Page:Once a Week Jun to Dec 1864.pdf/596

 [. 12, 1864.] show how the money is consumed. First comes the valuation from the outgoing to the incoming tenant. This comprises the taking-to of straw and hay, for on most farms the tenant is prohibited from selling his hay; the valuation of fallows and growing crops, and in some districts what are called unexhausted improvements, being the manure, &c., that the previous tenant has enriched the land with, but from which he has as yet reaped no benefit. Improvements in farm buildings are sometimes classed under this head.

Then comes his farm implements, his ploughs, harrows, drills, carts, waggons, &c., which should all be of the very best and most modern construction. Next comes the stock, the amount and value of which depend upon the nature and capabilities of the land. If it is a grazing farm, and the quality of the land be rich and good, a large amount of capital is required to stock it. Many farmers in the Midland Counties have stock to the value of 201. per acre. It must be remembered, however, that the present prices of live stock are exceptionably high.

Having laid out part of his capital in his implements and stock, our farmer must still possess a balance in hand to meet his weekly payments, such as labour, tradesmen’s bills, rates and taxes, and the hundred-and-one items which require him always to have his hand in his pocket. For, supposing him to enter his farm in April, he will have some months to come before his corn is fit to cut and send to the market. Then there is his rent to be provided for, usually paid half-yearly, although among most landlords it is postponed for some three or four months after it is actually due.

The amount of stock a farm will carry so much depends upon the quality of the land, that no general rule can be laid down. Upon sheep farms, that is, upon land adapted for the keep of sheep, it is considered that one sheep per acre can be kept, and sometimes, with the addition of artificial food, even more. Grazing land of a rich quality will feed a bullock to the acre, and that on grass alone; but to keep a dairy cow summer and winter will require the produce of three acres. In the regulation of his stock, our farmer is required to exercise both judgment and discrimination: he must buy in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest; he must be alike careful not to overstock his farm, so that he will have to purchase large quantities of artificial food, or to understock it, so that his own produce remains unconsumed.

Having thus started our farmer, stocked his farm, and fairly placed him in working order, we will now see how his time is occupied in his daily tasks, so as to procure the greatest amount of labour and return for his capital.

Perhaps in no occupation is such unceasing industry and watchfulness required as in farming. The manufacturer, employing machinery for the production of his article, works with materials susceptible of but little variation, and day by day the same task is begun and completed. But with the farmer this is different: his task is ever changing; and a variation in weather, a fall of rain or snow, will completely disarrange his contemplated plans, and make an operation he was successfully pursuing to-day injurious to-morrow. Hence the necessity on his part for constant and careful supervision and watchfulness, that he may take advantage of every opportunity, and not neglect to “make hay while the sun shines.”

Our farmer must of necessity be an early riser. He must be at his post at or before six o’clock in the morning, the hour that his labourers usually assemble for work. He must then set them about such tasks as time, seasons, and weather render necessary to be done. Stock will next require his attention, and here the eye of the master is essentially requisite. He must see that their food is proper in quality and sufficient in quantity, and that every animal is receiving its fair share. He will also notice any appearance of illness or unthriftiness in his animals; and if he finds one of them ailing, he will, if possible, ascertain the cause, and apply, or cause to be applied, the appropriate remedy.

Field operations next require his supervision; and in this department is essentially requisite a thorough knowledge of his business, for our farmer should be able to detect at a glance all oversights and shirking of work on the part of his labourers. He will thus be able to discriminate between the man thoroughly up to his work and who has his master’s interest at heart, and the mere idler, whose whole study it is to get through his work with the least trouble. A farmer will generally find a sprinkling of the latter class among his labourers, however careful he may be in his selection of them. Dinner generally occupies an hour, after which field operations are resumed, the horses coming home at various times from three to six o’clock; upon most farms the horse labour ceases at three. Six o’clock generally sees the termination of the farm day, and at that hour the labourers cease from work. Those, however, who have special duties to attend to, such as the horse-keepers or waggoners, and the cowmen, stop until their respective duties are finished, however late the hour may be. Before retiring to rest, the farmer should again be at his post, see that all