth one doUar. I paid f 4,030 for my farm, then 
 had all my stock and tools to buy. I have had the 
 good luck to pay for the farm, stock and tools, and 
 have put on above $3,000 worth of buildings since, and 
 do not owe one dollar to any man. I have made it all 
 from my farm, although farm, fences, buildings and in- 
 terest, have cost me over $10,000. Let it be worth 
 what it may, I have paid so much, and made it from 
 the farm itself. I have never been in any speculation 
 but farming. 
 
 I consider the great secret in farming is, to take hold 
 of one string and puU that steadily when the wind and 
 tide are against you. Keep beating, and you will gain 
 some, — and when the wind shifts in your favor, you 
 are all ready to sail ; then comes a good harvest. But 
 the man that shifts every time the wind does, is always 
 beating against wind and tide, therefoi'e he condemns 
 the business he is in, and complains of hard times. I 
 do not brag of being rich, or that our New England 
 farmers can be very rich by mere farming, but I do 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 193 
 
 argue that they may make a good living and lay up a 
 little against a wet day. A. B. 
 
 Barre, Vermont^ 1859. 
 
 This was a stronger argument against my position 
 than I ever expected to see. On looking the article 
 carefully over, I was led to infer one of two things. 
 One was, that the writer had failed to understand my 
 position in regard to what farming was, or that there 
 was some mistake about it. 
 
 I therefore sat down and penned a carefully worded 
 article in order to draw the writer out, to see if he had 
 made a mistake, and had coupled a successful specula- 
 tion, such as a wood or timber operation, with legiti- 
 mate farming. This article could not obtain a place in 
 the Farmer. I then wrote to the editor of that paper 
 twice to obtain the address of his Barre correspondent, 
 telling him I wanted to correspond with him. To 
 neither of these letters could I obtain any reply. I 
 then wrote to a friend in Boston to call at the Farmer 
 office and see what they had to say In the matter. My 
 friend wrote me that his name was not known at the 
 office, or they did not know who the coi'respondent was. 
 
 I thought it singular that so important a matter 
 should find a place in the Farmer, without so much as 
 knoAving the name of the author. This was unusual. 
 The whole had rather a suspfcious look on the face of it. 
 In talking the matter over with one of my neighbors, 
 he told me that he had frequently been In the town ; his 
 wife came from an adjoining town, and his wife and him- 
 self both felt quite sure that there was some error in re- 
 17 
 
194 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 gard to it, as neither of them had any knowledge of 
 such person in the place. The reader can easily judge 
 whether a man having accomplished what " A. B. " 
 claims in a small country town, would be likely to be 
 unknown. As it is not incumbent on me to prove a 
 negative, I will leave the subject, hoping that the par- 
 ties interested will place the matter truly before the 
 people. For, as I just said, if this is true, it is a strong 
 argument against my position ; but if the reverse, then 
 my position will not suffer, and I will here state that I 
 have no fears of that, not in the least. 
 
 I well know that some men can do great things, — 
 what would seem almost impossible to some ; bvit until 
 a different system of reckoning is obtained, all the 
 money that can be made at farming can be put in a 
 small compass. 
 
 CONCORD RIVER MEADOWS. 
 
 As the editor of the Farmer claims the ri^ht to tax 
 me and all farmers in the State to furnish means to 
 drain his meadows on Concord river, and also to import 
 fancy stock, and do many other things that are posi- 
 tively injurious to all laboring men, then I claim the 
 right to be heard, while the people and not the fancy 
 have the power. For the tendency of this right to 
 tax the people is to deprite us of the means to pay a 
 tax at all, and also of the privilege of being taxed. If 
 we have to go over to Concord to drain his meadows, 
 it would seem to be right for the Concord farmers to 
 come over here to Chelmsford and help us, as our 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 195 
 
 meadows might be improved ; but the absurdity of 
 this arrangement is that the parlor farmers would get 
 their work all done up, and we should have to "dig 
 our potatoes " after the frost had claimed the right to 
 nip the fingers. 
 
 This right also to tax us to import fancy stock at 
 fabulous prices, and then when they conclude to die 
 off as they do in their own country, to again tax us to 
 replace them, is but another part of the same system, 
 the tendency of which is, that the whole arrangement 
 will some day have to be either disbanded, or we shall 
 become a nation of serfs and nobles, and our democ- 
 racy will be in name only. I say these things because 
 I believe them to be true ; and those friends whom I 
 sifirnalize as actors in the drama, must look for the 
 cause down deep at the bottom of things, and not 
 wholly at the idea of momentary relief by flying to the 
 public chest as a remedy, for what they consider as 
 evils are not evils, only as injudicious legislation has 
 fastened them upon us, and the only legitimate remedy 
 is not to multiply, but displace the cause. " Put the 
 axe at the root of the tree." 
 
 And it may not be out of the bounds of inquiry in 
 this work, as my object is to do good and not evil, to 
 enjoin upon all farmers the importance of looking care- 
 fully to those whom they select as law makers ; for if I 
 can see clearly, the acts of the last, and one or two 
 other legislatures, will cost them millions of treasure, 
 and fasten upon the people a system or code of laws 
 that no one generation can wholly eradicate. 
 
196 FARMING AS IT PS. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that has been said on the Im- 
 mense profits of farming In the public prints and other- 
 erwlse by the fancy, I have seldom met a man who in 
 private conversation makes any such pretence. But 
 almost universally they will tell you that it is a losing 
 business. The reader has seen how it Is. As soon as 
 the figures are made, the tale is told. Make them any 
 way you will, or anywhere you please, the result is 
 nearly the same. In Massachusetts or Ohio, Vermont 
 or Wisconsin, the result is always about the same. 
 Go down South, where labor is almost cheap enough 
 to satisfy Mr. Secretary Flint, although I have always 
 supposed they did furnish a scanty living for their 
 workers, and the fio-ures are no better for ao-rlculture. 
 Cotton, sugar, rice and tobacco cannot be made of 
 nothing any more than com, wheat, hay, or any product 
 grown at the North. 
 
 Entertaining the opinions I do in the matter, and 
 being confident that no one when put to the test can 
 show any other result from actual statements and fig- 
 ures, the idea occurred to me to correspond with some 
 of those men who have been most prominent in pre- 
 senting the other side of the subject, to show the reader 
 how they talk when asked in plain terms in regard to 
 their own experience or practice. 
 
 I accordingly wrote, or caused to be written, letters 
 to many of the fancy and other farmers In this and 
 other States on the subject. The following is a copy 
 of the letters sent, and some of the answers are here 
 eubjolned. It will be proper to state here that out of 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 197 
 
 all the letters written and sent, I have received answers 
 to but few, and will say that I am greatly obliged 
 to those who were kind enough to favor me with an 
 answer, although the reader will need no promptings 
 to define the reason of the neglect of those who did 
 not. 
 
 "Dear Sir : — I am preparing for the press a small 
 work to be entitled ' Farming as it is,' expressive of 
 my views of Agriculture, as a means of living for the 
 young men and young women of this section of the 
 country, with limited or no means but their stout hearts 
 and strong arms. 
 
 And, sir, as you have had large experience in this 
 branch of human industry, and are equally interested 
 in whatever pertains to our best interest and the pros- 
 perity of the country, I have thought it advisable to 
 address you and a few others upon this important sub- 
 ject, hoping you will kindly consider the matter. 
 
 The point of inquiry is this : have you so separated 
 your agricultural from your other interests as to be 
 able to decide with a considerable degree of accuracy, 
 if in your own practice you have made a profit, or a 
 net income above a reasonable estimate on the value 
 of the labor performed, and a fair per cent, on the cap- 
 ital invested ? 
 
 An early reply is respectfully solicited. 
 
 With much respect, I remain, your friend, 
 
 J. T. P. 
 
 Chelmsford, Mass., March, 1860. 
 
 Hon. Simon Brown in his reply, says, " I have to 
 say that / have not, and therefore my experience would 
 not be valuable to you." 
 
 The reader is awai'c that this Mr. Brown is one of 
 
 the men who claims to be competent to teach the people 
 
 how to farm, and travels the country for this purpose, 
 17* 
 
198 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 and is paid out of the treasury of the State. He is a 
 farmer in old Concord, in this County, is editor of the 
 "New England Farmer," is continually talking and 
 writing about the monstrous profits of farming, both in 
 his own practice, and in that of others. He nearly 
 doubled his money on the corn crop last year, and yet, 
 when asked in plain terms, to put his name to the facts 
 and figures of his own Agriculture, he says, " I have 
 not," or " I cannot say," &c., &c. Further comment 
 is unnecessary. His letter is here subjoined. 
 
 Boston, March 23, 1860. 
 
 Dear Sir : In your note of the 18th instant, you 
 inquire : 
 
 " Have you so separated your Agricultural from 
 your other interests, as to decide with considerable de- 
 gree of accuracy, if in your own practice you have 
 made a profit or a net income above a reasonable esti- 
 mate on the value of the labor performed, and a fair 
 per cent, on the capital invested ? " 
 
 In reply, I have to say that I have not, and there- 
 fore my ex^jerience would not be valuable to you, so far 
 as exact statements are concerned. I am glad you are 
 writing upon the subject, because the more thorough 
 the investigation, the more decisive will be the convic- 
 tion among our people that farming, as an occuj)ation, 
 is healthy, profitable and honorable. I am very sin- 
 cerely and cordially yours, 
 
 Simon Brown. 
 
 Hon. Richard S. Fay, says, " I do not claim to have 
 received a profit^'' &c., &c. 
 
 Mr. Fay's farming, as he says, is no criterion by 
 which to judge of the profits or losses of farming gen- 
 erally. He undoubtedly, like thousands of others, sup- 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 199 
 
 poses it is for the best good of the people to make farm 
 products cheap, when the reverse is incontrovertibly 
 true. For this purpose he labors, but I hope however 
 that ere long, he and others will see their error. 
 
 The following is Mr. Fay's reply : 
 
 Boston, April 9, 1860. 
 
 Dear Sir : Your favor of April od, addressed to 
 me at Lynn, I have just received. You ask me the 
 following question : 
 
 "Have you so separated your Agricultural from 
 your other interests as to be able to decide with a con- 
 siderable degree of accuracy, if in your own practice 
 you have made a profit or a net income above a reason- 
 able estimate on the value of the labor performed, and 
 a fair per cent, on the capital invested ? " 
 
 I will answer in reply, that my farming operations 
 form a very small proportion of the labor or money ex- 
 pended upon my place in Lynn, which is not, from the 
 nature of the soil, adapted to the purposes of general 
 Ao-riculture. I have, however, kept an accurate account 
 of all my expenditures, labor, money, &c., applied to 
 Agriculture, as well as the receipts, and I can safely 
 say that as a capitalist, I am not dissatisfied with the 
 result.. I do not claim to have received a " profit or 
 net income above a reasonable estimate for labor per- 
 formed, and a fair per cent, on the capital invested,^'' 
 for if I understand the expression above quoted, it 
 would be a most unreasonable profit, but I have had a 
 fair return for my labor and capital. 
 
 I am convinced, from experience and observation, 
 that a young man, with limited means, such as you de- 
 scribe in your note, at the present prices of land in 
 Massachusetts, can make money at less risk in the pur- 
 suit of Agriculture, than in any other department of 
 human imlustry, — provided, he understands the busi- 
 ness, and has had a proper Agricultural training. Foor 
 farmlnrj wdl not pay, — the same penalties await the 
 
200 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 want of skill in this as in other occupations. It \vill 
 not pay perhaps to grow 30 bushels of corn to the acre, 
 or a ton of hay, — it will not pay to breed ordinary 
 animals at any price ; but it will pay to grow good 
 crops, and good animals ; and the same skill which is 
 required to insure success in other pursuits, will lind a 
 double reward in Agriculture. 
 
 I have read several communications from you in the 
 "New England Farmer," upon the profits of farming, 
 but until 1 know the point you are aiming at, I cannot 
 tell whether the purpose you have in view is likely to 
 be u.'-eful or not. If I were to enter upon the subject 
 you have in hand, I should take the maximum crops 
 that have been and are grown, test the question .of profit 
 or loss upon them ; if a profit, I should point to those 
 crops as the standard of success, and a falling off from 
 the standard, as a sure declension until it reaches tlie 
 lower point, which you may also establish, as the point 
 of loss. I see nothing gained in the way of informa- 
 tion to the young man entering life, by informing him 
 that Mr. A. has made money by farming, and that Mr. 
 B. has not, unless you can go into their accounts and 
 show the reasons for the two opposite results. A fail- 
 ure of success does not of necessity prove that the 
 business in which it occurred is not a profitable one. 
 Indeed, in all departments of industry, the inherent un- 
 profitableness of the business is the least common cause 
 of failure. Ninety-nine men out of a hundred, wheth- 
 er in manufactures, agriculture or commerce, as well 
 as in the learned professions, who fail., do so because 
 they do not understand., or neglect their business. I 
 have written this hastily, — judging from your note, 
 that an early reply would oblige you. The motive for 
 my saying more than to reply to your question, I trust 
 you will appreciate. Very truly your obt. sevt.. 
 
 E. S. Fay. 
 
 The letter from Hon. George S. Boutwell is valuable 
 in this particular; it shows that he is keeping the fig- 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 201 
 
 ures, the debit and credit ; and that, after all, is the 
 thing to be desired. Let all farmers do this, and a rev- 
 olution for good must be the result. Make the fig- 
 ures, brother farmers everywhere, and do it every day, 
 upon every crop and every animal, and take your time ; 
 consider this a part of the work of the farm. Never 
 put it off till a rainy day, or Saturday night, or Sun- 
 day, making this an excuse for staying away from 
 church. Have a tag fastened upon every animal, and 
 every product, with some kind of cabalistic characters, 
 same as the tailors have upon their coats, pants, &c., 
 so that you will know at once the cost of each article, 
 and when a customer comes along, tell him it cost so 
 and so, just as the tailor tells you, and let everybody 
 know that figui'ing and farming are synonymous. If 
 it is right that other folks should make a profit, it is 
 equally so that the farmer should. And all those who 
 have a fortune, or are in receipt of an income outside 
 of the business, should recollect that when you so 
 cheapen the price of farm products below living wages, 
 you deprive those in embarrassed circumstances of the 
 means of a living. 
 
 Groton, 21st March, 1860. 
 
 My Dear Sir : Your letter of the 18th instant is 
 before me, and I regret that I cannot aid you in your 
 inquiries. 
 
 I took a farm in 1854, that had been much neglected, 
 and for two years after, I did not attend to its cultiva- 
 tion. Since that time, my chief expenditures have re- 
 lated to the renovation of the land. 1 have not, how- 
 ever, kept an account of receipts and expenditures. It 
 
202 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 is my purpose to do so in future, but heretofore, such 
 an account would have had no vakie in the ekicidation 
 of the subject of your inquiry. 
 
 My behcf is that hay, grain, milk and butter, pay a 
 small profit to the producer. Other products I have 
 not tried. Very respectfully, 
 
 Geo. S. Boutwell. 
 
 Salem, May 13, 1860. 
 
 My Dear Sir : Yours of March 28th, Avas laid 
 aside with a view of writing an elaborate answer, but 
 I find this to be impossible on account of pressing 
 duties. I seize a moment now, on my return from 
 Brookfield, v.dicre I am engaged in extirpating the ter- 
 rible cattle disease, to say that there is no doubt of the 
 profit of farming when pursued carefully and economi- 
 cally. I stated last season in an address, that no man- 
 ual labor was so well paid, and I believe it. 
 
 As a proof of my assertion, I Avould state that the 
 town of New Braintree, wholly Agricultural, is the 
 richest in the State in proportion to its population. 
 
 My own accounts show a very fair increase on a 
 large investment : and of course, I must farm at a great 
 disadvantage. 
 
 No business requires so much patience, foresight, and 
 sagacity, none so thorough an adaptation of one's ope- 
 rations to the locality in which one is situated. 
 Truly yours, 
 
 Geo. B. Loring. 
 
 The letter of Dr. Loring I hope the reader will give 
 a careful perusal. He has spoken plainly, just as every 
 man had ought to speak, when the rights of others are 
 involved. For I know of nothing more annoying than 
 this running all round the stump, or like the Irisliman's 
 flea, when you put your "finger on him he is nut 
 there." 
 
THE AGEICULTURAL TEESS. 203 
 
 The Doctor says that his " own accounts show a very 
 fair income on a hirge investment : and of course, he 
 must farm at a great disadvantage." Why so ? Why 
 not you farm at a profit, same as our merchants and 
 manufacturers, who seldom do any of their own work, 
 but often pay several times as much for help, clerk- 
 hire, book keepers, &c., as any farm workmen expect. 
 If farm labor is better paid than any other " manual " 
 labor, why cannot a young man, who holds himself up 
 as competent to teach farming, do what he thinks others 
 may do ? 
 
 " No business," says the Doctor, " requires so much 
 patience, foresight, and sagacity, none so thorough an 
 adaptation of one's operations to the locality in which 
 one is situated." If the Doctor had said in addition to 
 this, that no business required so much physical exer- 
 tion and deprivation, then I should agree wdtli him. 
 
 But the principal point in my friend's letter to sus- 
 tain his position, is the " wealth " of New Braintree, 
 which he cites as " proof " of his argument. He says 
 that this town (New Braintree,) is wholly " Agricul- 
 tural," and the " richest in the State in proportion to 
 its population." Let us see how this is. 
 
 I presume that the Doctor will not claim that this 
 proves any thing either way ; because a town is rich and 
 Agricultural, does not prove farming to be profitable. 
 For if these people made their money at farming, that 
 would be an argument, but as they did not, but inher- 
 ited it, mainly and by their inactivity have been grad- 
 ually deci'casing in population, and it is one of the very 
 few towms that have done this, in the State. The year 
 
204 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 before the last census was taken, there was but one 
 mari'iage in the town, and the deaths were greater than 
 the births. From 1850 to 1855, the population fell off 
 77, more than 15 each year. This shows anything but 
 prosperity. 
 
 Now for my friend's facts. It " is the richest in the 
 State in proportion to its population." In 1850, the 
 population was 852, the inventory, $554,624. This 
 would give $653 to each inhabitant, or to a family of 
 five, $3,265. In Brookline, in Norfolk County, the 
 population at the same time was 2,516. The valuation, 
 $5,436,854.50. This would give to each person more 
 than $2,100, or a family of five persons, $10,500, more 
 than three times as much as New Braintree. In North 
 Chelsea, the valuation would give to each person, 
 $857.00. In the town of WatertOAvn, Middlesex Coun- 
 ty, the population was 2,837. The valuation, $2,351,- 
 583.20. This would allow to each person, $828, or a 
 family of five persons, $4,140. In New Bedford, the 
 popidation was 16,443. The valuation at the same 
 time, $14,489,266. Maldng $881.00 to each person, and 
 to a family of five persons, $4,405.00. I presume that 
 this will do. There are other towns in the State which 
 the census of 1850 shows the same result, and if we 
 exclude foreigners, as they should be in a calculation of 
 this kind with their property, there would be many 
 towns and cities exceedinsj in their averao-e valuation 
 the town of New Braintree. 
 
 The Doctor further says : " As proof of my assertion, 
 I would state that the town of New Braintree, is wholly 
 agricultural." (" Wholly agricultural.") Let us fccc. 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 205 
 
 In 1855, the report on the industry of the Ptatc 
 says there was a caiTiage manufactory making $1,500 
 worth a year, or the year previous ; also, $7,155 worth 
 of boots and shoes made ; value of palm leaf hats 
 $70 ; value of lumber purchased for market, $1,400 ; 
 value of fire-wood prepared for market, $1,250 ; also, 
 a shoe shaving establishment. Thus it seems that al- 
 though the people are mainly agriculturists, they are 
 not wholly so. 
 
 Now let us see what these wealthy farmers earned, 
 for if farming is more profitable than any other " man- 
 ual labor," as the Doctor asserts, and after some six 
 weeks of time to prepare a strong argument in " proof 
 of his assertion," he has gone up into the western part 
 of Worcester county for his arguments, where they 
 keep the fancy stock, and have got the needful to do 
 it with. 
 
 The total products of the year 1854, were as follows : 
 
 Wool products, 179 pounds, at 30 $53 70 
 
 Butter, 12,635 " 25 3,158 00 
 
 Cheese, 265,650 " 10 26,565 00 
 
 Indian corn, 7,710 bushels, 1 12^ 8,674 00 
 
 Wheat, 48 " 2 50 120 00 
 
 Eye, 1,800 " 125 2,250 00 
 
 Barley, 2,522 " 1 00 2,522 00 
 
 Oats, 4,758 '« 50 2,379 00 
 
 Potatoes, 13,000 " 50 6,500 00 
 
 English hay, 2,100 tons, 14 00 29,400 00 
 
 Swale hay, 542 " 6 00 3,250 00 
 
 Apples, 3,477 00 
 
 Pears, 8 00 
 
 Cranberries, 366 00 
 
 Buckwheat, 125 bushels, at 75 cents 94 00 
 
 Swine, 238, valued 2,380 00 
 
 Total $91,206 70 
 
206 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 If any one supposes that this $91,206.70 represents 
 truly the earnings of the farmers pf New Braintree for 
 the year 1854, they are greatly mistaken, and before 
 setting themselves up for teachers, they had better go 
 to school, and not be very ambitious to get into a high 
 class neither. With just as much propriety might a 
 manufacturer figure up the value of the raw material 
 of which his goods are made, then estimate the value 
 after they are manufactured, and adding the whole 
 together, calling that sum the earnings of the year. 
 Of course our manufacturer would deceive himself, 
 possibly others ; but if he was rich, worked hard, was 
 very prudent, he might remain in blissful ignorance, 
 but some morning his heirs would wake up a little dis- 
 appointed. 
 
 Then according to this report, the prices were some 
 higher in 1855 than now. 
 
 If I were to estimate the earnings of this town for 
 the year, I should make the figures thus, taking the 
 sum total as it stands : 
 
 $91,206.70, less 15 per cent, for marketing, selling, 
 
 and loss , $13,681 00 
 
 Earnings of capital, 6' per cent, on $300,000 ... 18,000 00 
 
 Raw material of which the products are made 30,402 23 
 
 $62,083 23 
 
 Let this sum be taken from the whole earning-s, it 
 will leave $29,123.47 as a compensation for the labor. 
 This divided among 250 farm laborers, would give 
 each 1116. 
 
 Thus my friend Dr. Loring will see that if there is 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 207 
 
 " no doubt of the profit of farming," he has been ex- 
 tremely unfortunate in his facts to " prove " it ; for he 
 must perceive that what he supposed to be facts were 
 only imaginary ones, and I only regret that his time 
 could not have been so much at his command as to 
 have enabled him to have written out his " elaborate 
 answer," for I always find it much easier to talk to 
 those who, when they speak, say something, rather 
 than words. 
 
 Until we have a more correct system of estimating 
 the cost of farm products, no poor man can earn a re- 
 spectable and comfortable living at farming. That 
 many of the farmers of New Braintree are wealthy, 
 and the town is wealthy, is no argument to prove the 
 profitableness of agriculture. If these men had earned 
 their money, it would have been different. As long as 
 we are able to export grain and animal food to coun- 
 tries whose laborers are serfs, we have got to do one 
 or two things : either defraud labor of a decent re- 
 ward, or exhaust the soil, perhaps both. This is just 
 what we are doing. For while labor is nominally much 
 lower in Europe, their farm products are much higher. 
 There agriculture can be done at a profit ; here only 
 at a loss. When we shall learn to increase the fertihty 
 of our land without domestic animals, keeping them 
 only when the income from them will pay day wages 
 for the food and the care they deman(#, then nearly the 
 whole secret of successful farming is obtained. Now 
 we make slaves of ourselves to provide for our animals, 
 rearing and fattening them, without the least prospect 
 of a reward for doing so. 
 
208 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 The Chinese have increased the productiveness of 
 their soil, cultivating constantly the same for many 
 centuries, and yet it is just as ready to bear its burden 
 now as ever. They have comparatively no animals, 
 not relying on these for plant food. Neither have they 
 any such thing as agricultural societies, or Boards of 
 Agriculture ; yet there is no lack of human food. 
 They rely entirely on the law of supply and demand, 
 as all classes of people should, believing that all indus- 
 trial interests are best protected when left entirely 
 free. There is no more need of legislating for the 
 farmers than the shoemakers ; if, when the latter run 
 till they run nearly down, and then " strike," so the 
 farmers should watch carefully their rights, and when 
 their labor yields them a scanty living, they should 
 pause. 
 
 All farmers should keep all the stock, and raise all 
 the products they need for their own consumption and 
 use, and never sell an article from the farm only in 
 case of emergency, at a loss. No matter what men 
 say or pretend, this is the only ground upon which we 
 can act ; for the price of human food in the cities and 
 market places to the consumers is not governed by the 
 realization of the farmer, but by the cupidity of the 
 speculators. When wheat sells for sixty cents per 
 bushel in Chicago by the farmer, flour ought to be sold 
 at retail in Boston for five dollars per barrel. But this 
 is not the fact, for the price of flour in Boston depends 
 quite as much on a manufactured money market, as on 
 the price of grain at the West. When beef is sold 
 
THE AGEICULTURAL PEESS. 209 
 
 for six dollars per hundred in Cambridge, the consu- 
 mers in Boston should buy the article for from four to 
 thirteen cents per pound. But let me say that the 
 price of beef to the producer, has but little to do with 
 the cost of the article to the consumers. The losses 
 of the farmers increase the profits of the traders. 
 
 Some of the most distinguished agricultural writers 
 and lecturers to whom the people have been pleased to 
 listen, have written to me in reply to my interrogato- 
 ries, and say that they have nothing to say that will 
 be of any use, or in their own language, " I have no* 
 accounts with my land accurate enough for publica- 
 tion," &c. ; or, "I do not know of my own knowl- 
 edge," " I have made no money," &c., &c. 
 
 Out of all the answers I have received to my in- 
 quiries, not a single one, with the exception of Dr. 
 Loring, have claimed that they themselves have got 
 pay for their labor. They never took the view of the 
 matter that was suggested. 
 
 It seems to me proper here to state that the Secre- 
 tary of the " Board of Agriculture," Mr. Flint, did not 
 favor me with a reply. Inasmuch as he is in receipt 
 of large pay from the State, which the taxes of ail 
 farmers in the Commonwealth go to support, I was 
 in hopes that he would let the farmers know what he 
 had to say in the matter. Because, if he is no farmer, 
 had this fact ought to be kept from the people ? Is a 
 man who knows but little about farming practically, as 
 a means of living, the best man to stand at the head of 
 the " Board," supposing the object is to benefit the 
 18* 
 
210 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 farmer, as is professed ? If not the farmers' interest is 
 to be promoted, but those who live on the labor of the 
 farmer, then the arrangement is undoubtedlj wise. 
 
 The last five years have been the most disastrous to 
 the farmers of this country that they ever experienced, 
 and whether they know it or not, it does not alter the 
 fact. The whole of these troubles, or nearly so, can 
 be directly traced to what is termed the fostering care 
 of legislative action ; a fondness of the pap that flows 
 from the public chest. As this pap is increased, the 
 poor will have to suffer ; and it wiU not effect the poor 
 only, but will permeate throughout aU society. 
 
 THE FIRST CONVERT. 
 
 Strange tilings do happen, sometimes, any way. The 
 reader has seen what the Hon. Simon Brown said in 
 his letter, in regard to the professions of young men, 
 and the profits of his own Agriculture. 
 
 Who then would have thought that in a few short 
 weeks a hopeful conversion would have resulted upon 
 the principal idea embraced in my letter, to which his 
 is a reply ? 
 
 After conning this letter over in his mind a few 
 weeks, he came out in a leader in his own paper, of 
 May 19th, following, a portion of which article I here 
 insert. 
 
 " In view of this increasing interest in Agricultural 
 pursuits, wc wish to suggest that, in our opinion, great- 
 er freedom may be extended to farmers' sons and dauo;h- 
 ters in the choice of a profession. For ourselves, we 
 
THE AGEICULTUEAL PEESS. 211 
 
 are ready to sign a proclamation that, henceforth, every- 
 one who desires to do so, may leave the farm and the 
 farm-house, forthwith ! 
 
 As the business of Agriculture now stands, there is 
 little hope of success by any of those sick of home, 
 victims of fate plodders, who beHeve they were made 
 for mechanics, merchants, peddlers, preachers, politicians 
 or fiddlers. All these classes are wanted, but not on 
 the farm. In the late discussion of the question, 
 " What will tend to make farming pleasant and profit- 
 able as a pursuit ? " by the Legislative Agricultural 
 Society, it was well suggested that a love of the busi- 
 ness is essential. People must take hold of it from 
 choice, and voluntarily devote to it the best energies of 
 their minds and bodies, or the business will not be either 
 pleasant or profitable. 
 
 Who has not often remarked, that, among the strange 
 whims of our common humanity, there is a disposition 
 to do those things which it has been forbidden to do, 
 and to leave undone those things which it has been 
 most persistently advised and exhorted to do. Eecog- 
 nizing this as a well-known, but often neglected prin- 
 ciple of human nature, we do honestly believe there is 
 danger that the advice to Jcirvicrs^ sons to stick to the 
 farm may he too frequently repeated J'^ 
 
 I am free to admit that I did not expect to make 
 converts quite so easily, as this article of the editor in- 
 dicates ; yet, such seems to be the fact. And if this 
 writer sees a suflScient amount of truth and practical 
 advancement in the many other ideas contained in this 
 book, and is as ready to admit that we have outlived 
 the single idea principle, that the only road to excellence 
 is over the necks of humanity, and will work in con- 
 junction with the thousands of others who must see 
 that the principles here advocated arc practicable and 
 
212 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 reasonable, and for the general welfare, what an amount 
 of good may in a brief time be accomplished. 
 
 " A. single word that is fitly spoken, 
 May wound or soothe a heart that's broken." 
 
 It is not apt to be the case that those individuals who 
 are the most easily enlisted, make the best " soldiers," 
 yet, as the politicians say, we go for " principles not 
 men ;" and as in this stage of the controversy, consid- 
 ering the reasonableness and importance of the position 
 taken, it would seem reasonable that brief conversions 
 would be likely to ensue, therefore, I hope that none 
 will question the probationary time taken, as the great- 
 est sinners often make the most valuable pleaders of a 
 good cause. 
 
 And as it is not to be supposed that Mr. Brown 
 could have embraced the whole of the code of prin- 
 ciples in this work, from the brief letter he 
 was so kind as to acknowledge, inasmuch as he still 
 holds to the opinion that the farmers should ignore the 
 idea of being " mechanics, Tnerchants, peddlers, preach- 
 ers, politicians or fiddlers;^'' and as this idea seriously 
 conflicts with my views of the matter, he will see that 
 he is not yet wholly converted, having only taken the 
 initiary steps to a more perfect development. 
 
 For I hold that this idea that farmers should be mere 
 drudges upon the farm, electing others to do their 
 preaching, trading, &c., is a fundamental error that 
 needs to be eradicated, and were it not for this " Board 
 of Agriculture," and all the other humbugs of the day, 
 which are gnawing at the very vitals of the working 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 213 
 
 fanner, would be among the things for which a free and 
 enlightened people have no place. In another para- 
 graph in the same article that I am now briefly review- 
 ing, the editor says, " We might also refer ... to 
 the labor-saving implements which do the work of 
 menials and slaves." 
 
 Recollect that the Editor is talking about New Eng- 
 land farmers and New England farming ; not Old Eng- 
 land nor the land of the Plottentots, those very men 
 who for more than a quarter of a century he boasts of 
 having " sjaoken to editorially," in regard to their in- 
 terests and good, and has always been foremost in his 
 endeavor to pursuade young men everywhere to " stick 
 to the farm," saying that all other business is overdone, 
 and this yields a profit unparalleled. And now when 
 confronted in his position, he turns round and sneer- 
 ingly talks about the country boys as being " fate plod- 
 ders," anxious to become " peddlers, preachers, politi- 
 cians, fiddlers," <S:C. Then professes to see in the late 
 inventions a relief for the " menials and slaves." What 
 implement, let me ask, has yet been made to do the 
 most repulsive work upon the farm ? It is only the 
 genteel work that is now done by machinery, mainly, 
 leaving the " severity of our toil " yet to " menials and 
 slaves." 
 
 However, I will say but little more, as my friend 
 will be led to think that instead of his being a convert, 
 he is hardly prepared as a candidate for the anxious 
 seat ; hoping, therefore, that all twinges of conscience, 
 however slight, will admonish him of the importance 
 
214 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 of the subject, and that the principles here advocated 
 are the only touch-stone to a complete redemption. 
 
 " For ourselves, we are ready to sign a proclamation 
 that, henceforth, every one who desires to do so may 
 leave the farm and the farm-house, forthwith." 
 
 Rather cool ! How long since you came to this con- 
 clusion, and who is to draw up the " proclamation ? " 
 This is important. Perhaps the country boys will de- 
 mand an explanation in regard to the " menials and 
 slaves J^ And also, would like to know if this " pro- 
 clamation " is to include ^^ Jiddlers, mechanics,^'' &c., 
 as well. Those words grate harshly on New England 
 ears. Do j^ou think this treating the young men re- 
 spectfully, after having done more perhaps than any 
 other man by way of advising them " to stick to the 
 farm," thereby rendering them unqualified to engage 
 successfully in any business. Verily, 
 
 " The evil that men do, lives after them." 
 
 Again, my friend the editor says, " But if the num- 
 ber of papers devoted to the interest of the farmer 
 which are now read and supported by farmers, may be 
 cited with hopefulness and exultation, surely the talent 
 and ability which are displayed in their management 
 may be regarded with the highest degree of satisfac- 
 tion." 
 
 I should like to inquire what papers he refers to as 
 being " devoted to the interest of the farmer ? " Cer- 
 tainly a paper that speaks of the working farmers as 
 being " menials and slaves," and tells about their "fZo^- 
 
THE AGEICULTURAL PRESS. 216 
 
 ged wilfulness,^' (genteel expressions — refined lan- 
 guage,) would hardly be considered very strongly " de- 
 voted to the farmer's interest." Perhaps if the editor 
 vrould explicitly define what he understands by the 
 word, (farmer,) we could then understandingly con- 
 sider the subject. 
 
 In pharmacy there are two classes of practitioners ; 
 one class we call doctors, (or the regulars,) the other, 
 quacks or quack doctors, (irregulars.) If this term 
 were applied to one class of farmers to distinguish 
 th&m, calling those who rely on their own industry and 
 capital for support, "farmers," and those who live 
 mainly by preying upon the farmers, quacks or quack 
 farmers, we could then consider them understandingly. 
 
 Therefore, if the editor wishes to be understood, 
 when speaking of the " papers " as being " devoted to 
 the farmer's interest," this latter class of farmers, or 
 as they now stand, quacks or quack farmers, then there 
 is no chance for an arfjument. For of what use would 
 all this " machinery " Avhich is doing the work of 
 *' menials and slaves " be, were it not for the papers to 
 puflP them into existence ? Are not the papers, yea, and 
 their editors, too, but " clay in the potter's hands," to 
 deceive the farmers of their rights ? Then were it not 
 for this " dogged wilfulness,^' ^^ mistaken for inde2)end- 
 ence,'" which the editor loathes so much, that " the 
 business of farming has hred a hearty contempt,'"' and 
 in some degree puts a veto on the " fat strikes," of the 
 fancy. 
 
 This 19th of May article of the editor is so full of 
 
216 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 subject matter that requires but little criticism, it being 
 more explicit than any language of mine can make it, 
 that perhaps, on the whole, it would have been better 
 to have given the whole a place here rather than the 
 few extracts I have made, although what I have taken 
 is a tolerable index to the article, and can in no wise 
 be called a garbled synopsis. The italics mainly are 
 mine. 
 
