THE FARMERS' REGlStER. 



211 



bury it ; the growth must be burnt off before the 

 land can be worked by any implement. And 

 then, with such an indesiruciible occupartt, (for it 

 is perennial, with top roots — like the trumpet 

 flower, which penetrate the earth to the depth oC 

 at least three or four feet — ) our fields become unfit 

 lor the culture oremall grain, and are thereby dete- 

 riorated much more tlian benefited, by sowinj^ 

 them with melilot as a lertilizer. That it may 

 be so I will not deny; but in all the situations 

 wherein I have seen it growing, it seemed to me 

 to be rather the effect, than the' cause of fertility. 

 And this, by the way, is a mistake which careless 

 observers of tiie vejjetable world have not un- 

 frequently made. I once heard a ludicrous in- 

 stance of it related of an old farmer who was re- 

 markable for great eccentricity of thought and 

 action. Thus nn the story. The old man h;id 

 taken a crotchet into his head, about plantinLf 

 corn time, that poke-root would enrich land ; 

 because he bad always seen it grow in rich soils. 

 Forthwith therefore he ordered a quantity of it 

 to be dug up — sufficient to drop a piece or two in 

 each corn hdl, and chuckled at it as a grand dis- 

 covery. But he was greatly disturbed- the next 

 da}', by recei-vjng notice that his overseer was 

 about to quit him. As he was an excellent ma- 

 nager, who hud long- lived with the old ftjllow, 

 on perfectly friendly terms, he anxiously sought 

 an explanation of this most unexpected notifica- 

 tion. This he obtained, after long importunity, 

 by the overseer's addressing him thus : — " Why 

 sir, if I must tell you why I gave you notxe, ii 

 was because I don't understand any thing at all 

 of your pfn'losnphy way of piantinflr corn ; and am 

 sure, if I try i', that I >hall loseniv character, upon 

 which 1 and my firimily depend for a l.viniir.''' 

 The conference, ('twas said,) ended in the oM 

 mnn's irivinsr up his " philosophy wa^" of en- 

 riching corn-hills by poke-root, and retaining his 

 good overseer. I remain, dear sir, your old 

 friend, CoMMENTATon. 



If there was any thing to condemn in the form, 

 or for the insertion of the piece commented on 

 above, the fault was ours, and not the writer's, 

 who had not Intended, and had given no autho- 

 rity for its being so used. It was pari of a long 

 private letter, from a gentleman of the highest 

 character, and whose ability (or, and habits of care- 

 ful observation are not often surpassed, and whose 

 former contributions to this journal have been 

 among the most acceptable and valuable. Deem- 

 ing it the best mode of obtaining the information 

 he desired, on a subject which his words showed 

 manifestly he had not much or long experience 

 of, we took the liberty of publishing the passage 

 from his letter ; but, of course, did not presume 

 to use his name, or otherwise indicate the author. 

 Writing under these circumstances, even if the 

 remarks hs'd been obnoxious to the charge of 

 still greater incorrectness, they would have deserv- 

 , ed no censure— or if any, it should be cast on the 

 publisher without authority, and not on the wri- 

 ter. The writer ia as well able to defend himeelf 



as any person ; but as it is probable that he. may 

 not choose to thus pursue a matter which he did 

 not designedly commence, we shall add some- 

 thing in defence or explanation of his statements. 



We admit, and defer to readily, (and so we are 

 sure would our prior correspondent,) the much 

 more full experience of our friend " Commenta- 

 tor," In regard to melilot ; and we are glad that 

 his testimony has been thus drawn forth to prevent 

 other mistakes as to the value of this plant. But 

 still, to one who had seen much less of the plant 

 than " Commentator," on less favorable soils, and 

 therefore of smaller size, though still of remarka- 

 ble luxuriance, for the soil — surely it was an error 

 of opinion which was very nearly allied to accurate 

 observation and correct deduction, to suppose that 

 melilot would be a* valuable plant for enriching 

 land by its growth. We had formerly taken up 

 (upon similar grounds) the like opinion ; and we 

 tried, in vain, (and luckily, as it now appears,) to 

 spread the growth by scattering the seeds. A 

 very intelligent friend and neighbor of ours, on 

 whose farm grew a single patch of melilot, was 

 so favorably impressed with its supposed value 

 as an improving green crop, that he saved the 

 seed and sowed it extensively ; but, though on 

 marled land, we believe that his efforts, like our 

 more limited attempts, were totally fruitless. 



Next, as to the melilot furnishing green food 

 in winter, we have no question (upon Commen- 

 tator's closer observation and better information,) 

 that our first correspondent was mistaken ; — but 

 that it was owing to his relying, for that fact, on 

 statements of others, and not having himself had 

 full opportunity for observation. Except in re- 

 gard to the mistake, on this minor point, he was 

 strictly accurate in all his premises, and also in hia 

 deductions from all the facts before him. Still, 

 by showing that the premises are more usually 

 varied, and much for the worse, '' Commentator'^ 

 has clearly shown that the views first presented 

 wefe mistaken. — Eb. F. R. 



rOMPRteSSED f EAT FUEL. 



■, ~ From the I'di'tii Courier. 



We have referred to a machine, sortie time ago 

 invented by Lord Willoughby d'Eresby, and 

 latterly perfected by skilful artisans under his di- 

 rection, for compressing peats. One of his lord- 

 ship's tenanis, on the Drummond Castle estate, 

 Mr. Clark, at Coryour, has of late been rnanu- 

 facturing the new fiiel, chiefly for the jewellers 

 and steel forgers in fingland ; and this week a 

 very large supply arrived at the new quay Ibf 



