THE PREMUM FARMS IN PRINCE GEORGE'S 

 COUNTY, MARYLAND. 

 The First Hokors of Agriculture — Are 

 tliose which are awarded for best managed 

 farms, and hopeless, almost, is the case of him, 

 ' among young faraiers, w"ho is not animated by 

 I tlie ambition to win them. It should be coveted 

 ' in rural, as the marshal's baton is in military 

 life, with this exception — that while the latter, 

 like the key of Blue-Beard's closet, is marked 

 with indelible stains of blood, the chaplet that 

 wreathes the brow of the victorious farmer, is 

 the growth of useful industry, tlie blessed em- 

 blem of peaceful abundance — yet it has been 

 the miserable, the barbarous policy of govern- 

 ments, even of republican governments, to re- 

 serve all their honors and rewards, their high 

 pay and their life salaries, to provide hospitals and 

 medicines, only for those whose province it is, 

 when nations can be drawn into war, to accom- 

 plish in the shortest time (he greatest possible de- 

 itruction of human life. Will nations ever 

 learn to think for themselves and cease to 

 be ridden by demagogues for their own sinister 

 purposes ? T 



For ourselves, in our limited sphere, we shall 

 do what we can to give public sentiment a right 

 direction on these points — to teach the Ameri- 

 can Republican Farmer to compel legislators 

 to bestow public honors on the plow, rather 

 than the sw^ord — on civil virtues in preference 

 to military achievement. We have now room 

 only to register the award of the Prince George's 

 County Agricultural Committees last month. 



For the best managed Farm, to " Mount Cal- 

 vert Plantation,'' containing 900 acres owned by 

 Capt. John Brooks. 



The second premium to " Eglinton Planta- 

 tion," containing 300 acres, own by W. W. W. 

 Bowie, Esq. 



The third to " Willow Brook Plantation," 

 combining about 900 acres owned by Thomas 

 DucKETT, Esq. A conspicuous place shall 

 hereafter be assigned to all such awards, as they 

 may come to our knowledge. 



For his truly excellent address, a vote of 

 .thanks was unanimously voted to Hon. John 

 Sellman, at the instance of R. W. Bowie, 

 , a large Planter, who loves the honor of his 

 : State as he does his own, and for its 

 'sake would self-impose and pay, any 

 ( amount of taxation. Alas ! for the reproach, that 

 • the mention of the fact implies against our na- 

 . tive State ! Ay, we were going to saj' — our 

 j native — but the pen refuses the office. These 

 I '.hings have close connection with the character 



jf an Agricultural people, and are, therefore, fit 

 mbjects for allu.sion in a journal profoundly de- 

 moted to the honor and prosperity of that class 

 >f the community. 

 (623) 



Expense of Horse Power. — We have long 

 been persuaded that agriculturists, wilfullj or un- 

 reflectingly, shut their eyes against the serions 

 expensivcness of horse power, as compared 

 with other anima' or machine power. It would 

 be well worth their while to compare the cost 

 of keeping a horse with that of keeping the ox, 

 the mule, and the man. In examining the fol- 

 lowing statement, let the reader bear in mind 

 that by " corn" the writer means oats, probably, 

 and he will be near enough for the purposes 

 of comparison, by estimating a penny (d.) at 

 two cents, and a shilling (s.) at a quarter of a 

 dollar. 



One-horse Carts versus Wagon. — I have no 

 light plowing land, nor have I more than 20 or 

 30 acres of very heavy land. I will,, therefore, 

 relate my actual experience. In the' employ- 

 ment of wagons and the old broad-wheeled 

 dung-carts, I required one wagon, one cart, and 

 three horses to every 50 acres of arable land. I 

 also kept a light cart for general purposes. Now 

 that I am employing carts, I find that I get 

 through my work much more easily with two 

 horses and t^vo carts to 50 acres. The follow^- 

 ing is a fair calculation of the first outlay under 

 the two systems : 



60 



1 vraeon 25 



1 dung-cart... 15 



3 horses 



Extra harness 



Proportionate 



cost of the 



light cart to 



50 acres 



f/.i £ 



3 4-inch wheel 

 1 horse carta 24 

 Two horses... 40" 



d. 



3 



64 

 Balance in fa- 

 vor of carts 41 



Total 105 Total 105 



This shows a saving of upwards of 16s. an 

 acre, which many young fanners would find 

 extremely useful to expend in stock or imple- 

 ments. There is also some annual saving in the 

 expense of the repairs under the cart .system, as 

 well as that of the keep of one horse to every ■''>0 

 acres. I believe there ai"e those who think this 

 of little importance ; that they can keep horses 

 at a very small expense, say from 3s. to 5s. per 

 week ; and that if fewer are kept, they must be 

 fed more highlj', and therefore the cost is much 

 the same, forgetting that the more horses kept, 

 the gi'eater number of hands required to attenj 

 them, whose time also is wasted if the animals 

 are not in a state to do a good day's work ; nor 

 is the manure nearly so valuable as when the 

 horses are kept in a better state. To estimate 

 the saving of keeping one horse less to 50 acres, 

 I will make my calculations from my own 

 method of keep. I have not for jcars allowed 

 my horses any hay. In winter I give them 10 

 lbs. of corn, 10 lbs. of carrots or Swedes, and as 

 much straw-chaff as they will eat per diem. The 

 corn I value at 6s. per week, the roots at 9d., and 

 the straw, with the expense of cutting into 

 chaff, Is. 3d., making in the whole, 8s. per week ; 

 which, with Is. for shoeing, &c., amounts to 9s. 

 In the summer I give them green clover or 

 vetches, without com, which I value at 5s. per 

 week, making Cs., with Is. added for shoeing, 

 &c. ; the average, therefore, for the whole year, 

 will be 7s. Cd. each horse. It therefore follows 

 that if we can save one horse in the cultivation 

 of 50 acres, it will amount to nearly 8s. per acre. 

 (E. Bowly, Royal Eng. Ag. Soc. Jour. 



