UMASS/AMHERST ^ 
 
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 DEPOSITORY 
 
MASSACHUSETTS 
 STATE COLLEGE 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
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 flPE dALtOLLIC H Blil 
 
This book may be kept out 
 
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 on the day indicated below. 
 
 ^aiyo 
 
VALUABLE SCHOOL BOOKS, 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 DAVID H. WILLIAMS, 
 
 BOSTON, MASS. 
 
 PIERPONT'S SERIES OF READING BOOKS. 
 
 1. The Little Learner, or Rudiments of Reading. 
 
 2. The Young Reader, to go with the Spelling Book. 
 
 3. Introduction to the National. Reader, a Selec- 
 tion of Easy Reading Lessons. 
 
 4. The National Reader ; being a Selection of Exer- 
 cises in Reading and Speaking. 
 
 5. The American First Class Book. 
 
 *^* These five works, compiled by the Rev. John Pier- 
 poNT, compose a series which is undoubtedly more suitable for 
 the purposes for which they were designed, than any previous 
 publications. The series is used in the Boston schools, and ex- 
 tensively in those of New England, and other parts of the United 
 States. 
 
 WORCESTER'S SCHOOL BOOKS. 
 improved edition. 
 
 Elements of Ancient and Modern Geography, 
 with an Atlas. 
 
 Elements of Modern Geography, with an Atlas. 
 
 Elements of Ancient Classical and Scripture 
 Geography, with an Atlas. 
 
 *^* These works have just been revised, and improved by 
 many alterations and additions, required by the present condition 
 of geographical knowledge. They are used in Harvard Univer- 
 sity and the Boston Schools, and in some of the first literary in- 
 stitutions and schools in the country. 
 
 D. H. W. also publishes the American Almanac and Reposi- 
 tory of Useful Knoioledge; Sewall's New York Collection of 
 Psalms and Hymns, &c. &c. 
 
 1Ij= Teachers and Booksellers will be supplied with 
 the above on liberal terms. 
 
THE 
 
 PRACTICAL FARMER, 
 
 ^pixit of tf)t Bogtott Cttltitjatot, 
 
 CONTAINING A 
 
 COLLECTION OF VALUABLE ESSAYS, 
 
 PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE, &c. 
 
 BY WILLIAM BUCKMINSTER. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 DAVID H. WILLIAMS 
 
 1840. 
 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840, 
 
 BY D. H. WILLIAMS, 
 
 in the Clerk's office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 CD 
 
 5> 
 
 The following pages contain the essence of the Boston 
 Cultivator^ which was published weekly, in newspaper form, 
 during the year 1839. 
 
 Our original subscribers will recollect that we promised, at 
 the commencement of our paper, to furnish each one of them, 
 at the close of the year, with a bound book, containing the 
 principal portion of the permanent and most valuable articles 
 of the paper, at the same price that is usually paid for bind- 
 ing a volume of newspapers. 
 
 We dislike the quarto form for a newspaper, for, in reading, 
 we are not always sure we put the proper parts together to 
 match ; and the expense of binding our large folio sheet would 
 be one objection to preserving the papers in that form. Anoth- 
 er serious objection would be the room the folio must occu- 
 py, and the labor of holding it while examining its contents. 
 
 For these reasons, many of our early patrons requested us 
 not to give them a quarto sheet, and all have now an oppor- 
 tunity of securing, in convenient form, the spirit and substance 
 of the fifty-two numbers. 
 Cv^ When we commenced the publication of the Cultivator we 
 n supposed a book as large as our annual registers would be 
 ^^ of sufficient size to contain all we might wish to preserve ; but, 
 on trial, we find we are obliged to make our book much larger 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 than we contemplated, and still leave out of it some articles 
 that we should like to preserve. 
 
 But this redundancy enables us to make a selection ; and 
 we are under no necessity of publishing the whole contents of 
 the first page of our newspaper in order to make up a book. 
 
 Most of those mechanics and farmers who think it useful to 
 look into books occasionally, to learn what others in their 
 line are doing, will find it very convenient to preserve^ in the 
 form of a book, valuable recipes in the arts, as well as records 
 of the various improvements in agriculture. 
 
 We have often seen in newspapers valuable articles which 
 we should like to see again. We retain a faint impression of 
 the contents, but not sufficient for any valuable purpose ; 
 and, when it is too late, we make an unsuccessful inquiry for 
 the object of our search. 
 
 An index to the volume will at once direct the inquirer to 
 any article he may be in search of ; and, by bestowing a small 
 sum, which any farmer or mechanic may well spare for 
 books, he will soon form a family library that may be en- 
 joyed by himself and his family, and then be transmitted to 
 
 his heirs to the third and fourth generation. 
 
 W. B. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Asparagus, 115 
 
 Agriculture, 121 
 
 Agriculture in the United 
 
 States, .190 
 
 Agriculture, comparative 
 
 Value of, 213 
 
 Artichoke, the English, . 240 
 Agricultural Society's Re- 
 port, 280 
 
 Age of the Horse, . . .285 
 Animal and Vegetable 
 
 Manure, &c 293 
 
 Butter, Making and Salt- 
 ing of, .... 81, 257 
 
 Buckwheat, 99 
 
 Burnt Clay, 106 
 
 Bone Manure, . . . .119 
 Book-Farming, .... 221 
 
 Brown Corn, 274 
 
 Bacon, Making, .... 287 
 
 Bets, 289 
 
 Cements, 49 
 
 Carts, Farming, .... 95 
 Correspondence, 128, 168, 177, 
 180, 182, 216, 243, 272 
 Calculation, Management, 198 
 Clover, early cut, . . . 199 
 
 Cattle, 202 
 
 Comparative Value of 
 
 Agriculture, .... 213 
 Cold and Wet Ground, . 229 
 
 Corn-Fields, 230 
 
 Canker-Worm, . . . .246 
 
 Page 
 
 Coarse Meadow Grass, . 270 
 Cabbage Plants, .... 296 
 Dyspepsy in Hogs, . . . 242 
 
 Economy, 22 
 
 Entomology, 39 
 
 Earths and Soils, . . .100 
 Feeding Cattle, . . .45, 185 
 Forests, on cutting, . . 93 
 Farming-Carts, .... 95 
 
 Fir Balsam, 114 
 
 Farm-Building, .... 125 
 
 Farm-Tools, 143 
 
 Farm-Yard Management, 145 
 Facts for Farmers, . . . 208 
 
 Flat Turnip, 211 
 
 Fruit-Trees, 276 
 
 Farmers and Mechanics, . 291 
 
 Grass, 52 
 
 Grain, Worm, .... 92 
 Green Crops, . .... 160 
 Gravelly Land: Corres- 
 pondence, 180 
 
 Grass-Lands, &c. : Corres- 
 pondence, 182 
 
 Garget, 227 
 
 Grapes, 239 
 
 Grapes: Correspondence,. 279 
 Grasshoppers, .... 300 
 Hedges, live, . . . .112 
 Horse, the, . . . 162, 285 
 Hints to Farmers, . . . 181 
 
 Having, 189 
 
 Harrow, the, 228 
 
Vlll 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Harvesting Corn, . . . 230 
 
 Indian Corn, 175 
 
 Insects on Fruit-Trees : 
 
 Inquiry, 200 
 
 Improvement of the Soil 
 by Animal and Vege- 
 table Manure, .... 293 
 Lime, Facts, &c. of, . . 18 
 Locomotion, .... 63, 74 
 
 Lime, 107 
 
 Live Hedges, 112 
 
 Light and Coarse Mould 
 
 under Stone Walls, . 156 
 Lucerne, or French Clover, 157 
 Low Land: Correspond- 
 ence, . 177 
 
 Low Lands, 222 
 
 Labors of .September, . . 225 
 Labors of November, . • 263 
 Manures, ..... 25, 87 
 Mechanics, .... 30, 61 
 Manures, and their Appli- 
 cation to the Soil, . 40, 54, 
 72, 152 
 
 Maple Sugar, 57 
 
 Milking, . . . .68, 71, 79 
 Marl, its Nature and Ef- 
 fects, 165 
 
 Manure: Correspondence, 168 
 243 
 Mildew on Grass, . . . 197 
 Making Butter, .... 257 
 Meadow-Grass, coarse, . 270 
 November, Labors of, . . 263 
 
 Neat Stock, 297 
 
 Orchards, ... 11, 77, 133 
 One extra Hen, .... 109 
 
 Peat-Land, 91 
 
 Ploughing, 96 
 
 Production and Consump- 
 tion, 104 
 
 Potatoes, . . 124, 260, 272 
 Peat-Meadow, . . 171, 179 
 
 Pruning, 207 
 
 Potatoes, gathering of, . 229 
 Peat, 231 
 
 Page 
 Plaster of Paris, . . 236, 269 
 Pig-Pen in August, . . . 245 
 Rohan Potato, .... 26 
 Raising Roots, .... 94 
 
 Roots, 110, 158 
 
 Root Culture, Report of 
 
 the Committee on, . . 134 
 Roses, Tincture of, . . 286 
 Swamp Lands, .... 15 
 Seeding down, .... 36 
 Sugar-Beet, ... 48, 241 
 Short-Legged Animals, . 65 
 
 Soils, 89, 100 
 
 Silk 116, 131 
 
 Sunflower Oil, .... 120 
 Soils, Exhaustion of, . . 122 
 Soils, their Origin and 
 
 Nature, 149 
 
 Soaking Seed-Corn, . . 155 
 Suckering Corn, . . i . 201 
 Salt Water for Cleansing 
 
 Wool, 204 
 
 Strawberries, Culture of, . 205 
 Seeding down: Corres- 
 pondence, 216 
 
 Saving Seeds, .... 256 
 Succession of Crops, . . 265 
 Sea-Sand, Vegetative Pow- 
 er of, 278 
 
 To oar Brother Farmers, . 9 
 Turnip versus Potato, . 16 
 Transplanting, . . 32, 271 
 
 The Ladies, 67 
 
 Tails 69 
 
 Tall Meadow Oat-Grass, 117 
 
 The Horse, 162 
 
 The Garden an Index of 
 
 the Mind, 164 
 
 Turnip, flat, 211 
 
 Tincture of Roses, . . . 286 
 Timber for Fencing, . . 399 
 Vegetative Power of Sea- 
 
 Sand, 278 
 
 Wheels, 85 
 
 Washing Trees, .... 118 
 Wheat: Correspondence. 128 
 
TO OUR BROTHER FARMERS. 
 
 Gentlemen, you have often heard of us through the 
 medium of other agricultural journals, but now you will 
 see us in a more conspicuous station than prudence 
 might advise us to take. 
 
 The only apology we have is the zeal we bear 
 to the more perfect cultivation of our native soil, — 
 our beloved New England. In taking upon our- 
 selves the trust of conducting a journal which will 
 be the medium of communicating information from 
 you and to you, we pray you to understand we as- 
 sume no dictatorial powers. We do not profess to 
 teach you how to manage your farms. We rather 
 choose to be the medium through which you shall 
 make communications to one another on our favorite 
 topics, and thus elicit facts and arguments in favor of 
 a more improved system of cultivation. 
 
 We wish this day to commence and to continue a 
 system of mutual i7istruction in which you shall all bear 
 a part ; and to afford you a medium, on the very lowest 
 terms in our power, through which facts may be read- 
 ily communicated, from which conclusions may be 
 drawn, for our advancement in our profession and call- 
 ing, and for the edification of all concerned. Living 
 remote from towns and from each other, we are prone 
 to become careless and inattentive to our best interests ; 
 2 
 
10 TO OUR BROTHER FARMERS. 
 
 we forget and we neglect important duties, for the want 
 of a little jogging, and we let slip the golden oppor- 
 tunity of overcoming difficulties until it is too late. 
 In this respect, mechanics who cluster in cities and 
 in villages have a decided advantage over us in all 
 colloquial intercourse ; and, by long practice, they 
 acquire a habit of communicating their thoughts with 
 more fluency than we who associate less with our fel- 
 low-craftsmen. 
 
 We are accordingly accused of being more backward 
 in adopting improvements than other classes ; and, to 
 compensate for our living more remote from each other 
 than any class of workmen, we must write more and 
 read more. For these we have the means. We have 
 wholly the advantage of the mechanic in the leisure 
 afforded us in our long winter evenings for reading and 
 for writing. Let us improve these advantages, and 
 endeavor, by a course of mutual instruction, through 
 the medium of books and papers, to make compensa- 
 tion for the disadvantages of dwelling remotely from 
 each other. Let us remind each other of what should 
 be done, and of the time of doing ; and, if any one 
 has discovered an improved mode of cultivation, let 
 it be communicated as rapidly as improvements are 
 among mechanics. 
 
 We have no idea that we have yet arrived at per- 
 fection in the art of cultivation. If any one has reached 
 that goal, let him teach another the way. We met 
 a farmer the other day, wrapped up close in wisdom 
 and his great coat, and invited him to join our society ; 
 that is, take our paper. "No," said he; "I know 
 how to farm it without books." " Yes," we said, 
 " we are well aware of that, and we wish you to 
 communicate your knowledge to others, that they may 
 become rich like yourself" He wrapped his coat 
 about him' still more tight, and said, " One is enough 
 for me to take care of" We hope and trust that few 
 in the community keep their wisdom so close as this 
 
ORCHARDS. 
 
 11 
 
 man, and that the great majority take as much pleas- 
 ure in making known new modes of cultivation as 
 some of the other sex are said to do in divulging the 
 profoundest secrets. There is a pleasure in communi- 
 cating information : both sexes delight in it. By the 
 system here recommended we make our duty a pleas- 
 ure, and we may thus hope to persevere till we make 
 New England a garden, and the wild places to blossom 
 as the rose. 
 
 All, without exception, are invited to join us for the 
 promotion of knowledge. We will give them certifi- 
 cates of membership for life, if they will take so deep 
 an interest in our institution ; and we hereby promise 
 to communicate as much information to any member 
 as he shall communicate to us. 
 
 ORCHARDS. 
 
 We would not say much on orchards at this time 
 of year were we not constantly reminded, winter and 
 summer, as we pass along the road, of the amount of 
 labor that has been thrown wholly away by inefficient 
 attempts to plant an apple-orchard. We have come 
 to the conclusion, from the orchards we have observed 
 in our various travels, that the owners of ninety-nine 
 in a hundred had generally thrown away their labors, 
 and that the orchards they attempted to plant were 
 only a nuisance to their grounds. These lands were 
 generally quite rich enough for trees of this kind. 
 This was not the evil. The trees were not well se- 
 lected at the first ; they were not carefully taken up ; 
 they were not properly set in the ground ; they were 
 not tilled after setting ; and the cattle, in most cases, 
 were called in to trim the trees. It was an old max- 
 
12 ORCHARDS. 
 
 im, that he who plants an orchard, plants it for the next 
 generation ; we should say, for his cattle to rub against, 
 or for his hogs, that were fond of the bark of the trees. 
 
 Now he that plants an orchard need not make up 
 his mind that he is necessarily at work for others ; and 
 we hope, if we can but make him believe he is at work 
 for himself, and is not an hireling, or disinterested, he 
 will proceed in his labor with faithfulness and skill. 
 
 We will warrant him, if he will exercise any com- 
 mon degree of judgment, a good crop of apples within 
 five years of his transplanting ; and, if he plants an 
 acre, he shall have winter and fall fruit enough for a 
 dozen in a family. 
 
 Now to the work. His land should have been tilled 
 the year before setting his trees, and made as rich as 
 usual for Indian corn. It should be ploughed in the 
 spring, before setting the trees, and well harrowed. 
 This ploughing need not be deeper than for corn. It 
 is a great error to set trees deep in the earth : some do 
 it to procure moisture for the tree, some to make room 
 to thrust in a quantity of manure, and some so that the 
 tree may have a firm support, and not be racked by the 
 winds. 
 
 Now we say to you, brethren, imitate none of these 
 modes. A tree set deep is set in the poorest earth : 
 place your trees so that the roots may have the richest. 
 Never put manure of any description about the roots, if 
 you would have your trees live. Place nothing but 
 good garden mould next the roots. Give them suffi- 
 cient room. Make the hole for them hroad, but not 
 deep. 
 
 When you have covered the roots with good garden 
 mould, and spread out the fibres so as not to crowd a 
 peck of them into one heap. Roots are not fond of 
 close intimacy : like bachelors, they always prefer a 
 separate bed ; and, like old maids, they should always 
 have one. When you have covered these roots with 
 good soil, take from your cow-yard any coarse litter 
 
ORCHARDS. 13 
 
 that will retain moisture, and place it around the tree, 
 treading it down close, so that it shall form a support 
 to the tree. This litter should lie several inches thick 
 after it has been trod doAvn. If you have none of this 
 litter, coarse manure may be used : old stack hay or 
 straw will answer the purpose. This litter must lie 
 here through the season, and be kept trod down close. 
 Now, you need no stake to gall the trees : your litter 
 is a sufficient prop. You need put no water about the 
 roots ; for your litter or coarse hay impedes evaporation 
 to such a degree, that the earth under it will continue 
 moist through the whole summer. If the tree is racked 
 a little by the winds, so much the better : it is thus 
 taught early to rely on itself for support. A staked 
 tree is like a spoiled child, — spoiled with too much 
 nursing. The litter about the tree will prevent the 
 racking by the winds, and the opening of the ground 
 to let the air to the roots, and will save you the trouble 
 of hoeing or tilling for the first year. No weeds will 
 grow under this litter, no grass, — the two great obsta- 
 cles to the extension of the roots. Your soil will thus 
 be kept mellow, and porous, and moist. 
 
 In autumn, before any snow falls, you must remove 
 all the litter that has not become rotten, to a distance 
 from the trees. You will thus give some offence to 
 mice, that are always fond of making their bed, like 
 politicians, close to some towering object that may 
 afford them future support. If your cats have done 
 their duty, and killed off their fresh-meat stock in due 
 time, you have nothing farther to do the first season. 
 But, if your cats have been negligent, and got their 
 rations out of your commissariat rather than glean 
 them abroad in honorable services in the field, you 
 must go out, as soon as the first snow has fallen, and 
 tread it down close about the roots of your trees. 
 Your field-mice must now seek some other habitation, 
 in case they had commenced building as squatters on 
 your soil, and you need be at no further trouble through 
 2* 
 
14 ORCHARDS. 
 
 the winter ; for they, like the Oherokees, are not for 
 vohintary immigration in the midst of snows. Now 
 your trees are well set. They have not only put out 
 the leaf, but their limbs have extended — if you saw 
 to the work yourself — from half a foot to a foot each 
 way. They will need but very little trimming this 
 second season, if you trimmed them a little on setting 
 them. They must have top. Their leaves are their 
 lungs ; and a good proportion of leaves are indicative 
 of good health, as good lungs are in animals. What 
 will you do with your trees this second summer ? Will 
 you suffer the grass and weeds to draw away all mois- 
 ture from the neighborhood of the roots, and occupy 
 the space intended for them ? We trust not. Keep 
 your land in tillage three or four years at the least. 
 You may raise exhausting crops, if you will apply 
 manure ; you may raise beans or drilled turnips, with- 
 out manuring this season ; you may sow tbrnips, 
 broad-cast, as late as the first of July, without injury 
 to the trees ; in fine, you may plant almost any thing 
 among your trees, and they will grow quite as fast as 
 they should grow, provided always you keep up good 
 tillage. 
 
 On the first of October, in the fourth year, we will 
 call on you — -in case you took your trees from our 
 nursery — and help you pick half a dozen barrels of 
 Avinter apples from an acre of trees. If this happens 
 not to be a bearing year, we shall wait one year longer, 
 and then give you a friendly call, and see that you 
 have appointed some tivo-legged animal to trim, in 
 preference to such as sometimes, for want of proper 
 instruments, cut a little too close, and do not leave the 
 body quite so smooth as it might be left with a knife. 
 
 More may be said next week on this subject, if you 
 will draw your chair up close, so that this everlasting 
 clatter on the pavements shall not interrupt our con- 
 verse. Will you call at our office again 1 
 
SWAMP LANDS. 15 
 
 SWAMP LANDS. 
 
 As a general rule, we may safely assume, that our 
 low lands are our best lands ; not the best for corn, or 
 potatoes, or rye, or oats, or barley — we have high 
 and dry lands enough for all these — but there is still 
 another harvest more valuable than either one of them. 
 For grass, these low lands are preferable to any other ; 
 and grass is our most profitable crop. We are not tell- 
 ing what should he most profitable, but what is. We 
 would not dispense with the raising of grain ; bnt, if 
 New England must buy, why buy grain in preference 
 to hay, or any production of grass ? Grass and hay 
 have long been, they now are, and they long must be, 
 the most profitable harvests. And our low lands are 
 our best lands for grass ; yet we suffer more of these 
 to lie wholly unimproved than any other species ! 
 Why is this ? We fear to meddle with them. They 
 are miry ; the plough cannot be used, for the ox is 
 not able here to assist us ; hand-hoeing is tedious ; 
 paring and burning the surface is attended with diffi- 
 culty. Draining must be attended to, and a host of 
 troubles these meadows give birth to as soon as we 
 attempt to reclaim them. Hence we look on from 
 year to year, and see our richest prairies the home of 
 the mud-tortoise, the burrow of the musk-rat and the 
 mink, the haunt of the musquito, and the terror of 
 the nightly wanderer who starts at the grum salutation 
 of the bull-frog. 
 
 These swamps are the natural receptacle of all the 
 rich particles of earth that are washed down from the 
 surrounding highlands. They also, in many cases, are 
 made up of a vegetable growth, which forms a rich 
 manure, when properly decomposed, to be applied to 
 highlands. This vegetable growth, in some cases, ad- 
 vances rapidly ; and ponds are now becoming visibly 
 less, in consequence of the encroaching grass, and 
 
16 TURNIP VERSUS POTATO. 
 
 weeds, and bushes, on their margins. These vegeta- 
 bles grow up as high as the surface of the water, 
 and then remain stationary for ages, till, by their mul- 
 tiplication and their spreading, they fill the chasm, 
 once a pond of water. This accounts for the perfect 
 levelness of surface of very extensive meadows. That 
 these are made-lands, or recently made, compared 
 with other portions of the creation, we have further 
 evidence from the logs and leaves that are very fre- 
 quently found buried many feet below the surface. 
 
 There are various modes of bringing these lands 
 under cultivation ; and these will be stated, together 
 with the expense attending them, with much accuracy, 
 in some of our future numbers. We mean to be very 
 particular in these statements, for we have made actual 
 trial of the various modes, and are still pursuing the 
 work of bringing such lands into English grass. At 
 present, we will only say, generally, that we have 
 never attempted to subdue any such lands without 
 complete success, and a very profitable harvest ; and 
 that, to" determine which of several modes we should 
 adopt to subdue them, we should examine into the 
 texture of the meadow, and the facilities for bringing 
 on materials to help form the soil. When we can 
 pare and burn, we want no soil nor manure to be 
 carried on. 
 
 TURNIP VERSUS POTATO. 
 
 We seem to be now all agreed that more roots should 
 be raised for the fattening of animals than we have 
 been in the habit of raising. Corn must be raised, but 
 it is an expensive article for fattening beasts. A small 
 portion of corn-meal, oat-meal, or buckwheat-meal, 
 
TURNIP VERSUS POTATO. 
 
 17 
 
 mixed with roots, pumpkins, squashes, apples, &c. 
 make a good and cheap diet. Tlie question now is, 
 what roots shall we prefer ? 
 
 Shall we set aside the potato, the admiration and 
 theme, for half a century, of a wondering set of ad- 
 mirers, who have discovered, not only that it does not 
 impoverish, but that it actually enriches, our soils? 
 We cannot part with the potato. When ripe, it is 
 wholesome food : it has become a necessary of the 
 dinner-table. When unripe, it is one of the most 
 poisonous articles we attempt to use for food. Let us 
 have potatoes enough for the table still ; but, for fat- 
 tening beasts, we can do better. Potatoes are said to 
 subdue the new-broken sod, and fit the ground for 
 future crops. We agree they subdue the land, and 
 they oppj^ess it. They exhaust our light soils more 
 than corn does, and are not followed by so good crops 
 as corn is, when both have an equal share of manure. 
 We are aware our doctrine is somewhat new : we shall 
 attempt to prove it satisfactorily in our future numbers. 
 But to the turnips. We think we can raise three to 
 four bushels of the yellow turnip — the ruta baga — as 
 easily as one of potatoes, and that the turnips exhaust 
 the soil much less than they. All theory is decidedly 
 in favor of our position, as the turnip has more extent 
 of leaf, more superficial surface to be acted on by the 
 atmosphere, than the potato has : it consequently gets 
 more of its living from the air, and less from the earth. 
 Again, the turnip has but little root, and cannot draw 
 so largely from the soil as plants with more extended 
 ones. We can raise excellent turnips with a little sur- 
 face manuring, and the crops that follow are generally 
 good. Potatoes require, in old land, already subdued, 
 much manuring. The crop of grass that follows is 
 not equal, in our sandy loams, to the grass that fol- 
 lows Indian corn, called by most people a great ex- 
 hauster. 
 
 The cost of seeding an acre of potatoes is no small 
 
18 FACTS AND OPINIONS ON LIME. 
 
 item. Sometimes we put on twenty bushels to the 
 acre, and the cost of these is oftentimes ten dollars in 
 planting time. Ten dollars for seed ! Mr. Williams, 
 who obtained a premium for the largest crop, states 
 in his report to the Massachusetts Society, that he 
 planted eighty bushels of seed on his acre, — forty 
 dollars worth of seed ! This is a larger sum than the 
 whole crop of an acre of corn brings on the average. 
 Then the planting or dibbling out of eighty bushels 
 of potatoes will make the back ache of two of our 
 stoutest laborers. Now the seed for an acre of ruta 
 baga, properly sown, costs less than fifty cents ; the 
 seed for one acre of corn, twenty-five cents. It is be- 
 lieved that one bushel of turnips affords, when cooked, 
 as much nutriment as one of potatoes. It is true, there 
 are soils where turnips cannot be cultivated to good 
 advantage, at least not in drills ; but both the yellow 
 and the white turnip may be easily raised by sowing 
 broad-cast, and they both delight in new or unsubdued 
 grounds. 
 
 This subject will be pursued. 
 
 [From the Farmers' Cabinet.] 
 
 FACTS AND OPINIONS OF LIME. 
 
 " Examine all things, and hold fast to that which is good." 
 
 The extensive and increasing use of lime for ag- 
 ricultural purposes, renders it highly necessary that 
 farmers should be put in possession of all the leading 
 facts in relation to so important an article, and one in 
 which large numbers of them are dealing annually, 
 some of whom have sustained loss from lack of that 
 kind of knowledge which would enable them \o pro- 
 tect their interest. 
 
FACTS AND OPINIONS ON LIME. 19 
 
 It has been ascertained, from a series of experiments 
 carefully made in England, by Bishop Watson — and it 
 is presumed that they will apply equally well in this 
 country — that, upon an average, every ton, of 2240 
 pounds, of good limestone produced 1292 pounds of 
 quick lime, weighed before it was cold ; and that, when 
 it was exposed to the air, it increased in weight daily, 
 at the rate of a hundred weight per ton, for the first 
 five or six days after it was drawn from the kiln. 
 
 A ton of fresh well-burnt lime will absorb 680 
 pounds, or nearly one third its weight of water, with- 
 out being slacked ; and a bushel of good stone lime, 
 when slacked, win measure two bushels; of course, 
 slacked lime should sell for one half the price per 
 bushel of stone lime. 
 
 There is a great difference in the value of lime, de- 
 pending on the purity of the stone out of which it was 
 burnt. Some lime contains one fourth or more of 
 sand ; and often other impurities enter into its compo- 
 sition, which materially lessen its value. Masons and 
 bricklayers are among the best judges of lime, for they 
 know that the purer it is, the better it works, and 
 the more sand may be mixed with it. Some lime is 
 so poor, or contains so m.uch foreign matter in its com- 
 position, as not to admit of any or only of a very 
 small quantity of sand being added to it in making 
 mortar. The lime that is most profitable for making 
 mortar is also most valuable for agricultural purposes. 
 The purer lime is, the more water it takes in, and the 
 longer it is in slacking, and it increases more, both in 
 weight and measure by the process of being slacked, 
 than poor or impure lime does. 
 
 Water dissolves the alkaline ingredient of lime, and 
 it has been ascertained that at the freezing point 
 it dissolves double the quantity that boiling water 
 does, differing in this respect, perhaps, from all other 
 bodies. 
 
 Lime-water, or the alkaline solution of lime,. is per- 
 
20 FACTS AND OPINIONS ON LIME. 
 
 fectly transparent, and possesses an acrid, alkaline taste, 
 somewhat similar to the ley from wood-ashes. 
 
 Dr. Alston states that one pound of quick lime fur- 
 nished him with 600 pounds of hme-water without 
 its being sensibly weakened, and that he continued 
 the application of additional quantities of fresh water 
 to it for twenty-six months. 
 
 It is presumed that it is this alkaline solution of lime 
 that produces the principal effect on the soil and on 
 vegetation. Lime and its solution are well known to 
 be powerful antiseptics, resisting or impeding putri- 
 faction in animal or vegetable substances, notwith- 
 standing it has been stated in many books of agricul- 
 ture that it promotes fermentation and putrifaction, 
 and renders bodies more quickly and readily soluble 
 in water. 
 
 Gluick lime, applied to succulent vegetables, absorbs 
 the moisture from them, and renders them perfectly 
 dry and brittle ; and, if the quantity of lime be great 
 compared with the vegetable matter, combustion takes 
 place, and the vegetables are reduced to ashes, but 
 are not decomposed in the usual understanding of the 
 term. 
 
 Lime spread on the surface sod is in some measure 
 prevented by the grass and the fibres of the roots from 
 descending into the earth, and the rains from time to 
 time dissolve it, and carry down the alkaline solution, 
 so as to moisten every particle of the soil with it. 
 This neutralizes the acidity of the soil, and the car- 
 bonic acid gas of the atmosphere converts the solution 
 into carbonate of lime in connection with every parti- 
 cle of earth it comes in contact with : and this being 
 much less adhesive than clay, when it comes to be 
 ploughed, the particles easily separate ; and hence the 
 property of lime in rendering the soil less adhesive, 
 and more readily penetrated by the roots of plants in 
 search of food. 
 
 Particles of sand not being penetrated by moisture, 
 
FACTS AND OPINIONS ON LIME. 21 
 
 whe-re that predominates, the alkahiie solution of the 
 lime passes between them and becomes a carbonate, 
 forming an adhesive cement between them ; and hence 
 it renders a sandy soil somewhat more compact and 
 retentive of moisture. 
 
 Where much vegetable matter abounds in a soil, it 
 will absorb and retain the solution of lime as a sponge, 
 which, being converted in its interstices into a car- 
 bonate, will tend to impede its too speedy decomposi- 
 tion • for vegetable matter, in our climate, decomposes 
 with too much rapidity for plants to take up the nutri- 
 ment it aftbrds as rapidly as it is produced, and conse- 
 quently a portion of it is lost or dissipated ; but, by the 
 decomposition being impeded or checked by the car- 
 bonate of lime, it proceeds more slowly, and continues 
 to give out food for plants more gradually, and for a 
 much longer period of time ; and this corresponds with 
 the observation of our most intelligent farmers, that, 
 where lime is used, the manure or dung continues to 
 produce its effect for a much longer time. 
 
 The partially decomposed vegetable matter in the 
 soil also operates as a reservoir for moisture, and gives 
 it out to the adjacent soil when it becomes dry, so 
 as to keep up a more perfect equilibrium of moisture, 
 which is stated to be the fact where lime is applied ; 
 for manure that is only partially decomposed holds 
 moistvu'e in much larger quantities than that which 
 is thoroughly rotten. This may be observed in every 
 dung-heap in the country ; for the straw holds the 
 moisture whilst the decomposition is only partial, but 
 when it becomes thorough it lets it loose ; and hence 
 we see the essence of dung-heaps running to waste 
 during the summer season. 
 
 These views are thrown together for the purpose of 
 arresting the attention of those who are much more 
 competent to discuss this intricate subject than the 
 writer ; for we find sometimes that even an erroneous 
 theory, by leading to discussion, promotes the discovery 
 3 
 
22 ECONOMY. 
 
 of truth. It is therefore hoped that those who are dis- 
 posed to examine and discuss this important subject, 
 will avail themselves of the Farmers' Cabinet for that 
 purpose. X. 
 
 We copy the above for the purpose of eliciting facts 
 and arguments as to the operation of lime. We shall 
 not recommend this article to our brethren as a manure, 
 until we know more of its virtues. In England, lime 
 is applied abundantly to various crops. The theory of 
 its operation is by no means well settled. It has com- 
 monly been supposed that lime is analogous to wood- 
 ashes, and" may be used wherever they are used. 
 X. adopts the theory, that lime prevents the too rapid 
 decomposition of vegetable matter. Then it must act 
 directly the reverse of ashes. They certainly hasten 
 decomposition. We want more facts, and then the- 
 ory. — Ed. 
 
 ECONOMY. 
 
 Come, brother farmers, draw up rather closer now, 
 since we have become a little acquainted, and let us 
 lay plans to have an abundance next year, though 
 some of us fell a little short the past season. The 
 governor tells us, in his late message, that the energies 
 of an enterprising people on a fertile soil, have, under 
 Providence, much improved our condition. It is en- 
 couraging to have people in high places take notice 
 of us, and we will show the world that a little com- 
 mendation shall not be lost on us. We wander : now 
 blow out that candle on the mantel-piece, for we did 
 not meet this evening to read, and we will talk by that 
 fire-light, which shineth enough to enlighten the whole 
 
ECONOMY. 23 
 
 room. A stove would do the same, if the doors of it 
 could be kept open ; but then we must keep an extra 
 one of those animals called '' help," to take up the dirt 
 of the floor and hearth, and cast it out into the draught, 
 instead of brushing it, in a moment, into the fire-place, 
 to be mingled with the ashes, to be laid on the corn. 
 Economy must be our word in hard times ; and if you 
 find us recommending modes of culture that are ex- 
 pensive, that cost more than they come to, why, stop 
 our paper, and say we are leading you astray, and you 
 prefer to make no advances in your profession. We 
 know we are often misled by theoretical writers. We 
 know we cannot farm it by book. We also know we 
 cannot 7^e7nain stationary. 
 
 Look abroad and see the designs of the Almighty in 
 his works of wisdom. Has he created us of full size 
 at once ? Has he given us a soil that needs no im- 
 provement ? Has he created any thing that is not pro- 
 gressing ? Nothing is at rest. Our earth, our platform, 
 is flying through space at the rate of about 2,000,000 
 miles in a day. Man is formed in weakness. He 
 comes not to maturity at once. His farm will never 
 be perfectly tilled. He must not hope for more than 
 an approximation to perfection, but he must advance. 
 Let none of us say loe cannot improve^ we will not 
 alter. 
 
 The times are changed. We cannot now send the 
 same proceeds to market as formerly. We must not 
 raise grain in the county of Middlesex to send to the 
 Boston market, as formerly. We must be governed, 
 in some degree, by the prices in the market. At the 
 present price of pork and beef, we can do well to fat- 
 ten and supply the market; but we cannot expect these 
 prices to continue, and we must make our calculations 
 on taking a more general view. And, even at present 
 prices, we can hardly aff'ord to fatten pork wholly on 
 grain. By the aid of the dairy and of vegetables that 
 ^re not saleable, mixed with a small portion of grain, 
 
24 
 
 ECONOMY. 
 
 we can afford pork for a little more than half the pres- 
 ent market price, but we most begin in season in the 
 fall. We must not keep our hogs till late in winter: 
 we must commence fattening as soon as summer and 
 fall vegetables are fit to be plucked, and we should 
 quit before these vegetables are frozen and spoiled. 
 
 Our soils in the old and long-settled parts of the 
 country are not what they were : the first crops were 
 luxuriant, and the land then needed no dressing. We 
 have now cropped our plain and easily tilled lands till 
 they have become in a great degree barren ; while our 
 rougher soils, that the plough was more afraid of, are 
 still comparatively rich : they have not been exhausted. 
 
 To prove that much of the soil of our plains is 
 naturally as good as that of rough and rocky lands, we 
 will only take you by the hand and show you a first 
 crop after clearing, on such plain lands. You. see as 
 large a growth here as on any soil, and the prirjcipal 
 reason why many of these plains appear so barren is, 
 they were too inviting to the plough. We have tilled 
 till they are wholly exhausted of vegetable matter. 
 New matter must be supplied ; and, if we are not able to 
 supply it, we cannot afford to pay taxes for the lands. 
 We will sell a portion, and, with the capital thence 
 arising, we will make the remainder produce more than 
 the whole did. This we call the commencement of 
 economy. If you are rich, you ought not to be troubled 
 with the care of hundreds of acres ; if poor, you may 
 be pestered to hire the capital, to pay the interest, or 
 to pay rent. You cannot place two hundred acres so 
 near your barns as you can place fifty. On the large 
 farm you have much farther to cart your manure, much 
 farther to bring home your produce. Your cows must 
 be driven twice a day much farther, and if your hired 
 '^ help " can come home as quick to dinner, they sel-. 
 dom return so quick to the distant field, as to that near 
 the house. 
 
MANURES. 25 
 
 MANURES. 
 
 Brother farmers, we shall have much to say to you 
 on manures. We shall often interrogate you as to the 
 best modes of making, preserving, and applying 
 manures. These are three important considerations in 
 our calling. It may be thought by some of you that 
 enough has already been said on the subject. Many, 
 truly, have written upon it, and some have written 
 truly. But let us have the sentiments and the experi- 
 ence of practical men. From our observation of the 
 practice of farmers in New England, we are satisfied 
 that, on an average, they lose one half the advantage 
 they might derive from their manures. We lose, in 
 the first place, by neglect of gathering it together ; 
 secondly, by suffering it to spoil in the heap, for Avant 
 of proper mixing ; and, thirdly, by a wrong application 
 of it to the soil. The liquid portion of it is allowed to 
 be as valuable as the solid ; and this, in many instances, 
 is wholly lost. We often suff"er a mass to dry up, or 
 evaporate, by lying thinly spread over a yard. We 
 often lose by heaping it together and suffering it to 
 burn. We lose much by spreading on the surface of 
 the field green manure that cannot be covered with the 
 harrow ; and we lose more by laying it out in small 
 heaps of one or two shovels full to a hill, and planting 
 our seeds in those heaps, We lose in winter by heav- 
 ing it out at the windows, and suffering it to freeze in 
 a scattered situation. 
 
 We assert, with the utmost confidence, that we can, 
 by taking proper care of our means, make every part 
 and parcel of our farms rich ; that is, so rich that one 
 acre shall feed one cow through the summer, and 
 another acre shall give us sixty bushels of corn ; and 
 this without buying a single load of manure from the 
 stables. This matter must be better attended to by us 
 who occupy a soil that has been cropped, and mis- 
 3* 
 
26 THE ROHAN POTATO. 
 
 managed till much of it now hardly pays the expense 
 of cultivating. 
 
 This must not be. The prices of our produce will 
 justify us in making more strenuous efforts to supply 
 the demand. In some of our numbers we shall go 
 more into detail, and offer some practical hints on this 
 vital principle of agriculture, this life-blood of our 
 hopes of improving our natal soil. We promise you, in 
 the mean time, we will not lead you into extravagant 
 expenditures of outlay, that you will never see returned 
 in this generation. We will leave all that to theoreti- 
 cal calculators, who never handled the spade or the 
 fork, and we will discourse to you " of what yourselves 
 do know." We will endeavor to stir you up by way 
 of remembrance in such a way that, like Paul, you 
 shall greatly magnify your office. 
 
 THE ROHAN POTATO. 
 
 To the Mditor of the Cultivator : 
 
 Dear Sir, — Appreciating the motives which have in- 
 duced you to commence a paper, devoted to the in- 
 terests of the farmer, and at the same time affording an 
 agreeable and interesting family paper, with the hope 
 of adding something to the value of its pages, I have 
 taken the advantage of a few leisure moments to give 
 you some observations upon that remarkable vegetable, 
 the name of which stands at the head of this article. 
 
 Potatoes are a crop to which our farmers do not pay 
 sufficient attention. When it is considered how valua- 
 ble an article the potato is, and that there is probably 
 scarcely a family in the New England States who do 
 not have them upon their tables at least once a day, it 
 would seem that there is no product of the farm to 
 
THE ROHAN POTATO. 27 
 
 which more attention should be paid, to some the 
 most profitable kinds. Maine is looked to for the sup- 
 ply of superior sorts of this vegetable ; and, though we 
 will not deny that the soil and climate of that State are 
 every way suited to the potato, yet we believe that, 
 by proper culture, and attention to the sowing of seed, 
 crops of as excellent quality may be raised in any other 
 part of New England. 
 
 The very fact that the potato is so commonly and 
 generally used at the tables of both the rich and 
 the j30or, and that the crop rarely if ever fails, is the 
 cause of their being so neglected. What we would 
 throw to hogs, or give to the cow, does not seem worth 
 the while to spend time about, to improve the product 
 or the quality of the article, as the gain would be less 
 than the labor. But this is a widely mistaken notion. 
 And in the Rohan potato there is abundant proof of the 
 fallacy of this mode of reasoning. 
 
 We hope^ at some future time, to give some account 
 of all the principal kinds of potatoes that are generally 
 grown ; but want of room now compels me to cut short 
 any further general remarks, and come at once to the 
 Rohan. 
 
 A good deal has been said in the agricultural papers 
 about it, and what I shall state will be, in part, a con- 
 densed account of the various statements which have 
 been published respecting their productiveness, as it is 
 for this quality that 1 mostly look upon its value. The 
 history of its origin has appeared in some of the jour- 
 nals, but, as it may not have met the eyes of your 
 readers, I shall give if now as briefly as possible. 
 
 The Rohan potato takes its name from the Prince 
 de Rohan, of Geneva, in the vicinity of which city it 
 was raised about the year 1830. The man who origi- 
 nated it was so choice of it, and regarded it so highly, 
 that king William could not get him to part with a 
 single tuber. He cultivated it in a little walled enclo- 
 sure ,• had them taken up only in his presence ; kept 
 
28 THE ROHAN POTATO. 
 
 them under lock and key ; and they were cooked and 
 given to his cattle only before his own eyes. No one 
 could get them. The prince Rohan having a splendid 
 collection of cactuses, and among them some kinds 
 which the possessor of the potatoes took a great fancy 
 to, he begged the prince to give him some ; but the 
 prince would only do this for some of the potatoes, 
 money being no object. The amateur consented, and 
 gave him two potatoes, with a promise upon his honor 
 that he would never send any of them to Holland, 
 Belgium, England, Prussia, or Germany. By his for- 
 tunately not including France and Switzerland, the 
 prince was at liberty, without forfeiting his word, to 
 send some to France, which he did ; and from thence 
 they were imported to this country in the spring of 
 1836. So much for their history, which is very sin- 
 gular. The produce of this potato in Switzerland 
 was so great that it would hardly be believed': three 
 potatoes weighed, respectively, 13 lbs. 7 oz., 11 lbs. 9 
 oz., and 9 lbs. 13 oz. ! 
 
 What I have now to state relates to their growth in 
 this country. Mr. Thompson, of Catskill, N. Y. was 
 the first who received any of these potatoes, eight or 
 ten of which cost forty-jive dollars. Judge Buel, after 
 cultivating the Rohan two seasons, gives the follow- 
 ing as his reasons for recommending them to the 
 public : 
 
 First, because their quality for the table will jus- 
 tify it. If not superior, they are good. The flesh 
 is yellow, solid, and of good flavor. 
 
 Secondly, because they admit of great economy 
 in seed. Two eyes is a sufficiency (and many of the 
 tubers have 30 or 40) to plant a hill, and three or four 
 bushels to plant an acre of ground. 
 
 Thirdly, because they require comparatively little 
 labor in harvesting, a man being able to dig thrice as 
 many of them in a day as of ordinary kinds. The 
 tubers are very large, 110 of the largest completely 
 
THE ROHAN POTATO. 29 
 
 filling a flour barrel. Twenty-seven bushels were dug- 
 ia our presence in one hour^ (the ioy.s being [previ- 
 ously] pulled) by one man, at moderate labor. 
 
 Fourthly, because they yield an abundant crop: 
 from 85 rods of ground were gathered 175 bushels, 
 while the common kind did not give half a crop. 
 
 The experiments of other cultivators fully certify to 
 the truth of Judge Buel's. The following are instances 
 of their produce the past dry season, when other kinds 
 were in many instances not worth digging : 
 
 Mr. VYoodrutf, of Windsor, Conn, from about twenty 
 potatoes, weighing a fraction over a quarter of a pound 
 each, raised tioenty bushds and a half. The average 
 of the most productive hills was 8 lbs. 10 oz. : the 
 largest single tuber weighed 2 lbs. 13 oz. Mr. W. 
 spread the surface of the ground with barn-yard manure, 
 and turned it in with a plough ; furrowed ten inches 
 deep; covered the seed with four inches of earth. 
 
 Hon. Wm. Clark, Jr. of Springfield, from one potato, 
 raised one bushel. 
 
 Mr. C. C. Nichols, of Northampton, from three pecks ^ 
 raised eighteen bushels. 
 
 Mr. Roswell Hubbard, of Hadley, imm. four pounds, 
 obtained 1173 pounds! 293 produced to one planted. 
 
 One gentleman, in the i^eighborhood of Catskill, 
 from one and a half pounds, raised ninety-iico and a 
 half pounds ; and another, from one pounds raised 
 ninety-three and a half pounds. 
 
 Mr. Hager, of Oxford, Corm. from 13 oz. tubers, 
 produced, in a dry loam, 144 lbs. 
 
 Many other similar experiments could be given, but 
 we doubt not that these are ample enough to leave no 
 doubts of their productiveness. 
 
 As to their value as a potato for the table, I do not 
 think they have been fairly tried. Prince Rohan 
 speaks of them as being extremely farinaceous, and, if 
 so, they must be a fine potato. The high price which 
 they command will, for the present, prevent their 
 
30 BROTHER MECHANICS. 
 
 merits being fully tested, as few who raise them are 
 willing to eat them when they are so valuable. As 
 soon as they are plentiful, this will be decided. One 
 merit they possess, which few other large potatoes do, 
 and that is, the large tubers are not hollow. 
 
 In cultivation they require good land, deep plough- 
 ing, and frequent hoeings, to make them show their full 
 character : in light soils, they produce a crop where the 
 St. Helena and others have failed. The hills should 
 be about four feet apart, and only two or three eyes 
 planted in each. The stalks grow from six to eight 
 feet high, and prince Rohan states that he supported 
 them on stakes : this, however, was only done to make 
 them produce as much as possible. They should be 
 planted very early, as they are a late variety, and should 
 not be dug until late in autumn. 
 
 I would invite every farmer to try this potato, and 
 I have no hesitation in saying that it will be found to 
 be all that it has been recommended. Agricola. 
 
 BROTHER MECHANICS. 
 
 We were inquired of the other day, by one of the 
 brethren, what right and title we had to the appellation 
 of mechanic. Look at the " great organ of all agricul- 
 tural communication to the public " of Wednesday, 
 January 2d, and you will see we are dubbed a knight 
 of the order. We hope you will not be so much of- 
 fended at our admission into good company as the 
 Indian was, when the missionary constantly called him 
 brother. 
 
 " You say ' brother, brother,' " said the Indian. " How 
 qame Ave brother?" 
 
BROTHER MECHANICS. 31 
 
 '^ O," said the missionary, '' you know we all sprang 
 from Adam." 
 
 " Ugh ! ngh ! " said the Indian ; " me glad 't aint no 
 nearer." 
 
 We shall not let you know at once the full extent 
 of our mechanical genius ; but you shall hear some- 
 thing of it each week. We fear you did not well 
 understand the communication of last week, from our 
 Dorchester correspondent, on horse-shoeing. It was 
 hastily written, and might be made plainer.' He pro- 
 poses that each side of the shoe should be made wider 
 than common, so as to leave a less cavity for the forma- 
 tion of a snow-ball ; and to let that cavity be wider 
 behind than elsewhere, so that a ball would not stick 
 fast in the shoe : thus, A . 
 
 The blacksmith has one of the best trades for the 
 winter season. He is at no expense for heat or for 
 light, and can pursue his occupation to good advantage 
 in the evening. He can then prepare his shoes and 
 other articles, so that customers may not be hindered. 
 He must make his horse-nails ; but he now makes 
 them from wrought rods, that are drawn out by ma- 
 chinery, and that are purchased at but little higher 
 cost than his bar-iron. Indeed, he can purchase rods 
 drawn of almost any size ; and when he is supplied 
 with an assortment, his work is often half done for 
 him by machinery. 
 
 The printer is daily working wonders. Commit 
 your thoughts to paper : fill a page, and in a few min- 
 utes he will hold up before you an image of your own 
 ideas in so clear a light that you are at first startled at 
 the completeness of the reflection. It gives you back 
 almost as ready an image of your thoughts as the 
 mirror does of your person. 
 
 The Greeks and Romans never thought of this 
 method. They could imprint with the pen ,• but 
 written letters are so imperfect, they are not to be 
 compared with the steel type. It is a curious fact, 
 
32 TRANSPLANTING. 
 
 that the Romans made use of stamps containing letters 
 enough for a whole name. With these they branded 
 casks, &c. ; but it did not occur to them that, by set- 
 ting and transposing single letters^ they could apply 
 the rules of permutation and combination almost to 
 infinity. They approximated to the art of printing in 
 the use of their stamp, with a number of letters joined. 
 Had the thought occurred to them of the transposition 
 of single letters in their plate, the world might have 
 advanced in knowledge, and avoided that gulf of igno- 
 rance — the dark ages — through which, for a long 
 time, it was compelled to grope, for the want of readi- 
 er means of communicating intelligence. 
 
 TRANSPLANTING. 
 
 Trees for transplanting should be taken from the 
 nursery before they become too large. Two or three 
 years' growth from the bud or the graft is better than 
 a longer term for the apple or the pear, the peach or 
 the plum. When a tree is of longer growth, the root? 
 are extended farther than we are aAvare. To take it 
 up, we dig about it, and cut off a part of its roots : we 
 then seize hold of the body, and attempt to pull it up ; 
 it stands firm : we rack and twist it, and get out of all 
 patience with its tenacity of life. An assistant takes 
 hold to help pull it up, and to draw out some of the 
 roots full length. After shattering one or two of the 
 principal roots close to the body, one root is sometimes 
 drawn out nearly whole, and three feet long. These 
 shattered roots are like a shattered knee or ankle : 
 amputation only will prevent a lingering death. If 
 large trees are transplanted, they should be taken up 
 
TRANSPLANTING. 
 
 33 
 
 with great care. It is not of so much consequence to 
 take up long roots as it is to preserve from fracture that 
 portion of the roots which is nearest to the body or 
 stump. Let the extremities of the roots be cut shck, 
 and a thousand new fibres will shoot out for the one 
 cut off, and will soon afford nourishment to your trans- 
 planted tree, provided always that your roots are not 
 large. We recollect hearing the venerable J. Lowell, 
 Esq. say he thought he never gained by taking from 
 the nursery trees that were more than about five feet 
 high. We give such trees more proportionate attention 
 than we give to larger ones, and they are not so likely 
 to come to a stand. With proper attention, they will 
 grow and extend their limbs the first year ; and the 
 vessels in the woody fibre will not become contracted 
 and dry, but will keep open and healthy. If we once 
 suffer the transplanted tree to come to a stand, and 
 grow none, or not extend itself, for one year, we may 
 as well pull it up. It is Hke a stinted calf or pig, and 
 will never regain its standing. 
 
 After a few years' healthy growth, if grass-roots are 
 suffered to withdraw the moisture from the ground 
 about the tree, they will not spoil it. If the top has 
 not been trimmed too much — as gross an evil as too 
 much government in a family — the tree will soon 
 form such a pavilion as to stint the growth of the grass, 
 and may, in a rich soil, successfully contend against it : 
 still it is best to plough occasionally, and keep the land 
 light. It is noticed that apple-trees growing in a clus- 
 ter come to bear much sooner than those that stand far 
 apart. The reason is, they sooner afford a shade, and 
 check the growth of the grass about their roots. The 
 soil is loose under the branches ; and the slender grass 
 that barely subsists about their roots, if mown and 
 made into hay, is worth but little. So a single tree, 
 when its branches have extended and spread far and 
 wide, will often defend itself against the grass, which 
 is ever intruding where there is the least chance for 
 4 
 
34 TRANSPLANTING. 
 
 subsistence, and, like a Scotchman, will get a living 
 where other plants would starve. 
 
 But trees that grow in grass-fields rarely produce 
 such fair fruit as those about which we keep the earth 
 light and well tilled. This is an important considera- 
 tion for those who raise apples for the market ; and it 
 is advisable to set our trees in straight lines, that we 
 may plough among them with as little injury as possi- 
 ble. Now you do not like to put a plough in your 
 orchard, if you can avoid it ; you fear you may bark 
 the trees ; you know ^rou will not raise half a crop of 
 corn, or of potatoes, or of grain. You therefore put a 
 little chip-dung about the roots of the tree ; and in time 
 you raise quite a hillock there, which seems to turn all 
 the moisture from the sweet heavens away from your 
 trees. This chip-stuff is the very worst article you 
 can apply. It is not only too bulky for its strength — 
 producing a bank where you would prefer a hollow — 
 but it is usually full of worms and insects, that often 
 get on and ride your tree to death. Pray let us give 
 you a little advice on this one point. It will be valua- 
 ble not only for Middlesex and for Worcester, for Essex 
 and for Norfolk, but for all New England : for the 
 United States and her Territories ; and as for the Cana- 
 das, — why, we think we would better let them man- 
 age their own affairs. Instead of planting among 
 orchard trees, and exposing them to the repeated visits 
 of the plough and hoe during summer, we plough the 
 ground about the first week in September as well as 
 we can, laying all the vegetable growth beneath the 
 sod : put on a few loads of fine manure, if we have it 
 to spare ; if not, we do without it, as it is not our object 
 now to get a great growth of grass. We then roll the 
 furrows down close, harrow, and sow our seed as in 
 other cases where are no trees. Six or eight pounds 
 of clover-seed should be reserved for an acre, to be 
 thrown on some time in winter. Nothing but herds- 
 grass and red-top are sown in autumn. Clover is apt 
 
TRANSPLANTING. 35 
 
 to be winter-killed, if it first springs in the autumn ; 
 and, if we sow in winter, it is buried deep enough 
 before the first of May. In this way, with a little 
 care, we avoid injuring the trees, we render the land 
 light — it will keep light three or four years — we get 
 as much grass for the scythe as we ought to get from 
 an orchard, or as we can cleverly dry on the ground, 
 and we perform the whole at little expense. If we 
 have no manure to spare, we plough ; and the repeated 
 ploughing in of green crops always enriches a soil from 
 which we take no grain. 
 
 When our orchards are in rough, rocky land, we 
 cannot use this process to so good advantage ; and the 
 next best thing for a bearing orchard is a drove of hogs. 
 In one month, they will wholly change the complexion 
 of your trees. A deep-green leaf will be substituted 
 for a pale or yellow one ; and the whole orchard, like 
 a tidy family, will show by its dress that it' has been 
 visited by good company. This mixed company must 
 be watched a little, to see that it do not run riot, as the 
 company once did at Gen. Jackson's levee. He dis- 
 continued the levees without ceremony ; but you may 
 continue your visitors in place by fixing, as Black 
 Hawk did, a jewel in the nose, that serves to civilize 
 the race faster than new rum ever did any of the Indian 
 tribes. 
 
 Some of our breeds of grunters never meddle with 
 the bark of the apple-tree ; but it is well to have an 
 eye on our most clever servants, and, by giving them 
 a pretty good living, remove as far as possible all temp- 
 tation to trespass on our trees or on our treasure. These 
 animals should be removed from the orchard by the 
 first of September, or before, into their parlor and 
 dining-room, where they should not be allowed to see 
 so much company as to keep them up late o' nights, 
 and cut short their sleep. 
 
36 ON SEEDING DOWN. 
 
 ON SEEDING DOWN. 
 
 Much discussion has taken place as to the proper 
 season for seeding lands down to grass. It would seem 
 hardly a proper time, in Massachusetts, to sow much in 
 January, but you cannot choose a better month for 
 sowing your clover-seed, provided there is snow enough 
 to show your tracks. Indeed, we may sow this seed 
 in any of the winter months, if the ground was suitably 
 prepared in the autumn. 
 
 Lands that have been planted, and are to be sown 
 with grain, should generally be laid down to grass in 
 the spring season. Sometimes this is delayed till fall, 
 and then the stubble is ploughed in, and the seed is 
 sown on the furrow ; but this seldom succeeds so well 
 as spring sowing. The stubble-ground dries so quick 
 in August, or in September, that much of the seed never 
 vegetates, and much of it often dies after sprouting. 
 This often happens also with spring sowing ; but if 
 you can sow early in spring, you run less risk of losing 
 your seed, than to sow it on stubble-ground. If your 
 land be light, and inclining to sand, you cannot do 
 better than throw twenty bushels of wood-ashes on an 
 acre at the time of sowing, or soon after your grain is 
 up. These draw moisture to your plants, and preserve 
 them better than any article you can apply. 
 
 Ye have heard it said of old, "put ashes on the low 
 land, because they are of a hot and dry nature ; " but 
 we say to you they are the coldest manure you can 
 apply, and that they will keep your dry grounds moist 
 longer than any article you have ever applied. Do you 
 want proof of this ? Set a barrel of dry ashes on the 
 ground^ and in a very short time they all become damp, 
 and they remain so. 
 
 We will say more of ashes in a future number, and 
 do our seeding now. With the exception of stubble- 
 ground, we think fall sowing preferable to spring sow- 
 
ON SEEDING DOWN. 37 
 
 ing. We are not obliged to go through the tedious 
 and unprofitable process of planting and hoeing our low 
 grounds in order to renovate and bring them into grass 
 again. We have a shorter, less expensive method. 
 You all have lands too low to be planted at a profit. 
 You therefore suffer these to lie from year to year, 
 yielding nothing that will pay for whetting your scythe. 
 You dread to meddle with such land, as we once did ; 
 for, after you have planted it, and obtained half a crop, 
 you could not lay it down smooth for the hard lumps it 
 contained, or for the mire in the hollows. Such land, 
 if not too rocky, may be directly brought into excel- 
 lent grass, without summer fallowing, or losing a crop. 
 In the last week in August, if you have several acres 
 to turn, you must begin to ploiigh. Do not take a 
 rooter, or a plough not longer than a hog's snout, but 
 take one that has some length in the waist — the ladies 
 now think they have been to an extreme in short 
 waists — take one that will take up a slice and lay it 
 down again completely the other side up. Let all the 
 grass be turned in ; we want it there for manure. We 
 have such ploughs, and we advise you to look them 
 up. As soon as you have ploughed one acre, put on a 
 dozen loads of your fine manure which you have been 
 preparing through the summer, and, |irst having rolled 
 down your furrows close, spread your manure evenly, 
 harrow the ground thoroughly lengthwise of the fur- 
 row, then a little diagonally, but never crosswise. In 
 a short time you will make the acre hke a carrot-bed. 
 Then sow a peck of herds-grass, and a bushel of red- 
 top seed, before the ground has time to dry^ and cover 
 the seed with a ^bush-harrow. It will vegetate much 
 sooner for sowing on a fresh furrow : it is no more like- 
 ly to be winter-killed than seed sown in spring. As 
 soon as it is so late that seeds will not vegetate, you 
 may sow on eight pounds of clover-seed, or less, if you 
 would like a lot of fall feed the next year ; and clover 
 thus sown will not be much in the way of your other 
 4* 
 
38 ON SEEDING DOWN. 
 
 grass. It will help to fill up the intersticeSj and when 
 it has flourished two years, it dies and leaves a tap-root 
 in the soil to rot, and afford nourishment to the roots of 
 the more saleable grasses. 
 
 When you have finished one acre, you may take up 
 another ; and you cannot, at that season, be better em- 
 ployed. We don't allow of mowing bushes : let them 
 grow to be fire-wood, or let the plough run in your 
 pastures, and root them up ; so you can have nothing 
 better to do about the first of September than plough 
 and sow down. At that season, too, your team is 
 strong : it costs little to keep it, for it is fed in the very 
 field you are ploughing, and is always on the ground, 
 ready for work. 
 
 You have now turned in about ten or twelve tons of 
 rowen to the acre to be rotted. If you doubt this, 
 weigh the grass, root and branch, of one square foot, 
 and multiply that by the number of feet in the acre. 
 This rowen will keep your ground light one year 
 longer than you can keep pulverized earth light ; and, 
 when you find the rushes and the sour grasses coming 
 in again, as they will in low, moist land, go through 
 the process again ; and the oftener you repeat this, the 
 richer will be your land, if you forbear to take off a 
 crop of grain. 
 
 Grass does not impoverish land. Do you doubt this ? 
 After you have mown a field seven years, you will 
 raise as good a crop of corn, or of potatoes, as if it had 
 been mown only three years. It does not produce as 
 much grass, because the ground has become full of 
 roots, and, as we say, bound out ; so that the oftener 
 you turn in a crop of this rowen, the richer your land. 
 After a few repetitions, you will need to apply no 
 manure. The former mass, turned under, will, in its 
 turn, become a top dressing, and you can then renovate 
 your grass-lands at much less expense. . We have been 
 trying this process for some years, or we should not 
 recommend it to you with so much confidence. We 
 
ENTOMOLOGY. 39 
 
 speak of what we know. We have thus turned low 
 interval lands, that had lain unproductive for more than 
 half a century, and got them into fine fields, that pro- 
 duce good crops of the best kinds of hay, instead of a 
 little moss and mouse-ear that would starve a frog. 
 
 Higher lands may , be treated in the same way, if 
 they are not wanted for grain ; and thus we may reno- 
 vate a whole farm, for our process does not require half 
 so much manure as the planting and hoeing process. 
 We must raise grain, but we are not obliged to use all 
 our manure in planting. We must till a less area, and 
 till it better, and thus be more sure of a supply than by 
 planting a large number of acres. 
 
 [From the Genesee Farmer.] 
 ENTOMOLOGY. 
 
 Mr. Tucker, — I was highly pleased with the sug- 
 gestions made to your correspondent, A. H. in the pres- 
 ent volume of the Monthly Genesee Farmer. I have 
 no doubt, in my mind, but that the study of entomolo- 
 gy, when rightly pursued, is one of the most pleasing 
 and interesting studies in nature. For my part, I have 
 had hitherto little opportunity to make any progress in 
 labeling, classing, and arranging insects; yet I. have a 
 considerable collection of insects promiscuously ar- 
 ranged, till I can get further instructions from the 
 proper books, and a good entomologist. I have nearly 
 pursued the plan recommended by A. H. for several 
 years. I have a box, say eighteen inches square, and 
 six inches high, with a drawer and a glass at top, small 
 holes at side, through drawer and all, to let the air in ; 
 and it has been matter for the greatest wonder to me 
 to observe the different transformations of insects ; for 
 instance, about the first of September, 1837, I secured 
 
40 ON MANURES, AND THEIR 
 
 a curious kind of grub, or caterpillar : in a few days 
 after, it transformed into the chrysalis state, and thus 
 continued till some time in May last, being in this state 
 better than eight months, at the end of which time 
 the beautiful Papilio turnus made its appearance from 
 this chrysalis. And I have also observed numbers of 
 others enter and pass their diiferent transformations, 
 among which is also the worm, or grub, which eats off 
 the cabbage in spring, when first planted out. This 
 grub I took up with some earth and put it in my box ; 
 fed it with cabbage-plants : in a few days it buried it- 
 self in the earth which I put in the box, to undergo its 
 final transformation ; and, in a month or so, it came out 
 a perfect moth, or butterfly, of a beautiful variegated 
 ash color. I have not ascertained the name, but I have 
 it preserved. I think it would be very satisfactory and 
 useful to have some attention given to this subject. 
 In the present volume, an inquiry is made from Michi- 
 gan, and, in a later number of the same volume, Mr. 
 W. Colvil supposes that the blight, or loss of plums; is 
 caused by an insect. I (and I have no doubt there are 
 many more) would be very happy to hear answers and 
 information on this subject. 
 
