1837] 



FARMERS' R K G I S T E R. 



219 



not be permittetl to contribute his mite of experi- 

 ence to llie ixeiieral gootl, without being bored j'or 

 his name ? If he be contented to live uj) to the 

 great eternal law to "'till tiie earth in sorrow, and 

 eat of itt? bread b_v the sweat oi" his brow," wliy 

 goad him lor his want of boldness ? Is the trutJi 

 greater with one name than another ? 



But to the claims of lime. 1 will not give j'on 

 all I see and all I believe of its power and intki- 

 ence, for I could not ex[)ect that your readers 

 would believe, nor could I expect them to ride and 

 look and judge for themselves. Let it suffice, as that 

 the breakmg of the "sixth seal" is the resurrect- 

 ing power to all that is dead, so is the application 

 of lime to land. That which had died under the 

 barbarous hand of man, has awakened in anima- 

 tion and joy. Corn, wiieat, grass and weeds, wan- 

 ton in their health and strength; and methinks in 

 wending my way through them I can hear their 

 song of praise to the great First Cause. I have in- 

 vited my neighbors to look, and bear me witness of 

 this earthly resurrection, but they hear not — no, 

 sir, nor will they believe, though there are "green 

 purses and glittering gould" in the resurrection 

 which I preach, their "dull cold ears" heed me 

 not. 



I apply about 50 bushels of shells to the acre, and 

 eometimes more, when I have if, and am. able, by 

 great efforts, to lime all the land I cultivate. I 

 have to haul the shells from 6 to 8 miles. They 

 cost me when brought from the ban!<s at the 

 mouth of the Potomac to the nearbst landing, 5 

 cents the bushel; then to land them, and cart them 

 home, 7 cents ; to burn and spread them, 8 cents; 

 which makes the whole expense S 10 per acre. 

 This is all in advance, and in trustto motherearth: 

 but her's is the best pay under heaven. In 12 

 months you have your money returned, and your 

 land worth three times its previous value. Nor is 

 this all ; plaster, that once worked miracles, had 

 ceased to be of any avail. From 1800 I have 

 used it extravagantly — say from two to ten bushels 

 per acre — and for the last 12 years it had done lit- 

 tle more than made the vegetation green. Since 

 liming my land, the plaster has regained its power; 

 i and is, if possible, more to be desired than ever. 

 ' Lime, however, like plaster, may not be used upon 

 ! wet land. Let your young larmers look to this ; 

 ] tor it is my belief that on account of failing Irom 

 j this cause in the use of lime, 25 and 18 years ago, 

 i I have not lost, in profits and improvements, less 

 ; than 5^2000 per annum. I may now impute more 

 to lime than I should ; but, speaking fi"ora experi- 

 ment, I cannot be (iir li'om the reality. It was your 

 valuable book upon Calcareous Manures that in- 

 duced me again to try it; and though, like Moses, 

 I have lived upon hard work, and hope, for near 

 40 years, I think I shall 3'et realize more than a 

 bunch of grapes. With many thanks to you sir, 

 and to your valuable correspondents, I subscribe 

 myself, as of old, 



Jeremiah, 

 Or, as I am a resurrecting man, 



Lime. 

 Fairfax Co., June 25, 1837. 



that the rats were very troublesome. The other 

 said he had got rid of his ruts without much trou- 

 ble. Says he, " I buy a hundred small fish hooka 

 lor a shilling, and take a small pine stick and 

 slightly f isten six or eight hooks to it — the [)ointa 

 all one way — and put the slicks in the rats'' hole, 

 so that when they run into the hole they will rub 

 against the hooks will catch into the skin and with 

 a little exertion they clear the hooks from the stick, 

 and go oil', squealing, with the hooks tiist in the 

 skin, and a few rats so hooked will give warning 

 to others, and they will soon all disappear. Try 

 it and you will not be disappointed." 



Rawson Harmon, Jr. 

 Wheatland, May Ylih, 1837. 



From tlie Geneseo Farmer. 

 iURE AND CHEAP WAY TO DESTROY RATS. 



Mr. Tucker — I vvas present a short time since 

 vhen one neighbor was complaining to another , 



ON BUCKWHEAT AMONG CORN. 



To tlie Editor of the Fanners' Register. 



Carysbrooke, 21sf June, 1837. 



The season for sowing buckwheat being at 

 hand, I would recommend it as an improver. For 

 somej'ears past, I have used it on such portions 

 I of my corn-field, as' required a meliorating ley, 

 with decided benefit — both as a fertilizer and 

 I opener of the soil — sowing from the first to the 

 last of July, (according to circumstances,) from a 

 I peck and a half to two pecks to the acre, covering 

 the seed (at the time of laymg-by the corn crop,) 

 with cultivators between the rows, and with hoes 

 between the hills of corn. Sown at this season, I 

 have found that the buckwheat will rise two feet 

 on ordinary lands, .flowering a:nd maturing abun- 

 dantly. Its effects, on wet and stiff lands, are to 

 absorb all surplus moisture, and to mellow the soil, 

 insomuch as, that I have seen lands of this de- 

 scription broken in fine order for wheat, whilst, 

 that adjoining, of a much more kind character, 

 (not sown in buckwheat on that account,) would 

 exhibit a cold and clammy condition — the result 

 of the succeeding wheat and clover crops confirm- 

 ing the promise of the buckwheat preparation. — 

 Its advantage on blue grass lands is very evi- 

 dent — smothering it during vegetation, and facili- 

 tating the rotting process "alter the sod is turned 

 unden These, (by the way,) I have found the 

 most powerful agents in the destruction of this 

 most formidable "of all pests, (having never seen 

 the Canada thistle.) as, delighting in sun and air, 

 it abhors shade and the exclusion of air. I have 

 destroyed the most inveterate blue-grass turf, by a 

 thin covering of long litter, or wheat straw, with 

 a bushel of plaster, to the acre, turned under in 

 April, by four-horse ploughs, followed by rollers. 

 But, to return from tltis digression to buckwheat: 

 its great excellence is in the cheapness of this im- 

 prover, and in there being no substitute for it as a 

 dressing among corn. The first cost, in the 

 mountains, is fi-om 62^^- to 75 cents per bushel. — 

 The expense of sowing and putting in, is greatly 

 more than compensated by the benefit of the culti- 

 vation given to the corn. iPeas, nor any other sub- 

 stitute with which I am acquinfed, would be suffi- 

 ciently matured, sown at this advanced season, 

 to constitute a valuable manure. Ir has been ob- 

 jected to buckwheat, that its volunteer plants 

 infest the wheat crop. I have never found this 

 complaint worthy of consideration. 



A. M Harrison. 



