NO. 21. 



THE FARMERS CABINET. 



331 



acres under cultivation, and the ca^iital in 

 farm and stocit estimated at §» l,GUl). The 

 fuUowing is llie list of the items with their 

 value ; and it should be added that the report 

 is for l>i\)i), wiien farm produce, as will be 

 seen from the prices, was from ten to twenty 

 per cent, below its present value. 



Oats, ;31l) bushels, 44 cts, $ 13.5 62 

 Potatoes, 340, 25 85 00 



Ruta Baga, 240, 25 60 00 



Buckwiieat,24, 50 12 00 



Corn, 100, 50 50 00 



8 pigs, $ 2 00 16 00 



15 lambs, 1 00 15 00 



20 tons hay, 6 00 120 00 



1 colt, 20 00 20 00 



Cheese, 11 cwt. at 07 77 00 



Butter, 605 lbs, 15 90 75 



Eggs, 25 doz. 12 3 12 



Beef, 16 cwt. 3 50 56 00 



Pork, 8 " 5 00 40 00 



Wool, 80 lbs. 50 40 00 



Grass seed, 6 00 



Peas, 50 bush. 50 25 00 



$851 49 

 Deduct as before one-third from the above 

 total, and we iiave $567 66, as the profits of 

 forty acres. This would be the interest of 

 $8,100, or on the value of 40 acres at $ 200 

 per acre. This farm pays 35 per cent, on the 

 capital at the above estimates of expense and 

 profit, a fact which goes far to prove the con- 

 clusion often advanced in this journal, that 

 small farms yield a greater profit than large 

 ones, as they are in general much better cul- 

 tivated. 



But it is very possible some will contend 

 that one-third of the products will only pay 

 for cultivation and repairs, and that the in- 

 terest of the capital employed should still be 

 deducted in order to give a correct view of the 

 comparative profits of A. and B. We will do 

 this, and it will be seen that the farm whicli 

 is estimated at $ 4,.500 pays 14 per cent, on 

 the capital, and the one estimated at $ 1,600, 

 twenty-eight per cent, on the sum invested. 

 These two reports have not been given be- 

 cause there was any thing extraordinary in 

 the amount ot their products; on the contra- 

 ry we imagine there are few good farms 

 which might not equal or exceed them; our 

 object has been to call the attention of farmers 

 to a proper estimate of their advantages, and 

 show that money might be safely and profita- 

 bly invested in the business of cultivating the 

 soil. — Genesee Farmer. 



Accustom yourself to strict observance of 

 your duty in all respects, and it will in time 

 be as troublesome to omit or violate it, as it 

 is to many people to practise it. 



From the rarmcra' Rpgistor. 



Directions for the Cultivation of AVnter- 

 lueloug and Cautelopcn* 



February 2blh, 1835. 



Knclosed I send you memoranda for the 

 management of watermelons and cantelopes, 

 by a gentleman who, in 43 degrees of north 

 latitude, frequently raises melons weighing 

 from thirty to forty pounds, [f the same 

 pains were taken in the south, how fine and 

 large we might grow our melons. 



Your obt, serv't, . 



Holes, 2 feet diameter, 20 inches deep, 

 filled 1 foot with garden rubbish and unrotted 

 manures, beat down hard, and watered, (two 

 or three buckets full,) then filled to the top 

 with rich soil: on this spread an inch of fine 

 compost or well rotted manure, compact, but 

 not hard. Stick the Seeds — (say twenty or 

 thirty to a hill,) — the upper end of the seed 

 to be a little below the surface of the com- 

 post ; brush over the hill with the hand so as 

 to fill the holes made ,by the fingers ; then 

 cover the hill with an inch of clear sand, of- 

 ten watered. In Alabama, I should think, 

 grass turf, (the grass side down,) would be a 

 good filling for the 12 inches. 



Hills, 10 feet apart, 2, 3, and at most, 4 

 plants only to remain in a hill, and standing 

 apart from each other: thinned by the time 

 the plants have 6 leaves. 



If the season be dry, dig down by the side 

 of the hills nearly as deep as the bottom of 

 the holes, and put in a bucket or two of wa- 

 ter-filling the liole after the water is absorbed : 

 as soon as the yellow bug is gone, take 

 away the sand and supply its place with soil. 

 This is all that can be done in the hill. 



When the plant has six leaves, take ofl^the 

 center shoot with the point of a sharp pen- 

 knife, and when the lateral shoots are six 

 inches long, take of all but three : when these 

 begin to fall to the ground, secure them down 

 with cross sticks ; and as they advance, spade 

 up the ground foot deep in advance of the 

 vines. 



Once in every 3 or 4 feet, put a shovel full 

 of soil on a leaf joint of the vine, (not cover- 

 ing up the leaf,) and press it down gently 

 with the foot on both sides of the leaf: if this 

 is kept moist it will take root. The ends of 

 the vmes to be kept to the ground by cross 

 sticks. 



Let the vines spread from the hills so as to 

 cover the whole ground. 



If the side branches of the main vines are 

 inclined to head up, and not to keep to t he- 

 ground, take them ofl^, say a foot from the 

 main vine. 



All pruning to be done in the middle of the 

 day when the sun shines. 



Let no melon set within 4 or 5 feet fron* 