 The following is one of eight numbers, furnished by 
 us at the request of the publishers of the Yankee 
 Farmer — Mr. Cole, of Portland, editor — on the sub- 
 ject of manures. The 8th number was inserted by the 
 editor in his paper of January 12th, — our Cultivator's 
 birth-day. 
 
 ON MANURES, AND THEIR APPLICATION TO THE SOIL. 
 
 Lime is the next article Ave shall introduce to notice ; 
 and what shall we say on lime as a manure ? We 
 
APPLICATION TO THE SOIL. 41 
 
 might say almost any thing, and support our theories 
 by high authority. We daily hear much said of lime 
 as a manure, and if implicit faith and trust are to be 
 put in English writers of eminence, lime must be con- 
 sidered an essential aid of the farmer. 
 
 There cannot be much doubt that lime, in certain 
 cases, has been useful in agriculture. 
 
 In England, it is often obtained at a rate quite cheap 
 compared with the cost in Massachusetts, and their 
 lime is said to be of a different quality from ours. It 
 is also a fact, that lime has often been used in Massa- 
 chusetts, without producing any apparently beneficial 
 result. 
 
 Theorists disagree, toto celo^ as to the mode of its 
 operations ; but yet all theorists with whose writings 
 we happen to be familiar, strongly recommend the use 
 of lime. 
 
 Some assert that lime operates much hke wood- 
 ashes ; that it is beneficial rather as a stimulant than 
 as an item to form a constituent part and parcel of the 
 plant to which it is applied ; while others contend that 
 it is an essential ingredient of some plants, one of which 
 is wheat, and that this grain cannot be raised without 
 it ; and, where there is a deficiency of the article in the 
 natural soil, this deficiency must be supplied from the 
 kiln. 
 
 Some theorists assert that lime is a powerful decom- 
 poser of vegetable substances, and that it may be ad- 
 vantageously applied wherever wood-ashes is applied 
 with effect. 
 
 Other theorists as gravely contend that lime retards 
 the decomposition of vegetable matter in the soil, and 
 therefore it is an important article in agriculture, pre- 
 serving for future use a store that might be too soon 
 expended by the draughts made upon it in our hot 
 seasons. 
 
 Who shall decide when doctors disagree ? 
 
 We are in want of experiments testing the value of 
 
42 ' ON MANURES, AND THEIR 
 
 this article. It is believed that it has never been ex- 
 tensively used in Massachusetts, nor till within a few 
 years past. It seems clear that it acts as an antiseptic 
 when applied to certain substances ; for instance, to 
 posts in a fence, to board fence, to the roofs of houses 
 covered with shingles, to the sides of barns, &c. &c. 
 All these applications have been made on the principle 
 that lime is an antiseptic, and tended to preserve the 
 timber to which it was applied. 
 
 Wood-ashes, too, have been applied to the surface of 
 the earth about posts set in the ground, and experience 
 shows the benefit of this application. 
 
 Now does lime promote the decomposition of vege- 
 table matter ? Wood-ashes surely do, when applied to 
 the soil filled with it. If lime operates the reverse of 
 this, it should no longer be ranked, as a manure, with 
 ashes. Lime is a constituent portion of wheat : it en- 
 ters into the composition of the plant, and, where lime 
 is naturally deficient, it seems reasonable that it should 
 be procured and mixed with the deficient sod. All 
 soils are found to have some portion of lime in them. 
 Now fifteen or twenty bushels of wheat, a high average 
 crop on an acre, will not contain more than one or two 
 bushels of lime, at most. If, then, we apply that 
 quantity, it would seem sufficient for the wheat crop, 
 even if the soil before was totally destitute. 
 
 But the Enghsh apply one hundred bushels to the 
 acre, — often fifty to sixty. They cannot do this on 
 the principle of thus furnishing to the soil a component 
 part of the future crop. They use it thus freely for 
 different reasons : they seem to think it ameliorates the 
 hard, clayey soils, by rendering them less adhesive. 
 They also contend that lime is beneficial on a sandy 
 soil, rendering it more retentive of moisture ! Lime 
 thus works as great wonders as the breath of the trav- 
 eller, in a cold morning : it was used to warm his 
 hands, and to cool his porridge. 
 
 Are we yet prepared earnestly to recommend a boun- 
 
APPLICATION TO THE SOIL. 4o 
 
 tifiil application of lime ? I once spread three casks of 
 lime on about twenty square rods in my garden, which 
 was a sandy loam, and stood in much need of manure. 
 It was destitute of any vegetable matter, having been 
 tilled for two or three years in succession. After the 
 lime was spread on, I accidentally found a heap of 
 manure for sale, and I applied that at the rate of five 
 cords to the acre, on the limed ground. My first year's 
 crop was small ; my second was no better ; my third 
 was not so good as that where no lime had been put, 
 and my seventh crop has never shown the benefits of 
 the lime. From the appearance of the cabbages and 
 turnips the second year, I fancied the lime had de- 
 stroyed or eaten up my manure. This lime is still to be 
 seen in the ground, and I hope, some time, to reap the 
 benefit of the application. VVhen that time arrives, I 
 trust I shall be able to give you further account of my 
 success: till then, I cannot be very positive as to the 
 propriety of giving two or three shillings a bushel for 
 lime to improve the soil. I have supposed that lime 
 was, as a manure, to be ranked with wood-ashes, and 
 that it should be applied in places where it had some- 
 thing to do, some vegetable matter to act upon. If I 
 am not correct in this, I have no theory to propose, and 
 shall be content, at present, to use no more of this arti- 
 cle than the plant to which it is applied may want for 
 immediate use. W. B. 
 
 Fraiiimgham, Dec. 1838. 
 
 The respected editor of the Yankee Farmer has de- 
 voted two columns of his paper of the 19th inst. in 
 pointing out our erroneous notions in regard to the use 
 of lime. It is very evident he has caught the fever of 
 the day, and must therefore cry lime ! lime ! lime ! or 
 be wholly out of fashion with gentlemen farmers. We 
 have been very highly complimented, by the editor, for 
 our former numbers published in October, November, 
 and December, in his paper, under the signature of 
 
44 ON MANURES. 
 
 "W. B. Framingham;" and, as those numbers have 
 been selected from his paper, and been republished in 
 all parts of the Union with apparent approbation, we 
 intend to give them a still more extended circulation, — 
 reserving, however, our copy right to spell the words 
 our instructors in English taught us, when we were of 
 an age to learn. We shall spell turnip without an e, 
 and lie, from ashes, differently from ley — pronounced 
 lee — a field. 
 
 But to the subject. We are not yet too old to learn, 
 when we have a proper instructor; but we must ac- 
 knowledge that, in this case, we do not comprehend 
 our master. If we consent to spread one or two 
 bushels of lime on an acre of wheat, because wheat 
 takes some lime out of the soil, we are told, peremptori- 
 ly, that we should use twenty or thirty bushels, be- 
 cause the wheat takes up but a small pprtion of 
 the lime sown ! And when we stated that we had 
 tried three casks, or nine bushels, on about twenty rods 
 of ground, we are told that the reason why our crop 
 was not benefited by it was, that we used '^ eight times 
 as much as was recommended for a light soil." If 
 seventy-two bushels, our quantity, is eight times too 
 much, then nine bushels would be the right quantity 
 to an acre ; just now, twenty or thirty would not be 
 too much! But ''our lime is much superior to the 
 English lime." Then two bushels might do, possibly, 
 notwithstanding English books to the contrary. Again, 
 some lime has sand in it, and therefore, says he, "if 
 such lime be added to a sandy soil, it would increase 
 that ingredient in the soil, of which there is aheady 
 more than enough;" "and sometimes twenty bushels 
 is enough on sandy soils." This is precious; twenty 
 bushels on a sandy soil, yet, if there is sand in the lime, 
 the more you put on, the worse you make the soil. 
 The result seems to be, that you must put sandy lime 
 on to a clayey soil, and clayey lime, or none at all, on 
 to a sandy soil. Again, "lime acts powerfully on any 
 
ON FEEDING CATTLE. 45 
 
 fibrous or hard vegetable substance, and forms a com- 
 post, partly soluble in water, which becomes a suitable 
 food for plants." Lime, then, does operate Uke ashes. 
 Just now he told us it did not, and it must not be 
 ranked with ashes. But if lime is such a powerful de- 
 composer of hard substances, why is it applied to wood 
 of all kinds, to preserve it ? Limed fences, &c. are not 
 soon decomposed by the lime. How long does it take 
 lime to decompose the pine boards in a barn ? one year, 
 or two ? 
 
 When we are clearly taught this, we can make some 
 wise calculations as to the usefulness of lime in decom- 
 posing vegetable matter in the soil. In conclusion of 
 all this logical reasoning against our doubts about the 
 economy of using much lime, our teacher further says, 
 '' we would not advise the use of much lime, by those 
 who have not tried it on their farms." 
 
 What is this but saying to farmers, — us farmers, — 
 when you have tried a thing, and find it useful, use it ; 
 but if you have not tried it, we would not advise the 
 use of it. This is the reasoning that most people 
 adopt, when they have no clear ideas on a subject. 
 
 It is really amusing to see two columns of a paper 
 occupied in pointing out our errors, by a writer that 
 finally comes to the very conclusion with ourselves in 
 regard to the propriety of buying much lime for our 
 sandy soils, before we shall be better satisfied of its 
 efficacy. 
 
 We think the conclusion of the writer much better 
 than his reasoning. 
 
 ON FEEDING CATTLE. 
 
 In the counties of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, and 
 Worcester, we have much meadow land that produces 
 5 
 
46 ON FEEDING CATTLE. 
 
 kinds of hay that will support young cattle very well 
 throughout apart of the winter seas.on. If they have 
 nothing better through -the whole winter, they become 
 poor in spring,, and a large portion of the summer is 
 spent before they begin to grow again. Cows are often 
 Avintered, in part, on such coarse hay, and towards 
 spring are allowed to come to a better table to prepare 
 for spring business. It is a very common practice to 
 feed out the poorest hay in the fore part of the winter, 
 and to reserve the best for spring. 
 
 We do not commend this practice, for cattle do not 
 get through the winter so well, nor are cows so profita- 
 ble as if differently fed. 
 
 The sudden and sad change from a rich autumn diet, 
 such as our fields generally afford in the fall, to a 
 meagre meal of meadow hay,' is apt to make the boiler, 
 or stomach, collapse, or contract too suddenly, and 
 causes a great contraction of the milk and blood-vessels, 
 which is injurious to the system, and which may be 
 avoided. Some people fear to let their cattle taste, at 
 certain seasons, of any good fodder, lest they would not 
 taste of the poorer ; but this notion is erroneous. Cattle 
 that have been long fed on the b^st of hay are very 
 fond of a change, and will then eat the coarser kinds 
 with avidity. Where, then, is the harm of mixing their 
 fodder a little ? not as the Indian, who thought the 
 best mixed liquor was two gills of rum put together, 
 but let some good English hay be' ofteji mixed up 
 thoroughly with a poorer kind, that the whole may be 
 sweetened. If this mixture should take place in the 
 haying season, the good hay would impart its sweetness 
 to the poorer kinds, and thus a food would be prepared 
 not so luscious as to cause satiety, or so meagre as not 
 to be relished. At our best tables we eat roast beef and 
 potato, mutton and turnip, turkey and coarse brown 
 bread. We are fond of the mixture, and think it better 
 than turkey and beef one day, then potatoes and turnips 
 the next. But, to be serious, there seems no propriety 
 in keeping up such strong partitions between the better 
 
ON FEEDING CATTLE. 47 
 
 and the poorer food. Oats and wheat should ever be 
 threshed in such good season as to starve the mice, and 
 be ready to be mi'xed up \yith the corn-stover as soon 
 as it can be harvested. The butts and husks of corn, 
 when housed in good season, have much richness and 
 virtue in them : being yet full of saccharine matter, 
 they require something drier to be intermixed, to keep 
 them from moulding too much. They impart to this 
 straw a sweetness that makes it relished by cattle, and 
 both straw and husks are better for the mixture. 
 
 There is another consideration that should induce us 
 to feed our good food in the first of winter. Our cows 
 are in milk, or they ought to be ; and, while they yield 
 it, they must be well kept. A good farmer should not 
 let his cows go dry four months in the year. Two 
 months are enough in all. reason, and some cows will 
 give milk nearly the whole year round. If our cows 
 become dry by the first of December, " «7 is owing to 
 their hanging up,^^ as the boy, eating porridge, told a 
 sneerer who said he should rather eat swill. Much is in 
 habit. But what shall be done with the milk when it 
 is too cold weather to churn ? Eat it, or sell it, and 
 buy bread and meat. Give it to your hogs : it is 
 cheaper than grain, and if they cannot relish it, raise the 
 cream on it, and let us have it for a breakfast toast. It 
 is better than butter, which will keep till spring, when 
 you begin to be short of everything, — fresh meats, 
 turnips, cabbages, parsnips, and apples. 
 
 The more* milk you- draw in winter, the .greater 
 capacity have your cows for an abundance in summer, 
 if you keep them well. Do not suffer them to be hide- 
 bound nor udder-bound, but keep all their vessels open 
 with roots of some kind which you can raise mighty 
 cheap if you, once resolve. 
 
 Our corn-stover should be dealt out mostly in the 
 fore part of winter, for it is the best dry fodder for cows 
 in milk. They will yield more on good corn-stover 
 than they will on the best English hay, as our experi- 
 ence teaches us. If we had suitable cutters for this 
 
48 SUGAR-BEET. 
 
 fodder they would be more valuable than the cutters of 
 straw or of hay ; for these may be eaten without a 
 knife, but who can masticate a three-foot corn-butt ? 
 Cattle make awkward attempts to bite them in two, 
 and sometimes succeed by holding fast one end with 
 the foot, while their gums and under teeth pluck off a 
 portion of the other. They make as hard work of it as 
 men of fifty — not bachelors — do, in 'gnawing an 
 apple : the under help must do the chief business, as the 
 upper set were not procured to labor. 
 
 SUGAR-BEET. 
 
 A CORRESPONDENT of the Cincinnati Gazette furnishes 
 the following interesting facts, collected by observation, 
 in relation to the culture of the beet : 
 
 " When on a visit to the farm of our enterprising 
 citizen. Lot Pugh, thirty-two miles north of our city, I 
 saw a white sugar-beet, raised from seed imported from 
 France, which measured thirty inches in circumference, 
 and weighed, after being removed from the ground and 
 divested of foreign substances, twenty-two pounds. 
 Although the specimen which was measured and 
 weighed was taken from a field of several acres, still it 
 probably was not the largest, for the greater part of the 
 crop appeared to be of equal magnitude. A mangel- 
 wurzel from the same grounds, and raised from im- 
 ported seed also, measured twenty-five inches in cir- 
 cumference, and weighed sixteen pounds and a half. 
 It must be observed that, as these beets were removed 
 from the earth on the 23d of August, they had not at- 
 tained their full growth. Indeed, it is probable that 
 many of the former may measure three feet in circum- 
 ference, and the latter two and a half, when they are 
 fully grown. 
 
CEMENTS. 49 
 
 The manager of the farm informed me that he raised 
 fifty tons, actual weight, of beets to the acre, last year, 
 and that his crop is much better the present season. 
 He also said that it required but little more labor to 
 raise fifty tons of beets than fifty bushels of corn ^ while 
 the former was quite as good for horses, much better 
 for cattle, and rather better for stock hogs. He also 
 asserted that suckling calves prefered beets, when 
 properly prepared, to milk. Indeed, I could almost se- 
 lect, from among fifty-six head of Durham cattle, those 
 that had been fed, during the last season, on beets. 
 They were not only fatter, but smoother and better 
 grown, than those that had been kept on other food. 
 
 Although cattle and hogs will eat beets in a raw 
 state, still they are much better when boiled. The 
 apparatus and fixtures used by Mr. Pugh for boiling, or 
 rather steaming, food for three hundred hogs, and forty 
 or fifty cows, with other stock, cost about one hundred 
 and fifty dollars, and consumes a quarter of a cord of 
 wood per day. 
 
 Mr. Pugh had not attempted to make sugar from his 
 beets, but if its manufacture is profitable any where 
 from this article, it would certainly be so here, for no 
 soil can produce a better growth. Two hands can 
 prepare the ground, plant and cultivate five acres of 
 beets in a season, and the product would doubtless 
 yield many tons of saccharine matter." 
 
 [From Bigelow'3 Technology.] 
 
 CEMENTS. 
 
 Limestone. The substances made use of for the 
 uniting medium between bricks, or stones, in building, 
 are denominated cements. The calcareous cements, 
 5* 
 
50 CEMENTS. 
 
 composed of a mixture of lime, sand, and water, in, 
 convseqnence of the facility with which they pass from 
 a soft state to a stony hardness, have, in common use, 
 superseded all others. Lime, in the state of quicklime, 
 is obtained by burning in kilns any of those natural 
 bodies in which it exists in combination with carbonic 
 acid ; such as limestone^ rtiarhles, chalk, and shells. 
 The effect of the burning, or calcination, is to drive off 
 the carbonic acid. If quicklime, thus obtained, be wet 
 with water, it instantly swells and cracks, becomes ex- 
 ceedingly hot, and at length falls into a white, soft, 
 impalpable powder. This process is denominated the 
 slaking of the lime. The compound formed is called 
 a hydrate of lime, and consists of about three parts of 
 lime to one of water. When intended for mortar, it 
 should immediately be incorporated with sand, and 
 used without delay, before it imbibes carbonic acid 
 anew from the atmosphere. Lime, thus mixed with 
 sand, becomes harder, and more cohesive and durable, 
 than if it were used alone. It is found that the sand 
 used in common mortar undergoes little or no change ; 
 while the lime, seemingly by crystallization, adheres to 
 its particles, and unites them together. Cements com- 
 posed in this manner continue to increase in strength 
 and solidity for an indefinite period, the hydrate of 
 lime being gradually converted into a carbonate. The 
 sand most proper to form mortar is that which is 
 wholly silicious, and which is sharp, that is, not having 
 its particles rounded by attrition. 
 
 Fresh sand is to be preferred to that taken from the 
 vicinity of the sea-shore, the salt of which is liable to 
 deliquesce and weaken the strength of the mortar. 
 The proportions of the lime and sand to each other are 
 varied in different places ; the amount of sand, however, 
 always exceeds that of the lime. The more sand can 
 be incorporated with the lime the better, provided the 
 necessary degree of elasticity is preserved j for the ce- 
 ment becomes stronger, and it also sets, or consolidates 
 
CEMENTS. 51 
 
 more quickly, when the lime and water are less in 
 quantity and more subdivided. From two to four parts 
 of sand are used to one of lime, according to the quality 
 of the lime, and the labor bestowed on it. The more 
 pure is the lime and the more thoroughly it is beaten, or 
 worked over, the more sand it will take up, and the 
 more firm and durable does it become. 
 
 Clay. This abundant and useful earth is composed 
 principally of alumine and silex. It possesses the 
 valuable property of forming, when wet, a ductile and 
 tenacious paste, which is changed by heat to a stony 
 hardness. Common clay, of which bricks and coarse 
 potter's ware are made, contains oxide of iron, which 
 causes it to turn red in burning. The purer sorts, such 
 as pipe-clay, become whiter when exposed to a high 
 heat. The earthy smell which clays emit when 
 breathed upon appears also to be owing to oxide of 
 iron. Absolutely pure clay emits no smell. Refractory 
 clays are those which endure the greatest heat without 
 melting. The best fire-proof bricks and crucibles are 
 made from slate clay, and contain a good deal of sand. 
 Sometimes they are made of old materials, which have 
 been before exposed to high heat, pounded up and 
 mixed with fresh clay. A mixture of two parts of 
 Stourbridge clay, and one part of coke, has been found 
 very refractory. 
 
 Ashestus. Asbestus is a mineral of a fibrous struc- 
 ture. One of its varieties, called amianthus, is com- 
 posed of very delicate, flexible filaments, resembling 
 fibres of silks. It has been manufactured into cloth 
 and paper, which possess the property of being incom- 
 bustible. It is difficult; however, to find fibres of suffi- 
 cient length and firmness to produce objects of any 
 great use. It is sometimes mixed with clay, in pottery, 
 to increase its strength. It has also been used for the 
 packing of steam-engines which are of high pressure, 
 or in which steam is used at an elevated temperature. 
 
52 GRASS. 
 
 GRASS. 
 
 " And God said, Let the earth briog forth grass."— Gen. i. 11. 
 
 The Mosaic history of the creation is very concise, 
 just giving a general account of the order in which its 
 different parts were called into existence. And it is a 
 most remarkable fact, that modern discoveries in geol- 
 ogy, far from supplanting this history, are a very strong 
 confirmation of it. Geologists are now satisfied that 
 plants were called into existence long before the crea- 
 tion of animals, and that, of all animals, man appears 
 the last in the list of created beings. Both plants and 
 the inferior animals are found imbedded in rocks of 
 secondary formation ; but no instance appears of the 
 inhumation of a human being in one of these rocks. 
 From this and from other circumstances, it seems that 
 mighty convulsions shook the earth, and swept off and 
 buried its inhabitants, while man was yet primitive 
 dust. 
 
 It is not now our design to prove the truth of this 
 ancient history ; but, like the good people of Connecti- 
 cut, when they adopted the divine law as their code, 
 we will be ruled by this until we find a better. 
 
 Grass, according to this history, stands first in the 
 list of vegetable creation. Grass was called forth be- 
 fore animals had existence ; and most of the land ani- 
 mals must have perished without it. This was at first 
 their only food ; and this, at the present time, is the 
 most important of vegetable creation. In ancient times, 
 grain was not in use. We have reason to suppose that 
 for ages the human race was fed from milk, from the 
 flesh of other animals, from the herbs of the field, and 
 from the spontaneous fruits of the garden. 
 
 Figs alone would sustain life ; and, growing without 
 culture, they would naturally constitute the principal 
 food. Grain, then, is a mere luxury, and might be 
 
GRASS. 53 
 
 dispensed with ; yet the Graham doctors still indulge 
 their disciples in the use of grain ! Even in the cold 
 and figless climate of Britain, grain, in former times, 
 was not relied on as a staple article ; but, as population 
 increases, grain is demanded ; for the tract that would 
 be required to feed a buftalo would maintain its thou- 
 sands of human beings, when well planted with grain. 
 
 In the most populous portions of the earth — China 
 is an example — few beasts can be kept. Grain is 
 produced by manual labor ; and vegetable diet is the 
 only food of the mass of population. A dollar now 
 expended in meal will feed ten men a week : a dollar 
 expended in meat would hardly last a day. 
 
 The raising of grain requires a soil by nature rich, 
 or made so by culture. In a populous country are 
 created the means of enriching the soil ; and these 
 means supply the exhausted fields with the necessary 
 pabulum or food of future plants. This is nature's 
 rotation ; and nature's laws must be obeyed. If we 
 will maintain our population on the luxury, grain, with 
 the product of grain we must restore an exhausted soil. 
 Grain is the great exhauster ; and we could readily 
 render our plains fertile again, if we Avere not obliged 
 to crop them with grain. Grass grows spontaneously, 
 and does not exhaust our soil. You will dispute and 
 controvert our doctrine until you have well considered 
 the subject, and then ninety-nine of yon in a hundred 
 will agree with us. When your lands have been 
 mown seven years without manuring, you obtain a 
 larger crop of corn or grain, on ploughing up, than if 
 you had mown them but four. What is the reason of 
 this ? You get as large a crop because your grass is 
 not an exhauster ; you get a larger crop because in 
 seven years the soil becomes filled with grass-roots, to 
 be decomposed as soon as you kill them with the 
 plough. In seven years, your grass-land is hide-bound 
 and choked with abundance of roots. It will not give 
 you half a crop of grass ; but it is not because your 
 land has been growing poorer in grass ; for if you 
 
54 ON MANURES, AND THEIR 
 
 plough and lay immediately to grass again, yon will, 
 in most cases, donble your crop. Please to consider 
 this doctrine well ; and when yon have expressed your 
 assent, we will urge you a step farther. As it is now 
 winter, we may as well stop and think a little upon it 
 till we meet again. We wish to put you in a way to 
 double the profits of your grass-lands without injuring 
 your other crops. This is a matter we have much at 
 heart. If you can double your quantity of hay, you 
 can keep double your present number of cattle. We 
 think it possible to do this without the aid of lime. 
 
 If you have as many cattle as you wish to keep, 
 why, sell off half your land, and let us double the 
 number of farmers as well as that of stock. 
 
 ^iJ^We have engaged William Buckminster, Esq. 
 of Framingham, to give us a series of articles on agri- 
 culture. He is an intelligent practical farmer, diligent- 
 ly engaged in improvements: his communications come 
 home to the business and understanding of our farmers, 
 and they will be much profited by giving them a thor- 
 ough examination. We now pubHsh one number on 
 the important subject of manure. — Yankee Farmer. 
 
 ON MANURES, AND THEIR APPLICATION TO THE SOIL. 
 
 The most important inquiries of the farmer are, 
 '' How shall I render my lands most fertile at the least 
 expense ? How shall I keep them in a state of fertility ? 
 What crops tend most to impoverish them ? " 
 
 Probably the most powerful manure, and the quickest 
 to operate on the soil, is the flesh of animals, or animal 
 matter ; but this is not so durable as that which 
 operates more slowly ; and it may be laid down as a 
 
APPLICATION TO THE SOIL. 55 
 
 general rule, that those manures which are most active 
 are soonest spent and gone. Lands, therefore, that 
 have been manured with fisli not only receive no im- 
 provement by the application, but in many cases they 
 havfe been run out and impoverished to such a degree 
 as to be wholly unfit for cultivation. It has been cus- 
 tomary, in some places near the sea-shore, to put two 
 alewives to a hill of corn, and apply no other manure. 
 This powerful stimulant lays the whole soil under con- 
 tribution, and exhausts every particle of the vegetable 
 matter contained in it. It lies heavy and dead. The 
 flesh of land animals would not operate so quick, and 
 would remain longer to nourish the plants within its 
 reach. 
 
 The excrement of animals operates differently ac- 
 cording to the different circumstances under which it is 
 placed. If kept in a cellar, and trodden down close by 
 cattle, so that the air has not access to it, you will find 
 it as fresh and as green at the end of six months as 
 when it was first deposited there. The air is essential 
 to its decomposition ; and, on the same principle, the 
 bottom of a fence-post keeps sound much longer than 
 that part which is more exposed to the air. 
 
 This kind of manure needs to be cautiously managed, 
 else much of it is wasted. Some good farmers have 
 doubted whether we ever lose any of the beneficial 
 salts of this manure from exposure to the sun and air ; 
 and they accordingly spread it on the surface of their 
 fields, and care not to bury it deeper than a harrow will 
 cover it. They contend that nothing evaporates but 
 its watery particles, and that all which is valuable to 
 vegetation remains in the soil. Some insist that this 
 kind of manure should not be used till it is a year old, 
 and that it should lie in heaps long enough to become 
 rotten before it is spread on the soil. We need more 
 experiments on this subject than we have yet seen 
 published. As my uncle Toby used to say, '' Much 
 may be said on both sides of the question." 
 
56 ON MANURES. 
 
 Some of our good farmers prefer to apply this kind of 
 manure in a green state, and cover it well with the 
 plough. They say if it is once buried beneath the 
 surface, though buried deep, you may be sure it will 
 impart to the soil all its richness, sooner or later ; 
 that, as the gases issuing from it never descend into 
 the sub-soil, they must ascend ; and that our only risk 
 of losing its strength arises from not burying it deep 
 enough. This theory is plausible, and is gaining 
 ground in New England. It is pretty evident that the 
 useful salts in this manure cannot descend far beneath 
 the surface of the soil. If they could we should find 
 the sub-soil rich in a field that had for ages been highly 
 manured. We find it not so. Yet may there not be 
 a loss in burying it too deep, not only in the first season, 
 but ever after ? Can you keep this kind of manure 
 buried deep — in a cellar for instance — for years, 
 without loss of its strength? From some experiments 
 which I have made, I think you cannot keep it without 
 loss, even in a cool place, where no fermentation takes 
 place. 
 
 If this be so, then there is a loss if we bury it too 
 deep in the soil. I think I have buried it so deep that 
 it never gave a good account of itself the first year, or 
 the second, and I had no hopes of it afterward. 
 
 That considerable loss arises from its evaporation, 
 when laid on the surface, there is as little doubt. To 
 be satisfied of this, one has only to pass by a field in the 
 summer, manured in this manner : his olfactory nerves 
 will teach him that something stronger than '^ watery 
 particles " is passing off from the field, and going, possi- 
 bly, to enrich another's crop in a distant enclosure. 
 And who can say that this may not be nourished by 
 the passing effluvia as eff'ectually as the man who was 
 nourished by the steam from his neighbor's beef steak ? 
 
 There is a proper medium to be observed. Manure 
 of this kind is found to do the most immediate service 
 when slightly covered with earth. The roots of plants 
 
MAPLE SUGAR. 57 
 
 are then not invited to an unreasonable depth, which 
 retards their progress to maturity, and keeps the plants 
 too long in a green state. For Indian corn, particular- 
 ly, which seldom suffers from drought, we may plough 
 and bury our manure too deep. W. B. 
 
 Framingham^ Oct. 8, 1838. 
 
 MAPLE SUGAR. 
 
 The following directions for obtaining sap and sugar 
 from the rock-maple were handed us by a friend. We 
 do not expect to teach our New Hampshire and Ver- 
 mont friends how to tap the maple ; still it is possible 
 they may derive some new ideas, as all do not adopt 
 the same course in manufacturing the sugar. This 
 mode of tapping with an auger has been practised for 
 many years, but we were not before aware that the 
 auger should not penetrate more than half an inch into 
 the sap-wood. It is possible, in this age of honeyed 
 words and sugar mania, that some may wish to be 
 sweetened with the sap of the rock-maple tree that 
 may be reared with their own hands by the road side. 
 This is one of the cleanest and most beautiful of our 
 forest trees, and may be propagated and transplanted 
 with as much ease and safety as any tree which we 
 have cultivated. — Ed. 
 
 It is commonly in February, or the first days of the 
 month of March, that the work of making maple sugar 
 is begun, — the time when the sap begins to rise, though 
 the earth may be covered with snow ; and it flows 
 nearly two months before the trees begin to show any 
 vegetation. Having chosen a central place in respect 
 to the trees that are to furnish the sap, a shed is raised, 
 6 
 
58 
 
 MAPLE SUGAR. 
 
 called a siigar-camp. Its object is to shelter from the 
 weather the caldrons in which the operation is carried 
 on, and the persons who direct it. One or more augers, 
 of about three quarters of an inch diameter ; some small 
 spouts to receive the sap, tubes of alder or sumac of 
 eight or ten inches, open on two thirds their length, 
 and proportioned to the size of the augers ; buckets to 
 empty the spouts and carry the sap to the camp ; cal- 
 drons of the content of fifteen or sixteen gallons ; 
 moulds proper to receive the sirup, when thickened to 
 the point suitable to be transformed into loaf ; finally, 
 axes to cut and prepare the combustibles, — are the 
 principal utensils necessary to this work. 
 
 The trees are perforated obliquely from below up- 
 ward, at eighteen or twenty inches from the ground, 
 with two or three parallel holes at four or five inches 
 distance one from the other. It is necessary to take 
 care that the auger does not penetrate more thaji a half 
 inch into the wood, observation having proved that 
 there is a greater flow of sap at this depth than at a 
 greater or less. It is recommended, also, and it is the 
 custom, to pierce them in the part of the trunk facing 
 south. This practice, though well known to be pref- 
 erable, is not always followed. 
 
 The spouts, of the content of two or three gallons, 
 are most commonly made, in the Northern States, of 
 white pine, white or black ash, or maple. The chestnut, 
 the oak, and especially the black walnut and butternut, 
 must not be employed for this use, because the sap is 
 easily charged with the coloring part, and even with a 
 degree of bitterness with which these woods are im- 
 pregnated. A spout is placed on the ground at the foot 
 of each tree, to receive the sap that flows by the two 
 tubes introduced into the holes made with the auger. 
 It is collected daily and carried to the camp, where it 
 is deposited temporarily in casks, from which it is 
 drawn to fill the caldrons. It r^ust always be boiled 
 in course of the two or three first days after it is drawn 
 
MAPLE SUGAR. 
 
 59 
 
 from the tree, being susceptible of readily entering into 
 fermentation, especially if the temperature is moderate. 
 They proceed to the evaporation by a brisk fire, taking 
 care to skim it during the boiling, and they add to the 
 richness of the liquor by the successive addition of a 
 new quantity of sap, until, finally acquiring a sirupy 
 consistence, it is passed, after cooling, through a cover- 
 ing, or any other woollen stuff, to separate the impuri- 
 ties with which it may be charged. 
 
 Some persons recommend not to heat it to the last 
 degree of boiling, till twelve hours ; others, on the con- 
 trary, think it may be done at once. In either case, 
 they pour the sirupy liquor into a caldron, which is to 
 be but three quarters filled, and by a brisk and well 
 kept up fire, they bring it readily to the degree of con- 
 sistence required to be poured into the moulds destined 
 to receive it. It is known to have arrived at this point 
 when, taking some drops between the fingers, they per- 
 ceive some small grains. If in this last boiling the 
 liquor boils over, a small piece of lard, or butter, is 
 thrown into the caldron, which makes it immediately 
 subside. When the molasses has flowed from the 
 moulds, this sugar is no more deliquescent than the 
 brown sugar of the colonies. 
 
 The process above described is exactly the same, 
 w^hether the sap is drawn from the sugar-maple, or the 
 red or white maple ; but these two last species must 
 furnish double the sap to make the same quantity of 
 sugar. 
 
 Different circumstances contribute to render the crop 
 of sugar more or less abundant. Thus, a very cold and 
 dry winter is more productive than when this season 
 has been very variable and very moist. It has been 
 observed, also, that, when, during the night, it has frozen 
 very hard, and on the following day the air is very dry 
 and clear, the sap flows in great abundance, and that then 
 a tree gives two to three gallons in twenty-four hours. 
 It is estimated that three persons may tend two hundred 
 
60 
 
 MECHANICS. 
 
 and fifty trees, which give one thousand pounds of 
 sugar, or about four pounds to a tree, which, however, 
 does not appear to be always the case with those en- 
 gaged in the business; for many farmers on the Ohio 
 assure us they do not obtain but about two pounds. 
 
 Trees which grow in low and moist places give 
 more sap, but less charged with the saccharine princi- 
 ple than those situated on hills or slopes. They draw 
 proportionally more from those situated in the midst of 
 fields, or the length of inclosures from habitations. It 
 is remarked, also, that when the districts where they 
 annually make sugar are deprived of other kinds of 
 trees, they obtain more favorable results even from un- 
 thrifty sugar-maples. 
 
 MECHANICS. 
 
 It is a subject of regret that the true principles of 
 mechanism are not more generally taught in our coun- 
 try. Our people are as ingenious as any on the face of 
 the globe ; and, if they could or would profit by the 
 labors of each other, they might advance farther and 
 faster towards their objects than when each sets up for 
 himself. We would not fetter genius ; we would have 
 each think for himself ; but there is no necessity that 
 each should build up a system from the foundation, and 
 derive no benefit from those who have gone before him. 
 He may build on their foundations, but, if he feels too 
 independent of the pioneers of science to be instructed 
 by their success or by their failures, he will be likely 
 to make little advance in any branch of knowledge be- 
 yond those who started from the same goal. We are 
 led to these reflections on witnessing the multitude and 
 variety of machines contrived to effect the same object 
 
MECHANICS. 61 
 
 by those who are unaware of what has already been 
 done, and who are astonished, on presenting their 
 claims at the patent office, or to the public, to find they 
 have been anticipated long ago by others of whose in- 
 ventions they never had heard. By not attending 
 sufficiently to the principles of the mechanic arts, 
 many contrive new machines of complicated form, with 
 variety of wheels, and pulleys, and cogs, and bands, 
 imagining that by all this trumpery they are gaining 
 power, when in truth every additional item of gearing 
 serves only to diminish power by the multiplication 
 of friction. Hence the hundreds of patents for churns, 
 for washing-machines, (fee. (fee. each more complicated 
 than its predecessor, and of course requiring more 
 power. Simplicity is the grand desideratum in all 
 machinery, but that is too often disregarded. First 
 principles are neglected, and we waste our strength in 
 vain. The principle of the lever and steelyard are not 
 generally understood, and we have been surprised at 
 the ignorance, on these subjects, of those who ought to 
 be better informed. 
 
 The simplest mechanical power is that of the lever. 
 When the lever is ten feet long, and the fulcrum, or 
 prop, is one foot distant from the body to be raised, one 
 pound attached to the long end of the lever will raise 
 nine pounds hung on the short end, because the one 
 pound is nine times as distant from the fulcrum, or pivot, 
 as the nine pounds are. 
 
 On this principle is formed the common steelyard ; 
 and any one who has an exact rule may prove the 
 accuracy of a pair of steelyards merely by applying 
 that rule and measuring the distances of the notches, 
 or indents, in which the poise, or balance^ rests in 
 weighing. 
 
 Suppose the weight on the hook of your steelyard 
 
 be five pounds, your fulcrum^ or pivot, by which you 
 
 hold up the steelyard is one inch distant from the hook ; 
 
 then take just one pound for your poise, and place it 
 
 6* 
 
62 MECHANICS. 
 
 just five inches from your fulcrum, and it will balance 
 your five-pound weight ; or, if your poise weigh half a 
 pound, you must place it just double that distance from 
 your fulcrum, or hook, held in your hand. If your 
 steelyards will not stand the test of your measure, they 
 are false. But in order to make the steelyard conform 
 to this rule, the short arm should exactly balance the 
 long one. This is not often the case, and, instead of 
 putting on more weight at the short end, it has been 
 usual to reduce the poise, or weight, on the long arm. 
 This would amount to exactly the same thing, if the 
 poise continued stationary, and equally distant as the 
 weight from the pivot ; for it is obvious, as in all 
 equations, that adding to one scale is the same thing as 
 deducting from the other ; but, to be equal, both scales 
 must be equally distant from the pivot on which they 
 turn. Now the poise in the steelyard is one of the 
 scales, and this is continually shifting ground;, when, 
 therefore, this poise is five times as far from the pivot 
 as the weight is, one ounce added to it, or taken from 
 it, makes five times the diiference that it would do 
 when five times nearer. Thus, by reducing the poise, 
 the simplicity of the steelyard is totally deranged, for 
 you must graduate your indents and figures by a com- 
 plicate rule, or your balance is obviously wrong. 
 
 To avoid this difficulty, the balance weight is fixed 
 on the side with the main weight, or, what is the same 
 thing, a scale, heavy enough to balance the poise end 
 is used, and the steelyard has now become a balance, 
 and will give you the weight as accurately as two 
 scales with fifty-six pound weights in one of them. And 
 it is now extremely easy to detect a false balance : you 
 have only to weigh the poise and measure the distance 
 of the indents and figures on the long arm, or scale 
 beam. It is on this simple principle, this plain rule of 
 simple proportion, that our largest scales for weighing 
 hay, &c. are or should be constructed: 1 pound, 50 
 inches from the pivot, balancing 50 pounds hanging one 
 
LOCOMOTION. 63 
 
 inch from the pivot, on the opposite side ; and a 50 
 pound poise will weigh down a load of 2500 ; for 50 
 times 50=2500. Simple as all this is^ we have many 
 patent balances. 
 
 [From Bigelow's Technology.] 
 
 LOCOMOTION. 
 
 Animals of the more perfect kinds possess the power 
 of shifting their place at will ; which power they exer- 
 cise both in transporting their own bodies, and in con- 
 veying other masses of matter. The chief obstacles 
 which oppose locomotion, or change of place, are 
 gravity and friction ; the last of which is, in most cases, 
 a consequence of the first. Gravity confines all terres- 
 trial bodies against the surface of the earth, with a force 
 proportionate to the quantity of matter which composes 
 them. Before they can be removed from one spot of 
 this surface to another of equal height, they must either 
 be lifted from the ground against the force of gravity, 
 or carried horizontally along the surface, resisting with 
 a degree of friction which increases with their weight. 
 Most kinds of mechanism, both natural and artificial, 
 which assist locomotion, are arrangements for obviating 
 the effects of gravity and friction. 
 
 Motion of Animals. Animals that walk, obviate 
 friction by substituting points of their bodies instead of 
 large surfaces ; and upon these points they turn, as 
 upon centres, for the length of each step, raising them- 
 selves wholly or partly from the ground in successive 
 arcs, instead of drawing themselves along the surface. 
 The line of arcs which the centre of gravity describes 
 is converted into an easy or undulating line, by the 
 compound action of the different joints. As the feet 
 
64 LOCOMOTION. 
 
 move in separate lines, the body has also a lateral^ 
 vibratory motion. A man, in walking, puts down one 
 foot before the other is raised, but not in running. 
 Q-uadrupeds, in walking, have three feet upon the 
 ground for most of the time ; in trotting, only two. 
 Animals which walk against gravity, as the conimon 
 fly, the tree-toad, &c. support themselves by suction, 
 using cavities on the under side of their feet, which 
 they enlarge at pleasure, till the pressure of the atmos- 
 phere causes them to adhere. In other respects, their 
 locomotion is effected like that of other walking 
 animals. Birds perform the motion of flying by striking 
 the air with the broad surface of their wings in a 
 downward and backward direction, thus propelling the 
 body upward and forward. After each stroke, the 
 wings are contracted, or slightly turned, to lessen their 
 resistance to the atmosphere, then raised and spread 
 anew. The downward stroke also, being more sudden 
 than the upward, is more resisted by the atmosphere. 
 The tail of birds serves as a rudder to direct the course 
 upward or downward. When a bird sails in the air 
 without moving the wings, it is done, in some cases, by 
 the velocity previously acquired, and an oblique direc- 
 tion of the wings upward ; in others, by a gradual 
 descent, with the wings slightly turned in an oblique 
 direction downward. Fishes, in swimming forward, 
 are propelled chiefly by strokes of the tail, the extremity 
 of which being bent in an oblique position, propels the 
 body forward and laterally at the same time. The 
 lateral motion is corrected by the next stroke, in the 
 opposite direction, while the forward course continues. 
 The fins serve partly to assist in swimming, but chiefly 
 to balance the body, or keep it upright ; for the centre 
 of gravity being nearest the back, a fish turns over 
 when it is dead or disabled. Some other aquatic 
 animals, as leeches, swim with a sinuous or undulating 
 motion of the body, in which several parts at once are 
 made to act obliquely against the water. Serpents, in 
 
SHORT-LEGGED ANIMALS. 65 
 
 like manner, advance by means of the winding or ser- 
 pentine direction which they give to their bodies, and 
 by which a succession of oblique forces are brought to 
 act against the ground. Sir Everard Home is of opin- 
 ion that serpents use their ribs in the manner of legs, 
 and propel the body forwards by bringing the plates 
 on the under surface of the body to act successively, 
 like feet, against the ground. Some worms and larvae, 
 of slow motion, extend a part of their body forwards, 
 and draw up the rest to overtake it, — some performing 
 this motion in a direct line, others in curves. 
 
 When land animals swim in the water, they are sup- 
 ported because their whole weight, with the lungs ex- 
 panded with air, is less than that of an equal bulk of 
 "water. The head, however, or a part of it, must be kept 
 above water, to enable the animal to breathe ; and, to 
 effect this, and also to make progress in the water, the 
 limbs are exerted in successive impulses against the 
 fluid. Quadrupeds and birds swim with less effort 
 than man, because the weight of the head, which is 
 carried above water, is in them a smaller proportional 
 part of the whole than it is in man. 
 
 SHORT-LEGGED ANIMALS. 
 
 Our most judicious farmers prefer the shortest-legged 
 neat stock, both for milk and for labor, and many are 
 beginning to doubt whether even a long-leg horse is 
 better than one with short legs. They have formed 
 their judgment from experience, — the only true test in 
 all matters of this kind. Many learned arguments may 
 be adduced in favor of long legs ; and', if the commu- 
 nity should come to the conclusion on the subject by 
 mere reasoning, without regard to experience, we be- 
 
66 SHORT-LEGGED ANIMALS. 
 
 lieve long legs would be the most popular candidates 
 for farmers' favor, both for the yoke and for the dairy ; 
 and we should conclude that the horse especially could 
 not travel so fast with short legs as with long ones ; 
 but, on considering the subject well, we find a philo- 
 sophical reason in favor of short legs for travelling, 
 and this applies to animals of all descriptions. If you 
 will revert to an extract in our last number from Bige- 
 low's Technology, you will see a partial explanation of 
 our theory. In moving forward, a man cormnonly 
 advances one foot at a time : if he takes a long step 
 his body sinks, for his supporters are not perpendicular 
 when he brings up the other foot : his body rises, 
 then sinks again, as he advances it forward of the 
 first foot ; thus, at every step, his body rises and sinks ; 
 that is, moves in a curved line : it describes the arc of 
 a circle, of which the leg is the radius, or spoke, as 
 the wheelwright says. Now the farther he strides, the 
 lower his body sinks, and the greater must be the effort 
 to bring it up again : his wliole body is continually 
 rising and falling while he walks, so that he loses 
 ground by his deviation from a straight line ; and, the 
 longer his legs are, the more he deviates from that line, 
 and the greater effort is required to raise the body 
 again. Take a wheel with only four spokes and no 
 rim ; it will be constantly rising and falling while you 
 roll it on. Take one, now, with eight spokes, and its 
 deviation from a right line will not be half so great as 
 that of the first ; and the longer these spokes are, the 
 greater the deviation in either case. With four spokes 
 and no rim, the hub of your wheel, in passing, describes 
 a track much like that of our improved new roads, 
 that require no other deviation from a right line than 
 the mounting of hills and the sinking into valleys. 
 
 Horses, or other animals with long legs, naturally 
 take longer steps than others ; thus their bodies have 
 farther to travel, and a greater effort is required to 
 bring them up again after sinking below their level. 
 
THE LADIES. 67 
 
 So much for theory. Now for fact, — experience. The 
 officers of our revolutionary army discovered that the 
 short-legged soldiers, and especially those that stepped 
 short, were less fatigued on a march than others were. 
 Isaac Howe, of Framingham, who is new near eighty 
 years of age, entered the army in 1775, at the age of 
 sixteen. He served through the war, and was a most 
 excellent soldier : he was also one of the best laborers 
 we ever hired. He has often told us that it was a 
 common saying in the army, — " The soldier that steps 
 short is least fatigued on a march." 
 
 We have uniformly found that short-legged horses 
 were every way to be preferred ; and that, of long- 
 legged ones, those were best that took the shortest 
 strides. Low horses handle their feet best, for they 
 are nearer to them. Tiiey stumble least, for the 
 stumbling-blocks are nearer their sight ; and, if they 
 fall, their fall is not great, like that of the high house 
 of the foolish man ; nor like that of Lucifer, never to 
 rise again. 
 
 Cows with short legs are observed to have better 
 udders than others ; and their trunks are better formed 
 to make room for the lungs. Their tails are longer, in 
 proportion, and they more easily brush the flies from 
 their hind feet, so much exposed to the afternoon calls 
 of those inquisitive visiters. 
 
 THE LADIES. 
 
 " And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone : I 
 will make an help meet for him," — Gen. ii. 18. 
 
 Now, my dear, delicate friends, let us not see this 
 Scripture perverted or wrested, as many texts are, to 
 the destruction of the dairy, the farm, and the hopes 
 
68 THE LADIES. 
 
 of the husband. The cows must be milked twice a 
 day, and we want a little aid from yon, as wages are 
 high, and the mower must not long be detained. As 
 we are sometimes kept late in the field, we hope to find 
 all the cows milked on our return ; but milk them 
 properly, or they may better stand till our return. 
 
 Let no small children enter the yard at the time of 
 milking. Let not the cows be disturbed at night, but 
 approach them with kind words. If you scold them, 
 or whip them, you may be cheated of half your milk. 
 After you have brushed the dirt from the udder, and 
 seated yourself on the right side of the cow, grasp the 
 teats, one in each hand, near their extremity. Squeeze 
 gently at first, or the cow may be pained and start 
 away : after a few squeezes you may venture all your 
 strength. In about half a minute, if the cow has been 
 well bred, the milk will flow as fast as you can possi- 
 bly draw it from the teats. Now let nothing interrupt 
 your labor. Squeeze the teat and draw it down at 
 the same moment ; and, at every relaxation of your 
 hand for more milk in the teat, press up your hand 
 against the bag and this will have a tendency to bring 
 all the milk out of the udder: it is an imitation of the 
 butting of the calf against the bag. 
 
 You must not stop to speak nor to be spoken to until 
 your cow is finished. If one speaks to you, the milk 
 streaming into your pail makes so much noise you stop 
 in order to hear ; then the milk, which began to flow 
 so freely, goes back again into the ducts that supply 
 the udder, and you lose your opportunity. Like the 
 sap of the maple, you must take it when it flows, or 
 its juices go to enlarge the tree : so a cow, half milked, 
 will gain more flesh, at the cost of your milk and cream. 
 Move the udder, at the close of milking, in every di- 
 rection, to be sure you have all the milk ; but do not 
 spend a long while in stripping lest you get the cow 
 into a lazy habit of ekeing out the richest portion of 
 her bounty. 
 
TAILS, 69 
 
 In the morning, the cows should be driven, gently, 
 two or three times around the yard before milking: 
 they will yield more for the exercise, and they will be 
 less likely to scatter manure in the way to pasture. 
 We have seldom hired a good milker. Females are 
 better than men : they have more patience. A good 
 milker will obtain at least one quarter more cream than 
 one that milks slowly. We have often proved this : 
 we hired, one summer, a man from New Hampshire, 
 who had managed a farm several years : he was 
 clever, but extremely moderate. We then had four 
 cows in milk, and discovered our slow milker was fast 
 drying up our cows : we concluded to give him our 
 aid, and let him milk only two. On the first trial, he 
 obtained the same quantity that we did. In one week, 
 we obtained one quart more than he at a milking. He 
 said his cows were not equal to ours : Ave then shifted, 
 and obtained, within nine days, more milk from his 
 cows than he did from ours. This was wholly to be 
 ascribed to his moderate milking, for he left none in 
 the udder. 
 
 TAILS. 
 
 The tails of neat stock are ornamental and useful. 
 How ugly a cow would look without a tail ! Then 
 how convenient this brush in fly-time ! not all the fans, 
 and fingers, and brushes ever invented, are equal to a 
 good tail on a cow for brushing away those naughty 
 intruders that are always readiest to hug and buzz in a 
 season wiien you can spare them best, — the hottest 
 weather. Cattle with short tails are much afiiicted 
 with this kind of company, which at noonday annoys 
 them to such a degree they are prone to retreat to the 
 7 
 
70 TAILS. 
 
 woods, or to a lake, in which they will plunge deep 
 enough to drown all that adhere to their legs. It has 
 been observed that neat stock are more sensitive in the 
 hind legs than in the others, and that they therefore 
 suffer the loss of their tails. 
 
 We think it a barbarous practice to deprive of their 
 fly-brush any description of animals, unless they have 
 been guilty of some offence, — as the horse, for using 
 his brush so freely as to take, like a ruthless politician, 
 your very reins from your hands. Clip him, cur-tsiil 
 him, and teach him better. 
 
 An idea extensively prevails that the tails of cattle 
 and of hogs should be shortened ; that hogs fatten 
 much better, and that neat stock contract diseases un- 
 less deprived of a portion at least of this ornamental 
 queue. Is this fact, or fib ? We think it worth while 
 to inquire. We have recently heard it asserted that 
 there is no necessity of docking the tails of animals. 
 We solicit communications on this subject. If it be 
 necessary to cut away any portion of the soft, spongy 
 extremity, let it be done. 
 
 Last December we killed two pigs of the age of five 
 months : we judged that one would weigh two hun- 
 dred. We never had any pigs fatten better than these, 
 and we had wholly neglected to shorten their tails. 
 
 If it be necessary to cut from the calf or from the 
 cow, care should be taken to leave on much as possi- 
 ble of the hair for a brush. It is asserted that cattle 
 with long tails are able to keep from their backs the 
 fly that there often makes a puncture and deposits its 
 eggs : these eggs become worms, and are not the most 
 pleasant sojourners in hot weather. 
 
 Cows with short tails will annoy their milker much 
 more than with long ones : with short ones, they strike 
 his face as with a club, while long ones move more 
 slowly, or pass entirely over the head. 
 
MILKING. 71 
 
 MILKING. 
 
 We have forbidden children, and cats, and dogs, and 
 talkers of all descriptions, to enter the yard in the milk- 
 ing season, for all should be quiet, if you would get all 
 the best of the cream ; but if children enter not, how- 
 will they learn to milk ? If you have an old cow that 
 you intend to dry soon, let your fresh-man — or fresh- 
 woman, as they are styled at female colleges — make 
 a first trial on her. Teach him to sit close to the cow, 
 for the nearer he sits the less will he be hurt by a kick. 
 He should sit so far back as to front the side of the 
 udder, and his left arm should constantly rest against 
 the cow's right leg ; then if she raises her foot, his arm 
 will keep it off the pail ; and she cannot kick him for 
 two reasons : her limbs are so formed that she must 
 either strike forward or back ; and, if she could kick 
 out directly towards him, he would receive no blow 
 while his arm rests firmly against her leg : the most 
 she could accomplish would be to push him away. 
 
 The child should grasp the teat close to its extremity, 
 and the milk will be easier drawn. 
 
 Sometimes, in cases of malicious kicking, the cow 
 should be whipt with a birch, but this should instantly 
 follow the offence, or she will not well understand why 
 she is punished ; still it is better generally to flatter 
 them into their duty as the cunning schoolmaster did 
 his scholars, for you must expect no full pail at the 
 time of using compulsory measures. 
 
 Well-bred cows seldom kick, but they often raise up 
 a foot to brush the flies off, or to give you a hint that 
 you do not hold the teats right, and that you give them 
 pain. When there is the least doubt in your mind 
 whether a malicious kick was intended, by all means 
 put the most favorable construction on her conduct, and 
 treat her accordingly, as real gentlemen always do 
 on the conduct of females of all descriptions. 
 
73 ON MANURES, AND THEIR 
 
 ON MANURES, AND THEIR APPLICATION TO THE SOIL- 
 
 Wood-ashes, leached and unleached, are a valuable 
 manure, and, placed in large quantities on light and 
 sandy loams, they alter permanently the quality of the 
 soil, rendering it more adhesive, more retentive of 
 moisture, and consequently more protective of stable 
 manure subsequently applied. 
 
 It is a very common notion that ashes should be ap- 
 plied to moist soils, in order to render them drier. This 
 is clearly a mistake. Though ashes, in small quantities, 
 assist the vegetable growth in all soils, they never 
 should be laid on low heavy lands : they contribute to 
 make such lands, in time, more heavy still. Ashes 
 operate in two ways. The lie from those that are 
 strong is a very powerful decomposer of vegetable sub- 
 stances. It is from this cause that we see so marked a 
 difference when applied under different circumstances. 
 On greensward, newly turned and full of grass and their 
 roots, strong wood-ashes have a powerful effect. They 
 very rapidly decompose these substances, and convert 
 them into active manures. When applied to old fields^ 
 destitute of roots, 6oC. as we often apply them by the 
 single handful to a hill of corn, they seem to be of little 
 use, there being nothing on which they can operate. 
 They only serve to render the soil more compact and 
 adhesive ; but the quantity thus used is too small to 
 produce a sensible effect by way of a permanent amend- 
 ment of the soil. But leached ashes may often be 
 purchased at such a rate as to justify the application of 
 them to light loams, in such quantities as to render a 
 material alteration in the quality of the soih Thirty 
 or forty cart-loads to the acre will often improve such 
 a soil, not by virtue of the lie that may remain in them, 
 but of the heavy earthy matter, the dregs, that serve to 
 render the whole soil more retentive of moisture. But 
 as the lie that may still remain in them in small 
 
APPLICATION TO THE SOIL. 73 
 
 quantity will not avail perceptibly, unless the applica- 
 tion be made on greensward, or other vegetable matter, 
 these leached ashes may not be worth more than so 
 many loads of clay on a sandy soil ; for without their 
 lie they operate mechanically only, and not as a stimu- 
 lant, or a decomposer of vegetable matter. Therefore 
 leached ashes, perfectly drained of their spirit of lie, can 
 hardly be counted as a manure, serving only the office 
 of a component part of the soil. 
 
 That wood-ashes, unleached, have the effect, before 
 stated, of rapidly decomposing vegetable substances 
 when applied to them, will be evident, not only from 
 the different effect they produce on greensward com- 
 pared with soil long under cultivation ; but we can 
 show, merely by applying these substances to a tub of 
 strong lie, that it has a most powerful and rapid action 
 on them, decomposing them totally in a very short 
 time. 
 
 Yarn put into a bucking tub to be whitened will 
 soon be spoiled if the lie be strong ; and it is a maxim 
 with those concerned in the process, " that the yarn 
 must not remain there long." 
 
 A few years since, my boy was set to wash the apple- 
 trees with lie. He made it very strong ; he used a 
 new paint-brush made of bristles. In less than two 
 hours, the brush came to pieces. It was completely 
 decomposed, or rotted ; it was in that short period 
 turned to manure. A strong piece of woollen cloth was 
 afterwards used. This shared the same fate with the 
 brush, and in less time. W. B 
 
 Framingham, Dec. 1838. 
 
 7* 
 
74 LOCOMOTION, 
 
 LOCOMOTION. 
 
 Locomotion is a subject that has often engaged the 
 attention of ingenious minds, and since it is recently 
 ascertained that our old modes of shifting from place 
 to place were not the most easy and rapid, but that we 
 may, with the new apparatus, improve our speed three 
 or four fold without additional fatigue, it is quite 
 natural to inquire whether the means of locomotion in 
 common u«e on our gravel ways are not capable also of 
 some improvement. 
 
 The wheel has long been used to diminish the fric- 
 tion occasioned by dragging bodies on the earth, and 
 various are the modifications it has undergone to 
 render it more perfect and free from friction. The 
 greatest obstacle opposed to the action of the common 
 wheel is the unevenness of the road or track on which 
 it operates. To reduce our uneven surface to u level 
 is laborious and expensive ; but it is not a difficult 
 matter to render the most of our roads smooth, so that 
 wheels, and carriages, and teams, and passengers, would 
 suffer far less than they do on our common ways. Our 
 legislature, therefore, a few years since, ventured to 
 pass a law requiring that the felloes of heavy loaded 
 wheels should not be less than five inches in width. 
 This law was not suffered to go into operation : it was 
 to have taken effect two years after its enactment ; but, 
 before that time arrived, a majority of the body were 
 panic struck at the near prospect of a good, smooth 
 road, and probably considered it would prove injurious 
 to health to ride and take the air without a good 
 shaking at the same time ; they therefore repealed the 
 law, and we have been blest, on our common roads, 
 with a most healthy circulation — of the blood — ever 
 since. 
 
 It is wholly impossible to keep roads good while 
 teamers are allowed with narrow wheels to carry six 
 
LOCOMOTION. 75 
 
 and seven tons at a load: such loads, at least, should be 
 carried on wide-rimmed wheels. Many now use them 
 voluntarily, and contend they are easier drawn ; but 
 this is questionable, when the road by narrow ones is 
 cut up into ruts, though there can be little doubt, if all 
 loaded wheels were wide, they would run with more 
 ease, the surface acted on being rendered perfectly 
 smooth by the action of the wheel itself. Then it 
 should be considered that one half the expense of 
 mending ou7^ ivays — a mighty task ofttimes — would 
 thus be saved. Every road-maker and mender knows 
 that it is the narrow wheel that cuts out gutters 
 which invites the waters to rush in one channel, and, 
 like a mob, harmless when separated, do mighty mis- 
 chief with their concentrated forces if allowed to act 
 together. 
 
 But we must bear with our rough and mangled 
 roads till we have legislators who may think it as im- 
 portant to prevent a somerset in a cart-rut, as a reeling 
 from a public house ; who will prevent the tripping of 
 the feet, as well as that of the tongue ; and who will 
 not spend so much of their brains — or breath — in 
 directing what we shall eat, or drink, as in providing 
 wherewithal we may travel with ease. 
 
 A difficulty arises in setting a wheel properly, from 
 the supposed necessity of making the inner box larger 
 than the outer one. So long as this fashion continues, 
 we know of no rule for setting the wheel on the axle 
 that is not objectionable. Indeed, there is no gene- 
 ral rule, and we find- wheelwrights guessing at the 
 proper declination of the wheel from a perpendicular 
 posture ! 
 
 This should not be. It is obvious that the axle 
 must not be made of a true taper where it enters the 
 hub, for the load would tend to crowd it off", and the 
 draft of the team also would have the same tendency. 
 It is therefore the practice to SQt the wheel under, and 
 make the under side of the axle in the wheel range 
 
76 LOCOMOTION. 
 
 with the body of the axle : this sets the wheel nnder 
 so far that it crowds towards the shoulder and creates 
 much friction. Regardless of this, carriage makers 
 often set the wheel still farther under the vehicle, and 
 make the wheel dishing, the spokes standing out in a 
 bracing position from the hub, the under portion of 
 them being perpendicular, while the upper ones stand 
 thirty degrees from a perpendicular position. The 
 wheel is stronger when it assumes this dishing form, as 
 the laboring spokes stand more upright than they 
 otherwise would with this crooked axle ; but the great 
 difficulty is, the wheel runs hard, it presses too hard 
 against the shoulder. To prevent the wheels inclining 
 to run off from its toeing out too much, the end of the 
 axle is bent forward, and this is called the gather of 
 the axle ; but here is no rule for the gather : each man 
 crooks his axle according to fancy. Is it a wonder, 
 then, that some of our carriages run so hard ? We find 
 there is much difference in their running. This in- 
 creased friction is not the whole difficulty ; the carriage 
 is vastly more liable to be overset by this under setting 
 of the wheels, and we know of no rule by which you 
 can set wheels properly while such a difference exists 
 in the size of the boxes : we therefore propose that 
 the inner and the outer boxes be made very nearly of 
 a size. We well know there is more friction with 
 large axles and boxes, but we are satisfied we gain on 
 the whole, and that a wheel set in a perpendicular 
 position, with a straight axle, will need no gather, and 
 will run with much less friction than when set in the 
 common mode. You have, then, a plain, straight rule 
 to go by, which may be practised by you, and taught 
 to your children. 
 
ORCHARDS. " 11 
 
 ORCHARDS. 
 
 We hope you will not forget what we have said on 
 setting out trees. We grieve to see so much time and 
 money heedlessly thiown away, and we shall often 
 invite attention to the subject. We have yet said but 
 little on trimming : for years we have heard the cry 
 of trim, trim ! in some of the papers, as if we could 
 never trim enough. We think many orchards are in- 
 jured by excessive trimming, and know that large 
 hmbs should never be cut from the tree. Heading 
 down has been practised by many, to let the sun in to 
 ripen the fruit ! One consequence is, the tree branches 
 out, covers a large tract of land, and is forever in the 
 way of your plough, your team, and your head. Tiieii 
 you look out for a high tree in vain, and you leave a 
 great portion of the space you are fairly entitled to by 
 deed, ^^ usque ad coelwn^''^ — up to the very heavens,. 
 — entirely without occupation. We think no leading 
 upward stem of the apple-tree should be lopped after 
 it is taken from the nursery, or after three years' 
 growth : a twenty-foot tree will produce you more 
 than a ten-foot tree, and one good quality in a tree is 
 height. 
 
