1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



371 



the (Traps was cured. J3y the way — thouo'h cattle 

 are subject to lie hoven, by ii;razitiy on luxuriant 

 clover, Mr. S. says that the dauixer is entirely 

 avoided if they are not penneil at niu'ht, but are 

 sud'ered to remain on j^'rass. It is their lontj last, 

 and conse(juent ravenous appetile, which induce*; 

 them to swallow the clover so liist as to produce 

 the too rapid ItM-mcntation and extrication of gas 

 in the stomach, whicli causes the swelling, and 

 oiien the death of the animal. 



So far as Mr. Sampson's experience has irone, 

 theliali-blood Durham cattle are at least ashardy, 

 and keep m as good condition on like Jbod and 

 treatment, as the common stock; and he has no 

 around to doubt the equal hardiness of the lull 

 breed; but as to them, he has not had full time and 

 opportunity lor observation and comparison. 



Tubacco. 



Mr. Sampson was at one time induced to fall in 

 wiih the general practice ol' this part of the coun- 

 try, in devoting a part of his farm to the culture of 

 tobacco. This new business continued through 

 three crops, before it was abandoned. Not hav- 

 ing been acquainted with the management of that 

 crop, he employed an overseer for that especial ob- 

 ject, who had the reputation, and did not fbrl(iit it 

 when tried, of being an excellent tobacco mana- 

 ger. He had lijil powers to give all the labor that 

 he deemed necessary to that part of the business 

 of the itirm — and also to manage that crop in all 

 respects as he thought best. He exerted these 

 powers throuuhout ihe three years. The crops 

 were good, and sold at lair prices lor their quality. 

 The tobacco was large and strong, such as is 

 made on the richt^st land, but not so fine-flavored 

 or high-priced, as may be grown on poorer lands; 

 hut yielding, as he supposed, more profit, for the 

 cost, than the liner tobacco would have done. At 

 the end of the three years, he resolved to aban- 

 don the culture, having ascertained by the most 

 carelul estimates, and which, indeed, were concur- 

 red in, for rather were made first, at his refjuest,) 

 by his overseer, (who knew all the grounds on 

 which they were made,) that the three tobacco 

 crops occupied half the labor of the farm for three 

 years, and that they sold for only as much as one 

 sixth of the value of the whole product raised, 

 and either sold, or consumed at home; or, that the 

 cost of the tobacco was equal to that of all the 

 grain, grass, meat, &c., while the value in mar- 

 ket was to that of the others, only in the propor- 

 tion of one to five. The results were considered 

 decisive as to the ;»'i)priety, in his circumstances, of 

 preftirrmg grain and grass culture to the substitu- 

 tion of tobacco Ibr them, iii any proportion wliut- 

 ever. 



Manure-making and application. 



This part of my observations has been already 

 mostly anticipated by incidental remarks connect- 

 ed with other subjects, and therelbre, but little 

 now remains to add. 



The corn-stalks are all conveyed to the winter 

 fiirm-yard, lor litter and manure. There is unu- 

 sual difficulty in this labor; as the greatest part of 

 the stalks are every year grown on Sabot Island, 

 where no vegetable manure is applied, and there- 

 fore, they are wasoned across the fbrd. where the 

 water is three feet deep, when lowest. 



The unrotted manure of the farm-yard, (of 

 which, corn-stalks are the principal material.) is 

 now used lor corn on highland. It is not carried 

 out until just before the (ilanting of the land is de- 

 sired, (after the main boily of ihecroj) is finished,^ 

 aial then every part of the Ibrce is directed to 

 carrying out, spreading, and ploughing in the 

 maniu'e. As many wagons and cans are kept as 

 w)ll fiirnish employment to every draught animal, 

 and this unusual amount of outlay, is also an eco- 

 nomical investment. This manure is put on at 

 about twenty wagon loads, and gypsum also sow- 

 ed. From thirty to forty acres a year are ma- 

 nured fi-om the farm-yard and stables. Mr. S. 

 thinks much better of the strength of cornstalks, 

 fbr manure, than is the general opinion. 



Tiie wheat-straw, if not required as food, ia 

 spread, from the stacks, thinly on young grass, 

 which is the best ajjplicalion. The remaining 

 thin spots (most of which, were formerly naked 

 galls,) whether in pasture or arable land, are 

 dressed in this way, until brought to compare 

 with the surrounding ground. It would also be 

 preli^rred to use leaves in the same manner, aa 

 top-dressing, but that they would be blown away 

 by the winds. As they are used, about thirty 

 more acres are manured annually with leaves — 

 and by all the materials of putrescent manures 

 used, one whole field of the highland six-field ro- 

 tation will be mnaured every year, or the whole 

 highland surface in one term of six years. 



(Jypsum is applied with all heavy vegetable 

 maimrings, and also, once in the course, to each 

 field of young clover. 



Oat fallow. 



The practice of sowing oats as a preparing crop 

 fbr wheat, is general here, and in the neighboring 

 upper counties. It seems totally opposed to the 

 principles of the rotation of crops — as it is a case 

 not only of the succes.«ion of two grain crops, but 

 of two broadcast crops, and of grains very similar 

 in growth and character. But the general expe- 

 rience, and ap[)roval of this practice, by reading 

 and thinking farmers, as well as by merely practi- 

 cal cultivators, through so large a district, and fbr 

 such length of trial, should induce us to pause, before 

 condemning it merely because it is opposed to the- 

 oretical principles, correct and sound as they may 

 be. The inducements to pursue this i)ractice, are 

 the following. When a considerable portion of a 

 firm IS to be tallowed for wheat every year, the la- 

 bor would be always great, and in dry autumns 

 impossible to be performed, if the first ploughing 

 was delayed until August, or later — as is proper, 

 and ind(!ed, essential fbr clover fallow, to secure 

 the growth of clover, whether lor hay, or seed, or 

 to bt^ turned into the ground, Ibr manure. But by 

 breaking up a part of the land designed to be fal- 

 lowed, in the spring, and sowing oats on it, the 

 labor is then not only performed at a time of more 

 leisure, but is far less difficult, owing to the then 

 moist state of the earth. The whole preparation 

 Ibr the oats is but of trifling expense, and a valua- 

 ble crop is thus very chea[)ly obtained. The soil 

 is left (unless subject to blue-grass,) clean and 

 sufficiently loose to be ploughed generally with 

 ease, and with certainty in the dryest weather 

 that may occur in Aui^ust. The crop of wheat 

 succeeding oats, Mi'. Sampson thinks, is at least 

 as heavy as it would be after corn. He does not 



