THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



the Ploufjh on Corscr Hill arrived at so late a point 

 of time in the exhibition as to be unable to make 

 the desired arrangement. Only one of the ploMfrhs 

 sent us by Mr. Stevens has yet arrived ; and tliis, 

 before it can be used ne.xt spring, must be repaired 

 from the injury it received on the way. There is 

 much good sense in the reasons offered in favor of 

 the Moors and Mason Plough iu the letters botli of 

 Mr. Stevens and Mr. Somnier, which follow : we 

 have HO doubt that in wet and heavy land tlicir 

 mode of ploughing is decidedly better than the 

 ploughing by turning the furrow flat over. 



Barnet, October 14lli, 1830. 



Hon Isaac Hii.l, — Dmr Sir: Yours of the 7tli 

 jnst. I received, and have forwarded by Mr. Burt 

 one of Moors and Mason's number one plnui'hs. 1 

 have this morning sent the other hy my friend Mr. 

 Esder, who will be at West's tavern in Boscawen 

 Wednesday next. 1 have directed Mr. Esder to 

 see Mr. West as well as the Post Master, and to 

 have the plough on Corser Hill exhibited as you 

 have directed, in your name. You requested me 

 to give you a written description of Moors and Ma- 

 son's ploughs. Having had but little advantages 

 other than at a woman's school, in a log school 

 house nearly forty years since, I am not able to 

 give a scientific description of these ploughs. — 

 Therefore I leave that part to some person better 

 acquainted with technical terms. We have jn this 

 town several of the Scotch iron ploughs. Some of 

 eaid ploughs were imported several years since : 

 others were made by Scotch emigrants settled in 

 the vicinity of Albany, New York. These Scotch 

 ploughs are termed Small's ploughs improved. — 

 Tiiese ploughs are all wrought iron, except the ex- 

 treme part of the handles, say five inches, which is 

 of wood. Moors and Mason's ploughs, I consider 

 an improvement, as the mould-board is longer and 

 of a better shape, receives the furrow with greater 

 ease, and places it at a proper angle, say about 4.^ 

 degrees, and that without breaking the furrow. A 

 span of common horses well trained will break up 

 one acre per d»y with ease. I ploughed last spring 

 on my meadow one and a half acre per day ; some 

 days more, where it had been mowed three and five 

 years. 



I have until within a few years been in favor of 

 laying the furrow flat; hut of late years, I have 

 adopted the Scotch method of plougliing ; have the 

 furrow lap about half way, and at an angle as near 

 4-5 deg. as practicable. 'VVhff n the land is properly 

 ploughed, 1 sow my grain before harrowing. The 

 grain will come up in rows, as thougli the same 

 had been sown by a drill machine. The roots of 

 the grain penetrate into the decayed vegetable mat- 

 ter much sooner than in ground where the furrows 

 are turned over flat. From e-<periencc on my farm, 

 and from noticing the diflerent methods pursued by 

 many of my townsmen, I am well satisfied that the 

 advantages in point of production, in favor of the 

 Scotch method of ploughing, are equal to 20 if not 25 

 per cent. 



Most Yankees are in favor of Iiaving the furrow 

 la)' flat. To such I have only to say, try one of our 

 Scotch ploughs; let the work be done in order, 

 Bide by side, same seed, same quantity per acre. — 

 The number of bushels will decide. 



I last sjiring broke up a tough piece of red top 

 and herds-grass, which had been mowed five3'ears; 

 sowed with oats and stocked with grass seed, when 

 harrowed it was as smooth and as even as any far- 

 mer would ask formov.'lng. The furrow being at 

 an angle of 45 deg., I have a bettor chance to har- 

 row. 



Atour ploughing match holden in this villa.jeon 

 the Clh inst., nine ploughmen witt each a span of 

 horses, entered for the several premiums, three 

 Scotch iron ploughs ; three of Moors and Mason's, 

 No. one and tn'o ; one of Bundy's ; one of Fair- 

 banks' ; one made by Robert Sommers, wooden 

 mould-board. The lands were laid out forty rods 

 long, one rod wide, side by side. Each plougiiman 

 commenced in the centre of his land. I was sur- 

 prised that four of the nine ploughmen' wLen they 

 came to the last furrov/ turned the same the whole 

 length without breaking. No trickery or handling 

 the furrows was permitted. Nino out often of the 

 furrows turned by the ploughmen that drew the 

 the prizes, you may draw a line from one end to 

 the other, ?nd it will not cut off' three inches of the 

 furrow at any one place. Such accuracy and skill I 

 never saw practised in ploughing heretofore. — 

 Number one and two of Moors and ftlason's ploughs 

 drew the first and second premlujns. One of the 

 Scotch iroii plouglifl the t'lird. 



