412 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



JXI,T 4, ISSg. 



(From ihe Geixpsee Farmer.) 



EFFi:C r OF NATURAL CAUSES ON THE AGRI- 

 CULTURE OF EiNGLAND AND THE UNI- 

 TED STATES. 

 The question (ins been, not iinfreTUently asked, 

 how far are fsriiiera in tlie Oniteil States justified 

 in followinj; the example atid practices of British 

 AgriiMiltiirists ? Tl'is question iissiiniis an irji- 

 portance it wouhl not otherwise possess, were it 

 not a fart, tliat we look with grejit interest to tlje 

 results of agrindtiire in that coinitry ; that most 

 of oiir standard a^ricnlliiral works are from that 

 side of the Atlantic ; that the wealth and resour- 

 ces of England are suc'n as to rendci- that island a 

 great theatre of experiments; and, that the arts 

 and the sciences which, can he hroiight to hear on 

 the cidtivation of the iJoil, are far more extensively 

 diffused and hi'tter un^ilerstood there than here. — 

 Having the same An jlo Sa.\on descent, the influ- 

 ence of England is felt in every department of 

 our social condition ; in our religion, literature 

 and law; and perhn.])s is as potent as any where, 

 in the usages and |) ractices that helonglo the cul- 

 tivation of the earth.. In our im|ilements used on 

 the farm, we copy from English models ; in im- 

 proving our bree( Is of horses, sheep, and cattle, 

 we look to stock i mported from England ; in our 

 hortieuiture and f Joriculture we follow the exam- 

 ple of .English pi anters and gardeners ; and in our 

 farming operatio ns, in culture, and in selection of 

 grains, the influ tnce of tluit country i.s paranriount. 

 It is «iec'>ssary then to inquire how far we may 

 safely follow jiich an example, and in what re- 

 spects we on Tht to deviate, or when it becomes 

 necessar-.y. to ;1 o so. 



To detfcrm'me this question correctly, it is ne- 

 « eess&ry to t» ke into consideration the position of 

 the two con ntries, so far as regards climate, soil, 

 nod jiopulai'ion, and their influence on plants, and 

 the prices of labor. In general it may he laid 

 down as a correct position that the difl^erence be- 

 tween the- soils of the two cocuitries is not of a 

 kind to reud.er any dilference of culture impor- 

 tant. The analysis of soils effected by Sir Hum- 

 phrey Davy ; the geological structure of the Brit- 

 ish Islands; and the extensive and mimite reports 

 made on the soils in the agricultural surveys of 

 the several counties, show that there is no esscn- 

 tiiil difference between the composition of the 

 greater part of the British soils and ours. Peat 

 and bog soil alone, is found more extensively dif- 

 fused than with us; but this has but little influ- 

 ence on the general progress or course of agricul- 

 ture. 



Population, by justifying or rather compelling 

 English farmers to adopt peculiar systems of farm- 

 ing, may be said to create a wider dift'erenco be- 

 tween the agriculture of the two countries than 

 any arising from the soil. Owing to what may 

 be termed an immense surplus population, the 

 price of labor is reduced to the lowest possible 

 rate at which bare subsistence can be procured, 

 and in consequence many methods of farming 

 ure there adopted, which could not, at the prices 

 of labor and products, be otherwise than ruinous 

 here. For instance weeding wheat and other 

 kinds of grain is a very common practice there, 

 and multitudes of women and children earn their 

 bread for a considerable part of the season in this 

 manner. It is clear that this operation caimot he 

 introduced among our farmers, though its effects 

 in keeping the soil clean, and in increasing the 

 amount of the crop must be evident. Another 



con:>eqiience too of the clifijqnii.'ss of labor, is, that 

 many operations are performed by hand, anil at a 

 far greater ex|iense of time, than are a< complished 

 by the aid of implements here, and in one fourth 

 of the time. This no one can doubt who is in the 

 habit of employing on the same farm English and 

 American laborers; and of which an illustration 

 is given by Mr Bement in his history of the cul- 

 ture of the ruta baga in the Cultivator fyrJanuaiy, 

 1838. 



But it is to the climate, that the jiriiu'ipal points 

 of difference in the agriculture of the two coun- 

 tries must be traced ; and this is the thing that 

 slioidd be kept most disllnctly in view, when com- 

 parisons between Engli.-h agriculture ami our own 

 are instituted. Ejigland, though in the latitude 

 of Quebec, has a milder climate than our middle 

 slates, and this fact should not be lost sight of in 

 adaptmg the agriculture of that country to this. 

 In the United States, — we speak particularly now 

 of the northern and middle states — as it is these 

 that are more influenced by English agriculture 

 than the south, — the summers are much hotter 

 and the winters much colder than in England ; 

 hence some plants that require a great degree of 

 heat will succeed better here than there ; while 

 numy plants will bear the winttrs of England in 

 the open air, that perish when exposed without 

 protection to the intense cold of our winter months. 

