1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



239 



of the grain crops, Mr. S. formerly had the bene- 

 fit of the pomace ol castor beans, which he bought 

 to make oil for sale. But that part. of his business 

 was never extensive, and he has for some years 

 ceased to make any oil, except from his own crop 

 of beans, raised on the same farm. The use ol 

 this manure was not properly understood when he 

 at first might have profited by it, and indeed it was 

 scarcely used at all, or thought to be worth using, 

 except to remove an oflensivc nuisance. It was 

 thrown out of the factories in bulks, and left to rot 

 aud waste — and was used as manure most inju- 

 diciously and to great loss. It is now saved under 

 shelter, and applied in very small quantities. Mr. 

 S. thinks. that the whole amount ol' this manure 

 which he used, that was not derived from his own 

 fields, could not have exceeded 1500 bushels ol' 

 the pomace properly applied. This I mention 

 because it is the only foreign substance which has 

 been used to restore the lost productiveness of the 

 farm — and this is certainly more than counterbal- 

 anced by the oil which is every year produced on, 

 and sold from the farm. It would seem then, that 

 whatever Mr. S. has done to improve an exhaust- 

 ed farm, may be done any where, by the means 

 furnished by the land itself, and under the corn 

 and oat rotation, provided grazing is prohibited, 

 and clue attention paid to the preservation of ma- 

 nures. 



Mr. S. thinks that cotton seed must contain at 

 least as much of fertilizing matter, as an equal 

 bulk of bean pomace — and probably much more, 

 as the former have lost none of their oil, and the 

 castor beans lose all that can possibly be expres- 

 sed by the most powerful machinery. But the 

 great difficulty with cotton seed, is to apply them 

 as manure without destroying the oil which con- 

 stitutes their value. Violent fermentation, to which 

 they are commonly exposed, must produce a great 

 chemical change, and particularly on so putres- 

 cent a substance as oil. The manure is still rich, 

 but perhaps half its amount and value has been 

 wasted. W applied before fermenting, the seeds 

 sprout, and in the process of germination, the oil 

 is certainly changed to a far less valuable sub- 

 stance. Mr. Smith has tried steaming his cotton 

 seed — and this seems not only reasonable as a 

 means of preserving their whole value as manure, 

 but his experiment of the effect fully confirms the 

 supposition. I saw where the steamed seed had 

 been applied to corn, by throwing a single handful 

 into each place where the corn was planted, and 

 the growth was at least double in luxuriance and 

 in promised product. This is a valuable improve- 

 ment lor other parts of the country where cotton 

 is a large crop. Steaming of seed on a large 

 scale might be done with very little trouble or ex- 

 pense, the object being merely to destroy the ger- 

 minating power of the seed by heat. 



The valuable farm of Mr. W. L. Eyre, ex- 

 hibits a high state of improvement, and of pro- 

 ductiveness that is rare in this county — and which 

 he has principally produced himself, and within 

 the ihw years which he has been in possession. 

 The land, however, though much impoverished, 

 was originally among the best, which of course 

 gave the greater facility to profit, by the applica- 

 tion of putrescent manures. Mr. E. has also 

 abundant means to use calcareous and marine 

 manures, and lias availed of them to some extent, 

 but not so much as might have been expected. It 



is unnecessary to speak more at length on this 

 head, as I can refer to a communication from Mr. 

 E., at page 731, Vol. I. of the Farmers' Register. 

 The old oyster shoals which are there described, 

 are found in various places on both sides of the 

 count)'. They would not, only supply calca- 

 reous manure, but other kinds in the salt, the mud, 

 and the remains of putrescent vegetable, and ani- 

 mal matters. Another excellent use might be 

 made of this as a material for compost heaps, in 

 which should be placed in layers the fish which 

 may be here caught in great abundance, and at 

 little cost. The calcareous matter would receive, 

 and preserve for use as manure, the products of 

 animal decomposition, and by the chemical action 

 prevent all waste: and it seems probable also, that 

 by the action of the animal products on the shells, 

 (as they certainly combine chemically,) that the 

 shells would be made more friable, and easily re- 

 duced, when put on the land. Mr. Eyre now 

 has fish in compost beds of earth and vegetable 

 substances: but these substances are very interior 

 to calcareous matter for the purpose of absorbing 

 and retaining the products of animal decompo- 

 sition. When fish are applied directly and with- 

 out preparation as manure, it is the most wasteful 

 of all the modes in which they are used. If pro- 

 perly used, the abundance and cheapness of this 

 material lor manure would make it of immense 

 value to many farmers in Northampton. 



It has been already stated that the renting of 

 land is extensively practiced in this county — and 

 it is still more general in Accomac, where the 

 more minute divisions of land, (for Virginia,) the 

 comparative scarcity of slave labor, and other ex- 

 isting circumstances, offer interesting subjects for 

 inquiry and remark, which it is highly desirable 

 should be presented to the public, by some of those 

 who have the means. Large land-holders may, 

 if it is desired, derive their entire income,withease 

 and with sufficient profit, from tenants. Though 

 the terms of rent are only from year to year, 

 changes are not frequent. Mr. John Eyre, of 

 Northampton, has long had a large proportion of 

 his lands in both these counties, in the hands of 

 tenants. He told me that he had never denied a 

 continuation of the possession to but one person. 

 One held the same farm tor 35 years, paying half 

 the product as rent, and in that time increased the 

 landlord s share from less than 40 barrels of corn, 

 to more than 100. He did this in part by new 

 clearings, and by using the means for manure 

 which the location offered, and which the landlord 

 aided in, and though not in his obligation, to his 

 own profit as well as his tenant's. Another of his 

 iarms was held 28 years by one tenant, who then 

 died, and was succeeded in the possession by his 

 son. Such cases would seem to show that there 

 is more attachment to rented land on the Eastern 

 Shore, than is felt on our side of the Chesapeake 

 for lreehold inheritances on which the owners were 

 born, and on which perhaps several generations 

 of their ancestors were buried. 



My conclusions as to the soil and culture of 

 Northampton, are very different from the opinions 

 which prevail among most of those who are equal- 

 ly strangers to them. It is not. uncommon to hear 

 the country spoken of as but little better than a 

 mere sand bank, and the tillage as miserable as 

 the soil. These of course are exaggerated ex- 

 pressions, and would be so admitted by those who 



