602 



FARMERS' RE G I S T E R . 



[No. 10 



vvaier once tluTc, there would he no need ol the 

 second set, ol' bored log.^ above mentioned, and my 

 jXHrden and meadow woulil qiiicUly lepay me lor 

 the expense ol' their waterini!:. Muddy water lor 

 tliis purpose would be best, because! lie mud would 

 be manure, and such I intend to use ; moreover I 

 have a saw mill at the inieiuled point for entering 

 the water into logs, into which loi.'s I can at plea- 

 sure cast the saw dust to be conveyed to, or into 

 Ihe cattle yard, and there prepared lor manuring, 

 by mixing it wiih dung. By building a reservoir 

 with a lew l(3et head, a large (luantity of water, 

 with saw dust or other like matter could be con- 

 veyed. By using saw dust in its natural state, it 

 is lor the first year injurious to a crop, but prepared 

 as above mentioned, it is lorthwilh an excellent 

 manure. 



Fencing is a most tedious, laborious, and costly 

 apiiendage to a farm, and our law which conipels 

 the larmer to fence up his crop, or in other words, 

 lo stand guard around his field, is in a civil country 

 of all thiuiis the most uncivil. In ancient days tlie 

 greater portion of the lands belonged to the king, 

 and afterwarjls to the commonwealth, consequently 

 these were a common; but now ihe lands are own- 

 ed by individuals, and no individual should be 

 compelled to stand guard over his property. It is 

 my business to keep my beasts on my own pre- 

 nnses, otherwise by the law they are eslrays; yet 

 strantre it is, although estrays, and consequently de- 

 predators in the wild woods, yet if they find a field 

 not protected, they are at liberty to eat and destroy, 

 and their owner is clear of damage. Suppose the 

 law were so amended as to mike it the duly of 

 every owner to keep his cattle from ixoing at large, 

 then our arable lands might be saiti wiil;iout leti- 

 ciiiir, Hiid much cost and vexation be avoided. 



In ancient time, horses were turned into the 

 woods 10 find a subsisience. This has been aban- 

 doned, and to ihe observant eye it is also now re- 

 quired that cows and hoi>s be also enclosed; for 

 except in a lew wilderness places, there is no lon- 

 ger a sufficiency for iheir suhsislence in the woods. 

 May I not here add, that the time will shortly ar- 

 rive when it will be Ibund most economical to soil 

 all manner of cattle ; in which event, the woods 

 which are now reserved for the building and re- 

 newing of fences, woidd be appropriated to grass, 

 lor the support of catile through the year. 



1 reside in a country of timber and saw mills, 

 consequently [ consider post and [ilank lencing the 

 most economical. Where lands are cleared of lim- 

 ber, and sucli limber not otherwise valuable, it 

 eliould be used lor a fence; but where stone suf- 

 ficient for fencing can universally be had, no 

 valuable land should be reserved, merely lor fen- 

 cintr. 



The farmer should consider, examine, and de- 

 termine, where his fencing should be located, and 

 where any permanent location is determined on, 

 the fencing should be made in the most economi- 

 cal manner. If stone be used, the lence should 

 be sunk below the surface of the earth, so that it 

 may stand firmly ; if wood be used, the lence 

 should be elevated by cutting' two ditches, casting 

 the earth therefrom in the space between, and 

 planting the fence thereon. 



A circular piece of ground can be enclosed with 

 less liini-ing than any other shape; a square with 

 equal sides next cheapest, an oblong squaie next; 

 corners running outward arc bad enough, corners 



running in are miserable, and detached fields arc 

 wretched. 



'I will close with a few remarks on ditching. 

 When I removed to tlie premises on which ! at 

 present reside, I had about $iiGO worth of ditching 

 done, nearly all of which experierice has taught 

 me \ya.s useless work. It is tVue I drained my bot- 

 toms by those ditches, but subsequently 1 have 

 clearetl the. banks of tlie creek running through 

 ihe bottoms, and at intervajs removed obstructions 

 of wood and slone, by which means, un conjunc- 

 tion with, the current, the bed of the stream has 

 lowered, so that my ditches are' dry, and conse- 

 quently not only useles's, but a nuLsance. Where 

 the water strikes the banks' abruptly, stones are 

 used as a protection, so likewise- ate stone walls 

 used us a-proieclio-u against freshets ; 'but since 

 tiiere is no obstruction in and . about the stream, 

 ami the bed has sunk, there is but little use lor 

 such u'alls. 



In the genet^al, ditches are not cut deep enough, 

 even lor meadows. Where a ditch is actually 

 wanting, it !<hould not be Fess ihiin three Icet deep, 

 and olien five or six leet would be proper. It is a 

 common remark. "My high grounds are healthy, 

 but my low grounds a.re diseased;" now what is 

 the dill'erence between high grounds, and low 

 grounds, excepiin'g the one is dry, and tlie other 

 botrgy? By deep diiches, your bottoms become 

 dry, and healthy, atui then there is no more com- 

 plaint. JMoLTiTAIKEEil. 



September, 1S39. 



POTATO lis. 



From the Gcncsec Farmer. 



T!ic potato is unquestionably the most valuable 

 root cultivated by man. liisgrown wilhliitlecare, 

 yields good cro()s, can be iriown in almost every 

 variety of soil, and its nutritive properties are not 

 exceeded by any other root either for man or beast. 

 Though it can be ctdiivaied with little care, and 

 ihouizh almost any soil will produce potatoes, there 

 are ttuv cn'i'S that in both quantity and qualitj' bet- 

 ter reijay any extra attention they may receive 

 than this root. 



The potato. like most other cultivated plants, 

 delights in a strong rich loam, and other circum- 

 stances being equal, such a soil will usually pro- 

 duce one-Jburth more than one very tenacious and 

 heavy, or very light and sandy. In new settled 

 districts large crops of potatoes are grown in the 

 soils that contain great supplies of vesetable mould; 

 but experience would s. em to justily the opinion 

 that in such soils the quality of the potato is rarely 

 first rate. A grass ley^ — clover is the best — hag 

 been found, when properly prepared and manured, 

 to be excellent lor this crop; and if the soil is rather 

 moist than otherwise, it is considered as increasing 

 the chances of a good yield. Countries that have 

 naturally a cool moist atmospherfe are Ibund to pro- 

 duce far better potatoes than those that have a dry 

 and hi^h tem(;erature. Thus Ireland, surrounded 

 as it is by the ocean, and necessarily of a moist 

 and equable climate, is linnous lor its potatoes; 

 and of this continent, the part most famed fir the 

 quality of this root is New Brunswick and Nova 

 Scotia, whiidi districts are noted for the moisture of 

 climate. With anv part oC the northern or middle 

 states, however, the fault of not having goodpota- 