 On the other hand, it is contended, by some, that a 
 tree should never be trimmed ; that nature has pro- 
 vided no surplus limbs, and that nature must be im- 
 plicitly followed in all tliese matters ; and thatj when 
 the limbs grow too thick, they will die of themselves, 
 as we often see theni in thick forests of timber, and 
 injure the body less than any kind of trimming. 
 
 This doctrine may lead us too far. It is natural for 
 grass to twine around the roots and ruin the young tree. 
 Moss will naturally grow on its trunk, and caterpillars 
 will naturally lodge in its branches ; but we must ap- 
 ply the remedies^ the natural remedies. 
 
 As to the forest trees, we cannot do better than let 
 
78 ORCHARDS. 
 
 them alone : every leaf we pluck off injures the trees. 
 The several species of pine and evergreens are ruined 
 by using the axe and the saw. The pitch — the life- 
 blood of the trees — flows out at the wound, and we 
 at the same time deprive the tree of a portion of its 
 lungs. It may still live, as animals have done, many 
 years after losing one of the lobes of the lungs by de- 
 cay ; but the bare existence of the tree is not enough : 
 we wish it as much top as it will bear, that it may 
 draw on the earth and on the air for all the nourish- 
 ment they can afford. Further, — by trimming young 
 forests we open them to the winds ; the leaves blow 
 away instead of turning to manure and keeping the 
 soil light ; the grass-roots occupy the space intended 
 for the roots of the tree, and you are a greater loser 
 than he who puts his rum all into a sieve. You lose 
 the sap, the leaves, the room for your roots, and the 
 powers of the tree to extend its growth. But we will 
 not be forced by theory to the contrary extreme, and 
 shall not recommend to let fruit-trees wholly alone. 
 We think nature has provided them with some excess 
 of leaves and of branches, to meet the demand of the 
 worms and of the insects that are constantly preying 
 upon them. The storms, also, come in for a share of 
 the spoil. Now if we destroy these worms and insects, 
 and the storms have used no violence, a surplus of 
 limbs and of leaves remain for the knife, and we may 
 then, with impunity, trim the small tioigs as we cut 
 off our hair, our beards, and our nails. This excess, 
 which nature has supplied for extra occasions, may be 
 safely lopped away ; the wounds will soon be healed 
 in either case ; but take from an animal his hand, his 
 leg, or his finger, and, though he may yet live, you in 
 part deprive him of his vigor. 
 
 Let apple-trees, then, have height as well as breadth. 
 Suffer not their limbs to run low. If beside the high- 
 way, the cattle will trim too much ; if in the field, 
 they stop your plough, that must not be a stranger 
 
ON MANURES. 79 
 
 there. The stirring of your grounds and killing your 
 grass will produce fairer fruit than all the trimming 
 you can devise. We have now a tall apple-tree by the 
 road side. Its fruit is the Newton pippin. It bears 
 every year from four to fourteen barrels of good fruit. 
 If this tree had been headed down, we could not hope 
 for half that quantity from the tree. We are much 
 pleased to see, in a late number of the Albany Culti- 
 vator — one of the most able and practical papers in 
 the country — an article on trimming trees that very 
 nearly coincides with our views. 
 
 In orchards we commend straight rows, for we can 
 use the plough with more ease ; but this is not the 
 most essential item in setting out trees. Mr. Wright 
 was once famous for straight rows. He would at any 
 sacrifice put them in straight lines. 
 
 He once commenced setting a row, and, when he 
 had planted a couple, he went in each direction, shut 
 up one eye, like a marksman, and, after taking most 
 critical sight at the range of the trees, observed, with 
 much satisfaction, '' There, I have set two in a line." 
 
 The best wash we ever tried for young trees is 
 strong lie : two pounds of potash will make near a 
 pailful ; and this may be applied by means of a swab, 
 made by nailing a piece of cloth to a handle. A paint- 
 er's brush is more handy. 
 
 ON MANURES, AND THEIR APPLICATION TO THE SOIL. 
 
 Manures of this sort, viz. the excrement of animals, 
 if not applied to the soil before fermentation takes 
 place, should be mixed with a very large proportion of 
 matter that will absorb the liquid portions and retain 
 the salts until they are wanted for the growing vegeta- 
 
80 ON MANURES. 
 
 ble. It was an ancient practice to keep this sort in a 
 heap till it had become old, at least, if not rotten ; 
 for it is evident that old stable manure operated 
 more powerfully than new, or green manure ; but, 
 since it is ascertained that such manure, while in the 
 early stages of fermentation, promotes vegetable growth, 
 and that, if they lie in heaps, unmixed, they become 
 too warm and lose much of their strength, the good 
 manager must either add to the pile a large quantity of 
 mould, of dead matter, or he must apply it immediate- 
 ly to the soil, and mix it there with plough and har- 
 row. 
 
 If the entire strength and richness of stable manure 
 can be secured by this immediate use of it, or covering 
 under the field furrow, a vast amount of labor in cart- 
 ing and overhauling may be saved. If it is as well to 
 mix it in the field as in the heap, none would be at the 
 trouble and expense of heaping. What do we. gain by 
 this latter mode ? We create more heat than we can 
 do under the furrow, and consequently a more rapid 
 decomposition. In creating this heat do we lose noth- 
 ing by the escape of the gases? Do we not, in short, 
 secure, by burying green stable manure under the fur- 
 row, all the salts that can be secured in any mode ? 
 Probably no method which we can adopt will secure 
 the whole richness of this manure ; but, as the labor 
 of carting it a second time, and of mixing, is very con- 
 siderable, and, as a certain loss is sustained on removal 
 after decomposition has commenced, the prudent farmer 
 will probably think it cheapest and safest to apply such 
 manure immediately to his soil whenever that is so 
 circumstanced that he can cover it in a proper manner. 
 
 This may be done in all crops of Indian corn and of 
 potatoes, whether the field be greensward or old fur- 
 row ; but, for field turnips, or for garden vegetables, 
 fine manure is more proper ; for we cannot, in these 
 cases, cover it so well with the plough. Turnips of 
 all kinds require the soil to be rich on the surface, and 
 
MAKING AND SALTING OF BUTTER. 81 
 
 no quantity of long manure, buried deep in a poor soil, 
 will give a heavy crop. 
 
 When we speak of burying manure, we do not mean 
 the burying of a shovelfull in a hill, either of corn or 
 of potatoes. A more pernicious practice was never 
 adopted by a farmer. By it he seldom harvests so 
 good a crop in the first instance. Then in what con- 
 dition is his manure the following season ? In heaps ! 
 and his second crop of wheat, oats, or rye, will be in 
 clusters. His grass, too, will grow in heaps ; but he 
 gains nothing by this, for he must spread it before it 
 can be fit for the barn. 
 
 It should be the aim of every farmer so to husband 
 his land that it may become more and more valuable 
 from year to year. W. B. 
 
 Framingham, Oct., 1838. 
 
 [From Chambers' Edinburgh Journal.] 
 
 MAKING AND SALTING OF BUTTER. 
 
 The following notes on this subject are by an indi- 
 vidual (a female) who has been personally engaged in 
 the preparation of butter for fifty years : 
 
 Some time ago I observed in the Journal a compari- 
 son between Dutch and English butter. Could the 
 particulars of the Dutch method be obtained it would 
 be a very desirable acquisition ; but I apprehend the 
 superiority of their butter is chiefly owing to the pas- 
 ture and an unremitting attention to the duties of the 
 dairy. In our own country the pasture affects, in a 
 high degree, the quality of the butter: old pasture 
 produces much richer butter than new ; and, on some 
 hilly grounds, where wild flowers and certain kinds of 
 8 
 
82 MAKING AND SALTING OF BUTTER. 
 
 grass abound, the flavor is much finer than on low 
 grounds, where the pasture is more luxuriant. 
 
 In the want of better information, regarding this 
 very necessary article of domestic comfort, I am in- 
 duced to send you a feW remarks, which may, perhaps, 
 induce others who are better informed to do the same, 
 so that the most approved methods of curing butter 
 may, by the medium of your widely circulated paper, 
 be known throughout the length and breadth of the 
 land. 
 
 As a preliminary, I must beg the indulgence of being 
 very particular ; for the whole process is made up of 
 small things, the neglect of one of which might affect 
 the whole. I also wish it to be understood that my 
 observations are chiefly adapted for the use of small 
 establishments, where from three to six cows are kept. 
 It is inferred that every thing in the dairy is conducted 
 with the most strict regard to cleanliness. It ought to 
 be a cool, dry, well-aired place, free from all damp and 
 bad smells. It is a great mistake to suppose that the 
 art of making good butter consists merely in having it 
 properly churned, thoroughly washed, and sufficiently 
 salted. All this may be most pointedly done, and yet 
 the butter turn out very bad. The main thing — and 
 it must never be lost sight of — is to keep the milk, in 
 all its stages, from contracting the least degree of taint. 
 By taint I do not mean sourness. Sourness will not 
 injure the butter : on the contrary, it greatly facilitates 
 churning ; and, to obtain this in winter, when cream is 
 slow to sour, it is necessary to place it, for twenty-four 
 hours before churning, within the influence of a fire, 
 and to stir it thoroughly two or three times during this 
 period. 
 
 Cream ought never to remain on milk above thirty- 
 six hours. This I consider to be a very important 
 point ; for if, by any omission, cream be suff'ered to re- 
 main for a longer time on milk, it is sure to contract 
 an old bitter taint : and it would be more true economy 
 
MAKING AND SALTING OF BUTTER. 83 
 
 to pour such cream into the pig's trough than to intro- 
 duce it into the churn, as it will spoil the whole. A 
 properly leaded stone jar is better than a wooden vessel 
 for keeping cream, because wood is more apt than 
 stone- ware to get mouldy : a slight mould soon com- 
 municates itself to the cream, and of course to the 
 butter. 
 
 A wooden rod must be continually kept in the jar, 
 and every time cream is added, the contents must be 
 stirred from top to bottom with the rod. This is very 
 essential ; for, if neglected, the cream first put in will 
 gradually rise to the top, and so get tainted. Cream 
 ought never to be kept above five days ; but four is 
 still safer for butter that is to be salted. 
 
 If the atmosphere at the time of churning be above 
 fifty -four degrees, one quart of the coldest spring-water 
 to every three gallons of cream, put into the churn at 
 commencing, will be a great advantage, and will injure 
 neither butter nor milk. If there be the slightest 
 cause for suspecting that the butter has suffered from 
 hasty churning in warm weather, it ought to be salted 
 for present use, and not put into the kit with keeping 
 butter. 
 
 Butter, on being taken out of the churn, ought to be 
 instantly washed in spring-water until the water comes 
 off colorless. After this, the sooner it is salted the 
 better. In salting, use the best English salt, — such 
 as is used in the curing of herrings. To three parts 
 of salt add one part of loaf sugar, both finely pounded, 
 and perfectly well mixed. One ounce of this to six- 
 teen ounces of butter is the proper quantity. Let it 
 be thoroughly incorporated with the butter. In clean- 
 ing and salting butter, a stout creaming dish is prefer- 
 able to the hands. 
 
 Kits made of wood are much superior to stone-ware 
 in keeping of butter. The top of the kit ought to be 
 about one fourth narrower than the bottom, and the 
 wood nearly one inch in thickness. A thin-wooded 
 kit is not so favorable for preserving butter. 
 
84 MAKING AND SALTING OF BUTTER. 
 
 In the process of salting, a little salt and water ought 
 to cover the butter from the first, and a piece of thin 
 linen should also be spread over it. The sides of the 
 kit must be daily Avetted with thin salt and water, by 
 which mould is prevented from forming on the empty 
 part of the kit during the time of filling. The kit 
 ought to be filled within one inch of the top, and kept 
 constantly covered by linen, and a pickle of salt and 
 water. Butter is apt to rise above the pickle. This is 
 easily prevented by turning a dinner-plate over the but- 
 ter. By placing a weight on the lid, the plate will 
 be kept down. The kits must be kept on a cool, airy 
 shelf of the dairy — not on the floor — and occasionally 
 moved around a little. Butter for keeping may with 
 safety be salted during all the time the cows are on 
 pasture. It is a most useful thing to have a slate in 
 the dairy, whereon to note down the date and produce 
 of every churning ; also what is salted or otherwise ; 
 and these notes to be set down occasionally in a book. 
 A jar of ready-made pickle, just strong enough to move 
 an egg, but not so strong as to cause it to swim to the 
 top, ought always to be kept in the dairy. Have also 
 at hand a can of prepared salt and sugar, to be kept in 
 a dry place, as the dairy will be too damp. The kits 
 ought to be all numbered, and those first salted should 
 be first used. 
 
 I have still to beg your indulgence for a few thoughts 
 suggested by the above observations. In this enlight- 
 ened age, when each class of the community is vicing 
 with the rest in improving the commodity which comes 
 under their immediate care, it is surprising that public 
 attention has been so little turned to the improvement 
 of the mode of salting butter. The same complaints 
 from the same cause are constantly to be heard, and 
 there the matter rests, and so it will rest, unless general 
 attention be directed to it, and a decided effort be made. 
 Nothing is wanting to remove this grievance but a 
 few slight attentions. There is no additional toilj no 
 
WHEELS. 85 
 
 additional expense. What a pity, then, it is, that those 
 to whose care the preparing of this article is entrusted 
 cannot bethink themselves to bestow these slight at- 
 tentions. They should take into consideration the 
 comfort of thousands of decent householders, who are 
 both able and willing to pay for a wholesome article, 
 but who have no alternative, but either to use the but- 
 ter that is offered for sale, or to want it altogether. 
 There is another consideration which ought to have 
 its own weight, namely, the honor of their country ; 
 and none, however humble, should think themselves 
 too insignificant to contribute to this. It is the many 
 that make a whole ; and, if we always throw our in- 
 fluence on the right side, we have the satisfaction at 
 least of having done what we can to create the happi- 
 ness of our fellow-creatures. 
 
 We approve of the above mode of making butter. 
 An idea has prevailed to some extent that it was inju- 
 rious to wash butter after churning ; and it is contended 
 that the goodness is thus washed out ; but we are sat- 
 isfied by experience that washing in water assists to 
 expel the buttermilk and prepare the butter for the tub. 
 The hand should never touch the butter — provided 
 the dairy-woman can cleanse her hands well without 
 it — for every particle of butter that is melted by any 
 means serves to injure the mass. Small wooden spades 
 should invariably be used for working over the but- 
 ter. — - Ed. 
 
 WHEELS. 
 
 By placing wheels perfectly upright, we have the 
 plainest rule for making the axle ; we have the least 
 8* 
 
86 WHEELS. 
 
 possible friction ; the carriage is less liable to be over- 
 set ; and the tire runs square on the road, — a matter 
 of no small importance where the felloe is four or five 
 inches wide. 
 
 If the axle of a chaise is made to revolve with the 
 wheel like the axle on railroad cars, there would be no 
 need of boxes in the wheel. The axle would then be 
 framed fast into the hub, and the boxes for the axle to 
 turn in would be on the frame or shaft of the chaise, 
 and the boxes might then resemble staples with nuts 
 to screw on to their points so as to draw them up closer 
 as the axle by friction became less. 
 
 In this mode the friction would be less ; for a less 
 surface would be exposed to friction : oil or grease 
 could be more easily applied, and the wheel need 
 never be taken off unless you break it, as Tom said 
 of his dinner-plate when the waiter offered to change 
 it. Wheels made thus need not be so stout at the hub, 
 and would be much lighter. Little or no noise would 
 be heard ; for, if the boxes were not screwed tight, 
 there would be no tendency, as in case of a loose axle 
 in a hub, to rock to and fro : the pressure of the load 
 would prevent it. The only objection we know of to 
 this mode of hanging chaise-wheels is the difficulty 
 of turning, as both wheels must move together ; but, 
 where a carriage is loaded no heavier than a chaise, it 
 is easily turned, though one wheel may slide. 
 
 Thus we should gain in several points : in a saving 
 of expense, in lightness, in oiling, and in a perfectly 
 quiet movement. This last advantage, a quiet move- 
 ment, is seldom attained in the first run of a chaise, 
 and it is never long kept. When the wheels have 
 worn loose on the common axle, they rattle like a 
 cart, and no bells are wanted to warn the public to 
 clear the way. 
 
ON MANURES. 87 
 
 ON MANURES. 
 
 We wish often to invite the attention of our farmers 
 to this subject, that they may reflect upon it, and sug- 
 gest improvements on our plans. We belong not to 
 that class of farmers who think we can make no farther 
 advances in the science ; neither would we be classed 
 with that great farmer spoken of by Sir Walter Scott, 
 who had made such wonderful improvements on his 
 estate, and pulverized it so much, that it all slipped 
 through his fingers. 
 
 The man who thinks he has arrived at perfection in 
 farming, will be no more likely to make improvements 
 therein, than he who fancies that his own morals and 
 religious creed are the purest the world has seen. He 
 is surely an unprofitable Christian \vho makes no 
 advances in piety ; and he is no commendable farmer 
 who refuses to attempt improvements. 
 
 While chemists are investigating the causes of 
 sterility of certain soils, and suggesting the proper 
 remedies, let us, who are practically engaged in the 
 labors of the field, contribute our mite of theory, and 
 prove it by actual experiments. 
 
 We sincerely believe that, by a proper management 
 of our common manures, we might avail ourselves of 
 double the profit we now deri\'e from them, without 
 any additional expense. In the common mode of 
 wintering cattle, the liquid portion of the manure is 
 usually lost : people rarely attempt to save that portion, 
 which is quite as valuable as all the residue. We 
 would give thrice as much for the manure made by a 
 horse that shall stand on his own litter through the 
 winter, or summer, as we would for that Avhich is daily 
 thrown out into a heap beside the barn, to freeze 
 through in the coldest weather, and to heat and turn 
 white as soon as warm weather approaches. 
 
 Pull away, then, at once your stable floors, all who 
 
88 ON Manures. 
 
 have stables in the country, and let your horse stand 
 several feet below the barn floor. He will be warmer 
 in winter, and cooler in summer, than he will be 
 perched up on a plank floor ; he will be out of the way 
 of both flies and frost; he will keep your manure 
 from burning and from freezing ; you will save all the 
 liquid ; and your horse will stand vastly more at ease 
 than he can on any plank floor. 
 
 And what does all this cost you ? A barn thus built 
 will cost you less ; you save the expense of a floor that 
 is always wanting repairs ; you save the trouble of 
 daily cleaning out your stable ; you save your horse's 
 feet, the hoofs of which will grow all winter, and be 
 in good order for shoeing ; you treble the value of your 
 manure, for you save every gill of the liquid, and you 
 keep it in the most perfect manner without heating or 
 wasting, till the very moment you want it for your 
 compost heap, or for your field ; for as soon as you fork 
 it out from under your horse — and not before, though 
 you delay it till June — fermentation commences, and 
 you can have the whole advantage of this fermenta- 
 tion. 
 
 This new process costs you the labor of throwing 
 under your horse any rubbish whatever that may lie 
 in your way, — loam, weeds, scrapings of the door-yard, 
 leaves, poor hay, straw, — every thing that will absorb 
 the liquids is thus turned to manure ; and if you keep 
 your horse the whole year in the stable — as you should 
 do if you intend he should be handy and useful to you — 
 his manure will amount to fifteen loads, and will prove 
 more durable in your soil than any you shall make 
 from neat cattle or from hogs. 
 
 The liquid part of horse-manure is found to contain 
 great quantities of ammonia, which is well known as 
 one of the best articles for vegetation. The whole 
 philosophy of thus preserving your manure from over- 
 heating consists in its being excluded from the air by 
 the firm beating which the horse's feet give to it. 
 
SOILS. 89 
 
 Your horse's cellar should be about ten feet square, 
 that the manure may not rise too high before you are 
 ready to remove it ; but you can occasionall}?" tie a 
 friend's horse beside him when you have not other 
 room, and they will never kick each other if their heads 
 are tied apart ; for horses never suffer their heels to 
 make war until some notes have passed at head- 
 quarters.* 
 
 SOILS. 
 
 It is agreed by chemists that most of the soils with 
 which we are acquainted consist of sand, clay, and 
 lime : we beg the reader's pardon for using these plain, 
 simple terms, and fear we shall not be understood by 
 some who have become used to silicious, aluminous, 
 and calcareous soils so long that they may have for- 
 gotten their mother tongue ; but as it is our object to 
 treat of things rather than of words, Ave intend, at the 
 risk of our reputation as a Latin scholar, to make use of 
 the English language in all cases where that is capable 
 of conveying our meaning. 
 
 Sand, clay, and lime, then, are the principal con- 
 stituents of most of our soils, though magnesia is often 
 found in small quantities: iron ore and other minerals 
 are occasionally found intermixed, but they are not 
 considered as forming a portion of the soil. Lime is 
 found in but very small quantity in any New England 
 soil, and Professor Hitchcock is surprised to find so 
 little in the soils of Berkshire county which are founded 
 on limestone. 
 
 He says that some of the soils in Europe contain 
 fifty per cent, of lime, or calcareous matter, and that 
 
 * Written when Maine was going to war with the British without 
 leave of congress. 
 
90 SOILS. 
 
 only one in thirty of our soils contains any. That the 
 lack of this matter is not confined to Massachusetts, 
 but that similar statements are made by Edmund 
 Ruffin, Esq. of Virginia, of the soils of that State, and 
 of some of the Western States, even in limestone 
 regions. He states, further, that he has recently ex- 
 amined five of the richest soils of Ohio and Illinois, 
 and that though he found calcareous matter in all but 
 one of them, yet that the average quantity is not over 
 two per cent. 
 
 It seems, therefore, that if our soils are wholly desti- 
 tute of lime, but little would be wanted yearly for any 
 kind of grain. But why so much lime should be used 
 in Europe on soils that seem to abound in that article 
 is wholly inexplicable. We have some of the richest 
 soils on the globe in Ohio and Illinois, and these con- 
 tain not more than two per cent, of lime ; while some 
 European soils contain fifty per cent, of lime, on which 
 more is artificially spread, to make them fertile ! We 
 are much inclined to think that something besides 
 lime is wanted on our New England soils. 
 
 Iron ore is found often in our low intervals : you 
 detect it on the surface of little puddles of water in 
 your low grounds : it sometimes shines like silver. 
 Lime would be beneficial in all such places to neutral- 
 ize the acids. Spots abounding in iron ore are among 
 the most barren in our country ; and yet their location 
 is often favorable for the largest crops of grass, were it 
 not for the presence of this mineral. 
 
 The principal constituents of soils, then, are sand 
 and clay ; and the proportions of these in Massachusetts 
 in many fields would be found to be ninety of sand, 
 to ten of clay, while, in many districts in England, we 
 shall find these proportions reversed. Clay is the 
 article most wanted to improve the texture of the soils 
 of Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Bristol and 
 Worcester counties. And clay is sometimes found so 
 near the surface, that a good plough will bring it up 
 and mix it with the sandy surface soil. When this 
 
PEAT LANDS. 91 
 
 can be done, it is the cheapest mode of correcting a soil 
 and making it permanently better. When the surface 
 soil is too clayey or heavy, it may sometimes be cor- 
 rected by ploughing so deep as to mix up with it a 
 lighter and more sandy soil. This process is attended 
 with very little expense, compared with that of carting 
 one kind of soil upon another from a distance. It is 
 believed that all mixtures of soils are beneficial — 
 unless, perhaps, you have already a perfect mixture — 
 and the new compound is generally put into a partial 
 state of fermentation, which is always promotive of 
 vegetable growth. 
 
 PEAT LANDS. 
 
 Whenever you find a peat bottom that can be 
 drained, you may be sure of a good bottom for grass as 
 you would be after travelling and pitching your tent in 
 Michigan or Illinois. If the meadow is not abundant 
 in springs, your ditches may be two rods apart, and in 
 some cases more. It is not advisable to make them 
 nearer than is necessary, for we occasionally want to 
 plough these meadows, and frequent ditches are in our 
 way. 
 
 In a dry summer, the cheapest mode of bringing to 
 fertility these lands is to pare and burn them ; and when 
 you have a good burn, the ashes will be a sufficient 
 manure for years. Paring is sometimes performed with 
 a paring plough — the share having two wings, one 
 branching to the right like a common plough-share, and 
 the other to the left — the coulter in the centre, and no 
 mould-board to your plough. 
 
 When this is in good order, one yoke of cattle will 
 draw it through large hassocks where three yoke would 
 
92 GRAIN WORM. 
 
 not drag a plough. The object of paring in this mode 
 is to furnish or to leave a good footing for the oxen, for 
 they can seldom walk in the furrow. After thus par- 
 ing, hoes and forks must be used to turn it up dry ; and 
 it will frequently burn well within two weeks of par- 
 ing. Sometimes you need be at no trouble in piling 
 up the sods, and in that case your ashes are ready spread, 
 and you have nothing more to do than with a harrow 
 or a rake, where it is miry, to mix well the ashes with 
 the surface that is unburnt, and sow a peck of herds- 
 grass and a bushel of red-top to the acre. September 
 is the best month for sowing : then we are sure of a 
 crop for the scythe the next season. 
 
 [From the Maine Farmer.] 
 
 GRAIN WORM. 
 
 Mr. Editor, — It is a matter of regret that the 
 wheat-raising business, in at least some parts of our 
 State, is likely to meet with a serious check from the 
 ravages of the grain icorm. When the attention of 
 farmers was beginning to be turned to this business, 
 when encouraged by the munificence of the legisla- 
 ture, and when from practice they were fast gaining a 
 better understanding of the business, we would all have 
 hoped that the production of wheat would have in- 
 creased, till our State had become independent of other 
 countries for this article of sustenance. But this '' lit- 
 tle rascal " is a ^re«Y e?ie?77?/; and how successfully to 
 repel his attacks, I confess I do not know. Perhaps it 
 would be the part of prudence not to risk too much in 
 his way ; that is, not to depend chiefly on wheat, but 
 raise more corn and other grain ; and, on the other 
 hand, it would be the part of valor not to give up the 
 
ON CUTTING FORESTS. 
 
 93 
 
 field and abandon raising wheat altogether, but try and 
 see if we cannot by some means prevent the destruc- 
 tion which is made. 
 
 In order to prepare to guard against injury from this 
 insect, it appears to me that it is important that we 
 ascertain the time when the mischief is done, or the 
 stage in the growth of wheat when the fly deposits its 
 eggs. I find that the general opinion is, that this time 
 is when the wheat is in blossom. But from some 
 observations of my own, and of others, I am incUned 
 to think this is not the time in question, bnt that 
 the fly deposits its eggs before the wheat heads out. I 
 have noticed httlc flies that appeared to come out 
 from the sockets of wheat before it headed, and it has 
 been observed by others, that they have discovered 
 eggs and small worms, by stripping the leaves off the 
 wheat before the head had grown out. It appears 
 more reasonable to me that the fly deposits its egg at 
 once in the socket of wheat before it heads, and that 
 the worms attach themselves to the heads as they grow 
 out, and find their way into the kernels, than to sup- 
 pose that the fly crawls round the head and lays its 
 eggs singly in each kernel, at the time of blossoming. 
 I think we should examine into this thing ; for, if we 
 apply a good remedy at the ivrong time, it will be una- 
 vailing. B. R. 
 Winthrop. 
 
 ON CUTTING FORESTS. 
 
 It is now generally admitted that the best mode of 
 
 procuring wood from the forest is to cut clean as you 
 
 go. Public sentiment in this respect has undergone a 
 
 total change ; and, since our remembrance, the practice 
 
 9 
 
94 RAISING ROOTS. 
 
 of going into the midst of a lot and singling out the 
 oldest trees for fuel was very general. 
 
 A forest thus thinned would not afford, half the wood 
 in a century that you may obtain from one managed in 
 a different mode. By cutting off the large trees only, 
 we not only destroy much underwood, but we leave no 
 stumps that may send up sprouts for another cutting. 
 And by leaving one fourth of a thick lot standing, we 
 effectually prevent the shooting up of a new progeny. 
 For wood merely, lots may be cut once in fifteen or 
 twenty years ; that is, if they have grown from stumps 
 not more than twenty years old ; and ten acres of good 
 wood-land, Avith one fourth of an acre of good peat- 
 land, are abundantly sufficient to supply the fuel of 
 any private family in Massachusetts. 
 
 Cut off half an acre clear each winter, and by the 
 time you have gone through your I'ot you may begin 
 again ; and here is a rotation of crops as durable as the 
 rotation of the seasons. You may generally obtain, 
 from good land, ten to fifteen cords on the acre, and 
 one square rod of peat will give you four cords of fuel 
 that will answer for back-logs and for mixing with 
 lighter inflammable matter, that will not preserve your 
 fire through the night with half the certainty of a log 
 of peat. 
 
 RAISING ROOTS. 
 
 The cultivation of roots is becoming a very impor- 
 tant branch of husbandry among the farmers of the 
 New England States. It is now rendered certain that, 
 with good cultivation, five or six hundred bushels of 
 ruia baga can be raised to the acre at a cost not ex- 
 ceeding four or five cents per bushel. The value of 
 
FARM-CARTS. 95 
 
 this crop in supplying neat stock, sheep, and swine, 
 with food through our long winters is just beginning 
 to be appreciated. Its value is differently estimated by 
 persons who have used it. Some think that forty 
 bushels are equal to a ton of hay ; others consider them 
 as good as oats, pound for pound. A gentleman who 
 made some very accurate experiments in feeding them 
 to his team of four oxen, found it to be equal to half its 
 weight in corn-meal. There is one fact in which all 
 agree ; that is, cattle that are fed plentifully on roots 
 during the winter are not so liable to have those dis- 
 eases which are generally prevalent among cattle in 
 the spring. 
 
 The only opportunity we ever had of witnessing the 
 advantages of feeding roots was with a cow, which re- 
 sulted in a firm conviction of their utility. Instead of 
 becoming poor in the spring, she left the barn in excel- 
 lent condition ; gave a much larger mess of milk 
 through the winter than usual ; and, instead of going 
 dry six or eight weeks before calving, as she always had 
 done before, she gave milk to the very da)?" she calved, 
 and during the next summer she gave nearly a third 
 more than she had ever given before in the same time 
 on equally as good keeping. — Maine Farmer. 
 
 FARM-CARTS. 
 
 The rims of the wheels of farm-carts should be about 
 four inches wide. We have had them one third 
 wider, but such are not so durable or so useful. A six- 
 inch felloe is much more liable to rot than a four-inch 
 felloe ; it is also heavier and more unwieldy ; and a rim 
 of iron, or the tire, on such a wide felloe, must be put 
 on in pieces, or in narrow strips. This mode of tiring 
 
96 
 
 ON PLOUGHING. 
 
 leaves the extremities of the spokes exposed, and they 
 soon rot, for the wet that enters here is not soon 
 dried up. 
 
 A four-inch felloe may have a whole hoop-tire put on 
 it; and it answers all the purposes of a wider rim, be- 
 sides being cheaper. The rim should never be much 
 narrower than four inches, for otherwise it cuts into 
 soft ground and runs harder through a field than a 
 wide one, and does much more damage. 
 
 The end of the cart-tongue should never be plated 
 with iron. It wears out your sta))le and ring on the 
 yoke too fast, and the plating itself is not of long 
 duration. Cut again in the under side of the tongue 
 eight inches from the end of it, and wide enough to 
 admit the ring, and sink it about three fourths of an 
 inch deep. When you have put your oxen on, in case 
 the tongue nearly fills the ring, the gain will be suffi- 
 cient to carry your load ; but to make all safe,- take a 
 strip of board one foot long, as wide as the tongue, and 
 as thick as the ring will easily admit. Let it come 
 forward flush with the end of the tongue, and pin it on 
 to your tongue back of the ring of the yoke ; this pin 
 need be no tighter than the pin you usually draw by, 
 so you may easily ungear your team. This board will 
 prevent the wearing of the staple on the end of the 
 tongue, and, when worn out, is easily replaced. Indeed, 
 the whole may be made new in less time than it takes 
 to describe the process, and your tongue will last much 
 longer, geared in this way, than with iron plates, unless 
 those are made quite too heavy for convenient use. 
 
 ON PLOUGHING. 
 
 The season now approaches when we must begin 
 to think of ploughing. We hope our brother farmers 
 
ON PLOUGHING. 97 
 
 have not all been so much troubled as we have been 
 to find a cast-iron plough that would do the whole 
 work of cutting and turning the sod without the aid 
 of the foot of a wrestler. This amusement of wrest- 
 ling is now out of date, and the young may not take 
 our meaning ; but, in ancient times, the best wrestler 
 was always selected to hold the plough, because he 
 could actively handle his feet to aid the imperfect ma- 
 chinery bearing that appellation. 
 
 Now we have grown lazier or wiser, and are desirous 
 of throwing all the hard work on to our hired men or 
 our machines, that we may not become too tired at 
 noon or at night to read our long-expected Cultivator. 
 
 Ploughs for our plain lands require more length of 
 body than most of our cast-iron ploughs possess ; and 
 we believe one reason for making them so short was 
 a fear that long cast-iron mould-boards, or rather mould- 
 ers, would be too liable to be broken ; but, since they 
 are made of better metal than formerly, there is little 
 risk of breaking a long moulder with careful usage. 
 
 Our lands that were in corn or potatoes last year will 
 this spring be laid to grass, for we need not, in tolera- 
 bly plain land, plant more than one year before seeding 
 down with broad-cast grain, not choosing to disturb 
 the buried sod : that is wanted at bottom to keep the 
 land light. Now how many times must we plough to 
 prepare our lands for spring grain and grass-seed ? 
 Shall we turn under all the corn-stalks, the sorrel, the 
 grass, and the weeds that lie on the surface ; then, by 
 a second, or cross-ploughing, turn all this matter up 
 again, for fear it might rot and turn to manure ? This 
 is what we all formerly practised, but can any one jus- 
 tify the practice ? 
 
 We must not take the plough to the field in spring 
 till the ground is so dry as not to be made into bricks ; 
 yet we wish to begin as soon as it is fit, for the sooner 
 we harrow in our spring grain on suitable land the 
 better. Now we may begin to harrow our ground a 
 9* 
 
98 ON PLOUGHING. 
 
 day or two sooner than we can begin to plough it. 
 The harrow opens the ground, lets in the air, and fits 
 the soil for the plough. Take the harrow, then, if 
 you are impatient to begin spring work^ level down 
 hills, if yon made any last year, with this or with your 
 cultivator, and then plough hut once^ though you may 
 take as fine a furrow as you please. Bury the stalks, 
 the weeds, and all the rubbish underneath, and there 
 let it lie till it becomes manure. It is all wanted be- 
 low, but none above. As a general rule, no land should 
 be ploughed twice in the same month. Very rough 
 land must be treated differently. It must be cross- 
 ploughed, to take advantage of the stones and the 
 fixed stumps. But it is very absurd, in plane fields, 
 after we have laid the soil right side up, to disturb it 
 again before we take a crop. 
 
 No unrotted manures should be used for spring grain. 
 Old and rotten manure, in proper quantity, will do no 
 harm ; for it works immediately, brings your grain for- 
 ward early, and it often ripens before the sultry weath- 
 er comes on ; or it is so far spent before that time, it 
 does no injury : whereas, green manure begins to ope- 
 rate at the very time when there is most danger from 
 the rapid growth of the grain — that is, in July — and 
 if it is very hot and sultry — such weather as Indian 
 corn delights in — the grain grows so rapidly as to burst 
 the stalk open and let out its juices. They flow down 
 the outside of the stalk and form what we call rust 
 upon it. 
 
 In confirmation of this doctrine, we understand that 
 this rust does not make its appearance in England. 
 That is a colder climate, and grain is much longer in 
 coming to perfection than in our country. Hence, 
 also, we raise better English grain in cool summers 
 than in warm ones ; and few summers yield, at the same 
 time, our greatest crops of corn and of English grain. 
 
 Though we much prefer seeding down to grass in 
 September, yet lands planted last year, and prepared 
 
BUCKWHEAT. 99 
 
 for spring grain this spring, may better be sown with 
 grass-seed also in spring. If we delay this till fall, 
 and plough in the stubble of the grain, the seed is not 
 sure to vegetate from the want of moisture in the fur- 
 row, and we lose our labor and our next summer's 
 crop. If the soil is dry and inclining to sand, a few 
 bushels of ashes spread on an acre after the grain is 
 up, or before, will often prevent the summer killing of 
 the grass among the grain, and will prove beneficial 
 to the whole crop. 
 
 BUCKWHEAT. 
 
 Every farmer must cultivate some kind of grain, 
 and, by the help of the refuse from his dairy, must 
 fatten some pork. Present prices would justify his 
 feeding his swine largely on grain ; but we cannot 
 expect such prices to continue, and must be cautious of 
 founding our calculations on the price current of one 
 month or one year. But pork must be produced, and 
 we must endeavor to make it as economically as possi- 
 ble. 
 
 We want grain of some kind to mix with our refuse 
 matter earlier in the season than we can harvest our 
 Indian corn. Barley in many places succeeds well, and 
 comes in a d of our early vegetables and of our skimmed 
 milk in August and in September. But barley in 
 many places is an uncertain crop : it requires as rich 
 land as wheat, and is probably as great an exhauster 
 of the soil. It sometimes gives us an abundant har- 
 vest ; but we cannot depend upon it. 
 
 Buckwheat will grow on almost any dry soil ; and, 
 although it produces a less quantity than barley, the 
 
100 EARTHS AND SOILS. 
 
 crop is a sure one : you obtain it without manure. As 
 we never sow this before the middle of June, we have 
 a fine opportunity to plough in all the green growth of 
 that season ; and this is probably one reason why we 
 can raise buckwheat year after year on the same plat 
 without a diminished crop, and without exhausting the 
 soil. 
 
 Another reason is, this plant receives more nutriment 
 from the atmosphere than any other grain we have 
 sown. Its leaves are broad, and its roots are small in 
 proportion to its top, so that ten crops in succession are 
 often taken with one ploughing a year, and without 
 manure. At the time of sowing the wheat — from the 
 15th to the 30th of June — throv/ on, also, to an acre, 
 one bushel of winter rye. It will not interfere with 
 the wheat, and will give you some feed in autumn : 
 then, at the next ploughing in June, you have a coat 
 of manure to plough under that has cost you only the 
 price of one bushel of rye, all on the ground and ready 
 spread. 
 
 Buckwheat straw should not be burnt on the field 
 as it formerly was. It is quite valuable when cut in 
 season for young cattle and for sheep. 
 
 [From the Farmers' Cabinet.] 
 
 EARTHS AND SOILS. 
 
 In the investigation of agricultural subjects, it is 
 necessary that we should as correctly as possible dis- 
 tinguish earths and soils, and their varieties. The 
 earths important to agriculture, and which form nearly 
 the whole surface of the globe, capable of producing 
 vegetation, are only four, viz. silicious, aluminous, cal- 
 careous, and magnesia. 
 
EARTHS AND SOILS. 101 
 
 As a full description of all the distinctive characters 
 of these earths could not be embraced within the com- 
 pass of my contemplated communication, I shall mere- 
 ly mention a few, by which may be understood the 
 effects they necessarily produce in forming a compound 
 best calculated to produce vegetation. 
 
 Silicious earth exists in the state of sand. It is 
 composed of very hard particles, which cannot be 
 made coherent by mixing with water. The solidity 
 of the particles of sand renders them impenetrable to 
 water, and their loose arrangement makes sand incapa- 
 ble of retaining water. It is also quickly heated by 
 the sun, which adds to the rapidity with which it 
 loses moisture. 
 
 Aluminous earth, when dry, adheres to the tongue, 
 absorbs water rapidly and abundantly, and, when wet, 
 forms a tough paste, smooth and soapy to the touch. 
 By burning, it becomes very hard : when drying, 
 aluminous earth shrinks greatly ; it becomes a mass of 
 hard lumps, separated by cracks and fissures, which 
 become so many little reservoirs of standing water 
 when filled by rains, and remain so when the lumps, 
 by slowly imbibing the water, are distended enough 
 to fill the space occupied before. 
 
 Calcareous earth, or carbonate of lime, is calcareous 
 earth combined with carbonic acid, and may be con- 
 verted into quicklime by heat. Lime is soluble in 
 acids: during the solution, the carbonic acid escapes 
 with effervescence. In this manner, the carbonic of 
 lime, or calcareous earth, may not be easily distin- 
 guished from silicious and aluminous earths, but from 
 all other combinations of lime. Magnesia earth, like 
 lime, is usually found in combination with carbonic 
 acid ; but even in this, its natural state, it exists in 
 such very small quantities in soils, and is found so 
 rarely, that its name is a useless addition to the lists of 
 the earths of agriculture. 
 
 All the earths individually, when as pure as they 
 
103 
 
 EARTHS AND SOILS. 
 
 are ever furnished by nature, are entirely barren, nor 
 would any addition of putrescent manures enable 
 either of the earths to support healthy vegetable life. 
 The mixture of the three earths, in due proportion, 
 will correct the defects of all ; and, with a sufficiency 
 of animal or vegetable matter, a soil is formed. Such 
 is the natural surface of almost all the habitable world ; 
 and though the qualities and value of soils are as vari- 
 ous as the proportion of their ingredients, yet they are 
 mostly so constituted, that no one earthy ingredient is 
 so abundant but that the texture of the soil is mechan- 
 ically suited to the production of some valuable crop. 
 Some plants require a degree of closeness, and others 
 of openness, in the soil, which would cause other plants 
 to decline or perish. As the qualities and value of 
 soils depend on the proportions of their ingredients, 
 and the grand desideratum in agriculture is to obtain a 
 mixture of the earths best calculated to produce the 
 greatest variety of the most valuable crops, we can 
 satisfactorily comprehend in what manner that object 
 may be obtained. Silicious and aluminous earths, by 
 their mixture, serve to cure the defects of each other. 
 The open, loose, thirsty and hot nature of sand being 
 corrected by and correcting in, turn the close, adhesive, 
 and wet qualities of aluminous earth. This curative 
 operation, however, is merely mechanical, and it seems 
 probable that calcareous earth, when in large propor- 
 tion, also aids the corrective power of other earths. In 
 addition, also, to the mechanical effects of calcareous 
 earth, it possesses chemical powers more effectual in 
 altering the texture of soils, and for which a com- 
 paratively small quantity is sufficient. The chemical 
 action of calcareous earth, as an ingredient of soils, 
 will be particularly noticed hereafter, when we come 
 to the consideration of the food of plants. From what 
 has been said, it would appear reasonable to class and 
 name soils according to their predominant earthy in- 
 gredients which exert the greatest power, and most 
 
EARTHS AND SOILS. 103 
 
 Strongly mark the character of the soil. The predomi- 
 nant ingredient is not always the most abundant. If 
 the most abundant was considered the predominant 
 ingredient, and gave its name to the soil, then almost 
 everyone should be called silicious, as that earth is 
 seldom equaled in quantity by ail the others united. 
 If the earthy parts of a soil were two thirds silicious 
 and one third aluminous earth, the peculiar qualities of 
 the smaller ingredient would predominate over the 
 opposing qualities of the sand, and the mixture would 
 be a tenacious clay. If the same soil had contained 
 only one twentieth part of calcareous earth, that ingre- 
 dient would have had more marked effects on the soil 
 than could have been produced by either doubling or 
 diminishing to half their quantity the silicious and 
 aluminous earths which formed the great bulk of the 
 soil. But every farmer can readily discover what are 
 the most marked good or bad qualities of his soil, as 
 evinced under tillage ; and those qualities can be easily 
 traced to their predominant ingredients. A silicious 
 or sandy soil has such a proportion of silicious earth 
 as to show more of its peculiar properties than of any 
 other ingredient. It would be more or less objection- 
 able for its looseness, heat, or want of power to retain 
 moisture, and not for toughness, liability to become 
 hard after wet ploughing, or any other quality of alumi- 
 nous earth. In like manner, an aluminous or clayey 
 soil would show strongly the faults of aluminous 
 earth, though more than half its bulk might be of 
 silicious earth. Hence every farmer can readily judge 
 of the perfection and of the defects of his soil, which, 
 from a knowledge of the distinctive properties of the 
 earths, he will be enabled to correct by the addition 
 and mechanical mixture of such earth as may appear 
 to be deficient, thereby produce a soil the best cal- 
 culated to promote the growth and perfection of vege- 
 tation. Joseph Cloud. 
 
104 PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 
 
 PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 
 
 Considerable surprise has been manifested in vari- 
 ous quarters, at the continued high prices of grain and 
 other articles of food ; and much ingenuity has been 
 displayed in tracing the effect of prices to their proba- 
 ble causes. With some the cause is a failure of crops; 
 others will have the high prices originate in monopoly 
 and speculation ; they have been charged upon the 
 banks or the government ; or, in short, therc is scarcely 
 a cause capable, or any effect in producing such a result, 
 which has not been brought forward to account for 
 present prices. While all these have had their weight 
 in producing the effect we witness, we think the most 
 important of the whole — ■- the relation existing between 
 production and consumption — has been comparatively 
 overlooked. 
 
 Agriculture lies at the basis of all interests, the pro- 
 duction-^ of food being of paramount importance : but 
 the relative prosperity of that interest, or rather the 
 price of agricultural productions, is depending on the 
 demand for them among other classes of the commu- 
 nity, such as the mechanic, commercial, or manufactur- 
 ing interests. The price of provisions will usually, 
 therefore, correspond to the relative numbers employed 
 in these grand divisions; the first, or the farmers, being 
 the producers ; the latter, or the several classes enumer- 
 ated, being the consumers. If, in any community, all 
 were producers, it is clear the demand would be only 
 that of the individual producers. If in a community 
 all were manufacturers or mechanics — all consumers 
 and none producers — the result may be easily imagined. 
 If, in this community, the producing class exceeded 
 the others, ])rovisions would be low, as the demand 
 must of course be limited ; if the consuming class pre- 
 ponderated, the price of provisions must rise. Partial 
 failures in the crop, fluctuations in the money market, 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 105 
 
 and other causes may aid in influencing or in increasing 
 the operation of this canse, but their effect can be but 
 temporary, as they never exist for any length of time. 
 On the contrary, inequality between the production and 
 consumption is, from the nature of the cause, more 
 permanent, as the business and habits of large masses 
 of men are changed slowly and at long intervals. 
 
 The prices of agricultiu'al produce which have ex- 
 isted for a year or two in this country, and which 
 appear to have excited so much surprise, we consider 
 the natural result of a disparity between the production 
 and the consumption, the latter exceeding the former. 
 The producers of food, or in other words the farmers, 
 have not increased in a ratio corresponding to that of 
 the consumers, or the other classes above enumerated. 
 The professional classes in our country have increased 
 in a greater proportion than that of the farmers, and, 
 taken with the other non-producers but consumers of 
 food, no other results than what we witness could have 
 been anticipated. A large proportion of the sons of 
 farmers have chosen other kinds of business or profes- 
 sions named than that of their parents, — manufactures, 
 commerce, mechanics, the professions, and, in too many 
 instances, living by "hook or by crook," have been 
 preferred to the honorable occupation of the farmer ; 
 and, as a necessary consequence, the producers find 
 themselves more and more masters of the field, and 
 able to fix their own prices. 
 
 Farmers can never rely on themselves for support: 
 they may from their farms produce what is absolutely 
 necessary to eat, drink, and wear ; but for many of the 
 articles that the conventional codes of society have 
 rendered necessary to appearance and comfort, and all 
 the principal luxuries of life, they must depend on 
 others ; and on these consumers they must rely for the 
 sale of their surplus produce. It is the real interest of 
 the farmer, therefore, to be satisfied with good profits 
 on his labor, and not, by charging exorbitant rates, 
 10 
 
106 BURNT CLAY. 
 
 drive so great a proportion of the other classes from 
 their pursuits, and compel them to become farmers, as 
 to materially change the ratio now existing between 
 producer and consumer. Consumers are the source of 
 prosperity to the farmer : they are the life of agricul- 
 ture. In the demand consequent on general prosperity, 
 agriculture always e5j:pands and flourishes : without 
 such demand, it is, and must be, contracted, its opera- 
 tions inactive, and its returns profitless. Of all classes, 
 farmers are the most truly independent ; but perfect 
 independence is a truly Utopian dream. Dependence 
 is a primary condition or element of society, and the 
 last could not exist without the first. The dependence 
 between the producer and consumer is mutual so far as 
 profit is concerned ; and it is idle for the latter to blame 
 the former for prices, when the remedy, that alone can 
 correct the inequality when it exists, is in his own 
 hands : he, too, must become a producer. If the popu- 
 lation engaged in commerce, in manufactures, mechan- 
 ics, or the professions, could not live without the farmer, 
 we, too, should remember that without their aid our 
 business would be of little value in the production of 
 wealth, and that their mouths are as essential an item 
 in agricultural prosperity, as fields covered with crops, 
 or barns bursting with plenty. — Gtnesee Farmer. 
 
 BURNT CLAY. 
 
 The English have been much in the habit of using 
 burnt clay and burnt loam on their lands. We hear 
 but little about any experiment of the kind in our 
 country. If we have not lime in abundance, we have 
 loam, and we have wood so cheap in some places that 
 the expense of burning would be small. It is said to 
 operate very powerfully when mixed in a loamy soil, 
 or when spread on grass-lands. 
 
LIME. 
 
 LIME. 
 
 lor 
 
 It will be perceived by our readers that we have 
 been backward in recommeiidiiig the use of lime in 
 agriculture. It is a part of our system to recommend 
 to our brother farmers nothing but what we are fully 
 satisfied will prove useful. We have often expressed 
 an opinion that lime, in some cases, is beneficial, and 
 that one of those cases is when it is applied to a soil 
 tinctured with iron ore. Lime Is also useful to break 
 asunder clayey, tenacious soils, of which we have a 
 very small portion in all New England ; and here the 
 question arises, — will not sand answer the same purpose, 
 and at a much cheaper rate ? Lime, too, forms a com- 
 ponent part of the straw and of the grain of wheat ; and, 
 as we can raise this grain on any soil, it would seem 
 that all soils contain some lime, else the plant must draw 
 the whole from the manure ; and, to supply the defi- 
 ciency occasioned by this draft, it would seem proper 
 to scatter lime, in small quantities, on all lands that 
 produce this grain. 
 
 Lime is found also to be beneficial Avhen mixed with 
 peat, and it is probably owing to the iron ore, or some 
 other acid contained in peat, for it is also useful for 
 soils filled Avith plants of an acid nature, as sorrel, <fec. 
 Q,uicklime may be very useful when applied to any 
 heap of clay, or of loam, for it operates like fire on 
 those articles ; and burnt clay, as well as burnt loam, 
 are known valuable manures, or ingredients, in Euro- 
 pean soils. 
 
 These are all cases in which we agree that lime 
 may aid us ; but this is not sufficient to justify us in 
 advising farmers to purchase lime freely to improve 
 their soils. The cases in which lime aids us in New 
 England are only exceptions to our general rules of 
 husbandry ; for we can adduce fifty instances of loss 
 from the use of lime, where one can be shown of its 
 beneficial effects. 
 
108 LIME. 
 
 We are daily more satisfied with these conchisions 
 as we converse with practical men on the subject. 
 We have discussed the subject this winter repeatedly 
 at our agricultural meetings in the state-house, where 
 numerous farmers were present, and the testimony of 
 these is nearly unanimous, that lime, on our sandy 
 loams, is not in general useful ; and when any member 
 has attempted to prove the case to be other than as 
 above stated, he has admitted that he used lime by 
 casting it first on a manure-heap ! 
 
 At our public meeting in the state-house on Thurs- 
 day evening, the 7th instant, Mr. Chase Pease, a mem- 
 ber of the house from Martha's Vineyard, gave an 
 account of a piece of low, interval land, on which he 
 had strewed a quantity of effete lin}e. He said it had 
 a wonderful ejffect ; that it was sown on without any 
 mixture of manure, or other substance, and that, instead 
 of a very poor crop of sour grass, he for several years 
 after the application of the lime cut a large swath of 
 excellent sweet grass for hay. 
 
 Suspecting at once the reason of this wonder- 
 working power in lime, we asked Mr. P. if the land 
 was not full of iron ore ? He replied that it was. 
 That you could see the ore clearly in every part of the 
 lot, and particularly where little puddles of water 
 stood. 
 
 We think from these premises we have a right to 
 conclude that in general we cannot become richer by 
 purchasing lime for our sandy loams ; that the in- 
 stances proved of its good effects were such only as we 
 have stated, and that we can be much better employed 
 than in purchasing lime in large quantities to enrich or 
 correct our soil. We have all unlimited means, if we 
 will use them, of rendering our lands fertile, and with- 
 out purchasing one load of manure. 
 
 We have only to fill our soils with vegetable matter, 
 and especially those abounding in clay, to render them 
 mellow and pliable. There is no mistake in this 
 
ONE EXTRA HEN. 109 
 
 matter ; every particle of vegetable growth, ploughed 
 under the sod, turns to the very right kind of manure 
 for that sod. And nothing is more powerful to break 
 in pieces a hard clayey soil than a good quantity of 
 green vegetable growth, ploughed in when such land 
 is suitable for the plough. 
 
 Lighter soils may be mixed with clay ; and one load 
 of sandy loam will prove as beneficial as one load of 
 slaked lime, so far as that lime acts mechanically, and 
 will not cost you one tenth as much. When there is 
 in the soil an acid that needs correction, apply lime to 
 neutralize it, but do not depend upon lime to enrich 
 your soils. 
 
 ONE EXTRA HEN. 
 
 We wish to inquire of our subscribers what will be 
 the expense of keeping one additional hen ; for we 
 well know that the profits of a single fowl will pay the 
 whole annual expense of a good agricultural newspaper ! 
 
 Now if we can possibly contrive to give to our 
 brethren useful hints enough, in the course of a whole 
 year, to enable them and each of them to feed, and 
 support, and protect, so much additional stock on their 
 premises, they could not feel that they are losing 
 money by our acquaintance. 
 
 An interesting article on keeping hens has been the 
 rounds of the papers, and we are inchned to think that 
 great improvement may be made on the common mode 
 of keeping this useful kind of stock. We know they 
 are sometimes troublesome in the garden, as two-legged 
 animals often are ; and we doubt whether they ever 
 ought to run at large, though they certainly labor ad- 
 vantageously in the garden at certain seasons of the 
 year, and help us to destroy enemies that the useful 
 toad seems to overlook. 
 10* 
 
110 ROOTS. 
 
 We hope a few more friends of the hen will try ex- 
 periments on shutting the animal up and letting her 
 have abundance of food, and of gravel, and lime, that 
 they may be able to report the net profits of the 
 process. 
 
 As to other two-footed animals, there may be some 
 doubt about the propriety of putting them in fetters 
 before they have committed any crime, lest they might 
 enter into temptation ; but hens have not wit enough 
 to resist or to evade your barricades, though not 
 erected more than four feet high, provided pickets are 
 ranged on the top to make it an uneasy place for them 
 to rest on ; for fowls never fly over a fence without 
 an attempt to rest on it, unless they are excessively 
 frightened. 
 
 ROOT&. 
 
 The importance of raising roots to be used as food 
 for cattle, horses, and swine, during our long winters, 
 cannot be too often nor too strongly impressed upon 
 the farmers of Maine, at least until more of them enter 
 somewhat more largely into the business than they do 
 at present. 
 
 Potatoes are planted by every one as a matter of 
 course. Next to potatoes, perhaps the ruta baga crop 
 commands the most attention. The sugar-beet is next 
 in order, though of but recent introduction. Mangel- 
 wurtzels have not generally found so much favor with 
 the farmers of Maine as they ought to ; nor has the 
 carrot ; bnt the most neglected of all is the parsnip. 
 We do not recollect ever having seen a field of 
 parsnips growing in Maine, and yet we verily believe 
 that, all things considered, they are the most profita- 
 ble of either as an article of food for stock and swine. 
 We have heretofore tried some experiments on a limit- 
 
HOOTS. Ill 
 
 ed scale with them, and, Providence permitting, we 
 shall go more extensively into it another season. They 
 require a little more care when they first come up, and 
 are smaller than rata baga, but are not so difficult as 
 the carrot. They seem to be more nourishing than 
 any other root, and chemical analysis warrants this 
 idea. They will keep in the ground during the 
 winter, but must be dug before they vegetate much in 
 the spring. They will not keep so well in the summer 
 as the ruta baga. The farmers in the Island of Jersey, 
 near England, are said to make their main dependence 
 upon this root, and their cattle and swine are thereby 
 rendered very profitable. The only objection that we 
 know of to the carrot is the trouble it gives in weeding 
 when it first comes up. Its small leaves so much re- 
 semble some of the weeds, that, if the ground is very 
 foul, it requires careful management to avoid hoeing it 
 up with them. We have seen the good effects of these 
 upon a horse to which they were given during the 
 winter season. They certainly are preferable to oats, 
 or, at any rate, were for that horse. The animal was a 
 very fleet one, and belonged to a neighboring physician 
 who had a great deal for him to do ; and yet he kept 
 in perfect condition with no other food than good hay, 
 and from a peck to a half bushel of carrots per day. 
 
 The mangel-wurtzel will yield, when put in a favor- 
 able situation, as much per acre, perhaps, as any other 
 root. John Hare Powell once raised sixteen hundred 
 and thirty-four bushels to the acre and fourteen rods ; 
 and Messrs. H. & T. Little, of Newbury, raised 
 thirty-three tons, ten hundred and fourteen pounds to 
 the acre. But English writers have told us of sixty 
 tons to the acre. We believe that it requires a richer 
 soil than ruta baga, and more of a clayey loam. Hogs 
 are very fond of them. We saw Mr. Hains, of Hal- 
 lowell, feeding his swine with them last fall, raw; and 
 the manner in which they took hold of them, and the 
 good condition which they exhibited, convinced us 
 
112 LIVE HEDGES. 
 
 that they were very profitable and nutricious to them. 
 See his communication in the last number of the Maine 
 Farmer. The more we see and learn of the value of 
 the several root crops in Maine, the more convinced are 
 we that it is the true pohcy of our farmers to cultivate 
 them extensively ; and we hope that many who never 
 have yet paid particular attention to this business, will 
 begin this year. Manure high, and plant close, and 
 we will insure you a good and a profitable crop. — 
 Maine Farmer. 
 
 LIVE HEDGES. 
 
 We some time since received a letter from a gentle- 
 man in or near Portland, inquiring of us for the best 
 material for a hedge. He wished for the best kind 
 of thorn, and wanted we should direct him where to 
 procure it, if we approved of that kind of fence. 
 
 We think thorns are not the article for a Yankee 
 fence. In the first place, it is difficult to make them 
 grow in our dry climate ; then it is too much labor to 
 keep them well trimmed ; thirdly, the cuttings repay 
 you no part of the expense : that operation is worse 
 than shaving a pig for his wool. 
 
 When rocks are plenty, they are decidedly the best 
 fence ; and when they are near the line of your fence, 
 the first cost of building is less than that of a wooden 
 fence. 
 
 In the absence of rocks, we can make a better fence 
 than thorns will make. Chestnut or cedar rails will 
 last from fifty to seventy-five years in a fence. We 
 know a farmer, Col. Edgell, of Framingham, who has 
 rails in his fences more than seventy-five years old. 
 The great trouble with us is to procure ^05/s that will 
 last a tenth part as long in our dry loams. These will 
 sometimes become so rotten as to break down at the 
 
LIVE HEDGES. 
 
 113 
 
 ground in three or four years. In clay, or in a moist 
 loam, they sometimes last twelve years ; and in a 
 meadow they will last as long as the rail, and the part 
 that is entirely under ground much longer. 
 
 Now, as the expense of rails that last so long is tri- 
 fling, let us have some permanent posts for our high 
 lands. Let us plant an apple-tree every twelve feet on 
 the line of the fence. Let there be one or two sprouts 
 growing from the ground, or procure crotched trees 
 from the nursery, that will support three rails : this 
 may be very easily done, and within three years from 
 the setting, they will be so strong that you may inter- 
 weave the rails among these sprouts and branches in 
 such a manner as to support them firmly. 
 
 By placing your trees twelve feet apart, the roots 
 have room to grow : not so when you place thorn or 
 other shi'ubs within two feet of each other. . But your 
 apple-trees will in a short time make good posts that 
 will last as long as the rails ; and, when you trim, you 
 get something to pay you for trimming. When you 
 do not trim, you get something, too, besides a post for 
 your fence ; for you may have as good fruit here as in 
 your garden, if you will turn over a furrow or two 
 every three years near the row of trees. 
 
 The apples from the trees will not hurt your cattle 
 on either side of the fence ; but if you wish to secure 
 all the fruit to yourself, ingraft the trees with winter 
 fruit, and pick it in September. If you ever become 
 tired of this kind of fence, which cannot cost you 
 much money, the wood of the trees will pay you for 
 cutting ; but you would better let them stand, and you 
 may place posts in such a position that they will be 
 supported by the trees. Such posts will stand much 
 longer than posts unsupported. 
 
 Natural hedges of oak, maple, birch, &c. are a very 
 cheap fence, and easily kept in repair : they are too 
 much in the way for cross-fences, but when their line 
 is beside a wood-lot, by lopping down some of the 
 
114 
 
 FIR BALSAM. 
 
 Standards on this line early in spring, they will con- 
 tinue to grow in this horizontal position, and make you 
 a most durable fence. 
 
 People are apt to lop these standards at a wrong 
 time of year, and they lop them too high. If the 
 standard is four inches in diameter, it should be cut 
 within one foot of the ground, and then upwards, so 
 that the whole cutting may extend one foot in length : 
 cut the standard thus half off, and bend it dov/n in an 
 opposite direction from the cutting, carefully, so that it 
 may resemble an ox-bow half bent : then it will grow, 
 and make you a living fence. 
 
 FIR BALSAM. 
 
 The fir is not only a fine ornamental tree about our 
 dwelUngs and by the road-side, but its gum, or balsam, 
 is exceedingly useful when applied to fresh wounds 
 caused by bruises or cuts. It is readily gathered from 
 the tree at all times in the year, by simply making a 
 puncture in the body wherever you find a little blister- 
 ing under the bark. These blisters are numerous, and 
 are of the size of a large drop of water: take a sharp 
 penknife and tap them, and you may readily press out 
 the balsam into a cup, or spoon, and it is fit for use. 
 Apply this to the wound, and bind on a rag : you will 
 learn its virtues in your relief from pain, and by the 
 speedy healing of your wound. 
 
 Trees of this kind, planted out about our dwellings, 
 should never stand so as to keep the sun from the 
 house in winter. We then want the whole force of 
 his rays to assist in warming our sitting parlor at the 
 south or southeast corner of the house. These trees, 
 bearing their leaves through the winter, are a nuisance 
 when placed between us and the sun. Their place is 
 at the north and west side of our houses, where, if we 
 
AGRICULTURE. 115 
 
 place them properly, they afford us great protection 
 against the rude blasts from these points of the com- 
 pass. How easily all this is accomplished ! and yet 
 how few have a single evergreen nearer their houses 
 than the forests ! 
 
 When we ride or walk, in cold weather, on the 
 southern side of a natural evergreen wood-lot, how 
 balmy the air, and hov/ agreeable the scene, compared 
 with that of a northern exposure ! 
 
 Dwelling-houses, in our chill climate, should ever be 
 placed in such position that they may be easily pro- 
 tected from the cold blasts of winter; but nothing 
 should obstruct the free passage of the southwest, or 
 summer breezes ; and the barns, and yards, and hog- 
 stye should never be built on the southv/est or west 
 side of the dwelling-house. 
 
 ASPARAGUS. 
 
 He who has a good bed of asparagus has his peas 
 ready sown, and may pluck an earlier mess than he 
 who sows in spring. 
 
