Vol. IX.— No. 29. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



227 



very fariiier sliouUI consider of most imporlance, 



certain ami perinaiunt improvement of the soil. 



Tlic fight soils of the li:vel snd smooth plains 



fhioh may he foiiml in this vicinity, and in some 



ther parts of the comity, are pecidiarly well adapt- 



d, and wonid nnqni'stionahly he greatly l>enetitod 



y this mode of culture. An experiment upon 



ne or two acres of this soil, conld he made wiili 



ut little risk to the owner. In the month of An- 



ust or early in Scptcinhcr, if the !;ioimd is to be 



oweil with winter rye, let the sward ho turned 



Ter with the plongh as flat as possible, and after 



sniovinjr the outside furrow slices into the vacant 



pace in the nfiddle of the ploughland, let it be 



oiled hard iin<l then harrowed lengthwise the fur- 



ows, hnt so light as not to disturb the sward, and 



len sowed with rye, and herd's grass or red top 



Bed,an<l after this, harrow and roll again. lu the 



allow ing spring, as early as tlie season will allow, 



ow on a liberal siijiply of clover seed,* and roll 



le land again. This will promote the growth of 



le rye, by setting the earth close about the roots, 



ad will sufficiently bury the clover seed. lu the 



ext August or September, plough again and sow 



9 before, taking care to let the ploughing be a lit- 



e deeper than at first, so as to bring to the sur- 



•.ce a portion of the poorer sidjsoil. If a top 



pessing of compost manuref can he afforded at 



ich ploughing, the increased produce would, no 



)ubt, be fully suflicient to remunerate the ex- 



mse ; but without any manure, a few years' cul- 



atiou of these barren plains, on this plan, must 



evita'ily result in a great improvement of the soil, 



d a consequent increase of crops. As the ex- 



riincnt cannot be a very hazardous one, on the 



are of expense, it may be worth trying. The 



pth of the ploughing must depend on circuin- 



nces, such as the natural depth of the soil, and 



! quantity of manure to be applied. It would be 



surd to attempt to prescribe rules on this sub- 



t. We might as well give rides for the strength 



our teams, or the size of our ploughs, which 



St depend on the purposes they are intended to 



iser\e. 



\n inii)ortant subject of consideration in this 

 tern, is the manner in which manure should be 

 died. If fresh stable dung or long muck, as it 

 i sually called, is to be used, it should be spread 

 u the surface and turned under the sward, 

 fears need he entertained that by thus turning 

 nder, the crop will lose the benefit of it. The 

 iching volatile matters that are thrown off by 



Southern clover seed will be found to be decid- 

 • piel'erable to noithein, for this purpose, inas- 

 h a< it matures earlier, and will give a greater quan- 

 of vegetable matter to be turned in at the next 

 gliiiig. It also makes better fodder for catile or 

 es.the stalks being tiner than those of northern clo- 



Pen cartloads of compost manure will furnish a pretty 



I tup dressing for an acre, and every farmer, who keeps 



I siiiull number of catile and hogs, may at this rate, 



ide liimself vvilh a sufficiency for a number of acres 



I stal>le manure that is inclined to heat, particularly 



from the horse stable, should be mixed with at least 



le tlie quantity of loam or meadow mud, as fast as it 



rown out, to imbibe its nutritious properties and 



erit their escape by fermentation— Or it should be 



Hrecdy into the hogsly, where it may be kept 



iiqjact a condition, as to prevent fermentation . 



■y liog kept by a farmer, should be required to pre- 



ten loads of compost manure in the course of a year, 



h he will CHEERFULLY do, if the owner will pro- 



him with materials, such as loam, peat or swanq) 



leaves from the forests, &c. The vault of the farm- 



irivy, the wastewater from his sink, and even h'lshen 



and dove house, may, with proper management, 



ade to supply valuable' additions to his compost heap. 



the fermentation, necessarily ascend and will hi 

 lodged in the superincumbent soil, and such parts, 

 its are soluble in water, will never descend below 

 the reach of the penetrating roots of grain or 

 grass. — It is contrary to the principles of sound 

 philosophy, and the known laws of gravitation, 

 that a lighter body should settle btjneath and dis. 

 place one that is heavier. Our manure heaps 

 have, in some instances, been annually depo.sited 

 in the same spot for half a century, and yet in no 

 instance has the gravelly soil beneath, been found 

 to be enriched to the depth of si.x inches. An in- 

 genious farmer* of Surry, in the State of Maine, I 

 have been informed, satisfied himself on this sub- 

 ject, by an experiment made by placing a few 

 inches of earth in a vessel, having a hole in the 

 bottom, and then covering the earth with mantire 

 and pouring on water until it had exhausted the 

 manure of its enriching matter, and it was found 

 to pass off at the opening in the bottom of the 

 vessel, perfectly filtrated, and cleared of any col- 

 oring or substance, which it imbibed in passing 

 through the manure. 



The fertilizing properties of the manure may be 

 wasted by the improvident hand of man, but it is 

 kiuiily provided, by an unalterable law of nature, 

 that they never can be lost by causes beyond his 

 control. 



