156 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 3 



products, and the source of supply of putrescent 

 manures— of water carriage — or of beds of marl, 

 on the spot, which would save the most costly, and 

 yet the most profitable expenditure which he has 

 incurred, for the purchase of lime. Yet these 

 parts of our country surrounding the towns, so 

 susceptible o( profitable improvement, are, with a 

 few rare exceptions in particular farms, among the 

 poorest in the state. Especially around this one, 

 Petersburg, and even within the distance of 

 the farm of our correspondent from his marliet, 

 there are lands having ten-fold advantages for im- 

 provement, and which would now sell ibr $6 the 

 acre, and which bring no real profit to the present 

 cultivators even at that price of purchase, or valu- 

 ation of capital. Yet there is marl either on, or 

 not distant from these lands, and the richest of 

 putrescent manures in the town, which may be 

 bought for 25 cents per load of 20 bushels ; and of 

 which nine-tenths rot in the town, and serve only 

 to poison its air. because the neighboring farmers 

 will not move them away at that low price, or 

 even if given to them. There might be secured, 

 withinsixmilesof this town, independent fortunes 

 for one hundred improvers like our correspondent, 

 on tracts of land which now yield little or nothing 

 to their cultivators. 



But to all ihid the answer is ready, from every 

 one who is thus neglecllul of the means proposed: 

 "If all within six miles of Petersburg, or even of 

 the more populous town of Richmond, were to 

 pursue this course, the markets would be soon 

 glutted with supplies from the land ; and the now 

 plentiful and cheap sources of manure would be 

 used up, without supplying half the demand." 

 So it might be, if all were at once to adopt the 

 same course of reform and improvement. But 

 no such fortunate and general and simultaneous 

 change is to be expected, or hoped for; and lor any 

 number who will take the course recommended, 

 there is no danger of their wanting either the pro- 

 per supply of manure, or the demand failing for 

 their products. And if, m the earliest possible 

 time, every farmer within ten miles of Washing- 

 ton, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Petersburg, and 

 Norfolk, should improve his land and increase his 

 products as much and as rapidly as Com. Jones 

 has done, there can be but little question that their 

 markets, both i'or sales and purchases, would grow 

 as fast as their own improvements. The very 

 poverty and unproductiveness of the adjacent 

 country, and the consequent scarcity and high 

 price of supplies to the markets, is one cause that 

 retards the growth of the towns ; and even though 

 a better supply of the markets might reduce prices 

 somewhat, yet by making the demand larger and 

 always certain, the suppliers would, on the whole, 

 be better rewarded than now. 



It would be one of the greatest of blessings to Vir- 

 ginia if her other own native-born sons would gen- 

 erally do as this one has done; but if not, it would be 

 the next in value if some hundreds of the more in- 

 dustrious, prudent, and economical Yankees would 

 come and colonize the agricultural wastes which 

 are to be (bund within a few miles of each of our 

 towns, and profit fully by the resources which 

 the present proprietors neglect, and suffer to be 

 totally lost.— Ed. F. R.] 



From the Franltlin Farmer. 

 EXPERIMENTS OF GEN. JAS. GARRARD WITH 

 VARIOUS GRASSES. 



To the Editor of the Franklin Farmer : 



Sir— Upon the subject of grass, I have found 

 no such essay or notes as you suggest, was left by 

 my farther ; he may have left such essay or notes, 

 and should I in future find any, you shall have the 

 lull benefit of the same. As to my being able 

 to treat the subject with that justice which its im- 

 portance demands, I feel myself quite incompe- 

 tent to the task; and not knowing the manner 

 or design of the committee, I am unable to com- 

 municate what little knowledge I have upoii the 

 subject, so as to be ol" much use to them. Some 

 of n)y liiiher's experiments with grass, were made 

 before I was of an age to notice or it;el any inte- 

 rest upon the subject. He tried several varieties 

 of grasses, amongwhich were timothy, blue grass, 

 clover, (three varieties,) orchard grass, red-top, 

 meadow-oatand rye-grass, the last of which grew 

 only from spring until winter and was killed by 

 the frost, from which I conclude it could be of but 

 little use in this country although held in high es- 

 timation among the farmers of England, ii-om 

 whom he procured the seed when on a visit there. 

 Red-top is suited only to low, wet, marshy land, 

 and having but a small portion of such on his 

 farm, he made but a partial trial as to hs qualities. 

 It yields very abundantly and is a good hay when 

 put upon land that suits its growth. Upon high 

 lands it will not do so well as low, wet marshy 

 lands— this, 1 think, from the trials I have myself 

 seen made in Kentucky and Ohio. Meadow-oat 

 he tried and thought well of as a grass to make 

 hay ; the greatest objection was to the time when 

 it needed cutting, which was when the corn-crop 

 needed undivided attention. It has the advan- 

 tage of being cut the second time of good sea- 

 sons, with a good yield, and answers very well to 

 be mixed with red clover— both ripening at the 

 same time, and being well saved, makes an ex- 

 cellent food Ibr cattle and horses. Red clover he 

 tried as a hay grass; he admired the hay, but 

 owing to the difficulty of saving, together with 

 the disadvantageous time of saving, he abandoned 

 the use of it Ibr that purpose. The white clover 

 is vvell known, and is inlerior to the red, for the 

 various uses of that grass. The scarlet was a 

 variety which he procured in France, while on a 

 visit to that country; it was the prettiest grass I 

 ever saw, but the winter killed it as it did the rye- 

 grass. Orchard-grass he did not like for a mea- 

 dow-grass for several reasons ; it was equally ob- 

 jectionable with the meadow-oat and clover, as 



