■.lEg xauMJ ia 



178 



^!)c Jarmcv's iUoiitijhj visitor. 



(iiijiiiMt'iit, ofilifiii- error; Jind some, lo luy cer- 

 tdlii kiiiiwl((l{;e, liiive vi^iiliirnl out ol' tlieir olil 

 roiifl, ;\fiil lire now reiininir lln* pinfit <it it. 



/' — Your rciison ii))Qii sIikIIow ploiigljiiig, il 

 Vim I'leiii^e? 



^.— On tiiiih, t!iin, f;r;ivelly, or s;ind.v lund. 

 \vliicli lii-.s neiir clmlk or lime .slon«>, iiiid ihe t^iir- 

 fiu-f, 111- corn mold, niixeil "itii .-inv ,<iirl nl' sniiill 

 ftoiie or |ielilileK. If siicli In? tilli-d slmlluvv, it is 

 lull ronsisleni wiili re.iMin that il ran produce « 

 "onrt rrn|i: lor it is well luiiivvn, ilinl corn roots 

 strike no deHper tliiin tliu [ilmiiili Ims f£one. 



Suppose r. pliin;i;li only turns up two or tliree 

 ineliex of pintli, so iliii) a liody of mold is, liy tin; 

 son, soon lie.iled tlu<in;;li to the lools of the rorii ; 

 'i)d, liein;.' niixi-tl iinionr.' flint, or stone, adds lo 

 ne evil, as lliey reflTt a donhle porlinn of heat, 

 whii'li Inniis or extracts the juices from the ten- 

 der (iliroijs nulls; eonsefjoentlv ninsl U'lider the 

 rrop weak and sickl\ : in a dry snininer ilie nop 

 is scarce worth reaping'-, and in a wet one, wliicli 

 suits sncli land liesi, it dm.'S not produce above 

 lialf the crop it wolild. if propiijly liilcd ; for, liy 

 nature, such land is j^ood and lidl of salts, and 

 could not inissoCn crop, were it tilled or brought 

 to a projier depth of corn nmld. 



F. — In what case du:.'S tren<:li-plon<i|iing pre- 

 vent the snn fioni hnrning the roots, &:.c. com- 

 plained of in the opposite case ? 



A. — Indeed, Mr. F.irmer, yon seem to liifle 

 with yonr own miilerstaiidinjr, or you would not 

 make me w;asie time in answering so simple a 

 qiiesiion : liesides, 1 have already treated pretty 

 'l.irL'ely upon this suhjecl, in my first volinne; 

 however, as a lew v.'ords \\ il! do, you shall be 

 indnlfied. 



By Ireiich-plonjjhin.!,', the upper .«od, or corn- 

 mold, falls to the liotioin of the furrow, perhaps 

 eijihl or ten inches deep. That sod, wliicli is 

 interwoven svith, and full of roots of j;rass, weed.s, 

 stnlilile, &e., contains a jireat deal of nitrous and 

 jnicy pariii-les; and lI!e^e roots, lieiiif; covcreil 

 with a sufficient ipianlily if inaiileii earth, cannot 

 vefietaiCj but are isinotlieied and killed. The 

 death of them tirints en ferinenlaiioii ; llien fol- 

 lows a pnli'efaction, wiiic'i tnins ihem into ina- 

 linre; and conseipiently inakes them food proper 

 lir>r .other plants. 



And as iliese juicy panicles lie too deep for 

 the sun to exTract them from the earth, their eii- 

 richinir sidistame is a kiivlly tiiod fi>r tlie corn- 

 roots to feed upon »H Slimmer; neither can the 

 earlli, so lontf as Ihry renmiti in il, nni lo;;ethei 

 ill a close solid body, nor can i'. be called liarren 

 or thirsty ; but the root will always find admit- 

 tance and noinishrneiit in it, and will not fail to 

 enlar!j;e the ear niiwiirds, in iiroportion to ilic 

 depth it jroes; for no fibre will .u'o fiinher tl .in 

 the earth cojit^dns food suitable lo its iiainre- In 

 short, if tWe (jrou'id he hot and sandy, tiencli- 

 I'loiijifiin;; makes it cold and moist ; and, if .siron;; 



oii I layey, it opens i', and keeps il loose ai.'il 

 inellovv, 



A few Remarks made in the West of Kuglaud. 



