28G FARMERS' REGISTER— DUCKS, &c.— LUCERNE— SIR JOHN SINCLAIR. 



DUCKS AND TURKEYS. 



To the EJitor of the Farmers' Register. 



, North Carolina, Jiug. 2Qih. 



There appeared some time asro in (he " South- 

 ern A£:;riculturist," a communication on the sub- 

 ject of raising ducks. To tlie author of that com- 

 municiition I acknowledge myself much indebt- 

 ed: and cnd)race this opportunity of bearing tes- 

 timony to the utility of his plans and suggestions. 

 I have no hesitation in saying (hat any housekeep- 

 er Avho will carefully follow his directions, will soon 

 (ind his poultry yard abundantly supplied with the 

 quacking gentry. 



It has occurred to me that a similar dissertation 

 on the most successful method of raising turkeys 

 would be a valuable present to many of your read- 

 ers. 



Of the young turkeys which are hatched, not 

 more, perhaps, than one fourth survive the diseases 

 and disasters incident to the first months of their 

 existence. This is rather a discouraging circum- 

 stance, even to (hose who do not count their chick- 

 ens before they are hatched. 



If, therefore, you could induce one or more of 

 your correspondents who may have skill touching 

 this matter, to give to the public the result of their 

 experience and observation , I am persuaded that you 

 might safely calculate on tlie thanks of the whole 

 turkey-raising and turkey-eating community. 



SPINSTER. 



We hope that some one or more of the ladies who 

 honor the Farmers' Register with tlieir attention, will 

 comply with the request of a " Spinster." The article 

 referred to on rearing ducks, will be re-published in our 

 next No. if a copy can be procured. — [Ed. Farm. Reg. 



three feet into the stiff clay which forms the sub- 

 stratum of the ground where I sowed. The depth 

 to v/hich the root goes, renders it liable to be less 

 affected by drought than any of the artificial 

 grasses — but frequent irrigation tends in a won- 

 derful degree to improve it. It may be cut in the 

 spi'ing three or four weeks earlier than red clover. 



ED. F. TAYLOE. 



LUCERNE. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Register. 



Powhatan Hill, King George Co. } 

 I5th Sept. 1833. 3 



A correspondent inquires in the fourth number 

 of " The Farmers' Register," whether Lucerne 

 has succeeded in Virginia. I have tried it suc- 

 cessfully on a small scale, and have seen it tried 

 with equal or greater success in Richmond County, 

 at Mount Airy. In both cases, it was sown both 

 in drills and broadcast ; and both cases proved the 

 superior ethcacy of sowing in drills. The supe- 

 riority of this mode of sowing, is, I think, more 

 than equivalent to tlie increased labor of cultiva- 

 tion. I sowed it in drills about fifteen inches apart, 

 so that a hoe could work well between each row ; 

 and between every three rows, I left a space of two 

 feet, so as to enable me to clean and work it tho- 

 roughly. On a larger scale, I would sow in drills 

 sufficiently wide to admit the cultivation of it by 

 a small one horse plough. 



Lucerne, called by the Spaniards jllfalfa, is cul- 

 tivated most successfully in Mexico and Colom- 

 bia, and constitutes the chief food of the horses and 

 mules in those countries. Indeed, they require and 

 often get nothing but Lucerne in a green state. 

 There it is cultivated in drills about two feet wide : 

 as it grows, the earth is dravvn to it in a high ridge. 

 It is frequently irrigated, and when it is well culti- 

 vated, grows from two to three feet high. Lucerne 

 demands a good deep soil ; its root penetrates at least 



SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 

 OF SIR JOHN SINCLAIR. 



[Communicated for iiiiblication in tlie Farmers' Register.] 



We have received from a correspondent of Sir John 

 Sinclair, a copy of a recent communication from that 

 benefactor to agi'iculture and to mankind, which though 

 primed, as it states, " for the perusal of a few particu- 

 lar friends," has not yet been published. The language 

 of panegyric which it applies to that distinguished man, 

 however well it may be deserved, was probably the 

 cause that prevented his giving it to the public : but the 

 operation of this restraint does not extend to others, and 

 we extract for publication a portion which gives a sketch 

 of the various works and public services of Sinclair. 

 We propose hereafter to give somewhat similar notices 

 of others, both European and American, who have ren- 

 dered the most distinguished services to agriculture. 

 Of all who have thus labored for their country, and for 

 the world, not one has had opportunities and advan- 

 tages equal to the subject of the following memoir, and 

 no one has belter used the means and advantages he 

 possessed. 



The whole communication before us consists of a re- 

 view, translated from the German of Baron Varnha- 

 GEN Von Ense, of one of Sinclair's latest works, together 

 with some correspondence thereon. As the greater part of 

 the piece has but little i-elation to agriculture, we shall 

 confine our extract to the following memoir. The re- 

 view was jjublished in its original language in the Ber- 

 lin Critical Rr.vieto, in 1831. 



The contemplation of such an excellent and be- 

 loved character as the author of this work, com- 

 municating the most remarkable events of his 

 life, necessarily awakens admiration and delight. 

 Others may have been induced to publish similar 

 accounts, because they have lived in an age of 

 great events, — or been engaged in unusual adven- 

 tures, — or experienced peculiar developements of 

 their intellectual powers ; but on the present occa- 

 sion, we are presented with the spectacle of a ve- 

 nerable old man, who, surrounded by his own 

 achievements, cheerfully, yet thoughtfully, sub- 

 mits them to general inspection, and recalls with 

 satisfaction, the memory of the exertions which 

 have enabled him to accomplish so much, detail- 

 ing, at the same time, with natural complacency, 

 the personal marks of esteem which reflect a lus- 

 tre upon his exertions. 



He presents us with the model of an excelling 

 and protluctive mind, filling up the whole sphere of 

 its earthly destination; whether we contemplate 

 him as an individual, — as the head of a family, — 

 as a private member of the community, — as a re- 

 presentative of the people, — as sharing in the coun- 

 cils of his sovereign,- — as augmenting the military 

 strength of his country, or defending its naval 