 This plant is the best substitute for green peas, 
 which it much resembles in taste, and great quantities 
 are easily raised at small expense. As soon as the frost 
 is out, some of our richest manure should be hoed in 
 upon the beds, chopping all the ground over two or 
 three inches deep. Then the soil may be stirred every 
 day or two to keep the weeds down until the plant 
 comes up ; for you cannot well hoe it afterwards : if 
 your manure was laid on the beds last fall, your aspar- 
 agus will be the earlier this spring. When you crop 
 the tops, cut down even with the surface of the soil, 
 or lower ; for you want nothing but a tender stalk to 
 boil. 
 
116 SILK. 
 
 SILK. 
 
 Our readers will observe we have yet said IduI little 
 on the subject of silk, or of the mulberry. We think it 
 best not to hurry too fast into this branch of business 
 before our country can supply itself with bread and 
 potatoes, with milk and butter, with hay and beef. 
 
 The silk business must be gradually introduced : 
 trees or shrubs must be reared before we can feed the 
 worms, and people who are acquainted with the busi- 
 ness of setting trees, and with the soils most suitable 
 for them, must be employed in the business. We have 
 already seen too much capital sunk in attempting to 
 introdoce this business on a large scale by persons and 
 corporations, who have not skill enough to set out an 
 apple-tree or a currant-bush ; and what else can we 
 expect but failure from such efforts ? 
 
 In our humble opinion, the introduction of the Morus 
 Multicaulis has been injurious in the Northern States. 
 Since the wonderful accounts published concerning 
 that species, most of the Avhite mulberry-trees have 
 been abandoned as useless. But it now appears, from 
 a statement made by a silk grower, in Hampshire 
 county, that the white mulberry leaf is much to be 
 preferred for feeding to the Morus Multicaulis ; and 
 especially in the last stages of feeding, that these 
 leaves were not so watery, and contained more nutri- 
 ment than the large leaf. 
 
 One standing argument in favor of the large leaf is 
 the ease and rapidity with which it is gathered from 
 the bush. Now these leaves should never be stripped 
 from the twigs: the small twigs should be cut off, and 
 new shoots will start out immediately, and these may 
 be cut off the same season. These twigs are laid on 
 the worm-shelf; and the worms seem much pleased 
 with the task of climbing on to them for their food out 
 of their nest below. 
 
TALL MEADOW OAT-GRASS. 117 
 
 Within a few years, a company purchased a very 
 valuable farm within thirty miles of Boston, with a 
 view of raising the mulberry, and of growing silk. 
 The land was a heavy loam, and excellent for grass, 
 but wholly unfit for the mulberry. Several thousands 
 of the mulberry were imported from France, and men 
 were hired to set them out, and were required to set 
 1000 each for a day's work ! The consequence was, 
 that nineteen out of twenty died, and five thousand 
 dollars worth of trees were sacrificed for want of skill 
 in selecting the land and in setting the trees. More 
 than one thousand dollars were also sacrificed on the 
 sale of the farm. 
 
 Now, brother farmers, if a company of you, who are 
 not acquainted with trade, should go into a city, hire a 
 store, and set up on a large scale, we will be bound — 
 not to pay your debts — but that you will fail in your 
 speculation, as surely as this silk company did, — fail 
 as the man did who set up to live by his wit. He 
 failed for want of stock. 
 
 We should not think of plunging headlong into the 
 silk business, or into any other business, without some 
 experience. The white mulberry is easily cultivated: 
 there is no difiiculty in it more than in cultivating the 
 apple-tree ; and we strongly suspect that this kind is 
 valuable as any. It may be sown in hedge-rows ; or, 
 what is better, planted in hills not less than six feet 
 apart : then the roots have some chance to extend, and 
 the leaves will be thrifty and large enough, provided 
 we cultivate the ground. In a few years, by lopping 
 the side branches from these hills, we make a complete 
 fence for cattle. 
 
 TALL MEADOW OAT-GRASS. 
 
 This grass has good qualities, and may sometimes 
 supersede some kinds now more common. It starts 
 11 
 
118 WASHING TREES. 
 
 much earlier than the herds-grass, (timothy,) grows 
 taller than that in very rich ground, and is ready for 
 the scythe, in the neighborhood of Boston, by the 
 middle of June. Unlike the herds-grass, it yields a 
 good after-crop for cattle, and retains its hold in a dry 
 soil for a long time. 
 
 The objections to its cultivation are, 1st, the ex- 
 pense of the seed, four or five bushels being necessary 
 for an acre ; 2d, its early maturity, before we are 
 ready to take the scythe. It may also be objected to 
 as a kind not generally known in the market ; and, 
 though it may be a better kind than any before exhib- 
 ited, the marketer would not meet with so ready a 
 sale as he would of a kind better known. 
 
 The introducer of new articles always labors under 
 the disadvantage of proving their utility. This is one 
 cause of the slow progress of improvement in agricul- 
 tural productions. 
 
 This grass is fit for cutting at the same time with 
 the southern clover, and should be sown with it. I ■ 
 these two grasses ripened only one week sooner than 
 the herds-grass and the northern clover, it would be 
 rather a convenience to the hay-maker, as hi? labors 
 would not be so much crowded. 
 
 WASHING TREES. 
 
 Lie from wood-ashes, or from potash, makes the best 
 wash for trees. It should not be applied until May or 
 June, when it will kill the moss and all the insects 
 that adhere to the bark. There is a small animal re- 
 sembling a louse to be found on most young trees. 
 They never appear to move excepting in the month of 
 June, and then they are not great travellers. The lie 
 above named, if put on in June, effectually clears the 
 tree of this insect. 
 
BONE MANURE. 119 
 
 BONE MANURE. 
 
 Agreeably to our promise, we now proceed to lay 
 before the readers of the Cuhivator the results of our 
 reading, coupled with our experience, in regard to bone 
 manure. 
 
 The bones of domestic animals are found to contain 
 about equal portions of phosphate of lime and gelatine ; 
 those of young animals containing more of the latter, 
 and the bones of old animals more of the former. 
 The gelatine is highly nutritive to plants, and phos- 
 phate of lime enters largely into the structure of many 
 species. To bring on a decomposition of bones, and 
 render their fertilizing properties available to the wants 
 of growing crops, it is necessary to crush or grind 
 them ; and their immediate benefit is in proportion to 
 their fineness and rapid decomposition in the soil, 
 though ultimately they impart to the soil all their fer- 
 tilizing properties if they are broken to the size of one, 
 two, or three inches. In powder or dust their effect is 
 at first more powerful, but less abiding. So, too, the 
 like happens if the bones are brought into a state of 
 partial fermentation, so as to give off a strong odor 
 by mixing them with lime or ashes, or manure and 
 moisture, before they are applied to the soil, and there- 
 by hastening decomposition ; and, indeed, this is the 
 common practice, when it is desired to have them pro- 
 duce an immediate effect. To reduce bones to a 
 proper size for agricultural purposes, bone-mills have 
 been erected, consisting of a series of cast-iron rollers, 
 formed with deeply indented rims, and teeth progres- 
 sively more closely fixed. Many British farmers have 
 erected small machines, with two cylinders of cast- 
 iron, with teeth, which lock into each other, by which 
 they are broken into small pieces. We have had more 
 than sixty horse cart-loads of bones, which cost us 
 half a dollar a load, crushed in a plaster-mill, though 
 
120 SUNFLOWER OIL. 
 
 not made very fine, for which we paid 12^ cents per 
 bushel as toll. The value of bone dust as a manure, in 
 Great Britain, may be judged of from the following 
 rates of prices, which we quote from one of the most 
 recent agricultural publications: — ''The price com- 
 monly averages, for the dust, from 2s. 6d. to 3s. and in 
 some late instances even 3s. 6d. have been paid for 
 pieces of [inch, three quarter inch and half inch] from 
 2s. to 3s. 6d. according to size ; and Is. lOd. for rough 
 bones per imperial bushel.'' — Br. Hush. The reader 
 will bear in mind that the English shilling is a frac- 
 tion over 22 cents. Prices have not attained this 
 high pitch with us. The English dealers make no 
 allowance on bones which have gone through th-e pro- 
 cess of boiling, though this process evidently deprives 
 them of a portion of their oil, and consequently di- 
 minishes, in a measure, their enriching properties. — 
 Albany Cultivator. 
 
 SUNFLOWER OIL. 
 
 Few individuals of the country are aware of the 
 quantities of olive and almond oils, usually called 
 sweet oils, imported annually into this country from 
 abroad ; and the number is perhaps still less who know 
 that in the oil of the common sunflower seed is found 
 a substitute equal in every respect to the oils of France 
 and Italy. Like all plants of such large and rapid 
 growth that mature their seeds the first year, the sun- 
 flower exhausts soils rapidly ; but where its cultivation 
 has been attempted, it has paid large profits. The oil 
 is extracted as from linseed, and the cake or residuum 
 is, like that, excellent for feeding cattle. The follow- 
 ing extract is from a letter of J. Smith, Esq. of Mary- 
 land, to H. E. Ellsworth, of Washington city : 
 
 " I planted about an acre of ground a few years since- 
 
AGRICULTURE. 121 
 
 with sunflower, and obtained sufficient seed for nearly 
 a barrel of oil. The oil was extracted by Mr. Barnett. 
 We made use of it for the table, and found it kept 
 well, and was esteemed equal to the best imported 
 sweet oil for every domestic purpose. I have a little 
 of this making (1833) yet remaining, and will send 
 you a bottle by the first opportunity. I found the sub- 
 stance of the sunflower too exhausting for the light 
 soil we have on our hills in this neighborhood, (Mary- 
 land,) but have no doubt it will be found profitable in 
 other sections of our country, and particularly in the 
 rich prairies of the west." 
 
 We should be pleased to learn that some enterprising 
 farmer had commenced experimenting on this plant. 
 Its yield of seed is abundant in this region, and could 
 scarcely fail, where the means of converting it into oil 
 are at hand, of yielding a handsome profit. — Maine 
 Temperance Gazette. 
 
 AGRICULTURE. 
 
 Science has within a few years done much in aid of 
 agriculture ; not that many positive discoveries have in 
 the first place been made by the sciences, of which the 
 agriculturalist has availed himself; but the cause of 
 certain results before known to the farmer have been 
 revealed by chemical, or other researches, and thus the 
 means of more certainty and in many more cases of 
 producing the same results has been obtained. On this 
 is based the improved system of agriculture. Where 
 the earths are not in due proportion, it is impossible to 
 make or keep the soil in a productive state. The 
 nature of the earths is now inquired into, and their 
 balance maintained by a rotation of crops, or by other 
 means. — Genesee Farmer. 
 11* 
 
123 EXHAUSTION OF SOILS, 
 
 EXHAUSTION OF SOILS. 
 
 Is it viot worth the while for our farmers to inquire, 
 very particularly, what crops are most exhausting ? In 
 some of the new soils of the west, hemp, flax,, wheats 
 potatoes, may be cultivated for years without any sen- 
 sible deterioration ; but we have a soil to be managed 
 which has already had its turn of bearing these ex- 
 hausting crops, until a great portion of it scarcely bears 
 enough to pay the fencing and the taxes. 
 
 What is the cause that so much of our plain and 
 easily-tilled lands is reduced so low ? We have cropped 
 and cropped, without manuring, until we get no pay 
 for cropping. And the farmers of Maryland, Virginia, 
 and Delaware, have done the same thing. We have 
 lately seen a letter from a gentleman in Virginia to 
 Judge Buel, inquiring what he would best do with his 
 490 acres of land, and but very few hands to cultivate 
 it. The gentleman states that his crop of corn averages 
 from one to seven barrels to ihe acre. Another, an ag- 
 ricultural writer of Virginia, stated, last season, that 
 Virginia planters usually planted their plains till they 
 ^vould produce only Uom jive to ten bushels to the acre; 
 and: then they suflfered them to lie and recruit. 
 
 Our plains, too, have been run ; and now, in the 
 sportsman's phrase, ''we must try back." Our hilly, 
 and rocky, and rough lands are often observed to pos- 
 sess a strong soil still; and the reason is obvious. We 
 doubt whether these rough lands were made better by 
 iia-ture than our smooth lands were ; for, on clearing up 
 a nev/ field of plain land., we obtain as large crops, at 
 first, as wc do on the hills and among the rocks. 
 
 It was a fashion, in former days, to reap fields annu- 
 ally, and take off a white crop, without applying any 
 manure ; and we too plainly see the consequences : 
 these fields are now barren, while our rough, and 
 rocky, and hilly lands, which have borne nothing but- 
 
EXHAUSTION OF SOILS. 123 
 
 grass or wood for a couple of centuries, are not impov- 
 erished. 
 
 It is certain that some plants take more of the geine^ 
 the sugar, the pabulum, or food, from the soil than 
 other plants do ; and if we can acciu'ately ascertain 
 the degrees of exhaustion, and the comparative value 
 of the crops taken off, we can determine with more 
 certainty which are most profitable. 
 
 The various species of pine, and particularly the 
 white pine, will flourish and grow as fast on a sandy 
 plain, that will produce nothing else, as it will on a 
 rich soil. We may not know the reason of all this, 
 but it is of some importance to ascertain the fact. For, 
 if one of our most stately and valuable forest-trees soars 
 aloft without apparent aid from a hungry soil, and gets 
 but little nourishment excepting through its leaf, other 
 plants may do the same ; and, by making proper in- 
 quiry, we may arrive at very important results. 
 
 One of the positions which we have endeavored to 
 maintain in our paper is, that potatoes of all kinds are 
 an exhausting crop — the Solanum tuberosum — the 
 poisonous plant ; more so than Indian corn. We are 
 quite aware that the position is new; but, as truth is 
 our object, we shall insist on the correctness of this 
 position, which we are forced to take after long experi- 
 ence on the subject, until we are satisfied, from facts 
 and from experiments, of our error. 
 
 We well know the common notion is, that potatoes 
 enrich the soil. If this were so, our New IJngland 
 would now be the richest country in the world ; for 
 no people have raised more potatoes. We have not 
 eat so many for the last fifty years as the Irish have 
 done, for Vv^e have had' other food to eat with them ; 
 but we have cultivated them not only for the parlor 
 and the kitchen, but for the hen, the pig, the milch 
 cow, the fatting ox, and last, but not least — horrihile 
 dictu — we have cultivated large fields of them for the 
 mere purpose of procuring a vegetable exti^act, so poi- 
 
124 POTATOES; 
 
 sonous that some who have partaken of it are supposed 
 not to have lived out half the days allotted them by 
 Providence. 
 
 The English: are not now so fond of the potato cul- 
 ture as formerly, and they are turning their attention 
 to other roots. The carrot and the parsnip culture are 
 not new to them ; but the ruta baga, and the sugar- 
 beet, and the mangel- wurtzel, introduce a new era into 
 their system. They have learned that the various 
 species of turnip exhaust less than the potato. Indeed, 
 we have understood that this last cannot be raised in 
 some districts in England where formerly it was the 
 most popular crop. The rust of the vines on fields 
 long planted with them has proved very injurious. 
 And even on the strong, clayey soils of the Kennebec, 
 where excellent potatoes are usually grown, they are 
 very hable to rust when planted on the same field two 
 years in succession. 
 
 From our own experience, we are satisfied that, on 
 sandy loams at least, potatoes are more exhausting than 
 Indian corn, and that better crops of grass are obtained 
 after corn, with the same manuring, than after potatoes. 
 
 We wish to have a greater number of our readers 
 make trial, or examine their fields more closely. If 
 we are in an error, the sooner we correct our error the 
 better. We need no chemical apparatus for this pur- 
 pose : we have only to watch closely the succeeding 
 crops. 
 
 POTATOES. 
 
 Many kinds of early potatoes produce but a small 
 quantity, scarcely enough to pay the labor of raising. 
 The chenango is a good potato, and will yield a good 
 supply of early ones fit for any table. 
 
FARM-BUILDINGS. 125 
 
 FARM-BUILDINGS. 
 
 Those who are planning new buildings for agricul- 
 tural purposes will do well to consider the subject in 
 all its bearings ; the first outlay, the comfort of their 
 cattle, the capacity of the buildings, the facilities for 
 filling them, and the conveniences for feeding out ta 
 the stock. 
 
 The first outlay should be in proportion to the size 
 of the farm, and the probable amount of its productions ; 
 but, let its size be great or small, never fail to have a 
 cellar under the whole. If possible, set your barn on 
 a side hill. If none is near you, make one, so that 
 you may drive in a loaded cart many feet higher than 
 the bottom of your bay. This will enable you to 
 unload your hay with half the labor which is often- 
 employed for the purpose, and allow you to keep most 
 of your hands in the field, Avhile one only drives up to 
 the barn and unloads, in that most important portion 
 of the day, — from 1 to 5 P. M. One hour's labor at 
 this time of day is often worth a dollar, when a shower 
 is coming : it is therefore vv^orth your while so to con- 
 trive your barns as to save many of these hours. Fur- 
 ther, by having a large bay below your barn-fioors, and 
 no one to beat down the hay when pitched off", you 
 may cart it in at least one hour sooner than you can 
 when you are obliged to stow it close. This is often 
 of great importance ; and, if you have not saved a 
 sprinkling by it, you have probably saved the labor of 
 another opening of the hay to the sun. 
 
 The second point is the comfort of your cattle. By 
 comfort, we do not mean lying all night and half the 
 day-time on a plank floor, in a barn so tight as to suifo- 
 cate them. Cattle need fresh air for breathing ; but, 
 if you match the boards tight on your barn, you are 
 obliged to keep the doors or windows open on them ; 
 and this partial exposure is much more injurious to. 
 
126 
 
 FARM-BUILDINGS. 
 
 them than full exposure, or lying under an open 
 shed. 
 
 If you would suffer your cattle to choose for them- 
 selves, you would find them, nine times in ten, prefer- 
 ring an open shed to a close barn. Cattle should.be 
 protected from the ivinds and from the ivet : they are 
 not in fear of cold weather; and, if your barn faces 
 south or east, you need not board up the south side 
 below the floor, but let your cattle lie loose under that 
 part of the barn where there is no hay. If you have 
 two barns, these will protect the cattle from the north 
 and the west winds. If you have but one, a slight 
 shed may be built, of the length of your cow-yard, as 
 a protection and shelter. When building, the cost of 
 a cellar that shall be Availed up on two sides will be 
 but trifling to a farmer who hires by the month, and 
 has rocks and a team of his own. Cattle kept in this 
 way can lie down with ease ; their manure does not 
 adhere to their sides, for they choose the cleanest 
 places ; they rise with ease ; they relish their food 
 much better, eating in the yard what they had already 
 blown upon when in the barn ; their manure is worth 
 a vast deal more, for much of it is trodden down out of 
 the way of daily freezing and thawing, and all the 
 liquid part is preserved ; then, if you have proper racks, 
 it is not half the labor to tend them ; and the milk is 
 much cleaner. 
 
 Tight-boarded barns require you to dry your hay 
 much longer than barns covered with boards not joint- 
 ed ; otherwise it will grow musty. The difference, 
 we think, may be one whole hour in the drying ; and 
 one additional hour's drying will often cost you one 
 more opening of your hay, and sometimes a dripping 
 to boot. 
 
 Board your barns, therefore, with square-edged 
 boards, and neither joint nor match them. Hay wants 
 a little crevice to let off the steam, as well as corn in 
 the crib, and will be as much sweeter in spring as tha 
 
FARM-BUILDINGS. 127 
 
 breath of a lady who has slept in an open chamber. 
 In this way, the boarding of your barn will cost yon, 
 at least, one quarter less. We venture to assert, from 
 actual experiment, that hay put in such a barn — and 
 not beaten down, but having a peck of salt thrown on 
 to a ton — will not need so much sunning by two 
 whole hours as hay stowed into a tight barn and with- 
 out salt. This is often a great saving of labor ; for 
 you are enabled often to house it one day sooner than 
 you otherwise could. 
 
 Racks should be placed under shelter, but not at 
 the side of the barn or yard. A rack twelve feet long 
 will seldom accommodate more than one animal, if 
 placed at the side ; but a rack six feet long, and away 
 from the side, so that the cattle may move around it, 
 will accommodate three or four : they approach it as 
 they would a stack of hay ; and, being outside of the 
 circle, they are not in fear of being cornered and 
 hooked. 
 
 A manger should be fixed under each rack, to catch 
 the hay-seeds and the broken leaves, and to hold the 
 grain, or the turnips, or other vegetables, given to the 
 cattle. 
 
 If there is not room for your racks under your barns 
 or your sheds, it is a very easy matter to place a couple 
 of boards over the rack, to keep the rains from the hay : 
 a little moisture or snow will not hurt the hay, and the 
 cattle relish it better. 
 
 We have tried this mode of keeping cattle of all sorts 
 for years, and have sometimes kept forty head. We 
 are well satisfied the cattle are more comfortable, the 
 manure is much better, and the labor much less. 
 
 If any prefer tying up by the head, let the leanto be 
 filled in the fall with loam or litter, for the cattle to 
 stand upon ; but by no means have a floor, unless it 
 be a partial one behind them, of one plank's width, to 
 facilitate the clearing off the manure. 
 
12S CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Mr. Editor, — I intend to sow one acre with wheat 
 this spring, and I want to know if it is necessary to 
 wash it, or soak it, or do any thing more to the seed 
 than I should to spring rye ? 
 
 I also wish to know how much seed you sow to the 
 acre, and whether any manure should he put on this 
 spring. Z. 
 
 Marlborough^ March 20. 
 
 We advise our correspondent to wash his wheat 
 perfectly clean, by taking half a bushel at a time, and 
 stirring it about in a large tub full of water ; change 
 the water several times till it looks perfectly clean ; 
 then turn the wheat into a bushel-basket to be drained; 
 then turn it from the basket into a dry lime-cask, or 
 tub, and mix thoroughly with the wheat two quarts of 
 slaked lime, and stir the whole well until every kernel 
 of wheat is limed. When this is done take another 
 half bushel of wheat, and go through with the same 
 process until all is prepared. This may now stand 
 several days without injury, if the ground is not ready 
 for sowing. 
 
 Good wheat is sometimes raised without this cleans- 
 ing, but you run a risk of smut. On the Kennebec 
 river, where they now raise excellent wheat, they were 
 much troubled with smut in their wheat until they 
 prepared it in this way. Their land is more clayey 
 than ours and much better calculated for wheat. 
 Other preparations, such as strong urine, or salt water, 
 may answer the purpose, but lime is effectual, and is 
 as easily applied as any thing. 
 
 As to the quantity of seed, we commonly sow one 
 bushel and a half to the acre. Old or rotten manure 
 may be used, but you must by no means put on green 
 manure. It will not work soon enough : it will be fit 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 129 
 
 for action about the time when your wheat is most in 
 danger of growing too fast and bursting open the stalk, 
 letting out the sap and forming rust, so as to prevent 
 the proper juices from passing into tlie head of the 
 grain. — Ed. 
 
 Mr. BucKMiNSTER, — I havc a heifer calf from a 
 very good cow of tiie native breed. At eight weeks 
 old this calf will bring me ten dollars ; shall 1 sell it 
 and trust to luck for getting one from New Hampshire, 
 or Vermont, at one year and a half old, for eight or ten 
 dollars, or shall I rear it ? 
 
 I set the whole cost of keeping the calf this summer 
 against the value of the milk that is required to fatten 
 it ; then my calf stands at ten dollars in the fall. It 
 will eat five hundred weight of good hay the first 
 winter, equal to four dollars. It may be kept twenty- 
 six weeks the next summer for about two dollars. 
 Then I have a calf of my own raising at ten, and four, 
 and two, equal to sixteen dollars, one and a half years 
 old. I can usually buy from the country at that age 
 for eight or ten dollars. They are now higher, but 
 not so high as sixteen dollars. I hesitate, and want 
 advice. P. 
 
 Soiithborough, March 21. 
 
 If cattle from the country should continue to beheld 
 as high as they have been, we may as well rear our 
 own stock, for we have some advantage in knowing 
 the race from which we breed. As times have been in 
 years past, we could usually buy, at one year and a half 
 old, a likely calf for the same money that we obtained 
 for one at eight weeks old, well fatted. In Vermont, a 
 calf eight weeks old is not worth three dollars, and 
 hay in many places not more than four or fiv^e dollars 
 the ton, and pasturing in proportion. It would seem 
 proper, in such a state of things, to purchase, rather than 
 to raise from calves our ordinary stock ; but there are, 
 12 
 
130 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 arjd ever have been, exceptions to such a rule : when 
 we have an extraordinary cow for the dairy, we should 
 by all means rear her calf: such calves will bring an 
 extra price at two years old, and will then become 
 breeders themselves, if we take good care of them. 
 They will also well pay the cost of rearing: if they 
 are kept properly the first winter, they will be quite 
 large enough for breeders at two years of age ; and they 
 make much better cows than if suffered to go longer 
 without calves, for the younger the animal is ivhcn its 
 lacteals or milk-vessels are first distended^ the greater 
 will he the produce of milk. It is therefore an impor- 
 tant object to take such care of calves that they may 
 be large enough for breeders at two years old. Two 
 weeks ago we sold two heifers, that were not over ten 
 months old, for thirty dollars. We suffered them to 
 take about half the milk for three months — the first 
 half — saving the richest part for butter. Since they 
 were put up to hay they have daily had two quarts 
 each of ruta baga, cut fine with a spade on the barn 
 floor. They have been gaining flesh ever since they 
 were put up. 
 
 Stock Farms. As prices are, stock farms must be 
 encouraged. We have found this the most profitable 
 branch of husbandry. Bat instead of purchasing large 
 pampered animals from abroad, we would be ambitious 
 of selecting the best-shaped animals for breeders, and 
 from these select those giving the richest milk, or those 
 best calculated for draft. We think it possible to 
 select and rear a breed that shall prove excellent for 
 both milk and draft. 
 
 One good cow may have a bad calf — she may have 
 come from a bad cow — but, by continuing to breed 
 from good ones, there can be do doubt of succeeding in 
 the improvement of the breed, so as to come near per- 
 fection. This has been done in other countries, and 
 may be done here. Still it must be considered, if the 
 
SILK. 
 
 131 
 
 practice should become general, in the neighborhood of 
 the great markets, to rear our own neat stock, that the 
 price of veal would rise ; and the temptation would 
 then be stronger than ever to supply the markets with 
 veal, and replenish our stock from the country 
 droves. — Ed. 
 
 [From the Genesee Farmer.] 
 
 SILK. 
 
 As I am fully convinced, by the knowledge furnished 
 by those who have made experiments, and by the little 
 experience I have had, that the raising of silk will ere 
 long become one of the most important branches of 
 American industry, I feel it a satisfaction as well as 
 duty in " furnishing my quota of knowledge," al- 
 though it may be but a drop to the bucket furnished by 
 others. 
 
 Last spring I procured between five and six thou- 
 sand eggs, which hatched about five thousand worms. 
 Four thousand were of the two-crop kind, and the re- 
 maining one thousand the sulphur-colored six-weeks 
 worm. The two-crop worms, which hatched first, 
 began to wind in twenty-four days. They wound 
 hard and valuable cocoons. And here I would men- 
 tion, that no worms should be saved after twenty-four 
 hours from the time they commence hatching, — a fact 
 which I was not apprised of at the time mine were 
 hatched. I saved all^ and commenced feeding them, 
 but soon ascertained that the later ones would accom- 
 plish but little. Some of them continued eating until 
 the sixth week, and then died, while others wound thin 
 and worthless cocoons. All of the six-weeks worms 
 did well, and wound the best of cocoons. 
 
 I am not fully satisfied as yet which are the more 
 
132 
 
 SILK. 
 
 profitable, the six-weeks worms, or the two-crop : the 
 former coDsume more leaves, are two weeks longer 
 arriving to maturity, and produce more silk. The 
 cocoons of the latter reel stronger, (at least mine did.) 
 and the quality of the silk, in my judgment, is equally 
 as good. Mr. Danforth, however, states, in his com- 
 munication '-to the committee on silk, American 
 Instirtute," that, " the large six-weeks worm, either 
 white or sulphur-colored, is altogether preferable to the 
 two-crop; for, not only are they more productive of 
 silk, but, from their superior length of thread, the reefer 
 is able to produce silk of better quality, and with less 
 labor." 
 
 I fed the white and native mulberry leaves alter- 
 nately, as I could most conveniently gather them. 
 The worms seem to prefer the white, but were not at 
 all backward in eating the native ; for, when in health, 
 they are rather the most swine-like insects I ever be- 
 came acquainted with. I had about one bushel of 
 cocoons, and should think, from what 1 had reeled, they 
 would produce one pound of silk. The silk that I 
 have reeled is of an excellent quality, strong, soft, and 
 has a beautiful lustre. It was reeled on the common 
 reel, and twisted on the common wheel, which are 
 rather heavy and awkward apparatus for the business, 
 hoAvever. I am fully satisfied with the result of the 
 experiment, and am confident that the whole process 
 of raising silk, from the rearing of the mulberry to the 
 manufacturing of the cloth, can be done with ease and 
 safety, and if carried on judiciously, will afford abun- 
 dant profit to warrant any one in engaging in the 
 business. 
 
 I am much pleased with the " Apparatus for feeding 
 Silk- Worms," likewise the " Apparatus for the Worms 
 to wind their Cocoons on," recommended on the 44th 
 page of the current vol. of the Parmer. This apparatus 
 for winding, of Mr. Harvey Hammond, is unquestiona- 
 bly an excellent one, a^ the worms seem to prefer 
 
ORCHARDS. 133 
 
 paper to almost any thing else. I have taken worms 
 that have travelled about half a day on brush and 
 other apparatus made for them to wind on, and put 
 them in a piece of paper rolled in the shape of a cone, 
 and they would commence winding immediately. At 
 first, i had considerable difficulty in suiting the worms 
 with places to wind on ; so I went to work and made 
 an apparatus somewhat similar to Mr. Hammond's, and 
 found it answered the very purpose, with this excep- 
 tion : many of the vacancies were altogether too large ; 
 the worms wound too much floss, and too many du- 
 pions, or double cocoons. I have of late noticed a 
 *' new cocoon frame," described on the 15th page of 
 the 7th volume of Genesee Farmer, which I consider 
 an excellent plan. 
 
 Perhaps it may not be out of place to mention, in 
 conclusion, that I have two trees of the Morus Multi- 
 caulis inoculated into the white, that have thus far 
 withstood the severity of the winter, and, at the present 
 time, (March 9,) but three or four inches of the tops 
 have been injured by the frost. My thanks to W. 
 W. B. for so much in this particular,, and much more in 
 many others. 
 
 ORCHARDS. 
 
 We are often inquired of as to the best time of trim- 
 ming apple-trees. Old dry limbs may be cut away when- 
 ever you have leisure ; but green limbs would better be 
 taken off later than this in the season. When trimmed 
 as late as May, the wounds are sooner healed than 
 when trimmed in winter. Large green limbs should 
 never be cut from the tree : they are better there than 
 on the fire. If trees are annually trimmed of the small 
 interfering limbs, there will be no large ones in the 
 way. 
 
 12^ 
 
134 REPORT OF THE 
 
 [From the Albany Cultivator.] 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ROOT CULTURE. 
 
 The committee appointed at the last meeting of the 
 society, to " Report on the best vegetable or root crops 
 for' feeding cattle, and the best means of cultivating 
 the same," report as follows : 
 
 The culture of roots, as farm crops, for feeding and 
 fattening domestic animals, is of such recent introduc- 
 tion, and so limited, among us, and the few experi- 
 ments that have been made to ascertain the relative 
 value of these roots have been so loosely managed, 
 that the committee do not possess the data that they 
 could desire, to make a satisfactory report, adapted ex- 
 actly to our practice. But they are nevertheless satis- 
 fied, from the numerous experiments which haVe been 
 made in Europe, in a climate very similar to our own, 
 and from the partial ones which have been made 
 among us, that the culture of roots is destined to effect 
 here, what it has effected elsewhere, a great and 
 salutary change in husbandry; not only as furnishing 
 the easiest and cheapest means of feeding and fatten- 
 ing domestic animals, but as an important source of 
 fertility to the farm, and of securing the main point, 
 ultimate profit, to the OAvner or cultivator. 
 
 Under these strong impressions of the advantages of 
 encouraging and extending root culture, your commit- 
 tee proceed, with the limited means at their command, 
 to fulfil the duties assigned to them by the society. 
 
 The Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland have 
 recently awarded liberal premiums for experiments in 
 fattening neat cattle ; firsts upon different kinds of 
 roots, as the potato, turni]), and mangold-wurtzel ; 
 second, upon raw and cooked food ; and, thhd, upon 
 roots entirely, and a mixture of roots, grain, pulse, and 
 oil-cake. These experiments have been made with a 
 
COMMITTEE ON ROOT CULTURE. 135 
 
 view of accurately ascertaining the comparative value 
 of each kind of root and other food, and the economy 
 of each mode of feeding it. The experiments have 
 been numerous. They liave been made on from ten 
 to thirty head of cattle at a time ; and they have been 
 continued from three to six months. The animals 
 were weighed or measured at the time of starting the 
 experiment, at the close of it, and generally at inter- 
 mediate periods, particularly when the food was varied : 
 and the quantity of roots and other food given was 
 accurately noted, so that the result has indicated the 
 relative vahie of each kind of food in the fattening 
 process, and the best mode of feeding it. The com- 
 mittee proceed to state, in a summary way, the results 
 of some of these experiments. 
 
 1. The relative Value of different Roots, 
 Mr. Howden, with a view to the experiment, set 
 apart the product of two acres of mangold-wurtzel, 
 amounting to fifty tons, five acres of Swedish turnips, 
 being one hundred and forty tons, and two acres of 
 potatoes, weighing twenty-nine tons, four cwt. The 
 experiment was made with twenty-one head of cattle, 
 which received, in addition to the roots, a few dis- 
 tiller's grains, and a little straw. The following table 
 shows the roots appropriated to each lot, and the 
 monthly increase of animals in the girth. The ab- 
 stract is made from the prize essays of the society, 
 which cannot now be referred to ; but the impression 
 is, that in all the experiments which we quote, the 
 roots fed to each lot was precisely the same in weight. 
 Lot No. 1. was fed from the product of one acre of 
 potatoes, ofte acre of mangold-wurtzel, and one acre of 
 Swedish turnips ; No. 2 from one acre of potatoes, and 
 two acres of Swedish turnips; and No. 3 from one 
 acre of mangold-wurtzel, and two acres of Swedish 
 turnips. 
 
BEPORl 
 
 OF THE 
 
 
 Lot No. 1. 
 
 I^t No. 2. 
 
 Lot No. 3. 
 
 35 feet 8 inches. 
 
 35 feet 9 inches. 
 
 35 feet 8 inches 
 
 36 " 6 " 
 
 36 " 7 " 
 
 36 " 6 " 
 
 38 " 2 " 
 
 38 " 4 " 
 
 38 " 2 " 
 
 39 " 7 " 
 
 39 " 8 " 
 
 39 " 6 " 
 
 40 " 8 " 
 
 40 " 10 " 
 
 40 " 6 " 
 
 41 " 4 " 
 
 41 " 7 " 
 
 31 " 3 " 
 
 136 
 
 Date. 
 
 1831, Nov. 30, 
 Dec. 30, 
 
 1832, Jan. 30, 
 Mch. 1, 
 
 " 30, 
 April 30, 
 
 Twenty-eight tonsof mangold-wurtzel and Swedish 
 turnips were withdrawn to feed other stock. 
 
 On the 30th January, Mr. Howden took a pair of 
 cattle out of each lot, and fed No. 1 with potatoes and 
 water, No. 2 with Swedish turnips, and No. 3 with 
 mangold-wurtzel. The following shows their relative 
 increase in three months : 
 
 Lor 1. Lot 2. Lot 3. 
 
 Date. Potatoes. Swedish Turnips. Mangokl-Wurtzel. 
 
 1832, Jan. 30, 10 feet 8 inches. 10 feet 5 inches. 10 feet 4 inches. 
 Ap. 30, 11 " 6 " 11 " 3 " 11 " 2 " 
 
 When the cattle were sold, the purchasers agreed 
 that the lot fed on Swedish turnips were from fs. to 
 10s. ($1 54 to $2 22) a head better than the other lots. 
 The average advance upon the original va^ue of each 
 was £6 12s. and, the cost of the grains being deducted, 
 there remained £129 ($532 80) in return for the eight 
 acres of produce consumed, or $66 60 for each acre. 
 
 From the above statement it would seem that there 
 is no great difference in the fattening properties of the 
 three kinds of roots ; and that, so far as mea-sure or 
 weight is concerned, it matters little which are em- 
 ployed in feeding. We will note here, for future 
 reference, the product per acre of each kind of roots 
 upon Mr. Howden's ground, adding the product in 
 bushels of fifty-six pounds : 
 
 The potatoes gave 12 tons 4 cwt. equal to 48S bushels. 
 The mangold-wurtzel 25 " '= 1X)00 " 
 
 The rutabaga 28 " " 1120 " 
 
 2. The comparative Economy of feeding raw or pre- 
 pared Food. 
 In 1833, the society offered a premium of thirty 
 sovereigns for the best report, founded on actual exper- 
 
COMMITTEE ON ROOT CULTURE. 
 
 137 
 
 iment made for that purpose, on a number of oxen or 
 heifers, not fewer than six ; the animals to he of the 
 same breed, age, and sex, and the term of feeding not 
 less than three months. Several reports were received 
 and published in 1834. From these we abstract the 
 following : 
 
 Mr. Walker made his experiment with six two year 
 old heifers, and four two year old steers. Each parcel 
 was divided into two lots, and fed on like food, except 
 that one half received their food raw, and the other 
 half in a steamed or cooked state. The food consist- 
 ed of Swedish turnips, potatoes, and crushed beans, 
 with a little salt and straw. At the end of three 
 months, it was found that the three heifers fed on 
 steamed food had gained A8h stone, or 679 lbs. ; and 
 the three heifers fed upon raw food had gained A5i 
 stone ; but the quantity consumed by the first lot ex- 
 ceeded that of the latter. 
 
 Cost of feeding on steamed food, . . . . £14 13 
 
 " " on raw food. 10 8 7^ 
 
 The first cost more than the last, . . . . i> 3 14 8i 
 
 Deducting the first cost and the price of fattening 
 from the price paid by the butcher, there remained a 
 profit on the three heifers fed with steamed food of 
 9s. ; while the profit on the three fattened with raw 
 food amounted to £3 10s. 6d. By a like estimate, the 
 loss on the steers fed with steamed food was 3s. 8d. 
 and the profit on those fed with raw food, 10s. 6d. 
 
 Andrew Howden made a like experiment with 
 eighteen cattle, in six lots. Their increase and ex- 
 pense of keeping for three months, from the 20th 
 March to the 20th June, were as follows : 
 
 Incr. in lbs. Expense. 
 
 Three heifers on raw turnips, .... 392 £6 18 
 
 " " on steamed turnips, . . . 532 8 18 
 
 " " on raw potatoes, . . . 600 10 7 
 
 " " on steamed potatoes, . . 572 10 7 
 
 " steers on raw potatoes and corn, 722 9 4 
 
 '-5 " on boiled " " 689 9 5^ 
 
138 
 
 REPORT OF THE 
 
 John Baswell fed ten homed cattle. The expense of 
 keeping the five cattle on raw food was £32 2s. Id. 
 while that of the cattle on prepared food was £34 5s. 
 lOd. On being slaughtered, the two lots appeared to be 
 very similar, but the particular weight is not mentioned. 
 
 3. Relative Economy of feeding with Tiirniips alone^ 
 or with Turnips and other more expensive Food. 
 Robert Stevenson was the successful competitor for 
 the society's premium. He took eighteen oxen ; their 
 live weight was ascertained at the beginning, at the 
 end, and at intermediate periods of the experiment, 
 which continued 119 days. The cattle were divided 
 mto three lots of six beasts each, and a correct account 
 was kept of the weight of food consumed by each lot. 
 Lot 1 was allowed linseed cake, bruised beans, and 
 bruised oats, in addition to turnips, and, during the last 
 twenty-four days of the experiment, twenty pounds of 
 potatoes were given per day to each ; lot 2 received 
 the same allowance, except the linseed cake, and half 
 the potatoes, and lot 3 was fed upon turnips alone. 
 The cost of the keep of each animal, during the 119 
 days, was as follows : 
 
 Total cost of feeding one beast of lot 1, ^ . , £5 2 7 
 of lot 2, . . . . 3 17 
 of lot 3, . . . . 1 18 7i 
 
 The improvement in live weight was as follows : 
 
 First lot increased in weight 108 stone. 
 
 Second " " 101 " 
 
 Third " " . 49 '^ 
 
 Abstracting the cost of feeding from the value of the 
 increased weight, the loss and profit would stand as 
 below : 
 
 Loss on feeding lot 1, £3 15 Si 
 
 Profit on feeding lot 2, 119 3^ 
 
 Profit on feeding lot 3, 2 11 1 
 
 *'Thus, when turnips alone were used, a profit of 
 twenty-two per cent, was realized j where beans and 
 
COMMITTEE ON ROOT CULTURE. 139 
 
 oats were used along with the tnrnips. the profit was 
 diminished to eight and a half per cent. ; but when 
 still more expensive food was tried — that is, grain 
 and linseed cake, along with tnrnips and potatoes — 
 a loss was sustained of no less than 12 3.16 per cent." 
 Lot 1 were the largest oxen. They were fed each 
 with 132 lbs. per day of Swedish turnips. Lot 2 were 
 fed each with 120 lbs. of the same per day ; and lot 
 3, being the smallest, received but 115 lbs. per day; 
 and, for twenty-four days, but ninety-two pounds. 
 
 Lot 1 cost 4.484 pence for every lb. of increased live weight. 
 
 Lot 2 " 3.92 
 
 Lots " 3.39 " " " 
 
 The turnips were estimated at four pence per cwt. ; 
 the potatoes at Is. 6d. per cwt. ; oats and beans at 3s. 
 6d. per bushel ; and linseed cake at three fourths of 
 a penny per pound. 
 
 " In conclusion," says Mr. Stevenson, on this part of 
 the subject, '' we give it as our opinion, that whoever 
 feeds cattle on turnips alone, will have no reason, on the 
 score of profit, to regret their not having employed more 
 expensive auxiliaries to hasten the fattening process." 
 
 It would seem pretty evident, from the foregoing 
 experiments, that ruta baga and mangold-wurtzel are 
 the best root crops for feeding cattle. The profit of 
 cultivating and feeding these roots will be more mani- 
 fest if we compare their acreable product with that of 
 hay, potatoes, and the coarse grains which we feed to 
 fattening animals. To enable the committee to make 
 this comparison, they assume the following as the 
 average products of crops, and attach to each of these 
 an estimate of their marketable value. Both the prod- 
 uct and the prices will greatly vary ; but those as- 
 sumed are deemed sufficiently correct for comparison. 
 
 acre of grass, 
 
 2i 
 
 tons, 
 
 at 
 
 $10, .... 
 
 . S20 00 
 
 " corn, 
 
 40 bushels 
 
 , at 75 cents, . 
 
 . 30 00 
 
 " oats, 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 at 37^ cents, . 
 
 . 11 20 
 
 " buckwheat, 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 at 50 cents, . 
 
 . 15 00 
 
 " potatoes, 
 
 150 
 
 
 
 at 25 cents, . 
 
 . 37 50 
 
 *' ruta baga, 
 
 600 
 
 
 
 at 25 cents, , 
 
 . 150 00 
 
 " mangold-wurtzel, 
 
 600 
 
 
 
 at 25 cents, . 
 
 . 150 00 
 
140 REPORT OF THE 
 
 Estimating the cost of the roots, in labor, at twenty 
 dollars an acre more than that of the hay, oats, and 
 buckwheat, it still leaves a great disparity in the 
 profits; and, considering the cost of cultnre equal to 
 that of Indian corn, there is a manifest advantage in 
 the turnips and mangold- wurtzel over the corn crop as 
 a material for cattle food. Good beef cannot be made 
 on hay alone, in winter ; and those who do not feed 
 roots, must resort to some more expensive food, as the 
 meal of Indian corn, oats, buckwheat, &c. The tur- 
 nips and mangold-wurtzel, on the contrary, with the 
 aid of perhaps a little straw, will serve of themselves 
 to feed and fatten animals. In this matter, the chair- 
 man can speak from experience. He purchased four 
 oxen, a little before Christmas, and kept them till some 
 time in April : after a short time, they ate each two 
 bushels a day of rnta baga : they would eat very little 
 else, though laid before them, not even linse6d cake. 
 They made good beef, and afforded a handsome profit 
 on the turnips consvuned. 
 
 If we now assume that an ox will require a quarter 
 of a hundred of hay per diem to keep in good condi- 
 tion, and that it will require an addition of four quarts 
 of corn-meal, or eight quarts of crushed oats or buck- 
 wheat, per diem, to fatten him ; and if we consider 
 112 potmds or two bushels of roots equivalent to a 
 ration of hay and grain, then the several crops will 
 feed an animal, as below : 
 
 One acre of gra^s and half an acre of corn will feed . . . IGO days. 
 One and a half acre of mangold-wurtzel, or Swedish turnips, 
 
 will feed 450 " 
 
 One acre of grass and one acre of oats or buckwheat will feed 160 " 
 
 Two acres of Swedish turnips or mangold-wurtzel will feed 600 " 
 
 One acre of potatoes will feed . . .• 75 " 
 
 One acre of Swedish turnips or mangold-wurtzel will feed . 300 *♦ 
 
 Making very liberal allowance for the difference in 
 the expense of raising these crops, and for any error 
 the committee may have made in fixing the daily ra- 
 tions, or in the acreable produce of each, they think 
 that no doubt can for a moment be entertained that 
 
COMMITTEE ON ROOT CULTURE. 141 
 
 the Swedish turnip and the mangold-wiirtzel are de- 
 cidedly the best crops that can be raised for feeding 
 and fattening cattle. 
 
 The committee have no doubt that the sugar-beet 
 and the carrot offer advantages nearly or quite equal to 
 th€ roots above recommended. Their product and 
 nutrient properties are very similar, and the expense 
 of culture is not very dissimilar. The sugar-beet is 
 probably richer in nutriment than the mangold-wnrtzel, 
 though its product is ordinarily less. The carrot may 
 require more labor in the cnltnre, but is superior as 
 food, particularly for horses. 
 
 Arthur Young highly extols the carrot. Upon the 
 product of three acres of this root he assures us he 
 kept, for more than five months, twenty work horses, 
 four bullocks, and six milch cows ; nor did the animals, 
 during that period, he adds, taste any food, except a 
 little hay. Our enterprising fellow-citizen, Col. Mea- 
 cham, of Oswego, has gone largely into the culture of 
 carrots, as cattle-feed, as well as many of his neigh- 
 bors ; and they speak highlj'' of the profits of the 
 culture. 
 
 Some highly satisfactory experiments have also been 
 made among us, on a limited scale, in cultivating and 
 feeding the sugar-beet. There seems to be but little 
 doubt, from the high state of perfection and of profit 
 which the business has arrived at in France and Ger- 
 many, that the culture of this beet will soon be exten- 
 sively gone into in this country, for the purpose of 
 making sugar; and if so, the residuum of the beet will 
 form an important item in the material for fattening 
 cattle. 
 
 There are other advantages resulting from root cul- 
 ture which should not be overlooked. It tends greatly 
 to increase the quantity of manure on the farm, to 
 meliorate the texture of the soil, and to furnish excel- 
 lent alternate crops in convertible husbandry. In se- 
 lecting for culture, the farmer should choose the roots 
 13 
 
142 
 
 that are best adapted to his soil. The turnips prefer a 
 dry, sandy soil ; the beet, a clay loam. 
 
 As to the best means of cultivating these crops, the 
 committee summarily remark that the product and 
 profit will materially depend upon the following con- 
 tingencies, viz. that the soil be dry, that it be rich, 
 that it be deeply worked, that it be well pulverized, 
 and that the after-culture be well managed. The im- 
 plements necessary to cultivate them advantageously, in 
 addition to the plough and harrow, are the drillbarrow 
 and cultivator. The season for sowing the beet is from 
 the 10th to the 20ih May ; of sowing the Swedish tur- 
 nip, from the 10th to the 25th June. The drill or row 
 culture is decidedly the best. A detail of the whole 
 process of culture would occupy too much space for 
 this report, and is unnecessary, as these processes are 
 already understood by many, and have been minutely 
 described in the agricultural periodicals of the day. 
 The committee will merely recommend, in conclusion, 
 that the roots be always cut previously to being fed to 
 cattle, for which machines may be procured, at a mod- 
 erate charge, which will cut a bushel in from one to 
 three minutes. If cut, the roots are eaten entirely ; if 
 not cut, a portion is apt to be rejected and wasted. 
 
 The chairman has received a communication from 
 Col. Meacham, stating his mode of cultivating the car- 
 rot, the product and manner of using the crop. He 
 cultivates them in drills, from twenty to twenty-four 
 inches apart ; he gets one thousand bushels an acre, at 
 an expense of $25 to $30 : he kept six work horses 
 on them from November, 1836, to June, 1837, with- 
 out grain, and they remained in good plight, and per- 
 formed as well as he ever had horses perform, and he 
 thinks they are worth double as much for stock as ruta 
 baga. 
 
 Upon the subject of the carrot culture, which is 
 perhaps less understood among us than that of the 
 beet and turnip, the committee will add that this root 
 
FARM TOOLS. 143 
 
 thrives best in a sandy loam, light, moist, biU not wet, 
 and of great depth ; in which the plough, going to the 
 beam, brings to the surface nothing that is not fit for 
 vegetation. The ground should be ploughed immedi- 
 ately preceding the sowing. In Suffolk, England, they 
 sow eight pounds seed, broad-cast, to the acre ; and 
 the crop is from four hundred to five hundred bushels. 
 For horses they are considered superior to any other 
 food. Two bushels of carrots and one of chaff is the 
 per diem allowance to a horse ; or seven bushels of 
 carrots and one bushel of oats is the allowance for a 
 week. They are also profitably fed to all other farm 
 stock. They are raised in Suffolk without dung, at 
 an expense of 9d. (16 cents) per bushel. The yield 
 of the carrot is often seven hundred to one thousand 
 bushels the acre. The crop is gathered by making a 
 deep furrow near to the drill, when a man seizes, 
 draws the top to the furrow, and pulls them up with 
 great facility. 
 
 Another root, the parsnip, is deserving of notice, 
 though its partial culture hitherto will hardly entitle 
 it to be classed among field-crops. It is believed to be 
 the most nutritious root of any that have been named, 
 is as easily cultivated as the carrot or the beet, and has 
 this advantage over all the others, that its value is not 
 impaired by frost. 
 
 From the preceding views, the committee do not 
 hesitate to recommend the extension of root culture, 
 as the most ready means of keeping up the fertility of 
 our farms, and of increasing the profits of their culti- 
 vation. J. BuEL, Chairman. 
 
 FARM TOOLS. 
 
 Let us consider, a few moments, brother farmers, 
 whether all the fuss we make about improvements is 
 mere moonshine, or whether we have really gained a 
 
144 FARM TOOLS. 
 
 point or two within the last twenty years. Let us 
 fix one or two landmarks, and then determine whether 
 any wind of doctrine has drove us ahead, put us back, 
 or left us stationary. 
 
 About twenty years back, while farming on the 
 banks of the rich-soiled Keimebec, Ave heard that an 
 iron plough had been constructed in the neighborhood 
 of Boston, which would rim with so little friction that 
 one yoke of oxen could easily draw it in greensward 
 land. We thought this impossible, for we had general- 
 ly been obliged to use three yoke of cattle for this 
 service instead of one. Now we often see one yoke 
 performing this labor, and at less than half the former 
 expense. 
 
 We think this is pretty well for the improvement in 
 one article, the most important instrument in the hands 
 of the farmer. 
 
 The manure-fork, the hay-fork, and the shovel, are 
 much improved within a few years. We can well 
 remember when but few iron shovels were used. 
 Wooden shovels with iron plates, or iron shod, were 
 the tools for the farmer to remove his gravel, his loam, 
 or his manure. 
 
 His manure-forks were made of such poor iron that 
 it was necessary to use large bars for the tines : these 
 could never be made to penetrate the heaps or the soil 
 with ease ; and we think we can with safety assert 
 that, with a modern iron shovel, and a modern manure- 
 fork, one third part of the former labor of forking and 
 of shoveling is saved. 
 
 Shall we stop at this point, and conclude that no 
 farther improvements are to be made in tools? or shall 
 we rather take courage from what we have seen, and 
 attempt a little farther improvement? Let us enter 
 into no wild speculations — we cannot afford it — but let 
 us not for a moment suppose we can make no farther 
 advances. We cannot stop; the spirit of improvement 
 is up, aud we must partake of it, if all other kinds are 
 forbidden. 
 
ON FARM-YARD MANAGEMENT. 145 
 
 If some substantial mechanic should furnish you 
 with a simple instrument by which you will plant as 
 much corn, in any prepared field, as twenty men will 
 do, is it not worth your while to try it ? If he war- 
 rants the performance of the instrument, you run but 
 little risk, and you stand the chance of taking the lead 
 in an easier and a better mode of planting. 
 
 If it should be objected that we plant but little in 
 New England, let two or three neighboring farmers 
 join and own one. Where six acres of corn are planted, 
 if the instrument will in all probability pay its cost 
 the first season, is it not worth your time to attempt, 
 at least, a better system of planting ? 
 
 Boys and hired men often bury seed too deep : they 
 often cover it with sods and with sorrel. The greatest 
 crops of corn have been grown by those who have 
 taken the trouble to make about eight thousand hills 
 to the acre, instead of four thousand, making the hills 
 about two feet apart in the row. 
 
 In this mode, if your rows are perfectly strait — as 
 they will be, thus planted — you will tend the crop 
 with more ease than you will where you plant by 
 hand. 
 
 You should procure one instrument that will answer 
 for all kinds of seeds, and save the expense of two. 
 
 [From the Albany Centinel.] 
 
 ON FARM- YARD MANAGEMENT. 
 
 In the business of saving manures farmers are equal- 
 ly remiss : the forming of composts, and manufacturing 
 large quantities of manure by mixing the various 
 vegetable matters with top soils, with lime, and with 
 mud, is seldom or ever thought of. 
 
 To save the greatest quantity of manure, and to pre- 
 serve it from losing its strength, it should be protected 
 13* 
 
146 ON FARM-YARD MANAGEMENT. 
 
 from the weather. If this cannot be done under cover, 
 it is advisable to stack it, so that it will shed rain, and 
 escape the dissipating effects of the sun and the wind. 
 During frosty weather it will lose none of its virtue ; 
 but; in the spring, the stacks mast be attended to ; and, 
 as the bed of the farm-yard feels the influence of the 
 sun and begins to thaw, the manure should be scraped, 
 up and added to the stacks : this should never be 
 omitted ; otherwise the strength of it runs off or is dis- 
 sipated, leaving nothing but the nnfermented straw 
 behind. Any means that will save it from being 
 leached by rain should be adopted, and, in addition, and 
 to prevent the yards being flooded by heavy rains, the 
 buildings adjacent to it should be furnished with gut- 
 ters and drains to lead off the water: without these 
 precautions a great share of the manure in every barn- 
 yard will be exhausted of its best properties before it is 
 applied to the land. It is not uncommon to hear 
 farmers complain that manure has little or no efteet on 
 their land. And such manure as some of them make, 
 which has lain for months exposed to all the vicissi- 
 tudes of the weather, can have no effect. Perhaps it is 
 drawn out in the winter, spread abroad in small heaps, 
 and not turned under till nearly all its useful proper- 
 ties are extracted by frequent washings. Now notwith- 
 standing the great value of manures to the farmer, the 
 increasing, preserving, and judicious employment of 
 them seems to be a secondary object : considerable 
 quantities are daily lost about every farm, and what is 
 collected is of little value, owing to the manner in 
 which it is treated. No farmer can expect to succeed 
 in his agricultural operations without the aid of good 
 manure and plenty of it ; still its augmentation and 
 preservation seems to be little cared for : provided his 
 barn-yard is cleaned, out once a year, he thinks he has 
 done enough. 
 
 It is feared that advances in this branch of farming, 
 in common with others, will not be very rapid until 
 
ON FARM-YARD MANAGEMENT. 147 
 
 our rulers, influenced by the true principles of a wise 
 political economy, shall see fit to do something for the 
 cause. The rage for speculation, and the desire to 
 gather riches too fast, which but lately filled the whole 
 community with golden dreams, has in a measure sub- 
 sided, and people's minds now being sobered down to 
 realities of life, they are willing to go to work for a 
 hving. It seems, then, there never was a time when 
 the fostering care of the government might be extended 
 to the farming part of the community with a better 
 prospect of advancing the permanent good of the whole 
 than the present. 
 
 The art of farming, in all its various details, is an 
 employment requiring constant care and attention, as 
 well as judgment in bringing its operations to a suc- 
 cessful issue. 
 
 It is the great employment of the rank and file of 
 the country, and, as such, deserves to be considered by 
 our rulers; and, were they seriously to entertain the 
 purpose of encouraging it, the zeal of its followers 
 would be sharpened, and their eiforts redoubled, to 
 place this science, to which our country owes so much 
 of its prosperity, upon a proper footing. Committees 
 of agriculture, it is true, are appointed, year after year, 
 in our national and stale legislatures, to watch over its 
 interests ; but what have they done for the cause which 
 feeds and clothes them ? The silk business may have 
 been talked over in the former, and the Canada thistle 
 choked in the latter, but no important measure for its 
 encouragement has been passed, at least of late years. 
 Every other great interest of the country seems to 
 have been cared for but the one under consideration : 
 commerce, manufactures, education, civil and military, 
 the fisheries, &c. are all bountifully endowed by gov- 
 ernment, while, for the benefit of the profession to 
 which the great mass of the people belong, there is no 
 board formed, no school-house raised, nor bounty for 
 its amelioration or encouragement ofifered. Is it neg- 
 lected by our rulers because it is less useful, or needs 
 
148 ON FARM-YARD MANAGEMENT. 
 
 less help than others ? It has, to be sure, by its own 
 life-supporting power, felled the forest of the west, and 
 converted the howling wilderness into fertile fields ; 
 but it has not yet succeeded in rendering us inde- 
 pendent of other nations for the very staff of life. 
 The fact alone that bread stuffs to a large amount 
 were lately imported from Nova Scotia and elsewhere, 
 would saem. to call upon the government in the loudest 
 terms to embrace the patriotic and popular measure of 
 encouraging agriculture. Individual enterprise has 
 done much for the cause, by disseminating among us, 
 by means of periodicals, the results of experiments and 
 good advice in every department of farming. But 
 these means of information are very limited in their 
 circulation. The attachment to old habits, the dislike 
 to book-farming, and the utter ignorance of what is 
 going on in the agricultural world, are also serious 
 drawbacks to improvement, which it is feared nothing 
 can remedy but the formation of agricultural societies 
 in every county of the state, under the patronage of 
 the government. 
 
 Under such a system, the results of good farming 
 and an improved state of culture would be brought 
 home to every man. Knowledge would be more 
 generally diffused, and great improvements consequent- 
 ly made in every branch of rural economy. Discove- 
 ries in agriculture are continually making, and must 
 continue to be made ad infinitum, for no limits can be 
 assigned to the capabilities of the earth in producing 
 the necessaries as well as the luxuries of life. There 
 seems no end to the improvement of the qualities and 
 perfections of domestic animals, yet how few of our 
 common farmers are aware of these facts ! They know 
 little or nothing of the principles of vegetation, or of 
 the management and effect of the different kinds of 
 manure ; nor have they any very clear ideas on the 
 subject of breeding the different kinds of domestic 
 animals. 
 
 Until a spirit of emulation is ai'oused, by means of 
 
149 
 
 agricultural societies, this state of things must continue. 
 To get lip such a spirit has been and is the aim of 
 the agricultural society of this state. It has thus far 
 struggled through a feeble existence, upheld alone by 
 the exertions of a few s[)iri(ed individuals, headed by 
 the patriotic and intelligent editor of the Cultivator. 
 Under better auspices than we have yet had cause to 
 boast of, the society might flourish and be productive 
 of incalculable good ; but unless a favorable ear is 
 turned to our petitions for aid to the cause, there is 
 reason to fear that, after this meeting, it will be ad- 
 journed to meet no more. 
 
 W. Aug. S. North, Chairman. 
 
 [From Hitchcock's Geology.] 
 
 SOILS, THEIR ORIGIN AND NATURE. 
 
 Before proceeding to exhibit details respecting the 
 soils of Massachusetts, it will be necessary to state my 
 views respecting the origin and nature of soils iu 
 general, and the principles on which they may be 
 clasiT'ified. 
 
 All geologists and chemists agree in regarding soils 
 as the result of the abrasion, disintegration, and decom- 
 position of rocks, with the addition of certain saline, 
 vegetable, and animal substances. Ever since the de- 
 position of rocks, various agents have been operating 
 upon them to wear them down, to cause them to 
 crumble or disintegrate, and often to decompose them 
 into their proximate or ultimate principles, while they 
 have been constantly receiving vegetable and animal 
 substances with soluble salts. The earthy portions, 
 however, always constitute by far the largest part ; 
 and hence, if Vv'e know the composition of the rocks 
 whence they were derived, we shall knov/ the earthy 
 
150 SOILS, THEIR ORIGIN AND NATURE. 
 
 and metallic constituents of the soil. Now we find that 
 nearly all the rocks which exist in large quantity are 
 composed chiefly of silica,* alumina,! lime, and oxide 
 of iron ; and these are. the ingredients that are found 
 almost invariably in soils. Magnesia is also usually 
 present in small quantity ; as is also manganese in the 
 soils of New England. Silica is in the largest quantity, 
 both in the rocks and the soils ; alumina next ; while 
 the other ingredients are in much smaller proportion. 
 I ought also to add potassa and soda, Avhich are very 
 widely diffused, though not usually in large quantity. 
 To give a numerical statement, derived from numerous 
 analyses, such rocks as most of those in New England 
 contain sixty-six per cent, of silica, sixteen per cent, of 
 alumina, six or seven percent, of potassa, five per cent, 
 of oxide of iron, and of lime and magnesia a much less 
 quanty ; and the composition of our soils will probably 
 be found to correspond very nearly with these numbers, 
 with the exception, perhaps, of the potassa, which may 
 have in a good measure disappeared by the operation of 
 vegetation. 
 
 Classification of Soils. The above ingredients 
 are combined in different proportions in the different 
 rocks, so as to constitute several sorts. Hence we 
 should expect, and in fact fiud, a corresponding differ- 
 ence in the soils resulting from their decomposition. 
 Indeed, with some exceptions, the geologist is able to 
 ascertain the nature of the rock from the character of 
 the soil that covers it. And I apprehend that it will 
 not be dilficult to point out the characteristics of the 
 soils derived from the different rock formations of 
 Massachusetts, so that they can be distinguished by 
 those not familiar with practical geology. This 
 geological classification is the only one which I shall 
 attempt to give of our soils ; and this seems to me all 
 that is necessary or useful in addition to the common 
 
 * Sandy. t Clayey. 
 
151 
 
 division into sandy, clayey, loamy, calcareous, &c. 
 The following list embraces, it appears to me, all the 
 important varieties of soil in Massachusetts : 
 
 1. Alluvium, from rivers. 
 
 '' peaty. 
 
 2. Tertiary soil, argillaceous. 
 
 '' " sandy. 
 
 3. Sandstone soil, red. 
 
 " " gray. 
 
 4. Graywacke soil, conglomerate. 
 
 '' *' slaty, gray. 
 
 " '•' slaty, red. 
 
 5. Clay slate soil. 
 
 6. Limestone soil, magnesian. 
 
 " " common. 
 
 7. Mica slate soil. 
 
 8. Talcose slate soil. 
 
 9. Gneiss soil, common. 
 
 " '' ferruginous. 
 