 With one or two extracts more, I will leave it. 
 " We mio-ht also refer to books on agriculture which 
 are swelhng our libraries to a size that is fast assuming 
 the soHd proportions of the libraries of the profes- 
 sions.^^ 
 
 Who has written a book that is of any benefit to 
 the farmer ? It is true that some books have been 
 made, but generally they are reprints from old English 
 works, or are translated from other languages, and of 
 course are not adapted to our system or policy of in- 
 dustry. In England, I have the authority of Hon. 
 Henry F. French for saying, that while their labor is 
 much lower, their products are much higher than ours. 
 Proving conclusively that if there agriculture is but a 
 paying business, here it must be a losing one. I now 
 refer to hired labor, for there is no class of men under 
 the sun who work so cheap, or at so great a loss as the 
 owners or occupants of farms in New England. Al- 
 lowing that farm property should pay a dividend of 
 six per cent,, same as city property, then charge the 
 depreciation in value to the income, and all the surplus 
 there is left to pay the owner his labor bill, would 
 scarcely affect the sight, if lodged in the eye. 
 
THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS. 217 
 
 I have spoken in another place of the value to the 
 farmer of one class of books, (Flint's Reports.) If 
 these " books which swell the libraries," &c., are of 
 any use to the farmer, I have always failed to see it. 
 Book-making, like shoe-making, is a trade, both useful 
 and important; but I fear it is not always the best 
 workmen who get the best pay. Slap shoes and slap 
 books are in some particulars somewhat analagous ; in 
 others, the analogy does not hold, for while the slap 
 shoe, like the lion, shows its teeth, warning the be- 
 holder of inevitable danger, the slap book, like a more 
 stealthy foe, lives and fattens by suction. The one 
 draws hard upon the purse, — the other upon the mind 
 as well ; and that although a vacuum of books is to be 
 deplored, a vacuum of mind produced by the multipli- 
 cation of deceptive books is to be abhorred. 
 
 A single extract more will close this criticism. " A 
 noble band of brothers, these readers and contributors 
 of agricultural papers. Social, sympathetic, united ! " 
 This reminds me of the fable of the " fox and chanti- 
 cleer." The rooster, it will be recollected, took refuge 
 in the branches of a handy tree to save himself from 
 the clutches of his wily foe. The fox then resorted to 
 a stratagem, and said all sorts of pretty things to in- 
 duce his shy neighbor to come down. " A noble band 
 of brothers, * * * * social, sympathetic, united," 
 and many other beautiful things that a hungry and 
 cunning fox would be likely to say, was said. Whether 
 chanticleer had enough of that " dogged wilfulness^ 
 mistaken for independence" to keep him out of harm's 
 19 
 
218 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 way is not stated. Presuming that he had, then the 
 mild terms of " menial and slave," perhaps followed. 
 
 Now, if my friend the editor thinks he can embrace 
 the whole code of principles here inculcated with open 
 arms, he will be received. But the simple avowal of 
 regretting that he has said so much to induce the 
 young men " to stick to the farm," although important 
 as far as it goes, is hardly a full recompense for the 
 many evils under which the farmer labors. And that 
 although all have a right to jjromote their own inter- 
 ests, yet let us not seek to fasten wrongs upon our 
 people, looking down into the long future, that will 
 have a tendency to rob honest labor of a just reward. 
 
 Jefferson says, that " These truths are self-evident, 
 that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed 
 by their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that 
 among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
 ness. That to secure these rights, governments are 
 instituted among men, deriving their just powers from 
 the consent of the governed.''^ These are the principles 
 upon which our institutions are based ; our policy 
 being with all classes of industry but agriculture, to 
 rely on the natural law of supply and demand. Now, 
 let us conquer all prejudice, and let this law permeate 
 into all branches of industry. This legislating for 
 agriculture is virtually prohibiting all poor men from 
 obtaining a livelihood at farming, unless they work for 
 wages ; having a direct tendency to keep down the 
 price of agricultural products and lands to the stan- 
 dard that yields little or no return for labor. 
 
THE AGKICULTURAL TRESS. 219 
 
 Then why not ask the " consent of the governed " at 
 the ballot box, if they want a supervising head at the 
 metropolis ? If I can see clearly, an emphatic. No ! 
 would redound from Berkshire to Barnstable, from 
 Maine to "Wisconsin. Any other answer would evince 
 an imbecility, the existence of which all farmers would 
 be slow to admit. When the markets for the various 
 products of mechanical industry become so overstocked 
 with goods that labor yields a reward insufficient to 
 supply the conveniencies of life, the workmen stop, 
 take breath, consult together and devise means to in- 
 crease the awards of the toiling masses. If they suc- 
 ceed, and accomplish the object of their desires, the 
 world applauds and honors them for it. But let them 
 fail, and the iron heel of oppression is upon them. 
 Where is the man to-day that does not think better of 
 the shoemakers of New England than he did before 
 the late sti'ike ? Do they not stand higher in the esti- 
 mation of all thinking men now, than ever before ? 
 Have they not proved to the world their competency 
 to manage their own affairs, and without any resort to 
 legislation, or any demands upon the treasury of the 
 State or country ? Although they have not done all 
 that was desired, yet they have solved the problem, 
 that to be menials / and slaves ! never. 
 
 Had a similar law to the statute making it a penal 
 offence to " expose for sale a load of wood, hay," &c., 
 (about which I shall speak more fully elsewhere,) been 
 enacted, in the early history of our government, mak- 
 ing it obligatory on every shoemaker, under a penalty 
 
220 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 of twice the value of the goods exposed, to employ an 
 expert to stand between him and the purchaser, when- 
 ever an article of his industry was put in the market ; 
 and further, had laws been enacted, and the people's 
 treasury severely taxed, to keep down the price of 
 shoes, and the most fulsome measures been adopted to 
 destroy his manhood, would the workmen, yea, and 
 the workwomen I too, have had the independence, the 
 courage and the stamina, at an inclement season, amid 
 storms and sleet, for more than six weeks, to stand out 
 against the combination of capital, threats and inso- 
 lence, hurling back into the teeth of quack philanthro- 
 phy and a dogmatic inclination to rule or ruin, " No 
 Slavery here ? " 
 
 There is none too much of that " dogged wilfulness, 
 mistaken for independence," which is so annoying in 
 some circles. ",4 fortiori.''^ 
 
 " Consensus facit legem." 
 
 Now let the farmers think these things all over, and 
 see if they cannot see in the early and late statutes a 
 sufficient reason for the invasion of their rights, and 
 the intolerable presumption emanating from certain 
 classes of men, who have a rage for speaking^ " Caco- 
 ethes loquendi," or, an itch for scribbling, " Cacoethes 
 scribendi." 
 
 " Vendidit hie auro patriam." 
 
 They would sell their country for gold. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE STATUTE LAWS THE LAW OP CUSTOM, AND 
 
 HOW THE FAEMEES LIVE. 
 
 The State Laws Detrimental to the Farming Interest — Agriculture the 
 Foundation upon which all Interests Stand — The Honesty of Farmers 
 
 — The Tailor and the Farmer — The Statute and the Surveyor — The 
 Wood Law — The Influence of the Laws ujion the People — The Farm- 
 er and his Half-Bushel — Adulteration of .Goods — The Weight of 
 Grain and Meal — The Legislature and its Enactments — The Fancy 
 and the Appropriations — Special Laws '— Diseased Cattle — Purity of 
 Blood and the Taxes — Concord River Meadows — The State going to 
 Farming — The Law of Supply and Demand — Let the Farmers Alone 
 
 — How the Farmers Live — Not all by Farming — Speculating Farm- 
 ers — Sheep and Butter — How the Farmers Manage to Raise the 
 Wind — The Farmers Interest — Prolific Hens — The Hen Fever — 
 Important Suggestions — Profit and percent — Legal rate of Interest — 
 Net Profit — Earnings of Farmers — Farmers should work, but not 
 consider themselves slaves, menials, or under guardianship — A Grand 
 Tea-party — Farming a hazardous business — What constitutes poor 
 and good Farming — Modern Definitions — Draining the Meadows 
 again, and the Cattle Disease— Judge French and his policy — The 
 Laws and the Pleuro Legislature — The Board's Commissioners, and 
 their guessing. 
 
 In the examination of some of the subjects which 
 have been presented in the previous chapters, some of 
 the State laws have been noticed. There are other 
 laws, and the law of custom growing out of these, that 
 for a long series of years have had a detrimental in- 
 fluence on the farming communities. The people have 
 grown up under these laws, have been influenced by 
 them, till they have been thought necessary burdens to 
 
 19* 221 
 
222 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 bear, and the inequality in tlieir operation has been 
 lost sight of. 
 
 If the many things that have been proved by facts 
 and figures, which seem to be incontrovertible, and 
 operating to impoverish, degrade, and infringe upon the 
 rights of one class of the people are true, then there is 
 some cause for it ; and it would seem to be the duty 
 of ftll good men to seek out this cause, and gradually 
 restore that equilibrium among the peo|)le, that no one 
 interest may be fostered to the detriment of others, and 
 no class of the people be grievously taxed that others 
 at their ex^^ense may be benefited. 
 
 My views of the matter are, that Agriculture is the 
 foundation upon which all other interests stand ; with- 
 out this, civilization ceases, and as a nation we cease to 
 exist. Whatever operates to the disadvantage of this 
 interest, permeates throughout all society, and, as a 
 whole, we stand lower, or fail to reach that position we 
 otherwise should. 
 
 "It has been wisely said that that people who are 
 governed the least, are governed the best." 
 
 " The essence of all law is justice." * " Those who 
 have made j)ernicious and unjust decrees, have made 
 anything rather than laws." f 
 
 It is often said that the farmers are more intelligent, 
 independent, and honest, than any other class of the 
 people. I presume the farmers do not think them- 
 selves flattered much when they hear this. Because 
 in their every-day transactions, they find that the laws 
 * Hampden. t Cicero. 
 
THE STATUTE LAWS, ETC. 223 
 
 degrade them. If a farmer desires to have a coat 
 made, the tailor is supposed to be the best judge in re- 
 gard to what he wants. In him he places confidence, 
 and the law puts no arbiter between them. His char- 
 ges the law considers valid, and let him cut the coat as 
 he will, put in such material as suits him, the statute 
 makes no provision for any umpire between them. The 
 court holds the farmer Hable for the amount of the bill, 
 and the sheriff, if need be, enforces the decision. But 
 if the tailor feels the need of somethino; to warm him 
 up, he calls to the clod-hopper in passing his door, and 
 asks him what he wants for the load of wood ? Before 
 the price is agreed upon, somebody's clerk steps in with 
 the statute under his arm to settle all controversy. 
 With a long pole in one hand, and a constable's war- 
 rant in the other, the farmer's mouth is entirely closed. 
 If he demurs, the statute is read to him in this wise : 
 
 1. " All cord-wood exposed to sale shall be either 
 four feet, three feet, or two feet long, including half 
 the scarf ; and the wood, being well and close laid to- 
 gether, shall measure in quantity equal to a cord of 
 eight feet in length, four feet in width, and four feet in 
 height." E. S. c. 28, § 200. 
 
 2. "If fire-wood or bark shall be offered for sale be- 
 fore the same shall have been measured, by a public 
 measurer of wood and bark, and a ticket thereof signed 
 by him, delivered to the driver, certifying the quantity 
 of wood which the load contains, the name of the 
 driver, and the town in which he resides ; the driver or 
 owner of such wood or bark shall, for each load, seve- 
 rally forfeit the sum of Jive dollars to the use of the 
 town where such wood or bark shall be oft'ered for 
 sale." Ibid. § 201. 
 
224 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 The object of this law is, I suppose, that the tailor 
 may not get cheated by the honest fanner, over whom 
 so many crocodile tears are shed. I know of but few 
 articles of consumption In which there is so little pos- 
 sibility of a chance for deception, as a load of wood. 
 It is exposed to view on all sides, and as to the quan- 
 tity, repeal the statute, and any farmer's boy who is 
 large enough to handle the whip or goad, would soon 
 learn to measure it correctly, and take pride in estab- 
 lishing, when young, a name for integrity that would 
 last him as long as he lives. 
 
 How is it possible to conceive of anything more de- 
 grading to an honest man, when going to market with 
 the product of his own toil, to contemplate upon the 
 statute, making it a penal offence to expose for sale the 
 most necessary articles of consumption, without first 
 going to some snob, whom the law has armed with brief 
 authority, and with a long pole in one hand, a peck 
 measure in the other, and a pair of balances on his 
 shoulder, undertakes to dictate about the quantity, 
 quality, compactness, &c., of the article. 
 
 If the farmers are such consummate roo-ues that no 
 confidence can be placed in them, then the law has made 
 them such ; or, if they are incompetent to estimate cor- 
 rectly the quantity or quality, then, also, the law is re- 
 sponsible for that. 
 
 The farmers can never take that position they ought, 
 in society, till all these laws are repealed. That they 
 quietly submit to them, and do not ask to have them 
 changed, is the strongest argument it is possible to con- 
 
THE STATUTE LAWS, ETC. 225 
 
 ceive of, of the influence of long-standing laws upon 
 the minds and habits of a people. 
 
 The statute law, binding as it is, upon them, is 
 scarcely less imperative than the law of custom. This 
 latter growing out of the former, has now such force 
 that no man in purchasing of the farmer, ever thinks of, 
 (in fact, the farmers do not expect it,) consulting him 
 at all as to the quantity or quality. The price agreed 
 upon, then, says the purchaser, bring in your article ; 
 let us weigh or measure it. The farmer is not suppos- 
 ed to have a half bushel, a pair of balances, or a com- 
 mon rule. All his crops exposed for sale are weighed 
 or measured by the purchaser's apparatus, when all 
 we purchase is weighed or measured by the seller's 
 standard ; so that the law of the statutes and custom 
 have relieved the farmers of all mind in the matter, and 
 left nothing but physical power. The farmer would be 
 laughed at if he undertook to tell the cost of an arti- 
 cle, and I know he would be ashamed to teU, if he 
 knew. 
 
 While it is scarcely possible to deceive any one by 
 covering up any imperfections in our products, they are 
 of such a bvilky nature, that they must be exposed to 
 full view, how is it with those we buy ? Nearly all 
 manufactured goods, such as boots, shoes, clothes, 
 cloths, hats, caps, bonnets, and many kinds of grocer- 
 ies, spices, &c., are either greatly adulterated, or gloss- 
 ed over on purpose to deceive all who are not in the 
 secret, and there is no arbiter to stand between the pur- 
 chaser and the dealer. The law makes no provision 
 
226 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 for this, - — to cheat the farmer is called smart, and en- 
 titles one to place and power. 
 
 The law making a bushel of whole grain weigh some 
 six or eight pounds more than a bushel of meal, ope- 
 rates entirely to the disadvantage of the grower. To 
 the miller the grain is the raw material, and the meal 
 or flour, the manufactured article ; and if the law 
 makes one weigh sixty pounds, so ought the other. I 
 do not object to standards, nor the law making it 
 penal to violate them, but they should be uniform, and 
 bear upon all alike. The manufactured article should 
 weigh the same as the raw material, and the variation 
 in price not weight, should pay for the process. Then 
 a man that was not thoroughly posted, would stand 
 some chance in the world. 
 
 Every farmer knows and feels that all these laws op- 
 erate against him. He does not complain, and would 
 not, though they were much more severe. They exist- 
 ed when he was born, — were taken from the code of 
 the mother country, where labor is, what American 
 labor is destined to be, if it is not already, a perpetual 
 waring with the elements for subsistence. 
 
 Not a session of the Legislature passes, but what 
 some laws are made placing the farmers more complete- 
 ly under guardianship of the State, and inflicting great 
 wrong on the people ; proving, conclusively, that the 
 State supposes the farmers incapable of conducting 
 their own affairs, and seeking to place them in the same 
 condition that we find them in the old countries. 
 
 These things will continue just as long as we have 
 
THE STATUTE LAWS, ETC. 227 
 
 our Boards of Agriculture, Agricultural Societies, &c. 
 As long as appropriations are made upon the treasury 
 to maintain a few fancy men to keep down the price of 
 labor, that the non-producers may luxuriate at a cheap 
 rate, so long will these enactments be augmented, till 
 freedom in thought and deed is entirely crushed out 
 among the people, and we are mere " hewers of wood 
 and drawers of water." 
 
 One or two of the special laws of this session of the 
 Legislature, (I860,) should be mentioned In this con- 
 nection. For instance, the act of the Legislature ap- 
 propriating the people's money to pay for certain dis- 
 eased cattle In one section of the State, thereby inflict- 
 ing two wrongs upon the tax payers. 
 
 By taking our money to import to this country, at 
 great cost, foreign blood, that the fancy are so much in 
 love with, and which experience has proved are no 
 benefit, either to the State, country, or the people, only 
 as it furnishes means of living to a certain few, to do 
 this, and is a heavy tax upon the people to maintain it 
 in its liurity^ as It is termed. 
 
 The enactment taxing the people to buy up certain 
 meadows on Concord River, to the supposed benefit of 
 the owners, and an injury to many. For If the lands 
 are valuable, as is probable, why tax the people to buy 
 them ? The people are not to own them, but 
 individuals, and if they want them, or want the water 
 taken off, let them pay the bills. Admitting these lands 
 to be as valuable as they have been represented, what 
 is that to do with the State, as an organized govern- 
 
228 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 ment ? Unless the State wants to go to fanning on a 
 magnificent scale, and make paupers of all who cannot 
 manage to get their hands into the treasury, the sooner 
 she washes her hands of all special enactments to per- 
 petuate and fasten upon the people institutions to build 
 up an aristocracy of power, compelling the poor to feed 
 the rich, and the rich to make provision for the poor. 
 If the State wants to do this, and crush out the liberty 
 our fathers fought for, establishing a government of 
 nobles, then go on, — the ice is already broken, and 
 the clear and muddy water is visible. 
 
 But, if a wiser policy is, to let the people take care 
 of themselves, and the State ; leaving them free, un- 
 trammeled by class legislation, trusting to the law of 
 supply and demand, placing confidence where confi- 
 dence belongs, with the people, taxing them for nothing 
 but what is clearly right, leaving all cases of a doubt- 
 ful nature where it belongs, then, and only then, shall 
 we maintain in their purity, those principles which we 
 love to cherish. 
 
 AH the farmers ask is to be let alone ; let them, like 
 all other trades people, and work people, manage their 
 own affairs in their own way. If they want foreign 
 stock, let them buy them with their own money ; and if 
 they want their meadows drained, let them pay for tliis, 
 also, with their own cash. 
 
 If they do not understand their business, stop this 
 legislation, and repeal the laws that degrade them, and 
 they will soon learn how to do their own work, — meas- 
 ure a load of wood, — drain their meadows, — slaugh- 
 ter their cattle, — weigh their hay, cfec, &c. 
 
THE STATUTE LAWS, ETC. 229 
 
 HOW DO FARMERS LIVE? 
 
 It is often said that if farming did not pay, how 
 woukl it be possible for the farmers to live? I have 
 in another place said that it was not by their labor ; 
 neither is it by their capital alone, but by the two 
 combined. This is not all, for there are but compara- 
 tively few farmers who have muscle enough, and capital 
 enough to combine with it, to live by farming. Then 
 how do they live ? This is an important question, and 
 should be carefully met. 
 
 In this country the people are proverbial for chang- 
 ing from one thing and place to another. Very few 
 men farm and do nothing else. In one farming town, 
 I heard an observing person say that there was but one 
 man in the place that lived wholly by farming. I ask 
 the candid reader everywhere, how many men he knows 
 who live entirely by this ? Among the 35,000 farmers 
 in this State, how many are there who depend upon 
 this wholly for a livelihood ? I presume not one in a 
 hundred. We have seen that very many farmers are 
 gradually wasting their property. On the downfall of 
 these, some, taking advantage of their necessities, con- 
 trive in part to live ; a few to accumulate. Many 
 have sons or daughters in some kinds of business, per- 
 haps in factories, stores, the trades, or the professions, 
 whose earnings, in part, are occasionally put to this 
 purpose. Others have a faculty of speculating in many 
 little things that come in their way, on which a profit 
 is made. Mechanical business often concentrates in 
 
 some particular point, increasing the value of landed 
 
 20 
 
230 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 estates In the vicinity, and by this, many are made 
 wealthy, and without any thought of their own, are 
 relieved from the oppressor's yoke, and too often be- 
 come oppressors themselves. 
 
 Some contrive to get their hands into the treasury 
 of the State by making folks beheve that they have a 
 peculiar faculty of so comprehending and adjusting 
 agricultural affairs, that while they benefit the non- 
 producers by making farm products cheap, they help 
 the farmer by persuading folks to consume what is 
 produced. Any one would suppose to hear them talk, 
 that they had the faculty of converting the whole pop- 
 ulace into aldermen, and increase their gastronomic 
 power, merely to furnish a market for the multiplied 
 products of the farm. 
 
 One man is fully satisfied that farming is profitable, 
 and goes on to prove it in this wise. He says : " I 
 bought a hundred sheep for $200, and after keeping 
 them a few months sold them for $400. Therefore, is 
 not farming profitable ?" This is the substance of the 
 argument. And is the reader prepared to say from 
 this that farming is a good business ? If our friend 
 had raised his sheep, and reckoned fairly, then made a 
 profit, that would have been an argument in favor of 
 his position. But as the man of whom he purchased 
 made a net loss of more than he made, it proves that 
 in this instance the farmer or the producer suffered, 
 while the speculator pocketed the profits. 
 
 Another friend, in order to show that there was 
 profit in keeping cows, estimates the cost of keeping 
 
THE STATUTE LAWS, ETC. 231 
 
 two a year at $56.02. From these two cows he raised 
 two calves, made 320 pounds butter, besides the milk 
 for the family, affording a large profit. If he had 
 reckoned the whole cost of producing the material 
 upon which the cows were fed, he would have found, 
 calling the labor one dollar per day, that his two cows 
 for the year would have cost double his estimate, and 
 then the profit would have been on the other side. 
 Such arguments as these do not show farming to be 
 profitable, but the reverse. 
 
 Reckon labor low.enough and farms low enough, of 
 course a profit can be made. But I want to see the 
 standard fixed at one dollar per day, whether a man 
 works on his own farm or for hire, and six per cent, on 
 the capital invested, and then, and not till then, can a 
 poor man live by farming. 
 
 It has been my lot to see a good many bragging 
 farmers, and it always reminds me of the boy who 
 whistled to keep up his courage in going through a 
 grave-yard. I have generally remarked that those 
 farmers who indulged in this, were generally severely 
 troubled with the shorts, and were obliged to borrow 
 under difficulties. Very many of these men who 
 make estimates on the profits of agriculture understand 
 the philosophy of the business about as well as the 
 city girl did who told her father one day that if " she 
 was in his place, she would not be bothered running 
 after eggs all the time ; she would buy a hen, as they 
 did not want but a dozen a day, and any hen would 
 lay that, she knew." It is fair to presume that this 
 
232 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 girl had been reading Mr. Flint's Eeport, or perhaps, 
 was the daughter of some of the " State street farm- 
 ers," the fecundity of whose fowls and other animals 
 are so notoriously prolific. The " hen fever," 'tis true, 
 is among the things that were, and a hundred other 
 fevers are ready to take its place. It is to be hoped, 
 however, that all the originators of fancy fevers will 
 not meet with the same fate. It might, however, do 
 no harm to suffsest that the future executive officers 
 of the State keep this case in mind, as a precedent of 
 some importance to the people. 
 
 PROFIT AND PER CENT. 
 
 As I have many times in discussing this matter, been 
 obliged to use the terms profit and per cent, or per 
 centum^ and as it is quite possible that all may not un- 
 derstand their import alike, I have thought an explana- 
 tion here might not be wholly out of place. 
 
 Per CENTUM is a Latin word, and means by the hun- 
 dred. Ten per cent, profit, means ten dollars on the 
 hundred ; the hundred being the investment, the ten 
 the profit. If the investment or capital applied, is ten 
 dollars, and the gross amount of sales are twenty dol- 
 lars, then the per cent, is one hundred. The legal rate 
 of Interest in this State is six per cent., or six dollars 
 on the hundred. This all can easily obtain without 
 much labor, and usually without liability to loss. This 
 explains why it is that as long as farm products sell be- 
 low the cost to produce them, estimating the per cent, 
 on the investment, and a fair reward for the labor ; cap- 
 
THE STATUTE LAWS, ETC. 233 
 
 ital will be diverted from this to other interests, and 
 form property will constantly depreciate in the market. 
 
 PiioriT. Webster defines this word thus : profit, 
 " advance in price of things sold beyond the price of 
 purchase ; gain ; advantage." In trade and commerce 
 the word is usually considered to mean the advance in 
 the sale price over that part of the expense which em- 
 braces the principal items in the cost, as the raw mate- 
 rial, — the labor, teaming, transportation, &c. When 
 a man embraces all the items in the cost of the article, 
 such as rents, interest on investment, allowing a sup- 
 posed per cent, for losses, travelling expenses, postage, 
 stationery, wear of tools, &c., &c., then this would be 
 better defined by the prefix net, net profit. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the word profit is not very 
 definite as indicating the success of a business. A 
 man may make a large profit, and yet make a net loss. 
 The rule is to figure so as not to deceive yourselves, for 
 if a loss is sustained, it is highly important to know it* 
 The net profit of a man's business depends quite as 
 much on the amount he does, as the profit he makes. 
 If he makes ten per cent, on a business of ten thousand 
 dollars a year, and his private expenses are $1,100, he 
 runs behind-hand one hundred dollars. If the business 
 is increased to $20,000, and his private expenses to $1,- 
 500, his profit being the same, would give him a net in- 
 come of '$500 per year. This is what every farmer 
 should understand ; to make his own figures, and let 
 no man or class of men, however friendly they may 
 pretend to be, cheat him out of the reasonable wants 
 of life. His study should be to make his business so 
 
234 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 remunerating that he can afford to live well, consuming 
 what is necessary, the good things of his farm ; and 
 when the net profit of his business will not afford this, 
 it is time to pause. 
 
 If I should say that the gross amount of sales fi'om 
 all the farms in Massachusetts would not exceed f 300 
 a year, on an average, over the amount paid for hired 
 labor, calling as it should be, house rent, fuel, vegeta- 
 bles, grain, fruit, all meats that are made from the farm, 
 dairy products, &c., consumed by the family, a sale 
 made, and should be placed on the credit page of the 
 account ; probably no one would say that I have put 
 it too low. The average value of these farms is about 
 $3,100, and the stock and tools, perhaps $400.00, mak- 
 ing 13,500. The interest on this sum is $210.00. 
 Taxes, insurance, repairs, $50.00, making $260.00 ; 
 which, taken from the gross amount of sales, would 
 leave $40.00 as pay for the labor done by the family. 
 This forty dollars is to buy clothing, groceries, boots 
 and shoes, hats, bonnets, pay doctor's bills, parish taxes, 
 &c., &c., for a family of six. 
 
 If I am right In these calculations, and correctly im- 
 derstand the meaning of the words profit and per cent., 
 then farming must be both unprofitable and nearly non- 
 per-cent-able. This proves conclusively that farmers do 
 not live entirely by their labor, or the profits on their 
 business, but by consuming what they have previously 
 earned or inherited. 
 
THE STATUTE LAWS, ETC. 235 
 
 TO FARMERS. 
 
 In this connection, I want to say a word or two to 
 the farmers in regard to what is best to do. It is well 
 to woi'k, — to be industrious, — to be prudent, econom- 
 ical, philanthropical, benevolent ; in a degree, indepen- 
 dent ; having a love for your country, for your brother 
 man, and the race ; in favor of liberty ; always recol- 
 lecting that things are of a vast deal more importance 
 than words, — the one being the name only, the other 
 the living fact ; that names or words are only valuable 
 when they reflect their prototypes ; intelligent, being 
 booked upon aU matters pertaining to the good of the 
 people ; scrutinizing closely loud professions and noisy 
 declamations ; looking down deep into the motives of 
 men, canvassing their professions, solicitations and ex- 
 pressions. This is precept. Now for the practice. 
 
 When an all-wise Providence placed man upon the 
 earth, with mental and physical powers and capacities, 
 and said, " In the sweat of your face shall you eat 
 bread," he meant for you to use those powers and fac- 
 ulties for your good. Therefore, we are just as much 
 bound to use the mental as the physical, to make pro- 
 vision for the wants of life. And as no man can live 
 wholly by himself, but must, in a degree, depend upon 
 each other ; therefore, when we exchange labor for the 
 end for which we toil, let effort, capacity, ability and 
 reward, be as nearly mutual as possible. To this end, 
 I have laid down as a rule in this book, and upon this 
 I am willing to stand or fall, to sink or swim, as a max- 
 im, that a reasonable day's work, the year round, shall 
 
236 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 bring one dollar. Then, as all farmers have more or 
 less property, I have claimed that this should pay an 
 annual dividend of six per cent. Now the question is, 
 how shall this be brought about ? Because we have 
 seen that, allowing farm capital to pay this per cent., it 
 leaves but a trifle for labor. I presume that all farmers 
 will say that this would be a good thing, but ! but ! 
 that is the rub ; that hut. Now let us see how this is. 
 Our capital must pay us six per cent., that is settled, 
 and we must know how to get it. City folks generally 
 manage to get more than this ; at any rate, they get all 
 they can, and grow fat upon it, and make their calcu- 
 lations as much for the earnings of capital, as their 
 hands or heads. 
 
 They would consider it highly insulting for the farm- 
 ers to presume to dictate to them in regard to this or 
 any other interest. If the thing was thought of, an- 
 other tea-party would be on the tapis at once. Let us 
 pay as much attention to the culture of our minds, and 
 as judicious a training for our children, as we have to 
 our farms and steers, and frown upon every attempt of 
 any party to dictate to us upon any matter ; then, pre- 
 sumptive, indeed, would be that man who attempted 
 any thing of the kind. 
 
 All must have the products of the farm ; then let us 
 earn in supplying them, sufficient to meet the reason- 
 able wants of life, or cease the supply. Undoubtedly 
 thei'e are some who in their hearts object to this, but 
 no one, I presume, is brassy enough to say so. 
 
 Farming being an extremely hazardous business. 
 
THE STATUTE LAWS, ETC. 237 
 
 therefore, It will not do, when we get a paying crop or 
 product, to apply the rules of arithmetic to it, and mul- 
 tiply the presumed profits beyond the surmise of the 
 most credulous, then proclaim it upon the "house-tops," 
 to the injury of all producers, and the advantage of 
 none but the sharpers and genteel aristocrats who bask 
 in the sunshine of the public crib. 
 
 It is often said that poor farming will not pay. The 
 fancy of late, are very unanimous in this idea. It 
 seems to be a fortunate thought, that is hailed with 
 great gusto, as furnishing a powerful argument to op- 
 press labor. " Poor farming will not pay." Mr. Fay 
 says this in his letter, on page 199. Many others use 
 the same language. Mr. Brown, Mr. Boutwell, Dr. 
 Loring, and most " treasury farmers,^'' embrace the 
 idea with the tenacity of a wild-cat. " Poor farming 
 does not pay." An editor out in Connecticut, says 
 that Mr. Pinkham's farming is nothing to go by, " but 
 farming on the average." That is true, my farming is 
 nothing to go by, but farming in general. That is what 
 I am talking about. And if this editor had stuck to 
 truth and right in all he said, as well as in this, know- 
 ing what he was talking about, he would not have con- 
 sidered " manufactured articles " Agricultural pro- 
 ducts, or reckoned those in with the earnings of the 
 farmers. Neither a large proportion of the animals 
 slaughtered in Connecticut would he place to the 
 credit of the farmers of his State. 
 
 "Poor farming docs not pay." Mr. Pinkham's 
 farming does not pay, and that is nothing to go by. 
 
238 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 " but farming on the average." That Is just the point 
 I wish to meet. If poor farming does not pay, what 
 farming docs pay ? That is the question. Mr. Fay 
 says that his farming " is not expected to pay." His 
 is too good, mine is too bad. Mr. Brown says he does 
 not know whether his pays or not. Mr. Boutwell says 
 he has farmed but about six years, and he wants more 
 time. He thinks that some kinds of farming; can be 
 made to pay, but is not sure. Let me kindly say to 
 Mr. Boutwell that when he learns that buying cows and 
 cow food, and selling their products, is not farming, but 
 speculation ; and when he has tried this for another six 
 years, " keeping the accounts " all the time, he will find 
 that the best cow he has milked will be the one that is 
 not fed on meadow hay and grain, but that noble milk- 
 ing animal that is fed by the toil of an injured and 
 meanly rewarded populace. 
 
 " Poor farming does not pay." Does good farming 
 pay ? Who can find an affirmative answer to this 
 question ? Did the State farm at Westboro', under the 
 direction of that noble and disinterested body of men, 
 who worked for nought in their love for the dear peo- 
 ple, pay ? Had it not have been for the milk drawn 
 from that extra milking cow that does not soil genteel 
 hands, would the Board in their philanthrophy have 
 thought it for the public good, at great sacrifices, to 
 have been so constant at the milking bee ? Strip ! 
 Strip ! ! . Strip ! ! ! Who says farming does not pay ? 
 
 Farming : the practice of tilling land. — Wehster. 
 
 Farming : the practice of tilling the public chest. — 
 Board of Agriculture. 
 
THE STATUTE LAWS, ETC. 239 
 
 Perhaps all farmers do not read the papers, and for 
 this reason, and as a souvenir, I have thought it well 
 to transcribe to these pages a few extracts from agri- 
 cultural literature. The following is taken from an 
 editorial of Governor Brown's. The article is headed, 
 
 JUBILEE ! THE YEAR OF REDEMPTION IS AT HAND ! 
 
 "The sufferers have been turned out upon the merest 
 technicalities of law, scourged with the bitter taunt 
 that thej once had a year of grace, but did not im- 
 prove it, or their opponents, squat in the charnel-house 
 and amid the dead bones of a breathless and rotten 
 corporation, would shake a musty old parchment in 
 their faces, and declare that they held a chartered right 
 for their ungodly power ! " 
 
 The Governor is congratulating himself and a few 
 owners of the meadows on Concord and Sudbury riv- 
 ers, on the success of their long cherished plans to get 
 a law by which the people's money could be filched 
 from them to drain their lands on these rivers. I have 
 spoken of this elsewhere, and shall make no comments 
 here, but simply ask the farmers what they think of 
 it ? how they like the language, the spirit, the senti- 
 ment, and the principle and precedent f 
 
 The above extract was taken from the leading edito- 
 rial of the Governor's, dated April 28, 1860, 
 
 From the same paper, dated June 16, 1860, and 
 written by an associate editor, (Judge French,) on the 
 "cattle disease." I take this extract, and simply remark 
 here to the farmer to note how these men speak when 
 at home, and not in the farmer's clubs in the country, 
 talking about the honest, independent, and intelligent 
 yeomanry. 
 
240 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 " It requires some equanimity to hear with serenity 
 the stupidity of a portion of the community, wlio ought 
 either to inform themselves, or hold their peace on this 
 vital question. Stupidity is undoubtedly the unpar- 
 donable sin. A lively, wide-awake, progressive sin- 
 ner, we have some hope of; but a dogged, mulish, 
 thick-hided old fogy, who rolls himself up in a heap, 
 like a porcupine, shuts his eyes, and sticks out his 
 quills in all directions, deserves such treatment as John 
 Quincy Adams advocated for the Chinese : a little 
 smell of fire and gunpowder, or one of its ingredients, 
 to bring him into sympathy with the breathing, mov- 
 ing world." 
 
 I here place on record, also, five sections of one of 
 the bills passed by the Pleuro Legislature, in regard 
 to the subject upon which Judge French thinks the 
 farmers are so " dogged^ mulish^ thick-hided^ old 
 fogies^'' &c., &c. 
 
 /Sect. 8. Whoever shall drive or transport any cat- 
 tle from any portion of the Commonwealth east of 
 Connecticut river to any part west of said river before 
 the first day of April next, Avithout consent of the 
 commissioners, shall be punished by fine not exceeding 
 five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county 
 jail not exceeding one year. 
 
 Sect. 9. Whoever shall drive or transport any cat- 
 tle from any portion of the Commonwealth into any 
 other State before the first day of April next, without 
 the consent of the commissioners, shall be punished by 
 fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by impris- 
 onment in the county jail not exceeding one year. 
 
 Sect. 10. If any person fails to comply with any 
 regulation made, or with any order given by tlie com- 
 missioners, he shall be ])unislied by fine not exceeding 
 five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding 
 one vear. 
 
THE STATUTE LAWS, ETC. 241 
 
 Sect. 11. Prosecutions under the two preceding 
 sections may be prosecuted in any county in this Com- 
 monwealth. 
 
