THE PARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



193 



profit of j£596, making a difference of £278, or 

 nearly one iiundred per cent., in favor of the new 

 syatem. Tlie second is that of a tillage farm of 

 139 acres in Lincolnshire. Under the old system 

 the profits were jC 130 — under the new £4o2 ; dif- 

 ference in favor of the latter £322, or 2.50 percent. 

 The third statement exhibits the profits of an acre 

 of land, being the medium of a farm of several 

 hundred acres, in Yorkshire, for six years. Under 

 the old system the profit was £1 9s. 3d. — under the 

 new £17 Cs. 9d. — an increase of more than 1100 

 per cent. The medium value of the acreable prof- 

 it in England is stated at from 27 to 36 dollars per 

 annum. 



We have spoken of Mr. Coke as one of the be.it 

 farmers of the age. He owns a large estate in Nor- 

 folk, England, a portion of which he has been per- 

 sonally improving for half a Gentury, the residue 

 being occupied by tenants. The rental upon his 

 estate has risen, in fifty 3'ears, in consequence of 

 the improvement in liusbandry which he lias intro- 

 duced, from £r>,flOO, to £40,000. 



The Hofi'wyl Agricultural School farm, in Swit- 

 zerland, under M. Fellenburgh, comprises 214 a- 

 cres. Lord Brougham, after visiting this farm, 

 and making inquiries of the Principal, says lie 

 found the average annual profit of the pattern-farm 

 alone, for a period of four years, amounted to £t^8() 

 sterling, equal to about $4,000, exclusive of the 

 cattle concern, which is kept separate. 



The last case we will cite abroad, is that of the 

 farm belonging to the Agricultural School of Mo- 

 egelin, in Prussia, under Doctor Von Thaer. The 

 school was established in 1809. In twelve years 

 the value of tlie farm was increased from 2,000 to 

 12,000 rix dollars, by the improved mode of culti- 

 vating it. 



The cases we have quoted, we admit to be extra- 

 ordinary ones ; yet they are not without parallels 

 in our own country. Agriculture has been in a 

 stale of progressive improvement in the valley of 

 the Hudson, for thirty and forty years. The lands 

 have been increasing in value in consequence. — 

 The change has been so great in some districts, 

 that farms which twenty years ago were sold for 

 20 to 25 dollars an acre, have recently been 

 sold for 100 to 120 dollars an acre j and in other 

 cases, particularly on Kinderhook plains, farms 

 which were bought thirty years ago at five and ten 

 dollars an acre, have lately commanded sixty and 

 seventy dollars. Few farms of tolerable land in 

 Dutchess, Orange, or other river counties, conti- 

 guous to the Hudson, can now be bought at le:;s 

 than from 100 to l.'>0 dollars an acre, in conse- 

 quence of their increased productiveness, caused 

 by improved lius'iianclry. 



Doctor Black has demonstrated, in his prize es- 

 say, published m the American Farmer, that every 

 acre of arable land in New Jersey, which now sells 

 at from ten to thirty dollars per acre,-is intrinsical- 

 ly worth five hundred dollars per acre ; that is, if 

 put under a judicious system of husbandry, every 

 acre may be made to yield a net profit of thirty 

 dollars per annum, equal to the interest on five 

 hundred dollars, at G percent. And Mr, Johnson, 

 of Maryland, in a speech which lie made it! Con- 

 gress in 1637, cites a case in Delaware, near Do- 

 ver, where land was bought, a few years ago, of 

 medium quality, at thirty dollars an acre, by 

 Messrs. Siiijile and Pennewell, which has paid in 

 its product for all outlay in improvement, and the 

 owners are now receiving, in the farm crops which 

 it gives, an annual clear income equal to the inter- 

 est ofyire hundred dollars an acre. 



We will ofier but one other illustration in sup- 

 port of the great superiority of the new husband- 

 ry. It is that of John Ilobinson, Esq., an intelli- 

 gent^ and iudujlrious Scotch farmer. Fifteen years 

 ago, Mr. llobinson bought a farm on the banks of 

 Seneca Lake, three milea from Geneva, at ten dol- 

 .lars an acre. The farm was considered worn out. 

 Mr. Robins.Tn, with the aid of sheep, li'me, manure, 

 and good luisbanilry, has made it produce, over and 

 above the expense of culture, and tlie support of 

 his family, an annual income equal to the interest 

 of one hundred and fifty dollars an acre, — and the 

 farm is still in a slate of progressive improvement. 

 The income from 400 acres is now $4,000. Mr. 

 Robinson has refused $100 per acre lor the whole. 



