450 



FARMERS' REGISTER— LAW OF ENCLOSURES, &c. 



showers of summer are retained for the benefit of 

 the growins: crop or pasture ; and by horizontal 

 ditches so located as to pass off to a "^neighboring: 

 branch or ravine, the redundancy of ^^•ater that 

 foils at any season of the year, the soil on our liill- 

 sides may be made almost as safe and as durable 

 as that on the level plains. This is not specula- 

 tion. Several experiments are now making in 

 this country, which have thus far abundantly 

 established the utility of coml)ining the two, hori- 

 zontal ploughing and ditching, and clearly show 

 that the labor and expense of the latter is no im- 

 pediment to its universal adoption. From the trial 

 I have made, I suppose tliat half a dozen men, 

 with .spades, aided by a good horse and plough, can 

 make at least a quarter of a mile of such ditching 

 a day. Ploughing up the eartli on the line marked 

 out for the ditch, greatly facilitates the work, for it 

 leaves the men Avith spades or shovels, nothing to 

 do, but lift up the pulverised earth to the ejiibank- 

 mentonthe lower side of the ditch, which need 

 not be cut more than about one foot deep, and eigh- 

 teen or twenty inches wide. The size, however, 

 and the direction of every ditch cut for the purpose 

 of protecting valuable iields from the destructive 

 action of heavy rains, must be dictated by the ex- 

 perience, and the discerning eye of the master, or 

 manager. They should not be perfectly horizon- 

 tal, but have such an inclination as to give to the 

 flowing water a gentle current ; otherwise, a rapid 

 accumulation might break the embankment below ; 

 or without sufficient current to carry olF the 

 gradual deposites of sand, &c. the ditch would be 

 filled up." 



Mr. Bruce's communicatk)n will now dissemi- 

 nate the knowledge of it to many a quarter, where 

 it cannot fail to be useful. 



Perhaps the same principle might be advanta- 

 geously applied to hill-side pasture land, as well as 

 arable. Not, indeed, for preserving the soil, but 

 for benefitting the turf, by retaining in shallow 

 furrows more nearly horizontal, the surplus rain 

 which ordinarily flowing off the surface, by tliis 

 means might penetrate the soil and afford a supply 

 of nourishment to the roots in seasons of dronght. 

 The verdure oi' sloping yards or lawns could be 

 improved in the same way, as Ave know that even 

 meadows are made on hill-skies by taking the wa- 

 ter out of some branch or creek at a hi-jher point, 

 and conducting it around by a level ditch, so that 

 by overflowing at selected jilaces, it may irrigate 

 the land below. But it is time to stop a"^s my'^pon 

 is ramblinir. 



MOTH WEEVIL IxV CORN AND WHEAT. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' llcgister. 



■ Maijcox, Oct. 20{h, 1S33. 

 When I Vv'as last at your house, I believe I j)ro- 

 niised to give you the result of my observations in 

 regard to v.eevii. Upon examination, I find my 

 old coi-n to have very few, and the present crop to 

 have decidedly more llian I have ever before ob- 

 served. I am sure, that early thrashing and clean- 

 ing, is the best way of preserving wheat fi'om in- 

 jury by weevil : I think it not material whether i: 

 be spread tlrin or Ijulked, if tiie wheat is dry. From 

 a fear of getting my seed wheat mixed, I was later 

 this year than usual in thrashing it, (though it was 

 got out in August;) a part of it was nicely clean- 



ed as soon as thrashed, the remainder was suffered 

 to lie in the chaff until the 1st and 2d of October ; 

 in that which was cleaned I have not seen a weevil- 

 eaten grain, whilst that remaining in the chaff, ex- 

 hibited many before cleaning, and a very great 

 increase since. Tn the course of my farming life, 

 I have frequently entertained fears, that my seed 

 wheat would not come up uell, from being too 

 Vi'arm in the bulk; this month, in ciiaffingout my 

 seed, I found a spot near the middle of the bulk, 

 that was remarkably hot; from this, I selected 

 fifty grains and planted them on cotton in a glass 

 of v.ater, thirty-five came up and flourished, the 

 remainder did not germinate. I have put seed 

 wheat in water that ivas boiling hot, and suffered 

 it to remain twelve hours, when it was sowed and 

 came up well. This was done with a view of de- 

 stroying the eggs of the Hessian fly, that I sup- 

 posed might be on the grain. This very wheat 

 was more injured in the spring than any I had. If 

 tliese observations are worth your notice, you are 

 at liberty to use them as you like. 

 Very resjiectiully, 



■VV. T. COCKE. 



ON THE I^AW OF ENCLOSURES IN VIRGINIA. 



To the Editor of tlie Farmers' Register. 



You have but lately set out in the publication of 

 a j)criodical for the promotion of the interests of 

 agriculture ; and truly the general circulation of 

 such a work is desiiable. Most men are willing 

 to receive instruction in the various farming ope- 

 rations, by which they can not only labor with 

 most ease and convenience to themselves, but 

 make that labor most productive, and profitable. 

 Yet, how often are our labor and capital misapplied, 

 or even made subservient to the use of others, be- 

 cause we have not been made sensible of the ad- 

 vantages of change in our plans and practices. 

 Custom and the example of our fath.ers have ri- 

 velted upon us practices, which although they are 

 injurious to our interests, are nevertheless unnoti- 

 ced, because they are familiar. Such has been 

 tiie blind devotion to old customs, that our law- 

 givers seem never to have thought of protecting 

 by legal enactments, the rights, property and in- 

 terests of agriculture ; at least, they never seem 

 to have thought it necessary to secure to the farmer 

 tlie full and entire enjoyment of his rights and his 

 property, v/hich other classes of our citizens enjoy. 

 The mechanic can lay aside his tools, and no one 

 dare take them up. But the farmer forsooih, can 

 no sooner decide that a portion of his land wants 

 recruiting and rest, than it is taken possession of, 

 and ownership exercised by " Tom, Dick and 

 Harry." 



Our systems of moral })hilosophy, teach us that 

 no man has a right to use that, by the use of which, 

 lie does an injury to his neighbor who has a better 

 right to it than himself; but our code of laws have 

 refined so much upon all moral obligations, and 

 have extended their democratic principles so far, 

 that no man's property can remain unoccupied by 

 himself, with.out becoming the property and being 

 suljected to the use of others. Is there any more 

 reason that my land should be applied to tlie use of 

 others, to my detriment, when I may choose for a 

 season to dispense with its use, than that any arti- 

 cle of my wardrobe, because not under lock and 

 key, should be worn by another, as hen off my 



