1-839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



163 



uniformlv valued beyond their real worth. When ] herej and il our soil and climate did not afford us 

 the tract on the Green Mountains in Massachu- I the means of obtammo; lertihty, without the ex- 

 setts was first seliled,- the same luxuriant fertility j pense of labor applied there to farming lands, our 

 was aiiributed to it which has since characterized 1 situation would be dreary. Fortunately the diffi- 

 Kentdcky. About the same time it was ascribed i culties of scarce and dear labor, are compensated 

 (o the Valieyr of Housatonac, in the. county of"! by ample space, and our climate for the most part 

 Berkshire. From these tracts it was transferred j enables us to employ the means of covering the 

 to the lands in New Hampshire and VermontjOU ' lands, which our space admits of being consigned 

 (he Connecticut, and thence to those in Vermont | to rest with a growth calculated to heal their 

 on the western side of the Green JMountains. wounds. 



• From these regions the paradise has travelled to ! The grasses are the agents we must chiefly em- 

 ihe western part of the state of New York, to j ploy in this. work,. aided when pracucable by min- 

 New Connecticut, to .Upper Canada, to the coun- erais; not that they are the only one?, but such 



tries on the Ohio, to the south-western territory, 

 and is now making its progress over the Missis- 

 sippi into the newly purchased regions of" Louisi- 

 ana. The accounts given of all these countries 

 successively, were extensively true ; but the con- 

 clusions which were deduced li-oni them were in a 



others as are now known consume more time than 

 the short life of man can spare. Could American 

 ingenuity be earnestly directed to this subject, I 

 doubt not new sources of power would speedily be, 

 developed. We know such powers exist in nature 

 IQ considerable extent, from the number now in 



great measure erroneous. So long as this mould | use, and which hiighl perhaps he enough it diey 



remains, the produce will regularly be great, and ' " ■"-' i- - - ••■ -"— — - ■—' i 



that with very- imperfect cultivation; for the 

 mould in its native state, is so soft, and light, as 

 scarcely to need the aid of the plough. But 

 this mould after a length of time will be dissipated. 

 Where lands are continually ploughed, il is soon 

 lost ; on those which are covered with grass from 

 the beginning, it is preserved through a conside- 

 rable period. At length, however, every appear- 

 ance of its efficacy', and even of its existence va- 

 nishes. 



"The true object ofinquiry, whenever the quali- 

 ty of a soil is to be estimated, is the nature of the 

 earth immediately beneath the vegetable mould, 

 fortius in every case will ultimately be the soil. 

 If this is capable of being rendered, by skilful cul- 

 tivation, regularly productive, the soil is good ; if 

 not it is poor." 



There is much trutli in the foregoing extract, 

 but I think there is also some error. Wliere lands 

 are covered with grass from the beginning, unless 

 they are constantly kept close mowed and grazed, 



were attainable every where. But lime and marl 

 are too bulky to be transportec' great distances, 

 and there are many situations where gypsum does 

 not act, and others where it cannot be obtained. 

 It would be extremely unphilosophical to conclude 

 that, we are acquainted with all the agents of 

 this character, and the analogy of nature would 

 rather lead us to infer there are many more, and 

 pel haps some within the reach of all. There 

 IS a peculiar propriety in expecting these discove- 

 ries from American genius. Wliilsl it has a spe- 

 cial bias to immediate utility, it has shown itself 

 equal to any efforts. The disarming the light- 

 ning of the clouds, and the almost practical anni- 

 hilation of the distances of earth, although the 

 most splendid instances of its power, are only 

 higher examples of an abundant stock of talent 

 similar in kind, but not §o conspicuous-^perhaps 

 not so fortunate. The Patent Office at W^ashing- 

 ton, affords many proofs to sustain this assertion. 



'I'here can be no question, I think, as ascertain- 

 ed by the experience of many, that the vegetable 



the mould will not disappear; otherwise the prai- I niould is restored to exhausted lands by putting 



ries of the west which have been in grass, proba 

 biy for ages, instead of being the richest of lands, 

 would be now poor. Nor have they escaped the 

 hoof and the tooth; lor the vast herds of buffaloes 

 which inhabited these countries prior to the settle- 

 ment of the white man, derived their chief sub- 

 sistence from them. 



It is true, hov/ever, that the tracts of country de- 

 scrit)ed as having successively borne the charac- 

 ter of eminent itirtiiity, have one after the other 

 lost it. And it is owing to their being -'continual- 

 ly ploughed," whilst the whole crop has been 

 taken off' without any return, which is generally 

 the case where a scarcity of animal labor exists, 

 - and the husbandman makes no effort to supply 

 the deficiency through the resources of nature. 



If productiveness is to be restored only by "skil- 

 ful cultivation" on the European system of apply- 

 ing artificial manures, at great expense of human 

 power, as I suppose Dr. Dvvight means, 1 tear, for a 

 long lime to come, the occupants of these lands 

 • have rather a gloomy prospect, as labor is likely to 

 continue dear with us through many generations. 

 And the new Eldorados of the west, pursuing the 

 same course, must meet the same result, until at 

 last the whole of our vast republic will feel the 

 evils of a barren soil. European agriculture, such 



them down in grass, and allowing them to remain 

 long enough in that situation for the decomfxjsi- 

 lion of the roots and tops of the grasses which 

 have grown thereon. Even when grazing and 

 mowing are practised in moderate degree, that re- 

 sult is not prevented, provided a moiety of the top 

 is left in the one case, or the second crop in the 

 other. 



This is a consideration of great importance to a 

 large portion of Virginia, already too much reduced 

 in fertility to yield a profit to cultivating labor, and 

 having no resources for restoration ex:cept those 

 which the hand of nature yields. Fortunately the 

 poorest lands are capable of producing some kind 

 of useful grass, and there is none but has some 

 fertilizing quality. They all loo, yield with toler- 

 able management, good hay, a resource of the 

 utmost consequent to an impoverished farm, and 

 which is far more neglected in that portion of the 

 state that needs it most, than could have been an- 

 ticipated from ihe intelligence of the people on 

 other subjects. When hay is obtained in abun- 

 dance, the corn may be spared the process of strip- 

 ping the blades belbre the grain is perfected, 

 which so materially diminishes its product. Fat 

 meal, milk, and butter, follow in the train of (rood 

 meadows; and every animal on the farm, more or 



as that of England and Flanders, is inapplicable [ less, participates in the advantages. Red clover, 



