THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



ion, and the brush is bought and made up exten- 

 sively in otlier places. The Shakers buy large 

 quantities nf Connecticut river broom brush. — 

 J^orthampton, Ms. Courier. 



It is believed that the soil of other parts of the 

 country may be made to produce the broom corn as 

 well as that on the region of Connecticut river. In 

 a journey westward last .\ugust we saw large fields 

 of the broom corn on the alluvion meadows of the 

 Mohawk, and fields of it were frequent in Michi- 

 gan on ground where the common Indian cprn of 

 no unusual size grew side by side. We do not see 

 why the broom corn may not be produced in abun- 

 dance upon the alluvion corn land on Merrimack 

 river as well as upon the more elevated granite hills 

 of our State producing common Indian cgrn. To 

 the old Hadley farmers the raising of the broom 

 corn has been for many years a highly lucrative 

 business. The soil where this is raised should be 

 deep and rich, and the preparation should be as 

 careful as that of a garden. When New England 

 farmers can raise grain sufficient for their own 

 bread stuffs, the attention of those who have suita- 

 ble grounds may, as a matter of profit, be turned to 

 the production of broom corn and the manufacture 

 of brooms. 



Agricultural Publications. 



There are no periodical publications more inter- 

 esting to us than the agricultural papers whicli have 

 fallen within our view. Interesting news of the 

 day is always the first thing to be read : this we get 

 in the conimon newspaper; but to the common 

 newspaper, after the heads of pissing news have 

 been scanned, we do not sit down with the same 

 appetite as to a good agricultural newspaper. The 

 oldest agricultural paper in the country, we be- 

 lieve, is 



The A'cw England Farmer. This paper was es- 

 tablished seventeen years ago at Boston by the late 

 Tiiosus Green Fessenden. We knew Mr. F. 

 as a political editor on the borders of our State be- 

 fore he went to Boston : he failed in his political 

 chair, but he was eminently successful as the editor 

 of the Farmer.. We have been an almost constant 

 reader of that paper. It has undoubtedly contribu- 

 ted much to the agricultural improvement of New 

 England ; and the labors of the editor were not 

 confined to that publication alone. He has compil- 

 ed and furnished valuable books on farming and 

 gardening, which will build a monument to his 

 fame. Mr. Fessenden was a scholar, a poet and a 

 wit. Since his death the New England Farmer is 

 continued and is now published by Joseph Breck & 

 Co. whose extensive Agricultural Ware House we 

 may notice hereafter. It is a weekly single quarto 

 sheet of eight pages, and is furnished at $'2,.50 per 

 annum, in advance. A present valuable contributor 

 to the F.armer is Rev. Henrv Colman, the Ag- 

 r.cultural Commissioner for the State of Massachu- 

 setts, who unites talents of a high order with much 

 acrricultural experience. 



Tlie Yankee Farmer is published simultaneously 

 at Boston and Portland ; it is a larger sheet than the 

 N. E. Farmer, and contains besides agricultural in- 

 formation, miscellaneous matters and sketches of 

 news. It has furnished for the last two years 

 much valuable new information. We shall proba- 

 bly hereafter have occasion to draw upon it for the 

 use of our columns. S. W. Cole of Portland, is 

 editor, "assisted by the experience and observations 

 of the best practical farmers in the country." 



The Cheshire Farmer, a.i Keene, N. H. This 

 paper was first published once a fortnight, and is 

 now continued once a month at the price of fifty 

 cents per annum. It contains less reading than 

 our sheet ; but it is a well conducted and useful 

 publication, and has already had a fine effect in in- 

 spiriting the farmers of the western part of the 

 State. An association of farmers in Cheshire 

 county have taken the Farmer under their patron- 

 age. Several practical farmers have furnished the 

 editor with information of great interest. Of these 

 communications that of John Conant, Esq. of Jaf- 

 frey in relation to the reclamation of his meadow 

 swamp by draining, elearin.^ of trees and roots, 

 breaking up, planting and sowing, is worthy of no- 

 tice. Mr. Conant has here demonstrated that at 

 an expense of one fourth at least of its value thou- 

 sands of acres of swamp land in this State, and per- 

 haps hundreds of thousands in the New England 

 States, may bo made as valuable for hay and per- 

 haps for tillage as the best alluvial soils, which are 

 selling from one to two hundred dollars the acre 

 simply for cultivation, We hope the enterprising 

 Cheshire farmers will continue to patronize our 

 brother Cook ; and that as many as can afford it, 

 will take both the Cheshire Farmer and the Month- 

 ly Visitor. 



The Genesee Farmer, \mh\\f,\\eA at Rochester, N. 

