No. 1. 



Notices. 



39 



We have received a communication of two and a 

 half foolscap sheets, from our friend J. H. T., in reply 

 to W., at page 343 of our June number. It came too 

 late for the last number, and in this we really have 

 not room for the whole of it. 



It appears to us that the paroxysms of surprise, under 

 the operation of which " W." was induced to invoke 

 the " thousand and one" shades of Jethro Tull and 

 others— as well as the "gentle castigation" intended 

 for him by Mr. T.— would have been unnecessary, had 

 they been so fortunate as not to have misunderstood 

 each other's meaning. While Mr. T. is discussing the 

 question, whether it is not injurious to the "land" to 

 remove weeds from it, and giving it as his opinion — in 

 which, it appears to us, every one must agree — "that 

 the removal of a weed or anything else from the land, 

 cannot benefit the spot on which it grew," the mind of 

 W. is altogether filled with amazement, that weeds 

 should not be removed from the crop ! While one is 

 talking about land, the other is thinking of the crop! 

 And this, as it appears to us, has led to the difference 

 between them: as the siirprise of W. added to his as- 

 tonishment—" Orsa upon Pelion, and Olympus upon 

 both— the ghosts of the dead summoned from their re- 

 pose," merely because the writers in question have 

 mistaken each other's meaning when talking about a 

 weed! That the simple removal of a weed, or of a 

 thousand weeds, should benefit the spot of land on 

 which they grew, is not supposed. The growth of 

 ■weeds among crops, has not been "advocated." We 

 would say, let the farmer keep his land as clear of 

 weeds as possible: — but when nature, in spite of him, 

 has forced them into life, let hiin not fear to remove 

 them to his cow-yard, or hog-pen. " Though lost," in 

 the language of Mr. T., " to the spot on which they 

 grew, and that spot instead of being benefited by the 

 removal, has been positively injured, still they are not 

 lost to some other poorer spot on the farm. Passing 

 through the stables and hog-pens, they are broken down, 

 and receive many enriching qualities, and are thus 

 made much more valuable. Thus a beautiful system 

 is constantly going on ; whilst the growing crops are 

 exhausting at one point, manure is in process of mak- 

 ing at another to repair the injury." Our friend T. 

 would advise his " young friend" W. — he thinks he 

 must be a young man, or he would not blow off so 

 much steam, — " to continue his reading about Lord 

 Leicester and other great farmers, just as he now 

 does; but with his reading, he had better let Tull's 

 ghost alone, and attend a little more to the practical 

 part of making and applying manures." We heartily 

 wish them both, as we do all our agricultural friends, 

 success in farming; — and to ensure this, let them di- 

 minish the weeds, and add to the manure heap. — 'Ed. 



We have been favoured with a visit to the farm of 

 Mr. Benjamin Webb, near Wilmington, and have ex- 

 amined the acre of corn which his son, Mr. William 

 Webb, is cultivating for the purpose of making sugar 

 from the stalks the present season. The rows are two 

 and a half feet apart, and the plants not more than 

 an inch or two distant in the rows; the seed was 

 drilled with a machine of his own invention, and has 

 produced a crop of unprecedented vigour and uniformi- 

 ty. The yield is enormous, and so far as present ap- 



pearances can warrant the conjecture, is expected to 

 yield a quantity of sugar equal to Mr. Webb's calcula- 

 tion, namely, 1000 pounds per acre. The ears of corn 

 are now in progress of extraction, and the fact J3 

 proved, that this part of the process can be performed 

 to profit, the worth of the ear and leaf attached, being 

 of more value than the labour required. Owing to 

 close planting, perhaps, there is not more than one 

 stalk in forty or fifty, which exhibits signs of fruiting 

 — whether they will be equally productive in the sac- 

 charine principle as those more perfect in their form- 

 ation, is a question which Mr. Webb's indefatigable 

 spirit for research is destined to solve. The stalks are 

 already full of sap, and some of them are showing 

 signs of maturity; the juice from these is vinous and 

 peculiarly agreeable to the taste, and there is no doubt 

 that it might be made, in its present incipient state, to 

 yield a wine for present purpose, far superior to any 

 that could be made from the grape in this climate. It 

 would appear, therefore, that the question in future 

 will be — not what else can be made from the "univer- 

 sal corn-crop," but " what else cannot be made from 

 it 1" As we heard one observe the other day, " Why, 

 'tis meat, drink and clothing, lodging, washing and 

 mending! Affecting one's life, character and beha- 

 viour — our prospects and happiness in this life, and 

 fitting us for that which is to come, by engendering an 

 universal spirit of industry and improvement through- 

 out the length and breadth of the land." Mr. Webb 

 deserves the thanks of the community for his untiring 

 zeal in the cause. — Ed. 



Since the publication of our last number, we have 

 received " The Dollar Farmer," a monthly quarto of 

 16 pages, published at Louisville, Kentucky, by Pren- 

 tice and Weissinger, the publishers also of the Weekly 

 Journal. It contains a large amount of agricultural 

 matter, and it appears to us can hardly fail to prove a 

 valuable acquisition to the reading farmer. They pro- 

 mise to "spare no pains, energy or expense, to make 

 it the guide and exponent of the farming interests of 

 the great valley of the Mississippi ;" and " hope to live 

 to see the day when it will visit every cottage" in that 

 vast region ! A pretty broad wish truly ! But we don't 

 object to its realization ; particularly, if meanwhile, 

 our own Cabinet shall work its way into the hands of 

 every farmer on this side the Alleghany ridge, and into 

 those of as many on the other side, as choose. We 

 feel much gratified in observing the number of articles 

 taken from our little nursling, and wish the publishers 

 all success in their enterprise. 



We have received within a few days, as we suppose, 

 from D. K. Minor, agent of the New York Poudrette 

 company, a copy of the U. S. Farmer, extra, in which 

 are several letters from persons who have used his 

 prepared article, and speak favourably of the results. 

 This company has been several years in operation, 

 and the Poudrette prepared from night soil, appears to 

 have been extensively used to the east of us ; but we 

 believe not much in the vicinity of our city. It may 

 be used on corn in the hill ; turnips ; potatoes ; vines ; 

 or as a top dressing for grass. Will not our farmers 

 more generally give it a trial? The price is two dol- 

 lars a barrel, or three barrels for five dollars; — and the 

 quantity used, from 10 to 30 bushels per acre. 



