238 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



■worn-out and exhausted from the fact that it never 

 had been half cultivated. The land was very light but 

 not sandy, and the captain said he could grow any- 

 thing but wheat, and that would not pay in this 

 State. The first year I put in a piece of wheat with 

 very poor success, raising eight bushels from near 

 an acre. The second year I had two acres of old 

 ground which had never been manured. On this I 

 carted near one hundred cartloads of swamp muck 

 in the fall, distributing it in small heaps over the 

 field. In the spring I spread it and plowed it in 

 and sowed wheat. The spring was cold and back- 

 ward, and from some cause it did not all germinate. 

 After it came up I sowed on twenty bushels of re- 

 fuse lime and as many more of ashes, the effect of 

 ■which was soon perceivable. When it was ready 

 to harvest, some of the straw was more than five 

 feet high. I reaped it and it threshed out forty bush- 

 els, at the rate of twenty bushels to the acre. I 

 think all light soils can be renovated by applying 

 muck, ashes and lime, so that wheat, as well as oth- 

 er grains, will grow. J. M. 

 Searsmont, Maine. 



For the Neic England Farmer. 



RURAL ECONOMY OF THE BRITISH 

 ISLES-No. 9. 



SOUTHERN COUNTIES — SURREY, HAMPSHIRE, DOR- 

 SET, DEVONSHIRE, CORNWALL. 



We now enter the county of Surrey. Rents 

 should be about the same as in Sussex ; for the soil 

 naturally is not better. The southern portion of 

 the county touches the Weald, and partakes of all 

 its disadvantages. On the west, is another kind of 

 ban-enness, consisting of unsound moors, which 

 farming has not yet everywhere ventured upon, be- 

 cause it would not pay the expenses of cultivation. 

 As for the north and east of this county, London 

 occupies it, with its en\irons and immense depen- 

 dencies. 



Surrey, therefore, is of no importance as an ag- 

 ricultural county ; its large population is more ur- 

 ban than rural ; and its area is only 450,000 acres. 

 It is, however, the county most visited by strangers, 

 and its beauty has always been celebrated. A few 

 miles above London, the Thames is neither more 

 nor less than a park river, whose clear waters, 

 covered with swans, wind through green meadows, 

 and under the shade of magnificent trees ; its banks 

 are studded with mansions and parks, interspersed 

 with elegant villas, and pretty cottages ; well-kept 

 roads, running through this enchanting country, 

 disclose its beauties at every turn. 



Here you see the English taste for gardening — 

 it is entirely rural. Indeed the taste of the English 

 is pastoral ; they are essentially agriculturists and 

 sportsmen, even more than naval. Properly 



ways thought of-that while it turns off" so much speaking, they have no woods, but trees scattered 

 •' ^ , 11 f • J ! here and there, over large grass fields ; and mstead 



more work than man alone could perform, it doesi^f j.^^^^^^^^^^^ ^j^^^ ^^^^ ^.^^^jg. nothing artificial or 



not have to be warmed and fed. [ ha\ing the appearance of arrangement — real coun- 



try brought to perfection by the 

 freshness of the turf, the beauty 

 of the trees and flocks, depth of 

 horizons and happy distribution 

 of water, — the useful and the 

 pleasurable, in fact, united ; art 

 aspiring no further than to sep- 

 arate nature from its roughness 

 and decay, in order to leave it 

 adorned with all its loveliness 

 and fruitfulness. The undulat- 

 ing character of the country, 

 (the English love to a])ply sea 

 terms to all things,) adds beau- 

 ty to its perspectives. Such is 

 In the cut above we have another, and a new [the appearance of_the county of Surrey. And 

 view of that excellent implement, the Horse Hoe. 

 It possesses some advantages over the one intro- 

 duced three or four years since, in having parallel 

 expanding bars, so that it may be worked as wide 



HOWE'S EXPANDING HORSE HOE. 



There is really no limit to the genius and actiNi- 

 ty of mind; one improvement suggests another, 

 and their union, or the adoption of the best ideas, 

 has been of immense benefit to the farmer. They 

 save a vast amount of human toil, while their results 

 are even more valuable than though human hands 

 and muscles had been doubled or trebled. A great 

 advantage in a good machine is — and one not al- 



how much of New England might, and in time will 

 wear the same aspect. It is not the soil that has 

 wrought these wonders, because it is naturally arid 

 in the high grounds, and marshy in the low ; but 

 labor and a pastoral taste. Even the commons, 

 or as narrow as is desired. The side teeth are also! which are here and there to be met with, covered 



supported by a rod connected with the front part of 

 the hoe, thereby giving them permanency, and with- 

 out any wearing of the socket that holds the tooth to 

 the bar. The want of expansion was often felt in 

 the old hoe. The implement is made in the most 

 thorough manner, and the improvements are by 

 Mr. James A. Howe, of Boston, a gentleman of a 

 good deal of inventive genius and skill. 



with their furze and broom and heather, by their 

 wildness, add an agreeable variety to the view. 



Hampshire comes next, continuing along the 

 Southern coast, and is considered to be one of the 

 most agreeable counties as a residence, on account 

 of its mild and healthy climate. The Isle of Wight, 

 where the Queen has her favorite residence, belongs 

 to Hampshire. 



Generally speaking, the soil is bad, especially 

 towards the north. There was, formerly, an im- 



