686 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



pound of copperaB, by slow dejjrees add ihree 

 Iburths of a pound of potash, and four quarts of 

 fine sand or hickory ashets Bifted. We suppose 

 any kind of good hard wood ashes will answer 

 as well as hickory. This mixture will now admit 

 of any coloring matter you pleaee, and maybe 

 applied with a brush. It looks better than paint, 

 and is as durable as slate. It will stop small leaks 



med off, and then rolled in lime. With the ex- 

 ception of 20 acres of fallowed land and about 40 

 acres of corn trround, where the land was previ- 

 ously ploughed, and the seed sown and covered 

 with the heavy iiarrow, the entire crop, both on 

 tallow land and corn ground, was first sown and 

 then covered with two-horse mould-board ploughs, 

 followed by heavy harrows as frequently as occa- 



in the root, prevent the moss from growing over I gion might require. The wheat was thus deeply 

 and rotting the wood, and render it incombusiible covered, and I think suffered much less injury 

 from sparks {"ailing upon it. When laid upon from the frequent frosts and thaws of winter and 



brick work ii renders the brick impervious to ram 

 or wet. 



NOTES ON SANDY POINT ESTATK. NO. IV. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Sandy Point, October 3d, 1841. 



1 had purposed in this communication to have 

 given you an account of the stock of cattle, hogs, 

 &c., on this estate, but have delayed it until pre- 

 sent arrangements are more fully matured ; and, 

 in place, proceed to give a tew memoranda con- 

 nected with the wheat crop, sown in the fall of 

 1840, and reaped 1841. Ploughing upwards of 

 400 acres of clover and weed fallow tor this crop 

 (covering of vegetable growth heavy, and land 

 of good quality,) was begun on the 25th of July, 

 and finished on the 19th of September; (during 

 this period wheat thrashing had to be perlbrmed, 

 tvhieh of course caused necessary delay in lijllow- 

 ing). The whole was perlbrmed by three- horse 

 ploughs. With very lilile exception, the season 

 throughou* was dry, and the larger proportion ot 

 the ground consequently dry and hard, which 

 very greatly increased the labor and time occu- 

 pied in this important operation. The whole was, 

 however, finished in generally good condition ; 

 heavy harrows, having 25 teeth, passing over 

 and levelling the whole, going once or oftener 

 over the ground as its condition might require. 

 In addition to the above quantity of clover and 

 weed fallow, were 36 acres of oat fallow, the oats 

 having been ploughed under early after ripening. 

 On 20 acres the crop of oats ploughed under was 

 very inferior, as was also the after growth. On 

 the other 16 acres the crop was heavy, and the 

 second or volunteer growth thickly and regularly 

 set, but, in consequence of the drought, vvas short. 



Sowing wheat was begun on corn ground on 

 the 10th of October; the weather and ground be- 

 ing very dry, induced some days' delay, in hopes 

 of having rain. On the 13th left off sowing on 

 corn ground, and commenced on fallowed land. 

 No rain fell until the 20th of the month, when we 

 had a refreshing, and much needed, but moderate 

 rain, which greatly facilitated our operations; 

 and again on the 29th, a heavy fall of rain, which 

 entirely retarded all operations connected with 

 sowing, lor a day and a half. On the 9th of No- 

 vember sowing was completed. On clover and 

 weed fallow were sown 380 bushels of mountain 

 purple straw wheat, and 315 bushels of " white 

 turkey" =695 bushels. On oat fallow were sown 

 34 of purple straw and 42 of white turkey z=76 

 bushels. On corn ground were sown 192 of pur- 

 ple straw and 281 of white turkeys; 473; being 

 in all 606 bushels of mountain purple straw, and 

 638 of white turkey wheat = 1244 bushels, the 

 total quantity sown. All the wheat before being 

 8own, was previously washed, light grains ekim- 



early spring, than that merely covered by the 

 harrow in the usual mode. Water furrows were 

 carefully opened, and the whole left in as good 

 condition as could be obtained. Sixieen two- 

 horse ploughs and seven harrows, having three 

 yoke ot' oxen to each, occasionally aided by an 

 extra harrow and two horses, were employed du- 

 ring the whole time of sowing, and occupying in 

 all 24| days, being an average of rather more 

 than 51| bushels of wheat per day. The vi^heat, 

 with the exception of the Bowing of the last two 

 days, vegetated freely, and presented a beautiful 

 and regular appearance. The exception above 

 staled presented little appearance of vegetation 

 for some week^, the weather having been unfa- 

 vorable, nor did it present a promising appear- 

 ance until the following month of March. So far 

 as could be observed, there was no fall attack of 

 Hessian fly. The winter, as will be recollected, 

 was unusually wet, and, in consequence, on some 

 portions of the wheat injury was sustained, par- 

 ticularly in bottoms liable to be flooded by each 

 successive heavy rain ; but altogether it stood the 

 winter remarkably well, and at the end of March 

 the general appearance of the crop was very pro- 

 mising. The rains and cool weather, which pre- 

 vailed during the early portion of April, caused 

 the crop to assume a generally yellow appear- 

 ance. From the 24ih o( that month until the 

 first of JVlay, the weather was mild and favorable, 

 and which soon restored the crop to a healthy and 

 vigorous appearance. After that period frequent 

 frosts occurred, with cold north and north-west 

 winds, which again inflicted injury on the crop, 

 nearly all the extremities of the leaves being kilt- 

 ed, and imparting to the whole a yellow tinge. 

 About the 3d of May, Hessian fly made its ap- 

 pearance on most of the wheat sown on corn 

 ground, and by the 10th of the month, was found 

 generally over the whole crop. From this date, 

 however, the wheat began most rapidly to im- 

 prove, and by the 17th presented a pleasing and 

 gratifying appearance. The flowering season 

 passed over under highly favorable weather, af- 

 ibrding every prospect of a profitable and remu- 

 nerating crop. It was at this period of its growth 

 estimated that the then probable return from the 

 crop would not fall below an average of ten 

 bushels for one bushel of wheat sown, and the 

 uniformly promising appearance of the crop cer- 

 tainly justified such an estimate. Several gentle- 

 men, who had opportunities of seeing the crop 

 from this period until harvest, estimated the pro- 

 bable return at a much higher rate. The sequel 

 of this communication will show how far such ex- 

 pectations were realized. The weather was now 

 very favorable to the properly maturing of the 

 crop, but liom the above date to the 24ih of June, 

 (when harvest was begun,) frequent showers oc- 

 curred, as also warm, damp and cloudy weather, 



