1!)4 



iNEVV ENGLAND FARMER. 



which we see in this county, is deserving of 

 muc^ reprehension. If, in clearing lanrls, 

 groves of timber were left interwoven among 

 the fields, besides the benuty of a i)\cm cleared 

 in this manner, they would be useful as a shel- 

 ter for cattle in the heats of the summer, and 

 as a reservation of fuel, against the time when 

 that article shall become scarce, as it has done 

 in all the long settled counties, where timbered 

 lands are considered much more valuable than 

 the cleared. Many think they can never exhaust 

 the abundance vvluch is around them; but if 

 they will compare what is already cleared oS', 

 with the shortness of time which tliis county 

 has been populated, they will have reason to 

 change this o|)inion. It has been calculated, 

 that from ten to fifteen acres are necessary for 

 the permanent supply of each tire place, where 

 wood is used nmcb less profusely than with us ; 

 and this, independent of all the other farm us- 

 es to which it is ai)plied. A farmer should ex- 

 amine his ground well before he cuts a tree, 

 aud leave those parts where it will be most use- 

 ful or ornamental. He should also be careful 

 to ^leave thg best kinds of timber, especially 

 the sugar maple, the produce of which is not 

 only useful in his family, but may be generally 

 sold at twice the ex[)ense of procuring it.* — 

 This tree is one of the most beautiful of our 

 forest ; and, consequently, if planted along 

 lanes, or division fences, would be ornamental 

 as well as useful. 



" No expense should be spared in procuring 

 the most suitable implements of agriculture. — 

 Every one knows the labor which must be ex- 

 pended, and the time lost, if his implements are 

 out of order; and should recollect the adage 

 that " time is money ;" an adage, which, I be- 

 lieve, you will all say, is but little attended to 

 among us. A place should be provided to re- 

 ceive all the farming tools, that no time may 

 be spent in searching round the farm for them, 

 when wanted; and whenever an instrument is 

 done with, it should be deposited in its proper 

 place. 



" A farmer should not attempt to sow or 

 plant more ground than he can accomplish in 

 suitable season, and attend to in a proper man- 

 ner. It is better to cultivate one acre well, 

 than several ill. He will get both more repu- 

 tation and more produce from it. 



" The best seeds should always be sown. — 

 Much has been said, and written, about the ne- 



* There are some objections against leaving solitary 

 trees standing when woodland is cleared. Trees take 

 root according to their exposure to be fhaken by the 

 wind, and their situation as regards soil, sun & air. A 

 tree, growing in a forest, will become taller and its roots 

 will be nearer the surface of the ground, other things 

 equal, than if it grew in cleared land. When its com- 

 panions are taken away it is very liable to be overturn- 

 ed by wind. We have known instances of very tine 

 *' sugar orchardii^^'' composed of trees, which were re- 

 served when the rest of the original growth was cut a- 

 way, turned up by the roots, in a few years ; and they 

 generally brought up with them a large quantity of 

 the surface of the soil adhering to their roots. If the 

 soil be stony, very compact, or the trees have always 

 stood in a situation which exposed them to the 

 wind the danger is less. Likewise, if nearly the 

 whole growth is rock maple, it may be preserved, with 

 less liability to the evil alluded to. See N. E. Farmer, 

 vol. i. p. 329, vol. ii. p. 106. Likewise .Mr. Rose has 

 himself given reasons why a tree which grew in a for- 

 est should not be left alone to bear the fury of the 

 winds. See second column of the preceding pag^, 

 Dear the top. — Ediltr JV. £, Fdrnur. 



cessity of changing seeds, and procuring new 

 ones t'rom distant place.s ; but doubts may be 

 entertained of' the propriety of this practice, 

 especially if a fanner endeavors to raise the 

 best seeds, and if a rotation of crops be attend- 

 ed to. The utility of a rotation of crops ap- 

 pears to be pointed out by nature, in the chang- 

 es of plants and timber which she is perpetually 

 exhibiting to our eyes. There is every rea- 

 son to believe, that at a former period this coun- 

 ty produced timber different from the kinds 

 which are now prevalent. Places covered with 

 beech, sugar maple, and hemlock, have former- 

 ly been clothed with white pine and oak, of 

 which, in some spots, are still to be seen the 

 gigantic remains. And where beech and sugar 

 maple timber have been lately burned off, and 

 the land neglected, other kinds, particularly 

 cherry and birch, in astonishing abundance 

 grow in their places. These are proofs of the 

 changes which nature is constantly effecting. — 

 This disposition to change their ground, has 

 been sup[iosed to be evinced by some plants 

 which are propagated by their roots, as pota- 

 toes, which, by extending themselves beneath 

 the surface, form new beds as they spread ; and 

 the strawberry effects the same change by its 

 runners. Nature has provided many plants 

 with the power of shifting the position of their 

 progeny, l)y downy seeds, which are scattered 

 by the winds; others again are furnished with 

 barbs, by which they are attached to passing 

 animals, and carried abroad. Writers on agri- 

 culture say, that, by continuing the culture of a 

 particular plant for a long time in one place, 

 the ground, as they term it, becomes sick of it 

 and refuses to bear it any longer; that is, per- 

 haps, the peculiar quality of the soil, which 

 gave it a strong propensity to a particular vege- 

 tation, becomes exhausted, and it is rendere<l 

 necessary to introduce new plants. But, al- 

 though this change of plants be proper, it does 

 not follow that a change of seeds is equally so ; 

 and I think that farmer acts upon the wisest sys- 

 tem, who endeavors to make his own grounds 

 supply him with the best seeds. By doing so, 

 he IS more certain of the kind and quality of 

 those which he sows, than when he trusts to 

 those procured from a distance. By crossing 

 different plants of the same genus, it is probable 

 that many useful varieties may be produced. 



