'204 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JAN, 3, 1»."8. 



^.■(3^E^^lLWW^^m» 



ADDRESS, 



Delivered before the Berkshire Agricultural Society, at their 

 twenty seventh Anniversary, Oct, 15, 1337. 



BY J . B U F. I. . 

 {CuncltHled.: 

 There are tliTL-i; cln.sses of cTO|)s wliicli nlternate 

 beiiefioially wiili cacli oilier, viz: — 1st. Grain, or 

 corn, or ilry crii|)s, vvhicli mature tlieir seed, and 

 most exhauM llie fertilily "f tin; soil ; — 2il. Grass 

 crops, of the liiHiience of which upon the soil, I 

 have already s|)oken ; — and 3il. Root, or green 

 crops, embracing; turnips, potatOfS; heets, clover, 

 &c. In old iiicadKVvs and pastures, not only the 

 better grasses disappear and coarse herbage and 

 mosses come in, but the soil becomess too com- 

 pact and bard, to admit the free extension of the 

 roots, and the genial influence of the sun, dew, 

 and ntmosphcrt-, uliich are primary agents in the 

 process of vegetable nutrilion. .Tillage corrects 

 these evils. It cleans the soil of foul weeds, and 

 converts them into sources of fertility ; it breaks 

 and pulverizes the soil, ajid fits it for the return 

 of the grass crop at the clo!-e of ihe rotation ; — 

 while the vegetable itiatti rs of the sward contrib- 

 ute to augment the root crop which is to fidlow. 

 All green crops are more or less fertilizing, when 

 buried in the soil ; but clover is to be [ireferred, 

 as well on account of its enriching properties to 

 the soil, as that it also ati'onls hay and pasture. — 

 I have practised sowing clover seed with all my 

 small grain crops, thoiigb I intended to plough the 

 field the following year. The food which this 

 clover affords to the coming crop, richly compen- 

 sates for the cost of the seed and sowing, to say 

 notliing of the pasture it gives in autumn. Hence, 

 tillage is admirably calculated to fit and prepare 

 the ground for grass : wliiie grass, in return, di- 

 rectly or indirectly furnishes an abundance of food 

 for grain and roots. 'I'he fertility of a soil ilepends 

 essentially upon its power to absorb water by co- 

 hesive altracticm, and this |)ower depends in a 

 great measure upon the state or division of its 

 parts; the more divided they are, the greater is 

 their absorbent power. 'I'he crop u(ion a hard, 

 compact soil, will sufl'er from drought ; but if this 

 soil is finely |)ulverized and broken, it will sulTer 

 much less. The first may be comfiared to the 

 rock, which receives moisture upon its surface 

 only; the latter to the sponge which receives 

 and transmits moisture to its whole mass, and 

 which retains it for a long time. 



I will close my remarks u[>on the farm, already 

 TOO protracted, 1 fear, f(>r tin; patience of my hear- 

 ers, by u brief reference to the prominent crops 

 ■which seem iidapted to the soils and climate of 

 Berkshire. 



Although your soils contain synd,and clay, and 

 lime, tlireo prominent n^quisites for the growth of 

 wheat, yet they do not seem adapted to the profi- 

 table culture of this grain — they do not enable you 

 to compete successfully with the great wheat dis- 

 tricts of the west. This grain may be grown for 

 family use, but I doubt whether Its culture can 

 be made profitable here, as an article of com- 

 merce ; when cultivated, however, the spring va- 

 rieties are to be preferreil to those of winter, as 

 being less exposed to The vicissitudes of the sea- 

 sons, and Ihe ravages of insects, and consequent- 

 ly more certain in their returns. 



Jlldjan corn is as indispensable to the Yankee, 



as the potato is to the Irishman, or the oat to the 

 Scotchman. It is not only meat and meal to his 

 family, but it is food for bis catlle, and manure 

 for bis land. It is therefore a wry desirable crop, 

 and hence it is often cultivated at an absolute loss. 

