1839 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



501 



broufjlit to a Icvei with the plouirh, or directly iji ! 

 the luie of direclion, then no power would be lost; 

 if elevated to 45 degree?, then hall power is lost; 

 if to 90 degrees tlien there is no power. 



^Wcr.— Elder is considered a great pest, but it 

 is a good Iboii tor sheep, and so long as they stay 

 amongst it they are secure from flies. 



Improvement by oats. — 1 have this year turned 

 under fallow about 25 acres of oats, a portion of 

 which was treated in the same method last year ; 

 the yield of which last mentioned was about thrice 

 as much as last year, and twice as nnicli as that 

 adjoining. The second crop is now growing finely, 

 and if they can siiortly have tlie benefit of two or 

 lliree showers of rain I may make hay of some of 

 the best. 



Red [or earth] ivorms. — Nature orders all things 

 right ; hence stilf grounds are made the natural 

 abode of the red worm. Immediately afier a 

 shower of rain, every worm bores one or more 

 holes through the soil, and Irequently comes on the 

 surface, by which means the superabundant water 

 is absorbed. As the water subsiiles the worms 

 again enter the earth, and the air (bllowing, the 

 grass or other crop is doubly invigorated. Man 

 generally orders matters wrong; for instead of 

 manuring his clay for the purpose of breeding 

 those worms, he suft'ers his hogs to nm thereon 

 when the ground is wet, by the rooting of which, 

 and destruction of worms, the irround is doubly 

 damaijed. As to the grub worm, they are the 

 offspring of slovenly farmin£r ; and a sloven de- 

 serves all the damage they will do him. 



Chinese tree corn. — From what I see and hear 

 of this corn, the American tree corn is far prefera- 

 r.ble. The Baden corn seems to be prelerable to 

 the tree corn. The Chinese corn is nevertheless 

 valuable wh^n sown broadcast and" cut as green 

 fodder. JMouktaiiveer. 



jiugust, 1839. 



Iburth as much as they have now done, all other 

 things being equal. So much for my tittle wheat 

 crops, which I have not detailed inminutiaj. Our 

 prospect of a good corn crop thus fiir is promisiuff. 

 In conclusion 1 do Conscientiously and firmly believe 

 that the easiest, cheapest and best manner or me- 

 thod of improving our lands, is by the aid ol' cal- 

 careous manures, when done judiciousi}-. 



R. W. SlI.VESTlCR. 



"WHEAT OX CLOVER, AND LIIMING, IN NOR- 

 FOLK COUNTY. 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Norfolk county, July 23rd, 1S39. 

 I am now getting out my little crop of wlieat, 

 and have already cleaned out 118 bushels, and 

 feel confident of 30 to 40 more, which, by tlte w-aV; 

 is a great crop for this section of country, espe- 

 cially, li-om about seven acres of land. Last year I 

 produced from a small piece of land not exceed- 

 ing four and a half acres, sown with five and a 

 half bushels of seed exactly, ninety-two and a half 

 bushels of good clean wheat. In sheer justice, 

 however, to you and your works, I must say that 

 the most credit (if there be any) is due to you and 

 them, especially to your work on calcareous ma- 

 nures. Afier reading and studying that and some 

 of your first numbers of the Register, I was satis- 

 fied that by lime I could make clover, with a little 

 farm pen manure in addition ; and fi'om inlbrma- 

 tion derived from various sources, I learned that 

 the practice of the best wheat farmers in this 

 country and Europe, was to sow wheat on a clover 

 lay; I have pursued it so far on a small scale, 

 with complete success. For I am confident from 

 some tew previous trials, without the aid of lime 

 and clover, the two crops I have mentioned would 

 »ot have turned out more than one-third or one- 



P^ROFITS OF FAR3UNG. 



From tlie New England Farmer, 



IMuch discussion and conversation have been 

 had upon this subject. We do not mean to enter 

 fully or much at la>rge upon a subject which le- 

 quires to be examined in various aspects and rela- 

 tions, in order that an enlightened and well-jbunded 

 judgment may be made up; and especially in or- 

 der that we may not lead to any false inferences 

 of its unprofitableness, nor encourage anv Itilla- 

 cious expectations as to any advantage's, (we 

 mean pecuniary advantages,) to be derived from 

 it. The erroneous o[)inions and calculations which 

 have been lonned in this matter, have led to most 

 painful results, to serious losses, and to bitter and 

 vexaiious disHppoini meats. We Know a ifentle- 

 inan who tried fiirmingonan extensive and exper- 

 imental scale, whose auihoriiy is often quoted as as- 

 seriiniT tliat "in agriculture two and two do not 

 make four." VVe understand it to be implied in this 

 calculation respecting the profitable results of agri- 

 culture, or a fair return for ihe expenditure of labor 

 and I he investment ofcapital, are not hkely to be ver- 

 ified as in the oiher business pursuits of life. We do 

 not admit the axiom in any fair sense. We do 

 not believe that it does justice to agriculture; and 

 no small experience and some obse"lvaiion satisfy 

 us, that circumstances being equal, farming would 

 furnish as liiir a compensation for labor, ami as 

 as ample a dividend upon the capital invested, as 

 the common trades which men engaije in, and 

 and even the pursuits of mercantile and commer- 

 cial life. Of course we except all extraordinary 

 cases of good fortune, and all matters of gamblini'' 

 and speculation. "^ 



The returns of most crops strike one someiimes 

 with astonishment; and would, if taken as a test, 

 lead to the most delusive expectations. A grain 

 of seed sometimes returns one hundred fold;''and 

 this being sown a second year, would perhaps give 

 ten thousand fold, and so on in a geometrical ratio. 

 Twenty bushels of potatoes planted willfi-equently 

 yield four hundred busliels, that is twenty fo'r 

 one. A- bushel of wheat sown olientimes returns 

 thirty bushels. A peck of Indian corn planted will 

 often produce sixiy l)usliels,lhat is two hundred and 

 l'ji,ty for one. A pound of carrot seed orofruta 

 baga, which costs a dollar, will produce six or nine 

 hundred bushels of roots worth one hundred dol- 

 lars. The proceeds in tliis case seem enormous, 

 and yet they iflre constantly realized, and olien, it 

 must-be admitted, at a comfiaratively small ex- 

 pense. But no confident conclusions on the pro- 

 fits of farming are tojie drawn fi-o.-n such results 

 as these. So many circumstances of abatement en- 

 ter info the case, that if these are the only elements 

 given in the case, the solution of the problem 

 would give the most egrcgioiisly erroneous and 

 deceptive results. 



We arc not to look to agriculture for any extra- 



