574 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



The heavy plows made for the strong and hard 

 soils of New England, might prove of little use on 

 the mellow vegetable mould, that constitutes the 

 prairies of the West. In Massachusetts, many of 

 the farms are so small that the sickle and flail may 

 still be used ; while in Illinois, Iowa, or Missouri, 

 the use of either would be looked upon as strange, 

 and excite as much wonder, as would Noah's ark, 

 with its inhabitants, drifting into the harbor of 

 Chicago, or working up stream, against the cur- 

 rent of the Mississippi, into the port of St. Louis. 



The pluw is the implement of the most import- 

 ance on the farm ; and the improvements made in 

 this article, within a few years, especially in the 

 draft and in the adaptation for sub-soiling, must 

 produce great and beneficial results in this State, 

 which will show a new and more smiling face on 

 our ancient mother, in the latter half of this cen- 

 tury._ 



It is but a short time since the discovery was 

 made that large portions of our best and most fer- 

 tile lands were neglected and unproductive. Ex- 

 periments Were made on a small scale, to reclaim 

 meadow lands, in the Irish fashion, with the hoe; 

 then the common plow was introduced, but both 

 proved inadequate to the labor. It was found that 

 the cost of subduing in this manner was so great, 

 that few proceeded in the attempt. But enough 

 was accomplished to reveal the fertility of these 

 lands, and to excite an inquiry how they could be 

 reclaimed at a remunerating cost. Methods were 

 soon devised not only to plow meadows that were 

 hard, but those inaccessible to the team on ac- 

 count of their softness. The pulley, rackets, and 

 meadow plow with double share, have added some 

 millions in value to our New England soils. This 

 plow cuts the entire surface of the furrow, from 

 the subjacent soil, and enables the mould board, 

 with the aid of the jDlownian's foot, entirely to re- 

 verse it. From the elasticity of the meadow sward, 

 filled as it usually is with innumberable roots, no 

 other implement has been found equal to the 

 meadow plow, in the work of reclaiming our mea- 

 dow lands. 



For the Nexv England Farmer. 

 SHANGHAI FOWLS ON THE RISE. 



I see it stated in the Woonsocket (R. I.) Patriot, 

 that E. G. Faxon, of this town, has lately disposed 

 of a pair of Shanghai fowls, for the clever sum of 

 one hundred dollars. Possessing a personal ac- 

 quaintance with the Editor of the Patriot, from 

 whose pen the statement seems to appear, I am 

 not disposed to doubt the truth of the same. E. 

 G. F. keeps some very choice fowls — and his 

 Shanghais are certainly perfect specimens of what 

 G. P. Burnham, of Boston, calls the most beautiful 

 of all domestic birds. Some people ivill see beau- 

 ties where others cannot. 



Now, I would ask why it is, that these Shang- 

 hai fowls occasionally bring such enormous prices ? 

 And as [ have asked the question, I will also take 



the liberty to answer it according to my opinion. 

 ft is because purchasers do not know them. A 

 friend of mine called a few days ago on a fowl fan- 

 cier, who had just disposed of five pairs of Shang- 

 hai fowls for $40,00 ; and when asked by my friend 

 if he really considered them superior to our com- 

 mon fowls, he replied that he did not; and such 

 would be the reply of hundreds of others, if asked 

 the same question. I think our native breeds of 

 fowls have been shamefully treated, (a.) and I hope 

 the time is soon coming when they will be restored 

 to their former standing — a place they so justly 

 merit. a. t. 



Smithjield, R. I., Nov. 10th, 1852. 



Remarks. — (a.) So do we, friend "T.," and that 

 is the reason they have lost caste. If they were 

 treated as well as the foreigners which have been 

 introduced, they would repay all kindness and 

 leave a balance for profit. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 EXHAUSTING THE LAND. 



BY A. G. COMINGS. 



There is a great deal of talking among some far- 

 mers as though something might be made out of 

 nothing, in the laboratory of nature. They declaim 

 against exhausting crops, and even exhausting ma- 

 nures, as though there was much trouble and lit- 

 tle understanding in the matter of using and keep- 

 ing the soil. 



Every crop is an exhausting crop ; but in one 

 case the exhaustion may be perceptible, while in 

 another it may not. If a farmer sows or plants 

 for a particular crop where the soil contains a great 

 abundance of the properties which must be taken 

 up by a growing crop of that kind, he will be like- 

 ly to get a very large crop. If so, the soil will be 

 exhausted to the full amount of what the crop has 

 taken from it. Yet the exhaustion will not be per- 

 ceptible, because there still remains a sufficiency 

 of those properties for producing other crops. But 

 if the soil is almost entirely deprived of certain 

 very necessary properties, by the growing of one 

 crop of a particular kind, that crop, under such 

 circumstances, would be condemned as an exhaust- 

 ing crop. So it must be in the whole course of 

 agricultural practice. 



If twenty persons were to sit down to dine at 

 a table supplied with a great variety of what peo- 

 ple generally eat, and yet those persons all live 

 entirely on bread, the supply of bread would be 

 very soon exhausted, and the company might 

 starve. So it is with the feeding of plants. The 

 soil of a particular locality may be found but mod- 

 erately supplied with certain properties, and the 

 very crop which would take those properties all 

 away is required from the soil. Now the crop is 

 not to be blamed. It must "eat to live," and it 

 must eat what it needs, as men do who would live 

 in health. 



It is impossible for us to raise a crop, of any 

 kind, without exhausting the soil. The greater 

 the crop the more the soil must be exhausted. If 

 we use anything to make the substance of the soil 

 more active, the consequence must be the exhaus- 

 tion of the soil ; unless plants can grow out of 

 nothing, as well as out of good soil. 



A neighbor solicited a little advice concerning 

 the use of certain lands. I advised him to apply 



