A CULTIVATOR. 



113 



rale of five hundred dollars per acre ; and sub- 

 eequeutly a second one, at the rate of eight 

 hundred dollars per acre — being more access- 

 ible on account of the road ; though both 

 about five and a half to six miles distant. 

 The stone is now hauled and burned at our 

 leisure, which is of material advantage, as 

 previously the convenience of the seller was 

 alone consulted, be the state of the roads as 

 they might; — all rash expenses included, my 

 lime does not now cost me over about 5 cents 

 per bushel. 



We all know that with ample means at 

 command, the same degree of energy and 

 perseverance will attain similar ends in much 

 less time ; and I feel confident that, with my 

 ■present expenence and resources, T could 

 just as certainly, and more profitably, have 

 effected the same or even a much greater 

 ■degree of improvement, in one-third the time, 

 than was necessary under existing circum- 

 •fitances. 



" No calling prospers without industiy and 

 perseverance,'' and those who are deterred 

 from the attempt at improvement m a small 

 way, because they have not the resources to 

 begin ou a large scale, are not very likely to 

 improve at all ; and were I to venture upon 

 giving advice, it would be to make 20. 10, or 

 •even 5 acres good — for even the most limited 

 resources may accomplish this much ; this 

 will afford the means to improve another five- 

 acre lot, and, as the imjirovement advances, 

 though at first by almost imperceptible de- 

 gi-ees, the difficulties will gradually disappear 

 and vanish; and if not literally reducmg the 

 "" mountains into mole-hUls," they may be 

 passed over with comparative ease. 



So far as my observation and limited expe- 

 rience extend, lime will improve all stiff clay 

 soils ; and if, iustead of plowing it under, it 

 is applied to the surface one or t^vo years in 

 advance of the cultivation of the field, so that 

 the winter's fi'osts and rains may act upon 

 and dissolve it, the farmer will not generally 

 have to wait seven, or even five years, for a 

 return. JAme should be kept near the sur- 

 face, and incorporated perfectly with the soil. 

 I neither profess nor possess any more 

 " skill and judgment" than many of my en- 

 terprising neighbors, though possibly neces- 

 sity has compelled me to exert rather more 

 energy than some others. 



Now can it be supposed that iu liming to 

 the extent we have, and " using the highly- 

 concentrated and bought manures," such as 

 Guano, Poudrette, Bone-Dust, and Ashes, we 

 do not find our account in it ? We k7io7o 

 that by a judicious application of them all, 

 the outlay and interest are repaid by the in- 

 creased product, and tlie land improved there, 

 by much i'aster than without such aid. Last 

 season we undertook to make up a Club for 

 obtaining 50 tons of Guano, and get the dis- 

 count; and I very soon had the names for 38 

 to 40 tons, without going a step out of my 

 way. 



Putting "dollars and cents" entirely out of 

 the question, the reflecting mind — certainly 

 an admirer of the beauties of Nattu-e — must 

 derive more satisfaction in witnessing his once 

 barren fields clothed with verdure, and oa 

 reflecting that at least in some degree the 

 change was wrought by liis own exertions. 



As it appears to be the "fashion" to illus- 

 trate by anecdotes, I will close these desulto- 

 ry and hasty notes by the relation of one, and 

 in very few words. In raising my barn in 

 1822 — quite a large one in those days — one 

 of the assisting neighbors remarked that he 

 was astonished to see me spend all my money 

 iu erecting so large a building, as one of one- 

 fourth the size would hold all I ever could 

 grow on this fann ; and if it ever was filled, 

 it must be by Jlint-stones ! ! which were, in 

 fact, about as tliick as the blackberries on 

 every field. Mainly by the liberal use of 

 lime, and with the " highly concentrated and 

 bought manures" as adjuncts, I hare filled it 

 to overflowing, as also a large addition, and 

 had to "stack out" besides. True, the flint- 

 stones did aid, but it was by an extended 

 course of under-draining, which was found to 

 be as necessary as the use of lime. What I 

 have done any one may do. To .show still 

 farther the onward strides at improvement in 

 this section — proverbially bai'ren and unpro- 

 ductive — I will only add than when I began 

 my liming operations there were but three 

 kilns within some 12 to 1.5 miles, and all in 

 another country. Now there are twenty- 

 seven within about six miles, nearly all of 

 which are on the farms of the owners, and 

 erected for agricultural purposes. 

 Thy friend, 



EDWARD STABLER, 



A CULTIVATOR 



Sandy Spring, Cth mo. l.'ith, 1847. 

 To the Editor of the American Farmer. 



Inclosed you will find a rough draft 

 of a Cultivator, that is superseding all 

 other kinds in this neighborhood. The 

 tooth is simply a small shovel turned 

 outward with the p(jlnt a little hooked. 

 The middle tooib passes through an 

 iron strap, fastened on the lower side 

 of the beam, and sucures the cro.ss- 

 piece by passing through it — the more 

 oblique the cro.ss-piece the better we 



have found them to work. I will not con- 1 respondents, who very 

 elude, after the manner of some of your cor- derful disregard of self 



(257) 8 •= 



kindly 

 praise 



and 

 an a 



with won- 

 gricultural 



