THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



169 



regulates the seasons, has been slightly derreas- 

 ing for the last 2000 years, and Las now reached 

 its maxinuitn variation, which amounts to about 

 1-80 o(" the whole. This has an effect to turn 

 our zone nearer the sun in winter, and iarther 

 away in .summer. Again, the sun is about 1-30 

 nearer the earth in one part of its orbit than at 

 the opposite point. The time of year when this 

 occurs lias been for the last 2000 years moving 

 from summer to winter and is now in mid win- 

 ter. Both these circumstances operate together 

 to diminish the heat of summer and the cold of 

 winter, and are suificient perhaps to account for 

 all the variation which has been noticed. As 

 they continue to move on in their periodic revo- 

 lution, the extremes of heat and cold will be in- 

 creasing for a long series of years. These cau- 

 ses will thus continue to produce periodical 

 changes in the climate of the temperate zones, 

 recurring at very long intervals, and then amount- 

 ing to only a very slight difference. The main 

 features of our climate musl,continue permanent- 

 ly the same. 



Although the situation of our coimtry imperi- 

 ously denies its cultivators the salubrity and 

 abundance conmion to the same latitude in more 

 favored geographical locations, it yet fiu'nishes 

 what is more desirable, and what they cannot al- 

 ways boast, a sound and healthful body, a vigor- 

 ous mind, and a large share of substantial happi- 

 ness. T. T. 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 Summer Fallows. 



It has been the practice formerly, and it con- 

 tinues to be so now by most of the farmers, to 

 plough up grass ground in May or June, and then 

 harrow and cross-plough in August, for a crop of 

 rye. But it has been proved by good farmers 

 that once ploughing of grass ground in August 

 is as good for a crop of lye, and far better for-lhe 

 land, than to plough twice or three times. When 

 grass land is turned up in May, we lose the pas- 

 ture for two months, which is no small item 

 with the farmer of lt)w acres, and the green crop 

 which is turned under in May, first be<;ins to rot 

 when you cross-plough ali<l "turn tliu cloil.s up to 

 the surface ; and thus the object of iinpnu jjig the 

 soil is lost. The object of ploughing i.< to turn 

 every thing under, tiiere to be left to decompose 

 and produce food for plants; and this can be 

 done with a good plough when once ploughing is 

 practiseil by our farmers. I know that it is 

 thought necessary by some of the farmers of the 

 interior and western New York, that for a crop of 

 wheat it requires a thorough summer fidlow to 

 clean the laud from weeds. But for our farmers 

 of New E[igland, who cultivate mostly the rye 

 crop, once ploughing is better, as it saves half of 

 the labor, and is in all respects better. I will 

 now give an extract from Judge Buel ; and I 

 want no better author. lie says — '-There is no 

 agricultural writer of note, and very few good 

 farmers, who now advocate summer fallows ex- 

 cept on stiff" clays or wet grounds wliicli cannot 

 be readily worked in spring or fall, and this prin- 

 cipally for the purpose of cleaning them iiom 

 perennial weeds." In another place he says — '• If 

 the principles we have assumed are correct, and 

 the practice we recommend in conformity with 

 the sound jirinciples of natural philosophy, then 

 the old tashioned farmer is admonished thereby 

 to change his course of practice, if he would 

 prosper in his business — to study, to practice, and 

 to adopt the new system of husbandry, so far as 

 his soil and circuraslances will permit — to drain 

 bis wet lands, economise his manures, and to ap- 

 ply them before they are half wasted— to till 

 well what he does till, to alternate his crops, to 

 extend liis root and clover culture, to increase his 

 stock as the products of his farm will permit, 

 and to substitute fallow crojis for naked fallows. 

 And the settler on new lands is admonished to 

 adopt a like course if he would preserve the fer- 

 tility of his .soil, and render his lands pwmanent- 

 ly productive." — BuePs Farmers' Companion. 



And now, before I close, permit me to offer a 

 few words in regaifl to your valuable paper. I 

 liave received six numbers of your Visitor, and I 

 can say of a truth, that it really is what it claims 

 to be, a wolcojne Visitor to the Farmer every 

 month, and worth double t|ie price it costs. For 

 instance, there was an article in the June number 

 on grafting, which I consider is worth more to 

 me tlian a whole year's subscription. And al- 



though I have the Albany Cultivator, yet 1 find 1 

 can read both with advaiitage. 



