MffijBaavjwAftitfli a gawsa^ ' ^^^-J*--*^ 



iw^p^jTCt HW^. J s ^ sa ajiaa ' uu^i.^ F aj F ^Jg.iJ KaagaTai K^v^ r ji - jxi K car srsaB 



©l)c jTarmcr'ii itlontl)li) lUsitor. 



69 



wilii a few small niiils diovfi near the eiii!, will 

 bi; loiniil etTijciii.il in vviiuliiiji lij) liotli v>el) ami 

 Wdnii.-', if iippiieii ill iNo tiionf.iur, wliile Uk; in- 

 tii;(:t5i arc ill tiiiir iii-sts. Alirr i;olli-riiiig triP 

 «i)niis, on ihe i^iid of llie |iolc, thi\v may tie 

 iTuslic'cl witli iIk! ((lilt. By this dioiIkhI, tlie trees 

 are mn injured as liiey are sniiielinies liy other 

 aiMilicatioiiti, Mhicli have been recoimnijiided. 



B. 



Aiteriiatiuu uf Crops. 



'I'liis is iiiiqiiestiiiiudily one of the liest and 

 eeuiKimical intaiis of |)i-esi'rvii!g tijrliliiy, and of 

 incrtasing the jirofits of u farm. All i;ro|is e,\- 

 liaii.-it the .soil more or les.s, oi' the general ele- 

 ments of fertility, though all do not exhaust it 

 alike of certain o|ieeitio |n-o|,erlies. It i.s believ- 

 ed that eviiy plant reriujres a speeitic fond, 

 which other families do notst;md in neeil oliiind 

 whii-h they do not take lip. This is evidenced 

 by the fact," that wheat cannot be profitably grown 

 on ordinary laiift, in two successive years, iijion 

 the same tield, wiihoiil a great falling oft' in the 

 prodncf. And il is now laid down as an axiom 

 in good hnsliandry, that two crops of any small 

 gruin should never lie taken (intn the same tield 

 in successive years, because they draw too large- 

 ly u|)on the ,-a"me speciiic l'o<id. But after an in- 

 terval of four or live years, in uliicli grass and 

 roots intervene, the specific food of the wheat 

 crop lias so nccmiinlaled in the soil that this 

 grain may then again prolitalily be srown n|ion 

 it. So with all other crops, not even excepting 

 Ihe grasses. Ti.e law of nature's change in the 

 pfodiicts of the .soil is so palpable, thai in Flan- 

 ders and Hulluml, where Hax is one of the iirofit- 

 ahlc staples, they <io not think of cultivating this 

 crop ujioii the same ground oliener than once in 

 tenor twelve years. Our fiu-niers, some of them, 

 seem to appreciate these tintlis in reference to 

 tillage crops, without duly reflecting that they 

 appiy as well to grain. Meadows, too, deterior- 

 ate ; in a few years the finer gras.-es run out, be- 

 ciins'j the soil becomes exhausted of the partii'U- 

 l.ir (iiod wbicli aftordslhein nourishm(?iit, coarse 

 or iniuiiricions plants take their jiiacc and tlie 

 herbage becomes inferior in quality. 



Upon ail average, old established meadows 

 would yield double their present crops, if judi- 

 ciously alternated with gruin and root crops. — 

 The terms "suitably divided into meadow, plow 

 and pasture huids," which are j;en-erally employ- 

 ed to ri'cominend fiirms f(>r safe, are an indica- 

 tion of bail husbandry; and very often lietray 

 the secret wliieli compels the owner to self. — 

 Excepting in very stony districts, every acre of 

 land which would [noduce good :;rasses, may, by 

 lieing rendered dry and rich, l>e.!ii;ale to produce 

 gooil grain and roots. In this convertible system 

 of !iu,sl'..indry, permanent meadow or plough 

 lands are almost unknown — every field produces 

 in liirn, crops of grain, grass and roots. 



There are three classes of crops wliiidi alter- 

 nate benelicially with each other, viz; 1st, Grain, 

 or corn, or dry crops, wliich mature their seed 

 and most exhaust the fertility of the soil ; 2d, 

 Grass crops ; and 3d, Hoot or green crops, em- 

 lir.iciug luriii;s, potatoes, beet.s, clover, iv-r-. In 

 old meadows and pastures, not only the better 

 grasses disappear, and coarse herbage and luoss- 

 es come in, !>ut the soil becomes too cotnpact 

 iiud hard to .-idiiiit the free extension of the roots, 

 and the gciiial iiillueiici; of the sun, dew, and at- 

 mosphere, wliirli are primary agents in the pro- 

 cess of vegetable nutrition. Tillage corrects 

 these evils, h cleans the soil of weeds, ;iud con- 

 verts them into sources of fintility ; it breaks and 

 pulverizes the soil, and fits il tLir the return of 

 ti.e grass crop at the close of the rotation ; while 

 the vegetable matters of the sward contribute to 

 augiiitnl the grain or root crop which is to fol- 

 low. Ail green crops are more or less ferlilizini; 

 when luuied in the soil : but cl.'>ver is [iiefi-rred, 

 as well on account of its enriching properties to 

 tlie soil, as ilial it also aiiiirds liay and pasture. 