Being glad lioih lo give ami receive anv in- 

 sti iiclions, th.it may be of niilily to the public, 

 for the iinprovenieiit of ajiricnlluie, when upon 

 my travels, I ;;eneral!y wait ii|ion such penlleinen 

 fanners as I am told are best .-d-lj to .satisfy my 

 ouriosily ; mid also most likely lo take e.dvice. 



And as I am well convinced of iho ;.'real ad- 

 vantage lh:it would aci-rne, iint <inly to the liiis- 

 bandnian, but also to the public in ;;eneral, could 

 the liirniers be prev.iiled upon to jiut in jiaciice 

 trench plon:;liintr. and .setliiig the seed n'{,'nlarly. 



I generally introduce those suliJRct.s, and am 

 as often answered, ihat scliinu Ihe seed ^raiii bv 

 grain, would be too tedious and expensive; and 

 as to trench-ploughing, their lanilwill not bear 

 il. 



However, I seldom ipiit the fi.ld till, by tryiiin- 

 the ground, I have convinced them of iheir mis- 

 take in the matter of trci:idi-plonj;liing. 



I have sometimes starifcd this subject amons a 



company of (iirmers; and have had the satisliie- 



_ lion to find some of them ipiote cirenmstances to 



back my ari;nnjenls ; two or three ot which I 



shall naoilion us follows: — 



Mr. \Vii:iain I..-icy. of Ropdy, in Hampshire, 

 said dial he had a piece (If tiiin chalky land, 

 \vliich a few _\ear.s ajfo he plimuhcd in a very dr) 

 tune; his orders lo ihe ploughmen, were to 

 pluujjti it US usual, perhaps not uliov e two or llirce 



inches deep, lor fear of ouuiii;; loo near liie 

 chalk, which would spoil the land. 



However, as the j:rouud was extremely hard 

 ami <lry, tbe nieii could not obey ti.eir master's 

 orders; lor instead of three inelns, llie earth 

 bloke up liom ihe bed of ihe chalk, and turned 

 u|i in laifie fiiirows, perliaps a liiot thick. 



The liirmer, as well as his nei;;liliOi s, thouiillt 



the land was spoiled liirever ; but conlrary to his 



expeclations, he never had so good crops on that 



round helore, as he had both that year and 



since. 



The like case happened to one Farmer Baker, 

 not liir from Warminster Wilis. For thoni;htbe 

 land broke up from ihe chalk, \el it lironylil bet- 

 ter crops after this deep ploui:liiiiu than bi-li)re. 



A geutleuiaii liirnier, near Froome, in Somer- 

 setshire, ploiifilird a piece of stronu clay-land, in 

 a dry lime. His iiilenlioii was lo plon<-li it thin; 

 for as it bad a »liile clay under the corn-mold, 

 he was afraid to inrn il up, least il should spoil 

 the ifromid. Bin comrary to his desire, the gi on ml 

 rose in lari^io tliick liirrous,aiid broii;;lit up much 

 clay with il. However, the clay melled with the 

 sun ill summer, and the frost in winter; and boih 

 the ji'iound v\iih the crops upon it, have been 

 much better since than beliire. 



iMi". Davis of Fram|)ton, in norsetshiie, a very 

 worlhy {;enlleman laiiner, ploughed a piece of 

 down-land muidi deeper than common, and bis 

 crops were a great deal belier for it. 1 have lin- 

 got the particulars of-' this experiment, hut well 

 remember the substance, as it caused a lnii{;h in 

 the coinpany iit dinner. 



J, as usual, was extollin;r treiicli-ploiifjlnng, but 

 Mr. Davis was not wilhcut a '^real many doubts 

 and Itjar.s, that bis land would nol bear it. How- 

 ever, ill the iiiidsl of his scruples, be recollected 

 ihe above i-ase, which bad happened to himself. 



