170 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



DFC. 1. 1-4 



any of the London wharves, for fivr guineas per | 

 ton. The custom of the furmor is, to cnt tbo wool- 

 len rags by means of a chopper and block, into 

 pieces uboul the size of a crown piece, and then 

 spread them on their fields by hand, out of a com- 

 mon seed basket, as evenly as they can ; they find 

 that this manure is admirably adapted for hops, 

 wheat, turnips, &,c., and that the brneficlal etfect 

 is as great the second year as the first; it appears 

 that one farmer in Kent, Mr Ellis, of Barming, 

 purchases annually four or five hundred tons of 

 these rags, almost exclusively for hi» hop grounds. 

 The fanners of Kent think the application of the 

 rags warms the ground ; Ihey certainly, as they 

 slowly putrefy in the soil, afford nouriehment to 

 the crop, for wool is composed almost entirely of a 

 peculiar animal matter, with a slight portion of 

 phosphate of lime, or earthy matter of bones. 



The very cottager is interested in these facts — 

 for every shred of an old woollen garment is avail- 

 able for his garden, is an admirable manure for his 

 potato ground, or if he has not a garden, the poor 

 collectors of these rags, who travel about for the 

 large dealers, will readily give him a farthing per 

 pound for all he can collect; and yet, judging by 

 the careless way in which very old clothes are often 

 to be seen absolutely thrown away, in some coun- 

 try places, I should certainly conclude that the in- 

 habitants were not aware of their value fohnson's 



work on Fertitizers. 



COMPARATIVK V.'VLUE OP HAY, VKGETA- 

 BLES AND CORN. 

 I wish briefly to draw the attention of farmers 

 to the value of hay, compared with other crops, for 

 the feeding of stock. An acre of hay yields one 

 ton and a half of vegetable food. An acre of car- 

 rots or Swedish turnips will yield from ten to twen- 

 ty tons ; say fifteen tons, which is by no means an 

 exaggerated estiniate. It has been ascertained by 

 experiment, that three working horses, fifteen and 

 a half hands high, consumed at the rate of two 

 hundred and twenlyfour pounds of hay per week, 

 or five tons one thousand and furtyeight pounds of 

 hay per year, besides twelve gallons of oats each 

 •per week, or seventyeight bushels by the year. An 

 "unworkcd horse consumed at the rate of four and 

 lone quarter tons of hay in the year. The produce, 

 therefore, of nearly six acres of laud is necessary 

 ■ to support a working horse by the year ; but half 

 an acre of carrnti<, at six hundred bushels to the 

 acre, with the addition of chopped straw, while the 

 season for their use lasts, will do it a.s well, if not 

 better. 'I'hese things do not admit of doubt. They 

 have been subjects of exact trial. 



It is believed that the value of a bushel of In- 

 dian corn in straw and meal, will keep a healthy 

 horse in good condition for work a week. An acre 

 of Indian corn which yields sixty bushels, will be 

 ample for Uie support of a horse through the year. 

 Let the farmer, then, consider whether Jt be bet- 

 ter to maintain liis horse upon the produce of half 

 an acre of carrots, which can be; cultivated at an 

 expense not greatly exceeding the expense of half 

 an acre of potatoes, or upon half an acre of rutu 

 bagn, which, can be raised at a less e.-.pensc than 

 potatoes, or upon the grain produce of un acre of 

 Indian corn, or on the other hand, upon the produce 

 of six acres of his best land in hay and grain ; for 

 six acres will hardly do more than to yield nearly 

 six tons of liay and seventyeight bushels of oats. 

 The same economy might be as successfully intro- 

 duced intOilhc feeding of our oeat cattle and sheep. 



These facts deserve the particular attention of 

 tlie farmers who are desirous of improving their 

 pecuniary condition. It is obvious how much 

 would be gained by the cultivation which is here 

 suggested ; how much more stock would bo raised ; 

 how Miuch the dairy produce might be increased; 

 and how much the means of enriching the land 

 and improving the cultivation would be constantly 

 extending asd accumulating. But when we find 

 on a farm of two hundred acres, that the farmer 

 cultivates only two acres of potatoes, one acre of 

 ruta baga, and perhaps a quarter of an acre of car- 

 rots, we call this " getting along," in the common 

 phrase; but we can hardly dignify it with the 

 name of farming. I am aware that labor of a prop- 

 er kind is in many cases diflicult to be procured, 

 and with our habits, as difficult to be managed. 

 Farming, likewise, can in few situations be suc- 

 cessfully managed, unless the farmer has capital 

 to employ, equal at least to one year's manure and 

 one year's crops. A large portion of our farmers, 

 also, from the nature of their habits and style of 

 living, aro so prosperous and independent, that 

 they have no occasion to extend their cultivation 

 beyond what it now is, in order to meet their 

 wants; and to incur all the trouble, vexation and 

 risk of employing more labor, expending more capi- 

 tal, and increasing their cares. 



