126 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1824. 



Q:^Sereral valuable communications are on file. If 

 the favours of our Correspondents are not always in- 

 serted immediately after receiving them, it must not 

 be inferred that they are rejected. 



0;:5=The name of the Hon. Wm. Prescott should have 

 been added to the Committee on Agricultural Expe- 

 riments, published in our last, page 1 18. It was ac- 

 cidentally omitted in the copy from which we printed. 



jFarmcr's CalritUat. 



Fall Ploughing. It is a good general rule to 

 plough in the fall all the land which you pro- 

 pose to till the ensuing season. Jack Frost with 

 his tiny pincers and invisible dividers will do 

 more towards subduing a rough and rugged soil 

 than can be etTected by all the implements of 

 husbandry. Besiiies, Mr Frost (although a ve- 

 ry sublime sort of personage, who makes a fine 

 figure in some poetic effusions, which come 

 nearly np to raediocrity) is very able and wil- 

 ling to work for the farmer, — and is so conde- 

 scending as to charge nothing (or his labours 

 except the privilege of nipping the noses and 

 pinching the toes of unfortunate wights who 

 are exposed to his familiarities. By fall plough- 

 ing, your land is not only better exposed to the 

 operations of said labourer, but your tenm is 

 much stronger and more caj)able of enduring 

 long continued toil than it will be in the faiitl 

 weather of spring. Fall ploughing is likewise 

 serviceable, by causing the destruction of cut 

 worms, and other insects, which rob the farmer 

 of the fruits of his labours. The greater part 

 of these little ravagers make their head quar- 

 ters for (he winter beneath the sod, and if you 

 take the liberty to turn Ihcm out of house and 

 home just before winter sets in, they lose their 

 " Utile lives," (as a sentimental sonneteer would 

 phrase it) and furnish manure to the ground in- 

 stead of consuming its products. 



But although fall ploughing is very correct 

 as a general rule, we believe that in some soils 

 it is not to be recommended. A light, sandy 

 soil, which is naturally too loose for vigorous 

 vegetation is injured by late fall ploughing. — 

 The frost destroys what little tenacity it posses- 

 ses and reduces it to such a state, that many ol 

 its most fertile particles are either swept away 

 by winds or washed away by floods. Such soils 

 should be kept coated and bound together by 

 vegetation as much as possible. No farmer will 

 suffer such land to lie in a bare and finely pul- 

 verized state either in summer or in winter un- 

 less his head is as fallow as his field. A cultivat- 

 ed intellect will teach him that the sun should 

 never be allowed to look on the nakedness ol 

 a light, sandy soil. He will likewise be sensible 

 that hi* yielding and pliable mould is ready to 

 elope with every shower of rain, which palters 

 long enough to make a puddle. 



lu ploughing land of any description, but 

 more particularly a light soil, care should he 

 taken to dra^v your furrows as nearly level, or 

 horizontal as po.-sibie. Without this precaution 

 every furroiv will become the channel of a 

 small rivulet, by means of which the best of 

 your soil will bf apt to take I'"retich leave of 

 your jircraises. If the soil is light, dry and 



sandy, it will be highly important to turn the] 

 furrow slice quite over, and leave it as flat as 

 possible. You will then please to harrow it so 

 as to completely fill the interstices between the 

 ("urrow slices. Then complete your work by 

 passing a roller over it. Let this roller be as 

 heavy as the narrative of a long winded story- 

 teller, who cannot state the simjjlest matter of 

 fact, without giving a genealogical and bio- 

 graphical account of his family and connexions 

 as high vp as Adam and asyiir ojj' as his ninety 

 ninth cousin. Your soil will then be so com- 

 pact that it is probable it may remain with you 

 till further orders. But if the land is of a stiff, 

 heavy, and adhesive nature, the furrow slices 

 should not be laid so flat as to prevent the air 

 from pervading their sides and lower parts. — 

 "Two of the principal objects in ploughing are] 

