NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



PUBLISIIKU ISY WILLIAM XICHOLP, ROCKRS' BUII-DINGS, CONrillKSS STHF.KT. (I(1UR'J-II DOOR FluT^rsT vTiTs i R1:K-| .) 



H. 



BOSTON. SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1824. 



No. 'j; 



trans from an .■Iddress delivered before the .']g- ; pr'inte t'ooil for the vcgetaMe system. Some 

 riculliiral Society of Stiscjuckanna Cownn/, j planti=, as (he (//onirn n((«ri/M(/(r, the various spe 

 PeiDisi/liania. By K. IJ. Rose, Esq. i cies ot'tlie mimosa, &c. evince an inherent pow- 



"Thc knowle(lg:e ot as:riculture is general-^ pr of motion, and shrink at the slightest touch, 

 supposed to be simple, and easily to be ac- 1 1'he disposition ot" every tree to throw out its 

 red; and this belief has prevented many ! ^T'lnches towards open places, in order to ob- 

 m paying that attention to it which is neccs- ' tain light and air, and to send off its roots in the 

 in order to he well informed in its do- most suitable directions in search of food, dis- 

 But, besides persevering industry, and plays an apparent consciousness of situation. — 

 emitting care, which are indispensably ne- 1 A 'ree growing in a position where it is sur- 

 sary, science is as important here as in every j rounded by others, and defended from the 

 ig el>e ; and no one need hope to become a , "inds, disperses its roots in quest of nutriment 

 tul farmer, without a widely extended know- ' "Par the surface where it is most abundant, and 

 ;e of things connected with his art. I'hic- "asles none of its slrenglli in low limbs, but 



springs upwards, tall and thin. But the same 

 kind of tree, in a situation exposed to the 

 storm, lakes firm and deep root in the ground, 

 and, as if conscious of the jiower of a lever, 

 spreads its branches below, while it contents it- 

 self with a moderate height, that the gale may 

 the more readily jiass over it. 



" It has been much contested, whether earth 

 is of any use to plants, ejctept to afford them 

 a support; water being supposed their chief, 

 and, by some, their only food : but all plants 



IS we are, in a new country, of much nnt;i 

 fertility, we are not called upon to renovate 

 austed, or worn out lands ; but all the skill 

 uisite lor the farmer who tills those, is equal- 

 mportant to us, in order to prevent the ex- 

 jtion ot that fertility with which our fields 

 given to us. Skilful culture can make n 

 farm rich; and it must, therefore, be un- 

 lonable neglect to suffer a rich farm to be- 



e poor. 

 A farmer should 



be well informed of 



nature ot soils, and of the various plants I in some degree, partake of tlie soil in which 



■ ted to them, in order that he may cultiv 

 as are best calculated for his particular 

 5, and not waste his labor on those which 

 ish most in other situations. 

 'Geologists suppose our earth to have been 

 es of rock of various kinds, but principally 

 ous, aluminous, calcareous, and magnesian ; 

 the (rradual attrition, decay and mixture of 

 h, togt.-lher with an addiiion of TP3etal)le 

 :nimal matter, is formed the soil ; and this 

 led sandy, clayey, calcareous, or raagne- 

 according as the particular primitive ma- 

 preponderates in its formation. Sand, 

 and limestone, or calcareous earth, each 

 ites as a manure upon the others, when 

 exist in loo great proportion ; m conse- 

 ;e of producing, by their intermixture, 

 equisite state of cohesion, not too loose 

 30 rigid for the roots of plants ; and it is 

 ved by that celebrated agricultural chem- 

 ir Humphrey Davy, that no soil is fertile 

 1 contains as much as nineteen parts out 

 veoty of any of the constituent earths 

 1 have been mentioned. Different vege- 

 flourish best in different modifications of 

 component parts, as they prefer moist or 

 ituations ; but the most valuable soil for 

 al purposes, is that in which they are 

 i in such proportions, as, while moisture 

 I'ered to pass freely, and roots easily per- 

 il, there is sufficient tenacity to give sap- 

 :o the plants, and enable them tc spread 

 leaves and branches to the light and air, 

 3 resist the impulse of the winds. 

 Mants resemble animals in many parts if 

 system. The roots and leaves serve tie 

 )ses of a mouth and lungs ; and in maty 

 instances of their economy, they are not 

 e the organization of the nobler parts of 

 ion. They are operated on by food ;nd 

 li much in the same way ; and, in .ikf 

 er, are they, in decoinpositioD, an ajjpro- 



Ihey grow ; and their ashes, by analysis, arc 

 found to contain, besides potash, the carbonates 

 of lime and magnesia, silica, alumina, and cer- 

 tain raetalic oxides. It is therefore most prob- 

 able, that, instead of being the sole food of the 

 plant, as contended by some ; or, according to 

 others, the mere solvent of the food, and the 

 means by which the plant is enabled to absorb 

 it, water acts in both ways, .-43 a direct 



be very prolific, or who could expect to s.v. 

 such a seed time followed by any harvesf. 



