244 



FARMERS 1 REGISTER. 



[No. 4. 



The crops of wheat made by Mr. S. at West- 

 over, have been certainly very flattering; but in 

 accounting for them, lie seems to me to overrate 

 the merits of the system, and to underrate the 

 natural fertility of his land, and his own excellent 

 management, which would doubtless insure suc- 

 cess under any system. As these crops have 

 been produced as evidence of the excellence of 

 the new system, it seems that tiie following re- 

 marks are certainly pertinent, and perhaps neces- 

 sary to a proper understanding of the subject. 



The crop of wheat made by Mr. S. s prede- 

 cessor at Westover, is by no means to be consider- 

 ed as a fair criterion of the productiveness of the 

 land; for, as that gentleman informs me, it was all 

 sown after the 10th of November, (the period 

 assigned by Mr. S. and all other good farmers, as 

 the proper one for finishing that operation in tiiis 

 climate,) by the force from another estate, where 

 a full crop had been previously sown; and in ad- 

 dition to this, the season was extremely unpro- 

 pitious for wheat — the crops in this neck being of 

 such inferior quality, as to require a deduction from 

 the price originally agreed on. Mr. S. is mistaken, 

 too, (unintentionally 1 am perfectly sure,) in regard 

 to the amount of that crop, which was larger than 

 stated by Mr. S., and produced from less land; a 

 portion of the former having been reserved, and re- 

 moved elsewhere for seed, without the knowledge, 

 it is presumed, of Mr. S.'s informant, and twenty 

 acres of excellent land (as nearly as it could be es- 

 timated,) having been led out, in consequence of 

 the advanced state of the season; it being then 

 about the middle of December. These facts 1 

 have from Mr. S.'s predecessor. 



As far back as 1816, 3100 bushels of wheat and 

 600 barrels of corn were made at W estover by 

 my kinsman, Benjamin Harrison, Esq. of Berkley, 

 after the estate had been long subjected to the most 

 exhausting course. If I mistake not, and if 1 do 

 I hope to be put right, Mr. S.'s own great crop of 

 3000 bushels from 100 acres, was made on land 

 on which he had put little or no other improve- 

 ment than clover and plaster, and what was ob- 

 tained by a masterly preparation for the crop. By 

 a reference to his exhibit of his crops, (see page 

 322 Vol. I, of the Register,) and to what follows, 

 it will be seen that this field was never cultivated 

 by him in corn till 1833; and as he tells us he ap- 

 plies nearly all his manure for corn, it is to be in- 

 terred, that this field at that time (1832) had re- 

 ceived little or no manure. I wish if any one of 

 your subscribers has the good fortune to cultivate 

 as fine land in three fields, that he would furnish 

 the data which Mr. S. complains so much that 

 he wants. I cannot help thinking, if he is a good 

 manager, that 'his exhibit will sbow more than 5 

 barrels of corn, and 12 bushels of wheat per acre. 



I never for a moment supposed that Mr. S. was 

 acquainted with the fact that Mr. Harding was 

 the first to practise the new system, when he at- 

 tributed the honor of having introduced it to Mr. 

 James Selden. On the contrary, I am quite cer- 

 tain that Mr. James Selden adopted it himself, 

 without any previous knowledge of the fact. Mr. 

 S. says that Mr. H. kept at Dover as many as 50 

 or 60 cows, and derived a considerable part of his 

 profits from stock: and if so, the exhausted con- 

 dition in which he left the estate, is certainly not 

 fairly chargeable upon the four-field system. Mr. 

 S. say« too, that Mr. H. improved very highly 



the farm to which he removed, and where be con 

 tinued to practice that system till his death. I can 

 only say in reply, that all bis neighbors wei 

 unanimous in regard to that improvement. 



By way of illustrating the advantages of this 

 system, my friend Mr. S. refers triumphantly to 

 the result of the last \ ears cropping at Curie's. 

 It is to be regretted that it had not suited his pur- 

 pose equally well to give us the average sales from 

 the estate, since it was purchased by the late Col. 

 Wm. Allen, instead of referring to the results of 

 the last year's crop, which greatly exceeded an 

 average, and can of course prove nothing. If I 

 mistake not, the crop of wheat of the last year 

 exceeded, by at least a fourth or more, the average 

 crop made on the estate since the purchase; and if 

 so, (if I am wrong I hope to be corrected,) and if 

 even then the crop was only 13 bushels per acre, 

 as Mr. S. has informed us in the number of the 

 Register for November last — this deduction of one- 

 fourth, would, you perceive, reduce the average 

 per acre to a very moderate one for uncommonly 

 fine land. 



It happens that an estate adjoining me was of- 

 fered in even exchange lor Curie's a lew years 

 a^o, and the offer refused by Col. A. It would 

 give me pleasure to present a comparative estimate 

 of the crops made on this and that estate for the 

 last, and several previous years; but I am pre- 

 vented from doing so by the repugnance expressed 

 by the proprietor, to such an obtrusion of his pri- 

 vate concerns before the public* Without entering 

 into minute details, I will, however, take it upon 

 myself to say, that the sales from this estate, for 

 two out of the last three years, have exceeded 1 lie- 

 largest sum assigned by Mr. S. to Curie's, for the 

 last very favorable year. It is proper to observe, 

 that this estate has the aid of a small grist mill, 

 and usually about $400. worth of Avheat offal, but 

 never more; but these advantages, it is believed, 

 are more than counterbalanced by the pork raised 

 and fattened on the estate, (none of which it ap- 

 pears is raised at Curie's,) by the support of a huge 

 and expensive establishment, and of a black pop- 

 ulation, the extent and inefficient character of 

 which may be inferred from the fact of their being, 

 at the last enumeration, 50 children under the 

 working age. The despised corn crop of the last 

 year, has, with the above aids, after supplying the 

 heavy demands upon it, furnished a surplus for 

 sale of more than 1500 barrels. On this estate, 

 which is under an irregular but very improving 

 course of cultivation, some fallowing is done, more 

 than a fourth of the land is suffered to rest, and 

 corn is largely aimed at as a sale crop. There are 



*It is strange that any such statement as is here refer- 

 red to,and which every reader would agree with our cor- 

 respondent in deeming interesting and useful,.should 

 be considered as an "obtrusion of private concerns*' 

 on the public notice. If such was the view taken 

 by all of those who are, or may be, contributors to this 

 journal, it would soon lose its most valuable features. 

 There would be presented no more authenticated facts 

 and practical proofs — and the want of these could not 

 be compensated by mere general and intangible state- 

 ments and theoretical views, no matter how true, and 

 though as ably maintained as so unsatisfactory a course 

 would permit. — Ed. Farm. Reg. 