" The farmers among us who have ploughed 

 their lands, (and foreigners will hear with as- 

 tonishment of farmers who do not plough,) have 

 found in their crops proofs of the advantage of 

 their culture, but even they do not plough deep 

 enough. The plough cannot be forced to the 

 bottom of our soil — the subsoil is beneath its 

 reach. The quality of the crop must depend, 

 in a great measure, on the depth of ploughing, 

 and the mellowness given to the soil by culture, 

 which enables the roots of plants to spread 

 themselves through it, and obtain more abun- 

 dant nourishment. Deep ploughing permits all 

 excess of rain to drain from the surface, to a 

 depth where it is retained for the uses of the 

 plants, as their roots may require it : and hence, 

 in such situations, plants are less liable to suffer 

 from the extremes of rain or drought. It can- 

 not be expected that wheat or corn will grow 

 well in ground matted with the roots of grass 

 or weeds. In this particular new land has an 

 advantage over old. It is received pure Irom 

 the hand of nature ; and if weeds are after- > 



wards seen in it, they are the consequeQC, 

 of neglect. If the proper kinds of grass seed 

 be sowed, in suitable quantity, they will effoc 

 tually prevent the growth of weeds. 



" The grass seeds that are used here, ai 

 neither, in general, of the right kinds, n< 

 are they sown in sufficient quantity. EoU 

 meadow and pasture should be formed by a mil 

 ture of grasses growing at different periods, st 

 that they might follow each other in succte 

 sion. \Vhite clover, among the best pasture 

 grasses, is a native of our soil, and grows spdjj. 

 taneously. Sir John Sinclair, one of the ni|il 

 scientific farmers of the age, recommends Ian'' 

 (o be laid down with ten pounds of red cl 

 ver ; ten pounds of white clover, ten ()ouii( 

 of trefoil, and three pecks of rye grass seed- 

 He considers the grass better when sun 

 thick ; and observes, that if it be sown to 

 thick, it will die off to a proper standard. - 

 Some farmers in England sow upwards { 

 three bushels of grass seeds to the acre. Per 

 haps in our soil nothing would be found 'ipe 

 rior to a mixture of red clover and • w 'luti 

 grass, both for abundance of produce, and a«|. 

 manency of pasture. 



" In England, where farming is can i'^^J (: 

 great perfection, and where tie anmi ' 

 and taxes of a farm would purcbiise M 

 simple of one of the same extent in Snsqii 

 na county, farmers find grass lb' if niosl j . 

 ble proiluce ; and this, althonj;h tbe pr: 

 grain, compared with that of cattle, is !' 

 cent, beyond what it is with .iis. Oui 

 peculiarly well adapted for raising the ^!, 

 grasses; and the distance we are Irnm ilit- 

 kefs of Philadelphia and New Ycrlc, 

 strong inducements to the breeding ai, i 

 ing of cattle. For this purpose, hv)wi:»er, rof 

 crops are particularly necessary ; and to rait 

 these to perfection, manure should be liberilji ' 

 used. We have heard the story of a person n j 

 moving his barn, rather than his dung heap;- 

 and I am not sure that we could not find eim 

 pies of this nature in Susquehanna county. !i 

 the use of dung, it has been sufficiently provei, 

 that although short and rotten dung will gift 

 of some things, the best crop for the first ym 

 yet long dung is more lasting, and will prodi 

 .1 greater effect the second and third years, 

 thur Young, to whom Great Britain is indel 

 for much of her agricultural knowledge, 

 " that sixty-seven cart loads of fresh yard 

 produced seven hundred forty two buslu 

 potatoes; while, at the same time, the 

 quantity of yard dung, after six months roti 

 yielded but seven hundred and eight bushe, 

 But had the fresh dung been kept as Ions' 

 other, it would have taken twice or th 

 ncuch to m;jke the qu.uility used" — the dui 

 r.ilit.g seilling into a smaiier space. A t 

 sttaw, it has been caicul.iled, will, if jud 

 ly managed, make four luu-s of dung, by wl 

 a third of the ground may be manured 

 which the straw was taken. Dung, durinL 

 putrefactive process, gives out gase.% wl 

 ^re peculiarly useful to vegetation; and 

 nost beneficial when applied to the soil d 

 that process. If, as it has been stated, 

 (ung is injurious to tap roots, it must be 

 tie excess of its stimulus to the plant, 

 ccnsidered best not to overload the soil 

 inaiure, but to apply it to fallow or root 

 only, and that at the rate of from ten to fil 



L- riwt 



