THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



hie land to be laid down again with depreciated 

 streno-th : in nther words, no crop requiring the 

 plnugli or cultivator and hoe should he put into th.e 

 ground the present year which will leave the 

 ground in a worse condition than it was before the 

 work was begun. It will, when adopted as a prin- 

 ciple, be very easy for every farmer to make his 

 calculation in any crop requiring tlie hoe, so to nn- 

 prove the capacity of his land tliat it shall yield 

 more than it lias done before. A j.lenty of jrood 

 Darn yard, hog yard, stable or compost manure will 

 effectually do^this biisiness on almost every reten- 

 tive soil :"iu some cases of low and wot grounds, 

 the simple application of sand or gravel wiUi a 

 small quantity of the stimulating manures will 

 accomplisli every tJiin;; to 1 e wished : in other cas- 

 es of sandy, porous soil, the application of clay or 

 other adhesive eartlis, with the free use of plaster 

 of Paris and some stimulating manures, will do 

 wonders. The observance of the !>rinciple of con- 

 stant renovation will soon bring New England to 

 rank with the best cultivated districts of England 

 and Scotland, and even with the still higher im- 

 provements e.-shibited in Flemish husbandry. 



Importance of eradicating weeds. 



Another principle of good husbandry is to keep 

 the ground free from weeds and all other vegeta- 

 tion not connected with tlie intended crops. I 

 am of opinion that weeds and grasses, which have 

 been of I'o otlier use to the ground than the repro- 

 ducticfn and multiplication of themselves in hun- 

 dreds, and in many cases many tliousand fold, have 

 taken, in the cultivation of New England this year, 

 one fourth, if not one third of the crop. Contrast- 

 ing the potatoe fields in the town of Rye, which 

 have been carefully hoed three times, and which 

 discover no weeds, with a majority if not most of 

 tlie potatoe fields in the interior, 1 would say tile 

 crop of the former would exceed the latter at least 

 fifty per cent, or one third, purely from the clean 

 cultivation. The Rye case is made more striking 

 from the information derived in conversation with 

 a veteran of the revolution who at the age of sev- 

 enty-five years has given up his farm to the care 

 of his son, and has cultivated with his own hands 

 simply two acres of Indian corn which had acci- 

 dentally fallen under hischarge. Observing some 

 hints in an agricultural newspaper relati.ve to clean 

 cultivation, he touk particular pains v/ith his field 

 of corn : he hoed it three times, and ho was care- 

 ful at eacli hoeing to eradicate every weed. Com- 

 paring his corn v^ith other fields of equal strength 

 of soil and the same previous preparation, wlilch 

 had been hoed twice carelessly, he thinks there is 

 a difference in the crop of corn of at least one 

 third In the fields where the weeds are suftered 

 to grow, taking up the strength of the soil, the 

 coi-n stalks are arrested in their growth ; they do 

 not set for an equal number of ears ; and where 

 the ears are set the growtli is stopped, so that in- 

 stead of covering the cob with full kernels, a large 

 portion of the ear is shrivelled. On the other hand, 

 where tlie field is entirely clear of weeds tlie blades 

 of corn receiving the i'all strength of the soil con- 

 tinue their green and healthy growth until fully 

 ripe, and throw suf.icient nutriment into the grow- 

 intr ear to fill the kernel to its full size to the ex- 

 tremity of the ear. Witnessing the good eflect of 

 clean tillage, onr aged friend s.ays, old as he is, he 

 has but now ascertained the fact that the farmer 

 had better hire help at three times the usual 

 price to hoe his corn after haying, than sufl'er the 

 weeds to grow among the hills as they have been 

 suffered in many instances to do the present year. 

 May not the almost universal prevalence of 

 weeds in the jxitatoe fields, this season jjave caused 

 the blight of th*tcrop ? It would not be surprising 

 if future experiments should demonstrate that some 

 kind'5 of weeds that are suffered to stand are pois- 

 onous to the crop of potatoes, and perhaps to other 

 crops. 



VnJue of Salt. 



An increased quantity of salt used by the farm- 

 er in various ways would be of eminent benefit. 

 Salt ought to bear a less price than it now does 

 throughout the country. Mucb of the expense of 

 salt is in the price of transport : it is a taxed arti- 

 cle, and assists in the revenues of the government. 

