FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 5 



ble success, being nnlbrtuimtely too much mixed ! 

 with phoephiite ol" iron. A depoyite of ore of bet- 

 ter quality has been discovered on the Pocomoke, 

 in the Ibrk between this river and Duncan's mill- 

 branch, and it is again met with in the swamps 

 around Newtown. 



A more general view of the application that can 

 be made of the knowledge so far acquired, res- 

 pecting the physical geography of the three coun- 

 ties just described, remains now to be taken, 



^Agricultural resources of the lower counties onthe 

 Eastern Shore of Maryland 



The agricultural improvements of Dorchester, 

 Somerset, and Worcester counties, fall tar short of 

 what they might be made to attain, by a better 

 system of cultivation, and a more liberal employ- 

 ment ol" the resources which this section of tlie 

 ptate possesses. But to eticct a thorough improve- 

 ment, the attention should be first directed to the 

 congeniality of the soil, in each district, for that 

 species of growth from which a crop is expected. 

 Corn and wheat are the staple commodities of the 

 Eastern Shore, but in the present condition of 

 things, the latter is so precarious a resource, that 

 corn may be said to be the principal produce and 

 fiiain dependence of the lower counties. And yet 

 their various soils are capable of producinga num- 

 ber of other crops: rye, oats, beans, potatoes, 

 ^common and sweet,) and the root crops generally, 

 But it is not only in limiting the variety of their 

 crops, that the agriculturislsof this section of coun- 

 try err; they neglect to take into account the pe- 

 culiar susceptibilities of tlie various kinds of soil, 

 Jo produce certain crops in preference toothers; 

 and thus an injudicious system of husbandry is 

 ibllowed, resulting most frequently in disappoint- 

 ment. On some of the light soils described as be- 

 longing to the upper portions of these counties, 

 wheat cannot be raised, whilst these same soils 

 ptiay be made to yield profitable returns of corn, 

 rye, and oats; it is therefore worse than useless to 

 attempt to raise wheat upon such lands. The 

 opinion that oats exhaust the soil, is an unfounded 

 prejudice ; for any system of rotation, with proper 

 jnanagement, appears to be beneficial. Those 

 parts, on the other hand, that possess a clay soil, 

 with variable proportions of sand, admit of the 

 alternate extraction from them, of corn and vvlieat 

 crops, provided they be followed up bj^ clover, cut 

 and turned in, withlime; orif grazed not too close- 



Another popular belief, founded upon prejudice, 

 is, that plaster will not act upon lands contiguous 

 to salt water. It is not so. Lands, whether near 

 or remote from the sea, upon which g?//}S)/»i did 

 not seem to take kindly, have been found, (fter be- 

 ing marled or limed, to derive the usual benefits 

 imparted by this valuable material. 



In some parts of Somerset, a small portion it is 

 true, as yet, the crop of sweet potatoes is the main 

 one, and is found very profitable, as is evident bj' 

 the thriving condition of the small farms on Big 

 and LitUe Deele's Islands ; whilst intelligent farm- 

 ers, in other parts of the county, have turned their 

 attention advantageously to the cultivation of beans, 



1)eas, &c. But there is yet another growth that 

 lids fair to become of great value to the aijricultu- 

 ral interest of the Eastern Sho-e of Maryland, 

 namely, the pahna chrisli, or castor bean plant, 

 sometimes known by the name of mole plant. 



An attempt was made in the Report of last year, 

 to excite the interest ol the farmers of Queen Anne 

 and Caroline counties, in behalf of this new crop. 

 It is to be regretted that they have not extensively, 

 if at all, availed themselves of the suggestion — the 

 bean liaving increased in value far beyond the most 

 sanguine anticipations. There ought to be, there- 

 fore, no further delay to the introduction of this 

 growth as one of the staple commodities of Mary- 

 land. Without haviiiiT been as yet able to ascer- 

 tain the precise cause of tlie extraordinary demand 

 for this article, within a few years, there is still 

 reason to believe that the call for it will continue to 

 be great ; since, notwithstanding its extended culti- 

 vation in consequence of the high prices obtained 

 in preceding years, it now commands a higher price 

 than at any other former period. It has been sta- 

 ted that the oil expressed fi-om the beans is employ- 

 ed in large quantity in the manufactories of Eng- 

 land for greasing tlie machinery by wliicli these es- 

 tablishments are put into operation. 



The culture of the palma christi presents no dif- 

 ficulties. It is said to thrive best in good corn 

 lands, yielding, according to the quality of the soil, 

 from twenty-five to forty bushels per acre. The 

 land requires the same preparation as for corn ; and 

 the bean is planted like this grain, — in hills on which 

 two or three plants arc suffered to grow ; the sub- 

 sequent tillage being also the same as that practi- 

 sed for corn. The most tedious part of the man- 

 agement of this crop is the gathering of the fruit, 

 which forms a clusterwiih a pyramidal termination; 

 the lower portion being occupied by the male flow- 

 ers that yield no seed, and the upper by the female 

 flowers. In the female flowers, the ovary, which 

 is roundish and three-sided, supports three linear 

 reddish stigmas, forked at their apex. The fruit, 

 properly speaking, is a round capsule, with three 

 projecting sides, covered with rough spines, and 

 divided into three cells, each containing one seed. 

 The flowers appear in July, and the seed ripens 

 throughout August and September. If suflTered 

 to do so on the plant, the capsule bursts with con- 

 siderable force, projecting the seed at a distance, 

 and scattering it about the field. To avoid this is 

 the only extra attention required by this growth, 

 and this is done by anticipating the maturity of the 

 fi'uit. The directions are, — to visit the plantation 

 a little belbre the commencement of the ripening 

 season, removing those clusters that approach to 

 maturity, (which is known by a change of color, 

 from grayish green to a light pea green,) and con- 

 veying them to the drying ground, wh-ere, by the 

 effect of the sun's heat, they burst, and dislodge 

 their seeds. The only preparation for the drying 

 ground is to provide a small place, cleaned and 

 levelled as for a threshing floor, upon which the 

 clusters are scattered. It would be advisable to lo- 

 cate this spot in the neighborhood of the barn, or 

 near a shed, so as to lacilitate the removal of the 

 plants, in case of protracted wet weather, to some 

 sheltered situation. Transient showers of rain do 

 not, however, damage it, otherwise than by black- 

 ening the seed, whereby its sale might be injured, 

 although it does not diminish its productiveness in 

 oil. The occupation of gathering having once 

 commenced, it sliould lie so arranged as to visit 

 each plant twice a week, morning and evening, 

 until the whole crop has been secured. It may 

 then be sent to a market, where, at the time of 

 writing this Report, it commands three dollars a 



