42 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



depend on buying a partif not all the above scan- 

 ty fare. The fai-t is, althougli I was always fond 

 of a good garden, I lia\'c been much aroused in 

 the last two years, and liave added to my garden 

 a truck patch, and I find it very little trouble to 

 have every thing tliat is good. To show you that 

 I am practising upon what the Cultivator teaches, 

 I will state that I have for eight years been in the 

 habit of buying all my meat, lard, butter, chick- 

 ens, eggs, sweet and Irish potatoes, beans, turn- 

 ips, and sometimes cabbage — but since I have 

 taken the Cultivator, I have been convinced that 

 all this thing is wrong, and for the last two last 

 years I have raised my own meat, (I killed a few 

 days since seventeen hogs, and have plenty pigs 

 left to use when wanted ;) chickens and eggs in 

 abundance. I believe we have raised morelhan 

 150 chickens this year, and at this time have fif- 

 teen different kinds of vegetables to use. Now I 

 am fully convinced that any of my neighbors 

 could do (is well, for I only have employed one 

 hand, which I was necessai-ily compelled to have 

 for wood hauling, cutting, &c. &c. 



I will here mention that the few persons who 

 attempted to raise celery in the District, where 

 the soil is apt to run together and bake, do not a- 

 dopt the best plan, by following the old molhod 

 in ditches — I have tried that here freguenlly, and 

 the result has imiformly been a shm alRiir. I 

 sow in drills, well manured, on the level ground ; 

 keep out the weeds and gross until the latter part 

 of September, then hill u]i as it grows — af^er 

 hilling a foot, place split sticks of timber all a- 

 long the sides, then hill on that. I have celery 

 now about 2i feet long, and as brittle as an ici- 

 cle. Facts, you say, are what you want. 

 Respectfully, 



Your ob'f. servant, 



VVM. C. IIAZEN. 



The time is not far distant, in our humble o- 

 pinion, when the farmer's son will be the man a- 

 niong the well educated of his day. Alieady has 

 the spirit gone abroad. The feelings of all arc 

 beginning to be enlisted deeply in this honorable 

 cause. No longer is this profession viewed, by 

 all, as fit only for the/joor anAignorant, but is be- 

 ginning to claim the rank to which it is so justly 

 entitled. Men of learning and talents luive turn- 

 ed their attention to its investigation, without the 

 least compunction of conscience for liaving acted 

 below their dignUy. Tl;cy have learned that the 

 occupation of the farmer, humble as it may have 

 been considered, can call into action most of the 

 powers of the mind, and whatever may bo the a- 

 mount of his knowledge, if useful, it can be 

 brought to bear, either directly or indirectly ; 

 hence, the erroneous opinion that fanners need 

 not be educated, is fast passing away, and ere 

 long popular sentiment will consign it to its le- 

 gitimate abode, the shades of oblivion. No oc- 

 cupalion is better calculated to call forth the 

 learning of the man of science than that of the 

 farmer, and none in which he can engage with 

 more honor, or at least, none to which more hon- 

 or should be attached. Then why should the 

 sons of Tennessee blush to be what has been 

 conteni])tuously called "book farmers.-" Why 

 should they entertain erroneous notions and con- 

 tinue absurd practices, because their fathers did 

 so before them ; thus closing their bosoms a- 

 gain.st the convictions of reason .- We believe 

 that such days are near their end ; and in time, 

 instead of leaving the ;>oor and ignorant to fill the 

 profession of farming, we will see young men re- 

 turning from practical institutions" of learning to 

 the plough-handle, fired with a laudable spirit to 

 gain honor and amass wealth from their occupa- 

 tion. When such a state of things shall take 

 jilace, agricultin-e will be added as another to the 

 " learned professions," considered as honorable 

 as any of them, and will prove as profitable. 

 Hills that are now barren and long neglected 

 wastes will be brought into active and profitable 

 cultivation, waving with bountiful harvest, or set 

 with the heavy eared corn— then gladdening 

 smiles of plenty will cheer our domestic circles, 

 and bloated purses fill our pockets. 



Interestiisg to Blacksmiths. — A blacksmith 

 of Milan, has discovered that, by suspending a 

 length of chain to one of the corners of the an- 

 vil by means of a ring, the noise of the I';amnicr 

 may be almost entiiely deadened. 



The Irish Grazier Hogs. 