Individuals of the Barnet Agricultural Society 

 send Mr. Esder as a ploughman (and one who drew 

 the first prize at our fair) and as a delegate from 

 our town Society. I hope, sir, you will receive him 

 in friendship aiid furnish hira with a team and 



jilough. He will by his work show you the meth- 

 od of ploughing, which we most approve in this 

 town. 



I send you one of the Farmer's Song, [inserted 

 in a former number of the Visitor] — which for three 

 years we have all sung at our fair — the last verse, 

 standing. We procure four or five hundred songs 

 printed, and distribute them at this time ; as well 

 «s other .sentiiiients. Our farmers cheerfully con- 

 tribute to meet the expence. Time wmU not j)er- 

 mit me to be more particular at this time. 1 do 

 hope, sir, that at onr town and county fair, next 

 year, you will send us a ploughman ; a delegate 

 from your Society. Political parties think nothing 

 of sending delegates to conventions, from one to 

 five hundred miles; which is of but little con.'se- 

 quence, compared to good ploughing and good 

 husbandry. Your friend, 



HENRY STEVENS. 



Remarks on Ploughs and Ploughing. 



Barnet, Oet. 14,1839. 



One of our townsmen is going to the Bosr.awcn 

 Plonir/iiuo Match, with Moors and Mason^s Im-prov- 

 cd Grass Ploiioh, the merits of which are not gen- 

 erally understood. Many people want to have a 

 plough with a broad stunt share, so as to make a 

 broad thin furrow turned flat over. They think by 

 this means to get over the ground fast, and lay the 

 sward all down to the bottom, to prevent grass and 

 weeds from rising; and to make the surface even 

 for the harrow, is the best for grain. 



From such sort of opinions in relation to plovighs 

 and ploughing, I beg leave to differ — and will give 

 my reasons in the following remarks: 



Of two or three Inches on the top of sward land 

 the fibrous roots fill up a considerable portion. — 

 These together with the grass on the surface are 

 suj)posed to be equal to twenty loads of manure to 

 an acre. Now tlie question is, what is the best 

 method to plough grass land to insure a crop of 

 small grain.' 1 answer, lay one furrow half on the 

 other, then the edge of it will form an angle of 45 

 degrees I'rom the surface. This forms little fur- 

 rows on the top, into which the grain falls when 

 sown. In these furrows the grain lays on the edge 

 of the turf, and is covered by the harrow two or 

 three inches deep. In this situartion the grain takes 

 quick and firm root, in the edge of the decompos- 

 ing grass and fibrous roots — and follows this rich- 

 est part of tlie soil to the bottom of the furrow, 

 suppose it were ploughed ten inches deep. The 

 warm air will penetrate as deep as the plough has 

 loosened the soil. The soil lays loosest at the bot- 

 tom of the furrow, where one furrow is laid half on 

 the other. It forms a little hollow at the bottom, 

 and by the warm air getting in, it hastens the fer- 

 iftentation of the grass and roots, and thus acceler- 

 ates the growth of the crop. And wJien ploughed 

 considerably deep, neither dry nor wet weather 

 will be so apt to hurt the grain. 



These are ficts that have been proved by experi- 

 ence. And for these purposes Moors and Mason's 

 plough is well calculated, and has several advan- 

 tages over ploughs with wide shares. First. It 

 takes narrow furrows ; this makes more seams, and 

 gives the grain a better chance to feed on the nu- 

 tritive and decomposing portion of the soil. Sec- 

 ond. It makes the ground opener and looser at the' 

 bottom of the furrow, and admits the warm air 

 which decomposes the sod. Third. It is far supe- 

 rior to wide slinred ploughs in stony land. Fourth. 

 It draws one third easier, so that a team will plough 

 as much ground with less fatigue than they could 

 with broad shared ploughs. 



Let those who doubt these remarks try the ex- 

 periment, by ploughing a land on the broad flat-fur- 

 row principle, and another land by the side of it, 

 where one furrow is laid half on the other, and 

 mark the dift'erence of the crop, and the strain up. 

 on the horses with the diff'erent sorts of ploughs. 



The above remarks are at your disposal to' pub- 

 lish, if you think they may be of use, 

 'Your humble servant, 



BARTH'W. SOMMER. 



Hon. Isaac Hill. 



