No. 6. Agriculture versus Commerce. — Lime-Slaking and Spreading. 187 



cows. In conveying' an idea of the condition 

 of this farm, I could not use lantruasfe more 

 Bigniiicant than that used by Mr. G., when 

 speakinj on the subject of his commencement 

 in farming. He slated, that his flirm was so 

 pnor when he purchased it, which was in the 

 spring of 1824, that " he did not believe that 

 his two cows, pair of oxen and horse, got a 

 belly-full of £rrass on the farm the first sum- 

 mer." This poor land cost him 30 dollars per 

 acre ; his stock and farminjr utensils amounted, 

 perhaps, to about $400; this will increase the 

 investment to S4300. The farm-stock and 

 utensils, he informed me, " he had about 

 clear." The first year he put on this worn- 

 out land 2000 bushels of lime, and the ma- 

 nure made in the yard the precedinof winter, 

 which was carted out with a yoke of oxen in 

 less than a day. This lime was spread on 

 the land at the rate of 100 bushels to 3 acres, 

 or 33;^ bushels to the acre ; and from an expe- 

 rience of 17 years, he finds that a top-dress- 

 ing of about that quantity repeated every five 

 years, keeps the land in a better condition 

 than when put on in larger quantities at 

 more distant periods. But this experience, 

 it may be remarked, has been altogether con- 

 fined to the treatment of mica slate land. 

 The lime acted with magical effect. The 

 manure-heaps, (the farmer's gold mine,) which 

 in the fall of 1824 had been quarried out, and 

 carted on the land with a yoke of oxen in 

 less than a day, increased, until double that 

 power was required from ten days to two 

 weeks to remove it from the yards and sta- 

 bles. The capacity of the farm to support 

 animal life consequently increased ; and in a 

 little time Mr. G. stood by the side of his more 

 favoured neighbours as a respectable farmer, 

 no more to receive the jocular expressions of 

 " poor farm," " starved stock ;" and the thou- 

 sand and one mortifying thrusts of home-spun 

 wit and neio-hbourly jest. Actuated by the 

 light agricultural spirit, he has continued his 

 excellent treatment of repeated liming and 

 manuring, until he has brought his farm into 

 a state of improvement for grazing, and in- 

 deed for any other purpose, equal, perhaps, 

 to the best land in the country. He has fed 

 this year upwards of 40 head of cattle ; and 

 as an evidence of the capacity of his farm to 

 produce grain, his field of corn, containing 

 about ten acres, averaged about 85 bushels 

 of shelled corn to the acre. In speaking of 

 the powerful efili^cts of lime as a fertilizer, 

 Mr. G. made the remark that " if lime put a 

 man in jail, it loould soon take him out again." 

 Thus conveying a good deal in favour of that 

 valuable mineral in a few words. But is it 

 saying too much? Every experienced agri- 

 culturist in this section of country, I am in- 

 clined to think, will unite in opinion with my 

 neighbour G. ; and I believe that if the truth 



conveyed in the remark were impressed more 

 generally, we should find through the coun- 

 try more good land, and hear less complaint 

 of hard times. We now have the case pre- 

 sented, of an investment of §:4300 in agricul- 

 ture, and a successful and judicious pursuit 

 of the same for 17 years; and what is the re- 

 sult? First, a good living for a large fa- 

 mily. Second, an increase of the value of 

 the farm from §(530 per acre to $90 per acre. 

 Third, an increase in the value of stock and 

 farming utensils, from $400 to from $1000 to 

 $1200. Fourth, several thousand dollars at 

 interest, as profits from the farm on good se- 

 curity — not bank stock — besides suitable mar- 

 riage portions to several of his children. I 

 have now drawn the contrast, and without 

 comment, would conclude by observing that 

 Mr. G. is worth from $15,000 to $20,000, 

 without a creditor; and is now enjoying his 

 otiitm cum dignitate in the character of 

 " Gentleman Farmer." Poa Viridis. 



Goshen, Chester County, Dec. 0th, 1841. 



For the Farmers' Cabinot. 



Lime-Slaking and Spreading. 



Mr. Editor, — An agricultural friend has 

 put into my hand the last number of the Ca- 

 binet; for, knowing that I was once a cultiva- 

 tor of the earth, he thought very naturally, 

 and I am sure very correctly, that I was 

 still attached to that most interesting of all 

 occupations — an occupation that is at length 

 commanding its due share of attention 

 amongst the inhabitants of our land. On 

 looking over its pages, I was much interested 

 with Mr. Reybolds' account of the manage- 

 ment of his poor farm by means of shell-marl, 

 an article that I have been conversant with ere 

 now, and should be happy to renew an ac- 

 quaintanceship with it, had not fate decreed 

 otherwise ; but I should feel less the depriva- 

 tion, could I be permitted sometimes to fight 

 my old battles over again, by furnishing out 

 an article now and then — the result of old 

 reminiscences — for the pages of the Cabinet 

 And in anticipation of this permission, I feel 

 a desire to make a remark on the paper of 

 that very successful cultivator, urging upon 

 him to continue to give his experience under 

 his own proper signature, an example which 

 1 would gladly follow, did I not fear that my 

 present occupation would lead some of our 

 brethren to ask, " can any good thing come 

 out of Nazareth !" — a question to which I 

 should be afraid to answer, " come and see." 

 But let that pass for a while ; perhaps I may 

 some day emerge from my obscurity, when I 

 will endeavour to make what little light I 

 possess to shine, by practising what I am now 

 constrained only to preach. 

 But my present purpose is, to notice a 