Mr. lii'jram ol Clarendon-Park, near Salisbury, 

 Wilts, rents a dowir (arm. He has a larf^e field 

 near bis house, wiiich he fallowed last sinniner. 

 The >;round was very full of weeds and scutch- 

 fiiass, aiul he had taken a jrreat deal of pains to 

 destroy iheai, by plon;;liinir, find liarrowiujj; it 

 many liincs over. At the time I was there, he 

 was burning the weeds, and such rubbish as was 

 harrowed up. 



1 loll! him he mitdu have improved the land 

 inuch better, and with a great deal less expense, 

 if he had ireucb-ploughed it, for by that means 

 all the siibsiance of ilie weeds would have re- 

 mained in the ground, and turned iiilo a rich 

 manure; whereas by burning lliein, such ciiricli- 

 ing qualities are evaporated. 



In short, I ex'plained lo him the whole method 

 and value of irench-ploiighing, « hirh ho' seemed 

 to lisien io «sili auentioii, but ^vlls not wiihoul 

 his doubts and fears, lliai the groinid would not 

 bear it ; however, tliosc doubts waii; soon re- 

 moved, by trying the ground with a spade. But 

 vilial strengliiened my tirgumciit the more, ivas a 

 garden which had been incloseil (iom the said 

 Held. Ho told me that for some yeais alter llie 

 garden was inclosed, il produced very bad cro|is. 

 Every thing that grew in it was suiall and riint- 

 ish ; neither could the ground be kept free from 

 weeds. A gaideiier told bim, as a grcal secret, 

 that if'be vwjiild Inivegood crops, he unisl trench 

 I to ibe il-pili of liiiee spade-giaits, and ihrow lo 

 ! ihe boilom all the upper mold which contained 

 I the weed.s. He did so, and ever since it h.is been 

 I ihe best garden in llie coontry. 



When be considered well the whole affiir, he 

 I liked the scheme; and iunnediately gol a plongb 

 made accoidiiii.' to my directions; and as wheal 

 seed lime was then coming on, he liench-plongb- 

 ed the land on which be sowed his wheat. Hi,' 

 allowed to eacli acre only about half the quantiiy 

 of seed that is commonly u.-'i'i\. And ul tins 

 time, there is not a crop in the neighboring couii- 

 iry that looks so well as lii.s. 



The last lime I saw him in Salisbury, he told 

 uie that many farmers, hearing of fiis proceed- 

 ings, came to see his irenched-land and crop; 

 and every one approved of it ; and that he knew 

 a great many who were then getting trer.ch- 

 ploughs made from his paltern. and that he was 

 sure it would gain groimd amazingly. 



Mr. Hardy of iMai lies-iown, Dorset, is a very 

 considerable gentleman liunifr, and seems to be 

 indued wiih lalenis and a spirit liir iminovement. 

 I shewed hiiM how ;o alter his plou;;h, for the 

 purpose of Irench-ploUL'iiing'. He lold me that he 

 would certainly begin thia piece of husbandry. 



Mr. Tliomas Nicholls of I5urton, Dorset, is ii 



considerable gentleman fanner ; and one that 

 seems to excel in hiisliandrw lie is so much 

 bent upon this melli'Ml ol liinch-pl'iugliing, that 

 be offered my ploughman thirty poiinils a year, 

 which by llie liye, I do not thank bim for; us it 

 has made the man saucy ever since. 



William Hcl.\ar, Em|., of Coker in Soniersrt- 

 sliire, a geiiilemaii fon<l of iniproveinenls, is also 

 deierniined to begin the nieilKxi of irench-plongli- 

 ing. 



U|ion looking over my meniorandnni liook, I 

 tind no less than two hundred and twenty-nine, 

 to whom I have shewed in the West ot England, 

 how to alter ihe ploughs lin- tn-ncli-plougliing ; 

 and who told me that they wonlif absoliilely put 

 in practice what 1 have laken so much pains to 

 make them undersiatid for their own interest. ' • 



Prairie and I^Iountain ! ife. 