There is one thing which I think your paper 

 excels in, that is, in the well written editorial re- 

 marks on the different articles which are written 

 ibr your paper. I wish you or some of your cor- 

 respondents would give us an article on Summer 

 Fallows. 



The crops of hay, and oats, and we think of 

 potatoes, will he rather short in this vicinity, ow- 

 ing to the extreme dryness of the season. We 

 have, however, to-day, a regular easterly storm 

 set in, which promises us a good soaking, and 

 which we have not had before in two moutlis. 

 Yours with respect, 



LEVI DURAND. 



Derby, Conn., My 31, 1841. 



FromHhe Maine Farmer. 

 Old Things. 



Mr. Editor : — Perhaps the following remarks 

 may be like an old almanac, entirely out of sea- 

 son, but if any one can profit by a perusal of 

 them, 1 shall be satisfied. 



Theoretical persons are apt to condemn the 

 conduct of their father in the management of 

 their farms. Although much may Justly be con- 

 dennied, yet I am fully persuaded that very much 

 Oiay be learned. These remarks have been eli- 

 cited by recollections of some of my father's no- 

 tions on farming. Although destitute of scienti- 

 fic attainments, he possessed a shrewdness of 

 character and a close power of observation that 

 enabled him to carry on bis farm in such a way 

 as to add several hundred dollars to bis real es- 



tate 1 



ally. 



Jut what I wish to 



pre- 



sent, is, his method of replenishing his barn yard 

 with materials for manure. Soon after haying, 

 when a neighboring swamp which he called his 

 gold mine became sufficiently dry for digging, 

 he would take us boys with a hired man to a 

 spot a few yards from the bank, and commence 

 digging a trench iiaiallel to the said bank, and 

 throwing the nuick in a ridf;e towaids it. By this 

 process the muck was drained and ilried. 



Now it is well known tliat muck contains car- 

 bonic acid in too great abundance for immediate 

 apjilication to the soil ; but by this process, much 

 of it escapes in .hying. From 50 to 100 loads 

 were thrown up at a trifling expense in a single 

 day. As soon as the ground became frozen lie 

 would set us at work hauling it into the barn 

 yard where was a reservoir sufficient to hold 300 

 loads, where it laid until the next year, till it be- 

 came saturated with the salt from the neighbor- 

 ing manure heaps. Now by these steps, lime 

 was hardly necessary to neutralize the acid, for 

 by the time it was ready to be applied as manure, 

 it was entirely free from it. Another advantage 

 arose from the division of the labor. For while 

 draining the ditch, we were kept shovelling with- 

 out the intermission of setting carts, besides 

 when ready to haul in the fall, it was so light that 

 a cart could soon be filled, and what without 

 diaining would have required two yoke, would 

 now be easily accomplished with one. . 



1 have another recollection in regard to the ap- 

 plication of muck directly from the swamp. 

 There was in the neighborhood of this swamp a 

 barren sand hill which would not produce any 

 thing but sheep sorrel. A quantity of muck at 

 the rate, as near as 1 can recollect, of 60 or 70 

 loads to the acre, was hauled on this hill in the 

 month of August and siiread so that it became 

 dry enough to burn, and as soon as the rain came 

 it slacked. It was then ploughed in, and planted 

 early the next spring with potatoes, and such po- 

 tatoes to cook you never saw, their only fault 

 was, they were too mealy to hold together when 

 boiling. 



A quantity of muck was likewise hauled on a 

 piece of .sandy mowing land soon after haying, 

 and spread. There was a decided improvement 

 in the crop the next year. The herdsgrass grew 

 remarkably stout, but not so thick at the bot- 

 tom. 



