FARIMERS' REGISTER— NEW DISCOVERIES. 



815 



building, he seeded only fifty bushels of wheat, 

 which produced a crop of six hundred and twenty- 

 eight, bushels. All this w as on corn land, except 

 a lot of five acres, which, from seven and a half of 

 seed, gave one hundred and fifty-seven bushels, 

 nearly twenty-one for one. I have confined myself 

 principally to an account of his wheat crops, be- 

 cause he could not inform me with so much accu- 

 racy the amount of his corn crops — they were ge- 

 nerally good, seldom falling below three barrels 

 to the thousand and frequently reaching four. His 

 greatest crop of corn was in 18*27, from (wo of his 

 thirty acre fields, five hundred and twenty barrels. 



Last year he bought five thousand bushels of 

 oyster shells, at the cost of one hundred dollars, — 

 burnt and spread them as far as they went, at the 

 rate of 200 bushels per acre just before planting 

 corn, on the out-field, which got also a dressing of 

 farm-yard manure. The crop of corn, just gather- 

 ed, is fair — few in the county better. 



His shell-banks giving out and the drifts of sea- 

 ware being less abundant than formerly ; about 

 eight years ago he commenced the use of marsh, 

 and heads of creeks, of which he thinks favorably, 

 paying strict attention, as usual, to Ihe farm-yard 

 and compost heaps. He has one now, containing 

 upwards of a tiiousand skates, or double-heads, ta- 

 ken a few weeks ago in his seine, — from this he 

 calculates on a thousand cart-loads of manure for 

 his corn-land next spring. From (heir livers he 

 extracted seven(y-three gallons of oil. From ex- 

 periments made last year with similar oil, he is of 

 opinion that it is a remedy against the worm, so 

 destructive (o the peach free. He does not sj)read 

 sea-ware so thick as I recommended in my last, on 

 account of the didiculty of ploughing in — nor would 

 he recommend the shells to be put so near — inter- 

 vals of five lands should be left : — between marsh, 

 &c. three. I readily yield to his superior judg- 

 ment. 



For fourteen or fifteen years past he has made 

 great use of (Jie sickle — nmch of his wheat being 

 too rank for the cradle. He jiloughs about four 

 inches deep, and cannot be induced to go deeper — 

 in good land sows a bushel and a half to the acre, 

 in poor one bushel ; breaks his fallow ground about 

 the middle of June — cross ploughs soon after har- 

 vest — rolls and harrows — and if likely to be grassy, 

 gives it a third ploughing — puts in with the plough, 

 very shoal, in narrow ridges, keeping his manure 

 near the surface. I consulted him respecting the 

 question of Potomac: he is of opinion that no dan- 

 ger is to be apprehended from (he ap])lica(ion of 

 rotten marsh to growing crops if put on in reason- 

 able quantities. 



It will be observed that this farm, notwithstand- 

 ing its rapid improvement, has been severely crop- 

 ped, — present gain, from necessity, being the main 

 object. The proprietor was not insensible of the 

 value of clover as an improving crop ; but he could 

 not let it remain long enough to be of much use to 

 the land. He never cut but one field crop of it, 

 182-5, upwards of fifty tons from 30 acres. Here- 

 after, having got his out-field in pretty good order, 

 he will adopt the four-field system, cutting one 

 field of clover every year. His regular forc^is five 

 able hands, with some small boys, — he runs three 

 ox and two horse-carts — has never kept an over- 

 seer, and for many years labored daily. I have 

 not thought it necessary to state his root-crops — the 

 produce of his hog -pen, &c. supposing that his prin- 



cipal crops would clearly show (he progress of im- 

 provement. 



There are three other flirms within a few miles 

 of Emerson's Point, on which wonderful improve- 

 ments have lately been made. I mean those of Col- 

 onel John Tilghman, Mr. Edward N. Hamble- 

 (on, and of Dr. John Barnett. I hope they will 

 favor the public, through the columns of your use- 

 ful paper, with an account of their management, 

 crops, &c. There are other farms in the same 

 neighborhood which deserve honorable notice and 

 minute descrijjtion ; in particular, those of Mr. 

 Rigby Hopkins, Major Wm. Caulk, Mr. Joseph 

 Harrison, and Mr. Stephen Harrison, improved, 

 principally by the use of shell-lime. 



CORNPLAINTER, 



NKW DISCOVERIES. 



From the American Farmer. 



Loretto, Fa. Sept. 16, 1833. 



Mr. Sjmith : — I will not undertake to affirm 

 (hat the present age is more vain than any which 

 has preceded it; but if the more frequent occur- 

 rence in our public journals of communications 

 with (he cap(ion whidi I have chosen for this, be 

 any proof of vanity, then do the people of our day 

 as far surpass their predecessors in this comforta- 

 i)le quality as can well be conceived, even by the 

 most grumbling of the whole croaker race. Does 

 any one demand (he proof, let him only compare a 

 few newspapers of the present time with an equal 

 numlier of (hose puldished sixty or sevenly years 

 ago, and he will cerlainly find my asser(ion true ; 

 for where he perceives the phrase — " new disco- 

 veries" once in the latter, he will find it many 

 times )"ei)ea(ed in the former. It is certainly true 

 (hat we should expect more now than in times long 

 past, even if our knowledge had increased only 

 half as fast as we believe it to have done. But ad- 

 mi((ing (his to be true, and I am not disposed to 

 deny it; our credulity should surely have diminish- 

 ed; for credulity is the constant companion of ig- 

 norance. Yet, how stands the fact.'' why that the 

 mere proclamation of " a new discovery" gains 

 implicit credence for the claimant among thou- 

 sands who carry their eagerness to believe in such 

 professed novelties so far, as often to take mere opi- 

 nions for facts ; to say nothing of their constantly 

 adopting old facts for new ones. 



I have been led (o (hese remarks from the peru- 

 sal of two articles in your paper of the 30th of Au- 

 gust, purporting to communicate new discoveries; 

 and they have brought to my recollection another 

 article of the same cliaracter which was published 

 in the American Farmer some time ago, and 

 which I should have noticed at the time; but some 

 circumstance not now remembered prevented me. 

 Be assured, my good sir, that I do not make this 

 declaration from any caplious or arrogant feelings, 

 or from a wish to dicta(e (o others, but from a set- 

 tled conviction that every subscriber to the Ame- 

 rican Farmer, (and I have been one from its com- 

 mencement,) is interested in aiding you to make 

 it the vehicle of correct information on every sub- 

 ject which you may think proper to notice. 



The articles first n^ntioned are the two first in 

 your paper of the 30th of August. That in rela- 

 tion to the catalpa has these words : " As an orna- 

 mental tree it has long been w6ll known, but un- 



