FARMERS' REGISTER— LEAVES FROM A TRAVELLER'S NOTE BOOK. 347 



lioises, and of stone pavement for cattle. A pit of 

 sufficient width, and from 6 to 8 feet deep, is be- 

 neath a back door of tlie stalile, opening ii-om the 

 paved passao;e between the liorse-stalls. Tlieused 

 litter, &c. from tlie horses, is thrown out into this 

 pit every morning, and every two or tliree days, is 

 spread over the area of pit, covered with the clean- 

 ings of the cow-houses, and anv o(l\er putrescent 

 matter tliat may be ready, and tlie whole covered 

 with a thin coat of the red clay, which forms the sub- 

 soil of that part of the firm. The dripping from 

 the stable roof, and rain-water from adjacent slo- 

 ping ground, run into the pit, and keep the manure 

 always soaked, and indeed it is buoyed up by the 

 water, so that the pit appeared quite full of wet 

 muck when I saw it, though it would still receive 

 much more. This mode of preserving summer- 

 made manure, (which is usually so much wasted 

 by excessive fermentation,) I liave before thought 

 of as excellent in tlieory , for the preservation of the 

 materials ; but I feared that the water would pre- 

 vent fermentation, and prevent the manure being 

 fit for use. This evil JNIr. Dunn has not found in 

 his yet short experience. 



One of the chief objects of JMr. Dunn's care and 

 attention, is raising young cattle of the Durham 

 breed, which he has of pure, as well as of mixed 

 blood. He now has some calves of extraordinary 

 size for their age. It is a remarkable fact, that nu- 

 merous deaths of cattle are caused in this neighbor- 

 hood by the disease commonly called the " distem- 

 per," and in Prince George, not 20 miles distant, 

 it is said that very few cases have been known 

 for many years. Cattle brought from the North 

 or West, are most exposed to this fatal disease, from 

 which there is rarely a recovery. Mr. Dunn's 

 cattle, as well as others, have been sometimes at- 

 tacked, but he thinks that the disease is curable, if 

 attended to immediately and in a pi'oper manner. 

 His habit of seeing and observing the condition of 

 every animal he owns once a day, has enalded him 

 to know generally the beginning of the complaint, 

 and to apply remedies with success. He thinks 

 the disease to be identical with that described in 

 "Every man his own cattle doctor," by Clater, 

 under the name of " Red and black water ;" and 

 it is the treatment there directed, which he has 

 tried successfully for his distempered cattle. 



Saw a line lot of Mangel Wurtzcl. The sur- 

 face certainly bore a heavy crop; but Mr. Dunn 

 had not noticed the expense in manure, or the pro- 

 duct — nor could he state the value as food, in com- 

 parison with other succulent cro[-,s for winter food. 

 With pumpkins, turnips, ruta baga, and mangel 

 wurtzel, he has a continued succession ofjuicy food 

 for his cows until late in the spring, when there is 

 plenty of grass. Notwithstanding Mr. Dunn's 

 great attention to increase his stock of manure from 

 every proper source, he prefers to lose so much as 

 is caused by his cattle remaining at large in the 

 pasture, night and day, through the warmVeather, 

 except for the short time required for milking, when 

 the cows are brought to their house for tirat pur- 

 pose. He is satisfied that he gains more in tlie 

 health and good condition of the cattle, than he 

 loses in their wasted manure. * * * # 



October \Ath- — Had a passing glance at the inter- 

 esting mode of improvement practised on the ad- 

 joining farms of Mr. A. B. Spooner, and Mr. J. 

 B. Kendall, on the Appomattox, about a mile be- 

 low Petersburg. These are also town farmers. 



who lie under the reproach of making great use of 

 purchased manures. Tlieir peculiar practice allud- 

 ed to, is double cropping, something on the Flemish 

 plan — that is, taking a crop of wheat, then imme- 

 diately sowing field peas broad cast, and ploughing 

 in the vines (which is now in progress) just before 

 sowing wheat again. Thus two crops, one for ma- 

 nure and another for market, are made every year 

 on the same land. Mr. Spooner has tried Buck- 

 wheat on part of his field, as the secondary or im- 

 proving crop, and peas on the balance. I hope that 

 one or both of those gentlemen will give the result 

 of these piactices to the public, through the Far- 

 mers' Register. Both of them are well pleased 

 with the results already obtained, but it will re- 

 quire the experience of the next crop of wheat to 

 permit a decided opinion to be formetl. The heavy 

 cover of green pea vines which I saw the ploughs 

 turning in on Mv. Spooner's field, must furnish 

 much manure to the soil. But I have some fears 

 that its late fermentation next spring, will cause 

 injury to the growing crop of wheat. I observed 

 last spring at Brandon, some wheat growing on 

 a late pea fallow,- which was of a yellow hue, 

 and decidedly inferior to the wheat on adjoining 

 and equal land, which was fallowed earlier, and 

 had been under no vegetable cover, excej)t na- 

 tural grass and weeds. The use of secondary crops 

 to be ploughed in as manure, if justified by consi- 

 derations of economy, offers an unbounded source 

 of improvement. Mr. Spooner and Mr. Kendall 

 have certainly been judicious in their practice in 

 one respect; that is, first to make the land rich. — 

 To attempt to sustain or improve poor land by 

 merely ploughing in green crops, is manifest folly : 

 as the expense of seed and tillage is nearly the same 

 whether the soil is poor or rich — and the green 

 manure obtained on poor land, must be always a 

 very light and poor dressing. But it may be, and 

 probably is, a profitable practice, when the green 

 crop is as heavy as can be turned in by good 

 ploughing, and the land kept clear of weeds by fre- 

 ([uent alterations of smothering crops, and good 

 deep ploughings. 



On both these farms, and also on that of Mr. N. 

 Friend, adjoining, marl was in the course of appli- 

 cation, which had been lately brought from the 

 banks of James river, at a cost of transportation va- 

 rying from five to six cents the bushel. These tri- 

 als, together with others, made by enterprizing far- 

 mers elsewhere, will serve to show \\hether so 

 much expense can be afforded to obtain this valu- 

 able manure. Though applauding these efforts, 

 and auguring well of the results, I would not ad- 

 vise an extensive apj)lication by any one person, 

 until he has seen the result of his first experiment, 

 Valuable as this manure is, its distant transporta- 

 tion has been very costly, and the more so on ac- 

 count of the novelty of the business, and the inex- 

 perience of those who have undertaken the digging 

 and conveyance. Let it be established by expe- 

 rience, that farmers can afford to pay even three 

 cents the bushel for rich marl, in large quantities, 

 and there is no doubt but it will be delivered at 

 that price any where on tide water. In the mean 

 time frequent discoveries of new beds are makipg, 

 and it will be found that many who would now buy 

 marl, burdened by the expense of transportation 

 for 20 miles, will find it in their immediate neigh- 

 borhood, if not on their own farms. * * » 



A GLEANER, 



