460 MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



fine fish, which can be taken all the year; and, in winter, wild geese, ducks, &c. are there 

 in great numbers — in the forests, deer, wild turkeys and partridges are very plenty. Steam- 

 boats pass daily up and down the river between Richmond and Petersburg, and Norfolk and 

 Old Point, where they connect with the boats to Baltimore and the North, stopping at Sandy 

 Point for passengers or produce. A person can leave this place about noon, and be in Rich- 

 mond, Petersburg, Norfolk or Old Point the same afternoon, or in Baltimore by sunrise the 

 next moniing, and in Philadelphia five or six hours later. The winters are so short and so 

 mild that cattle and sheep need very little fodder, the gi-ass being scarcely checked in its 

 growth ; and plowing may go on the whole year almost without any interraption. Harvest 

 comes and fruits ripen nearly a month earlier than in the vicinity of Philadelphia. Peaches 

 and other fruits and vegetables may be sent to Philadelphia and New-York a whole month 

 before they are ready in the vicinity of those cities. The markets for grain ai'e as good there 

 as anywhere in the Northern States. 



About 2,700 acres are cultivated ; all having been limed, and enormous crops of clover 

 being turned under with eveiy plowing for a crop, it is all in a very high condition. The 

 wheat field the present year contained 910 acres ; the croj) was excellent, though much dam- 

 aged by a remarkably late fi-ost, and by cold and wet weather while in bloom. A very re- 

 cent letter from the proprietor says : ' Thus far we have measured 13,500 bushels, and I do 

 not despair of getting 20 bushels per acre.' He is extremely modest in his estimates, and, 

 from the best infomiation I could get while there, it will considerably exceed that quantity, 

 and equal at least 20,000 bushels. 545 acres are in corn, which is estimated to average 30 

 bushels per acre. All the other land is in clover of most luxuriant gi-owlh, to be plowed in 

 as a dressing for wheat — a very small portion being cut for tlie stock. The whole is most 

 judiciously divided by roads, which are skillfully and nicely graded, and kept in the most 

 perfect order. The buildings are numerous and excellent, and well distributed: large bams, 

 with stabling for the stock, are located conveniently over the farm ; the arrangement of the 

 stables is admirable, and they are kept in the most perfect order ; the manure is constantly 

 removed, and the floors kept covered with gypsum, so that the ammonia is immediately ab- 

 sorbed and preserved m the veiy best way to be useful to the crops ; and the manure is not 

 suffered to lie in the yards, but is hauled out and spread over the clover, which immediately 

 covers it, and appropriates all the nutriment. All the enonnous quantities of straw are 

 spread over the clover, soon find their way through it, and by covering and keeping it 

 moist, soon decompose and assimilate themselves again with the soil, to aid in the production 

 of another crop of wheat. Near the river bank, a short distance west of the mansion, is the 

 spacious barn, with steam-engine to work a saw-mill for the use of the farm — a mill for 

 grinding corn meal — a jnill for grinding plaster — and threshmg-macliines, which are capable 

 of getting out and cleaning 1,000 bushels of wheat or com in a day. This was at work while 

 I was there, and was one of the most gratifying exhibitions I ever witnessed — its average 

 day's work was about 800 bushels, threshed and cleaned, and put into the bins ; but I was 

 told that, under the most favorable circumstances, over 1,000 bushels could be done. The 

 immense field of 910 acres was harvested and secured in eight days, being put up in the field 

 in large shocks." 



Aware that Mr. Boiling, in a spirit corresponding with the great extent and 

 productiveness of his estate, had introduced the use of improved machinery, and 

 the agency of steam, in the preparation of his crops for market, inquiries were 

 made which elicited the following letter. 



Curiosity was felt to know particularly what had been the result of his experi- 

 ence in regard to the machines for mowing wheat by horse-power, and as to the 

 generally apprehended danger of fire from the use of steam in such near prox- 

 imity to the farm buildings. 



There need be no better proof of the inertness of agriculturists and of those 

 ■w"ho represent them in Societies, and Institutes, and Legislatures, than in the 

 little which this great labor-saving power has yet been made to do for the landed 

 interest ; while for commerce, manufactures, and war, it saves the labor and the 

 cost of millions. Large premiums ought to be offered by the American Institute 

 and the New- York State Agricultural Society, to ingenious mechanics, for any 

 new and economical application of steam to agricultural purposes. Were that 

 done, we have no doubt that, before many years, we should have steam in com- 

 mon use all over the couutry— digging, plowing, ditching, sawing, felling timber, 

 and performing for the farmer as much as it now does for the merchant and the 

 manufacturer. Anions other items of recent agricultural intelligence, a French 



(SCO; 



