84 



THE FARMERS CABINET. 



VOL.!. 



from a hundred acres, he will not only re- 

 ceive twice as much for it, but he will be 

 able to raise this amount with even less than 

 one half the labor that he does from the hun- 

 dred acres, because land in good condition is 

 much more easily tilled than that in poor 

 condition. Thus, with only fifty acres, he 

 would, in fact, experience the advantages of 

 large farms to a far greater extent than if he 

 should purchase a hundred acres. 



Successful Fz^rniing. 



From D. P. King^s Jlddress before the Essex 

 Agricultural Society. 



We have been accused of cropping our 

 lands severely without cultivating and ma- 

 nuring them in any reasonable proportion ; of 

 mowing our fields many years in succession 

 till their overtaxed, exhausted energies, can 

 yield us nothing more. The high prices of 

 labor and manure, and the difficulty of ob- 

 taining them, have been alleged as excuses 

 for this thriftless and cruel practice, and 

 there is something of truth and more of 

 plausibility in the defence. As a remedy for 

 these evils, and a sure way of improving your 

 land, I can do nothing better than to recom- 

 mend to you the method practised for several 

 years with great success by Elias Phinney, 

 Esq., of Lexington. Without offering an 

 apology to Mr. Phinney, I shall make an ex- 

 tract from his Address, delivered before the 

 Society of Middlesex Husbandmen and 

 Manufacturers in 1830. " In May, 1828, the 

 field (the soil of which is thin loam upon a 

 gravelly sub-soil) having lain three years to 

 grass, and the crop of hay so light as to be 

 worth not more than the expense of making, 

 with a view of ascertaining the quantity of 

 veo-etable matter upon the surface, I took a 

 single foot square of green sward, and after 

 separating the roots and tops of the grasses 

 from the loam and vegetable mould, it was 

 found, on weighing, to contain nine ounces of 

 clear vegetable substance, giving, at that rate, 

 over twelve and a quarter tons to the acre. 

 This convinced me of the importance of tak- 

 ing some course, by which this valuable trea- 

 sure might be turned to good account. That a 

 great part of this vegetable matter is exposed 

 to useless waste, by the usual mode of plough- 

 ing, cross ploughing and harrowing, must be 

 obvious to any one. In order, therefore, to 

 secure this, as well as the light vegetable 

 mould at and near the surface, which is liable 

 to waste from the same causes, I had two 

 acres of the green sward of this field turned 

 over with the plough as smoothly as possible. 

 After removing the outside furrow slices into 

 the centre of the plough-land, and thereby 

 effecting the double purpose of covering the 

 vacant space in the middle, and preventing 



ridges at the sides and ends, the field was 

 rolled hard with a loaded roller, by which 

 the uneven parts of the furrows were pressed 

 down, and the whole made smooth. It was 

 then harrowed lengthwise the furrow, with 

 a horse harrow, but so light as not to disturb 

 the sod. Twenty cart loads of compost ma- 

 nure, made by mixing two parts of loam or 

 peat mud with one of stable dung, were then 

 spread upon each acre. It was then harrowed 

 again as before, and then the poor part of 

 the isoil, which had been turned up, and re- 

 mained upon the surface, was thereby mixed 

 with the compost manure. Corn was then 

 planted in drills* upon the furrows, the rows 

 being at the usual distance and parallel with 

 the furrow. At hoeing time, the surface was 

 stirred by running a light ploughf between 

 the rows, but not so deep, at this or the sub- 

 sequent hoeing, as to disturb the sod. What 

 Mr. Lorain calls the " savage practice" of 

 hilling up the corn, was cautiously avoided. 

 In the early part of the season, my cornfield 

 did not exhibit a very promising appearance ; 

 but as soon as the roots had extended into 

 the enriching matter beneath and began to 

 expand in the decomposing sward, which 

 had now become mellow, and more minutely 

 divided by the fermentation of the confined 

 vegetable substances beneath, than it could 

 have been by the plough or hoe, the growth 

 became vigorous, and the crop, in the opinion 

 of those who examined the field, not less 

 than seventy bushels of corn to the acre. As 

 soon as the corn was harvested, the stub- 

 ble was loosened up by running a light 

 horse plough lengthwise, through the rows, 

 the surface then smoothed with a brush har- 

 row, and one bushel of rye, with a suflicient 

 quantity of herd's grass and red top seed, to 

 the acre, was then sowed, the ground again 

 harrowed and rolled. The crop of rye was 

 harvested in July following, and the two acres 

 yielded sixty-nine and a half bushels of ex- 

 cellent grain, and over five tons of straw. 

 The grass seed, sowed with the rye, took 

 well, and the present season I took, what 

 those who secured the crop judged to be, two 

 and a half tons of the very best of hay from 

 each acre. 



Thus, with one ploughing, with the aid 

 of twenty cart loads of compost manure to 

 the acre, I have obtained two crops of grain, 

 and stocked the land down to grass.":}: 



The great object of the farmer is to obtain 

 the most valuable products, with the least 

 possible labor, and at the same time to keep 

 his farm in a state of progressive improve- 



i^It might be I'lanted in hills, if ihui course is pre- 

 ferred. 



tMr. V. now uses the culiivator instead of the plough. 



IVVIlliani Tlark, juii., of Aorlhaniploii, niid Uaniel 

 Puinnni. of Danveis, havn ndo|)ie'l similar methods 

 ofliusbandry, and havo been very siicccwful. 



