NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ch siile, and filling up the inequalities ; the 

 ly mnnuni labor necessary, was to clear out 

 mouths of the water-furrows with a shovel, 

 nch was soon performed — in the subsequent 

 erations, the maple was frequently resorted 

 with similar success. U'lien sufliciontly dry 

 3 lands were harrowed, in the same direction 

 ;y were ploughed, and then ridged with a 

 e Dutch plough and two yoke of oxen ; these 

 Iges were made by turning one furrow nearly 

 on another, the space being perhaps ten in- 

 . into which the manure was put, and were 

 3Ut five feet apart. In the centre of the rid- 

 I potatoes were planted in hills, from three 

 four lee', apart — in cultivating, thoy were 

 ughed between the ridges only, with a yoke 

 oxen, or two mules tandem, and the earth to 

 m the hills, taken out of the furrows, so that 

 ridges remained entire, and the crop secure 

 ra too much wet. which otherwise would 

 e destroyed it. As it is not the intention of 

 communication to state the particulars of 

 3 -crop, 1 shall only observe, that it was an 

 ;rage cue, with the upland in the neighbour- 

 id — had the manure been more suitable for 

 atoes it probably would have exceeded ; but 

 applying the manure, which was a compost 

 Jones and hoofs trom the soap and glue boil- 

 , fermented with leeched ashes and sandy 

 11, I was governed partly by necessity, and 

 ing in view, the preparation of the two first 

 stances for the permanent crop of grass that 

 to follow, they being of too fiery a nature 

 be laid down fresh with grass-seeds. The 

 t season, the lands as first laid out, were 

 in back-furrowed, ridged, and the same pro- 

 ) pursued as before, with less labour, the 

 e kind of manure, and the crop rather better, 

 as soon as it was off, the lands were plough- 

 n the same manner as before, for the purpose 

 lying it down ; but they xvere not suflicient- 

 ;onve.'c to take off the water entirely, and 

 y unequal. Repeated ploughing and harrow- 

 might have produced the desired effect, but 

 ! would have been wasting, and it became 

 essary to try the operation called turnpiking. 

 ;raper, made of thin pine plank ibur feet 

 • and two feet wide, shod with iron, with a 

 pie of old plough handles fixed by staples 

 ireniently for a man to hold, and small chains 

 lected with them from the centre, to which 

 chain from a yoke of oxen were hitched. 

 ! scraper was then placed in the water fur- 

 of the first land in such a position as would 

 : up as much earth as the oxen could draw 

 work briskly. When he came to the cen- 

 of the land, which may now be called a 

 d rUlgc, the men raised the scraper and fol- 

 2d on to the next, treating each ridge in the 

 e manner till he had gone over fifteen or 

 aty, he then came about and returned by the 

 of his former track, til! he had performed 

 same operation over the whole — in some 

 s a second scraping was necessary. As the 

 per was light the men held it up till he came 

 le water-furrows, or such places as he want- 



take the earth from, and the work was not 

 ler than to hold a plough in new rough 

 Hid. As there is no stopping, the oxen may 

 brm as much in a day as they can harrow 



1 a harrow of the same width of the scraper. 

 r the ridges had been harrowed level, and 

 water-furrows cleared out, the whole resem- 



a£eld of turnpike roads. To each acre 



were spread 200 bushels of dry leeched ashes, 

 and 3 pecks of timothy seed, sown, harrowed, 

 and rolled — the sowing was from the '20lh Sep- 

 tember to the 1st November, and on most parts 

 the seed vegetated before winter. It was my 

 intention to have kept a particular account of 

 this cnterprize. but the work, owing to wet 

 weather, and othes causes, became so blended 

 with other operations of the farm, that it was 

 found impracticable. 1 believe, however, that 

 the potato crops nearly paid the expense, the 

 two first years; and 1 am convinced that the 

 whole expense besides the value of the crops, 

 including the extra expense, compared with 

 laying down common upland, did not exceed ten 

 dollars per acre. The crop of grass the follow- 

 ing season, owing to the plants being so very 

 young, was light — heads were formed but no 

 seed produced. The hay resembled rowen, 

 and was of more value than any crop the land 

 would have borne had it been sown with the 

 grass seed in the spring, as is usual. The land 

 for tour successive years since, without a dres- 

 sing of any manure, has averaged two tons per 

 acre — not estimated tons, as taken out of the 

 field, but weighed out in the winter and spring 

 in the Boston market, being put in a barn by it- 

 self, and an exact account kept of the sales. 

 The last season the crop was lighter, but no wa- 

 ter remaining even in the water-furrows, it has 

 become a fine perennial meadow, and with slight 

 top dressing once in two or three years will for- 

 ever be productive of the sweetest herbage. 

 The value of the land, in the estimation of many 

 who were acquainted with its former state, is 

 thought to be more than quadruple. 