 Sect. 12. All appraisals made under this act shall 
 be in writing, and signed by the appraisers and certi- 
 fied by the commissioners, and shall be by them trans- 
 mitted to the Governor and Council, and to the treas- 
 urers of the several cities and towns wherein the cattle 
 appraised were kept. 
 
 It seems by this act that a farmer in the western 
 part of the State cannot drive his cattle to pasture, if 
 he has to cross the Connecticut river, without consent 
 of the commissioners. Neither can we in any section 
 of the State cross the line of the State for the same 
 purpose. 
 
 Why not ask the selectmen of the town, or the town 
 physician ? Are they not supposed to be men of some 
 judgment and intelligence, or does the Board of Agri- 
 culture monopolize all of these requisites ? If I have 
 read the papers correctly, they have not guessed much 
 better than other folks might. I have thought some 
 times not quite as well. And certainly their public acts 
 and their avowed principles do not show that they 
 have either better judgment, more intelligence or in- 
 tegrity than others ; and if this is a fact, then I have 
 failed to read individual character, sagacity, human- 
 ity and public spirit in them correctly. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE COST OF FAEM PRODUCTS. 
 
 A Remedy for the Evils thnt Exist — The Old Nations Oppressing Labor 
 — A Hungry Man and the Breakfast Table — Material in the World to 
 Produce Animal or Plant Life— The Farmers "Want to Sell Out — 
 Double the Value of Farm Property in Ten Years— The Wants of the 
 People that Gives Value to Property — The Action of the Atmosphere 
 Upon Plant Life — Table of Equivalents— Table of Cost of Material 
 out of which Crops are Made — The actual Cost of a Corn Crop— One 
 Year at Farming — Columbus and his Outfit — The Products of Massa- 
 chusetts — Forty Bushels of Grain for Each Inhabitant— The Tailor 
 and the Farmer — Neat Stock — A Fancy Yoke of Oxen — Milk Making 
 —A Cow is a Mill— The Cost of Milk— Definition of Farming— The 
 Cost of a Cow — The Cost of Keeping a Cow— Pork Making— Barn- 
 yard Fowl — Swine in the United States — Pork Exported— The Cost 
 of Beef— The Cattle Markets—Stall Feeding— The Cost of Oxen- 
 How to Reckon Their Value — The Wood Crop — How to Estimate its 
 Cost — The Cost of Farm Products Divided into Three Parts — Crops 
 at the West. 
 
 In the preceding chapters I have spoken freely in 
 regard to the actual condition of the farmers and farm- 
 ing. My object has been to state the case truly, as I 
 understand it. In the investigation and consultation 
 of authors, as I have progressed in the work, and from 
 all that I can learn from whatever source, in my cor- 
 respondence with such farmers as I supposed have been 
 mostly observant of the workings of the labor interest 
 upon the people ; all have confirmed more strongly the 
 views I have entertained in the matter. 
 
 242 
 
COST OF FARM PRODUCTS. 243 
 
 What now remains to be done is to seek out a rem- 
 edy for the evils that exist ; because, if there was no 
 remedy, then it would have been better not to have 
 said anything upon the subject. I shall, therefore, in 
 those chapters that are to succeed, endeavor to devise 
 some means by which these wrongs can be righted. 
 As, in the history of nations, we have taken new 
 ground, and stand out boldly before the world in our 
 dechirations, in our laws, in our institutions, religious, 
 educational and love of freedom, let us not fall into the 
 great error of the old countries, of oppressing and de- 
 frauding labor. But rather let us strive to stand aloof 
 from and profit by the precedents that are before us, 
 and seek to leave all our industrial institutions free, 
 trusting to the law of supply and demand to supply 
 all our wants, as no people or classes of people, can 
 for long series of years, under oppression of laws and 
 customs, maintain that independence of thought and 
 action which in a true sense go to make a nation great. 
 ^^Avdi alteram partem.^^ Hear the other side. 
 
 Without going any further into the preliminaries, I 
 will proceed to examine the subject under considera- 
 tion. This I consider the most important part of the 
 investigation — The cost of what we produce. 
 As well might a merchant, a manufacturer, or a me- 
 chanic expect to succeed by selling their goods for the 
 most they can get, without any knowledge of the cost, 
 as the farmer. 
 
 Therefore, I want to say so much about this, and 
 say it in such a way, that it will be just as easy to 
 
244 TARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 know what our crops cost, as it Is for a hungry man to 
 know what to do when he sits down to the breakfast 
 table. 
 
 Unless we know this, we cannot know how to econ- 
 omise either in capital or labor, — when to add or sub- 
 tract, — what we can afford to pay for this or that, 
 all is confusion and doubt. But when we can tell in 
 one or two minutes what any article costs, — an ox, a 
 horse, a cow, a ton of hay, a bushel of grain, or any 
 other crop, then all is clear and satisfactory. In farm- 
 ing, as in law, wherever there is a doubt, let it be con- 
 strued in favor of, and not against labor. If occasion- 
 ally we get an extra crop, or an extra animal, it will 
 not do to reckon all by this. For to make a good ani- 
 mal or a good crop it always requires more food than 
 it does to make a poor one. As animal or plant food 
 is capital or past labor, therefore to consume these 
 without any adequate compensation, is wasting what 
 has already been earned. 
 
 There is just the same amount of material in the 
 world now that there ever was, to produce plant or 
 animal life. This can neither be increased nor dimin- 
 ished. Although our soils can easily be exhausted, 
 and rendered so barren that they cease to produce, yet, 
 if by disposing of this plant or animal food, the return 
 is sufficient to replace them, and allowing for the labor 
 to do so, then no loss is sustained. Otherwise, to dis- 
 pose of the products at a cost of the labor merely, not 
 calling the material of which the product is made any- 
 thing, would be hke a tailor selling his garments for a 
 
COST OF FARM PRODUCTS. 245 
 
 price only sulBficient to pay the Labor bill, throwing 
 away the cloth or material of which they are com- 
 posed. If the farmers constantly dispose of their pro- 
 ducts at a loss, they alone are not the sufferers, but 
 they are throwing their labor into the market at so low 
 a rate that others are obliged to come down to their 
 standard, thereby not only selling their labor at a price 
 that affords but a meagre support, but reducing the 
 value of what they have previously earned or inher- 
 ited. For if farm products are low, so are farms. As 
 long as the people can buy what they want' at half the 
 cost to produce it, they would be fools to invest in the 
 business. This is just the state of things that now 
 exist. About every other farmer wants to sell out 
 in this section of the country, — undoubtedly in many 
 others, and they can find nobody who wants to buy. 
 Why is this ? Because, as I have just intimated, that 
 the business is not remunerating. Therefore, men will 
 not risk their previous earnings, and hazard their fu- 
 ture, upon so doubtful an enterprise. Let four-fifths 
 of aU farm products be sold at a price that will yield 
 one dollar per day for the labor to produce it, and six 
 per cent, on the capital invested, and we double thd 
 price of farm property in ten years. 
 
 Calling the value of farm property in this State 
 $150,000,000, in ten years let it be $300,000,000, and 
 who are the sufferers ? It is true it would cost more 
 to live than it now does ; but all must recollect that it 
 is not the high cost of living that is an evil, but the 
 evil only is, when industry fails to supply that cost. 
 
246 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 I am well aware that the present price of farm pro- 
 ducts to many seems high. I think it safe to say that, 
 take all farm produce, the consumers pay double what 
 the farmers realize. The principal reason for this is, 
 that we send or drive our children to the cities and 
 then transport there the material for them to live upon. 
 The evils of this system to the farmers is almost incal- 
 culable ; for all must be aware that it is the wants of 
 the people that gives value to property. Reduce the 
 population and industry of any locality and you reduce 
 the value of the property in the same proportion ; and 
 vice versa. This being so, then how plain the reason 
 for the evils that exist. 
 
 We will now proceed to the solution of the prob- 
 lem, how to ascertain the cost of farm products ? In 
 another place we have shown by a close mode of 
 reasoning, the cost of that kind of fertilizer to which 
 the farmers are mostly indebted for the material of 
 which their crops are made. It was also shown that 
 by actual experiment this was found to be very nearly 
 correct. As the cost of the material of which crops 
 are made depends as much upon the value of the labor 
 as the crop itself, therefore the reader must bear in 
 mind the standard, which no one will say, I think, 
 ought to be reduced. 
 
 Before going more particularly into the examination 
 of this, it will be well to explain, as I understand 
 it, the action of the atmosphere upon plant and animal 
 life. Many have supposed it possible to manufacture 
 crops out of the material that floats in, or of the air 
 
COST OF TARM PEODUCTS. 247 
 
 we breathe. That some soils are capable of producing 
 crops without being fertilized for that particular crop, 
 we every day see demonstrated. But, that a crop can 
 be removed from the soil without detriment to it, is an 
 impossibility. Because, if sufficient time elapses for 
 the atmosphere to reinstate the soil to its former fer- 
 tility, then the per cent, on the investment is a total 
 loss for the time being. That a small per cent, of 
 crops are made from the material that floats in the at- 
 mosphere, is not questioned. But it must be recol- 
 lected that the ammonia from whence the most of this 
 fertihty springs, is but the gasses that are constantly 
 escaping from aU vegetable and animal life and decom- 
 position, and the farmer is supposed to lose as much as 
 he gains by this. 
 
 Therefore, our interest and policy is, to fix as much 
 as possible all those gases upon the farm, yet those that 
 actually do escape cannot be said to be an actual loss, 
 because they will rest somewhere. In the rains, snows 
 and dews, also, there are some plant food, but the prin- 
 cipal action of these are in a mechanical way, prepar- 
 ing the food for the plant. 
 
 Now we are prepared to ascertain the cost of our 
 goods. If the material of which a bushel of corn is 
 made, as we have before seen, costs 43 cents, it will 
 then be easy to ascertain the whole cost of this and all 
 other crops. 
 
 I want to remark here, however, that most tables of 
 practical equivalents, either by actual experiments or 
 chemical analyses, greatly vary. This is not at all sur- 
 prising, since most plants or grains of the same kind 
 
248 FARMmO AS IT IS. 
 
 have a variable intrinsic value. This depends very 
 much on the soil and the season. Also on the condition 
 in which they were cured. Old hay, ail things being 
 equal, has more nutriment than new hay, weight for 
 weight. The more water a plant contains to the solid 
 matter, the less nutriment. Thus it will be seen that a 
 good degree of judgment is to be used, in a proper un- 
 derstanding of the subject. 
 
 The following table of comparative value of different 
 kinds of cattle fodder, is translated by the Rev. Mr. 
 Eham, from the French of M. Autoine : 
 
 Good Hay 100 pounds. 
 
 are equal in nourishment to latter-math, or 
 
 second crop 102 " 
 
 Clover Hay, cut in the blossom 90 " 
 
 * Meadow or Swale Hay 300 " 
 
 Green Clover 410 " 
 
 Green Indian Corn 275 " 
 
 Beet Root Leaves 600 " 
 
 Potato Halm 300 " 
 
 Eye Straw 442 " 
 
 Oat Straw 195 " 
 
 Pea Straw 153 " 
 
 Bean Straw 140 " 
 
 Buckwheat Straw 195 " 
 
 Dried Stalks of Indian Corn 400 " 
 
 Millet Straw 250 « 
 
 Raw Potatoes 201 " 
 
 Boiled Potatoes 175 •' 
 
 White Silesian Beet 220 " 
 
 Mangold Wurzel .. 339 " 
 
 Turnips 504 " 
 
 Carrots 276 " 
 
 Rye, Grain 54 " 
 
 Wheat, Grain 45 " 
 
 Barley, Grain. 54 " 
 
 Oats, Grain 59 " 
 
 Peas, 45 " 
 
 Beans, 45 " 
 
 Buckwheat, Grain 64 " 
 
 Indian Corn, Grain 57 " 
 
 * This is from actual experimenting, and not chemioal analysis. 
 
COST OF FARM PRODUCTS. 249 
 
 COST OF FERTILIZERS, OR THE RAW MATERIAL. 
 
 If these figures are a tolerable approximation to the 
 actual facts, then would it not be fair to assume that if 
 a hundred pounds of English hay is equal to a bushel 
 of 5Q pounds of Indian corn, and the raw material of 
 which the com is made costs 43 cents, that the 100 
 pounds of hay costs the same for the material out of 
 which it is made. According to this mode of reason- 
 ing, 
 
 The Material for a Ton of English Hay -would cost. . $8.60 
 
 •' " " " Green Clover Hay, " 2.10 
 
 " " « " Green Indian Corn Stalks 3.12 
 
 " •' " " Beet Root Leaves " 1.43 
 
 " " " " Potatoe Halm " 2.86 
 
 «' " " " Rye Straw " 1.94 
 
 « " " " Oat Straw « 4.41 
 
 " " " " Pea Straw " 5.62 
 
 *' " " " Swale, or Meadow Hay " 2.86S 
 
 " " " " Bean Straw '« 6.14 
 
 " " " " Buckwheat Straw " 4.41 
 
 " «' « " Dried Stalks of Indian Corn 2.15 
 
 " " « " Millet Straw " 3.41 
 
 " " " Bushel, or 60 pounds of Potatoes ,12 
 
 « " " " 40 " White Silesian Beet .08 
 
 " " » " 40 " Mangold Wui-tzel .05 
 
 " " " '« 40 '• Com. Turnips .03^ 
 
 «« « " " 40 " Carrots .06i 
 
 « " <' " 66 " Rye, Grain .44 1 
 
 « " " " 60 'i Wheat .57 i 
 
 " « «' " 46 " Barley .36| 
 
 « " '« " 32 " Oats .23| 
 
 " " " " 60 " Peas or Beans .57^ 
 
 « " " " 40 " Buckwheat .26 § 
 
 " " " " 56 " Indian Corn .42 J 
 
 If I were asked why I did not reckon this cost of 
 manure by chemical analysis rather than by the nutri- 
 
 tThis kind of hay is usually obtained without the use of manure; 
 yet, t find that most meadows that have for a long time been cropped, 
 are failing. 
 
250 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 tlve value or practical equivalents, I should answer that 
 the result would be nearly the same, and this Is much 
 more easily understood by most farmers. I do not pre- 
 tend that these figures are just right ; in fact, no set of 
 figures can be made to suit all cases, for the cost of the 
 manure or material of which crops are made, Is con- 
 trolled by circumstances, such as the price of labor, &c., 
 same as the crops themselves. That the principle is 
 right, there is no doubt. And that the figures are an 
 approximation to the facts, it seems to me, from obser- 
 vation and investigation, are equally true. 
 
 If the reader understands what is here written, how 
 perfectly plain and clear the principle of vegetation will 
 seem, when before, it has been shrouded in uncertainty, 
 or what some term, luck. 
 
 Suppose, now, we reckon up the cost of an acre of 
 
 com. 
 
 Acre of Com. Br. 
 
 To 23 days work of men and team at $1.00 $23.00 
 
 ' interest on land and taxes 3.50 
 
 ' fencing and rents 3.00 
 
 ' use of tools, line, and scare crows 3.00 
 
 ' raw material to make 40 bushels grain 16.88 
 
 ' " " " 1^ tons stallis 4.68 
 
 $54.06 
 Acre of Com. Cr. 
 
 By 40 bushels shelled corn at $1.04 $41.60 
 
 " U tons corn fodder at $6.15 10.22 
 
 $51.82 
 Net loss 2.24 
 
COST OF FARM PRODUCTS. 251 
 
 If this loss looks hard and discouraging, all there is 
 to do, is to put the labor bill down to 75 cents per day, 
 and then a profit is made. If this latter will not pay 
 the family expenses, then the excess must come out of 
 the capital or past earnings, as is the common practice. 
 
 It will be seen that by this system all can know how 
 things are going, for if a man is going behind hand, 
 the quicker he finds it out, the better. Although indi- 
 viduals may profit by a neighbor's downfall, yet com- 
 munity suffers. If the farmers of our country could 
 make a small profit on a majority of their operations, 
 so that the profit would be greater than their losses, 
 making a net profit, this would increase the wealth, 
 prosperity and happiness of the people more than all 
 the gold of a dozen Californias. 
 
 According to the present system of figuring the cost 
 of farm products, when a profit Is made to appear, it 
 Is often owing to a deceptive way of reckoning ; for 
 if we reckon the cost of the fertilizer by the amount 
 applied and not by the amount taken off, and we take 
 much and apply little, then we take from the soil, put 
 it in the pocket, and call this making money ; when in 
 fact, it is only changing it from one pocket to the other. 
 And as this so-called profit is used for the ordinary ex- 
 penses, hence the great deterioration of the soil, the 
 depreciation of farms, the exodus of the young men 
 to distant places, and the general unthrlftiness of farm- 
 ing communities. With just as much propriety might 
 the grocer estimate the amount of his sales by the 
 week, and not by the actual amount sold, — the banker 
 
252 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 his notes by the square yard, as to reckon the cost of 
 
 the matei-ial of which crops are made by the acre, or 
 
 the amount apphed. If a man puts ten dollars in his 
 
 purse and takes out five, it is fair to presume that five 
 
 remains. But if he puts in five and takes out ten, 
 
 then it is equally fair to presume that five were there 
 
 before. And what a fool he would be considered, if he 
 
 hopped up and down, published it from " Dan to Beer- 
 
 sheba," that he had made five dollars, or one hundred 
 
 per cent profit, when in fact, he had only brought it to 
 
 the light of the sun, the reflection of which was so 
 
 much brighter than his vision, that it fairly crazed him. 
 
 In order to become familiar with the slate and pencil, 
 
 or figuring, suppose we take a farm and carry it on one 
 
 year, and see what kind of a scrape that will get us 
 
 into. 
 
 Farm. Dr. 
 
 To interest on capital, ($4,000) $240.00 
 
 " " " in stock, ($500) 30.00 
 
 " taxes and insurance 25.00 
 
 " depreciation of buildings 50-00 
 
 " interest and wear of tools 20.00 
 
 " labor of self and wife 400.00 
 
 " depreciation in value of horse 10.00 
 
 " hired man six months and board 150.00 
 
 $915.00 
 
 Farm. Cr^ 
 
 By house rent $100.00 
 
 " fuel, standing 15.00 
 
 " milk sold 200.00 
 
 " vegetaljles sold ^. 50.00 
 
 " fruit sold I 50.00 
 
 " hay sold 40.00 
 
 " vegetables used in family 25.00 
 
 " milk " " 20.00 
 
 " two hogs 40.00 
 
COST OF FARM PRODUCTS. 253 
 
 By increased value of stock 100.00 
 
 " " " wood 25.00 
 
 $065.00 
 Net loss $250.00 
 
 If the farmers will carefully look these figures over, 
 I think they will admit that but few farms of this value 
 and amount of help, will show a larger amount of 
 sales, and yet it seems we have failed to meet expenses 
 by the whole amount of the per cent, on the capital 
 of the real estate and ten dollars besides. In fact, I 
 do not suppose that one farmer in a hundred ever ex- 
 pects to get any per cent, on his capital. The last item 
 but one on the credit side, in nine cases out of ten, 
 should be struck out entirely, where this amount of 
 milk is sold. Often it should be put to the debtor side, 
 on milk farms, as most milk raisers expect to have 
 their cows depreciate in value. This would increase 
 the loss to 1350. 
 
 All those items on the debtor side but the labor bill 
 after deducting house rent, amounting to $275, should 
 be reckoned into the cost of each and all the crops, with 
 the manure or raw material, jpro rata^ and the receipts 
 above these items only would go to pay for the labor, 
 just the same as a manufacturer reckons his rents, travel- 
 ling expenses, &c., into the cost of his goods. I know 
 that the amount of sales from any ordinary farm are so 
 small, comparatively, that this makes a large item, as 
 in the above instance, making more than 33 per cent, 
 of the cost of each article, in the per cent, on the cap- 
 ital, depreciation of buildings, taxes, insurance, tools. 
 
254 FAEMIXG AS IT IS. 
 
 &c. All tliese things every farmer and all business 
 men have to account for, and if they cannot get them 
 as profit on the sale of their goods or products above 
 the raw material and the labor, then the capital has to 
 suffer. Now we can readily understand why it is that 
 farmers are gradually running themselves out, (dwin- 
 dling^ in commercial parlance,) unless they have out- 
 side success. 
 
 According to the above figures, about 75 per cent, 
 of the total amount of sales goes to pay for the items 
 noticed above, and 25 per cent, for the labor. The 
 tailor, the hatter, the shoemaker, the blacksmith, the 
 carpenter, &c., usually get about 50 per cent, on the 
 gross amount of sales for the labor bill. The lawyer, 
 the doctor, the clergyman, the legislator, receive more 
 than 90 per cent, of all their receipts for their labor. 
 The reader will be careful not to confound present with 
 past labor. One is capital, the other present earnings 
 or wages. It is a principle engrafted into the economy 
 of all civilized nations, that past earnings should work 
 in conjunction with labor, to lessen the burdens of the 
 people. Thus we see that the value of a medium farm, 
 with stock, tools, &c., if properly invested, would earn 
 as much as a man. This is where farmers are com- 
 mitting a great error. They couple the earnings of 
 their capital with their labor, for a livelihood ; whereas, 
 a man without capital, and fair judgment, will earn a 
 better living by his labor alone. And the farmer, un- 
 intentionally, but really, by uniting the two, (capital 
 and labor,) is doing all he can to prevent the other 
 (labor) from doing this. 
 
COST OF FARM PRODUCTS. 255 
 
 Assuming the above figures to be correct, or nearly 
 80, let us see what it costs to make some of the most 
 common crops. Take, for instance, a ton of English 
 hay. 
 
 Cost of Hay per ton. Dr. 
 
 To raw material $8.60 
 
 " per cent, on capital, rents, &c., &c 5.00 
 
 $13.00 
 
 If this can be sold for $15, we get $1.40 for our 
 labor. But if it will bring f 20, it will increase the 
 cost to $15.26, leaving as pay for the labor, $4.74. 
 
 Cost of Com per bushel. Dr. 
 
 To raw material 42 
 
 " per cent, on capital, rents, &c., &c 33 
 
 .75 
 
 If this can be- sold for $1, it would give as pay for 
 the labor, 25 cents per bushel. 
 
 Cost of Wheat per bushel. Dr. 
 
 To raw material 57 
 
 " per cent, on capital, rents, &c., &c 50 
 
 $1.07 
 
 If this can be sold for $1.50, it would leave for the 
 
 labor, 43 cents per bushel. 
 
 Cost of Carrots per bushel. Dr. 
 
 To raw material per bushel , 06 
 
 •• " per cent, on the capital, rents, &c., &c 05 
 
 .11 
 
 If carrots can be sold for 15 cents per bushel, it 
 would leave for the labor, 4 cents per bushel. 
 
256 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Thus it will be seen, that by a proper knowledge of 
 the business, it is just as easy to calculate the cost of a 
 farm croji, as it is the cost of the shoe or coat crop. 
 It must be borne in mind that I have made no calcula- 
 tion on hazard, accidents, or calamities, such as frosts, 
 hurricanes, potatoe rot, weevil, squirrels, crows, &c. 
 If this business is more hazardous than some others, 
 then a larger margin must be left, as no man can do a 
 hazardous business for the same per cent, he can a safe 
 one. Thus, a merchant who is engaged in the tropical 
 fruit business, cannot do it for the same per cent, he 
 can the grain business. Another idea is, that if we 
 apply the raw material for a large crop, and from some 
 unforeseen cause a small crop only is taken off, our 
 material is not lost. It is there for another crop. The 
 labor and per cent, may be wholly or in part lost. 
 That is all, or nearly so, although some soils will waste 
 more than others. I know many suppose that the ma- 
 nure will work down through some soils, out of the 
 way of plant roots. It is possible this may be the case 
 in a very coarse, loose soil, to some extent. But all 
 sub-soils that I have noticed appear to be entirely free 
 from this. It is the office of the soil to absorb >and 
 hold plant food until called upon to give it up. And 
 although water will pass down through the soil, yet 
 I think it will not be able to take with it much that 
 is valuable as a fertilizer. 
 
 I might extend these calculations to all the crops 
 raised, but think they have been sufficiently extended 
 to give the reader a knowledge of the principle, and as 
 
COST OP FARM PRODUCTS, 257 
 
 but few farmers can produce all or any crops at an 
 equal cost, it will be better for each to figure for them- 
 selves. On some farms, a smaller per cent, than this 
 should be reckoned, but on most farms, a larger must. 
 For, where there is one farm where the gross amount 
 of sales is more than three times the per cent, on the 
 capital and depreciation, there are ten where it is less. 
 It will not do for a man to say that his farm did not 
 cost him anything ; therefore we should reckon no per 
 cent., for somebody had to earn it, and because he has 
 been more fortunate than others, it is no reason why he 
 should try to prevent others from doing what some 
 one has done for him. Recollect that the soil of itself, 
 has no money value any more than the air. If it were 
 possible to fence this oif, and fix a price upon it, it 
 would be done. When Columbus first set his foot up- 
 on this soil, the whole country could not have been sold 
 for enough to have paid for the out-fit. Yet then the 
 soil was capable of as great a production as it is to- 
 day. 
 
 It is the people that make the value to all property. 
 Not only to the soil, but the products of it. What the 
 people require they will pay for, and no more. Of 
 what use is it to increase the products of the soil three 
 or four times beyond the wants of the people ? They 
 can only use so much. The surplus is used to cheapen 
 what is wanted. Massachusetts produces nearly grain 
 enough to feed her citizens, yet she imports twice as 
 much as she makes. Why is this ? Because the West 
 are making paupers of themselves and their posterity, 
 
258 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 by sending to the East the requisites for future pro- 
 duction, at a price that gives them no return to keep 
 up the condition of their soil, thereby making and 
 keeping them poor, and the land poorer. 
 
 There are more than 40 bushels of grain produced 
 in the United States for each of her inhabitants. This 
 is more than three times what is wanted for actual con- 
 sumption. A full grown person may require ten bush- 
 els of graiii per year : certainly not more than this. 
 But calling 20 bushels to each person, allowing this to 
 make all the meat and for brewing, for all purposes, and 
 we have 400,000,000 bushels surplus, to hang like an 
 incubus upon the necks of the people. If we could 
 transport from our fields the crops, and not impoverish 
 them, it would be different, but as we have got to re- 
 turn, either sooner or later, all that we take away, then 
 the evil is evident. 
 
 If a tailor sold his coats, &c., for the cost of the 
 labor only, without reckoning for the cloths and small 
 articles, soon he would have no capital to buy cloths, 
 &c., with. The time it would take to bring about this 
 result, would be governed by the amount of his busi- 
 ness, and the length of his purse, 
 
 PHILOSOPHY OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 In other parts of this work, I have said, in substance, 
 what I intend to say here. Possibly I have not been 
 understood. It is a well known principle of nature's 
 economy, that no matter is lost. In all the various pro- 
 cesses of growth or decay, this principle holds good. 
 
COST OF FAEM PRODUCTS. 259 
 
 At the creation, before the rocks had become disente- 
 grated, there existed the same principles of plant and 
 animal growth that now exist. This law will hold good 
 as long as the world stands. If we extract from the 
 soil all the principles of vegetation, and transport it to 
 the sea, yet this principle or law would still hold good, 
 although this might depopulate the earth for a time ; 
 yet, in the elapse of ages, by the well known principle 
 of nature's laws and chemical changes, that are con- 
 stantly going on, the sea would give up this material to 
 the earth, and vegetable and animal life would again 
 appear. Nature, in all her laws, aims to perfection. 
 The process, it is true, is slow, as we reckon time, but 
 recollect that all our anxieties and difficulties exist only 
 as we conflict Avith these principles. 
 
 A plant germinates, vegetates, grows and expands 
 being fed by the decomposition of other plants, till this 
 gives way to the laws of vegetation and plant life, add- 
 ing by each successive rotation a larger amount of 
 food for subsequent products, till a luxurious growth is 
 obtained ; every year adding new or increased fertihty 
 to the soil. Then man begins to take away for his or 
 his neighbor's consumption, the matei'ial that the next 
 crop requires to feed upon, and in a few successive 
 years, robs the soil of those very principles that are 
 necessary to sustain plant life ; and then he complains 
 that his soil is exhausted. In all this there would be 
 no loss, if he had been sufficiently wise to have ex- 
 changed this substance for its equivalent, so that he 
 could return to the soil that he had taken away, with 
 sufficient additional recompense to pay for the labor in 
 
260 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 both taking from and returning to It, the elements, to 
 reproduce that which he had taken. 
 
 This, in brief, is the farmer's great mistake. When- 
 ever we look upon the waving grass that is ripe and fit 
 for the harvest, the first question should be, can we re- 
 move this from the soil and sell It for a price sufficient 
 to return an equal amount as a fertilizer, and pay us 
 for the labor, by so doing ? If not, then let It remain, 
 as nature can In no particular be defrauded, and not be 
 cognizant of the fact. By the removal. It might be ex- 
 changed for ready cash ; so might the clothes upon your 
 back, and there would be about as much good sense In 
 the one as the other. A bare soil and a bare back are 
 somewhat analogous ; the one the cause, the other the 
 effect, which Is as sure to follow, as the gout Is an al- 
 derman. 
 
 NEAT STOCK. 
 
 Domestic animals are sometimes a blessing, often a 
 curse, to the owner. They are good and useful just so 
 far as they administer to our wants and happiness. 
 But when they become so numerous that the receipts 
 from them yield but little return for the labor to rear 
 and keep them, then they are a curse. They are like 
 the leprosy eating out our very vitals. But few men 
 who have not kept a careful record of expense and in- 
 come, are aware of the enormous drain upon our re- 
 sources, when they get the mastery. Not one man, 
 yea, not one farmer In a hundred are aware of the cost 
 to grow up an ox or a cow. One of the great and fun- 
 damental errors of the age is, that we cannot keep up 
 the fertilitv of the soil without domestic animals. 
 
COST OF FARM PRODUCTS. 261 
 
 These are often tlie cause of the deterioration of the 
 soil. Without animals of any class, from mineral and 
 vegetable matter alone, the soil obtains any required 
 state of fertility. I presume that a given quantity of 
 hay left upon the soil, would fertilize it as much as the 
 same amount removed, fed to animals and the whole 
 returned to the soil in their manures. And as there is 
 always some loss attending an operation of this kind, 
 and as the labor to do this is great, therefore, unless 
 the o-rowth or the income of the animal in some way 
 pays for this labor, how absurd it is to throw it away, 
 when perhaps the family need its reward. 
 
 Thousands of families are to-day in want of the very 
 means for encouragement and support, that goes to sus- 
 tain a large surplus of domestic animals, without any 
 hope of reward. To such an extent has the idea ob- 
 tained among the people, that a fancy yoke of oxen 
 will enlist the admiration of the populace, when the 
 man who reared them is neglected and abhorred. A 
 fast horse, a yoke of fancy oxen, a splendid specimen 
 of a cow, or a mammoth pig, are far greater objects of 
 admiration, thought and eclat, than man. While the 
 former are lionized and surfeited to repletion, the latter 
 is neo-lected, worked to excess, and uncared for. 
 
 In passing t':' rough one of the interior towns In a 
 neio-hboring State, I came to what had once been a 
 tolerable homestead. The soil was pretty good, but 
 the buildings, the fences, the trees, were in a deplor- 
 able plight. The bam set nearly in a straight line be- 
 tween the road and house, and like the house, was in 
 
262 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 a dilapidated condition. The shingles were dropping 
 from the roof, the boards from the walls, the doors from 
 their pailings, and all in all, it was one of the most 
 complete wrecks that one could conceive of for a habi- 
 tation for man. On the sunny side of the house, were 
 more than half a dozen uncombed, unwashed, bare- 
 footed and bare-leo-ofed children, with their hair stream- 
 ing in the bi'ceze, as the frost played such pranks with 
 their toes, that they were obliged to keep upon the 
 move. As I was looking upon the scene before me, the 
 thought occurred in my mind, that this man was either 
 a rum guzzler, or he had a fancy yoke of oxen. One 
 of the two I thought must be true. To prove it, I 
 reined up my horse, and in passing between the house 
 and barn, heard voices in the latter. One of the older 
 children ran up to the wagon and asked me if " I should 
 like to see the oxen." I asked if they had a yoke of 
 oxen. " I guess you'd think so if you should see 
 them." Stepping from the wagon into the barn, I saw 
 at a glance how things were. The old gentleman and 
 the old lady were there ; only they were not old save in 
 care, toil and anxiety. At one end of the leanto stood 
 three half-fed cows, with the cold wind from the open 
 spaces in the sides of the bai'n, piercing their frames, 
 and appeared to be entirely innocent of card or brush, 
 or any thing but the coarsest fare. 
 
 As I passed by the oxen, and was looking at the 
 cows, I saw that it did not please the old gent. I 
 knew that he wanted me to leave the cows, and pass 
 judgment upon the " steers," as he called them. I 
 
COST OF FAEM PRODUCTS. 263 
 
 told him " that I did not think much of oxen, but 
 thought cows were a very useful animal in a family." 
 I saw that this remark pleased the old lady. As she 
 came out where I was, she asked me " which I called the 
 best cow ? " I explained to her Guenon's theory as 
 well as I could. She thought I had guessed right on 
 the quality of the coavs, and after telling her " that no 
 cow could manufacture mUk of nothing, all that came 
 out of the udder had first to be put in at the mouth, — - 
 that she could as well make a paletable pudding of 
 saw-dust, as a cow could make milk of the stuff I saw 
 before them." 
 
 In passing out of the barn, the old gent says, " aint 
 you agoing to look at the oxen, — they got the pre- 
 mium," — " and a half a dozen such," says I, " would 
 get you into the ^oor house." As I was stepping into 
 the carriage, I could hear rather loud talk about " oxen, 
 cows, hay, meal," &c., between the parties in the barn. 
 This was the desirable point, to get them to discussing 
 the matter, I do not wish the reader to understand 
 that I did not see the oxen, nor the barrels of meal be- 
 fore them, nor the battening on the walls around them, 
 nor their sleek and glossy hair, with the brush and 
 the card. All these I saw. And I thought I could 
 easily define the influences that had been at work, that 
 had caused this man to neglect his own children, to al- 
 low his buildings to go to ruin, his wife and little ones 
 to suffer for the most common conveniences of life, that 
 a morbid and false interest and pride might be satiated. 
 I do not wish to be understood as saying that I do not 
 
264 FAKMING AS IT IS. 
 
 like to see handsome oxen. What I desire to be under- 
 stood as saying is this, that I do not like to see inno- 
 cent children robbed of the useful things of life, that 
 the gamblers and stock-jobbers of our cities can luxu- 
 riate in tender roasts and juicy steaks, without know- 
 insT something; of the cost to make them. The farmers 
 themselves eat little or no good beef. Old farrow 
 cows and two year old heifers and steers are too often 
 a luxury to them. Not one-fourth part of the beef that 
 is killed in this country is fit for human food. All this 
 grows out of the idea that our farms can only be 
 fertilized by animal manures. 
 
 MILK MAKING. 
 
 There are but few crops upon which greater errors 
 exist than this. MUk can no more be made of nothing 
 than any other crop. Although some cows produce 
 more milk than others, and some will make more from 
 the same food, yet no cow can make milk from nothing. 
 Not only can the amount of milk be controlled to con- 
 siderable extent at pleasure, but the quality also. Per- 
 haps the best type of a cow is a flouring miU. The 
 hopper is the mouth. Nothing comes out at the spout, 
 without having been first put in at the hopper or 
 mouth. And not quite all that is thus fed comes into 
 the troughs. The dust or the sweepings of the walls 
 and the floor, is the waste of the animal. That that 
 comes out at the pores of the skin, (the scent that 
 enables the hound to follow the fox,) are the sweep- 
 ings. The flour is the mUk. The middlings and the 
 
COST OF FARM PRODUCTS. 265 
 
 bran are the liquid and solid excrements. As the qual- 
 ity of the flour, &c., depends upon the quality of the 
 grain, so the inilk and the excrements are equally de- 
 pendent upon the food the coav consumes. A cow that 
 is fed upon corn meal and good hay, will give a better 
 quality of milk than the same cow would if fed upon 
 slops, turnips, and coarse herbage. 
 
