1859, 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



183 



our cities, by supplying them with fresh blood, 

 and brains educated by its profits, and unweak- 

 ened by their cares and dissipations ? Agricul- 

 ture is the immediate sire of commerce, and the 

 wealth of the merchant finds its first sources in 

 the wealth of the farmer. It is quite time such 

 sneering assertions were discarded. Can the wri- 

 ter of the above — can any reader of this para- 

 graph — point to a county or town which does 

 not number more or less of those who have made 

 farming sufficiently profitable for every legiti- 

 mate human wish ? Farmers should respect 

 themselves, and honor their pursuit ; and those 

 who are honestly and earnestly endeavoring to 

 aid them in rendering it still more productive, 

 and its followers still more worthy of its high 

 position, should be recognized as beyond the aim 

 of so weak at attempt at ridicule. — Country Gen- 

 tleman. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 HOW TO TB3AT EXHAUSTED LANDS. 



Mr. Brown : — 1 have 30 acres of mowing 

 land, a light sandy loam, nearly run out. I pro- 

 pose, as it used to grow corn well, to put 10 

 acres of it this season to corn. I have only ma- 

 nure for half of this quantity, and think of try- 

 ing guano and plaster for the other part, and 

 wish to know the best mode of applying these 

 fertilizers, never having used them, (a.) 



After the corn is oft', how shall I proceed to 

 get the land back to grass ? (b.) 



I also want to enrich and re-seed 10 acres 

 more. Can I do it to advantage by sowing buck- 

 wheat or clover, and plowing in and seed down 

 in the autumn ? (c.) 



Will it pay to put in rye, barley or wheat, and 

 purchase fertilizer ? (d.) 



My object is to get the land back to its for- 

 mer condition as soon as possible. The farm 

 has not been occupied or carried on for three or 

 four years. Middlesex Subscriber. 



Feb., 1859. 



Remarks. — (a.) Some persons spread guano 

 broadcast where the land is naturally moist, and 

 derive considerable benefit from it for one or two 

 years. This is the easiest and cheapest way of 

 applying it. If put in the hill, there is danger of 

 killing the young corn. If the kernel touches 

 the guano it will not sprout — if it sprouts and 

 the tender shoot reaches the guano, it is death 

 to it. 



(b.) If you desire to get corn land into grass 

 by the quickest method, you can cultivate the 

 corn field level, sow grass seed after the last hoe- 

 ing in August, and rake it in or work it in at the 

 hoeing, if there are not many weeds. This is a 

 good way, because the corn shades the tender 

 grass a little, and assists it considerably, if the 

 season is a dry one. Where this is done we 

 think it better to "cut the stalks" and let the 

 sun in after the grass is fairly started. When 

 the corn is removed it should be cut quite close 

 to the ground, so that the stubble shall not be in 

 the way of the scythe. 



But if you do not like this mode, add what 

 manure you can spare in the fall and plow it un- 

 der, cross plow in the spring, and sow with wheat 

 and grass seed. 



(c.) Plow, and harrow once, then manure with 

 guano, 500 pounds per acre, if you can spare the 

 money for it, and if you cannot turn up less land 

 — sow with clover or buckwheat, and when just 

 going out of blossom, cut and let it two-thirds 

 dry, and then plow it under. If you turn it un- 

 der green, rapid fermentation will take place, 

 throwing off" the sugar and starch of the plant, 

 its most important elements, and leaving com- 

 paratively little behind that is valuable. If dry, 

 or nearly dry, when plowed under, fermentation 

 and decomposition will be slow, the gases will 

 be evolved gradually and absorbed by the sur- 

 rounding soil, and enriching it for the plants 

 that are to follow. 



(d.) Under judicious management we think it 

 will. The land has probably become exhausted 

 of its vegetable matter, by frequent cropping, 

 without much having been returned to it. Fill 

 I it with the roots of clover, or with its stems and 

 leaves, or those of some other plant, then plow it 

 deeper than usual, so as to bring up new earth 

 that has not been exhausted of its mineral mat- 

 ter and you have a soil resembling that where a 

 forest has just been cut off". 



The object of gain sought must be, the restor • 

 ing the land,Jilling it with vegetable matter, and 

 not getting a crop. If the crop barely pays for 

 the guano used and for the labor, it ought to be 

 satisfactory. When the land is restored, it will 

 yield profitable crops indefinitely, under proper 

 treatment. 



For the Neip England Farmer. 

 GBAIN CSOPS. 



Mr. Editor : — I send you some extracts from 

 an essay read by Mr. Charles A. Hubbard, 

 before the Concord Farmers' Club, on the even- 

 ing of the 10th inst. I think they are worthy the 

 attention of farmers in other parts of the State. 

 Mr. H. is doing just what hundreds of other 

 farmers should do. 



"Wheat is but little cultivated in this section, 

 but I have raised it to some extent for the last 

 four years, v/ith fair success. Four years ago I 

 purchased a bushel of spring wheat, and sowed 

 thi'ee pecks of it, on half an acre of good corn 

 land, and raised twelve and a half bushels of ex- 

 cellent wheat. I sold eleven dollars worth of 

 straw. The next year I sowed three bushels on 

 an acre and a half of light sandy soil, generous- 

 ly manured. The manure was plowed in four 

 inches deep. After the wheat had nearly cov- 

 ered the ground, I sowed on it ten bushels of 

 ashes. The crop was 21.\ bushels. The third 

 year 1 sowed four bushels on two acres of heavy 

 clay soil, but well-prepared. The crop was 47i 

 bushels of as handsome wheat as I ever saw. 

 The straw I estimated at three tons, worth twelve 



