612 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 8 



You will perhaps recofjnize in me an old subscri- 

 ber, or at least a subscriber lor one yeiirhereiorore. 

 I was takiuiT so many political papers and monthly 

 publications, when I discontinued your valuable 

 paper, that I could not find the means to spare to 

 continue it; but now that 1 have got rid of my 

 nonsensical trash, I resume my subscription to you 

 for your Reffisrer, which I consider ol' more value 

 to the farmer ihan all the Yankee publications put 

 toijether in the United States. 



You will discontinue at the expiration of my 

 time, unless otherwise directed, as I never will take 

 any publication unless I can pay in advance. 



[We shall again obey our subscriber's direction, 

 while we assure him that we desire from him no such 

 security against his falling too much in arrear of pay- 

 ment.] 



Nottoway, November 12, 1837. 



Dear Siu: — You will perceive by the inclo- 

 eure that I have read thelast No. of the Register, 

 and, to use a mercantile phrase, ^hmted its con- 

 tents.'" I wish you to send me "Johnstone's Treatise 

 on DrainiuiT Land, &c." if it will not be published 

 in the Register. 



You will confer a fivor by writing me who 

 manufactures the best machines for cutting stalks, 

 straw, &c. I see many advertisements, but they 

 are all best. 



I am desirous of purchasing an hundred or two 

 sheep. If you could assist me in the purchase, I 

 would esteem at a great favor. Perhaps an ad- 

 "vertisement on the cover of the Register would be 



the means of providing them— especially a ram of 

 the best breed. 1 find sheep the most profitable 

 investment I have yet made — a large flock, pur- 

 chased last Itill, having already paid for them- 

 selves this year, and leaving a bailance. I noticed 

 in the last No. of the Register a remark of Gen, 

 Washington's, that his sheep, when he was at 

 home in 1789 yielded 5^ lbs. the fleece, and in 1794 

 they yielded 2| liis. only. So much for attention. 

 iMiiie yielded last year 2^ averacre, and this year 

 6 lbs. So much lor the diflerence in sheep. 



[We are unable to inform our correspondent which 

 is the best straw-cutting machine. We have nothing 

 to do with the contents of the advertisements on the 

 covers, and in no case do we assume any responsibility 

 as to their statements. Johnstone's work on draining 

 will be republished entire in the Farmer's Register, as 

 well as in a separate form — and but for the delay of the 

 engraver in furnishing the plates, the greater part of the 

 treatise would have already been printed, and ready to 

 be issued to our subscribers. 



We concur entirely with our correspondent as to the 

 probable profit of sheep farming, in his part of the 

 countiy. We have several times before, in this jour- 

 nal, recommended that branch of business, especially, 

 for the range of hilly middle country of Virginia, 

 which is unfortunately deprived of the aid of calca- 

 reous manures. We have no doubt but that a New 

 England farmer cou d make more nett profit by keep- 

 ing sheep on a single poor farm in Nottoway, than is 

 made by tillage on all the poor farms in the country.] 



Table of Contents of Furniers'^ JRegister, J^'if. S, T*ol. F*. 



SELECTIONS. 



Page. 

 'On the purification and classification of seeds, 



roots, &c. 449 



Increased use of lime in Maine, - - - 453 



Tendency of soils to deteriorate, . - - 453 



Fattening swine, - - - - , - 455 



Bartram, the self-taught American botanist, 455 



Germination of old seeds, . - . . 456 



Deep Artesian well 456 



Oestrus equi — bots or grubs, ... 457 



The hollow-horn, 459 



A productive peach farm, - - . . 459 



On the procuring of early cucumbers, - - 459 

 On the insalubrity of the air of fresh water 



marshes in communication with the sea, 460 



Blight in pear trees, 461 



On the origin, qualities, and use of moss [or 



peat] earth, No, I, - - . . 462 



Do. No. II. - - - - 469 



Culture of the morus muliicaulis — Silkworms, 477 



To take out wire (or couch) grass, - - 481 



Taming wild horses, 481 



Marl for peach-trees, - - . . 482 



Products of spring wheat, - - - . 4S2 



Rotting of timber in certain situations, - 482 

 Opinions of gypsum, and its effects as a manure, 



m England, 484 



Account of the European Oyster — ostrea edu- 



lis, . 485 



Washington's agricultural notes, - - - 488 



I rage. 

 The question as a superabundant population in 



Ireland considered, . . . - 491 



On spontaneous combustion, ... 492 

 Summary view of the progress of gardening 



and of rural improvement generally, - 494 



High prices of Durham cattle, ... 505 



Report of the "Southern Convention," - 506 



ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 



On the lands and farming of Amherst, - 460 

 On the republication of 'Johnstone's Account 

 of Elkington's' system of draining, &c. 

 and Alton's 'Essay on peat or moss soils,' 461 

 Loss caused by stripping corn fodder, - - 482 

 Leaves and gypsum, as manure for tobacco. 

 Natural advantages of part of Mecklen- 

 burg, Virginia, . - . . . 483 

 Experiments of the product of twin corn, - 483 



Quercitron bark, 484 



The marl of Virg-inia now in use in Connecti- 

 cut, 506 



Remarks on the "Southern Convention," - 506 

 Plan tor procuring and publishing a general re- 

 port of the practical effects of marling, 509 

 Queries to ascertain the action and effects of 



shell marl and green sand as manures. - 510 

 Experiments of the effects of marl and green 



sand, - - - . ... 511 

 Extracts of private correspondence, - - 511 



