THE FARMER'S MOiNTHLY VISITOR. 



S9 



of tlicsc Gtem ends, and found the crop to be large, 

 and of a better quality than common. I have tried 

 the same method since and have always found it 

 to be beneficial. The reason is, we select the larg- 

 est to cut; and there will be fewer stalks in a hill, 

 and these will be large. N. W. 



Temple, Feb. 1840. 



Plonghing. Sliall thcfurroio he entfrely, or on- 

 ly partialhj laid over? 



Warner, Feb. 4, 1840. 



Mr. Hij.L — I received the first number of tlie 

 second volume of your " Monthly Visitor" a day 

 or two since, and after readinjr Mr. Stevens' and 

 Sominers' letters, on tlie Moors Plough and 

 pIouijhinCT, tile oft repeated question, of '* When 

 doctors disagree, who shall decide.''"' very forcibly 

 occurred to my mind. _ 



Soon after our cattle show, I liad occasion to 

 write to Mr. Phiuuey of Lexington, Mass. who is 

 thouglit to be one of tlie most successful, and best 

 farmers in Massaciiusetts. 



I herewith furnish you with an extract from my 

 letter, and his reply — 



" There were two Scotchmen from Vermont 

 there with the Moors plough, and as Burns said of 

 death, " The queerest shape that ever I saw." — 

 However, 1 believe Mr. Coleman and Gov. Hill 

 think very favorably of them ; Mr. Hill so much 

 BO that he lias ordered two of tliem for his own use. 

 But I think differently. It was tried at our Fair. 

 It sets the furrow at about an angle of 45 deg. and 

 leaves tlie grass or stubble sticking up between 

 eacli furrow slice. 



Gov. Hill says it is well adapted for raising crops 

 on wet and lieavy lands. My opinion is, that land 

 so wet as to need such a plough, is not fit for corn 

 or potatoes. It had better (the sward) be complete- 

 ly inverted and stocUe'l 'JtTrri ;o grass, or be drain- 

 ed, so as to be dry enough for hoed crops, when 

 completely turned over and rolled. 



The system that you have been practising and 

 recommending for a dozen years, I think is the 

 best course that can be pursued. 



If coarse manure is spread upon the sward, and 

 turned under in the spring ; that, with the grass, 

 roots, and vegetable iiiatter,soon begins to ferment; 

 gassca are generated — if the sward is completely 

 inverted, the volatile parts of the manure will 

 work their way up — or attempt to — through the 

 turf and soil, which will imbibe or take it up and 

 retain it for the use of the growing crop. But if 

 every furrow is up edgewise, the gases immedi- 

 ately pass off through the openings into the atmos- 

 phere. Again, if there is a severe drought and the 

 sod is coiuplel^ly inverted and pressed down with 

 the roller; the evaporation that is continually 

 going on from the earth, when it arrives up to the 

 Bod,froinits spongy texture, retains the moisture 

 and the crops sulVer much less, than if the ground 

 was ploughed by the Vermont plough. 



These are my views upon the subject, but per- 

 haps I may be in an error." 

 Reply. 

 ''East Cambridge, A'ov. 3, 1839. 

 "Ten years ago in my own neighborhood a plough 

 that would not have left the furrow slice standing 

 edgewise, would have been laid aside as worthless. 

 ■Give your neighbors a few practical proofs of the 

 effect of tliis mode of culture. It will do more than 

 twice the labor expended in preaching and reason- 

 ing. The arguments in its favor, theoretically 

 considered, are too plain to admit of a question in 

 minds open to conviction ; still many will doubt 

 until they see proofs of its utility. A Mr. Clark of 

 Nortliainpton last week visited my place. He has 

 a farm, which seven years ago was of so thin a soil 

 and so much worn out by cropping, that he consid- 

 ered it hardly worth cultivating. On seeing the 

 method recommended by me, ho immediately set 

 himself about turning over his green sward and 

 keeping it undisturbed during the rotation. He 

 has now one of the most productive farms in that 

 section ; and this has been done almost without 

 manure. The instances that he relates of his suc- 

 cess, even upon poor pine lands on his farm, of this 

 mode of culture, are much beyond what I had ever 

 contemplated. It may require some time and con- 

 siderable effort by llie friends of this method of 

 ploUL'hing, but eventually it must and will prevail. 



" Your Ex-Governor Hill paid nie a flying visit 

 at Lexington, the week after you were at my place. 

 I found him very ardent in the cause of Agricul- 

 ture ; so short was liis stay with me, that I had no 

 opportunity of explaining to him my system of 

 ploughing. I have tlie vanity to believe I could 

 convince him tliat he had better burn his Vermont 

 ploughs the moment They arrive ; and procure one 

 that would turn the furrow Hat." 



Sometime in November 1 wrote to Mr. Wm. 