 Y. both weekly and monthly, has gained that ex- 

 tensive circulation to winch its merit justly enti- 

 tles It. The monthly publication has more than 

 ten thousand subscribers, and the weekly several 

 thousands. Mr. Tucker has elicited much knowl- 

 edce of aorlculture by offering a premium to all 

 contributors for his paper. Willis Gavlord, Esq. 

 of Otiscn, N. Y. wlio resides at the distance of 

 many miles from Rochester, is a principal writer 

 and contributor for the Genesee Farmer. 



The Cultivator, conducted by Judge Buel of Al- 

 bany, has a circulation of twenty thousand. It is 

 published monthly on a large sheet of sixteen pa- 

 ges of quarto size, at one dollar a year. There are 

 few publications, for the price, containing intbrma- 

 tion of so much value as the Cultivator. Judge 

 Buel, as a farmer embracing both theory and prac- 

 tice, probably has no superior in this or any other 

 country. His farm consists of about sixty acres, 

 of which in a late address before the Fulton County 

 Agricultural Society, he presents the following ac- 

 count : 



" One of the best farmers of the age, a man of 

 science and extensive practical knowledge in farm- 

 ing, has affirmed, that by doubling the expense, in 

 labor and manure, he has, upon the same land, been 

 enabled to treble his profits, and to quadruple his 

 products. I allude to Van Thaer, who has for 

 twenty-four years been at the head of the great ag- 

 ricultural school in Prussia. If I might be permit- 

 ted, without being charged with egotism, to cite 

 my own experience in the business of improve- 

 ment, I would point to my farm, on the Albany bar- 

 rens, which many of my hearers liavo seen, I pre- 

 sume, in its present and former state — as a further 

 evidence that we ran improve our lands. Twenty 

 years ago, my soil was poor, very poor, and my farm 

 a part of the commons — a waste. It is now as pro- 

 ductive, and its culture affords as liberal a profit, as 

 any of the lands in yonder fertile valley. It is 

 wortli, for farm cultiire, the interest of two hundred 

 dollars per acre ; and this year the product has 

 been greater tlian I have named, altliough but or- 

 dlnarv labor was bestowed in the culture. It may 

 be said that I have expended capital in my improve- 

 ments. This is true. I laid out extra money and 

 labor to put it into good condition, and I am now re- 

 alizing compound interest upon the amount of the 

 outlay. For having put it int6 good condition, I am 

 enabled ioheep it so, and to cultivate it, witli as lit- 

 tle expense as I could cultivate poor lands that 

 would not yield me a third of the profit that I now 

 realize. Capital is useful to its owner in proportion 

 to the income which it brings him ; and if by vest- 

 ing it ii> farm improvements, it is made to yield as 

 much as it would yield in bank stock, or loaned on 

 bond and mortgage,, it would seem to be prudent, 

 if not wise, so to vest it." 



The Farmer's Cabinet is a large sheet of thirty- 

 two pages of octavo size published in Philadelphia; 

 it is conducted by a practical gentleman of fine 

 taste and talents, and has most extensive contribu- 

 tions from some of the best farmers of the United 

 States. Its pages are better adapted to the farming 

 of the middle than of the northern States. Its cir- 

 culation is ten thousand, and its price one dollar 

 the year. 



The Boston Cultivator is a new weekly paper "de- 

 voted to farming, mechanic arts, literature, and 

 news of the week," edited by William Bucicmin- 

 STER, Esq. a practical Massachusetts farmer, at 

 two dollars per annum. We have seen only a sin- 

 gle number of this paper; from the specimen, we 

 liave a good opinion of the talents of the editor, 

 and think his paper will he a useful one. The N. 

 E. Farmer says JVIr. Buckminster is " a veteran far- 

 mer" of Framlngliarn, and " is the inventor of a 

 corn-planter which performs its work accurately, 

 and of a grass-seed sower, which bids lair to prove 

 useful." 



There are several other periodical weekly or 

 monthly publications devoted to .Agriculture in the 

 United States. Even the new territory of Wiscon- 

 sin, but yesterday a wilderness, sujiports its news- 

 paper devoted exclusively to agriculture in addition 

 to several political newspapers. In the foregoing 

 sketch we have noticed only such papers as we h.ave 

 been in the habit of perusing. 



a practice of some years for the Trustees of that 

 Seminary to grant the free use of a small lot of 

 ground for cultivation to such of the Professors as 

 have families. And lately, when the venerable 

 Professors Adams and Siiurtlefk voluntarily 

 retired from the arduous labors which will long be 

 recollected witli gratitude by many who have gone 

 forth into various parts of the country to be among 

 the "burning and shining lights" of the land, asa 

 mark of respect each of them was continued in 

 the gratuitous posscs'-ion and use of the piece 

 of College land which he had before improved. 

