172 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



pitch pine (Pinus rigida) for the unmistakable 

 purpose of renovating that [miserable, soil ; — a 

 hard case, gentlemen, but nevertheless true. These 

 trees send down their roots in some instances, it 

 is said, to the depth of seventeen feet, and bring 

 to the surface the potash and other elements. But 

 does this tree deposit its potash in its wood or 

 bark 1 By no means — the wood of the pine re- 

 quires but little potash, but it carries it through 

 the tree into the leaves, which require a large 

 proportion of that element. These leaves fall ev- 

 ery year and assist by annual acquisitions in the 

 foi-mation of a new soil, so that even on the un- 

 promising sand plains of Brunswick and other 

 towns, you will tind nature slowly, but surely at 

 work, forming a suitable soil for some other crop, 

 which in the lapse of ages she may see fit to in- 

 troduce." 



now DEEP SUALL WE PLOW? 



"Let me ask how many of you have ever made 

 trial of the subsoil plow 1 Or, are you willing to 

 suffer the subsoil to remain as hard as granite for 

 fear your manures will be wasted 1 A great mis- 

 take, gentlemen. Manure cannot descend out of 

 the reach of roots of plants in any soil worth the 

 cultivation. Plow deep and manure accordingly, 

 and you double the number of acres you cultivate. 



"I see the countenance of an intelligent and 

 successful farmer kindling up, and seeming to say, 

 'I plow deep, sir.' Right, my friend ; go home, 

 and if the subsoil be anything besides a pure, 

 coarse gravel, or sand, plow deeper yet. Much of 

 the land in this county will bear plowing to the 

 depth of eighteen inches. Exceptions, I am 

 aware, exist, but they are much fewer than is 

 generally supposed. If you expect to obtain a 

 crop with a very little manure, then plow shal- 

 low, manure shallow, sow shallow, and reap shal- 

 low. 



Some of the happiest and most independent 

 men in the land, or in the world, are to be found 

 in New England, who possess but a few acres of 

 land, yet who keep it in a high state of cultiva- 

 tion. It costs such a man not half so much for 

 seed, for labor or for taxes, as he who half culti- 

 vates double the number of acres. By deep plow- 

 ing you bring within reach of plants a fresh soil 

 which has not been exhausted of its potash, lime 

 and other elements which are readily solu1>le, and 

 easily controvertible into food for plants." 



WUERE SHALL WE COMMENCE IMPROVEMENTS? 



The "Soi/ of the South^'' Columbus, Ga., in its 

 salutations to its readers at the opening of the 

 year, has some excellent words which are applica- 

 ble in this region. It says : — "The wear and tear 

 of the last quarter of a century, upon the new 

 lands of the south, has in it a lesson of no doubt- 

 ful import. What will be the effects of a contin- 

 uance of the same operations for a like period to 

 come, needs no prophetic skill to tell. Need we 

 persist in error, just for the privilege of having 

 that many more steps to retrace, or shall we re 

 solve now to commence the reformation?* * * 

 It will have to be made. We cannot much longer 

 give up all the time and labor, to cultivate and 

 gather the crop ; but to improve the land must 

 olaima fair share of attention also." 



SHORT CROPS IN ENGLAND. 



The Farmcr^s Magazine, (England,) for De- 

 cember, estimates the wheat crop in the United 

 Kingdom at about two-thirds of an average. To 

 cover this deficiency some thirty-tiuo inilUons of 

 bushels will l)e required, which added to the aver- 

 age imports of good seasons, for the consumption 

 of 1854, will pi"oV>a])ly amount to the enormous 

 quantity of seventy millions of bushels! Our far- 

 mers should not entertain the fear, for a moment, 

 that the market is to 1)e overstocked in any of the 

 staple crops. On the contrary, there never has 

 been a time when their prospects of a fair reward 

 for their labors were better. 



HOW TO BEGIN THE NEW YEAR. 



The American Farmer, published at Baltimore, 

 in its budget of suggestions at the opening of the 

 New Year, says: — "In commencing a new year, 

 you should so arrange your system of farming, as 

 never to be at a loss throughout the season for 

 what next you are to do. Make it a point of duty 

 not to cultivate more land than you can cultivate 

 well. Let not the ambition of being considered 

 a large cultivator induce you to overcrop yourself. 

 One acre well manured, well plowed, harrowed, 

 and rolled, if well tended afterwards, will produce 

 more than three where these things have been 

 omitted. The more noble ambition for agricul- 

 turists, is that which excites the desire not only 

 of being considered , but of being in reality a good 

 culturist, of so cultivating his land as that, while 

 it yields abundant harvests, it may be gradually 

 improving in its productive capacities." 



But we must pause here, though having refer- 

 red to a few only of the valuable journals upon 

 our table. They abound in highly scientific and 

 instructive articles, as well as the practical details 

 of the art. We regret our inability, from want 

 of space, to copy more frequently and extensively 

 from the pages so ably and usefully filled, and 

 from which we are daily instructed. 



The careful reader will notice by the above ex- 

 tracts that there is great activity of mind among 

 the farmers ; because, if it is found in the agricul- 

 tural press, it is the farmer himself Vfho incites it 

 by his increased intelligence and interest in the 

 occupation. 



HOW I SAVED MY CUEUAIJT BUSHES. 



On returning home after an absence of a couple 

 of years, some four years since, I found my cur- 

 rant bushes, which were in rows on the outside 

 of my garden, overgrown witli witch-grass, and 

 was informed by my l)etter half that she could not 

 welcome my return with a glass of currant juice , 

 as her bushes had yielded but a very few currants 

 the season past. I could not think of losing them, 

 as I was too fond of their fruit, and besides, they 

 had cost me mucli labor. Digging them up and 

 rooting out all the grass was too great a task, there- 

 fore I thought I would try and smother it out. I 