But it is not fair to produce such instances as 

 any examples of the profit or unprofitableness of 

 husbandry, when carried on, as all other branches 

 of busine.ss, to be successful, must be carried on, 

 with intelligence, skill, industry, enterprise ; and 

 all the capital and all the labor which can bo ad- 

 vantageously employed in it. I will not, however, 

 anticipate such general views of the subject, as I 

 propose to take in the retrospect of the whole sur- 

 vey. — Colman''s Jlgricullural Survey. 



only just think for a moment of the effect which t 

 system will have on the tap-rooted plants ; a 

 more especially on the growtli of the potato, wb 

 deposited on the loosened soil of the furrow a 

 covered with manure, which will be carried do 

 by every rain to the tap-roots of the plants imbt 

 ded in it, instead of the sets oeing laid upon 1 

 hard pan of the soil, at the depth of a few inci 

 only, as they now are. I should e.;pect that it » 

 be the means of adding many thousand bushels 

 our crops, especially in a time of drought, enabli 

 us to cope with " the Green mountain boys,' » 

 find it by no means an uncommon occurrence 

 turn up from 1000 to ISUO bushels to the act 

 Where are these subsoil ploughs to be obtaine 

 John Davis. 

 Lancaster County, Pa. 

 QJ^Howard's Subsoil Plow can be had 

 Breck & Co.'s Agricultural Warehouse, No. 

 North Market St. Boston. 



SUBSOIL PLOW. 



To the Editor of the Farmer's Cabinet ; 



Sir, — I, too, was so fortunate as to be present 

 at the trial of Plows at the late Exhibition of the 

 Philadelphia Agricultural Society, and can bear 

 testimony to the superiority of the centre-draught 

 plow for purpose of cultivating the land preparato- 

 ry to sowing, but whether it is equally suitable for 

 stirring fallowed land, when it is necessary that the 

 furrows should be set more on edge that the drag 

 might take a greater hold upon them, remains a 

 question, which ought, however, to be solved. 

 Why does not Mr. Prouty take means to show the 

 powers of his plow under various circumstances 

 and in different soils ? The premiums he has ob. 

 tained, and the desire which it is natural he should 

 feel to bring his plow into notice and competition 

 with others, ought to operate as a strong induce 

 ment to him to use every means in his power for 

 this purpose. 



But my present object is, just to say, the subsoil 

 plow, with its operations, have convinced me that 

 the system of stirring the hard pan is about to be- 

 come the value of the rent of our land to us ; 

 and the thing is, at once so complete and manifest, 

 that It nui=l have struck every beholder with sur- 

 prise. Many had their doubts as to the feasibility 

 of turning the next furrow-slice on to the loosened 

 earth of the subsoilcd furrow, thinking it probable 

 that thu work may bo harder and t!ie land might 

 not lie 60 smoothly ; hut such was not the case, for 

 the furrow was turned as easily and laid as evenly 

 93 though no subsoiling had been practised. But, 



Corn from Germ Txoo Thousand Years Oldi- 



At the annual dinner of the Southwest Middlet 

 Agricultural Association, held on Friday last 

 the Adam and Eve Inn, Hayes, near Uxbridge, 1 

 H. Pownall, of Spring Grove, Hounslow, while ii 

 logising the farmers of Middlese.x on their highM 

 grec of intelligence and practical judgment, v( 

 duced a head of corn, which '; ■ said had bM 

 grown in the neighborhood of his residence, 

 as a proof of their meriting the eulogy he H 

 passed upon them, stated that he had that n 

 shown the head of corn to .Mr. Sherborn, of Bl 

 font, who, on examining it, immediately said it H 

 Egyptian corn, which Mr. Pownall said was 

 fact, as it had grown from germ found within' 

 covering of an Egyptian mummy, witliin which! 

 had been enclosed for upwards of iJOOO yeani 

 statement which produced a great sensatt 

 throughout the assemblage. 



We should hope for everything that isgood,«i 

 the old poet Sinus, because there is nothing ' 

 what may be hoped for, and nothing hut what''' 

 gods are able to give us. Hope quickens all ' 

 still parts of life, and keeps the mind awake in ' 

 most remiss and indolent hours. It is a kind off 

 tal heat in the soul that cheers and gladdens 'ij 

 when she does not attend to it It makes j^ 

 easy and labor pleasant. When CBesar had gM 

 away all his estate in gratuities to his friends, 

 of them asked hiiii what he had left lor himsoll 

 which that great man answered, hope. 



London papelf 



.1 Ileaiy Beet. — \\c have been favored b; 

 fellow townsman, J. P. K. Stanley, Esq. with 

 gar beet raised by him on his estate a few 

 from Baltimore, of great size. It measures 25' 

 inches round the thickest part of it, and wei| 

 when pulled afler the leaves had been taken 

 Vil 1-2 lbs. This beet is within 1-2 a pou 

 the largest beet whose weight we recollect to 

 seen published. The success which lias attend 

 the operations of this gentleman, in every ( 

 partment of farming undertaken by him, »i 

 another proof to the opinion we have long 

 formed, that intelligent merchants, possessin] 

 requisite industry and perseverance, scarcely n.| 

 fail to make good farmers. — Amer. Far. 





"SI; 



The death of Judas, is as strong a confinnati . 

 of Christianity, as the life of Paul. — Lncon. 



