208 



Remarks on the General Principles of ^grimlture. Vol. 



II 



Remarkg on the General Principles of 

 Husbandry* 



1. Whatever may be the nature of your 

 soil, and situation of your farm, remember, 

 that there is no soil so good, but it may be 

 exhausted, and ruined by bad tillage, and that 

 there is none so bad, that cannot be render- 

 ed fertile by good tillage, even barren healli, 

 if it can be ploughed, and swarded. 



2. The true art of husbandry consists in 

 suffering no crop to grow upon your land, that 

 will so far exhaust your soil, as to lessen tJie 

 value of your succeeding crop, whatever pro- 

 fit such a crop may afford you. 



3. To avoid this, suffer no one crop to grow 

 two years successively, upon the same piece 

 of ground, excepting grass, and buck-wheat, 

 without the fertilizing aid of rich manures to 

 support the strength of tlie soil ; and even 

 then, a change of crops will generally do best, 

 excepting onions, carrots, and hemp. 



4. Every plant derives from the earth for 

 its growth, such properties as are peculiar to 

 itself; this plant, when followed successively 

 for two or more years upon the same ground, 

 will exhaust the soil of those properties pe- 

 culiar to itself, without lessening its powers 

 to produce some other plants ; this fact is 

 most striking in the article of flax, which 

 will not bear to be repeated oftener than once 

 in seven years, and is common to all crops, 

 with the exception of those noticed as 

 above. 



5. To avoid this evil, arrange your farm 

 into such divisions as will enable you to im- 

 prove all the variety of crops your lands may 

 require, in such regular succession, as to 

 form a routine of 5, 6, or 7 years, according 

 to the nature, quality and situation of your 

 farm. 



6. This method will make poor land good, 

 nd good better. Try and see. 



Silk Culture. 



Much allowance is to be made for the 

 coloring given by enthusiastic men, warmly 

 engaged in a new and untried pursuit ; but 

 after all deduction, facts enough have been 

 presented to show conclusively that the silk 

 business is capable of being made exceeding- 

 ly profitable. And perhaps the most impo'r- 

 tant fact of all is, that the culture has not 

 only maintained its ground, but has been ad- 

 vancing in Connecticut for many years, and 

 that under every disadvantage of imperfect 

 machinery and want of capital, it has brought 

 a far greater amount of money intoa small town 

 possessing no great natural advantages, tlian 

 was ever realized for any one article of produce, 

 Irom a similar extent of the most fertile bot- 

 tom lands on the Connecticut. 



Pruning. 



Cut and set all such fruit as you wish to 

 propagate by the slip; such as currants, goos- 

 berries, raspberries, &c. Plant out such fruit 

 trees as you wish to remove, together with 

 your grape-vines, particularly such as you 

 iiave propagated from your standing vines. 

 Prune your currants, goosberries, raspberries, 

 &.C. remove all dead stalks, and support your 

 bushes by frames. 



Hollow Horn. — The disease called hollow 

 horn, may be prevented it is said, if the fol- 

 lowing precautionary plan be adopted and 

 adheared to: — once a fortnight pour a tea- 

 spoonful of spirits of turpentine in the cavity 

 or cup, just behind the horns of neat cattle. 



Feeding Animals ^vitli Hay. 



A great loss is frequently sustained by 

 feeding animals not sufficiently often, and 

 giving them too large quantities at a time. 

 In this way, by having a great pile of fodder 

 for a Jong time before them, which is render- 

 ed more and more foul and offensive by their 

 constantly breathing upon it while rooting it 

 over and over, it is imperfectly eaten and a 

 large part perhaps wasted. To prevent this, 

 hay should be given frequently and in small 

 quantities, especially wlien placed in racks 

 and mangers, as it should always be when 

 fed out. For where hay is scattered over the 

 ground, a greater or less quantity is alwavs 

 wasted ; and if the ground be at all muddy, 

 half of it, at least, is almost sure to be trodden 

 under foot and spoiled. 



J. J. T. 



Knowledge is Power. — In no depart- 

 ment is Bacon's celebrated maxim " know- 

 ledge is power" more applicable than in Ag- 

 riculture. Hence no farmer can be counted 

 skilful in his profession, who does not avail 

 himself of the information to be derived from 

 the experience of others in husbandry, by the 

 perusal of books that have been written on 

 the subject. It is absurd to imagine that the 

 communication of knowledge by printino-, 

 wiiich has promoted the advancement of 

 every other art, should be of no use in Agri- 

 culture. — Peters. 



If you separate science from agriculture, 

 you rob a nation of its principal jewel. 



A large farm, without skill, capital and in- 

 dustry is a plague to its owner. It is like 

 self righteousness, the more you have of it 

 the worse you are off. 



Spring Wheat is mor liable to Smut than 

 the red-chaff. 