We might multiply instances of worn out lands 

 being brought into a highly productive and profit- 

 able stale, by the new husbandry, if it were neces- 

 sary ; but almost every old settled district furnish- 

 es examples in point. Enough has been sho,wn, or 

 may be seen, to justify us in saying, that under the 

 new system of husbandry, every aore of arable 

 land, if any where contiguous to navigable waters 

 or a good market, may in a few years be made to 

 yield a net annual profit, equal to the interest of 

 two hundred dollars. And we may add, that with 

 ■uo'i sR income, and the iodnttjy and eeoaomy 



which belong to republican habits, there are few 

 employments in life better calculated than agricul- 

 ture to render a man independent in circumstan- 

 ces and in mind, and rich in all the elements of 

 substantial happiness. 



rriMii the Bislon CuillvaUir. 



Gu feeding Cattle. 



It is not good policy to suffer our neat stock to 

 grow poor at this season of the year, and there is 

 no need of this, if we pay proper attention to the 

 subject. This is the season to make use of our 

 vi'hite turnips, and our pumpkins, which will not 

 keep long, and store cattle, as well as those we are 

 fatting, stioulil all have a share. Milch cows need 

 something of this kind to prevent their becoming 

 dry at this season, and roots and green leaves are 

 more suitable for this purpose than any kind of hay, 

 and are more agreeable to the palates of tlie cattle. 



Hay of all kinds at this season, affects the milk, 

 and is apt to give a bitter taste to the butter. Corn- 

 stalks and husks have not any such effect, and 

 therefore these should be dealt out in the fore part 

 of winter, while the cows are in milk. 



Cows when well kept, should never go dry long- 

 er than two months at a time. They are not better 

 in summer for having gone dry a long time in win- 

 ter. They should be in the habit of giving milk 

 through most of the year. It is true they need bet- 

 ter keeping while in milk, but the value of the pro- 

 duct will do more than repay the expense. 



If it be too cold to make butter, the cream may 

 be used to advantage without churning; and all 

 the wash is wnntod for the store hogs — it will cause 

 them to grow faster than will any kind of food. 



Calves require particufar care in the first of the 

 winter. Roweu hay and roots, in small quantity, 

 are excellent for them. 



Cattle of all descriptions lie more comfortably, 

 loose, than when fastened to a stanchion, but they 

 require more room. They seldom suffer, in New 

 England from cold, provided they are out of the 

 wet and out of the wind. Open sheds and open 

 barn cellars are to be preferred, especially for young 

 cattle, to tight barns, where the air is soon render- 

 ed unfit for respiration. 



It is as absurd to suppose that cattle are more heal- 

 thy for being closelj' penned up in winter, as that 

 human beings are, when shut in a close room. Fe- 

 males who seldom go out in winter have more colds 

 — three to one — than those who arc every day ex- 

 posed to the weather. 



If we have not room for our cattle to run loose 

 under sheds or barns — if we must tie them up to a 

 post and compel them to stand 16 hours in one po- 

 sition — let us not compel them to stand on plank 

 floors — let us throw a quantity of loam under them, 

 that it may become impregnated with the liquid 

 manure, that nothing may be lost. 



We have often seen cattle so stalled, that all the 

 liquid manure was wasted — and this liquid would 

 have been worth as much as all the other part, in 

 case of proper care to have it absoibed. 



A taitliful description of Illinois. 



Goffsloicn, Dec. 1, 1839. 



Hon. Is*AC Hill, — Dear Sir: — I know of no 

 way to be of greater service to the public, than by 

 forwarding for an insertion in your truly w'elcome 

 Visitor, an extract of a letter from a worthy gentle- 

 man of lUiiiois, dated 



" ,Juhji, 1839. 



"The face of the country is generally level, or 

 gently undulating; and the prairies are easily cul- 

 tivated, requiring liut little more team to break them 

 up, tiian it does common grass lands : six or eight 

 oxen are sufficient. 



The wild grass that covers them is easily de- 

 stroyed the first year it is cultivated. The prairies 

 are of two kinds : sand and clay prairies as they 

 are usually termed, and both of them are fertile as 

 well as all other lands in this county.' The sand 

 prairies are best for corn, and the clay for grass. — 

 There is a small prairie in this county about ten 

 miles square, which produces annually about half 

 a million bushels of corn for exportation, besides 

 vast numbers of cattle and hogs are fattened upon 

 it. They seldom use a hoe in cultivating, doing it 

 with a horse and plough. For a few years after 

 these lands are broken up, and before they become 

 foul with weeds, one man will cultivate from thirty 

 to fifty acres of corn, obtaining from fifty to seven- 

 ty-five bushels to the acre. It is said one man near 

 Vincennes, raised one hundred and fifty bushels 

 from one acre last year. It was of a more produc- 

 tive kind, however, than is usually raised here-; a 

 kind called the Baden corn. This prairie is com- 

 posed of vegetabls mould and a small portion of 

 saad exteadmj to the di!>ptl» of four or five feat. 



