<»l.. XX. >■(». »| 



A N D HO R T I C U L 1' U ii A L K K G I S T E R . 



403 



Ir. 



(Ill r.ir 



lt..K'->' 



No\r ill. n't jiiii think tliciii vi-ry boniitif.il :" " Vm. 

 my dear, I think thoy iro ; but," contiiiiiPil Iho 

 gond inmi, '• I lhnti);ht our d«ii^hlor<i were nlrcady 

 !iii|>plicd." "They nrp," re|.lii'd Iho lady ; '• hitt 

 thi'se were »o ivri/ rlirap. Why, what dn yoii 

 think I ffiive (or Iho whole ?" " I cnn't lull, my 

 denr," »iis ihe luvin;; reply; "but unn Ihin;; I 

 know — thnl if j on conlinuc In buy ihinjfs at ihia 

 , , . , , ,, , , , rolo, bccnnso they nro cAfun, I shall noon be nii.i- 



and I inloiid to hold R tieht rem, ao that I 1,1.. i,^ ..r .^„,o .- ■ r ■ in 



., 1 . ■• ., , . I •"*- '" 'Mcnre nrces^^ne/i for niy IhimiIv. 



there IS but lillle dB!i;,'or ol hnraffniii riinnin;: ' ,. , 



Our Tnercliiinl9, loo, nre ol'leii to binine In iIiIh 

 matter. A cuKlomer enlrr.« Iho alure. Unih part- 

 ners of llie concern mid all the clerka directly put 

 on all Ihe nirs of their puliteness. "Will you al- 

 low me to wait on yon, nindam ? VV'hat will you 

 have, madaiii ?" And, «itlioiit wuilin^j for a re- 

 ply, the shelves are iimncdiBtoly stripped of their 



I fanv are alrcad^ involved 'in \Tii'rdrcad-i'^';;'''""'''' "'"' "'« ''"'""" '""''^'^ "'"' ?"'"''• 

 rtex, ali lean s.iy'is. that they .mut get out i" l^^^' '','"•, •'""'' K'v<-- yourself so much trouble." 

 Ihty can. Nothing ia easier than to avoid i " '^" '"'"'''''' """'«'"! 't f-'ivcs me j:rc.it pleasure 

 when fairly out of it. Here, as in many nth. I '""'"" "" -*"'"• ^'"' '''"^ beautiful nood«_and 

 03, one ounce of ;,,,.■<•../ 10,1 1-. worth "hole ! '"'""''' ' ' ""''''' '"'^' *"''' "^''"P «"»'''' '"•'»'■''■ > 

 It is Minply to make the matter [""-'I't it tl.eotler day at auction ; and I can sell 

 you the {greatest biirjj.iiii in town." Tims the volu . 

 ble mercliant runs 011 praisinsr his j;och1s, us the 

 prelliest, the best, anil the cheapest, until mad.iiii 

 is induced to buy, perhaps beyond lier ability to 

 pay. 'I'iie merchant will accoinmodite her aH to 

 credit also, and then laise a {jreat clamor that the 

 country people will not pay their debts. 



These were my cni.'itation8 durinjj my cxrur- 

 sion, and I hope the ri'nder, ladies and all, will ex- 

 cuse me for present mg them just iis they occurred. 

 I now retire to the writing dask, and Rotation in 

 Crops is the ne.vt topic that I am to treat of. 



This, at various times, and in various firms, has 

 been the fruitful source of discussion among our 

 best and most influential farmers. Pi'rhaps there 

 is no subject in tlie whole roiuine of farm manijre- 

 ment, on which more thought and ink has been ex- 

 pended. And even now, the contending parties 

 seem as far from entire agreement ns they were 

 several years ago Almost eiery farmer, espe- 

 cially those who go into the business on a large 

 scale, eeeins to think that some rotation is necessa- 

 ry ; but it is a rare tiling to meet with two whose 

 theory and practice precisely agree in this matter. 

 The old rotation used to be corn and wheal, and 

 then corn and wheat again. Biil finding that on 

 this plan there was a ctmstant falling ofT in the 

 crop, until the land would produce neither the one 

 nor the other, a third year was added, in which the 

 land was allowed to rest. The rotation then was 

 corn, wheat, rest. 'I'o tliis was afterwards added 

 afourlti yeiir ; and then Ihe case stood time : the 

 first year a little corn, the second still less wheat, 

 the third rest, as fur as the ravages of Ihe famish- 

 ed cutlle would let it have rest, and the fourth year 

 a crop of briers, sassafras, persimmon, &.«. So 

 things continued, our agricultural prospects becom- 

 ing more and more gloomy ; our population starved 

 out at home, and forced to the west inquest of land 



T T 1 .\ C I N I) K U !• ._K O T A T 1 C) N 

 OF CROPS. 



my last I promised to take tip the hncknied 

 cl of rolnii.in. But my pony ( MoiiHicnr Ton- 

 gain^ stands at Iho door alrenilv caparisoned, 



y her wistful looks, invites me to an >thcr cx- 

 nn. I now have a strong bit on the frolicsome 



with me. 



ish to say a little more about that harrassing 



railed dtbl. " A Imrnt child dreads the fire ;" 



have been so hampered and harassed, and 

 lUfTered so much on this score, that F would 

 all formeis against it, as one of the soresi 

 lost inconvciueiit troubles thai cun come upon 



n these two questions : Do I really need the 

 Issired? And am I in circumstances to pay 

 If these two questions can be answered in 

 irmative, then it is safe to buy. On anv 

 it is always unsafe, and thcretbro all idea 

 :hase ought tu be banished from the mind. 