 The cost of a quart of milk dejjends so much upon 
 circumstances, that no figures can be made to suit 
 all localities. But I know of nothing that will induce 
 thought more than fio-urino;. Assumino; mv fio-ures on 
 the grain, hay and root crops to be correct, let us now 
 see what it will cost to manufacture them into milk, 
 and at what price the milk can be sold. I want the 
 reader to keep in mind all the time that the rate of 
 wages is one dollar per day, and six per cent, on the 
 capital. The capital is past labor ; the per cent, upon 
 it, is the earnings of the capital, and if rightly invest- 
 ed, the labor to do this, is usually reckoned at about 
 one per cent. Webster's definition of farming is, " The 
 practice of tilling land." If, then, we want to get at 
 the cost of a milk crop, it will not do to buy a cow and 
 the food upon which she is fed. This would not be 
 farming, but speculation, or manufacturing. 
 
 We have seen that to raise a calf to one year old 
 costs about $22 ; the next year $15 ; the next year 
 820, making a three year old cow to cost $57. This 
 cow is our mill, in which we are going to manufacture 
 millv. The hay, grain, grass, &c., is the raw material, 
 the power is the labor. As I shall offset the labor 
 
266 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 against the manure, these two items will be dispensed 
 with. As it will be necessary to keep the cow one 
 year, I shall reckon for that time. 
 
 One yearns milk. Dr. 
 
 To li tons hay $30.00 
 
 *' 10 bushels meal 10.00 
 
 " 15 bushels carrots 3.00 
 
 " pasturing, fall feed and cow corn 182 days, at .08 14.56 
 
 " interest on mill 3.42 
 
 " rents, fencing, &c 3.00 
 
 $63.98 
 Or. 
 By increased value of mill or cow $5.00 
 
 $58.98 
 Credit by 4 quarts milk per day, 1,460 quarts, mak- 
 ing it cost per quart, •04-y||-o, or a small fraction over 
 4 cents per quart. Allowing buttermilk to pay for the 
 labor to make, and 8 quarts of milk to a pound of but- 
 ter, the butter would cost 32;^ cents per pound. 
 
 Therefore, it seems by these figures that a man 
 who . can sell his milk for five cents per quart in the 
 winter and three cents in the summer, is getting a per 
 cent, on his capital that is in unison with our laws and 
 institutions, and one dollar per day for his labor. No 
 allowance has been made in these calculations for acci- 
 dents and mishaps. 
 
 Some may suppose it singular, perhaps, why it has 
 cost as much to keep the cow this year as it did the 
 three years before ! The answer to this is, that we 
 have made 1,460 quarts of a good quality of milk, 
 containing fifteen per cent, of nutritious matter, and 
 had to keep up the ordinary functions of the cow 
 besides. 
 
COST OF FARM PRODUCTS. 267 
 
 PORK MAKING. 
 
 It will be difficult to institute any figures in regard 
 to this crop, as so much depends upon the selection of 
 the animal, and many other circumstances. That the 
 hog is an animal that all farmers should keep, there is 
 no doubt. The number should be governed entirely 
 by the amount of waste about the premises. These 
 and the barn-yard fowl should be considered the glean- 
 ers of the establishment, and kept in sufficient numbers 
 to consume what there is. And all there is kept should 
 be well fed ; it will not pay to half feed them. At the 
 prices that have ruled for the last three years, the 
 fewer animals that the farmers keep, above what they 
 require for their own use and convenience, the better 
 it will be for all laboring men. 
 
 In regard to hogs, I know of no better plan, when 
 pork is less than 12h cents per pound, than to fatten 
 two per year, one in the winter and one in the summer, 
 killing one each in the fall and spring. The size of 
 them can be regulated to meet the wants of the family. 
 
 I think that a bushel of corn meal, if scalded and 
 judiciously fed, will make eight pounds of pork, if the 
 hog is thrifty. This is the extent. It wiU not do to 
 calculate more than six pounds to the bushel generally. 
 
 In 1850, there were in the United States, all told, 
 30,315,700 swine. At 250 pounds each, would make 
 (7,578,925,000) seven billion five hundred and seventy- 
 eight million, nine hundred and twenty-five thousand 
 pounds ; which would give to each person one hog of 
 329 pounds, reckoning the population in round num- 
 
268 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 bers at 23,000,000. Allowing one hundred pounds of 
 pork to each person for necessary consumption, it would 
 leave a sui'plus of 5,278,925,000 pounds. It is true 
 that we export hogs, pork, lard, hams, &c., largely. 
 We also import all of these articles. But I can find 
 no statistics for several years back, which would justify 
 the assumption that anything like half this surplus is 
 exported. 
 
 These are the reasons why this part of farming does 
 not pay. And no New England man can get anything 
 for his labor at pork making, at any such prices as 
 have ruled for the last three years, calling the manu- 
 factured grain the raw material to the pork maker. 
 
 Until the great West has made her soil as poor as 
 that of New England, or she shall take a Aviser view 
 of her interests and the good of her people, can no 
 man succeed by farming alone in the Eastern States. 
 
 THE COST OF BEEP. 
 
 I have spoken elsewhere in regard to the cost of 
 cattle. And the same remark I made in the making 
 of pork, as is now practiced at the West, wiU apply 
 equally well in regard to this article. As long as beef 
 cattle are sold at the great markets for from four to 
 eight cents per pound, it is no use to think of making 
 beef here. It is true that the farmers of the eastern 
 section of this State, a portion of New Hampshire, 
 Rhode Island and Connecticut, can avail themselves 
 of the low prices of cattle at Brighton, Cambridge and 
 New York markets, and from these sources obtain their 
 
COST OF FARM PRODUCTS. 2G9 
 
 oxen, cows, &c., at much lower rates than they can 
 raise them. And from these they can make milk, but- 
 ter, beef, &c., at a lower price than they otherwise 
 could. But recollect that this is not legitimate farm- 
 ing. What is our gain is others loss. And as long as 
 the Western and all farmers who rce remote from the 
 great markets are kept poor, so long will they crowd 
 upon us most all products at such a rate that our ex- 
 hausted land will give little or no returns for the labor. 
 It is generally supposed that the first quality of beef 
 cannot be made, unless the oxen are stall fed several 
 months. Calling a yoke of oxen weighing 3,000 
 pounds, worth $100 the first day of June, let us see at 
 what price a good article or extra beef can be made. 
 
 One Yoke Oxen. Dr. 
 
 June 1, To cost $100.00 
 
 Sept. 1, " pasturing, driving, salt, &c 10.00 
 
 Nov. 1, " fall feed, cow corn, &c 5.00 
 
 March 1, " 2-1 tons hay 50.00 
 
 " 22<^ bushels meal, at $1 22.50 
 
 " " interest 4.50 
 
 " " rents of stable 2.00 
 
 $194.00 
 Cr. 
 March 1, By 2,100 pounds beef, at 7i $157.50 
 
 Net loss $36.50 
 
 This is beef making. If it is claimed that part of 
 this loss should have been made up by work, then let 
 me say, that the cost of keeping must have been more, 
 or the quality of the beef would not have been so good, 
 and the price would have been less. 
 
 And although the beef has fell short of paying the 
 
270 FARMING AS IT 13. 
 
 cost by $30, it must be recollected that the man who 
 raised the oxen must have lost more than this. 
 To raise a yoke of oxen, I should make these figures : 
 
 First year §44.00 
 
 Second year ; . 3(t.00 
 
 Third year 40.00 
 
 Fourth year 50.00 
 
 $164.00 
 Allowing that the work has paid for the training, 
 this will give us about fair compensation for the labor, 
 investment, &c. After this, they must pay for their 
 keeping by their work. 
 
 Four years old oxen have been selling for from $60 
 to $100 a yoke for the last one or two years. If $80 
 is taken as the average price, then a loss of some $84 
 must be sustained. 
 
 Perhaps some will not be able to see clearly how it 
 is that the first year costs more to raise cattle than 
 either of the next two. The way that I explain this 
 is, that the first year the labor to tend them is more, 
 the manure is worth less, and more nutritious food is 
 required. 
 
 THE COST or WOOD. 
 
 Perhaps there are few crops produced upon the farm 
 upon which greater errors exist, in regard to the cost, 
 than this. 'Tis true that the labor to grow this crop 
 is comparatively light, but the growth is so slow that 
 the per cent, on the capital eats up the growth several 
 times over. I have known but little wood to grow 
 sufficiently fast to keep pace with the per cent, on the 
 
COST OP FARM PRODUCTS. 271 
 
 cost, and then only when it Is located in close proxim- 
 ity to some other business but farming, and depends 
 upon this for its value. And then this kind of prop- 
 erty is not as safe as many people suppose. The last 
 few years has abundantly proved this. The devouring 
 element and storms often destroy much of this prop- 
 erty. 
 
 If an acre of sprout land costs $10, In less than 36 
 years, at compound interest, it would cost $80. Most 
 all classes of men are smart enough to get compound 
 interest on their capital but farmers. And though 
 farmers often pay interest that is compounded oftener 
 than once a year, they seldom make their capital j)ay 
 any per cent, at all, or throw their labor away to get it. 
 
 FARMING IN THE WEST. 
 
 The following is an estimate on wheat raising in one 
 of the Western States, which I take from the New 
 England Faroner of April 28, 1860. 
 
 My object in introducing this here is to show how 
 they reckon in the West, which will furnish some 
 reason, I think, for their great distress in their pecun- 
 iary affairs. 
 
 Plowing 30 acres of land $30.00 
 
 Sixty bushels seed wheat 60.00 
 
 Two days one man sowing 2.00 
 
 One man and team 6 days dragging 12.00 
 
 Reaping 30 acres, at 60 cents per acre 18.00 
 
 Binding " " " " 18.00 
 
 Hauling and stacking 3 days 9.00 
 
 Threshing 420 bushels, at 4 cents per bushel 16-80 
 
 Hired help in threshing 10.00 
 
 Rent on 30 acres of land 90.00 
 
 $265.80 
 
272 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Cr. 
 By 420 bushels, at 70 cents $294.00 
 
 Leaving clear profit $28.20 
 
 Thus it seems that our Western friend has got a 
 dollar a day for his labor, and $28.20 besides, accord- 
 ing to his figures. 
 
 We will suppose our friend's figures to be all right 
 but those we know to be wrong. 
 
 The first charge of $30 for ploughing 30 acres of 
 land. He says he did it with a span of horses. Can 
 a man plough 30 acres of land with a span of horses 
 in 15 days, and have them and his labor and the 
 plough worth but $2 per day ? I know of no reason 
 why a man cannot plough as much land in the East as 
 in the West. Take our plains land here, which will 
 compare favorably as far as ploughing is concerned 
 with their land after it has once been ploughed, and 
 an acre per day and follow it is enough for man or 
 beast. It is true that for a single day a man might 
 plough his two acres. It would not be wise or econ- 
 omy to do it even for a single day. Then he has called 
 fourteen bushels per acre his crop, which is three bush- 
 els more than the last census returns make it. There- 
 fore, if we increase the cost by $30 ploughing, and de- 
 duct from the product three bushels to the acre, ninety 
 bushels, $63, his crop would run him in debt $04. 
 This is supposing all the figures to be correct but the 
 two items named. 
 
 In the interior towns, where land can be hired for 
 about $3 per acre, wheat is often sold for from fifty to 
 
COST OF FARM PEODUCTS. 273 
 
 sixty cents per bushel. Particularly this is the case 
 when a large yield is obtained. 
 
 From the same paper from which the above was 
 obtained, I find another little item, which to my mind 
 explains how delusive is this mode of reckoning. 
 
 " Some of the Western States are still severely op- 
 presssed for the want of money. In Iowa, Minnesota, 
 and some other States where speculation was most rife, 
 and every description of property was pledged at ex- 
 orbitant rates of interest, for the repayment of bor- 
 rowed money, the condition of things cannot be easily 
 imagined. " 
 
 I want to say here that my friend's statement is very 
 modest compared to some in the Eastern States. Ac- 
 cording to his figures, he makes a profit of a little 
 more than ten per cent., while here a profit of several 
 hundred is often figui'ed up. But on ploughing he 
 beats us all hoUow. When will the time arrive that 
 the farmer will learn to make a truthful and intelligent 
 estimate on the cost of farm products ? I feel very 
 sure it will never be as long as a premium is awarded 
 to those only who out-general all others in bone and 
 muscle, having the faculty to persuade others to rely 
 on what is improbable, if not impossible. It will not 
 answer for a man to do two days' work in one, or cause 
 his men and team to do it, and set that up for a stan- 
 dard ; for a man may deceive himself if he likes, but 
 he has no right to deceive his neighbor. And any 
 body or class of men who pursue this as a business or 
 trade arc not friends to the people. 
 
 Illinois, although comparatively a young State, has 
 
274 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 out-generaled all her sisters in the number of her Ag- 
 ricultural Societies, having some 86, while Massachu- 
 setts has but 34. No wonder her crops are among the 
 lowest average per acre of all the States in the Union. 
 Her soil is becoming exhausted, and her people have 
 not the means to improve it. And my friend who has 
 made the above calculation, has done much to show 
 us the cause of her trouble. 
 
 The following table shows at a single view, the cost 
 of many farm products. The first column shows the 
 cost of the stock, manure, or raw material out of which 
 crops are made. The second the cost of, or per cent, 
 on the capital. The third the cost of the labor, at one 
 dollar per day. The fourth the total cost of the pr/)- 
 duct. 
 
 
 
 Raw 
 
 Interest 
 
 
 Total Cost 
 
 
 
 Material. 
 
 on 
 
 Cost of 
 
 of 
 
 
 
 
 Capital. 
 
 Labor. 
 
 Products. 
 
 Ton of English 
 
 Hay $8.60 
 
 $6.66 
 
 $4.50 
 
 $19.76 
 
 (( 
 
 Green Claver Hay 2.10 
 
 1.75 
 
 2.00 
 
 5.85 
 
 i( 
 
 Swale 
 
 2.86 
 
 2.00 
 
 3.00 
 
 7.86 
 
 n 
 
 Rye Straw 1.94 
 
 2.00 
 
 4.25 
 
 8.19 
 
 <( 
 
 Oat ' 
 
 4,41 
 
 2.50 
 
 4.25 
 
 11.16 
 
 <( 
 
 Dried Ind.CornSt'ks, 2.15 
 
 2.00 
 
 2.00 
 
 6.15 
 
 (( 
 
 Millet, 
 
 3.41 
 
 4.50 
 
 7.50 
 
 15.41 
 
 Bush. 
 
 or 60 lbs 
 
 , Potatoes, .12 
 
 *.25 
 
 .30 
 
 .67 
 
 (( 
 
 40 
 
 Beets, .08 
 
 .06 
 
 .12 
 
 .26 
 
 « 
 
 40 
 
 Mangold 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wurzel, .05 
 
 .04 
 
 .08 
 
 .17 
 
 « 
 
 40 
 
 Com. Turnips .03 
 
 .04 
 
 .06 
 
 .13 
 
 « 
 
 40 
 
 Carrots, .06 
 
 .06 
 
 .09 
 
 .21 
 
 (( 
 
 56 
 
 Rye, Grain, .44 
 
 ♦.35 
 
 .30 
 
 1.09 
 
 <( 
 
 60 
 
 Wheat, .57 
 
 *.42 
 
 .40 
 
 1.39 
 
 (( 
 
 46 
 
 Barley, .36 
 
 ♦.25 
 
 .24 
 
 .85 
 
 « 
 
 32 
 
 Oats, .23 
 
 ♦.15 
 
 .12 
 
 .50 
 
 « 
 
 60 
 
 Peas or Beans. 57 
 
 *.50 
 
 .45 
 
 1.52 
 
 « 
 
 40 
 
 Buckwheat, .26 
 
 *.20 
 
 .15 
 
 .61 ' 
 
 <( 
 
 56 
 
 Indian Corn, 42 
 
 *.34 
 
 .28 
 
 .1.04 
 
 Those products marked with a ♦, the cost of the seed is in- 
 cluded. 
 
COST OF FARM PRODUCTS. 275 
 
 In this table, on the total cost of the crops, the 
 writer has made no calculation on marketing, therefore, 
 if the farmer should make additional expense by team- 
 In >•, it must be charsred to the ffoods sold. 
 
 It will be noticed that oftentimes the various products 
 sell higher than this table makes the cost to be, making 
 a profit above all cost. But it will be admitted that a 
 large majority of all sales made, fall below this cost 
 table, making a net loss on the gross amount of sales. 
 Every one ought to know that in doing a losing busi- 
 ness, the less amount there is done the better. But the 
 moment a per cent, over the cost is obtained, then the 
 larger the better, for the size of the profit is not very 
 materially important if the business can be so extended 
 that the gross amount of profit, makes the business lu- 
 crative. 
 
 All who are disposed to demur at these figures, 
 must recollect that locality will very much change 
 them ; and as no similar table can be made to suit all 
 places, therefore the writer desires to suggest that all 
 farmers do what they can to establish a correct list of 
 cost prices to suit their locality, and all who believe 
 that the "laborer is worthy of his hire," should do 
 what he can to establish them. That thought, study, 
 investigation and mind, may enter more largely into 
 the business, is the highest ambition of the writer. 
 
CHAPTEE X. 
 
 MARKETING. 
 
 The Sale of Goods — Marketplaces — The Value of the Loads Cai'ried 
 to Market — The Country Stores — Barter — The Farmers Duty — 
 Harmony among the Workers — The Earnings of Capital — The Diffi- 
 culty at the West — Experts and the Farmer — A Rebellion — The 
 Statute should be Repealed — The Alpha and Omega in Agriculture 
 — The Shoemaker's Strike — The Rich and the Poor — The Farmer a 
 Merchant — Debit and Credit — Proverbs and Sayings — No one Made 
 a Fortune at Farming in New England. 
 
 The existing system of disposing of farm products 
 is the most cunningly devised to defraud the farmer, of 
 any plan that could well be conceived of. All that the 
 farmer wants to buy, has to be bargained for on the 
 venders own premises. From a cotton hat to a wheel- 
 barrow, — from law to medicine, — from theology to a 
 stick of candy, all has to be met at the threshold of 
 him whose office is to smooth over, gloss up and blend 
 together the light and shade, that the imperfections 
 may be covered up in such a manner that the worse 
 may seem the better article. All this can be better 
 and more cheaply done at home than any where else. 
 Of all this I find no fault. But how is it with the 
 farmer's goods ? His articles have to be by him carted 
 to market, where some select locality is esjjecially ap- 
 propriated to huddle all together, where every load wUl 
 come in direct competition with each other load, that 
 all mishaps, accidents, or calamities, obliging the weaker 
 
 276 
 
MARKETING. 277 
 
 and less thoughtful to give way, that the unscrupulous 
 may establish the price for the clay. 
 
 Cold and stormy weather, exposing the team, the 
 driver and the load, to peculiar hardships, a distance 
 from home, the expense of prolonging the journey, the 
 impossibility of storing the load, the perishableness of 
 the article, its great bulk and weight ; these, and many 
 other causes, tend to keep down the price, exposing 
 the farmer to the taunts and the jeers of the low and 
 cunning, if not of a baser class, as the so-called aris- 
 tocracy always employ some one to do their marketing; 
 seldom coming in contact with the hard hands that fell 
 the forests, plough the land, harvest the crops, ditch and 
 drain the swamps, shovel the manure, make the beef 
 and pork, &c., &c., unless it is at some cattle show, on 
 the eve of an election, or when the load has been convert- 
 ed into the pittance of cash, (if it has not been barter- 
 ed away,) gentility, then, is full of smiles and twinkles, 
 till the pocket is exhausted, and our farmer is home- 
 ward bound, congratulating himself on his good luck, 
 and ready to hurrah at every turn for the independence 
 of farming, and the privilege of showing to the world 
 to what endurance the physical and mental capacity of 
 man can be subjected. The reader must bear in mind 
 that all this time some broken-down politician, under 
 sanction of law, has been following our farmer at his 
 heels, with a four foot pole, a pair of balances, and a 
 peck measure, to see fair play, and that soft hands 
 don't get cheated. 
 
 With far greater propriety and fitness of things, 
 
278 TAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 would It be for the farmers in each of their towns, to 
 appropriate a place where the merchant, the lawyer, the 
 doctor, the tailor, the tinker, the loafer, and aU of city- 
 dom, that wanted to, could assemble and expose their 
 wares for sale or barter, that the farmers could meet 
 them with their experts, that justice might prevail in 
 the land. The most serious objection to this arrange- 
 ment would be a sufficient police to keep the peace. 
 
 Seriously, the present arrangement is full of impor- 
 tant objections, having a tendency to degrade the farm- 
 er, not only in the public estimation but in his OAvn. 
 It makes and keeps him poor, drives his sons to the 
 cities and distant places, his daughters to the factories 
 and to the lowest grade of needle-work, exposing his 
 farm and buildings to decay, and himself to reserve, 
 low spirits, closeness, and too often, insanity. Thus we 
 often see long lives of the severest industry, economy 
 and self-denial, end in penury and want. If there 
 was a profit in the business, the evil would be less, but 
 even then, aside from this, the arrangement is full of 
 wrono;. But when we see that one-fourth of the gross 
 amount of sales made in this way hardly pays the ex- 
 pense of marketing, ail things faii'ly reckoned, it wiU 
 be seen that as poorly as the farmer is paid, this greatly 
 reduces the wa2;es of his toil. 
 
 It usually spoils the day for a man to go to market, 
 if he has but a few miles to go, unless his load has been 
 previously sold. Then, the receipts are so meager, that 
 allowing for the expenses, comj)aratively little is left to 
 pay for the labor, capital and material, that has produced 
 
MARKETING. 279 
 
 It. If we should allow $4.00 for an average value of all 
 the loads that are carted to market by the farmers, 
 then reckoning the positive expense to them of doing 
 this, the labor and board for the man, the keeping and 
 loss on the team, the wear of the wagon or vehicle, 
 with the interest on the capital, it Avould not fall short 
 of $1.00, or one-fourth of the whole amount of receipts. 
 As it is well known that many farmers go to market 
 with but one or two dollars Avorth, and most loads do 
 not exceed six dollars in value, excepting tlie single 
 article of hay, it will be seen that these figures are a 
 tolerable approximation to the facts as they exist. 
 
 This is farming within ten or fifteen miles of the 
 market. But how is it more remote ? In all towns at 
 a considerable distance from the market, a different 
 state of things exist. There the country stores take 
 the farmers products in exchange for goods. This also, 
 takes a good deal of time, to keep up the system of 
 bartering that here prevails. And although our coun- 
 try friends get rid of the constable and the four foot 
 pole, yet they are subjected to the " scales " (perhaps 
 of justice,) and the peck measure of the merchant. 
 It is needless to say, that all this arrangement tends di- 
 rectly to cheapen the farmer's goods. Because, a man 
 always feels more independent and better guarded 
 against imposition at home, where his goods show to 
 the best advantage, he is free from the expense of call- 
 ino- upon others, and here the scale is turned, as he is 
 up and dressed, ready for the smartest of them. 
 
 How often we hear it said, that admitting these 
 
280 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 things to be so, how can they be altered ? They exist, 
 always have, and we must submit to them. Now wait 
 a moment and let us see. The country is abundantly 
 supplied with all the things needful, is it not ? Yes. 
 The eartli produces in abundance, does it not ? Yes. 
 Farming is the foundation upon which all other kinds 
 of business rests, is it not? Yes. All trades and 
 callings are dependent upon the farmer, are they not ? 
 Yes. If the earth ceases to produce, man would 
 starve, would he not ? Yes. For to provide against 
 hunger, man will barter all he possesses, will he not ? 
 Yes. All our institutions, systems, rules, laws, cus- 
 toms, habits, inclinations and governments, are what 
 we (the people,) make them, are they not ? Yes. 
 Nearly all our woes, wrongs, evils, mishaps, adversities, 
 frauds, cheats, and the like, are for the want of right 
 reason, are they not ? Yes. Then admitting all this 
 to be true, there is no good cause for the state of 
 things that exist. 
 
 If the quack doctor can become a millionaire by the 
 sale of his nostrums, — the lawyer can ride in his car- 
 riage, — the merchant can enjoy the fat of the land, — 
 the jockey can ride with whip and spurs, — the loafer 
 can snap his fingers at honest industry ; if all this can 
 be fastened upon the people, I know that the working 
 farmers can live, if they can agree upon this, that they 
 will have pay for their labor, a per cent, upon their 
 capital, and pay for the material of which their crops 
 are made. There is no need of any combination, ex- 
 citement or demonstration, but let them fully resolve 
 
MARKETING. 281 
 
 upon this, and the work is done. Let each make his 
 own figures, being careful not to cheat himself, and the 
 object of this work is obtained. 
 
 Then there is no warring of the West upon the 
 East, the North upon the South, one section upon 
 another section, the country upon the city, the seaboard 
 upon the frontier. All is harmony and success. Our 
 lands will increase in value, our towns will retain the 
 young men and women, our schools wiU become larger 
 and better, our meeting-houses wiU be better filled, our 
 centres will become fuU of life and prosperity, our 
 homes more happy, our old men will cease to be a bur- 
 den, our poor better cared for, and the poor-houses, in 
 a measure, depopulated. All this, and much more, 
 would immediately grow out of this arrangement. 
 AVhen the farmers learn to cease the production, if the 
 crops cease to be remunerative, then, and then only, 
 will they be respected, and take that position among 
 men they ought. 
 
 There are but few things more simple than this. 
 Our capital has already been earned. The wisdom of 
 ages have said this, that capital may earn a certain per 
 cent. All civilized nations act upon this principle. 
 The laws establish what those earnings shall be. The 
 farmers know too well how this is. But they seem to 
 forget that their farms should earn as well as their 
 hands. This should be done without deterioration to 
 the soil. Therefore, let this be fully understood, and 
 it will be seen, that one section of the country can pro- 
 duce, all things being equal, about as cheaply as an- 
 
282 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 other ; the material to make the crop, in quantity and 
 quality, always being the same. It requires no more 
 in the East than the West, the North than the South. 
 It is true, that the value attached to the land affects 
 the cost of the crop, same as the value of the labor. 
 The price of labor should be nearly equal, one section 
 with another. And the study of all should be to in- 
 crease this price everywhere. There is no fears of 
 o-etting the standard of labor too hio;h. For as the 
 laborer becomes well paid, he will become intelligent, 
 independent, more of a man. But, oppress, distrust, 
 starve him, and he sinks to the lowest grade of hu- 
 manity. 
 
 Therefore, as we see that the cost of crops in two 
 of the requisites are nearly equal, — that is, labor and 
 the material out of which they are made, — then it 
 follows that the per cent, on the capital is the principal 
 reason Avhy crops can be raised lower in one locality 
 than another ; and as the expense of transportation 
 will generally balance this, Ave then come to an intelli- 
 gent conclusion, why the people who cultivate new 
 States, the virgin soil, in the second generation always 
 become poor and involved in difficulties, unless other 
 business comes to their relief. This is the cause of 
 the present difficulty in the great West. A few years 
 back it was so in Ohio and western New York. It 
 will always be so till the people learn that farm pro- 
 ducts, like all other products, are made of something, 
 and they cannot be separated from the sod with im- 
 punity. 
 
MARKETING. 283 
 
 Now, after these brief explanations, we will return 
 to the subject more particularly under consideration, — 
 MARKETING. We have seen that it costs us twenty- 
 five per cent, to market most of our products. This 
 has to come from somewhere, — if it is not made in 
 profits, it must come out of the labor or capital. There 
 is no escaping it. Then the question arises, are the 
 profits equal to this ? We have before seen that in 
 farming there is no such thing as profit. It does not 
 enter into the farmers' vocabulary. They have no 
 such word in their language. 
 
 We have seen what has been said about this. Large 
 profits are sometimes figured up on paper, by design- 
 ino- or deceived men, whose interest is to keep the 
 farmers poor. This we have seen. But, when 
 these men are asked in plain terms if such is the 
 fact, the unanimous answer is. No I They have 
 not made a profit. If we should go through the 
 State, putting the same question to each farmer, viz : 
 Have ^you made a profit at farming over a fair per 
 cent, on the capital invested, and a reasonable imce 
 for the labor performed f Let this question be put 
 to all farmers in the State, and the universal answer 
 must be, NO. If I go among the fishermen of Swamp- 
 scot, — the clam-diggers of Nantasket, — the rag- 
 pickers of Boston, — the stevedores upon Long Wharf, 
 — the shoemakers of Lynn, — the factory operatives 
 of Lowell, — the apple and candy merchants of the 
 streets, — the jobbers, jockeys, tradesmen, lawyers, 
 clergy, doctors, and all, among some of each class I 
 
284 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 shall find those who have earned their capital at their 
 business, and many who have (if not fortunes,) some- 
 thing handsome besides. 
 
 If all these things that I say are true, had not the 
 people ought to know it ? J£ they are not true, then 
 it is easy to refute them. The figures can be easily 
 made, and the facts brought forward to establish them. 
 Are not the farmers men, like other folks, having the 
 same capacities, and are subject to the same influences ? 
 Then why select them out and employ experts to 
 watch, catechise, and stand as arbiter between them 
 and a customer, when going to market ? It cannot be 
 because the business is so lucrative that their success 
 needs to be checked, and I do not believe it is because 
 they are so dishonest that no confidence can be placed 
 in them, because this would be, to say the least, im- 
 politic. Is it because they are not suflSciently intelli- 
 gent to measure a load of wood correctly, or weigh a 
 load of hay, or measure a peck of apples ? I should 
 like to hear an intelliorent reason for this. 
 
 Every year millions of dollars' worth of property 
 are packed up in tight boxes, nailed, strapped and 
 marked, and transported to the most distant sections 
 of the country, iDy rail, by water, by express, and who 
 ever heard of a case coming before our courts where a 
 false invoice was made to appear? There are no ex- 
 perts here, no measurers, no weighers, no cullers, no 
 one to stand by with a long pole to see that somebody 
 don't get cheated. Establish such, and a rebellion 
 that would jHit the Kevolutionary "tea-party" entirely 
 
MAKKETING. 285 
 
 in the shade, would be about your ears. A " strike " 
 that is a strike, with blank cartridges, perhaps, at first, 
 but unless a repeal was sounded, what would follow 
 can aeasily be imagined. Are all trades-people, mer- 
 chants, manufacturers and mechanics less intelligent or 
 less honest for this ? I think not. But the reverse is 
 undoubtedly true. In a word, then, why subject the 
 farmer to insult or annoyance, making him less a man 
 than he otherwise would be, by such old and musty 
 statutes, that had their origin among despots, to make 
 serfs of the people ? 
 
 Eepeal the law. I repeat it, repeal the statute, and 
 then the farmer will see that a reputation is worth 
 something, that success has some connection with in- 
 tegrity. Let this be the starting point, the Alpha of 
 better days, and when all statutes, such as estabhsh 
 "Boards of Agriculture," "Agricultural Societies," 
 and the like, are repealed, whose origin was with the 
 enslavers of the people, then, and not till then, can 
 the Omega of oppression be written. I entreat of all 
 laborers, and the agriculturists in particular, to speak 
 freely upon these things ; think, study, reflect and agi- 
 tate, for 
 
 " He who -would be free, himself must strike the blow." 
 
 The people themselves would not be opposed to a 
 repeal of all these laws. They know that they had a 
 monarchical origin, and are not in unison with our in- 
 stitutions. And the only reason we submit to them is, 
 that they were made before we knew what laws were. 
 
286 FARMING AS IT IS. ' 
 
 In fact, they were handed down to us, coming across 
 the water, and our policy is to get rid of them fast as 
 possible, as " that people are best governed who are 
 governed the leasts The professed friends of the 
 farmer, the fancy, undoubtedly would oppose it, as 
 " Othello's occupation would be gone." Who is there, 
 that does not have an infinitely higher opinion of the 
 shoemakers to-day, than they did before the recent 
 strike was commenced ? And who are to be the losers ? 
 Because the object is to raise the price of shoes. They 
 desire to live by their business, earning a living by 
 their work. If there is a man so mean as to think or 
 wish them unsuccessful, there is no one who has the 
 courage to say it, although at the commencement of 
 the strike, thousands were loud in their denunciation. 
 All, it is true, cannot in the present tense be benefited. 
 But humanity has been elevated. The toiling masses 
 have got a stronger grasp at the tyrant, and he is 
 stilled for a season. 
 
 " The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." 
 Our farmers must not think that because they have 
 good and comfortable farms, with all the conveniences 
 for making themselves comfortable and happy, that 
 they can lay down, regardless of the future. This 
 will not do. No man lives entirely for himself. In all 
 civilized and organized governments, we give up some 
 rights to that of community. The State has some 
 claim upon each, and each has some claim upon all. 
 Therefore it will not do to stand aside, and say that we 
 are all right, the poor must take care of themselves. 
 
MARKETING. 287 
 
 Because the poor of to-day may be the rich to-morrow, 
 and vice versa. Then it is the duty of all to try to 
 elevate labor, for labor is respected only as it is paid. 
 That that is cheap, is thought but httle of, and that 
 that is dear is prized as it costs. A man who inherits 
 property is neither the better nor the worse for that. 
 But he who uses such to oppress his fellow-man, has 
 but Httle claim to the respect of the people, and should 
 never receive the emolumency or honor of office. 
 
 Every farmer should be a merchant as well as 
 farmer ; keeping a regular set of books, with plenty 
 of leisure to keep his accounts, make his figures, study 
 the principles of his business, investigate the science 
 of Agriculture for himself, instruct his children, tend 
 to the sales of his goods, which should always be done 
 at home, on his own premises, be his own expert, keep- 
 ing a four foot pole, a set of measures, scales, &g. Plis 
 study should be to make his own home pleasant, him- 
 self and family happy, enjoying the conveniences of 
 life, working as much as is needful to accomplish this ; 
 knowing the e>ost of everything he produces, that 
 which he consumes as well as what he sells ; giving the 
 farm credit for all that he consumes, the increased 
 value of the same from year to year if any, the whole 
 amount of sales made, and charging the farm with all 
 the labor performed, the interest on the capital, the 
 taxes, insurance, and the depreciation in value, if any. 
 I know that this will take time, but what of that ? 
 Do you desire to be serfs, and your chUdi'en slaves ? 
 If so, then neglect these things, work yourself and 
 
288 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 family into the doctor's hands, or poor-house, cart your 
 goods to market and sell them for less than you could 
 have done at home, make and sell pork and beef for 
 two-thirds the cost, do all you can to depopulate your 
 own towns, administering to the comfort and enjoyment 
 of those who undertake to control you, build up the 
 cities, increase the value of other's property. In a 
 word, " do just what you ought not to do, and neglect 
 those things you should do." 
 
 As long as those laws of which I have spoken re- 
 main upon the statute books, so long, brother farmers, 
 everywhere, let us stay at home, living upon our own 
 resources. If others can do without us, we can do 
 without them. Establish ourselves upon principle, de- 
 manding nothing but what is clearly right, and sub- 
 mitting to nothing that is wrong. This is your duty, 
 as it is my duty. For the good of the cause let us 
 suffer if need be. Not that I would say a word or 
 think a thought to separate one interest from another, 
 to have a clashing among the various interests ; but 
 if our rights can be obtained in no other way, then and 
 only then, would I advocate this. "Z^wm, vivimus, 
 vivimus.'^ While we live, let us live. A Roman phi- 
 losopher once said, *^Show me the laws of a people^ 
 and I will read you their character.''^ '"''Audi alteram 
 partem.'''' Hear the other side. This is what we want. 
 *' Hear the other side." Look the facts in the face, 
 and if wrongs exist, right them. 
 
 It is often said that all business but farming is "over- 
 done." I think I have proved that this, if not the 
 
MARKETING. 289 
 
 only business over-done, it certainly comes pretty near 
 to that conclusion. I know very well that no portion 
 of the people are so poorly paid for their labor as the 
 farmers. It cannot be said that they live by their 
 labor, since no man thinks of farming on borrowed 
 capital. When three-fourths of all other kinds of busi- 
 ness is carried on by borrowed capital, the fiirmer finds 
 it up-hill work when he owns his capital. Where this 
 capital came from, has been shown in these pages. No 
 one will claim that any considerable proportion of it 
 came from the profits of farming. 
 