 10. Granite soil. 
 
 11. Sienite soil. 
 
 12. Porphyry soil. 
 
 13. Greenstone soil. 
 
 A few paragraphs of explanation will, I trust, render 
 these varieties of soil recognizable. 
 
 In general, if any one wishes to know where to find 
 them, let him look at the geological map that accom- 
 panied my former report, and he may conclude that 
 the different soils cover those portions of the surface 
 that are represented as occupied by the rocks from 
 which they are derived. There is one circumstance, 
 however, that prevents us from considering the bound- 
 aries of the rock formations as perfectly coincident 
 with those of the soils. Diluvial action has removed 
 nearly all the loose covering of our rocks in a south- 
 erly direction, often several miles, and more or less 
 mingled the soils from difierent formations. Hence, 
 
152 ON MANURES, AND THEIR 
 
 where one formation lies north or south of another on 
 the map, we may conchitie that the detritus of the 
 most northerly one has been swept southerly, or south- 
 easterly, for several miles beyond the boundaries of the 
 rock ; and in few cases does the dividing line between 
 two formations so exactly coincide with the direction 
 of the diluvial current, that there is no overlapping and 
 intermingling of the soil. Where the formations are 
 limited and irregular, the soil of whole townships is of 
 so mixed and uncertain a character, that it is hardly 
 possible to refer it to any of the above divisions ; as, for 
 example, in Amherst, Ludlow, and several of the towns 
 in Plymouth county. In such cases, it might perhaps 
 be convenient to call the soil diluvial ; but I have not 
 thought it important to introduce such a variety, since 
 it can have no constant characters, and since this diffi- 
 culty is of so limited a nature. In all such cases it is 
 better to regard the soil as a compound of detritds, from 
 the rocks lying in the vicinity to the northward. 
 
 ON MANURES, AND THEIR APPLICATION TO THE SOIL. 
 
 There is much difference of opinion among our 
 farmers as to the best mode of applying their manures, 
 and this arises in some degree from the difference in 
 their soil, and the difference in seasons. 
 
 In wet seasons we lose but little by placing them 
 near the surface and covering them with the harrow : 
 in dry seasons we wish them buried deeper ; but, as we 
 cannot possibly tell what the season will be, we must 
 use our best skill and judgment. 
 
 A writer in a late paper commends the practice of 
 placing manures on the surface in all cases. Another 
 writer, last week, strenuously insisted on ploughing 
 them in at least one foot deep. He says, make one 
 acre rich first, then take another, until you go through 
 the whole. 
 
APPLICATION TO THE SOIL. 153 
 
 To us both these rules ''smell " more of the study 
 than of the stercoraceous pile. Believe not every tale. 
 If one farmer happens to obtain a good crop from sur- 
 face manuring in a wet season, we should not deduce 
 from this a general rule. 
 
 We have sometimes thought we could not lose much 
 by ploughing in deep, under the grass sod, fresh or 
 long manures, as we are persuaded that, generally, the 
 valuable salts do not descend out of the reach of the 
 plant. It is true, there are instances in which liquids, 
 in cow-yards, descend so deep as to impregnate and 
 injure the water in wells by their side ; but all these 
 are cases where the strong puddle has stood, occasion- 
 ally, for years : the whole subsoil has become porous, 
 and the waters of the yard and of the well naturally 
 mingled together and became similar. 
 
 We once had a well in porous loam, within sixteen 
 feet of the cow-yard fence : the water stood in the 
 yard more than half the year, but the well at first was 
 not injured. In a few years, however, the water in 
 the well was affected by the puddle. We removed 
 the fence of the yard so as to keep the cattle four rods 
 from it, and the water of the well again became good. 
 
 Now we are far from thinking this good proof that 
 we lose by the descent of the salts where there is 
 vegetable life to absorb or to partake of them, or to be 
 stimulated by them. If we fill a barrel half full of 
 loam, and turn on this gradually a pailful of liquid 
 from the barn-yard, the liquor leaking out at the bot- 
 tom of the barrel will be pure and limpid. 
 
 Were it not for this wise provision in nature, most 
 of our wells would be worthless. The rain-water from 
 the surface is usually well strained before it arrives at 
 the bottom of the well. Now if you put eight or ten 
 pails of water into the barrel of loam, the last pailful 
 will not come out pure. It will resemble the water 
 that spoiled our well. 
 
 Apply these experiments to our fields : we have, on 
 14 
 
154 
 
 ON MANURES. 
 
 the average, forty inches of rain or moisture annually 
 from the clouds, say twenty during the season of vege- 
 tation. This falls on to a coating of manure, not ex- 
 ceeding half an inch thick, in any case ; and generally 
 not exceeding one fourth of an inch in thickness ; for 
 you will find by calculation that twenty loads, or six 
 hundred bushels of loam, sand, or manure, will not 
 cover your acre one fourth of an inch in thickness. 
 
 Then consider your ground is to be filled with 
 living roots, seizing and absorbing every particle that 
 is digestible, and what chance is there for an escape 
 downwards of these salts ? If our cup was placed one 
 foot below the surface of a field thus manured, its con- 
 tents, after a shower, could not be affected by the 
 manure of the field. 
 
 Still we have not proved that manure cannot be 
 placed too deep in the soil. We are satisfied that it 
 may be. Manures of all kinds must be well mingled 
 with the soil. If we spread it green, and plough it 
 under a greensward, it must lie there in some degree 
 dormant during the summer. And we think we can- 
 not keep manures a long time dormant without loss. 
 There may not be much loss if it is fine and is well 
 buried under a greensward as late as the middle of 
 May, for the growing roots and the green grass become 
 immediately active manures, and these assist to hasten 
 the decomposition of that which was spread on. 
 
 On heaps of manure, placed under corn or potato 
 hills, there is nothing but worms to operate — unless, 
 may be, the crows should be kind enough to lend a 
 hand — and of all practices this is the most difficult of 
 advocacy. We cannot hope to enrich our grounds and 
 prepare them for future crops, Avithout spreading our 
 manures through the field. The labor is surely less, 
 the crops are generally better, and the after-crops are 
 always larger. 
 
 On the whole, when we conveniently can, we should 
 enlarge the quantity by adding loam, peat, muck, or 
 
ON SOAKING SEED-CORN. 155 
 
 any vegetable matter to the heap : let this be large 
 enough to engender proper heat, and not lie in the 
 mass after it becomes so hot as to burn a boy's foot. 
 It should be overhauled until it becomes fine enough 
 to be spread and mingled with the soil. 
 
 In light loams we run less risk by covering it deep : 
 in heavy loams, and in clay, we run a greater risk, and 
 there is less need of burying it deep. 
 
 ON SOAKING SEED-CORN. 
 
 Many make a practice of soaking or steeping their 
 seed-corn before planting. 
 
 Some do this to make it vegetate sooner, some to 
 infuse a tincture of nourishment to the plant, some to 
 keep it from the crows, and some to drive away the 
 worms. Some planters wrap the kernel in tar and 
 gunpowder, of which latter article it is said the crow 
 well knows the use, and of which the mere smell is 
 sufficient, and satisfies without tasting. Saltpetre is 
 used for the double purpose of terrifying the crow — 
 as he knows we make gunpowder of it — and of 
 stimulating or nourishing the plant ; and, finally, a 
 steep in copperas has been recommended, long since, 
 as a cure-all, to drive away birds, and worms, and to 
 hasten vegetation. 
 
 We have known some sensible farmers, who, after 
 they had tried those several arts, dropped their seed- 
 corn dry in the earth, and, trusting very much to provi- 
 dence to bring up a live stalk from a dying kernel, 
 have realized most excellent crops of corn. 
 
 As to steeping the seed, we think the practice quite 
 pernicious. Seeds that have been steeped often fail to 
 vegetate. If they once become dry after swelling, they 
 are not likely to start again. Seed coated in tar often 
 fails ; and as to the virtue communicated to the kernel 
 
156 LIGHT AND LOOSE MOULD UNDER STONE WALLS. 
 
 from the saltpetre, it must, in any event, be very- 
 trifling, not half suflicient to balance the risk of losing 
 the seed by steeping. 
 
 We much doubt the propriety of using any infusion 
 or coating for seed-corn. If your ground be full of 
 worms, put ashes or lime on the corn-hill, as soon as it 
 is planted, instead of increasing the number of worms 
 by putting manm-e in the hill. If your ground is 
 suitable, you may have a good crop without any of this 
 quackery of steeping. 
 
 None but warm lands should ever be planted with 
 corn. Let the cold lands go to grass, or to potatoes, 
 that like a cold bed. We shall not calculate on such 
 seasons as 1816 and 1836. They are exceptions to the 
 general rule, and we should not be governed by the 
 exception. 
 
 Crows may be kept from the field by suitable scare- 
 crows ; not by such things as boys usually re^r, that 
 will frighten ten horses to one crow. They should be 
 made in the image of a man, which animal the crow 
 abhors as his greatest enemy, and always wishes to 
 avoid. If the image is partially covered with brush, 
 the crow will be still more shy, and will never meddle 
 with your corn, when he thinks he is running great 
 risk of his life. 
 
 LIGHT AND LOOSE MOULD UNDER STONE WALLS. 
 
 At one of our meetings in the state-house, last win- 
 ter, we stated, as a fact well known to farmers, that 
 the soil which lay beneath stone walls was much 
 lighter, generally, than any other. This statement 
 occasioned some surprise, not, however, in the minds 
 of experienced farmers : they knew it was fact. 
 
 We did not attempt to give a reason for this phe- 
 nomenon ; but, as the statement caused some discussion 
 
LUCERNE, OR FRENCH CLOVER. 157 
 
 at the time, we have since thought more of the causes 
 that produce this singular state of the soil in such 
 situations. 
 
 It is ascertained if hme be spread on the surface in 
 pasture gromids, it gradually sinks down beneath the 
 surface, so that in a dozen years it may be found buried 
 in the soil several inches deep. A correspondent of 
 the N. E. Farmer ascribes this to the labors of insects 
 in the ground. Ants and other animals innumerable 
 are constantly digging in the earth, and it is natural 
 for them to bring to the surface their little burdens, as 
 we may daily notice among the tribes of ants. 
 
 Millions of these animals are destroyed in the open 
 fields, and it is reasonable to suppose that when they 
 obtain a shelter under flat rocks, or stone walls, they 
 labor in greater security and accomplish more. By 
 constantly turning over the particles they seek, the 
 lime and other materials not relished by them are 
 naturally sunk deeper into the soil ; and under walls, 
 being more protected from the inclemency of the 
 weather, they may be supposed to multiply faster, 
 and to be continually undermining and rendering 
 hghter the mould under the centre of these shelters, 
 making these places more accessible than others to the 
 roots of the trees and other plants. 
 
 LUCERNE, OR FRENCH CLOVER. 
 
 We have found this grass difficult of cultivation. It 
 requires a rich soil, and in that the weeds usually get 
 the start the first season and choke the grass. It is 
 said to be necessary to weed it by hand the first season, 
 and afterwards it will take care of itself. We once 
 cultivated a small patch of it, which grew and yielded 
 as abundantly as we had expected from the usual de- 
 scriptions given of it ; but we have had do success when 
 14* 
 
158 ROOTS. 
 
 we sowed it with spring grain. We were lately told, 
 by an Englishman, that it was common, in his coun- 
 try, to sow beds of it quite thick, and to transplant the 
 roots, when grown large, into larger spaces. We 
 should probably think this too much trouble in our 
 country. 
 
 For soiling cattle that are kept constantly up, this 
 plant yields a most abundant and nutritious crop. It 
 may be mown four or five times in the season ; and 
 we have had patches that grew more than two feet in 
 height in a single month after cutting. If Ave could 
 contrive some cheap mode of seeding with it we might 
 find our account in its cultivation. 
 
 ROOTS,, 
 
 Those who plant carrots, parsnips, or mangel-wurt- 
 zet for cattle, should do it in May, or by the first of 
 June. 
 
 Ruta baga may be sown as late as the twentieth of 
 June, and they are more tender than when sowed early. 
 
 Some prefer one kind and some another ; but much 
 must depend on the soil and the preparation. Ruta 
 baga will grow any where, if the surface is made rich ; 
 and they may be sown where other seeds, that should 
 be sowed earlier, have failed. 
 
 Carrots and parsnips require more care. To obtain 
 large crops, the soil should be deep and thoroughly dug 
 up or ploughed up. For field culture, the plough must 
 be used ; but it is not good to plough deep very early 
 in the season. In much of our soil, if we plough 
 when the ground is too wet, it becomes lumps, that 
 remain hard nearly the whole summer. The plough 
 should not be used until we are ready to sow the seed, 
 or until the latter part of May : then the manure may 
 be spread on and immediately ploughed in. Wheu 
 
ROOTS. 159 
 
 we have not a great supply of manure, it is well to save 
 some of the finest to be spread on after ploughing, and 
 let it be incorporated with the soil by means of the 
 harrow. 
 
 As carrot and parsnip seeds are very light, and not 
 easily sown, they may be mixed with sand or ashes, 
 and be made moist with water some days before sow- 
 ing. If the quantity of sand or ashes be considerable, 
 there will not be much hazard in wetting the seed ; 
 hut, in such cases, it should be covered as soon as it is 
 sown. One advantage derived from wetting the seed 
 is, it will start up sooner, and be more above the weeds 
 at the first hoeing. Great care should be taken that 
 the rows be perfectly straight, and then we are not so 
 liable to cut up the small plants that cannot so easily 
 be seen. 
 
 As the ruta baga, or yellow turnip, may be sown 
 much later than these, the ground may be difterently 
 prepared. The manure may be spread and ploughed 
 in, or harrowed in, two or three weeks before the time 
 for sowing the seeds : then let the ground be harrowed 
 every four or five days until sowing time. Many of 
 the weeds will now vegetate and be destroyed by the 
 harrow, and much hand labor in weeding will be 
 saved. 
 
 The sugar-beet wants a deep, rich soil, and for stock 
 may be sown any time in the month of May. 
 
 It is hoped that many experiments will be tried on 
 the raising of these roots this season, and on their com- 
 parative value. 
 
 If we can make our own sugar from the beet by as 
 simple a process as the rock-maple sugar is made, we 
 can easily supply ourselves ; but, if other articles of 
 subsistence continue as high as they have done, we 
 must calculate what we can raise to most advantage. 
 
 We want more experiments on making sugar from 
 the sliced and dried beet before we can enter largely 
 into the manufacture. 
 
160 GREEN CROPS. 
 
 GREEN CROPS. 
 
 To the Editor of the Cultivato?' : 
 
 SiR^ — I have a field that hes distant from my barn, 
 and it has never had a share of my manure, though it 
 has often contributed to supply my granary. As you 
 have practised ploughing in green crops to enrich youf 
 land, I should like to know, through the medium of 
 your useful paper, your opinion as to the best and 
 cheapest mode of enriching it without manure. 
 
 Respectfully yours, S. D. 
 Wayland, April 29, 1839. 
 
 If our correspondent wishes to devote his field for 
 one whole season to green crops in order to raise his 
 land, and the same is not tough swarded — not half 
 seeded, as we see many of our fields that have been 
 run too hard with grain without manure — the quick- 
 est way to bring up such land without manure, and 
 without much cost, is to plough it about the twelfth of 
 May, turning in nicely all the grass and stubble : sow 
 on one bushel of buckwheat to an acre, and cover it 
 with a harrow. In six weeks the wheat will be in full 
 bloom : roll it down flat, plough it in, and sow on 
 another bushel of buckwheat as before. In the latter 
 part of August roll this down as before, cover it com- 
 pletely with the plough, harrow it, then sow your grass- 
 seeds while the furrow is fresh, and cover that with a 
 brush-harrow. 
 
 Sow no clover till snow comes : then, if you intend 
 the land for pasture, sow southern clover and Dutch 
 honeysuckle ; if for mowing, sow northern clover. 
 This will not come to head much until after haying is 
 over ; but it will furnish fall feed, and will assist much 
 in keeping out from your new-sown land weeds and 
 noxious plants, that will intrude where nothing but 
 herds-grass and red-top grass are sown. Clover serves 
 
GREEN CROPS. 161 
 
 to enrich, as it has a broad top, also a tap-root, that 
 dies in two years, and rots in the ground and turns to 
 manure. 
 
 The expense of preparing an acre of plain light land 
 thus may be, — 
 
 Three ploughings, $^6 00 
 
 Two bushels buckwheat, 2 00 
 
 Sowing and harrowing in twice, 1 00 
 
 Rolling down, 50 
 
 S9~50' 
 
 Nine dollars and a half will, in many cases, cover the 
 whole expense of preparing the land for the grass-seed. 
 
 Now you have turned in three green crops, and your 
 land, if it was suitable for buckwheat, will be richer 
 than if coated with five cords, or twenty loads, of ma- 
 nure. The cost of twenty loads of manure, in your 
 town, Avould not be less than $20, and the hauling and 
 spreading would be $5 more = $25. Then you must 
 plough once, $2 = $27. To the $9 50 we must add 
 the charge of the loss of the use of the land one sum- 
 mer ; but, as four or five acres of such reduced land 
 would be required to pasture one cow, we cannot call 
 this loss more than $2. Then our account stands 
 $11 50 for green-crop manuring, and $27 for barn- 
 yard manuring. 
 
 If the green crops should prove one half as bene- 
 ficial to your land as the purchased manure, you will 
 thus be a gainer by preferring these crops ; but we 
 think we are warranted-, from our own experience on 
 many acres, in repeating that the three green crops, 
 well ploughed in, will prove fully equal to twenty 
 loads of manure on an acre. 
 
 If your land be distant from the barn, or from the 
 purchased manure, the diiference of the expense will 
 be still greater. But you cannot often purchase ma- 
 nure at any price, and you must resort to some kinds 
 of green crops, or suffer your distant lands to lie sterile. 
 
 Other green crops are often recommended, as clover. 
 
162 THE HORSE. 
 
 or oats ; but on your soil clover will not grow without 
 first manuring, and oats will not give you so much as 
 buckwheat ; then oats are a greater exhauster, as their 
 tops are small in proportion to their roots. 
 
 If yours be pasture land, and you cannot well spare 
 it a whole summer, and do not wish to fence it oflf, you 
 can plough up any part of it about the first of Septem- 
 ber, and seed down immediately. In this way you will 
 gradually raise your land every time you plough in the 
 growing grass. — Ed. 
 
 THE HORSE. 
 
 Though we have now machinery that surpasses this 
 animal in speed, we are not yet ready to abandon him 
 and set him adrift. Other people may prefer the camel, 
 or the mule, but New England farmers know of no 
 servant to be compared with the horse. 
 
 For the heavy draught, or for the race, for a ride of 
 pleasure, or for a tour into the rough interior of our 
 country, the horse is our best companion and helper. 
 We could hardly estimate his worth but by his loss. 
 
 This animal is often abused through wantonness, or 
 carelessness ; but still more often injured for want of 
 due consideration of the proper mode of treating him. 
 
 Within a few years it has been customary for drivers 
 of stages in our neighborhood to give their horses meal 
 in their water when they only stopped for a short time 
 in the middle of the day. It was then not uncommon 
 for horses, when driven no faster than at present, to fall 
 suddenly dead in the harness. On opening the animal, 
 the meal would be found undigested, and formed into 
 a hard cake in the stomach. 
 
 We believe this practice is now wholly abandoned. 
 There is a very prevalent idea that it is injurious to 
 give grain to the animal when he is warm. Now we 
 
THE HORSE. 163 
 
 have never known any injury to arise from this prac- 
 tice. There is no more danger of injury to the horse 
 than to ourselves by eating a hearty meal when warm. 
 And who ever heard of a man kilhng himself with a 
 hearty dinner, because he eat it when he was fatigued 
 or heated ? 
 
 It is hard driving, violent exercise, after eating 
 hearty food, that causes pain, and often death. 
 
 Let a man but reflect on what has proved injurious 
 to himself, and he will rationally conclude what treat- 
 ment is most likely to injure his beast. Let him eat a 
 hearty meal, then run, or use any violent exercise im- 
 mediately after, and he will be at no loss in conjectur- 
 ing what must be the danger of furiously driving a 
 beast after a hearty dinner. 
 
 It is hard driving immediately after eating grain 
 that kills the horse ; and we venture to assert that not 
 an instance can be shown in which he has sustained 
 injury from eating grain merely because he was warm. 
 People should reflect and reason more on this subject. 
 
 Horses that travel and labor violently, as in stages 
 and fast chaises, should eat their grain at night. When 
 laboring moderately on a farm, it is not so material 
 when their heartiest food is given ; for horses are not 
 hable to be injured in any gear, when they are only 
 driven on the walk. 
 
 But we have known many men, prudent in most 
 matters, yet guilty of stuffing their horses with grain 
 in the morning, just before starting on a journey ! 
 They gave no grain the night before, reserving for the 
 starting hour the heartiest food for the beast ! 
 
 On a journey we have long been in the habit of 
 giving our horse his grain at night. We give it as 
 soon as he is rubbed down and put to the stable, and 
 we have never found it injured him. 
 
 How absurd to let your horse stand for hours, after 
 a day of violent exercise, to chop up his own fodder, 
 and attempt to appease his hunger on hay, often poor 
 hay, not fit to be fed out to young cattle. 
 
164 THE GARDEN AN INDEX OF THE MIND. 
 
 Give the horse half a bushel of oats, or one peck of 
 corn — if he has been used to grain — as soon as you 
 lead him into the stable, and he will fill himself in one 
 hour or two, and be willing to lie down and enjoy a 
 nap, even before you retire to rest yourself. 
 
 In any part of the country, if you see the grain put 
 into the manger, you may be pretty sure the hostler 
 has not forgotten his duty. 
 
 THE GARDEN AN INDEX OF THE MIND. 
 
 Some old sage writer has said, if you desire to 
 judge correctly of the character of a man's mind, go 
 into his garden, and observe how much order or dis- 
 order, how much neatness or negligence, appears there. 
 We suspect there is more in this, as a test of a man's 
 mental character, than there is in phrenology or physi- 
 ognomy. vSolomon has said, " I went by the field of 
 the slothful^ and by the vineyard of the man void of 
 understanding ; and, lo, it was all grown over with 
 thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof; and 
 the stone wall thereof was broken down." Such was 
 the phrenology of Solomon's time. He considered a 
 slovenly vineyard or garden good evidence of a 
 slovenly mind, or a mind void of understanding. 
 
 You may depend upon it, when you see a man's 
 fields and gardens laid out with good order and taste, 
 and notice the neatness of its cultivation, that that 
 man's mind is like a well-arranged library : every class 
 of books has its general department, and every book 
 its appropriate place within that department. So with 
 that mental library-room, the brain. A good garden is 
 an evidence that all his knowledge is reduced to sys- 
 tem, and is readily at command. His head is not full 
 of cobwebs, but is as neat as a parlor swept and gar- 
 nished. The external will generally correspond with 
 the internal. A man's plans will appear in his opera- 
 
MARL : ITS NATURE AND EFFECTS. 165 
 
 tions. His theory may be judged by his practice. 
 The tree is known by its fruits. It is on these univer- 
 sally conceded principles that the order and taste 
 which prevail in a garden are to be regarded as an 
 evidence of the condition of the garden of the mind. 
 He who contrives to produce much fruit by cultivating 
 the earth, maybe expected to be a valuable man in the 
 community by the fruits of his judgment, counsel, and 
 philanthrophy. If he allows no noxious weeds to 
 choke the valuable plants, equally careful may he be 
 presumed to be that no bad principles are allowed to 
 obtain an ascendency over the virtuous sentiments of 
 his soul. Such men may generally be trusted ; and, if 
 the test we have suggested were adopted as a rule for 
 selecting citizens as magistrates and rulers, there can 
 be little doubt that we should have better order in 
 government, and less of the confusion of party strife 
 than we now have. Too many of our moral and po- 
 litical vineyards are grown over to thorns, and the de- 
 fences of virtue and patriotism are, like stone walls, 
 broken down. In the general rush and scramble for 
 the fruits of office, the plants and trees which produce 
 them are too often ill-treated, bruised, trodden down, 
 and well nigh destroyed. A good cultivator does not 
 cultivate any thing in this slovenly style. — Maine 
 Cultivator. 
 
 MARL: ITS NATURE AND EFFECTS. 
 
 The following extract from Professor Rogers' late 
 Geographical Report will give our agricultural readers 
 some more distinct idea of this remarkable and recent- 
 ly talked of manure, which abounds in Monmouth and 
 other counties of New Jersey. 
 
 Marl, or green mineral, loses nothing of its potency 
 by a long exposure, even of years, to water and the 
 15 
 
166 MARL : ITS NATURE AND EFFECTS. 
 
 atmosphere ; in other words, it is not dissolved, or de- 
 composed, or changed, by the ordinary atmospher 
 agents which react so powerfully upon many other 
 minerals ; and consequently we are to regard it as near- 
 ly impossible to effect its decomposition by the vital 
 power of their organs, and imbibe a portion of its con- 
 stituents. 
 
 " Mr. Wooley manured a piece of land in the propor- 
 tion of two hundred loads of good stable-manure to 
 the acre, applying upon an adjacent tract of the same 
 soil his marl, in the ratio of about twenty loads per 
 acre. The crops, which were clover and timothy, were 
 much the heaviest upon the section which had received 
 the marl ; and there was this additional fact greatly in 
 favor of the fossil manure over the putrescent one, 
 that the soil enriched by it was entirely free of weeds, 
 while the stable-manure rendered its own crop very 
 foul. 
 
 " This being an experiment, an extravagantly large 
 dressing of manure was employed, but not exceeding 
 the usual average application : more than twenty loads 
 of marl surpassed what was necessary for it. 
 
 " Experience has already shown that land, once 
 amply marled, retains its fertility, with little diminution, 
 for at least ten or twelve years, if care be had not to 
 crop it too severely ; while, with all practical precau- 
 tions, the stable-manure must be renewed at least three 
 times in that interval, to maintain in the soil a corre- 
 sponding degree of vigor. 
 
 " A specimen of the marl from Thorp's lowest layer 
 yielded me, after reiterated trials, uniformly about the 
 following for its composition : 
 
 In 100 Grains. 
 
 Silica, 43.40 
 
 Protoxide of iron, . 21.60 
 
 Alunrni, 6.40 
 
 Lime, 10.40 
 
 Potash, 14.48 
 
 Water, - 4.40 
 
 99.68 
 
MARL : ITS NATURE AND EFFECTS. 167 
 
 In connection with the foregoing extracts we add a 
 few facts and experiments, collected from the gentle- 
 men whose names are used : 
 
 Messrs. Tunis and John B. Forman say that they 
 have used Squancum marl at the rate of one hundred 
 bushels to the acre, on very poor, worn out, cold clay 
 land : the product of the first year was thirty bushels 
 of buckwheat to the acre ; and the second year (it 
 being sowed the year before with clover and herd) it 
 cut a ton or more of good hay per acre, after which 
 about one hundred bushels of marl per acre were 
 scattered over the seed, and it now yields two tons of 
 good hay to the acre. 
 
 They have also resuscitated mowing-ground after it 
 had become too poor to produce a crop, by spreading 
 one hundred bushels of marl per acre over the sod, and 
 the effect was to mellow the soil, and produce two 
 tons of hay to the acre : the hay produced was of a 
 superior quality, and free from weeds. One hundred 
 bushels of marl to the acre of land, so poor as to have 
 been considered useless, will raise a crop of from 
 twelve to twenty bushels of rye per acre, and leave a 
 fine sod of white clover. From three pints to two 
 quarts of marl per hill of potatoes (the hills three feet 
 apart on poor ground) has produced from two hundred 
 to two hundred and fifty bushels per acre. 
 
 They have found the marl a superior manure for 
 turnips and garden truck in general. The eff*ect of 
 marling lands planted with apple-trees is astonishing 
 in improving the trees and fruit. They have known 
 marl to be spread on a bog-meadow, and to cause 
 double the quantity of superior hay to be produced. 
 A neighbor of theirs, a few years since, sowed out of 
 a basket about one hundred bushels of buckwheat. 
 
 Dr. Forman states that, two or three years ago, he 
 broke up a small piece of land, which he for forty 
 years had considered too poor to plough, and applied 
 
168 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 one hundred bushels of marl per acre-: the laud pro- 
 duced a good crop of rye, and has cut a ton of clover 
 hay per acre every year since. He also states that 
 Squancum marl was first used about thirty years ago, 
 by Derick Chamberlain, under the name oi creek mud : 
 it caused the piece of land thus manured to produce 
 double the quantity it had done before, and the effect 
 on the land is still visible. — Franklin Mercury. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 To the Editor of the Cultivator : 
 
 Sir, — I have more than fifty acres of tillage and 
 mowing lands, and have as yet been unable to make 
 the whole as productive as I could wish. 1 keep, on 
 the average, twenty-five head of cattlcj including one 
 horse and one yoke of oxen. 
 
 Some of my neighbors advise me to purchase ma- 
 nure, and raise grain and fatten pork for the market ; 
 other tell me to raise little grain, and depend on roots 
 for fattening ; some advise me to make one acre rich 
 this year, and plough in my manure one foot deep ; 
 then take another acre next year. At this rate, I must 
 be fifty years in going through the whole, and I fear 
 my first acre would again become poor before I gol 
 through with the process. 
 
 I have several acres of sandy loam land, and such 
 will not hold its richness long without a new applica- 
 tion of something or other, and I have not much ma- 
 nure to spare after planting my best land with corn 
 and potatoes. In truth, before I can half go through 
 with manuring and enriching, my first piece suffers for 
 the want of another dressing. 
 
 I must have g^rain ai^d potatoes, or go without pork j 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 169 
 
 and then I have but very little manure for my grass- 
 lands, the most profitable lands that I possess. Can 
 you tell me how I can manage to make the whole 
 farm profitable ? I cannot buy manure ; there is none 
 here for sale. Yours respectfully, D. H. 
 
 Meclfteld, Maij 20, 1839. 
 
 We advise our Medfield correspondent not to till too 
 much land in a season. If all the manure is applied 
 yearly to exhausting crops, there is not much prospect 
 of rendering the farm richer. 
 
 It seems to us ridiculous to make one acre of land 
 rich a foot in depth, and suffer most of the farm to go 
 without dressing. It is also wrong to spend the months 
 of April, May, and June in tending numerous acres for 
 small crops. There is some limit to making manures 
 on any farm ; though no doubt most farmers may 
 double its quantity and value by proper attention and 
 labor. Now, instead of tilUng ten acres in a year — 
 as most farmers do who have fifty acres of tillage-land 
 — we would not till more than five : then nearly half 
 the months of May and June may be employed in en- 
 riching the farm for future use. Half the months of 
 May and June ! What a chance for making improve- 
 ment ! Had we Mr. H's farm, we would sow three or 
 four acres in buckwheat, and reap sixty bushels the 
 present season for fattening pork or beef It would 
 take five days to do this well. If there was much 
 sorrel on the ground, we should like to plough before 
 the seed was ripe. The buckwheat may be sown about 
 the 20th of June, one bushel to the acre ; sow also 
 with it one bushel of winter rye : mow the buckwheat 
 about September 1st, and thresh it out immediately 
 before it gathers moisture, and we have food' to com- 
 mence the fatting of our pork early. Next year, on 
 the 20th of June, the rye will be two ieeX high : roll 
 it down flat, and with a plough — a real plough, that 
 will turn the sod and cover all up — bury this rye, and 
 15* 
 
170 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 SOW half a bushel more of rye : the plough may go a 
 little deeper than on the first ploughing, say one inch 
 deeper each year, until we get a soil seven inches ia 
 depth. Thus we would spend five days for sixty 
 bushels of wheat, instead of twenty-five days for sixty 
 bushels of corn. 
 
 Then, instead of putting all our green manure on 
 corn and potato land, we would save the coarsest of it, 
 and, with that mixed with peat muck., soil from the 
 roadside, soil in the fieldside, where iJt had accumu- 
 lated, and with any other vegetable or animal matter, 
 make a compost heap, to be ready for use by the last of 
 August. By the aid of this heap we would renovate 
 not less than half a dozen acres of this grass-land, 
 which has lain too long without ploughing, and pre- 
 pare it for the next year for grass. 
 
 The process, is simple and easy : plough well, lay 
 the furrow flat, roll down close, so that the harrow 
 shall not tear it up, put a dozen loads of this compost 
 to the acre, harrow lengthwise of the furrow, then a 
 little diagonally, so as to mix the manure in thorough- 
 ly, and seed down with one peck of herds-grass and 
 one bushel of red-top to the acre. In the winter, some 
 clover-seed- may be sown on the snow. 
 
 In this manner we would proceed until \ye had gone 
 overall the plough-land, and got it into good grass; 
 and thus we would have, with that which was in hoed 
 crops, nine or ten acres of new-sowed mow-land each 
 year ; and, when we had been through the lots, we 
 would begin again, and one half the manure at first 
 used would be sufficient for this second course ; for 
 the old sods would be rotten, and aid the new appli- 
 ance : thus twice the number of acres may be reno- 
 vated each year in this second course. Or, if only six 
 acres were taken in hand each year, they may be made 
 twice as rich as in the first course ; and every renewal 
 of this process will make the land richer, because grass 
 is not an exhauster. 
 
PEAT-MEADOWS. 171 
 
 Thus, wherever the plough can go, as on these 
 plains, there is no difficulty in enriching the whole 
 farm, and that without purchasing any manure, or 
 laying out so much labor as is common in planting to 
 excess. 
 
 It is presumed we need not remind our friend H. 
 that, as he advances in this process, his means are con- 
 stantly increasing; he is doubling the amount of his 
 hay, and of course of his stock and of his manure. 
 Hay produces manure, and manure produces hay. 
 Julius Caesar could less happily say, " Money procured 
 him soldiers, and soldiers procured him money." 
 
 We know that plough-lands may clieaply be en- 
 riched in this mode, and we are still continuing the 
 process. — <■ Ed. 
 
 PEAT-MEADOWS. 
 
 As planting is now over, some farmers will begin to 
 think of their peat-swamps. We have tried various 
 modes to bring these into English grass, and have 
 never failed to do it when we persevered. 
 
 On commencing our editorial course, last January, 
 we resolved not to attempt to lead our brother farmers 
 into any expensive process of farming which might 
 never yi^ld an adequate return. 
 
 We well know it is quite easy to recommend the 
 purchase of manures, the making of compost heaps, the 
 raising of grain to supply the whole State, &c. &c. It 
 is always much easier to show us how to lay out ten 
 dollars on a farm, than to show us how to get a return 
 of ten for an outlay of five. 
 
 As our search is after truth, we shall ever admit 
 into our columns the opinions and the statements of 
 others who may think difi"erently from us ; for these 
 opinions thus admitted we are not accountable ,• and 
 
172 PEAT-MEADOWS. 
 
 we wish our patrons to take them for just what they 
 are worth. But there is another class of opinions for 
 which we feel ourselvres responsible ; and we must beg 
 our readers to distinguish our own recommendations 
 from the theories of others which are admitted into our 
 columns. 
 
 On the subject of reclaiming peat-land, and bog- 
 meadows, we have had many years of personal expe- 
 rience, and it is our wish that our readers may avail 
 themselves of the advantages to be derived both from 
 our failures and from our success. 
 
 Our first attempt to raise English grass on a low peat- 
 meadow was in 1826. Three of us joined together 
 in the purchase of eight acres of peat-land lying in the 
 centre of the town of Framingham. Major B. Wheeler 
 and John Ballard, 2d, were our partners in the pur- 
 chase. 
 
 When we first made known our purchase and our 
 object, we were laughed to scorn by many of the in- 
 habitants. We forgive every one of them, for they 
 have since confessed their error, and are ever ready to 
 applaud the advances we have made in cultivation. 
 They were not then aware of the mischiefs they 
 caused us by their want of faith : it was almost im- 
 possible to procure help to labor on this meadow : peo- 
 ple required extra wages while laboring here, and, when 
 inquired of where they had been at work, they were 
 studious to conceal the scene of their operations. 
 Fortunately the purchasers were all skilled in the use 
 of the bog-hoe, and of the paring-plough : and, by taking 
 hold and setting the example, others were at length 
 induced to join them and " to dig on Old Centre 
 meadow," because much less unpopular, after one 
 summer's trial, than at first. 
 
 We well remember an expression of one of the oldest 
 inhabitants, J. Maynard, Esq. on this subject. He 
 said he did not wish to live any longer after he should 
 see one ton of good English hay grow on Old Centre 
 
PEAT-MEADOWS. 
 
 173 
 
 meadow. He did live many years after. At a meeting 
 of the trustees of Framingham Academy, which stood 
 on the border of this nrieadow, Dr. D. Kellogg, Rev. 
 Mr. Packard, and J. Maynard, Esq. were present. Dr. 
 Packard looked oat on the old meadow, and, seeing it 
 flooded, inquired if it was dammed. '' Yes," said 
 Maynard, "and it always has been ever since I 
 knew it." 
 
 This meadow was so miry in the centre, that we 
 could easily sink a rail eleven feet long endwise out of 
 sight. Our first business was to drain off the water. 
 We drained it off one foot and a half below the surface. 
 We then commenced the paring and burning system. 
 This paring is performed by hoes, sometimes assisted 
 by a paring-plough. When the meadow will bear up 
 oxen, a paring-plough facilitates the operation. Such a 
 plough has a wide share, say one foot and a half, 
 which branches out in a wing on each side. It has no 
 mould-plate, and does not turn the fiuTow over. It 
 only cuts the turf in slips, and suffers it to lie to bear 
 the team up; then with the hoes the sods are easily 
 turned over to dry. When the paring-plough is in 
 good order, one yoke of oxen will draw it through a 
 strong hassock. The plough has a sharp coulter, like 
 that of an old-fashioned wooden plough, and much re- 
 sembles one, except in the want of a mould-plate, and 
 in the addition of a second wing to the sharp, branching 
 out to the left or land side. 
 
 In a dry summer the turf thus turned over will soon 
 burn if fire is applied. It burns much better the first 
 summer than if allowed to lie a year on the ground. 
 It is well to commence paring and burning in June, 
 for then we have the summer before us, and can choose 
 the dryest time for burning. When some of the sods 
 are well on fire, they may be heaped together, and 
 others not so dry may be piled on, till the heap becomes 
 as large as a hundred of hay. When thus piled, no 
 small rains will quench the fires, and they will often 
 burn for days of rainy weather. 
 
174 PEAT-MEADOWS. 
 
 Sometimes we are enabled to burn the sods as they 
 lie when no rain comes for ten days in succession. 
 Then all the labor of piling and of spreading about the 
 ashes is saved. This is the easiest mode of preparing 
 for the grass-seed, but we are not always able to burn 
 the sods thus. 
 
 When the heaps are burnt, nothing remains to be 
 done but to spread the ashes, sow the seed, and rake it 
 in with a common hand-rake. This should be done 
 early in September, if we expect a good swath of grass 
 the next summer ; but any time in September will an- 
 swer for sowing these low meadows with herds-grass 
 and with red-top. We have seldom seen these grasses 
 winter-killed on these peat bottoms. 
 
 When we are unable to burn all the turf by the 
 middle of September, we spread the ashes over the 
 whole surface, after having replied the unburnt sods in 
 a new place, and we let these piles stand in shape of 
 haycocks until another summer. Then they will 
 sometimes burn wholly down without any trouble, and 
 their ashes should be spread on to the grass-ground, and 
 a little seed should be sown on the ground where the 
 heaps stood. 
 
 In this mode, meadows may sometimes be prepared 
 for the seed for ten or fifteen dollars to the acre. It 
 sometimes costs thirty dollars. One advantage in this 
 mode of reclaiming meadows is, we have manure 
 enough in the peat-ashes for two or three years, and 
 we sometimes cut two tons to the acre without any 
 other dressing. It cost us more than twenty dollars 
 to subdue an acre of this meadow, for we were begin- 
 ners, and had no instruction. We sold about four acres 
 of this reclaimed meadow to Dr. O. Dean, at two hun- 
 dred dollars an acre. Such lands must have a new 
 dressing once in a few years ; and, if compost manure is 
 carried on, it should consist in part of gravel, this 
 being far preferable to sand. Not more than one peck 
 of herds-grass (timothy) should be sown on an acre, 
 
INDIAN CORN. 175 
 
 for the seed will all grow, and when it is sown thicker 
 it sometimes comes up and mats together so close as to 
 check a thrifty growth. These bottoms become harder 
 as the grass grows, and we are often able in a few 
 years to plough them, and turn the wild grass under, 
 and seed them down anew, as we do higher lands. 
 We intend, in a future number, to show how we have 
 subdued peat-meadows by different processes. 
 
 In general, when gravel, or loam, or both are not 
 nigh by, paring and burning are cheaper than any other 
 mode. 
 
 INDIAN CORN. 
 
 This indispensable grain is now come up, and will 
 soon require our attention. It was formerly an univer- 
 sal custom to scrape away all the loose dirt from the 
 intervals and draw it up around these plants, making 
 a high piked hill. 
 
 The curious may inquire, whence arose this cus- 
 tom? It could not have arisen from reasoning and 
 reflection ; for now, as soon as men venture to reason 
 and reflect upon the practice, they abandon it. They 
 now begin to think we should not bury the roots deep- 
 er than nature intended them to penetrate. 
 
 England has a climate more moist than ours, and is 
 not often troubled with a drought. Their practice of 
 ridging and draining is not so necessary here. Did 
 not our fathers, without reflecting on the diff'erence of 
 climate, pursue the English mode of ridging and of 
 tilling, lest the ground should sufter from too much 
 moisture ? 
 
 At the first hoeing it is more convenient to draw 
 up a little earth towards the hills, and cover up the 
 weeds, than to hoe them up or pull them out with the 
 fingers ; and, in this way, the weeds, too, are more 
 
176 INDIAN CORN. 
 
 effectually checked. If they are buried, they rot im- 
 mediately ; if they are hoed up, they sometimes grow 
 again. 
 
 A small, flat hill will not injure the corn, but we 
 think no earth should be drawn up to the plants at a 
 second hoeing. 
 
 Certainty of the Corn Crop. It is said by some 
 that this crop does not fail more than one year in ten. 
 We think it does not more than one in twenty. For 
 the last fifty years we have not failed of raising a tol^ 
 erable crop of this grain, where the land was in suita- 
 ble order, excepting only in the years 1816 and 1836. 
 We can assert this of no other grain that we raise. 
 
 Rye is subject to blast and to the winter frosts^ 
 wheat is subject to the same ; oats often yield a very 
 slender crop on a large straw ; barley is by no means 
 a certain crop in New England ; and we know of no 
 grain to be coinpared with Indian corn, as to' the cer- 
 tainty of a middUng crop. We should think there 
 was much less risk in warranting this grain than in 
 warranting a crop of potatoes. It is not half so liable 
 to suffer in dry weather as they are. 
 
 These are great advantages in favor of the Indian 
 corn, or maize, of which our ancestors were totally ig- 
 norant before the settlement of this country ; and, 
 although William Cobbett undertook to prove that it 
 was a known grain in the days of the apostles, from 
 the circumstance of their rubbing the ears of corn in 
 their hands on the Sabbath, as they passed through 
 the fields, we think he may be said to '• lie under a 
 mistake," and that green maize, uncooked, is not so 
 palatable food as green wheat would be. 
 
 Profits of the Corn Crop. Now, although the 
 corn crop is thus valuable, and one with which we 
 cannot dispense, still it will not follow that it is profita- 
 ble to raise large quantities of it in New England. It 
 is a costly business to rear and prepare for market an 
 acre of corn. We have made as accurate calculations 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 177 
 
 on it as we had power to make, and we think it not 
 easy to raise an acre of good corn and prepare it for 
 market for a less sum than forty dollars, calHng the 
 manure that the corn crop takes fifteen dollars, or one 
 half the whole manure put on. We will call a good 
 crop worth forty dollars — and this is surely more than 
 it will average — then the stover may be worth one 
 ton of stock hay — not merchantable hay — say eight 
 or ten dollars : and this will be our net profit. Now 
 an acre of land, within twenty miles of Boston, that 
 will produce one ton of hay, will give us more net 
 profit than the corn ; for hay has averaged fifteen dol- 
 lars per ton at the barn for thirty years past, and the 
 after-feed will often pay for the getting. 
 
 As the expense of raising an acre of corn is so con- 
 siderable, we should never plant more land than we can 
 put in high order. If we should average fifty or sixty 
 bushels per acre, we should be well paid for our 
 trouble ; but how often we see less than thirty on an 
 acre ! 
 
 But we must have some grain to mix with our vege- 
 tables, &c. for fattening pork, beef, &c. And for this, 
 we advise to the raising of buckwheat on farms that 
 have fields suitable for that grain. Sandy loams, that 
 often produce nothing worth gathering, will yield fif- 
 teen bushels to the acre with very little labor. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 To the Editor of the Cultivator : 
 
 Dear Sir, — Last August, after I finished my hay- 
 ing, I undertook to plough some low land, which was 
 too wet to be touched in the spring. There was only 
 one acre of it, and we succeeded in ploughing it in 
 one day, and laid it quite flat. I intended to plant it 
 16 
 
178 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 this season, but we have had so much wet weather 
 did not Hke to meddle with it. 
 
 The weeds and coarse grass are now coming up, and 
 I fear I shaU have trouble in subduing them, and in 
 rotting the whole sufficiently to seed the land to grass. 
 A potato crop in that ground Avill not repay my seed 
 and labor, and I am at a loss to know how to manage 
 it this season. Have you any experience in cases of 
 this kind ? If so, I should be pleased to see the results 
 in your useful paper. N. P. 
 
 Neioton, June 6, 1839. 
 
 Our friend at Newton should have rolled his furrows 
 down close as soon as he made them last August ; then 
 put on a little fine manure, and harrowed and mixed it 
 thoroughly with the soil. He should then have sown 
 his herds-grass and his red-top immediately, while the 
 ground was fresh. The grass would then have got a 
 start last fall, the winter would have killed the weeds, 
 and this spring the grass would have had all the ad- 
 vantage, and would have given a good swath in July. 
 
 As the case now is, we would not advise the plant- 
 ing of it. The owner seems to think it necessary to 
 subdue and rot the greensward before he should seed 
 it to grass. This is not so. The sod underneath 
 keeps the land light much longer than if it had been 
 completely pulverized, and reliance should be placed 
 on the surface manuring to give the new grass a start 
 while the old sod was rotting. 
 
 We have for some time practised this mode of turn- 
 ing low lands, with sour and worthless grass, into good 
 English mowing. Our friend would now do well to 
 harrow his low ground repeatedly this summer, and, 
 in the latter part of August, put on his manure and 
 sow his seed. He must be content to lose a ton or two 
 of hay by not seeding his ground last summer. 
 
PEAT-MEADOWS. 
 
 PEAT-MEADOWS. 
 
 179 
 
 Other methods are adopted to convert peat-meadows 
 into English grass beside the one described in a late 
 number of our paper. Mr. Fay, of Marlborough — we 
 have not now his Christian name — has converted one 
 of his peat-meadows into mowing at very little expense. 
 When on a committee last fall to view the farms 
 offered for premium by the Middlesex society, we 
 visited Mr. Fay's farm. He merely turned over the 
 turf on tlie surface, and in a few days set fire to it. All 
 the surface turf was turned to ashes without any 
 piling up of the sods, and the ashes were of course 
 ready spread. Nothing more was done than to rake in 
 the seed. The grass looked finely when we saw it, 
 and he may get three or four crops of hay without any 
 manure. 
 
 The whole labor of turning over these sods may 
 sometimes be performed by a man in ten days. The 
 first crop of hay, therefore, one ton and a half, was more 
 than equal to the whole expense of preparing the land! 
 
 Another mode of preparing these lands for grass is to 
 turn the sods over either with bog-hoes, or with a 
 plough, then cover them with loam carted on from the 
 sides of the meadow, and put compost manure on the 
 surface. This method has been practised in the town 
 of Lexington and the adjoining towns. 
 
 A third mode is to cart on gravel, sand, ior loam, 
 sufficient to cover up the wild growth, then apply the 
 compost. Gravel, or loam, is much better than sand, 
 as this last lies too compact and heavy when put on a 
 low meadow. Care should be taken in either case not 
 to cart on too much. It is not prudent to carry on 
 enough to cover completely all the old matter. We 
 should always calculate on ploughing these meadows 
 as soon as they become hard enough, and if five or six 
 inches of gravel covers the rich peat, the plough will 
 hardly reach it and bring it to the surface. 
 
180 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 To the Editor of the Cultivator .* 
 
 Sir, — I have a couple of acres of high gravelly 
 land m the midst of a good mowing-field : it bears but 
 little, and is not worth the mowing. If I plant it, I can 
 get a small crop of corn, and a crop of rye with much 
 manuring ; but when I seed it down, the seed usually is 
 summer-killed ; and if it lives one year, it soon runs out, 
 and leaves the land again barren. 1 make much more 
 profit of my manure on other ground, but I hate to see 
 this knoll lie so barren. If it was in my cow-pasture, 
 it would afford some feed, and would not look so bad 
 as now in the midst of a fertile field. One objection to 
 planting it with beans, or any other crop is, I cannot 
 make use of my fall feed on any of the field of twenty 
 acres until quite late, after this crop is off. What shall 
 I do Avith such land ? Yours respectfully, W. D. 
 
 Frajikliiij June 15, 1839. 
 
 Our friend of Franklin is not alone in trouble with 
 such land. Much of the land in that town is gravelly 
 and sandy, and not suitable for mowing ; but we think 
 nothing was made in vain. Such land is easily 
 ploughed ; but if heavily manured it will not hold the 
 maniu'e ; it is not sufficiently tenacious. When such 
 land lies well, and near a mine of peat, or pond-muck, 
 or clay, it may pay the way to cart on forty loads to 
 the 'acre of this more tenacious soil ; but it is not good 
 to expend much on such soils, when they are remote 
 and out of the way, until we have brought our better 
 lands to a higher state of cultivation ; for one load of 
 manure on lower or more clayey lands will produce 
 more in a course of years than three loads will on such 
 land as this. Let our manures, then, be applied where 
 they will do most good, and if we can get any thing 
 from these light soils beyond the expense, they are 
 
HINTS TO FARMERS. 181 
 
 worth something. Now there are hundreds of acres in 
 the town of Frankhn that would annually yield from 
 ten to twenty bushels of buckwheat with only one 
 ploughing, and without any manure excepting the 
 green crop, which may be turned in from the 15th to 
 the 30th of June, and we may always have this green 
 crop if we will sow one bushel of rye on the acre, with 
 the buckwheat. The wheat will be mowed off by 
 the first of September, and then the rye will appear 
 and give some fall feed. The wheat will not be in 
 the way of fall feeding, and we need not fence off, as in 
 case of planting beans, corn, or potatoes. — Ed. 
 
 HINTS TO FARMERS. 
 
 June is the proper month for preparing composts for 
 August, or fall sowing ; and, if we have not too many 
 acres in tillage, we have ample time for ploughing by 
 the roadside, and securing the rank growth of grass 
 and weeds that we often find there. If we take 
 care of this wash in season, we sometimes prevent its 
 being put into the middle of the road by the highway 
 surveyors, some of whom are fond of taking such 
 materials in preference to gravel to mend the road. 
 They find it easier to fill a cart with this stuff than 
 with gravel, the only material that should be put on 
 a country road. They make a great show by putting 
 such manure in the road, and make some people be- 
 lieve they have been doing some public service. In 
 autumn, when the rains come, they wonder to see 
 such deep ruts cut in the road ; and they and a majority 
 of travellers begin to think, if this muck had been put 
 on to the farms, the roads would have been better. 
 16* 
 
182 GORRESPONDENGE; 
 
 eORRESFONDENCE. 
 
 To the Editor of the Cultivator r 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have lately seen in some of the 
 agricuhural papers some extravagant calculations as to 
 the profits of. lands planted with roots, compared \vith 
 lands in grass. I like root crops, and think every 
 farmer ought to raise a good supply of them ; but when 
 I see stories, told in print, that no man of reflection 
 will believe, I feel hurt that the cause of farming must 
 thereby sufter through its professed friends ; and I wish 
 that such statements may be kept apart from others of 
 a better character, and labeled " Book-farming," in 
 which I, for one, have not much confidence. 
 
 I feel confident, from some little experience in the 
 business for thirty years past, that grass-lands, in the 
 neighborhood or within twenty miles of Boston, have 
 also some value,- and that few crops give us a better net 
 income. I have one acre of land in this town which 
 never fails to give me one ton of good merchantable 
 hay annually, and this without manuring, and without 
 any labor save that of getting the hay. As it lies near 
 my barn, the cost of getting this hay does not often 
 exceed two dollars; though, to take my farm together, 
 the cost averages three dollars per ton. Hay, for the 
 last twenty years, has been worth fifteen dollars the 
 ton on the average in winter and spring. Now what 
 is this land worth per acre ? It must be worth more 
 than two hundred dollars, for it gives me the interest 
 of two hundred dollars, besides the labor of getting; 
 and then we have the fall feed. 
 
 Now to say that land in turnips, or in any other 
 roots, will give three times the net profit of land in 
 grass is rather extravagant : six hundred dollars is a 
 great sum for an acre of tillage-land,, and thirty-six 
 dollars annual net income from such land is more than 
 most men will expect ; but we are told an acre in tur- 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 183 
 
 nips will keep about ten times as mneh stock as an 
 acre in grass, and we are urged on this basis to calcu- 
 late our profits ! 
 
 Is there not some delusion here ? Ten times the 
 profit of my grass-land would be one hundred and 
 twenty dollars profit from a single acre. If it is meant 
 that so much net profit can be realized, it is not true. 
 If the meaning is, that by laying out enough we may 
 make one acre produce ten times what it would in 
 grass, this may be true, but we must always count the 
 cost. The expense of manuring, and of cultivating, 
 and of harvesting, and storing one acre of turnips, is 
 not to be compared with the expense of haying one 
 acre of grass-land. 
 
 But I have set my acre of grass at only one ton. 
 With a little expense, we often get two. It will not 
 be extravagant to set the crop, on good land, at two 
 tons. Twenty-four dollars will pay the interest of four 
 hundred dollars : if your roots will do ten times as 
 much, they will give a net income of two hundred and 
 forty dollars per acre. Good turnip land, at this rate, 
 should be set high : not less than two thousand dollars 
 the acre ! 
 
 Such calculations as these are injurious to the farm- 
 ing interest. They are deceptive. 
 
 I have forty acres of highland mowing and tv\relve 
 acres of coarse meadow: I find it very difficult to go 
 over these acres fast enough ; that is, some acres lie ten 
 years in grass, and they yield but a small crop. I use 
 most of my manure on my corn and potato land, 
 having about four acres to hoe in a year, and four of 
 course to seed down each year. If I go over the 
 whole in rotation, I am ten years in my progress 
 throui^h or around. I understand you are taking a 
 shorter cut, and get through sooner. I should like to 
 liave you a little more particular in describing your 
 process of renovating grass-lands that are bound out 
 and do not give half a crop. Truly yours, L — d. 
 
 Sherburne^ June 21, 1839. 
 
184 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 We well know the difficulty of keeping all parts of 
 the farm in good heart, so as to yield as we might 
 wish while we continue to plant so many acres. Our 
 plan is to plant but half as many as we used to do — 
 getting nearly as much produce — and to save a large 
 portion of our manure for seeding down our fields in 
 the last part of summer. 
 
 If we plough in a rowen crop one month after hay- 
 ing, we can seed it down immediately to grass, and 
 have a good swath for the scythe the next season, by 
 applying less than half the manure that we put on for 
 corn or for potatoes. If our friend L. should not use 
 any manure for planting, therefore, he would be able 
 to renovate all his forty acres once in five years instead 
 of once in ten, and he would probably cut double, and 
 more than double the quantity of English hay which 
 he now cuts. Indeed, a field that has been mown ten 
 years, will not commonly yield one fourth as much as 
 after two years' mowing. 
 
 But what shall we do for grain ? Raise one acre of 
 corn instead of three ; sixty bushels instead of ninety, 
 and make up the balance in buckwheat, which needs 
 no manure. Thus, by saving half his manure for 
 seeding down, in the last of summer he will go over 
 his fields and give each a turn of manure much oftener 
 than by planting. Besides, he has many acres rather 
 too low, too wet, and too cold for planting. Why 
 should such land ever be planted? Our process is pe- 
 culiarly applicable to such lands. 
 
 Then we would remind Mr. L. that, on going through 
 with our process a second time, less manure will be 
 required on seeding down ; for he will turn up the old 
 sod that he turned down but three or four years before, 
 and that will aid him in the process ; and we can as- 
 sure him that the oftener he turns in a crop of rowen, 
 without taking a crop of grain, the better he is making 
 his lands ; and he will soon be able to put the whole in 
 such order as to give him a swath worth cutting on 
 
FEEDING CATTLE. 185 
 
 each acre of his mowing-lands. Then, if he tills but 
 half as much as he has done, how much time he will 
 have for making manure, — hatf the month of May and 
 half the month of June ! — Ed. 
 
 FEEDING CATTLE. 
 
 To the Editor of the Cultivator : 
 
 I PRESUME that I shall express the feeling of many 
 armers when I say that the conflicting statements of 
 different agriculturists often confnse me, and leave me 
 in great doubt as to the proper course to pursue. Do 
 you answer, — try for yourself? But recollect how 
 little a man can accomplish in one short life, if you 
 oblige him to act upon his own experience alone. In 
 all things we constantly act upon an accumulated ex- 
 perience perhaps of ages. I turn, then, to you for ad- 
 vice, first upon cutting hay for cattle with a machine, 
 recommended by every agricultural publication, exten- 
 sively practised in England, and said to save an amount 
 of food from fifty to twenty-five per cent. Upon what 
 principle is it that this saving can be made ? in waste ? 
 This a careful feeder never permits, but, by feeding a 
 little, and often, causes every particle to be consumed 
 in mastication and digestion. In the case of ruminat- 
 ing animals, is not every portion of long hay complete- 
 ly digested ? aud, if completely digested, is not the 
 same nutriment obtained, whether, at the time of feed- 
 ing, it be one inch or one foot in length ? This exper- 
 iment cannot be made without an outlay of from $30 
 to $50 for a good machine, which a farm.er cannot 
 afford, except for some positive advantage. It appears 
 to me that, with your long experience and opportuni- 
 ties of obtaining the opinions of practical men, you may 
 give valuable advice upon this point. It is either for 
 the interest of the farmer to adopt the practice, or de- 
 
186 
 
 FEEDING CATTLE. 
 
 cidedly for his interest to avoid useless trouble and ex- 
 pense. 
 
 The same remarks will apply to boiling or steaming 
 food for cows, applied to roots or coarse hay and stalks. 
 Is a turnip a natural and proper article of food for a 
 cow, and can it be improved by steaming ? 
 
 There ought to be no backwardness in adopting 
 real improvements, however opposed to previous prac- 
 tice ; but there should and must be great caution. I 
 know farmers who will not read an agricultural journal 
 because they have been led into so ujany errors. 
 
 A Young Farmer. 
 
 Newton, June 25, 1839. 
 
 Our Newton correspondent has entered on a subject 
 that requires much consideration. His inquiries are 
 not to be answered iu a moment. For ourselves we 
 have to say we have not been nuich in the practice of 
 cutting up fodder for cattle ; and we shall answer him 
 as well as we- can from what we have seen in the 
 practice of other farmers and feeders. 
 
 We think there cannot be a doubt that hay, &c. is 
 better relished, and is eat up cleaner, when chopped 
 and put in a clean manger, than when given whole. 
 The great question therefore is, shall we save enough 
 hy the process to pay the labor ? and the answer must 
 depend on various circumstances. 
 
 Stage horses, or such as are driven constantly, have 
 not so much time to masticate their food as others 
 have, while their drivers have more leisure to tend 
 them, and may just as well devote a portion of it to 
 prepare this food for digestion as to let the team do the 
 whole business. When teams are kept principally on 
 grain, straw will answer well to be mixed with it ; and 
 this straw must be chopped up, or it cannot be mixed, 
 and will not be eaten. At the south, therefore, where 
 they cannot raise so good hay as we can, and where 
 they raise grain with more ease, they make a great 
 
FEEDING CATTLE. 187 
 
 business of cutting up straw and coarse hay to be 
 mixed with their grain. With us the poorer kinds of 
 hay should be cut, or horses will not relish the food. 
 Our correspondent objects to the expense of a cutter. 
 We have seen cutters sold in Baltimore at eighty dol- 
 lars apiece, and have been told of some for which 
 ninety dollars were demanded! We do not think 
 many of our farmers could aftbrd that sum for one ; but 
 this is not the only cost ; the labor of working the 
 machine for a stock of cattle of forty head, through 
 the winter, would much exceed the interest of the cap- 
 ital laid out for it, — probably six to one. 
 
 But the more simple cutters may be had for a far 
 less price, and we think the simplest ones best. We 
 have never seen one that would feed itself well ; and 
 the best mode of cutting up fodder is to employ two 
 workmen at a time, — one to feed and one to cut. 
 Such men as we usually hire would be engaged not 
 less than an hour each day m cutting up fodder for 
 forty head of cattle. Then they must be fed, and 
 must have tight mangers for their chopped fodder. 
 
 One hundred and eighty days — our foddering sea- 
 son — require three hundred and sixty hours extra 
 labor for cutting up the fodder. Here are forty days 
 extra labor ; and we cannot count this less than thirty 
 dollars in money. This sum will buy three or four tons 
 of good stock hay ; and the question is, have we saved 
 enough by cutting to pay the labor ? 
 
 Corn-stover ought to be cut up fine, for cattle can 
 eat but a small part of it imcut. The top stalks and 
 the husks are rich food when well secured, and ought 
 not to be lost. When we have none but the poorer 
 quality of hay, we may see our account in cutting it 
 up for the cows in the spring, and mixing a little meal 
 with it ; but cows and horses will eat up clean our 
 good hay without our chopping it, and we much doubt 
 whether in such case we ever get pay for our labor of 
 chopping. 
 
 On the subject of feeding we have intimated, in a 
 
188 FEEDING CATTLE. 
 
 former number, that it is a good plan to mix np hay of 
 different kinds, either at the time of stowing into the 
 barn or at the time of feeding ont. We do not find 
 that our cows winter better on pure Enghsh hay than 
 they do when fed a part of the time on that of a 
 coarser quahty. When kept through on the best of 
 Enghsh hay, the food is so rich that cows become 
 tired of it at the time when they need the most care ; 
 and it has often been noted that, when kept on hay of 
 a poorer quality through the coldest weather, and then 
 fed on good hay in the spring, they relish it better, 
 and fatten their calves better, than when kept wholly 
 on rich food. 
 
 But we often have hay too poor for cows ; and, if 
 we have no young stock, what shall we do with this ? 
 If some of the best hay should be thoroughly mixed 
 np with this, it would sweeten the whole. Most peo- 
 ple are extremely careful to keep the good hay separate 
 from the poor ; but, if it is all to be foddered out, 
 what harm arises from the mixture ? We have often 
 mixed good hay with that of a poorer quality in the 
 winter season. By letting both lie together over night, 
 the poorer sort becomes, in some degree, impregnated 
 with the flavor of the good, and the cattle will discover 
 the improvement. If you doubt this, try an experi- 
 ment. Set a plate of rich pound cake into a cupboard 
 or chest with a lump of butter, and let them remain in 
 the same apartment one night. You will find at break- 
 fast what company your butter has had. It is power- 
 fully impregnated with the flavor of the cake. 
 
 But a better time for mixing hay is when we stow 
 it aAvay in summer. If we have a supply of old 
 meadow, or of straw, we can mix it with our new- 
 mown clover, and the whole will be leavened. In such 
 case we need not dry our clover so long by some hours, 
 and this is often a great saving of labor and of leaves 
 of the clover. 
 
 In a future number we shall say something on cook- 
 ing food for brutes. 
 
HAYING. 189 
 
 HAYING. 
 
