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FARMERS' REGISTER— ADDRESS OF \\ M. GARNETT, ESQ. 



to appear before the public as authors, arisingfiom 

 a dilfiMeiice of their powers in the art of composi- 

 tion. This might be a good reason for such re- 

 serve, if the ol)iect of the writer was to make a 

 display ol' his skill in the art of writing; but 

 where nothing is contemplated but tiie cominuni- 

 catjon of useful facts, the graces of composition 

 may well be dispensed with. We shall never 

 value the information that may be thus imparted to 

 us, a whit the less for any deficiency in the polish 

 ot the style in which it may be conveyed ; but will 

 ever prize one uselul and well attested lact bear- 

 ing upon the subjects to which the attention of our 

 society is directed, to the finest theory, which the 

 most brilliant imagination can suggest. All that is 

 requisite in the communications, which we solicit, 

 i^ a plain statement of the tacts comnmnicated, 

 Avith such of the accompanying circumstances as 

 may be necessary to enable us fo draw correct in- 

 ferences from them. Many of our members, we 

 have no doubt, could aid us essentially by iurnish- 

 ing us with the result of their agricultural experi- 

 ence; and I trust that none, who have the ability, 

 Avill, like tlie unprofitable servant spoken of in the 

 scripture parable, prefer to bury their talent, rather 

 than put it into useful circulation. 



As may have been anticipated from Avhat was 

 caid in the commencement, I have but little worth 

 communicating from the very slender stock of my 

 own agricultural experience ; nor have I as yet 

 had the leisure to draw from the sources of infor- 

 mation alluded to in the beginning. But there is 

 one important fact in relation to the application of 

 manure upon which I can sj)eak experimentally, 

 and to which I will therelbre call your attention, as 

 I deem it much more deserving of consideration 

 than it is generally thought. Some years ago, in 

 reading the proceedmgs of an agricultural society, 

 Bomewhere in the state of New York, I observed 

 that the owner of a farm, who obtained a premium 

 offered lor the best managed farm in that part of 

 the country, stated amongst other matters in rela- 

 tion to his management, that for many years, he 

 had applied all his manure to the surface of his 

 land aficr planting his crops, instead of jireviously 



Eloughing it into the land, as had hitherto been 

 is practice. Since then, 1 have applied the 

 greater part of the manure I have collected in the 

 same manner, and have invariably found the crops 

 better than they were upon the land where the 

 manure had been used according fo the old method. 

 This difference is much more manifest, where 

 coarse litter is used, than in the case of well rotted 

 manure; and of a very dry season, I think I have 

 witnessed a difference of at least one liundred per 

 cent, ill favor of the surface dressing, thougfi I 

 have never tested the matter by actual measure- 

 ment. But during severe droughts I have seen 

 the corn fired nearly to the shoot, uf)on land into 

 which coarse litter had been ploughed previous to 

 •planting, when the corn, which had the manure 

 spread over the surface aller planting, was perfect- 

 ly green and flourishing. In further corroboration 

 of the opinion herein advanced, of the superior 

 advantage of an application of manure to the sur- 

 face, over the practice of burying it in the land, I 

 will mention one other fact. Soon afier the aj)- 

 pearance of some essays signed " Arator^'' and 

 written by Col. John Taylor, a celebrated agricul- 

 turist, it was the practice of many farmers in the 

 part of the country in which I then resided, to 



plough up the land, upon v, hich they had jienned 

 their cattle during the summer, as soon as the cow 

 pens were removed, fo avoid the loss, which he 

 had taught them to apprehend from the evapora- 

 tion of the manure if left exposed upon the surface 

 of tlie land to the action of the sun and moisture. 

 Whether fi-om accident, or design, it so happened, 

 that so.me of the cow pens remained unbroken un- 

 til the following year, when they were ploughed 

 up to ]jlant in corn; and much to the astonishment 

 of those who had implicitly believed in the sup- 

 posed loss fi-om eva])oration, it was found that this 

 land produced much better than that which had 

 been ploughed as soon as the cattle had been taken 

 oft". The consequence has followed, that the 

 practice of breaking up cow pens, upon their re- 

 moval, has been abandoned in the part of the 

 country alluded to, I believe, without a single ex- 

 ception. From my own ex]ierience, ihereibie, on 

 this subject, as well cisupon the testimony of seve- 

 ral experienced fiirmers, whose experiments have 

 led them to the same conclusion, I do not enter- 

 tain the least doubt as to the superiority of the 

 method of applying manure herein recommended, 

 over the mode formerly used. 



With regard to the implements of husbandly, I 

 am not svilnciently acquainted with the state of 

 agriculture in our region to know how far the mod- 

 ern improvements in this particular have been 

 adopted with us. But I have been inlbrmed and 

 believe, that very little attention has been paid, in 

 this section of countiy, to this important branch 

 of rural economy. Being however, almost entire- 

 ly unacquainted with the extent of our deficien- 

 cies in this respect, I will postpone this subject lor 

 another communication, by which time I hope to 

 be better acquainted with our wants and the sources 

 from which they can be supjilied. But belbre I 

 take my leave of it, I will briefly describe to you 

 an implement much used in the part of the coun- 

 try in which I foimeiiy resided, in the preparation of 

 newly cleared land for cultivation. It is called 

 the new ground coulter, and differs from those fbr- 

 meily used in tliat part of the country, in having 

 a blunt edge in place of a sharp one. The advan- 

 tage gained by this change, is, that the roots are 

 broken, and torn out of the earth, instead of being 

 cut and left in the land; nor it is ever impeded in 

 its progress, by slicking in the roots, as is frequent- 

 ly the case where the sharp edged coulter is used. 

 Oxen are generally employed as better adapted to 

 such work, Avhere frequent stoppages occur, than 

 horses; and a hatchet is carried on the brake of 

 the plough, to chop such roots as are too stubborn 

 to be broken. The new ground coulter is also 

 much used to open furrows lor planting corn; and 

 for this purpose two short mould-boards are fixed 

 upon the upper part of the helve, while the coul- 

 ter going several inches below the bottom of the 

 furrow, opened by the mould-boards, prepares the 

 land underneath, for the reception of tfie small 

 roots of the corn as soon as it vegetates. Some 

 larmers likewise use this plough for siding corn, in 

 stifl' land, preparatory to weeding; but, in this case 

 it is used without any mould-board. In short, I 

 do not knoAV a cheaper or more useful agricultural 

 implement than the new ground coulter, or one by 

 which so great an amount of labor can be saved, 

 atsolitdecost. I have seen large new grounds com- 

 pletely prepared for the use of the ordinary plough 

 by I'unning this coulter previously through the 



