280 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



Lower Brandon had been done, before William 

 B. Harrison had commenced; but when induced 

 to begin, by the example and success of his elder 

 broiher, and by ihe still older experience and more 

 valuable litrhis and instruciion of their old friend, 

 Fielding Lewis, (to whom all concur in awarding 

 the honor of being the pioneer and leader par 

 excellence in this imporiant agriculmral improve- 

 ment in Vircinia,) ihe greater rapidity of pro- 

 gress on the Upper Brandon estate made amends 

 for the late beginning. The liming was com- 

 menced in 1830, and both the larms had been 

 completely limed, the first time, by 1838. The 

 largest operation of any one year was 1900 hogs- 

 heads of oyster shells, bought, burnt, and applied. 

 About one-filih of the surliice of both fiirms has 

 been since revlimcd. 



The shells are brought from the oyster land- 

 ings on the salt waters of James and York rivers, 

 in vessels that make it a regular business, and 

 are sold, on board the vessels, lying olF the farm- 

 ers' landings, at prices varying from 50 to 70 cents 

 the hogshead, or 18 heaped bushels of shells. 

 The purchaser has to take the shells (rom the 

 vessel, with the assistance on board the vessel of 

 the crew. The manner of burning and of distri- 

 buting over the land pursued at Brandon is 

 much the same as that of iVlr. Lewis,* except 

 that the kilns are put up with much less care and 

 trouble — being merely heaps of wood and shells 

 in alternate layers. lu this manner, a cord of 

 wood, or rather more, serves to burn 10 hogs- 

 heads of shells. By burning, (and before being 

 slaked,) the shells are reduced in bulk about one 

 third, or 100 bushels of shells measure out only 66 

 to 70 bushels. 72 bushels in this state, were put 

 to the acre, of land ready ploughed for corn, by 

 placing half a bushel to each check of 18 leet 

 square. When air-slaked, and either by first co- 

 vering over the heap with the surrounding earth, 

 or without, the heaps are spread, and the land 

 immediately harrowed, to divide and diffuse the 

 lime properly, and mix it well with the surface 

 soil. Mr. Harrison has made no estimate of the 

 full cost of liming, in labor as well as money. 

 His brother had estimated it at 10 cents the bush- 

 el, or, for such a dressing as the above at $7.20 

 the acre. And costly as this may seem, and 

 alarming to the inexperienced, there is no farmer 

 on the river who has limed to considerable extent, 

 and injudicious manner, who does not regret (as 

 a great and certain loss of profit in the omission,) 

 that he did not encounter this expense earlier, or 

 more rapidly than"he did, 



Mr. William B. Harrison re-limes at half the 

 above rate, or 36 bushels to the acre ; and he 

 would now advise the putting no more than the 

 latter quantity even for the first time of dressing, 

 as he has seen injury produced by the too great 

 quantity at once of 72 bushels. Decided and 

 early beneficial effect he has always found to 

 Jbllow the first liming ; and he has no doubt of 

 benefit having also been produced by the second 

 applications; but such would of course be less 

 obvious, and has not always been ob>erved. 

 Mr. Harrison thinks liming to be the cheapest 

 and best kind of manuring, counting both cost 

 and returns. The gross products of the Brandon 

 lands have been increased to double, since (he oc- 



* See p. 18, vol. i. Far. R. for more full description. 



cupancy by the two proprietors — and fully a 

 third, in corn and wheat, since the liming. Of 

 course, when gross products have been doubled 

 on the same, or nearly the same amount of sur- 

 face cultivated, the net products, or clear profits 

 of farming, must have been increased in afar 

 greater proportion. 



Lime is the main source of improvement by 

 other manuring, by its producing clover to be 

 used as manure, and also by the farm-yard and 

 other putrescent manures becoming much more 

 operative on the land after lime has been applied. 

 Of the latter important effect, no doubt is enter- 

 tained. Before liming, clover was not so gene- 

 rally sowi|j and the crop often failed ; and gyp- 

 sum had on it but slight effect, and was not often 

 used. There never had been a heavy field crop 

 of clover in Brandon Neck, (though smaller 

 spaces of the best land had sometimes produced 

 very well,) until in 1835. Latterly and since 

 liming, gypsum is regularly sown, at one bushel 

 the acre, on clover, the spring (or second 

 year) alter sowing the clover. The effect is be- 

 lieved by Mr. Harrison to be always good and 

 profitable on limed or originally good soil ; but he 

 is doubtllil as to the unlimed, if originally poor, 

 or even on land not of very good original quality. 



The gypsum is sometimes bought ready ground, 

 but more generally in the lump, and crushed at 

 home, by a corn-crusher. The usual price, in 

 the lump, is §5 the ton; but one cargo from 

 Massachusetts was bought as low as $2.70. The 

 ton measures 20 bushels or more when ground. 



Live stock and putrescent manures. — The sub- 

 ject of prepared or putrescent manures cannot 

 well be considered separately from that of the 

 live-stock, which serve to produce so important 

 a part of the value of these manures ; and the 

 management of the stock is a necessary introduc- 

 tion to the production and management of the 

 manure. 



Cattle. — There are about 75 head of cattle on 

 each of the four farms. Their quality inferior, 

 and their general order also, when seen by the 

 reporter in April. The cattle on the lower estate 

 are of better quality than on the upper. The 

 keeping and treatment in winter are very good, 

 so far as serve plenty of good long forage and lit- 

 ter, the offal of the large corn and wheat crops, 

 and sufficient shelter from wet and cold. But 

 this care, during all the season for keeping the 

 cattle on dry food, does not compensate for the 

 want of a sufficient and regular supply of good 

 green food through the grass season. The re- 

 strictions on grazing the clover fields is one of 

 the rules referred to before which operates admi- 

 rably well for sustaining and fattening the land, 

 but badly for fattening the cattle. The resources 

 for the cattle, except when in the farm-yards on 

 dry food, are the standing pasture already men- 

 tioned, furnished by the mere land margin of Ken- 

 nons' Marsh for Upper Brandon farm, 130 acres of 

 inferior land in standing pasture on Upper Quarter 

 — and on both these farms, the grazing of the 

 wheat field and young clover thereon for a short 

 time after harvest, and Ihe older clover late in the 

 year, say in September and October. On the 

 lower estate, also the half of one clover field on 

 each farm, in the third year's growth of the clo- 

 ver, furnishes all the pasturage, except 30 acres of 

 eiunding pasture on the Church Pastures farm. 



