NO. 7. 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



99 



No. 4, — Will be in corn, and is to be 

 sown in the autumn of that year with wheat, 

 to be harvested in 1801 ; and to be treated in 

 all respects as has been directed for No 3, 

 the precedini^ year. It is to be manured as 

 much as the means will permit, wilii sucii 

 aids as can be procured during the present 

 winter and ensuing spring. 



Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8, — Are to remain as 



they are, but nothing sufTered to run upon 



M them ; as iifround will be allotted for the sole 



purpose of pasturage, and invariably used as 



such. 



Clover Lots. 



No. 1, — Counting from the Spring Branch? 

 is to be planted in potatoes. 



No. 2, — That part thereof which is now in 

 turneps is to bo sown with oats and clover; 

 the other p;irt, being now in clover, is to re- 

 main so until it comes into potatoes, by ro- 

 tation. 



No. 3, — Is also in clover at present, and 

 is to remain so, as just mentioned, for No. 2. 



No. 4j— is piirtly in clover and partly in 

 timothy, Imd so to be, until its turn for pota- 

 toes. 



The rotation for these lots invariably is to 

 be, 1. Potatoes, highly manured ; 2. Oats, 

 and clover sown therewith ; 3. Clover ; 

 4. Clover. Then to begin again with pota- 

 toes, and proceed as before. The present clo- 

 ver lots must be plastered. 



All green sward, rough ground, or that 

 which is heavily covered with weeds, bottle 

 brush grass, and such things as being turned 

 in will ferment, putrefy, and meliorate the 

 soil, should in autumn be ploughed in, and 

 at such times in winter as can be done while 

 the ground is dry, and in condition for it. 



Pasture Grounds. 



The large lot adjoining the negro houses 

 and orchard, is to have oats sown on the po- 

 tatoe and pumpkin ground ; with which, and 

 on the rye also in that lot, and on the melon 

 part, orchard-grass seeds are to be sown ; and 

 thereafter to be kept as a standing calf pas- 

 ture, and for ewes (which may require extra 

 care) at yeaning, or after they have yeaned. 



The other large lot, northeast of the barn 

 lane, is to be appropriated always as a pas- 

 true for the milch cows ; and probably work- 

 ing oxen during the summer season. 



The woodland, and the old field, common- 

 ly called Johnston's, are designed for co7n- 

 mon pasture, and to be so applied always. 

 To which, if it .should be found inadequate 

 to the stock of the farm, field No 8, and the 

 woodland therein, may be added. 



[To be concluded in our ncxtJ 



Manures. 



No soil will always prove productive with- 

 out manure. Though naturally fertile, if 

 some equivalent tor its produce is not returned 

 to It; if it is always yielding and never re- 

 ceiving, it must, at length, become barren. 

 Particular spots, like Egypt, and other allu- 

 vial or interval lands, which are annually 



I overflowed, derive manure from the bountiful 

 hand of nature, and cannot be rendered bar- 

 ren by bad husbandry or continual cropping. 

 Some soils, likewise, are not easily exhaust- 



jod, and are easily recruited, in consequence 

 of being composed of materials which attract 

 and retain the f.iod of plants from air and 

 water, as well as aliijrd a proper medium to 



'prepare and communicate the principle of fer- 



jtility. 



j Every species of matter capable of pro- 

 moting the growth of vegetables may be 

 considered as manure. Vegetables are com- 

 posed of certain substances called by chemists 

 oxygen, [formerly called vital air] hydrogen, 

 [infiammable air] carbon, [coaly matter] and 

 nitrogen, or azote, one of the constituent 

 parts of the atmosphere. The substances 

 employed as manure should be composed 

 of all or some of these elements. 



I Vegetable and animal snbstances, deposited 

 in the soil, are consumed during the process 

 of vegetation ; being moi-tly absorbed by the 



I roots of plants, combined with water. These 

 substances compose what is called the food 

 of plants. This food is mostly taken in by 

 the roots, which are analagous to the mouths 

 of animals, but some portion of the nourish- 

 ment of vegetables is also derived from the 

 atmosphere, imbibed by the leaves and bark. 

 A controversy has existed relative to the de- 

 gree of fermentation which manure should 



^ undergo before it is applied to the soil. Some 

 agriculturists contend that long, fresh, or un- 

 fermented manure, is to be preferred. Others 



'assert that stable and barn-yard manure never 



'should be spread in the field till the fibrous 

 texture of the vegetable matter is entirely 

 broken down, and it becomes perfectly cold, 

 and so soft as to be easily cut with a spade. 

 Sir Humphrey Davy observes, * If the pure 

 dung of cattle is to be used as manure, there 

 seems no reason why it should be made ta 

 ferment, except in the soil ; or if suffered to 

 ferment it should be only in a very slight 

 degree. The grass in the neighborhood of 

 recently voided dung is always coarse and 

 dark green ; some oersons have attributed 

 this to a noxious quality in unfermenteddung; 

 but it seems to be rather the result of an ex- 



jCess of food furnished to the plants. 



j ' During the violent fermentation which is 

 necessary for reducing farm-yard manure ta 

 the state of what is called shnrt muck, not 

 only a large quantity of fluid, but likewise- 



