_May 13th._
If one wishes to make money out of the soil, upon an Eastern farm, he
must live upon it, study it, watch it, calk and groove it so that no
leak shall be possible, economize rigidly, work fearfully, sell the
best, use the unsalable,—in short, he must be a drudge or a genius.
Not a genius in literature or art, but in money-making. Only think how
some old-fashioned New England ministers lived on a salary of four
hundred dollars; educated seven or eight children; worked their farm
during the week, and preached on Sunday; and died rich, that is, worth
anywhere from fifty to a hundred thousand dollars, which, fifty years
ago, was as much as two hundred and fifty thousand dollars are now;
for the purchasing power of gold and silver is steadily declining, and
of course more of it is required for the same purposes.
But only now and then did such a man and minister turn up; and the
general impression, even in his case, was, that the farm was better
tilled than the parish.
But the small farmers in the old States north of the Delaware have a
hard life. If they get on, it is by vigorous economy following
excessive industry. There is a good deal of sentiment wasted on the
delights of farming. But in New England, we suspect that for every
farmer who lives in abundance or comparative ease, there are five, and
perhaps ten, that fare coarsely, and are not half as well clothed and
housed as the average mechanic. First-rate farmers are few; third and
fourth rate farmers are many, and a hard time they have. But as one
goes westward, to better soil, larger farms, and more congenial
climate, things change. Farmers are prosperous without such exacting
toil. Their dwellings grow better, particularly in the northern parts
of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and the great Northwest. If one has money
and leisure, he may carry on a farm in the Eastern States with great
enjoyment. That is as pleasant a way to spend money as can well be
devised, not even excepting the management of fast horses and fast
yachts; for both of these deteriorate in the using, and some go under,
while the farm steadily rises in value and force. But with the
exception of the owners of uncommonly good land here and there, not
much money is to be made at farming in the East. The farm is an
institution designed to promote health and comfort in the expenditure
of money. Money is the one manure which the farm greedily covets.
We say these things, not to discourage farming, but to dissuade the
annual host from going out to make their fortunes on a farm, who, in
five years, will come back stripped bare of everything but disgust—not
of that. No man would think of going from the law, or from a store,
into a mechanical trade without having served an apprenticeship, or
having become in some way familiar with it. Lawyers do not set up at
cabinet-making, nor go into steel works, nor set up for builders or
painters. But when business is dull, and health delicate, many a
professional man, many a clerk or unsuccessful merchant, concludes to
buy a “snug farm,” and retire from the cares of the town or city, to
lead the joyous life of a farmer. He has no knowledge of farming; but
it requires none! Farming is simple. You rise with the dewy morn; you
go forth to your prodigal acres; you rest under the trees bending with
fruit; you eat from your bountiful table the food that sprung from
your own soil,—and ever so much more romance of the same sort.
Prosperous farming requires knowledge, tact at managing men, skill in
laying out work, incessant industry, very close calculations, good
judgment in buying, and a good capacity of selling. In short, the
qualities which go to make up a good merchant, a good manufacturer,
and a good scientist ought to be combined in a first-class farmer.
There are more passable orators born every year than there are
first-class farmers. If any one doubts the truth of these views, let
him try a farm for a few years!