 Out of the 200,000 farmers in New England, not 
 one solitary individual can be found who has earned a 
 fortune at farming. Let this statement stand till the 
 contrary is proved, as it is not my business to prove a 
 negative. Those who think differently, I hope will be 
 kind enough to let me know when they find their man, 
 who has more than two letters to his name. How I 
 define farming, is several times expressed in these 
 pages. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE FAEMERS' SONS. 
 
 New Hampshire a Good State to Emigrate From — The Sons of New 
 England Should Stay at Home — Killing Two Birds with One Stone — 
 Husbands for the Country Girls — The Prodignl Son — A Supposition 
 
 — Mr. Wiseman's Children — Wiseman a Reasoner — John Wiseman 
 Repairs his Father's Buildings — The Miller's Rule — A Grocery and 
 Shoe Factory — Tenements Wanted — Great Time Getting Married — 
 Ann and, the Shoemaker — Earning a Living — The East and the AVest 
 
 — A Balance of the Sexes — Concentration of Business. 
 
 Mr. Webster once said, that " New Hampshire 
 was a good State to emigrate from." " Its principal 
 articles of export were young men and granite." The 
 same can be said of this and aU of the New England 
 States, in regard to the young men. Although the ex- 
 port list has been greatly increased of late years, both 
 in the human and other commodities, and we still 
 continue to manufacture the article, yet we cannot af- 
 ford to export it. If the young men of this and other 
 New England States are a good material to build up 
 distant States and cities, they are just as useful to stay 
 at home ; and that although it is bad policy to export 
 any Agricultural commodity, unless the returns are 
 sufficient to reinstate them, and pay for the labor in 
 doing so, yet thi& commodity can never be fully com- 
 pensated. 
 
 No farmer should think of exiling his children. It 
 
 290 
 
THE TAEMEES' SONS. 291 
 
 would be infinitely more wise to bring business to them 
 than it would to send them to seek business elsewhere. 
 Business, trade, the value of property, &c., are what 
 the people make them. There is no chance, luck, or 
 happened-to-come-so about it. Most farming towns 
 could double their population, business and wealth, 
 every twenty-five years, if they would make half the 
 effort to do this that they do to make each other j^oor. 
 It is just as easy to go up hill as it is to go down, after 
 you get used to it, in this respect. I would not have 
 the number of farmers increased, there are too many 
 now for the population. But what I would do is this : 
 I would distribute much of the trade, business and 
 manufactures of the cities among the country towns. 
 This would be " killing two birds with one stone," as 
 the saying is. The increase of population and business 
 would enhance the value of the lands, and the extra 
 population would make a home market for our pro- 
 ducts. 
 
 There are many other advantages arising from this, 
 besides a mere dollar and cent view of the matter. 
 Among which are an increase of means to support pub- 
 lic worship, a higher order of, and increased facilities 
 for schooling, a purer moral and social condition of 
 the people, a higher order of intellectual attainments, 
 &c., &c. 
 
 But, says the reader, " how is all this agoing to be 
 brought about ? It undoubtedly would be a good 
 thing if it could be done, but, that is the rub." Let 
 us see. We must keep the young men at home, and 
 
292 TARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 tliey must do something besides farming. Then the 
 question arises, what shall they do ? Or perhaps it 
 would be better to say, what can they do ? Or better 
 still, what would) they do ? Answer : They would 
 furnish husbands to scores of the young maidens, who 
 otherwise would be obliged to go to some factory, or 
 other place, to earn a scanty living in single blessed- 
 ness, wearing themselves out in the service of others. 
 This is one thing they would do, and if this wece all, it 
 would be a gain. But this is not all, for if they could 
 earn a hving anywhere else, they could here, if they 
 have had the right training. If shoes can be made in 
 Lynn, and sold in Boston, New York and other places, 
 at a profit, they can be made here. And if the farm- 
 ers' capital can build factories in Lowell, railroads in 
 New Hampshire, buy bank stocks, &c., it can furnish 
 all the capital wanted to do this. But, all are not 
 agoinsr to be shoemakers. Other thinn;s can be made 
 and sold as well. Farm implements, furniture, clothes, 
 hats and caps, carpenter's work, blacksmithing, &c. 
 All these will be wanted to a considerable extent at 
 home, as the population increases. Then all the farm- 
 ers and others must learn to patronize their own, letting 
 the city folks take care of their own affairs, and if the 
 poor among them Avho are willing to work, find it hard 
 to live there, let them start for the country, for that is 
 just the place for them. 
 
 The farmers have, and are, committing great errors 
 in regard to the education and habits of their sons. 
 They too generally intend to make farmers of them. 
 
THE farmers' soxs. 293 
 
 This is their mistake. They have all their lives been 
 laboring under a delusion themselves, and seldom as- 
 certain the cause of their embarrassments, till their sous 
 finding it impossible to live by following the occupatioxx 
 of their fathers, embark in some kinds of business for 
 which they have had no previous training, and a fail- 
 ure is too often the residt. How often we see these 
 young men, like the "prodigal son," returning to their 
 fathers, broken down, disheartened and discouraged, 
 Avho would have made useful members of society, if 
 they had had a suitable training before embarking in 
 their effort at trade or business. 
 
 Perhaps I can better illustrate what I want to say, 
 by a supposition, than in any other way. A farmer, 
 whom we will call Mr. Wiseman, has five children, 
 three sous and two daughters, a farm with a hundred 
 acres, with fair buildings, in the town of C , Mid- 
 dlesex County, Massachusetts. 
 
 John, the eldest son, is apprenticed to a carpenter, 
 at the age of seventeen, to stay till twenty-one, with 
 the understanding that he is to go to the high school 
 three months each winter, in his native town. 
 
 Smith, the next son, is sent to Lynn, at eighteen, to 
 stay till twenty-one, with a shoemaker, and learn tho- 
 roughly the business of shoe-making, cutting, the gen- 
 eral management of workmen, books, &c. 
 
 Jane, the next, stays at home and helps her mother, 
 excepting when at school, or when on an occasional 
 visit among her lady friends. It is not improper here 
 to state, that on these occasions she never denies a 
 
294 FiVUMING AS IT IS. 
 
 familiar acquaintance with the wash tub, nor considers 
 it unlady-hke to recognize one of" her okl friends, the 
 cow. 
 
 Daniel, the next, is sent to Lowell with Mr. A., to 
 learn the grocery and variety store business. 
 
 Ann, the baby, follows in the footsteps of her illus- 
 trious predecessor, Jane. 
 
 When neighbor Wiseman is interrogated by his 
 neighbors in regard to his affairs, and what is agoing 
 to become of his farm, and himself and wife, in their 
 decline, he answers in this wise : " As to the farm, if 
 it will not take care of itself, let it go. I do not desire 
 to waste my own time, much less that of my children. 
 I have generally failed to get pay for my own labor 
 when at work upon the farm, and I have too much re- 
 gard for the good of my children, to desire them to do 
 what I have always been poorly paid for doing my- 
 self." 
 
 It is needless to say that Mr. Wiseman takes an in- 
 telligent view of the matter. He knows that when he 
 removes a crop from the soil, he has either got to re- 
 turn its equivalent in plant food, or deteriorate it ; and 
 unless he gets his pay for the labor in doing so, it is 
 time worse than idly spent. He takes time to make the 
 figures upon the crops, calling this a part of the labor 
 of the farm, knows when he sells a product whether 
 his labor is paid for or thrown away, thinks he has no 
 moral right, because somebody gave him a farm, to use 
 that in such a way that it would be detrimental to the 
 interest of his poor neighbor, who has been less fortu- 
 
THE farmers' sons. 295 
 
 nate. He knows that a thing (in a business point of 
 view,) that he cannot aftbrd to pay for doing, is not 
 worth doing. He can see no reason why his own hibor 
 is not as well entitled to pay, as that of the Irishman 
 whom he employs. In a word, he looks down into the 
 bottom of things. He knows that when a lot of sharp- 
 ers in the great city get together to concoct measures 
 to bring the farmers with their products there to please 
 them, that it is for nobody's good but their own ; and 
 if they fail to make it pay, they will vote them a 
 twenty-five cent picture for a ten spot, instead of the 
 hard cash they promised. In fact, friend W. has been 
 a close observer of human natur, and lie knows that 
 when some of the city folks are bragging about a profit 
 of several hundred per cent, on the corn and other 
 crops, that it is about time to give the sheriff a call, as 
 " forbearance," in that direction, " has ceased to be a 
 virtue." 
 
 He cannot see the consistency of the fancy, by con- 
 tinually harping upon the almost sure bankruptcy of 
 all who engage in any kind of business but farming ; 
 and at this, when such monstrous profits are made, why 
 farm property is deteriorating in value, and no one is 
 willing to risk their capital in it. It does not look ex- 
 actly clear to him, that when these disinterested sym- 
 pathizers with the farmer who double their capital 
 every year on their corn and other crops, are not con- 
 tent with this ; but are continually before the Legisla- 
 ture asking for appropriations to send them into the 
 farming districts to lecture the people how to throw 
 
293 FAR3II>r(> AS IT IS. 
 
 mud out of tlie bottom of a ditch, to drain their 
 meadows, and whether the water will run down or up 
 the hill. Now we will see how Mr. Wiseman's children 
 get along, and the consummation of his long-cherished 
 plans. 
 
 The winter before John's apprenticeship is out, the 
 neighbors are somewhat surprised to see friend Wise- 
 man teaming logs to the mill. These are put into the 
 various kinds of lumber, and carefully stuck up around 
 our neiarhbor's buildings. 
 
 On the fourth of July, (1852,) John spends the day 
 with his parents and brothers and sisters, at the old 
 homestead. After dinner, when the family are sitting 
 around the centre-table in the parlor, and Ann is drum- 
 ming out a few tunes on their familiar friend, the 
 piano, Smith asks John " where he is going after his 
 time is out, and what he is going to do ? " " He has 
 not fully decided upon that," says Mrs. W. Mr. W. 
 stops all controversy upon this point, by saying, " My 
 plans arc all made. I have work for a carpenter for 
 the most of a year, and if the wages are satisfactory, 
 John can take the position." This settles the worsted. 
 
 The last of August John returns home, with a full 
 set of tools from Mr. L., his master, who deems no 
 other expression of satisfaction necessary, inasmuch as 
 the tools were a gratuity, or additional to the bargain. 
 
 In less than one year, Mr. W.'s buildings have been 
 modernized, thoroughly repaired, painted in two colors, 
 with green blinds, &c. Although they always looked 
 neat and pretty, yet now they are the admiration of 
 
THE TARMEES' SONS. 297 
 
 all. Neighbor S., who knows a thing or two, declares, 
 with a twinkle of the eye, " that they look as though 
 friend W. had been round lecturing on humus and 
 impJiee^ at five dollars a lick, with the scrapings." It 
 is needless to say that this is a mere take-off by friend 
 S., who is fond of a joke, as no one ever thought there 
 was a particle of hypocrisy in neighbor W., as he 
 would be the last man to preach one thing and prac-. 
 tice another ; and when he cannot live without persuad- 
 ing others to do what he cannot do himself, he will stop. 
 
 John W. is now a great favorite with aU the old 
 ladies of C, who have got a full share of the feminines 
 around the breakfast table, and it is remarkable how all 
 at once, their buildings have got into a dilapidated con- 
 dition, and must be repaired right off. John has to 
 adopt a kind of miller's rule, and in this way goes 
 throuo-h the villao;e, and O ! what a chano;e. 
 
 Presently, outsiders ai-e attracted to the revolutionary 
 scene, and really, the old town presents new beauties 
 at every turn, and the wonder is why these attractions 
 have never before been discovered. 
 
 Mr. W., the senior, calls round one day where his 
 son is at work, holds a short confab with him, and 
 leaves. 
 
 Presently, a large lot of lumber Is seen piled up on 
 the corner of the old turnpike and the Boston road. 
 The town is now all agog, and over goes neighbor S. 
 to see what is the next move. Friend W. has no se- 
 crets, and it soon gets round that a grocery store and 
 shoe factory is going up, right on Mr. W.'s farm. 
 
298 . FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Some think he had better go into the village, but Mr. 
 W. thinks he had better bring the village to him. 
 They are too old-fashioned to suit his notion. He 
 thinks it wiser to build new than to remodel the old. 
 
 In due tim, a neat and tasty building, 24 -f- 50, two 
 stories high, is seen, where a short time before was a 
 potato patch. 
 . About one year after Mr. W.'s second son, Smith, 
 went to Lynn, a young man came to C. to go to the 
 high school there. He boarded with friend W., and 
 although It was some distance from the village, yet he 
 was philosopher enough to know that exercise was one 
 of the necessary concomitants of a school education. 
 Some of the old ladies of C. looked a little askew, 
 when they saw the family of W. going to the village 
 church on Sunday, and declared they saw W.'s oldest 
 gal drop her handkerchief, and young Alley picked it 
 right up, and they had quite a laugh over it. This 
 was enough. That point was settled. 
 
 In due process of time, a heavy baggage wagon 
 passes through the village with a load of shoe goods, 
 and they are unloaded at the shop of Wiseman and 
 Alley. 
 
 Young Wiseman goes through the village and among 
 the farmers, and engages what spare tenements can be 
 found, and also board for a few shoe-binders and work- 
 men. 
 
 Business now commences. The old people seem to 
 have obtained a new lease of life ; all is animation ; 
 the streets are alive with well-dressed and well-behaved 
 
THE farmers' sons. 2SI9 
 
 young men and girls, who are regular at their work ; 
 and the goods of the new firm of Wiseman & Alley- 
 are sent forth as a living advertisement, to their value 
 and credit. 
 
 AVhile all this has been going on, John W. has not 
 been idle. He has taken two apprentices, liired one 
 journeyman, and is at work on a dwelling for Mr. 
 Alley. 
 
 Carpenters, masons, and other mechanics come here 
 to obtain employment. Some have bought a few lots, 
 Intending to put up buildings as soon as things get a 
 little better established ; although there are a few old 
 fogies round with a pail of cold water, who have some 
 apprehension that the smell of leather may disturb 
 their olfactory nerves a little ; and as for a shoemaker, 
 they can never bear the mention of one since it has 
 become generally known that their old grandfather 
 used to go round "•' whipping the cat." 
 
 In less than three years from the day that Wiseman 
 & Alley raised their shingle, three dwellings have been 
 built, three weddings have taken place, all on the old 
 homestead, viz : John, the carpenter, is settled down 
 in a fine looking cottage, keeps a cow, pig, and horse, 
 and Henrietta W., formerly Miss S., the village school 
 teacher, declares she never was so happy In her life. 
 
 Mr. Alley and Jane have consummated just what 
 the old ladles surmised at the time the handkerchief 
 was dropped. 
 
 Smith has taken home this very day. Miss E., the 
 village belle. She will soon be a wife, and a prize as 
 well. 
 
300 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Parson M. has got three V.'s, and what Dr. H. has 
 made out of the brush, " mum " must be the word. 
 
 Daniel, the youngest son, has changed his mind in 
 regard to going West ; has conckided to take a part- 
 nership with his employer, establish a branch of the 
 Lowell house at C, and has taken the first floor of 
 the shoe-shop for this purpose. John is putting him 
 (Daniel) up a house on a vacant lot on the old turn- 
 pike, and all declare it to be the neatest place in town. 
 
 Already, Parson M. has got another V., and neigh- 
 bor S.'s family is one the less. 
 
 Ann, the baby, is beginning to show the ribbons, 
 and report has it that a shoemaker from New Hamp- 
 shire is particularly attracted in that direction, and 
 Parson M. thinks he can afford a new hat on that, if 
 the merchant is not particularly in a hurry for the 
 " rocks." 
 
 It has now been eight years since John Wiseman 
 left his old master. In that time he has repaired nearly 
 half the houses in the east part of the town, built a 
 grocery and shoe factory, and four dwelling houses, 
 with some outbuildings. 
 
 Mr. Wiseman, the elder, during all this time, has 
 had a good deal of care and anxiety. Of his means 
 he has not been sparing. He has deeded to each of 
 his children ten acres of the homestead ; considers 
 the fifty acres left worth more in the market than 
 the hundred was when he commenced ; has discovered 
 that he has made some mistakes ; yet, as a whole, is 
 often congratulated on his efforts, and has the proud 
 satisfaction of knowing that his children have learned 
 
THE farmers' sons. ' £01 
 
 how to earn a living. If reverses should befall them, it 
 will not be likely to dishearten them. They know hoAv 
 to work, and are not ashamed that all should know it. 
 
 Perhaps C. will never become a city, but who cau 
 say but what a nucleus has here been formed around 
 which various kinds of business will gather ; and so 
 long as the people are Avise, and think and act for them- 
 selves, it will grow and prosper. 
 
 Although the preceding is a tax upon the imagina- 
 tion, yet who is there that cannot draw a parallel from 
 real life ? And let me say that there are but tew towns 
 in New England but what can do as well, — many bet- 
 ter. This is what will stay the everlasting emigration 
 from the East to the West ; is what will balance the 
 cities with the interior, — rid the former of its surplus 
 population, and make the latter more inviting to the 
 young, and the decline of the aged less burdensome 
 and sad. 
 
 The only hojDC of the farmers is to draw in and mix 
 up with them the traders, mechanics and manufac- 
 turers. In this way, the sexes will be more equally 
 balanced, not having one end of the county filled with 
 old bachelors and the other with the opposite, to the 
 Injury of both, and detrimental to the best good of the 
 country, as a whole. 
 
 The writer desires to suggest that if the farmers all 
 over New England can see anything practical in this, 
 and useful to the people, is it not their duty to them- 
 selves, their children, the public, and the country at 
 large, to practice up to this duty ? Never wait to have 
 some rich man or incorporated company come along to 
 
302 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 do what the farmers themselves can do much better. 
 Learn your children to do what will be useful and re- 
 munerative, if you would desire to make them happy, 
 and your country great. 
 
 It is well known that mechanical business is being 
 crushed out of the country towns. In 1846, there 
 were 20 scythe factories distributed over the State. 
 Now, although the gross amount of the business has 
 increased, yet the business has become concentrated in 
 a few cities and large towns. In the same time, the 
 number of plough manufactories has been reduced 
 from 73 to 22 ; the number of shovel establishments 
 from 39 to 21. The same is true of most kinds of me- 
 chanical business. Although the business has been 
 increased, it is continually becoming concentrated, 
 o-reatly to the injury of the farming communities. 
 
 Everything we want to buy, we have to go to the 
 cities for. If we want our lands drained ; if we want 
 a pipe laid ; if we want a pump made ; a well dug ; 
 a house built ; a barn raised ; a wall built ; a cow doc- 
 tored ; a horse nicked ; a harness repaired ; a wagon 
 built ; a pair of cart wheels tired ; a tree trimmed ; 
 a graft set ; a few pumpkin or squash seeds ; tomato 
 plants ; or no matter what, it must all come from the 
 city. And for all these, and much more, we must pay 
 the price asked ; when all we have to sell we must 
 team to them, they are such good fellows, and consider 
 it fortunate to have them fix the price, and then set an 
 expert to m,easure or weigh the article, for which they 
 are kind enough to exchange some of their goods. 
 
THE farmers' sons. 303 
 
 THE DUTY OF YOUNG MEN. 
 
 Although the writer has mainly confined himself in 
 this work to the pecuniary aifairs of life, yet he wishes 
 not to have it understood that this is the whole duty 
 of man, or his main duty ; but as society is constituted, 
 that it is one of the duties there can be no question. 
 Although it may be unpopular to say it, no man thinks 
 it unpopular or wrong, by honorable and fair means, to 
 do it ; for without money, a man will always find the 
 means of doing good extremely limited. And I have 
 yet to learn that with it a man need in any particular 
 be less a man, or less useful in society ; since most of 
 the good deeds of life are accomjilished by it, and 
 usually by those whose earnings are in excess of their 
 expenditures. These are the men who mainly lighten 
 the burdens of society, support the gospel at home and 
 abroad, build the places of learning, pay the teachers, 
 who instruct our children, build the cities and towns, 
 envelop the land with the iron rail, transverse the 
 ocean with the lightning cord, plough the deep with a 
 power, the bones and muscles of which are made of 
 the ore which it has excavated the earth to possess ; 
 and that although it is the duty of most young men to 
 earn more than they spend, yet let no one think to 
 make money by reducing their expenses below the use- 
 ful things of life, for the earth produces suflScicntly fur 
 the good of all, and when the people become sufficiently 
 numerous, every rood of land will abundantly support 
 its man. 
 
 Then how absurd the idea that the cood of the 
 
304 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 farmer is to keep the supply greatly in excess of the 
 demand, that the minority may control the majority, 
 or the few luxuriate on the toil of the many. Has it 
 not been one of the great errors in most farming com- 
 munities to study out some way to live cheap, rather 
 than to earn enough to live well ; to sell the best and 
 consume the poorest ; to discourage trade and business 
 rather than encourage it ; to treat those just commenc- 
 ing life and the poor with distrust, parsimoniousness 
 and jealousy, rather than with liberality, encourage- 
 ment and equality ; to make the people poor rather 
 than rich, in their anxiety to reduce taxation' and keep 
 what they have by withholding from their own the 
 means of enterprise and thrift, thereby greatly enhanc- 
 ing the former and reducing the latter to the idea of 
 the most querulous ; to people the poor-houses rather 
 than to supply the means of learning the poor and un- 
 fortunate how to earn a living ; to trudge off to the 
 cities and distant places for their stores and conven- 
 iences of life, rather than furnish their own citizens 
 with their patronage and encouragement ? 
 
 All these evils the young men in the country towns 
 have to contend with, and to succeed, these influences 
 and this opposition must be overcome. But " where 
 there is a will, there is a way." It is true, but few 
 men in farmino- communities have the means of aidins; 
 young men, save by an encouraging word, a little 
 timely patronage, and a sympathising interest in their 
 success. And oftentimes these are all that are needed 
 to establish the desirable object, by creating a nucleus 
 
THE FARMEES' SONS. 305 
 
 around which, with favorable influences, a permanent 
 position Is established. 
 
 In all country towns exist a considerable class of 
 half-grown boys, the sons of poor, sometimes Indolent, 
 parents, who too often have been made what they are 
 by the Influences, a part of which I have named above. 
 And as inactivity, passlveness and innocence, in the 
 young, whose mental and physical training and habits 
 are neglected, are not to be looked for, therefore to open 
 some industrial pursuit by which these boys, before 
 they are old enough to form vicious and Idle habits, can 
 be trained to a business that will afford them a Hvlng 
 by their labor, and Inculcate in them habits of indus- 
 try, oftentimes relieving the town of the expense and 
 the friends the disgrace of a public charge. Although 
 all that Is desired In this way cannot be done, yet every 
 observing man knows that much may be accomplished 
 If the people would strive to assist each other in their 
 own neighborhoods, believing that the interest of each 
 is the good of all. 
 
 How often we see the people In compact and closely 
 populated locaHties doing all they can, — leaving no 
 stone unturned to Introduce trade, industry and thrift 
 in their midst ; and although we see and know this, 
 yet Is It not just as common to see farmers do all they 
 can to drive these from them ; looking with a jealous 
 eye and often with an insinuating speech upon any who 
 dare to presume to make an effort for their own and 
 the public good ? 
 
 All these the young men have to contend with, yet 
 
306 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 H 
 
 they should not dishearten them, for a few years of 
 industry, promptness and perseverance will give them 
 a position that shall last for all time to come, and their 
 most bitter opposers will become their most servile 
 friends. 
 
 Therefore, taking the whole subject as it stands, and 
 viewing the matter in its true light, I can see no rem- 
 edy for the evils that exist but this : for all young men 
 to firmly resolve upon what they desire to do, and 
 spare no time or expense to prepare themselves to pros- 
 ecute this with an understanding and will that knows 
 no such word as fail. 
 
CHAPTEE Xn. 
 
 HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR BANKS. LEGISLATION. 
 THE CATTLE DISEASE. AGRICI«L,1URAL COLLEGE, 
 &C., &C. 
 
 Extracts from Governor Banks' Message — Cattle Disease Calamity — 
 Public Money used for Sectional Puri^oses — Farming and Pauper 
 Making — Insanity and Suicide — Experts and the Farmer — Law 
 and Farming — R(*warding Dishonesty, Watching the Victims — Pi'emi- 
 ums and Machinery — Worn-out Pastui'es — Refinement, Civilization 
 and Rustics — Guardianship, Industry, and Value of Property — 
 Earnings of Massachusetts, Vermont, and Wisconsin — Combination 
 of Capital and Labor — Premiums to keep down the Price of Shoes 
 — Conscience of the Merchant — Taking the Backward Step — Repeal 
 of Statutes — Young America and Her Markets — Cost of Agricultu- 
 ral Products — Per cent, for Labor — Agricultural College — Amer- 
 icans Emulating the Serfs of the Old Countries — Concord River 
 Meadows — Mr. Holbrook's Letter — Reply — Inquiries — Corres- 
 pondents and Replies — Science of Humbug and Agricultural Ware- 
 houses. 
 
 At the close of your recent message to the Legisla- 
 ture, on the prevailing cattle disease, I recognize some 
 very important suggestions as regards the industry of 
 the country. 
 
 The extract to which I refer is here inserted : 
 
 " No greater calamity will have fallen upon the in- 
 dustry of the Commonwealth than the present, if its 
 course cannot be checked. But every public calamity 
 has in some form, and to an extent which we unwill- 
 ingly recognize its compensations. It is impossible to 
 avoid or to mitigate the individual distress, or the pub- 
 
 307 
 
308 , FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 lie inconvenience that it occasions. But it may lead 
 to such changes in the traditions of agricultural indus- 
 try as will in the end greatly benefit the country. In 
 our own case, it forces upon the attention other meth- 
 ods of culture than those upon which we have exclu- 
 sively relied. It is not possible now to say how soon 
 the farms that have been desolated by slaughter and 
 disease can be restocked with neat cattle. It may be 
 necessary that we should return to some customs long 
 since nearly abandoned. 
 
 " It is a singular fact, exhibited by the census of 
 1850, that the number of neat cattle in the United 
 States was nearly equal to the number of sheep. In 
 our own State, until recently, sheep culture, one of the 
 most profitable modes of agricultural investment, for a 
 country like our own, has very greatly diminished. It 
 is probable that there are half as many dogs as sheep 
 in the Commonwealth. If, in consequence of the pres- 
 ent disastrous contaoion, such chanijes shall occur as 
 the careful consideration of the true and solid agricul- 
 tural interests of the Commonwealth may suggest, like 
 all the occurrences in human life that are directed by 
 the hand of a wise and merciful Providence, it may not 
 be found to be altogether unmixed with private and 
 j3ublic good." 
 
 It seems by this, that the Governor recognizes this 
 " disease " " as a public and individual calamity ;" 
 but at the close of this extract, it will be observed, 
 that he anticipates it to be a less evil than is generally 
 apprehended. And I would particularly call the at- 
 tention of the reader to the idea embraced in this par- 
 agl'aph. 
 
 " If, in consequence of the present disastrous conta- 
 gion, such changes shall occur as the careful consider- 
 ation of the true and solid agricultural interests of the 
 Commonwealth may suggest, like all the occurrences 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 309 
 
 in human life that are directed by the hand of a wise 
 and merciful Providence, it may not he found to he al- 
 together unmixed with private and public good." 
 
 It is often said and I think truly, that an " ounce of 
 prevention is worth a pound of cure." 
 
 If Governor Banks can see that this calamity, sup- 
 posing it to be as general as a few apprehend, will not 
 in the future be so paralyzing, if it places the agricul- 
 ture of the country on a " true and solid" foundation, 
 how much more wise it would have been to have 
 avoided the evil altogether, and saved the treasury un- 
 tarnished, by allowing the interest of agriculture, Kke 
 all other industrial interests, to its own merits — its re- 
 wards and its privations, and preserved uncontaminat- 
 ed, public aflPairs with private interests. 
 
 I do not know that this calamity would not have 
 happened had a dollar of the people's money never 
 have been taken to import '"''hlood stoch" (as it is 
 termed) to this country. But I firmly believe such 
 would have been the fact, and to reason from analogy, 
 from history, from political economy, and upon the 
 law of supply and demand, I can see no reason why 
 private funds would ever have been invested in that 
 direction, had not the public money been used to man- 
 ufacture a false theory and a false sentiment, to foster 
 favoritism, and ajie foreign aristocracy, and bring for- 
 eign servilism upon these Western shores. 
 
 Let us reduce the stock of cattle in the country to 
 the wants of the people ; let us keep the public chest 
 sacred from private interests ; let us rely on the law 
 
310 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 of supply and demand, to meet all the requirements of 
 life, and, above all, let us stop looking across the wa- 
 ter, with complacency, upon those institutions and that 
 policy for which our fathers struggled so hard to erad- 
 icate. And let us give the cattle we have, that care 
 and attention which will be conducive to our good and 
 interests, and who shall say but what in a few years, 
 as Yankee-dom brooks no superiors, foreign capital will 
 find its way here, to replenish their degenerated herds, 
 and as our cattle shall make their mark in a foreign 
 land, perhaps our institutions will be looked upon with 
 more complacency. Monarchy being repulsed, De- 
 mocracy will take a stride Eastward, and, as an an- 
 cient city was preserved by the " quack " of a goose, 
 so may Republican institutions. Republican policy, and 
 Republican compensation for labor, throughout Europe 
 and the Continent, owe its rise to American cows and 
 bulls. 
 
 What we want, Governor Banks, in this country, is 
 just this. For our good and the glory of our country 
 — for the freedom of young and old America, looking 
 down into the future of free principles, to the solution 
 of the problem of universal equality, existing among 
 the people, which was fought for at Bunker Hill, at 
 Yorktown, at Saratoga, and at Concord, to be carried 
 down to posterity as long as the Saxon blood shall 
 flow in the veins of Americans, is to separate pubKc 
 polity from individual aggrandizement and individual 
 contamination. For as surely as existing public senti- 
 ment is harbored and fostered, just so surely wiU phy- 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 811 
 
 sical and mental imbecility obtain and grow with the 
 masses, and the desire and the power also, to tread 
 underfoot the rights of the people, by the few. One 
 class looking to the treasury for the means to squander, 
 the other for bread. 
 
 And since the idea embraced in the above extract 
 from your recent message to the great and General 
 Court of Massachusetts, harmonizes with viewet barely 
 hinted at in this work ; and as you have had the sa- 
 gacity to see them, and the honesty to proclaim them 
 in an important State Paper, and as the principle in- 
 volved in that idea is of incalculable importance to the 
 agriculturists of this State and country, and through 
 them, to all classes of the people, I have thought it 
 well to spend a few moments in familiar chat with you, 
 upon a few of the important principles, (as I believe) 
 embraced in this work. Hoping that if you are favor- 
 ably impressed with the means taken, and if the evils 
 under which we labor are to be remedied only by a 
 cessation of legislation, after having placed all indus- 
 trial pursuits upon an equal footing, that at a proper 
 and convenient opportunity, the attention of the free- 
 holders, or their representatives, will be called to the 
 subject. 
 
 I feel the greater liberty to speak with you upon the 
 various matters involved, inasmuch as you stand nom- 
 inally at the head of the Board of Agriculture in this 
 State, and to whose attention a considerable portion of 
 this work is directed. Also, it being the most feasible 
 way of caUing public attention to the various subjects 
 
312 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 presented, if thought to be of sufficient importance. I 
 only intend to briefly allude to the principal points 
 here, the argument will be found elsewhere. 
 
 In the first part of the work I have presented some 
 statistics showing that a very much larger per cent, of 
 the people in this State become paupers, who were 
 bi'ought up to look mainly to agriculture for support, 
 than all other classes combined. If this is a fact, is it 
 not worthy the attention of all good minds ? For, it is 
 plainly evident that if agriculture was equally remune- 
 rating with other professions and business, there would 
 be far less pauperism among them, for, as a class, it 
 will be admitted that they are more prudent, both of 
 time and money, more industrious, and less given to 
 excesses, than other classes of people. 
 
 If it is claimed that those who work upon the land are 
 less intelligent than other classes, and to this cause, 
 these facts are to be attributed, then I should say why 
 this ignorance, and has the active and discriminating 
 laws had anything to do with it ? The statistics to 
 which I have referred do not indicate the exact pro- 
 portion of pauperism, but sufficiently clear to show 
 what I have said. Also, these same statistics show 
 that an excess of insanity and suicides is traceable to 
 this interest. 
 
 Then, I think I have clearly shown that the earn- 
 ings of agriculturists (by instituting various classes of 
 statistics) are far below the most economical cost of 
 living. If we allow that farm property should pay a 
 per cent., such as is recognized by the civil laws of the 
 
GOVER^SrOR BANKS, ETC. 813 
 
 State, and then subtract the earnings of the farmers 
 from that, it will leave but little as compensation for 
 the labor. It will plainly appear from the facts pre- 
 sented, that the raw material of which crops are made, 
 has not been liiirly reckoned, and this is no less the 
 cause of evil here than in the great West. Then I 
 think I have shown by evidence that is incontroverti- 
 ble, that the Board of Agriculture have not acted in 
 good faith towards the farmers — that the measures 
 they have advocated and claimed lor iheir good, have 
 had the contrary effect, and they jiTofess not to see it. 
 
 I have alluded to some of the ancient laws of the 
 Commonwealth, as also those more recent, showing 
 that they have always borne heavily upon the farmer, 
 inasmuch as they place an expert between him and a 
 customer, when he goes to market, subjecting him to 
 insult and annoyance, depriving him of the privilege 
 which is granted to all other classes of men, to put up, 
 weigh and measure his own goods, thereby having no 
 inchnation to earn a reputation for honesty, integrity 
 and the computation of numbers, which shall protect 
 him from the sneers of all classes of customers, as he 
 cannot be his own salesman only to a limited extent, as 
 the law says this man whom he despises, shall be um- 
 pire, and dictate the amount and quality of the article 
 presented. 
 
 If the farmer wants to purchase a pair of pants, his 
 daughter a dress, or his son a watch, articles, the 
 quaUty or cost of which, neither know but little, the 
 law makes no provision for an expert to stand between 
 
314 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 them and the dealer, and although his pants may be 
 made of matted rags Instead of pui-e wool, his daugh- 
 ter's dress principally of cotton, with traces only of 
 the article she supposed, and his son's gold watch, of 
 copper and zinc, and yet the law in neither case pro- 
 tects them. But when he exposes a load of wood for 
 sale, every stick of which is in view of the customer, 
 so that a knot or worm hole can hardly be out of view, 
 and the market price is as familiar to the purchaser as 
 the indication of the hands of his watch is to the hour 
 of the day ; the measurement also is easily calculated, 
 as the most simple computation of numbers can be ad- 
 justed, and yet the majesty of the law in one case is 
 always active, insinuating and efficient, in the other, 
 none is required or thought of. For, as it is the genius 
 and glory of American jurisprudence to presume all 
 men innocent until proved guilty ; but that class ironi- 
 cally termed the free and independent yeomanry, these 
 the law presumes to be scoundrels, and does not even 
 admit the poor privilege of proving the negative. 
 
 I have claimed that the agricultural press, in 
 conjunction with the Board of Agriculture, and per- 
 haps the popular sentiment of the State and coun- 
 try, are at work in manufacturing principles, the 
 tendency of which is to place the wages of labor 
 on a level with the rewards of toil in the old coun- 
 tries. And let this work go on as it has for a few 
 years back, and it will not take much of a prophet to 
 see, yea, and feel it, too. They hold out and pub- 
 lish to the world in their papers and reports, and in 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 315 
 
 public harangues, the Immense profits of agriculture, 
 advising all young men to engage in the business, re- 
 commending all farmers to keep the boys drilling upon 
 the farm, the effect of which is to totally unprepare 
 them for the ability to earn the conveniences of life ; 
 consequently, when they arrive at man's estate, they 
 find the only business they understand, does not aflTord 
 them the means of supplying their most reasonable 
 wants, and they then have to strike out anew, in any- 
 thing that turns up, and this is a prolific cause of fill- 
 ing the country with poor mechanics, poor traders, 
 poor preachers, and poor loafers, the effect of which 
 is, shoemakers' strikes, increase of pauperism, panics 
 in the business world, and at no distant day, soup- 
 houses and lodging-houses will be nearly universal, and 
 the masses will look to the treasury, and not to their 
 own right arms, with an unbending will, for support. 
 
