804 



Don't forget to Marl. 



Vol. II. 



inch and a half. Tlie copper is filled with! 

 water to within an inch of the bottom of the! 

 tub, and when all is fixed, the tub is filled 

 with the food to be steamed. It will contain 

 eix bushels of potatoes. I have a stout wood- 

 en cover, which is kept down by means of an 

 upright piece of timber placed under the 

 beam which is above the copper, and in the 

 centre of the covt^r is a hole with a round 

 iron plug^ made tapering, which being- huno-, 

 by a string, over a small pulley, with a some- 

 what lighter weight tied to the other end of 

 it, forms an admirable safety-valve during the 

 time of steaming. I have two iron handles 

 placed near the top of the tub, by which it is 

 easily lifted out of the copper by a pulley, 

 when the contents are sufficiently steamed ; 

 and while the bottom of it rests upon the rim 

 of the copper, it is lifted up by another small 

 iron handle placed near the bottom, on the op- 

 posite side, so that in an instant the steamed 

 food is furned into a wheelbarrow placed to 

 receive.it; and it is the work of about a 

 minute only, to replenish the water that has 

 been evaporated, to refill the tub with the ar- 

 ticle to be steamed, and to fix the cover ; by 

 the time this work is completed, the steam is 

 up and the work "progressing" cheeringly. 



I ought to say I place a strip of coarse finen 

 cloth, .5 or 6 times doubled, between the 

 wooden hoop and the rim of the copper, as al- 

 so around the edge of the tub under the cover, 

 by which these joints are made steam tight 

 without trouble or cost. I am, Mr. Editor, a 

 constant reader of the Cabinet, and 



An Old Farmer. 



April 24th, 1838. 



I>o»'t forget to Marl. 



It is apparent, from the numerous recent 

 inquiries from farmers residing on the Penin- 

 sula, between the Delaware and Chesapeake 

 bays that they are becoming aroused from their 

 lethargy, and are manifesting a disposition to 

 improve the means which are within their 

 reach, to advance the best interests of agri- 

 culture in that once fertile, and interesting 

 (listrh^t of country. The original constitution 

 of much of the soil, the recent discovery of 

 inexhaustible beds of green sand and marl ; 

 and the facilities aftbrded to the transporta- 

 tion of the products of agriculture to Balti- 

 more, Philadelphia, and New- York, the three 

 best markets in our country, should stimulate 

 the farmers to increased exertion in availing 

 themselves of this union of unparalleled op- 

 portunities of advancing their interests, and 

 ofredeeraing their character from the imputa- 



tion hitherto cast upon them, of being "un. 

 kind to the soil." The first effort should be 

 to coat the fields with a luxuriant growth of 

 grass, for without this there can be no perma- 

 nent continuance of good crops of grain. The 

 system by which the present depressed state 

 of culture has been produced, has been that 

 of constantly endeavoring to cheat the soil 

 out of a grain crop, without making any re- 

 muneration to it in the form of manure. This 

 nature winked at for a series of years, with 

 an occasional display of repugnance to give 

 something for nothing, till at last she shewed 

 symptoms of coming to a dead halt, and re- 

 turned to her unworthy task masters, who 

 seemed inclined to try to overturn and violate 

 her laws, scarcely enough to pay the labor 

 and expense of cultivation. This course of pro- 

 ceeding has been persevered in too long, and 

 has been the cause of poverty, distress and 

 degradation to numerous families ; and has 

 induced many to emigrate to sections of the 

 country, where the natural advantages, and 

 real sources of wealth were much more spa- 

 ringly developed, than in the land of their 

 birth-right. The first step towards doing 

 better, not only in farming, but in every other 

 department of life, is to discover that we 

 have been doing wrong ; acting on false prin. 

 ciples; for wrong principles followed out, 

 will sooner or later display bad results. We 

 can't change the laws of nature, and any at- 

 tempt to violate them will be fruitless and 

 vain. Having traveled on in the footsteps 

 of our fathers till we are landed in poverty ; 

 let us now take the back track and adopt a 

 more rational system, conforming in all our 

 works to the known laws of nature, and let 

 us aid her in her efforts for our good, and not 

 attempt to coax and force her, to give us 

 something for nothing as the manner of some 

 has been ; but deal fairly, honestly and up- 

 rightly with old mother earth, and she will in 

 her benignant spirit of kindness, bless us in 

 basket and in store. 



The green sand marl should be evenly 

 spread on upland fields, of artificial grass in 

 the fall, winter or spring, at the rate of from 

 one hundred and twenty, to four or five hun- 

 dred bushels to the acre ; when tliis has been 

 done nature will do the rest ; and you may 