 The practice of sowiiij; clover seed with araiii 

 crops is ad.ipted by somn farmers every year. 

 Judge Bnel fiillowed this plan, lint ho ploiished 

 his iieid on the iiilkuving year. The lijoii which 

 this clover affords to the coming crop, licldy 

 compensates f()r the cost of the seed and sovv- 

 iiij, to say nothitii; of the pasture it gives in an- 

 lumii. Hence, tillage is lulmirafily calculated to 

 lit nud pre[iarc the irrouiid fir irrass, and in re- 

 turn direcilv or indirt'cllv tiirnislies nii abund- 



ance of food for grain or roots. The fi-Mtility of 

 a soil depends, essentially, upon its power to ab- 

 sorb water, by cohesive atiracticni, and this pow- 

 er ill a great measure, upon the state of diversion 

 of its parts — the more divided they are Ihe great- 

 er is their absorbent power. The cro|) upon a 

 hard compact soil, vvill snffi-r tiom drought; but 

 if this soil is finely pulverized and broken, it 

 will suffer much less. The first may be com- 

 pared to the rock, which receives nioisluro 'ipon 

 its siirliice only, the latter to the sponge, which 

 receives and transmits moisture to the vvliole 

 mass, and which retains It for a long time. 



The Farmers. 



BY " A TIH.EK OF THE GHOUNO. 



Tune.- 



' Yankee doodle." 



'file fiirmer plows iiis ncrc^ up, 



He plants liis com and taten ; 

 III' sows onions, buets and carrots, 



C'abbajje and tomatoes. 



Chortts. — Plow your furrows deep and wide, 

 Swing the scyltie and cradle — 

 Wives and dauj^litera ply the loom, 

 Cheese-press, churn and ladle. 



'Tis now the merry month of iNlay, 



'i'ti(i liirds Ibey siag so sweetly ; 

 t-iirls in the garden make their buds, 



t^r poacys, oh t how neatly. 



The boy he haws liis oxen round. 

 He yells and puts his whacks on ; 



Old wjijler 's;^one to Nova Zeinbta, 

 Hope lie vvou'lcome back soon. 



\Viien planting is done and June comes round, 



We all must go to hoeing; 

 Long yellow days will make us sweat, 



And (it the grass lor mowing. 



July has come — look up your scythes, 

 Have rakes and pilcli-torks handy ; 



Then go to ■' Independence, "'and 

 5:ng Vanliee doodte dandy. 



Tut on your hay-racks, grease your wheels, 



And put in every linch-pin — 

 Hire temperance men, let whiskey boys 



Drink whiskey for a livin'. 



Hurrah, all hands boLh men and bo)s, 



iSuw '■ make hay while the lire sun shines/' 



Spread out and turn and rake and pitch, 

 ^f he showers come quickly sometimes. 



Then cut your wheat and oats and barley. 



Rake -.ind bind them neatly ; 

 .\!id shock or stirok or stout tliuin up, 



.\nd let them dry completely. 



Now fall comes on with lots of work, 



Tor all the men and boys loo— 

 The iarmer has hard work eaoug/i, 



Bat then he has k'ls joys too. 



iSow all must go to the cattle show. 



The larmer'a •• iicld of gb-ry ; " 

 H;iad in trite " statement:-.," and see who 



Can tell the biggest story. 



Take care old v\'inter don't come back. 



And catch you in the limbos > 

 He never watts (br jazy IVilks, 



To mend their broken windows. 



When all your storf-s are gathered i:i. 

 Your labor crowned with plenty ; 



Then pay your debts and feed the poor. 

 Tiiank God for what lie's sent ye. 



^V"hen winter covers up your fields. 

 And wheels no more can rattle; 



Get up your wood and reati your books, 

 Orotv wUc, and tend your c.itlle. 



rrom the Maine Cultivator. 

 Ciiftivation of Cucumber?. 



Mr.ssas. Editors. — An niikuown friend re- 

 cently firrvvarded me a copy of an agricultural 

 paper, published in fllassachiisetts, in which I no- 

 ticed the following paragnijih, marked with a 

 pen : 



"It is desiralde liint tho.se who have sticeeeded 

 in the cultivation of the cucumber, make known 

 their practice, and that they detail, with as luucli 

 defiiiiliMiess tis possible, the manner in which so 

 iinporicnt and useful ;i result is to be brought 

 about." 



For several years 1 have been in the practice of 

 growing ibis vegetable fiir the inarkt't. In my 

 earliest undertakings, 1 was, like all novices, in- 

 clined to the belief that of,'/ ground was pretiuable 

 to ncic, and that it was next to impossible to grow 

 a good crop unless the soil had been previously 

 " rimd'oralcl.' ■■\i]i\ its texture rdined bv maniirio;; 



and cultivation during a series of several years. 