 The tax was much reduced several years ago, and , 

 this reduction owed its origin to the efforts of a 

 Senator in Congress from this State, now at the 

 head of the Treasury Department: hut the whole 

 tax ought to be taken oft". I am confident that fine 

 salt sprinkled over the ground in the quantity of 

 three or four bushels to the acre will not only con- 

 tribute to drive off insects and other destructive 

 vermin, but in most vegetable crops will prevent 

 blight. Salt is also an indispensable article for cat- 

 tle, horses and sheep ; if increased quantities were 



used, more valuable would be our fattened meats, 

 and more in quantity would be the butter and 

 cheese produced. A sprinkling of salt in the feed 

 of moat animals will contribute to their healthy 

 o-rowtli. Salted meats used instead of the vast 

 quantities of fresh beef, mutton, lamb or veal, 

 which have been injured by driving and worry- 

 ing the creature near the time it is killed, would in 

 th? season of summer diseases save thousands of 

 human lives. 



Draining important. 



Another subject of great interest to the fanners 

 is the introduction of the practice of draining. An 

 excess of water, which in due proportion is essen- 

 tial to vegetation, is highly injurious to cultivition 

 In the colder soils of Nev.' England this excess of 

 water is aprincipal source of inleriility : the ground 

 must be drained to make the land produce. Water 

 may be carried off either by drains above or below 

 the surface. Sometimes wet, heavy land is much 

 improved by laying open furrows, leaving ridges 

 of convenient distance with a gradual slope carry- 

 iniT off any excess of water upon and near the' sur- 

 face. Other open drains dug to the depth of sev- 

 eral feet may be used to arrest and carry off water 

 standing below the surface or water running from 

 springs : the ditclies should be cut wider at the top 

 than bottom to prevent the falling of the sides. — 

 Such ditches, cut at the proper distances in peat or 

 bog meadows, may sometimes be made so effectu- 

 ally to drain them as to make them tke most pro- 

 ductive land. Any piece of cold springy land may 

 be improved by covered drains ; in some cases near- 

 ly the whole value of the land will be given to it 

 by this process. The springs will be fiiund at no 

 great distance below the surface : for tlie purpose 

 of arresting them, the drain should be made in a 

 direction a little descending, deep cnougli in the 

 crronnd to be passed over with the plough when 

 covered. Where there are plenty of stones the pas- 

 sage way under ground may be constructed with 

 them laid in such a manner that the bottom shall 

 not be undermined or the channel of the water ob- 

 structed. Where stones are not readily to he pro- 

 cured, tiles manufactured from clay in the manner 

 of bricks consisting of a top and bottom may he 

 used. It is said the expense of these is not great, 

 and that they may be laid and covered with great 

 facility. The system of draining with the use of 

 tiles has been extensively adopted in England ; and 

 in many cases the soil has been so improved as to 

 increase the product ten fold. Draining can hard- 

 ly be said to be yet introduced in this State : yet 

 the time will be when the husbandry of New Eng- 

 land will feel its beneficial effects no less than the 

 most favored agricultural districts of the old world. 



Good roads valuable So the farmer. 



Another subject connected with the prosperity 

 of our agriculture is the constructio.n of the most 

 easv avenues of transport and travel in all direc- 

 tions — especially in directions leading directly to 

 and from tlie market. The ordinary roads of New 

 England, which are now better than the roads in 

 any other part of America, have been much im- 

 proved witiiin the last twenty years : these im- 

 provements in that time have reduced the price of 

 transporting any heavy material at least one half. 

 They have also virtually shortened distances. Ev- 

 ery farmer must perceive that any improvement 

 wiiich lessens the expense of carrying to or bring- 

 ing from a market, adds to the value of the property 

 accommodated by such improvement. Rail roads 

 traversing our principal avenues, if constructed 

 and conducted solely with a view to the public ac- 

 commodation, will likewise contribute to give in- 

 crease to the value of all real property which can 

 be made to feel the benefits of their facilities. This 

 will be realized in cases where the rail road does 

 not touch within the distance of twenty miles. 

 Suppose a rail road extending from the Nashua 

 road should pass through the county of Cheshire 

 to the Connecticut river at some convenient point. 

 At the most distant place on this road, five hours 

 will carry the traveller to Boston where it now re- 

 quires the jouiney in a private carriage of forty- 

 eight lioiirs — eight hours v/ill carry any weight of 

 merchandize whicli in the common travel ofheavy 

 loaded teams would require five and six days. In 

 the one case the article transported arrives at its 



Cultivation of the mind. 



