VOL. XXI. Ni). 51. 



AND H II T I C U L T u R A [. il E G I S T E R , 



40-^ 



ter. A year or two ago, when 1 cinio to tlie city 

 ono inoriiinfr, I loft John at a shop in Churt-h 

 street to bo shod, reiinestinnr the smith after lio hml 

 done so, to |)iit the horse in the bnirory nrul let him 

 go; a practice I have pnrsned at tlmt mid other 

 shops for several years. An lionr or two after, I 

 was standing on the side-walli opposite to tlie Man- 

 sion House, when I saw John coming down Gov- 

 ernment street, and tlien up Royal, in a fast trot, 

 stopping within a lew feel of me. He soon com- 

 mencod stamping violently with his fore foot.which 

 continued for a moment or two. The West Ward 

 onmibus was standing some thirty feet in front of 

 him. Walking up to it, he put his foot on the up- 

 per step, and commenced biting it. After reliev- 

 ing himself of the fly, (as I supposed it was) he 

 backed the buggy to his old position. Although 

 John hncio, and had his reason why ho went to the 

 imnibus, yet it is proper the learned public should 

 l)e informed that as his check rein would not allow 

 lis heitd to be brought down to his foot, he went to 

 he omnibm to bring up his foot to his head. Mr. 

 P. then and now of this city, and a number of oth- 

 'r gentlemen, were amused spectators of this per- 

 ormance. 



I have thus related a few only of a great number 

 )f similar facts, to show that the theory that all the 

 irts of the brute proceed from mere instinct ought 

 lot to receive absolute belief; that it is not a the- 

 iiry which precludes all doubt. If the proper defi- 

 lition of inslincl be a blind tendency to some mode 

 if action, independent of the consideration of the 

 ■nd to which the action tends, these various acts 

 an only be the result of mere chance, or accident ! 

 Jndoubledly instinct may in some cases be com- 

 non both to man snd brute. Both may eatinstinc- 

 ively to preserve life. But if you place a variety 

 If dishes before a man, ho will select that which 

 ? most agreeable to his taste. No one would 

 oubt that this art would iie the result of reason — 

 •ut put several parcels of food of dilTercnt quali- 

 lies before a horse, and he will do the same thing 

 ki'ith equal taste, from the same motive ; yet mcta- 

 ■hysicians tell us this art is mere instinct. An el- 

 phant may drink from instinct as well as man. In 

 ravelling over a desert, man supplies himself with 

 ■•ater. The elephant after satisfying his thirst fills 

 is triinlt. In both the motive is the same- -to provide 

 supply, not for present, but for future use ; thug 

 xtending thought beyond the reality of the pre- 

 ont, to light up a vision in the void of a future. 

 I man or a horse may walk instinctively, without 

 njoct or motive operating on either at the time ; 

 ut place them in an enclosure with a narrow open- 

 ig, and each will determine with equal judgment 

 ■helliiT it is sufficiently large to enable him to pass 

 itliuut injury. 



If I have stated a few facts which may tend to 

 iruw some light on an abstract subject which of 

 ite has elicited some attention, in the mean-time 

 shall have redeemed a promise made to many 

 lends, at their solicitntion, to give some account 

 f the arts, doings and character of my horse John. 

 [e is a northern horse, finely formed, and without 

 blemish ; and although in his twelfth year, he 

 as all the playfulness and elasticity of n colt. 

 H. W. Taylor. 

 Mobile, Ma. JlpriL 4, 1843. 



Wheat struck with the rust, or mildewed, should 

 B cut at once, no matter how green in appearance, 



this is the only chance of saving any thing from 

 . — Amer. Agricidt. 



I-'roin the Pioviduncn Chuf 



PREMIUMS! OF TIIK RIIODK I.SI,A.\'I) AG- 

 RICULTURAL SOCIHTV. 

 No. III. 

 'i'lie si.xth preminm oirered by the Si^cicty, is for 

 reclaiming bogs, requiring a statement of the pro- 

 cess, and expense, with the increased value of the 

 land, $1,"). 



In a hirmer article we ventured the assertion 

 that a vast majority of low meadows and hogs might 

 be made productive of the best kinil of hay in groat 

 abundance. — We may add, that every peat bog or 

 swam;j that is capable of being drained, may he con. 

 verted into the richest meadows or tillage land. 

 We speak advisedly upon thi.'s subject, and trom 

 what we have seen in repeated instances, we are 

 sure that the most valuable portions of many farms 

 in Rhode Island, from the want of proper induslry, 

 enterprise or knowledge, are now, not merelv en- 

 tirely unproductive, but are olten the source of 

 the most malignant and fatal diseases. Thorough 

 draining, the removal of the brush wood, root and 

 brancli, and the application of some slimiilatiii!.' 

 manure, are all the necessary preparation for a hoed 

 crop or even immediate seeding to grass. We pro- 

 test against spreading sand upon such low mead- 

 ow or swamp lands ; it is never necessary and al- 

 ways expensive. Upon this subject, we refer with 

 pleasure to Mr. Pliinney's letter, published in Dr. 

