344 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 6. 



this peninsula. Rich deposites of shell marl, 

 green sand, gypseous earth, and fossil deposites 

 are found underlying portions of the country 'be- 

 tween the Potomac and the Patuxent, and the 

 Patuxent and Chesapeake. Hay. But these depo- 

 sites do not seem to underlie the whole country, 

 or if they do, are in some parts too remote from 

 the crust of the earth, for any indications to have 

 been manifested, or appearances to be discovered. 

 They are doubtless partial, running in veins, and 

 are confined to the deep ravines adjacent to those 

 tributary streams of the rivers which take their 

 rise in the range of hills and highlands that di- 

 vide the waters of the two rivers, and where the 

 sources of the tributaries of each river are near to 

 each other. But the locust is not, confined to 

 those sections, and as flu* as my recollection now 

 serves me, the locust is much more abundant in 

 those portions of this county, where no calcareous 

 matter has been discovered, and where appear- 

 ances do not justify the belief that any can be 

 found. On my farm, the locust is more common 

 than any other growth, except pine, cedar, and 

 oak. It is impracticable to extirpate it when it is 

 desirable to do so, and on cutting it down for posts 

 or stakes, it is reproduced from the sprout or root, 

 of the same size, in ten or twelve years. No ap- 

 pearance of calcareous matter has ever been dis- 

 covered, and so far I have every reason to think 

 that I am not within the range of any of the fos- 

 sil deposites, or undulations, which pervade in 

 places, and underlie this country. 



There arc strong reasons against the existence 

 of calcareous matter in this soil, where the white 

 locust grows so vigorously, and in such abun- 

 dance. All agricultural writers, I believe, norec 

 that phosphate of lime is an essential ingredient 

 of wheat, and you remark in a note, page 129, 

 July No. "that a quantity too small to cause much 

 improvement in the soil, might serve to supply 

 this essential food for wheat." If the soil con- 

 tained calcareous matter in any notable proportion, 

 it would yield the phosphate of lime requisite for 

 this plant, and by the admixture and application 

 of vegetable and other manures to the land, it 

 would yield at least good crops of wheat. Yet 

 wheat cannot be grown in this immediate section, 

 to pay the farmer for the necessary labor attend- 

 ing it. Every mode of preparation, with every 

 variety of wheat, fails to yield more than from 

 five to eight bushels to the acre. Some of my 

 neighbors who are experienced farmers, and es- 

 teemed judicious not only in the application of 

 manures, and the great improvement of their 

 lands, but in their whole agricultural arrange- 

 ments and economy, assure me that on their best 

 improved lands, they never obtain more than from 

 six to ten bushels to the acre. What is wanting? 

 Those lands produce tobacco, corn, oats and grass 

 as well, and in as large quantities as the land in 

 the marl regions of the country. But the prevailing 

 opinion is, that they are not adapted to wheat. 

 They certainly are adapted to locust. Do they not 

 contain a sufficient quantity of calcareous matter to 

 yield the necessary proportion of phosphate of lime 

 lor wheat? If that is the case, what becomes of* the 

 proposition, that locust is seldom seen growing in 

 any soils that do not contain a notable proportion 

 of calcareous matter? 



The foregoing views are given with no expec- 

 tation of affording information, but with the hope 



of eliciting the opinions of those whose experience 

 and research.es enable them to shed light on every 

 question of science or physics, in which the inter- 

 ests of agriculture are involved. 



J. G. C. 



Charles Co. Md. July, 1835. 



[The interesting facts stated by our correspondent, 

 respecting the general and luxuriant growl]] of locust 

 on soils of inferior quality, and apparently very defi- 

 cient in calcareous earth, are in contradiction to all 

 our experience. But they are entitled to the more at- 

 tention on that account. With our imperfect lights, 

 we have no idea of the cause of the remarkable differ- 

 ence.] 



ON TIITC Cn.TIVATION OP MIXES CROPS. 

 To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Notwithstanding my practice of ''mixed crop- 

 ping" has taken up so much of the columns of 

 your valuable Register,* I feel disposed to add a 

 i'ew remarks. And first, I am aware that my ro- 

 tation will not meet the theory of your enlightened 

 farmers, wdio contend for the most improving sys- 

 tem. But it has been adopted by me on grounds 

 that I feel disposed to believe ought to be always 

 in view of the judicious planter. It has been 

 adopted with an eye to the great, and now ex- 

 tremely valuable staple of our section of the 

 Union, which our interest calls upon us to secure 

 — the consumption of the country — a rotation sys- 

 tem — and as far as I could, with these objects in 

 view, the increasing fertility of tire soil. 



The corn crop, as in other parts of our country, 

 is with us, truly important. To have then a* full 

 crop is the object with me — and I give it the first. 

 agency of the manure, but also because, in my 

 rotation, it is the only one that, agreeable to my 

 experience, as also that of many excellent planters, 

 most decidedly feeds kindly on long, or but par- 

 tially decomposed manure. The best evidence 

 I can require is, the production. That evidence I 

 get annually. I acknowledge that my manuring 

 is uniformly a heavy one. It. is immediately 

 ploughed under, and is never fairly brought to the 

 surface, during the cultivation of the corn crop. 

 In fifteen years practice I have never had one 

 crop injured, or burnt by the manure alone — and 

 some dry seasons have passed over me. Whether 

 your readers have noticed it or not, I have can- 

 didly given the manner of laying on the manure, 

 to which, I believe, I stand indebted for a perfect 

 guarantee against the usual fatal consequences of 

 manuring beino - followed by a dry season. It will 

 be seen that I throw into the soil along with the 

 animal excrement, (and even that given in the 

 form of a compost manure, embracing a mixture 

 of every fertilizing production of the farm,) a 

 great quantity of vegetable matter, in its green 

 state, and swamp mud. The addition of lime, 

 applied in the northern manner, I deem a farther 

 security against the effects of drought; as also 

 another source, of fertility. 



The manner in which I apply the swamp mud, 

 requires some explanation. It is partly the pro- 



*Page G3i,Vol. II. 