 It lequires a gri'at outlay of labor ; yet if ihe soil 

 is dry, and clean, and rich, and the season propi- 

 tious, few farm crops make a better return. It 

 should never be plained, in this latitude, upon wet 

 or cold, or poor lands. The shorlness of the siiiu- 

 mer is a serious objeclion to its culture. '1 here 

 are several things, however, which may be done 

 to obviate, or at least to lessen, this objection. — 

 The earlier varieties ripen a fortnight earlier than 

 the late varieties. By making the land dry, we 

 may raise its natural temperature. By the 1 beral 

 use of iiMfermenied manure, spread and well turn- 

 ed under by the plough, ihe warmth of the soil 

 may be farther increased, and tlu; growth and ma- 

 turity of the crcp tl ereby accelerated. If the sur- 

 face be flat, and the crop likely to suffer from 

 heavy or protracted rains, throw your land into 

 ridges for three rows, or ino narrow ridges l(>r 

 one or two rows, which will render it more dry 

 and warm. In the culture of this crop, I have 

 fiiund the harrow and ihe cultivator, far prefera- 

 ble to the plough, 'i he latter cuts and bruises 

 the roots, which aie ordinarily of greater length 

 than the top, wastes the manure, ami robs the 

 plants of more than half their pasture. Earthing 

 or hilling the plants, is also in a great measure 

 dispen>ed with in ■ modern husbandry — it being 

 found that good culture consists in merely kee[i- 

 ing the ground clean, and its snrl'ice mellow and 

 open to atmospheric and solar influence. In har- 

 vesting, it is decidedly best to cut the crop at Ihe 

 ground, at the ordinary time of topping it, when 

 ti.e kernels have become glazed, and immediately 

 to set it in stooks to dry Jinil mature. The ad- 

 vantages of this practice are, 1st, it secures the 

 grain and fodder from the injurious effects of ear- 

 ly frost ; 2dly, it gives more and belter corn than 

 when topped in the old mode ; and lastly, it af- 

 fords much more and far better fodder than any 

 other mode of harvesting. The laws of vegeta- 

 ble physiology show, that ihe elaliorated or de- 

 scending sap of plants, constitutes their true and 

 only food, and hence corn can receive no acces- 

 sion of growth, affer it has been divested of the 

 leaves, the el.'iborating organs, which grow above 

 it. It is equally apparent, that when the stalk and 

 grain are cut up together, the latter continues to 

 draw elaborated food from the former for some 

 time after it has been severed from its root. By 

 attention to these matters, I baveescaped all injury 

 from frost to my own crop, for the last 17 years, 

 and have not been disappointed in obtaining a 

 good — an abundant harvest. 



'J'his country, I think, is well adapted to the 

 cultivation of oats. But oals, like store pigs, are 

 too often left to shift for themselves, or to take up 

 witli what nothing else would thrive upon. Eiom 

 the abundant product which they yield to good 

 culture, their exemption from disease and insect 

 enemies, and the uniform high price they com- 

 mand in the marki;t, I venture to recommend an 

 increased attention lo their culture, particularly 

 on cold, moist lands, for which they are particu- 

 larly suited. 



Root culture seems well adapted to your soils, 

 your climate, and your principal business — the 

 rearing of cattle and sheep. This is em|)batically 

 the potato, the turnip and the beet zone — the po- 



tato on the stifTer soils, the ruta baga on those of 

 a sandy or gravelly texture, and Ihe beet on those 

 of a loamy or medium grade. And they are 

 ■M excellent for thriving on fresh manure, and of 

 fitting it to become the proper food for your grain 

 crops. They yield tlie greatest amount of food 

 foranima's; they ameliorate the soil, by pulver- 

 izing anil cleaning it ; they add much to the ma- 

 nure of the fiirm ; and they alternate remarkably 

 well with grain and grass in the system of conver- 

 tible husbandry. In the culture of these crops, 

 hand-hoeing may hi; in a great measure dispensed 

 with — the plough and the harrow being princi- 

 pally employed in cultivating the jiotato, and the 

 <irill harrow and cultivator or horse hoe, in sow- 

 ing and cultivaling the Swede and the beet. A 

 good dressing of manure will add from forty to 

 fifty per cent, to the value of these crops. 



I cannot speak in too high commendation of 

 the Swedish turnip, or ruta baga particularly to 

 the cattle anrl sheep farmer. Jt has never disap- 

 pointed my expectations. I have readily conver- 

 ted it into meat and milk, and i-vcr found a de- 

 mand and a fair ))rice for it in market. The topS' 

 adord a rich food for cows and other neat cattle, 

 in late autumn. Secured in ceKars, the roots may 

 be fed to stock during winter; or, if buried in tliB 

 ground, they may be commenced upon in March, 

 and fed till June, 'i hey give a great flush of 

 milk to cows, without imparting to it, where the 

 animals have daily access to salt, much unpleas- 

 ant flavor. The hor.se and the hog feed and thrive 

 upon them; the ox will fatten upon them, fed 

 with two bushels a day, and a trifle of hay or 

 straw ; and they are invaluable for sheep in the 

 winter and s;ring, |arlicularly to milk giving 

 ewes. Six hundred bushels to the acre may be 

 deemed a medium crop, under good culture, 

 though the product has been known to exceed 

 this quantity three fold. The ruta baga requires 

 a loose, rich, dry soil. 



The mangolil wurtzel has been highly com- 

 mended by those who have cultivated it success- 

 fully ; but my experience with it has been but 

 limited, and my success not flattering. Itilenuuids 

 more labor than the ruta baga, is less certain in 

 its growth, and does not keep good so long. But 

 it may be grown on loams that are too tenacious 

 for the Swedes. 



The sugar beet may be cultivated as easily as 

 the mangeld wurtzel, yields nearly the same pro- 

 duct, and its culture is about as profitable for cat- 

 tle food, an<l for ameliorating the soil, as the lat- 

 ter. But when we consider its value as u mate- ' 

 rial for the production of sugar, I cannot hut con- 

 sider its introduction ajiiong us, as a farm crop, 

 as forming a new and auspicious era in our hus- 

 bandry. All beets abound in saccharine matter, 

 but the white Silesian is denominated the sugar 

 beet, on account of its <liininntive, or rather me- 

 dium size — it having been ascertained, that the 

 juices of the smaller roots are more concentrated, 

 or abound more in sugar, than the juices of the' 

 larger growing varieties. The culture of the su- ' 

 gar beet has but commenced among us, and little' 

 or no preparation has yet been made for the maiv 

 ufacture from it of sugar. I have perfect com 

 dence, however, that this will soon be done, ani 

 that the farmers of Berkshire, will, ere long, find 

 a sure and liberal piofit in the culture of the sil- 

 gar beet. i 



There are many other topics, connected with 

 the prosperity of the farmer, and through biffl 