This breed of hogs has been pretty e.xtensive)y 

 scattered through the states of Illinois, Indiana, 

 Ohio, and Kentucky ; and of late yeai-s, a good- 

 ly number have been introduced into Tennessee. 

 Pure bloods, howevei', are not very common in 

 any of the States, but by crosses with them, the 

 native breeds have been much improved. 



The color is white, but mix their color very 

 easily with other breeds, and hence, many that 

 we have seen passing through the country under 

 this appellation, have been variously spotted with 

 black. 



They are amongst the larger breeds of swine, 

 of^en reaching from four to eight hundred lbs., 

 but the common weight oY a two years old, is a- 

 bout three hundred and fifty pounds. 



They are good breeders, good nuises, and 

 quite thrifty. But as their size is large, they re- 

 quire a good quantity of food ; still Ihey " rough 

 it" as well as other breeds. They are long and 

 deep in the body, but are not usually so round 

 and perfectly formed as the Berkshires. They 

 possess good bone, and are well suited for driving. 



Many farmers prefer them to all other breeds, 

 and we are strongly inclined to the belief, they 

 are amongst the best. As we have not been per- 

 sonally acquainted with a great number of the 

 Graziers, we must request some of our Illinois, 

 Indiana, Ohio or Kentucky friends, to give us 

 full accounts of this breed. — Tennessee Jlgricul- 

 turist. 



Bring Flowers.— The following is an extract 

 from Mr. Colman's address before the Agricul- 

 tural Society at New Haven, not long since: 



"The taste for flowers, every where increasing 

 among us, is an omen for good. Let us adorn 

 our parlors, doorways, and roadsides, with trees, 

 and shrubs, and flowers. What a delight do they 

 give to the passer by ? What favorable impres- 

 sions do they at once excite towards those who 

 cultivate for their own gratification, and find, after 

 all, their chief pleasure in the gratification which 

 they afford to olhers? What au affecting charm, 

 associated us it is with some of the best senti- 

 ments of our nature, do they give to the sad dwell- 

 ing places of tlie departed "and beloved.' 



Tiic moral influences of such embellishments 

 deserve our consideration. I do not mean siin- 

 |)ly the substitution of such refined tastes and 

 pursuits in place of the gratification of the lower 

 appetites. — This is no small matter. But another 

 inliiiencc should not be overlooked. 



Every one familiar with human life must be 

 sensible that mere personal neatness and order 

 are themselves securities of virtue. As we cul- 

 tivate tlics" habits, and in respect to our residen- 

 ces and the things and objects around us, make 

 a study of rendering them orderly and beautiful, 

 and adding to them the highest cmbelli.shmenis 

 of art, our own self-respest is greatly increased. 

 Next to religious principle nothing operates more 

 than self-respect, as a safe-guard of virtue and 

 a stimulant to excellence." 



For tlie Farmer's MoDthly \'ikit<ir. 

 On Raising of Wheat. 



rREFARATIO.-? OF SEEn TO PREVK.NT S.llirT. 



The preparation of the seed I take from an 

 English account puhlished some years since, 

 which practice I have adopted lor five or six years 

 past with success, and I do think much of it. 



Make a brine of common salt strong enough to 

 bare up a hen's egg: then put in your wheat not 

 more than the brine will cover" Stir it and 

 skim as long as any thing will rise. It will float 

 off all the light kernels of wheat, oats, light ker- 

 nels of cockle, smut, or any ihing that is injuriou.< 

 to the seed. Then take the w heat out, and put 

 into the same brine ancther lot, and so on till 

 you have cleaned all you wish. After washing 

 put the wheat into a heap— let it lay six hours- 

 then mix a sufficient quantity of dry ashes, plais- 

 ter of paris or lime ; then inunediately sow your 

 wheat. I um very particular as to time. 



The result is, I lune not found but two smut 

 heads since I adopted this method, and I think it 

 beneficial in preveiiling worms from d.-jstroying 

 the seed, as well as adding to the growth of the 

 wheat. The English account says, (as well as in- 

 dividuals with whom I conversed from England) 

 that it has been tried on a farm for forty years, and 

 was always successful. More proofs "from the 

 same account I might uiTcr; but I am salislicil 



el- , 



all J 



:at I 



lot I 



from my own experience of the beneficial re- 

 sults. 



