Vol. 1.— No. 28. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



2J9 



■wheat which is on he oat stubble, is manur- 

 ed partially every fall. The accumulating, 

 the hauling and the spread of such a large 

 quantity of manure require unceasing zeal 

 and industry. 



3d. To get out the wheat, oats, and clo- 

 ver seed, there is a cstly threshing machine, 

 which necessarily requires the utmost vigi- 

 lance. 



4th. The whole cro;i of wheat, and part 

 of the crops of corn, and oats, are sent every 

 year by water to the owner in Baltimore; 

 io are also sent, from lime to time, beef, 

 hams, butter, and various other articles for 

 the table. 



5th. The operations of ploughing, har- 

 rowing, and hauling are performed by breed- 

 ing mares, whish have been selected with a 

 view, not only to their work, but to the val- 

 ue of their progeny. From them there are 

 now on the farm many colts of various ages, 

 the sales of which constitute a clear annual 

 gain over and above the profit accruing from 

 the labor of their dams. These colts are 

 served by a full blooded horse, owned by 

 Mr. S. In the place of this horse has been 

 purchased this spring a beautiful stallion of 

 the trotting breed, a colt of the celebrated 

 Fagdown. 



Cth. Besides these working mares, there 

 are two full blooded valuable Virginia 

 mares, and three colts from them — one a 

 much admired two years old filly, from a fa- 

 vorite son of the New York Eclipse, and the 

 other two are foals of this spring from the 

 Virginia horse Monsieur Tonson. These 

 eolts are also intended for sale as part of 

 the profits of the farm. 



7th. To this stock of neat cattle, a cross 

 of the Holstein and Bakewell, there has 

 6een recently added a bull and two cows of 

 the improved Durham short liorn breed. 



8th. On the north side of a long line of 

 stables, sheds and barracks, are three con- 

 venient grass lots, and on ihe south side 

 there are, besides the stack yard, three spa- 

 cious yards with a few subdivisions for the 

 accommodation of every variety of stock. — 

 The full blooded mares, the working maTas, 

 the neat cattle, the colts and calves are, 

 during the winter, kept in these stables and 

 sheds, and in the yards and lots thereto at- 

 tached; and they are duly supplied with 

 water from a pump with troughs so arran- 

 ged as to suit the several yards and lots. — 

 The neat cattle are occasionally fed on long 

 necked winter squashes, turnips, and pota- 

 toes. In addition to these articles of green 

 food they will the ensuing winter, have cow 

 cabbages and carrots both raised in the 

 field. In the cultivation of carrots, Mr. S. 

 has adopted, by way of trial, the plan rec- 

 ommended in a number of the American 

 Farmer of March last.* And accordingly 

 on an acre of ground, sowed with the usual 

 quantity of flaxseed, he has sowed, this 

 spring, a quart of carrot-seed. Should this 

 experiment answer, his cultivation of car- 

 rots will hereafter be every year co-exten- 

 sive with his flax ground. 



9th. The great extent of his rich outside 

 pasturage and the great abundance of his 

 winter provender, enable him to maintain, 

 Cesides other live stock, a vast number ofi 

 mares, colts, cows and calves, which of 

 course require untiring assiduity at all sea 

 sons and especially in winter. 



10th. Such is the attention of this farm 



* In an article copied from Ibis paper, far which see 

 jaee 4a-, 



to domestic manufactures that no part of 

 the bedding or of the clothing o the peo 

 pie, except their shoes and hats, is purcha- 

 sed. 



11th. The ice-house, built by the negroes 

 themselves, is every year so carefully filled 

 as to keep the ice in a state of high prcerv- 

 ation throughout the whole season. 



12th. The apricot and plumb trees are 

 along the fence on one side of the lane lea- 

 ding to the dwelling. They are protected 

 by a parallel temporary fence, made so as to 

 admit, the hogs and exclude the cattle. — 

 And as the apricots and plums of these 

 trees do not fall but ripen every year unless 

 destroyed by frost, their preservation is at- 

 tributed to the good offices of the hogs. 



13th. The peach and pear trees are pre- 

 served by a very simple process. As soon 

 as the leaves of a tree begin to curl or 

 change their color, the dirt is removed from 

 the roots to the distance of about 12 or 18 

 inches from the stem of the tree. The roots 

 are carefully scraped and every part wound- 

 ed by the insects, or at all discolored is cut 

 out and the incision made smooth by a 

 sharp knife. All the roots are then plaster- 

 ed with a thick coat of fresh cow dung, upon 

 this coat of dung are put fresh hickory ash- 

 es enough to fill the hole. The dirt dug 

 out ii thrown aside, so that the surface a- 

 round the tree is altogether of ashes. 



