1S3T] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



123 



came the mopt productive one in the ffarden. My 

 garJen would not produce the cucumlior, except in 

 verv wet seasons. I re«nrt;ul to ihe IbllowiniJ: plan, 

 wliich gave ine great plenty. I dui: square holes, 

 a loot wide, and" ei<ihteen inches deep, and filled 

 them with light alluvial earth li-om the branch, 

 hilled on them and planted the seed and cultivated 

 as usual. Having liiiled to complete the manuring 

 of a lot with stable and larm-yard litter, I went 

 into a piece of rich wood-land, which I never ex- 

 pect to dear, and scraped up the leaves and li<rht 

 vegetable mould at the surface, and have thus, 

 with the aid of various other subjects, finished 

 the lot, and intend to watch closely into the eliects 

 of the ditferent kinds of manure, and shall send 

 the result for publication in the Register. I flatter 

 myself the woods scrapings will do nearly, or quite 

 as" well as the stable manure. 



I came to live at my present residence last fall. 

 and had but litlle chance to raise manure; but I 

 ploughed up my lot, and determined to manure it 

 "by liook or by crook." My predecessors had re- 

 lied more on clearin<y for tobacco, than manuring, 

 and thus many rich deposites had, for years, re- 

 mained unmoved. Around the ley hopper and 

 out-houses, we found beds of ashes and other of- 

 liil, in considerable quantities. The wood pile af- 

 forded a considerable quantity, (and by the by, one 

 of my friends uses this kind of ri>anure successfully 

 on plant beds). The offal of the garden too, which 

 had accumulated tor years, in a bank around the 

 garden, was another fine source. The fence cor- 

 ners near the residence, alTorded a considerable 

 quantity, as will be the case about all old settle- 

 ments where they are not occasionally cleaned out. 

 Thus [ succeeded in manuring my lot as heavily 

 as I wished, and have the satisfaction to find that 

 there yet remain many resources untouched — and 

 I am ready to exclaim with the wise one before 

 quoted, "where is the place in which manure can- 

 not be found?" It is not the want of materials to 

 improve our soil that keeps it declinino;: it is sheer 

 neglect. Manj' planters persuade themseK^es the 

 thing cannot be done, or look upon it as a thing to 

 be thought about and not acted on. They sow 

 clover seed and dream of verdant fields, leemuiij 

 udders, fat beef and mutton, and rich land; hut the 

 clover (iiils, the udder dri(\s up. the kiiie are lean, 

 and the land poor, and all ibr want of manure, or, 

 more truly, for want of its application. Others 

 dream of the fiit and teeming soils of the west; 

 they have found visions of gain without labor, 

 flesh without feeding. They look over to that 

 land of promise, all is rich and alluring in their 

 heated uiiaginations; they turn again and look on 

 the poverty stricken old field, they sigh away the 

 last hope, and rather than make the best of the pre- 

 sent ill, "they fly to others that they know not of," 

 and they prepare for themselves lonjr years of re- 

 gret and sorrow. They sever ties of friendship and 

 kindred, and all for nought. They sigh too late 



jeet of improvement as visionary, and scout at what 

 they call "book farmers." 



I'have thus stated a few facts, and made some 

 reflections which I hope may awaken tlie atten- 

 tion of others to this subject, and shall be amply 

 repaid for the labor of writing this coinnumication, 

 if it serve to 'increase the use of manure to the 

 amount of one dozen loads. 1 will in conclusion 

 hazard an opinion, which, among physicians, 

 would probably entitle me to the charge of quack- 

 ery, if applied to diseases of men — that the all- 

 wise Creator has provided a remedy for eveiy ill. 

 That he has provided and placed in our reach, 

 materials to manure every variety of soil— in some 

 places marl, others lime, and in others gypsum, 

 and that no place intended for cultivation is left 

 without the reach of something to increase and 

 perpetuate its f^ertility, and that it only remains for 

 the art of man to discover, and his industry to ap- 

 ply it. And tiiese fiicts and this o|iinion are stated 

 to attract the attention of planteps, and to elicit in- 

 quiry and experiment in regard to the endless va- 

 rietjr of material and resources for manuring. 



A. C. Morton. 



WORTHY 

 CIALLY 



From tlie Cultivator. 



OF COKSIDERATION — ESPE- 

 FOR I.KGiSLATORS. 



Five millions of agriculturists in Great Britain 

 furnish subsistence fi;ir her population of sixteen 

 to eighteen millions of people. Great Britain im- 

 ports but a small amount of provisions. 



Twelve millions of agriculturists in the United 

 States do not furnish subsiptence ibr a population 

 of sixteen millions. We import bread siutti?, now, 

 from almost every country of Europe. 



Whence this mighty difference? It is not owing 

 to the natural inferiority of our soil, nor to the infe- 

 riority of our laborers in physical strengih and in- 

 dustry. In both these we claim to have the ad- 

 vantage of the old continent; but it is owing to the 

 neglect of our legislators and statesmen, to patron- 

 ize and aid this great piimary branch of labor— it 

 is lor want of that aid whicli goverimient and sci- 

 ence give there, and which they do not give here. 

 There we see established schools of agribulture, 

 boards of agriculture. IJcre we see neither. 

 There agricultural science constitutes a branch 

 of instruction in the primary schools, and prac- 

 tical instruction is [not] dispensed in those 

 of higher jjrades. Here our schools do not af- 

 ford instruction in either the science or practice. 

 There large sums are disbursed from the public 

 treasury, to make agricultural surveys, to publish 

 standard work^ on husbandry, and to call forth 

 o:enius and skill, by liberal rewards and distinc- 

 tions. Here government expends nothing for 

 these objects. There agricultural improvement is 

 promoted from slate policy. Here it is neglecled, 

 because it has no quid pro quo — not hi no- to ofler 



for their ''faiher-land:'' Alas our beloved OW i to gratify the short-sighted cupidity of party. Our 



Dominion! How long will your sons forget their 

 filial love and duty and turn your glory info shame 

 by desertion in your utmost need? Had half the 

 labor and expense that have been spent in emigrat- 

 ing to, and reducing the forest of the west, been 

 devoted to enriching and beautifying your soil, not 

 England's self ivould have, at this day, displayed 

 such beauty and luxuriance. Away Mr. Editor, 

 with that class of ai^riculturists who treat the sub- 



statesmen are so greedy for the sixpence that is 

 close to their eye, that they do not see the dollar 

 which beckons them from the distance. The 

 landed proprietors of Europe frenerally possess 

 intelligence' and influence, which they eflTectually 

 exertj'in combined eflbrt, to increase the products 

 of their estates. Here the proprietors are too of- 

 ten uninformed and spiritless, having no concert, 

 and tamely submitting to the miserable pittance 



