STATt3MK^•'t'i? OF PARTl'CLyLAB, AKJ>.> (JKNK- 

 BAL MA.\AGE'ME,*T',AiVD. .J'UOBCGTS, ',15j: 



FAlRFAXl. " ■ '•,... 



,■'•».'', ' ■ • 



[It has not been left ftff'us to iiifer, merely ftom the 

 contents df the following communication, that ti].^ wri- 

 ter both possesses and exerts^ ia a high- degree, the 

 disposition and talent which ale necessary to consti- 

 tute a sood Clruier. W« hacl heard, long ago, that 

 Coaiinoilore Jones hid rendered valuable services to 

 his country, by improving her soil, as well as by de- 

 fending it in battle. It is hoped that this first communi- 

 cation to the Farmers' Rfgister from his pen, is the 

 precursor of others; and the evidence here exhibited 

 of value, both in working and in writing on so small 

 a space, shows that our correspondent cannot want ei- 

 ther a field, or fit subjects, for more extended treat- 

 ment. — Ed. Far. Reg.] 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Prospect Hill, Ta., February I6ih, 1S38. 



Dear Sir: — Forced to take shelter in the house 

 from the peltin,? storm now raging, and of course 

 to suspend all ouf-door farming operations, I turn- 

 ed to my acricuiturai library, to seek in theory 

 that which I may apply to practice, when the sea- 

 son for operation arri\-es. Tlie January and Feb- 

 ruary numbers of the Farmers' Register having 

 just come to hand, [ turned to the index, which di- 

 rected me to your appeal to "subscribers in arrear' 

 at pa<re 690, and after reading thai article, I re- 

 ferred to the receipt of your collecting agent, who 

 called on me in April last, and find that I did not 

 then, as I had supposed, [)ay lor the present vol. 

 (lhe5ih) of the Register; consequent)}', ! am not on- 

 ly indebted to you for the 5th vol., but soon shall 

 be lor the forthcoming, or si.xth; to discharge 

 which, in compliance with your terms, ! send you 

 a check on the Bank of the Metropolis at Wash- 

 ington, whose notes are current, I believe, all over 

 Virginia, for ten dollars, which will scjuare our 

 cash account for a year to come. But how I, and 

 the community at larije, will ever pay the delit of 

 gratitude we owe to the author of the 'Essay on, 

 Calcareous Manures,' and his eflorts in the cause 

 of agriculture, as displayed in the Farmers' Regis- 

 ter, it i.s not easy for me to say. I feel my own in- 

 debtedness, and know not how to cancel it; lor al- 

 though a practical farmer for fifteen or sixteen 

 years; although I have made "two ear.^ of corn, 

 and two blades of grass, to rrrow upon a spot of 

 ground where only one grew before," still, from 

 bemg of another profession, nothimr that I could 

 write or say would be deemed orthodox, liy that 

 class of Virginia farmers who aland most in need 

 of new light in praci/cai/arml/ig. 



The subjoined statement of the treatment or 

 management and product of a small piece of 

 ground, being a fraction less than an acre, may be 

 interesting to you at least; and I have now under 

 somewhat similar treatment a good many more 

 acres, no less productive, according to the advance 

 in improvement. The acre here described, when 



Vol. VI— 1 



•taken, in hand^ had not for many years produced 

 'ime barrel of corn. Ii is on the side of a hill, slop- 

 ing to the north-west, and like most of the land 

 iuljoining me, is argdiaceous; and, when ploughed 

 deep, is retentive of moisture, but not subjeclin;^ 

 iirain to winter-killing, as many clay soils doi 

 The syrrounding country is undulating, hilly, and 

 m some places broken; the original growth is red 

 o-ak and hickory, with large white oak, yellow 

 po(ilar, and some locust and walnut interspersed. 

 When first cleared, it is fine tobacco land, and will 

 produce five or six barrels of corn, and 12 or 15 

 bushels of wheat per acre for a few years, without 

 manure, (which, until very recently, was not 

 thought worthy of the attention of those who call- 

 ed themselves farmers.) But, as already observ- 

 ed, the land being hilly, generally ploughed shai-' 

 Idw, and loiihout the least regard to the destructive 

 consequences of washing, the country around me 

 presents, with some exceptions, a scene of barren 

 hills and gullied valleys. But even these gullied 

 hill^, with good ploughing, or a single dressing of 

 manure, become rich in the product of grass or 

 grain, and are as easily kept so by the use of lime, 

 plaster and clover, as any other lands in Virginia, 

 or elseiohere, which are not alluvion, or which 

 do not contain lime as a natural constituent. 



To return then to the subject. My land was 

 deeply ploughed, say 7 inches, in early spring of 

 1831. In May, sixty-two mule-cartloads of sta- 

 ble manure was carted on, regularly spread, and 

 ploughed down, say 4 inches deep, and rolled with 

 a heavy roller; in three weeks, it was cross-plough- 

 ed to the same depth, and so remained until the 

 latter part, satj the 23d of July, when it was again 

 ploughed with the double-shovel plough, again 

 rolled, and sown immediately with white Dutch 

 and winter red top turnip seed of equal parts,,and 

 harrowed in with an iron-tooth two-horse seed- 

 harrow. For products, and six years subsequent 

 treatment, see the following table. 



Memoraiidum of the culture and products of an acre 

 (f land in the County of Fairfax, for seven cor^ 

 secutive years. 



In 1831. Produced 600 bushels of tur- 

 nips, at 25 cents per bushel, ,^150 GO 

 " 1832. Oats, 72| bushels, sold at 46 

 " cents per bushel, 32 72 

 Stubble turned in and sowed with 

 wheat and clover-seed in September. 

 " 1833. Wheat, (lodged and did not 

 fill well,) only 19 bushels, sold at -S'l 25 

 per bushel. Mowed the stubble in 

 October, and got one and a half tons 

 ofcow Ibod, worth 5pi2, 35 75 

 ••' 1834. Clover; June cuttinir 3 tons, 



^36; September, 1.^ tons, at #12, 48 00 



Fallowed after 2d mowing and sowed 



with whea', harrowinnr 'riffty bushels 



of qaick-lime at the same time; 



'' 18.35. Another bad wheat year, (blos- 



•' som washed off" by hard rainSj) only 



" 22 bushels at ^l 25. Mowed the 



■' stubble in September, one and a half 



