Vol.VIIT.— No. 3-2. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



251 



~~ jusands and tens of thousands, ail these state- 

 ;nts must appear as very small matters. The 

 ins of Agriculture, especially in New Enirland, 

 lero we cannot be said to have any large farms, 

 .ist always be small ; yet if farming did no more 

 an to pay its expenses, and yield a reasonable, 

 3ugh humble equivalent for the labor bestowed, 

 e liealtli, the pleasure, the independence, the 

 nstant and innocent employment which it brings 

 th it, the many cheap luxuries, which are found 

 on tlie farmer's table, and wliich are the sweet- 

 as being the product of his own labor, its ad- 

 ntages for rearing a family in habits of labor 

 d self-dependence, and its innumerable, favor- 

 le and deliglitful satisfactions to a grateful and 

 JUS mind, must be set oft" against the innumera- 

 ; hazards of speculation and trade, and the 

 rplexities and embarrassments of commercial 

 [lublic life. 



I fear I have already extended my conimuni- 

 tion to too great a length ; but I have in my 

 ssession, the accurate accounts of a very intelli- 

 nt farmer, for ten years, ending with 1820, 

 len the markets were much better than at pre- 

 iit, who, having retired from commercial pur- 

 its, returned to the quiet satisfactions and health- 

 I labors of his youth in the country ; and has 

 ere given an example of good conduct and 

 od management, of an industrious, frugal, use- 

 I, honorable, and rational life, which does him 

 )re honor than all the mere splendor of wealth, 

 political distinction could bestow. I should of- 



i id his modesty by any allusion by which his 

 me should be recognised ; and I shall give, 

 !refore, only the general residts of his agricul- 

 al operations. 

 He has twentyfive acres of land under cultiva- 



I n, and five acres of salt marsh, together with 



I vood lot sufficient to supply his family. For ten 

 illi ars (it will be remembered that i)roduce was 

 icb higher then than it now is,) though he kept 

 market cart, his annual sales averaged $869,37 

 le supplies received from his farm for 

 the use of his family, at a fair esti- 

 mation, or as he would have been 

 obliged to pay for them, must be put 

 down at 454,00 



rJ $1323,37 



n|it of this deduct the annual average 

 expenses allowing nothing for his own 

 labor and superintendance 638,30 



Balance $757,07 



This farm has great advantages from its vicinity 

 a good market, and a considerable quantity of 

 lit grown upon it. 



I shall oidy add the account of another farmer 

 Pennsylvania, in the neighborhood of Philadel- 

 ia, who was formerly engaged in mercantile 

 siness, but being unfortunate, be retired into 

 3 country. His accounts indicate extraordinary 

 ,11 and good management, and the sanguine 

 »ht to be cautioned against being deluded by 

 exaiii[>le of success, which few, very few, can 

 pect to realize. 



The following is tlie account of the produce of 

 "arm near Philadelphia, owned by John Lo- 



IJS.* 



The first is the statement of the crops of the 

 ni, when lie purchased it of Mr Shriver. 



Lorain's Husbandry, p. 321. 



Statement of Mr Shriver's crops in 

 64 acres — 



242.J bushels oats at 43 cents, 

 12i ■' wheat, barley, and oat 

 tailings mixed, sold for 

 197i bushels potatoes at 50 cts, 

 3&I ' wheat $1,75, 



5i ' buckwheat 50 cts, 



9" tons bay at $17,50 



5 ' corn fodder at $8, 

 226i bushels rye at 80 cts, 



155 ' barley 90 cts, 



250 ' Indian corn at 60 cts, 



8 acres rented to a widow lady, with 



the old farm house, &c, 

 2i acres rented to a negro man, with a 

 small house, 

 31i acres in pasture, woods, yards, 

 roads, &c, 



$104,27 



5,83 



88,50 



64,31 



2,75 



157,50 



40,00 



181,20 



139,50 



150,00 



100,00 



106 acres, $1063,02 



Statement of Mr Lorain's crops in 1811, five 

 years after purchasing the farm of Mr Shriver. 

 13i acres, — 



"277 bushels of wheat at $1,75 $484,75 



25 tons of superior stubble crop 



hay at $7,50, 187,50 



15 acres — 



1086 bushels Indian corn at 60 cts, 651,60 



196 ' barley 90 ' 176,40 



23 tons corn fodder $8,00 184,00 



1^ acre — 



263 bushels potatoes 50 cts, 131,50 



56^ acres — 



130 tons hay $17,50 2275,00 



Received for soiling horses 72,35 



Sundries sold at market 37,10 



20 acres in roads, gardens, woods, &c. 



nearest to that which appears to me would be pro- 

 per for your climate, is denominated here " Plant- 

 ing from the Sprout," an account of which you 

 will find in the 2d volume of the Southern Agri- 

 culturist. There are two Bommunications on the 

 subject in that volume. My time will not permit 

 me, at present, to enter into any details relative to 

 their management, — but should you at any time 

 wish for information on this subject, I will with 

 pleasure answer any queries you may propose. 



