44 



iS:i)c farmer's iHontl)Ip faisitor. 



l.ressed great sui-()ii?e to think "one coiiM live 

 on u tar 111 of one hnmlipfl acres." 1 leinarkeil 

 that ho IjikI too much land; thai lie coiihl not 

 take rare of it; that the iiines, Ijnshts, hriai-siiiiil 

 brooinsciige were gaining on him clailj ; and tlial I sjiri 

 he iliil not sow grass seed cnongh ; did not ina- 

 lune eijongh, or feme enou;;!], or take gntficieiit 

 cnte of his slock, and the consequence was he 

 got poorly |iai<l ; and with t«o hundred acres and 

 pi'iiper ijiana^'eiiient he woiikl lie better |iaid." 



"Uhj," lie replied, "as liir my owning too 

 miieii laud, 1 lliiuk it is a mislake. My wife wants 

 sixty acres (I) to raise poultry on. /could not 

 think of lurning round on any thing short of three 

 hundred acres; and I had rather have my prop- 

 erty ill land than money, for then 1 am not sub- 

 ject to so many losses. I can remember," he 

 continued, " rtlieii this land (moving his iianrl) 

 round here joining nie, could have been bought 

 for eighteen pence (2,5 els.) per acre, and now it 

 cannot he bought for fifteen dollars." 



I think, Mr. Editor, you believe that it is possi- 

 ble for a man to own too inneli laud, but it ap- 

 pears as if the majority of Viginians considererl 

 "the more the belter," even if they have no help 

 to work it, or the means to improve it. And if 

 tliey have llie latter, their log houses, and no 

 barns, and svant ol' fences, the presence of bush- 

 es and briars, &e. Sec. show that they will not 

 ■use it. In tin; tace of these ficls Ihere is a de- 

 cided and rapid change going on in this county, 

 Jiiid they see it. The "Vaukees" are in their 

 iniikt, anil slill increasing in iiiiinhers — pulling 

 up new houses, new barns and filling Ihem — 

 makiiiL' anil applying manure to the l.ind— divi- 

 ding large tracts into small farms, and fencing 

 Ihein— clearing the pine bushes. This course is 

 shaking the old crazy system to ils foniidation. 



It would make you laugh to see the im|ilements 

 tbal are made use of in farming. It is possible 

 •that you may have seen something at the North 

 similar to some of them, if so, 1 think they 

 must have been hamled down through former 

 generations, and I doiibl, if any like nlliers were 

 eucrused in the days of the Pilgriir>s. And how 

 they manage! Would you expect a "right smart" 

 crop of wheat, if you sowed it on stalk ground 

 ■before ploughing, "and "shoveled" it in? And 

 would it not make a " heap of difference" if the 

 i;round was belter tilled ? And would it not be 

 a niysKMV lo see wheat growing and the stumps 

 of st.-dks'undisturhed, at thi! North ? Willi suc-li 

 jiianiigemeiit, some " make a right smart of 

 wheat." 



'I'lie little village of " Providence," alias Fair- 

 fax Court House, is consi.intly improving and a 

 prospecins is issued for a paper to be pnblisheil 

 Ihere, to commeiiee about the first of May. Jf a 

 good one, it will receive a good support. 



There are many things 1 should like to write 

 ■yon about, but 1 am writing ton nineh to answer 

 "my own purpose this timi;. 1 want to ask you 

 several iiuesiions which you will do me a llivor 

 lo answi;r, provided the ileru I expect to leave 

 with the postmasier to send you, makes your 

 luemorv or the mail more liiitldiil lo nie. Only 

 Ihiuk: "l have not received your paper since .Sep- 

 :teniber I 



My inquiries are as follows: — Do yon ihink it 

 j\ L'ood plan to mix clover and limoihy logether ? 



Would il be a good plan to sow grass seed 

 willi huekuheal on boiioni l.iiid .' and would yon 

 recommend ilie use of ilie roller aller sowing the 

 grain on a clayey soil ? 



