THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



151 



were repaired, order was called out of confusion, 

 and with the aid of a head man alone, the estate 

 was, in a lew years, completely relieved from its 

 oppressive debt. This good lady, thoufrh now 

 far advanced in iile, enjoys better healih and 

 spirits than she did in her more yoiithtul days, 

 and all is to be ascribed to her enterprise and in- 

 dustry. Should these remarks meet the eye oCthis 

 good old lady, I hope she will excuse them. I 

 submit them, not to render her conspicuous, but 

 simply to show what industry and good manage- 

 ment, even in a delicate female, can ett'ect. 



As another matter of economy, I will mention, 

 that in the various appendages and fixtures of my 

 larm I made it a point, that whatever I trot should 

 be of the very best order, and that without re- 

 gard to the original cost. As an instance of this, 

 1 will state, that the cheapest cow I ever owned, 

 cost me when delivered ,^93. And in purchasing 

 my fine hogs some time ago, I got some as low 

 as !$30, but among them, there was one for which 

 I paid at least 0120, and this is decidedly my 

 cheapest hog. 



And here I will take the lihcriy to remark, that 

 farmers very often commit a capital blunder in 

 this important thing. They often suppose that 

 the cheapest things are those which cost the least 

 money ; whereas the cheapest are those which 

 yield the greatest profit on the amount expended, 

 and at the same time contribute most to our con- 

 venience and gratification. Perhaps there is no 

 instance in which this mistake is more frequently 

 and strikingly displayed than in the purchase of 

 land. In this important matter, farmers seem 

 often to lose the laculiy of looking ahead, and fix 

 their eye only on the present expenditure. The 

 essential points, feriiliiy, facilities for improvement, 

 and convenience to a good and steady market, 

 together with other things which make land really 

 valuable, are all lost sight of, or are all merged 

 in the sole consideration of a cheap purchase. A 

 little good land in the neighborhood of a good 

 market is worth more, in my opinion, than all the 

 lands of the moon and of the seven stars put to- 

 gether. 



My predecessor, as I have been informed, lived 

 on my present farm as long as he could. My old 

 friend, John Carter, has several times told me that 

 his last crop of corn consisted of stalks not larger 

 than his fingers, and he verily believes that it did 

 not yield a peck to the acre. And as I have had 

 occasion several times to make public mention of 

 this gentleman, I will lell the reader who and 

 what he is. Mr. Carter is a plain man, without 

 education, and has sense enough to make no pre- 

 tensions to it ; is a man ol close, constant and ac- 

 curate observation, always experimeniing, and 

 would certainly long since have ruined himself, 

 but that he deals in this dangerous article in a 

 snriall way. In this way he has stored his mind 

 with an exhaustiess variety of facts, which his 

 great kindness prompts him to communicate (or 

 the information of all. His sole fault is, that he 

 is too prone to draw general conclusions from 

 particular cases. But to return from this digres- 

 sion. My predecessor being thus starved out 

 here, followed the great multitude to the west, 

 where I doubt not he found better land, but I do 

 doubt if he found more substantial means of im- 

 proving his condition. 



This land being thus abandoned, remained for 



a long lime (a small part excepted) in what is 

 called the old field stale. Some of it, it is true, 

 had strength enough to put up a sweetbrier, a 

 persimmon, a young pine, or a cedar bush ; but 

 large portions of it were so destitute of cover, 

 that the straggling cattle, in their wanderings, 

 merely passed over it, without stopping to take 

 more than a bite or two. In the mean time, I 

 was busily looking out in the neighborhood of 

 Richmond lor a small farm, wiih the view of 

 making it my own. I saw many, but for reasons 

 which it is not necessary to detail, I could not or 

 did not cibtain them. At length my eye rested 

 on this forlorn spot. It was in market, and not- 

 withstanding the almost hopelessness of its aspect, 

 I resolved on a pupchase. In ihe midst of the 

 many discouragements with which it was sur- 

 rounded, there were however some redeeming 

 circumstances, wliich went a great way towards 

 reconciling me to it. lis position, /or instance, 

 was in that direction from the ciiy in which im- 

 provement was making the most rapid progress. 

 It was situated on a good and level road, so that 

 access to it would at all times be easy. Its sur- 

 fiice was neither so hilly as lo subject it to wash- 

 ing, nor so level as to retain large quantities of 

 stagnant waters. Besides, when I came to exa- 

 mine the land itsell, it was not so desperate as its 

 first appearance indicated. Ii is true that a con- 

 siderable portion was low, lying along boih sides 

 of three branches which passed through it, nearly 

 the whole of which was a cold, tenacious pipe 

 clay. But the remainder, which was lar the 

 greater proportion, was a light silicious soil, firmly 

 imbedded on a strong red clay foundation. 



These then are the materials on which I com- 

 menced my operations. In (he details, I have 

 perhaps been too particular, but I thought it ne- 

 cessary to be thus minute, that the reader might 

 have a distinct view of the whole subject. And 

 now the absorbing question with me was, how 

 I could most speedily, and at the same time eco- 

 nomically, bring these desolate lands into a state 

 of profitable cultivation. To plant or sow them 

 in their present state was a folly of which even 

 a tyro would not be suiliy. In this emergency, 

 I had almost no assistance except my own re- 

 flections, aided by the little experience I had ac- 

 quired in my very early youth. At that time (15 

 years ago) Liebig had not written his 'Organic 

 Chemistry,' in which he sets forth the great value 

 of ammonia. I had never even heard or thought 

 of humus, nor guano, nor poudrette, nor urate, 

 nor bone dust, nor any other of the " multum in 

 parvd'^ manures of which the books treat at the 

 present day. If the editor's invaluable ' Essay 

 on Calcareous Manures' was then in existence, I 

 had not seen it. But in the midst of my want of 

 information as to other and better means of im- 

 proving lands, I was satisfied of the great and 

 certain efficacy of rich putrescent manures. This 

 was then my resource, and I availed myself of it 

 with all the means in my power. In the begin- 

 ning, as might naturally be supposed, I made 

 many mistakes in the use of this article. For 

 instance, I used it in the drill, when I ought to 

 have applied it broadcaif, and I immediately co- 

 vered it with the plough, whereas I am now con- 

 vinced that I ought to have left it on the surface. 

 But amidst my blunders, I conceived the idea of 

 making all the manure I could at home, and then 



