1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



431 



for our neighbors, v/ho have sold at vendues, and, 

 so far as we have learned, the jjurchasers Tvere 

 well satisfied. It appears to apply well to clear 

 timothy, and clear clover, or a mixture of the two. 

 Take a mow of 12 or 15 feet in depth, and which 

 has been filled with hay, as it was drawn from the 

 field, and has been lying till spring, and measure 

 the length, breadtli and height in feet — multiply 

 them to get the cubical content. For instance — 

 the length is 20 feet, breadth 40 feet, and lieight 

 16 feet— 20 times 40 make 800, multiplied by 16, 

 equal 12,800 cubic feet, which being divided by 

 700, the number of feet that make a ton of 200() 

 lbs., will give 1828^ lbs. The top of a mow, say 

 about one-third, v;e rate at 800 feet to the ton, the 

 middle 700 feet, and the bottom of the mow at COO ; 

 so the whole bulk would average 700 feet, if the 

 mow is 12 or 15 feet deep, but if only 5 or 

 6 feet deep, count 800 feet for a ton, and so ac- 

 cordingly with other bulks. — JVew Jersey Farmer. 



PRINCIPLES OE AGRICULTURE. 



A pa])er was recently read before the Farmers' 

 Club of New York, by Dr. R. L. Waterbury, which 

 seems to have conflicted with the views of the sa- 

 vans of that illustrious body, consisting of ^Messrs. 

 Mapes, Waring, et id omne genus, who undertook 

 to answer it. On reading the report of their re- 

 marks, Dr, W. found it necessary to disclaim the 

 views attributed to him, and in doing so gives the 

 purport of the. paper read by him as follows: — 



That without the use of any foreign fertilizer, 

 produce enough may be sold off from a farm in 

 most portions of the Union to pay the expense of 

 conducting it; and yet, by judicious management, 

 the soil may be annually improving in condition ; 



That this can be effected easiest in tho?e ])or- 

 tions of the Union where the value of land is the 

 least, and where, consequently, the f\rms are larg- 

 est, and the longest rotations of crops can be prof- 

 itably resorted to ; 



That no system of farming is deserving of our 

 attention that does not recognize the necessity of 

 farm exports ; 



That a State may, to some extent, export agri- 

 tural products, without diminishing in capability to 

 produce them ; 



That an inspection of the census returns of the 

 United States and of the State of New York, shows 

 that the amount of crops of this State has increased 

 for the last ten years much faster than the area of 

 improved lands in the State, and that consequently 

 the lands cannot be "running out ;" 



That the processes of Nature, to which we owe 

 the present alluvia condition of the surface of the 

 earth, are still at work, and that land left entirely 

 to itself will, by the action of water and vegetation, 

 improve in fertility ; 



That the process of tillage alone may be made 

 to accelerate this improvement, and help to provide 

 for the necessary waste of marketing ; 



That rain penetrates the porous parts of the 

 earth's surface, and percolates through them until 

 it comes to impervious strata, and that it runs along 

 this impervious strata until it finds egress as springs, 

 and that spring water is impregnated, more or less, 

 with saline substances ; 



That the evaporation which is continually going 



on of the water from the surface of the earth, leaves 

 the saline matter in the surface, as but a small ])art 

 of the water that falls as rain ever reaches the sea ; 



That the mineral springs of Saratoga and other 

 localities, are exaggerated illustrations of this pro- 

 cess, and the mere fertile conditions of valleys is to 

 be in part referred to the same cause ; 



That, in the present thinly populated condition 

 of our Continent, the true purpose of American 

 agriculture at this time is to wisely direct these 

 natural forces, rather than apply pinches of guano 

 and tea-spoonfuls of super-phosphates to individual 

 plants, although such applications may pay on some 

 farms, and probably do pay well on all market gar- 

 dening o])erations. 



The objection to soil analysis is this : — 



The difference between the early soil of Virginia 

 and the same soil in its present condition, has been 

 made by the loss of 1,200 lbs. of alkalies to the 

 acre. But this 1,200 lbs. forms not quite three 

 ten-thousandths (000.27) of the soil to the de;;th 

 of a foot. 



The idea that any amount of variation within 

 such infinitesimal limits can be measured and de- 

 fined by quantitative analysis, is absurd. Top- 

 dressing of the same amount would, in the same 

 way, fail of being detected. 



That directions given by agricultural chemists 

 have led to successful results, is undoubtedly true ; 

 but these directions have been founded rather upon 

 experience and observation than upon chemiaal an- 

 alysis. 



A GARDEN. 



Not wholly in the busy world, nor quite 



Beyond it, blooms the garden that I love. 



News from the humming city comes to it 



In sound of funeral or of marriage bells ; 



And, sitting muffled in dark leaves, you heat 



The windy clanging of the minster clock ; 



Although between it and the garden lies 



A league of grass, washed by a slow, broad streaxQ, 



That stirred with languid pulses of the oar, 



Waves all its lazy lilies, and creeps on, 



Barge-laden, to three arches of a bridge 



Crowned with the minster-towers. TENrrrsos. 



Rosse's Telescope.-- -The Earl of Rosse, who 

 has recently completed another telescope, the larg- 

 est ever made, alluded, at a meeting in London, to 

 its effects. He said that, with respect to the moon, 

 every object on its surface of 100 feet in height 

 was now distinctly to be seen; and he had no 

 doubt that, under very favorable circumstances, it 

 would be so with objects sixty feet in height. On 

 its surface were craters of extinct volcanoes, rocks, 

 and masses of stones, almost innumerable. lie 

 had no doubt that if such a building as he was then 

 in were upon the surfice of the moon, it would be 

 rendered distinctly visible by these instruments. 

 But there were no signs of habitations such as 

 ours — no vestiges of architecture remain to show 

 that the moon is or ever was inhabited by a race 

 of mortals similar to ourselves. It presented no ap- 

 pearance which could lead to the su])position that 

 it contained anything like the green fields and the 

 lovely verdure of this beautiful world of ours. — 

 There was no water visible — not a sea or a river, 

 or even the measure of a reservoir for supplying 

 town or factory — all seemed desolate. 



