FARMERS' REGISTER 



227 



The coulter plough may be set to run from six 

 to twelve iiichtis deep, one good hors^e will carry il. 

 The sud turned hy ihe Ihishing plough, and com- 

 pretjsud by ihc drug log, is cut by coulter ploughs 

 without being turned up, it decomposes, and, I 

 believe, atl'urds ahuient to the corn. 



I had hereiolbre thought that the roots of corn, 

 in their growth, were disposed to take a horizontal 

 direction ; 1 am now of" opinion that this is mainly 

 owing to a superficial cultivation, and where ihe 

 ground is loosened below liie soil, by the deep cut- 

 ting of ihe coulter plough, they will strike down- 

 wards. One of the su|j|josed advantages of llie 

 hill, is to give the stalk support. My cultivation 

 produced a fiatsurliu'e, and several gentlemen who 

 saw my fields, after the heavy rains, and winds of 

 August, thought it loss blown down than any 

 1 hey had seen, and one ol' them, who had gone' 

 horn Ballimore to Wilmington, thence to Dover, 

 and then down tiie country to my house, walking 

 in my corn fields made the remark without his 

 attention being drawn to it by any observation of 

 mine. In the course of the (all I pulled up several 

 stalks in diirerent parts of njy field, I found most 

 of the roots to have struck down. Tliey were 

 generally from eight to ten inches long, many of 

 them from twelve to iburteen, and 1 Ibund one 

 seventeen. These roots, instead of extending over 

 «he ground, covered a diameter of about ten inches, 

 the stalk beiuir the centre. Where the roots run 

 perpendicularly it necessarily follows that the corn 

 is less injured by the last cultivation, and though I 

 have known persons assert that the cutting the 

 roots of corn did it no injury, 1 never could come 

 into the opinion. I corresponded with a very 

 intelligent larmer in Virginia, about the coulter 

 plough, who stated that corn cultivated by the 

 coulter plough sufitjred less in a heavy drought 

 than when couHuon corn ploughs were used; lor 

 this two reasons may be assigned — the ground 

 retains moisture longer than when turned over by 

 consecutive ploughing, and the roots striking deep- 

 1M-, are less ex[)i>sed to the influence of the sun. I 

 dij not say ihat the cultivation I have mentioned 

 would be suitable to all soils ; mine is a li-iable 

 mould vviih a red clay bottom ; perhaps it would 

 liot answer in a slitf tenacious clay. 



The drag log is made of the Ibllowing materials. 

 A solid square piece of limber, six feet long by 

 twelve inches, another piece live iiiet lonif, of 

 Kulficient strength to bear the weight of the log, 

 to be connected liy pieces eight inches long, he- 

 aides what is allowed lor tenons, the two long 

 pieces to be connected by tlieshort ones, so that the 

 pari ot ihe log next to the ijround will run even on 

 It. Two strong oxen will carry it, and hold way 

 with two fiuijliing ploughs. The coulter plougli I 

 cannot describe on paper, it may be seen at Mr. 

 R. B. "Uariuichael's, near Centreville, or at: my 

 house on Wye. They were made by Mr. Hani- 

 bleion, at Wye Mill. 1 am a very inexperienced 

 larmer; most ot" your readers know that my early 

 days were devoted to a difi'erent occupation, and [ 

 should leel unwilling, from the experience ol' a 

 tingle year, to involve any farmer in culiivaiion 

 like mine, li" any shall be disposed to try it, I 

 would recommend that he should confine it to part 

 of his crop, and they could then determine by 

 comparison the advantages of the cultivation. 



I have a strong and abiding attachment to the 

 Eastern Shore of Maryland. I have been in 



several of the Atlantic states, and I believe the 

 natural lertility, ihe internal resources, and advan- 

 tages ot the Eastern Siiore are ecpial to any region 

 of the same extent in any of them. We have 

 barren sandy districts, whifh ought never to have 

 been cleared, or cultivated ; tliey have desolate 

 hills and mountains, in New Yoik and Pennsyl- 

 vania, which the hand of industry can _ never 

 improve. I have witnessed with high gratification 

 the progressive improvement of our agriculture ; 

 and if the enormous debt which now hangs upon 

 us, (the handy work of internal improvers,) does 

 not biing ruin and desolation upon tlie state; thu 

 day IS not (ar distant, when the increased produc- 

 tion ofourlands will establish their real value. 

 Wm. Carbiiciiaki>. 

 fl'ye, March 20. 



From the Gtrmaiitown Tetegrapli. 

 ON THE SUPERIOR ADVANTAGES OF CROW- 

 ING ORCHARD GRASS WITH RED CLOVER. 



Read before the Pliiladrlphia Society for promoting Agriculture, 

 iMurciil, 1S4U, by James Menae, M. U., V. l^rctideiit. 



My attention was first called to this subject 

 when reading the late Mr. Bardley's 'Notes on 

 Husbandry,' (1799,) in which he states the bene- 

 tiis (o be derived from the sowing together the two 

 grasses first meniioned , and his remarks appeared 

 so well founded in reason, that I was disposed to 

 pursue the practice he recommended ; but before 

 tryinsr the experiment, I consulted the late Alger- 

 non Roberts, of Philadelphia county, one of our 

 best fiirmers, on the subject, and was pleased to 

 hear him approve ol'ihe measure. 



My question was, " Which was the best grass 

 to irrow witli red clover V He answered at once, 

 '' Orcharil grass," by reason of their blossoming 

 at the same time, and the orchard grass giving 

 early and late pasture, which was a great object 

 with him, as he devoied his atlemioiito the supply 

 of buller for the Philadelphia Market. Joseph 

 Cooper, of new Jersey, to whom 1 also applied lor 

 an opinion on ihe same point, was equally pronipi; 

 in (iivor of the union of tlie two grasses in queslion. 

 Thus backed, I had no hesitation in deviating Iroiii 

 ihe usual routine adopted in Delaware, and still 

 continued very generally throughout Pennsylva- 

 nia ; and upon the first field of wheat which I laid 

 down, viz : in 1805, I had sown the Ibliowing 

 spring, 12 measured pints of clover seed with one 

 bushel and a halfof orchard grass seed previously 

 well mixed. Alier the grain was removed, I saw , 

 with very great delight, both grasses thickly 

 covering the ground, and nearly as high as the 

 stubble; and late in the autumn had the satisfac- 

 tion to see my cows enjoying ;i luxuiious, succu- 

 lent repast, alterthe fields, vviiich were sown with 

 limoihy and clover in the vicmity had ceased to 

 supply it. But this gratification v^as small when 

 compared with ihat i experienced the lollowiug 

 spring, by beholding the towering orchard grass 

 in lulfblost^om at tlie same time with its compa- 

 nion, and Ihe ground thickly set with both. Re-^ 

 serving a certain space for maturing the seed of 

 the orchard grass, i had the crop cut when u few 

 only of the clover blossoms were beginning to turn, 

 being then sure of perfect n;)aturity of the rest, aiid 

 found that they, equally with the leaver, retained 



