384 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



A farmer in New England who gains a hundred 

 dollars, buys a share in a railroad or bank, and 

 probably loses his money in the end, when the very 

 thing he most lacks is capital invested in his busi- 

 ness ; capital invested in permanent improvements 

 on his lands, that shall render their annual product 

 greater. How much capital it is expedient to in- 

 vest per acre in putting the land into good condi- 

 tion, it is not easy to determine ; but, as a general 

 rule, a good crop, raised with great care and high 

 manuring, pays best. The lands near London rent 

 at from foity to seventy-five dollars a year per acre. 

 They are cultivated chiefly for market gardens. 

 They are manned from the city, and have a high 

 market close at hand. Farms are leased at from 

 three to fifteen dollars per acre, annually, all over 

 England. Nearly all the most valuable lands are 

 underdrained with tiles. The best estimates of the 

 land draining companies give from twenty-five to 

 thirty-five dollars per acre, as an average cost of 

 draining land. Large companies are in operation, 

 which make these improvements by draining, and 

 take security for their payment on the increased 

 value of the land. The estimates are made on a 

 term of fifty years, during which time it is expect- 

 ed that the tiles, properly laid, will remain as good 

 as new, and the tenant, whether for a term of years, 

 or for life, or otherwise, pays the company an an- 

 nuity, which, in fifty years, will pay the first cost 

 and the interest, usually computed at four and a 

 half per cent. 1 am obtaining all the acts of Par- 

 liament, and other means of information, and at 

 some future day, will explain more clearly the work- 

 ing of the system. Two facts seem to be universal- 

 ly conceded ; first, that most of the land in Eng- 

 land is greatly benefited by underdraining; and sec- 

 ondly, that land once properly drained, is drained 

 for a half century at least. I have recently visited 

 the farm of Mr. Mechi, (pronounced Mecky) some 

 forty miles from London, of which almost every- 

 body has heard or read. It consists of one hundred 

 and seventy acres of land, originally nearly bar- 

 ren, but now, by thorough draining and high culti- 

 vation, as productive, perhaps, as any in England. 

 Mr. Mechi states his average crops for several years 

 to have been 40 bushels of wheat, 56 bushels of 

 barley and 88 bushels of oats to the acre ; and I 

 have no doubt, from my own examination, that his 

 crops this year will come up to those quantities. 

 He has 54 acres of wheat now growing, which will 

 exceed, I think, the average of 40 bushels per acre. 



The main features of his system may be stated 

 in a few words. In the first place, the whole 170 

 aeres is underdrained with tiles, generally laid four 

 teet deep ; none, I think, less than three, and all, or 

 I. early all the farm has been subsoiled. He has, as 

 a particular and somewhat peculiar idea, a large 

 brick underground cistern, 29 feet deep and 28 in 

 diameter, holding eighty thousand gallons, into 



which all the manure made on the farm is driven 

 with large quantities o^ water. He has, then, a 

 small steam engine of six horse power, which, after 

 pumping the water into the cistern, pumps it out, 

 and throws it, with the manure dissolved in it, over 

 the whole farm. 



To distribute this liquid manure, iron pipes are 

 laid under ground into every field of the whole farm, 

 terminating in the centre of the fields above ground, 

 and upon these iron pipes, gutta percha hose are 

 screwed ; the engine is set at work, and the fields 

 are watered as occasion requires. Neither the 

 wheat, barley or oat crop is watered in this way, 

 but the showering is confined to the grass, beans, 

 vetches, turnips and other green crops. 



Three large crops of grass are produced in a sea- 

 son, in this way, and immense crops of other kinds. 

 Mr, Mechi estimates that he expends annually on 

 bis farm, about $38,50 an acre, as the cost of culti- 

 vating, including rent, taxes and all other charges, 

 and he maintains that as a mere investment of cap- 

 ital and labor, it is a profitable operation. His 

 land certainly was poorer than most land in New 

 England. Probably few more barren tracts could 

 anywhere be found, and now there are few more 

 fruitful fields, even in fruitful England. He keeps 

 sheep, from one to two hundred, and feeds his crops 

 of Italian Ray grass, of vetches, and of turnips, to 

 them in the fields. The sheep are enclosed in hur- 

 dles, and kept on an acre or less at a time, and 

 there fed, until they have sufficiently manured the 

 enclosure, and are then moved to another piece, 

 and so on, till large fields are fertilized. This 

 mode of keeping is one of the principal secrets of 

 English husbandry. I shall be able to give the system 

 in detail, in the course of the season. It seems to me 

 that we may profit by this example of English far- 

 mers, but I am not prejjared to speak with certain- 

 ty, till I have visited the best sheep-growing coun- 

 ties. 



In conclusion I would say, that the example of 

 Mr. Mechi is by no means one that our common far- 

 mers could imitate. They have not the capital, nor 

 perhaps would they best employ it thus, if they had 

 it. Yet his efforts are worthy of great praise, as 

 giving us new ideas, which may be, in various ways, 

 turned to good account. H. F. F. 



Preserving Plants. — Thomas R. Marshall has 

 stated to the Botanic Society of Edinburgh a meth- 

 od adopted by him successfully in drying plants so 

 as to preserve the natural form and color. The plant 

 to be preserved must be put in a box in such a man- 

 ner as to preserve the natural disposition of all the 

 parts. Perfectly dry, fine sawdust, of box or other 

 hard wood, is then to be sprinkled over the plant in 

 such a way as not to shift the posilion of the leaves. 

 The plants are to be left thus arranged till dry. A 

 fortnight is sufficiently long in a summer of the or- 

 dinary temperature. Succulent plants require a 

 longer time. 



