SOLON ROBINSON, 1849 325 



made upon a farm that had been rented and skinned for 

 fifty years, but by the use of muck, he now gets one and 

 a half to two tons of hay to the acre, and 30 bushels of 

 wheat. 



To Drain Land where quicksand is troublesome, can be 

 done by cutting two ditches above the main ditch, not 

 quite deep enough to be affected by the quicksand, so as 

 to inclose a triangular-shaped piece of ground, which 

 serves to take off a portion of the water and relieve the 

 pressure of sand into the main ditch. So says Mr. 

 Thomas Hancock.^ His practice is to plow in all manure 

 upon wheat ground and harrow in all guano, lime, and 

 ashes. He never uses any top-dressing upon grass except 

 marl. 



Rent of Land, at Camden N. J., is worth six dollars an 

 acre, the renter finding his own manure to as great or 

 greater amount, and yet cultivation is found profitable, 

 owing to the convenience of Philadelphia markets, and 

 the facility of reaching New York by railroad. In other 

 parts of the United States, the fee simple forever, of far 

 better land can be had for less money, which will produce 

 more, without manure, and yet is not worth cultivating, 

 for the very simple reason that the cultivator has no mar- 

 ket for his surplus produce. Such land can only be made 

 available by increased facilities of transportation. 

 Strange that all farmers do not see the advantages of 

 making good carriage roads, and the interest they have 

 in railroads, plank roads, canals and navigable waters. 



Solon Robinson. 



'Thomas Hancock, son of Thomas and Martha (Deacon) Han- 

 cock, born September 9, 1801 ; died 1854. Succeeded to his father's 

 farm in Burlington Township, and in 1822, with his brother Benja- 

 min, established the Ashton Nurseries which became widely known. 

 Showed deep interest in advancement of agriculture and horticul- 

 ture, and was a founder of the Burlington County Agricultural 

 Society and a member of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. 

 Imported blooded cattle. In 1842 became a director of the Mechan- 

 ics' National Bank, Burlington. Woodward, E. M., and Hageman, 

 John F., History of Burlington and Mercer Counties, New Jersey, 

 167 (Philadelphia, 1883) ; The Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil, 

 4:108 (August, 1851); Cultivator, n.s. 6:98 (March, 1849). 



