^IjJ 



VOL. IV. 



Published by .lOHN B. RUSSKLl.,. at the corner of Co nyrfsg n nri l.indnU Ptrpet?, Boston THOMAS G. FESSF.NDF. r^. KniTor.. 



TrIDAY^ DECEMBER 23, 182.5. 



No. 22. 



The rrop ofpolalnp'; (vas r:ii«P(l (jy (lie Hon.! of'whicli llu'vare re.ipoclii ely the !.e~l a'laplpil. 

 — jSA-vit'ir!. I.ATHRo? ot"\Vps( SfiriB^licKI, on a pioco Experience, Ihe host ;,f all instnirtcr';. r-m-^ron 



AN ADSRIjSS, ^ of pjroiind, on which he commencpil his oj>era- , enahip him lo ch-icovpr (liis liino?s; and havinij' 



Delivered before Ijtc Phiviouih .^-Isincvljurnl Soneti/,nf .|^j^^ j,, ,j,^, jummpr nf 1315, tiiKJer very ilisail- ' once become siifScipnlly rnlighfeneH in this res- 



•,anlna:pnM« circmnslancpe. "• One acre anil GO pect, how admiraMe mij<t he the sylem, con- 

 rorls of ivhich. in 1817, proilnced 850 hij^heU." : dueled accorciing; lo =Mch principSfP. 

 Aoil of this, an :icre mii;hl liave heen solecled ol'j There is no lillng^e crop for which our farm- 

 winch he estimated the produce, at " 700 bush- ; ers have a(ipearod lo n-.aiiifesl a stronger par- 

 els!'** Itialily than for Ihnt of Indian corn ; and none. 

 To come slili nearer !iome. 



FOR TOE KF.n FNCI.AND FjMlMER. * 



Bridgeivaler, Ocluber 5, 1825. 



BY J O H N E. H O W A R D. 



(^Cimr.luded from ;)n?f 1(12 ) 



It is a^tonishinff how unmetiselv productive a , 



few rods of ground may be made'. To furnisli To come slili nearer home. The industrious '" 'he production of which they have been more 

 some adequate conceptions of this, permit mp and enterprising individualf who look, ihe last j «'""''""« <o eKcel each olher. But whenever 

 to <rive a statement of Ihe pro,lucc of a single ; vnr.r. (his Sccielv's premium for the best crop ( 'hpy have been successful in raising good crops, 

 iicr'e, under the hberal hand of European cuiti ! of Ensjlish hay. cut, it seems, on four acres, 7irorL' : '' h:>s been owrng, ( apprehend, generally not to 

 vation. It seems that, " The Androssan Farmer | ,'/,„u m'dre Inns: And he has assured me, thai ] ^ \>''<'pev ada|ilalion ol the crop to the soil, but 

 Society, in 1814, offered a silver medal lor lh(^:lhe average produce of these 4 acres did not. 

 best and lieavlcst cro|) of lurnijis, in the parish 1 (ive \ears ago, esceed one ton to the acre. 1 

 of Dnndonidd, situated in Ihe west oi" Scotland ;|mighl mention, too, an extraordinary crop of 

 and appointed two judges lo inspect the dillerent | polaloes, raised by another member^ of this So- 

 fields cultivated wiiliiit tlip bounds. They pro- 1 ticty, which has done honor to him, and which 

 ceeded in the execution of their duly, and in; nould have done honor lo any farmer among us. 

 compliance with the rctpiisilions of the Society, )jut it is needless to pursue this illustration any 

 by measnrinsf a square rorl talven I'roni the ave- ; farther. 



rage of the fields m d.lTerent parts. The resull j These would be ticcouuled good crops in any 

 of their investigation "as, that on one farm, .ilronntry. But may we net reasonably expect to 

 Scotch acre, (which is short of an acre and ajsceslill better; or if net belter, generally as 



quarter English nietisure) produced, in turnips, 



Tim.i. Cu'l.lbs. 

 Of bulbs williout leaves - 7G 



Of leaves by themselves - 14 



Total 



"0 







Forty bu-hcls nf turnips are about equal lo one 

 ton; and the quantity per acre, ihererore, in 

 Inilbs alone, arises to the enormous amiuiut ol 

 3040 bushels, besides 14 tons of leaves, of high- 

 ly nutritive quality. Estimatitig the buib? at 33 

 cents per bushel, an acre will fetch upwards oi 

 one thousand dollars! a sum," it is added. " snlli- 

 cienl to awaken the utmost agricultural iridus- 

 Iry." After giving another instance of a remark- 

 able crop of a similar kind, the account proceeds, 

 •' As to the mode of cultivation, nothing singu- 

 lar was slated. These quantities, though ex>a- 

 ordinary, must not be sujiposed unprecedented ; 

 for throughout all England and Scotland an intel- 

 ligent Englishrann asserts, crops ol similar bulk 

 and weight could be selected in every (larisli and 

 county."* 



But to come to our own native Massachusetts, 

 for a farther illustration of this subject There 

 are to be found in the recorded history of her 

 agriculture, many instances of great crops being 

 produced from a small surface. There are two, 

 one of carrots, the other of potatoes, of \vhich I 

 beg leave to give a short account ; not because 

 I know them lo be the most remarkable crops 

 of their kind ever raised in the Commonwealtli, 

 but because they happen to come first to hand. 