 It is no argument to say that it is often the farmers 
 themselves who make these statements, for you tax the 
 people's treasury for the means to offer premiums to 
 those who can show the greatest product at the least 
 cost ; thereby encouraging deception and illy requited, 
 persistent toil. For when it is clainT^d that the mate- 
 rial of which the crop is made costs little or nothing, 
 the interest on the capital is not reckoned, no allowance 
 is made for accidents or mishaps, a total or partial fail- 
 ure of all other crops and products not going into the 
 estimates, the herculean labor to produce it, at a re- 
 ward that would starve a nation, not considered ; to 
 all these no rebuke is offered, but the people's money 
 
;^<16 rARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 rewards the whole class of deception, and that man 
 who can bring the greatest amount of physical power, 
 with the least amount of honest integrity and love for 
 his kind, gets the premium. 
 
 Also, that Avhile you offer a premium to those me- 
 chanics who will make a machine or implement that will 
 cheapen the products of the farmer's toil in the market, 
 you never reward him who will produce it to the farm- 
 er at the lowest figure ; thereby, while you encourage 
 the lowest possible price of farm products while in the 
 farmer's hands, you make no effort to cheapen those 
 manufactured articles he is obliged to buy. 
 
 I do not wish to be understood as advocating a spirit 
 of retaliation, or an effort made to cheapen the price 
 of manufactured articles ; for the natural law of which 
 I have often spoken — the law of supply and demand 
 — is all the law that is needed to regulate all indus- 
 trial interests ; but merely refer to it to show how 
 far the analogy is carried. I have no objection to a 
 mowing-machine paying a profit of nearly a hundred 
 per cent., and other inplements in proportion ; but I 
 do object to the use of the public money being taken 
 to keep down the price of farm products and farm 
 property. 
 
 " But every public calamity has in some form, and 
 to an extent which we unwillingly recognize, its com- 
 pensations." 
 
 I presume the " compensation " to which you here 
 refer is this. The country is now overstocked with 
 cattle ; consequently, the price of them and the price 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 317 
 
 of their products is below the cost to produce them ; 
 hence, their destruction would not be so serious a " ca- 
 lamity," for it would give our worn-out pastures a 
 chance to revive, and for a few years the cost to pro- 
 duce them (cattle) would be comj^ensated. If this is 
 your meaning, then as far as it goes, we agree. But, 
 as I before said, an " ounce of prevention is worth a 
 pound of cure ; " so if the destruction is sufficiently 
 general to make it a paying business to produce them, 
 then it would seem to follow that althouo;h it would 
 be an individual " calamity," it could not be termed a 
 " public " one. It must be admitted that it costs as 
 much to produce cattle at one time as at another ; and 
 I hold that the supply of this and all other products 
 would not at any time get very much ahead of the de- 
 mand, were it not for the action of the various ma- 
 chinery, which has its head-quarters in the great 
 cities, and using the public money to promote sectional 
 interests, to the detriment of the general good. 
 
 Now, your Excellency understands where I am, and 
 how I view matters. The bane of this country is an ex- 
 cess of legislation ; and if free principles are ever en- 
 tirely crushed out, and our democracy is continued in 
 name only, it will be brought about by this eternal 
 hankering after the '• flesh-pots " of the public crib, 
 building up monopolies, forestalling public opinion, 
 using the people's money for sectional and individual 
 interests, keeping the people in ignorance by making 
 them believe that constant toil is the remedy for the 
 evils that exist, and every year increasing the hungry 
 
818 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 herd at the public crib, till the people have no time or 
 inclination to judge for themselves. 
 
 Thus your Excellency will sec that all I have claimed 
 for the earnings of agriculture in this work is six per 
 cent, on farm capital and one dollar per day for farm 
 labor. If this is thought to be too high a figure, then 
 I would remind your Honor of the earnings of city 
 capital and the earnings of city labor. I know of no 
 reason Avhy locality has anything to do with creating* 
 or diminishing the needs of physical or mental wants. 
 And if plum pudding, roast turkey and champagne, — 
 swell-front dwellings, Brussels carpets, and rosewood 
 furniture, — fast horses, splendid turn-outs, and silks and 
 laces, — an occasional trip to the White Mountains, inno- 
 cent amusements and an indulgent clergy, are conducive 
 to a high state of civilization in one place, why not in 
 another ? We country folks do not object to your 
 eight or ten per cent, on your capital, — to your two or 
 ten dollars per diem ; but we do object to all special, 
 discriminating, anti-republican and monarchical enact- 
 ments which empower you to hold the rod of guardian- 
 ship over our backs, dictating our industry, squandering 
 our earnings, and reducing the value of our property. 
 
 Your Excellency recollects that at the commence- 
 ment of this brie^ interview, I spoke of an excess of 
 pauperism in the farming districts. The statistics of 
 the country indicate other processes of reasoning in re- 
 gard to the meagre earnings of the farmers. In order 
 to show the actual and comparative earnings of the 
 mechanics and farmers, I have taken the statistic* of 
 the industry of three States, Massachusetts, Vermont, 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. ol9 
 
 and Wisconsin, presuming these to represent fairly the 
 earnings of the Northern States ; Massachusetts rep- 
 resenting the mechanical, Vermont the Eastern agri- 
 cultural, and Wisconsin the Western agricultural. 
 
 These statistics plainly show that the earnings of 
 agriculturists in the East and West, is about one-third 
 as much as the mechanics, — that farming in the West 
 is no more profitable than in the East. That in neither, 
 are the earnings of agricultural labor sufhcient to supply 
 the most economical wants of the people. That the far- 
 mers have to combine capital with labor, and then earn 
 less than mechanics by labor alone. Plainly proving, 
 that a trade of some kind, is a surer guarantee of supply- 
 ing the wants of the people than a farm. That while 
 mechanics wages are hardly sufficient to meet the rea- 
 sonable wants of life, farmers wages would not supply 
 the most prudent. 
 
 A great part of the difficulty grows out of the ab- 
 surdity of the farmer's process of estimating the cost 
 of his products. The farmer estimates the whole pro- 
 duct as pay for the labor, and the mechanic only that 
 part which Is above the cost of the raw material. 
 Thus : a shoemaker, in estimating the cost of his 
 goods, reckons in this way : 
 
 Cost of a Pair of Ladies^ Fine Gaiter Boots. 
 
 Outside Material, 17 
 
 Linings, 02 
 
 Trimmings, 07 
 
 Leather, • 23 
 
 Binding, 16 
 
 :^Laking 27 
 
 Manufacturing, 05 
 
 — .97 
 
320 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Thus it seems tliat tliis pair of boots has cost 97 
 cents. Now if any one supposes that a man can live 
 and sell them for this sum, he is much mistaken. For 
 there are many things that have not gone into the cost 
 that must be paid by the sale price above this esti- 
 mate, or the maker must fail. The time when of 
 course depends on the extent of his business, the 
 amount of his capital and private expenses. Now 
 we see the propriety of that little word profit. 
 Out of this profit all losses must come, interest on in- 
 vestment, travelling and family expenses, shop rent, 
 fuel, postage, and the numerous other items that every 
 man but the farmer has sagacity enough to provide 
 for. It will be well here to remark, that in reckoning 
 the cost of a manufactured article, the outside of all 
 the items are put into the estimate. 
 
 Now suppose all shoemakers had been fools enough, 
 to have allowed for a long series of years, the schem- 
 ing aristocrats, who hover around the public crib, and 
 use the people's money, hypocritically professing to 
 befriend them, and all the time to their utmost endeavor 
 trying to cheapen the price of shoes in the market, and 
 to more successfully accomplish this object, the people's 
 money, and criminal labor without reward, had been 
 used for this purpose. 
 
 This cannot be brought about at once, — only by 
 small degrees it is matured. If when shoes had first 
 been made, a law had been enacted placing an expert 
 between the shoemaker and the purchaser, and the law 
 of custom also, had kept a surveillance over all work- 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 321 
 
 men, then in time premiums had been instituted to 
 keep down the price, by rewarding with the people's 
 money, those mercenary persons who would make the 
 best shoes at the smallest cost. All these things have 
 a direct influence on the rewards of labor, and although 
 this system would make shoes cheap in the market, yet 
 would it not also make shoemakers cheap and less men 
 than they are ? For it would be hardly possible to make 
 a pair of shoes so cheap, but what some one would be 
 mean enough to make them cheaper still, even if it come 
 to the fact of stealing the stock, and cheating the work- 
 men out of all pay for the labor. This would make 
 shoes cheap enough in all conscience, but who would 
 get the benefit ? For the retail price of shoes, like all 
 things else, does not depend upon the producer's re- 
 ceipts, near as much as upon a manufactured money 
 market and the flexibleness of the merchant's con- 
 science. Now your Excellency will see at once that to 
 introduce this system into the shoe business would be 
 impossible. An exact counterpart now pertains in the 
 farmino; business. And ' although shoes are as neces- 
 sary to a civilized, yea, and a savage life too, as bread, 
 then if it is the duty of all men to keep up the price 
 of one, why not the other ? 
 
 Now as Massachusetts was the first State to put in 
 force this anti-democratic, anti-republican, anti-free 
 trade and equality among men, princijDle, let her be the 
 first to set the glorious example, now and forever, 
 break the bonds and establish the principle embraced 
 in the declaration, " that all men are created equal." 
 
322 FARMI^TG AS IT IS. 
 
 Let all societies granting premiums to cheapen labor, 
 and using the peoples' money to promote sectional in- 
 terests, that are inconsistent with free principles and 
 the good of the working masses, be at once repealed ; 
 the government administered in its original purity ; 
 then Young America will make her mark in the earth. 
 
 In my estimate on the cost of agricultural products, 
 I have allowed something more than two-thirds of the 
 gross amount of sales as belonging to past labor, and 
 should in no case be estimated into the proceeds of 
 present wages. This shows the absurdity of the uni- 
 versal practice of estimating the total amount of pro- 
 ducts as the earnings of the year. Therefore, in all 
 our census returns as far as I have seen, the whole 
 product is credited to jsresent labor, when less than one- 
 third should be. 
 
 Thus, if the farmer estimates his gross amount of 
 products in the fall of the year, after his crops are all 
 harvested, at three hundred dollars, what proportion 
 of that sum represents truly this year's earnings for 
 labor ? In our census returns the whole amount is 
 given. Then farm capital earns nothing, and the pro- 
 ducts are made of nothing. For if the gross value of 
 the products simply pays for the labor, what is termed 
 farm capital has no intrinsic value. But, allowing 
 farm capital six per cent, net, then farm, labor has no 
 value. If it is claimed that according to the cost table 
 on page 274, that those products often have a market 
 value above the cost, then my reply is that farmers do 
 not sell grain and vegetable products only to a limited 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 323 
 
 extent, but convert them into meats of various kinds, 
 and dairy products, thereby shrinking fifty per cent^ by 
 the operation, allowing for the labor to do this. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS. 
 
 Your Excellency is aware that an effort is being 
 made in this country to establish schools or colleges of 
 agriculture. Some of our citizens are highly charmed 
 with this idea, having witnessed their beauty over the 
 water. They have been long established in those coun- 
 tries, and their influence has had a marked character 
 upon the habits, industry, position, wealth and intelli- 
 gence of their people. Do we want to emulate such in 
 Republican America ? I repeat it. Do we desire the 
 condition of those people to be fastened upon us ? 
 Would it be an advance or a retrograde movement ? 
 Do we not see landed upon our shores almost every 
 day, pupils from these institutions ? And is their po- 
 sition, habits, morals, education and social inclinations 
 worth)' of emulation among our people ? If an affirm- 
 ative answer to these questions can be found in the 
 hearts of free Americans, then build your colleges, sap 
 the industry of the people to maintain them, increase 
 the revenue, pile up the taxes, making a moiety of the 
 people lords, the masses serfs. Multiply legislative 
 enactments, cramping industry till the people have not 
 the time nor the stamina to breathe a noble or an inde- 
 pendent thought. Make the science of agriculture a 
 hobby to cheat the people of their rights, and fasten 
 upon the treasury a voluptuous, imbecile, domineering 
 aristocracy. 
 
324 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Schools of Agriculture do we need ? then why not 
 schools of shoemaking ? Establish these, and " strikes " 
 are at an end. The shoemakers are made of no better 
 stuff. Twenty-five years of sympathetic legit^lation, 
 and the harness can be put on, spurs, bits and all. 
 Then turbulent and stiff-necked shoemakers would be 
 where the farmers now are, broke to the traces, ready 
 to hurrah for every cockney that can ride into aristo- 
 cratic circles. Colleges for shoemaking, — colleges for 
 tailoring, — colleges for coopering, hooping together 
 for a brief period the leaky, rotten, and broken frag- 
 ments of the once free and independent principles that 
 the blood of our fathers so profusely fertilized this 
 Western soil to establish. 
 
 Agricultural colleges do you want ? Then let the 
 agriculturists establish and maintain them, without any 
 resort to the treasury of the people. This is the rock 
 upon which all industrial interests must plant them- 
 selves. When this principle is broken, then woe to all 
 free and independent thought and action with those 
 whose support is lodged in their right arms, and not 
 the public chest. If the farmers want colleges, let 
 them make them ; and if they are too poor or too im- 
 becile to do this, stop legislating to increase this pov- 
 erty and imbecility, and they will soon learn whether 
 they need them or not. It may be good sport to the 
 public loafers to dictate the private interests of the 
 farmers, but like the fable of the boys and the frog, 
 " it is deatii to us." 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 325 
 
 The following is the bill that became a law of this 
 Commonwealth at the winter session of 1860 : 
 
 An Act to provide for the extirpation of the disease 
 called Pleuro-Pneumonia among Cattle. 
 
 Be it enacted, cfcc, as follows : 
 
 Sect. 1. The governor is hereby authorized to ap- 
 point three commissioners, who shall visit without de- 
 lay the several places in this Commonwealth, where 
 the disease among cattle, called pleuro-pneumonia, may 
 be knoAvn or suspected to exist, and shall have full 
 power to cause all cattle belonging to the herds in 
 which the disease has apj^eared, or may appear, or 
 which have belonged to such herds since the disease 
 may be known to have existed therein, to he forthwith 
 hilled and buried, and the premises where such cattle 
 have been kept, cleansed and purified ; and to make 
 such order in relation to the further use and occupa- 
 tion of such premises as may seem to them to be nec- 
 essary to pi"event the further extension of the disease. 
 
 Sect. 2. The commissioners shall cause all cattle, 
 in the aforesaid herds, not appearing to be affected by 
 the disease, to be appraised before being killed, at what 
 would have been their fair market value if the disease 
 had not existed ; and the value of the cattle thus ap- 
 praised shall be allowed and paid out of the treasury 
 of the Commonwealth to the owner or owners thereof. 
 
 Sect. 3. Any person who shall knowingly disre- 
 gard any lawful order or direction of said commission- 
 ers, or who shall sell or otherwise dispose of an animal 
 which he knows, or has good reason to suspect has 
 been exposed to the aforesaid disease, shall forfeit a 
 sum not exceeding five hundred dollars. 
 
 Sect. 4. The commissioners shall make a full report 
 to the secretary of the board of agriculture, of their 
 proceedings, and of the result of their observations and 
 inquiries relative to the nature and character of the 
 disease. 
 
826 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Sect. 5. The commissioners shall duly certify all 
 allowances made under the second section of this act, 
 and other expenses incurred by them, or under their 
 direction, in the execution of their service, to the gov- 
 ernor and council ; and the governor is hereby author- 
 ized to draiv his warrant therefor zipon the treasury. 
 
 Sect. 6. This act shall take effect from its passage, 
 and continue in force for the term of one year there- 
 after, and no longer. \_Approved April 4, 1860. ] 
 
 CONCORD RIVER MEADOWS. 
 
 As I have referred to the statute taxing the people 
 to drain these meadows, perhaps it would be well to 
 place it on record here for the future inspection of 
 the tax-payers of the Commonwealth. What Influences 
 were brought to bear upon the law-making power of 
 the State to fasten upon the people this statute, out- 
 raging all principles of justice, establishing a precedent 
 the tendency of which is to monopolize private inter- 
 ests to public favoritism. I hope the peoj)le will scru- 
 tinize this law closely, recollecting that the end is 
 not yet. 
 
 An Act in relation to the Flowage of the Meadows 
 on Concord and Sudhury Rivers. 
 
 Be it enacted, &c., as follows : 
 
 Sect. 1. The governor is hereby authorized to ap- 
 point, with the advice and consent of the council, three 
 commissioners, who shall have power and authority to 
 take down and remove the dam across the Concord 
 Elver at North Billerica, erected by the Proprietors 
 of the Middlesex Canal, to a level thirty-three inches 
 below the top of an iron bolt in a rock marked on plan 
 number two, annexed to the report of the committee 
 of the legislature of eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, 
 
GOVEENOR BAXKS, ETC. 827 
 
 on the Sudbury meatlo-ws, at any time after the first 
 day of September next ; and when the same is so re- 
 moved it shall not be again rebuilt. 
 
 Sect. 2. Any person injured in his property by 
 the removal of such portion of said dam, may apply 
 to the county commissioners for Middlesex County to 
 estimate his damages occasioned thereby ; and the pro- 
 ceedings thereon shall be the same as are now by law 
 provided in the case of damages occasioned by the 
 laying out of highways, except that notice of the ap- 
 plication shall be served on the attorney-general of the 
 Commonwealth fourteen days at least before the time 
 appointed for the hearing ; and he shall thereupon ap- 
 pear and answer to such application in behalf of the 
 Commonwealth. Either party aggrieved by the deci- 
 sion of the county commissioners shall be entitled to 
 have a jury to determine the matter, if applied for at 
 the meeting at which the decision of the commissioners 
 is rendered, or at the next regular meeting thereafter, 
 but not afterwards ; and the proceedings thereon shall 
 be the same as are now provided in the case of high- 
 ways. 
 
 Sect. 3. A7ii/ damages that may he recovered on 
 such application, together with legal costs, shall be 
 paid out of the treasury of the Commonwealth ; and 
 the Governor is hereby authorized to draw his warrant 
 therefor. 
 
 Sect. 4. The removal of such portion of said dam, 
 under this act, shall operate as a bar to any suits by 
 the proprietors of lands flowed by said dam for any 
 damages sustained thereby, and may be pleaded and 
 proved as such in any court. 
 
 Sect. 5. The commissioners appointed by the gov- 
 ernor shall, after said dam is taken down as provided 
 in this act, cause a permanent mark of the height 
 thereof to be made, and a plan and description of the 
 height thereof to be made and recorded in the registry 
 of deeds for Middlesex County at Cambridge and 
 Lowell ; and the services and expenses of the commis- 
 
S28 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 sioners shall be paid out of the treasury of the Com- 
 monwealth, and the account shall be audited and 
 allowed in the manner now provided for by law. 
 
 Sect. 6. The supreme judicial court, or any jus- 
 tice thereof, shall have power to set aside any verdict 
 rendered under this act, upon the petition of either 
 party thereto for the reason that the damages are ex- 
 cessive, or for any legal cause, and exceptions may be 
 taken to the rulings in matters of law by either party, 
 at any trial under this act, which exceptions shall be 
 decided by the supreme judicial court, as in other 
 cases. \_A2)proved April 4, I860.] 
 
 Brattleboro\ June 18, 1860. 
 T. J. PiNKHAM, Esq : 
 
 Dear Sir — Your favor of April 3d, was duly re- 
 ceived, and I certainly owe you an apology for so long 
 delaying a reply. I intended to answer you at once, 
 but was called from home for a fortnight, and since 
 that have been exceedingly occupied. 
 
 Your inquiry relative to the profits of farming, as I 
 have found them in my own experience, opens a wide 
 field, and I have neither time nor space now to enter 
 upon a full reply. 
 
 For a number of years in former life, I did no other 
 business than farming, and that was my only reliance 
 for a subsistence. 
 
 Sudden fortunes, or a rapid accumulation, through 
 the legitimate business of agriculture, cannot be ex- 
 pected, and are not realized. But I have found by ex- 
 perience, that moderate profits, above a good substan- 
 tial, but not extravagant living, may be realized from a 
 good system of farming. Land will, in my experience, 
 pay for being tilled liberally and well, — far better, in- 
 deed, than if the old skinning system of shallow plow- 
 ing, scant manuring, and close cropping is practised. 
 The surest way is to feed the soil highly, and give it 
 thorough tillage. 
 
 Deep plowing, at once, where the subsoil is favor- 
 able, and a gradual deepening where the subsoil is 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 329 
 
 feeble, in either case accompanied with high manuring, 
 has been my practice, and I have succeeded well with 
 it, where I should on the same land have run behind 
 by the old traditional system of shallow plowing, and 
 light or no manuring. When young and poor, I grad- 
 ually advanced to a better condition of affairs by the 
 above mode of culture. Every available means for in- 
 creasing manures, within a reasonable expense, was re- 
 sorted to, — feeding out the crops wherever I could 
 get as much, and sometimes even not more than three- 
 fourths as much for them in other forms as though they 
 had been sold off for cash and the land robbed of the 
 manure they would make. 
 
 I could write many pages, and ought to do so to con- 
 vey my whole meaning, and fortify it by my reasons. 
 But I have not the time. Kespectfully yours, 
 
 F. HOLBROOK.* 
 
 Comments. The reader will please give this letter 
 of Mr. Holbrook's a careful perusal. If I understand 
 him, he carefully avoids answering the interrogatories 
 embraced in my note, viz. : 1. Have you so kept the 
 figures as to be able to say if your farming has, or has 
 not, been profitable ? and 2. Have you made it profit- 
 able ? 
 
 It must be inferred from this letter that Mr. Holbrook 
 has not kept the figures, but that when young, he was 
 poor, but is now the reverse. All this may be, and he 
 never have done anything but farm ; that proves noth- 
 ing. The question is, has your fanning paid a fair 
 per cent, on the capital invested, and living wages ? 
 
 * This letter of Mr. Holbrook was not received till the most part 
 of this book was ia type, which is my apology for not placing it in 
 connection with the favors of my other correspondents, whose 
 notes are published. 
 
330 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 It strikes me that these are very simple questions, and 
 it need not hinder a man long to answer them. Have 
 you kept the figures ? Yes. Have you made money ? 
 Yes. If this is the fact, that is all I want to know. 
 In this connection, I care nothing about your philoso- 
 phy of agriculture. " But I have found by experience, 
 that moderate profits above a good substantial, but not 
 extravagant Kving, may be realized from a good sys- 
 tem of farming." 
 
 This comes nearly to the point, but not quite. If a 
 man inherited a farm when young, and the land was 
 of but little value, and he felt poor then, but in time, 
 foreign capital run a railroad through the town, outside 
 capital built up manufactures there, and from these rea- 
 sons, wood, timber, stone, and the soil itself became 
 valuable ; and our once poor man found by looking 
 over the assessors book, that this same property made 
 him rich, does that show farming to be profitable ? 
 
 This whole letter of Mr. Holbrook's is a stronoj ar- 
 gument, as I understand it, in favor of my position, 
 viz. that the only hope of the farmers, is to encourage 
 and build up mechanical business in their midst. Keep 
 the young men and the young women at home, give 
 them all the means in your power to cultivate the mind, 
 learning them to be good merchants, traders, mechan- 
 ics, schoolmasters and schoolmistresses, dress makers, 
 milliners, &c., with just enough farm work to develope 
 the system. Learn them to be good livers, making them 
 believe that the earth produces bountifully, and it is a 
 duty they owe to themselves and the race, to consume 
 liberally all the useful things of life, and also, that 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 331 
 
 thej must learn to bring tlieir income up to this. 
 Above all, learn them to abhor the idea that for them to 
 live well, somebody else must half live. Could the 
 farmers of this country get rid of what is ironically 
 called the agricultural press, — all this humbug legisla- 
 tion, and vote a leave of absence to a portion of the 
 quack farmers who in order to till their lands, farm the 
 public chest, leaving all industrial interests free, then, 
 and not till then, can farming be made remunerative. 
 For a few years you Vermont farmers sold your labor 
 and income for a little more than a living, on the growth 
 of your stock, but the last two years has placed you 
 back again, and from this crisis, the recovery must be 
 slow. 
 
 If you are wise in time, from this you may recover, 
 but if you would have farming a paying business, and 
 honest labor rewarded as it should be, stop in season 
 all legislation for any and all industrial interests. This 
 is more important to inland than commercial States. 
 For if our farming suffers, our commercial and me- 
 chanical industry at brief periods will be prosperous, 
 and from this cause we shall make some progress, al- 
 though from constant fluctuations, it must be unhealthy 
 and demoralizing. 
 
 In speaking of this redundancy of legislation, it re- 
 minds me of a remark of Ex-Governor Colby, of New 
 Hampshire, in the discussion of the humbug " cattle 
 disease,'* in their legislature, who is reported to have 
 said : 
 
 " I fear this superabundant legislation a thousand 
 times more than any cattle disease. I am a farmer, — 
 
332 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 have a stock of cattle, and think I can take care of 
 them without any help from the State." 
 
 This, I presume, was intended as an honest rebuke, 
 from an old man and a farmer, to our mushroom, treas- 
 ury farming fraternity, who have passed an edict, com- 
 pelling many farmers in this State to go to the "Board" 
 or their deputies for a written permit to drive their 
 cows to pasture, and giving them authority to grant or 
 refuse it. O, that we had the spirit, the sagacity, and 
 the honest integrity of this old man, in the young 
 farmers scattered all over this State, who should man- 
 age their own affairs without any help from the quacks 
 of monarchical invention, and would rise up in their 
 might and " shake the dry bones," like Belshazzar of 
 old. 
 
 Thus I have wandered a little in my reply to your 
 epistle, and will conclude by saying that I regret that 
 you had not so understood my request as to have given 
 me a dollar and cent view of the matter in plain terms, 
 for you imply that your successes are to be attributed 
 to the causes to which I have briefly alluded, and not le- 
 gitimate farming. Then why not in plain terms have 
 said so ? For you must see that if a rich man can 
 hardly live and hold his own by farming, an honest 
 poor man must be put to extremities. And at no dis- 
 tant day, in Free America, the second part of the same 
 policy will be established throughout our -midst, soup 
 houses for the populace, and a standing army to keep 
 them in subjection. If this is what is wanted, then 
 multiply the statutes and pile up the taxes, till the rev- 
 enue monopolizes a large part of the industry of the 
 people. 
 
• GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 333 
 
 INQUIRIES. 
 
 I have often been somewhat amused at the interrog- 
 atories sent by farmers to editors of city papers, asking 
 of the city gents all sorts of questions upon matters re- 
 lating to the farm. So completely have the cities got 
 control of the country farming interests, if not of the 
 country farmers, that it would seem that the cultivation 
 of the soil, and the cultivators of the soil, too, are but 
 a mere anjunct to city cultivators of country farm ma- 
 chinery. 
 
 I speak of this because it involves an idea, and such 
 an idea as I want to see eradicated. Because, if farm- 
 ers do not understand their business, it is a mighty 
 poor plan to learn it by going to the cities. For the 
 cities use their money like water, to farm you out of 
 your farm products, and are doing all they can to farm 
 you out of your farms. These are what they want, 
 and they care no more about the living, moving, breath- 
 ing, toiling farmers and their welfare, than they do 
 about a last year's almanac. 
 
 As evidence of this, behold the impositions they 
 have heaped upon you by the free use of funds in lob- 
 bying bills through recent legislatures ; the direct ten- 
 dency of which is to make paupers of the people, and 
 cheat the sun-burnt farmer of his inheritance. Where 
 is the farmer that does not believe that the hundreds 
 of cattle that city doctors, for the want of a job 
 plunged their long knives into, would have grazed 
 peacefully upon your hills, had the tiller of the public 
 chest been kept closed from hypocritical invasion ? 
 
 As further evidence, look over the letters published 
 in this book, and see if they show that the quacks un- 
 
334 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 derstand the business after all, any better tban the reg- 
 ular doctors. Look at their reasoning, their philoso- 
 phy, and their motives. One says, " I have not kept 
 the figures, and my experience would not be valuable 
 to you." 
 
 Another says, " I do not claim to have received a 
 profit," &c., &c. Another, "I have not, however, 
 kept an account of receipts and expenditures. It is 
 my purpose to do so in future." Another goes up into 
 New Braintree, and finds some things " as proof of 
 my (his) assertion," that facts does not warrant, and 
 holds this out as the " banner town," worthy of emula- 
 tion, that is going down hill every year, and is remark- 
 able for nothing but old maids, misers and gradual de- 
 population. No wonder that some doctors are looking 
 outside the "profession " for means to farm their "large 
 investments." And if a general uuthriftness that per- 
 tains in my friend's " banner town " prevailed, I am 
 thinking that more of the profession would have to 
 look to some kind of doctoring outside of the regular 
 practice. 
 
 . And since the Commonwealth has taken up " blood 
 letting," on a rather magnificent scale, who can say 
 but what the science of pharmacy is to be revived and 
 the four-legged, or bovine animals are to take their 
 turn at being '•'•pilled and powdered^^ while the two- 
 legged are " hled^^ to repletion ; just for the fun of the 
 thing, and to keep business moving. 
 
 I submit here a few of the inquiries to which I re- 
 ferred at the commencement of this article. 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 335 
 
 " Messrs. Editors : — I wish to inquire of you the 
 proper way of preparing a light soil for the reception 
 of onion-seed — the distance between the plants, and 
 the best mode of culture. Also, which is the best and 
 most productive kind ? The same with regard to car- 
 rots ; and which is the most profitable of the two ? (a) 
 
 A short time since, I purchased a colt G months old. 
 He is badly afflicted with worms. Can you inform me 
 how to rid him of them ? (6) Can you purchase for 
 me the best work extant, on the rearing and manage- 
 ment of horses and remedies of their various diseases ? 
 (c) It will make no difference whether the above 
 subjects are combined in one volume or separate 
 
 Attleboro,' Mass., Jan. 8, 1857. 
 
 a. Our Essex county friends are well qualified to 
 answer these questions, and we shall be pleased to 
 have them do it. 
 
 6. Feed with carrots and early cut-clover or rowen 
 hay. 
 
 c. Buy Youatt's treatise, on the Horse. The Eng- 
 lish edition is best, but as it may be difficult to get it, 
 buy the American edition edited bv Skinner. It can 
 be had of J. P. Jewett & Co., 117 Washington street." 
 
 Isn't it funny ; going down to Boston to get informa- 
 tion in preparation of soils, — sowing onion seeds, — 
 feeding colts, &c. ? If it had been an oat crop about 
 which my friend from the country had been in a quan- 
 dary, doubtless any desired information might have been 
 obtained, as the city bucks understand sowing this crop 
 perfectly, particularly if they are inclined to be a little 
 ^'"wildy And then they have a peculiar faculty of 
 coaxing the dear people to foot the bills. So the old 
 adage that " those who dance must pay the fiddler," is 
 in a measure obsolete, as it now refers mainly to rural 
 " break-downs." 
 
336 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 Another country friend inquires for information on 
 the following subjects, and is politely replied to by the 
 editor, as is seen by his " remarks : " 
 
 HORSE RAKES -MOWIISTt MACHINES. 
 
 " What is the price, each, of Bradley's and Whit- 
 comb's Horse Rakes, and of Wood's Mowing Ma- 
 chine ? 
 
 Mockville, June^ 1860. 
 
 Remarks. — We have made inquiry, and cheerfully 
 answer the questions of our correspondent, but wish to 
 say that we have no connection with any agricultural 
 warehouse, and when we answer such inquiries, are 
 obhged to go purposely to get the information. 
 
 Bradley's horse rake is $10 ; Whitcomb's, with 
 wheels, is $22, and without wheels, is $16. Wood's 
 one-horse mower is $70, and the two-horse, $80. All 
 for sale by Nourse & Co., 35 Merchants' Row, Boston." 
 
 My friend of the Farmer says, " We have made in- 
 quiry, and cheerfully answer the questions of our cor- 
 respondent, but wish to say that we have no connection 
 with any agricultural warehouse, and when we answer 
 such inquiries, are obliged to go purposely to get the 
 information." 
 
 When my friend from Rockville^visits the city, per- 
 haps he can see for himself how Jar the editor had " to 
 go purposely to get the information." 
 
 At the head of the first column on the first page of 
 the editor's paper, in display type, are the foUowIng 
 words : " New England Farmer. Published every 
 Saturday, at No. 34 Merchants' Row." At the close 
 of the editor's " remarks," are these words : '* All for 
 sale by Nourse & Co., 34 Merchants' Row, Boston." 
 
GOVERNOR BANKS, ETC. 337 
 
 I have always supposed that it was the same 
 " Nourse " that stands at the head of the Boston Agri- 
 cukural warehouse, that stands at the head of the New 
 England Farmer. 
 
 I have always supposed that it was the same Nourse 
 that nurses the stubborn iron into ploughshares, that 
 nurses the brittle ash into rake stales, the flexible hick- 
 ory into ox-bows, and the unyielding oak into various 
 farm implements, that nurses the New England Farmer 
 into this livins;, humbugged world. 
 
 I have sujDposed that at No. 34 Merchants' Row, a 
 farmer can buy tools, seeds, New England Farmers^ 
 and other wares to his liking, for cash. 
 
 I have supposed that in one corner of the above ag- 
 ricultural warehouse was the New England Farmer 
 office, same as the farmer's calf-pen is in one corner of 
 his tie-up. And although there may be little " con- 
 nection " between the two, yet when the farmer takes 
 down the bars to let his calf out to nurse, the separa- 
 tion would not be considered very essential. Farm im- 
 plements and farm literature, one as flexible as the 
 other, made to order, and warranted to suit ; and none 
 of your common stuff, but the real simon pure article, 
 cheap for cash, and warranted not to cut in the eye. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE FUTURE. 
 
 Farmers' Sons and Daughters — Anecdote of a King — Number of Men 
 who Fail — Comparative Earnings — Blacksmithing and Farming — 
 How to tell when a Crop will pay — Farmers' Daughters — Gov- 
 Brown and the Girls — His Tour Through the State — Mr. Wiseman's 
 Example — Degradation of Foreign Labor — Emperor of Russia and 
 the Serfs — Cause of Labor being Degraded — Market Days — Cattle 
 Disease — Appropriations — Conclusion — Right Position — St. Paul 
 and the Christians — Harmony of the Calculations, and the Sentiment 
 Expressed — A Farmers' Organ — Questions for the People. 
 
 I WANT to have a little chat now with the farmers' 
 boys and the farmers' girls. Young America. The 
 future of the land of the Pilgrims, and the home of 
 LIBERTY. It is no mean position to be a native born 
 citizen of this Republic. And you (" Young Amer- 
 ica,") are to write its future history. Then look to it, 
 that the home of Wasliino;ton and of the Revolution- 
 ary fathers, never becomes desecrated. As labor fails 
 of meeting a suitable reward, so that the masses lose 
 their independence, and as the products of labor are 
 its representative, therefore, as they are cheap or dear, 
 it is recompensed. 
 
 To illustrate what I want to say, before I say it, al- 
 low me to relate a little anecdote : 
 
 A certain King; wished to show to the world that 
 much that passed for wisdom and intelHgence, as ema- 
 
 338 
 
THE FUTUEE. 339 
 
 nating from authority, was often vague and shallow. 
 Therefore he summoned the lords and nobles of his 
 empire into his presenee, and propounds to them this 
 question. Filling a vessel with water, he says, " Why 
 is it that if I place a fish in this water, the whole Avill 
 not weigh any more then than before the addition of 
 the fish ? " The senior among the learned heads of 
 the crown, commenced in a very grave and dignified 
 manner to give a philosophical and learned explanation 
 of the fact, which was listened to with a good deal of 
 attention by the audience. 
 
 The next in senority took up the subject in a similar 
 manner, till it went round the "board" to the junior 
 of the company, who was a very young man, and 
 whose reputation for sagacity and wisdom was then 
 supposed to come to the test, that a record of his future 
 might be made. He delivered himself in this wise : 
 " My lord and my seniors, would it not be well, in the 
 first place, to ascertain if such is the fact ? " 
 
 " Enough," exclaimed the King, " it is not a fact 
 My only purpose was to show that much that passes for 
 ' wise sayings,' and the doings of the functionaries, 
 is, at best, rather shallow and untrue in fact, and per^- 
 nicious in principle." 
 