 Jackson's Report upon Rhode Island. Having wit- 

 nessed the results of his skill in reclaiming such 

 waste places from the dominion of water and worth- 

 less herbage, and converting Ihem into fields and 

 meadows of extraordinary and almost cxhaustlcss 

 fertility, we can recommend the directions of that 

 distinguished farmer as worthy implicit observance 

 hy all who may compete for the Society's pre- 

 mium. 



The eighth premium, of Ten Dollars, is " For 

 I the best comparative statement on turning in green 

 I crops and manure on a tract of land not less than 

 one acre." 



I This is one of those controverted subjects in 

 [agricultural practice, in reference to which there 

 j have been no satisfnctory experiments in our State, 

 j that have come to our knowledge. Whilst this 

 practice constitutes a principal feature in the sys- 

 1 tem of cultivation pursued in certain parts of our 

 [country, it is strongly condemned, in others, as be- 

 j ing wasteful and inetlicicnt. We have seen no 

 com;)aroiu'e /n'fi/s, like those contemplated by the 

 Society in offering this premium. It is an <ibject 

 of no little importance, as tlieri> are extensive tracts 

 of land in our State, that seem to us, condemned 

 I to everlasting sterility, unless some more practica- 

 ble means than have yet been devised, can be ein- 

 [ ployed to impart fertility to them. 

 j The extensive use of swamp muck and peat in 

 1 composts or the turning in of green crops as ma- 

 nure must form the basis of an improving system 

 of cultivation upon nearly all that portion of the 

 State indicated by yellow on Dr. Jackson's Geolo- 

 gical map. 



We say of an improving system of cultivation, 

 for nine-tenths of the farms where light, sandy 

 soils prevail, have not improved an iota in produc- 

 tiveness within the memory of man. If the sterili- 

 ty which characterises such farms be not natural, 

 or inherent, they seem to have been reduced to that 

 condition at an early period, and to have been 

 transmitted from generation to generaiion in an un- 

 altered state of barrenness and infertility. Wo 



know, from the successful Ireptment of such soils, 

 by several enlightened and enterprising fanners, 

 that tiny are cap.ibic of a permanent iiuprovemcnl, 

 and a reinuncratinL' return for tlio labor and ex. 

 peiise bestowed upon them ; but it is very ques- 

 tionable if the expense which these men have in- 

 curred, would be advisable or justifiable ii))on farm.s 

 that cannot, from their distance, command u ready 

 market for garden vegetnbles and milk. 



The proprietors of farms fo situated, if Ihi.-y 

 have any wish to raise more than from ten to (Tftoeii 

 bushels of Indian corn, or eight to fi'Urtccn bush- 

 els of rye, and half a ton of hay per acre, and to 

 witness a constant improvement in the condition of 

 the soil, may rest assured, that it can only be done 

 by incorporating with the soil more of the mate- 

 rials which sustain vegetation. Decayed vegeta- 

 ble matter from swamps and pent bogs, composted 

 with stable manure and liberally applied, will do 

 this ; but where these resources are not at com- 

 mand, will the turning in of green crops elTect this 

 desirable object? This is the principal question to 

 be settled, and, as we understand, the main object 

 in ofTering the premium. M. 



From the New Geneseo Farmer. 



CANADA THISTLE. 



Mr Editor — Having been a reader of the New 

 Genesee Farmer fiir a number of years, and no- 

 ticed therein many pieces on the destruction of 

 the Canada thistle, and thinking the subject is not 

 wholly exhausted, I lend my mite. I am the more 

 induced to make this conuuunicalion, (and perhaps 

 there is nothing new in it,) as I understand some 

 persons arc about the country, imposing upon the 

 farmers by selling rigkls for killing the Canada 

 thistle by cutting them on certain days of the year : 

 which, in my opinion, is against all principles of 

 natural philosophy ; for, in my humble judgment, 

 to kill the thistle by cutting, it must be cut in a 

 certain stale of vegetation ; and who does not 

 know that in different years there is as much as 

 from ten to fifteen days' variation in vegetation ar- 

 riving at the same point of perfection. 



My farm was badly infested with the Canada 

 thistle when I came on to it, and I was alarmed 

 for the consequences ; but I have learned to man- 

 age them to good account. My course of treat- 

 ment is this : I seed my land down thickly, so as 

 to create a thick, smooth and unbroken sward ; 

 remove every obstacle that may have a tendency 

 to break the sward or impede the scythe, and make 

 the laud sufficiently rich (if it is not already ) to 

 bear a heavy crop of grass. The better way is 

 not to feed the land thus prepared for killing the 

 thistle, at all in the spring; and when the top 

 blossoms of the thistle begin to (-pen, cut thistles 

 and grass all together, and put thein up for fodder. 

 If there should appear to be no grass among the 

 thistles, I put them up the same, for, if left on the 

 ground, they break the sward and prevent the kill- 

 ing of the thistle. Cattle or sheep will eat the 

 thistle cut and put up thus, all except the large 

 stalk, as readily as they will the best hay. The 

 way I manage to cut them in proper time is, I com- 

 mence mowing as soon as the top blossom makes 

 its appearance, and mow paths from one spot to 

 another, until all are crillecled and put.up. 



By observing the above rule, the thistle will dis- 

 appear, 60 that within three years lime, there will 

 scarcely be a thistle left to tell where they grew. 

 GAIUS STEBBINS. 