 and answer my purpose. The carrots were 

 raised by a Mr Ware of Salem, in 1818, "on 138 

 rods of land. The soil," the account states to 

 be " a good deep loam, and the third year, in 

 succession, that one half of it had been appro- 

 priated lo the culture of cnrrols." The crop 

 "weighed at the hay-scales 4457G pounds, equal 

 to 23 Ions, 1 cwt. 1 qr. and 22 lbs. the acre, be- 

 ing 923 bushels of 56 lbs."t 



good? It has been justly asserted as a general 

 truth, that " ihe fcirmers of MasiOc'iiiscUs arc yci 

 lo learn the immense productive pomer of a perfect- 

 hj cullivaicd acre.'''' Our agricullurc. it should 

 bo remembered, is as yet in its infancy, and 

 these are, as it were, some of our first essays ; 

 and Ihey are sufficient .to authorize the most 

 .^anguine expectation of future success. There 

 are no considerations whatever apyilicable to 

 Massachu=etts,^or to the character of her citi- 

 zens, which are not calculated to. cherish the 

 hope, that lipr soil may soon he made to obtain 



to the excessive and I must say injudicious lib- 

 erality of their treatment. Thus, if not abso- 

 lutely preferring to cnunternct, still neglecting 

 to avail Ihem'-olves of the natural disposition of 

 the soil. But how fir prpferable is it not, to 

 move easily and sneelly ah')ng with the nalur.il 

 current, than to resist its pressure with counter- 

 vailing sirugjles.. 



To succeed in raising good crops by a judi- 

 cious application of this principle of adaptation, 

 is infinitely more creditable and deserving of re- 

 ward than when success is allrihutable to any 

 other cause whatever, uilliin human control. — 

 r>ecan.se it implies (he exercise of more skill and 

 discrimination in Ihe cultivator. There are 

 besides, these important advantages resulting 

 from a practice thus regulated, that there is less 

 danger of a failure of crops, and it furnishes an 

 opportunity to employ resources to belter pur- 

 pose. 



Some soils there are, which can afford no 

 nourishment to certain kinds of vegetables, that 

 in others at no gretit distance from them are in- 



a decree of fertility not inferior lo that of ourl '''genons. Thus the wild tlowcrs ol our swamps 

 Iransatlantic brethren ; and that she may become ™'' he.Iges,— thousands ol which yearly " give 

 at no .Treat distance of lime, as preeminen'dy Hieir balray fragrance lothe desert air, unseen 

 hlesspd in the produce of her land-, ns in the | ^n'' "'"''ni""C'' — '' transplanted into the rich, 

 enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. ; "^■'fn ^o'' f"" '^e flower garden or parterre, 



Another error of our farmers relates to tillage 

 crops. Their operations, in this department, 



would droop and die. Nor can the tender solici- 

 tude, with which, I doubt not, they have often 



have been conducted with ton little reference lo 

 those peculiarities of soil, whic|i ihe crop lo be 

 raised requires. This is a subject which has 

 had from noclas? of farmers, that attention which 

 its importance has merited. Every farm among 



there been cherished and watched over, prevent 

 their premature decay. But in their own rude 

 region, these dumb, untaught children of nature 

 spring up, unaided by the hand of cultivation, 

 and flourish, — ihe pride and glory of Ibeir na- 



*Mass. Agric. Refos..vol. v. page 263. t ibid, p. 267 



us is composed of a variety of soils, distinguish- 1 ''^"^ ivild- 

 ed from each olher by im[iortant characteristic " 



differences. To discover these pecniiarilies, so 

 far as is necessary Tor every important purpose, 

 requires no labored investigation or philosojihi- 

 cal analysis. It is a species of knowledge with- 

 in reach of the atlai^imeiit of every farmer, 

 and is of primary and essential imjiortance to 

 him ; and il should always be his endeavour lo 

 avail himself of il for practical purposes. As it 

 is obvious, that soils remarkable (or properties 

 thus differing from eacli other, cannot be equally 

 well suited to the production of every species oi' 

 grain or vegetables, Ihe perfection of his art in 

 this particular would consist, in invariably apply- 

 ing to each, ihose particular crops, to the growth 



* Mass. Agrir. Jciirnal. vol. r. pa°;e 263. 



+ AiiPnFus FonF.s of Brids^n^^T.lor. 



f Leokard Hu.i. of Fast Bridjewatcr. 



There must be a total absence of 

 the nourishing principle by which they are sus- 

 lairied, otherwise their decay would not be ihe 

 sure and unerring consequence of a removal 

 from their native element. This, however, it 

 may be said, is not the case with our tillage 

 crops. There is no soil to which they are usual- 

 ly applied, from which they do not derive some 

 nourishment. But il cannot have esca[)ed obser- 

 vation, that the growth of difi'ereni kinds is not, 

 always, equally thrifty and vigorous in the same 

 soil. To one species it will yield, of nutritious 

 matler, but a scanty, while lo another an abun- 

 dant supply. And thus il is only when Ihe proper 

 discriminations and adaptations are made, that 

 the harvest will be both sure and abundant, and 

 that means can be employed with an unerring 

 hand. 



Thus, gentlemen, in what I have had to say 

 on this subject, 1 have endcaroured to give you 



