No. 1. 



Bay-side Farming in Talbot Co., Md. 



31 



Were the sap of the tree their object, the 

 saccharine juice of the birch, the sug'ar ma- 

 ple, and several others, would be much more 

 inviting, because more sweet and nourish- 

 ing, than that of either the pear or apple 

 tree ; but I have not observed one mark on 

 the former, for ten thousand that may be 

 seen on the latter. Besides, the early part 

 of spring is the season when the sap flows 

 most abundantly; whereas, it is only during 

 the months of September, October, and No- 

 vember, that woodpeckers are seen so inde- 

 fatigably engaged in orchards, probing every 

 crack and crevice, boring through the bark, 

 and, what is worth remarking, chiefly on the 

 south and south-west sides of the tree, for 

 the eggs and larvae deposited there by the 

 countless swarms of summer insects. These, 

 if suffered to remain, would prey upon the 

 very vitals, if I may so express it, of the 

 tree, and in the succeedmg summer give 

 birth to myriads more of their race, equally 

 destructive. 



Here, then, is a whole species, I may say, 

 genus of birds, which Providence seems to 

 have formed for the protection of our fruit 

 and forest trees from the ravages of vermin 

 which every day destroy millions of these 

 noxious insects that would otherwise blast 

 the hopes of the husbandman, and which 

 even promote the fertility of the trees; and, 

 in return, are proscribed by those who ought 

 to have been their protectors, and incite- 

 ments and rewards held out for their de- 

 struction. Let us examine better into the 

 operations of nature, very many of our mis- 

 taken opinions and groundless prejudices 

 will be abandoned for more just, enlarged, 

 and humane modes of thinking. — Wilson^s 

 Ornithology. 



Bay-side Farming in Talbot Co., Md. 



The following Report from a district in which are 

 much enterprise and improvement in farming ope- 

 rations, we publish with pleasure at the request of a 

 friend.— Ed. 



The Committee on " Bay-side Farming," 

 appointed by the Trustees of the Aaricultu- 

 ral Society "for the Eastern Shore of Mary- 

 land, beg leave to report, in part : 



That they have had the interesting sub- 

 ject referred to them, under consideration 

 for several months past, and have found some 

 difficulty in their investigations, in conse- 

 quence of the want of facts on which they 

 can rely. They have, at last, been obliged 

 to depend upon tradition and their own lim- 

 ited observations. 



That great improvements hav6 been made 

 in Ih.e Agriculture of this beautiful region 



is manifest to all who have any acquaint- 

 ance with it, and your Committee will en- 

 deavour to show how they have been brought 

 about. 



The waters of the Chesapeake bay. Miles 

 river and Choptank, nearly embracing this 

 peninsula, afford large annual supplies of 

 sea-ware, or sea-ores — and their banks con- 

 tained large quantities of decomposed oyster 

 shells, now nearly exhausted. " It is believed 

 that the first man in the district who used 

 sea-ores to any considerable extent, as ma- 

 nure, was the late Lloyd Tilghman, Esq., as 

 far back as sixty years; but he does not appear 

 to have had many immediate followers. About 

 thirty years ago much attention was drawn 

 to crops of corn and wheat grown by Mr. 

 William Hambleton, on land proverbially 

 poor; principally by the use of these mate- 

 rials, aided by a well-littered farm-yard. 

 This example had a powerful effect. It 

 showed, clearly, that increased products 

 were within the reach of all ; and the use 

 of these valuable articles, so long neglected, 

 extended rapidly. Wherever they were 

 within reach they were used, and invaria- 

 bly with success. Many who had no bank- 

 shells resorted to lime from oyster-shells 

 collected from creeks and rivers washing 

 their shores, and this practice still continues 

 with good effect. 



The confining of cattle during the whole 

 of the winter season on large accumulations 

 of rich eaith, pine rushes, straw, &c., in 

 yards with permanent or temporary shel- 

 ters, about the same time became more gen- 

 eral, and appeared to suggest the penning 

 of ihem on similar heaps during the sum- 

 mer — now almost universal. 



Your Committee consider this a great im- 

 provement on the "ambulatory" cow-pen of 

 the last generation. 



The pen is generally from thirty to forty 

 yards square — half-worm fence staked and 

 capped, with bars or a rough gate; a good 

 foundation of marsh or rich soil is covered 

 over with pine rushes ready to receive the 

 cattle in May. In this pen they continue to 

 be confined every night until late in Octo- 

 ber, the pen receiving fresh stuff" about once 

 a fortnight. In this way the bank, under 

 favourable circumstances, becomes more 

 than two feet deep, and is hauled out before 

 vvinter, when the fields are firm, ready for 

 spreading in the spring. Such a heap, with 

 the winter crop of manure, is frequently suf- 

 ficient to dress over the field intended for 

 corn. The pen is generally made in that 

 field, and supplies of earth are obtained from 

 the woods and from turning rows, or lovy 

 places ploughed up as drains, wherever re- 

 quired. In lands so level as those in the 