 My object in relating this little story was to show to 
 the young men the importance of examining all sub- 
 jects for themselves. Take no man's " ipse dixit^'' but 
 inquire if " such is the fact." As in buying a farm, it 
 is quite as essential to examine the subsoil as the sur- 
 face soil, so in an examination of the professions or the- 
 
340 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 ories of men, it is quite as important to look down into 
 the motive which pi'ompts them to action and specula- 
 tion ; as the play behind the scene, if exposed to view, 
 would often greatly mar the exhibition, and expose the 
 actors to that place in the public estimation which their 
 merits or demei'its would consign them. 
 
 Thus, when we hear the oft-repeated tale that ninety- 
 nine men out of every hundred who engage in business 
 outside of farming, fail, just ask the interlocutor where 
 he got his information, and look closely at the motive 
 that prompted the " insane " assertion. It is not to be 
 denied that many men who engage in trade fail, but 
 who are these men ? This is the question. If we di- 
 vide the business community into three classes, placing 
 all those who engage in business, trade or manufac- 
 tures, having previously learned to do what they de- 
 sire to do, and prosecuting this business with honesty 
 of purpose, with industry and economy, how many of 
 this class of men fail to succeed ? This is placing the 
 question where it belongs. For when we desire to 
 draw a comparison between two classes of men, having 
 an honest purpose in view, desiring to come at truthful 
 conclusions, then let the parallel between the parties be 
 in unison with each other. 
 
 Another class of men who engage in trade, consti- 
 tuting a large per -cent, of the whole amount, although 
 honest, prudent and industrious, yet they fail from the 
 very fact of having had little or no previous training ; 
 undertaking to do what they do not know how to do. 
 And I regret to be obliged to say, that a large per cent. 
 
THE rUTURE. 341 
 
 of these are the fanners' sons, who having been worked 
 upon the farm till their majority, having had no other 
 purpose but to follow the business of tlieir parents, till 
 arriving at man's estate, then finding that this fails to 
 meet their expectations, and furnish them suitable 
 means of support, branch out into the first opening 
 that presents itself, and no wonder that a disappoint- 
 ment is the result. 
 
 Another, and the last of the three classes, are those 
 who engage in trade, having, perhaps, many of the re- 
 quisites of the other two, but lack all of their virtues. 
 These men are that reckless portion of the people Avho 
 are up to anything and everytliing, that will minister to 
 their selfish natures, regardless of principle, or the 
 rights of others, inasmuch as their own interests and 
 animal propensities are satiated. If they fail, they fail, 
 it is but a week's job any way ; and they often come 
 out glossed up, improved, and ready for another move 
 that will distance the preceding, as their 2:40 nags, 
 does the farmer's pacer. 
 
 I am not a going to say that none of the first class to 
 whom I have referred, fail, but will say this much, that 
 were it not for losses sustained in consequence of the 
 rascality or the misfortunes of the other two, seldom 
 would there be a failure among them. 
 
 Forty-nine men out of every fifty who fail, can show 
 an excess of assets over disbursements ; consequently, 
 their failure was in consequence of losses sustained, and 
 not for a want of a per cent, on their goods. If I were 
 asked to name the original cause of a large proportion 
 
342 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 of all the failures in the country, I should answer by 
 reiterating what I have said in another place ; that the 
 farmers become in debt to the traders, and when their 
 products become so abundant that the sale price hardly 
 pays the labor bill, then their payments are so tardy 
 (often being obliged to mortgage their real estate,) that 
 the retailer is obliged to have his paper extended, and 
 often re-extended, and this running all the way through 
 to the jobber, wholesale dealer, and the mechanic, caus- 
 ing a stoppage, and one extension paving the way for 
 another, till they get agoing, then it may be likened to 
 a row of bricks, and a general panic is the result. Vide 
 the panics of '43, '49 and '57. 
 
 As to the per cent, of all business men who fail, I 
 can not tell, but am perfectly clear in saying it is 
 generally set far too high. For the last twenty years 
 in the city of Lynn, I do not believe it would come up 
 to five per cent, annually. In fact, for long periods of 
 time, a failure is unheard of. And let me say 
 here, that a large per cent, of the shoemakers of Lynn, 
 when young, commence business for themselves, and 
 generally with what capital they have saved from their 
 earnings over their expenses. And while I know of 
 many who have succeeded, I never knew but few who 
 did not. It is true that many do not like the perplex- 
 ity of business, and such give it up, but to say they 
 have failed, would be a libel upon their reputation and 
 the craft. 
 
 Then let me say that business men generally are en- 
 tire strangers to any such economy as is practiced by 
 
THE FUTURE. 343 
 
 the farmers. In their business transactions they are 
 far more exacting and particular, but in their private 
 affairs more liberal and profuse. The farmers have no 
 successes, — every dollar they get costs them two, put- 
 ting the value upon their labor that other classes get. 
 When a tailor's clerk can ride in his carriage, and 
 boast of a higher salary than many of the govenors of 
 the States ; when the salary of a shoemaker's foreman 
 will buy a good farm every other year ; when a dry 
 goods clerk can take his family to the theatre three 
 nights in a week, and go to the White Mountains 
 or Saratoga in the warm season ; then let no farmer's 
 boy begrudge the time or the pittance of expense to 
 prepare for something more congenial to his inclination 
 and pocket, than tilling the soil. 
 
 There are scattered all through the country towns 
 more or less traders and business men, whom the farm- 
 ers know. Does ninety-nine per cent, of them fail ? I 
 think not, A majority of them succeed, and sometimes 
 become wealthy. Then what is the object of retailing 
 this slander upon the people ? Simply to increase the 
 products of the soil. Three-fourths of the people are 
 farmers. One-fourth, at least, too many. 
 
 A blacksmith will make the shoes and nails, and shoe 
 two horses a day, earning from $2.50 to $3.00. The 
 stock, the coal, the shop rent, with six per cent, in- 
 terest on the capital, could not be called more than 70 
 cents per day, or 35 cents a set or horse. What one 
 smith asks, all the others in the vicinity ask. In the 
 fall or spring, summer or winter, it is the same. With 
 
344 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 all this we find no fault. The wages are none too 
 high, the uniformity of prices are worthy of imitation. 
 The farmer knows when he wants a job done, Avhat the 
 price is, and there is no bantering about it. But when 
 the scale is turned, and the farmer desires to pay this 
 bill in his way, then a long parley is to be instituted. 
 If the farmer can persuade the smith to take a quarter 
 of beef or half a porker, in part payment for his bill, it 
 will take more than three days labor of the farmer to pay 
 one of the smith's. If we institute a comparison between 
 the farmer and other mechanics, the result will be none 
 the better. If the comparison is drawn between the 
 farmer and either of the professions, then the difference 
 is more glaring. These are some of the reasons why I 
 advise the young men to learn how to do something 
 but farming. There will always be farmers enough. 
 The danger is, that there will not be enough to con- 
 sume what is produced, and make it pay to produce it. 
 
 One of my neighbors said to me the other day that 
 he agreed with me, but he did not see how my theory 
 can be reduced to practice. I asked him why not, and 
 his reply was, " because we do not know but that our 
 products will pay till they are matured." I take this 
 opportunity to thank him for the suggestion, as that 
 opens an important inquiry, and is just the question I 
 am glad to meet. 
 
 Can we tell before producing a crop whether it is 
 a going to pay ? How does the blacksmith know when 
 making his shoes, but that the market will be over- 
 stocked, and his labor will be lost ? 
 
THE FUTURE. 345 
 
 How does the tailor, the shoemaker, the cabinet- 
 maker, the tinsmith, and all trades people know, but 
 that their goods will lay on their hands uncalled for, 
 and their labor and capital will be lost ? How does 
 the doctor, the laAvyer, and the preacher know, but that 
 their professions will be over-stocked, the pay reduced, 
 and they left to starve ? 
 
 These considerations are all important, and should be 
 carefully met. A considerable portion of this book is 
 a direct answer to these various subjects. When the 
 people can be induced to stop legislating upon any and 
 all interests, the prosecution of which is a means of 
 living to them, then these evils will subside. The an- 
 tidote, — the pound of cure, for all the evils of our in- 
 dustrial interests, is, stop legislating / Eely upon the 
 natural laws of supply and demand, and our country is 
 safe, the people free, and industry rewarded. 
 
 You ask the blacksmith to shoe your horse for a 
 dollar, — tell him that he made the shoes himself, con- 
 sequently he had to pay out nothing for work, his shop 
 is full of shoes, and they will soon go out of fashion, 
 iron is on the fall, coal is down, the times hard, and 
 money scarce ! 
 
 " Admitting all you say to be true," says the smith, 
 " my price is eight shillings, and for no other price can 
 your work be done at this shop." 
 
 " Then I will go somewhere else. I have been a 
 good customer to you, always had my work done here, 
 but am going to have it done cheaper in future." 
 
 " You can go where you please, but mind me, no 
 smith in this vicinity will do the work for less. We 
 
'346 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 have but one price, — what I ask they all ask. When 
 we work we intend to have pay, — you will be used 
 just as all others are. I presume I know my business, 
 the price of coal, iron, &c., and what the fashion is, as 
 well as my neighbors, and when a man expects to see 
 the craft scabbed, he has got to go to another shop." 
 
 " You talk well, but look here, neighbor, I have to 
 sell milk for two cents a quart, butter, beef, and many 
 other things at that rate, and how am I a going to live?" 
 
 "That is your business and not mine. I calculate I 
 know how to make my own figures, and if you don't, 
 you had better go to school." 
 
 " But I get what other folks do." 
 
 *' You have no system, — you don't know what a 
 single article you make costs, you are controlled by a 
 few designing men, every thing is hap-hazard, hilter- 
 skilter, — hard work and poor pay. At one time, IJ 
 bushels of potatoes will pay for shoeing your horse ; 
 at another, it will take four. Your prices are not uni- 
 form, — greatly fluctuating, when you get a good crop, 
 you call it lucky, and never reckon the losses on the 
 part or total failure of other crops, into the cost of 
 this. You say you are selling milk for two cents per 
 quart. No wonder you want your Lorse shod for a 
 dollar. I do not see how you can afford to have him 
 shod at all. It is true your farm was left you, you 
 work hard, live poor, and if you die in any kind of sea- 
 son, and without much expense, there may be a little 
 left for the widow and little ones. I speak thus plainly, 
 because I feel to sympathize with you. I was brought 
 up on a farm, my father was a farmer, and I have lived 
 
THE FUTURE. 347 
 
 in a fiirmlng community all my days. If you want me 
 to make you a present, I will freely do so. But as for 
 working under price, I will not. I have too much re- 
 spect and regard for my brother craftsmen, my own 
 reputation, and the feelings of my children and family, 
 even if there were no principle involved, to earn the 
 reputation of a ' scab. ' " 
 
 *' Do I understand you by this, that I am doing a 
 bad, a Avicked, an unchristian act, by selling my pro- 
 ducts at a price that gives but little return for the labor 
 to produce them ? " 
 
 " Most certainly, you do. You are virtually saying 
 to all poor men, you shall not earn a living by your 
 labor at farming. You are driving them to the cities, 
 into something they do not understand ; to become 
 jockies, speculators, loafers, and in the end, to the poor 
 house or the penitentiary. You virtually abscind the 
 scriptural injunction, 'the laborer is worthy of his 
 hire.' You not only keep down the price of labor, but 
 are doing all you can to reduce the price of your 
 neighbor's property. As long as you crowd the mar- 
 ket beyond the necessary wants of the people, so that 
 the price of products is far below a reasonable compen- 
 sation for labor, of course capital will be constantly re- 
 ceding from the farming districts to something that will 
 pay ; and were it not for the profitableness of trade 
 and commerce, the whole country would be 'bankrupt- 
 ed. You are mortgaging the country towns to the 
 cities, the pi'oducers to the non-producers, — making 
 serfs of one class, and lords of the other." 
 
348 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 " You still talk well, but look here, did you hear that 
 man* from Boston lecture the other day ? He said that 
 science had improved our breed of cattle, — that for 
 some crops our light soil was too rich, — that cattle 
 might be fattened on swale hay and turnips alone, — 
 that our children should be educated for farming as a 
 profession. And many other things that were very 
 nice, only he wound off by saying something about 
 farm labor and slave labor, that I did not exactly like." 
 
 " That was Mr. Flint, Secretary of the Board of Ag- 
 riculture. I heard that lecture, and although I do not 
 remember anything he said ; but let me tell you, that 
 if he said what you say he did, I am in no wise disap- 
 pointed. He is paid for going round lecturing, — has 
 a salary of some $2,000 a year, and when asked in 
 plain terms, by farmer Pinkham, to state what his own 
 experience in the matter was, he backed down, — Avas 
 ashamed, I presume, to reply, as he does not know but 
 little about agriculture, only what some one has told 
 him. And you know that a man cannot sit down in 
 the parlor and do land farming to advantage. His 
 farming, — treasury farming, — of course can there be 
 done the best. As long as the people will pay liberally 
 to have a public sentiment, farmed upon the farmers, 
 to induce them to sell milk and other things, at half 
 the cost to produce them, so long will men enough be 
 found, — bemg weU stocked with " Jrass," — to engage 
 in the business." 
 
 * Flint's lecture before the Hampshire Society. 
 
THE FUTURE. 349 
 
 " Now, I desire that you and all other farmers 
 should set up for yourselves, ascertain what you can 
 afford to do, and allow no men or body of men, under 
 profession of friendship, or for any other cause, to in- 
 fluence you a particle In the matter. It does not fol- 
 low that because you have got a farm and a family to 
 support, that you should waste your labor, excessively 
 work your wife and children to feed at small cost the 
 sharpers of our cities and market places. The way to 
 make your farm pay Is to do nothing that will not pay 
 to do. Pay no attention to what ' Mrs. Grundy ' says, 
 I know of but few farms but what will pay without 
 labor six per cent, interest, crediting the rent of the 
 buildings to the farm. Then the only question is, what 
 shall you do, what shall your wife do, and how shall 
 the children be occupied ? These are very important 
 considerations, and which every man should investigate 
 for himself. To be idle is out of the question. To 
 work at a loss will not do ; to make yourself useful at 
 home and abroad is a duty. I have seldom seen a man 
 of Intelligence, with good habits, at a loss to know 
 what to do. Then, this opens a vast field for thought, 
 study and reflection. The whole country teems with 
 fit occupation, worthy the consideration of free, intelli- 
 gent, earnest effort, by aU her people. Every man 
 must study, reflect, investigate, plan, prosecute and 
 encounter for himself. I cannot tell you what to do 
 but if you desire to profit by my example, you can do, 
 so. I hope I have too much principle, — too much re- 
 gard for my kind, to throw my labor in the market at 
 
350 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 a price that will drive all poor men to extremities. 
 And it would make no diflPerence to me what idle, 
 brassy men had to say, who fatten upon sophit-try, and 
 indulge upon the credulity of an over-worked populace." 
 
 Thus all young men will readily understand the 
 practical effect of the principle of our friend, the black- 
 smith. If he has spoken truly, then adopt his reason- 
 ing, imitate his example, and reduce to practice his 
 philosophy. And my word for it, — the word of a 
 farmer who drains his own meadows, — all will be well. 
 
 This is the idea that I desire to firmly impress upon 
 the minds of all young men. The old I do not expect 
 wiU heed it much. I understand human nature too 
 well for that, although I desire their co-operation, and 
 to profit by their practical observation. 
 
 We have almost universally practiced upon the idea 
 that the only cheap way to keep up the fertihty of our 
 land was to keep domestic cattle. Thus, we have kept 
 all Ave could, often more than we could keep well, and 
 yet our lands have been all the time growing poorer. 
 I am now speaking generally, — the general practice. 
 Look at it a moment, and see how it is. Our virgin 
 soils are exhausted. What has exhausted them ? Cer- 
 tainly, we have kept all the cattle we could, and yet 
 they are exhausted. Then again, what made them 
 ricli ? Was it domestic animals, or were they made so 
 before animals were introduced to them ? Was it not 
 the cultivation of the Red-man ? 
 
 Recollect that the principle of natural philosophy is, 
 that nothing is lost. And it is equally true that noth- 
 
TnE FUTUEE. ^51 
 
 ing is created. Change is all there is to it. When I 
 say that animals exhaust lands, I do not mean as a 
 whole. One man's farm becomes exhausted because 
 he keeps more animals than is for his good. Another 
 keeps few animals, and his fields and pastures are 
 constantly increasing in fertility. What exhausts 
 land is cropping ! cropping ! ! cropping ! ! ! It makes no 
 difference whether it is done with the scythe, or the 
 hoe of the farmer, or with the ivory of the horse or 
 cow. Everything that is carried off leaves the land to 
 that extent incompetent to reproduce its counterpart. 
 
 The great West is becoming exhausted, and it cer- 
 tainly is not for lack of cattle. Ohio, New York, and 
 New England are already exhausted, and it is not 
 because we have no domestic animals. My neighbors 
 are selling milk all around me for about two cents 
 per quart, in order to keep up the fertility of their 
 farms. We have been making beef and pork for the 
 same purpose. All these things have a positive, 
 direct, and unmistakable influence to make and 
 keep the land exhausted, and the purse-strings from 
 wearing out. 
 
 As well might our blacksmith have exhausted his 
 shop of iron and coal, and his purse of the shiners, by 
 wshoeing at half-price, as the farmer to rob his family 
 and his shop or soil, by acting upon a false and perni- 
 cious principle, to cater to the unhallowed desires of a 
 scheming clique. 
 
 It will now be seen that there is no need of throw- 
 ino- our labor away to get interest on our capital, or 
 
852 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 waste the per cent, on the capital to get pay for our 
 labor. Neither is it necessary to exhaust our physical 
 or mental energies to live ; for every one can set up 
 for himself, independent of all monopolies or cliques. 
 Yet it must not be overlooked that as long as the gen- 
 eral price of products are too low, the universal price of 
 farm lands must be so, too. Then plant yourself upon 
 principle, — ascertain what a fair price is, and below 
 this allow no man, under any pretence, to entrap you. 
 Always remember that a sure way to exhaust your 
 soil, is, to sell your labor or products below a reasonable 
 price. Nothing else will do it ; this surely will. 
 
 THE FARMERS* DAUGHTERS. 
 
 I have had a good deal to say to the young men, but 
 do not intend to neglect the young women. I presume, 
 however, that if I can pursuade the young men to stay 
 at home and learn to do something by which they can 
 afford to set up a partnership, which recognizes no such 
 word as fail ; the articles of agreement being written 
 with ink indelible ; then I shall say the very best word 
 I could say to the acceptance and advantage of that 
 class, whom I noAv address. 
 
 I intend to preface my remarks to the ladies by Intro- 
 duclno; one of the statutes of the State. For althoujrh 
 they have but little to do with making the laws, yet, in 
 them they have an equal interest with the sterner sex ; 
 and anything that has a special bearing upon a certain 
 domestic institution in which they are seldom silent 
 partners, of course it must interest them in no small 
 
THE FUTUEE. 353 
 
 degree. Therefore, the ladies will please carefully read 
 this law, for there is no knowing what may grow out 
 of it. 
 
 An Act relating to Farmers' Clubs. 
 Be it enacted, &c., as follows : 
 
 Sect. 1. The Secretary of the Board of Agricul- 
 ture may appoint one or more suitable agents to visit 
 various towns in this Commonwealth, under the direc- 
 tion of the Board of Agriculture, for the purpose of ' 
 inquiring into the methods and wants of practical hus- 
 bandry, ascertaining the adaptation of products to the 
 circumstances of soil, climate, markets ; encouraging 
 the establishment of farmers' clubs, agricultural libra- 
 ries and reading rooms, and of disseminating useful 
 and valuable information by means of lectures and 
 otherwise ; and it shall be the duty of such agents to 
 make detailed reports annually in October, to the Sec- 
 retary of the Board of Agriculture. 
 
 Sect. 2. Every farmers' club, properly organized 
 by the election of officers, and holding regular meet- 
 ings of its members, shall, upon application made in 
 November of each year to the Secretary of the Board 
 of Agriculture, receive copies of the Report of said 
 Board and of its other publications, in proportion to 
 the number of its members, and of the applications so 
 made ; and said farmers' clubs, receiving such benefits 
 from the State, shall, annually, in October, make re- 
 turns to the Secretary of the Board of Agriculture of 
 the reports of committees, and of agricultural experi- 
 ments made by such clubs. 
 
 Sect. 3. A sum not exceeding two tJiousand dollars 
 is hereby placed at the disposal of the Secretary of the 
 Board of Agriculture to carry out the provisions of 
 this act. [Approved April 0, 1859.] 
 
 As a tax payer and citizen, I supposed I had a right 
 to know what became of this money. I therefore 
 
354 FAEMING AS IT IS. 
 
 penned a note to the Secretary, and here insert a copy 
 of my letter : 
 
 Chelmsford^ 3fass., July 4, 1860. 
 
 Dear Sir : By an act of the legislature of 1859, 
 the sum of $2,000 was placed at your disposal, to em- 
 ploy suitable agents to visit various towns in this Com- 
 monwealth, to disseminate useful and valuable infor- 
 mation on agriculture, by means of lectures and other- 
 wise, among the people. 
 
 I fail to find in your recent report what action was 
 had in this matter. 
 
 Therefore, as I have nearly ready for the press a 
 work expressive of my views of the influence all such 
 moneys have upon the agricultural interests, I respect- 
 fully address you this note, to inquire what disposition 
 was made of the said grant? 
 
 Please state how much of said money (if any,) was 
 used, and to whom said money (if used,) was paid ? 
 
 Also, please say if it was the design of the law that 
 the agents should be taken from the "Board" of which 
 you have the honor to act as Secretary ? 
 
 A reply by return of mail would greatly oblige your 
 friend and co-laborer, 
 
 T. J. PiNKHAM. 
 
 Chas. L. Flint, Esq., 
 
 Secy State Board Agriculture, Boston. 
 
 To this letter I get no answer.* Mr. Flint seems re- 
 markably gifted with the faculty of keeping "mum," 
 and possibly this is the sinequanon — ^)«r excellence — 
 that to a remarkable degree makes his services as Sec- 
 retary and servant of the people, so extremely val- 
 uable. 
 
 Therefore, I shall have to look round and see how it 
 
 is with his agents. I find it. Now listen girls and you 
 
 * See appendix. 
 
THE FUTURE. 355 
 
 win learn what use was made of the money, unless I 
 labor under a mistake. 
 
 In the discussion of the subject upon which this book 
 is written, viz., " Is there any profit in farming ? " be- 
 fore the Legislative Agricultural Society, the Hon. 
 Simon Brown, editor of the New England Farmer^ 
 made these remarks : 
 
 " He said he felt encouraged by the interest that 
 was manifested in regard to the subject under discus- 
 sion. Tavo things operated as a hindrance to good and 
 pleasant farming ; one was, that agriculture was looked 
 on as an unprofitahle employment, and the other, that 
 it was not so respectable as other occupations. He had 
 travelled extensively among the farmers of this State, 
 and he knew that there was no better plan to find this 
 out than by conference with women, and in conversing 
 with them it will be found that nearly nine-tenths of 
 the girls would prefer a man for a husband in almost 
 any other business than that of farming. 
 
 The question as to how farming may be made profit- 
 able and pleasant is not merely of importance to us, 
 but to those who are to succeed us : and in considering 
 the matter, our first object is to secure happiness, and 
 then profit." 
 
 It seems that by these remarks of Mr. Brown, he 
 has been round over the State consulting the girls 
 about whom they " prefer for husbands," considering 
 this, undoubtedly, one branch of agriculture. And it 
 must be presumed, that in this department of the exam- 
 ination, his industry should not be questioned, for he 
 seems to be very accurate in his figures, and his labors 
 must have been extensive, as he has arrived at the con- 
 clusion that " nearly nine-tenths of the girls prefer a 
 
356 FABMING AS IT IS. 
 
 man for a husband In almost any other business than 
 that of farming." As he advises all young men to 
 " stick to the farm," and when he knows from actual 
 " conference," that the girls will not marry a farmer, 
 preferring " single blessedness " to this, I hardly see 
 how he can reconcile his philosophy with his pliilan- 
 throphy, for by recommending the young men to " stick 
 to the farm," knowing if they do so, increase must 
 stop, which will have a direct influence on the market 
 price of the products of these young men. Therefore, 
 his friendship to the farmer must be feigned, or aU 
 these girls would not so readily make a confidant of 
 him, as to open their hearts upon so delicate a subject. 
 
 At any rate, it must be presumed that the Legisla- 
 ture, when they voted the $2,000 to send men over the 
 State for " consultation," and to " disseminate useful 
 and valuable information," they did not understand 
 that this was the purpose, or their agent would have 
 sent a younger man. 
 
 On mature reflection, however, I cannot say that 
 this money was unwisely spent ; for if what Gov. 
 Brown says is true, that farming is so " unprofitable " 
 and (dis)-"respec^a6Ze" that the "girls will not marry 
 a farmer if they can help it," (knowing the keenness 
 of perception and discriminating faculty of the gentler 
 sex,) is it not one of the strongest arguments in favor 
 of my position that could be instituted ? And if the 
 money is not all absorbed, I would recommend one or 
 two more tours round the State, which would settle 
 all controversy in the matter ; and would further sug- 
 
THE FUTURE. 357 
 
 gest whether it would not be well to Instruct the Gov- 
 ernor, after consulting the girls in the parlors, to spend 
 a few moments with the mothers in the kitchen. Pos- 
 sibly he might there arrive at a solution of the prob- 
 lem which seems to trouble him so much, and is so ex- 
 pensive to the people. 
 
 As a majority of the girls who marry at all must 
 marry a farmer, and as only " ten per cent. " of them 
 " prefer " this, perhaps the Governor can figure it up, 
 how many marry in antagonism to their "preferences?" 
 
 If the girls will read carefully the story of Mr. 
 "Wiseman," in a previous chapter, I think they will 
 there find a practical remedy for the evils that exist ; 
 and if they can persuade their parents to put it in prac- 
 tice, then their fond hopes will be realized. 
 
 Further on in Mr. Brown's remarks, he makes use 
 of this langfuage : — 
 
 " The man is the most happy who has a farm of fifty 
 acres, paid for^ with a house and necessary outbuild- 
 ings on it, and with a little more than will make hoth 
 ends meetJ'^ 
 
 Those words in italics in the preceding, are sug- 
 gestive of where the happiness comes from ; and let 
 the word " Uttle " be construed liberally, and the man 
 would be quite as " happy " without the " farm." 
 These are the farmers — constituting one tenth part of 
 the whole amount — it must be presumed, "who have 
 a little more than will make both ends meet," that 
 the girls do not object to " marrying." 
 
 I do not see how any one can blame the girls for not 
 
358 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 " preferring a man for a husband " who is a land farm- 
 er, as long as they are under guardianship to the treas- 
 ury farmers, who monopolize most of the good things 
 of life, and by a kind of legerdemain, make the land 
 farmers pay the bills. This Is what the girls have 
 keenness enough to understand, and they well know 
 that If a " kiss me quick and go" or a kiss me quick 
 and stay, my dear, can only be enjoyed outside of 
 farming circles ; then the Governor should have credit 
 for one good thing, by bringing it to the consideration 
 of the people. 
 
 Perhaps our traveller said more than he intended, but 
 all are aware of the softening influence of a " confer- 
 ence with women," and it may not be out of the way 
 here to suggest that the rest of the Board take a tour 
 round the State., holding " conference with women," as 
 the dear people would not in the least object to paying 
 the bills. They are getting used to It. 
 
 rOKEIGN DEGRADATION OF LABOR. 
 
 I have several times in this work referred to the in- 
 clination that many entertain in regard to foreign de- 
 gradation of labor. It seems to me that we are run- 
 ning directly Into a similar channel. And let us pur- 
 sue this to Its finality, and how can we hope for any 
 better result ? For, twenty-five or fifty years hence, 
 when it costs Massachusetts half a million dollars to 
 support the various machinery to which her Agricul- 
 ture is subjected, then soup-houses and lodging-houses 
 will have to be established all over the State ; and that 
 
THE FUTURE. 359 
 
 although the State may be great and rich, the people 
 will starve. As " straws show which way the wind 
 blows," so the following will explain the tendency of 
 things in this country. 
 
 WHAT ENGLISn FARMERS WANT TO OOW. 
 
 At a late meeting of the " Eoyal Agricultural So- 
 ciety of England," the following list of prizes for Es- 
 says was adopted. Possibly the re-publication of the 
 subjects may furnish topics for brief dissertations to 
 New England farmers, who, if they should miss the 
 " sovereigns," might enjoy the satisfaction of having 
 stirred the minds of others in the right direction. 
 
 1. Fifty sovereigns for the best report on the agri- 
 cultui-G of Berkshire. 
 
 2. Twenty sovereigns for an approved Essay on the 
 best period of the rotation, and the best time of year 
 for applying the manure of the farm. 
 
 3. Ten sovereigns for the best Essay on the altera- 
 tions rendered advisable in the management of land of 
 different qualities, by low prices of grain, and high 
 prices of meat. 
 
 4. Ten sovereigns for the best Essay on recent im- 
 provements in dairy practice. 
 
 5. Ten sovereigns for the best Essay on the proper 
 office of straw on the farm. 
 
 6. Ten sovereigns for the best Essay on the amount 
 of capital required for the profitable occupation of a 
 farm. 
 
 7. Ten sovereigns for the best Essay on the condi- 
 tions of seed best suited to the various agricultural 
 crops. 
 
 8. Ten sovereigns for the best Essay on the adulter- 
 ation of agricultural seeds. 
 
 9. Ten sovereigns for the best Essay on any other 
 agricultural subject. 
 
360 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 The following is taken from a speech by the Em- 
 peror of Russia to the " serfs : " 
 
 " Gentlemen : I shall begin by once more expressing 
 my gratitude to the three governments of Lithuania, 
 which instigated the discussion of this interesting ques- 
 tion. I think it necessary to repeat to you, geutlcmpn, 
 what the marshals who are among you have already 
 learned from me. You are aware, gentlemen, how 
 much this affair interests me, and how much it aifects 
 my heart ; and I am certain that it is as dear to you as 
 to me. I have but one object — the happiness of my 
 empire, and I am convinced that you have no other. 
 I desire that the improvement of the condition of the 
 j)easants may shortly become an accomplished fact, and 
 that this reform may be effected without violence. But 
 this cannot be obtained without certain sacrifices on 
 your part. My desire is to render these sacrifices as 
 little onerous as possible to the nobility." 
 
 I hope the reader will look these things carefully 
 over, and see if there is any connection in the old coun- 
 tries between the awards of their Agriculture and the 
 fostering care of the Government. This may make the 
 nation great by making the people poor ; but is it 
 wise ? is it humane ? is it Christian ? Undoubtedly, 
 to this cause more than any other, can the distinction 
 between the people and the lords be traced. 
 
 These are the things we want to avoid in this coun- 
 try. For let them continue, increasing as they will, 
 we have the one man power, building up an aristoc- 
 racy, prostrating the people, and we have a democracy 
 in name only. 
 
THE rUTL'ilE. 361 
 
 MARKET DAYS. 
 
 It is well known that a strong effort is being made 
 to fix upon the people of this country, institutions sim- 
 ilar to those long established in Europe and on the 
 Continent. 
 
 These market days have for a brief period been in 
 operation here. That they have been a total failure in 
 almost every instance, seems to be no reason for their 
 relinquishment by the treasury farmers, as it furnishes 
 additional reasons to bleed the people. 
 
 By Mr. Flint's last report, it seems that the "Board" 
 have raised a committee, consisting of Messrs. Fay, 
 Davis and Sutton, to specially consider the subject, 
 whose report Mr. Flint seems to have plenty room for, 
 but could not find a place for informing the tax payers 
 what become of the $2,000 placed at his "disposal" 
 to supply " agents " to take the census of the mar- 
 riageable females in the Commonwealth. 
 
 As I briefly anayize this report, I want the reader 
 to keep in mind with what pertinacity the endeavor is 
 being made, to fasten the institutions of monarchical 
 Europe upon the people of this country. 
 
 The committee say, that, 
 
 " Unlike most projects of amelioration and improve- 
 ment, this involves no expense, and no working system 
 or machinery, requiring money or time to put it in 
 operation, and but little change in the existing order 
 of things. It amounts simply to this : that the farmers 
 of a neighborhood, larger or smaller in extent, accord- 
 ing to circumstances, shall agree to meet together on 
 certain days, and at certain places, for the disposal of 
 
362 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 their agricultural products ; that instead of peddling 
 them out as they do now, or selling to such chance 
 customers as may come along, they will conduct their 
 business generally with reference to these market 
 days." 
 
 As far as the practical operation of this system upon 
 the farmers is, in nine cases out of ten, if a sale is 
 eiFected at all, it will be at a greatly reduced rate. I 
 know that some sales at these "fairs" have been made, 
 but generally at the tail end of the day, and then by 
 being auctioneered off, at about one-half or two-thirds 
 of a fair price. This is what all farmers who have at- 
 tended these " fairs," will tell you, if they have no 
 " axe to grind." 
 
 Again : — 
 
 " These market days have been established for a 
 long time over the continent of Europe, and all agri- 
 cultural products are sold or bargained for upon these 
 occasions. In England they have existed since the 
 time of Alfred the Great ; and to their greater fre- 
 quency and number in that country, may be ascribed, 
 in a great measure, its sujieriority in the art of agri- 
 culture over all other nations. They have made the 
 English farmer a man of business as well as a mere 
 cultivator of the soil. They have been the means, by 
 bringing him constantly in contact with those engaged 
 in the same pursuits with himself — each seeing what 
 the others were doing — of spurring him on to improve- 
 ment, and of preventing that isolation, the natural ten- 
 dency of agricultural pursuits, which is the bane of all 
 progress. One of the undersigned has resided in an 
 agricultural district in England, and has familiarized 
 himself by careful observation with the general system 
 of English agriculture, and he could fintl nothing to 
 
THE FUTUEE. 363 
 
 account for Its greater profitableness as compared with 
 ours, except in the fact, that every farmer has a ready 
 market close at hand for what he may produce, and 
 the power of adapting his cultivation to the knowledge 
 he has of his market." 
 
 I want to ask my friend one or two questions in re- 
 gard to some other things that he probably saw in his 
 " residence " over the water, that he has forgotten to 
 tell us about. 
 
 Is there any such institution over there, the " rank 
 and file " of which stands ready at the "tap" of the 
 drum to " wheel into Hne," Mr. Fay ? Tell us all 
 about this ; which institution dates furthest back, the 
 " standing army," or the institution of serfs and lords ? 
 Have these "market days, regulated by law," had any- 
 thing to do with establishing these " institutions ? " 
 Disband the English army, and how long would the 
 nobles sustain the cheap luxury of " regular market 
 days?" 
 
 If those institutions of which you speak are for the 
 best good of the people of our country, then liberty is 
 a " humbug," — the Declaration of Independence a 
 " farce," — the Revolutionary war a " cheat," and uni- 
 versal inherent equality, a monstrosity. 
 
 " Massachusetts is as favorably situated as England 
 is for the establishment of markets." 
 
 Did my friend, in his admiration of " British aris- 
 tocracy," ever witness any of its necessary concomi- 
 tants, " soup and lodging houses ? " Does he desire to 
 establish such here ? If so, go on with your " market 
 
364 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 days," and all the other "machinery," that you have 
 seen over the water. Establish a standing army to 
 keep the people in awe. Pile up the revenue till the 
 taxes monopolize the industry of the citizens, keeping 
 them in subjection by the " bayonet," at the " tap " of 
 the drum. 
 
 " The value of farming property depends very much 
 upon its proximity to a quick and ready market, and 
 hence it is that farms in the neighborhood of large 
 cities bear so much higher prices than those which are 
 remote. But even those most favorably situated in 
 this respect would be benefited by regular market days. 
 Even the little county of Middlesex, in England, of 
 only half the size of our own county of the same name, 
 with the city of London and its two milhon of inhab- 
 itants in her borders, has five regular markets, besides 
 the great ones at Smithfield and Covent Garden. So, 
 too, notwithstanding the great manufacturing towns 
 all over England, each a daily market of itself, yet 
 every thirty-five thousand square acres of agricultural 
 property in that favored region is blessed with regular 
 market days. It is sometimes said that a man may 
 walk through England, and attend a market fair every 
 day in the year." 
 
