44 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



From the Pennsylvania Examiner, 



DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 



GOOD AND BAD FARMING. 

 During the last summer and fall, my business 

 led me to take several rides through one of the 

 couuties in tho interior of this state. As much 

 for amusement as anything else, [ took memo- 

 ri.udums of the state of improvement and prog- 

 ress of agriculture, in different jiarts of the 

 county; and ivas not a little astonished at the 

 superiority of some neighbourhoods over others 

 in this respect. It may not be amiss here to 

 record one fact that fell under my observation 

 in the course of my ride. I found it almost 

 uniformly turned out, t.hat in those neighbour- 

 hoods where the farms and other improvements 

 were in the best order, the greatest number ol 

 memiiers of the Society for the promotion of 

 Agriculture and domestic manufactures were to 

 be found. And, on the other hand, in (hose 

 neighbourhoods where the f.irms were in the 

 most wre'ched condition, none were to be found. 

 This proves the correctness of an old saying, — 

 " the more we really need information, the less 

 anxiiius are we to obtain it." In tracing the 

 operatiiins of the human mind, there is no more 

 oi'vious truth than the above. We here see a 

 Society, honourably and liberalli/ patronized by 

 the slale ; and strange to tell, not one in twenty 

 of the very persons, for whose benefit it was 

 ^ crganized, are disposed to avail themselves of 

 its advantages ! That this Society has, in no 

 iiiconsiderabie degree, met the laudable views 

 of the government in chartering it, no disinter- 

 ested man that witnessed the difference between 

 the first aud last exhibition, will for a moment 

 deny. But I mu.st leave these speculations, and 

 give you some facts which I find entered on my 

 memorandums, in hopes that they may be useful, 

 by inducing some of my brother farmers to a- 

 bandon the slovenly and ruinous method of 

 planting large, poor fields wilhout manure.— 

 Should these hints lead to an investigation of 

 the subject, my object will be fully accomplish- 

 ed. Investigation and research is the high road 

 to improvement. — 



Extract from Memorandums. 



" In township, my attention was ar- 

 rested by a small but beautiful field of corn, 

 belonging to Mr B. containing only six acres. — 

 On a careful examination, I estimated it at sev- 

 enty-five bushels per acre. This multiplied by 

 six (the number of acres) gives 450 bushels, 

 and at 25 cents, is - - - gll2 50 



" I found on inquiry, by allowing rea- 

 sonable wages for breaking up, manur- 

 ing, planting, harrowing, hoeing, plough- 

 ing, gathering and husking, that eight 

 dollars per acre covered all expenses.—^ 

 This, for the field, comes to 48 00 



" I estimated the rent, taxes, &, repairs 

 for fences, at ^2 per acre, 12 00 



60 00 



field, nor was it so well worked othervvise. I 

 found that ^5,50 per acre covered all expenses. 

 This sum multiplied by 25, the number of acres, 

 comes to - - ' - ^137 50 



" Add rent, taxes, fences, fac. 

 at %'i per acre, - - - 50 00 



187 50 



" Deduct from this sum ^03 75, the 

 price of 375 bushels, which is the prod- 

 uce of the field, at 15 bushels per acre, 

 and at 25 cents per bushel, - - 03 76 



Leaving an actual loss to Mr C. of g93 7; 



These plain matler of fact calculations place 

 in a strong jioint of view the difference between 

 good and bail farming. They show that on every 

 acre of corn cu'tivaled by B. he had a clear gain 

 of ^8 75, whilst on every acre cultivated by C. 

 he lost j}53 75 cents. To show the real differ- 

 ence, these two sums must he added together, 

 and they amount to J512 50! A very consider- 

 able addition might justly be made to the above 

 difl'erence on account of 19 acres (the difference 

 between the two fields) of B.'s land, being in a 

 rapid state of improvement, as it was well set 

 with clover, whilst C's land was rapidly getting 

 poorer. So far as I was able to judge, the two 

 fields were originally of about the same quality. 

 Every other branch of husbandry on the two 

 farms was about in proportion to the corn ; but 

 could not so well be made a matter of plain cal- 

 culation. Does not this in part at least account 

 for some families becoming beggars on good 

 farms, whilst others, on farms not superior, be- 

 come independent and respccliible ? The above 

 calculations are founded on real facts, and that 

 they are not extravagant, must appear obvious 

 to every practical man who will take the trou- 

 ble to examine them. A FARMER. 



Leaving a clear profit to Mr B. of - ^52 50 



" During the same week, iu another part of 

 the county, I noticed a field, belonging to Mr C. 

 of a very different description. It contained 25 

 acres, and was estimated at 15 bushels per acre ; 

 which 1 afterwards learned was more than it 

 actually yielded. There was no manure on this 



From the Buffalo Palriol. 



