THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



477 



influence to warrant the rail of a primary meeting 

 to ortranizc siicii an institution. Should the indi- 

 cations appear fuvorabie, a comminee oC the 

 friendsol'the cause will tai<e upon tiipmsoives ihe. 

 responsibility of naming a time and place (or the 

 meeting. 



We earnestly hope that some of you will 

 promptly lend your own names, and procure a 

 lew others in your vicinity of such persons as 

 desire to promote American Husbandry : and that 

 you will transmit them hy mail in time to reach 

 'Washington by the lOih of August, addressed to 

 H. L. Ellsworth, esq., Commissioner of Patents, 

 for Solon Robinson. 



We remain, leliow citizens, your agricultural 

 friends and humble servants, 



Solon RoBtNSON, of Intliana. 

 Jamks M. Garnett, of Virginia. 



July 2A\h, 1841. 



DISPUTED QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE. 



To tlie Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



j^ugxist 2d, 1841. 



Dear sir : — It may perhaps be deemed a very 

 useless, if not presum[ituous, attempt in any in- 

 dividual to suggest any n^eans ol seillini: lor ever 

 even a small portion ol those apparently mter- 

 minable controversies in regard to ct-rtain agri- 

 cultural maiters with which our agricultural pa- 

 pers have been and still are ollen filled. But the 

 very circumstance of their being continued is, 1 

 think, a conclusive proof that each disputant be- 

 heves thai they may be brought to a conclusion, 

 provided a proper course was pursued (or the pur- 

 pose. In the hope ilieielbre of recommending 

 such a course, I will proceed to notice a lew ol 

 these controversies, together wiih the manner in 

 which the quesiions that gave rise to them have 

 been treated. This has been such, in most in- 

 stances, as to serve scarcely any other purpose 

 ihan to crowd our books of husbandry witli com- 

 munications, ihe authors of which ap[;ear (ar 

 more anxious to put each other in the wrong, 

 than to set the agricultural public right, in regard 

 to the subjects of controversy. The effect ol 

 most of these articles has been to aggravate the un- 

 reasonable prejudices against agricultural works; 

 to perplex greatly all young (armers' who read 

 lor information ; and immeasurably to weary old 

 ones, in witnessing such a waste of words — uttered, 

 professedly, to give light, but, in reality, often 

 making conliision worse conlbunded. Instead ol 

 giving us accurate details of experiments, most 

 carelully made, together with their results, which 

 alone can satislaciorily settle such matters, we 

 find, in much of what they write, little else than 

 speculative opinions and theoretical arguments, 

 or ill-digesied and unsound conclusions (rom some 

 ihinos which they call experiments, but which 

 are really deficient in all the particulars that it is 

 essential to notice most accurately, before they 

 can be entitled to any weight. 



This, I think, may truly be affirmed of nearly 

 all that I have read of what has been written on 

 the (bllowing controverted subjects: 



Whether vegeto-animal manures should be turn- 

 ed under in their freshest stale, or lelt on the sur- 

 face of the land, until it is cultivated 1 



Which is the most productive variety of Indiar* 

 corn in each section of country, where the cli- 

 mate, soil, and situation is iw^arly the same? 



At what distances is it best lo plant, and by 

 what modes of culture corn will produce most net 

 profit'? 



Whether it i.« injurious or beneficial lo cut t!ie 

 roots of corn, during its growth? 



And last, though not least, what is the true 

 opinion in regard to that ijreat '■^ pons asinorum'''' 

 in airriculture, the convertibility of wheat into cheat 

 or chess 1 



Now, in my humble opinion, all these still un- 

 determined questions might have been settled 

 many — many years ago, if those who were most 

 interested in them had taken the trouble to make 

 a (cw such perlectly accurate experiments as any 

 cultivator of his own or others' land might very 

 easily make ; and lo publish the results of the 

 same, in our agricultural journals, instead of the 

 numerous vague speculations and inconclusive 

 statements on the Ibregoing subjects, with which 

 these journals have so olten been filled. Whether 

 I am right or wrong in this opinion, let your 

 readers determine, after considering the Ibllowing 

 queries to which F respectfully invite their at- 

 tention. 



How easy would it have been, in order to set- 

 tle the first controversy, (or all who (elt sufficient 

 interest in it to desire that it should be settled, 

 lo spread vegeto-animal manure equally, over a 

 small determinate quantity of land, and then, al- 

 ternately to plough it under, and leave it on the 

 surlace of exactly equal portions of this land, and 

 to compare, by accurate measurement, the i)ro- 

 duce of each portion ? 



Would it not have been equally easy to settle 

 the second controversy, by planting a like deter- 

 minate quantity of land with as many varieties of 

 Indian corn as the experimentalist wished to com- 

 pare together, giving to each exactly equal por- 

 tions of the land, the same distances between 

 the hills and rows, the same number of stalks 

 in a hill, and precisely the same culture ; and then 

 accurately to measure the produce of each por- 

 tion ? To prevent this produce from being much 

 aHected by intermixture, an oblong form might be 

 given to the land on which the experimenl was 

 made, and the rows planted across, to the num- 

 ber, say, of 12 or 15. Then, by comparing an 

 equal number of the middle rows only, the ex- 

 periment would approach sufficiently near abso- 

 lute accuracy to satisfy even the most sceptical. 



To ascertain the best distances at which to 

 [)lant corn in the richest, the pooresr, and the me- 

 dium quality of land, what difficulty would there 

 be in iryi.^g all such as are most approved by 

 practical men, on an ascertained quantity of land 

 ol either of the Ibregoing qualities, giving to each 

 distance exactly the same sized portion, and then 

 measuring accurately the produce of eacli portion, i 

 as ill the other experiments'? 



With a view to ascertain the best modes of 

 culture, can it possibly be satislaciorily done with- 

 out comparing them at the same time, on exactly 

 equal portions of land which is the same in soil, 

 fertility, and situation ; and can there be any great 

 difficulty, expense or trouble in making this 

 comparison. Yet who, among our numerous 

 writers on the cubjcct, has ever reported any such 



