vol-. XI .. MO. as. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



221 



Tlie sOi! wiis good, but not new. It had been 

 in meadow for iriaiiy years previous to the last sev- 

 en. The live first nf last seven, it was in liernp : 



We liave received tliroiigh the liands of Mr Col- 

 man, the followinjf comniniiiculion. (^iir ini|)res- 

 sion is, that Mr C. withheld it from ]iiiblicatiun 



tlie lust but one it was in rye, and the last in seed liopmir to find time for appending to it some re 



hemp. 



The seed was of «. variuty 



mown in 



Ihi 



marks of his own; but failing to do us \\r desi{;ned 

 previously to closing his connexion witli the paper, 



ncigbborliood, particukvly aiiioiij; distillers, who I [,e has placed the article at our disposal. It is 

 speak of it as yieldinn. more spirits than any other j from tl e same pen that has furnished our readers 

 kind. It is yellow, and has a medium ear m size, j ,vii|, i,„ercslinrr and instructive communications 



a firm deep grain, very small red cob, shells easily 

 and in shelling yields abundantly. For several 

 years pasf. 1 have been improving it by a careful 

 selection of seed, and the result has been an in- 

 crease in the iiumber and size of the ears. It ma- 

 tures about two weeks earlier than other corn 

 commonly does. 



In its cultivation 1 was governed by the princi- 

 ples, that the rouis wore not to be broken ; that a 

 good hcd was to be given the roots t > nccujjy ; that 

 light and henl sliould get to them equally, and that 

 the whole power of the soil should be brought into 

 action without being burdened. I first, as soon as 

 It could be done after the frost was out of the 

 soil, gave it a deep ploughing with a Gary plough. 

 In April, just before planting, I spread over the 



relative to the great west. We insert it with 

 pleasure, and express a hope that we shall often be 

 furnished with matter from the same source. — Kd. 



For tlif New England Farmer. 



SMALL FARMS. 



K long chapter might be written upon this sub- 

 ject, hilt I wil! endeavor to condense my remarks 

 into a short one. 



The Massachusetts Agricultural Society offers 

 premiums for the best farms containing not less 

 than seventy acre;^ ; from which it may be inferred 

 that smaller farms cannot (in the opinion of the 

 Trustees) bo cultivated to advantage, or, that own- 

 ers of smaller cannot make improvements worthy 



whole surface a thin coat of fresh stable manure in of encouragement 



its unfermeiited state; then cross ploughed with | Whatever may be the reason for excluding farms 



the same plough; then harrowed; then laid off of less than seventy acres, I believe that a great 



rows two fc<t apart with a shovel plough ; dropped 

 the seed in the botto.m of these rows, as near one 

 foot apart as I could ; covered with hoes, and in 



error is committed in doing so, and the following 

 are some of my reasons. 



Large farmers are seldom e.'vperiinentalists, ex- 



so doing made tlie surface level, every clod being ''cp'ing gentlemen of large fortunes who are not 

 crushed with the eye of the hoe, and I then pressed I dependent upon the income of tlieir farms for sup 



the whole down tight with a good roller. When 

 the corn was about one foot high, I had the weeds 

 cut with a sharp hoe by scraping : great care was 

 taken not to break the surface nor to hill the corn. 

 It had but one hoeing of this sort, and the laborer 

 was about one day in doing it. 



The manure, though green from the stable, as 

 the season was wet, was of much service, which I 

 suppose would not have been the case, had the 

 season been dry. 



In my opinion the experiment proves unequivo- 

 cally, that in wet or rainy seasons, such as the past 

 has been, a crop of corn m.iy be trebled, and that 

 with a great reduction of labor. What could be 

 done such a year as was that of 1839, remains to 

 >e tested. Very respectfiillv, &c., 



GEO. W. WILLIAMS. 



Bourbon connti/, Sipt. 'H, 1840. 

 Ve do certify, That we have this day accurately 

 iTlfeiured the quantity of corn grown by Geo. W. 

 WfaiDs, as an experiment in the mode of cuitiva- 

 t'o" that we have also accurately measured the 

 land, cultivated by him, and we find the land 

 conta^ one acre and one eighth of an acre, and 

 the qU)iJty of corn is one liutidred and seventy- 

 eight t,liels, making at the rate of one hundred 

 """ J'JHghl bushels and two ninths of a bushel to 

 the acre 



Will. P. Hume, 

 Geo. Moobe, 

 Joseph H. Clay, 

 R. P. Rankins. 



Cooking i<s._Take beets of middle size, and 

 after removin,|,e t^pg aj,j jj^t^ roast them in a 

 fire as potatoe.|.u roasted. When done, they are 

 peeled and ;-ei, „p j^ ^^^^ yg,,^! „ia,iner. One 

 who has tried t,^ j^, ^jjjg way, says they are much 

 sweeter and richf|,an ^[jg„ boiled.— .J/i. Cult. 



port, and such need no premiums to induce them 

 to make improvements. 



