14 



OIljc farmer's ittcmtf)h) bxsitor. 



clean ami beautiful, was found. Soon after, the 

 plague struck them: in forty-eight hours the 

 whole tops were black-the hue ami cry of rot, 

 foe the firsl time, went through the land. It was 

 not customary to dig so early ; and, believing, as 

 the weather was then hot, it was saler to let them 

 remain, they were not dug till quite late-when 

 there was scarcely sound ones enough to pay for 

 ,lj„„i„..— uimJ same were not dug at all or that 

 reason! On another farm about two miles dis- 

 tent 1 had some on rich soil, well manured, ami 

 some on light gravelly land, also manured. On 

 the rich .lark soiled land, the potatoes were much 

 injured by the rot: mi the poorer land, very lit- 

 tle Every year since, 1 have tried experiments, 

 the result of which is, that I have each year had 

 .rood sound potatoes on light soil, with little or 

 no manure-on better and richer laml, much 

 damaged by rot. I have this year, 184/, very 

 tine, large sized potatoes on light gravelly soil : 

 lne |., ni l was ploughed once, harrowed, and lur- 

 rowed one way; the seed dropped at about 2i feet, 

 „nd a table-spoonful of plaster put upon it— then 

 covered-hoed once, about 1st .July, ami another 

 spoonful of plaster applied to each hill. the 

 crop, as such, was not hu-e-bul the quality was 

 first-rate-size large, and no rot. Ashes were 

 applied to a small part at hoeing with good effect. 

 1 have therefore come to the conclusion that 

 s nail crops of very good potatoes, five from rot, 

 ,„av be raised on poor land, without manure, by 

 the'use of ashes or plaster. As to raising large 

 crops on rich land, we must wait till the pesti- 

 lence has gone by. 



Respectfully yours, 



ETHAN A. GREENWOOD. 



Massachusetts Farming. 



Bedford, JY.H., Jan. 24IA, 1848. 

 Mr. Hill— Dear Sir: i have been thinking 

 that some facts which 1 obtained when at Cam- 

 bridge last fall, mini. I not be iiuiutereslmg to 

 you" Taking the ears at Manchester, we soon 

 found ourselves at Mcdford depot. Bending our 

 wav towards Capt. Pence's farm, brought us 

 through Hon. P. C. Brooks' premises. His large 



sn ,h mow-fields, surrounded with heavy stone 



wall with split granite caps— his beautiful groves 

 and walks, and above all, his nioimlaiii-like heaps 

 of manure (composted, from .lock-mud and sta- 

 ble} which his men were drawing out on to a 

 field designed to be ploughed this last (all, spoke 

 well for the millionaire. Crossing oyer u stream, 

 upon the opposite side we noticed a large num- 

 ber of men at work-some digging, some plan- 

 ning and putting up buildings— all presenting*!! 

 appearance something like what 1 was out to see 

 at Lowell, when breaking ground lor a new cor- 

 poration: on inquiry, 1 was informed that the 

 laud [some thirty acres) had recently been bought 

 l,v Mr. Bigefow, the paientee ol the celebrated 

 Carpel power loom, where he is reported as hold- 

 in" a splendid mansion country site. After ram - 

 |,|fn° „yer his farm in embryo, seeing his plum, 

 cherry, peach trees, and learning that he had ap- 

 plied or bought fifteen hundred dollars' worth ot 

 manure for his farm the last season, ue conclud- 

 ed that he was in a fair way to compete with his 

 neighbor on ihe other side. 



Leavill" here, we soon found ourselves at Mr. 

 Pence's; and not finding him al hume, we con- 

 clttried to wail for liis rerun), which was soon. 

 \ s luck would h..ve it, we bad left your kind m- 

 lioilu.'tion al home : however, we found in the 

 gentleman all we could desire— he offering to 

 accompany us over his farm of 30 acres, and 

 give os all the information he could. 



In regard to. trimming I'each trees, or lopping 



down, as it is some es called, Mr. Pence's 



ihod i- this: on rhe fkst of Au.-usi he cuts 



oul all or nearly all the hr 'lies except such as 



are intended for the lop. Cue should be lakeu 

 to cut ihe branches oft close lo the limbs or body 

 of the tree will, a sharp ii.slrmnei.l. Ill this 

 method he thinks two o I. jeols are obtained— first, 

 in culling out the surplus branchesat ibis season 

 of the year, the light and air being lei in on ihe 

 remaining lirnwhes, they gradually harden into 

 wood, so thai by ihe lime cold weather sets in, 

 they are clothed with a tejfiure with which to 

 (stand the frosts and snows of winter] second, a 

 wound made at this lime Oil a tree f sooner ■re- 

 covers lhan when made al any other time of ihe 

 year. We were shown some heauliful pea' h 



trees trimmed the third week in August— now, 

 (24th October) considerably headed over. 



