1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARIHER. 



535 



mation, is too much land. Many of the farm- 

 ers are considered "well off." Yet their 

 prosperity gives them no respite from really 

 slavish toil. 



"Work, work, work, while the cock is crowing aloof, 

 And work, work, work, till the etars ehine through the 

 roof." 



They are rich only in acres, some of them pos- 

 sessing oUO and 500 acres. Of course a man 

 cannot get rich from so much land, without 

 much capital and time. He cannot take care 

 of it usefully or successfully. His acres being 

 far from a market, keep very low in value. 

 Yet the sum and substance of some men's ex- 

 istence, their daily thought, is to add still 

 more to their already many uncultivated acres, 

 for which they must pay taxes, and from 

 which they sometimes cannot obtain even the 

 profit of the grass. Out West, where the mere 

 turning over of the sod, and, as I have seen, the 

 ploughing in of the seed, will produce, without 

 further trouble, the very first year, an excel- 

 lent crop, and where, also, the increasing emi- 

 gration and swift, convenient rails are rapidly 

 tilling up the country, one can comprehend a 

 man's mania for accumulating land. Every 

 acre, especially in that thriving State, Kansas, 

 doubles its Viilue nearly every year. The soil, 

 so long the browsing ground of the buffalo 

 and wild horse, and enriched by the decay of 

 vegetation for centuries, will need no dressing 

 for tliirty years. Then the taxes are as yet 

 scarcely noticed. But in Maine, especially 

 the northern part, there are thousands of acres 

 as barren and rocky as when created. Years 

 of the severest toil hardly makes them beara- 

 ble, yet these mistaken farmers look upon 

 these rocky wastes as desirable possessions. 

 They cannot understand the meaning of "ten 

 acres enough," and do not desire to, either. 

 1 cannot understand them. Can any one ex- 

 explain this mania, this "land on the brain?" 

 Theo. Wiluston. 

 Norway, Me., July 30, 1868. 



Remarks. — We owe the writer and the 

 reader an apology for the unintentional delay of 

 the publication of tlys letter. In reply to her 

 closing inquiry, we may remark that "Ten 

 Acres Enough" has bought more land himself; 

 thus proving, practically, that his theory is im- 

 practicable. 



Marketing Strawberries. — While many 

 superficial or careless managers cannot send 

 strawberries fifty miles in good salable condi- 

 tion, J. Knox of Pittsburgh sends his four 

 hundred miles, and receives double and triple 

 prices for them. The fruit is allowed to ripen 

 before picking ; Mr. Knox says, "We allow 

 the fruit to mature enough for our own table 

 before it is gathered for market." It is han- 

 dled with great care, carefully assorted, and 



as carefully packed in neat boxes. So largely 

 and finely grown are the berries, that ten fill a 

 pint box. He has sent the Jucunda to New 

 York city on Monday, reaching there on 

 Tuesday, and kept it until the following 

 Friday and Saturday, and sold then at higher 

 prices than other berries brought, raised in 

 the immediate vicinity of the city. So much 

 for doing a thing well. — Co. Oent. 



AaKICULTUKE AT TAMPA BAY, FLA. 



We compile from our exchanges some in- 

 teresting facts in relation to important crops 

 cultivated in a portion of the State of Florida, 

 but such as we do not raise here. We think 

 it would be exceedingly gratifying, and per- 

 haps instructive, for some of our well-to-do 

 farmers to visit that country and look at the 

 modes of culture in practice there. Not that 

 we suppose they could be adopted here, but 

 that the more extensive the knowledge which 

 we possess, the better will be our practice in 

 producing all crops. Such, certainly, should 

 be the result. 



The establishment of sugar plantations is so 

 recent, that no planter has succeeded in getting 

 a full crop. Consequently, no well digested 

 system of rotation has been adopted. The 

 system adopted by some is to divide planta- 

 tions into five equal portions, four-fifths of 

 which will be planted in cane, — the fifth to lie 

 fallow. During the seasons of leisure, this 

 portion will be prepared in the best possible 

 manner for planting in the ensuing spring. 

 Some of the lands are based on marl, having 

 a rich subsoil, but a light silicious surface soil. 

 The fallow land is ploughed very deep with 

 four-horse ploughs, throwing it into lands of 

 seven feet, with deep water furrows. Into 

 these furrows all the trash on the land, and 

 the rotted bagessa, (the canes after they have 

 been crushed between the rollers of the sugar 

 mill) of a preceding crop, together with any 

 manure which can be had, will be collected. 

 The land will be again ploughed with four- 

 horse ploughs, bedding on the deposited ma- 

 nure. When this fifth is planted in cane, the 

 oldest of the remaining sections will be 

 ploughed out, and subjected to the same oper- 

 ation. By this system the plantations will 

 yield from 2000 to 3000 pounds of sugar to 

 the acre. 



Rice can be grown very profitably on the 

 high lands in all parts of the State. The yel- 

 low or golden rice is best adapted to either 

 wet or dry culture. There are large bodies 

 of land along the Gulf coast admirably adapted 

 to the cultivation of this staple. 



The fruit culture is confined to the produc- 

 tion of oranges, lemons, limes, guavas, bana- 

 nas, pine apples, cocoa nuts, &c., &c. On 

 the hummock lands from 300 to 400 barrels of 