The following article on the subject of //emp, has been 

 digested, in part, from several approved essays in 

 agricultural works, and is combined with the practi- 

 cal information of the subscriber. 



II E M P. 



Hemp is a very hardy plant, resists drought 

 and severe frost — is easier cultivated, less ex- 

 hausting, and more }irofitable than many other 

 crops, with which this does not interfere in its 

 cuUivation (except the tobacco crop). It is sown 

 before and gathered after corn, and requires no 

 attention when wheat is sown, harvested, or 

 threshed. It will grow year after year on the 

 same ground, on which, if sufficiently rich, it is 

 the surest crop. It is liable to no diseases, and 

 injured by no insects. 



The Soil. 

 The soil should be deep, clean, dry, rich, and 

 mellow. The plant has a tap-robt, which des- 

 cends to a considerable depth, and therefore the 

 soil should be deep, and be thoroughly mellow- 

 ed by deep '<. frequent pLoughings. Fall plough- 

 ing, and two or three ploughings in llie spring, 

 together with harrowing, so as to smooth the 

 surface (and thereby enable the seed to be sown 

 even, and the hemp to spring up e(|ua!ly, and 

 be cut close to the roots) are preparatory stejjs 

 to the putting in of the seed. 



Tlie seed, — when best to he soxin. 



The seed (to the amount of two bushels per 

 acre on middling soil, and three on rich ground) 

 should be sown as early as possible in the spring, 

 after the ground becomes dry and well prejiar- 

 ed. Early sowing renders the coat heavier and 

 stronger, enables ihe hemp to cover the ground 

 early, so as to smother weeds, and before the 

 sun becomes powerful, to shade the soil, and 

 preserve its moisture. The seed, after being 

 cast as even as possible, should be harrowed in 

 to as equal a depth as may be, that it may all 

 start together; and a heavy roller should then 

 be passed over, or a bush drawn across to smooth 

 the surface, in order that the hemp may be cut 

 close to the roots. 



Ripening and Harvesting. 



When the hemp becomes fit to be cut, the 

 stalks of the blossom or male hemp, turn yellow, 

 become a good deal speckled, and drop most of 

 their leaves, and if the air is still, a cloud of dust 

 rises from the blossom stalks, and hangs over 

 the field. \Vhen sown early, it will be fit to cut 

 about the first of August. The above appear- 

 ances \vill become indicative of the proper time ; 

 anil then it should be cut without delay, for if 

 sulTered to stand longer [as about one half of 

 the stalks blossom, and the other half bear seed] 

 the stalks of the male will wither anti blacken, 

 and (he coat be of but little value ; and ihe fe- 

 male hemp, which has stood to ripen the seed, 

 reipiires a longer time to rot than the male, and 

 consequently both would be thereby injured. — 

 The best isiatj to get seed, zi'ould be to soie some ihin- 

 lij ill a separate patch. The mode of cutting is 

 preferable to that of pulling. A man will cut 

 half an acre per day, and a quarter, pulled, is 

 called a day's work. By the former practice 

 the inconvenience of dust, and the dirt attached 

 to the roots will be avoided. Cut hemp will 

 be worth ten dollars a ton more than the pulled. 

 Knives or hooks for that purpose may be obtain- 

 ed tor about )pl 25 cents each. When cut, sjiread 

 the hemp a day or two to dry it ; then bind it 

 and put it u|) in shocks. 



Wretting [^or Rotting]. 



As soon as harvested, in order to prevent the 

 rains from discolouring it, proceed as early as 

 convenient to wret it, by placing it in clean, 

 jiitre Kater, formed by a stream, spring, or clear - 

 [lond. If rotted soon alter cutting, about 5 days 

 are generally required for the jiurpose. — You 

 ivill be able to judge by taking out a handful and 

 drying it ; and if the stalk of shieves will shake 

 out and separate easily from the bark, leaving 

 it clean and entire, the process of wretting is 

 completed. The bark or lint of hemp is con- 

 nected with the stalk by a substance which must 

 be either wretted or dissolved before they will 

 separate ; produce the separation, and the work 

 is accomplished. Experience is the best crite- 

 rion. The water in which it is rotted, should 

 not run rapidly — as in that case it would wash 

 away the coat. You may have three or four 

 wagon loads of hemp, to the depth of three or 

 four feet, sunk at a time, but it should be com- 

 pletely submerged, though not sufJ'ered to touch 

 the bottom. If sejiarate quantities are put io 

 on several successive days, the days and (juanti- 

 ties should be noted, for the purpose of ascer- 

 taining which becomes first wretted, and which 