It was in this way that my father from a poor 

 young man, rendered himself an independent 

 farmer. This muck heap was with him the reg- 

 ulator of the market, for if hay brought a good 

 price he could sell it without seriously impairing 

 the fertility of his farm, and if .stock was the 

 most profitabJe to sell, he always had some on 

 hand for the market. I am aware that " Old 



Things" may not be so welcome to the readers of 

 this go-ahead generation as something '• New ;" 

 but 1 am quite sure that if we would combine 

 the new with the old, much greater progress 

 would he made in agriculture. The? more I ex- 

 aniine farming as a science, the more I am con- 

 vinced that scientific farming consiats in the ap- 

 plication of very simple principles within the 

 reach of every individual. 



AGRICOLA. 



Bapid Increase of Production. 



The extent of the agricultural production of 

 this country is almost boundless. Such is the 

 condition of the old world, especially of those 

 European countries nearest to us, whose inhabi- 

 tants, bearing the name of Christian, are most 

 likened to our population— who are ground down 

 by the most oppressive burdens, and who in the 

 midst of all the means of living are deprived of 

 their benefits by the grasping avarice and owner- 

 ship of the non-producers — that emigration to 

 this country must come greatly in aid of the 

 natural increase to fill up the vast expanse of 

 territory that remains to be taken up at the Wegt. 



Since our own memory the noble state of Ohio 

 was a wilderness: in the census of 1840 its hu- 

 man population was 1,600,000— more than half of 

 the whole number of the thirteen united colonies 

 which afterwards composed the original United 

 States at the time of the war of the Revolution. 

 The produce of Ohio, the surplus produce which 

 she now turns out, is almost equal to that which 

 supports her present ))opulation. At the close 

 of the late war with England tlie whole extent 

 of country bordering on the lakes above Ontario, 

 was comparatively a wilderness. Ohio, Michi- 

 gan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin presented 

 at that time but a few feeble settlements: indeed 

 that part of the old slates of New York and 

 Pennsylvania bordering the two lower lakes was 

 but a new country with few improvements. Buf- 

 falo, that now bright city of western New York, 

 it will be remembered, was burnt down entirely, 

 and with the settlements at Black Rock and 

 along the American side of the Niagara, has en- 

 tirely grow-.i up since the year 1816; and since 

 the year 1800, New York west of the German 

 Flats, and a few sparse settlements upon the 

 Mohawk, in the present county of Oneida, was 

 almost an entire wilderness. 



Within the last ten years the settlements at 

 the West have been more rapid than thev ever 

 had been before. We have a railroad reaching 

 nearly all the way from Boston to Buffalo, so 

 that the extreme points at the distance of from 

 four to five hundred miles will he reached in one 

 year from this time in less than twenty-four 

 hours. The ficilities of communication, the ra- 

 pidity of heavy transport both summer and win- 

 ter, will give to the productions of the New Eng- 

 land States all the additional value that can be 

 desired : the increase of the supply both from 

 the soil and the workshop will but increase the 

 demand. Every thing wilt be rapidly carried, as 

 by the law of gravitation, to that point where it 

 is most wanted, the point of greatest production. 

 If articles are cheapened where they are produc- 

 ed, other articles wanted at the same points will 

 be cheapened to bring all to a level. 



The increased production of wheat in that 

 great world at the West within the last four years 

 is truly wonderful. Five years ago bread stuflTs 

 were carried west from the lake shores of Ohio 

 to sustain the emigrating population of Michigan, 

 Indiana and Illinois : three years ago Ohio was 

 drained of flour and pork to feed the new settlers 

 bordering on lake Erie and lake Michigan. 



Michigan city is at that point of Indiana which 

 runs down to lake Michigan .at the west of the 

 peninsula : it is the port of outlet for Ihe State of 

 Indiana through the northern lake and canal 

 navigation. Laporte, a new county, north of 

 Tippecanoe, is the county which supplies Mich- 

 igan city with its principal trade and business. 

 The Gazette, a newspaper printed at that place, 

 of November 3d, says up to that time, since the 

 harvest of the present year, ther§ had been ship- 

 ped from that port 110,000 bushels of wheat and 

 1.500 barrels of flour ; and that 45,000 bushels 

 more of wheat were in waiting for vessels to 

 transport it to the east : and not one half of the 

 surplus of Laporte, and but a small portion of 

 the wheat from the adjoining counties, was yet 