I had intended to have given you some other 

 facts in relation to the cultivation of the peach, 

 which were new to me and may be to yourself 

 Before closing, 1 want to say a word ill regard 

 to our infantile County Society: you are al- 

 ready apprised of our meeting at Amherst, as it 

 has been published in the Cabinet and Manches- 

 ter American. We find a backwardness among 

 the farmers in the county, as in our town. Mr. 

 Hill, we want you here, to pioneer us along in 

 this up-hill work : but as that may not be conve- 

 nient for you, we want to enlist your able pen in 

 its behalf. Your next No. will be out before our 

 next meeting, (Feb. 8.) You gave a flattering 

 notice in your last Visitor of our meeting on the 

 J Sill — we want a little more of the same. The 

 generality of farmers want " line upon line," &c. 

 1 will give you a few statistics which I obtain- 

 ed the other day at Manchester: there are in- 

 vested five millions of dollars, including Hook- 

 sett and the old Amoskeag mills, paying out an- 

 nually over 81,300,000. The estimated amount 

 of all others in ihe county, is four hundred thou- 

 sand dollars, making a total of the snug little 

 sum of one million seven hundred thousand dol- 

 lars. It is thought by those with whom I have 

 conversed on the subject, that about five-eighths 

 or one-half goes direct for the productions of 

 our own farms. The population which all those 

 mills draw around them, tire to be fed by ihe far- 

 mer, as well as the operatives. It seems to me that 

 here is an inducement for the farmer. 



In closing. 1 will just say to you, that I got 

 eleven hundred dollars the last season off my 

 farm, and if Providence smiles, 1 intend lo have 

 more the next season. 



Yours, respectfully, 



B.'SHATTUCK. 



Worn-out Farms. 



Mr. Editor:— I would like lo say a few words, 

 through the medium of your paper, to a class ot 

 our farmers whose farms are naturally good, but, 

 be'u.g badly worn, do not produce a third part as 

 much as ihey might be made to do, in a few 

 years. This 'may be done, too, without buying 

 manure i»r lessening ihe crops while doing it. 



In the first place, keep a goodteam and a good 

 plough. Commence early enough before haj ing 

 to plough a considerable quantity of your light- 

 est grass under; then roll itwiih a common roll- 

 er, sow on oat.-' .and harrow them in. These, 

 when sufficiently grown, and before the frost 

 comes, are also ,*o be turned under with the 

 plough, alter first i offing them down. 



The second yeyr, sow with wheat a plenty of 

 clover seed ; also planter, if ii soils the soil. The 

 next year, about the ti.Tie the beads begin lo ap- 

 pear, plough die clover in, sowing on more oats 

 and turning them under as before. The ensuing 



spring, -(which, you will observe, is ihe fourth 

 from the commencement,) Sow wheat and grass 

 seed -also plaster and lime if you like. Ibis 

 piece of land is now prepared for grass. It 

 would be well to have a heap of i: post ma- 

 nure to spread on before sowing jour first crop 

 of wheal. If your land is not suitable lor the 

 growth of wheat, sow such grab; an suits the sod 

 best. . 



So far as mv observation extends, spruce and 

 hemlock land," which has been cultivated a great 

 number of years, is generally so much worn that 

 ii may be said scarcely to produce any thing. 

 Occasionally, however, a light crop of ."-orn or 

 rye is obtained. When land is thus worn down, 

 so that it will not grow clover, it may be nii.de to 

 produce it ill the following manner. Sow rye in 

 August ; the next June roll it down, and plough 

 it under. Pass the roller over again,— which 

 must always lie done after ploughing in a green 

 crop. Now sow oats, ploughing them in, in the 

 fall. If you have straw to spare, draw u out and 

 throw it along where it can conveniently he put 

 in the furrows, by boys following after the plough. 

 The green oals will soon decompose the straw. 

 The next spring sow rye again, with cloverseed, 

 and sow early, that the' clover may have ihe bet 

 ter chance to catch. The ensuing year, when the 

 clnver is grown, turn it under. This land is now 

 prepared for a crop of grain one year, and a crop 

 of clover lo plough ill, the next year, and so on. 