 Before the haying season is over, we may expect to 
 see numerous directions, in the papers, as to the best 
 mode of cutting and of curing the article ; but nothing 
 that we have seen is equal to the sun for curing hay. 
 
 Clover should be moved as little as may be, but it 
 must be dried before it is carted. We have known 
 many book farmers to lose their clover and their confi- 
 dence in new projects by attempting to cure it without 
 the aid of the sun. 
 
 When the burthen is heavy it is good to spread it 
 out in the forenoon, and not rake it the first day, if 
 the weather looks well, but turn it bottom side up, — 
 green side up just at night. The leaves will not then 
 rattle off, and the dew will not injure the green side of 
 the swath. When the weather is good, this clover 
 may be carted the second day ; and, if we doubt of 
 its keeping well, we throw on a peck of salt to the 
 ton, and we avoid stowing it away close when we have 
 room to let it lie untrodden. This often saves us an 
 hour's drying, and sometimes we gain a day by it, and 
 avoid a shower. 
 
 To guard against rain, hay should not be rolled up 
 into cocks, but it should be pitched together by forks- 
 ful : it will shed rain better. 
 
 Any farmer may make hay in good weather, but it 
 requires management to avoid the rain. When a 
 shower approaches, look at the main chance : get to- 
 gether the great body of the hay where it is thickest, 
 and let the scattering alone till the last. 
 
 If your team is in the field, and you are partly load- 
 ed, let the loader jump down from the cart and help 
 the carter to pitch on enough to make a piked stack on 
 the cart, that will shed off the rain. Then what is 
 on will be secure, and you have a dry place to lie in 
 under the cart till the shower is over ! 
 17 
 
190 STATE OF AGRICULTURE 
 
 How often have we seen a cart, half loaded, stand, 
 and with its wide spread load catch so much of the 
 shower that portions of it would run in streams through 
 the cart, and wet the tenants beneath ! 
 
 [From the Genesee Farmer.] 
 
 STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 That the agriculture of the United States does not, 
 to use a commercial phrase, rank with that of the most 
 favored nations, is perhaps generally admitted : that it 
 might with proper care be made to do so, does not ad- 
 mit of controversy ; and it may be Avell to inquire into 
 some of the causes that lead to this state of things. 
 With one of the most fertile countries, by nature, on 
 the globe, we do not in the amount of products equal 
 that of some countries much less favored, but which, 
 by superior skill in cultivation, have attained a fertility 
 unknown among us. As examples of this, we may 
 name England, Belgium, and part of Germany ; in 
 which the average per acre of the crops is much great- 
 er than in the United States, if we except, perhaps, 
 some few of the best cultivated districts. 
 
 In order to determine what should be, it is sometimes 
 useful to ascertain what actually is. Estimates have 
 been made, at different times, of the total of agricultu- 
 ral products in this country. Such estimates have no 
 pretensions to exactness: they are only approximations 
 to the precise quantity. Still, as similar estimates are 
 made in other countries, they may afford the means of 
 comparison, as showing the proportion of production to 
 the population. The year 1838 was, on the whole, a 
 favorable one for the farmer ; and the crops undoubt- 
 edly, in the aggregate, exceeded those of any previous 
 year. If we should estimate the wheat grown in the 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 191 
 
 country at sixty millions of bushels, com at one hun- 
 dred millions, and oats at one hundred and fifty mil- 
 lions of bushels, we should not probably be far from 
 the truth. Barley does not rank high in amount, as a 
 cultivated crop, though the quantity produced is annu- 
 ally increasing. The wheat is principally grown in 
 the country north of the Potomac and Ohio, and south 
 of the great lakes. The corn is produced chiefly in 
 the south, and in the valleys of the Ohio and Missis- 
 sippi. Oats are cultivated in all sections, unless the 
 extreme south, and are every where the principal food 
 of horses, while they are given to cattle, sheep, and 
 swine, to a considerable extent. The average crop of 
 wheat, on the whole, cannot be estimated, per acre, at 
 more than eighteen bushels ; corn, thirty-five bushels ; 
 oats, the same ; and barley, about twenty bushels. 
 This rate will, of course, vary greatly in different sec- 
 tions. In the States north of the Ohio, the average of 
 corn would perhaps equal or exceed fifty bushels to 
 the acre ; while, in the States south of the Potomac, it 
 has been estimated as low as fifteen bushels per acre. 
 The difference in the other crops, in the several sec- 
 tions of our country, would be less ; but still it is con- 
 siderable. 
 
 That these average productions might be greatly 
 increased, does not admit of a question : that the inter- 
 ests of agriculture demand that such should be the 
 case, is equally clear. By attention to the selection of 
 seeds, and the preparation of the soil, an addition of ten 
 per cent, to these averages might be readily made. 
 Experience shows that such is the fact ; and multitudes 
 of individual instances might be adduced, to prove that 
 such has already been done by skilful and intelligent 
 farmers. 
 
 The causes which, in our opinion, have tended more 
 than any others to depress agriculture, and prevent its 
 receiving the attention it demands, as well as to reduce 
 the profits which should reward the laborer, are the 
 
192 
 
 STATE OF AGRICULTURE 
 
 following : First, a want of respect in the agricultural 
 interest for their own profession. There is a feeling 
 in certain portions of the community — principally 
 those who have done nothing to increase the produc- 
 tive capital of the country themselves, and who may 
 be termed the drones of the social compact — that per- 
 sonal labor is disgraceful, and that the cultivator of the 
 soil is little better than a slave. Strange as it may 
 seem, this feeling may be said to be promoted and 
 perpetuated by the conduct of farmers themselves. 
 There are too many men among us — men who have 
 good' farms, and who might employ their sons upon 
 them, with the certainty that honorable competence 
 would be the result — who prefer to see them become 
 poor miserable retailers of tape and sugar candy, or 
 second or third-rate lawyers, — men fit for nothing only 
 to promote litigation, and sow the seeds of strife, and 
 bring into contempt the high principles of right which 
 the law is intended to embody — rather than honest, 
 high-minded, intelligent cultivators of the soil. For 
 this evil — -and it is a serious one — the remedy is Avith 
 the farmer. His sons should be well educated ; but 
 they should be taught to feel — what in fact is the 
 case — that, in the actual dignity and usefulness of 
 their profession, the farmer has few equals, and no 
 superior. 
 
 The second cause of the depressed state of agricul- 
 ture in the United States is the inattention of farmers 
 in selecting the best breeds of animals for their yards, 
 and the best seeds for planting. In these two respects 
 there is the greatest room for improvement ; and the 
 necessity of entering at once upon a course of reform 
 cannot be too earnestly pressed upon our cultivators. 
 Experience has shown that animals can be formed, in 
 the hands of the scientific breeder, to meet the wants, 
 or remedy the defects, of any existing race. Whether 
 it be a beautiful form, weight of carcase, aptitude to 
 fatten, or all these combined in cattle, or the same 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES, 193 
 
 qualities, with or without wool, in sheep, Bakewell, 
 Cully, Berry, and EUman have shown that domestic 
 animals, in the hands of the farmer who understands 
 the principles of breeding, are as clay in the hands of 
 the potter, to be moulded and transformed at will. 
 The records of Smithfield market — the most decisive 
 evidence that can be produced — prove that the aver- 
 age weight of cattle and sheep has increased one third 
 within less than half a century. Not less beneficial 
 have been the results which have ensued from atten- 
 tion to improved or new varieties of seeds. The most 
 valuable kinds of wheat, barley, oats, and other grain 
 in Europe, and of maize or corn in this country, have 
 been the result of careful selection and long-continued 
 cultivation. Col. Le Conteur, of the Isle of Jersey, 
 who has paid more attention to wheat, and instituted a 
 greater number of experiments in regard to the ])lant, 
 than any other man living — having devoted about 
 twenty years and ample means to the pursuit — states 
 "that the only chances of having pure sorts was to 
 raise them from single grains, or single ears ; and that 
 the improvements he had njade in this way had amply 
 rewarded his labor, as the produce of his crops was 
 increased from an average of about twenty-three to 
 twenty-five bushels an acre to about thirty-four ; and, 
 since he had raised wheat from single ears, or carefully 
 selected sorts, he has increased his crops to between 
 forty and fifty bushels an acre." Many of the best- 
 known kinds of wheat, barley, and oats, now grown 
 in Europe — and some of them have been successfully 
 introduced into this country — have been produced 
 from single ears or heads of grain, selected by observ- 
 ing men for some valuable qualities they appeared to 
 possess. Such was the origin of the White Kent and 
 Whittingham wheat, the Chevalier, Annat, and Stains 
 Barley, and the Potato, Hopetown, and Dun oat. In 
 this country, we need only to refer to the justly-cele- 
 brated Baden corn, which, by persevering selection^ 
 17* 
 
194 STATE OF AGRICULTURE 
 
 has been brought to produce from four to ten ears on a 
 stalk, and, where the cUmate and the soil are suitable, 
 as in the Western States, has added at least fifty per 
 cent, to the productiveness of the corn crop. This is 
 a field of improvement in which every farmer may be 
 a laborer, and with the happiest resalts. To improve 
 his seeds requires no extra capital : a little care and 
 attention to the qualities of his growing and ripened 
 crops is all that is requisite ; and, whether he avails 
 himself of the opportunity for improvement or not, no 
 good farmer can avoid having the feasibility of so doing- 
 repeatedly forced upon him by the difference in size 
 and productiveness of the several plants 
 
 Another and third cause of the low state of agricul- 
 ture is a too general want of knowledge, among farm- 
 ers, of the scientific principles which govern agricul- 
 ture. That every farmer should be a thorough chemist; 
 and be able to explain all the laws that govern matter, 
 and, in doing so, trace to their source the elements of 
 vegetable and animal nutrition, is not what is to be 
 expected ; and so with the kindred sciences of botany 
 and entomology. Still he should be able, and with 
 very little attention may be able, to go through a suffi- 
 ciently accurate analysis of soils, and be familiar with 
 many of the minute as well as important changes that 
 matter undergoes in the transformation from inert atoms 
 to organized life. Constantly among plants, and com- 
 pelled to be familiar with insects, some of both of 
 which he numbers among his worst enemies, he is in 
 part a botanist and entomologist by necessity ; and, 
 were his observations properly directed, there is nothing 
 to hinder, but much to render, farmers the most suc- 
 cessful discoverers in these sciences. Works which 
 would give a proper coarse to his inquiries may be 
 found at almost every bookstore ; and it is not too much 
 to hope that volumes will be found in almost every 
 common school and district library, which will awaken 
 inquiry, and direct observers in the successful pursuit 
 
IN THE UNITED STATES. 195 
 
 of these and other sciences. We think that blame 
 may be attributed, in a greater or less degree, to most 
 of the agricultural publications and periodicals of the 
 day, in not devoting more of their pages to the discus- 
 sion and elucidation of these topics. It may, perhaps, 
 be said, that but little is yet known with certainty on 
 these subjects ; that chemical analysis, vegetable physi- 
 ology, and the developement of the laws that govern 
 the nutrition of plants and animals, are all as yet in 
 their infancy ; still, it cannot but be useful to have 
 what is known spread before the public mind, and if 
 much that is supposed to be certain should hereafter 
 prove merel]' theoretical, useful observations will be 
 prompted, and truth eventually established. Agricul- 
 ture is strictly a science, and should be considered as 
 such. The principles that govern and control matter 
 are, many of them, already understood, and no one 
 has any pretensions to the title of a thorough farmer 
 who is not able to apply such as are known to his 
 course of practice in the field. We have many men 
 who express suryirise at the well-known fact, that the 
 most skilful and successful farmers we have in this 
 country are men who have been bred to other pursuits, 
 and never had the management of a farm till they pur- 
 chased for themselves, and assumed the farmer at once. 
 We think there is nothing surprising in this result. 
 These men brought to the business of agriculture that 
 fund of knowledge they had already acquired, and 
 which^ unfettered by previous long-established modes 
 and habits, they were at liberty to apply directly to 
 their new pursuit. They had no long-cherished 
 prejudices in favor of unscientific methods of farm- 
 ing to shake olf — methods which too many farmers 
 venerate simply because they were followed by their 
 fathers — and hence they were prepared to adopt the 
 best courses, and follow the paths that scientific re- 
 search have demonstrated to lead to success. 
 
 Another and we are inclined to think more active 
 
196 STATE OF AGRICULTURE, 
 
 cause in retarding the progress of agriculture in this 
 country than any we have hitherto mentioned, is to 
 be found in the too great diffusion of agricuUural capi- 
 tal and labor ; or. in other words, we cultivate too 
 much land to tiave what we pretend to do well done. 
 The desire of great farms is a distinguishing trait of 
 the American farmer. As fast as he acquires capital, 
 he spends it in purchasing more land. When there is 
 no longer any adjoining him to be purchased, he goes 
 to the wide west, and expends his hundreds or thou- 
 sands in buying prairie sections, or " corner lots " in 
 some of the multitude of cities there are promised in 
 that broad region : he may be making money by this 
 process : he may be acquiring wealth for his children 
 to differ about ; but, nine times out of ten, his system 
 of agriculture is barbarous, his method of living scan- 
 dalous, and his farm is the very reverse of neatness and 
 order. We cannot expect that a man will spend his 
 capital in beautifying and putting his farm in order, — 
 in planting, and draining, and repairing, — when such 
 expenditures will not repay him more than seven per 
 cent. ; when, by purchasing more or new lands, there 
 is a probability that thirty or fifty may be realized. It 
 requires too great an etfort of self-denial to see our 
 neighbors enlarging their domains to the size of a 
 German principality, while we are expected to be con- 
 tent with some two or four hundred acres. We have, 
 as a body of farmers, yet to learn that the products of 
 a small farm, in proportion to the capital invested, are 
 usually greater than on large farms. We have yet to 
 acquire a taste for small, neat, well-finished and well- 
 furnished houses, in preference to the enormous " shin- 
 gle palaces " which we take such a delight in erecting ; 
 and when shall we learn that a few acres, well fenced, 
 kept clean of foul weeds, and growing richer and more 
 productive yearly, is better than many acres with the 
 fences rotted or thrown down, the fields and the crops 
 choked with pernicious weeds, and the soil, from the 
 
MILDEW ON GRAPES. 
 
 197 
 
 wretched course of cultivation, annually deteriorating 
 in value and productiveness. It is a very poor plan in 
 farmers to wear out and impoverish what land they 
 have, because they can buy more : better raise a few 
 acres to the height of fertility, place it in perfect order, 
 and then, if there is auy surplus capital, after attend- 
 ing to the moral and intellectual wants of the family, 
 it may be expended in more lands to be gradually 
 brought to the same state. 
 
 MILDEW ON GRAPES. 
 
 A. J. Downing, a good authority, states, in the Hor- 
 ticultural Magazine, that foreign grapes, as the Sweet- 
 water, Chasselas, &c. may be preserved from mildew, 
 by securing an annual succession of new plants, which 
 is effected with very little trouble, by laying a thrifty 
 shoot of the old vine in June, of some five to eight 
 feet in length, which takes root and produces fruit for 
 one or two seasons, not subject to mildew. The layer 
 is separated the next season, and the old plant dug up 
 and thrown away. It is a common remark, that the 
 foreign grape will be free from mildew one or two 
 seasons after it comes into bearing, but that it is after- 
 wards subject to mildew. The cause has not been 
 satisfactorily explained. The finest vine of a foreign 
 grape which we ever saw grew in the garden of the 
 late Judge Scott, of Catskill. We saw it, several suc- 
 cessive years, when the fruit was at maturity, and it 
 had no appearance of mildew. This exemption from 
 mildew the judge ascribed to the circumstance of his 
 having placed a large flat stone in the bottom of the 
 hole before planting his vine, and which prevented the 
 roots from penetrating the subsoil, the conjectural 
 cause of the mildew. — Albany Cultivator, 
 
198 
 
 CALCULATION : MANAGEMENT. 
 
 CALCULATION: MANAGEMENT. 
 
 On passing by a hay-field the other day, we stopped 
 to see the calculation of a couple of hired men who, 
 with the aid of a boy, were attempting to load a cart 
 with hay. They drove the cart midway between the 
 two winrows which were more than twenty feet apart. 
 One man was mounted on the cart, one used a pitch- 
 fork. This man was obliged to carry every forkful 
 not less than eight feet to reach the cart, and when he 
 had pitched a while on one side he was obliged to 
 move round to the other for the hay of the other win- 
 row. These movements gave opportunity to the man 
 on the cart to stand still one half his time and more. 
 But to balance this, the boy who was raking after the 
 cart had twice as much labor before him as he could 
 perform, for the cart was so distant from each'winrow 
 that the scatterings were strown nearly over the whole 
 ground. 
 
 The boy fell in the rear, and the farther the team ad- 
 vanced the more hopeless was the case of the boy, for 
 he was getting farther off from the place of deposit for 
 his scatterings. We could not but inquire of the men 
 why they did not drive close by one winrow, then 
 c/ose by the other; in which case they would make 
 but little scattering for the boy, and would leave the 
 man on the load no leisure to look up and see how 
 high the sun was. 
 
 The pitchfork man asked us, with a smile, if we 
 thought we could pitch better. We took the fork 
 from his yielding hand, hawed the team close to the 
 winrow, tossed on the hay in small forksful, '' many 
 and not far bet ween, '^^ so as to allow the man on the 
 load no leisure to be calling on the boy behind " to 
 spring to." When this winrow was finished, we turned 
 about and drove close to the next, beginning to pitch 
 from the head of the cattle^ and going back each time sa 
 
EARLY CUT CLOVER, 199 
 
 as to meet the boy at the tail of the cart with his 
 scatterings, instead of keeping him constantly at a 
 distance from the cart. We thus met him every time 
 before we started the team. 
 
 Before we had finished loading, the owner came into 
 the field, and he was so much pleased with our man- 
 agement he said we might put down his name for our 
 paper for one year, though he already took four papers, 
 and more by half than he could read. 
 
 EARLY CUT CLOVER. 
 
 In 1818, when living on the banks of the Kennebec, 
 in Maine, we had a fine piece of clover that we feared 
 would grow too rank to be relished by our cattle. We 
 therefore mowed it on the twenty-fifth of June when 
 not one half the heads had blown fully out. 
 
 We suflered it to lie in the sun for three days, turn- 
 ing it over just at night, to bring the greenest side up 
 to take the dews. On the third day it was raked and 
 carted. W^e never had better hay. We cannot say we 
 saved all the heads and the leaves, but we looked to 
 the main chance ; we saved the stalks — the substance 
 — and our cattle would insist on eating them all. 
 
 In feeding out this hay, we could not but note the 
 difi'erence between a forkful of it and a forkful, of hay 
 cut late. It was apparently one third heavier. Our 
 cattle never throve better on any hay, and their manure, 
 not black as when their keeping is poor, on late cut 
 hay, looked precisely as if they had been kept partially 
 on Indian meal. 
 
 In 1807, when travelling in the State of New York, 
 we paid the utmost attention to the keeping of our 
 horse. We did not like the appearance of the hay at 
 one of the inns where we stopped on the eastern banks 
 of the Hudson. We called for some of their early cut 
 
200 INSECTS ON FRUIT-TREES INQUIRY. 
 
 hay. ''O bless ye," said the landlord, ^'the late cut 
 hay is far the best." He could not make us believe it, 
 however, and we insisted on some that was earliest 
 mown. He, as well as many others in that part of our 
 country, we afterwards learned, was seriously of the 
 opinion that their late cut hay was best ! 
 
 In our vicinity we usually choose to cut herds-grass 
 (timothy) when full in the blow, and we have little 
 doubt it is relished best when cut at that time. If 
 suffered to stand longer, until the seeds are matured, it 
 may have more heart in it, and answer a better purpose 
 to be chopped up fine for mixing with grain. In such 
 case it causes greater exhaustion of the soil. 
 
 [From the Genesee Farmer.] 
 
 INSECTS ON FRUIT-TREES — maUIRY. 
 
 Mr. Tucker, — Not long since, I noticed on some 
 of my fruit-trees some insects somewhat resembling 
 lice. I did not pay much attention to them, thinking 
 they could not do much injury if I let them remain. 
 But I found they were going to injure my trees, if not 
 remedied soon. I asked some of my brother farmers 
 respecting these insects, but they were as ignorant as 
 myself. Therefore I concluded I would send the 
 above inquiries to you, and have some of your corre- 
 spondents inform me of a sure remedy, that will destroy 
 the insects, which are so prevalent at the present time 
 upon our fruit-trees, and oblige your friend, &c. 
 
 South Venice, N. Y. June 6, 1839. W. S. T. 
 
 Strong lie is the best thing we ever tried to destroy 
 lice on fruit-trees. It proves effectual if we use one 
 pound of good potash for three quarts of water. — Ed. 
 
SUCKERING CORN. 201 
 
 SUCKERING CORN. 
 
 We hope more experiments will be made to try the 
 effect of pulling off suckers from corn. For ourselves, 
 we think it injurious, but we have made no great trial 
 of it. A few years ago we had a fine looking field of 
 corn, from which we hoped for nearly one hundred 
 bushels to the acre. It was a large kind of eight- 
 rowed corn. 
 
 It grew very rank, and we were satisfied that, in con- 
 sequence, it was quite too thick: the hills were three 
 feet apart each way ; many suckers shot out from the 
 bottom ; and, when the corn was six to seven feet high, 
 we pulled off every sucker, in order to admit the air 
 and light more freely. These suckers were from two 
 to three feet in length. 
 
 We have always fancied we hurt our corn by this 
 process, but we left none unsuckered, and cannot be 
 positive. Soon after, we learned that others had tried 
 the experiment with a like result, and it was noted by 
 them as well as by us that the corn eared out remarka- 
 bly high. Whether this suckering could have this 
 effect we cannot say, but we had a much less crop than 
 the stalks gave promise of, and believe we injured it 
 by pulling off the suckers, notwithstanding the corn 
 was too thick. 
 
 In reasoning upon the practice, we are led to think 
 it injurious to pluck off the suckers after they have 
 grown large. When the ear is filling, a draft is made 
 upon all the parts of the stalk for ^its surplus juices, 
 and, as there is a free communication between all the 
 branches of the stalk, we see not why it should not be 
 as injurious to pluck off the full-grown suckers before 
 the ear is filled, as to cut off the stalks above the ear 
 while there are any juices in them that may be 
 drafted to make the ear full. 
 
 Many experiments should be tried, at difterent sea- 
 18 
 
202 CATTLE. 
 
 sons, in the growth, before we shall be able to declare 
 positively as to the effect of plucking off the suckers. 
 
 We think we often err in suffering too many stalks 
 to stand in a hill. Of the middle-sized corn, two 
 stalks in a hill are sufficient when the hills are two 
 feet apart in the rows. If two many are allowed to 
 stand, there will be many stalks without a single ear. 
 
 CATTLE. 
 
 Improving the breed of live stock is as necessary for 
 the farmer as the proper cultivation of a field for 
 wheat, corn, or any other crop; for, according to the 
 present improved system of farming, there is such a 
 connection between the cultivation of ground and 
 breeding, rearing, and fattening cattle, sheep, and other 
 domestic animals, that a man will make but an indif- 
 ferent figure in rural affairs, if he does not understand 
 the latter as well as the former. 
 
 Our breeds of horned cattle, particularly, are too 
 little attended to, yet they should receive the primary 
 attention of our agriculturists. In the best cultivated 
 countries of Europe, this subject receives that attention 
 which its importance demands ; and to such perfection 
 have they brought their breeds of cattle, as to render 
 them worthy to be sought after in the diflerent parts 
 of the world, and to insure for them enormous prices. 
 
 In our own country, particularly in the northern and 
 eastern States, the raising and improving the breed of 
 cattle is considered as a matter of the first importance 
 with the farmer. The different agricultural societies 
 established in those parts of the Union (which are 
 doing great good) spare no exertions, by offering 
 premiums, and the establishment of cattle-shows, to 
 diffuse among the people a spirit of improving the 
 breeds of their cattle. 
 
CATTLE. 
 
 203 
 
 In improving the breed of cattle, the objects had in 
 view should be attended to, as there are different 
 breeds adapted to different purposes. 
 
 A breed of cattle, equally well adapted to the 
 butcher, to the dairy, and to the plough or cart, is no- 
 where to be met with ; and, so far as experience enables 
 us to judge, these properties are hardly consistent with 
 each other, and belong to animals of different forms 
 and proportions. It should be the object of farmers to 
 have all their stocks of animals of the best breeds, and 
 to study useful qualities more than showy figures. 
 Yet well-proportioned and sightly animals are generally 
 the most valuable, both as it regards usefulness and 
 keep. There are exceptions, in dairy cows particu- 
 larly. Hardihood and easiness of keep should always 
 be prominent qualities in any breed of cattle. 
 
 The value of horned cattle Avili increase in 2^1'opor- 
 tion to the manner in which we manage them to se- 
 cure their dung. During the spring and summer they 
 should be regularly penned at night, on such parts of 
 the farm as may need improvement ; observing to 
 plough up these pens immediately on the removal of 
 the cattle, to secure their manure against loss from the 
 evaporarion of the sun and washing rains. The size 
 of the pens, and the time they should stand in them 
 before removed, will be regulated by the number of 
 the cattle, and their condition ; and, in hot weather, 
 the pens should not stand longer than two weeks be- 
 fore ploughed up, at most.- In winter, as has been 
 before observed, they should have a comfortable shel- 
 ter, closed at every point, except at the south, which 
 should open into the farm-yard. Corn-stalks are the 
 first food given to them ; and the greatest diligence 
 should be used in conveying them early to the farm- 
 yard, because they lose more from evaporation, stand- 
 ing in the field, than the other articles of food, viz. the 
 shucks tops, &c. which should be reserved fbr later 
 periods. 
 
204 SALT WATER FOR CLEANSING WOOL. 
 
 The cattle should be employed in manuring the 
 distant parts of the farm, while the horses and other 
 domestic stock are manuring at home. 
 
 The farm-pens of the farmer should be situated with 
 an eye to the convenience of the field from whence 
 the stales are to be hauled, and that are to be manured 
 and cultivated the ensuing year. It is better to make a 
 lane of considerable length to conduct the cattle to 
 water, than to omit this convenience. 
 
 Many farms, too, unfortunately abound with parcels 
 of exhausted land, which are turned out, or are unin- 
 closed, to recover w^hat improvement they can: these 
 lanes may be enclosed as pasturage for cattle ; and, by 
 taking in some woodland, they will afford the cattle, 
 in the spring and summer, shrubs and coarse grass 
 sufficient to constitute tolerable good pastme, and far 
 better than that from arable or cultivated fields, which 
 are generally scanty of grass lintil towards the fall ; 
 and if meadows have been provided for grazing in the 
 fall, they will sustain the cattle until the period arrives 
 for their being put up in their winter habitation. 
 These hints for the management of cattle have been 
 thrown out for the consideration of those who may 
 hesitate to adopt the enclosing system, under the appre- 
 hension that, if their stock are excluded from grazing 
 their arable fields, no other resource will be left for 
 them. — Franklin Farmer. 
 
 SALT WATER FOR CLEANSING WOOL. 
 
 Jt has been found that salt water is very efficacious 
 in cleansing fine wool from the gummy or glutinous 
 matter wl)ich adheres to it. About a pint of salt dis- 
 solved in a common wash-tub of water is said to be 
 sufficient. 
 
CULTURE OF STRAWBERRIES, 2Ct5 
 
 CULTURE OF STRAWBERRIES. 
 
 Mr. DillEj editor of the Farmer's Register at New- 
 ark, Ohio, has kindly published his successful mode of 
 strawberry cuhure. We copy it, trusting that some of 
 our ajood friends may be benefited by his experience. 
 
 Mr. Dille says, — we have been requested by seve- 
 ral of our friends to give our system of raising straw- 
 berries in detail. As we have been very successful in 
 this culture, we at least feel a confidence in our mode 
 of proceeding. 
 
 As a matter of course, the preparation of the soil 
 must precede the planting. It is not the richest, but a 
 proper soil that is required. New land is generally in 
 a right condition. If it be old, to a bed of fifty feet 
 long by twenty in breadth, give about four or five cart- 
 loads of rotten wood or leaves and wood from the 
 woods, six cart-loads of cow-yard or hog-pen manure, 
 well rotted ; put this upon the soil, and spade it in deep, 
 mixing in well from the surface down. In spading, 
 see that the earth is all loose and mellow, so that the 
 roots will have no difficulty in striking wide and deep. 
 Instead of a high bed, which will be dry, make it low 
 enough to receive and retain the rains which may fall, 
 but not so low as to have standing water or pools. A 
 dam is frequently raised around the beds of earth, 
 which is broken down after the fruit begins to form, 
 that the bed may be reasonably dry whilst it is ripen- 
 ing. A dry bed and dry weather give the sweetest 
 and most fragrant fruit. 
 
 Choice of Kinds. We have cultivated the common 
 scarlet, the English scarlet, and the wood or field 
 strawberry. The first bears best with us ; the last 
 bears well, and is the most delicious. 
 
 Time of Planting. March, April, May, August, 
 September, or October. We would advise, in this 
 country, that plantations should be made in April or 
 18* 
 
206 
 
 CULTURE OF STRAWBERRIES. 
 
 September. Our planting in March has sometimes 
 failed, and it is desirable that the plants should have 
 extended their roots well in the earth before the frost 
 comes on in the winter. Hence September would be 
 preferable to October, for autumnal planting, and 
 better than August, as there is a greater probability of 
 the new plantation being well watered by the fall rains. 
 
 After Culture. Keep the ground always loose or 
 mellow, and free from weeds. Let nothing else, un- 
 less it be some shrubs, as roses, &c. be permitted to 
 grow on the gronnd with the plants. After the run- 
 ners have covered the bed with young plants, our 
 method is, to go through the beds with a spade, and 
 turn up the earth, plants and all, one spade width, 
 burying the plants completely under, and then leaving 
 a spade's width, and so on till we pass through the bed 
 in one direction. This we do twice a year, in March 
 and Augnst ; and the second time we pass ' through 
 the bed the other way, so as to leave the plants in 
 little squares in the bed, when there will be jnst about 
 enongh to cover the ground properly ; and by this 
 means the earth will always be kept mellow. The 
 spade should be about seven inches wide. After this 
 operation in March, let the bed be lightly covered with 
 tan-bark, forest leaves, or short straw, for the fruit to 
 rest upon and keep it clean. Oat straw should not be 
 used, as it is apt to mildew the fruit. This covering 
 should be spaded in as a manure in August. 
 
 When in blossom, you can easily determine what 
 portion of your plants are bearers. Those which will 
 not bear produce large flowers, with long, showy 
 stamens, holding high their black anthers ; whilst 
 those Vi/hich will bear have short stamens, and a great 
 number of pistils, and flowers are every way less 
 showy. If the non-beaters are very numerous, many, 
 not all, should be pulled out. Tf the weather is dry 
 during the flowering season, the beds should be slight- 
 ly watered every evening, to set the fruit ; but when it 
 begins to ripen, keep them dry as possible. 
 
PRUNING. 207 
 
 The beds should be about three feet wide, for the 
 convenience of gathering the fruit, without trani|)ing 
 down the soil. Never use stable or horse manure, 
 unless it be well rotted. In spading, select the old 
 plants to turn under, and keep a succession of new 
 ones for bearers. — Franklin Farmer. 
 
 PRUNING. 
 
 A GREAT variety of experiments made in Europe by 
 Knight, Van Mons, and Thaer, and in this country by 
 Buel, Kenrick, and others, have been made on the 
 subject of pruning trees: though the results did not 
 perfectly agree on all points, yet they seem to fully 
 justify the general conclusion, that the best time for 
 pruning trees is that period iu midsummer in which 
 there appears a cessation of the sap's ascent, and which 
 lasts some three or four weeks. Those who have paid 
 attention to the growth of trees must have remarked 
 that the period of increase is divided into two seasons, 
 during the first of which, or the one most active, 
 the shoots that form fruit, flower, or seed-buds are 
 formed; and the other, or later summer's growth, is 
 confined to the shoots that produce wood- buds only. 
 " After the second growth is completed, the efi'ects of 
 the descending sap, in the formation of new bark, is 
 -apparent in the healing up of new wounds in parts of 
 the stem or branches, vvdiich now proceeds with more 
 activity than during any other season of the year. 
 Branches pruned off smooth at the stem, though the 
 latter be young, healthy, and containing a perfect 
 pitch, before or shortly after the completion of the 
 midsummer's growth, do not produce shoots from the 
 edge of the wounds caused by their removal, which 
 always happens more or less when pruning is per- 
 formed on free-growing trees after the fall of the leaf, 
 
208 
 
 FACTS FOR FARftlERS. 
 
 and before the full developement of the spring shoots 
 and leaves. It is to be observed, however, that the re- 
 production of branches from the edge of the wound is 
 greatly assisted by leaving a portion of the branch or 
 shoot on the parent branch or stem." — Treatise on 
 Planting. 
 
 The end desired to be attained by the operation of 
 pruning must be kept steadily in view, or injury, in- 
 stead of benefit, may be the result. If the tree is in- 
 tended for timber, the leaves and buds that elaborate 
 the sap, and increase the trunk by the formation of an 
 annual circle of new wood, should be kept as far from 
 the root as possible, as in this way only can the greatest 
 quantity of timber be produced. In this case, the 
 trunk should be kept free from branches, the leading 
 shoots should carefully be preserved, and the top kept 
 in a crown-like form. Nature must be followed in 
 this respect, and the tall, beautiful trunks of oui* native 
 forest trees will be the result. For fruit, a low, branch- 
 ing top, spread and exposed to the sun as widely as 
 can be, is to be preferred ; and hence the leading shoot, 
 when the tree is at a proper height, must be carefully 
 cut out, and the lateral branches cut and pruned with 
 direct reference to this eflect. Fruit-trees must be 
 pruned frequently, or their tops become woody, close, 
 and the fruit will necessarily prove inferior. — Genesee 
 Farmer. 
 
 FACTS FOR FARMERS. 
 
 It is a fact that some cows will make three times as 
 much butter as others of the same size, and with the 
 same keeping. It is a fact that some breeds of swine 
 will make a ton of pork out of half the keeping Avhich 
 is required for other breeds. 
 
 It is a fact that some ploughs require twice as much 
 
FACTS FOR FARMERS. 
 
 209 
 
 team as others, and yet do not perform the work so 
 well. It is a fact that some farms of fifty acres produce 
 more than some others of one hundred acres. 
 
 Is it not worth oiu' while to make inquiry into the 
 causes of these differences, and to devise a mode of 
 equalization ? And, first, as to our breeds of cattle. 
 We will make no over statements. We know there is 
 abundance of testimony that we have native cows 
 which will make more than fomteen pounds of butter 
 per week each, and we all know we have a great num- 
 ber of cows that will not make five pounds each. 
 With these facts staring us in the face, shall we not 
 cast out those that will not pay the expense of keeping, 
 and introduce better breeds ? 
 
 We would not be understood as making compari- 
 sons with any foreign breeds of cattle. Thc^se who 
 prefer them may make the trial, and may improve by 
 crossings ; but we would improve our native breeds, 
 and select the very best. There can be no doubt of 
 the practicability of producing a herd from our native 
 stock that shall, in a very few generations, be sure to 
 prove of the true blood of the ancestors. We have 
 yet made no trial in this country; but, knowing what 
 has been done elsewhere, we can now proceed with 
 confidence, having our path lighted by lamps that 
 have gone before. 
 
 The course of commerce between Massachusetts and 
 the interior has for many years been imfavorable to the 
 improvement of our neat stock and of our swirie. In 
 the vicinity of our cities we have found it more profit- 
 able to slay all and eat all our young neats at an early 
 age, than to rear them; while, in the interior, where 
 keeping was che^.p, and there was no market for 
 veal, the whole progeny of the neat cattle has been 
 reared, without the least regard to synunetry of form 
 or promise of excellence. All must perceive that, by 
 proceeding in this manner, we can make no improve- 
 ment in our stock. 
 
210 FACTS FOR FARMERS. 
 
 But a better era begins to dawn upon us : for, since 
 it is found that the most excellent of oiu' own cows 
 will command a price bearing some proportion to the 
 good qualities of the animal, the best will be snatched 
 from the butcher and reared, and inferior animals, 
 from the interior, will bring only such prices as may- 
 justify their purchase for beef. The whole tendency 
 of the operation will be in favor of selections, both 
 here and in the interior, of the best animals for rearing. 
 
 But we hope and trust we shall not be content with 
 this slow mode of approximating to a perfect breed of 
 neat stock. Since farmers are becoming convinced of 
 the superiority of the best of our native stock over the 
 poorest, they will lend their aid to those who shall be- 
 gin in earnest to rear only from the best animals. 
 
 We are fully satisfied that no branch of farming 
 could be pursued to greater profit, even within a few 
 miles of Boston, than that of rearing the best of neat 
 stock that can be selected from our native breeds ; and 
 we are pleased that one gentleman at least, in the 
 neighborhood of Boston, is determined to prove what 
 may be done by crosses of our very best native cows 
 with an English bull, of the Ayreshire breed, which is 
 of fine form, and was not selected for his great size, 
 but for his good qualities. 
 
 We sincerely hope others will be induced to imitate 
 his example, so far at least as a selection of our best 
 native stock is concerned, and that not only the fe- 
 males but the best males will be selected and kept 
 from other herds, until we can be supplied with an im- 
 proved breed that shall rival the best that has ever 
 been reared. 
 
 By breeding from the very best males and females 
 only, we may be quite certain in a short time to raise 
 up a perfect stock. We well know '' a good cow may 
 have a bad calf; " but ten good cows, with a male of 
 the right breed, will have eight or nine good calves, 
 ^nd the descendants of these will be more likely to be 
 
FLAT TURNIP. 211 
 
 of the true breed, and so on : the farther we progress 
 the more sure we may be of a correct resiiU. 
 
 And what an acquisition to the farmer and to the 
 community to possess herds that will give us thrice 
 the milk which our stock at present supplies ! 
 
 The average expense of keeping a cow on hay and 
 grass, in the vicinity of Boston, for a number of years 
 past, may be stated at not less than thirty dollars each. 
 The average value of her milk, made into butter, may 
 be one hundred and forty weight, or seven pounds 
 per week for twenty weeks ; or, at nine quarts per day, 
 9 X 140 = 1260 quarts, and this at four cents per 
 quart = $50 40. Thus the butter, to equal the milk, 
 should bring thirty-six cents per pound. 
 
 We have yet coimted but twenty weeks' milking ; 
 but, with good keeping, cows should be milked not less 
 than forty weeks, and, if turnips and grain are fed out 
 the last twenty weeks, will give half as much as in the 
 first twenty. The produce in milk might then be 
 worth $75 ; in butter, at the common market price, it 
 would be one third less, though the nicest premium 
 butter has often brought more than this milk would 
 amount to. 
 
 We think it quite feasible to rear cows that will give 
 double this quantity of milk or butter ; and how valua- 
 ble must be such stock ! 
 
 FLAT TURNIP. 
 
 To the Editor of the Cultivato?^ : 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have, for three or four years past, 
 taken much pains to raise a crop of the flat turnip, but 
 with no success. I have prepared my land early and 
 late, have sowed my seed on land both wet and dry, 
 in sunshine and shade, also in rainy weather ; have 
 harrowed, raked, hoed, and rolled it in, but to ?io pur- 
 
212 FLAT TURNIP. 
 
 pose. I do not say that I got a poor crop, but no crop 
 at all. I sowed, the last year, about two acres of land, 
 from which I received 7iot one turnip ; nor am I alone 
 in this great evil ; my neighbors (and v^ho, by the way, 
 are good farmers) make the same complaint, and are 
 unable to tell the cause. Tn most cases the seed has 
 been selected as the best, but has hardly ever made its 
 appearance in the shape of a turnip top. If you will 
 give me any information on this subject, so that I may 
 benefit myself as well as my neighbors, you shall, to 
 say the least, receive the thanks of a q . 
 Aiidover, July 25, 18.)9. 
 
 We are at a loss to account for the failure — a total 
 failure it seems — of our correspondent's crop of tur- 
 nips. We have often raised very good ones among 
 corn by sowing the seed at hilling time ; that is, the 
 last hoeing. Among corn, flat turnips are quite an un- 
 certain crop, as the dews seldom fall to the earth when 
 corn is heavy, and tiuniip-seed must soon have mois- 
 ture after it is sown, or it will not vegetate. 
 
 When showers come soon after sowing, we have 
 never failed of a good harvest, even among corn. . 
 
 The seed should never be buried deep : a shower 
 upon it, when it is sown on fresh earth, makes a suf- 
 ficient covering. We do not recollect that we ever 
 failed of a crop when the seed was sown in an open 
 field. 
 
 Flat turnip-seed should be of the same year's growth, 
 for a fall harvest. Seeds one year old are not sure to 
 vegetate. We think not one in four ever grows, and 
 we commonly sow four times as much seed when it is 
 one year old as when it is new. Whether any of it 
 would vegetate at two years old we are not sure. 
 
 But the turnip fly is a rapid and sweeping destroyer 
 in some fields, and we suspect our friend's turnij s have 
 had some company of this kind. 
 
 The English are much oftener troubled with this 
 
COMPARATIVE VALUE OF AGRICULTURE. 213 
 
 insect, and their remedy is to sow the field again ; for 
 they find that, by repeated sowings, they at length hit 
 upon a season when the fly makes no attack. 
 
 If our friend from Andover has sown his tnrnips in 
 an open field, we would advise him to sow a second 
 time ; for there are certain days on which the seed 
 may be sown and the plant not be cut oflf by the fly. 
 A close examination will enable him to determine 
 whether insects are the cause of the trouble. — Ed. 
 
 COMPARATIVE VALUE OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 The following facts are gathered, by the Albany 
 Cultivator, from a letter of James McQ^ueen, addressed 
 to Lord Melbourne, on the subject of the corn laws : 
 
 Produce of British AgricuUnre, 
 
 Grain of all sorts, £134,000,000 
 
 Potatoes, , 20,000,000 
 
 Hay, grasses, turnips, straw, 120,::00,000 
 
 Natural pasture, . . . . , 03,502,000 
 
 Butcher's meat, pigs, poultry, game, &c 82,283,759 
 
 Fisheries, food from, 12,000,000 
 
 Products of the dairy, vegetables and fruits, 48,500,000 
 
 Allowed for consumption of farmers in some articles not 
 
 enumerated, 2,500,000 
 
 Wool, hops, seeds, flax, hemp, and timber, 22,479.166 
 
 Mines, minerals, coals, &c 33,970J276 
 
 Total produce of agriculture, £538^536,201 
 
 The capital vested in and the charges on the manufac- 
 tures of the United Kingdom are stated to amount, 
 
 in the aggregate, to £105,773,879 
 
 And their total produce, per annum, £259,412,702 
 
 The whole capital vested in agriculture, .... £3,258,910,810 
 In manufactures, £217,773,872 
 
 or fifteen to one in capital, and double in produce, with 
 this further superiority, that, in the agricultural capital, 
 it is all fixed and real. Agriculture expends noth- 
 ing abroad, while manufacturers pay to foreigners 
 £20,000,000 annually for raw materials. 
 19 
 
214 COMPARATIVE VALUE OF AGRICULTURE. 
 
 Commerce. 
 The total exports for 1838 amounted 
 
 To foreign countries, to £37,833.000 
 
 To her colonies, to 15,53-2,566 
 
 £53,365,566 
 
 The Cultivator then proceeds to say, — 
 It appears, from the preceding data, that the capital 
 invested in British agriculture is fifteen times as great 
 as that which is invested in British manufactures, al- 
 though the latter excel in magnitude the manufactures 
 of any other nation ; that British agriculture pays most 
 of the hurthens of the government, supports a privi- 
 leged clergy, and contributes more than thirty millions 
 of dollars annually to her poor rates ; that its products 
 exceed in value more than fourteen times the whole 
 amount of her exports to foreign countries, although 
 her commerce exceeds that of any other nation ; and 
 that her agricultural capital is fixed and abiding as her 
 islands, while the capital vested in her commerce and 
 manufactures is subject to many contingencies which 
 may impair or destroy it. 
 
 Now let us apply these facts to our own condition. 
 We will assume the population of both countries to be 
 the same. Ten millions, or one half of her popula- 
 tion, are assigned to agriculture. With the collateral 
 branches, as mines, fisheries, &c. which are classed 
 under agriculture by Mr. McQ^ueen, fifteen millions of 
 our population may be assigned to this class. And the 
 presumption is, that our agricultural capital and agri- 
 cultural products overbalance the capital and products 
 of manufactures and commerce as much, nay more, 
 than they do in Great Britain. From this view of the 
 subject it ^vill be seen that agriculture is really the 
 GREAT business of this nation ; that it is worthy of the 
 most liberal patronage of our governments, state and 
 national ; that it ought to be enlightened hy a better 
 education to the agricultural class; that it ought to be 
 encouraged and patronized by public bounties and 
 
COMPARATIVE VALUE OF AGRICULTURE. 215 
 
 rewards ; that it ought to be respected for its highly 
 salutary influence upon our repubHcan institutions, and 
 upon the good order of society ; and, finally, that it 
 ought to be honored at least according to its intrinsic 
 merits, that it may be more followed by men who 
 have minds as well as hands to accelerate its improve- 
 ment. 
 
 We mean no disrespect, by these remarks, to the 
 merchant or the manufacturer. We are not in the 
 way of believing that by attempting to raise one class 
 we sink the other classes. Manufactures and com- 
 merce are the hands and legs, while agriculture is the 
 body. They are reciprocally useful to each other. 
 The body may sustain life without the limbs, but the 
 limbs will perish without the aliment which they de- 
 rive from the body. But we believe the other classes 
 have numerous and efficient advocates, v/ho are able to 
 take care, and who do take care, of their interests ; and 
 that agriculture demeans herself, and compromits the 
 best interests of the state by her modest, passive, de- 
 grading acquiescence in total neglect. We wish to 
 raise the agriculturists of our country to the condition 
 which belongs to them, to that of intelligent, prosper- 
 ous, high-principled men, who know their rights and 
 their duties, and will fearlessly assert the one and faith- 
 fully perform the other. Then will our agriculture be 
 made to double and treble its products, to compete with 
 the agriculture of other countries, and to supply all 
 our wants ; then will party interest be made- to bend 
 to the public good, and riot and outrage be made to 
 give place to law and good order ; then shall we truly 
 become an independent nation, rich in all the elements 
 of human happiness. Even if we fail in all these 
 fond anticipations, we can lose nothing by making 
 the effort. We must be gainers in a less or greater 
 degree. 
 
216 GQHRESPONDENCE- 
 
 GORRESPONDENCE, 
 
 To the Editor of the Cultivator : 
 
 Dear Sir, — A subscriber to your valuable paper is 
 desirous to know when is the proper time for fall seed- 
 ing to grass. I have three acres of ground that bore 
 wheat, and oats, and barley this summer, and I intend 
 to put the land to grass this fall. 
 
 I have been unlucky in spring seeding, for my land 
 is rather dry, and when I take off my grain the power- 
 ful sun of August is apt to wither my grass and kill it. 
 If you have any experience in sowing down stubble- 
 ground ill the fall, I would like to avail myself of it. 
 Respectfully yours > ^ „ 
 
 Lunenburg, August 8, 1839. 
 
 We have often experienced the difficulty of which 
 our correspondent S. H. complains. To remedy the 
 evil, we sometimes procure ashes at the rate of twenty 
 bushels to the acre, and sow them on after the spring 
 grain and the grass-seed have made their appearance. 
 This matter tends to keep the ground moist, and it does 
 no injury to the grain. We have sometimes delayed 
 sowing our grass-seed, where we had spring grain, until 
 September ; then we have ploughed in the stubble and 
 sowed our herds-grass and our red-top, but no clover, 
 until winter. It has sometimes succeeded well^ and 
 sometimes it has not. We would rather sow our grass^ 
 seed in spring with our grain than wait until fall. 
 
 But we have had very good grass by fall sowing. 
 The best way to proceed is to plough but one acre at a 
 time, then sow it immediately, while the furrow is 
 fresh, and the seed is more likely to vegetate. We 
 have no difficulty in seeding down on the first of 
 September, excepting from the dryness of the ground ; 
 and the sooner we can put in the seed after ploughing^ 
 the more moisture it finds in the earth. — ^Ei), 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 217 
 
 Mr. Buckminster, — I am but a recent subscriber to 
 your paper, but I understand you practise differently 
 from many farmers in our part of the country in regard 
 to your treatment of low lands. I hear that you are in 
 the practice of ploughing them and then seeding to 
 grass without having rotted the sod ; that is, that you 
 sow your grass on the furrow, and without sowing any 
 kind of grain with it. If this be so, you will oblige at 
 least one subscriber by stating what has been your suc- 
 cess, and whether you expect a crop of grass large 
 enough for mowing the next season. B. 
 
 South Andover, August 6, 1839. 
 
 In answer to our correspondent from South Andover, 
 we can say we have for some years been in the practice 
 of sowing down all kinds of land in the fall to grass, 
 and without going through the process of planting. 
 But we have derived the greatest benefit from thus 
 treating all our loiv lands where the plough can be 
 made to run. These lands can never be planted to 
 any advantage, and yet they want to be moved once in 
 a few years, for the wild grasses will creep in and take 
 the place of better company unless large quantities of 
 manure — more than we can spare — are often applied 
 to the surface. 
 
 We formerly practised planting such land either with 
 corn or with potatoes ; but we uniformly found that 
 when we sowed it down to grass it would lie dead and 
 heavy ; and, though for a year or two we could cut a 
 decent crop, it would soon turn wild again, and we 
 were scarcely repaid our labor of going through with 
 this long process. We therefore rather chose to let 
 such lands lie and yield a small harvest, than to waste 
 our strength and expend our manure where it turned to 
 so little profit. We now find that, when managed in a 
 proper manner, these lands are the best of any for 
 grass, and that there is no kind of need to plant them in 
 order to get them into the best of grass. 
 19* 
 
218 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 We choose for this purpose the last of August and the 
 first of September. We plough one acre, or one day's 
 work. We then take a heavy roller and flatten down 
 the furrows well, so that the harrow shall not disturb 
 them. W^e next put on a dozen loads of compost 
 manure — twenty will do no harm — spread it and 
 harrow it in, going at first lengthwise of the furrow, 
 then a little diagonally, but never crosswise. Next we 
 sow one peck of herds-grass, and one bushel of red-top : 
 we save our clover to be thrown on in Avinter. We 
 then take a brush-harrow and cover the seed. If any 
 sods remain on the surface, on account of the imper- 
 fection of the plough, we rake these into the dead fur- 
 rows in a few minutes with the common hand-rake. 
 
 We do not wish to commence earlier than this, lest 
 the dry weather should injure t' e seed ; we do not 
 choose to sow later than the middle of September, lest 
 we should make our crop small at the first inowing. 
 We have never been troubled with the winter-killing 
 of our grass sown in this way ; and we cut from one 
 ton to a ton and a half of good hay on an acre the first 
 season after sowing, and we get more the second year. 
 If we should use half the manure that we take for 
 corn or potatoes, we could cut from two to three tons 
 to the acre the first season. 
 
 By this procedure we lay the sod under, and our 
 land is light : it will remain light much longer than 
 when pulverized by planting : then, too, wj have not 
 exhausted our soil, and taken off", in the shape of corn 
 or potatoes, all the virtue of the manure, but we have 
 placed under th-e sod about a dozen tons of rowen and 
 of roots, to be rotting and turning to English grass as 
 we want it. — Ed. 
 
 To the Editor of the Cultivator : 
 
 Sir, — I have seen but a few numbers of your 
 paper, but I have often heard that you were bred a 
 farmer from your youth up, and that the farmers of 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 219' 
 
 your town, Framingham, have within a few years 
 made great improvements on their low lands and peat- 
 swamps. 
 
 With us such lands have been generally neglected, 
 and they yield no profit whatever, though we must 
 fence them and pay the taxes. I should like to know 
 your modes of improving such lands ; to learn what is 
 the best time of year to engage in the business, and 
 what has been your success. 
 
 Yours, A Subscriber. 
 
 Lunenburg, Au%. 17, 1839. 
 
 There are various modes of reclaiming these low 
 lands and peat-swamps, and each one may be best in a 
 difterently situated swamp. The first act in the 
 drama is to drain off the surplus water. Nothing can 
 be done towards raising English hay in a wet meadow. 
 This is a good season of the year for draining. One 
 central ditch is often sufficient to carry off" all the 
 water ; and, when this is the case, it is mischievous to 
 multiply ditches, for they are in the way of the plough. 
 Don't smile, friend, at the idea of ploughing your 
 swamp, which now your dog cannot cross with safety ! 
 We plough our meadows as soon as we get them 
 .well filled with English grass-roots. 
 
 But some meadows are kept wet by means of springs 
 that issue from the banks on the their borders. When 
 these springs abound, it is good to run side ditches 
 along at their base, and thus cut them off. • These 
 ditches should be cut as nearly parallel as possible with 
 the main central ditch, or with each other, in order to 
 cut the meadow into convenient lands for ploughing. 
 
 When the meadow is drained, the next inquiry is, 
 how can it best be brought into English mowing ? If 
 the surface consists of roots, peat, and an abundance of 
 combustible matter,, it is best to subdue by paring and 
 burning. This paring is done with a bog-hoe, when the 
 ground will not bear a team ; and it often happens that, 
 
220 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 when we have turned over the sod in August, it will 
 burn well in two or three weeks. When the sods will 
 not hum separately, we pile them in heaps, and in dry 
 summers have no difficulty in burning the greater part 
 of the matter turned up by the hoe. If any sods are 
 left unburnt, we pile them in high heaps, to stand until 
 another summer. 
 
 We spread over the ground evenly all the ashes we 
 have made, and then sow on our seed. One peck of 
 herds-grass and one bushel of red-top are quite suffi- 
 cient seed for an acre. If we wish for clover to be 
 mixed, we sow this in winter and let it bury itself, but 
 we cover the other with a hand-rake. 
 
 When we can get the ground prepared, we choose to 
 sow as early as the first of September, because we then 
 harvest a larger burden at the first cutting, but Ave do 
 not fear the winter when we sow as late as the last of 
 that month. The grass in these grounds is hot often 
 winter-killed. When we obtain a good mess of ashes 
 from the sods we think this the cheapest mode of pre- 
 paring these lands, for the ashes make manure enough 
 for two or three years. 
 
 Meadows which have a surface that cannot be easily 
 burned may be prepared for grass by ploughing, or by 
 turning over the sods flat with a hand-hoe. In this 
 case it is necessary to cart or to wheel on loam, gravel, 
 or sand, and then a top dressing of compost manure. 
 
 It often happens that the border of a meadow con- 
 sists of a good loam which is so nigh that it may be 
 very cheaply hauled on to the meadow. Gravel is 
 good for this purpose, but pure sand is the poorest of 
 any thing. When the surface of the meadow is tolera- 
 bly smooth it need not be covered more than three 
 inches thick with gravel. One man in one day, with 
 a small yoke of oxen and cart, will cover over one 
 fourth of an acre sufficiently deep for the reception of 
 the compost manure. 
 
 Common smooth meadow-land, with a burden of 
 
BOOK-FARMING. 
 
 221 
 
 coarse grass upon it, will be much more readily covered, 
 if we suffer the grass to stand unmowed. It will help 
 to fill up the vacancies between the hassocks or hil- 
 locks, and will all soon be converted into manure. 
 
 As to expense, we have sometimes, in a good season, 
 pared, and burned, and seeded an acre for about twenty- 
 five dollars ; and we have had burden enough at the 
 first cutting to pay the whole cost ; that is, one and a 
 half tons, at about sixteen dollars. This price we some- 
 times obtain in the field, but a more common price 
 with us is ten dollars the ton for standing grass. — Ed. 
 
 BOOK-FARMING. 
 
 When a man expects good crops without labor, we 
 call him a book-farmer. When one sits at his desk 
 and attempts to teach farmers what he is ignorant of 
 himself, we call him a book-farmer. When one tells 
 us we must all raise wheat and make flour, we think 
 he is a book-farmer. When one tells us we can raise 
 roots for two cents a bushel, we call him a book- 
 farmer. When one tells us the manure we can make 
 from pork is worth more than the grain costs to fatten 
 it with, we set him down a book-farmer. 
 
 When one says " buy lime, buy lime, to make your 
 land rich," we chalk him down a book-farmer. 
 
 When we hear a man say his peat-meadow is worth 
 three dollars a rod for fuel, iDUt that it brings him more 
 in grass, we mark him a book-farmer. 
 
 It is unfortunate for the community that so much 
 has been written on the subject of farming by people 
 who practically knew but little of the business. It is 
 this which has caused so strong a prejudice in the 
 minds of many farmers against looking at any thing 
 that may be written on the subject of their occupation. 
 
 They well know that farming cannot be taught "by 
 
222 LOW LANDS. 
 
 BOOK," and they are provoked to see so many wild 
 schemes as have been proposed to them to lay out their 
 money^ where there was no reasonable prospect of a 
 profitable return. 
 
 Locations, soils, markets, prices of labor, are all so 
 different, they require different rules and modes of 
 management. What is profitable to a farmer near a 
 great market, may be quite unprofitable to one at a 
 distance ; still there are some leading principles appli- 
 cable to all. 
 
 Farmers should endeavor to overcome this prejudice, 
 for they necessarily live more remote from each other 
 than do merchants or manufacturers ; they therefore 
 have much more use for written communications to 
 make them acquainted with the practices and the im- 
 provements of brother farmers. 
 
 The mercantile and the manufacturing community 
 have so many papers at command, that every new im- 
 provement, invention, or important article of informa- 
 tion, goes with the speed of a locomotive, and the 
 whole population is moved as with an electric shock. 
 
 At a trifling expense farmers may, in like manner, 
 avail themselves of useful hints, and of the various 
 modes of farming which are practised in the civilized 
 world ; and there can be no more doubt of their ability 
 to improve upon their present modes of cultivation, 
 than there is of the ability of other classes. 
 
 He must be a very dull scholar who cannot, in the 
 course of a year, by reading of the improved practices 
 of the best practical farmers in the country, acquire 
 enough of practical hints to pay for a weekly paper. 
 
 LOW LANDS. 
 
 Now is the time to improve upon lands that lie too 
 low to be tilled for grain. We know of many farmers 
 
LOW LANDS. 
 
 22S 
 
 who are determined to make trial of our mode of treat- 
 ing these lands. We beg of all our brother farmers to 
 make the trial of at least one acre each. We know 
 what will be the result, for we have been practising on 
 this plan for years. We bring our low lands directly 
 into grass from grass, without going through with the 
 very unprofitable process of planting such lands with 
 corn or potatoes. 
 
 We have formerly said much on this subject, but we 
 think it must not yet be dropped ; and, especially, as 
 we have very many new patrons who wish to know 
 our views in full on a system of seeding lands to grass 
 which never has been extensively practised in any part 
 of the world. 
 
 Any farmer may try a single acre without fear of 
 ruin, for he may plough it in a day, and one more day 
 will serve to carry on his manure and seed it to grass. 
 If he dare not venture so far out of the common course 
 of husbandry, let him try one fourth of an acre, and 
 finish up the business in half a day. 
 
 Every farmer of fifty acres has some land too low to 
 be planted. Every one has lands which he cannot 
 make so productive as he would wish. If we pursue 
 the system of planting each field before we lay it to 
 grass, the process requires so much manure we cannot 
 do justice to all our fields: some must lie nearly un- 
 productive, merely for want of due attention. 
 
 In general, the time to plough is when there is 
 something on the ground that, may be turned in green. 
 This is the cheapest, the easiest, the safest mode of 
 enriching our worn-out fields. By adopting this plan 
 we can easily make all our tillage-lands fertile. We 
 can go through each field with such rapidity that the 
 whole farm may feel the benefit of our presence. By 
 ploughing in a green crop of rowen at this time, but 
 very little manure is required in addition for an acre, 
 and we are thus enabled to seed down four acres for 
 one for the next season's mowing. 
 
224 LOW LANDS. 
 
 In addition to this, the sod keeps the land h'ght much 
 longer than if it had been pulverized by planting ; con- 
 sequently the land will not need to be ploughed again 
 so soon. 
 
 But most of us have lands so low that we cannot 
 think of planting them. They produce rushes, skunk- 
 cabbage, buckhorn, polly-pod, lamb's bane, moss, or 
 low blueberry bushes, that are all worth rather more to 
 be covered up by the plough than to be mowed or fed. 
 
 Many such fields as these may be easily ploughed, 
 and now is our time. Our cattle are strong, and are 
 kept now at small expense, compared with spring 
 keeping on hay. We have now more leisure for 
 ploughing than at any season when we have any thing 
 that is green to be covered up. 
 
 Method of Seeding on the Furrow. We will 
 again remind our early patrons and inform our more 
 recent friends of our mode of seeding on the farrow at 
 this season of the year. We take a good plough that 
 will lay the furrows flat ; we next roll them down 
 hard, then carry on a dozen loads or more of compost, 
 or fine manure, and harrow thoroughly, first length- 
 wise of the furrow, then a little anglewise. W^e then 
 sow herds-grass seed and red-top, and cover it up with 
 a brush-harrow. It is best to sow down as soon as 
 possible after ploughing, as the seed is more likely to 
 vegetate. 
 
 In winter we sovvt on some clover-seed, and that will 
 be forward enough fot fall feeding next season. Clover 
 will not remain long in such land, but we think it best 
 to fill up the ground with good grass, to keep out the 
 poor. By the time this tap-rooted plant dies, the whole 
 space will be filled by the spreading herds-grass and 
 red-top. 
 
 August 26. 
 
LABORS OF SEPTEMBER. 225 
 
 LABORS OF SEPTEMBER. 
 
 This month should be spent pdncipally in making 
 improvements on the farm. No crops of consequence 
 are to be harvested, and lands which would not suffer 
 us to approach them in the spring, on account of their 
 exuberant moisture, may now be ploughed or pared, 
 and burned, and fitted for a next year's harvest of 
 grass. 
 
 Forty or fifty years ago, when some people loved 
 labor better than at present, two or three weeks were 
 often spent in mowing the annual growth of bushes in 
 the cow-pastures, where the plough would do the 
 business much more thoroughly. 
 
 No service or drudgery can be better calculated to 
 make boys dislike farming than this eternal repetition 
 of clipping bushes without a prospect of reducing them. 
 The labor is about as interesting as that of turning 
 a grindstone by hand, or churning cream in cold 
 weather in a dash-churn. 
 
 Wherever the plough can be made to go in a bush- 
 pasture, it should be preferred to any instrument that 
 barely cuts the bushes. These will make good manure 
 when well buried, and it is more pleasant labor to 
 plough than to mow them. Farmers often say we 
 have more land near home than we can manure, and 
 it is folly to plough up our pastures unless we can 
 manure them ; we are only making them poorer. This 
 is not so where a grain crop is not taken off. Every 
 ploughing makes lands richer, provided there is vege- 
 table matter to be buried in the furrow. 
 
 If one ploughing will not kill all the bushes, a second 
 ploughing may finish them ; and it is better to kill half 
 than to let them all stand. Pasture-lands that are 
 turned at this season should be sowed directly with 
 grass-seed : no grain should be thrown on. If plaster of 
 Paris suits the soil, a couple of bushels spread on an 
 20 
 
226 LABORS OF SEPTEMBER. 
 
 acre will give the grass a good start ; but on some soils 
 plaster seems to do no good. 
 
 A man may plough one or more acres in a large 
 pasture without the labor of fencing off as in case of 
 planting; for his cattle may generally be taken from 
 his summer pasture in this month, before they can in- 
 jure the new grass. When lands are seeded down to 
 grass, they should be harrowed well and laid as smooth 
 as may be, that they may be better fitted for another 
 ploughing a few years hence. If no manure can be 
 spared, the land should be turned occasionally, and 
 more especially where there are bushes. In most cases 
 we obtain better feed the next summer than if we had 
 not turned over the soil ; but we should not turn in the 
 cattle quite so early in spring. 
 
