V'^i.'irivJ! 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



PUnLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aohicultucial Warehouse.) 



iroi.. xm.i 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVE.MBER 18, 1840. 



[NO. no. 



N. E. FARMER. 



CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURE. 



We are very hap|iy in seeinir our sister State, 

 lie land of steady habits, Wiii<i;]^' up witii a spirit 

 if agricultural itnprovenierit, which we are persua- 

 led will not be suffered to flao: ; and from which 

 lie best results may he anticipated. Connecticut 

 brmerly had several agricultural societies ; for 

 leveral years, however, they huve slumbered and 

 ilept. But the wise virgins have arisen and trirn- 

 ned their lamps. May they burn with a clear, a 

 teady, and a constantly more and more diffusive 

 ight. 



At a late session of their legislature, the gov- 

 irnnient granted to each county society the sum of 

 wo hundred dollars, to bo expended in premiums 

 md for the encouragement ot agriculture, provided 

 hat each society would among themselves raise an 

 iqual sum for the same objects. The New Haven 

 younty Society, the New London and Windham 

 bounty Society, and the Hartford County Society, 

 lach availed themselves of this offer; and we know 

 lot how many others. The Shows and Fairs of 

 lach of these societies the present autumn, we 

 lave had the pleasure to attend, and with high 

 [ratification. Finer exhibitions of vegetable pro- 

 lucts we know could not be presented in any part 

 if the country. The show of stock, likewise, was 

 lighly creditable. At New Haven, upwards of 

 hree hundred yokes of as fine working cattle, in 

 espect to condition and appearance as can any 

 phere be found, were on the ground; and at Hart- 

 brd four hundred and thirty yokes. At each of 

 hese places a large collection of farmers and far- 

 riers' wives and daughters were assembled to as- 

 ist at and to enjoy the lestival. Men of the highest 

 listiuclion in the State lent their ready aid, and 

 luch occasions [uust be productive of the highest 

 food. 



We feared that we might be considered rather 

 'brenchy" in being found thrr-c times in ourneigh- 

 lor's pnsture : but we escaped without being either 

 hackled or impounded. The truth is, the bars 

 ^ere taken down for us, and we were very kindly 

 nvited to come in. How could we refuse, with 

 lur strong desire to break down every sectional 

 irejudice, and to cultivate a .-ipirit ofuniversal fra- 

 ernity ? We had likewise the honor of an invi- 

 atioii to go into New Hampshire, which sickness 

 lompeiled us, to our great regret, to decline. 



The New Haven County Society have published 

 heir " Transactions." The able report on farms 

 ve have the great pleasure today in part to lay bc- 

 bre our readers. The remainder will immediately 

 bllow. It is exceedingly well drawn up; and 

 fill be read by our farmers with profit and pleasure. 



Connecticut is eminently suited to be au agricul- 

 ural community. She has much good soil. In 

 nany places she abounds in the means of enriching 

 ler soil. She has access in every direction to the 

 lest markets. Besides all this she has an intelli- 

 gent, industrious, frugal, sober population, well edu- 



cated and enured to habits of labor and self depen- 

 dence. Her manufacturing industry has made her 

 eminent throughout the world. We do not mean, 

 if we can help it, that she shall bear away the 

 palm in agricultural improvement from our own 

 State ; but let her do it, if she can ; and no misera- 

 ble self-conceit nor mean jealousy shall prevent 

 our spurring her on to the most spirited competi- 

 tion. She belongs to us and we to her. What 

 she gains, we shall gain. We will cheerfully give 

 and take ; and the honor acquired by any one of 

 the children of the same family is necessarily re- 

 flected u|)on all the rest. H. C. 



NEW HAVEN COUNTY AGRICULTURAL 



SOCIRTY. 



Report nfHie Commiltee on Farms. 



The Committee on Farms beg leave to report : 

 That they have devoted six days to the discharge 

 of the duties of their appointment, in visiting the 

 several farms in the different sections of the coun- 

 ty presented for the premiums olTered by the Soci- 

 ety. All the farms thus presented were visited by 

 your committee between the 20th and 30th of June. 



The object aimed at in this examination is utility, 

 a practical benefit to the farming interest of the 

 county. This object the committee have constant- 

 ly kept in view. No effort, therefore, will be made 

 at eloquent dissertation or rhetorical display. Their 

 aim is to present the principles on which they pro- 

 ceeded, the facts on which they proceeded, the 

 facts which they found, and the conclusions to 

 which arrived, in plain and simple language, .suited 

 to the useful and important subjects which they 

 discuss. 



