S4 



N E W ENGLAND FAR M E R 



SEPT. 16, 1840. 



Ffir the New Englaiul Farmer. 



AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEM F.NI'S. 



Mr CoLi'.iA>' — Tlie great iniprnvoments made in 

 agriculture within the last twenty years, and the 

 impetus ^iven to it by agricultural Bcicieties, hooks 

 and periodical papers, is evident to every man of 

 observation. And that there is room for fnrther 

 and still greater improvement is beyond qnestion. 

 Ploughing matches have proved that a yoke of 

 oxen can plough at the rate of several acres a day, 

 and they liave also called into use n great variety 

 of ploughs, and very much lessened the labor of 

 turning up the glebe. But from the almost end- 

 less variety of patterns of this implement, there 

 does not seem to be any one kind that in public 

 estimation takes the lead of all others. And such 

 is the dispositions of many persons to buy the 

 cheapest priced arti'-le, that almost any thing in 

 the shape of a plough will find purchasers, if 'tis 

 nominally cheap; but there are others who are 

 willing to pay liberally if they can be sure of a 

 good article. I saw at your mechanics' fair in 

 Boston, last September, several kinds of well made 

 and handsomely finished ploughs ; but I should 

 have felt much embarrassed in awarding a premi- 

 um without a trial of them in the ground. For 

 one I am much gratified tliat there is to be a trial 

 of the comparative merits of the several kinds now 

 before the public. It is the only sure and right 

 test, and to that mechanic who tnakes the best ar- 

 ticle let him have the credit of it till another can 

 outdo him : it is the only way of making advances 

 towards perfection. If 'tis a project of" fancy far- 

 mers " it is also a project that I fancy ; and I am 

 one of the " huge paw " farmers. Another impor- 

 tant step towards improvement is the liberal pre- 

 mium offered by tlie Plymouth county society, in 

 the management of three pieces of land of half an 

 acre each; one by ploughing in with the sward a 

 given quantity of manure ; one by spreading and 

 harrowing the same amount of manure after the 

 land is ploughed; the third without manure. First 

 year in corn ; second in grain; third in grass, — 

 the crops to be accurately measured and weighed. 

 That course will decide the difference, if there is 

 any, in the application of the manure ; also the true 

 value of it. 'I here is such a difference in farm- 

 ing in the same neighborhood in many places, that 

 if there is hut one right and profitable way it is of 

 great importance that it f-hnuld be known. With- 

 in the distance of about one mile from where I am 

 now writing, there are four or five farmers, who all 

 manage differently. Farmer A. carts all his win- 

 ter made and coarse man\ire and turns it under 

 with his greensward in May. B. suffeis his to lie 

 in the yard and at the hovel windows througli the 

 summer, carts it out upon his sward land in Sep- 

 tember and October, ami ploughs it under for his 

 corn crop ne.xt sea.-.-uu. C. breakt^ up his sward 

 land in the autumn ; next year sows to onts ; in 

 September carts out his manure and turns it in 

 with the stubble for hoed crops the next year. 1). 

 lets his manure lie in the yard and at the hovel 

 windows till fall ; then carls it out into large heaps ; 

 next spring applies it all in the hill for his corn 

 and potato crop. Yet each man thinks his own 

 the best course. They do not vary from it, nor try 

 any experiments, and none of them cart any muck, 

 leaves or loam into their yards to mix with their 

 manures to imbibe the light or retain the gaseous 

 parts. 



There seems also to be some difference of opin- 

 ion among farmers in relation to improving their 

 lands by ploughing in vegetable matter, whether 

 in its green or dried state. A few weeks since I 

 saw a very good farmer mowing a crop of oats, and 

 drying them before ploughing in — while most far- 

 mers plough in such crops while green and full of 

 sap. Now that one or the other way, is the best 

 and most profitable is morally certain, and the only 

 way of determining is by actual and carefully con- 

 ducted experiments. 



The late Col. Taylor, of Virginia, enriched and 

 very much improved his large plantations by plough- 

 ing in dried clover, and has as.-igned his reasons for 

 it in preference to the practice of turning in green 

 crops, but they are too lengthy to quote in this 

 sheet. In some parts of Pennsylvania they grow 

 wheat every other year, let it remain in clover al- 

 ternate years till it is fairly in blossom, then turn 

 in their cattle and pasture it till time to plough for 

 winter wheat. Their lands are continually improv- 

 ing by this course. K Mr Pomeroy, in reply to 

 the printed questions of the trustees of your State 

 Agricultural Society, stated it as his practice to 

 plough in dried clover in preference to turning it 

 in green. To this the trustees dissented. Mr 

 Keeley, of Haverhill, has proved beyond all doubt 

 the great value of ploughing in green vegetable 

 matter, and of that fact I have no doubts myself.— 

 But whether green or dried is the best course, I 

 am not quite so clear about. It is a common say- 

 ing, cultivate a Utile land and manure and cultivate 

 Mo(well. But you, Mr Editor, some time ago, 

 broached a new and I think a more correct doc- 

 trine — that is, to cultivate a good deal of land, and 

 tliat well : but that cannot be done unless we re- 

 sort to some other means than the mere droppings 

 of our stock for manure, and many good farmers 

 are sensible of that, and are trying to enrich their 

 grounds by plougliing in vegetable matter. There- 

 fore it seems important that the question should be 

 settled, as to the best and most profitable method 

 of availing ourselves of this great auxiliary. 



