1S36.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



171 



Extracts from tlic Philadelphia Agricultural Memoirs. 

 WOOr-LEX RAGS AS MANURE, 



*' Tlic roots of i-,lftnts naturally popsess to a 

 consiilerablc degree the power ol' proilueing de- 

 composition, as I liave had occasion niore^than 

 once to observe in the case of piantino; potatoes 

 with woollen rags instead of dung. I have seen 



was ojaining ground, and he would meet with plen- 

 ty of fresh customers, which was the case; and 

 this last year was his best. He drills wheat, bar- 

 ley, and oats, fi-om five to seven inches asunder, 

 at two shillings per acre; beans, peas, &c. at 

 twelve inches, at one shilling per acre; the fiirmers 

 finding a horse, and a boy to lead. 



I have at this time an enclosed piece of strono- 

 fine crops of potatoes raised by dropping a small I ""'^y land, of four acres, in a high state of cultiva- 

 piece of woollen rag not larger than the hand, in '""'") that has been alternately wheat and vetches 

 the furrow along with every set of the potatoes | ''^i' ten years. It joins my farm-yard; and I be 



when planted; and F have observed, when the po 

 tatoes were gathered in the tall, that in every in- 

 stance where a potatoc plant had failed to vege- 

 tate, the rag was turned up entire, very little daTri- 

 aged by being buried under ground; whereas on 

 llie other hand, not the smallest vestige of the 

 rags were to be seen in any part of the ground 

 where the plants had succeeded and grown to per- 

 fection.'" 



" Before the revolution war, I collected many 

 rart loads of tailor's rags, chieily woollen. Some 

 I had cut in small pieces; others' were ploughed in 

 as they came fi-om the shops, after having been 

 scattered by hand so as barely to cover the surface 

 of about three acres of loamy land, much worn. 

 I had a remarkably fine crop of potatoes, succeed- 

 ed by a great crop of wheat. On this clover was- 

 sown. It lay for many years without other ma- 

 nure except plaster, in green grass after the clover. 

 The effect of the rags continued longer than that 

 of any manure I ever experienced- 



Vmm the Fancier's Magaiiine. 

 Orf DRILLING CORN [OR WHEAT.] 



Letter from Mr. Checketts of Belgrave-Hall, near 

 Leicester, to the Right HonorabJe Sie John Snv- 

 CLAiR, Bart. 



February, 1821. 



Sir: In answer to your letter, lam happy to 

 inform yon of ray success in drilling. If I were 

 to deviate li-om this system, [ could not withstand 

 the bad times that the farmers no"V experience. I 

 drill every kind of irrain; and have drilled Swedish 

 turnips, for the last' five years, on ridge.^:, in the 

 manner you pointed out; but, owing to the late dry 

 summers, I have been under the necessity of work- 

 ing the ridges down to a flat surface with my horse- 

 hoe which keejia the moisture from evaporating 

 more than the high ridges. The greatest weight 

 I ever grew with the drill on ridges was twenty 

 five tons per acre; and at the same time, in the 

 pame field, broadcast, fifteen tons to the acre. A- 

 bout the time I last wrote to you, my neighbours 

 were beginning to follow my system of drilling. 



At the present time, every firmer near me drills 

 his corn, (rows from five to seven inches,) even 

 those that were i>rejudiced against the system be- 

 fore they tried it. 



The man whom 1 set up with a drill, continues 

 to go fi-om village to village with the drill, to many 

 different farmers, to drill their corn, by the acre. 

 The third year he saiil he would sell it, for every 

 village at which he drilled, the wheelwrights and 

 blacksmiths were taking patterns from the drill, for 

 the purpose of making others; and that he should 



meet with no employ the year ensuing. I desired | a narrow walking horse, or pony, works the horse- 

 him not to sell it, for that .showed him the system ' hoe between the rows, to clean and pulverize the 



n-e I could not put it to a better purpose. The 

 vetches are always carted into the farm-)'ard in a 

 orecn state, for the farm-horses and others; at the 

 same time keeping the yard littered with stubble, 

 or what 1 can spare for that purpose. The wheat 

 and vetches are alwavs drilled, and well hoed in 

 jMarch and April. The wheat I always harrow, 

 and hoe in thirty bushels of soot per acre. In the 

 year 18-20 it was wheat; and the four acres produ- 

 ced four loads of wheat in the sheaf to the acre, 

 each sheaf one yard round at the band; each load 

 10 threaves of 24 sheaves to the ihreave; and 

 each fhreave produced one bushel; — which is five 

 quarters to the acre. The four acres are at this 

 Time drilled with vetcl-.e^, and in spring will un- 

 dergo the former process; and as each land is clear- 

 ed of the vetches in summer, it will be ploughed 

 up to prepare for wheat, 



I have at this time a great quantify of soot in a 

 •lood dry shed, for which 1 gave 5s per quarter. 

 If gains strength by keeping in a great bulk; more- 

 over, it sells for 8s. a quarter in the spring. This 

 is a sufficient inducement to lay in a slock in the 

 autumn and winter. 



1 grow the email Heligoland beans in prefer- 

 ence to the Inrse sort. They are tougher in the 

 stem, snd will allow the horse and hand-hoe to 

 be worked better amongst them. They also pro- 

 duce more quarters per acre, are harvested sooner, 

 atid allow the land to be sooner ploughed up for 

 wheat; which is a great advantage for the ensu- 

 ing crop. I was successfijl last year in growing 

 Talavera wheat; drilled the latter end of Febuary, 

 after Swedish turnips drawn ofl'to the grass land, 

 — a great and good crop, full six quarters to the 

 acre. In December, 1818, I drilled Talavera 

 wheat after Swedish turnips. I had upon this an 

 amazing crop of straw, seven feet higli, and little 

 good corn. I now sow the Talavera wheat on 

 my weakest and dryest soils. 



I employ ten regular labourers on my farm. I 

 allow tliem, according to their families, a propor- 

 tion of land (that I intend drilling wheat on at 

 Michaelmas), upon which they grow potatoes 

 enough for their winter consumj)tion. The pota- 

 toes are planted in drills, in the same manner as 

 turnips on ridges. It is a pleasant scene of indus- 

 ry to behold the men, their wiv-es and children, on 

 the day of planting: Every one gets his potatoes 

 cut for that day; the double shieldboanl plough 

 opens the ridges; the carts brins the manure; all 

 flock to assist in depositing it; all join to help each 

 other to drop the potatoes on the manure; the men 

 follow with a large hand hoe to cover it and the 

 potatoes; thev thus proceed to another lot of ground, 

 till all is finished. This is a great assistance to 

 thenr, for in this village, garden land is scarce. 

 When the potatoes grow high enough to be seen; 