 This error, however, soon corrected itself, and I 

 found to my chagrin and inoititication, that old 

 soils, however rich in the principles of vegetable 

 lilt', are wholly unfit fVir this ii.se, and that I must 

 either modify my practice, or '• lose my trade." 



It-so chanced, in breaking up a piece of pas,ture 

 ground, that a small triangular piece remained 

 imocciiiiied, and my hired man insisted on plant- 

 ing il in melons and ciicnmbpis, a proposiiion to 

 which I consented, and the piece was according- 

 ly planted with these seeds. A small shovel-full 

 ol'old hog manure wasdeposited in each hill, and 

 in the autumn as fine a croj) of melons was gath- 

 ered as i ever saw raised, while the encumbers 

 flourished equally as well, and were imtouched 

 by worms or bugs, and fiore profusely until veg- 

 etation was ariested by the flost. Since then 1 

 have chosen new soil, and have never failed of a 

 good crop. CHATHAM. 



Htstbroolc, ^liiril, 1S44. 



Aspahagus. — This plant hasa high raiiU among 

 garden vegetables, and is propagated wiili facili- 

 ty in any soil possessing the attributes of fVuitfnl- 

 iiess ;uid natural warmth. .Mr. Pond, of Cam- 

 bridgeport, gives the following directions for its 

 cultivation : — " in the month of April or iMay se- 

 lect a spot of ground snfriciently large io plant 

 the number of roots intended. Jf the plantation 

 is to be large and intended to supply the market, 

 the ground should be ploughed to a good depth ; 

 if' for a common kitchen garden, it sliouhl he 

 trenched to the de|itli of fourteen inches. Make 

 the surface of the lied levil ; after ibis is perfijrm- 

 ed, then proceed to mark places, to dig the treucli- 

 es for your roots ; they should lie two and a half 

 feet apart; then throw the soil twelve inches 

 wide and twelve inches deep, laying it tip in ridg- 

 es between each Ireiich. .After this is done throw 

 in three or foiu' inches of manure, level it, and 

 add about one inch of soil on the surface, scrap- 

 ed from the sides of the trenches; level this also, 

 and' all is ready for planting." — .Maine Cutiiiator. 



Qj^ The process of raising- Asparagus is much 

 more simple than has generally been supposed ; 

 there is no need of deep trenching or throwiii^ 

 up the ground in ridge.*. We saw l)eautilid As- 

 paragus in the Boston market on tlic 2d day of 

 May, larger than any we hiai ever witnessed rais- 

 ed in the country : it was a pecnliai kind from 

 the seed imported not long since from Germany, 

 called the Giant Asparagus : it was so large and 

 beautiful as to sell quick at twenty-five cents a 

 bunch while the common kind was selling at ten 

 cents the bunch. It was raised on the light san- 

 dy shore of Spy Pond in West Cambridge : ilie 

 beds were formed without trenching and with lit- 

 tle other care than ample manuring. CJood ma- 

 nure and abundance of' it is ihe secret of tlie suc- 

 cess of the market farmers in the vicinity of 

 Boston. The Giant Asparagus rai.sed in the sand 

 of the shores of Spy Pond exceeds every thing 

 of the kinil we have sseu. — Ed. Visitor. 



HoRsi! America:? Eci.iesE. — The Fraiikport, 

 Kentucky, '•Commonwealth" contains u chal- 

 lenge fiom George E< Blackliurn, a part ofwhicli 

 follows : — 



"I have at my stable .imerican Eclipse, the 

 great tiither of ra<;e:liorsf.s, and himself the vic- 

 tor of the Western W'orlil. He is now thirty 

 years old. i will give the owners of fine stal- 

 lions ati opportunity of compiiring their horses 

 with him on the third Monday of I'Vliruary, at 

 F.''ankf irt. We are atiaid but i\:;v vvill ilun- ap- 

 pear when we make it known ibat the old horse 

 is in the full vigor of his yciitli, and iis gay and 

 active as when the bugle's blast first called him 

 to the field of his victory anil his flime. lie is ii 

 living monument of the inefiicicncy of lime's at- 

 tacks." 



Harrowing Mkadows. — i\Ieadows that Iiavo 

 been long under the scythe, are very apt to be- 

 come turf bound, mossy, and exhausted of good 

 grasses. A dressing of fine manure, or ashes 

 vvill lie a great benefit, but a thorough harrow- 

 ing with a shar[i, fine loolhed harrow, vvill be 

 fiuiiid to materially aid such dressini, and give 

 a sweeter and better herbage. Previous to the 

 harrowing, irras.^ seed of the best kind should be 

 sown, which will lie covered by the process, and 

 a U'.vv healthy crop vvill be the rcsnlt. 



