542 



b' A K J\l E R S ' REGISTER, 



[No. 9 



which Mr. Jamieson considers lo b« necoFsmy, 

 ifyou wish the land equally dunycd. Aitoji^eiher, 

 I here were in the Oeld 35 men, l)esidcs Elliot, 

 Fairbairn, and' me. I might have included i>lr. 

 Jamieson, who did not, leave us lor an instant, 

 but rode about ihe field ii'utnthc boLnnninij oCench 

 yoking to its conclusion, except when al breakfast. 

 Elliot thinks thai seven acres were flnislied this 

 day; and as the carts took out 112 loads, which 

 was 17 to each carl, or 14 to ihe acre, I a.ppiehcnd 

 lie is not liir out in his calcidalion. 



Jane 24. Turnip seed is now over, havinjr 

 from first to last been favored with excellent 

 weather. The first sown drills, '.hough the wea- 

 ther has been dry, fairly above ground, — cniirely 

 owing, as Mr. Jamieson declares, to the sedulous 

 attention bestowed on securing the means of ve- 

 fjetation. As the several operations went on from 

 first to last in an uniform train, I hope the whole 

 will be equally successful, as the different depart- 

 ments of the work were nicely balanced. The 

 seed used is all of the globe kind, raised on the 

 farm, as Mr. Jamieson says he will never trust 

 a seedsman lor a supply, unless impelled by the 

 most urgent necessity. The ruta baga and yel- 

 levv turnip were likewise of his own produce; and 

 v/iih what he saved of these seeds many of his 

 neiirhbors have also been supplied. 



Fairbairn, with a large detachment of women 

 and boys, is at this time goinir (firouiih the bean 

 fields, pulling out every weed from the drills to 

 which the plough had not access. The rula bajra 

 is thinned and set out, and the yellow turnip fol- 

 lows. Fairbairn has about fifty hands, young 

 and old, under him; and it is wonderful to see 

 with what adroitness many of the boys pvU and 

 s/toof the hoe, and how dexterously they set our 

 the young plants. The hay harvest is also com- 

 niPiiced; and six of rny fellows are cutting away 

 this liay. and will continue, if the weather proves 

 drj', till forty acres are laid on their back. Mr. 

 Jamieson ha? enjoined nie, in the most positive 

 manner, not to allow a scythe to be drawn when 

 the grass is wet, alleging that such a step would 

 prove injurious to the qualiiy of the Iiay. In tlie 

 event of' wetness, he has directed mcio make the 

 cullers turn an earlfi midiien at tlie end of ihe 

 grass field, to which lime shells were laiely driven, 

 so I cannot be at any loss, however the weather 

 should turn r.ut. 



Elliot is giving Ihe summer fallow break a third 

 furrow, and driving lime shells to it. He first 

 harrows the land, afier being gathered up, and 

 draws out the lime in heaps of a barley firlot, or a 

 bushel and a half each. The ridges being IS feet 

 in breaiith, have cross furrows drawn at the like 

 distance, which makes them appear like a dam- 

 board; and as a heap is drawn out into each 

 square, any mistake in Ihe application must be 

 very trifling. Six carts are now employed at the 

 lime, eight plouirhs at ridiiing up the land, and 

 eight horses at the beans, which are now receiv- 

 ing their last furrows; and, when finished, the 

 horse-hoes go to the ruta baga and turnips. A 

 cart continues to drive grass constantly; but the 

 liorses therein employed are a couple of odd ones, 

 not included in the regular slrencjlh. Nolwilh- 

 standing the immense number of hands employed, 

 1 assure you that there is work at this time (or 

 more, if they could be [jrocured; but this being 

 the busy season with every farmer, a temporary 

 supply is not to be obtained. 



Jalij'S. The hay field is all cut, at least that 

 pan origitiidly intended lor dry luod, though Mr. 

 Jamieson says that probably a li;w acres more may 

 be used in the same way, if not needed for the 

 horses and cattle at the slake. This however, 

 will not be determined on till ihe end of llie month, 

 by which lime the tare field vvill be ready (or cut- 

 ting. Fairbairn had the charge of winning and 

 cocking the hay. As ihe weaiher provcul good, 

 the processes were not difficult. It lay one day 

 untouched afler being cut; then was turned over; 

 and in Ihe af^iernoon of the satne day, put up in 

 small hand-cocks, (bur or five of which were after- 

 wards put into a fork rick; and in this siaie the 

 hay remains till fit (or the stack-yard. The turnip 

 field is at hand ; so Fairbairn's squad wrought 

 there in the mornings and at spare limes, and was 

 ready lijr hay work when called f^jr. My men, 

 not at the lurnip ploughs and grass cutting, are 

 attached lo him so long as hay harvest lasls; and, 

 of" course, I am also under his direclion. 



'i'he fallow break is now wholly ridged up, and 

 about one third of it limed. 1 understand that 

 one half of tlie break was limed at last fallow 

 time; so the part that remains will soon be finished. 

 The lime is lo be sjiread ihe moment the hay is 

 ricked, whiidi is to be done by my people, not 

 otherwise engaged, and some of Howard's men; 

 of" course, Ihe superintendence will ftdl upon me. 

 Mr. Jamieson says that he means lo [ilough the 

 lime into the ground with a shallow furrow, then 

 lo harrow and lay on the dung, and to conclude 

 ihe process wiili a seed-furrow about ihe beginning 

 of autumn. 



It gives me pleasure to add, that Mr. Jamieson 

 sent lor me last night alier working hours, and 

 inquired concerningyour welfare. Alicrsome other 

 conversation, lie kindly said, 'George when you 

 write my good old /iiend yourliiiher, lell him that 

 I am well satisfied wilh your behavior since you 

 came under my management, and that 1 will do 

 every thing in my power to serve you. Ee assured, 

 houever, that success, in a great measure, de- 

 pends upon yourself! It"you remain steady, dili- 

 gent and induslrious, there need be small fears 

 enterlained; but should sloth, carelessness or irreg- 

 ularity prove master, ihe issue may easily be fore- 

 told. You have hitherto shown an anxious dis- 

 position to learn, and given proofs o( j'our activity, 

 Persevere then in those honest endeavors, avoid- 

 ing idleness as the parent of vice, and vice as the 

 source whence every human misery flows.' 

 ( To be continued.) 



ADVANTAGKR O)^ THR THREE-SHIFT ROTA- 

 TION. I3iPllOYEMi:XT IN WESTMORELAND. 



To tlie Editor of the fanners' Register. 



The republication of my essay on marine ma- 

 nures in your 'Country Advertiser,' being likely 

 to give additional currency to an erroneous opi- 

 nion, therein expressed, in regard to the four-shift 

 rotation, 1 deem it my duty to correct it, lest some 

 inexperienced farmer misled by my authority may 

 be induced to adopt a system, which subsequent 

 experience will compel him to abandon. The late 

 Mr. John Wickham was the first I believe to 

 make known the fact which ought to have been 

 (ibvious lo every one — that the four-field rotation 

 of lower James River, is a much more exhausting 

 course than the much tibused three-field system 