 If our doctrine is correct, that grass does not exhaust 
 lands, it must be evident that by repeated ploughings, 
 and turning under the vegetable growth, we are mak- 
 ing our pastures richer and richer. But how few will 
 plough without sowing grain ! Many are loath to 
 make the experiment. 
 
 The plea of the slothful is, " we cannot enrich our 
 farms, because we have not manure." This plea will 
 not hold where a man has a team and a plough. 
 
 Turning Meadow into English. Last September 
 we carted as many loads of loam and soil from the 
 road-side on to a meadow, near by, as one man could 
 do in one day with a yoke of oxen. The grass on the 
 meadow was coarse, and as we had an abundance of 
 hay, we preferred not to mow this, but to bury it 
 green. 
 
 One man with oxen would cover nearly one fourth 
 of an acre in a day, as the long grass helped to fill up 
 the hollows between the hassocks. After this was 
 evenly spread over the grass, so as to cover it complete- 
 ly, a few loads of compost manure were spread on the 
 top, and then herds-grass and red-top were sowed and 
 brushed in. It was near the middle of September 
 
GARGET. 227 
 
 when it was sown. This summer the piece gave a 
 fine crop of English hay, and the clover which was 
 thrown on in the spring now looks finely for fall feeding. 
 This land was thoroughly drained, and the mud from 
 the ditches helped us to form the new sm'face. 
 
 Thus where there is soil near a meadow that is 
 made dry enough to be carted on, one man, in a week, 
 with a single yoke of oxen, will carry on enough of 
 soil to convert a whole acre of poor meadow into 
 English mowing. Say the expense is two dollars per 
 day, or twelve dollars per acre, — and such land needs 
 not much manure : it will nearly maintain itself in 
 grass, if the rowen crop is turned under once in a few 
 years. This land, thus prepared, is worth more than 
 one hundred dollars per acre twenty miles from Boston. 
 
 How much of such land we have within thirty 
 miles of Boston which now bears a burden that will 
 hardly pay for fencing ! It requires no expensive 
 process to double the quantity of hay now cut in 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 GARGET. 
 
 This disease in cows is very troublesome at certain 
 seasons, and is more often found to afflict the best 
 milkers than the poorest. Garget root, as it is called 
 in Maine, jalap more commonly in Massachusetts, 
 has been the usual remedy for this disorder. It bears 
 a berry large as a pea, and full of purple juice. The 
 plant is quite common in this vicinity, but does not 
 flourish so well farther north. 
 
 We have been in the habit of taking a piece of the 
 root an inch long, and half an inch in diameter, and 
 inserting it in a hole cut in the dewlap of the afflicted 
 cow. In cases of a severe attack, the dewlap will 
 swell sometimes to the size of a small hog's bladder. 
 
228 
 
 THE HARROW 
 
 When the cow is but slightly attacked, we have cut 
 holes in potatoes and inserted bits of this root, and 
 then given them to her for a lunch. This is the easier 
 mode of administration, and generally a.nswers a good 
 purpose. 
 
 A writer in a late number of the Maine Farmer recom- 
 mends saltpetre for this disease. He says he gave a 
 pretty strong dose, something like two ounces, and in 
 less than twelve hours her milk was restored good as 
 ever. This cow had been so subject to the disease 
 through the summer as to be nearly useless. He sug- 
 gests the propriety of mixing a little saltpetre with the 
 salt given weekly, or oftener, to cows, but has some 
 doubts whether it may not prove injurious to the blood. 
 
 Now we call on our medical gentlemen, of whom 
 we have a very goodly number for patrons — thanks 
 to their liberality — to give us an opinion whether salt- 
 petre, in small quantities, wi-ll be likely to prove inju- 
 rious to neat stock. 
 
 This question is of vital importance to all who keep 
 cows ; and who, in the country, does not keep them ? 
 If saltpetre shall be found a complete remedy for the 
 disease, it can be very readily administered by any one. 
 
 THE HARROW. 
 
 For old fields of all kinds we prefer the square 
 harrow. Many make use of the triangular or crotch 
 harrow for all kinds of land. In new ground, full of 
 stumps, the triangular harrows may be best, but in old 
 fields they are very objectionable. The moving 
 power raises from the earth the forward teeth, and 
 leaves the centre nearly untouched ; but the centre 
 should ahvays be the most throughly harrowed, be- 
 cause the edge is harrowed twice by the lapping on of 
 the instrument* 
 
COLD AND WET GROUNDS. 229 
 
 GATHERING POTATOES. 
 
 Young farmers often dig their potatoes too soon. 
 They should be suffered to stand until fully ripe, if we 
 wish for the most nourishment they will afford. In 
 truth they are not wholesome for man or beast when 
 unripe ; and, by putting them early in the cellar, they 
 are liable to heat and spoil in the heap. 
 
 They should be but little exposed to the air, and no 
 amount of dry loam mixed with them will prove in- 
 jurious when housed at the proper season of the year. 
 
 We have known some very early farmers obliged to 
 overhaul their potatoes and throw them out of the 
 cellar to prevent their spoihng. So long as the vines 
 are green the potatoes are growing ; and, though after 
 the frost has taken their tops we expect no great in- 
 crease, we think the potatoes often become more ripe 
 and mealy by lying in the ground until the vines are 
 dead. 
 
 COLD AND WET GROUNDS. 
 
 People often ask, "What shall we do with our cold 
 and wet grounds ? If we put no manure in the hill we 
 fear we shall get no crop." It is believed that most 
 farmers have some dry and warm land. Let the corn 
 be planted on such land. We are not so bound by a 
 system of rotation of crops as to be obliged to try every 
 field with corn. Rotation to some extent is useful, 
 but we have thousands of acres, excellent for grass, 
 yet wholly unsuitable for corn. Let these acres re- 
 main in grass. If they need ploughing, sow them 
 again to grass in September : they need not be planted. 
 
 Warm and dry grounds, if manured, and the manure 
 thoroughly mixed with the soil, will generally give us 
 good crops of corn when they are well attended to. 
 20* 
 
230 HARVESTING CORK. 
 
 CORN-FIELDS. 
 
 Nothing in the vegetable kingdom looks richer than 
 a well-cultivated field of corn at this season of the year. 
 Fifty or sixty bushels of rich, heavy grain are often 
 taken from a single acre, and the stover in which it is 
 enveloped, when well preserved, affords a rich repast to 
 neat cattle of all descriptions. 
 
 In passing through fields of corn this season, we often 
 see the blades standing so close to each other that they 
 bear no ears. The worms and the birds did not call 
 for their usual supply, or the tiller neglected his duty. 
 It is well to plant a large quantity of seed when its 
 cost is so trifling as that of corn ; but he who leaves 
 too many stalks in a hill will be sorry for his neglect to 
 root out a part when it is too late to remedy the evil. 
 
 When rows are three and a half feet apart, and hills 
 two feet distant in the row, two stalks of our middle- 
 sized corn are sufficient to remain on the first hoeingv 
 
 HARVESTING CORN. 
 
 As to the best mode of harvesting, we have some 
 hesitation. If we had a field of late corn, and we were 
 in fear of a frost, we should be inclined to cut the 
 whole stalk at bottom and make shocks of the corn, to 
 Stand two or three weeks before harvesting. Fifteen 
 or twenty hills may be put together in one shock, and 
 one should be left standing to support the others which 
 are to be placed around it. One band, or birch withe, 
 will be sufficient for one shock ; and, if well put up, they 
 will stand two or three weeks without racking over. 
 When we wish to cart them home, we throw a whole 
 shock at a time on the cart, and keep the stalks straight. 
 In his way they are more easily husked. 
 
PEAT. 231 
 
 We are not sure that we save any labor in adopting 
 this mode of harvesting, but it is certain the fodder is 
 better when secured in this way. If the stalks are cut 
 above the ear, they should always be put in pikes, or 
 shocks, as some call them, and there suffered to stand 
 as long as two or three weeks : they become sweeter, 
 and are better relished by cattle. When we house 
 them soon after cutting, they retain an acid which is 
 not agreeable to cattle, even though we take the trouble 
 to hang up the bundles on poles and let the air in the 
 barn draw through them so much as to prevent any 
 mould from gathering. We have had stalks that were 
 thus kept, and looked perfectly well and bright, but the 
 cattle would not eat them so well as they would others 
 that had been weather-beaten. 
 
 When we have put stalks in the pike we are apt to 
 suffer them to stand out too long. Three weeks of 
 pretty good weather will fit them to be packed close 
 on the scaffolds. They should be opened and sunned 
 on the day of carting. 
 
 PEAT. 
 
 We take much pleasure in copying into our columns 
 a letter from Mr. Phinney to Dr. Charles Jackson, on 
 the subject of peat. 
 
 E. Phinney, Esq. of Lexington, is one of our most 
 scientific farmers, and we are proud to have him en- 
 rolled on the list of Middlesex husbandmen. He is the 
 first writer who ever dared, to our knowledge, to de- 
 clare, in public, that we sometimes plough too often, 
 throwing up again to the winds what ought to be kept 
 below until entirely rotted and converted into a new 
 vegetable gi'owth. 
 
 From him we have caught as many useful ideas on 
 farming as from any one individual who has written so 
 little on the subject. 
 
232 PEAT. 
 
 " Dr. Charles T. Jackson : 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I herewith send you a sample of my 
 peat. I am very desirous of availing myself of the 
 benefit to be derived from a chemical analysis of the 
 same, which you kindly offered to make. A more 
 intimate knowledge of the nature and properties of 
 peat, which can be obtained only by a scientific exam- 
 ination of its constituent parts, would enable farmers 
 more justly to appreciate this valuable species of land. 
 It is from a want of this knowledge that our extensive 
 tracts of low meadow and swamp-lands have hitherto 
 been esteemed of little or no value. Allow me to say, 
 sir, that I know of no way in which you could render 
 a more essential service to the public, more especially 
 to farmers, than by enabling them to convert their un- 
 productive and unsightly bogs and morasses into luxu- 
 riant fields, and sources of wealth. I consider my peat- 
 grounds by far the most valuable part of my farm ; 
 more valuable than my wood-lots for fuel, and more 
 than double the value of an equal number of acres of 
 my uplands, for the purpose of cultivation. 
 
 " In addition to these, they furnish an inexhaustible 
 supply of the most essential ingredient for the manure- 
 heap. A statement of the uses to which I have appro- 
 priated peat-lands, and my management of them, 
 though very imperfect, may serve to give you a partial 
 conception of their value and uses, and at the same 
 time enable you to see how important it is that the 
 farming community should have more information on 
 this subject. 
 
 "In the first place, they are valuable for fuel. I 
 have, for twenty years past, resorted to my peat- 
 meadows for fuel. These, with the prunings of my 
 fruit-trees, and the brush from my uncleared lands, 
 have given me my whole supply. The prunings and 
 brush are bound in bundles, and housed, and, with the 
 help of a small bundle of these fagots and peat, a 
 quick and durable fire is made. It gives a summer-like 
 
PEAT. 233 
 
 atmosphere, and lights a room better than a wood fire. 
 The smoke from peat has no irritating effect upon the 
 eyes, and does not in the shghtest degree obstruct respi- 
 ration, Hke the smoke of wood ; and it has none of that 
 dryiug, unpleasant effect of a coal fire. The ashes of 
 peat are, to be sure, more abundant, but not more 
 troublesome, and are less injurious to the furniture of 
 a room, than the ashes of coal. 
 
 " The best peat is found in meadows which have 
 for many years been destitute of trees and brush, and 
 well drained, and where the surface has become so dry, 
 and the accumulation of decayed vegetable matter so 
 great, that but little grass or herbage of any description 
 is seen upon the surface. If the meadows are suffered 
 to remain in a miry condition, the wild grasses and 
 coarse herbage will continue to grow, and the peat be 
 of a light and chaffy texture, fixed with undecayed 
 fibrous roots. By draining they become hard, and the 
 peat becomes compact and solid, and the cutting out 
 and carrying off greatly facilitated. A rod square, cut 
 two spittings deep, each spitting of the length of 
 eighteen inches, will give three cords when dried. It 
 may be cut from May to September. If the weather 
 in autumn be very dry, the best time for cutting will 
 be from the middle of August to the middle of Septem- 
 ber. If cut the latter part of summer, or early in 
 autumn, it dries more gradually, and is not so liable to 
 crack and crumble as when cut early in summer. 
 The pieces are taken out with an instrument made for 
 the purpose, from two to three inches square ; and, 
 if of good quality, will shrink about one half in drying. 
 It is considered a day's work for a man, a boy, and a 
 horse, to cut out and spread a rod square. The man 
 cuts it out and lays it upon a hght kind of drag, made 
 for the purpose, and it is drawn off by the horse, and 
 spread by the boy as thick as the pieces can lay singly. 
 After becoming dry enough to handle without breaking, 
 it is made into piles, cob-house fashion, of from twelve 
 
234 PEAT. 
 
 to twenty pieces in a pile. It will then require about 
 four weeks of dry weather to render it fit to be housed 
 for use. The top, or turf, is thrown back into the pits 
 from which the peat is taken ; and, if well leveled, and 
 the ground drained, it will, after the first year, give a 
 large crop of foul meadow, or other lowland grass. 
 Peat, taken from land which has been many years 
 drained, when dried, is nearly as heavy as oak wood, 
 and bears about the same price in the market. 
 
 '' The value of peat-lands for tillage is now pretty 
 well known and acknowledged. Some years since, I 
 occasionally sold to my neighbors a few rods of my 
 peat-land yearly, to be cut out for fuel, at three dollars 
 per rod, being at the rate of four hundred and eighty 
 dollars per acre ; but, finding this sum to be less than its 
 value for cultivation, especially when laid to grass, I 
 have declined making further sales at that' price. T 
 have raised upon my reclaimed meadows seventy-five 
 bushels of corn, five hundred bushels of potatoes, or 
 from four to five tons of the best hay, at a first and 
 second cutting, to the acre, at a less expense of labor 
 and manure than would be required to produce half 
 this crop upon uplands. To render these lands pro- 
 ductive, they should be thoroughly drained, by digging 
 a ditch around the margin of the meadow, so as to cut 
 off the springs, and receive the water that is continual- 
 ly flowing in from the surrounding uplands. If the 
 meadow be wide, a ditch through the centre may be 
 necessary, but this will be of no use without the border 
 ditches. This being thoroughly done, and the surplus 
 water all drawn off", the next step is to exterminate the 
 wild grasses and herbage of every kind that grow upon 
 the surface. To effect this, the method heretofore 
 generally and now by some pursued, is to cover with 
 gravel or sand, top dress with manure, sow the grass- 
 seed, and then rake or bush it over. This, for the first 
 year or two, will give a good crop of hay ; but, after 
 this, I have invariably found that the more coarse and 
 
PEAT. 235 
 
 hardy kinds of wild grass would work their way 
 through the sand or gravel, and entirely supplant the 
 cultivated grasses ; when the whole must have another 
 covering, or be abandoned as worthless. If to be 
 planted with corn, or any of the root crops, my course 
 has been to turn over the turf or sward with a plough 
 having a wrought-iron share or coulter, ground to a 
 sharp edge ; in the driest season, say in the month of 
 September, roll down as hard as possible ; carry on in 
 the winter a sufficient top dressing of compost, twenty 
 cart-loads to the acre ; and, in the spring, plant with corn 
 or roots, without disturbing tlie sod. When the corn or 
 roots are taken oif, the surface is made smooth with the 
 cultivator, or hoe and harrow; and, late in November, 
 or just before the heavy frosts sets in, sow with herds- 
 grass and red-top seed, half a bushel of the former, and 
 one bushel of the latter to the acre. The field is then 
 rolled, which completes the process. If the plough 
 does not turn the sods smooth, it will be necessary to 
 follow it with a bog-hoe, to level the uneven places. 
 By keeping the sod undisturbed in the cultivation, a 
 more firm and compact surface is formed, upon which 
 oxen or horses may work generally without danger 
 of miring. If the land is intended for grass, without 
 the intervention of a hoed crop, the tmf is turned over 
 with the plough, as before stated, in August or Sep- 
 tember, or as early as the surface becomes dry enough 
 to admit the oxen or horses upon it ; then follow with 
 the bog-hoe and turn over such parts as the plough has 
 left unturned ; make the whole smooth with the hoe, 
 and, late in November, spread on a top dressing of com- 
 post, not less than twenty cart-loads, made half of loam, 
 and half of stable manure, to the acre ; then soav the 
 grass-seed, and bush, and roll down. If the ground 
 be miry, so as to render the use of the plough impracti- 
 cable, the bog-hoe must be resorted to, and the whole 
 turned over by hand, and top-dressed, and seeded to 
 grass, as above stated. The cost of turning over with 
 
286 PLASTER OF PARIS. 
 
 the hoe will be twenty dollars per acre, at the usual 
 price of labor. This mode of culture completely sub-- 
 dues the natural wild grasses, and gives a compact and 
 rich surface of vegetable mould, which will give an 
 abundant crop of the best English hay for four or five 
 years, without the aid of more manure. If the sod is 
 disturbed and attempted to be pulverized in the course 
 of the cultivation, the surface, when laid to grass, will 
 be loose and spongy ; an extra top dressing of loam and 
 manure will be required, and, after all, the surface will 
 not become so compact, nor the produce by any means 
 so great. Should meadows be found too soft and miry 
 to admit of their being ploughed in the summer or 
 autumn, and the expense of turning with the hoe 
 should be thought too great, I would advise ploughing 
 in the spring, when the frost is out to the depth of 
 three or four inches, carting on the manure,' and then 
 sowing or planting at a convenient and proper season. 
 The art of reclaiming these low meadows consists in 
 taking off all the surplus water by judicious draining, 
 and in thoroughly exterminating the natural herbage 
 and grasses. This being effected, we have our rich 
 bottoms, equally as productiv^e as the deep alluvials of 
 the west, and obtained at a cost and sacrifice infinitely 
 less." 
 
 Lexington, January 30, 1839. 
 
 PLASTER OF PARIS. 
 
 We have often promised to give to the public our 
 own views of the value and of the operation of plaster 
 on our New England soils, but have never yet had 
 space to devote to the subject. 
 
 Much has been written upon its chemical qualities, 
 as well as upon the surprising effects of it when applied 
 to certain soils. We propose to take notice, in the first 
 
PLASTER OF PARIS. 237 
 
 place, of its effects, and from these, our premises, we 
 may then draw some general conckisions. 
 
 We believe it to be now generally conceded that 
 plaster, on certain soils, has no sensible effect ; but it is 
 not so generally admitted that it is beneficial on any 
 soil. Many people who have tried it on certain lands, 
 and found no advantage in the use of it, are ready at 
 once to condemn it m toto^ and to discredit all they 
 may have heard in its favor. They come to conclu- 
 sions too hastily. They have not patience to make 
 repeated trials on soils differently constituted, and, be- 
 cause they did not find it to operate like common 
 barn-yard manure on all kinds of soil, they hastily 
 pronounce judgment against it. 
 
 It has been a common remark that plaster did not 
 operate well near the sea; but there are exceptions to 
 this theory, and we much doubt whether the vicinity 
 of salt water checks its beneficial operation. We have 
 very generally found that our plaster had but little 
 effect on light, sandy plains, on low and wet grounds, 
 or in seasons when the clouds always furnished a 
 sufficiency of moisture. 
 
 But on dry and heavy loams, on clayey soils, and 
 on gravelly hills with a deep loam, we have generally 
 noticed the good eflects of plaster. Even on the banks 
 of the Kennebec river, where much of the soil is 
 clayey, there are fields where plaster would not pay 
 the expense of spreading. Yet we have seen fields 
 there brought directly from sterility into heavy clover, 
 merely by the application of two bushels of plaster 
 sown on the acre. 
 
 In' the town of Framingham we have lands on 
 which plaster seems to have no effect. These are our 
 plains, with a soil light and inclining to sand. We have 
 tried plaster on other lands in the same town, where it 
 had surprising effects ; where two bushels spread on an 
 acre has doubled the quantity of feed for two succes- 
 sive years. This land lies at the southwest part of the 
 21 
 
238 PLASTER OF PARIS. 
 
 town, and the soil is a heavy loam : some parts of the 
 pasture, which is hilly land, are ledgy, and the ledges 
 have formerly been covered with moss. Plaster here 
 has the effect of bringing up clover through the moss ; 
 and the cattle are so fond of this new growth, they 
 often destroy all the moss in search of it. 
 
 It seems philosophical to suppose that plaster ope- 
 rates to most advantage in soils that are naturally de- 
 ficient of the article. We cannot rank it with the 
 manures : they are beneficial to all soils. It probably 
 acts as a stimulant to other matter. It attracts mois- 
 ture from the atmosphere, and acts as a solvent on the 
 surface of soils that are liable to be baked in the sun 
 and to crack open ; hence it is more serviceable in dry 
 seasons than in wet ones. It is better on the surface 
 than underneath. 
 
 There is much difference in the quality of the article 
 sold as plaster. We have often thought that best 
 which contained the most sulphur. We test it by 
 boiling it in a kettle ; and, when hot, it will be so light 
 it may be stirred as easily as hasty-pudding, when 
 only half thickened. If it be good, it then emits a 
 strong flavor of sulphur. 
 
 It has been objected that plaster tends, in the end, 
 to impoverish the soil ; that it sends out a forced 
 growth by its stimulating power, and then leaves the 
 land poorer than before. The same objection has been 
 made to ashes ; that they stimulated, but did not 
 enrich. 
 
 We cannot agree to such doctrine. We might as 
 well say that showers of rain Vv^ere useless because 
 they merely stimulate other matter. Any thing which 
 vvTill produce a large vegetable growth may readily be 
 converted into manure, by means of the plough. The 
 more we make our fields produce, the more ability 
 we have to go on increasing our crop from year to 
 year. 
 
GRAPES. 239 
 
 GRAPES. 
 
 Of all the fruits of the field or of the garden^ grapes 
 are the most easily cultivated. A cutting from a vine 
 buried in moist ground vvAill soon take root, and, in a 
 year or two, will produce fine fruit. 
 
 Many foreign grapes have been introduced within a 
 few years, but most of them need a green-house, or 
 some kind of protection from our cold winters, which 
 makes the cultivation of the fruit troublesome and 
 difficult. 
 
 When the Isabella grape was first introduced, it was 
 thought it would flourish well in our open air, and re- 
 quire no protection. It is now found that, to insure its 
 bearing, and even its existence, it should be buried 
 during winter ; and, when the utmost care has been 
 taken, our summers are often too cold to bring the 
 fruit to maturity. 
 
 Cream-colored Grapes. We have a native grape- 
 vine in our garden, which we found in the woods some 
 years ago, and which bears a rich and sweet fruit, quite 
 different from the native purple grape of the woods. 
 Its fruit was ripe on the first of September, and it is 
 equal in richness to the imported white sweet-water 
 grape, which is not usually brought to maturity in the 
 open air. This grape has none of that unpleasant 
 sourness so common to the purple grape when the skin 
 is kept long in the mouth. Its taste much resembles 
 that of the best white plums, and there can be no 
 doubt its juice would make excellent wine. 
 
 One bushel of good soil would be sufficient, near a 
 lady's window, for a vine that would be an ornament 
 to the house, and a source of gratification to the lovers 
 of fine fruit. These vines may be propagated in mul- 
 titudes in the city, and they require no care except a 
 little clipping of the exuberant foliage. But farmers 
 have no time. Men have more fancy for grain than 
 
240 THE ENGLISH ARTICHOKE. 
 
 for grapes: and we intend now to address our female 
 patrons who have been so liberal in our support. 
 
 Every lady whose name is on our books shall be 
 welcome to a handful of cuttings from this grape-vine, 
 if she will be at the trouble to send for them at our 
 office next spring : and we will warrant each cutting to 
 growj if she will expend upon it five minutes' attention. 
 We make the same offer to future female subscribers. 
 
 They will find this grape quite as ornamental, and 
 not half so troublesome, as the geranium ; then all its 
 fruit will be net gain. 
 
 THE ENGLISH ARTICHOKE. 
 
 We have been requested, by a gentleman of Missis- 
 sippi, to direct the attention of our farmers to the more 
 extensive cultivation of the English artichoke, as an 
 excellent article of food for hogs. It is now cultivated 
 by some of our farmers, but upon too small a scale, 
 considering its great value. We learn that Judge 
 Caruthers, and Mr. F. H. Gordon, of Smith county, 
 have about twelve acres each now growing, which 
 will afford food for near a hundred hogs from the 1st of 
 November till planting time. 
 
 The artichoke requires but little labor in tilling, and 
 is very productive. The roots will remain in the 
 ground safe during the whole of the winter ; the stalk 
 and the foliage furnishing an excellent protection from 
 the frosts, and enriching the soil greatly. The hogs 
 can be let on them the 1st of November, and remain till 
 spring, when they will be in prime order. A portion 
 of the ground cultivated should be set apart for seed ; 
 the seed to remain in the earth where it grows till 
 spring, then taken and planted about the time sweet 
 potatoes are planted, with about the same amount of 
 
SUGAR-BEET. 241 
 
 seed per acre. Thus four bushels of seed will plant an 
 acre of ground, and require one ploughing and hoeing, 
 and keep thirty or more hogs from the 1st of November 
 till spring. If our farmers do not pay more attention 
 to this, they certainly are bhnd to their interest. Seed, 
 we presume, can be had quite plenty next spring. — 
 Southern Cultivator. 
 
 [From the Genesee Farmer.] 
 
 SUGAR-BEET. 
 
 The valuable qualities of this root for feeding 
 animals is beginning to be understood ; and we may 
 reasonably expect that its culture will hereafter be very 
 much increased. The common beet and the mangel 
 wurtzel have both been proved valuable roots, but the 
 sugar-beet is much superior to either of the former, as 
 was indeed to have been expected from the greater 
 quantity of saccharine matter it contains. It is culti- 
 vated with as much ease and certainty as the common 
 beet, and, though usually more difficulty has been 
 found in preserving the beet or the carrot than the 
 ruta baga, there is really no more danger of failure 
 where cellars of proper temperature are to be had. For 
 making fine mutton, the sugar-beet is said to be un- 
 rivaled. We find a letter on this subject in the 
 '' Whip," from which we make the following extract, 
 which we are confident is worthy the attention of all 
 those who wish to produce from their flocks meat of the 
 first quality. The writer was an extensive mutton 
 grower for the Philadelphia market, and his mutton, 
 before he commenced using the sugar-beet, had attained 
 a high character ; at last he commenced the use of this 
 root, and he says : 
 
 '' What surprised him most was the rapid manner 
 21* 
 
242 DYSPEPSY IN HOGS. 
 
 in which they took on fat, when fed on the sugar-beet ; 
 and, when carried to market, the saddles excited par- 
 ticular attention from their very superior appearance. 
 But it was not in appearance only ; the meat was of a 
 much better quality, more juicy, and exceedingly ten- 
 der. The inquiry was, 'Why, sir, on what do you 
 fatten your sheep ? ' and when I replied, on the sugar- 
 beet, hay, and a small quantity of corn, it would 
 generally call forth acclamations of surprise. My first 
 trial was four years ago ; and, since that time, I have 
 been a constant grower of the beet. The meat I bring 
 to market is always in demand, and brings several cents 
 more per pound than that fattened in the old way : and 
 yet, strange to say, some of my neighbors, though 1 
 have urged them, will not plant the beet for their 
 stock. I have been benefited to the extent of several 
 hundred dollars by the introduction of this r.oot : the 
 effects are visible ; my neighbors see it, and know it, 
 and yet they stand looking on, halting between two 
 opinions. But light is breaking in upon us, and of one 
 thing you may be assured ; that is, that the time is not 
 far distant when every extensive stock-feeder will also 
 be an extensive root-groAver." 
 
 The opinion here last advanced is doubtless a cor- 
 rect one ; and we also think that, whether feeders or 
 not, every cattle-grower will, if he consults his own 
 interest, be a root-grower. We are convinced, that in 
 this country, as elsewhere, the root culture lies at the 
 b^sis of all profitable cattle husbandry. 
 
 DYSPEPSY IN HOGS. 
 
 We often find hogs, at this season of plenty, losing 
 their appetites. This complaint would not be so dis- 
 agreeable if it attacked them when we had but little 
 food for them ; but now, when full harvests are coming 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 243 
 
 in, and some of a perishable quality, to have hogs that 
 have no stomachs is worse than to have no hogs. 
 
 Rotten wood has been recommended as a corrector 
 of the acid in a swine's stomach, but charcoal is one of 
 the best things that we have tried. We cannot tell 
 the why, but hogs are fond of it, and will eat a portion 
 of it daily when they can get it. It is insisted by 
 some that there is much nourishment in charcoal, and 
 that hogs have been known to live on it a great length 
 of time. In a voyage from Europe a lost pig was 
 found in a charcoal pit, after some weeks, plump and 
 hearty. 
 
 Captain Riley, many years ago, in his travels in 
 Africa, surprised us in his accounts of feecling camels, 
 on long journeys through the desert, with nothing of 
 consequence but charcoal. Now we do not vouch for 
 the truth of these stories, but we know that some hogs 
 love charcoal, and will fatten better for having that as 
 one item of food or condiment. It may be pure fancy 
 in the hog, but not a wilder one than some of our own 
 race manifest for the African complexion. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Mr. Buckminster, — I have a hundred loads of 
 compost manure which I intend to put on my grass- 
 land, and I should like to have your opinion as to the 
 best mode of using it. I agree with you that it is 
 more profitable, in this region, to raise grass and hay 
 than to raise grain for sale ; but I think we sometimes 
 lose by not putting on our manure at the right time, 
 and in the right mode. 
 
 Some people spread manure on their grass-lands im- 
 mediately after haying. Some choose this month, 
 October, and some prefer laying it on just before 
 
244 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 winter. My land is somewhat low and rocky, and 
 cannot be easily ploughed. Yours, ^ 
 
 Leominster^ Oct. 2, 1839. 
 
 We lose some of the virtue of manures, when we 
 spread them on grass-lands, in consequence of evapora- 
 tion ; and the longer the land has lain in grass, the 
 more we lose, because the sward has become more 
 compact, and will not readily suffer the compost to be- 
 come incorporated with it. We have sometimes put 
 compost on to grass-lands that were rather dry, and 
 that had not been ploughed for many years, and we 
 could see but little benefit arising from the application. 
 Some have 'lately recommended spreading it on im- 
 mediately after mowing. We see no good reason for 
 this. It is usually as dry weather at that season as at 
 any in the year, and Ave cannot fail to lose much by 
 evaporation. 
 
 Some prefer the fore part of May for this operation, 
 and calculate on the rapid growth of the grass to cover 
 up the manure. We have more than one objection to 
 this practice. We have no leisure at this time ; we 
 have no manure ready unless it was prepared the year 
 before, and if prepared, it should have been put on 
 then ; we injure the land by going on it when it is 
 soft ; and, when we spread manure on at this season, it 
 is much in the way of the scythe ; and the rake will 
 gather up a part of it with the hay in July. 
 
 We think the best time is in November, as soon as 
 our harvesting is over. The compost will then dry up 
 but little before its virtues are mingled with the soil. 
 If the land has long lain in grass, it should be well 
 harrowed, after applying the compost. If the harrow 
 moves slowly over the groinid it will tear up but few 
 of the roots, and it makes more room for those that re- 
 main : it opens the ground so as to admit the compost, 
 and, before the long days of May arrive, much of the 
 goodness of the manure is sunk into the soil. 
 
PIG-PEN IN AUGUST. 245 
 
 We do not advocate the spreading of much compost 
 on grass-lands when we can plough them, for we can- 
 not avoid a loss from evaporation at any season of the 
 year ; but there are some lands too low for planting, 
 and too rough to be ploughed. They are good for 
 nothing but grass, and they often yield a good harvest 
 between the rocks and the stumps. Composts for such 
 lands should have a large proportion of loam or fine 
 gravel mixed with them, and then the loss by surface 
 manuring will be less. 
 
 We undoubtedly make more profit of our manures 
 by incorporating them with a ploughed soil ; and if we 
 have ingenuity enough to turn under a green crop of 
 rowen, in aid of the surface application, to be rotting 
 as it is wanted, we may enrich our lands with great 
 rapidity, and constantly keep them rich. But this 
 should always be done about the first of autumn, as 
 we have often stated. — Ed. 
 
 PIG-PEN IN AUGUST. 
 
 At this season of the year the sty should be par- 
 ticularly attended to. The health and comfort of all 
 human beings who may pass by one are concerned in 
 the proper management of the contents. 
 
 Manure is of immense importance to the farmer, and 
 now is the best time for increasing it. Hogs in the 
 fore part of the season make but little manure, for they 
 are not so fully fed ; but we should begin to feed them 
 better before this month is past, that they may be fit 
 for the butcher before the coldest weather comes on. 
 
 At this season, loam from the road-side may often be 
 procured where there is a rank vegetable growth 
 which may be taken up with it. All this should be 
 thrown into the pen, and the pigs will look as much 
 neater for this supply as will some floors with a quan- 
 tity of sand spread over them. 
 
246 
 
 CANKER-WORM. 
 
 CANKER-WORM. 
 
 We think we cannot render a greater service to the 
 community, at the present time, than to call the atten- 
 tion of cultivators to that destructive pest which so 
 long has foiled all attempts to destroy it. 
 
 It is well known that some of these worms ascend 
 the tree in autumn. Those, therefore, who intend to 
 take measures of prevention should commence opera- 
 tions before the enemy has effected a lodgement from 
 which he cannot be driven. 
 
 We fondly hope some cheaper, and more effectual 
 method may yet be discovered to save our ornamental 
 as well as our fruit-trees. Last summer the devouring 
 herd attacked the English cherry-tree and the rose- 
 bush for lack of their favorite food, and it is vincertain 
 where they will stop, if no attempts are made to arrest 
 their progress. 
 
 We take from the New Haven Herald a well- written 
 article on this subject, sent to the editor from an 
 unknown hand in Philadelphia. We know not, at 
 present, any cheaper mode of defence than the one here 
 recommended. 
 
 We would invite the attention of our citizens to the 
 following article on the canker-worm. The renewed 
 foilage with which our shade-trees are now covered 
 has in some degree removed the apprehension enter- 
 tained a few months since, that we were in danger of 
 losing one of the chief ornaments of our city. Our 
 citizens ought to be apprised, however, that the effort 
 required to put forth two sets of foilage annually, can- 
 not be sustained, ordinarily, longer than two or three 
 successive years. For one year, or two, this may 
 occur v/ithout serious detriment ; but the third year 
 commonly proves fatal to the tree. Many of our most 
 valuable ornamental trees have now been completely 
 denuded two years in succession, and, unless measures 
 
CANKER-WORM. 247 
 
 are immediately taken to secure them from the ascent 
 of insects this season, many of them will probably be 
 lost next summer. The insects will now soon begin 
 to come out of the ground, so that what is to be done 
 ought to be done immediately. We return our thanks 
 to the anonymous author of this communication, which 
 comes to us under the postmark of Philadelphia, and 
 will forward copies of the paper as he has desired. 
 
 Entomology of the Canker-worm, {Phalmna Ver- 
 nata Geo77iatia, Peck,) with general Remarks 
 upon the various Remedies or Preventives. 
 From numerous remarks that I have heard made in 
 various parts of the country, I was led to believe that 
 the character and habits of the canker-worm were very 
 imperfectly understood. And as its ravages appear 
 likely to destroy a considerable portion of the fruit and 
 ornamental trees, I was induced to study its entomolo- 
 gy ; and, believing it might be useful to those interested 
 in its destruction, I concluded to offer the result of my 
 labors to the public. And I would here suggest to the 
 editors of newspapers, who are fond of fruit, and like 
 to see flourishing trees, to insert the following account 
 for the benefit of their readers. 
 
 The canker-worms begin to hatch in the spring, 
 about the time the red currant is in blossom, and the 
 apple-tree puts forth its tender leaves, which, in Boston, 
 is about the last of April or the first of May. When 
 first hatched, they are about one tenth of an inch long, 
 and as large as a fine horse-hair. Having made their 
 escape from the eggs, they move about with great 
 activity in search of food ; and, having arrived at the 
 extremities of the branches, they begin to feed upon 
 the pulpy part of the leaves. And if a leaf is taken and 
 held against the light, it appears perforated with nu- 
 merous small apertures, like ])in-holes. They acquire 
 their full growth in about four weeks. During this 
 period they cast several skins, each succeeding skin 
 
248 CANKER-WORM. 
 
 being larger than the previous one. The number of 
 these, and the time intervening, is not ascertained. 
 As they pass through these stages they become more 
 and more voracious, and in the last stage are more 
 destructive than in the whole of their previous exist- 
 ence, and make no hesitation in destroying the entire 
 foliage, but eat the green fruit. 
 
 These worms spin a continuous thread as they move 
 about, and leave it attached to their path ; hence, if a 
 branch of the tree is struck so as to give it a sudden 
 shock, the worms may be seen suspended beneath by 
 this silken cord ; and when the shock has ceased, they 
 ascend to the place from whence they fell. Imme- 
 diately beneath the mouth, there is a conical papilla, 
 from whence the fibre that suspends them is emitted. 
 Their ascent, when thrown from the tree, is slow, and 
 is performed by bending the head and anterior part of 
 the body back, until the feet in the third segment can 
 grasp the thread with their jaws, thus continuing to 
 fold it up until they reach the branch of the tree. 
 They pause at intervals, if the ascent is long. If by 
 chance the thread should get broken, they crawl to the 
 trunk of the tree and ascend. 
 
 The larva, or caterpillar, is, when full grown, about 
 one tenth of an inch in diameter ; the head pale, 
 marked on each side with two transverse, blackish 
 stripes ; the back ash-colored, marked lengthwise with 
 small, interrupted, dusky lines ; the side blackish, with 
 a pale line along the length of the body. There are 
 two white spots upon the last segment of the body. 
 The abdomen, or under side, is ash-colored. In 
 moving about, they draw up the hinder part to the 
 breast, bending the body into the form of the letter n; 
 then extending the body to take a new grasp with the 
 anterior feet, thus appearing to measure the space over 
 which they pass. From this circumstance they are 
 called geomatia, and in English, lopers, span-worms, 
 inch-worms, &c. 
 
CANKER-WORM. 249 
 
 In about four weeks after they are hatched, they 
 cease eating, and descend to the earth and enter it, 
 from four to eight inches, according to the quahty and 
 condition of the soil. For the first few days they con- 
 tinue shortening their body, and drawing in their feet. 
 When they have contracted themselves sufficiently, 
 they disengage their skin and slip it off. and become 
 a chrysalis, which is about half an inch long, and one 
 seventh of an inch in diameter. 
 
 It appears that the insect is soon perfect, as some of 
 them in New England rise from the earth as early as 
 the last of September ; and they rise, more or less, until 
 the first of May following, whenever the weather suits 
 them, and the ground is thawed to the depth of their 
 abode. 
 
 When they rise from the ground they appear in 
 forms entirely different : the antennae or horns of the 
 perfect insect are setaceous. The body of the male is 
 of an ashen amber color, nearly half an inch in length; 
 extent of its upper wings, one inch and two tenths ; the 
 wings are ash-colored, with three obscure blackish 
 stripes, and a small dash of the same color at the tips. 
 The under wings are of a uniform color, and rather 
 lighter than the ground of the upper ones. The body 
 of the female is about four tenths of an inch in length, 
 ash-colored, and marked on the back v/ith a brown list, 
 extending from the thorax to the tail. She is destitute 
 of wings, has six long dusky legs with white joints. 
 Both the male and female remain quiet during the day, 
 and adhere close to the bark of the tree, and are so near 
 the same color they are not seen without close inspec- 
 tion. In a short time after sunset they begin to move. 
 The males may be seen flying about. The females, 
 being destitute of wings, are under the necessity of 
 ascending the trunk of the tree. They may some- 
 times be found together, subcupola. After this office 
 is performed the males die, and in a few days the 
 females deposit their eggs, about one hundred in num- 
 22 
 
250 CANKER-WORM. 
 
 ber. which are deposited on the branches of the tree 
 and generally near the extremities. The egg is of an 
 elliptic form, about one thirty-sixth of an inch in 
 length, of a pearl color, with a yellowish cast. As the 
 included animal advances, the eggs assume a brownish 
 hue, and finally become lead color. The eggs adhere 
 firmly to whatever they are laid upon, and appear 
 something like the top of a thimble, except the inden- 
 tations are much finer, and, when laid in the fall, are 
 not injured by freezing, but hatch about the time 
 before mentioned. During the last stage of their exist- 
 ence they do not eat any thing. The female, after 
 laying her eggs, having accomplished the object of her 
 existence, dies. Cold weather does not have any effect 
 upon the chrysahs moths or eggs, further than to be- 
 numb the millers and grubs, (grubs is the name usually 
 applied to the female,) until it becomes warm again, for, 
 if the insects in this state, when it is extremely cold, 
 are carried into a warm room, they soon become active. 
 A piece of ice containing a number of grubs was carried 
 into a warm room. As soon as the ice was thawed so 
 as to set them at liberty, they began to move about the 
 room, and were none the less vigorous for having slept 
 in a bed of ice. 
 
 They have been known to rise from the earth when 
 the water was standing over them and come up 
 through the water. When snow was upon the ground 
 immediately around the tree, they have been known to 
 rise from that part of the ground where there was no 
 snow and cross over the snow to ascend the trees. 
 The greatest natural and most destructive enemy of 
 this insect is the Amphelis Garrulus of Linnaeus, called, 
 by Mr. Calesby, the chatterer of Carolina, and, in Dr. 
 Belnap's History of New Hampshire, cherry bird. 
 This bird destroys great numbers of them while in the 
 larva state. Another check is a disease which may be 
 called deliquium and is probably occasioned by a fer- 
 mentation of their food. In this disease the whole in- 
 
CANKER-WORM. 
 
 251 
 
 ternal structure is dissolved into a liquid, and nothing 
 is entire but the exterior cuticle, which breaks on being 
 touched. 
 
 The canker-worm is spoken of in the Bible among 
 the judgments which were to be sent upon the children 
 of Israel, and is said to have been observed first in the 
 Southern States, where it is probably a native. It is 
 certain that it must have spread by some means inde- 
 pendent of itself, as the female, being destitute of 
 wings, is forbidden to range. It may have been 
 brought to New England by bringing trees from the 
 Southern States upon which the eggs were deposited, 
 or brought, in the larva state, into all populous parts of 
 the United States, by falling from trees upon carriages 
 and travellers passing under them. This conjecture is 
 rendered probable, by its being in all places which 
 have intercourse with such parts as are infested with it, 
 and by its being unknown to new settlements. 
 
 There is a tradition among some of the oldest in- 
 habitants of New England, that the forest-trees were 
 destroyed very generally by this worm at one time ; 
 the precise period when this occurred I have not been 
 able to ascertain. The night of the 17th of May, 1794, 
 was so cold as to produce ice one third of an inch 
 thick ; at that time a great part of the canker-worms 
 were hatched ; to these the frost was so fatal that very 
 few were seen. A person who paid very diUgent atten- 
 tion saw but one male the next year. I am firm in 
 the belief that frost would not kill them at any time 
 except when in the larva or caterpillar state. 
 
 Having given the best description of the canker- 
 worm that the above limits would allow, I will now 
 proceed to describe some of the remedies or pre- 
 ventives. It will appear, by reflecting upon the pecu- 
 liar construction and habits, that the females, being 
 destitute of wings, and under the necessity of ascend- 
 ing the trunks of the trees, any apparatus that would 
 prevent them from ascending, in case they laid their 
 
252 
 
 CANKER-WORM. 
 
 eggs below, would prevent the young worms from as- 
 cending. It is also obvious that this apparatus must be 
 of a durable character, so as to be a preventive seven 
 months in a year, as will be seen by the foregoing 
 description, that the grubs begin to ascend in Septem- 
 ber, and continue until the May following. The 
 remedy that I shall first notice is tarring the trunks of 
 the trees. This undoubtedly would be effectual, if 
 the tree could be always kept in a proper state ; but 
 this is extremely difficult, if it is possible : a large 
 portion of the time the tar would want renewing 
 every day, if not twice a day. Sometimes oil or water 
 is mixed with the tar, that it may remain soft longer. 
 One gentleman of ample experience informed me that 
 he lost a crop of apples by mixing oil with the tar. It 
 appeared to render it so smooth that it did not adhere 
 to the feet of the insects. When tar is used, 'and the 
 insects are numerous, the dead bodies of those that are 
 caught pave a path for their successors to pass ; and if 
 a tree is tarred, and it rains upon it a few minutes, the 
 water will glaze the tar, so that the insects pass over 
 with impunity. And they are more likely to ascend 
 when it rains than at other times, as the water softens, 
 the ground and facilitates their escape. If but a few 
 of the grubs ascend the tree, the worms from their 
 eggs would be liable to destroy the trees. If tar is 
 used, it is very injurious to the trees, if applied to the. 
 bark, as it destroys the outside bark. Those who use 
 tar a.nd do not wish to injure theix trees, put a bandage 
 of paper or canvass around the tree, and apply the tar 
 upon that. Some are of the opinion that if the tar was 
 applied directly upon the bark, that it would, in time, 
 kill the tree. Very few persons who use tar have been 
 able to save their fruit for the first year ; but they 
 generally calculate, if they apply it closely, to de- 
 stroy most of the insects in two or three years. Heap- 
 ing a little sand around the trunks of the trees, so that 
 the insects, in crawling, loosen the sand with their feet^ 
 
CANKER-WORM. 253 
 
 and it rolls down, carrying them down with it, is prac- 
 tised. When the sand is moistened with rain or dew, it 
 will not roll down ; hence this remedy is almost or 
 quite useless. If the sand keeps them down, they 
 might lay their eggs below, and the young worms 
 would ascend over the sand, wet or dry. 
 
 Heaping sheaves of flax around the tree, which is 
 sometimes done, is liable to the same objections as 
 sand ; and one other is, that there is so little raised that 
 it would be hardly possible to procure sheaves. 
 
 Putting circular tin troughs around the trees, and 
 filling them with a decoction of tobacco, was tried 
 by George Irish, of Middletown, R. I. and found to 
 be very expensive, as the liquor evaporated, and re- 
 quired to be filled very often ; and, when it rained, the 
 water collected in them, and, freezing, burst them, 
 leaving them very leaky ; and, as the trees grew, they 
 burst them, and rendered them quite useless, and they 
 were abandoned in one or two years. 
 
 Putting a square tin trough around the trees, with a 
 roof over it, the trough to have a little cheap oil in 
 it, was found to answer better than any of the fore- 
 going remedies ; but it is very expensive, and requires 
 much care, as it is necessary to make a platform of 
 boards to support the trough, and prevent the insects 
 from ascending between the trough and the tree. As 
 the tree grows, it separates the platform, and the trough 
 is required to be made larger. In making the. trough 
 larger, it is necessary to unsolder, or cut it open, and 
 put four pieces into the trough and four into the roof : 
 and the tin, by being continually exposed to the 
 weather, soon rusts through and becomes worthless. 
 
 I have noticed in some parts of the country a piece 
 of tin put around the trees, in the form of an inverted 
 tunnel. This apparatus must have been contrived by 
 some person who was ignorant of the entomology of 
 the canker-worm, as it has been ascertained by experi- 
 ment that the grub, when put in a glass tumbler, will 
 22* 
 
254 CANKER-WORM. 
 
 ascend the side, and, during her ascent, if the tumbler 
 is turned down and rolled over, she will adhere to the 
 glass, and walk about upon any part of it without any- 
 apparent regard to the rolling of the glass, and appears 
 to walk as well upon the under side of the glass as 
 upon the top. Hence all who have used these inverted 
 tunnels have found them useless, or will, if they con- 
 tinue to use them. 
 
 A circular leaden trough and roof was invented by 
 Jonathan Dennis, Jr. of Portsmouth, R. I. in 1836, 
 and has since been patented. This trough and the 
 roof is made of one strip of sheet lead, about three 
 inches wide, but in the form of the top of the figure 2 
 inverted, with the foot cut off; thus forming a roof 
 and trough of one strip, and then bending it around the 
 tree so as to conform to the shape of the tre^. It is 
 made so large as to leave a space of one inch in width 
 between the trough and the tree. The ends are then 
 soldered together, thus forming a trough completely 
 around the tree, with a roof over it. Three or more 
 nails are tacked into the tree to support it, and the 
 space between the trough and the tree is filled with 
 sea-weed, hay, straw, husks, tow, cotton waste, or any 
 other substance that will prevent the insects from as- 
 cending between the trough and the tree, and is easily 
 compressed by the growth of the tree. These troughs 
 were put on to three orchards belonging to Jonathan 
 Dennis, of Portsmouth, R. I. father of the inventor, 
 in the autumn of 1837, and it has proved to be the 
 cheapest and most effectual remedy ever discovered. 
 The three orchards contained one hundred and fifteen 
 trees, varying in size from three inches to upwards of 
 two feet in diameter. The expense was about thirty- 
 five or forty cents per tree. Five gallons of cheap fish 
 oil, that cost forty cents per gallon, was found to 
 answer for the one hundred and fifteen trees for one 
 year. A very little oil was put into the troughs the 
 l^st of September. After it bad remained several 
 
CANKEll-WORM. 255 
 
 weeks it was stirred, and in a few weeks afterwards a 
 little more oil was added ; and from the time the oil 
 was first put in until the first of May following, there 
 was a little oil put in twice, and the oil also received 
 two or three stirrings. Putting the oil in three times 
 and stirring it, giving the trees all the attention neces- 
 sary, was less labor and occupied less time than it 
 would have taken to tar the trees for one week. This 
 apparatus destroyed the insects so completely (which 
 for a number of years previous had been so numerous 
 as to destroy the fruit) that it was difficult to find one 
 upon the trees, and the crop of apples was so large as 
 to render it necessary to prop the trees. This appara- 
 tus has many properties to recommend it. It is more 
 eff'ectual, more durable, and cheaper than tin troughs ; 
 it also takes less oil to fill a circular trough than it does 
 a square one, for a tree of the same size. The packing 
 is more easily put in, as the space is of a uniform width 
 around the tree. It is also less liable to get out ; and if 
 the top of the packing was daubed with a little tar, it 
 would stick it together, taking care not to put any of 
 the tar upon the tree or the trough, but only upon the 
 packing. This trough will last many years without 
 being made larger; and, when the tree has grown so as 
 to fill the space that was left between the trough aud the 
 tree, the trough can be cut open, and a piece soldered 
 in, so as to make it large enough for several years more. 
 And if the troughs are ever taken off, the lead will be 
 worth two thirds as much as it was when it was put on. 
 But I should not consider it safe to take it ofi* while there 
 were any canker-worms in the neighborhood, for they 
 have been in some neighborhoods for the last fifty years 
 without intermission, according to the accounts of the 
 inhabitants. Being in conversation with an oil mer- 
 chant, I inquired what kind of oil would remain 
 longest exposed to the air without drying upon the 
 surface : he replied, that cod-fish oil would never dry 
 perceptibly, and for that reason was never used for 
 
256 ON SAVING SEEDS. 
 
 painting ; and of course would be the best to put in 
 the above-mentioned troughs for the destruction of 
 canker-worms. — A Lover of good Fruit. 
 
 ON SAVING SEEDS. 
 
 We lose immensely by not taking care, in season, to 
 save the best seeds for spring sowing. In the multi- 
 tude of our cares we forget, and need often to be re- 
 minded of the proper times and modes of preserving 
 what we have grown in our gardens and in our fields. 
 We need a faithful sentinel whose business it shall be, 
 like the preacher's, to remind us often of our duty; 
 and, if he tells nothing new, if he shows us nothing 
 which we have not seen before, he may still be 
 more useful than one who is always leading us into 
 new schemes, and urging us to adopt his theories which 
 he has reduced to practice. 
 
 In general, peas, beans, and all other vegetables that 
 grow in pods, should be preserved for seed in those 
 pods until the time for sowing. Melons of all kinds, 
 pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, &c. should have their 
 seeds taken from the shell and washed ; then they 
 should be laid up in a dry place secure from mice, &c. 
 
 Seed Wheat. If we could ever spare the time — 
 and who cannot ? — we might easily select the very 
 best of seed from our own fields. 
 
 Experiments are not wanting to show that, in most 
 fields of wheat, there is a vast difference between the 
 productiveness and the qualities of the different heads. 
 Some will ripen much earlier than others, and these 
 should therefore never be sown in the same field ; for 
 it is an important point to harvest the grain as soon as 
 it is ripe. 
 
 It is also ascertained that the straw of certain kinds 
 of wheat is much heavier than that of other kinds ; 
 
MAKING BUTTER. 
 
 257 
 
 that the straw of some will weigh less than the grain 
 which it produces, while the straw of other kinds will 
 weigh twice as much as the grain. 
 
 Very little attention has yet been bestowed, in New 
 England, on this subject. We sow in haste, and we 
 reap in haste, without spending time to examine the 
 different varieties in the same field ; and no doubt a 
 dozen different kinds of wheat and of rye are often 
 sown together. 
 
 In regard to potatoes, we have generally been so 
 careless that we are obliged very often to procure new 
 seed from those who have been more careful. It is 
 notorious that most people use only the refuse potatoes 
 for the seed of a new crop ! Can it, then, be matter 
 of surprise that our potatoes run out ? If we should 
 always save our poorest calves and pigs for breeders, 
 we should be obliged to send to Europe for cows as 
 often as we do to our neighbors for new kinds of potatoes. 
 
 In regard to Indian corn we have been more cau- 
 tious. This has ever been a favorite grain in this 
 country, and more care has been taken to save good 
 seed. The consequence is, we have now the very 
 finest varieties of corn ; and we need only to be more 
 careful to select those grains for seed which are soonest 
 ripe in the field. 
 
 But who goes into his wheat and his rye fields, his 
 barley, his oat, or his buckwheat field, and selects the 
 best heads in order to secure a prolific or an early va- 
 riety ? We hardly hear of such an instance ; but all 
 this must be done before we arrive at perfection in 
 farming, 
 
 MAKING BUTTER. 
 
 Many rules for making butter have been given to 
 the public, and some of them are good, if we could 
 
258 MAKING BUTTER. 
 
 persuade dairy-women to follow them. It is quite an 
 object to make butter of the first quality, if we make 
 any, since the purchasers have begun to bid up hand- 
 somely for the best ; and the difference in the labor of 
 making the best and the poorest is so trifling that none 
 should think of making any of inferior quality. 
 
 It should be remembered by all who make butter for 
 sale, that, for several years past, the best made, the 
 premium butter, has brought at auction more than 
 forty cents a pound, some of it forty-five, while 
 ordinary butter has not, in firkin, commanded half that 
 price. To lose one half of the proceeds of the dairy 
 merely for want of skill and care is rather more than 
 we can well aff'ord to do, and it is time to resolve not 
 to submit to this loss when we can avoid it. 
 
 Much of the butter that is made for sale in sum- 
 mer is sent off" to market immediately, and before the 
 rancid matter, shut up in the lumps, has begun to fer- 
 ment and send forth its efiiuvia ; and, as most fresh- 
 made butter will, for a few days, taste sweet, the pur- 
 chaser makes but little difference in price ; and this is 
 the principal cause why so great a proportion of our 
 butter is carelessly made. It is hurried off to market, 
 and is not suffered to rest long enough to rot on our 
 hands. The old tune of "Robin's alive" is sung ; 
 " If it dies in my hands you may saddle-back me." 
 
 To make butter that may be kept sweet through 
 the winter, we need not say the pails and the pans 
 must be perfectly clean. If cream is to be kept more 
 than three days before churning, it must be salted and 
 daily stirred. When the butter is formed and gathered, 
 the buttermilk should be all turned from the butter, 
 and a good quantity of pure cold water should be put 
 in the churn, and the whole should be agitated for 
 some minutes, that no buttermilk may lodge in the 
 cavities of the butter. 
 
 We are well aware that some have fancied " we 
 wash away the goodness " when we churn the butter 
 
MAKING BUTTER. 259 
 
 in water ; but we are happy to see better notions lat- 
 terly prevailing, and that the celebrated highland 
 Scotch butter is made as our own experience has 
 proved to be best. There is no mistake about it. 
 The buttermilk left in the butter is the principal cause 
 of its rancid taste when long kept. 
 
 The butter must now be taken out with a small 
 wooden shovel — maple wood is good — and the dairy- 
 woman's hand, clean or unclean, must not touch 
 the batter, for it must not be melted. This shovel 
 should be used to work over the butter and let out the 
 water contained in it; and the next day it must be 
 shoveled over again and worked as well as a neat ma- 
 son works his mortar, not touching his hand to it. 
 
 Salting down Butter. On the first working, some 
 salt should be intermixed, and one ounce of salt to 
 sixteen of butter is commonly sufficient ; but, as much 
 of this salt will be washed away on the second work- 
 ing, it will be necessary to add more, as taste may re- 
 quire. And now, on the second working, a little salt- 
 petre and a little pulverized loaf sugar must be well 
 mixed with the salt last added. We have found one 
 teaspoonful of saltpetre and two of sugar quite suffi- 
 cient for twelve pounds of butter. It must be thor- 
 oughly mixed, so that every part of the butter may 
 have a share. 
 
 This should be packed in hard-wood firkins, as 
 close as possible, to exclude the air. No brine need be 
 poured on, for the salt will form a sufficiency with the 
 moisture of the batter ; and, when a new layer is to 
 be added, this brine must be poured off to let the two 
 churnings come close together. 
 
 We have often had butter put up in this manner in 
 September and in October, that proved perfectly sweet 
 in the following June. People who ate of it could 
 hardly be made to believe it had been made eight or 
 nine months. 
 
 This delicious article, this indispensable in cook- 
 
260 POTATOES. 
 
 ery, is more often spoiled for want of care than any 
 thing that is brought to market. When pure, it is one 
 of the most wholesome articles of diet, and no pains 
 should be spared to preserve it in perfection. 
 
 POTATOES. 
 
 We have lately given some hints of the fallacy of 
 testing the prolific qualities of potatoes and other plants 
 by the weight or the number of seeds planted. A 
 potato may be so subdivided as to produce an hundred 
 fold, when, in the usual mode of planting, it may not 
 yield ten fold. We again invite attention to this sub- 
 ject in noticing an experiment made by the editor of 
 the Zanesville Gazette, — a very valuable and inter- 
 esting paper, published in Ohio. 
 
 It seems that, in a very accurate experiment made 
 by him, one pound of the long reds — the La Plata 
 potato — produced nine pounds more than the Rohan 
 potato under the same cultivation ; one producing thir- 
 ty-two pounds and a half, and the other forty pounds 
 and a half. 
 
 The long red is a great favorite of ours, but we 
 think, in our soil, the Rohan will produce most ; but we 
 are open to conviction, and hope some of our readers 
 have made accurate observations on the comparative 
 merits of the two. We have never used any richer 
 potatoes than the long Johns when they have had time 
 to ripen. 
 
 We publish the editor's observations at length. 
 
 New things — Rohan Potatoes vs. Long Reds. We 
 have a desire for improvement sufficiently strong to 
 prompt us to make trial of all articles which are sup- 
 posed to be extraordinarily valuable, when we can do 
 so without incurring an unwarrantable expense. 
 
POTATOES. 
 
 261 
 
 In vegetables, experiments may generally be made 
 on a small scale, which, if properly conducted, would 
 be as fair tests, and lead to as correct conclusions, as 
 though acres of land and hundreds of dollars had been 
 put at risk. Some people never experiment at all. 
 They fancy or " guess " that some things are better 
 than others, and thereupon they adopt them, and con- 
 tinue forever to use them, without ever knowing 
 whether the articles are comparatively profitable or 
 not. A man takes it into his head that some substance 
 — lime, ashes, bon-e dust, plaster of Paris, or something 
 else — is a valuable manure, and he goes on to use it, 
 but in such a manner that he cannot tell what its 
 effects are. He uses the same substance for the whole 
 field, and he cannot tell how much of the crop is to be 
 credited to the manure ; and, of course, he does not 
 know how much the manure is worth. If he had used 
 some other kind of manure on a part of the field, and 
 had left a part without any manure, the soil being of 
 a similar quality, he could easily have told, by calcu- 
 lating the proportional yield of each part, which was 
 the best manure, and what each was really worth. An 
 experiment of this kind would have been attended 
 with little expense, and the results would have been a 
 good guide for the future. We once knew a man who 
 was in the habit of using considerable lime on his land 
 every year, as he thought to profit ; till, by making an 
 experiment, he ascertained that the increase of his 
 crops had been attributed to a wrong cause. Many 
 people, when they see a large animal or a large vege- 
 table, are led at once to consider that the race or varie- 
 ty to which it belongs is uncommonly valuable, without 
 stopping to inquire how much ground it occupied, or how 
 much labor and expense attended its production. Now, 
 in all these things, profit should be the criterion. 
 The value of animals should be reckoned by the amount 
 of meat, &c. afforded in proportion to the food con- 
 sumed ; and the value of vegetables by the sustenance 
 23 
 
262 POTATOES. 
 
 they afford in proportion to the ground they occupy 
 and the expense attending their cultivation. To this 
 test we intend to bring all varieties of animals and 
 vegetables, before we can feel fully justified in making 
 up a positive judgment upon them. 
 
 By referring to our memorandum-book, we find that, 
 on the 26th day of April last, we planted one Rohan 
 potato, weighing one pound, cut into thirteen pieces, 
 each piece containing one or more eyes, and making 
 one hill to each piece. We also planted, at the same 
 time, the same weight (one pound) of the kind of po- 
 tatoes commonly known as long i^eds or La Plata reds, 
 they having been originally brought from the river La 
 Plata, South America. These were cut into precisely 
 the same number of pieces as the Rohan, and made 
 just the same number of hills. As the experiment 
 may, just at this time, be regarded as rather an impor- 
 tant one, perhaps the details may not be uninteresting. 
 
 The soil is a deep alluvian, with rather too large a 
 proportion of clay in its composition. It had lain for 
 several years in grass, till last year it was broken up 
 with a view of raising a crop of turnips ; but the se- 
 verity of the drought destroyed them. The past 
 spring it was well manured with long stable manure, 
 spread evenly over the surface and ploughed in. 
 
 It was then furrowed about four feet apart, and the 
 potatoes planted in hills. In one of these furrows we 
 planted the potatoes above mentioned. There was no 
 perceptible variation in the quality of the soil, and we 
 observed the utmost exactness in planting by taking a 
 stick of a convenient length and marking off the hills 
 precisely two feet apart. In cultivation, they received 
 the same attention as the rest of the lot. They were 
 worked once with the cultivator, the weeds in the row 
 were cut out with a hoe, and, the ground being rather 
 heavy, it was all worked over once afterwards with 
 the spade. 
 
 On the last day of September the crop was harvested. 
 
LABORS OF NOVEMBER. 
 
 263 
 
 The vines of all the kinds were dead. The result, so 
 far as the experiment was concerned, is as follows : — 
 One pound of Rohan seed produced thirty-two and 
 one third pounds ; one pound seed of long reds pro- 
 duced forty-one and a half pounds : difference in favor 
 of the long reds, nine pounds. 
 
 We chose the long reds to set against the Rohans, 
 in this experiment, because we deem them far the 
 most productive kind we have ever been acquainted 
 with, and we thought, if the Rohans could beat therrij 
 there could be no doubt that they would beat all. 
 
 Now we do not say that this experiment is wholly 
 conclusive. " One swallow does not make summer," 
 is the old saying. But, so far as one experiment can 
 be taken as estabUshing any thing, we think it unob- 
 jectionable ; and,, if a few other experiments should 
 show similar results, we should consider the case set- 
 tled. We should be glad to hear from others on the 
 subject. 
 
 LABORS OF NOVEMBER. 
 
