No. 8. 



Delaware and Maryland Peninsula. — Pmidreile. 



259 



sendingf its produce to market] You liave 

 your clioice — Philadelphia, Baltimore or New 

 York; and on your return, can load back 

 with lime, or vegetable or animal manures, 

 which can be obtained in those cities in any 

 quantity. Consider, too, if you prefer to 

 keep a dairy, that Baltimore and Philadelphia 

 are within your reach, and the most comfort- 

 able way of going to market possible, namely, 

 by steam-boat. Why that section of country 

 might be made a paradise ! 



But it is asked, are there no drawbacks, no 

 disadvantages] Yes, there are some; there, 

 as everywhere, men are liable to be sick oc- 

 casionally ; the prevalent disease of that 

 country (as I am informed) is of a bilious na- 

 ture, but that is all that they have to contend 

 with; there is no complication of diseases — 

 such as we have to encounter — no dysentery, 

 no typhus, &c. ; and the physicians having 

 but one complaint to study, become adepts in 

 the management of that, and generally effect 

 a cure very speedily ; and truly, a more 

 healthy-looking people are not anywhere to 

 be seen, than the farmers of the peninsula of 

 Delaware. I am aware the idea has gone 

 abroad, that the country is unhealthy, and 

 there may be certain spots deserving that 

 character; but I believe, from a host of evi- 

 dence, that the peninsula generally does not 

 merit it; and at the worst, it is nothing when 

 compared with that of the western and south- 

 western swamps and prairies in that respect. 

 There is, however, one inconvenience, the 

 want of water-power for grist and saw-mills, 

 but this Vv'ill soon be remedied by steam-mills, 

 and it is surprising that the enterprise of 

 some person has not already put such a mill 

 into operation at Delaware City ; stone-coal 

 can be furnished in any quantity from either 

 bay, at very moderate prices, which will en- 

 sure the erection of mills in proportion to 

 their need. 



But this peninsula is not the only section 

 of country contiguous to Eastern Pennsylva- 

 nia, that holds out inducements to persons de- 

 sirous of buying large quantities of land with 

 little money ; in the counties of Cecil, Harford, 

 Baltimore, and Montgomery, in Maryland, 

 large farms, and some small ones, can be had 

 at from 5 to 15 dollars per acre ; land of good 

 quality, some of it having lain uncultivated 

 eulBciently long to be partially rested ; while 

 lands on the streams, such as the Gunpow- 

 ders and their tributaries, are of as good qua- 

 lity as that of Chester county on any of her 

 streams. The lands on the Patapsco and its 

 tributaries are of most superior quality — not 

 equalled perhaps by any of Chester county ; 

 but that fact has been discovered by their pre- 

 sent occupiers, and they are not to be purchased 

 at the abovementioned prices. The next 

 stream, west or southwest, of any magnitude 



is the Patuxent and its tributaries; here the 

 land is perhaps a little inferior in quality 

 when compared with those abovementioned; 

 still it is good, for there you may see the 

 sedge or wood-grass growing half the height 

 of a man, and this I take to be an indication 

 of good land ; and here you are about mid- 

 way between Baltimore and Washington, 

 two excellent markets. Now, what does a 

 man gain by raising large crops in the far 

 West] All he has over and above his own 

 consumption is of little value, and the ex- 

 tremely laborious, toilsome and expensive 

 task of clearing the ground of wood, far ex- 

 ceeds that of liming and improving exhau.sted 

 land, acre for acre, to say nothing of the in- 

 convenience of ploughing and cropping 

 amongst stumps for an age. Those parts of 

 Maryland here spoken of are quite as well 

 supplied with limestone and fuel to burn it, 

 as Chester and Delaware counties ; and there 

 at least the inhabitants are, and ought to be, 

 as healthy as we are, for the country is simi- 

 lar in many respects, as high and rolling, and 

 as well, if not better watered, with mills and 

 mill-seats in abundance. But those who emi- 

 grate to this or the other section of country 

 spoken of, would do well to get as many of 

 their neighbours or acquaintances to accom- 

 pany them as possible, as they can then have 

 schools of their own, and prevent each other 

 from imbibing imperceptibly the southern 

 mode of farming, &c. 



Now what I have here said, I believe to 

 be true to the letter, but do not take my word 

 for it — go and see for yourselves. 



Ernest. 



Pennsburg, Chester County. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Poudrette. 

 Sir, — Having noticed, in the last number 

 of the Cabinet, an inquiry respecting the use 

 of poudrette or night soil, as a valuable ma- 

 nure, and having had some experience in the 

 use of it, I would state for the benefit of oth- 

 ers that may be disposed to try it, that in the 

 spring of 1840 I purchased a few bushels for 

 experiment, and applied it first to potatoes, 

 which I planted the first week in April ; they 

 were of the Mercer or early kind ; a part of 

 the patch was manured with poudrette, a 

 small handful to the hill, the remainder with 

 barnyard manure, a shovel-full to the hill, the 

 after-culture being precisely the same. The 

 last week of June they were dug, and I 

 found that those manured with poudrette 

 yielded one-third more in quantity, and of 

 better size and quality than those dressed 

 with dung. I then tried it on broom-corn, 

 and the same efl^ect was very apparent ; also 

 on Indian-corn, with equal success. In the 

 garden, it proves a most superior article of 



