378 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 6 



in the vicinity of the river, yet who have not here- 

 tofore used it, on account of the imperfect state of 

 the navigation. It is calculated that freight will 

 be reduced to half the present rales, as soon as the 

 works are complete. As far as the locks and dams 

 have been completed, the improvement meets the 

 most sanguine expectations, and affords a deep 

 and safe navigation at all seasons. It had been 

 feared by the land holders on the river, that the 

 mode of improvement adopted, wo!ud prove injur.'- 

 ous to the lands ; but it has not been found neces- 

 eara to make any dam so high as to overflow or 

 injure the low grounds, and the experience of near 

 a century has proved that dams across this stream 

 do not cause it to fill with sand or mud; as collec- 

 tions in the bed are swept out by the frequent cur- 

 rents, and deposited on the low grounds bordering 

 the Etream. It is believed that the apprehensions 

 of land holders are generally quieted on the sub- 

 ject of injury, and that the improvement is a pop- 

 ular one. 



These views and statements are offered to the 

 public — and particularly to those interested — by 

 one whose duty requires him to pay some attention 

 to the subject. 



LIMING AKD DUAIIVIIVG. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Fairfax County, September 6lh, 1836. 



Your pamphlet upon the use and value of cal- 

 careous manures is a public benefaction, in as 

 much as it promises individual wealth. My corn 

 crop, from its use, is far better than I expected, 

 and I am now burning shells for 110 acres of fal- 

 low, and if I am not deceived, the difference in the 

 crop will more than pay the expense. Be this 

 however as it may, I shall plough no more land 

 than I can lime. It inay be well to remark that 

 no wet land should he limed until well drained, for 

 upon this materially hangs the result. JMuch has 

 been said and written upon draining: but one from 

 the dead would not convince ten men in this coun- 

 ty so far as to move them to action. i\.ll the fiat 

 lands orlowgrounds of this county have a tight im- 

 pervious pan near the surface, which holds the wa- 

 ter that falls upon it, and subjects it to regular and 

 perpetual deterioration from the action of frost and 

 sun. 



1 could name farms all around ine upon which 

 the manner of cultivation has been much im- 

 proved, yet from having neglected to drain their 

 land, not more than one third is now made on it 

 •which was made 40 years ago. I blush sir when 

 I say that I believe I have defeated my own pur- 

 pose in agriculture by seeking to force nature. 

 She will not be forced. Man cannot force her to 

 grow Indian corn and wheat where she lias re- 

 solved by unchanging law that the bullrush, wild 

 oat, and corn grass shall grow.* Let the cultiva- 



* We must express our entire dissent to the doctrine 

 here broadly stated. It certainly is impossible to pro- 

 duce profitably the vegetables which require a dry soil, 

 on land imperfectly drained. But there are not many 

 cases (in this country) in which wet land (not subject 

 to inundation by tide or floods,) may not be perfectly 

 drained: and .when that is done, nature readily yields 

 to the new state of things, and will herself, if man 



tor watch the will and purpose of nature: a dry 

 soil, vegetable matter and lime have made 100 

 bushels of corn to the acre, and I leave it lo your 

 readers to say what a wet one has produced. 



Have any of your correspondents ever seeded 

 spring wheat — and if so what was the result ? 



Who has cultivated the same land in corn for 

 ten years and what were the comparative crops? 

 My small drains are so much deranged by the 

 corn crop, that I wish to have my fiat lands entire- 

 ly exempted from the crop. 



X. Y. Z. 



From the Tenessee Farmer. 



THE DIFFERENCE OF EXHAUSTING AND EN- 

 RICHING TILLAGE. 



Grant me space in your columns to communi- 

 cate to the public the results of my experience in 

 farming. I have been trying to farm for twenty 

 years, nineteen of which, I persisted in my own 

 course, unaided by agricultural papers, or by any 

 systematic rule ; consequently my improvements 

 were small. The laat year I subscribed for the 

 Tennessee Farmer, and searched, read and exam- 

 ined it, and other authors — entirely turning my 

 attention to book farming .- and I freely acknow- 

 ledged, that the improvements I have made during 

 that period, have far exceeded those of the nine- 

 teen previous years ; and I return you my sincere 

 thanks for your aid — though I have not acquired 

 all my knowledge fi^om your paper alone, yet I 

 have been materially benefited by it, inasmuch as 

 it begat in me a sjjirit of enterprise and a desire for 

 improvement. As I have derived great bene- 

 fit from the knowledge and experience of others, 

 I think it my duty in return to furnish them with 

 the results of my experience, soliciting an enlight- 

 ened community to pursue an improved and sys- 

 tematic course of agriculture, assuring them, that 

 they will find the profits resulting thereft-om am- 

 ply sufficient to coiupensate them for their labor and 

 toil. I must, however, confine my remarks to a 

 few only of my experiments. 



In the year 1822, I purchased a farm of 354 

 acres, 125 of which was cleared. The land was 

 once good second-rate land, but was now complete- 

 ly worn out. Being greatly indebted for my farm, 

 the idea of improving the cleared land never en- 

 tered into my mind ; but I set to work opening 

 fresh land, until I had enlarged my cleared land 

 to 225 acres: this I continued to cultivate in corn, 

 until a part of it was so far exhausted, that I could 

 no longer cultivate this crop profitably. 



In the spring of 1833, 1 planted two acres of my 

 land in corn, (this two acres w^as about equal to 

 the balance of my cleared land) on which I raised 

 20 bushels to the acre ; the corn was worth 25 

 cents per bushels, amounting to -910 ; the cost of 

 cultivating was $1, which lefl me a profit of ^3. 

 The following year it remained uncultivated. The 

 next fall I sowed it in wheat. The following 

 spring I hauled out ten tons of good stable ma- 

 nure, wltich I spread over one acre. At harvest 

 I gathered fiom the two acres nineteen bushels of 

 good wheat, which brought me the sum of ^16, 



does not, eradicate the buUrushes and other products 

 of watery lands, and substitute fhein by grasses which 

 flourish on dry soils. — Ed. 