Do you recommend ciilting polaloes fiir seed ? 



In selling posis, which is the best nielhod ? 

 Is the bnlt of ihe slick llie more or less durable 

 to set in ihe ground ? 



Is it best to pasture oats to fniicli land, or 

 ]iloiigh them iiiider? 



And finally, do you not believe it heller fiir 

 many to come to Virginia and buy land, when 

 they"ciiii niaki^ a living off of il ; and by iiii- 

 pro'ving it lay by a litlle money, ihaii lo pay such 

 large prices at the North where ihey cannot do 

 as well? There are iidvaulages here over Ihe 

 Wi'slern cnuiilry and itveu llie Norlli. 'I'lnn,' 

 are niaikels, and gooil ones, loo, which the West 

 at presi'Mt cannot compare wiih. The cominii- 

 nicalion Willi New York is easy and rapid; the 

 two cities. New York and Wiishinglon, not being 

 one day's ride niiart. Th(^ coiinly is exceediiii-iy 

 healthy, and ihe climiite good ; ami we want New 

 lOnglaiid socieiy lo make Ibis a very prosperous 

 iind hiipiiy coiinly. " Come on, hrolher Vmikee.>=, 



and make this" more than "another New Eng- 

 land." 



The weather for some time |)ast has been de- 

 lightfiil. The buds of the fruit trees speak of 



iriiig, and the peach and the apricot promise us 

 ere long their welcome Hower; and the grass, 

 the wheat, anil the birds appear as if the month 

 of lovely May were smiling upon them. 



And now, if my much esteemed friend P 



receives this letter too, I hope it will appear lo 

 him heller in jirint than it rioes to me in inann- 

 scrifit. A " niiihiplicily" of things take up so 

 much of my time that I steal an hour of mid- 

 night to write : he will therefiire please pardon 

 imperfections in composition; ami to you, Mr. 

 Editor, 1 would apfiroach with a humble bow, 

 asking firrgiveness lor the wrong I commit in 

 sending such a scribble, with its many errors and 

 inte'rlinings. Yours. &c., 



Fairfax Co., March 1st, 1845. ' li. F. 



[[[/^ In the absence of the editor of the Visitor 

 — (who, when we la.st heard from him, March 

 13ili, was at New Orleans, La., where he has 

 gone for the benefit of his health) — the tempora- 

 n' conductor vvoiihl commend the questions pro- 

 posed by friend Fuller to some of the many ex- 

 perienced readers of the Visitor. For ourself, 

 we are but a "green hand" at practical farming, 

 and must confess that some of friend F's ques- 

 tions are " jiosers," so far as onr own ignorance 

 is concerned. We will lay them, however, be- 

 fore the editor, on his retm-n, which we look for 

 in the course of a mouth or six weeks, unless 

 some of onr correspondents in the mean time 

 will "come up to the scratch," as we suggest. 



Mixing Soils. 



Some nine or ten years ago in the early part 

 of my farming, I had occasion to deepen a well 

 about six or eight feet. The earth drawn out 

 was a tenacious blue clay, just damp enough to 

 cut into lumps, and adhesive enough to remain 

 so. After finishing the well, llie man who had 

 charge of the farm was at a loss to know where 

 todeposile it. Having a bare sandy kmill in one 

 oftlie fielils, which was not inaptly termefl " per- 

 sonal properly" from its being wafted about by 

 every breeze, here to day ami there to-morrow, 

 it occurred to me that the clay would hold ihe 

 sand and form a soil. I accordingly ordered it 

 deposited there in liea|is, same as if manure. 

 This was in summer. In the fall the lumps 

 were scittered over the surface, and left lo the 

 aciioii of ihe rain and fiost. In the spring it was 

 Ibniid to have broken down, crumbled and slak- 

 ed like lime. These heaps were reduced and 

 the clay evenly spread over the surface. The 

 field received a coat of manure, was ploughed 

 ;:ml sown with oats ami peas. Thai where the 

 clay was applied produced the largest and most 

 vigorous growth, of any other part of the field. 

