FARMERS' REGISTER. 



47 



fore, upon that admirable principle oC "doing as 

 we would be done 6i/," a principle so much praised, 

 so liiile practised, 1 would not consent that, they 

 should be banished altogether. Only let them be 

 marked, no matter how, but in such a way that 

 they miiiht be distinsruished from other articles 

 without reading them, and it will perlectly satisfy 

 your old friend, CoaiMExxAxou. 



January 1st, 1840. 



To tlie Editor of tlic Farmers' Register, 



EXCOGITATIONS. 



You see, Mr. Editor, that I have been the first 

 man among your numerous correspondents, to 

 adopt my own susgestion on the subject of cap- 

 tions ; and for so doing, I shall claim of you some 

 portion of that praise which is justly due to those 

 rare people who practise what they preach. I 

 shall also hope that this circumstailce, if none 

 other, will secure for me, at least a perusal of what 

 I am about to ofi'er to your readers. 



My subject will be that long and apparently in- 

 terminable vexed question about the best rotation 

 of crops. No one has yet been universally ap- 

 proved; nor has it ever been conclusively settled, 

 whether there may not be at least one, (if not 

 more,) which is far less com|)licated than any now 

 in vogue, and equally efficacious. In all the rota- 

 tions and arguments in their favor, which 1 have 

 examined, far too much credit seems to have been 

 given to the mere alternation of what have been 

 called white and green crops : whereas, I deem it 

 demonstrable, as far as any thing of the Icind can 

 be, that the intervention of vegetable and animal 

 manures has been the chief, if not the sole cause 

 of any increased fertility of the soil, which may 

 have appeared where those rotations have been 

 practised. Every experienced agriculturist, 1 be- 

 lieve, admits that some crops exhaust more than 

 o;hers, but that all exhaust some, if wholly 

 taken from the land. Therefore, the phrase 

 "amelioratinf; crops," is a contradiction in terms, 

 and calculated to deceive; lor it is not the crop 

 which produces this effect, but the manure applied 

 with it or to it; although it is certainly true, that 

 a less quantity of manure will suffice to ameliorate 

 the soil, where the crop is one of the least ex- 

 hausting kinds, than where it happens to be the 

 reverse. 



If I am right in ascribing the improvem.ent u/' 

 cultivated land, chiefly if not solely, to the inter- 

 vention of vegetable and animal manures between 

 our crops, in sufficient quantities to supply some- 

 what more than the portion of nutriment which 

 these crops require, then it is a matter of flar less 

 consequence than is generally supposed, whether 

 these crops be all white, all green, or an alternation 

 of both. U|)on this theory, permit me to propose 

 a course of crops, which, if not new, has not, I 

 believe, been sufficiently tried any where to justi- 

 fy its general adoption. It is to keep but lour 

 fields, one for standiiio; pasture, the other three for 

 corn and wheat, which are the staple crops 

 throughout the whole tide-water portion of our 

 state. To these, add a few lots for soiling, and 

 root crops. Let the wheat always be followed by 

 the corn, and give to that, all the vegeto-animal 

 manure of the farm, applied in its freshest state, 



as far as practicable. Immediately afier the last 

 working of the corn, sow clover seed and plaster 

 of Pans, half a bushel to the acre. Cut this clo- 

 ver in the spring, then sow on it half a bushel 

 more of plaster, and fallow the land in time for 

 wheat, sown upon a single plouuhing, and put in 

 by the large drag-harrow. To keep up your lots,- 

 depend upon ashes, plaster of Paris, lime, marl, 

 (if attainable,) or any other manures which are 

 free from the seeds of weeds. 



To such a course, I cannot foresee even a plau- 

 sible objection, unless it be the expense. But, if 

 this were greater than that ol" the other most pop- 

 ular rotations, which it certainly would not be, but 

 much less, then such objection is unsustainable. 

 The whole of the expense in money, would be 

 the first cost of the clover seed; lor after that, 

 every farmer should raise his own seed ; and then, 

 one bushel of plaster per acre annually, which, at 

 the present price, ready ground, is only 30 cents a 

 bushel in the tide-water portion of Virginia, where 

 you buy it thus ; but not more than about 15 cents 

 where you prepare it yourself. Look now at the 

 superior advantages ; there would be much more 

 simj)licity, and of course greater practicability 

 among slaves, a larger surface always under cul- 

 tivation, and far less labor, especially in making 

 and keeping up division fences. Add to this the 

 fact that every field would annually produce some 

 profitable crop to the cultivator, which is not the 

 case in any of our rotations in the United Stales. 

 I say profitable, lor although you would not sell 

 the clover which would be produced after the corn, 

 the single cutting would contribute much to the 

 improvement of your stock, while the subsequent 

 plouiihing in of the second growth, would return 

 to the land more of the fertilizing principle than 

 the wheat crop had drawn fi-om it. If the land 

 become " clover sick." which it would not do in 

 many years, some oilier green dressing, of which 

 there are many, might be substiluled for the clover, 

 until the land again recovered its aptitude to pro- 

 duce this excellent grass. 



Should you think this "flourish" worth pub- 

 lishing, let it appear as one of the contributions of 

 your old friend and correspondent. 



Commentator. 



January IGlh, 1840. 



ON THE Cl^LTURE OF CELERY. 



From the fllagp.zine of Horticulture. 



As good celery is always sure to meet with a 

 ready sale in the market, and commands a liberal 

 price when found there, I propose giving a few 

 practical remarks on the necessary treatment re- 

 quired, from the first sowing of the seed in the 

 spring, to the taking up ofthe roots, in llip autumn, 

 for use. In the first place, be it remembered, that 

 the writer of this does not cluim any greater 

 knowledge than that possessed by gardeners and 

 others, who have had experience in the cultivation 

 of celery ; but as this article ntay meet the eye of 

 those persons who have not acquired the requisite 

 knowledge, to grow it to perlcciion, it is jirobable 

 that they may glean Eomclhing fium ir, thai may 

 be of some assistance to thorn. 



There are six or eight varieties of celery culti- 

 vated, and ail those who cultivate it, have llieir 