 We must recollect that it is dangerous to suifer roots 
 to lie in the ground, in this latitude, after the 15th of 
 this month. We will warrant them up to that time. 
 Turnips that are to be given to stock may have their 
 tops cut off and fed out before they are dug from the 
 ground ; but those intended for seed should not be 
 topped until they are dug up, and then the tops must 
 not be cut too close to the turnip. They may be left 
 half an inch in length. 
 
 Potatoes often project out of the ground, and the 
 exposed part suffers in a hard frost. It is time these 
 roots were in the cellar. 
 
 Corn is sometimes piled into the barn to lie until a 
 leisure hour is found to busk it out. If it has been 
 
264 
 
 LABORS OF NOVEMBER. 
 
 brought in earl 7, it will gather heat in the heap; if 
 late, the husks have suffered. It is better to husk it 
 out as fast as it is carted up. The husks will come off 
 easier, and the corn will dry better. 
 
 The compost that has been carried on to grass-land 
 may better be spread this autumn than suffered to lie 
 in heaps until spring. The frost remains so long in 
 the heaps that they cannot be spread before the first 
 of May, and then we have no time. 
 
 Irrigation of Grass-Lands. This was more ex- 
 tensively practised in years gone by than at present. 
 We find it attended with much labor ; the trenches 
 must be watched and kept nearly on a level, or the 
 water will not spread over the land. Another objec- 
 tion, of more weight, lies in the poor quality of the 
 grass thus forced into existence. If manure has been 
 spread over the surface, and the water has been made 
 to flow freely among it, the grass will not be eaten by 
 cattle. 
 
 We have seen hay, grown in this way, that was 
 worth but little. We have seen it look bright and in- 
 viting, having the form and the appearance of the best 
 of hay, but not worth half the price. 
 
 In our low lands, and oiu' peat-swamps, that we 
 have been bringing into English grass, we flush no 
 water over the surface. We choose to let it take the 
 rains and the dews of heaven in addition to the mois- 
 ture that naturally rises from these low lands, and w^e 
 obtain hay but very little inferior in quality to that 
 which is raised on lands that have been in tillage. 
 
 There may be cases where it is advisable to irrigate 
 the surface of grass-lands, but, when this is practised, 
 care should always be taken that the water be not suf- 
 fered to flow too late in the season. The current 
 should be diverted from the grass two or three weeks 
 before mowing time, that its quality may be improved. 
 
 Cattle, of all descriptions, will require a shelter be- 
 fore the close of the month. Old cattle require more 
 
ON THE SUCCESSION OF CROPS. 265 
 
 warmth than young ones ; but none in this climate 
 require to be shut up in a close building. It is as inju- 
 rious to them as a close room to the human species, — 
 as close covering of the head of infants. We are con- 
 fident that all young cattle will winter better when 
 sheltered by an open shed that keeps off rains and 
 winds, than when shut up in a barn with tight- 
 matched boards. 
 
 Calves. It has long been a maxim, that calves 
 should not be kept too close during the first winter. 
 They must be kept on good hay : rowen is excellent 
 for their young teeth, as yet unused to grind dry fod- 
 der ; and this should be fed to them in the first of 
 the winter, when they are likely to suffer most. 
 
 Turnips and potatoes are excellent for calves, and^a 
 very few of these roots will keep the animals growing 
 through the winter. The best remedy we have ever 
 tried for scours in calves is boiled skim-milk. These 
 animals require something more than hay to carry 
 them through the first winter. They should not be 
 suffered to stop in their growth at this age. By a little 
 attention in the first winter, they may be brought to 
 give milk one whole year sooner than those that have 
 been neglected. It is more an object to bring them to 
 milk while young, than to make them of large size. 
 
 [From Chaptal's Chemistry.] 
 ON THE SUCCESSION OF CROPS. 
 
 A SOIL may be forced, by extreme care, enormous 
 expense, and the use of manure without measure, to 
 produce all sorts of crops ; but it is not in such sort of 
 proceedings that the science of agriculture consists. 
 Agriculture ought not to be considered as an object of 
 luxury ; and, whenever the produce of agricultural 
 23* 
 
266 ON THE SUCCESSION OF CROPS. 
 
 management does not amply repay the care and ex- 
 pense bestowed upon it, the system followed is bad. 
 
 A good agriculturist will, in the first place, make 
 himself acquainted with the nature of his soil, in order 
 to know the kind of plants to which it is best adapted : 
 this knowledge may be easily acquired by an acquaint- 
 ance with the species of the plants produced upon it 
 spontaneously, or by experiments made upon the land, 
 or upon analogous soil in the neighborhood. 
 
 But however well adapted the soil and climate may 
 be to the cultivation of any particular kind of vegeta- 
 ble, the former soon ceases to be productive, if con- 
 stantly appropriated to the culture of plants of the 
 same or analogous species. In order that land may be 
 cultivated successfully, various kinds of vegetables 
 must be raised upon it in succession, and the rotation 
 must be conducted with intelligence, that none un- 
 suiled either to the soil or climate maybe introduced. 
 It is the art of varying the crops upon the same soil, of 
 causing different vegetables to succeed one another, and 
 of understanding the effect of each upon the soil, that 
 can alone establish that good order of succession which 
 constitutes cropping. 
 
 A good system of cropping is, in my opinion, the 
 best guarantee of success that the farmer can have : 
 without this, all is vague, uncertain, and hazardous. 
 In order to establish this good system of cropping, a 
 degree of knowledge is necessary, which unhappily is 
 wanting to the greater part of our practical farmers. I 
 shall here state certain facts and principles, which may 
 serve as guides in this important branch of agriculture. 
 
 More extensive information upon this subject may 
 be found in tlie excellent works of Messrs. Yvart and 
 Pictet. 
 
 Principle 1. All plants exhaust the soil. Plants 
 are supported by the earth, the juices with which this 
 is impregnated forming their principal aliment. Water 
 serves as the vehicle for conveying these juices into 
 
ON THE SUCCESSION OF CROPS. 267 
 
 the organs, or presenting them to the suckers of the 
 roots by which they are absorbed ; thus the progress of 
 vegetation tends constantly to impoverish the soil, and, 
 if the nutritive juices in it be not renewed, it w^ill at 
 length become perfectly barren. 
 
 A soil well furnished with manure may support sev- 
 eral successive crops, but each one will be inferior to 
 the preceding, till the earth is completely exhausted. 
 
 Principle 2. All plants do not exhaust the soil 
 equally. Plants are nourished by air, water, and the 
 juices contained in the soil ; but the different kinds of 
 plants do not require the same kinds of nourishment in 
 equal degrees. There are some that require to have 
 their roots constantly in water ; others are best suited 
 with dry soils ; and there are those, again, that prosper 
 only in the best and most ri<3hly manured land. 
 
 TIt^ grains and the greater part of the grasses push 
 up long stalks, in which the fibrous principle predomi- 
 nates : these are garnished at the base by leaves, the 
 dry texture and small surface of which do not permit 
 them to absorb much either of air or water : the prin- 
 cipal nourishment is absorbed from the ground by their 
 roots : their stalks furnish little or no food for animals ; 
 iso that these plants exhaust the soil without sensibly 
 repairing the loss, either by their stalks, which are cut 
 to be applied to a particular use, or by their roots, which 
 are all that remain in the ground, and which are dried 
 and exhausted in completing, the process of fructifica- 
 tion. 
 
 Those plants, on the contrary, that are provided with 
 large, fleshy, porous, green leaves, imbibe from the 
 atmosphere carbonic acid and water ; and receive from 
 the earth the other substances by which they are nour- 
 ished. If these are cut green, the loss of juices which 
 the soil has sustained by their growth is less sensibly 
 felt, as a part of it is compensated for by their roots. 
 Nearly all the plants that are cultivated for fodder are 
 of this kind. 
 
268 ON THE SUCCESSION OF CROPS. 
 
 There are some plants, which, though generally 
 raised for the sake of their seed, exhaust the soil less 
 than the grains : these are of the numerous family of 
 leguminous plants, and which sustain a middle rank 
 between the two of which I have just spoken. Their 
 perpendicular roots divide the soil, and their large 
 leaves, and thick, loose, porous stalks readily absorb 
 air and water. These parts preserve for a long time 
 the juices with which they are impregnated, and yield 
 them to the soil, if the plant be buried in it before 
 arriving at maturity : when this is done, the field is 
 still capable of receiving and nourishing a good crop of 
 corn. Beans produce this effect in a remarkable de- 
 gree ; peas to a less extent. 
 
 Generally speaking, those plants that are cut green, 
 or whilst in flower, exhaust the soil but little: till this 
 period they have derived their support almost exclu- 
 sively from the air, eaith, and water; their stalks and 
 roots are charged with juices, and those parts that are 
 left in the earth after mowing will restore to it all that 
 had been received from it by the plant. 
 
 From the time when the seed begins to be formed, 
 the whole system of nourishment is changed: the plant 
 continues to receive nourishment, for the perfecting of 
 its seed, from the atmosphere and the earth, and also 
 yields to the grain all the juices it had secreted in its 
 own stalks and roots: by this means the stalks and 
 roots are dried and exhausted. When the fruits have 
 arrived at maturity, the skeleton remains of the plant, 
 if abandoned to the earth, restore to it only a small 
 portion of what had been taken from it. 
 
 The oleaginous seeds exhaust the soil more than the 
 farinaceous seeds; and the agriculturist cannot be at 
 too much pains to free his grounds from weeds of that 
 nature, which so readily impoverish them ; especially 
 from the wild mustard, sinapis arvensis, with which 
 cultivated fields are so often covered. 
 
PLASTER. 
 
 PLASTER. 
 
 269 
 
 We hope more experiments will be made in New 
 England on the use of this article. We are well aware 
 there are lands on which it seems to have no beneficial 
 effect; but we have soils on which it has a wonderful 
 operation ; and, where we have such, this is the cheapest 
 manure or stimulant that can be applied. 
 
 Last week we were informed, by a gentleman of 
 South Andover, of an experiment made with it by Mr. 
 Asa E. Abbott, of that place, on his corn-field. Mr. 
 Abbott put plaster on the hills of many alternate rows 
 of corn, leaving half of them without it. The plas- 
 tered corn looked much best through the summer, and, 
 on harvesting his corn, he weighed the ears of all the 
 rows. The corn on the plastered rows weighed fifty- 
 two pounds, while the corn on the rows not plastered 
 weighed less than half that number of pounds. 
 
 Mr. Abbott's soil was not what would be called 
 clayey. It was rather gravelly, — not a light soil, — it 
 was not sandy. The plaster was put on greensward, 
 ploughed in the spring. 
 
 A neighbor of Mr. Abbott tried an equally accurate 
 experiment on old ground that had been planted the 
 year before. He found, on weighing his corn, he had 
 one third more where he had used plaster than where 
 he had used none. 
 
 We are not certain that plaster operates more power- 
 fully, in general, on greensward than elsewhere, though 
 we know that wood-ashes are worth twice as much 
 when so applied, they contributing to its decomposition. 
 Still, plaster may sometimes do us more essential ser- 
 vice on greensward. We will suppose a case where 
 the land was poor, and now a good coat of manure is 
 spread on equally over the field. Here,, in a proper 
 soil, plaster in the hill will prove very efficacious ; for 
 it gives the corn an early start to take advantage of 
 
270 COARSE MEADOW-GRASS. 
 
 the manure. Now greensward land, where a' good 
 crop of grass has been ploughed in, is situated much like 
 the last described : something is wanted in the hill to 
 enable the corn to take advantage of the other matter. 
 
 There is another reason Avhy plaster may sometimes 
 operate better on greensward than on old ground. 
 Greensward is more liable to suffer for the want of suf- 
 ficient moisture ; and one of the modes in which plaster 
 operates is to draw moisture from the atmosphere. 
 
 Much depends on the right mode of using manures 
 and plaster. If corn has been manured in the hill, 
 and not otherwise, it might prove injurious to the crop 
 to stimulate it too much in the fore port of the season, 
 by any means whatever. It might be top-heavy ; we 
 might have more stalks than corn. The same may be 
 said of potatoes. 
 
 COARSE MEADOW-GRASS. 
 
 Though there is plenty of grass this season, none 
 should be lost. We notice that some farmers neglect to 
 cut their coarsest meadows when th^y think they have 
 a supply of better hay for their stock. This is waste. 
 It is much easier to make manure than to purchase it ; 
 and all the coarse grass, Vv'hether in the fields or in the 
 pastures, should be gathered and put into the barns or 
 into stacks. It sometimes happens we are short of hay 
 in the spring, and we are never more likely to be so 
 than when we were confident of a good supply in 
 the fall. 
 
 This coarse hay will often serve a good turn in the 
 spring when cattle are short of grass ; but, in any 
 event, it is exceedingly valuable as litter for horses and 
 for neat stock. It multiplies manure while it makes a 
 comfortable bed for them, and none of it should be 
 suffered to wither away in the field. 
 
TRANSPLANTING, 271 
 
 TRANSPLANTING. 
 
 We see that some are recommending the practice of 
 transplanting trees in autumn, but we think this is not 
 the best season. If the intent is to set out trees, as 
 most people do, to be trimmed by horned cattle, and to 
 be hoed by the hogs, it is not of so much consequence 
 at what season the operation is performed. 
 
 But if it is desired to have a thrifty orchard, that will 
 be productive in this present century, that will con- 
 tinue growing, notwithstanding the removal of the 
 roots to a distant field, it is of some consequence to 
 choose the best season of the year for the removal. 
 
 Trees that are of the right age, and that are properly 
 set, require no staking : they do better to depend on 
 their own strength than to be tied up. But they should 
 always be supported with litter, or straw, or poor hay, 
 placed about the roots ; and if the land is not rich, 
 some coarse manure should be placed on the surface 
 about the tree. But if trees are transplanted in autumn, 
 it is dangerous to place any material of this kind in that 
 place for fear of the mice. 
 
 We cannot see any propriety in exposing young 
 trees in new fresh earth, to stand and be racked six 
 months before there is any possibility of their taking 
 root. 
 
 The best mode that we have tried is to take up our 
 trees early in spring, and bury their roots in a cool 
 place until the ground has become warm and mellow, 
 so that it may be placed nicely about the roots. This 
 need not be done before the first of May. If the trees 
 are then carefully set, they will begin to grow imme- 
 diately, and will often extend their limbs one foot 
 during the first season. They will bear in four or five 
 years. 
 
 We intend, at the proper season, to be very minute 
 in describing our mode of setting trees, and the reasons 
 which influence us. 
 
272 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 We have now nothing farther to say than to dissuade 
 from the practice of fall-setting, feeling confident that 
 much is gained by setting in the spring. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 To the Editor of the Boston Cultivator : 
 
 Dear Sir, — I noticed, in your Cultivator of last 
 week, a communication stating the result of an experi- 
 ment made by planting the Rohan and long red pota- 
 toes, by way of comparison, with which I was much 
 interested. I, sir, have tried an experiment this season 
 on potatoes, though mine was not a comparison be- 
 tween different kinds of potatoes and between different 
 manners of seeding with the same kind. I have often 
 heard it said that the eyes of potatoes might be cut out 
 and planted, and the main body of the potatoes saved 
 for consumption, and the crop be equally good. Feel- 
 ing anxious to ascertain the truth on this subject, and 
 likewise to know the relative value of small and large 
 potatoes, whole and cut ones. &c. I resolved to satisfy 
 myself by experiment. The spot I selected for the 
 experiment was prepared and manured as nearly alike 
 in every part as possible : the strip of ground was only 
 wide enough for two rows : this strip I divided into six 
 pieces containing four hills each, and each piece of 
 four hills I seeded differently from every other; and, 
 although it was quite late (the first of July) when I 
 planted them, and my crop small, as I expected, yet I 
 do not know why the comparison would not be just, 
 the lateness of the season being as favorable for one 
 plan of seeding as for another. Last week I dug my 
 experiment field, as I called it. I dug each lot of four 
 hills by itself, and v/eighed them myself, that I might 
 feel satisfied that there was no mistake in weighing. 
 For the sake of convenience, I shall give you the 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 273 
 
 weight of the six potato-fields, of four hills each, in 
 proportions or parts as follows : 
 
 Parts. 
 Lot Isl, four hills, one large potato, cut in two pieces, in each 
 
 hill, produced 13 
 
 Lot 2d, four hills, one large whole potato in each hill, .... 15 
 Lot 3d, four hills, the eyes of one large potato in each hill, . . 3 ' 
 Lot 4th, four hills, four small potatoes (which together would 
 
 weigh about half as much as one of the large potatoes) in 
 
 each hill, ' 10 
 
 Lot 5th, four hills,-lwo potatoes, about as heavy as one of the 
 
 large ones, and cut in two pieces each, in each hill, ... 11 
 Lot 6th, four hills, one large potato, cut into eight pieces, in each 
 
 hill, 9 
 
 The potatoes above called large were all about the 
 same size. From this experiment I have satisfied my- 
 self, at least, on these points : one is, if we wish to 
 study economy, it would be better to eat less, and 
 plant less, and let the potatoes have their eyes ; the 
 next is, we cannot plant too laro;e seed ; and the third 
 is, we cannot cut potatoes too little. I have tried this 
 experiment for my own benefit, but, sir, if you think 
 it would be any benefit to the public, you are at liberty 
 to publish it. 1 intend to try the same experiment 
 again next year, and plant early. 
 
 Yours affectionately, Marshall S. Rice. 
 
 Newton Centre, Oct. 29ih, 1839. 
 
 We are much gratified with the receipt of the 
 above from M. S. Rice, Esq. If gentlemen would try 
 more experiments on a small scale, in all branches of 
 husbandry, they would confer lasting benefits on the 
 community. We want authenticated facts ; we should 
 not be satisfied with guessing what modes are best. 
 
 For ourselves, we have always succeeded better 
 when we planted without cutting our potatoes than 
 when we cut them. We have known good crops 
 raised, in some seasons, when the eyes only were 
 planted ; in other seasons not half a crop would be 
 realized. We know not yet the reason of this differ- 
 ence. Will some one tell us ? — Ed. 
 24 
 
274 THE BROWN CORN. 
 
 [From the Cheshire Farmer.] 
 
 THE BROWN CORN. 
 
 It will be recollected that we previously have given 
 some account of a kind of corn denominated the 
 '' Brown corn." We procured, last spring, one and a 
 half bushel of this corn|of Mr. Brown, and planted one 
 acre with it, and sold the rest. Our acre did very 
 well, producing, as was judged by many farmers who 
 saw it, not far from forty bushels. As we picked a part 
 of it for seed, and fed out some without measuring, 
 we are not able to give the exact amount, though it 
 would not vary much from forty bushels. It is a large 
 eight-rowed corn, and very early : a specimen of it 
 may be seen at this office. We exhibited some of it at 
 the last meeting of the society in this county, and find 
 it took very well with the farmers in this section. We 
 have already had orders for some ten bushels of it for 
 seed. 
 
 Concluding that what we raised would go but little 
 way in supplying the demand, and desiring not again 
 to be treed with corn, we proceeded personally to 
 the farm of Mr. Brown, a distance of ninety-five miles, 
 examined his field, and purchased so much of his corn 
 as he would spare, suitable for seed, which in due time 
 we shall have on hand for the accommodation of farmers 
 in this section. 
 
 A few days since we received the following letter 
 from Mr. Brown, which we take the liberty to publish : 
 
 Moultonborough, (L. I.) Oct. 16, 1839. 
 B. Cooke, Esq. : Dear Sir, — I harvested my corn 
 last week, and have a fine lot of seed traced in fine 
 order. On account of tracing so much, I could not 
 measure it in the usual way, but had it weighed by 
 the man appointed to measure crops for premiums. 
 
THE BROWN CORN. 275 
 
 The whole crop on the acre, in ears, weighed eight 
 thousand and fifty-one pounds. We shelled both of 
 the traced and the untraced, to get the amount in 
 bushels : of that which was traced, seventy pounds 
 made a bushel ; of that which was not traced, sixty- 
 eight and three fourths pounds made a bushel : whole 
 amount, one hundred and sixteen bushels. We first 
 went over the piece and selected all that was suitable 
 for seed, which was over one half in weight. 
 
 Mr. Lamprey measured his the usual way, by meas- 
 uring all in a basket and shelling one basketful, and 
 had one hundred and thirty-one bushels, for which he 
 obtained the first premium. Mr. Pilsbury, on Cow 
 Island, measured his in the same way, and had one 
 hundred and thirty, and took the second premium, 
 there being but two premiums offered by the society. 
 But the committee on crops, considering the exact 
 manner in which I obtained the measurement, and 
 superior quality of the specimen which I presented, 
 recommended in their report to award me a premium, 
 which was accepted, and I obtained a premium for the 
 excellence of my corn. It seemed to be the opinion of 
 many before harvest, that I should have most on an 
 acre ; but the season being more suitable for their 
 ground, it being dryer than mine, partly accounts for 
 the result, and the manner they measured, which can- 
 not be so exact as that of weighing, will also partly 
 account for it. By ploughing in the manure very deep, 
 I did not probably get so much of the strength of it as 
 if the season had been dryer ; but I would not dis- 
 courage the practice of deep ploughing, and well mix- 
 ing the manure with the soil. I still think it the best 
 way : if in some seasons we do not get so much of its 
 strength, we retain the manure and enrich the soil. 
 I am yours with respect, 
 
 John Brown, 2d. 
 
27& FRUIT-TREES. 
 
 FRtriT-TREEiS, 
 
 To the Editor of the Boston Cultivator : 
 
 The growing of good fruit has been much neglected 
 heretofore, and does not as yet receiv^e half the atten- 
 tion its importance demands. Many people are dis- 
 couraged from planting an orchard, because several 
 years must elapse before it comes into bearing, making 
 the remark we so often hear, " I shall never live to eat 
 the fruits of it ; '^ but how many men are there, with 
 a prospect of living many years, who regret that they 
 had not planted an orchard which might now have 
 been a source of pleasure as well as profit to them. 
 There are many young and thrifty orchards in the 
 country, and not a grafted tree among them ; and yet 
 grafting and inoculating are operations so simple that 
 they may be performed by almost any one, by giving 
 the subject a little attention. If these trees were 
 grafted with good varieties of winter fruit, they would 
 in a few years afford quite an income, with a compara- 
 tively small investment : winter apples will always pay 
 the expense of gathering, be they ever so plenty, while 
 the making of cider is often attended with loss, to say 
 nothing of the cold, disagreeable work. There is con- 
 siderable attention paid to quinces at the present day, 
 and a plantation of them in a bearing state is a very 
 profitable concern. One hundred quince-trees, full 
 grown, in a bearing year, will afford as much income 
 as a small farm : they are very easily raised, as they 
 grow from cuttings, and send up many suckers from 
 the roots, which may be taken up and planted out. 
 Forsyth says it improves the fruit both in quantity and 
 quality to graft the trees. The smaller fruits, such as 
 currants and gooseberries, may be cultivated with little 
 trouble : and one who has a garden, may have a good 
 row of currant-bushes : they grow readily from cuttings : 
 they do best in a shaded situation, or by a south fence ; 
 
FRUIT-TREES. 277 
 
 and, by keeping them free from grass, and well pruned, 
 they will bear profusely. Currants are a very grateful 
 as well as wholesome fruit. There are many other 
 kinds of fruit which might be cultivated with profit, as 
 well as to gratify the palate : they may be grown ac- 
 cording to the different tastes of individuals, and 
 though in some instances the returns should not pay 
 the expense, yet the pleasure enjoyed in nurturing 
 them, watching their growth, and finally tasting the 
 fruit, will make ample amends for the small pecuniary 
 loss. O. V. H. 
 
 November^ 1839. 
 
 The above communication is from an unknown 
 hand. We presume it is for publication, and therefore 
 give it a place. 
 
 The importance of rearing good fruits is not general- 
 ly estimated. We have infinitely the advantage of the 
 English in this business ; and, if we please, we can 
 easily supply that market. 
 
 A gentleman from Medford, the other day, observed 
 to us that a new era was dawning on commerce. That, 
 by means of the rapid communication by steamboats, 
 we could soon send to Europe articles that we should 
 not trust on a long voyage. 
 
 He observed that nothing was more acceptable to a 
 friend in England than a present of our native fruits.. 
 But for home consumption they are valuable, and 
 should by all means be made plenty. People who are 
 fond of fine fruits are not generally addicted to ardent 
 spirits ] and a taste for fine fruits may be acquired quite 
 as easily as a taste for gin. A large portion of our 
 community are preaching strenuously against the use 
 of rum, and horrid stories are daily told to terrify us 
 out of our vicious taste. These have become very old 
 stories now, and are scarcely worth telling again. 
 Would not these preachers do better to shift their 
 course a little, and try to persuade a vicious world to 
 24* 
 
278 VEGETATIVE POWER OF SEA-SAND. 
 
 adopt substitutes for these poisonous drugs ? If " moral 
 suasion " is not quite tart enough for their tastes, we 
 invito them to try apple-suasion, pear-suasion, grape- 
 suasion, and peach-suasion. This would give a little 
 variety, at least, to the sermons, and serve to keep us 
 awake. 
 
 It will be found quite difficult to force people to give 
 up all their luxuries at once, and we may find it more 
 feasible to divert the taste to some luxuries of an inno- 
 cent nature, than to wholly forbid the use of them. 
 
 We know there is a small party that travels on the 
 high pressure principle ;' and they forbid the use of tea 
 and coffee : but with all our tendencies towards tem- 
 perance, we think it impolitic to dispense with these. 
 
 Let us diligently cultivate the best fruits our climate 
 will produce, and we may, in time, forget entirely the 
 use of ardent spirit. — Ed. 
 
 VEGETATIVE POWER OF SEA-SANI>. 
 
 A FEW days since, a quantity of sea-sand was car- 
 ried out of Morecambe bay, about a mile from the 
 Furness shore. It had been, less than an hour pre- 
 viously, covered a considerable depth by the tide, and 
 contained several cockles and other shell-fish. It was 
 immediately placed in pits, or beds, fifteen inches deep, 
 and sown, without manure or admixture of any kind, 
 just in the state it was when taken from the bay, 
 with wheat, barley, peas, mustard, cress, and radish- 
 seed. In five days, the mustard, cress, and radish- 
 seed had sprouted, and begun to vegetate, having 
 thrown out a considerable length of root, while (what 
 is most extraordinary) the shell-fish were even then 
 alive ! Thus have we Avheat, barley, peas, mustard, 
 cress, and radishes, all growing, and cockles and other 
 shell-fish in a living state^ in one and the same bed of 
 
C0RRESPONDENCE. 279 
 
 sea-sand ! Should any one be at all incredulous as to 
 the truth of this statement, he can easily try the ex- 
 periment himself: an ordinary flower-pot, filled with 
 sea-sand, sown with almost any kind of seeds, would 
 at once put the matter to the test. Common hay-seed 
 sown in October last, in beds of sand similar to the 
 above, and treated exactly in the same way, have now 
 grown to the extraordinary height of three feet six 
 inches and a half. Some wheat sown about Christ- 
 mas last, (now in ear,) three feet three inches ; barley, 
 do. three inches ; peas sown about April last, (pods 
 completely formed,) three feet three inches. The 
 farmers all around the bay of Morecambe, in forming 
 compost for their wheat and barley crops, use of sea- 
 sand about twenty-six carts, (small one-horse carts,) 
 lime about four carts, manure ten carts, per statute 
 acre. Why use so great a quantity of sea-sand, if it 
 does not possess very considerable vegetative power ? — 
 Eng. Paper. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 To the Editor of the Cultivator : 
 
 Sir, — I see you are recommending the culture 
 of the native grape. I have some native vines in ray 
 garden ; but, latterly, they have not borne many grapes. 
 I suspect I have not given them a sufficient trimming, 
 and I hesitate as to the proper time of the year to cut 
 off the superfluous branches. As you have experience 
 in its cultivation, will you let me know, in your next 
 paper, when is the best time to trim, or whether they 
 shonld ever be trimmed, and oblige ^ Subscriber. 
 
 Roxhury, Nov. '4za. 
 
 Grape-vines should never be trimmed in spring nor 
 in summer. They bleed excessively when cut in those 
 
280 
 
 seasons, and are no doubt injured in the operation. 
 November is a good month for trimming them ; proba- 
 bly the best month of the twelve. At this season 
 they will lose no sap, and the cuttings may be saved 
 for propagation, either by covering them in the garden 
 earth, or by placing them in a cellar. They will be 
 more likely to vegetate in spring if buried in sand in 
 the cellar. 
 
 We are not in favor of excessive trimming in any 
 case : it is as pernicious as excessive legislation. If 
 grape-vines are not placed too near each other, they 
 will not require much trimming ; but they must have 
 something to rest on, — a tree, a rail-fence, or a building. 
 If they are suffered to lie without poling, without run- 
 ning up so as to have a free circulation of air through 
 their leaves, they will not be likely to bear fruit. 
 
 We have seen them bear abundantly, year after year, 
 without any attention, when they were allowed to 
 spread out on a tree, or on a high fence ; but we think 
 they are injurious to fruit-trees. And we have seen 
 apple-trees that absolutely refused to bear other fruit 
 while sustaining a load of grapes. 
 
 Trellises or supports should be prepared at this 
 season, or at least the vine should be now prepared for 
 another season, so that nothing need be done in spring 
 save the tying of it to the support. 
 
 [Communicated for the Zanesville Gazette.] 
 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S REPORT. 
 
 Crops and Cultivation. The committee on crops 
 and cultivation respectfully present the following re- 
 port. To them were referred these questions, viz : 
 " What crops have been raised in this country ? with 
 what success ? and what improvements might be ef- 
 
281 
 
 fected in the mode of cultivation ^ or by the introduc- 
 tion of new kinds of crops ? " 
 
 Your committee cannot but congratulate themselves 
 upon the unanimity of their views with regard to the 
 subjects presented to them. Coming from various sec- 
 tions, and hitherto strangers to each other, their expe- 
 rience and observation have led generally to the same 
 conclusions. In a county presenting such a diversity 
 of soil and situation as ours, no general remarks can 
 apply with equal force in every case. Of the justness 
 of our remarks, and their applicability to his own situ- 
 ation, each can best judge for himself. They are not 
 made in a spirit of dictation : if useful to any, our end 
 is gained. 
 
 The crops which have come under our notice, as 
 having been cultivated in this county, are wheat, Indian 
 corn, oats, rye, barley, buckwheat, clover, potatoes, 
 turnips, flax, hemp, and, to a very small extent, ruta 
 baga, sugar-beet, and mangel- wurtzel. 
 
 First in importance, both as to the extent of its cul- 
 tivation, and the value of the product, is the wheat 
 crop. To it our soil and climate appear to be well 
 adapted. Though some districts yield a larger crop, 
 we have never been visited by such serious failures as 
 others have sufl*ered. The average crop, however, 
 falls far short of what v/e believe it ought ; probably 
 not exceeding fifteen bushels per acre. Late and care- 
 less sowing tends much to produce this result. The 
 chief difficulties with v.^hich the wheat crop has to 
 contend arise from the extreme variableness of our 
 climate. Frequent thaws during winter are often sud- 
 denly succeeded by severe frost when the young wheat 
 plants are unprotected by a covering of snow. They 
 then not only suff'er from the frost, but when, as is 
 often the case, the earth becomes dry by long freezing, 
 it is blown from about their roots, leaving them still 
 more exposed. Again, in spring and summer, droughts 
 are often succeeded by alternate rains and hot sun. 
 
282 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY'S REPORT. 
 
 producing scab and rust, the latter especially often prov- 
 ing very destructiv^e. Against most of these evils early 
 sowing is perhaps the best preventive. Wheat sown 
 in September would evidently be better fitted to with- 
 stand the rigors of winter ; and experience shows that 
 it is more likely to escape the dangers which threaten 
 it in summer. Rarely suffering from rust, and having 
 longer time to mature, the grain is generally increased 
 in weight and improved in quality. Ploughing in the 
 seed, or some other method which would insure a 
 deeper covering of earth than it generally receives, 
 would, by giving a greater depth of root, be a preserva- 
 tive against som.e of these evils, particularly the effects 
 of winds and drought. Spring wheat has not yet been 
 tried to an extent sufficient to test the propriety of its 
 general instruction. A trial of it is, however, desira- 
 ble. If found to be adapted to our climate,' it would 
 prove a valuable acquisition, especially when a suffi- 
 cient quantity of the winter variety has not been sown. 
 
 For the profitable culture of Indian corn^ the greater 
 part of our soil is not well fitted. And though a most 
 valuable crop, and, to a certain extent, indispensably 
 necessary to every farmer, it is desirable, on account of 
 its exhausting qualities, and the exposure of the soil to 
 washing during its cultivation, to reduce the quantity 
 grown as much as possible by the introduction of other 
 crops to supply its place. And here we would recom- 
 mend that, in the cultivation of this and similar crops, 
 a level surface should be retained as far as practicable. 
 This will not only lessen the danger of washing, but 
 be conducive to the growth of the crop. 
 
 Oats thrive well with us, and are to be prized not 
 only for their marketable value, but as furnishing an 
 excellent food for work-horses, and thus superseding 
 the necessity of an enlarged crop of Indian corn. It 
 has also been found to be an excellent preparation for 
 wheat in heavy soils. 
 
 Rye has proved rather an unprofitable crop in our 
 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY^ S REPORT. 283 
 
 county. It is thought to be inferior in quality when 
 grown here to that produced in some other districts. 
 Requiring equal labor with wheat, and not yielding 
 any more per acre, while its market value is less than 
 one half, its cultivation has been in a great measure 
 abandoned. 
 
 The culture of barley has also been an unsuccessful 
 experiment ; not yielding more than twenty bushels 
 per acre, while its cultivation is very troublesome. 
 With regard to profit, it may be ranked with rye, 
 neither of them giving a sufficient remuneration for the 
 disagreeableness of encountering their lengthy beards. 
 
 Clover, happily for us, grows luxuriantly in our soil. 
 At once useful for pasture, hay, and the improvement 
 of the soil, it is an invaluable crop, and should at once 
 be introduced upon every farm. Those, however, who 
 expect to produce a kind of magical effect upon their 
 fields, by merely scattering a few seeds over them, will 
 most surely be disappointed. A gallon of seed per 
 acre is necessary to produce a good crop. 
 
 Buckwheat is grown in small quantities ; and, as the 
 crop is rather precarious and the demand for it limited, 
 its cultivation cannot become much more extensive. 
 
 Of flax, which was at one time extensively culti- 
 vated for domestic purposes, but little is now grown. 
 
 Experiments on a small scale have been tried in the 
 culture of he7np ; but the amount and disagreeable 
 nature of the labor required to fit it for market Tenders 
 it rather an undesirable crop. ' Neither does much of our 
 soil seem well suited for its growth. 
 
 Field beans have been raised to some extent for the 
 southern market. The demand being small, large 
 crops would be unsaleable. But as an article of home 
 consumption, they are worth the attention of the 
 farmer. Sown in drills, and cultivated like corn, they 
 produce about twenty bushels per acre. 
 
 A cheaper and more abundant supply of food for 
 stock than is afforded by exhausting farinaceous crops, 
 
284 ■ 
 
 has hecome a desideratum with our farmers. In the 
 Northeastern States, peas have been resorted to for this 
 purpose. Within onr knowledge but a single trial has 
 been made of them in this county. Thongh this ex- 
 periment was not conducted with sufficient accuracy to 
 test the quantity they will produce per acre, it has 
 shown that they will grow here hixuriantly. The 
 gentleman who has grown them here gathers them 
 with a horse-rake, without any previous cutting. He 
 states that he has found them to fatten hogs faster than 
 ariy other food he ever tried. 
 
 But " root culture " presents a prospect of the most 
 abundant supply. Which is the best kind of root is a 
 question yet to be decided. The potato, which some 
 have recommended, however indispensable for the 
 table, requires too much labor in its production, and is 
 too uncertain to be depended on for stock feeding. 
 The common turnip is still more uncertain. 
 
 The ruta baga, sugar-beet, and mangel- wurtzel seem 
 to divide public favor, though the latter has the most 
 advocates. Sufficient experiments have not yet been 
 made in this county to test their relative or positive 
 rate o production. 
 
 And further permit us to remark, that, however cor- 
 rect our theories, or whatever crops we cultivate, a neat 
 and thorough manner of doing every thing is necessa- 
 ry to insure success. A scarcity of laborers and the 
 abundant production of a vigorous soil have induced a 
 careless and negligent habit of farming. A disposition 
 to regard the extent of our fields more than the manner 
 of their cultivation, has been but too prevalent. But 
 a better spirit we believe is beginning to prevail. 
 Farmers are becoming aware that the best cultivation 
 is the most profitable ; and we hope that the formation 
 of this society will be an era from Avhich we shall date 
 the commencement of a rapid advance to excellence. 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 John Stillwell, Chairman, 
 
AGE OF THE HORSE. 285 
 
 [From the Genesee Farmer.] 
 
 AGE OF THE HORSE. 
 
 " P. L. P." of Ludlowville, has, in a number of 
 queries, called our attention to that valuable animal, 
 the horse, and requested information on some subjects 
 that cannot well be illustrated without the aid of the 
 proper engravings, to which reference can be made. 
 These it is our intention to procure ; and, with their 
 aid, we shall endeavor to give the readers of the Farmer 
 some items of knowledge respecting this noble animal 
 that will be practically useful. In the mean time, the 
 following remarks on the structure of the teeth will 
 show the foundation on which a knowledge of the age 
 of the horse is obtained by attending to them. 
 
 Among dealers in horses, the front teeth, which are 
 called inciso7^s in other animals, are called nippers, as, 
 from the motion of the horse in eating, it is evident 
 the grass is rather broken off than cut by the teeth. 
 These teeth, six in number, are covered with a very 
 hard substance called enamel, the base of which is 
 phosphate of lime, and is so compact as almost to bid 
 defiance to the best files. This enamel constitutes the 
 outside of the tooth, and as it rises above the surface 
 is bent inward, and apparently sunk into the body of 
 the tooth, forming an indentation or pit, occupying the 
 centre of the tooth ; and the inside and bottom of this 
 being, during its existence, blackened by the food, 
 constitutes the pecuhar appearance or mark by which, 
 until the tooth is much worn, the age of the horse can 
 be determined. As the teeth, or nippers, are renewed 
 at different times, the mark will be partially or entirely 
 worn from some, while it will be entire on others : the 
 difference in the wearing, until all are worn, is a crite- 
 rion not liable to error. The hollow part never fills 
 up, but remains there till the enamel is worn to the 
 25 
 
286 TINCTURE OF ROSES. 
 
 same level, when the wear of the whole teeth is nearly- 
 uniform. 
 
 The horse's month is not perfect, that is, all the 
 teeth, nippers, tusks, and grinders, have not made their 
 appearance until he is about six years old. The wear 
 is now operative on all, and the mark has disappeared 
 from the central nippers. At seven years, the mark is 
 worn out on the four central nippers, and is fast wear- 
 ing from the outer ones. At eight years, the marks are 
 all gone from the nippers of the under jaw, or the 
 bottom ones ; and there is nothing remaining on them 
 Avhich clearly indicates the age of the horse, or '' which 
 will justify the most experienced examiner in giving a 
 positive opinion." Dealers, or horsemen, after the 
 animal is eight years old, are accustomed to look at the 
 nippers in the upper jaw, and some aid may be drawn 
 from the appearances they present, as they do not at 
 all times wear away with the regularity or the quick- 
 ness of the lower nippers. Still the information they 
 give after eight cannot be implicitly relied on ; and it 
 is a common saying among jockeys, that a horse is 
 never more than nine. Up to eight years of age, "P. 
 L. P.'' can determine the age of his horse ; later than 
 that, he must depend on his own or others' knowledge, 
 or en tradition. 
 
 TINCTURE OF ROSES. 
 
 Take the leaves of the common rose, place them, 
 v/ithout pressing them, in a bottle ; pour good spirits of 
 wine upon them, close the bottle, and let it stand until 
 it is required for use. This tincture will keep for years, 
 and yield a perfume little inferior to otto of rose : a iew 
 drops of it will suffice to impregnate the atmosphere of 
 a room with a delicious odor. Common vinegar is 
 greatly improved by a very small quantity being added 
 to it. — German paper. 
 
MAKING BACON. 287 
 
 MAKING BACON. 
 
 Bacon is an article of use in nearly every family in 
 this country ; yet very little attention is paid to its 
 preparation by most of our farmers. It is enough for 
 them that the hams are taken out, salted at random, 
 smoked in an imperfect manner, and this is then called 
 bacon. The western part of Yirginia is most famous 
 for its fine bacon ; and those at the north who have in 
 substance adopted the mode pursued there, find their 
 bacon greatly improved. 
 
 Too heavy hogs are not so good for bacon as those 
 that are smaller, if equally well fattened. One that 
 will weigh two hundred is large enough, as the salt 
 will strike through the pieces more equally, and the 
 smoking be more perfect. It is essential, for the first 
 rate bacon, that the pork should be corn-fed ; at least, 
 if any thing is used to aid in fattening, it should be in 
 the first part of the time, and corn be given for five or 
 six weeks previous to slaughtering. The pork of 
 corn-fed pigs will be hard and compact, and the kidney 
 fat ; instead of being soft and unctuous, like lard, will 
 be solid, like beef suet. 
 
 In the best establishment for making bacon, three 
 pecks of salt and one pound of saltpetre are used for 
 every thousand pounds of pork ; the salt to be meas- 
 ured, and the saltpetre reduced to powder, thoroughly 
 incorporated or mixed with it. None but the best salt 
 should be used in making bacon. At the south, that 
 which is produced at the Kenhawa works, at the first 
 crystallization, is preferred ; at the north, the coarse 
 salt of the Onondaga works, or that produced by evap- 
 oration, is to be chosen as more pure than any other 
 kind. 
 
 The prepared salt is to be thoroughly rubbed on the 
 meat, and then liberally sprinkled over the outside. 
 There is little danger of oversalting from quantity : it 
 
288 MAKING BACON. 
 
 is length of time that produces the result. The meat 
 is to be laid, with the skin side down, in good casks ; 
 the hams and shoulders first, and then the smaller 
 pieces. Salt must be sprinkled over the bottom of the 
 cask before the meat is laid in. At the fourth or fifth 
 day, the meat must be taken up and again thoroughly 
 rubbed with the salt. At this period of the process, 
 some use a teaspoonful of powdered red pepper to each 
 piece, and the whole is replaced, after any bloody or 
 impure brine that may have formed in the cask is re- 
 moved. In about two weeks, the smaller pieces will 
 be fully salted, and should be taken from the cask, and 
 the remainder repacked ; those that were at the top 
 being now placed at the bottom, as pressure will pre- 
 vent the passage of the brine through the meat, if the 
 position of the pieces is not changed. The shoulders 
 will be struck through in about three weeks, -and the 
 hams in four. 
 
 Smoking is the next important part of the business, 
 and should be well done, or good bacon cannot be 
 made. Smoke-houses are usually too small ; the meat 
 hangs too crowded, and too near the fire. The pieces 
 should by no means touch the wall, or each other ; but 
 space for the free circulation of the smoke should in 
 all cases be allowed. The time required for smoking 
 is the same as that for salting, — four weeks for hams, 
 three weeks for shoulders, and two weeks for the other 
 pieces, or middlings. Damp weather is improper for 
 smoking meat, as the bacon, from the dampness that is 
 apt to settle on the meat, acquires a bitter flavor, in 
 some respects like that given by pyroligneous acid. 
 Sound maple chips, or blocks of hickory-wood, are 
 chosen for smoking meat ; though the celebrated Ham- 
 burg hams are smoked with oak-wood alone. The 
 smoke-house should be at a moderate temperature, as 
 that will greatly assist in preventing the appearance of 
 dampness on the meat. Two fires a day, if properly 
 made, will finish the smoking in the time specified 
 
BOTs. 289 
 
 above. Some throw, occasionally, powdered red pep- 
 per on the fire, as it is said to prevent the attacks of 
 insects on the bacon after smoking, and somewhat im- 
 proves the flavor. 
 
 If the smoke-house can be kept perfectly secure 
 against the entrance of insects, and is dark and cool, 
 the bacon may be left in it till wanted for use ; but 
 there are few houses of this description, and, on the 
 approach of warm weather, must be taken down and 
 packed away secure till required for the table. Salt, 
 clean hickory-ashes, or oats, will secure it from insects 
 or dripping, if placed in a dry or cool position. It is 
 sometimes kept by white-washing the surfaces, by dip- 
 ping the hams in strong lie, which converts the sur- 
 face into a kind of soap, and sometimes by sewing 
 them up closely in cotton. Probably the best mode, 
 however, in all respects, is to pack them down in pow- 
 dered charcoal, which will not only effectually exclude 
 all insects whatever, but, by keeping the meat dry, 
 and correcting any tendency to unpleasant flavor, keep 
 the meat in good order for any length of time. — Gen- 
 esee Farmer. 
 
 [From the Pictou (N. S.) Farmer.] 
 
 BOTS. 
 
 The committee will conclude their report with a 
 few remarks on bots in horses, although, strictly speak- 
 ing, without the limits of their subject. 
 
 The estrus communis, or horse-bee, as it is common- 
 ly calkd, is seen depositing its little yellow eggs on the 
 legs of horses, during the summer and autumn : these 
 are taken ofl" by the horse, biting at flies, or scratching 
 himself^ and swallowed. In the stomach of the horse 
 25* 
 
290 BOTS. 
 
 they are hatched, and this is the place nature has 
 assigned for their first transformation. They are now 
 in the state of maggots ; and, in the spring of the year, 
 they are always found in great numbers adhering to 
 the lower part of the stomach, and the adjoining intes- 
 tine. After a time, they quit the body with the faeces, 
 and soon again assume the form of the fly. One of 
 the committee has investigated this subject with some 
 pains, and, after having examined the stomach of seve- 
 ral horses supposed to have died of bots, he has come 
 to the conviction that these animals scarcely ever 
 cause death in the horse. In animals that have been 
 killed by violence they are found in equal numbers as 
 in those supposed to have died of bots. In fact, he be- 
 lieves no horse's stomach, that has been exposed to the 
 fly, will be without them in the spring season. He 
 has almost uniformly found the stomach uiiinjured, 
 though swarms of the animals were adhering ; and it is 
 impossible that they can prove fatal in any other way 
 than by gnawing and inflaming the coats of this organ. 
 The reason that death is so often ascribed to the 
 presence and operations of these worms, is to be found 
 in the general ignorance of the symptoms of other 
 diseases : the horse dies, the stomach is opened, the 
 bots are found, and, therefore, they are the cause of his 
 death. As well might it be said that a bird, found 
 sitting on a fallen tree, had been the cause of its over- 
 throw. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, they 
 will be found entirely innocent, and some other impor- 
 tant organ will, if carefully examined, present appear- 
 ances sufficient to account for the fatal event. If it be 
 admitted that bots can cause the disorder, unfortunately 
 we possess no means of ascertaining their presence, no 
 symptom to be depended on, except the accidental one 
 of their being voided ; and we know of no remedies 
 that can claim the least confidence to eflTect their dis- 
 lodgement. 
 
 All kinds of burning and corrosive medicines have 
 
FARMERS AND MECHANICS. 291 
 
 been poured down the unfortunate animal's throat, with 
 no other effect than that of increasing the original dis- 
 ease, or producing one where none previously existed, 
 without disturbing the worms in the least. One of the 
 committee has experimented on them after the death of 
 the horse, by placing them in a cup with spirits of tur- 
 pentine, strong lie, and various powerful medicines, 
 without producing any effect for many hours. This 
 being the case, it is impossible to apply any of them 
 for a sufficient space of time to destroy the bots, leav- 
 ing out of the question the injury done to the tender 
 coats of the horse's stomach by substances so perni- 
 cious. 
 
 If there are grounds to suppose that worms are 
 really the mischief, the most eligible course is to im- 
 prove the horse's condition by change of diet, moderate 
 exercise, and grooming, with occasional doses of some 
 gentle alterative medicine. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 James N. Crane, 
 Stephen Gould, 
 Edward L. Brown. 
 Lower Horton, September 23, 1839. 
 
 [Extracts from a speech by David Paul Brown, Esq.] 
 
 FARMERS AND MECHANICS. 
 
 ^'Why, gentlemen, who was it that shed the bright- 
 est lustre upon the vast science of astronomy ? One 
 David Rittenhouse, a native of Pennsylvania, who fol- 
 lowed the plough. Who was it that tore the lightning 
 from heaven, and the sceptre from tyrants? One 
 Benjamin Franklin, a printer's boy, who protected 
 himself from the inclemency of winter by exercise 
 alone, and lived upon a single roll of bread a day. 
 
292 FARMERS AND MECHANICS, 
 
 Who was itj when the veteran armies of Great Britain 
 faltered and fled in the Indian war, safely conducted 
 the retreat, and secured the remnant of the army, 
 though he had 'never set a squadron in the field, nor 
 the division of a battle, knew more than a spinster ? ' 
 One George Washington, a Virginia planter. Who 
 was it that shed the brighest halo around the brightest 
 reign that the world ever knew, — the reign of Eliza- 
 beth, the age of the Raleighs, the Bacons, Sidneys ? 
 Why, it was one Ben Johnson, a quondam apprentice 
 to a bricklayer, and one Will Shakspeare, a peasant boy, 
 shrewdly suspected of poaching upon his neighbor's 
 deer. Or, passing from astronomy and poetry to law, 
 who was it rose from a low beginning to be lord chief 
 justice of England? One Charley Abbott, whose 
 father was a barber. Who was it that rose to be lord 
 high chancellor of England ? One Jack ' Copley, 
 "v^hose father was an American painter. Who was it 
 that became the brightest star in the judicial constella- 
 tion of Great Britain ? One Phil. Yorke, whose father 
 no one knew. Or, passing to a still further illustra- 
 tion — * * # # 
 
 " Although I do not mean to say that there never 
 was a great man among the wealthy, curled darlings of 
 the nation, yet I do mean to say, and history sustains 
 the assertion, that luxury and afliuence are calculated 
 to enfeeble the mind, and that those, therefore, who 
 are great in despite of them, would probably be much 
 greater if removed from their influence. It is a well- 
 known fact among gentlemen of the turf, that blooded 
 horses, which for years have been permitted to browse 
 and cater on broken, irregular, and mountainous pas- 
 tures, have acquired a much greater muscular strength, 
 in sportsman's phrase, better bottom, than those which 
 are fed upon a level surface. The application of this, 
 although a physical illustration, is not difficult. Men 
 whose lives have been an uninterrupted course of diffi- 
 culty, a perfect up-hill work, acquire in time a self- 
 
IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL. 
 
 293 
 
 dependence, and a self-sufficiency and promptitude in 
 every emergency, which those who have been accus- 
 tomed to stand for fame on their forefathers' feet, or to 
 lean for all pleasure upon another's breast, never have 
 
 known, and never can know." 
 
 [From the Farmers' Companion.] 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL BY ANIMAL AND VEGE- 
 TABLE MANURES, 
 
 The great sources of fertility to the farm are the 
 refuse of the crops which they bear, modified by the 
 farm stock, and preserved and judiciously applied by 
 the husbandman. There is not a vegetable matter 
 grown upon the farm, be it considered ever so useless 
 or noxious, but will, after it has served ordinary useful 
 purposes, impart fertility to the soil, and contribute to 
 the growth of a new generation of plants, if it is judi- 
 ciously husbanded and applied. There is not an ani- 
 mal substance, be it solid, liquid, or gaseous, be it bone, 
 horn, urine, hair, wool, or flesh, or the gases which are 
 generated by the decomposition of these matters, but, 
 with like care and skill, may be converted into new 
 vegetable and afterwards into new animal matters. 
 To economize and apply all these fertilizing materials 
 is the province and the duty of the husbandman. To 
 aid him in this useful labor, is the object of this essay. 
 And, — 
 
 1. Of the Cattle-yard. This should be located 
 on the south side of and adjoining the barn. Sheds, 
 substantial walls, or close board fences, should be 
 erected at least on the east and west sides, to shelter 
 the cattle from cold winds and storms ; the size and 
 the divisions to be adapted to the stock which it is in- 
 tended to feed. Excavate the centre, or some other 
 part of the yard, placing the earth removed upon the 
 
294 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOIL BY 
 
 borders, which may be ten to fourteen feet broad, or 
 upon the lower sides, where there is a descent, so that 
 the Hquids will all run to the centre, and the borders, 
 which should be left gentl}^ inclining, will remain dry 
 and firm, for feeding the cattle upon. The centre 
 may be from two to five feet lower than the borders. 
 The labor may be done principally with the plough 
 and scraper, and smoothed off with the scraper and 
 hoe. We were employed two days and a half, with 
 two hands and a team, in giving a cattle-yard the 
 desired shape. When the soil of the yard is not suffi- 
 ciently compact to hold water, or is not likely to be- 
 come so by the tread of the cattle, or the puddling 
 eifects of the manure, the bottom should be bedded 
 with six or eight inches of clay, well beat down, and 
 well covered with gravel. This is seldom, however, 
 necessary. Our yards are upon a sand loam,' and yet 
 the liquids never sink into the earth. 
 
 When the yard is prepared, the first thing done 
 should be to overlay the whole bottom with six to 
 twelve inches of peat-smamp earth, where it is at com- 
 mand ; and, where it is not, with earth from ditches, 
 the road-side, or other rich deposits. It is then fit for 
 the reception of the cattle, and of straw, coarse hay, 
 corn-stalks, and other litter of the farm ; and, subse- 
 quently ^ as they may be gathered, the weeds, potato and 
 pumpkin-vines, and other vegetable matters. These 
 materials will absorb or take up the urine and other 
 liquids, and, becoming incorporated with the dung, 
 double or treble the ordinary quantity of manure. 
 During the continuance of frost, the excavation gives 
 no inconvenience ; and, when the weather is soft, the 
 borders afford space for feeding the cattle, and for a dry 
 passage to the barn. In this way the urine is saved, 
 and the waste incident to rains, &c. prevented. The 
 barns and sheds which adjoin the yards should be pro- 
 vided with eve-gutters, which should discharge out- 
 side of the yard, so that the waters from the roofs may 
 pass ofi". 
 
ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE MANURES. 295 
 
 As a further precaution against waste by rains, a 
 cistern or tank may be sunk near the yard, into which 
 an under drain may be made to conduct the liquids, 
 when they are hkely to accumulate to excess. These 
 liquids may be pumped into casks upon carts, and em- 
 ployed to great advantage upon grass or arable crops. 
 The Flemings call these liquids the cooked food of their 
 crops. 
 
 To guard against the wasting influence of the sun 
 in summer, a roughly constructed covering, supported 
 by posts, may be erected over the central depot. This 
 is seldom necessary under our mode of management, 
 which requires a thorough cleaning of the yard every 
 spring, for the corn, potato, and other root crops. 
 
 The cattle should be kept constantly yarded in 
 winter, except when let out to water, not only because, 
 if suffered to run at large, they poach and injure the 
 fields and meadows, but because they waste their 
 dung; and the yard should be frequently replenished 
 with fresh litter. Upon this plan, from ten to twelve 
 loads of manure may readily be obtained, every spring, 
 from each animal wintered in the yard. If the manure 
 from the horse-stables and from stalled neat cattle be 
 added, the quantity will not only be proportionally in- 
 creased, but the quality improved. Whenever the 
 yard is thoroughly cleaned for spring crops, it ought to 
 be again bedded with fresh earth, and well littered. 
 
 2. The Stables, whether occupied by horses or 
 cattle, may be made to contribute much to the value 
 of the yard dung, by their urine, which may be con- 
 ducted into the yard by paved or other conduits, lead- 
 ing from the stables to the yard. In these, too, litter 
 may be as profitably employed to increase the dung, 
 and to promote the health and comfort of the animal, 
 as in the yard or open sheds. The dung from the 
 horse-stables, if suffered to lie in a mass, is apt to heat 
 and become fire-fanged, as it is termed, which very 
 much impairs its quality. Where there are cellars 
 
296 CABBAGE-PLANTS. 
 
 under stables, the dang is thrown down into them, and 
 is there protected from the wasting influence of the 
 weather ; but even here it is liable to suffer injury, 
 unless hogs are permitted to root among it, or unless 
 the cellar is frequently cleaned out. An approved 
 practice is, to scatter the dung from the stables over 
 the cattle-yard, which thus retards fermentation, pre- 
 vents waste, and produces a homogeneous mass of ex- 
 cellent manure. 
 
 3. The Hog-pen. Hogs are excellent animals for 
 manufacturing manure, if they are furnished with the 
 raw material, as peat, earth, straw, weeds, &c. and a 
 suitable place for conducting the process. The com- 
 posts of their formation is among the cheapest and the 
 best that are used upon the farm. The slops of the 
 kitchen, the weeds of the garden, the refuse fruits of 
 the orchard, and the offal of the farm, are readily con- 
 verted, by these swinish laborers, into meat or manure. 
 Hogs are profitable laborers, and should be employed to 
 as great an extent upon the farm as the proprietor's 
 circumstances will permit. 
 
 4 The Sheep-fold may be made an abundant 
 source of fertility to the farm. Economy in its manage- 
 ment consists in giving abundance of litter, repeated 
 at short intervals, sufficient to absorb the urine, prevent 
 wasting exhalations, and secure health to the flock, and 
 in applying the dung in its recent or unfermented state. 
 
 CABBAGE-PLANTS. 
 
 WooD-ASHES placed about cabbage-plants will much 
 improve their condition. Frequent hoeing will serve 
 to keep the ground moist, and will help their growth. 
 
 The dryest ground in the garden is in the thickest 
 growth of weeds. These suck up the moisture and 
 
 give it the winds. 
 
NEAT STOCK. 297 
 
 NEAT STOCK. 
 
 Wm. Garbutt, Esq. of Wheatland, N. Y. in a com- 
 munication to the Genesee Farmer, dated 19th July, 
 announces the arrival of a bull and two heifers, imported 
 by Mr. Vernon, from the stock of Mr. Davy, one of the 
 most celebrated breeders of the pure North Devons in 
 Devonshire, England, and says : 
 
 " The animals are very beautiful and sufficiently 
 large for profit, and a valuable acquisition to Western 
 New York, for which we are indebted to Mr. Vernon. 
 I consider the Devons better adapted to the wants 
 and habits of the farmers in Western New York than 
 any other of the improved stock, not excepting the im- 
 proved short-horned Durhams. The want of size in 
 the Devons is more the fault of the breeders than the 
 breed, for animals soon adapt themselves to the quanti- 
 ty of food they have to live on. They are excellent 
 feeders, and the beef is of the best quality, being well 
 mixed. They are fair milkers, and yield a great pro- 
 portion of butter and cheese to the quantity of milk : 
 they are very active, tough, and hardy : excellent 
 travellers, and first best for labor. But permit me here 
 to add, that we farmers must learn to take better care 
 of our animals before we can receive much benefit from 
 improved stock. If we cannot supply them with a 
 sufficiency of nutritive food, and shelter them from the 
 inclemency of the weather, it is of very little conse- 
 quence what the breed may be, they are all unprofita- 
 •)q\q * # * ^\\Q most efficient means of improving 
 our domestic animals would be the introduction of 
 agricultural exhibitions : by comparing each other's 
 stock, we should become judges, see their defects, find 
 the means of correcting them, and receive a powerful 
 stimulant to improvement." 
 
 A correspondent in the same journal from which the 
 above extract is taken, in his second number of a series 
 26 
 
298 NEAT STOCK* 
 
 of *' Notices of Improved Farm Stock," in New York, 
 thus speaks of Mr. C. N. Beraent's at his Three Hills 
 farm, near Albany, than whom a more distinguished 
 and successful breeder is not, perhaps, to be found in 
 the State r 
 
 '' Mr. B's. Durhams, like every other breeder I have 
 called upon, have become pretty well thinned in point 
 of numbers ; he has, however, a few still for sale ; 
 among these I would particularly notice his yearling 
 bull Astoria, as being of good size, and of very perfect 
 symmetry of form. I also took quite a fancy to a large 
 three year old heifer, the name of which I do not recol- 
 lect. But Durhams, as I have before hinted, I do not 
 think the proper stock on light soils, either at the North 
 or South. There are exceptions ; but, as a grand rule^ 
 they must have a luxuriant pasture that produces a 
 good thick bite in summer, with generous feed through- 
 out the winter, or it is idle to think that they can be 
 kept up to good flesh and great size. I believe Mr. B. 
 for one, is becoming convinced of this, and has accord- 
 ingly procured some Devons, an Ayreshire heifer, with 
 more expected soon to arrive from abroad, and also a 
 few good native cov^s. One of these last, of handsome 
 color, limb, and shape, unites extraordinary milking 
 qualities. From the 19th Dec. to 18th Jan. she made 
 fifty-six pounds of well-worked butter, which is nearly 
 two pounds per day, a great yield for the dead of 
 winter. She is what I think Col. Jacques would class 
 among his celebrated "Cream-pot" breed, without 
 hesitation. I have ever been a great advocate for the 
 improvement of our native breeds of all description of 
 stock, and I am glad to see Mr. B. enter upon the sub- 
 ject so spiritedly. Massachusetts' able agricultural 
 commissioner, Mr. Coleman, has shown, by his reports, 
 that we are not deficient in first-rate dairy cows. 
 These have only to be carefully selected and crossed 
 with Durham bulls of fine points, middling size, and of 
 deep milking families, to soon insure as valuable a 
 
TIMBER FOR FENCING. 299 
 
 breed of dairy cows as could be imported at ten times 
 their expense from abroad. In this way, the Ayreshires 
 have been made, that have become second now only 
 to the Durhams. Conld the attention of stock breeders 
 be better employed than turning to this? It really 
 seems to me the only way that our country can ever 
 be filled up with good milking and fattening animals. 
 A few years of such breeding would assuredly do more 
 for us than a century of importations." 
 
 [From tlie Genesee Farmer.] 
 
 TIMBER FOR FENCING. 
 
 Mr. Editor, — As it is a time light is expanding, and 
 farmers are becoming more free to communicate their 
 several stocks of knowledge and experience, and you 
 have interested yourself so much as to collect informa- 
 tion and arrange it in such a manner that it may be 
 compared to a great reservoir, public storehouse, to 
 which we can resort for almost any important informa- 
 tion which is necessary to our concerns, I cast in my 
 mite, which is relative to the choice of trees for culture. 
 This country is much lacking in durable timber for 
 fences, &c. yet the yellow locust and native mulberry 
 are easily propagated, and almost incorruptible to last 
 as fence posts, having been taken up for examination, 
 upon Long Island, after having been used as gate-posts, 
 and then were found to be sound enough, to all appear- 
 ance, to last fifty years more. My informant I think 
 told me the truth, as I suppose he is a man to be be- 
 lieved. Mr. Samuel Wiman, in this town, informed 
 me, about two months since, he had a native mulberry 
 bar-post which had stood thirty years ; that it was still 
 strong in the ground ; the holes for the bars to run in 
 wore out, which spoiled it. The yellow locust and native 
 
300 GRASSHOPPERS. 
 
 mulberry are so rapid a growth, if they are cultivated 
 with care, that though a fence were built of basswood, 
 I think by the time a new one would be necessary, the 
 timber would be grown to sufficient size to make posts 
 to board to, on a good soil. I measure my ground, 
 and set my locust trees fourteen feet apart, in order to 
 have them for posts as they grow. If my brother 
 farmers will follow the preceding method, instead of 
 any other method, or kind of trees I have seen de- 
 scribed, I think that as much good would result from 
 the operation as from hedges twice told, or any other 
 operation of a like amount of cost and labor. 
 
 H. Seely. 
 
 GRASSHOPPERS. 
 
 Grasshoppers multiply much faster in dry weather 
 than in wet. Hens and turkeys are excellent company 
 for them when they can keep up. If they fall in the 
 rear, they should be driven out and made acquainted 
 with the shy little hoppers. 
 
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