178 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 3 



the corn ground. A long-continued application of 

 gypsum injured my wheat crop, but gave strength 

 to the grass, which I found could not be subdued 

 by a hoe-crop once in five years. Since that pe- 

 riod, other lands have fallen into ray possession ; 

 and having nearly relinquished all other |)ursuits, 

 agriculture has become ari oljject of greater in- 

 terest. My lands are now divided into lour fields, 

 one of which I cultivate in corn, and another in 

 wheat. I gather neither tops nor blades. My 

 corn-field remains over a year, and is then sown 

 in wheat, and the next spring in clo\'er; after re- 

 maining two years in clover, it is pinnted in corn. 

 I have some lots in orchard-grass, which supplied 

 the loss of the fodder. The clover-field, at matu- 

 rity, is surrendered to my stock. The advantage 

 of this system is easily computed: the month of 

 September, which was formerly spent in gather- 

 ing fodder, is now devoted to manuring, and pre- 

 paring my fallows. One good ploughing, rolhng 

 and harrowing will put them in good order, and 

 my wheat can now be put in wij,h ease and expe- 

 dition. I select the most favorable time from the 

 5th to the 25th of October, I sutler my corn to 

 remain in the field till the shuck becomes dry, 

 which gives it I think a more perfect maturation ; 

 and in the time between sowing wheat aai^ gath- 

 ering corn, I can always find useful employment. 



farm cultivated for ten years, with four fields of 

 fifty acres each, and tv.'enty se[)arate acres lor 

 hay, with three acres of ruta baga in the corn-field, 

 and worked bjr four men and two boys, would be 

 of more value and produce more clear profit in 

 this region, than under any other plan of cultiva- 

 tion. 



I insist on the value of ruta baga. I have great 

 respect for chemical experiments; but when ex- 

 periment and fLict are at war, I adhere to the lat- 

 ter. Fat cows, rich milk, and sweet yellow but- 

 ter, are better prooi"of the nutritious properties ol' 

 this plant, than the experin)ents of a legion of 

 chemists. I think our encouraging prospects for 

 a crop of wheat go to contradict the notion 

 that the earth is waxing too cold for its produc- 

 tion. It is strange how men of science difl^er. 

 John C. Semraes, whom I take to be no mean phi- 

 losoi)her, entertained the opinion, that there was 

 a fine fertile country in the bowels of the earth, 

 and that the Lapland deer entered it at the pole 

 in the winter, and grew fat on the pastures; and 

 with proper encouragement, he would have efi'ect- 

 ed a settlement there, if he had found his theory 

 true. Other philosophers hold that the whole is 

 a mass of fire. Of the two, 1 rather incline to Mr. 

 Semmes's theory; not from the lights of philosof)hy, 

 but the impulse of taste. I do hope that the 



After my corn is gathered, my horses, colts, dry secretary of the navy will specially instruct the 



cattle, and sheep are turned into my stock- field 

 where they find sufFicieiit provis^ion till the first of 

 January, and sometimes till the middle. The 

 shucks and straw are abundant for the winter, 

 with a small allowance of corn for my horses. As 

 an improvement to my system, 1 intend to en- 

 large my cultivation of ruta baga ; for though you 

 place this crop in the list of humbugs, I deem it 

 very valuable, particularly in the spring, when 

 cattle eat dry food with great reluctance. 



The objection which I have heard urged to 

 leaving a corn-field unsown, is, that the ground 

 sustains injury by remaining bare. This has not 

 been my experience. My corn is cultivated be- 

 fore harvestj the crab-grass and foxtail soon spnng 

 up ; it grows luxuriantly till Irost, when the cattle 

 are turned into the field ; they tread it into the 



scientific corps attached to the exploring squadron, 

 if they reach the Pole, to take a peep into the 

 great hollow and fully ascertain whether it is filled 

 with green pastures or burning fire. 



RUSTICUS. 



Eastern Shore, Md., Wth Maij, 1838. 



REMARKS ON THE SOIT.S AND AGRICULTUKE 

 OF GLOUCESTER COUNTY. 



Bij the Editor. 



The agricultural traveller, or observer, who 



sees the county of Gloucester for the first time, 



cannot \m\ to be astonished, as well as delighted, 



vvith the general appearance and peculiar quali- 



ffround, which I think tends ni^ore to improvement I ties of the great body of low-grounds; and his as 



•than forest-leaves, which are now extensively used 

 in Virginia. Some of your correspondents speak 

 of ploughing in clover in the month of June when 

 in lull bloom ; by this and a second ploughing, 

 harrowing, and rolling, a field may be well pre- 

 pared for wheat ; but this n^quires hands and 

 horses dispensable at other periods of the year. 

 In the month of Juue, F am under hard pressure 

 in cultivating my corn, and cutting hay. I readily 

 admit that a clover-lallow, in a state of perfi^ct 

 preparation, will produce more than a stock-field 

 fiillow ; but I doubt if provitlent farmers are gene- 

 rally able to have their clover fallows in the best 

 order. A gentleman who has seen one of my 

 wheat fields within a few days, thinks, if there be 

 no disaster, it will produce thirty bushels to the 

 acre. My calculation is not so high. It is the 

 nature of man to be confident of his own schemes 

 and plans, and to attach little importance to those 

 which differ from them. Of this the United States 

 Bankmen, the Sub-treasury, and the Conservatives 

 at Washington, have this winter aflbrded strong 

 illustration ; and probably, in my humble calling, 

 I may be under strong delusion, but I believe a 



tonishment will not be prevented, or much dimin- 

 ished, by any previous account which he may 

 have heard of this far-liuned and highly eulo- 

 gized body of land. At least so it was with my- 

 self. It was not that I had not inquired and heard 

 much, and even of correct description, of the land 

 and agriculture of Gloucester, from residents, or 

 other persons well informed by long personal ob- 

 servation. But when viewing lor myself, and for 

 the first time, I soon found, as is often the case, 

 that 1 had applied all accounts, before heard, to 

 my own preconceived impressions, which were 

 very erroneous, because made by other "low- 

 grounds" and soils of entirely difierent character. 

 Thus it is that so much of what we hear, and of 

 what would otherwise be interesting or valuable 

 instruction, is of no effect, and is either not noticed, 

 or is forgotten almost as soon as uttered, because 

 the narrator and his auditor have not common or 

 accordant views of the things which are described; 

 or of the opinions which serve as premises and 

 ground-work for the reasoning and deductions. 

 Hence it is, perhaps, that in addition to the want 

 of fitness for the task, and of oppoitunity for care- 