 In the fall it was sown with rye ami seeded down 

 « itii tiniolhy and clover. 'J he rye as well as the 

 clover was much more vigorous and heavier, on 

 that than any other part ofthe field. In fiicl, the 

 person who occupied the fiirm after I left it, in- 

 icirmed me that he lost his crop of grass on that 

 part in consequence of its lodging. Thus the 

 personal was made real or fiist |iroperly, and re- 

 iiiains so lollie present ilay. 



"Having experienced such beneficial effects 

 from mixing clay witli sand I was afterwards iii- 

 diieed to try what elfcct saml would have on ii 

 r.itlier rtUentive soil. The garden al 'I'hree Hills 

 Farm, is a stiffclay loam resting on a strong te- 

 nacious clay snlisoil, riither inclined lo moisture. 

 The second year after 1 purchased ami took pos- 

 session of il, 1 caused a cont of sand six or eight 

 inches in depih, to be put on one of ihe squares, 

 which was spaded in with ninnnre, iind I had Ihe 

 salisliiclion to witness the most gratilyiug and 

 happy results— the crop on lli.-il square was liir 

 superior lo any other ill the ^.'ardeii. Since tlii'ii I 

 have caused over live hiimhed one horse curt 

 loads of siiiid lobe pill in the gulden, and the 

 elVeet is still visible allhoiejh the sand has disap- 

 pe.iK d.— ' /'.".Wmr/ /iom Mr. C. JV. litmenVs M- 

 drtss hfjhre lite Iloiisalonic Socieiy. 



time, and when the soil is placed upon the stack 

 of manure, pieces of turf are placed just below 

 the surface, oii which the seeds are ])lanted. If 

 the grass of the turf is alive, it is to be put upside 

 down. On the arrival of warm weather, nml 

 when the soil in the open air becomes fit for cul- 

 tivation, the pieces of turf are removed entire, 

 with the young plains upon them, and placed ill 

 highly manured ground, where they are finally to 

 grow. In this way the roots are taken u|) with- 

 out tin: least mutilation, conseipiently no check is 

 given to the growth. Afterwards,whenever there 

 is any probability of a night frost, each hill is 

 covered with a bell glass. The glasses have a 

 small opening at the lop, which prevents the sun 

 scorching the plants in case they are not removed 

 in time ; they are obtained at the glass-works in 

 Ihe neighborhonil, for four cents a-piece ; but 

 where they cannot be had, boxes, with panes in- 

 serted, w ill answer nearly as well. 



Raising early cucumbers. — H. G. Dickerson 

 of Lyons, Wayne connly, New York, one of lln 

 iiMisI successful ciillivalors of garden vegetables, 

 adopts Ihe following mode of raising early cii- 

 ctinihcrs, lie makes his hut-bed at iho usual 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 Meteorological Observations at Concord, 



Taken at 6 o'clock .4. Jil. and 2 o'clock P. M. 

 BY A. CHANDIiEIt. 



Character of Cloutlsy etc. 



~4 



C 



Hi 



3 

 13 

 14 

 24 



14 

 IG 

 4 

 13 

 1(1 

 17 

 12 

 24 

 14 

 28 

 IB 

 2S 

 28 

 42 

 1 

 8 

 14 

 18 

 22 

 37 

 3: 

 38 

 311 

 42 

 liCI 

 37 

 24 

 41 

 32 

 45 

 37 

 44 

 34 

 47 

 37 

 38 

 39 

 48 



T. a-iiaii 



53 



w.ai; 30 



52 



:t3 



44 

 26 



1 321 



T. 4 

 VV. 5 



S. 9 



T. 13 



S. 15 

 S. 16 



M. 11 

 T. 18 



\V.19 

 T. 20 



F. 21 



23 



M. 24 



T. 27 



F. 28 



.84 4G 

 .80jl9 

 .88 59 

 .95 28 

 .98 55 

 .77 25 

 .53^50 



3.58 



,61 



.80 

 9.02 



.30 



.43 



.61 



.70 



.75 



.66 



.GO 



.65 



.46 



.48 



.22 



!ll 



.81 



.95 

 0.12 



.20 



,S6 



85 



GO 



.40 



.38 



.41 



.53 



.113. 59 



.80144 



39 



60 



33 



56 



24 



50 



29 



52 



35 



57 



35 



68 



47 



no _ 



43 



r,4 



40 1 N. W. 

