1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



porhiips the law ol'patcnis cannot he so amcn(](\1 

 as to meet every snpposable case, hard as ils ope- 

 rations on the liirmer may sometimes be, he must 

 cheerlully pubniil. Ilenee we say to tlie ajrricnl- 

 tnrist, buy no patent horse ralces, excellent as they 

 unquestionably are, unless you first ascertain that 

 you can use I hem without beinj; com(>elled at 

 some I'uturc day to pay double their value. For 

 ordmary Carmers, the sinirle horse raUe will answer 

 everv purpose; it is more simple in its construction, 

 less liable to be broken or cleranijed, and may be 

 used wiihoiit ioar ul' patents, prosecutions, orcoii- 

 tliclinir claims. 



For the Fanners' Register. 



OX THE AGUICULTURK OP NEI.,SON AND AM- 

 IltlRST. 



No. II.* 



The coimlry east oftlie Blue Iliilixe, for twenty 

 miles or more iu width, is very hilly, and in some 

 pliices moiuitaiiioiis, bein/j bilersected with sjiurs 

 from the main rid^^e runuin<^ oH" at riijht angles, 

 and small chains running parallel to the great 

 mountaui, it. i.s watered in every direction, either 

 hv clear and copious streams, heading iu the 

 nioimtains, and pursuing their course with a rapid 

 fall to James river, or smaller streams flowing from 

 springs which issue from the base of almost every 

 liill. No country f have ever seen, is so abundant- 

 ly and delightfully watered. It is difficult to find 

 an hundred acres any where, that has not a stream 

 ofclear water passing through it. The climate is 

 eminently healihy, human hie being protracted 

 to as great length as in any quarter of the globe. 

 The midday of the summer season is sultry, the 

 thermometer of Fahrenheit someliuies rising to 

 tiinetv three or four degrees, and very generally 

 to eiifhtv. Cut the niirhts, particularly near the 

 Blue Ridge, are exceedingly pleasant, and gene- 

 rally refreshed with a breeze, which sets in about 

 sunset, oralitde alter, fi'om the mountain, and 

 continues for some hours after night, dispelling 

 the languor occasioned by the heat of the day, 

 and rendering sleep sound and deliirhtful. 



The soil IS generally a red clay, varying some- 

 what in shade, and often of very great depth. In 

 m:inv instances, excavations of more than twenty 

 feet (leen, exhibit no change. The grey lands I 

 think, are rrenerally less productive, of which, 

 however, there is not alarjie proportion; and those 

 approaching to white, sometimes found in consid- 

 erable, tracts, are by no means fertile. 



From the red lands, of which the writer has the 

 most experience, when in good condition, an aver- 

 asTo of six hundred weiirht of tobacco, twenty bush- 

 els of wheat, and from six to eight barrels of corn, 

 may be obtained from the acre, by good cultivation. 

 The (Tenera! product of the country, is much less. 



If the farm requires imnrovement, in order to at- 

 tain these residts, the fields to be cultivated in corn 

 and wheat, should not be less than four — the ro- 

 tation to consist of corn, wheat, and clover for two 



* Though this article is the second of a series, it has 

 no dependence on the preceding number, which con- 

 sisted of more general remarks, applicable to our agri- 

 eultura in general. — Ed. Far. Reg. 



years. Thus, one lielil will be in corn, one in wheat, 

 and two in clover every year. If'the land is alrea- 

 dy in a state of' fertility, it vvill not maintain it, if 

 corn is taken from it oftener than once in lour 

 years. Nor does it seem expedieiu to let the land 

 lie longer without a cleaning crop ; as locusts, sas- 

 safras, briers, and weeds of various kinds, occupy it 

 so rapidly, as to retpiire ii'reat labor again, to put it 

 in proper condition lor proiiiabh! |)roducti()n. 



The ground intended l<)r tobacco, if highland, I 

 would also divide into four smaller fieliis or lots. 

 The rotation to be, tobacco, wheat, and clover for 

 two years. As a preparation lor corn or tobacco, 

 the laud should be broken deep with a good plough 

 drawn by three strong horses, and as much of the 

 ploughiuij as possible done in the fall and winter, 

 because the winter's frosts assist materially in pul- 

 verizing the land, and destroying insects injurious 

 to the cro|)s, which are generally, or their eggs, 

 deposited a few inches beneath the sod. In the, 

 spriuiT, the land should be well harrowed, and 

 rendered as smooth as possible. Then, (if not 

 previously done) water furrows should be laid off 

 with a rafter level, from forty to sixty fi^et apart, 

 in proportion to the steepness of the land, having 

 a fall of one inch, to every ten feet, and emptying 

 into the nearest ravine. These furrows should be 

 as deep and wide as they can be made with the 

 plough, assisted by hoes or shovels to throw out 

 the dirt. The system of ditching, as practised in 

 the country bordering on the Roanoke, would [)er- 

 haps be more eti'ectual against washing, but the 

 ditches are very inconvenient to cross with the 

 teams, in getting olf the crops. The larsre fur- 

 rows made by the |)loughs, if kept carefully opea 

 through the season, will, under ordinary circum- 

 stances, prevent any serious loss of soil. Betweent 

 these water furrows, and parallel with them, smal- 

 ler furrows should be opened by single-horse 

 ploughs, for receiving the planted corn. It is im- 

 portant that the smaller furrows should be parallel 

 to the larger, that in the cultivation of the corn, the 

 ilirrows of the cultivating plouifhs, should assist in 

 bearing ofi' the surplus water, from heavy rains, to 

 the ravines. Injury from washing requires to be 

 sedulously guarded against, by all who wish, in this 

 region, to improve, or retain the fertility of their 

 lands. 



Tlie corn, previously to planting, should be rolled 

 in tar, in the pro|)orlion of a quart of the latter to a 

 bushel of the ibrmer, and as much ground gypsum 

 sprinkled over the mass as can be made to adhere. 

 It is a grest advantage to the crop, when the corn 

 is about a foot high, and directly after thinning, to 

 re-plaster, by putting a small quantity on each hill. 

 The cultivation of the crop consists in keepmi!; it 

 free from weeds and grass, by as many plough- 

 ings and as much hoe work as may be necessary 

 for the purpose, remembering it is incurring con- 

 siderable risk to plough afler harvest, during a dry 

 season. 



It is usual with us, to gather the blades and 

 tops, to rernove and slack them, as the first pro- 

 cess. The corn is then cut up, and stacked on 

 the ground, and the ground, if clean enough, sown 

 with wheat, at the rate of a bushel and a half' to 

 the acre, and put in with small ploughs. If the 

 ground is loul with ijrass or weeds, it is broken by 

 ploughs and smoothed by ban-owing; the wheat 

 then sown and covered by liarrows. In the spring, 

 near the last of FebruEiry, or during the first ten 



