1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



271 



cnrn was twice more ploiiirlietl, and once hoed. 

 The irrass was constantly kept down by the 

 ploutrhs. The daily task ol" a hoer was 100 rows 

 of cotton 100 yards ion<]:. The first and second 

 hoeinjTS, when the cotton had to be clioppcd out 

 and reduced to a stand, proved good, ihouiih not 

 severe tasks; the other hoeings were light, and the 

 workers were often out of the field by 12 o'clocu. 

 The crop was well worked, and with ease, by 

 low-country hands, who would think it the worsi 

 calamity tliat could befall them, to be compelled 

 to return to the place of their nativity. The 

 mules and horses were in as good, if not better 

 condition, than when the ploughing commenced. 



In ihis exhibition which I have given you, of 

 the management and mode of culture adopted by 

 western i)lanters, and of the working of a single 

 crop, it appears to me that a stronger argument 

 can be found against emigration from your shores, 

 than can be deduced from the plans of Mr. Frost, 

 or the suggestions of " An Observer." C. 



Hoiiston County, Ga., jjpril, 1, 1837. 



From the Gcncsoc Farmer. 



EFFECT OF NATURAL CAUSES ON THE AGRI- 

 CULTURE OF ENGLAND AND THE [NORTH- 

 ERN] UNITED STATES. 



The question has been, not unfrequently, asked, 

 how far are farmers ir the United States justified 

 in following the example and practices of British 

 agriculturists? This question assumes an impor- 

 tance it would not otherwise possess, were it nol 

 a fact, that we look with great interest to the re- 

 sults of agriculture in that country ; that most of 

 our standard agricultural works are irom that side 

 of the Atlantic; that the wealth and resources of 

 England are such as to render that island a great 

 theatre of experiments ; and, that the arts and the 

 sciences which can be brought to bear on the cul- 

 tivation of the soil, are far more extensively diffus- 

 ed and better understood there than here. Hav- 

 ing the same Anglo-Saxon descent, the influence 

 of England is (elt in every department of our so- 

 cial condition ; in our religion, literature and law ; 

 and perhaps is as potent as any where, in the 

 usages and practices that belong to the cultivation 

 of the earth. In our implements used on the 

 farm, we copy from English models; in improv- 

 ing our breeds of horses, sheep, and cattle, we 

 look to stock imported from England ; in our hor- 

 ticulture and floriculture we follow the example of 

 English planters and gardeners; and in our farm 

 ing operations, in culture, and in selection of 

 grains, the influence of that country is paramount. 

 It is necessary then to inquire how far we may 

 safely follow such an example, and in what re- 

 spects we ought to deviate, or when it becomes ne- 

 cessary to do so. 



To determine this question correctly, it is neces- 

 sary to take into consideration the position of the 

 two countries, so far as regards climate, soil, and 

 population, and their influence on plants, and the 

 prices of labor. In general, it may be laid down 

 as a correct position, that the difl'erence between 

 the soils of the two countries is not of a kind to 

 render any difl^erence of culture important. The 

 analysis of soils effected by Sir Humphrey Davy ; 



the geological structure of the British Islands; 

 and the extensive and minute reports made on the 

 soils in the agricultiind surveys of the several 

 counlies, show thiU there is no essential difference 

 bclween the composition oltlic greater part ol'tho 

 liritish soils and ours. Peat and bog soil, alone, 

 is found more extensively diffused tlian with us; 

 but this has Init little influence on the general pro- 

 fjress or course of agriculture. 



Population, by juslilying or rather compelling 

 English farmers to adopt peculiar systems of liirm- 

 ing, may be said to create a wider difference be- 

 tween the agriculture of the two countries than 

 any arising from the soil. Owing to what may be 

 termed an immense surplus population, the price 

 of labor is reduced to the lowest possible rate at 

 which bare subsistence can be procured, and in 

 consequence, many methods of farming are there 

 adopted, which could nol, at the prices of labor 

 and products, be otherwise than ruinous here. 

 For instance, weeding wheat and other kinds of 

 grain is a very common practice there, and multi- 

 tudes of women and children earn their bread lor 

 a considerable part of the season in this manner. 

 It is clear that this operation cannot be introduced 

 among our farmers, though its effects in keeping 

 the soil clean, and in increasing the amount of the 

 crop, must be evident. Another consequence too 

 ol'the cheapness of labor, is, that many operations 

 are performed by hand, and at a far greater ex- 

 pense of time, than are accomplished by the aid 

 of implements here, and in one-fourth of the time. 

 This no one can doubt who is in the habit of em- 

 ploying on the same farm English and American 

 laborers; and of which an illustration is given by 

 Mr. Bement, in his history of the culture of the 

 ruta baga, in the Cultivator for January, 1838. 



But it is to the climate that the principal points 

 of diflference in the agriculture of the two coun- 

 tries must be traced ; and this is the thing that 

 should be kept most distinctly in view, when com- 

 parisons between English agriculture and our own 

 are instituted. England, though in the latitude of 

 Quebec, has a milder climate than our middle 

 states, and this fact should not be lost sight of in 

 adapting the agriculture of that country to this. 

 In tlie United States, — we speak particularly now 

 of the northern and middle states — as it is these 

 thai are more influenced by English agriculture 

 than the south, — the summers are much hotter 

 and the winters much colder than in England ; 

 hence some plants, that require a great degree of 

 heat, will succeed better here than there ; while 

 many plants will bear the winters of England in 

 the open air, that perish when exposed without 

 protection to the intense cold of our winter months, 

 A great number of thermometrical observations 

 show that the average temperature of the three 

 months of January, February, and March, in 

 England, is about 37'^, 42", and 47°, and that of 

 the three months of June, July, and August, to 

 be about 63*^, 66°, and 65°. The average differ- 

 ence between the highest and the lowest temper- 

 ature per month will not exceed more than six or 

 eighth degiees, those sudden and extreme changes 

 to which our climate is subject being unknown 

 there. In the valley of the Genesee, near the 

 Ontario, the average for the three winter months 

 gives about 24°, 26°, and 36°, and the three sum- 

 mer months an average of 71°, 73°, and 72°. 

 The mean average of several years is 49°, and 