The "Mock Orange." We are reminded, from 

 seeing it still in a sfate of good preservation, that 

 Col. Stark sent us last fall from his garden in 

 Dunbarton, a vegetable which he calls the Mock 

 Orange. This vegetable weighs about four pounds, 

 and very nearly resembles the fine yellow orange, 

 with the exception that it is more flattened at the 

 ends in propoitiou to the circumference. Col. Stark 

 brought the seed from the State of Ohio : he does 

 not know how useful it may be as a food for either 

 man or beast. He says it is a very handsome run- 

 ing vine, which will run upon scraggy sticks, such 

 as are put in the ground for pea vines, or upon bush- 



ed) of any kind standing in their vicinity. Tho 

 vines, whose leaves are like tlmse of the summer 

 squash, have a very pretty appearance when load- 

 ed with the yellow fruit. The first year they were 

 planted at Dunbarton, they grew about the size of 

 a China orange; but the second )'ear has quadru- 

 pled their size. 



For llie Fftriner's Monthly 'Visilor. 



A Winter Scene. 



A day of storm is past, and with dim eye, 

 On the pale landscape looks the night's fair queen, 

 But soon obscured. The winds careeiing high. 

 Fresh from their arctic cave, boist'rous and keen, 

 Where polar night frowns o'er the dreary scene, 

 And where round ice-crags piled aloft they shout 

 Their desolate carol, unrestrained, I ween, 

 Nov/ rouse the drifting snovz-showeron their route, 

 Sweeping like demons past. Hark ! how they howl 

 without. 



Rage, rage, ye winds ' yet ye cannot annoy 

 The pleasures of the farmer's fire-side known ; 

 Ye cannot dim the pure, domestic joy 

 That gilds his path, bright as the rising sun. 

 Now every household care absolved, and done, 

 The cheerful supper, and the fire renewed. 

 They form a circle round the warm hearth-stone ; 

 The shepherd there, the laborer from the wood — 

 All gathering round, seek not the outward uproar 

 rude. 



Beauty, unsoilcd by fashion's vilest sway, 



Is there with healthful industry combined ; 



There love and friendship shed their mildest ray, 



With rural peace iiidlssolubly twined. 



Contented, in one corner age reclined 



With garrulous tongue recounts the deeds of yore, 



While opposite, to studious toil resigned, 



The youthful portion ear^erly con o'er 



Their chi;ei;fui school-boy task, all emulous in lore. 



So pass the night-hours round the farmer's hearth. 

 Cheered by the orchard's rruit and beverage niild, 

 By books and converse free and artless mirth, 

 (Nat sucji.as mars the city's throng) beguiled, 

 \N\\y should he sigh for genial skico ? The wild, 

 Bleak reign of Winter on his ice-built throne 

 Has keener joys for him. For him Spring smiled j 

 For him green Sulnmer bloomed, rife Autumn 



shone ; 

 But now the full 3'ear's wealth is Jieaped for him 



alone. 



So pass the night-hours fleet, and while I gaze 

 On this thrice happy group, I think thus they, 

 Who wisely in life's spring and summer days, 

 Lay up, regardful of youth's sure decay, 

 I\lc(i stores of virtuous knowledge, when the gray 

 And dismal winter of old age shall come. 

 Feast on their early toll, though old yet gay, 

 Unheeding death's near night of rayless gloom — 

 Sweet prelude to the Spring that smiles beyond the 

 tomb. I. H. C. 



Salisbury, N. H. 



CttUivatiou of Forest Trees. 



Gov. Hill : — The following letter from Gen. 

 Dearbojin to a. gentleman here, who designed to 

 plant and cultivate the Locust tree, was received a 

 short time slnoc. It was not intended for publica- 

 tion by tite writer ; but the public have an interest 

 in this matter, and'the experteirce and suggestions 

 of such men should be public property. I trust, 

 therefore, he will excuse the liberty T take in ask- 

 ing a place for it in the Farmer's Visitor. The cul- 

 tivation of forest trees in sections of the country 

 where wood as an article of fuel Is becoming more 

 and more valuable, and the demand for timber dai. 

 ly increasing, is a subject that should excite more 

 general attention. Groves of trees not only beau- 

 tify and adorn the country, but near our rivers and 

 canals, or in the vicinity of villages and shipyards 

 the cultivation is not of doubtful expediency on the 

 score of profit. There is no difficulty in raising 

 trees natural to our climate from the seed or from 

 the sucker. A writer in the Genesee Farmer gives 

 the following calculations for the l^ocust. The 

 "Walnut, the Maple, the Pine and Oak are of rapid 

 growth, and are notless valuable among us : 



"To test the profit in rearing locust trees we will 

 resort to figures. Au acre of land contains 160 

 square rods, and most lands will easily sustain four 

 trees to the rod. On the acre, then, we can raise, 

 for the purpose in question, 640 trees. 



1 propose to let them grow from the seed twelve 

 years ; two years in the nursery, and ten in tho 

 field. One-fourth of an acre will be abundant nur- 

 sery room. Let us take ten acres for our field dat&. 