 With the great increase of the recent classes at 

 Dartmoutli College, every thing about Hanover 

 seems to be improving: tlie location of the College 

 buildings, with the splendid lav/n, or common, in 

 front enclosed, is indeed beautiful, as is the loca- 

 tion of almost every village on the banks of the 

 Connecticut. When the new buildings contem- 

 plated to be commenced the coming season shall 

 be finished, still more enchanting and lovely will 

 become the location of this Seminary. Coming 

 out of town in the month of October last, while 

 a north-east storm had just set in, we saw Profes- 

 sor SnuRTLEFF in the field superintending the 

 ploughing of his ground. Profi^ssor Hadduck, 

 Idiewise, has much improved his own ground as 

 well as tlie land alloted by the Trustees, by scien- 

 tific cultivation. The example of these gentlemen 

 and that of a few others, is not only beautifying 

 that part of the town v.here the College buildings 

 are located, but is increaLing greatly the value of 

 all the soil fit for cultivation in the vicinity. There 

 are also first rate farmers in tlie distant and back 

 parts of Hanover, who have become wealthy and 

 independent from the cultivation of the soil, and 

 Lebanon, more contiguous to the College than the 

 body of Hanover, itself, is among the first for en- 

 terprise and thrift of the farming towns in New 

 England. 



The President of the CoI!.?ge, Rev. Dr. Lord, 

 also devotes a portion of his leisure time to the 

 profitable cultivation of land. He furnished us, 

 when lately at Hanover, with specimens of Dutton 

 corn and with potatoes, the seed of which was ob- 

 tained from Novia Scotia, resembling tlie Rohan 

 potatoe though not quite as large — all of which 

 were raised and gathered on his own premises. 

 Having a highly interesting and promising family 

 of eight sons, the oldest of which graduated at 

 the late commencement, Dr. Lord says it becomes 

 him "to do with his might whatever his hands find 

 to do" that may be useful. In pursuit of some 

 pasture land in the vicinity of the Cardigan 

 mountain, he was shown the Burleigh farm on the 

 high grounds of Dorchester, which having gone 

 out of repair in buildings, fences, &c. and been aban- 

 doned by a resident, was ofiered him very cheap. 

 This farm he purchased, and he not only found 

 the neglected soil rich, but he found many loads 

 of manure covered up in the weeds and grass 

 about the yards and barns. He hired a man with a 

 family to carry on tlie farm, and spends some of 

 the days of vacation in personally directing its 

 operations. Every step taken is calculated to im- 

 prove its cultivation and increase the capital in- 

 vested. The farmers of that part of the State 

 have hitherto derived largo profits from raising 

 sheep in the sale of the wool. Flocks of one, 

 two, three, and more hundred are very common. 

 In some seasons there has been risque and loss in 

 keeping breeding ewes : the fine wooled merino 

 and Sa.xony breeds require the most delicate treat- 

 ment and the close personal attention of the own- 

 ers. Doct. Lord, at the close of the late season, 

 discovered his superior sagacity in the purchase of 

 two hundred healthy wethers at two dollars the 

 head. The wool from these at the next shearing 

 will probably average five pounds a head ; and the 

 sheep well kept for one year will in all probability 

 increase one third in value. A flock of two or 

 more hundreds of sheep may be kept on this farm 

 to clear profit, paying probably from ten to twenty 

 per cent, annually upon the investment, with the 

 farm continually improving, wliile the ordinary 

 produce otherwise niay be made to pav for all the 

 labor. Dr. L. has twenty acres prepared for a 

 crop of wheat upon this farm the next season. 



Good Examples. 



The example of men engaged in liberal trades 

 and professions who embark in' agricultural im- 

 provements tends to the elevation of the class 

 which cultivates the soil. Such example merits 

 public notice and public approbation. The Corpo- 

 ration of Dartmouth College, among other property, 

 own several lots of land in tlie immediate vicinity 

 of the College buildings at Hanover. "It bae been 



Nature of Soils. 



According to Chaptal's Chemistry, arable soils 

 are composed generally of silica, Hme, alumina, 

 magnesia, oxide of iron, and some saline substan- 

 ces ; and the various kinds of soils arise from the 

 different proportions in which their several parts 

 are combined. Vegetable and animal matter gives 

 character to the soil upon the surface ; from five 

 to ten parts in a hundred are only necessary to 

 change the appearance and render sufficiently fer- 

 tile this upper soil. Lime is an ingredient that 



