4S 



Visit to an English Farmer. 



Vol. IV. 



Visit to nn Knglish Farmer. 



To the Editor of Ihi; Fanners" Cabinet. 



Sir, — Will you indulge roc with a page of 

 your interesting- periodical in which to give 

 an account of a vi^it v/hich I paid to a Farm- 

 er in the old countiy, just before 1 quitted it 

 for this, " the land of my adoption," a step 

 which I have never regretted ; and I often 

 wish that I could have uiduced him and a few 

 others of my agricultural friends to take the 

 same, for such men would be an honor to any 

 country. 



I called upon him for the purpose of exam- 

 hiing a very superior breed of large black ho_u;s, 

 for which, as for many other tilings, he was 

 famous. After dmner, he took me to the pig- 

 gery, and in the woy, we looked into his tool 

 house, whore lie showed me a magnificent 

 scuffler, with which he always works over the 

 surfaces of his lands before ploughing, calcu- 

 lating that by this operation he saves about a 

 third^of all his plougliing and harrowing on 

 the farm. It was a noble mstrunient ; very 

 large and heavy, and calculated for four horses ; 

 and when propelled by four of his fine " crit- 

 ters,''' it must walk into the weeds at a pace 

 by no means slow. I found six very fine black 

 hogs in the fattenmg pen, which he told me 

 would average twenty-six scores apiece, and 

 that he had killed one which weighed thirty-two 

 scores. They were " as beautiful as paint," and 

 showed a remarkable aptitude to fatten ; his 

 mode of domg v\hich was to begm with steamed 

 lX)tatoes mixed with the skimmed milk of the 

 dairy, and a very small portion of ground 

 meal consis^ting of a mixture of barley and 

 oats. As they increased in fatness, he added 

 to the proportion of meal, but the chief busi- 

 ness was done by steamed potatoes, they hav- 

 ing eaten but a very small quantity of meal 

 wiien I saw them, although they would then 

 have nearly averaged as above stated. I in- 

 quired of him if they were not then fit for the 

 butcher "? He answered " not yet, and if I 

 were to kill them before they are qtiite ripe, I 

 should lose a profit ; they are now paying me 

 good money for their keep, as they are in- 

 creasing in size as well as fixtiiess, but if they 

 are kept after they are ripe, I shall lose — do 

 you know how to judge of the ripeness of a 

 pfgV' " No," said I. ^ " Then I will tell you ; 

 you see that they now void their excrements 

 in a round shape; when they are ripe, these 

 will be of a shape as though they had been 

 forced through a compressed or flattened tube 

 — then is the time to kill them." 

 . I then accompanied him to a field of fine 

 turneps, in the centre of which was a single 

 land, or ridge, to appearance a total failure in 

 the crop. " This," said lie, " is my experi- 

 mental ridge. I generally leave one in tlie 

 middle of every field for this purpose; you 



see the turneps growing on it are not larger 

 than walnuts, but they are all that ever grew 

 upon it : the land was prepared and has been 

 cultivated exactly in the way that the other 

 parts of the iield have been, and all the diftcr- 

 ence was, tlie remainder of the field being 

 drilled with bone dust mixed with the seed ; 

 this ridge had none." There was as near 

 one hundred per cent, difference m the crop 

 as could well be imagmcd. 



" But now," said he, " I will tell you of my 

 grand experiment — having always noticed 

 that if a few plants of wheat or any other 

 grain come up accidentally in any other crop, 

 there is an immediate strife for the mas- 

 tery (I used to think it was for the love of 

 opposition, or if you had rather, a hatred of 

 persecution — persecution is a fine thing you 

 know, the blood of the martyrs was the seed 

 of the church) and I always found tliat these 

 plants grew and yielded prodigiously, to 1 

 quietly made the experiment hy mixing bar- 

 ley and oats, and sowed my middle ridge at 

 the time of sowing the remainder of the field 

 with oats ; the result more than answered my 

 hopes, and I have ever since continued to sow 

 one field with this mixture, exprersly for the 

 purpose of feeding my hogs ; tlie yield is always 

 greater than it otherwise would be, often as- 

 tonishingly so, and the grain so mixed is, 1 con- 

 ceive, preferable as food for fattening hogs, be- 

 ing of a less heating nature than beans or bar- 

 ley." " But," said I, " you have broken the 

 Jewish law, (Leviticus xix. and 19) " Thou 

 shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed." — 

 "Ah I" said he, " but I am a Christian you see !" 



This man was about the best manager I 

 ever knew. He was always before hand with 

 the seasons, although he used pleasantly to 

 observe he calculated that the lazy farmer was 

 right about once in fourteen years. His ac- 

 tivity enabled him to indulge in what ho 

 termed a luxury, an opportunity to assist his 

 neighbors in a time of need ; and for many 

 days after his own harvest has been housed, 

 have I known his men and horses busily en- 

 gaged in that delightful employment. I shall 

 never forget the fervor with which lie used to 

 repeat those beautiful linos of Dr. Drennan's, 

 and with them I sliall close this long, and to 

 me, very pleasant reminiscence : — 



O! swRcier than tlie fragrant flower, 



Atev'niiig's dewy close, 

 Tin; will, united with the power, 



'J'o Buccnur human woes! 

 And softer than the softest strain 



Of music to the ear, 

 That placid joy we give and gain, 



By gratitude sincere I 



Your Subscriber, 



John Arbvckle. 



New Jersey, Aug. 25, 1839. 