This enumeration of particulars has been 

 here set forth for the purpose of showing 

 the multifarious matters, requiring circum- 

 spection and forethought, which, for a se- 

 ries of years, have been advantageously 

 committed to the care of negroes, and for 

 the further purpose of calling attention to 

 the practical details in the management of 

 a farm, which, for sometime, has been grad- 

 ually improving, as is indicated by its gen- 

 eral appearance and by the progressive aug- 

 mentation and amelioration of its produc- 

 tions of every nature and kind. 



From the New-YorU Farmer. 



SHALLOW SOWING— DEFECT IN 

 HARROWS. 



In nature there is scarcely any other pro- 

 vision made for sowing seed, than by scat- 

 tering them on the surface of the ground 

 principally by the aid of winds. One lead- 

 ing fact may be inferred from this circum- 

 stance — that although many seeds sown do 

 not germinate, yet the depth to which those 

 become covered that do grow, must be very 

 inconsiderable. This fact is in accordance 

 with the observation and experiments of ag 

 riculturists. They have found that plants 

 which are planted deep come up more slow- 

 ly and sickly, and produce less abundantly 

 than those that are planted at a proper depth. 

 For most kinds of seeds one inch is a suffi- 

 cient depth ; and in moist favorable weath- 

 er half an inch. But the greater part of 

 grain sown in this country varies from the 

 smallest part of an inch to three or four inch- 

 es in the same field. The consequence 

 must be a very great difference in the time 

 of coming up, and in the vigor of the plant. 

 On this subject, F. Von Veght, a German 

 writer, thus speaks. 



" I remarked also, that not only in the 

 peasants' fields, but also in mine, the corn 

 always sprang up unequally, and this not 

 only as regarded the length or shortness of 

 the time in which it became visible, but al- 

 so with respect to the strength and fullness 

 of (he plant. Hitherto I had ascribed this 



to inequality in the germinating power of 

 the seeds, since seeds sown close together, 

 and under precisely the same circumstan- 

 ces, had brought forth very weak and power- 

 ful plants. I thought also that some dis- 

 ease had hindered the corn in its unfolding, 

 or that it might have suffered from worms. 

 Turning my attention to the point in conse- 

 quence of what Burger said about it, I took 

 up out of many fields plants of the rye and 

 barley which showed this difference, and 

 found, almost without exception, that all 

 the strongly growing plants were covered 

 with very little earth, and that the seeds of 

 all the weak plants were from one and a 

 half to three inches from the surface. Each 

 had shot out many little roots, and at the 

 same time with the opening of the seed- 

 leaves the coronal leant had formed itself 

 immediately above the soil ; roots and small 

 shoots richly and strongly, and quite con- 

 temporaneously, and in nearly like propor- 

 tion, sprouted out ; even on the same side 

 where a crown (main ?) root penetrated into 

 the earth arose a new shoot. The broad 

 fresh leaves promised to afford mu,ch nour- 

 ishment to the plants from the atmosphere, 

 and thereby to occasion a vigorous growth. 

 How was it with regard to the more deeply 

 sown seed? The little roots were few in 

 number, and weakly ; from the seed a small 

 whitish pipe, from one to two inches in 

 length, had sprung to the surface : the cor- 

 onal knot formed itself on the surface, but 

 with only a few meagre leaves, and one sol- 

 itary ear alone expanded thereon." 



From the above, it can be readily seen, 

 that harrows in common use do not cover 

 the seed to a uniform depth, but on the con- 

 trary vary it from the slightest possible cov- 

 ering to that of three or four inches. If the 

 health, vigor, and productiveness of the 

 plant depend so much on the proper depth, 

 we should suppose it of primary consequence 

 that no expense be spared in constructing 

 suitable harrows, and bringing the soil to a 

 proper degree of pulverization and even- 

 ness. — — — 



Agave Americana. — At a late meeting of 

 the New-York Horticultural Society, Mr. 

 Saltus presented an Agave Americana and 

 a specimen of the Hemp manufactured 

 from it, accompanied by the following let- 

 ter. 



Port au Prince, May 3d, 1831. 



Sir — Referring to my respects of the 20th 

 tilt. I have the pleasure now to forward you 

 per brig Onslow, the plants you requested. 

 Kegs could not be procured, but I hope they 

 will arrive equally safe as they are. 



The mode used for preparing this grass 

 or hemp for market is very simple — a piece 

 of timber similar to that used by curriers in 

 cleaning skins at a certain period of the 

 process of tanning, is arranged ; the green 

 leaves or shoots are placed on it, and with a 

 piece of hard wood, formed something like 

 a drawing knife, an end in each hand, the 

 green and juicy substance is rubbed off; 

 the white fibres remain and only require 

 drying to be fit for sale. 



Should these roots get to hand in good 

 order, I beg your acceptance of them, and 

 am, very respectfully, your obliged servant, 

 H. PHELPS. 

 N. Saltus, Esq. New York. 



If we did penance for our own sins, instead of 

 castigating those of our neighbors, the world 

 would improve faster. 



