FARMERS' REGISTER— HUSBANDRY OP THE VALLEY. 



139 



the pew roller, (an implement, used in Albemarle, 

 and made in tlie common manner, with strong 

 pegs five or six inches long inserted into the roller 

 with a 1-i- or 2 inch auger at intervals of six or 

 eight inclies each w<iy.) Upon very, light and 

 loose soils this implement is almost in\'aluable. 

 By its use a ge'ntleman of this county last. year 

 succeeded in getting a piece of very light loose 

 sandy bottom remarkably well- set, where evcfi'y 

 previous eflbrt to get it in clover had tailed. 



Th.e business of farming in this section of the 

 etate is very much blended with that of grazing. 

 Almost every farmer is to some extent also a 

 grazier; and hard grazing may, I think, be said to 

 be the banc of our agriculture. With a soil gene- 

 rally admirably adapted to. the growth of clover 

 and to the action of plaster, the benefits of the 

 sj'stem are in many instances entirely neutralized 

 by the injudicious practice of close grazing. Upon 

 farms in a good state of fertility, grazing may, 

 I thinkj.be carried on to some extent without inju- 

 ry, and indeed consistently with the gradual im- 

 ])rovenicnt of the soil. But it is often difficult to 

 resist the temptation of the immediate profit of 

 grazing as many cattle as can possibly be made 

 fat on the land. With a view to this double busi- 

 ness, my farm is conducted upon the five fiekl j 

 system, — the rotation of crops being-^-l, wheat 

 on a clover fallow — 2, corn after wdieat — 3, 

 wheat in corn land — 4--5, clover. The clover I 

 js always plastered the first year alter being sown, 

 and the first crop mowed lor hay. Tlie seed of 

 -the second crop is saved; next year it is grazed 

 in the early part of the season, and in the fall the 

 field is fallowed for wheat. My plan is to plaster 

 all my wheat in corn ground with a bushel to the 

 acre, of a mixture of equal quantities of gypsum 

 and leached ashes, which answers the growth of 

 the clover seed, which is always .sown ■ upon my' 

 corn land wheat fields. This practice piu'sued for 

 several years past lias satisfied me of the error of 

 the opinion which generally prevails in this sec- 

 tion of the state, 'that plastering wheat in the. 

 spring retards its ripening, and tlaereby increases 

 the danger from riist.' On the contrary, I am 

 .satisfied that plaster when sown early in the 

 spring, instead of checking, really advances the 

 maturity of the wheat. Plaster here costs us 

 from 12^ to ^15 the ton in the stone; and upon 

 any of my land (the river low grounds perhaps 

 excepted) a dressing of a bushel to the acre will 

 alwajs at least double, and upon the thinner parts 

 of the farm, quadruple the product of clover. I 

 have been for some time contemplating very se- 

 riously the change of the five for the four field sys- 

 tem, and abandoning the habit of purchasing 

 western stock cattle for the purpose of grazing. 

 The four field system will have this very great 

 advantage over the five field — that as the clover 

 will stand but one season, there will be much less 

 blue-grass, and green sward with the clover when 

 it comes to be fallowed, and the land can then be 

 so much more easily ploughed, and so much bet- 

 ter prepared for wheat. The consideration which 

 weighs most heavily against the change is, the 

 precariousness of the wheat crop of late, owing to 

 the great multiplication of disasters to which it is 

 subject. Within a few years past we have been 

 visited by a disease hitherto unknown to the 

 faiTner in this neighborhood, called the scab— 

 (heads dead either Vholly or in part.) La'?t year 



our wheat crops were exceedingly promising until 

 this most formidable disease appeared. In some 

 instances the promise of thirty bushels to the acre 

 scarcely realized more than live or six; in others 

 a very heavy, crop was scarcely worth the labor of 

 harvesting it. Our barns and larm-yards were 

 rarely so well filled, and our garners never so 

 empty. Estimating my crop by the number of 

 wagon loads in the straw, at the usual yield to the 

 load, and I should have had considerabljover 3000 

 bushels: it thfashed out between 12 and 1300. 

 Some of my neighbors suffered still more. The 

 injury in this neighborhood was almost universal, 

 and almost invariably the most highly im|)roved 

 lands (particularly those on which stable manure 

 had been used) suflered most. The crop is now 

 very promising; but this appalling disease has al- 

 read}^ made its ap])earance. Our crops of rye and 

 the most fJarWard wheat suflered severely by the 

 very severe frosts in May. The crop of clover is 

 very far short of the usual product. 



GREENHOUSE PLAXTS, 



Greenhouse plants are such as are natives of 

 the Canary Islands, New Holland, the Cape of 

 Good Hope, and other countries in the same lati- 

 tudes, which only require to be protected from the 

 frosts of this countr}^ They are therefore kept 

 under glass during winter, but no fire is requisite, 

 unless a s'trong frost is exjjected during the night. 

 In winter they should have plenty of air during 

 fine days, as early in the day as the weather will 

 permit, and the house should be shut up early in 

 the afternoon, if the weather be cold. When the 

 weather contijiues damp and wet, a little' fire is 

 requisite to expel the damp, for greenhouse plants 

 nre more likely to be injured by damp than cold. 

 The plants should be looked over every day, to 

 take off any dead leaves, and to water theni that 

 are dry. This operation should take ])lace only 

 in the forenoon, and if the surface of the earth in 

 the pots becomes green, it should be removed with 

 aflat stick, but not so deep as to injure the roots, 

 Vvdien a little frei;h earth should be laid upon them. 

 Towards spring they require a more plentiful sup- 

 ply of air and Avater, and if no frost be appre- 

 hended, some of the sashes should be left a little 

 open all night, so that the air may be gradually 

 admitted as the weather advances towards sum- 

 mer, until the tirae of setting the plants out of 

 doors. In some seasons this may be requisite 

 about the middle of May, in others not until the 

 end. Calm cloudy weather is the best time for 

 setting them out : the most sheltered situation 

 should be chosen, a bed of ashes being previously 

 prepared for them. 



There are various opinions as to the best time 

 of shifting greenhouse plants into fresh pots and 

 mould; we think the earliest spring time should be 

 preferred. ■ Some shift them before they are set 

 out of doors, others when they first set them out; 

 some do this in the autumn, which of all times is 

 the most improper; the pots should always be well 

 drained with shreds. If any of the plants have 

 grown too straggling or tall, they should be cut 

 back early in the spring, that they may become 

 good bushy plants before autumn. In summer 

 while the plants are out of doors, they should be 

 regularly supplied with water in dry weather, as 



