VOL. WI. NO. 37. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



213 



leaieti ; yet scarcely one in tRii of thesu who did 

 ot succeed in timking a good living nnd in tlis 

 nd a liandsoine esiato. 

 Some persons who have visited tlio western 

 orld speak with amazement of the fertility of 

 jrtions of that conntry. Sterile and liard as ap- 

 sars oiir soil, niucli of it when it was first cleared 

 as scarcely less fertile tlian that of the West. A 

 mtleman of Gilnianton not long since informed 

 e that he assisted more than fifty years a:;o to 

 ear the land on which he still resides — that day 

 'ter day he felled vvilli the axe his acre of tiard 

 ond trees — that the first crop on the ground 

 iher of wheat, or rye, or Indian corn, when corn 

 id rye were twenty-five cents and wheat half a 

 diar a hnshel, more than paid for the labor of 

 earing, sowing, and harvesting ; and that in snh- 

 qncnt yeare, so great was the fertility of the soil, 

 produced in such qttantities that hay was pitch- 

 directly from the field to the cart without ruk- 

 g or cocking. 



The first crops in all new countries are luxnri- 

 t ; in many [larts so productive iy the soil, that 

 seems as if the application of manure or sirtifi- 

 il stimulants would never he necessary. I find 

 the Legislative journals kept during the revo- 

 :ion, that grain, in quantities, was exported from 

 ;w Hampsliire to the Soiitliern colonies. Li- 

 iises were from time to time granted by the 

 )use of Representatives to carry out ship loads 

 Indian corn from the port o( Portsmouth. To 

 ) present generation it would seem wonderful 

 it New Hampshire should produce corn for e.x- 

 rtalioii while a large portion of her laboring in- 

 jitants were engaged in hearing arms at distant 



I different points to conquer Independeii(;e 



e extraordinary fertility of the soil at that 



le, made it easy to raise a superabundance of 



ad. 



Maryland and Virginia, "and the seaboard gen- 



lly, at the South, vv'ere scarcely le.ss prolific in 



first settlement than is now the country west 

 the Alleghanies. In the two first named States 

 acco was produced in quantities, and this arti- 



was relied on as the principal resource to fiir- 

 h money for carrying on the war of the revolu- 

 1. Now iiuich of the toh;tcco region, worn out 

 the application of slave labor, has become de- 

 ted and worthless. 



rhe first cultivation of any country, being most 

 ductive, is most inviting; hut it is not the first 

 livatioii that calls into action the best talents of 



farmer. There are not many sections of this 

 jug cniintry where the cultivation of the soil is 

 ried on in the greatest perfection. We are not 



I trust, what we shall be. 

 riie first clearing and settlement of a countiy, 

 r a series of crops has Ijeen taken from it, is 

 needed by a greater sterility of soil ; tlie land 

 omes les.s and less productive under a system 

 iiisbandry, wliich, siipplyingat first |ilentifiilly, 



rendered the occupant careless of improving 

 ground while it was ea.sy to resort to new. 

 'he time has arrived in the greater part of New 

 npshire when the forests have become too val- 

 le to be cut down and vvasted. The old ground 

 It be relied on for cultivation. That ground 

 !t be brought hack by artificial means to its 

 tine fertility ; at all events, if it be not kept 



II deterioration, it must fail to support those 

 > expect to live upon it. 



'hat our soil, even what is called our worn-out 

 , is susceptible of improvement so great as to 



sustain a population ten times as numerous as now 

 inhabits the statu, will not be. disputed by those 

 who have seen the improvement which have been 

 rpade in some iiarlieular spots. That firmer will 

 best thrive who, while l»e makes the present crop 

 a principal object, looks beyond that to the pro- 

 duction of succeeding crops frotn the same ground. 

 The increased wealth of the firmer is not more 

 directly derived from the sales of what he annu- 

 ally raises, than from the increased value of the 

 ground he cultivates, by increasing its capacity of 

 production. 



The stimulants to production required by dif. 

 ferent soils are the results of different applications. 

 It is not, as it would seem to many, that the land 

 is to be invigorated by the intrinsic strength of 

 the manure afiplied — it is not that the article ap- 

 plied contains all the elements of the crop produ- 

 ced ; but the best application is that stimulant 

 which will bring into action those qualities of the 

 soil that otherwise would remain inert. The 

 land, it is believed, contains in itself all the prop- 

 erties of recuperation — its fertilizing qualities are, 

 in fact, at no time exhausted. 