It appeared essential, in the outset, tliat the com- 

 mittee should definitely determine what were the 

 principles on which they were to make their deci- 

 sion. 



The premiums are offered for the " best cultiva- 

 ted farms.'" The most productive land, or that 

 which is in the highest condition, is not necessari- 

 ly the best cultivated. Accidental circumstances, 

 or the judicious and careful husbandry of a former 

 occupant may have brought it into such condition, 

 that even with inferior culture it will produce 

 heavy crops. So of a farm at large. By mode- 

 rate cropping and careful nursing, the deteriora- 

 tion incident to ordinary farming may have been 

 avoided, and the whole farm to a degree retain its 

 pristine fertility, while the cultivation remains the 

 same that has been pursued time out of mind. 



And here the committee would remark, that the 

 general system, or outline of husbandry, pursued in 

 any country, is such as experience has provfd to 

 be best adapted to the soil and climate ; and it is 

 only by such judicious and careful modifications of 

 this system, as the progress of society in science 

 and the arts may suggest, and accurate and repeat- 

 ed experiments approve, that any amelioration in 

 that system can be effected. Such modifications 

 are continually made, and the thorough farmer 

 finds exercise for his most careful discrimination 

 and his best judgment in selecting from the multi- 



tude of experiments urged upon the confidence of 

 the community by plausible statements and the 

 published results of small trials — such changes as 

 shall not only be consistent with the general sys- 

 tem, but shall also be improvements upon it. If, 

 therefore, the system as it prevailed with us a half 

 century since is still continued by any farmer, with- 

 out the adoption of such modifications as experi- 

 ence has proved to be beneficial, he is evidently 

 behind the age, and his farm can by no means be 

 said to be even luell rulliiuited. 



On the other hand, although a farm may be less 

 productive by reason of a lighter soil or previous 

 and long continued injudicious and close cropping, 

 yet the present occupant, by careful management 

 in relaying his fences, draining his low lands, and 

 deepening his soil, in a careful and thorough pre- 

 paration and application of manure — in eradicating 

 bushes and weeds — breaking up old head lands 

 and unreclaimed pastures — injudicious courses of 

 cropping varied to conform to the different soils, 

 and in improving his buildings and other conveni- 

 ences, may obtain a far richer result than he who 

 pursues the old way upon better and more produc- 

 tive soil. True, a part of the results of his indus- 

 try remains upon his land, but what better course 

 can a farmer adopt than one which continually rai- 

 ses the condition and character of the soil U|)on 

 which he labors. Such continued improvement 

 has a direct and wholesome influence upon the 

 mind of the farmer himself, and leads him to great- 

 er personal efforts and to higher attainments. 



The dealer in money rejoices in such investment 

 of his funds as will bring him compound interest. 

 How much more should the farmer delight in that 

 management of his land which renders soil before 

 unproductive, and it may be unfit for cultivation, 

 because it produced less than a fair equivalent for 

 the outlay of interest, taxes, seed and labor, not 

 merely more fruitful — but even highly productive 

 and rich. The interest upon the original cost of 

 the land, and the taxes, remain the same, the quan- 

 tity of seed is not increased, nor is more labor rc- 

 (piired in the cultivation, while the crop is often 

 doubled, or even tripled. The additional product 

 is attributable to the improvement which has thus 

 been effected upon the soil, and if this is as it 

 should be, a thorough and permanent improvement, 

 it becomes a part of the farmer's capital, and all 

 the return above the former average is clear profit 

 upon the capital thus created. How delightful to 

 the farmer the conaciou mess that his thoroughly 

 cultivated farm is not only a source of profit, but is 

 also continually and rapidly improving. 



We see, therefore, that the quality and condi- 

 tion of the land, and the amount of crops obtained, 

 are not alone to be considered in determining the 

 question which is the best cultivated farm. Were 

 we to decide simply which is the best farm, with- 

 out regard to the cultivation, a careful examination 

 of the premises alone would be all which would be 

 needed in order to arrive at a correct result. But 

 when the inquiry includes also the cultivation, al- 

 though it is necessary to examine the land in order 

 to judge correctly of the results of such cultiva- 



