FARMERS' REGISTER— FARMING, &c. 



731 



FARMING, AND MANURKS OP THE EASTERIV 

 SHORE OF VIRGINIA. 



JSyreville, Northampton, March 22, 1834. 

 [n compliance with your request, in the first 

 number of your va!ual)le Rep^ister, " that your 

 friends and patroiis should communicate such facts 

 as were in their possession, calcuidted to advance 

 our agricultural condition," I have undertaken it, 

 although, I fear, I sliall add Init little to the further- 

 ing the object. I am a young farmer, and have 

 had but few years experience: but those few years 

 have convinced me, that industry and a proper at- 

 tention to manuring, will work wonders in our 

 heretofore abused and neglected lands. On my 

 return from schcxil, in Pennsylvania, where F had 

 seen the mode of Au-ming pursued by the industri- 

 ous Germans of that state, I was struck with the 

 poverty of my own county, and the miserably 

 negligent mode pursued by our farmers, on llie 

 most grateful soil in the ivorld — for you will fmd 

 land here under cultivation, yielding a tolerable 

 crop of oats and corn, which land has been in cul- 

 tivation, for nearly a c^-ntury, without the slightest 

 aid from its possessors, subject to all the abuses 

 possible, and deriving aid solely from the saline 

 atmosphere, which is the great preserver of our 

 lands. Eeing Tully sensible of the necessity of 

 doing something to improve the condition of m)' 

 own i'arm, [ determined to alter the mode of culti- 

 vation heretofore pursued, to attend particularly to 

 manuring, and to cultivate less land. The practice 

 here, as in many other counties of Virginia, is to 

 divide our arable lands into two equal parts, the 

 one for corn, the other for oats, alternating every 

 year, leaving a small portion of land for a standing 

 pasture, and that too poor to produce either corn, 

 oats or grass, depending upon our (turned out) oat 

 fields for summer pasturage, and our corn iields, 

 after the crop is gathered, ibr winter pasturage, 

 thereby keeping our lands under constant contribu- 

 tion. The farm 1 live on, has rather more upland 

 pasture, (that is, worn-out corntields,) and a great 

 deal more marsh pasture, than most of the larms 

 of the county possess; but with even this advan- 

 tage, I found it iu'possilde, from my stock and 

 horses, to raise more manure, with the strictest at- 

 tention to it, than would manure more than tuelve 

 or fourteen acres of land, together with my garden 

 and small truck patches, such.asof sweet potatoes, 

 pumpkins, and the like. I therefore set about look- 

 ing over my land for other means to su])ply the 

 deliciency. I found around the margin of the 

 creek, (for you must know niy farm is surround- 

 ed on three sides liy Cherrystone creek,) a vast 

 number of little ravines, or sinks, formed by the 

 tides, into which a great deposite of sea weed, grass, 

 the decomposed leaves of trees, and the washings of 

 the land, have accumulated. This I carted out in 

 great quantities, together with the salt marsh turf, 

 from which I derived great advantage, almost 

 doubling my crop thereby. Scon after trying this, 

 I met with a copy of Hales' Husbandry, in which 

 he speaks of sea shells and their spawn as a ma- 

 nure. Our creek abounding in oysters, and having 

 an innumerable quantity of oyster beds, or " rocks," 

 I was determined to try some; and to my great 

 satisfaction, 1 found the very thing I desired, within 

 one hundred \ ards of one of my fields, which at 

 low water, is entirely bare — about fifty feet wide 

 and eight hundred yards long, (and how deep I am 



unable to say,) composed of decayed oysters, clams, 

 and other shell fish with their decayed spawn, toge- 

 ther with a great deposite of sea drift, and of course, 

 salt. The size of the largest piece of shell, did 

 not exceed that of a fifty cent piece. The top of 

 the rock, to the de])th of an inch and a half 

 was of but little value, being subject to the action 

 of the tide : but immediately under that, was a bed 

 of the richest manure I ever saw. Being unpre- 

 pared for my good luck, I could not take much 

 advantage of if, and of course, could not make a 

 trial of it, to any great extent. I managed, how- 

 ever, to get up about forty cart loads, (hauled by 

 a single mule, J which I spread upon a measured 

 acre of land, and found it answered my most san- 

 guine expectations. The corn looked as well, and 

 bore as well, as corn in the same lot on land highly 

 manured from the stable and hog pen. This year 

 it is in oats, and even at this early period, they have 

 a muckfiner color, than those adjoining; my friends, 

 however, say, it was not a fair trial, as the land 

 previous to the dressing, was in fine condition ; but 

 tlie addition no doubt has improved it. This year, 

 I have gone more fully into a trial of it, being bet- 

 ter ])repared with lighters, and otiier implements, 

 and have manured al)out eight acres at the same 

 rate on as poor land as any in the state, along side 

 a piece, originally the same, under a heavy dressing 

 o! farm-pen and stable manure, at the rates of one 

 hundred. and eighty loads per acre, and have left 

 on the other side, a small piece, without any dress- 

 ing at all. Tha result of my experiment you 

 shall have, when it is fiilly tested. There 'are 

 thousands of these " rocks" or beds in the creek, 

 though none whose shells have so completely gone 

 to pieces as this one; but they would, no doubt, be 

 as useful for manure, by being mashed or broken, 

 or even spread on the land as they come from the 

 river, as a great deal of mud and salt adhere to 

 them. 



I fear you miglil think from the commencement 

 of my letter, that all our farmers j)ursue the same 

 negligent course of farming, which is not the case ; 

 many of our farmers, have turned their attention to 

 the improvement of their farms, and are usino- 

 every means, to add to their limited stock of ma- 

 nure ; and you u ould be astonished to see the 

 returns from our lands, (which appear to be almost 

 sand) — for the little labor and attention bestowed. 

 And [ firmly believe, there is no land in this, or in 

 any other state, that yields so fiiir a return for the 

 labor bestowed : for the soil is light and easy to 

 cultivate, and where a little manure and proper 

 attention have been bestov, ed, the crops are sur- 

 prising- 



"NV. S. EYRE. 



[The oyster beds or slioals, described above, can 

 scarcely fail to prove a valuable and important fund of 

 manure, to many who are situated in like manner with 

 Mr. Eyre. But it may not be useless to warn him and 

 others, that his experiment, which is in progress, is a 

 very unfair, or imperfect test, of the value of the calca- 

 reous part of his manure, which is probably the most 

 valuable part. The sea-weed, the remains of putres- 

 cent' animal matter, and the rich mud, (probably con- 

 taining much vegetable matter,) as they all furnish food 

 for plants, will (like dung) best show effects on the poor- 

 est soil. But the broken shells alone, would be enabled to 

 give but httle evidence of their peculiar and gi-eat power 