I have called your attention, gentlemen, to only 



destination fresh and uninjured — in the other, 

 not exposed to the weather, it suffers from the con- 

 tinued joltinifs of uneven roads,. The eftect of the 

 rail road willbe to lessen the distance and the ex- 

 pense of travel to the individuals and property ac- 

 commodated four parts in five, to give value to 

 many articles not before worth the expense of 

 transport, and to raise the value of productive cap 

 ital. 



a few of the many subjects for improvement wliicli 

 exist around you. I close by adverting for a mo- 

 ment to the moral beauty which the condition of 

 the New England Yeonianry presents. The cul- 

 ture of the mind is here in advance even of the 

 cultivation of the earth : inexcusable indeed 

 must that parent be who suffers his child to grow 

 up withiaut obtaining a sufilcicnl education to trans- 

 act all ordinary business. In many ofour tov.'ns 

 and districts nearly every lad is qualified to be a 

 school-master; and the most of the niisses,_daugh- 

 ters as well of the poor as the rich, arc fitted to 

 grace even a polished society. 



The principle of decay and renovation the 



same with man as with the vegetable 



creation. 



In conclusion, we are reminded of the analogy 

 existing between the natural and the moral world 

 —between the growth and decay of animal and 

 ven-etable matter and the ingressand egress of man, 

 "immortal as his Sire." The great principle of re- 

 production pervades the v/Iiole creation. Although 

 every thing around us is changeable and apparent- 

 ly perishalTle, yet no particle of which the uni- 

 verse is composed can be annihilated. We see all 

 animal and vegetable matter the moment it is di- 

 vested of life decayingand dissolving : odious and 

 nauseating putrefaction precedes the change 

 which mingles matter that had recently teemed 

 with life with the elements of which it was com- 

 posed. Mother earth receives her child. But the 

 principle of life still exists: what appears to be the 

 bane of creation is still its preservation. The beau- 

 ty ofour fields, the fruits which burden our grounds, 

 spring out of that very putridity which waste us 

 so nauseous. The excrements, the refuse of cre- 

 ation, in their mutations, are the elements which 

 most minister to our enjoyment. Whatever is de- 

 sirable in the vegetable world, the verdure of plants 

 and trees, the growing and the ripening of grain 

 and the hanging fruits, the blossoms of spring and 

 the ripe nroducts of autumn,— all springs out of 

 the principle of decay and death which pervades 

 creation. 



Man, the lord of created beings, perishes as, the 

 vegetable thai springs out of the ground and re- 

 tunis to it in the same season ■— "Man dielh and 

 goelh to his long home, and the mourners go about 

 the streets. The dust returneth to the earth as it 

 was;" and Holy Writ assures us that " the spirit 

 shall return to Ciod who gave it." If the order of 

 the vegetable and brute creation is so arranged in 

 wisdom as to call forth our wonder and admiration; 

 if we can look with joy upon nature decaying and 

 expiring to be brought into new life and vigor ; 

 how much more should we rejoice in that Good- 

 ness which has implanted the principle of immor- 

 tality in man, whose individual sin had drawn upon 

 the whole creation, animate and inanimate, the 

 sentence of death. God created man in wisdom ; 

 and the changes which give hiin life and death are 

 no less beneficent than the changes which are con- 

 stantly taking place in the growth and decay of 

 vegetables and trees. The putrefaction ofour nal- 

 tu?al bodies should be viewed in the light of phi 

 lo.sophy but as an earliest of that glorious resur- 

 rection and life which revelation assures to us. 



The terrors of that sentence which is passed up- 

 on all too often mar the enjoyments of life : the in- 

 experienced youth, having all those attachments 

 which novelty gives to things of time and sense, 

 looks upon death with horror ; and the shrinking 

 from its approach is but too apt to continue the a- 

 version through life. Reason and philosophy should 

 teach us to look upon death rather as the friend re- 

 lieving us from sorrow and pain than the enemy 

 depriving us of sweet enjoyments. If we can bring 

 ourselves to be reconciled to the great change, we 

 shall perform a more valuable service than to lay 

 up for ourselves abundance of the stores of this 

 world. I have somewliereread of a class people 

 in Germany who teach their children to draw in- 

 struction and amusement literally from the grave ; 

 who so construct the places for the dead as to make 

 them tlie resort of pleasure for the gambols of youth 

 and the gaiety of middle life. If we could lecon- 

 cile ourselves to become more familiar with death 

 and the grave, we should best prepare for the 

 changes which are constantly parting us from our 

 friends. In reality the pains and throes of death 

 are not greater perliaps than those which gave us 

 life : I am induced to believe that the real pains of 

 death are often not as intense as many pains in life 

 which result from no vital injury. We look upon 

 the last struggles of expiring nature as if every 

 convulsive throe was the result of a suffering too 

 great for the living to bear. I am prepared in 



