No. 63.| 225 



then our farms will be reduced and our products increased. Farm- 

 ers who took pride in boasting that they had a thousand acres in 

 wheat, will soon be heard to claim credit for their well tilled and 

 heavy yielding 50 or 100 acres. This system of superficial culture, 

 has heretofore had the effect of " wearing ouf^ immense quantities 

 of land. No one thought of manuring such large tracts, and although 

 a judicious system of rotation of crops has been generally adopted 

 within the present century, even that has not been able to save the 

 land. All now begin to see the necessity of reducing the surface of 

 their arable land to the capacity of their force, instead of expanding 

 their stinted force to the extent of their widely spread lands. 



Shallow plowing is another prominent feature in Maryland agri- 

 culture, which is of more difficult eradication than any other of our 

 errors. This simply looking into or at the surface of things, will no 

 more do in agriculture than in other pursuits, and 1 am happy to say 

 that the lights of the age are rapidly illuminating the subject of deep 

 furrows here as well as elsewhere. 



It need scarcely be stated in this paper, that our staple agricultu- 

 ral products are wheat, corn and tobacco. Those of less note are the 

 same as those of all the northern and middle states. Although the 

 average yield of our soil is not as great in wheat and corn as that of 

 some other states, and although our climate renders a fair yield more 

 precarious, yet both these grains are of a superior quality in nutritious 

 principles. There is no wheat in the world that can compare with 

 our Maryland white wheat, in its proportions of gluten and starch, 

 the former predominating to so large an extent, that a barrel of flour 

 made from it will yield some ten per cent more bread than a barrel 

 of Genesee flour will. This is owing to the chemical combination of 

 a larger quantity of water caused by the large proportion of gluten. 

 Most of our red wheats are possessed of the same valuable property, 

 and a knowledge of this fact is availed of by the bakers in all parts 

 of the country. It is believed that if the errors above named could be 

 eradicated., and the improvements adopted generally, the evils of our 

 climate would be much less, if at all, felt in the failure of crops. We 

 have a few instances of the unfailing success of those who cultivate 

 closely and highly. The writer of this paper is acquainted with one 

 farmer at least, who never suffers a failure in any crop, wheat, corn, 

 or rye, and his success is believed to be attributable exclusively to 

 his thorough cultivation and free application of manures. 



ON BEES. 



BY JOHN M. WEEKS, SALISBURY, VT. 



In relation to your inquiries about bees, I am in some doubt what 

 course of treatment on the subject will be most interesting, and best 

 calculated to be useful to the readers of your valuable report. To 



[Senate No. 63.] D^ 



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