and as fertile as any land in the United States, ex- 

 cept the American bottom as it is called, rui tho 

 Mississippi river — producing all kinds of vegeta- 

 bles whicli are used in New Kngland, besides some 

 others — such as sweet potatoes, castor beans, and 

 formerly cotton. The basis of the soil upon the 

 upland is clay and sand, mostly of the former. It 

 is generally much more fertile than it is in New 

 England. Tho timber consists of oak of several 

 kinds, white, black, cup, post and chincoe pine : 

 of these, the three last are most durable and are us. 

 ed principally for fencing. Red oak grows in tho 

 bottoms, what we Yankees call intervale. Tiiero 

 are three or four kinds of walnut, which are called 

 hickory. Black walnut and poplar are the kinds 

 of timber usually employed for finishing. The pop- 

 lar is a ditlerent tree from that which arrows in New 

 England called by that naine. It resembles bass 

 wood ver)' much. Sycamore abounds along the 

 rivers and grows sometimes to a enormous size. It 

 is not a valuable timber, as it is difficult to split, 

 and soon decays. 



"Vast numbers of hogs are raised upon the nuts 

 which abound in the woods. But as corn led pork 

 is worth more in market, many farmers will getujj 

 their ho<rs two or three weeks before killing, and 

 feed them on corn, which makes corn fed Jjork of 

 of them ; but it is of course much softer and inoro 

 oily than the pork raisird in New England. The 

 lard is liquid like oil during the summer. Pork 

 here last year was worth from four to five cents per 

 pound. 



"The same kinds of vegetables are cultivated 

 here that grow in New England, and seem as well 

 adapted to the climate and soil, except potatoes 

 which grow very well, but I think not so good and 

 do not yield so much as in your country. The av- 

 erage quantity of wheat raised upon an acre is not 

 so great as in Ohio, and this is attributable partly 

 to the climate and partly to the culture: fif- 

 teen or sixteen bushels to the acre I think may be 

 considered an average yield. The climate, I think, 

 is rather too warm for wheat; but many farmers sow 

 it among stubble and only plough it in. All kinds 

 of (trains and grasses are raised here, that are com- 

 mmi in Nev/ England. But little hay, however, is 

 raised for any thing but horses, as all other kinds 

 of stock are kept during tl)e winter upon straw and 

 corn fodder. This is much the best place for rear- 

 ing cattle, horses and hogs, that i know of. It costs 

 nothing to keep them during a greater part of the 

 year, excejit the salt they eat, and many seldom 

 get that. If horned cattle can get up alone in tho 

 spring, they soon get fat. They get as fat as there 

 is any need of upon the wild grasses and weeds that 

 abound in the woods. In many places the trees are 

 scattering in the native forests, furnishing merely 

 a shade for cattle, while the ground is covered with 

 wild grass. There is a kind of wild grass besides 

 that which o-rows in the low lands, which affords a 

 winter pasture, and in some places last winter cat 

 lie fed on it during the whole winter, without cniu- 

 inir up for fodder. Sheep are not numerous here ; 

 but it is owing to the want of pastures. They run 

 at large generally in the woods. The prairie wolves 

 are getting scarce : they were formerly very nu- 

 merous about three mi!e» from tliis place, around a 

 small prairie which stUl bears the name of IVolf 

 PrairU. 



"It is diflicult to raise fowls here on account of 

 wcasles, minks, oppossums, hawksand owls. There 

 is very little dlft'crence between tlie fertility of the 

 prairie and timber lands- Many, however, prefer 

 the timber lands, as they are beiter for all seasons', 

 of wet and dry. as they stand the extremes of wet 

 and drought belter, which frequently occur here. 

 Tiie climate is much wanner here than in New 

 England, and as healthy as any probably that is as 

 fertile. Fof from such alluvial soils in this latitude 

 there is an effluvia called by medical men Marsh 

 ,Wtusm<i(«, continually rising from the mud which 

 is exposed after the mud is dried up m the pools, 

 or from deep rich soils which are made by cultiva- 

 tion for several years, when they cease to emit it. 

 This marsh affluvia causes bilious and intermittent 

 fevers. 



"Th'^' society is not so good or agreeable to us as 

 that of New England. This is tlie greatest olijec 

 tion to this countnj. A man in the western country, 

 so far as I am acquainted, has but little reg.ird f.,r 

 his word. He seldom thinks of standing to his word 

 any longer than it is for his interest. U a farmer 

 contracfs with a mercharit for the sale of any kind 

 of produce before the delivery of it, and subse- 

 qnently has an opportunity of selling it for mme to 

 another, he thinks it a reasonable excuse fordis-ip- 

 pointing the first purchaser ; I have frequent y 

 been disappointed in this way myself. There are 

 some inconveniences attending this country nttrib- 

 utable to tho warmth of the climate, and the form- 

 atioa of the country U is difficult to i^ave .*ood 



