1837] 



F A n INI fO R S ^ REGIS T K R . 



77 



the fipiy waves of a torrent of lava. I have seen 

 the deep flood of the Nii><rara leap from its rocky 

 lu'iillit iiiio ihe Ibaniiiiij ai)y.-=s helow : and ihe 

 rii^hinir avalanche Hiiiihle Ironi the ixlaciers of the 

 i\l|)s, carryiiiiX desolauon and disin;iy to the iiiha- 

 biiaiitsol" the \a!leys lielow — hut to u-itiiess a vapt 

 prairie in the liir, llir west on fire, is a scene more 

 grand and thrilliiiii:. 



"Tis vain to dravv a picture of this niiiht on the 

 prairie, wiien earth and air were one complete 

 hiaze of liirht — a periect whirlwind of fire and 

 flames, and the wild beasts were driven en masse 

 Iroin tiieir hidinij places. 



The heat hecominir intense, the old chief (jave 

 the si<rnal tor retreat, l\v a wild whoop which was 

 echoed hy the whole of the Indians, thousrh half- 

 lost aiuitl the noise of the elements. It was in- 

 stantly obeyed by all, liircinn; with much difficult}- 

 our horses through the coiiflaii-rition we had kin- 

 dled, and continniniiio ride tor about three miles at 

 full spaed, until we reached a hi<^h ridofe where the 

 grass had been hfrht, and was soon consumed. In 

 other places it was often from lour to ten feet in 

 heiirht. 



Here we encamped for the nUjht amidst clouds 

 of smoke, nearly sutf'ocatinir, and which rose so 

 thick as to shut out the glorious scene we had be- 

 fore witnessed, and how nmch more romantic to 

 be between two fires, than east among the embers 

 ol nne. 



The following mominii when the party were all 

 mounted, on our signal fiorses, with smoky faces, 

 dresses and blankets, there being but a shade of' 

 difference in the complexion between the white 

 and red man, I could but lauiih heartily at the ex- 

 hibition as we galloped off in Indian file. 



Never was a party better dressed tor a carnival 

 masquerade. There was something wild ; a pic- 

 turesque beauty, such imacres as we were under 

 this smoky disguise, fbrthe two first days, particu- 

 Jarly while travelliufr over this wide desolation. — 

 There was a peculiar adaption of looks to tiie 

 brown burnt sod on our trail. This fire had svA-e|)t 

 through forest and fifld, consuming the j'oung 

 trees, and the few autumn flowers, which now 

 stud ths prairies ; and I felt satisfied that we 

 owed our lives to the reso'ution and coolness of 

 the old chief, for I should have been burned to a 

 modern mummv, had I not have been rescued by 

 the foresight of "Old Whirlino- Thunder." 



Yours, ° J. H. R. 



THE j>rT3A?rS OF MAKIIVG LAROK QUANTITIES 

 OF MAAM'RE. AND THE PROPER MANNER 

 OF APPLYING IT. 



To tiie Editor of tlie Farmers' Register. 



Philadelphia Co., Pa., y/pril 24th, 1837. 



Dear Sir — Being confined to the house by an 

 awkward accident, carelessly treated, 1 know not 

 that I can better employ my time and ihoiiirhts, 

 than in endeavoring to contribute my mite for the 

 Farmers' Reirisrer. 



I am led to believe, fi-om the tenor o'^many arti- 

 cles in late numbers of the Reijister, that an ear- 

 nest desire for agricultural improvement is spread- 

 innr amongst some of the farmers ol' the present day; 

 and I hope sugijesiions made with a view to aidino; 

 that improvement, will be received in a kind spirit, 



(even should they occasionally iiear hard upon 

 some of the habits chosen or ado[)led, without a 

 thouirht, by almost all,) alihouirh they may not in 

 themselves be worth much, proceeding as they do 

 (lorn one who has seen much and practiced but 

 little. 



To ascertain the means of improvement, it is 

 sometimes well to in(]uire into the ciuise of the 

 great want of it, which is so generally acknow- 

 ledged, beinix manilt'st in the impoverished coii- 

 dition of the land and many of its culiiv aiors. 

 That this condition is not generally and liiirly at- 

 tributable to the naturally steril character of our 

 lands is, I think, obvious. That it caiuiot be at- 

 tributed to our climate, I \h\uk equally obvious. 

 For I can imagine that but lew f-ersons acquaint- 

 ed with agriculture and its |)roducts, would be wil- 

 ling to denounce our soil and climate. Then the 

 cause must be sought elsewhere. May if not be 

 found in ourselves? Is our farming Ibunded on 

 correct principles, and sj'stemalically pursued? I 

 think not. Do we husband and judiciously apply 

 all the means and sources of preserving and in- 

 cnvasing the fl^rtility of the soil? Obviously not. 

 Do we practice strict economy, cotnbined with a 

 generous expenditure, in the management of our 

 crops and lands'? Do v/e not rob and impoverish 

 the soil continually — carrying off all that we cm 

 in any way use, (and thinking our merits and pros- 

 perity great in proportion to the amount of coitoii, 

 tobacco, corn, grain, &c. carried off.) and neglect- 

 ing, abusing and destroying, even by fire, all that 

 we cannot, or imacrine we cannot, use profitably? 

 If the fault is not inherent in the soil and climate, 

 it must rest with the cultivator. Let him study 

 agriculture as it deserves to be studied, jjet him 

 appreciate its relation to the well being of society. 

 Let liim try to read nature aright — to understand 

 the value and relation of things, and crops, and of 

 their different parts to each other, and I thiid< he 

 will become a very different farmer and political 

 economist, to the farmers and political economists 

 of the da}'. 



You have, amonirst vour correspondents, one at 

 least, who is able to explain the principles on which 

 improved agriculture must necessarily be based, 

 and whose practice exhibits the irenerai correct- 

 ness of his views. Hoping that he may soon be 

 enabled to renew his communications, and con- 

 scious of my own inability to explain principles 

 fully, I shall content myself with endeavoring to 

 explain some of ifie improved practices which 

 have come under my observation. 



All fi^rmers are ready to acknowledge the effi- 

 cacy and value of excrementitious matters com- 

 bined with vegetable substances, commordy called 

 manure, as one means of improvement. To make 

 manure in large quantities, seems to the iniiialed 

 to be the easiest thing imagiuiible; and yet how 

 (ew fiirmers make more than a fourth part' of what 

 they ought to make, and how many not even that! 

 I have seen from thirty to forty per cent, of a liirm 

 manured from the barn yards anniiallv' — although 

 large quantities of hay, straw and trrain, are sold; 

 this is accomplished too, with comparatively little 

 stock. The secret, and it is one well worth know- 

 inff, lies in carelully collecting all the rellise vege- 

 table matter that is grown on the (arm, and sup- 

 plying the yards, in which the stock is kept, with 

 it from lime to time as it is wanted, not as collected, 

 hut as it is required — and in supplying the stock 



