14 



FARMERS' REGISTER^F ARMING IN THE VALLEY. 



FARMING IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGIIVIA. 



Report of the Trustees of the ylgrlcultural Society 

 of the Valley, for 1825. 

 From the Records of the Agi-. Soc. of the Valley. 



The Trustees of the Agricultural Society of 

 the Valley, who were appointed a committee to 

 view the iarms offered, and award the premium 

 "to him whom they supposed to be the best mana- 

 ger pf a farm, and most deserving of reward — 

 talfmg into consideration the force employed, the 

 crops made, his rotation, his method of improving 

 tlie land," &c. &c., respectfully report: 



That in the month of June last, IMr. Robert 

 Page, of the county of Frederick, announced 

 himself as a competitor, and desired tliem "to view 

 his farm and decide upon his claims." For this 

 purpose they assembled at his house, with a deter- 

 mination to inspect minutely all that came pro- 

 perly under tlie object of their visit, that they there- 

 by might be enabled to expose mismanagement, 

 where it existed, and to render more conspicuous 

 the proof of good husbandry and domestic econo- 

 my, where they were visible. To perform their 

 arduous duties, and to award justly the premium 

 entrusted to their care, the committee was sensible 

 required they should divest themselves o^" all 

 "fear, fovor, or aO'ection." And they noAV con- 

 fidently assert, that this they accompUshed, and 

 that their report is based upon their impartial and 

 unbiassed judgment. It affords the committee 

 peculiar pleasure to state, that in their ojjinion the 

 competitors for the veiy desirable premium offered 

 by the society, are governed by the most honora- 

 ble and commendable feelings — a spirit of emu- 

 lation so much wanting with farmers — a praise- 

 worthy desire to excel in the noblest occupation. 

 This their whole course, thus far, has manifested 

 to the entire satisfaction of the committee. 



In viewing Mr. Page's farm, your committee 

 was first led to his corn-field, containing five and 

 twenty acres, which they found in a beautiful state 

 — exhibiting proofs of industry and attention 

 which met their decided approbation. They next 

 came to his crop of wheat; (then nearly fit for the 

 eickle,) which they found such as would be called 

 a safe and profitable one, that would in all proba- 

 bility yield from fifleen to twenty bushels per acre. 

 It is but proper to notice that the committee were 

 particularly struck with the clean state of this crop, 

 the result of fine seed and a proper preparation of 

 the ground. The committee passed from the cul- 

 tivated to that part of Mr. Page's farm which is 

 this year in grass. Around this part of liis tract 

 they found the fencing in bad order, and in the 

 fields some symptoms of bad management, which 

 the rest of his farm was unusually exempt iiom. 

 I'hey allude to the sprouts of various descriptions, 

 and the loose stone, that occupied space they 

 would rather have seen appropriated exclusively 

 to grass. 



Mr. Page's buildings, of every description, are 

 neat and comfortable; his aiTangements for the ac- 

 commodation of his negroes, his stock, &c. ai'e 

 worthy of the highest commendation. The com- 

 mittee would have been pleased could they have 

 presented to the society a statement of the force 

 employed, the crops raised, the stock supported, 

 &c. on Mr. Pace's farm. The circumstance of 

 his uniting the labor and product of several flarms. 



will prevent him from gratifying the expressed 

 wishes of the committee on thatpomt. 



In the month of August your committee were 

 called upon to view the farm of Henry S. Turner, 

 of .Jefterson county, who then announced him- 

 self a competitor for the premium above mention- 

 ed. Of his management, the committee will be 

 able to give a much fuller report, from the circum- 

 stance of his having presented to them a state- 

 ment (certified as the rules of the society require,) 

 of his whole system of farming. They would 

 not be doing justice to Mr. Turner's very able and 

 satisfactory memoir, did they attempt to change 

 its phraseology, or fad to embody it in their report; 

 they therefore present it to the society verbatim, 

 with the fullest impression, that as it is a practical 

 production, it will prove to the farmer one of high 

 and lasting value. 



Mr. Turner says, "Wheatland Farm contains 

 almost 940 acres of land, all inclosed: 300 in wood. 

 A portion of the arable land is divided and laid off" 

 into six fields of 90 acres each, which yield a regu- 

 lar rotation of crops in the following succession, 

 to wit: wheat, corn, fallow, wheat, clover, fallow, 

 or, corn, fallow, wheat, clover, fallow, wheat. It 

 will thus appear that two of these fields are in 

 wheat, and one in corn annually: consequently a 

 moiety of the tillable land yields a grain crop 

 each year, though no part is in corn oftener than 

 once in six years, nor in wheat oftener than once 

 in three years, and all the fields are in clover, in 

 succession, two years and six months, it being my 

 habit to sow clover in the month of February, 

 (on a snow,) and never to break up fallow until 

 August, when the field which had produced corn 

 the previous 3'ear, and another (a clover field,) are 

 ploughed to the average depth of seven or eight 

 inches, with fburbarshare ploughs, three horses 

 or mules in each — the quantity daily ploughed 

 from six to seven ticres, according to the state and 

 condition of the ground. After the ploughing has 

 been completed, these fields are harrowed in the 

 direction of the furrow, with heavy square har- 

 rows, drawn by three horses or mules, then laid 

 off crosswise, in lands of 18 feet, and sowed the 

 first of OctoBer at the I'ate of from seven to eight 

 pecks per acre, and carefully haiTowed in, which 

 is performed in seven or eight days with four har- 

 rows. It is of the greatest importance, and de- 

 mands the most particular attention of the farmer 

 to commit his seed to the earth at the proper 

 time. Placed, as it were, between Scylla and 

 Charj'bdis, he has to steer a skilful and a narrow 

 course to avoid the dangers that await him; a few 

 days too early, and his hopes are wrecked upon 

 the ravages of the Hessian fly; a few days too 

 late, and they are destroyed by the desolating in- 

 fluence of the winter frost. Experience and much 

 observation has assured me that the beginning of 

 October is the proper time; but to defer seeding 

 thus late with safety, our land must possess great 

 strength and vigor. I omit, therefore, no means 

 of fertilizing it to the greatest possible degree, as 

 I am well assui-ed that there is no labor performed 

 by the farmer so amply remunerated as that em- 

 ployed in the application of manure. 



"JSIy calculation is always on twenty bushels of 

 wheat to the acre. This expectation is rarely 

 disappointed — it more frequently happens that 

 there is an excess; better cultivation would insure 

 increased product. I am convinced our lands are 



