1S37] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



79 



&c., by way ol' variety — tlie corn stalks, as before 

 mentioned, Curnishiiitr lilter. Tlie cows are drain- 

 ed (o bins ill the yard, when beiii<f ti'd or milked; 

 at all oilier times they are loose in the yard, never 

 being put into a stable unless it be for a week or 

 60 at ibe time ol" c-.ilviiiir, and iben more for llie 

 sake of (jniet, and to keep the calf out of barm's 

 way, than any tbiiiif else. It may be well to men- 

 tion, incidenially, that the yards are provided willi 

 plenty of good slied room, tbiit they are well shel- 

 tered lioiii the prevailuiix winds, and have a liivo- 

 rable exj)Osure. The piijs, of which only a lew 

 are kiipt, have the ranirt* ot boih the yards, and 

 are \'t:'.,\ wi;ii swill from ih-^ house and duiry^ and in 

 Avinter, wi;h a lew turnips. In sumiiu'r, they come 

 up to the ravk ahoul as reifularly as tiie horses and 

 cows, lor their poriioii ol";L^reen tbod. I neirlected 

 eiatini^ in the proper place, ihat the horse sialtle is 

 aUvass kept well liiteivd. ami the manure maile in 

 it. is put into the yard, from time to time, where it 

 is spread uliout. 



Now, I believe that, if any firmer will pursue 

 tliis p'an s'eadily, and make <rood provision li)r it, 

 lie m ly make m mure enough to improve a liirm 

 to the hij:hest pitch, as far as manure alone is con- 

 cerufii; and not only do so, but find the amouii of 

 (lispo.<ahle produce, irreater, under such a system, 

 tiiati under that which usiially pre\'ai!s. 



il ivinir sal 1 so micli abi)ut makin>f manure, it 

 m ly nnt he auuss to u 11 a linv worils about apply- 

 ing It. Conveiiieni-e. experience and reason, point 

 to to|»-dressinir on younir trrass as the brst mode — 

 above all, where find is alrea.ly in ijood condition. 

 Il is convenieni so to ajiply it, because it need iioi 

 iiiterltire with limel}" sowiuir and t)lantirr<jr, whii-h 

 it generally doi-s, when a[)plied to wheat, corn, 

 turnips, &c. It may be hauleil out and spread in 

 tiie lull and spring, when sowintj and planiinir is 

 interrupted, or finisheti. My own observation 

 teaches me, that wondertui crops of crrass and hay 

 are produced by this applicaiiou of manure. And 

 one of the most iutelliii'eut farmers in Enirland told 

 me, that his exjierience showed that manure ap- 

 plieilto wheat, on land in y;ooil condition, was more 

 apt to injure than benetit the crop, particularly in 

 its quality. This farmer, for a period of about ibrly 

 years, has usually taken wheat of the very best 

 quality lo market — and, what may surprize some 

 farmers, he told me, that for about thirty years he 

 had not chaniretl his seed. When I saw his crops, 

 they were estimated at from thirty-five to forty 

 bushels per acre, although the season was not a 

 favorable one. His soil is not considered a good 

 wheat soil. If the manner in which nature ap- 

 plies all animal, and a large portion of vegetable 

 matter to the soil, be observed, it will not, I hope, 

 be thouixht unreasonable in man, so to apply it. 

 A friend of mine, calls top-dressing "the tea-sys- 

 tem" — su|)posing the virtues of manure to be con- 

 veyed to the plant in infusion, or solution. 



Some farmers maytliink that cows kept as above 

 described, will not give much milk and butter. I 

 can assure them that they do, and of excellent qual- 

 ity, with good dairy management; and that they 

 keep in good condition too. 



Some time since, I saw on the farm of one of ray 

 friends, what I thought to be an improvsd practice. 

 He usually pays about twenty-five cents an acre 

 more than any ol his neighbors, for mowing grass 

 for hay. He is very particular, in laying down his 

 lands lo grass, to have them evenly ploughed, h.tr- 



rowed and rolled — and every spring, he rolls his 

 mowing ground wilh heavy iron rollers of large 

 diameter — and stones, or other obstructions to ihe 

 scythe, are removed. In mowing, he insists on 

 narrow swaths being taken, and tlie scythe being 

 kepi close to the ijround, and well pointed in and 

 out. You will ihink this not the waylbr the mow- 

 ers to make liist work. Hence the necessity lor the 

 extra iwenty-five cents. My friend thinks tliat tor 

 every cent extra, that he pays liar mowing, he re- 

 ceives about ten cents of value, in the increased 

 weiirht of iiay. He (contends that the lowest inch 

 ol grass in his fields, yields as great a weight of 

 hay as five or six inches at the top — and he has 

 the satisiiiction of having his work well done. I 

 have seen on his liirin, a field of tiirty acres, so 

 neatly mowed, thai it was exceedingly dililcult to 

 {\ni\ vvhiidi way the mowers had worked. Now, 

 this, I think an improvement on the practice, so 

 almost uriiversal, of mowing in such a manner, as 

 to leave each swath and each stroke of the scythe 

 visible — I had almust said, lo a pa-senger on a 

 rial load cur, going al the rule of lifieen miles an 

 hour. 



P. fl. 



IMPORTANT EXl'ERIMEPJT.S WITH CANAL 

 BOATS AT MiaM VELOCITIES. 



We extract from the Ed'inbur^^h /fdveriiser, llie 

 annexed account ot i-ome experiments, which 

 prove that biirh velociiies are attained by properly 

 consTucted vessels, upon canals, or iiarniw wateii^ 

 wiihout raising a great wave, and conseijueniiy 

 iiijunnir the banks: — 



"We rci/ard ihe experiments described below 

 as extremely im[)ortaiit. If ihe result is correctly 

 stated, and if no counteracting disadvantage has 

 escaped notice, we think these experiments may 

 be said to have added a million of sterling to the 

 value of canal property in Great Britain, since 

 they mast, at no distant period, add fifty or a bun- 

 ilreil thousand pounds to the annual dividends. — 

 Nolhing can be more paradoxical or startling in' 

 appearance than this result ; and yei our knowl- 

 edge of the many unexpected truths in mechani- 

 cal science which experiment ha« brought to light 

 will not permit us to reject it as incredible. It is 

 this: — that ihe surge generated in a canal by the 

 motion of a boat, and which is so destructive to the 

 banks, in moderately rapid motion (such as lour or 

 j five miles an hour,) ceases altogether when a high 

 velocity is employed. It is true the vessels were of 

 a particular construction, but this is immaterial. — 

 A boat six feet long and five feet wide, is capable 

 of being extremely serviceable, both ibr the con- 

 veyance of goods and passengers; and if a boat 

 can be safely and conveniently drafrged at tlie' 

 rate of nine or ten miles an hour upon our canals, 

 passengers by this species of conveyance will 

 then be upon a level, as to speed, wilh those who 

 travel per mail. The great recommendations of 

 canal carriaire at present are, its cheapness, and 

 the liberty of locomotion which passengers enjoy.- 

 Ils leading disadvantages is its slowness ; and 

 this is now felt more and more, when our staire 

 coaches are touchiiiLT a speed of len miles an hour, 

 which will soon l>e doubled on our railways. We 

 have not technical skill enough to know what a 

 gig-boat is ; but we hiler iiom the other particu- 