Instead of putting on fresh manure from the 

 stable, and ploughing it under the sward, I have 

 thought it more economical to mix it with about 

 twice the quantity of swamp or peat mud, and as 

 soon as the coarse fibre is sufflcieiitly broken down 

 and rotted, to spread it on the inverted sward, and 

 mix it well with the poorer earth that has been 

 turned up. 



It may be said that many of our fields are too 

 rough and too full of stones, to admit of their be- 

 ing turned over smooth enough to allow the scythe 

 to follow the plough. A remedy for this difficulty 

 is within the reach of every man of ordinary health. 

 But this, it may be replied, would be attended with 

 expense ; and so the fanner will continue from 

 year to year, to work among stones, which have 

 borne the marks of the i)lough and harrow for half 

 a century, when they might be removed with much 

 less labor than would be saved by adopting the 

 system that I have suggested. 



The mistiiken notion is too prevalent among 

 farmers, that no experimental operations can be 

 made, no change of system introduced, without 

 burdensome expense. It is true, that the wealth 

 of the'opulent has done much, but mental research 

 and a spirit of inquiry, accompanied by the personal 

 inspection and persevering efforts of the practical 

 farmer have done mtich more, to increase the pro- 

 duce and improve the condition of our farms. 



This is most forcibly illustrated by Pliny the el- 

 der — 



' Furius Cresinus, an emancipated Roman slave, 

 having obtained from his very small estate, much 

 larger cro])s than his more wealthy neighbors from 

 their vast domains, they became so envinus, that 

 they charged him with employing enchantment, to 

 attract into hisgrounds, the produce of their fields. 

 Having been summoned by Spurius Albinus, 

 and being fearful of condemnatfnn, he introduced 

 into the foritm, as the tribes prepared to vote, his 

 robust and well clad family, and his agricultural 

 implements, his heavy mattocks, his ingeniously 

 constructed ploughs, and his well fed oxen, and 

 then exclaimed — Behold ! Roman Citizens, mj' 



magic"; but I am still nimble to show you, or 

 bring into the market place, my studies, my con- 

 stant vigilance^ my fatiguing labors. — Scarcely had 

 III' concluded, when he was absolved by public 

 acclamation,' 



It is in enterprise, sttidy, unrcmiting study, vi- 

 gilance and industry, more than in money, that the 

 mystery of great crops and successful liusbandry 

 consists. 



Is it not too common a practice, among our far- 

 mers, to consider that when harvesting is over, the 

 labors of the year htive ended ? After the six 

 months of seedtime and harvest have passed 

 away, instead of employing himself and his team, 

 in removing the stones from his fields intended for 

 the plough, and clearing the unsightly hogs and 

 bushes from his low meadow grounds, and con- 

 verting them into verdant lawns and fruitftil fields, 

 his carts and other imnletnents of husbandry are 

 laid aside, his oxen tied up to meadow hay, and 

 the owner, whose dread of the expense, sits like 

 an Incubus, tipon every effort toward improve- 

 ment, confining his winter's operations to the wood 

 pile and hay mow. 



The wholesome admonition of wisdom, may 

 well he addressed to such farmers, ' He that will 

 not plough, by reason of the cold, shall beg iu har- 

 vest, and have nothing.' 



* Mr Jarvis. 



Copperas. — It having been discovered some 

 time since, that there was abed oftheiro7f pyrites 

 of uncommon iichness,in Hubbardston, in this coun- 

 ty, a manufactory of copperas has been established 

 at that place dining the present season. We have 

 just examined a barrel of copperas and judging 

 from its appearance, we should think it superior to 

 any we ever before saw. We understand it can 

 be afforded at a very low rate. This is one of the 

 articles, the manufacture of which is jirotected by 

 the' odious tariff,' and the consequence has been 

 to reduce the price from 7 or 8 cents, at which it 

 formerly sold, to 2 to 3 cents per pound. 



Worcester Spy. 



Cheap polishing sdbstanxe The following 



is a cheap and excellent |)olisliing substance ; — A 

 piece of old hat is immersed for a (aw minutes in 

 sulphuric acid. The iron witli which the hat 

 was originally dyed passes into the state of red 

 oxide — and the old hat then becomes excellent 

 for giving the last polish to even the hardest sub- 

 stance. — Mecli. Mag. 



Mr Win. Chace of Somerset, has a cow which 

 has given daily, on an average, during the past 

 season, 20 quarts of milk. Ncariy 14 lbs. of 

 butter were made weekly from the cream, for ten 

 weeks. 



In Sweden they break out roads in a very simple 

 and excellent manner, with a machine made of three 

 pieces of plank, 1.5 feet long, forming a triangle, the 

 piece at the end being narrow so as not to retain the 

 snow. Thus :— >..... (The dots represent 

 horses.) 



Rail Roads are to be the subject of discussion in 

 the legislature of Upper Canada. An English engi- 

 neer, Mr Fleming, proposes a grand railway from 

 the city of Montreal to the e.xtrorae western settle- 

 ments on Lake Huron. 



Recent sales of landed property in Williamsport, 

 Md. have indicated a great increase of value pro- 

 duced by the construction of the rail road. 



There are 2.34 newspapers in New York State. 