 Clark of Northampton, Mass. In his letter, in 

 speaking of his poor pine lands, he says, " My first 

 object has been to get grass to groic on these lands. 

 And the second to apply Mr. Phinney's method, 

 with which I suppose you are familiar. I have 

 been uniformly successful in regard to ihc first ex- 

 cept in case of severe drought; and judging from 

 the short experience which 1 have had, 1 know of 

 no pine plain so poor as to be incapable of becom- 

 ing fair mowing land — say one ton or one and a 

 half tons per acre, of clover, herdsgrass and red- 

 top, by the aid of a little plaster, with suitable 

 ploughing and rolling — with a suitable quantity of 

 grass seed, even without manure ; and when ma- 

 nure can be furnished, of course the crop will be 

 much better. My course is first to plough even and 

 thoroughly the whole ground, to the requisite 

 depth, say at least four inches, and as much deeper 

 as the soil (if there is any) will allow, to eight or 

 ten inclies, and after a day or two to dr)', let the 

 ground be settled down with a heavy roiler. This 

 implement lies at the foundation of profitable cul- 

 tivation on these light lands : without it or some 

 substitute, 1 consider them of little or no value j 

 but with the roller, I know of no lands that give a 

 better return for the labor bestowed; except it be 

 rich warm intervales that usually receive a depos- 

 ite from an annual overflow." 



LEVI BARTLETT. 



Remarks. 



The above was intended only as a private letter 

 from our friend, Mr. Barti.ett ; but the discussion 

 presented a question so interesting that we have 

 asked liberty to publish it. 



On no disputed point dividing the opinions of our 

 best practical farmers would we pretend to decide 

 for CuV readers : there are fev/ practical men who 

 are not better judges than the editor of the Visitor; 

 and we had much rather, as we do not intend to be 

 the means of misleading any man, that each of our 

 readers would make up an opinion for himself, than 

 to rely on ours. 



We have great confidence in the good sense and 

 judgment of Messrs. Stevens and Sommers of 

 Barnet, Vermont, whose letters were the basis of 

 the article in our last /number relative to Moors 

 and Mason's plough. They gave their reasons in 

 favor of a svstein of breaking up ground, where 

 the furrows should be turned only at an angle of 

 about 4o degrees. We thought those reasons to be 

 conclusive, especially in reference to sward lands 

 of heavy, wet mould. 



There are not perhaps any other two farmers in 

 New England in whose skill and judgment we 

 should repose more implicit reliance tliau in the two 

 correspondents of Mr. Bartlett, Messrs. Piiinxev 

 of Lexington, and Cl.\rk of Northampton, Mass. 

 These gentlemen are decided in their opinion that 

 the system of ploughing where the sward is com- 

 pletely inverted by the plough, the edge of each 

 succeeding furrow shutting down and fitting close 

 to its predecessor, is preferable to any other. 



Now in reference to all light lands we .are dispo- 

 sed entirely to agree with the latter gentlemen. 

 We cnn readily conceive the value of Mr. Clark's 

 method of treating light pine plain lands. He says 

 he knows " none of these so poor as to become in- 

 capable of becoming fair mowing lands." A sward 

 once produced on these lands, the Prouty and 

 Mears plough, striking as deep a furrow as the sur- 

 face loam will admit, turns the sward under to the 

 depth of from six to ten inches — the deeper the bet- 

 ter. To this operation may succeed the application 

 of more or less manure, either coarse orfiue,spre«d 

 over the surface; and thus harrowed in, or what 

 will be belter if it can be conven-ently done, plough- 

 ed in about lialf the depth of the first ploughing. 

 If ploughed, let the harrow afterwards level the 

 ground, after which pass over it a lieavy roller. 

 Then plant in furrows with Indian corn or potatoes 

 in hills at right angles ; tlie rows may be marked 

 out with chains drawn ovfr the ground, or a slight 

 furrow may be struck with a horse plough, if fur- 

 ther manure shall be applied to the hill. In hind 

 thus prepared it must be manifest, that the ground 

 will have the advantage of every particle of manure 

 placed upon it. Ploughed immediately under, 

 the strength of the manure cannot esi.'ape from 

 the surface; and be the soil ever so ligiit, tlie in- 

 verted sward at the bottom must prevent tlie 

 strength of the manure passing below that. The 

 inverted sward, while it shall remain undisturbed 

 by the plough or hoe above, will act in the double 

 capacity of imparting strength to the upper surface 

 and of protecting the growing crop from drought. 

 It will nourish and protect the ground probably for 

 a term of three or four years ; for after the rooty fi- 

 bres of this sward shall be decomposed, the rich 

 vegetable mould into which it shall be changed, 



drawing and retaining moisture as well from abov« 

 as from underneath, will continue to impart health 

 and vigor to the plants through the roots reachin* 

 it, while vegetation on the same kind of land not 

 thus prepared will perish with drought. 