The Bke IIc.nteus.— Our evenings around 

 the camp-tires were generally wliiled away with 

 jiipes and chat, now and then a song, and some- 

 limes a yarn, liliier taiicilid or line, Irom some 

 of ihe rude idiaiaelers around us, Kncainped 

 up. on the Jf'aJik i-roosi, or llig F.lk, when jour- 

 nexiiii.' outward, only some sixty miles beyond 

 Westporl, we listcni d one evening' wiili intense 

 interest lo the following narmtion, gi\en, per- 

 haps, with more eHi'ci in the iincnnth words of 

 the story-leljer, li was one of the first of these 

 camp-fire relations that we heard, and was so 

 told as to leave ;i vivid iinpressioii upon us all. 



Il was sometime in ]83'2, Ihat a parly of fifteen 

 or twenty persons collccled among the liltle vil- 

 lage seltiemenls of upper IMissonri, for the pur- 

 pose of a bee hunting expedition out upon Grand 

 River. .\s is usual on such occasions, there 

 were more novices than practical woodmen 

 among them, and in a few days, betbre a single 

 bee tree was found, their provisions bejan loriiii 

 low, while no sign as yet appeared of either 

 honey or game. Thus critically circumstanced, 

 an old man by the name of Vaiiderpool undertook 

 with his son, to return to the seltlemeiits, and 

 bring out Inrlher supplies for the rest; but the 

 man and boy were only a \'t:w hours out of sight 

 of their compaiiions whtn they became bewil- 

 dered, and by niirbtfall the two were iborouifbly 

 lost. Their only course now was to lay down 

 and wait patiently imiil daylight came to assist 

 in setting them right again, hut during the night 

 the nntbriiniate old man in some accidental 

 manner discharged his lille, the ball pasing 

 ihrongh his left thigh and sliatteiing the lioiie in 

 a mnsr dreadful way. Night wore slowly away 

 over ilieiii. while the old man hiy in horrible 

 agonv, and without prospect of tissistance, until, 

 as dav dawned, it was dctennined lliat the lioy 

 should serd< the seltiemenls alone, and hurry 

 back widi aid to bis father. 



Accordingly, the youth set ofT alone, invoking 

 Providence to guide him, while an old and faith- 

 ful dog was the only livinc thing left with the 

 wounded fjither, to lick his feverish hand tind 

 listen to his uioan5. More fortunate than he an- 

 ticipated, the son ilid in a brief period reach the 

 selllements, from whence he sot out again iiii- 

 mediately with every necessary assistance, both 

 liir his fiilher and the uiilncky bee hunters upon 

 Grand River. But the poor boy was now vxorse 

 lost llian ever, and he could neither find t!ic 

 place where he had left his father, nor diri ci the 

 friends who were with him whereto look for the 

 main party. All this time Ihe old man l.iV in 

 most acute afHiction, unable lo stiraii inch, while 

 endiniug the maddening agony of thirst, and 

 wilh a cool stream rolling but a le^v yards tiom 

 liim, through a deep deft in the prairie, over- 

 liuinr by a broacl-sp:eading 'jrouih of limber. 

 lie lingered in ibis way until the third day after 

 his son left him, when the desolate invalid began 

 to (eel his brain wandering beneath the severity 

 of his sufferings, and in llii? siinalion his poor 

 tiiend, the doif — the only thing that seemed yet 

 imbued with kiiouiedgeand sympathy li'r hint — 

 presented the niiliappy man with his only, cruel 

 and desperate method of prolon!;ing life. 



Coaxing the aftectitnialR creature near enough 

 lo him liy the feeble nioiionof bis hanrl, he made 

 a desperate (iluiige at the ahimil's neck wilh his 

 kniici, and was liirliniato enough to sever the 

 jiignlar artery, and the jioor doL' ex|iireil almost 

 williout a struggle by his side ! Old Vaiiderpool 

 then, by great exertion, turned liiinseif bo os to 