WEEDING OF WHEAT. 



I weed my wheat always twice. The first time 

 when the wheat is three or four iuches high ; then 

 again just before it begins to head out. I use an 

 instrument called a grub. It is like a cabinet ma- 

 ker's gouge, about one and one-fourth of an inch 

 in diameter, with a socket into which I insert a 

 handle, say four or five feet long. With this in- 

 strument one man may go over a lai-ge piece of 

 giound in a day. The method is to take the gi'ub 

 and cut ofl^ a tiiistle, dock, or any thing that is in- 

 jurious to the wheal at the surface of the ground, 

 and leave it on the spot where it \vas cut off. A 

 field that has had this dressing will look much 

 better : weeds always take the start of the wheat 

 and retard the growth. This practice always 

 pays the farmer a great price for his labor. 



HARVESTING WHEAT. 



I commence cutting my wheat when it is very 

 green, when I find the kernel is out of the milk 

 and about as hard as flour dough, which you may 

 know by squeezing tbe kernel between your fin- 

 gers. I then cut it as fast as I can, either in fair 

 weather or not. 1 do not let it lay in the gavel on 

 the ground exposed either to the sun or rain, but 

 bind it up in single bands near the butt, set it up 

 in stooks of eight bundles on the ground in the 

 form of a pair of rafters, the huts as far apart as 

 possible with two sheafs jiut on the top for pro- 

 tection. In this way it will dry very quick, and 

 the sap in the straw will afford nourishment to 

 the kernels sufficient to prevent it from shrinking 

 too much. By this method I find the kernel re 

 tains all its goodness, and the straw makes exce' 

 lent fodder for neat stock, because it retains 

 the sap that the wheat docs not absorb. Wheat 

 cured in this way thrashes very easy, and will not 

 shell out by carting to the barn. 



I think farmers are not aware how green they 

 may cut their wheat, and what a saving they may 

 have in the quality of wheat and straw. They 

 have only to try this method, and I feel assured 

 they will find it to their interest. 



In the summer of 1838, 1 sowed one and three- 

 fourths of an acre of wheat in one lot. When 

 harvested and threshed, I had se\'cnty bushels. 

 One full acre was stouter than the three-fourths ; 

 therefore I calculate (he one acre produced forty- 

 two bushels, and the three-fourths at the rate of 

 thirty-eight bushels to the acre. The kind of 

 wheat sowed was Siberian and red chaff. I gen- 

 erally s.)W to the acre one bushel and a half of 

 seed. I have had the most wheat to the aero 

 when sown from the 15tli to the 20th of May. 

 My usual crop of wheat is from 25 to 30 bushels 

 to the acre, with common tillfigc. 



PREPARATIO.N OK LAND. 



I plough and harrow my wheat land three or 

 more times, and harrow between ploughings till 

 I think it sufficiently mellow before sowing. I 

 like the practice, after sowing the last lime, of 

 going over the ground to have it done with a light 

 bush. It leaves the surface of the ground smooth- 

 er and covers all the bare kernels. I seldom can 

 make my wheat ground too rich or rich enough. 

 I apply barnyard manure with about- an equal 

 quantity of leached ashes from my potash, ashes 

 that I have used for the last twelve or fourteen 

 years on tillage and mowing land in lots in differ- 

 ent years from three to eight thousand bushels. 

 After they have been thrown out from the ashc 

 ry, I find leached ashes are valuable on all tillage 

 land in preventing worms from destroying the 

 seed. 



A few years since a neighbor of mine planted 

 a piece of corn on his land adjoining mine: soil 

 naturally about the same. The v\orms destroyed 

 his corn before weeding, so that he did not hoe it 

 aiul had no crop, while I had from fifty to sixty 

 busliels to the acre. Leached ashes are good on 

 mowing land if spread on the surface. They 



iill prevent a la 



rge 



liich often cuts 



off the roots of the grass under the siuface of the 

 ground. The reason is obvious. They do but 

 little injury on ground where leached ashes are 

 used. The qiianlity I a()ply grncially to Iheacre 

 is about twelve ox cart loads, with as much more 

 barn yard manure. The farm which I occupy is 

 an upland farm, strong and rcteniive .^oil. Leach- 

 ed .ishes are good on dry mowing lands, and I 

 find from experience, have u good eflbct on quite 

 a moist soil. 