It is easy to conceive how profitable much of the 

 light sandy land now esteemed of little value may 

 be made by an operation of this kind. The ma- 

 nuring and renewal of this land should come round 

 at least as often as once in four years : 1, corn with 

 manure — 2, barley or oat.s with clover — 3 and 4, 

 grass and pasture. Or this maybe extended with 

 a root crop one year before returning to the manure; 

 but new should there be un the same ground a repeti- 

 tion, of the same erop. This li^ht land, ao easily 

 cultivated, by a treatment of this kind, applying 

 with the jmanure sometimes plaster, Bometimes 

 ashes, may be always kept at the highest point of 

 the most profitable cultivation. 



A gentleman at Nashua, on the pine plain a littla 

 below the factories, the last season raised five hun- 

 dred bushels of oats at the rate of sixty bushels to 

 the acre. The ground in its natural state was the 

 driest, sandy pine land : it was well manured and 

 planted with Indian corn in 18351 : to this crop in 

 1S39 succeeded the crop of oats, sixty bushcla to 

 the acre, wliich would certainly have been consid- 

 ered a remarkable crop upon the best intervale or 

 upland farms. 



Of the completely inverted sward on wet, heavy 

 grounds, we are in more doubt. Tliere is mucli 

 plausibility in the plan of turning up, instead of 

 completely turning over the furrows, for the pur- 

 pose of letting in the roots of the grain or potatoes 

 below or between the decaying sward. Itseemsthat 

 the wet, heavy ground, must be lighter from this 

 operation, and that the crop will more readily re- 

 ceive the benefits of the decaying roots, said by 

 some to be equal to twenty tons of manure to the 

 acre. But after all, even this wet heavy soil 

 may in the end derive a greater benefit from th« 

 slower decay of the sward which shall attend the 

 complete turning over and rolling down of the fur- 

 row. It is reasonable to suppose that the inverted 

 swird laid even to the depth of ten or twelve inch- 

 es, must contribute to make the land lighter, it 

 the soil is composed of adhesive clay, we do not 

 think it can be safe to spread manure previous to 

 ploughing, and turn it deep under the sod: ita 

 strength will with difficulty rise so as to benefit the 

 crop upon the surface. The better way to treat 

 this laud would be to plough deep spread manure 

 upon tlie surface, and plough in at about half depth 

 without disturbing the sod; afterwards before plan- 

 ting pass over the roller. 



All these suggestions of our own we hope our 

 readers will receive for what they are worth. Eve- 

 ry farmer must, after all, make up his own judg- 

 ment, as every thing depends on the nature of his 

 grounti and his ability to bestow more or less labor 

 and expense upon it. 



Product of seven acres in three years. 



To show what the so:l of New Haiiipsliirc in its 

 natural state is capable of [iroducing, we take a caso 

 casually mentioned to us without any intention of* 

 publication. A farmer in Bethlehem (a hill town 

 some twelve miles east of Connecticut river, and 

 about eight}' miles north of Concord) three ycar« 

 ago ploughed up "even acres of hill pasture ground 

 which had been cleared eight years, and planted it 

 with potatoes. It had never been manured, nor 

 was any manure now applied. The yield of pota- 

 toes was, however, 3500 hundred bushels, or about 

 350 bushels to tiie acre : at \\i\ cents per bush, this 

 crop would bo worth $312 50. Next spring (1838) 

 the ground was plongiied and prepared for a crop of 

 wheat, and yielded 165 bushels, worth on an aver- 

 age $1 75 per bushel, $288: including straw the 

 value of the wheat crop was at least iftSOO. With 

 the wheat red clover seed v.'ns sowed, and in 1830, 

 1400 lbs. of clean clover seed, worth 14 cents alb. 

 were taken off; value ,^l!!(3--say seven tonsof clo- 

 ver straw at .^4, which it was richlv worth for ma- 

 nure, ^;S8 added to $l!l()— ,«224. 'Whole product 

 of seven acres of land in tlm-e years, ^835. The 

 entire labor and expense bestowed on this land, at 

 the highest rate, could not have exceeded one hun- 

 dred dollars a year; and thus we find seven acres 

 ctf land, which in that position would not probably 

 exceed in price more than from ten to fifteen dollars 

 the acre, giving an annual profit, after paying all 

 expenses, of twenty-five dollars the acre for each 

 of three succeeding years ; and this too, after the 

 cream of the first eight years had been taken from 

 the same laud. 



What belter land, or what better encouragement 

 can the farmer desire than is to be found among 

 the rough hills of the Granite State.' Surely if 

 any other land is of easier tilth and \v\\\ turn out 



