No. 1. 



Health — Lime — Turneps. 



37 



[Hcnldi. 



The occupation of the farmer is favorable 

 to health. Man was made for exercise — for 

 toil — and in it he finds not only health but 

 Jiappiness. The use of all our faculties, both 

 ■of body and mind, constitutes the sources of 

 pleasure. Inaction and sloth confer not this 

 treasure for which man lives and toils. Tl; 

 most unhappy individuals and the most mise- 

 rable, imbecile nations, are those whom ne^ 

 <cessity does not compel to labor dilicrently for 

 a livelihood. Therefore let not the farmer 

 regard his occupation as a slavish one, or look 

 witli envy upon the man who toils not with 

 his hands. He has occasion to envy no one 

 ■—there arc some he can despise ox pity if he 

 pleases. 



But when we commenced this paragraph 

 we intended to say a word upon the care 

 which ought to be taken of health, and the 

 means which should be used to preserve it — 

 for it is much easier to retain than to gain it, 

 and much more pleasant. The principal pre- 

 servatives of health are, in the language of 

 acotemporary, "pure air, pure drink, plain 

 food, exercise, cleanliness, protection, regu- 

 lar rest, occasional abstinence, and an active 

 and well governed mind," and, we would add, 

 temperance in all things. Each of these 

 might be made the text for a sermon longer 

 than v,7oold be interesting to our readers. 

 We will therefore leave the texts to be 

 preached, practically, by those most con- 

 cerned. — Cheshire Farmer. 



Remarks on the use of Liime in Agriculn 

 tiire« 



We may now draw, says the highly intel- 

 ligent author of an essay on the use of lime, 

 a few plain and practical inferences from 

 what has been stated, and which are sustained 

 by thirty years practice in the use of lime. 



1st, That lime operates equally well, whe- 

 ther applied in a hoi or effcle state, provided 

 the condition of the ground upon which it is 

 used, be such as to render a calcareous ap- 

 plication beneficial. 



2(ily, That, in respect of operation, it is 

 immaterial whether the lime be used upon 

 graes land or summer-fallow, and that ob- 

 jects of conveniency ought chiefly to weigh 

 With the farmer in ascertaining the most pro- 

 per time for applying this article. Upon old 

 grass land, it is perhaps best to plough first, 

 and to summer-fallow in the secorid year, 

 when lime can be applied. On new and 

 clean grass land, hesitation is superfluous; it 

 may be limed at the outset, that is, before the 

 plough is admitted. 



3dly, That to lime moorish soils is a hazard- 

 ous business, unless dung is likewise be- 

 stowed ; but to repeat the application upon 



such soils, especially if they have been se- 

 verely cropped, is almost a certain loss, and 

 that a compost of lime and rich earth is, in 

 such cases, the only substitute. 



4thly, That strong loams and clays require 

 a full dose to bring ihem into action; such 

 soils being capable of absorbing a great quan- 

 tity of calcareous matter. Lighter soils, how- 

 ever, require less lime to stimulate them, and 

 may be injured by administering a quantity 

 that would prove moderately beneficial to 

 those of a heavy nature. 



Stilly, That upon fresh land, or land in a 

 proper state for calcareous application, lime 

 is much superior to dung. Its effects con- 

 tinue for a longer period : while the crops 

 produced are of a superior kind, and less sus- 

 ceptible of injury from the excesses of drought 

 and moisture. Finally, the ground, particu- 

 larly if of a strong nature, is much easier 

 wrought; and, in many instances, the saving 

 of labor would almost tempt a judicious farm- 

 er to lime his land, were no greater benefit 

 derived from the application, than the oppor- 

 tunity thereby gained of working it in a per- 

 fect manner. 



It may be added, that though strong soils 

 require to be animated with a good dose of 

 lime, those of a light texture will do equally 

 well with little more than half the quantity 

 requisite on the others, especially if they are 

 fresh, or have not already received an appli- 

 cation of calcareous matter. In every case 

 it is the farmer only who can judge of the 

 quantity to be given ; but, as a general prin- 

 ciple, it is safer to exceed the proper quanti- 

 ty than to be below it. In the latter case 

 the application may prove useless, and the 

 whole expense be lost; whereas, it rarely 

 happens, that injury is sustained from an ex- 

 cess, especially if more or less dung is soon 

 after administered." — American Farmer. 



Comparative "Value of large aaicl small 

 Tnrncps. 



We have frequently alluded to the fact, 

 that the ruta baga is the only cultivated root 

 that increases in nutritious properties as it 

 increases in size. Sinclair found, on an- 

 alysis, that a root of the common turnep mea- 

 suring seven inches in diameter, aflorded on- 

 ly seventy-two grains and a half of nutritious 

 matter, while the same quantity of a root 

 which measured only four inches, afi'orded 

 eighty grains, or double what the large one 

 gave. The largest root of the Swedish tur- 

 nep afforded one hundred and ten grains, 

 while the middle sized or smaller roots gave 

 but ninety-nine. The Swede is stated to 

 have grown to weigh sixty pounds, exclusive 

 of tops and tails, in Van Dieman's Land. — 

 Cultivator. 