 .V. w. 



.N.W 

 .N.W 



N. W 



cli-ar. 



cli-ar. 



clear. 



clear— eveniog calm. 



clear. 



clear — evening hazy. 

 lu stratus. 

 10 snowing ligbtlj'. 

 10 snowing. 

 10 snowing — er. wind N. E. 5 



8 stratus, blustering. 

 .8'stratils, blustering. 



Olclear. 



clear. 



clear. 

 . s'cirro-slratiis. 



O'clear. 



clear, very fine day. 



29, 



.87 

 .84 



.66 

 .60 

 .511 

 .66 

 .76 

 .50 

 .a7 

 .35 

 .53 

 .5;) 

 .39 

 .32 

 .43 

 .45 

 .43 

 .45 



l!5 



N.W 



.\. \V, 



N. W. 

 .\. VV. 



l\. 



3 



3 







II 























1 



1 



S. E. 

 S. E. 

 .\. VV 

 .\. VV 



65' N.W. 

 68, — 

 61 



rv5 



.55 

 70 

 60 

 63 N. VV 



. W 

 . VV 

 . VV, 

 .W 



clear. 



clear. 



light snow — .\. M. misty. 



misty — evening hazy. 



misty — A. M. drizzling. 



stratus — evening elear. 



clear. 



dear. 



cirro-stratus. 



snowing lightly. 



misty. 



misty — evening hazy. 



ilriz/ling — shower in ni'bl. 



drizzling. 



cirro-stratus. 



cirro-stratus. 



cirro stratus. 



cirro-stratus. 



clear. [the moon. 



c. -stratus — eve. halo round 



stratus — A. M. niisly. 



misty — eve. dtizzling. 



riiisl>' — .\. M. misty. 



misty — eve. drizzling. 



misty — A. KI. misty. 



misty — eve. nii-ty. 



stratus — \. M. light rain. 



liuht rain. 



cirro-stratus. 



clear. 



cirro-stratus. 



clear, tine day. 

 9 cirro-stratus. 

 8 cirro-slralus. 

 clear. 



0, clear— eve. light haze. 

 . 4 stratus. 

 . Slcirro-stratus. 



FitiiiTi.NG Fou " (iPANo." — A Scottish paper 

 thus describes the troubles which hiivo recently 

 occurred at the island of " Icliaboe," where Gua- 

 no is procured, anioiig lliose engaged in oblain- 

 ing Ihe arlicle for expoitalion : 



Hevolutio.n AT IcKABOE. — Stmngc IIS such a 

 fiict may be, it is not more strange lliiin true. J{y 

 letters which have arrived in town this week, it 

 is stated thai a complele, and happily, ii blood- 

 le-s revolution had taken pl.iee at Icliaboe, al iho 

 date' of the last despalches. It .seems that, in 

 Ihe operalions ofthe first six months after llie is- 

 l.'inil was visited, a host of agents or supercar- 

 goes established themselves on the island.s, erect- 

 ing leiils and lenipoiiiry residences. In n short 

 time ihi'V marked nlftlie ground, mid laid claim 

 to all the principal parts as their own toiin Jidc 

 properly, on behall df ihiuisi Ives and their em- 

 ployers 111 home, erecting loading singes, and sel- 

 ling pits al extravimant prices. Till the revolu- 

 tion no opposioii was made to this mode of pro- 

 cedure, and the consequence wa.<, llitit nltimale- 

 ly no ship, unless llie captain submitted tu ilie 