Permit me to remark before I close, that the 

 difliculty which you experience in preserving your 

 seed through the winter arises, in part, from an 

 improper selection. The potatoes pioduced from 

 the shoot proceeding inmiediately from the set, 

 are much more liable to rot, than those produced 

 from the Vine. Our seed is always taken from the 

 crop produced hn planting the Vine. Were your 

 farmers to adopt this plan, that is of |>lanting out 

 a small patch of lines for this express purjiose 

 — [lerhaps they might be enabled to preserve them 

 better, although the severity of your winters will 

 always prove injurious to them ; but if they can 

 be preserved at all, I would certainly recommend 

 tht.t those produced from the Vine shouM be cho- 

 sen in preference to any other. 



Yours, respectfully, 



J. D. LEGARE. 



106 acres, $4200,20 



This, it will be admitted, is a most extraordina- 

 ry and flattering result. The experiment was fa- 

 vored, doubtless, not by good management merely, 

 but by good prices and a very fertile soil. 



We have, perhaps, nothing in New England 

 which can promise such results as this ; yet our 

 own soil with good management may be made to 

 yield a fiiir recompense for the labor bestowed. 

 We have yet to learn, as has ofien been remarked, 

 "what a well and thoroughly cultivated acre will 

 produce." The above statements, when viewed 

 together, will, I think, be examined with interest 

 by the agricultural part of the community, espe- 

 cially as I have confined myself to facts and au- 

 thentic statements ; and, instead of showing what 

 may be, have shown what has l)uen done. The 

 best Bank among us is a Bank of rich earth ; and 

 he tha^t has a Share* in this, and looks well after 

 it, may be always sure of an honest, if not a liberal 

 dividend. S. X. 



Feb. 16, 1830. 



[i. e plough-share.] 



SEED OF THE SWEET POTATO. 



[Extract of a letter from J. D. Legare, Esq. Editor of 

 the Southern Afjiiculturist, Charleston, S. C. to the 

 Publisher of the New England Farmer.] 

 I cannot believe that any serious difficulty exists, 

 to the cultivation of the Sweet Potato among 

 your farmers. But the culture must differ mate- 

 rially from that pursued by us, where our summers 

 are long. The culture which approaches the 



Culture of Silk. — The Committee on Domestic 

 Manufactures of the Essex Agricultural Society, 

 speak highly of this culture as capable of furnish- 

 ing a staple in this northern country. — Mulberry 

 trees flourish here, and wherever they flourish 

 silk worms flourish too. $10,000,000 worth of 

 silk is imported annually into the United States. 

 Five towns in Connecticut produced silk in one 

 season to the value of $20,000 ! 



Sewing silk has been manufactured in Arkansas 

 which is pronounced decidedly superior in point 

 of strength, to the Italian. Tlie worms which 

 produced the material were fed on the leaves of 

 the common forest mulberry. 



Brighton Makket.— Monday, Feb. 22. 

 (Reporled for the Chronicle aud Patriot.) 



At market this day, 226 Beef Cattle, 107 Stores, 

 360 Sheep and 349 Swine — divided as follows: 

 upper market, 136 Beef Cattle, 13 Stores, 360 

 Sheep, and 19 Swine unsold last week ; — lower 

 market, 90 Beef Cattle, 94 Stores, and 330 Swine. 



Notwithstanding the unusually limited number 

 of Beef Cattle at market today, business seemed 

 to drag and sales went off" rather heavily, occa 

 sioned by an attempt on the part of the drovers 

 to raise the price full 50 cents per cwt. which was 

 met by the purchasers with an obstinate and de- 

 termined ojiposition. The Cattle however were 

 all taken, and at an advance of about 25 cts per 

 cwt. on former prices. 



Store Cattle dull — Milch Cows exceedingly so — 

 we believe that Store Cattle can be purchased as 

 low now as at any time last fall. 



Sheep — Very little business done in the Sheep 

 Market today — of the small number at market, 

 upwards of 100 were not sold — we know not 

 from what cause — all the sales we noticed were 

 these :~1 lot of 50 at $2 25 and 1 do of 92 at 

 $2 10 per head. 



Swi}\e — The only important transaction in the 

 Swine trade today was the entire lot at Lower 

 Market at $2 37^ iier head — calculated the ave- 

 rage weight to be from 65 to 70 lbs. each. 



