No. 8. 



Ploughs and P/oughinq. 



249 



about 22 bushels of oats per acre, and tlie 

 clover was pretty £rood. 



In 1836 one bushel of plaster per acre was 

 applied, and burnt oyster shells at the rate of 

 eighty bushels per acre. The clovrr was 

 good ; it was lightly pastured and ploughed 

 under in August. Wheat was sown on the 

 first of October. 



In 1837 from the forty acres were obtriined 

 1032 bushels of very fine wheat — weighing 

 more than 60 lbs. to the bushel. On ratlier le.ss 

 than 20 acres of the field, 24 bushels of white 

 bearded wheal were sown, and produced more 

 than 600 bushels. On the rest, 32 bushels of 

 yellow bearded wheat produced about 400 

 bushels. 



This field has a south western exposure, 

 and slopes down to t!ie river shore with a gen- 

 tle desceut. Tiie land varies in texture, from 

 a clayey loam to a sandy loam, and is of a 

 reddish, chocolate color. The stiffest soil is 

 in the lower part of the field next to the river, 

 which becomes gradually lighter as you as- 

 cend to the highest part, where it is quite 

 Bandy. With the te.xture of the soil varied the 

 quantity of the wheat, which was heaviest on 

 the lower side of the field next the shore, 

 where it must have been in some places about 

 40 bushels per acre, and grew gradually thin- 

 ner, until on the most sandy parts the quan- 

 tity was not more than 10 to 15. Both grain 

 and straw were of the finest quality. There 

 was no grass seed sown with the wheat, but 

 the growth of weeds and white clover after 

 harvest was very great — showing the strength 

 and fertility of the soil. 



In the spring of 1838 this field was planted 

 in corn. In the early part of the season it 

 grew with great luxuriance, attained very 

 soon a large size, was of a dark rich color, 

 and gave promise of a crop of at least .50 

 bushels per acre. The une.xampled drought 

 of last summer, however, de.stroyed these 

 hopes. The corn crops throughout the coun- 

 try was seriously injured— ^in many places ut« 

 terly ruined. This field, notwithstanding the 

 severity of the season, produced about 20 

 bushels per acre, which before the lime was 

 applied would have been considered a fair 

 crop, and the quantity of fodder was large, — 

 This result, I consider, under the circum. 

 stances, quite as satisfactory as 60 bushels per 

 acre would have been, in an ordinary season. 



The oyster shells were obtained from Wor- 

 ton Point, at the mouth of the Chester river, 

 where, and elsewhere on the Che.sapeako wa- 

 ters, they exist in immense bods; marine de- 

 posits probably—though some suppose them 

 to have been collected by the Indians, They 

 were delivered, burnt, on the fkrm, for 8 cts. 

 per bashel. 



From these data, those interested in the 

 subject may calculate the profits of lim- 



ing, and otherwise improving, exhiusted 

 land, which is naturally of a c;ood quality. — 

 It is obvious at once, that in this instance, one 

 crop of clover plouglied under, — 3 bushels 

 of plaster and 80 bushels of oy.ster shells per 

 acre, produced a crop, the difference between 

 which and former crops, more than repaid all 

 the capital applied, and left the soil with its 

 productive power more than doubled. 



Exhausted land of the finest quality is to 

 be found in great abundance on the Ea.'^tern 

 Shore of Maryland, though happily, a newly 

 awakened spirit of industry and enterprise is 

 rapidly diminishing its amount. Along with 

 it exists also abundant stores of marl and oys- 

 ter shells. The country is penetrated in ev- 

 ery direction by navigable rivers which 

 give easy access to the markets of Baltimore 

 and Philadelphia. The surface of the land is 

 undulating, it is free from stones, and is easily 

 worked. The causes of its decay would not 

 be perhaps difficult to determine ; but how its 

 numerous and obvious advantages have es- 

 caped for so many years the hawk-eyed vigi- 

 lance of capitalists and speculators, and the 

 prudent enterprise of industrious farmers, 

 whilst wealth and population have flowed with 

 so full and steady a stream into the remote 

 wildernesses of the west, it is not so easy to 

 discover. Whatever may have been the 

 cause, it exists no longer. The veil has been 

 at length withdrawn, and both natives and 

 i^trangers have become acquainted with the 

 natural fertility of the soil, — the ease with 

 which it may be made productive, and the un- 

 developed resources of the country. A better 

 system of farming has been very generally in- 

 troduced—old prejudices have been dissipated 

 — northern capital is flowing in — the price of 

 land is rapidly rising — and industry, guided 

 by superior knowledge, supported by increased 

 means, and wielding those wonder-working 

 instruments, clover, lime, and plaster, will 

 speedily alter the aspect of the country, and 

 cover its "old fields" once again with luxuris 

 ant harvests. Evelyn, 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Ploughs and IMoughing^, 



Sir, — On looking back to the past numbers 

 of the Cabinet, I am struck with the real 

 practical knowledge which is conveyed in a 

 remarkably well written paper by Mr. Buck-. 

 minster, at p. 48, vol. 1, " On Ploughs and 

 Ploughing," I consider the information 

 vvhich is there given invaluable ; and to con- 

 vince any one that the writer is a practical 

 man, in the best sense of the word, it is only 

 to observe the advice given, ** to set the coul- 

 ter anglewise, and leaning to the right, that 

 the furrow-slice might be cut in a bevel form, 

 so as to shut in like a trap-door." Now every 