There are large districts of country, especially 

 the tobacco and cotton regions of the southern 

 States, where stimulating manures have never 

 been applied, and where, from the nature of the 

 soil and production, common manures cannot be 



olMained in quantities to be generally ap|)lied 



Those lands have been worn out — much of them 

 has been given over and abandoned as worthless 

 — other portions continue to be cultivated, fur- 

 nishing but a miserable sustenance for the slaves 

 who work them, and beggaring the white owners 

 who know not how to work. Recently it has 

 been discovered that these lands may be exten- 

 sively reclaimed, and in soine places good hus- 

 bands are already beginning the work. The 

 method is, what is called summer fallowing; that 

 is, ploughing the exhausted land, sowing it with 

 clover or buckwheat or other green crop, and 

 ploughing that crop under. With the apfdicntion 

 of plaster of Paris or gypsum in the course of a 

 fewyears.it is said most of the exhausted light 

 soils may be restored to their original fertilitv sim- 

 ply by bringing into action their own strength. 



iMaiiy people are incredulous of the value of 

 gypsum, because they can see no innate virtue in 

 the small quantity that is sown upon the ground. 

 Others sup|>ose that the plaster arrests and upfilies 

 some quality of the surrounding air as food for 

 the plant. Others again, believe that it brings 

 into action at once the whole capacity of mother 

 earth and deprives her of that fertility which 

 might have lasted for years. I believe all tliree 

 suppositions are in a degree incorrect. The plas- 

 ter acts as a regulator, the value of which is more 

 or less according to the nature of the soil and the 

 season. In a light soil and a dry season, its ef- 

 fects are most visible on the ciop, because its na- 

 ture is to retain that moisture in the ground, with- 

 out which in such a .soil the plant must wither 

 Mid become barren. In a v\et season or in a 

 daiii|) heavy soil, its effect will be hardly visible ; 

 but apply to this wet soil a high stimulant, as 

 common lime or strong stable manure, or common 

 offal, such as will dry a damp soil, almost to burn- 



cultivation at all, the proprietor will sooner or 

 later realize. all the cost of the application of gyp. 



(To be continued.) 



The 



pi unary importance of agriculture lo all 

 classes of conimunity, and to ail the varied and 

 siibstanlial interests of mankind, is preltv gener- 

 ally understood, and universally acknowledged 

 by all who give the subject a momenl'.s consider- 

 ation. Rut the pleiisiires and profits of tilling the 

 earth, when compared with many of the other 

 avocations of life, are not so well understood, nor 

 so favorably Viewed by the mass of young men 

 who are just entering and selecting their occupa! 

 tion for life. It is conceded that in the loiUry of 

 life, neither agricultural or mechanical employ, 

 inent offer the chances of great pecuniary prizes, 

 equal to some other avocations, neither are the 

 chances for blanks of misfortune, injurious fjuc- 

 tuations, sudden reverses, and total pecuniary ruin 

 so numeron.s. Taking the whole toceilier,'there 

 can be no doubt, but that rural industry can ofier 

 advantages and inducements, fully equal to those 

 of any other occupation. A feeling of indepen- 

 dence is and ought to be as dear to us as any 

 oiher, of which we are possessed, and we hazard 

 nothing in .saying that of all men, the farmer, if 

 he does his duty, can enjoy it in a greater degree, 

 than he who follows any other avocation. He 

 need fear no cnmpetition, but is sure of a market 

 for iill his products. His crops are so various in 

 kind that the vicissitudes of the weather do not 

 alarm hiin. What may seem to injure one, im- 

 proves another, so that frequently he is a gainer 

 by what he supposed would materially tend to his 

 disadvantage. His occupation is of all others the 

 most healthy, and from having upon his farm all 

 the necessaries and comforts, and many of the 

 luxuries of life, he has within his reach, and at 

 hits command, more of the common enjoyments, 

 which if properly ap]>reciated and rightl'v iised^ 

 constitute the elements of happiness, than any 

 other state of equal nipdiocrity, while the contem- 

 plation of the works and economy of nature, inci- 

 dent to his occupations, will have a tendency to 

 enlarge the sphere of his observation, expand his 

 mind, and furnish him with an almost inexhaus- 

 tible fund of amusement and instruction. Penn. 



Farmer^ 



ng, and plaster added to such a preparation would 

 be scarcely less valuable in a wet and heavy, than 

 in a light and dry soil, in assisting to perfect the 

 crop. In every soil, be it even a heavy, wet and 

 damp soil, if the ground shall be brought into 



Great yield of Wheat. — Mr Holmes : Hav- 

 ing seen in your (laper a number of statements 

 respectmg the growth of wheat, the present year, 

 and not having seen any one that has been- so 

 bountifully blessed with an increase as I have 

 been, J thought 1 would inform you what I iiave 

 done this present year. 



The 27th ilay of last i\Iay, 1 sowed five Pecks 

 of wheat, on one acre of biiint land — two pecks 

 Red Bearded, and three |)ecks White Bearded 

 mixed together, — anil I received from it forty-one 

 and one-fourth bushels of good wheat. If there is 

 any one that can show a greater yield, I should 

 like lo hear from him. James Hawes. 



Corinna, Dtc. 18, 1837. [Maine Far. 



Filial Duti There is no virtue that adds so 



noble a charm to the finest traits of beauty* as 

 that which exerts itself in watching over the tran- 

 quillity of an aged parent. There are no tears 

 which give so noble a lustre to the cheek of inno- 

 cence, as the tears of filial sorrow. 