 The value of farm property is rapidly decreasing in 
 the vicinity of all Ncav England cities but Boston, 
 where it is only valuable for farming purposes. 
 
 The sale of a farm is almost an impossibility, unless 
 they are " knocked off " for a song, same as my friend 
 of the committee's cows were at one of the " fairs," 
 with which he is so much in love. And even at such 
 prices, the purchaser will seldom get value received, 
 
THE FUTURE. 365 
 
 unless the land farmers exercise freely the right of suf- 
 frage, and vote the treasury farmers into retirement. 
 
 " The industrial products of Massachusets are more 
 than two hundred and ninety-six millions of dollars, of 
 which forty-nine millions only come from the soil, in- 
 cluding tAvo and one-quarter millions in stone, coal and 
 marble, and in some countries the proportion of agri- 
 cultural to industrial products is much less than is 
 shown by the aggregate of State products. We have, 
 therefore, a large and near home market for our agri- 
 cultural products, — a market for much more than we 
 raise ; and at higher prices to the consumer in the 
 large towns and cities, than obtain in any quarter of 
 the world." 
 
 If any man outside of the Board of Agriculture 
 should make such a statement as this, his wife would 
 apply for a bill of divorcement, — A mensa et foro, — 
 and she ought to have it, too, with alimony. 
 
 I can hardly believe that my friend, Mr. Fay, penned 
 the above paragraph, although I find his name attached 
 to it. Absurd as his statements and philosophy are 
 shown to be, yet this statement on the earnings of 
 Massachusetts beats old England all hollow. 
 
 The total valuation of all property in the State, in 
 1850, was $597,936,995.46. 
 
 I presume that every one knows that the system of 
 agriculture in some of the old countries is very fine ; 
 that they have all the machinery the committee tells 
 us about, with a poor, half-starved, half-clad, ignorant, 
 servile, wretched population. I saw it the other day 
 on the arrival of a boat-load at the wharf in the great 
 
366 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 citj. Specimens of the lowest grade of humanity, 
 coated all over with filth and rags, with an intellect 
 also besmeared with the fruits of centuries of cruel 
 and unjust decrees, market-days, Boards of Agricul-* 
 ture, &c. 
 
 Witness the thousand specimens from these "market 
 fairs," scattered all over our country. Like cause will 
 in time produce like eflfect in the land of the pilgrims. 
 But, do we want it ? I know our mushroom aristoc- 
 racy, perhaps, by this system of policy, might grow 
 into consequence, with a pack of blood-hounds at their 
 heels ; but working-men of America, do you want it ? 
 Do you want to sacrifice the future of our country, to 
 the vain ambition of a few fortune hunters, who ape 
 the glitter of foreign nabobs ? 
 
 In a word, let me say to the farmers, shun market 
 days as a pest, — as a great sore upon the body politic, 
 — as a manoeuvre to cheat you of your rights. 
 
 CATTLE DISEASE. 
 
 Perhaps, for the future inspection of the people, it 
 would be well here to state that the number of cattle 
 killed and buried, hides, taUow and all, by our wise, 
 sagacious, discreet, penetrating, fraternizing, treasury- 
 farming fraternity, up to the assembling of the Pleuro- 
 Legislature, was 842. To pay for all of these, would 
 take $21,050, at $25 a head. 
 
 But it will be seen by reference to the law * passed 
 at the winter term of the Legislature, appropriating 
 * Published on page 325. 
 
THE FUTURE. 867 
 
 $10,000 for this purpose, that only those cattle were to 
 be paid for that did not " appear " to be diseased. 
 Therefore, as our city experts pronounced them mostly 
 diseased, I hardly see how that the farmers whose 
 herds have been scientijically slaughtered are going to 
 reahze any great benefit directly from the speculation, 
 out of the treasury, unless to keep them quiet and 
 make the job as extensive as possible, the law is vio- 
 lated, and they are hushed for a season, with the hope 
 that the dear people having got used to it, are ready 
 to bleed quite as freely as the bovine race whose rights 
 have been violated. 
 
 So completely had the " Board " fastened this out- 
 rage upon the people, that at the Pleuro-Legislature 
 of fourteen days duration, for which the members 
 voted themselves $50 each, besides the scrapings, and 
 to prove to the people their love of progress and in- 
 dustry, they also placed in the hands of our scientific 
 commissioners the snug little nest-egg of $100,000, as 
 a memento of regard for their somewhat protracted in- 
 cubations. 
 
 What proportion of these various sums wdl finally 
 go to the commissioners and their experts, at this time 
 of writing I have no means of knowing. But, if we 
 are taxed to the fullest extent of the appropriations, 
 let me, in all kindness to all concerned, say, that this 
 is but a drop in the bucket to the wrong we shall suf- 
 fer. 'Tis true that our herds mainly remain upon our 
 hands, but of what use are they ? Can we dispose 
 of them or their products ? Our bills and liabilities 
 
338 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 are to be met, and we must live. Our wives and chil- 
 dren must be fed, clothed, go to church, schools, &c. 
 All these cost money, and how shall we get it ? This 
 is a question which our duty is to examine. It is true, 
 we have our cattle, but is there any value attached to 
 them ? We can keep them, perhaps, but is there any 
 hope for the future ? Can we look upon a yoke of 
 oxen or a cow, and say, these will meet the note that 
 is coming due, or pay the Saturday night operatives ? 
 Yes, our cattle will sell; but for what? Who can 
 figure up the cost to the farmers of Massachusetts and 
 New England, this outrage upon their interests ? 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 I have now gone over the ground that I intended 
 when I commenced this work, exceeding greatly my 
 prescribed limits, but the subject is in no wise exhaust- 
 ed ; in fact, it is but fairly opened. A volume might well 
 be written on the late-named subject, viz : the principle 
 involved in the foreign policy of degrading labor under 
 the pretence of honoring it. 
 
 We are doing no better here. Our country is new, 
 and the people aiubitious. Far too many are too eager 
 for the crumbs of office ; and as long as this is consid- 
 ered more genteel than honest work, and the credulity 
 of the people can be worked upon, being persuaded to 
 believe that they were born to work, consigning all 
 elie to those who preach one thing and practice another, 
 talking about the dignity, the virtue, the happiness, and 
 the cmolumency of labor, when they are doing all they 
 can to degrade it, by taking from it its awards, encour- 
 
THE FUTURE. 8G9 
 
 aging persistent toil, thereby destroying the mind of 
 that keenness of thought which is ever watchful lest 
 its rights should be invaded and liberty hampered. 
 That those who manufacture our Agricultural litera- 
 ature, write the books, make the speeches, print the 
 papers, compile and translate works from foreign au- 
 thors, are supposed to be honest and good men, being 
 above any low or sordid inclination, free from any 
 taint of cant op hypocrisy, is not the question. St. 
 Paul thought he was doing " God's service, when per- 
 secuting the Christians." 
 
 The question is, whether these men are doing a good 
 thing for the people ? In this light they and all others 
 should view the matter ; for a bad man may do a good 
 thing, and vice versa, a good man may do a had things 
 This is placing the subject where it belongs. And 
 that although through these pages I have spoken free- 
 ly, I think honestly and truly, censuring where censure 
 was due, and honoring where credit was due, yet I de- 
 sire to make no enemies, entertaining no enmity to any, 
 my only purpose being to place the industrial interest 
 of which I have spoken, in its true light, believing truth 
 to be better than error, and the good of a nation above 
 that of a clique. 
 
 The reader cannot have failed to notice the harmony 
 and consistency of all the calculations that have been 
 made, — the figuring, I think, is in harmony with the 
 sentiment expressed, — the statistics of the State and 
 country, with the calculations made, — the compara- 
 tive value of labor in the East and West, the North 
 
370 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 and South, — form labor and other labor, all harmonize 
 with the expressed views, if I understand them. Hop- 
 ing that a more comprehensive view of labor and the 
 rights of the laborer, may be entertained, is the only 
 desire of the writer. 
 
 What the farmers now need is an organ through which 
 they can express their views, and counteract the influ- 
 ence that is disseminated by the various modes of fore- 
 stalling public opinion, making the worse appear the 
 better side. Let one or two truthful and ably conduct- 
 ed papers be started, advocating the cause of the farm- 
 er, against all the combination of professedly agricultu- 
 ral journals and other bogus farming literature, having 
 the cause of labor at heart, meeting, as they emanate 
 from the press, aU those absurd and wild statements 
 many of them coming professedly from the farmers, but 
 without doubt being manufactured for the occasion, 
 having no responsible source, but like the quack medi- 
 cines of the day, being so labeled and puffed up, that 
 the uninitiated are likely to be deceived. 
 
 Such a paper or papers, if rightly conducted, ought 
 to be supported, and that if the farmers desire such, 
 believing that their cause is now falsely presented, and 
 pertinaciously conducted to all who oppose them, there 
 is no doubt that plenty of talent can be found to meet 
 all that may be said on the other side, as all the statis- 
 tics of the State and country are with this position. 
 
 What i« wanted is to sej)arate all legislation from 
 each and every industrial interest. Letting all the 
 trades and labor interests stand upon their own merits, 
 
THE FUTURE. 371 
 
 trusting to the law of supply and demand to meet the 
 wants of the people. Believing all trades are best pro- 
 tected when entirely unprotected, leaving all to look to 
 their own energies, and not to the people's treasury for 
 support. Repealing all laws that have a tendency to 
 create distinction among the people, such as the wood 
 law, and the sale of hay, and other agricultural com- 
 modities. All National and State laws creating Boards 
 of Agriculture, Agricultural Societies, appropriating 
 the people's money, to the j)retended interest of any 
 class, is wrong in principle, unwise in policy, unjust and 
 unworthy of a free people. 
 
 When agriculture pays better than other business, 
 there will be enoun;h to enfraoe in it, and when it can- 
 not be done at a profit, it is not worth doing. What 
 the farmer wants to know is, hoAV to earn a living at his 
 business, not how to produce a large surplus of com- 
 modities ; and if let alone, this is what he can better 
 do for himself than any one can teach him. For mind, 
 thought, keenness of perception, mental activity and 
 power, are never engendered by circumscribing the 
 physical energies of the people, or contracting their 
 mental capacities. 
 
 QUESTIONS. 
 
 The following questions, if presented with the right 
 motive, may be discussed with profi^t in the field, the 
 shop, and the club : 
 
 1. Is there any antagonism between the various in- 
 dustrial classes ? 
 
372 TARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 2. Is It for the good of all other classes that the pro- 
 ducts of the farm should be sold below their cost ? 
 
 3. Should the farmer, in estimating the cost of his 
 products, allow for the raw material, a per cent, on his 
 capital, and pay for his labor ? 
 
 4. To what extent can we crop the soil and not de- 
 teriorate it ? 
 
 5. Are farm products generally sold at a profit ? 
 
 6. Is there as much plant food in animal manures 
 as in the food the animal consumes ? 
 
 7. Can the cost of an agricultural product be esti- 
 mated ? 
 
 8. Should the cost of an animal be estimated at the 
 value of the food it consumes, the value of the labor to 
 care for it, and interest on the investment ? 
 
 9. Is it for the interest of the East that the people of 
 the West should sell their products at the cost of their 
 labor only ? 
 
 10. Would the people have been poorer had 
 there never existed any such thing as an Agricultural 
 Society ? 
 
 11. Is it the object of the prime movers of the vari- 
 ous Agricultural Societies to benefit the producers or 
 non-producers ? 
 
 12. Is the Board of Agriculture a benefit to the 
 people ? 
 
 13. Is it right to appropriate the public ftmds for in- 
 dividual purposes ? 
 
 14. Is the buying up of the Concord River Mead- 
 ows by the State, establishing a good or bad prece- 
 dent? 
 
THE FUTURE. 373 
 
 15, Have not other portions of the State as good a 
 right to its bounty, as the owners of the meadows on 
 Concord river ? 
 
 13. Would an immediate disbandment of all Agri- 
 cultural Societies, and the Board of Agriculture, be an 
 injury to the farmers ? 
 
 17. Is the Agricultural press a benefit to the farm- 
 ers ? 
 
 18. Have the farmers as good a right to a profit on 
 their goods as other classes ? 
 
 19. Should a farmer team his products to market, or 
 sell them at home ? 
 
 20. Is it for the farmer's interest to increase or di- 
 minish the supply of farm products ? 
 
 21. Would the natural law of supply and demand 
 regulate the agricultural interest, better than any legis- 
 lation can ? 
 
 22. If the agricultural interest of the country was 
 left to the law of supply and demand, would a famine 
 be likely to ensue from this cause ? 
 
 23. What is the cost to the people to support the 
 various Agricultural Societies, Board of Agriculture, 
 and the Agricultural press ? 
 
 24. Are any of the statute laws unjustly burdensome 
 to the farmers ? 
 
 25. Has the law making it obligatory on the farmer 
 to employ an expert to measure or weigh his products, 
 or any portion of them, a tendency to degrade him ? 
 
 26. If the farmer is incompetent, or so dishonest as 
 to be unfit to measure or weigh his products, Is the law, 
 or his capacity or integrity, at fault ? 
 
374 TARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 27. Is a person, in buying a load of wood or hay, 
 nioi*e likely to get cheated, than in purchasing a coat, 
 pair of .shoes, or settling a doctor's or lawyer's bill ? 
 
 23. Would any other class of people submit to thg 
 many legal annoyances of the farmer ? 
 
 23. If farm labor is as well rewarded as other labor, 
 why is there more pauperism, more insanity, and moi'e 
 suicides among this class than any, or all others, ac- 
 cording to numbers ? 
 
 80. If the girls prefer being married to any other 
 class of men than farmers, what is the cause ? 
 
 31. Can a man earn a comfortable living at farming, 
 by his labor ? 
 
 32. If public agricultural exhibitions are for the 
 farmer's good, why do the city folks contribute liberally 
 to institute them ? 
 
 33. If the legislature should discontinue making ap- 
 propriations for what is termed to " promote agricul- 
 ture," would the farmers particular friends continue 
 tlieir friendship ? 
 
 34. If a general discussion of any of these various 
 questions would have an evil tendency, which are those 
 questions ? 
 
 35. Is it for the farmer's interest to produce small 
 crops at a profit, or large ones at a loss ? 
 
 36. If our people ever lose their independence, what 
 will be the probable cause ? 
 
 37. Should a Board of Agriculture be composed of 
 professional men, money brokers and treasury farmers ? 
 
 38. Would the establishment of a Farmers' Journal 
 be a eood thino; ? 
 
THE FUTURE. 375 
 
 39. Has the importation of foreign breeds of cattle, 
 horses and other stock, been a benefit to our people ? 
 
 40. Can we export agricultural products without 
 either deteriorating the soil, or making paupers of the 
 people ? 
 
 41. Is not the exodus of the young men from the 
 farming districts, prima facie evidence of the unprofit- 
 ableness of farming ? 
 
 42. Is the circulation of the stories by the Secretary 
 of the Board of Agriculture, in his I'eports, in regard 
 to the farmers making several hundred per cent, profit 
 on their crops, doing a good or bad thing for them ? 
 
 43. Do those farmers who make those statements re- 
 fered to in question No. 42, do it for the good of the 
 cause, — to see their name in j)rint, — to gratify their 
 vanity, or to obtain a premium ? 
 
 44. If a premium were offered to those mechanics 
 who could make the largest per cent, on their work, 
 and they should present quite as extraordinary cases as 
 the farmer does, would that prove anything ? 
 
 45. If a farmer in making a statement to obtain a 
 premium, should claim that the material of which his 
 crops are made costs nothing, should he obtain that 
 premium ? 
 
 46. Does the last statistics taken by the United 
 States reveal the fact that the mechanics earn more 
 than three times as much as the farmers in this State, 
 according to numbers, by their labor ? 
 
 47. Did the statement of Hon. R. S. Fay, in a public 
 lecture, that if the hay crop of Massachusetts were in- 
 
376 FARMING AS IT IS. 
 
 creased five times, it would not reduce the value of the 
 article, shoAv tliat he understood what he was talkino- 
 about ? 
 
 48. If there had never been any special legislation 
 in regard to agriculture -in this country, would the 
 farmers and the farming interest have been more on an 
 equality with other interests ? 
 
 49. Is it not the only hope of the farmer to establish 
 trade and manufactures in their midst ? 
 
 50. If all agricultural products were sold at a small 
 per cent, above their cost, reckoning fairly, would pau- 
 perism, insanity and suicides, greatly decrease ? 
 
 51. Can any other New England State present a 
 better view of its agricultural Interests than Massachu- 
 setts, and if so, what is the cause ? 
 
 52. Is agriculture more degraded in those States and 
 countries where its interests have been specially an ob- 
 ject of legislation ? 
 
 53. tias the i^tato rot been a damage to the farmer 
 or any other class of men ? 
 
 54. Would a remedy for the potato rot be a national 
 blessing or a calamity ? 
 
 55. Would Market Fairs throughout the country, 
 help the farmers? 
 
 56. Should all farmers keep their products at home 
 tm sold ? 
 
 57. If the State should again go to slaughtering cat- 
 tle, would it be advisable to employ green hands or 
 journeymen butchers ? 
 
 58. Is it good or bad husbandry to kUl and bury 
 stock, hides, horns and all ? 
 
THE FUTURE. 377 
 
 59. Has the Board of Agriculture been any more 
 successful at butchering, than farming at Westboro' ? 
 
 60. When the products of industry become so cheap 
 that honest and persistent labor fails to supply the rea- 
 sonable demands of life, is a remedy to be sought for 
 by an increased or diminished supply ? 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
 
 Agricultural Department. 
 State House, Boston, 11 July, 1860. 
 
 Dear Sir : I owe you an apology for my few days 
 delay in replying to your favor of the 4tli, which did 
 not come to hand, by the way, till Friday last. I have 
 been absent on business a part of the week, and my 
 office is up in arms with painters, &c., in the midst of 
 spring cleaning. I am glad to hear of your progress 
 in the work of which you informed me some time since. 
 I shall welcome its appearance, and have no doubt it 
 will be the means of great good. 
 
 With regard to the question as to the success of the 
 legislation for farmers' clubs, I would say that the ap- 
 propriation was not made till just at the close of the 
 Legislature of '59, and that no steps were taken dur- 
 ing the summer following, as the operations of all clubs 
 were suspended at that season. The Board appointed 
 a committee to consider the subject, and their report, 
 and the circular sent out for information, are given on 
 pp. 128, 129, of my last lieport. The lieport went 
 to press too early in the winter to enable me to get any 
 fuller statement of wha.t had been done. I think the 
 plan has given very wide satisfaction, and been the 
 means of waking up a wide-spread interest. But a 
 small part of the appropriation has, as yet, been spent, 
 as but very small pay ($5 a visit and lecture,) is al- 
 
380 APPEi^Dix. 
 
 lowed. The agents are not, by any means, confined to 
 the Board of Agriculture. In many cases, a club (in 
 most cases, in fact,) requests to have a particular man 
 sent, like Gov. Brown, for instance, or some other, and 
 then, if consistent, I have complied with their wishes. 
 
 I have great confidence that this will be the means 
 of doing a great deal of good, as it certainly is very 
 rapidly multiplying the number of clubs all over the 
 State. Very truly your obedient servant, 
 
 Charles L. Flint, Sec, 
 
 T. J. PiNKHAM, Chelmsford. 
 
 The above letter from Mr. Flint, is in reply to my 
 note published on page 353. It is proper here to state 
 that I delayed my book a little in hopes to obtain this 
 reply. My letter was mailed on the 4th of July, and 
 I delayed closing up the book till the 14th, supposing 
 then, I should not receive this favor. Had I have 
 known, however, that he was so very busy doing up 
 his spring cleaning, (mid-summer^^ I should have been 
 less in a hurry. However, I see nothing in the letter 
 but what corroborates my remarks, excepting, he did 
 reply, but did not answer my interrogatories. By the 
 way, this letter is dated the 11th, and post-marked the 
 13th, two days after. 
 
 I want all Avho read this book to read this letter, and 
 I regret that I am obliged to publish it as an Appen- 
 dix. 
 
 The Secretary says that only " $5.00 a visit and lec- 
 ture is allowed." That is cheap, certainly. Then the 
 $2,000 will pay for 400 visits. What an amount of 
 " good " will be accomplished. The thought forces it- 
 self upon my mind to suggest, that the price be raised 
 
APPENDIX. 381 
 
 to $10.00 a visit, as this would command a different 
 grade of talent, if not a higher. 
 
 And then this thought occurs to my mind : Why is 
 it that those who are not farmers, consent to being 
 taxed to pay these bills ? They not only consent to it, 
 but, rather, do they not urge it ? Are they not the 
 men who lobby these appropriations through the Leg- 
 islature ? They are pretty smart men, — understand 
 tolerable well what they are about, — know when and 
 where the shoe pinches, and yet are anxious to be taxed 
 to send city experts into the rural districts, at five or 
 even ten dollars a " visit," and what is their motive ? 
 Look to it, farmers. Ask yourselves this question: 
 Why do they do it ? 
 
 A writer from the town of Ashburnham, in this State, 
 to the ISf. E. Farmer^ says that thirty of the best farms 
 are lying vacant, — tenantless. No one wants them. 
 The " buildings, fences, &c., are going to decay," — the 
 " fields are growing up to brush and briars." The 
 " citizens are leaving every year for sections that are 
 not cursed with the burden of excessive legislation." 
 What is true of Ashburnham in this particular, is true 
 of most farming towns ; perhaps, however, not all to 
 that extent. Yet, this is a good farming town, — the 
 crops are among the highest average in the State, ex- 
 cepting their mowing lands. 
 
 He does not agree with me that farmino; is not 
 a paying business, generally, and thinks that were 
 it not for the high taxes they could get along. Our 
 taxes are much too high, — t4iere is no doubt of that. 
 
382 APPENDIX. 
 
 This is not the principal cause of the calamity, how- 
 ever, for we submit to being taxed by designing 
 men, to dictate our earnings, to control public opinion, 
 to monopolize our industry, and keep down the price 
 of our goods to a level that admits of but little return 
 for labor performed. Of course, as long as this state 
 of things exist, farms will become vacant, mortgages 
 will increase, — those who have invested in farms will 
 suffer, industry will be paralyzed, panics and distress, 
 excepting at brief periods, will be the order of the 
 day, liberty will be hampered, and the principles of our 
 fathers, among the things that were. This writer 
 was abused for saying what he did, — told that "he 
 must have written in a fit of the blues," &c. 
 
 I expect the same from Maine to Georgia, for writing 
 this book. I care nothing, however, for the opinion 
 of this class of men, but, for the opinion of all work- 
 ing men, I do care. As far as I am right, I ask to be 
 sustained. My errors, I shall be most happy to cor- 
 rect, — honorable criticism, I court ; free discussion is 
 the bulwark of liberty. Tyrants fear it, — wickedness 
 shuns it, — the enslavers of a people smooth and slick 
 it over. 
 
 " He who feels the halter draw. 
 Has a i^oor opinion of the law." 
 
 " I shaU welcome its appearance, and have no doubt 
 it will be the means of doing good." 
 
 This is the language of my friend, the Secretary. 
 For that purpose alone, I have written. And if it 
 
APPENDIX. 383 
 
 does one half the good it ought to, my friend, and all 
 of like ilk, will take the hint, resign their commissions, 
 allow the la,nd farmers to prosecute in their own way, 
 the trade of their choice, save the treasury from unjust 
 speculations, the people of a burden, and Monarchy of 
 an unanswerable argument against the freedom of 
 America, and the folly of inherent liberty. 
 
 Again : " The agents are not, by any means, con- 
 fined to the Board of Agriculture." 
 
 Have any others been employed ? This was the 
 idea I wished to convey in my note. Does the Board 
 presume to monopolize all the useful talent of the 
 State, in Agricultural matters ? • 
 
 Once more : " I have great confidence that this will 
 be the means of doing a great deal of good, as it cer- 
 tainly is very rapidly multiplying the number of clubs 
 over the State." 
 
 That is a good thing, truly. Multiplying clubs all 
 over the State. For this purpose, I have introduced 
 many questions at the close of this book, each and all 
 of which, may well be presented for discussion, as hav- 
 ing a direct bearing upon the present and future pros- 
 perity of the country. 
 
 Farmers, generally, have not the " gift of gab " very 
 largely developed, yet, if we can manage to keep clear 
 of those Boston " talking machines," and the treasury 
 of the V's and X's to encourage them, I honestly be- 
 lieve that " great good " will be the result. You know 
 how it is, those agents will talk a farmer " bhnd " in a 
 little while, set the women all agog by their " confer- 
 
384 APPENDIX. 
 
 ences," keep down the price of the farmers' toil by 
 sophistry, and hasten those halcyon days when the 
 people become serfs, and the treasury peculators their 
 masters. 
 
 According to your published accounts of the farm- 
 ing operations at Westboro', they do not show a high 
 degree of skill in the business, nor a great amount of 
 honest integrity. For, while on the one hand, you en- 
 courage a compensation for labor that will not meet 
 the most prudent wants of life ; on the other, you fix a 
 fancy and unreasonable price upon the products of that 
 labor. 
 
 If a well-grown boy cannot earn " five cents a day " 
 and find himself, at farm labor, should a bull calf pro- 
 duced by that labor, be worth $100 ? These are your 
 figures. One is as unreasonable as the other. If the 
 State, in her corporate capacity, was going to set up 
 farming to introduce and establish a correct system in 
 the business, all extremes should be avoided. A fair 
 compensation for labor should be encouraged, and a 
 fair compensation for the products of that labor only, 
 should be demanded. This, alone, could be fairly 
 termed good farming. 
 
 It is just as wrong to require an unreasonable profit 
 on an article, as it is to produce the article at a price 
 that allows an inadequate compensation for the labor 
 to make it. What is now wanted is to ascertain for 
 what sum agricultural products can be produced, al- 
 lowing for the per cent, on the capital, and suitable 
 wages, with all the etc., to make them. When this is 
 
APPENDIX. 385 
 
 ascertained, then all good men should encourage and 
 sustain these prices. If this system had been adopted 
 at Westboro', then the tax upon the treasury would 
 have been less objectionable. But the entire reverse 
 of this was instituted. For while, in order to make 
 the thing appear plausible to the public, fancy and fic- 
 titious prices are established. Thus, no prudent farmer 
 or cattle dealer could afford to take the stock of cattle 
 at the prices fixed upon them in the schedule, at more 
 than forty cents on the dollar. This may deceive the 
 public, and help to crowd bills through the Legisla- 
 ture to appropriate money for the indulgence of a few ; 
 but is it rio[ht ? 
 
 I want you to understand me, that it is not essen- 
 tially the direct tax upon the people (although this Is 
 wrong,) of which I complain ; but it is the fact of this 
 money being used to reduce the price of our labor or 
 the products of that labor, (which is the same thing,) 
 to an uncertain, fluctuating standard, that allows of no 
 adequate compensation, and is fast reducing the value 
 of our investments, creating an apathy among the 
 people, and distrust, uncertainty, and want of confi- 
 dence in community. This is not all ; it is building 
 up an imbecile aristocracy in the country, who fasten 
 upon the public chest, which will in the end subvert 
 the genius of American principles, and degrade labor 
 and the laborer, under the false pretence of honoring 
 it, and them. 
 
 The reason I dwell upon this idea is, it is the only 
 branch of our government that is aiming a direct blow 
 
£86 APPENDIX. 
 
 at the liberty and freedem of our people. Her indus- 
 try should be free, untrammelled, unpolluted, uncon- 
 trolled by public or private munificence ; earning ac- 
 cording to the tastes, inclination, habits, and intelli- 
 gence of those who labor. For if at any time one 
 branch of industry becomes less remunerative than 
 others, the sagacity of the people will soon establish 
 that equilibrium among the trades, if no outside influ- 
 ences are thrown around them ; and any other system 
 will in the end subvert those principles we love to 
 cherish. 
 
 Thus you plainly see how I look upon the whole 
 matter, and will excuse language that would ordinarily 
 be considered impolitic, if not indecorous. Therefore, 
 I have used such language and arguments as seemed 
 to me best adapted to arouse public and general inter- 
 est and attention, in a matter which I deem of such 
 vast importance. For you are paralyzing the industry 
 of a nation, and striking an irredeemable blow at 
 American liberty. This can in no light be viewed as 
 an innocent, harmless or justifiable position, occupa- 
 tion, or profession. 
 
 I want to thank you for this favor of the 11th inst., 
 and must say that I exceedingly regret that you did not 
 deem my other note of sufficient importance to have 
 merited a reply. For as this favor has furnished me 
 much argument sustaining my position, then a reply 
 to the other, if sustaining your published declar- 
 ations, would have been of much more importance, as 
 showing how utterly futile all such puny arrangements 
 are, as accomplishing the end professed, 
 
do i APPENDIX. 
 
 Whenever the administration of the laws of a people 
 have a tendency to subvert the fundamental principles 
 of the Government, and tend to the degradation of the 
 governed, then it is the right and duty of the people to 
 institute such measures as will tend to place them upon 
 their original position, and bring to mind the original 
 compact, that the institutions which they love to honor 
 and cherish, may be preserved in their purity. When 
 a long train of abuses, pursuing invariably the same 
 object, evinces a design to reduce the inherent rights 
 of the masses to the condition of serfs, then it is the 
 right of the people to throw off the burden, and estab- 
 lish that equality which alone will preserve all that is 
 dear to a free, intelligent, and Christian people. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A 
 
 A. B., TheBarre Correspondent 192 
 
 Action of the Board in 173 
 
 Action in relation to 326 
 
 Agricultural College 323 
 
 Agricultural Warehouses ... 336 
 
 Agricultural Societies '. . 15 
 
 Agricultural Exhibition 16 
 
 Analysis of Oats 119 
 
 Analysis of Manure. 114 
 
 Analysis of Wheat 113 
 
 Amount of Manure of a Cow 115 
 
 Amount of Grain in the Country 258 
 
 Anecdote of a King «. 339 
 
 A new Agricultural Society 81, 82, 83 
 
 Antagonism of Industry 54 
 
 Appropriations of the Legislature 58 
 
 Autographs S6 
 
 B 
 
 Banks, Governor 306 
 
 Bible Injunction 177 
 
 Board of Agriculture 47, 145 
 
 Boutwell George S., His Letter 201 
 
 Brown, Simon, " " 198 
 
 " " refuses to publish 169 
 
 C 
 
 Census of Marriageable Females - 355 
 
 Concord River Meadows 194 
 
 Corn and other Crops, by S 185 
 
 Cost of Oats 119 
 
390 INDEX. 
 
 Cost of an Acre of Com yso 
 
 Cost of Farm Products 242 
 
 Cost of Hay, Corn, Wheat, Carrots 255 
 
 Cost Table of Products - 274 
 
 Cost of Marketing 279 
 
 Cost of a Pair of Boots 319 
 
 Cost of Shoeing a Horse 343 
 
 Cost of Wheat 116 
 
 Columbus and his Outfit 257 
 
 Clashing of Sections 281 
 
 Contemplation of the Law Ill 
 
 Crocodile Tears 99 
 
 D 
 
 Degradation of Capital and Lator 54 
 
 Degradation of Labor 358 
 
 Disjjosing of Farm Products 276 
 
 Difficulty at the West 282 
 
 Doty of Young Men 303 
 
 £ 
 
 Earnings of Farms 281, 322 
 
 Earnings of Massachusetts 129, 130 
 
 Earnings of States 318 
 
 Earnings of Wisconsin t 127, 128 
 
 Enactments of the l^leuro-Legislature 240 
 
 Emerson Ed., His Talk 174 
 
 Experiments in Agriculture 66, 75 
 
 Experiments in Calves 84, 88 
 
 Exjierts 277 
 
 Experiment in Wheat Raising 102 
 
 Exhibition of 1860 98 
 
 F 
 
 Fay R. S., His Letter 198 
 
 " " and the Hay Crop 100 
 
 Farmers' Oi-gan 307 
 
 " Earnings in Massachusetts, Vermont and Wisconsin 127 — 131 
 
 " Daughters 352 
 
 Flint, C. L., Ilis Lecture 348 
 
 " " How he Uses Money 352 
 
 " *' Letter, (see Appendix) 
 
 Future of America 338 
 
INDEX. 391 
 
 H 
 
 Hay and Grass Crop of the Country 101 
 
 Hapijiness Defined 26 — 28 
 
 Habits of Youth 305 
 
 How the Farmers Live 229 
 
 Hopkinton, and How to Raise Carrots 141 — 143 
 
 Holbrook F., His Letter 328 
 
 How to Tell What to Do 344 
 
 I 
 
 Industry of Carlisle and Natick 34—38 
 
 Inhabitants of This and Other States 44 
 
 Inquiries 333 
 
 J 
 
 Jubilee Year , by Governor Brown 239 
 
 L 
 
 Laws, Customs, &c., 221 
 
 Law and Cattle Disease 325 
 
 Letter to Farmers 197 
 
 " "C.L.Flint 353 
 
 Loss of Manure, 64 
 
 Loriug Dr. , His Letter 202 
 
 Looseness of Farming 346 
 
 M 
 
 Market Days 360 
 
 Marketing 276 
 
 Massachusetts, Society Formed 15 
 
 Meeting at the State House 81 
 
 Members Constituting the Board of Agriculture 60 
 
 Men who Fail in Lynn 342 
 
 Merriam, H. C, His Ideas 186 
 
 Message of Gov. Banks 307 
 
 Minus, Mrs. Minus, John and Jim 131 
 
 N 
 
 Neat Stock • 260 
 
 No Profit in Farming 283 
 
 New Braintree and Her Industry 204 
 
392 INDEX. 
 
 Number Agricultural Societies 25 
 
 " " Exhibitions 59 
 
 " " " Massachusetts and Illinois 274 
 
 •• Farmers in New England 289 
 
 " Cattle in the State 100 
 
 *' Bushels Grain in the United States 107 
 
 " Men who Fail 340 
 
 O 
 Oppression at the West 273 
 
 P 
 Panic at the West 21 
 
 Pau erism, Insanity, Idiocy 31 — 40 
 
 Peopling the Poor-houses 304 
 
 Poor and Good Farming 237 
 
 Price of Cows 108 
 
 Premiums at the State Fair 95 
 
 Production at the Farm at Westboro' 64 
 
 Pro fit of Farming 16 
 
 Profit and Per Cent 234 
 
 Philosophy of Agriculture 258 
 
 Policy of England 362 
 
 Profits of an Oat Crop 92 
 
 Questions in Arithmetic 179 
 
 Questions, &c. , for Agricultural Clubs 182 
 
 Questions for the People 369 
 
 R 
 
 Raw Material Defined 52 
 
 Revised Statutes 223 
 
 Reply to Mr. Emerson 178 
 
 Revolution in C 279 
 
 S 
 
 Schedule of Property at the Farm at Westboro' 75 
 
 Secretary Flint in account with the State 77 
 
 Serfs of Europe 365 
 
 Sherman, B. F., and His Address 138 
 
 Speech of the Emperor of Russia 359 
 
INDEX. 393 
 
 Statement on the Cost of Rye 117 
 
 " Corn 120 
 
 " by the Author 149—1^2 
 
 Straw for a Hen's Nest 93 
 
 State Fair 94- 98 
 
 T 
 
 The First Convert 210 
 
 The Farmers' Duty 280 
 
 The Farmer a Merchant 287 
 
 The Farmers' Sons 290 
 
 The Institutions of the Old Countries 102 
 
 The Philosophy of Growth 105 
 
 The Position of a Blacksmith 349 
 
 The Shoemaker and the Farmer 103 
 
 The Young and Disgusted Farmers 90 
 
 V 
 
 "Value State Property at Westboro' 63 
 
 Valuation of Wisconsin 128 
 
 Valuation of Farm Property in Massachusetts 245 
 
 W 
 
 Want of Confidence in Farmers 284 
 
 AVages of Labor and the Professions 56 
 
 Webster, Daniel 290 
 
 What Deteriorates Land 351 
 
 What the Farmers Want to Know 101 
 
 What the Young Men Would Do 292 
 
 What English Farmers Want 358 
 
 Wiseman and His Family 293 
 
 When and How Fancy Farmers Dine 97 
 
 C 
 
 J^n '/i 18f)! 
 
3477 
 
UBRARV OF CONGRESS 
 
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