 to expose as much surface as possible to the in- 

 fluence of the atmosphere, and to lay the land, 

 so that the hari'ows may, in the most efficient 

 manner, raise mould to cover the seed ; these 

 objects are most efTectually accomjdished by 

 ploughing land with a furrow slice, about seven 

 inches deep, and which, if about ten inches and 

 a half broad, raises the furrorv slice, with a 

 proper shoulder, forming the angle 4.5°, the 

 point which ought to be referred to when de- 

 termining between the merits of different spe- 

 cimens of ploughing. For that purpose the 

 depth of the furrow, should, in general, bear a 

 due proportion to its breadth, that is, about two 

 thirds, or as six inches deeji to nine broad."* 



A great difference of opinion exists among 

 cultivators as respects the proper depth of 

 |)loughing. Deep ploughing has generally been 

 recommended as well by jiraclical as scientific 

 agriculturists. The observations of a corres- 

 pondent of the American Farmer, relative to 

 the management and produce of the Premium 

 Farm of Earl Stini'on, (rej)uhlished paje 84 of 

 our current volume) would seem to break up all 

 established theories on this subject. We ivill 

 not say that the report wants confirmation, lest 

 we should offend Mr Somebody, who fur- 

 nished that article. But we believe that if our 

 New England arable land was ploughed no 

 deeper than three inches, it would soon bear 

 nothing hut the Sons of the Pilgrims, and even 

 the hardiest of that hardy race would, ere long, 

 find it necessary to seek some other asylum for 

 starving humanity. We have conversed with a 

 great many actual practical farmers, and they 

 all tell us that shallow ploughing is ruinous to 

 their lands. We can form no conjecture as to 

 the cause which should render Mr Stimson's 

 farm so different from all others of which we 

 have any knowledge, either by reading, hear- 

 say, or observation. Mr Stimson's practice of 

 manuring for small grain crops is equally mys- 

 terious. In New England, we a[)prehend, it 

 would be a very sorry proceeding, and, gener- 

 ally, cause the ruin of the crop by weeds and 

 blasting. 



The depth of ploughing should be regulated 

 in some degree by the depth of the soil and the 

 means of improving it. It is wrong to turn up 

 at once a great body of hungry earth, unless 

 you have plenty of manure with which to feed 

 it. A soil naturally shallow should be made 

 deeper by degrees, and no more barren earth 



turned up by any one operation than you have 

 the means of enriching. 



We shall terminate our observations on this 

 subject with remarks from the Code of Agricul- 

 ture on the 



" Advantages of Deep Ploughing. — 1 . BringinSf 

 up deep mould, is peculiarly favourable to clov- 

 er, turnips, beans, and potatoes ; and, indeed, 

 without that advantage, these crops usually di- 

 minish in quantity, quality, and value. 2. Deep 

 ploughing is likewise of great consequence to 

 every S|)ecies of plant, furnishing not only more 

 means of nourishment to their roots, but, above 

 all, by counteracting the injurious consequences 

 of either loo wet or too dry a season. This is 

 a most important consideration; for if the sea- 

 son be wet, there is a greater depth of soil to 

 absorb the moisture, so that the plints are not 

 likely to have their roots immersed in water ; 

 and in a dry season it is still more useful, tor in 

 the i-iiver part of the cultivated soil, tliere is thus 

 a reservoir of moisture, which is brought up to 

 the roots of the plants, by the evaporation which 

 the heat ol the sun occasions. 3. By deep 

 ploushing, also, the ground may be more eflfec- 

 tualiv cleared of root weeds ol every descrip- 

 tion ; in particular, it is the best mode of eradi- 

 cating thistles. 4. By deep ploughing, animal 

 and vegetable manures, which have such a ten- 

 dency to rise to the surlace, are properly cov- 

 ered. This cannot he done by shallow plough- 

 in", in consequence of which, much of the val- 

 ue of such manures is lost. And 5. By deep 

 ploughing, a heavier crop is raised, than can be 

 got from a shalloiv furrow. An intelligent far- 

 mer, indeed, after pointing out that deep plough- 

 ing increases the staple of the .soil, keeps the 

 roots of the corn from being injured by wetness, 

 and also enables the crop longer to resist 

 drought, adds, " / have ever found deep plough- 

 ing attended with good crops, when ridges, shal- 

 low ploughed, ill the same field, were but indiffer- 

 ent ;" which seems a decisive proof in favour 

 ot deep ploughing. 



*' Sinclair. 



Cffrtirral KntcUtflrncr. 



J^ew York Eltclion. — It is ascertained that Mr Clin- 

 on is elected Governor by a greater majority than the 

 most sanguine hopes of his friends could have led them 

 to anticipate. The N. Y. Spectator of the 9th inst. 

 says " From present appearances, Clinton will have 

 twenty thousand majority. The majority for Mr Tal- 

 madge for Lieut. Governer is said to be still larger tbaa 

 that for Mr Clinton." 



Tht JN'ef Yark Legislature met at -Mbany on the 22d 

 inst. The Governor sent no message, and at the date 

 of our last accouuts, the two houses had not appointed 

 any day for the choice of electors of President of the V. 

 St«tes. A letter, published in the New York Evening 

 Post says, 



There has been already much canvassing on the sub- 

 ject of Presidential Electors. Neither candidate has a 

 majority, and the electoral ticket will have to be made 

 out by compromise, or not at all. The friends of Clay 

 have taken a bold stand and insist on a part of the tick- 

 el, and wilt probably enter into a compromise with the 

 party that will yield them the most. It is my opinion. 

 and I speak not unadvisedly, that the votes of this state 

 it-il! be diiidiM between Adaiiu and Claj/. 