 A great number of thermometrical observations 

 show that the average tenqierature of the three 

 months of January, February, and March, in Eng- 

 land, is about 37'', 4-2°, and 47°, and that of the 

 three months of Jmie, July, and .'\ugust to he 

 about 63'^, 66% and 63°. The average difference 

 between the highest and the lowest temperature 

 per month will not exceeil more than 6 or 8 de- 

 grees, those sudden and extreme changes to which 

 our climate is subject l)eing unknown there. In 

 the valley of the Genesee, near the Ontario, the 

 average for the three winter months gives about 

 24^, 26", find 36'^, and the three summer months 

 an average of 71°, 73", and 72°. '1 he mean av- 

 erage of several yeais is 49°, and the range of the 

 thermometer about 100'^. In this country we 

 have changes of from 3U° to 40'^ in twenty-four 

 hours ; there the greatest rarely exceeds six or 

 eight. Tlie thermometer range in the Uidted 

 States is more than 120°, — in England not more 

 than 4-5°. There the thermometer rarely descends 

 but a few degrees below the freezing point ; bete 

 it is below for weeks or months. Indeed it is 

 probable that in the colder parts of the United 

 States, the thermometer falls below 0" as often as 

 in England it does below 32^. 



This statement will show that there must be 

 a m.iterial difference between the agricultural op- 

 eralicms projier to two countries so situateil, so far 



as those operations can be affected by climate - 



To give one instance ; Indian corn it is ascertain- 

 ed cannot be grown in any country where the 

 thermometer for nioio than one month is not 

 above 70°, and that in a temperaim-e of 75-" or 

 80° it arrives at its greatest perfection. This is 

 the reason, why, notwithstanding all the efforts 

 made to introduce corn into Great Britain, it has 

 proved a complete f.iilure. It is not killed with 

 the frost there as here, hut the degree of heat will 

 not bring it to maturity during the summer months. 

 Cobbett was confident he should succeed, and did 

 grow some tolerable crops of early Caii.idian, but 

 like some trees which flourish ami mature their 

 seeds here, but will not ripen in England, the corn 



would not in all cases mature so as to vegetate, 

 and s;iite of his boastings, he was comjielled to 

 abandon the culture. On the coi-.trary vvheat is a 

 crop that requires a lower temperature than maize, 

 and is not adapted to a hot dry climate. Great 

 Britain is therefore one of the best wheat coun- 

 tries on the glot)e, and perhaps produces in pro- 

 portion to the land in tillage a greater amount 

 than any other. The low temperature and moist 

 climate of England is found to agree with this 

 plant perfectly. Scotland is too cold ; but no part 

 of the Island is too hot, as is the case with no in- 

 considerable portion of our southern States. 



In another important respect the climate of the 

 two countries exercises a decided influence, and 

 tluit is the planting and growth of tindier or orna- 

 mental trees. Mr Prince of the Linnean Garden 

 at Flushing, remarks on the acclimation of trees, 

 '' that the deciduous trees of Portugal, Italy, and 

 Spain ; and of South Carolina, Georgia, and Lou- 

 isiana, will endure the winters of New York, when 

 the evergreens from the same places perish if un- 

 protected. Though in England where the win- 

 ters are moderate these survive and flourish, while 

 from the want of heat in their snnmiers, many of 

 the deciduous trees do not ripen their wood suffi- 

 ciently to support their climate in winter ; whereas 

 beneath the powerful sun of our country, the 

 wood becomes so well matured, that it, in many 

 instances, resists the rigor of our winters unin- 

 jured. A consideration of these circumstances, 

 and effects of climate, may greatly aid those con- 

 cerned in the acclimation of trees." In the work 

 on Planting published in London, sjieaking of 

 American forest trees, the following remarks are 

 mede. "But the oaks of North America, claim 

 the deepest attention of the ornamental planter. 

 Ranging through many degrees of latitude, and 

 growing at different elevations, consequently un- 

 der much variety of climate, some of them are 

 hardy with us, some teinler, but all abhorrent of 

 wet or clayey soils. Deprived of the cloudless 

 sun, and high temperature of ah American sum- 

 mer and autunm, they cannot ripen their shoots 

 sufSciently to be frost proof except in warm pla- 

 ces and soils of a light nature." 



As an instance of the effect of climate on trees 

 we may mention the Plataniis occide7itatis, the 

 common Sycamore, or Button wood, of our for- 

 est ; a tree which every one knows (ringes the 

 margin of tnost of our streams, and re.irs its ma- 

 jestic trunks in the rich alluvion of all [)art8 of 

 our country, one of the hardiest and tnost rapid 

 growing forest trees of the northern states ; yet of 

 this tree, the woik on planting to which we have 

 referred says, " that it has jiroved incompetent to 

 withstand the spring frosts, sunless summers, and 

 cloucted autumns of England. About twenty years 

 ago a great proportion of the individuals in Eng- 

 land, without respect to age or bulk, were killed 

 outright by a spring frost. Since then we have 

 seen them repeatedly injured, and, when half re- 

 covered by the operation of a summer of more 

 than average wnrtnth, again rcpluuged into the 

 same state of debility." 



To this difference in climate must be attributed 

 the difilculty we have found in the United States 

 of growing hedges from such shrubs or trees as 

 are used in England for this purpose. From wit- 

 nessing their excellent effect, and beautiful appear- 

 ance there, it was perfectly natural that we shoidd ' 

 adopt the same plants for the same purpose here, 

 but after the repeated and persevering efforts of 



