G06 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 10 



to whose kindness we were indebted for their visit, 

 wc ascended the steeple of llie large; congrcfTa- 

 tional church, which Ims been erected more than 

 one hundred year?, suid liom the top had a view o( 

 the almost countl<-i?s siono-wali p iriliion?:, and o( 

 fields upon which piles of ni;u)(ire in |)rcparation 

 lor the comin<r season had already been placed. 

 The sea, the Isles of Slioals. on one of which is 

 the White Islanil light, the Whale's Backiin<i the 

 Newcastle lights, inrlher on the steeples of Ports- 

 month, and in a transverse direction tlie harbor ol' 

 Rye, being a bay formed as the esiuary or mouth 

 of a sniallcreek rurmuig through the town, were 

 visible to the naked eye. 



From the observaiiuns made, as well as from in- 

 formation, we do notdoubt that this little town of Rye 

 turns out more value in the production and growth 

 of the soil than any other town of the siaie. The 

 farmers here seem to have studied in their own 

 school of experience, which has taught ihem the 

 best method of cultivating their ground. Hun- 

 dreds and someliines thousands of ox-loads of green 

 sea-weed are annually thrown upon the beach; 

 every storm with the wind blowing directly upon 

 the coast brings this along; and there is competi- 

 tion amo.!g them which shall secure the most o( 

 this article. It is of itself the very first-rate oi" ma- 

 nure, and is either sfjread upon the surlace belbre 

 ploughing, or else upon the sward where grass is 

 to be mowed. In addition to this sea weed or kelp, 

 the llirmersof this town within the last lew years, 

 having commenced the ditching and cultivation of 

 pwamps containing a deep vegetable mould, draw- 

 ing out the matter taken Irom these ditches in tiie 

 fall or winter to be spread over the ground along 

 wiih the sea weed. This rich black mould is 

 thrown in heaps at convenient distances, at the 

 rate of a hundred stout cart loads to the acre: the 

 vegetable mould under the operation of severe 

 frost, swells and pulverizes likeslacked lime. With 

 this and the vegetable weed liom the sea, and in 

 some instances on low ground wiih heaps of com- 

 mon stone gravel, such as liard roads are made ol, 

 the largest crojis are obtained. The corn is lar- 

 ger than that raised in the interior on the best 

 grounds: great oats follow as a succeeding crop to 

 the corn. But potatoes lor shipjiing are the great 

 staple: these the last year, carted directly from the 

 fieldjsold at forty cents the bushel. In agood season, 

 three and four hundred bushels are yielded to ihe 

 acre. Some of the farmers raise three and (bur 

 thousand bushels each. Most of the farms are 

 very small in compass: thirty acres would be 

 deemed a large farm; and it has been xommon 

 for a (arm of thirty acres to be divided among two 

 or more sons of the same (iimily, and all of them 

 soon increase their products so that each partition 

 will yield more than all of ihem did together. 



In the country we have seen no such cattle as 

 we saw at Rye and the adjoining town of Hamp- 

 ton. Real working oxen yoked in the teams seem- 

 ed to be fatter than the fattest of those we are 

 wont to sec driven liiroufrh Concord from the north 

 and west part of the state, and Irom Vermont lor 

 the Brighton market. The (aimers of Rye are 

 certainly more industrious than many of the (ar- 

 iher interior. They are working their teams con- 

 stantly in the winter, preparing as well their 

 grounds (or cultivation by carting manure, as pro- 

 curing iheir annual stock of luel. In the article of 

 wood and limber the people on the seaboard are 



much bettersupplied than they were fiftyyeara ago. 

 The while pine is more usually than any other 

 wood used as fuel; this is of the second growth, 

 tiie trees having aliaineti almost the size of some 

 of the original f)ines in the space of a lew years. 

 The but legs up to the knotty parts are saved, to 

 be sawed into boards and plank, or (or hewn tim- 

 ber, and ihe limbs above are cut and split, ma- 

 kin<.f good fire- wood Ibr the stove when they be- 

 come seasoned. The pines are preserved with all 

 thie care of a garden-orchard, as are the hard- 

 wood trees irt unculiivaied swamps: the growth of 

 these w'ill yield a great aimual profit on a high 

 price paid (or the land. 



The larmers with a small amount of land usu- 

 ally keep at least two yokes of oxen, and turn 

 them oti' very fat at Ihe season when good beef 

 for the market will bring the best price, supplying 

 iheir place oftener Willi other oxen furnished by 

 the country than by young catile of their own 

 raising. Considerable pasiuraiie (or cattle is either 

 owned or hired out of town, the land being taken 

 up with more (avorable cultivation. 



The cultivated lands of this town sell from one 

 to two hundred dollars. the acre, and sometimes 

 even beyond that price. The inhabitants nfi he town 

 change less than is usual in the towns farther in- 

 terior. Seldom does the property pass out of the 

 fi^mily. A vast deal more in value is annually, 

 produced in the town than is expended in ihe 

 town, so that the people necessarily must be grow- 

 ing rich: the annual increase of the capacity ol" 

 the land from its improved cullivdiion is a great 

 increase of the wealth of the town. 



Could the farmers of all our towns realize the 

 extent of the advantage gained by so cultivating 

 ilieir ground as to make every acre produce two or 

 three lor one — couM they witness what has been 

 done by the industrious farmers of Rye — few of 

 them would fail to make efforts to elevate them- 

 selves, and their calling, in that easiest method 

 which human ingenuity can devise. 



ON THE MANURING OF ARABLE LANDS BY 

 THEIR OWN VEGETABLE GROWTH. — ROTA- 

 TION OF CROPS. 



(Continued from p. 564.) 



No. II. 



Different advantages of green and dry vegetables, 

 as manure, compared. 



Though few farmers in this country had adopted 

 or even tried the practice of ploughing in green 

 vegetables for manure, no one doubted their effi- 

 cacy, if so used. The objections to the practice 

 would have been raised on other grounds — sucli 

 as the costliness of the mode of tnanurinjr, by all — 

 and by some, in addition, the fear of injurinir the 

 previous fertility of the soil, by turning it up by the 

 plough in summer, and exposing the new naked 

 surlace to the supposed danger of exhaustion by 

 evaporation. But when Col. Taylor first an- 

 nounced the novel scheme of manurintj the fields 

 by their own dry vegetable growth, it was met by 

 general doubt and incredulity, or by confidence of 

 very slow growth. Before that time, there was very 

 little manure made on any farms in Virginia, and the 



