THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



233 



not only make his hogs merry, but will diffuse an 

 air of cheerfulness over the whole establishment. 

 But here is the rub. After nature's law lias been 

 violated, and by frequent removals oC the whole 

 products, positive impoverishment has ensued, 

 how is the land to be resuscitated 1 To this I re- 

 ply afrain, that here is a case that is plainly be- 

 yond the reach of any rotation in croppin<T. Jt is, 

 however, a matter of comfort, that land labors un- 

 der but one single disease, and that is poverty. It is, 

 however, highly inlectious ; for it is almost sure to 

 communicate itself to the proprietor, and then it 

 spreads through the whole liimily ; and when the 

 land, proprietor, and family are all down together, 

 the case is really a bad one. But even in this event, 

 discouraging as it may seem, there is a remedy. 

 Swaim, with his panacea, and Brandreth, with his 

 pills, have each pretended that he has discovered 

 a remedy for all the " maladies that human na- 

 ture is heir to." Now I pretend to no quackery 

 in human diseases, but I do think I have found a 

 specific for the only disease that afHicts the land ; 

 and this specific is not rotation, but enriching ma- 

 nures of some kind. How these manures are to 

 be obtained, I shall not now, of course, attempt to 

 explain. Every one acquainted with the circum- 

 stances with which he is surrounded, must judge 

 of this matter lor himself. 1 will, however, ju^t 

 remark, that whilst a deficiency exists in one 

 point, there is commonly a superabundance at an- 

 other ; and that it requires but little skill so to con- 

 centrate one's resources as to make them most 

 available. 



After the above statement, the reader will not 

 be surprised when I inform him that in my prac- 

 tice I rely but very little on any system of rota- 

 tion whatever. In fact I rely scarcely any on 

 this source, to keep up the Tertility of my lands, 

 much less to increase it. My main crop lor mar- 

 ket is hay, and every thing is conducted on my 

 little farm to make this crop as larce in amount, 

 and as good in quality, as I can. The fields are, 

 therefore, continued in grass as long as they will 

 produce a fair crop. When the fields become so 

 infested with greensward and other filth as mate- 

 rially to lessen the crop— which is uniformly the 

 case on all the high lands in three years, and 

 sometimes in two— they are then ploughed up, 

 and a corn crop is resorted to, to cleanse them. 

 Some time ago, when my lands were less fertile, 

 one crop of corn was sufficient for this purpose. 

 It now requires two, and these in immediate suc- 

 cession. My system of alternation therefore is, 

 two crops of corn, one of oats, and three of grass; 

 and this I adopt not with the view of improving 

 or even keeping up the fertility of the lands, bul 

 simply because I consider it as the best course in 

 reference to my main crop. 



The reader will not also be surprised when I 

 tell him, that I never tolerate any grazing in any 

 field, or at any season of the year. 1 ha^v-e seen 

 the idea advanced, and that too by thrifty farmers, 

 that grazing was beneficial to the lands. I will 

 believe this when I am convinced that the right 

 way to keep up strength is to take away all The 

 sustenance by which it is maintained. No one 

 pretends that the removal of a crop adds anv 

 thing to ihe fertility of land. But what is the 

 difference whether it be removed by the cart, or 

 by the capacious stomachs of cattle 1 But it will 

 be said, that in the latter instance it ia again drop- 

 VoL. X.-30 



ped on the land. True, but these droppings are 

 so dispersed, and at intervals so wide apart, that 

 every one must see that they do but very little 

 good. There is one event, and but one, in which 

 I would approve of grazing, and that is where 

 the larm is a large one, the grass abundant, and 

 the market too remote to carry the crop there in 

 any other way. But in this case, the animala 

 should be penned every night, and thus the ma- 

 nure concentred and made available. But it will 

 be said that the hoof is necessary to the solidity 

 and compactness especially of light lands, to 

 make them produce wheat. But I should think 

 that the same, or even a greater amount of com- 

 pactness, might be secured by a heavy roller, and 

 thus save the fields from the severe scourge of the 

 animal's looih. A liill fallow, late in the season, 

 will ordinarily secure the succeeding crop of corn 

 Irora the depredations of worms. But my paper 

 is again too long. I therefore merely throw out 

 these lew hints lor the present. At some fliture 

 time I may resume the subject. The probability 

 is that I may prepare one or two more numbers, 

 but at present I cannot say on what subjects. 

 The fact is, the season of the year has now arrived 

 when farmers ought to go to work, and I am 

 much more ambitious for the fame of a working 

 than of a writing farmer. * J. H. Turner. 



CHOICE OF LANDS. 



From the South Western Farmer. 



Many are every day emigrating to our stale, 

 and vye hope before long to see the tide increased. 

 Many too of our present settlers are every year 

 adding to their clearings — and spreading cultiva- 

 tion farther into the ancient woods. For the be- 

 nefit of such we propose to. give a series of articles 

 on the choice of lands, and the marks by which 

 good and inferior lands may be distinguished in 

 our climate. We have been to a considerable ex- 

 tent over the country, and have had some expe- 

 rience in this mailer, but we know there are many 

 better acquainted than we are with the subject; 

 and the chief good we hope our articles to accom- 

 plish is, to excite the attention and aid of such 

 individuals to the matter. 



The most certain and simple manner of judg- 

 ing of the qualities of lands is by the peculiar 

 growth. With prairies, where this mode of 

 course could not be practised, we have little ac- 

 quaintance, and we know no certain rule for as- 

 certaining the qualities of such lands except analy- 

 sis. We will before long get the apparatus ne- 

 cessary for this, when we will endeavor to give 

 more particular information on every branch of. 

 the subject. But upon timbered land every farm- 

 er knows that the liability to overflow in swamps 

 — the adaptation to cultivation— the richness of 

 the soil — and its fitness to carry particular crops, 

 — may all be ascertained by inspecting the peculiar 

 growth Ihe land in a state of nature produces. 



We will take the varieties of trees, &c. in 

 alpiiabetical order, and to give more utility to our 

 articles we will add remarks on the qualities of 

 the particular kinds of timber. 



^pph, wild cra6.— Though occasionally found 

 growing on dry spots, it generally denotes a cold, 

 tenacious, poor soil, and one which will be too 