 It IS really a little singular lioiv very insidi- 

 8 tiling often is. The article wanted is a 

 ie, and its cost n mire trijle ; or the circum- 

 f art- so peculiar, as to coiislitiite an emer- 

 The old carriage has become quite shabby, 

 fe insists upon it that a new one is indispen- 

 or .Miss appeared at church with a new 

 oade up in the new fashion, and this Bttract- 

 a attention from all the young people than 

 mon did ; and for this very solid reason, all 

 •ses, whether their fathers can pay for them 

 must have a new fashionable dress also, 

 so astonishing how important a bearing that 

 erency is made to have upon expenses of 

 I. I oicf had a very exalted opinion of 

 ■rd : I still think it a very comely one. But 

 sec that it is made the occasion of throwing 

 10 old carriage, or the old coal, though still 

 able, and «.f going in debt for new ones, I 

 y confess that my attachment for Ihe word 

 derably weakened. The practice, with all 

 nry, is, to say the least, a very inconvenient 



propensity to buy things, not because they 

 led, hut because tliey are cheap, cannot be 

 ugly reprehended. The men arc commonly 

 lough at making a bargsin ; but the fair 

 1 (xcuse mo when I say that, in this respect 

 rtainly take the palm from us. If a good 



is offered, they cannot resist the temptation 

 ng it their o» n. Good prudent souls, like 

 istrious ant, they must be storing away for 

 rivant.-*. Some time ago, the following char- 

 ic incident tO(.k place when I happened to o" which they could live, until some one conceived 

 ;nt. Madam had just returned from town, I ''"' ''^c* "(^ '"'''"persing a grass crop, which has 



she had gone to purchase some necessa- 1 F'fovc' itself to bo the great renovator of worn-out 



the family. After producing these, in '•"''s. 

 <hc seemed to lake no particular interest, I The rotations are now a vast deal more judicious 

 needed to display, with great delight, the ' than formerly. Indeed, I know of no rotation now, 

 ires of bargains she had made. '• See," | in which grass is not mtde to hold a conspicuous 

 : to her good man, "here is a new shawl , rank, and to this some ha\e added peas and oat», 

 I, and a new bonnet for Emily, and a new | to be turned in, in a green state. But still this 

 r little Sarah, al' in the newest fashion. | subject continues to be a very rexed one, no gene- 



ral ugreemciit having as yet been fixed on, ai t« 

 how iheso several crops ought to succeed one 

 nnoihi-r. 



i Hitherto I have maintained an iiitire cilenco on 

 I this question ; and it has been a source of coiiside- 

 rable amu-temeiit to me to wateli Ihe progress of 

 that good niitured and genteel controversy, in 

 which somo of our most worthy and substantial 

 farmers are slill engaged. And I think it more 

 I than priibable that it would be iMi'id policy in me 

 I still to maliilain the same altitude. Uut ns I shall 

 inalio an attack upon no person, nor upon the favo- 

 I rite system of any one, but simply express my own 

 |seiiiimenls, 1 lio|)e my follow farmers will take 

 I them for what tlwy are worth; and I hereby bo- 

 speak their kindness, that if tliiy think proper to 

 indict upon mc a castigation, it may be as ii:odo- 

 rnte and gentle as possible. 



.^nd now, that I may enter on the suljeet at 

 once, 1 would inqMire, what is lh« groat object of 

 al! farming, rotation among the rest.' It is, if I 

 mistake not, to derive as large a product as possi- 

 ble from our lands, and at the same lime to leave 

 them in a condition to produce as large or even a 

 greater amount in the succeeding crop. If the 

 crop remain uniform and stationary, there is iivi-. 

 deuce that the fertility of the land is the same; 

 but if there be an increase or falling off of the 

 crops, there is evidence of the increasing or de- 

 creasing fertility of the land. The power of pro- 

 duction is therefore the great criterion by which 

 we are to test the true condition of our lands. 



Now, the great desidcrutiim in farming is to 

 make the lands highly productive, and ot the same 

 lime maintain them in a state of contiiinal improve- 

 iiunt. He who has arrived al this point, has leach- 

 ed, as I think, the " ultima Ihule" of good and 

 skillful management. Hut the great matter is, by 

 what rotation, or other expedient, is this to be ef- 

 fected ? To this I reply, that this whole vexed 

 question, on which thero is almost as great a vari- 

 ety of opiniims as there are different farmers to 

 entertain them, is with me reduced to the limits of 

 a mere nut-shell. My theory is, that all crops 

 whatever, whether corn, wheal, clover, or what not, 

 especially if permitted to manure themselves, ond 

 then removed from the land, are, from their very 

 nature, exhausting. This lieing conceded, the 

 matter is made very plain. If the land iinilorgo- 

 ing cullivatioii is already rich, and we merely wish 

 to maintain it in its present condition, all we have 

 to do is to return to it an amount equivalent to 

 that removed. Or if the object be to increase fer- 

 tility, then the plan is to give it more than is taken 

 away. .And in adjusting this account, the lond, if 

 I may bo allowed the expression, is rigidly and 

 scrupulously exact. It will tolerate no cheating 

 nor imposition Avhatever. If more be laken than a 

 just proportion, the barn or corn crib will be filled, 

 but it will be with a corresponding injury to the 

 land. Whereas, if we proceed on a liberal princi- 

 ple, the land will not be outdone in generosity, but 

 will open her kind bosom and pour t'orth a bounti- 

 ful supply. It is in vain, therefore, as I think, to 

 talk of one crop as an enrichcr and of another gs 

 an exhauster. They are all, grain, grass anil evory 

 thing, exhausters; and they are exhausters in pro- 

 portion to their own amount. If the crop be a 

 heavy one, the exhaustion is heavy, but if it be a 

 light one, Iho exhaustion is proportionably light. 

 Now I do not wish it to be understood that I con- 

 sider all crops equally exhausting. Some for in- 

 stance have broad leaves, for the express purpose 



