144 



Address of Samuel D. Ingham. 



Vol. IX. 



Wheat, 21i bushels, at 8.? per bushel, X8 Vis M 



Oats, 44 bushels, at 2s 9d per do. 6 10 



Potatoes, 80 bushels, at Is per do. 4 



Two calves, sold for 5 10 



Butter, 42:5; lbs. at Is per lb. 21 3 3 



Milk sold and given to the pigs, 10 



£55 6s 2d 



Or about $265: on this he maintained his 

 family of five persons. His stock consisted 

 of two cows and a heifer, and from two to 

 three pigs. "If," says he, "you are sur- 

 prised at my keeping two cows on this quan- 

 tity of Jand, I must tell you that one crop a 

 year will not do it: but my plan is to take 

 second crops; that is, rye is the first thing I 

 cut green m the spring; then I dig the land 

 and manure it with the liquid manure, as 

 far as it will go; then finish with rotten 

 dung, and plant mangel-wurzel and turnips; 

 and the part that 1 manure with the liquid 

 is always the best. The next thing I cut is 

 winter barley and turnips, and plant some 

 cabbages for winter: by this time I cut the 

 grass and clover, which grows again in a 

 short time, with a little of the liquid manure 

 as soon as it is cut. Last summer I cut the 

 Italian rye-grass and clover three times ; 

 and this year I have nearly cut it twice al- 

 ready, and there were really two good crops 

 of the Italian rye-grass, and I think there 

 will be two more this summer, with a little 

 manuring. My early cabbages I always let 

 stand to grow again ail the summer, and 

 they bring a great deal of food. I plant 

 again in November, and put the liquid ma- 

 nure to them as far as it will go; but to the 

 rest I use dung or ashes, which are not so 

 good as tlie liquid, which any body may tell 

 in the spring by looking at the bed of cab- 

 bages; so I hope it now appears how t!ie 

 cows are maintained in winter as well as in 

 summer. During last winter, I had no hay, 

 only turnips, mangel-wurzel, and straw, and 

 they did very well." 



We may all do well to remember, that the 

 utmost productiveness "of an acre of land 

 in any crop, has not yet been fully deter- 

 mined. The amounts attained frequently 

 surprise us," but where is the farmer who 

 can say, my land will yield no more f 



H. Colman says, that his attention was 

 strongly attracted in Susse.v, by two small 

 pieces of wheat in a garden by the road 

 side, exhibiting an extraordinary luxuriance, 

 and on inquiring minutely into the mode of 

 culture, yield, &c., he found that "the seed 

 was brought from Australia, being the pro- 

 duct of some wheat which had been sent 

 there two or three years before. The quan- 

 tity of land sown, in one of the pieces, was 

 thirty-four square yards. The wheat was 

 dropped in rows nine inches apart, and in 



holes six inches apart, and only one grain in 

 a place. The number of corns planted was 

 G82, out of which 38 fliiled to germinate. 

 The cultivator obtained four gallons of good 

 wheat from the land, exclusive of several of 

 the finest plants, which he saved. The 

 usual number of stems from each seed was 

 18 to 20; a considerable number gave 30 to 

 35, and one was counted which had 40 full 

 sized stems, and three of a smaller size. 

 The straw from the 34 yards weighed 72 

 pounds, which would be 284 trusses of 36 

 pounds to the acre. The weight of the 682 

 corns planted was 17 drachms. This being 

 multiplied by 142, the land being the l-142d 

 part of an acre, gave about 94: pounds as 

 seed for the acre ; consequently one bushel 

 of wheat, at 63 pounds per bushel, would 

 plant more than six acres. The produce of 

 4 gallons, multiplied, as above, by 142, gives 

 the great quantity of 71 bushels, or 17 sacks 

 3 bushels, to the acre. The ground had 

 borne potatoes the previous year, and had 

 received no top-dressing, nor been in any 

 way manured for the wheat." 



" These," it may well be said, " are re- 

 markable fiicts. What has been done can 

 be done again." "Onward is the watch- 

 word of the present day, in every depart- 

 ment of science and art; why should agri- 

 culture form an exception 1" But I must 

 close my rambling. The cases given, will, 

 I think, not only create a desire to read the 

 excellent work which furnishes them, but 

 go a great way toward showing the superior 

 excellency of the spade and drill hu.-bandry. 

 ■^ P. R. 



Extracts from the Address of Samuel D. 

 Ingham, 



Delivered at the Stated ineeting of the 

 Bucks County Agricultural Society, at 

 Newtown, the 24</j of Tenth month last. 



AoRicuLTi'RAL industry lics at the founda- 

 tion, and is in fact, the main instrument by 

 which the whole structure of civilized so- 

 ciety is erected. 



In this pursuit, so essential to human ex- 

 istence, a great variety of auxiliary arts are 

 necessarily sought out, which lead on from 

 one invention to another, until the three 

 great pillars of the social fabric — agricul- 

 ture, manufactures and commerce — are in- 



Idissolubly united together in one common 



I bond of interest. 



Hence it is, that our theme presents such 

 a formidable array of matter, so difficult to 

 comprehend and so impossible to condense 



I into any reasonable compass for an Address. 



i By your permission I will take the occasion 