(Jeuerally, fewer hands are employed upon large 

 farms in proportion to their size than upon small 

 ones, and they are not so well cultivated, except- 

 ing as above, the cases of opulent owners. 



Taking the average of farms in New England, 

 it is necessary to have a force squal to one full 

 hand to every ten acres, in order to cultivate it well. 

 Olio who cultivates a small farm will generally 

 have nearly or quite this force in his own family, 

 but owing to the high price of labor, large farmers 

 Will not have nearly so large a force. 



By holding out encouragement to large farmers 

 only, the sentiment is inculcated that large farms 

 are necessary to realize the greatest benefit, and 

 your.g men are often induced to go beyond tlieir 

 means, to purchase a large farm which they are 

 unable to manage properly, in consequence of the 

 sliaitened circumstances in which they find them- 

 selves ; or, if they have prudence enough to fore- 

 see this difficulty, they will emigrate where their 

 little capital will purchase such a quantity of land 

 as they suppose is necessary for profitable farming. 



All will admit that thorough cultivation is the 

 most profitable, and, as small farms are generally 

 cultivated better than large ones, for the reason 

 above given, it follows that small farms are more 

 profitable than large ones, ticcording to their size, 

 and I am satisfied from my own experience and 

 observation, that they are so, not only in i\ew Eng- 

 land but even in the fertile valleys of the west. 



The great error of our farmers is, attempting to 

 cultivate too much land. The cultivation of small 

 farms is not only more profitable, but thei e are po- 

 litical and moral advantages resultiu!,' from such a 

 system which ought not to be overlooked. The 

 crowning glory of New England is the subdivision 

 of estates and the ownership of the soil beinji vest- 

 ed in the cultivators, and the consequent indepen- 



dence of our yeomanry. Now this .■■ysteni ought 

 to be preserved and extended, so that instead of a 

 farmer's son being encouraged to burden himself 

 with debt to purchase hie brothers' interests in the 

 homestead, it should be divided among them that 

 the number of independent farmers may be increas- 

 ed us much as possible. 



the advantages of such a system arc many, and 

 too obvious to need further remark. 



But it may be said that it is necessary to limit 

 the premiums to farms over a certain size, to shut 

 out the few highly cultivated acres around the rich 

 man's mansion from coming in competition with 

 ordinary farms. Tliis may be true, but it is not 

 necessary to place the limit so high as to exclude 

 a very great number of the best cultivators in the 

 country, when all the objects proposed may bo bet- 

 ter promoted by bringing small farms into competi- 

 tion with otiiers. It seems to me that the limit 

 should be as low as 25 or even 20 acres. 



If my views are incorrect, I should like to have 

 you or some of your correspondents put rne right. 

 Perhaps at some future day I may add something 

 more upon this subject. J. GOULD. 



Sharon, Muss., Oct. 1840. 



For the N. E. Farmiir. 



CIRCASSIAN MULBERRY. 



This most important and rare variety bids fair to 

 form a new era in the silk culture, on account of 

 its extreii.e hardy character and profusion of foli- 

 age of the largest dimensions. 



The leaves are about the size of the famous Mul- 

 ticaulis mulberry, but more fleshy and nutritious, 

 and of greater weight, and this tree will conse- 

 quently afford more for silk worms than any other 

 variety. 



The wood is remarkably firm and will withstand 

 the winters of Quebec. Its growth is truly a sub- 

 ject of amazement, being fifty per cent, greater 

 than the rapid-shooting Multicaulis. 



.Most of the trees raised from cuttings the pre- 

 sent season, now exceed six feet in height, and 

 some of them seven feet, being nearly double the 

 height of all other kinds in the same field. 



It cannot fail to be a great acquisition, and par- 

 ticularly so to New England. W. P. 



flushing, Dec. JIO- 



[Communicated] 

 GOOD USE FOR TOBACCO. 

 Not long since a rat took it into his head to cut 

 holes in my house. I tried a variety of experi- 

 ments to keep him out without effect. At last I 

 boiled a strong decoction of tobacco, and poured it 

 hot on the places where he "a.'^ at work. He has 

 quit his depredations, although in one place he had 

 cut the hole almost large enough to creep through. 

 I have tried tlie same experiment in other places, 

 and find that rats ivill not eat wood saturated with 

 tobacco juice. Would it not be well if some one 

 building houses or garneis, would try it on a large 

 scale ? The cost will be trifling, and as I ask 

 nothing for the discovery, all may try it who are 

 disposed to do so. A Rat Hater. 



Salt for Poultry. — The Franklin Farmer con- 

 tains a notice of a farmer's wife in that vicinity, 

 who killed her flock of thirty young turkeys, by 

 giving them a pint of meal wet up with a large 

 spoonful of salt. — Alb. Cult, 



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