No. 11. 



Tlie Farm of Clark Rice, Esq. 



345 



ped for a time; the object being not to drown 

 the grass roots at all, but to keep thera gent- 

 ly moistened. 



The contrast between the irrigated land 

 and the land adjoining, which is above the 

 highest ditch and cannot be flowed, is very 

 striking. The latter, although lying more 

 level, and oftener ploughed and manured, 

 will not cut as much grass by one-half as 

 the former, neither is the quality as fine. 

 The irrigated land can be kept in produc- 

 tive mowing, much longer than other parts 

 of the farm that have not the benefit of the 

 water, it is occasionally ploughed and ma- 

 nured, however, and goes through a rotation 

 of crops — no water being let on to any por- 

 tion that may be under a state of tillage, 

 until it is again in grass. The crop of grass 

 on the irrigated land is not aflected by any 

 drought, however severe, that may occur after 

 the water is taken off, — the land having been 

 well saturated, and the grass completely co- 

 vering it, prevents the moisture from evapo- 

 rating. The burden of hay is very heavy, 

 and the quality excellent; the tendency of 

 the irrigation being to produce a thick and 

 fine bottom. 



Seeding to grass in August. — Mr. Rice 

 has several acres of grass land too moist to 

 plough and cultivate in the spring. He ob- 

 tains fine crops of hay from this land by 

 ploughing it in August, when a light coat 

 of compost is spread on top of the furrows 

 and harrowed in; the land is then stocked 

 down to grass again, without sowing to 

 grain. The new seeding is fit for the scythe 

 the next season, although later than the old 

 fields. The process is repeated about every 

 fifth or sixth year, or as often as the more 

 valuable grasses are supplanted by wild 

 grass. He considers this by far the best 

 management of a moist soil. 



Improvement of a light, hungry soil. — 

 He has a piece of land rather inconveniently 

 situated to get at with manure, upon which 

 he is trying the following experiment to re- 

 deem it from a state of comparative sterility: 

 it is sowed to rye in the fall, and stocked 

 with clover early in the spring ; the grain is 

 taken off the next harvest, and the next 

 year after, the growth of clover is ploughed 

 in and the same process repeated. The 

 plan has proved very satisfactory thus far, 

 the land yielding more than double the crop 

 it did five or six years ago. 



Planting a forest. — Mr. Rice had, a few 

 years ago, a piece of side hill in pasturing, 

 of rather thin unproductive soil, which ho 

 ploughed up and sowed to rye, at the same 

 time planting to chesnuts in rows about four 

 feet apart. After the rye was taken off the 



land was left to run up to a forest. The 

 first growth or sprout from the chesnut was 

 rather crooked and scrubby ; but by cutting 

 it close to the ground new sprouts started 

 which grew straight and thrifty, and there 

 is now a good prospect of a fine growth of 

 chesnut timber — an article which is becom- 

 ing more and more valuable in this section 

 of country. 



I have thus given a very imperfect sketch 

 of some of the more important operations of 

 this intelligent and prosperous farmer. His 

 enterprise and skill in the use and applica- 

 tion of his muck, together with the appropri- 

 ation of his natural advantages for irriga- 

 tion, have told wonderfully upon the pro- 

 ductiveness and profit of the farm. Some 

 twenty years ago he commenced operations 

 on a worn-out farm, the whole produce, all 

 told, not filling the barn then on the place, 

 60 by 30 feet, and now, with all his ample 

 barn room, he has none to spare. Among 

 other things, his operations show in a strik- 

 ing manner, the great advantage to be de- 

 rived on our worn-out soils, from a liberal and 

 judicious use of sicamj) mucli, and the im- 

 portance and profit attending a strict hus- 

 bandry of all the resources on the farm for 

 making and saving manure. 



In the languaj-e of the chairman of the 

 committee of our agricultural society, for 

 awarding premiums on manure: "Every 

 animal m the house or in the barn, on this 

 farm, contributes something to swell the im- 

 mense heap." "We hope our farmers will 

 soon learn that the process of making ma- 

 nure is not an impoverishing, but an enrich- 

 ing process, as is proved in the case of Mr. 

 Rice, of whom his neighbours used to pro- 

 phecy that his muck-hole would send him to 

 jail. It has proved, however, thst in dig- 

 ging muck, he was digging money, instead 

 of landing in jail." 



It is evident to any one, in conversing 

 with Mr. Rice and witnessing the opera- 

 tions of his farm, that he unites extensive 

 agricultural reading with the most close and 

 minute observation. He is a hard-working, 

 practical man ; and he has adopted no new 

 theory or practice simply because new, or 

 continued in an old one because old ; but 

 with excellent sense he has adopted those 

 suggestions, from whatever source derived, 

 that seemed applicable to his soil and condi- 

 tion. Starting in life with nothing but a 

 willing mind and a doing hand, he has risen 

 to his present position by the force of his 

 own enterprise and good judgment. He 

 has been compelled to advance slowly and 

 cautiously in his improvements, making 

 them no faster than they would pay for 