 A man owning thirty acres of the above kind, 

 of laud, may grow a crop on one half to harvest, 



having a crop of clover to plough in on the other 

 half. At the same time he would raise more 

 grain than he would from the whole by his com- 

 mon management. 



If there is clay in the vicinity, so that the sod 

 can be taken off, to let the clay freeze through 

 one winter, it can then he ploughed and shovel- 

 led, and 1 would advise hauling it on freely an-i 

 mixing with the soil. 



A SUBSCRIBER, 



J\ r ew London, Jan., 1648. 



A good yield of Corn. 



At the annual meeting of the Windsor County 

 Agricultural Society held at Woodstock, Vt., on 

 the 12th inst., the first and second premiums for 

 the two best fields of corn of four acres or more, 

 were awarded to J. W. Colhurn, of Springfield. 

 The first, a field of* 5J acres,— 87 bushels and V2 

 quays to the acre: the second, a field of 75 

 acres, — 72i bushels to the acre, weighing 59 lbs. 

 to the bushel. Both fields were measured by a 

 surveyor, and the corn accurately weighed and 

 measured. 



Mr. Colburn's firm is of the alluvion fiats on 

 the bank of the Connecticut river ; but when he 

 became the proprietor of it, about ten years ago, 

 it was so reduced that 30 bushels corn to the 

 acre was all that could be obtained. He aiiri- 

 butes much of bis success ill improving ihe soil 

 to deep ploughing, and acknow ledges that his at- 

 tention was" first called lo this, by ihe editorial 

 and other articles which appeared in the Monthly 

 Visitor upon deep ploughing, subsoilingj &c. 



I r w 



Jan'y 15, 1818. ^ 



The Visitor in Hopkinton, N. H. 



Hopkinlon, Jan;/ 8, 1848. 



Mr. Hill:— The day after receiving* your cir- 

 cular I took my staff and have travelled into 

 every district, and have been into most of the 

 houses in town to obtain subscribers for the Vis- 

 itor, and have been fortunate in procuring about 

 ninety new names, which I shall copy and send 

 or carry lo Mr. Brown. 



My Dear Sir— I was pleased with an opportu- 

 nity 'to do good to my reading friends here, and 

 lo do j on a service, for which service] make yoii 

 wclc. one, but must ask of you lo place us all 

 here on equal terms, and lo send the whole free 

 from any increased charge. * 



Vour friend and fellow of the plough, 



STEPHEN SIBLEY; 



Complimentary Letter. 



Eos', Cambridge, Jnriy 13, 1818. 

 My Dear Sir:— The public, and myself in 

 particular, are greatly indebted to you for your 

 zealous efforts in promoting the interests of 

 Agriculture. The price of your Monthly Visitor 

 IS loo low. for the matter it contains. Seveil- 

 eMilhs of those wdio lake the paper, I have no 

 doubt, would willingly pay one dollar per year. 

 Hope to have the pleasure of seeing you, when 

 your business or pleasure shall bring you to this 

 part of the country. VVishuig you health ami 

 success in the good cause in which your are eu- 

 "aued, 1 remain, dear Sir, always, 



truly ami sincerely yours, 



El I'HINNEY. 



The above was received, covering a handsome 

 list of subscribers. ^ 



To cut glass with a piece of iron.— Draw 

 with a pencil on paper, any patten) to which you 

 would have the glass conform; place the patlern 

 nmler the glass, holding both together in ihe left 

 hand, (for the glass must not rest on any plane 

 surface;] then lake a common spike or some 

 similar piece ol hop. heal ihe point of it to red- 

 ness, and apply it to the edge of ihe glassy 

 draw the iron slowly forward, and the edge ol 

 i lie glass will immediately crack ; continue mov- 

 ing "ihe iron slowly over the glass, tracing the 

 pattern, and the chink in the glass will follow at 

 the distance of about half all inch, ill every di- 

 rection according to the motion of the iron. It 

 ,,,-iv sometimes be found requisite, however, es- 

 neriallv in forming corners, to apply a wet linger 

 to the ooposite side of the glass. Tumblers and 

 other ul.sses mav be cut or divided very fanci- 

 fully by similar means. The iron must be re- 

 heated as often as the crevice in the glass ceases 

 lo t\,\\ow— Scientific Median!:: 



