No. 16. 



What xvill an Acre of Land Produce. 



305 



be assured that a most luxuriant crop will 

 reward the labor. When it is deemed expe- 

 dient to plough up the grass sod thus marled) 

 the marl will be found to have penetrated the 

 soil several inches, and will be again brought 

 to the surface at the same time that the 

 thickly set and entangled roots of the grass 

 will be turned under, to undergo decomposi- 

 tion and furnish food for the succeeding crop, 

 say of Indian corn, which will be astonish- 

 ingly improved by the application of marl, 

 lime or shells applied in the same way on the 

 surface of the grass. The increased produc- 

 tion of grass as above stated, will produce a 

 correspondent increase of stable manure, 

 which should be applied to the winter grain 

 crop, and when the soil is not very rich, it is 

 better not to sow more than can be manured 

 well, for it has been found by sad experience 

 to be bestowing labor without a rational hope 

 of reward ; and is besides, branding a farmer^ 

 and exhibiting him to a whole neighborhood, 

 as one that is " unkind to the soil," for no one 

 should expect, 



" To reap where he has not soxved, 

 Or gather where he has not straived-'' 



The following communication we recom- 

 mend to the attention of our readers ; it is from 

 an intelligent and practical farmer. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Wliat -wiU an acre of land produce 1 



In 1822, I enclosed an acre of land in the 

 vicinity of Wilmington for the purpose of 

 trying this experiment. I erected upon the 

 ground a small house, and leased it to a gar- 

 dener to work for one half the produce. The 

 ground was enclosed in such a manner, as to 

 leave an exact acre under cultivation. It 

 was at first ploughed deep, the stones all care- 

 fully pitched oft", then highly manured, and 

 afterwards worked the first five years with 

 the spade. I furnished the gardener with 

 about forty dollars worth of manure annually, 

 and sent a man, horse and cart, twice a week 

 to draw the produce to market. Every 

 means was used to raise the amount of sales 

 to the highest point; seeds of the choicest 

 kinds of vegetables were procured, forcing 

 beds erected, and the produce ripened early, 

 and sold in the market at a high price. 



The average produce of my share for the 

 first five years, was $174 20 cts. per annum, 

 consequently, the whole amount produced by 

 this acre of land was not less than $348 40cts. 



per annum, besides the vegetables used in 

 the gardener's family. 



The gardener and his little family, consis- 

 ting of three persons, had other perquisites, 

 by which they obtained about $100 annually, 

 in addition to their share of the garden ;_ by 

 which they were enabled to live in comfort, 

 and could have indulged occasionally in some 

 of the luxuries of life if they had chosen so to 

 do. But like most other workers of the soil 

 in this country, they wanted more land, and 

 till it with a plough and a horse. 



In order to gratify this disposition, I en- 

 closed them another acre, and lent them a 

 horse, plough, and occasionally a man to 

 work it, and continued the same outlayings 

 for manure as in the former case. 



The consequence of this change was, that 

 I received less per annum for the second five 

 years than the first. 



The family now became dissatisfied with 

 their situation, nothing would do but more 

 land ; they complained of their labor being 

 increased, and their income diminished ; they 

 had sometimes to hire and they had no money 

 to pay the laborer ; they had many other diffi- 

 culties to encounter, all of which were ascri- 

 bed to tiie smallness of their farm. I was 

 now as much dissatisfied as they were, for 

 we could not agree about the cause of our 

 unsuccessful efforts; but as no other way 

 opened at the time, I enclosed about two 

 acres more for a third five years experiment, 

 which terminated in my receiving less in- 

 come than in the second five years, and not 

 much over one half the amount of the first 

 five. So much for increasing the size of 

 farms without being " kind to the soil." 



The result of these experiments correa- 

 pond with all the known facts that have come 

 under my observation for the last thirty years 

 upon the subject of the profits of capital ex- 

 pended in agricultural pursuits. 



I at first adopted the opinion that the se- 

 cret of gathering money out of the soil lay in 

 small farms, but extended observation of facts 

 and mature deliberation has changed this 

 conclusion. I now believe the quantity of 

 land has nothing to do with the profits of the 

 capital expended ; that it altogether depends 

 upon a judicious selection of soil, the facili- 

 ties of obtaining manure, and the proper ap- 

 plication of it as food for plants, and most of 

 all upon the quantity of the best and most 

 nourishing kinds of manure; upon this mainly 

 depends the profits of capital expended for ag- 

 ricultural purposes. 



I found $5000 expended upon 100 acres of 

 poor land in the neigborhood of Wilmington, 

 would not produce after paying all expenses 

 more than 5 per cent, upon tlie capital, but 

 by doubling the amount in expenses for ma- 

 nure and making the sum laid out $10,000 it 