I had a few other hints in my " mind's eye " 

 when I began this ; but have already spun it out 

 to such a length that I fear it will deter you from 

 sticking the type for it. B. 



Sept. 7, 1840. 



suffer the dung to lie all the season in the yard, 

 trodden down hard by the cattle and exposed to a 

 winter flood of rain. Every dung heap should rest 

 on a foundation of mould, so placed as to catch 

 the draining of the manure, which would else soak 

 into the earth and be lost, but which, fully impreg- 

 nating the bottom layer of mould, renders it nearly 

 equal in richness with the rest: and the dung 

 ought to lie loose, that there may be space for the 

 act of fermentation. It would doubtless be advan- 

 tageous to have the dung under cover, but such 

 convenience is rather out of the question on ac- 

 count of the expense ; nevertheless a covering of 

 earth is no despicable substitute. Various receipts 

 are given for the making of compost — some of 

 them laughable enough, on account of the expen- 

 siveness, scarcity, or hard names of the ingredients ; 

 but the best way is for the farmer to get all the 

 various articles of manure he can possibly lay his 

 hands on, the fatter the better, and with them form 

 his compost heap : the diflerent ingredients should 

 lie as equally as possible, nor ought lime or ashes 

 to come ill immediate contact with dung, but with 

 earth or vegetables ; and every practical man 

 knows when to turn it over and divide and break 

 the clods and adhesions. — Lawrence. 



MANURING. 



The bulk of the manure on a farm should ever 

 be bestowed upon those crops dosi[:ned for the sup- 

 port of tlie live stock, by whicli n>easure, and the 

 use of the hoe or cultivator, these fallows, as they 

 are very properly termed, will be in a most rich, 

 clean and cleganforder for the production of corn 

 or grain of any kind ; and this measure is absolute- 

 ly essential upon soils apt to run riot from super- 

 abundant fertility, when fresh dunged and sown 

 with grain broadcast, when the consequence too 

 often is one continued bed of weeds and a forest 

 of straw, borne down by its own weight, and de- 

 stroyed by the rust. The true management of 

 dung in the farm yard, is to get it ready fer use, 

 that is, to expedite a due fermentation as early as 

 possible, by throwing it into convenient situations 

 in heaps of advantageous size. Dung hills of mod- 

 erate size are most favorable to fermentation, and 

 are, besides, ready at hand for choice on any emer- 

 gency ; and it is very much better to continue at 

 every opportunity, to make dung hills in proper 

 situations, either at home or in the fields, than to 



EUROPEAN HUSBANDRY. 



The new husbandry of England and Scotland 

 presents a most gratifying fact, which ought to be 

 realized and undei-stood here. Our men of capital ] 

 invest their money in almost any thing, sooner than 

 in either purchasing farms or making improvements 

 upon them. In England, the policy of the law is, , 

 to continue the ownership of the soil in a succes- j 

 sion of families, so that the greater enterprise is to 

 be found, not in the owners of the land, but in those 

 who pay a high price for the use of it : the improve- 

 ments there are more generally made by the ten- 

 ants than by the owners. The eminent success of 

 the venerable farmer of Norfolk — Mr Coke, of 

 Holkham — presents a case wcuthy our admiration. 

 The product of his whole estate when he came in- 

 to possession, was little more than two thousand 

 pounds per annum : twenty years ago his income 

 from rents had advanceB to twenty thousand ; and 

 it is now said to be more than forty thousand pounds, 

 or exceeding two hundred thuusand dollars! In 

 adding this great iucriiase to his wealth, Mr Coke 

 has not made thousands poor, aa he might have 

 done, if his estate liad been money, and that money 

 had accumulated from use, even at no more than 

 the lawful interest: the value of his property has 

 been increased in the course of the time of his ac- 

 tive life, from thirty to forty fold, and no human be- 

 ing under the sun is the poiprcr for it: he has liv- 

 ed all the time in a style of princely magnificence, 

 and even what has been expended in mere orna- 

 ment, has made the world no poorer, but dispensed 

 favors to the poor, who have received in the expen- 

 diture, not what is wrung from the hard hand of la- 

 bor, but the surplus that has been left after labor 

 had received its full remuneration. The wealth of 

 Mr Coke has been the increase of the capital of 

 the country : the acre of ground that is now worth 

 twenty and thirty for one, is worth nothing less to 

 the community in which he lives, than to himself: 

 its increased value to him, is also increased value 

 to them. — //o?i. 1. HilVs .Iddress. 



Wheat.. — More than one hundred and fifty varie- 

 ties of this grain are known to exist. 



