204 



Premium Farm. 



Vol. XI. 



Premium Farm. 



We are glad to find our indefatigable friend Jones 

 still in the field. The following letter to the commit- 

 tee on farms of the New Castle Agricultural Society, 

 shows no diminution of energy, or confidence of suc- 

 cess. 



The report of the committee on crops, gives valuable 

 information. — Ed. 



To THE Committee on Farms : 



Gentlemen, — I again propose for the val- 

 uable premium offered by the Society for 

 the best and most economically improved 

 and productive farm, all circumstances and 

 systems considered. 



Wheatland is situated mostly in St. 

 George's Hundred, New Castle county, Del- 

 aware. It is bounded on the North by the 

 State road, which leads across the peninsu- 

 la, from Reedy island, head of Delaware 

 bay, to Town point, at the junction of Bo- 

 hemia and Elk rivers; and on the West by 

 the great Eastern Shore of Maryland road, 

 which runs parallel with, and about 200 

 yards distant from the State, or what is 

 known as Mason & Dixon's line. 



Wheatland, in shape, is nearly a parallel- 

 ogram ; being something over one mile long 

 from East to West, and a little over half a 

 mile in width from North to South. The 

 farm is all arable ; not having any wood or 

 other waste land on it. The buildings, 

 which are not very good or convenient, are 

 situated near the road, on the North side of 

 the farm, and in a position about central 

 from East to West. The land is gently 

 sloping to the Southward, and the elevation, 

 near the house, about eighty feet above the 

 tide water. At present, the farm is divided 

 into two grand divisions, by a lane of about 

 one hundred and fifty yards in width, and 

 running from the building upon the North 

 side of the farm to the South, at which point 

 it encloses the head of a branch of the Bo- 

 hemia river, where there is a constant stream 

 of spring water. This lot is designed to 

 contain about fifteen acres; it is now well 

 set with clover, timothy and orchard grass, 

 and at present constitutes the only pasture 

 for all my stock, except hogs. The stock 

 consists of ten work horses and one colt, a 

 yearling, and seven head of horned cattle, 

 all told, from calves to milch cows, except 

 two small beasts that I design killing ofi' 

 this fall. The two grand divisions of the 

 farm are tilled to an imaginary line at pre- 

 sent, running from East to West. The two 

 North fields, or tillages, which are nearest 

 to the buildings contain about eighty acres 

 each. The Southern tillages, which are 

 furthest from the building, about eighty-five 

 acres each. The reason why the fields are 



smallest near the house, is because my plan 

 is never to haul manures a long distance 

 whilst I have poor land near, and of course 

 the small fields will fare best; the distant 

 tillages, however, will get the best share of 

 lime, clover, and plaster. The fields, or 

 tillages, are now occupied and named as 

 follows : 



The North-west field I have called West, 

 after that honest man and good farmer, W. 

 West, the first that introduced the use of 

 clover and plaster into Pennsylvania. This 

 field is now sown with wheat, with Pen- 

 nock's drill, upon one of the very best turned 

 clover lays I ever saw. The field south of, 

 and adjoining West, I have called Garnett, 

 after that celebrated agriculturist that never 

 would leave his native State, Virginia, not- 

 withstanding the reported productiveness of 

 the South-western States. This field is now 

 in clover, near forty acres of which was 

 sown after wheat, in 1845: the balance is 

 sown upon oats last spring, the whole of 

 which lies over without being pastured or 

 mown, to be turned under next August for 

 wheat. 



Tull is the North-eastern quarter of the 

 fiirm. About twelve acres of this field was 

 subsoiled last autumn, preparatory to corn 

 this season, after the manner of Jethro Tull, 

 who may be justly styled the father of tho- 

 rough tillage and drill husbandry. This 

 field is partly — about forty acres — in corn ; 

 three acres are in timothy, which yielded a 

 heavy crop the past year, for the tenth suc- 

 cessive crop; the residue of the field is well 

 set in young clover, that followed wheat. I 

 am now engaged in cutting oft" this corn and 

 carrying it in rows thirty yards apart, with 

 the view of sowing wheat between the 

 shocks of corn, to be followed by clover 

 next spring. This plan I consider more 

 profitable and less exhausting than the sow- 

 ing of oats, formerly the usual course. 



Skhmer, so named after the oldest editor 

 of our agricultural papers, and advocate of 

 the rights of the tiller of the soil, the fourth 

 tillage, is South of, and adjoining Tull, and 

 is designed to contain about eighty-five acres. 

 This field is now well set with clover, that 

 followed the wheat that was taken from it 

 last harvest. According to my system, this 

 field goes in corn next spring. Of the 

 amount and value of the product of the 

 farm the present year, I am not now pre- 

 pared to form an estimate, as I have not got 

 out my wheat, which is my principal crop.* 

 The corn looks well ; the oat crop was 

 short ; the grass very abundant. 



The grounds upon which I claim the pre- 

 mium for the best farm, is from the system 

 adopted — the improved and improving state 