It may be proper to state that I have not suf- 

 fered the land to be fed with any kind of stock, 

 but have some seasons taken a second crop. 



Extracts from a letter on the geology and procturtions 

 of Florida, published in the Charleston Courier. 



VALU.\ELE PLANT. 



The magnij of Mexico, the plant from which is 

 drawn the liquor called the pulque, of universal 

 use and celebration in that country, is not a na- 

 tive of Florida, but thrives as well as if it was. 

 It forms a plant, when full grown, from five to 

 eight feet high in the body, and from ten to 

 eighteen inches in diameter, the leaves of it, if 

 I may be allowed the term, for they appear 

 more like huge limbs than leaves, but they must 

 be called leaves, as they are the only lungs of 

 the plant, descend from the top to the ground, 

 and are so thick and heavy that two or three 

 would make a man's load. 



At the age of trom six to eight years it flow- 

 ers, by shooting up a stamina from ten to sixteen 

 feet above the plant, gorgeously hung with flow- 

 ers like a Maypole. Just before it sends forth 

 this exuberance, the change in the colour of the 

 plant indicates its near ap[iroach, when a bowl- 

 forraed cavity is cut in the head of the plant, 

 and a cane introduced in the side of it to draw 

 ofi the liquor. Each p'.ant contains from 50 to 

 150 galls, of liquor, and dies immediately after; 

 but is succeeded by suckers left in their culture 

 to keep up a con.stant succession. 



This juice carried through a vinous fermen- 

 tation becomes a liquor resembling cider, but 

 more spiritous, which is sought with avidity by 

 all ranks of society : on boiling and clarifying, 

 it becomes a wiue ; and on distillation, affords a 



hnc brandy. The outward coat of leaves vieK.s 

 a membranous substance used for the manufac- 

 ture of cordage ; an inner coat gives a finer 

 .substance tor clothing, and the internal part of 

 the leal is an artmie of food ; so that this pro- 

 ductive plant regarded by the Mesirans as one 

 of the niostboautitul gifts ofiiatuip, affords them 

 cider, wine, brandy, cordage, clothing, food and 

 iuel. 



From 12 to 15,000 mules are daily employ- 

 ed ill supplying the city of Mexico, from the 

 surrounding plantations, with pulqde, which is 

 the li(|uor in a ciderous state. Great estates 

 are held in that country in this article of culture 

 It is in the flowering of this plant, in a degener- 

 ate state, in colder climates, that we arc de- 

 ceived by supposing it to be the aloe that flow- 

 ers once in a century: this flowers in 8 or 10 

 years in such climates, and perhaps is not of the 

 aloe tribe; certainly it partakes not of the nau- 

 seous bitter, nor cathartic qualities of the aloe.s 

 we are acquainted with. 



AMF.RTC.\N CALICOES. 



From a Correspondent of the Providence Journal. 



An establishment for printing Calicoes will 

 shortly be put in operation at Taunton, Massa- 

 chusetts, which, when completed, will be a val- 

 uable acquisition to cotton manufacturers in that 

 quarter. At Chelmsford a large establishment 

 of this description was put in operation this 

 week. Cotton manufacturing is one of the prin- 

 cipal branches of domestic industry, in this State, 

 and at this time requires every attention from 

 those interested in it. The quantity of cotton 

 goods now unsold, is very large, and will proba- 

 bly increase before the fall sales commence ; 

 consequently at that time, the sales will be very 

 l.miied. Calicoes can be made in this country, 

 of a quality superior to most of those made in 

 and imported from Europe, and can be sold 

 equally cheap. I should regret very much to 

 learn, that this State, which has always been 

 considered a manufacturing State, should be the 

 last to commence a new branch of manufactur- 

 ing, that would give a certain market for a vast 

 amount of cotton goods; I would therefore pro- 

 pose t^ the cotton manufiicturers to form a com- 

 pany for printing calicoes and bleaching, which 

 is a part of the process. The good effects will 

 be immediately perceived from the increasing 

 consumption of .American goods. 



From the Genius of Liberty. 



Mr. Paiton — Please give the following a place 

 in your next paper, as it is now time to use if. 

 I have for more than twenty years past, kept 

 meat hanging up in my smokehouse, through 

 the summer season, and no fly worm or bug has 

 injured it. 



To prevent such injur}', about this time of 

 year, I take clear strong ley made of wood ashes. 

 I commonly boil it to make it stronger than it 

 generally runs off, then I take my bacon and 

 smoked beef, having two or three gallons of the 

 ley in a large iron kettle, I take each piece o£ 

 meat and dip it into the ley, so that it is com- 

 pletely wetted with it, then I let it dry — then I 

 hang the meat in its former place. By this pro- 

 cess I have invariably found that it kept the 

 meat free from bugs and worms, and no taste of 

 ley is ever perceived, not even on the outside. 

 Yours, &c. JOHN POTTER- 



