1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



301 



conclusion th.ut whilst it is impossible to inulerrale 

 the value of poor laiul, supposing; it to romaiii un- 

 improved, it is cxtrenioly difficult to overrate ihe 

 value of such as, by niaMurinjj:, and a judicious 

 course of mana<ienuMit, has been bronirht to a 

 high stale of leriiiity; and liiat consequently, mo- 

 ney and labor cannot be more judiciously expend- 

 ed, than in procurino; and applyino; manures. 

 What do j-ou suppose is the intrinsic value of land, 

 that in a rotation of three years will produce to 

 the acre nine barrels of corn, twelve bushels of 

 wheat, and a reasonably good crop of clover? 

 And to this extent, it is not extravagant to be- 

 lieve that nearly every acre of land on tide-water 

 may be improved. You will answer that an acre 

 of such land is worth twetity, thirty, or perhaps 

 fifty dollars. I will demonstrate that, supposing 

 corn to sell for i$4 a barrel and wheat for ftl .'iO 

 per bushel, such land is intrinsically worth more 

 than S200 an acre. Col. Taylor, in his 'Arator,' 

 estimates that each efficient laborer can cultivate 

 fourteen acres well, on the three field system. 

 That is, fourteen acres in corn, fourteen in wheat, 

 and fourteen in the third shifi, being in clover. 

 The expense of cultivating an acre may be set 

 down then at one-fourteenth of the annual cost of 

 a laborer, including food and clothing, added to a 

 reasonable charge for the team-work, wear and 

 tear of implements, &c. Rating the cost of the 

 laborer at ^112 a year, (a full estimate here) one- 

 fourteenth of which sum. is ^8 00 

 And the team-work and wear and tear of 

 implements, at 3 50 



We have the cost of cultivating an acre, SH 50 



Now what is the product? 

 Nine bbls. of corn, at .^4, $i45 00 



Twelve bushs. wheat (deducting seed) 



at 81 50 16 50 



Deduct expense of cultivation 



61 50 

 11 50 



Clear profit on the acre in three years, ^50 00 

 Now what sum, at simple interest, will yield .S50 

 in three years ? Answer, a sum exceeding 9270. 

 Here then, according to the supposition, is a per- 

 manent capital, yielding a certain annual increase 

 of more than 6 per cent, on $i200. Is the acre of 

 land then not as well worth -9200, as a share of 

 bank stock yielding six dollars per annum is worth 

 iglOO? 1 have said nothing about the value of 

 the clover, hay, pasturage, &c., these, together 

 with the interest in the §70, over and above the 

 $200, may go to pay the cost of superintendence, 

 and to compensate for errors, if any, in the es- 

 timates. 



Pursuing the same course of reasoning, what is 

 the value of an acre of land, that will yield in a 

 rotation of three years, two barrets of corn, seven 

 and a half bushels of oats, and no wheat or clover? 

 And of this quality is more than half the land in 

 eastern Virginia, in its present exhausted and 

 unimproved condition. 



Expense of cultivation, - - §11 50 



Product 2 bis. corn 88, 7.^ bush, oats, ^3, 11 00 



Loss in cultivating the acre - - - 50 

 Value of the land less than nothing, it being a 

 tax on the proprietor to cultivate it. I am aware 

 that these estimates may not be entirely accurate ; 



but they approximate to the truth, sufficiently to il- 

 lustrate the great principle that I wish to enforce ; 

 viz. : that poverty and ruin are the necessary con- 

 seciuenccs of continuing to cultivate exhausted 

 fields, while independence and wealth, as cer- 

 tainly residt from a liberal expenditure of labor 

 and capital in the improvement of the soil. 



Rut to return from this digression. 'IMie best 

 mode of applyimx the sea-weed and creek-grass, aa 

 stated by Mr. Rice in his letter, is to spread it 

 in the water-lijrrow, when first hauled out; and 

 leave it uncovered until the usual time of plough- 

 ing corn land. My practice has been to leave it 

 in loads as carted out, until the winter and spring, 

 when it is spread in tlie furrows as rapidly as pos- 

 sible before the plough. This plan has answered 

 remarkably well ; and when the quantity carried 

 out is very great, it is almost in)possible to pursue 

 any other course. Mr. Rice had entertained the 

 opinion that a great portion of the strength of the 

 manure was lost, by leaving it in loads so long; 

 and last year scattered a considerable quantity in 

 the summer and fall, and listed upon it immediate- 

 ly. His crop was very much improved by it ; but 

 this year he has tried a fair experiment, which has 

 convinced him against his own opinion, that it is 

 better to leave it uncovered, or even in loads as I 

 do, than to list upon it so early. He left six rows 

 in his field, manured in all respects like the rest of 

 the land, except that tlie manure remained upon 

 the surface lour or five months before it was 

 ploughed in. A lew weeks ago I visited his field 

 with him. The corn on all the manured land was 

 very fine ; but, to my astonishment, after a careful 

 examination, we found the corn in these six rows 

 a third larger than the rest, and concurred in the 

 opinion that it would yield a third more grain. 



This, by the way, is a strong confirmation of the 

 opinion that of late has gained ground, that sur- 

 face manuring is the most efficacious. 



The first application of the creek-grass as ma- 

 nure in this neighborhood, and as far as 1 am in- 

 formed, elsewhere, was made by me on a small 

 scale, four or five years ago. The effect was so 

 striking, that I was induced to continue its use ex- 

 tensively. My neighbors, who were at first incre- 

 dulous, have since been convinced of its extraor- 

 dinary virtues, and commenced the use of it them- 

 selves, and now estimate their lands that are so 

 situated as to command it conveniently, at double 

 their former value. One of them, a plain, practi- 

 cal man, in very limited circumstances, and whose 

 land is distant two miles from the water, has used 

 it lor two years, and so profitable has he found it, 

 that last year, after getting the grass from the 

 creek himself, he paid two shillings (33^ cents) a 

 cart-load for hauling it to his fields, with the per- 

 fect assurance that he should make money by the 

 operation. 



So highly do I esteem it, that I am perfectly sa- 

 tisfied that the poorest land on our creeks, which in 

 its natural state will not defray the expense of cul- 

 tivation, (and the sellinfr price of which is very in- 

 considerable) might be purchased even as high 

 as S30 an acre, and by a judicious application of 

 this manure be made to return, in a very short 

 time, a handsome profit on the investment. I 

 cannot doubt, that it is destined to renovate, at no 

 distant day, a large portion of the exhausted land 

 of eastern Virginia. 



To get the grass from the creeks, I use a com- 



