698 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 11 



Bought from lands of a different description fron:i 

 those designed to seed upon, and it is thought 

 by agriculturists of much experience, that see. s 

 and |)lants brought from a northern to a southern 

 latitude, flourish and succeed better (hati those 

 brought from a southern to a northern latitude. 

 Time and experience will decide the question. 

 The wheat crop with us is a delicate and uncer- 

 tain one. The best means of success is to im- 

 prove your lauds which have been so long and so 

 hard cropped under the three-shift system with 

 but little aid, that the portion of lime it formerly 

 contained is entirely exhausted. Underlhis impres- 

 sion, I recommend a free use of lime, a constituent 

 part of wheat, and very essential to its growth. 

 Small seed of every kind require a high prepara- 

 tion of land to insure a good crop ; then prepare 

 your wheat land well, and seed, if possible, in all 

 the month of October, regulating seed according 

 to the lertility of the land, li'om four to seven 

 pecks per acre — the latter is sufficient for our rich- 

 est bottom land ; and exhausted land that will not 

 bear lour pecks to the acre ought not to be sown in 

 wheat, but with clover the last of Februar}'. and 

 well plastered in March, together with a top dress- 

 ing of coarse manure. The opinion, entertained 

 by many, that clover requires the" shelter of a 

 grain crop to protect it Irom the sim, is not well 

 ibunded. IV] any of you, no doubt, have seen as 

 good clover where your corn piles stood and not 

 seeded in wheat, as that which had been shelter- 

 ed by the wheat. It is admitted that young clo- 

 ver is much more subject to die upon poor, than 

 rich land : the best protection against the sun and 

 drought, is a free apf)lication of plaster and ma- 

 nure. Lands not sufficiently waving to carry ofi' 

 water quickly, should be well bedded, and water 

 furrou'ed in every direction necessary to vent the 

 water. They should be attended to throughout, 

 the winter, after sudden thaws and heavy falls of 

 rain, which will choke up the furrows and cause 

 damage to the wheat. Lands that are subject to 

 heave up by fi-ost, should be rolled, with a roller 

 18 inches in diameter and 4^ feet long. This ope- 

 ration, too often neglected, will amply pay you for 

 the labor. Any application of manure is better in a 

 top dressing, about the first ot March, than to be 

 ploughed in before seeding. 



From long-continued culture without any im- 

 provement, our corn fields are greatly deteriorated, 

 and will not yield a plentiful supply for the use of 

 the family. The first great and certain remedy, is 

 to increase the fertility of your lands ; and the 

 second remedy, is to use economy; for there is 

 more judgment in feeding oitt a crop of corn, than 

 there is in making it. A great saving will result 

 in grinding all your stock corn, into fine meal, and 

 feeding it mixed with cut hay, fodder, shucks or 

 straw; in this form, I estimate three quarts equal 

 to four of corn, a saving of 25 per cent, to those 

 who have mills; to those who pay 10 percent, 

 toil, a saving of 15 per cent., an object well worth 

 your attention, and I hope many of you will test 

 the estimaie. fltlly believing that all who do, will 

 concur with me in opinion ; and I will further add, 

 that when fed in this form to old animals that 

 chew corn imperfectly, the savinii; would be one 

 half Much can be done in aid of the corn house, 

 by cultivating larirely, for the use of stock, the bul- 

 bous roots, the mangel-wortzel, the round potato, 

 and turnips ; the former is said, from one acre, to 



produce fifty tons weight, including tops and roots. 

 The leaves are large, and will bear three cuttings 

 in the season, to be either used as summer food, 

 or cured into hay and preserved fbr winter use. I 

 have raised them to weigh fourteen pounds, which 

 is not near the heaviest size. I have no doubt, 

 that from an acre really made rich, the plants set 

 in rows, two and a half fiset apart, with twelve 

 inches space between them, and well cultivated 

 wiih a coulter plough, with the necessary hand 

 hoeing, would produce a greater crop than could 

 be raised from any other vegetable whatever. 

 The round potato is indigmous to this continent, 

 though improperly called the Irish potato. It is a 

 root of great value, adapting itself to almost every 

 climate, sustaining more of the human family, 

 than any other root in the world; and good food 

 for cows and hogs. The turnip is a poor watery 

 root, possessing but little nutriment — by boiling it, 

 root and top, it is fi'eely eaten by cows and hogs, 

 and serves to fill them, and afford some nutriment. 

 The keeping of animals full, is essential, either in 

 f"attening them, or in preserving their present 

 plight. Feed a horse extravagantly upon corn 

 alone, and you cannot fatten him without a due 

 proportion of long provender; and if that be with- 

 held from him a i'ew weeks, he will become un- 

 healthy. The pumpkin is very superior food, 

 being much more nutritious than the turnip, and 

 IS eaten by horses, cows and hosrs, and much less 

 injurious to lands upon which they grow. They 

 delight in a light sandy loam, and in good seasons 

 are very productive. You will increase the crop 

 by plucking ofi' the first blossom nearest the root- 

 stalk, fbr if that is permitted to ff)rm a pumpkin, it 

 impoverishes the vine throughout its whole extent. 

 Tobacco being our great market crop, it will be 

 ex|)ected that I treat upon the culture and gene- 

 ral management ot that plant. It being very im- 

 portant to have forward plants, the best selection 

 of suitable ground for your plant beds must be 

 made. New virgin soil is preferable where to be 

 had, with a southern exposure and the command of 

 water, where practicable. With the command of 

 water and good fresh horse manure, plants can be 

 raised early, and in despite of the fly, that are, in dry 

 cool seasons, so destructive to our plants. I prefer a 

 close fine soil, with as little sand as possible: rather 

 than a light puffy soil, I would take black-haw 

 swamps, or white-oak land, which are inclined to 

 be adhesive and somewhat cold, with shallow soil. 

 I will here reniark, that such a soil, with the aid of 

 manure, will produce your plants with better roots 

 than native rich land : such land, when well 

 burned, will divide its particles to great fineness, 

 imbibe and retain more of the stimulus imparted 

 to it by the action of the fire, and retaining its 

 close compact nature, yielding moisture to the 

 roots of the young plants, which in an open light 

 soil, would be evaporated by the sun and drying 

 winds of March, when the plants perish. The 

 next process is burning; the extent of which the 

 best rule 1 can give, islo burn till the ground as- 

 sumes a red appearance; bearing in mind, that 

 burning late in February, and early in March, 



must be less than what would be called early 

 burning. The largest coals must all be taken off 

 with a fine rake, then hoe up your bed, not ex- 

 ceeding two mches in depth, and avoid turning 

 over the soil. Now put on horse manure all over 

 your bed, then chop over with the hoes repeatedly. 