"There is also a want of attention to the 

 fences, as well as of care and of neatness a 

 bout the farms, for which we can seek an e\ 

 cuse only in the recollection of the very short 

 space of time which has elapsed since every 

 farm'; as well as the seat of justice, at which 

 we are now assembled, was covered with an 

 apparently inlerminal)le forest. And- when we 

 see the improvements which have sprung up 

 with such rajiidity, we may reasonably hnpe. 

 that a few years more will change the inatten- 

 tion which we are now disposed to censure, into 

 economy and care. This Society m.ay do much 

 good ; and it is a pleasure to see a disposition 

 to become members of it generally pervade 

 the county It is to be hoped that reformation 

 will begin among its members. There is no 

 slight connexion between industry and "ood 

 morals; and we might become more, attentive 

 to the appearance of our farms, if we suppos- 

 ed, as is sometimes the case, their condition 

 was indicative of good or ill qualities, as citi- 

 zens and neighbors, of their owners. 



"A farmer should attend to the neatness ond 

 convenience of his house, as on that much of 

 the health and comfort of his family depends. 

 TheDutch have a proverb, that paint costs 

 nothing. It preserves and beautifies his build- 

 ings ; and neatness commenced in one thing, is 

 generally extended to others. But he should 

 remember that his farm is his great object, and 

 take care thai no subordinate parts exceed their 

 tri-jciue proportion of expense. Neali.ess co-ts 



I!!!"! ;?„'!,lKil f? "L .T''""r J '^^ the I nothing. 11 is frequently the case that a far 



„,.„„. .,.-r..j mer builds a larger house than he can complete, 



and it remains afterwards unpainted and un- 

 glazed, a mark of his want of skill in propor- 

 tioning his expenditures. 



" No one sees a good garden attached to a 

 farm house, without a favorable opinion of the 

 owner's industry. Much of the attention re- 

 quired in it may be done by children, and much 

 of the comfort and economy of a family depends 

 upon an ample supply of culinary vegetables. 



" Great care should be taken in the proper 

 position of the barn, both for the general con- 

 venience of the farm, by which much labor 

 may be saved, and tor the preservation of the 

 manure made at it, on which much of the far- 

 mer's wealth is to depend. The great secret 

 of good farming is, to enlarge the dung heap. 

 Wherever manure can be made in abundance 

 the farmer has his crops at his command. But 

 when crops are raised, there is no safety for 

 them without good fences. A farmer will be 

 likely to experience more vexation from bad 

 fences, than from any other cause. His own 

 and his neighboi's cattle are perpetually annoy- 

 ing him; and the fairest hopes of his fields are 

 at the mercy of all the unruly animals on his 

 farm or in the vicinity. 



" An orchard is an object of much Impor- 

 tance. The best fruits should be planted. Th« 

 ground they occupy, is the same as that occu- 

 pied by the worst. 



'^ The iodiscrimioate destruction of tiipber, 



plant is enabled to obtain other food, necessary 

 lor its health and vigor. The leaves, as wel 

 as the roots, are furnished with absorbent ves 

 sels ; and some vegetables draw the greater 

 part of their nourishment, by means of their 

 leaves, from the air, which, like the soil they 

 stand in, is a compound, some parts of which 

 are more favorable to vegetation than others. 



" The soil of the beech and maple lands, 

 which compose the greater part of Susquehan- 

 na county, is a sandy loam, about eighteen inch- 

 es in depth, resting on a compact bed of argil- 

 laceous earth, and minute sand ; which, from 

 its retentive nature, is extremely well calculat- 

 ed to prevent the escape of moisture, and to 

 preserve the fertilising quality of the manures 

 which may be intermingled with the superin- 

 cumbent soil. 



" It must be confessed, that agriculture ap- 

 pears to be, in general, but little understood in 

 our county ; and the neglect with which fields 

 and farms are treated, is calculated to give to 



strangers an unfavorable opinion of the soil. 



In many places we see fields but lately cleared 

 of their woods, neglected and suffered to be 

 overgrown with bushes and briers; or crop af- 

 ter crop is taken from the same field, the seed 

 having been strewn upon the stubble of the 

 preceding harvest, and merely harrowed in; no 

 plough used ; and, indeed, sometimes no har- 

 row, the seed and the harvest being trusted to 

 the mercy of heaven. The soil must naturally 



