THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



411 



this year 28 cents per lb., last year 35 cents. ; the 

 previous year 44 cents. The average yield of this 

 Hock, where there was a large proportion of 

 wethers, was 3 lbs. 4 oz. oi" washed woo! to 

 each sheep. 



In his opinion, 7 sheep require a ton of hay 

 for wintering. Hay is valued at 5 dollars per ton. 

 The annual increase of the flock is reckoned at 25 

 percent. Ttie value of mutton here is very litile, 

 and that increase will do little more than keep the 

 flock good. Giving, however, the flock the ad- 

 vantage of all the increase, the account may be 

 thus stated : 



Wool, 3J: lbs. at 28 cents 91 cents. 



Lamb, 1 in 4 or l-4ih, 25 " 



Keeping 1-7 of 500, 

 Pasturage, say 



116 



71 ceuu 

 40 " 



111 



Net balance in favor of sheep, 5 cents. 



This presents no great encouragement to the 

 sheep husbandry. Mr. Brown is of opinion that 

 swine and cattle are not worth raising beyond the 

 wants of the lamily. I give it as the opmion ex- 

 pressed by him and some other farmers to me, 

 but as a matter in my own judgment admitting o|' 

 several qualifications. It is a'complex questton, 

 in which a good many elements are invx)lved, and 

 my very imperlect knowledge in this case does 

 not authorize, me to pronounce with decision. 



The value of land is rated here at 60 dollafs per 

 acre. The yield of hay estimated at 1^ tons. 

 The hay at the above estimaie would be equal to 

 $7,50, and the expense of gettinir can hardly be 

 less than $'2,50 per acre, leaving 5 dollars income 

 in favor of the land. But on a farm it must be 

 considered that there is much land in wood or in 

 fallow, or otherwise unproductive ; and there are 

 uncertainties attending all crops and seasons. 



FARMING OF fllR. WILLIAM WEAVKR, OF 

 ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA. 



To llie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Mr. William Weaver, a wealthy iron-master 

 of this county, and one of the most judicious prac- 

 tical farmers I have ever known, has, for several 

 years past, been cultivating a portion of his ex- 

 tensive estate with distinguished success, upon a 

 system entirely novel in this section of country, 

 the Valley of Virginia, a brief outline of which 

 may not be unacceptable to some of your readers. 

 The traveller li-ora Lynchburg to Lexington, 

 up the picturesque and romantic valleys of the 

 James and North rivers, cannot fail, if he will but 

 'i[t "P his eyes as he approaches the mouth of 

 Buffalo, about nine miles (i-ora the latter place, 

 to observe, at the distance of two or three miles 

 up the river, a cluster of precipitous hills— the 

 outposts, as it were, of the Blue Ridge— proudly 

 rearing their green and rounded summits above 

 the adjacent valley, and apparently covered to 

 their very tops, by the hand of man, with the 

 richest and jnost luxuriant vegetation. These 

 steep and rough hills, most appropriately desig- 



nated by Mr. Weaver as the " Highland Farm,'' 

 against which the North river dashes its foaming 

 torrent, which slope in every direction Irom their 

 summits to their base, presenting angles of from 

 twenty to fifty degrees, constitute the land in 

 question. 



About ten or twelve years ago, Mr. Weaver 

 purchased this farm, now embracing upwards of 

 800 acres, in several distinct tracts, at an average 

 price of ^2 an acre, principally for the purpose of 

 procuring the. wood, with which it was then co- 

 vered, with the exception of about 100 acres of 

 cleared and exhfiusted land, to supply his iron es- 

 tablishment with coal. The native growth con- 

 sisted of oak, hickory and dogwood, with lar^e 

 pines interspersed. The soil is a red gravel, 

 strongly dashed wiih slate, reposing on a lime- 

 stone /oundation. So unpromising an appear- 

 ance did this land present lor agricultural pur- 

 poses, that when Mr. Weaver told his neighbors 

 he intended to make a corn farm of these poor 

 and steep hills, a laugh of derision was the only 

 encouragement he received. 



As the clearing progressed, Mr. Weaver di- 

 vided the cleared laud into fbur fields, one of 100 

 acres lor standing pasture, and three of about 120 

 acres each lor cultivation. The first field of new 

 ground was broken up, early in the spring, with 

 McCormick ploughs, drawn by two mules each, 

 aqd cultivated in corn. The crop did not exceed 

 an average of twenty bushels to the acre. In 

 the fall the field was seeded in wheat, upon which, 

 late in the winter, the usual quantity of clover 

 seed, and half a bushel of plaster, were sown to 

 the acre. After the wheat was removed at har- 

 vest, the etubble was gleaned by the stock of 

 hogs. Very early next spring an additional half 

 bushel of plaster was sown to the acre over the 

 whole field. During the spring, summer and fall, 

 not a single animal of any kind whatever was per- 

 mitted to invade the clover field, nor was any 

 clover cut, except a very small quantity on the 

 most luxuriant spots, lor the use of the mules 

 while at work on the farm. The next winter, 

 however, the stock of hogs was kept in the field, 

 which was ploughed up early in the spring, and 

 again planted iu corn. In the fall it was seeded 

 with wheat, and in the winter sown with clover 

 and plaster. The other fields, as they came suc- 

 cessively in cultivation, were treated precisely in 

 the same manner, with the exception of the 

 standing pasture, which has never been ploughed 

 up since the first course of crops, and of the hun- 

 dred acres of exhausted land, above spoken of, 

 which, being too poor to produce corn, was sown 

 first with oats, and then with rye, clover and plas- 

 ter, when it took its course in the regular rotation. 

 Now mark the result of this system of cultiva- 

 tion. The crops of corn on these poor hills have 

 lor several years past averaged about forty bush- 

 els to the acre, while this year's crop, on a field of 

 130 acres, is pronounced by competent judges to 

 be the best in the county, on eiiher bottom or 

 upland. The entire field, it is supposed, will ave- 

 rage upward of 40 bushels to the acre, while 

 many contiguous acres can be found which will 

 yield at least 60 bushels. 1 have heard some of 

 the niost intelligent neighbors express the opinion, 

 that it was the best field of corn they ever saw. 

 The crops of wheat succeeding corn, though im- 

 proving every year with the progressive improve- 



