THi FARMERS MONTHLY VISITOR 



CONDUCTED BY ISAAC HILL. 



Jliose loho labor ; 



'. chosen people of God, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposite for substantial and genuine i 



VOLUME IV. 



CONCORD, N. H. JAN. 31, 1842. 



NUMBER 1. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



A MONTHLY NEWSPAPER, IS PUBLISHED EV 



JOHN M. HILL, 



HiWs Brick Block, Concord, JV. H. 



GENERA Ta GENTS, 



B. COOKE. Ke.ne, X. II. 

 TH. R. H\MPTO>J, WmhinglonCity, V. C. 

 JOHN M AHSII, (r,i./nn-;m. St. Boston. 

 CHARLI'.S \V \lli;i::\. Ilri'ilrti Roio, Worcester, Mass. 

 A. H. STIL[,\Vi:r,l,. .\.,. I. .Varket Square, Prov.R.J. 

 L.W. HALL & C. Spruv-^fuld. Mass. 



The Visitor will be issued on the last day of each month. 



TERMS. —To single subscribers, Seventy-Jive cents: 

 Three copies lor Tivo Dollars :— Ton copies lor Six Dol- 

 lars: — Twenty -live copies [or Fifteen Dollars. 



The three first volumes, embracing the years 1839, '40, 

 and '41, of the Visitor, are offered as a premium for every 

 ten new subscribers for the year 18-42 obtained and paid 

 for by one person. 



Subscribers iiny commence at their election, either with 

 the January or July number, in each year. An Index and 

 Title Page wUl accompany each year. 



O" Communications by mail will be directed to the 

 Publisher in Concord, jN. H. 



THE VISITOR. 



The editors of the - New Hampshire Book" have 

 discovered their good taste by copying, we believe, every 

 scr.Tp of poetry origin illy pubhshed in the Farmer's Month- 

 ly Visitor Irom the pen oV the late Mrs. Eu nice T.Dan iel.s 

 of Plaiiitield. Her husband has favored us— and for this fa- 

 vor he has our thanks — with three more productions of 

 this sweetest singer of the rjew Hampshire hills, whose 

 constttutiou was too delicate and whose spirit was too an- 

 gelic long to linger in a worUl of p.iin and sorrow. Mr. 

 Daniels iiifoniis us that tliis contribution to us will be the 

 last, since at tiie solicitation of friends he has sent all he 

 could Knd to the city of New York to be published in a 



For the Parmer's Monthly Visitor. 

 THE -WINE-CUP. 



BY THE LATE MRS. EUNICE T. DANIELS. 



They come ! They come ! bring forth the wine ! 



They are gathering round the festive board — 

 See ! how those sparkling goblets shine .' 



And hark ! the bubbling wave is pour'd I— 

 'Tis but a phantom of the brain — 



Nor wine, nor revellers are here — 

 'Tis but the rattling of my chjin. 



And but the mucking Hend 1 hear, 



The mocking fiend ! dark withering power ! 



Nost.iin had soil'd my spotless name, 

 When first in youth's unguarded hour, 



In angel guise, the tempter came — 

 He sought me, with a flower-wreath'd cup 



His lip the smile of friendship wc-e — 

 He bade me quatf the beverage up— 



I drank— and was athirst for more. 



Oh ! would my phrensied hand could tear 



Each pencil'd page from memory's book! 

 For many a pictur'd leaf is there. 



Whereon 'tis madness but to look. — 

 I see my sire's thin silvery hair — 



But ah ! the damp fresh mould is pil'd, 

 And hark a widow'd mother's prayer, 



Pleads sweetly for an outcast child. 



And there was one — my bosom's love — 



Oh ! madly could that bosom spurn 

 The sweetness ol the spirit-dove, 



When gently pleading "turn — oh turn !" 

 I broke me from her white arms' clasp — 



I tura'd me from her mournful eye, 

 And wildly, madly, rush'd to grasp. 



The cursed wine-cup beaming high : 



But she is blest in Eden-bowers — 



Mo cloud upon her angel brow; — 

 But oh ! her babes — her cherish'd flowers ! 



God ! those l)abes, are paupers now : — 

 They quiii to wretches, basely-born — 



They drink the dregs of misery up, — 

 And bide the ieering taunt of scorn 



All, all for thee ! thou cursed cup ! 

 Wretch that I am ! my sun-'aright hopes, 



Sweet visions of my bbyhood's prime, — 

 Rich treasured. mines, that science opes 



.\nd Genius' soaring thoughts sublime, 

 And love, and life, and broad dom lin. 



1 barter'd for the poisonous wave ; 

 Till goaded by a maniac's chain, 



I sink to an untimely gravo. 



Dark wildering visions of the past. 



Blent with the future's dread unknown. 

 With mingling gloom, each ray oercast. 



And reason spurns her crumbling throne, — 

 The fiend, that lur'd me to my doom, 



Sits watching by a yawning grave, 

 With lowering eye and raven plume. 



At last the shrinking soul to crave. 



Essay on Northern Agriculture, 



Bead be/ore Ihe Farmers' Sociely of Barnet, Ft., 



Sept. 30, 1841, by Robert Somers. 



Concluded. 



A considerahle poitioii ol" tlie most valuable 

 parts of iTiaiuire is capable ol' being dissolved in 

 water. Hence land, occupied as pustuie, or 

 wliere top dressiiij;s are applied, should never 

 have the water run over the surtace. Furrows 

 or open ditches sliould be made to prevent wash- 

 ing wherever the earth will not in general absorb 

 the rain as it jails, 



Air and moisture, being essential to the com- 

 position of manure, it follows that it should be 

 covered to a depth proportional to the dryness of 

 the soil. Oil damp solid laud it requires to be 

 on the surliice, or very noar it, but in very dry 

 jioious soil it should be covered sufficiently deej) 

 to retain moisture in the dry part of the season. 

 In case of leachiufr, a quantity of clay should be 

 mixed with the sand, tu strain or separate all 

 lertilily from water_befoie it penetrates too deep, 

 and by excluding ilie air ami retaining moisture, 

 the clay causes decomposition to go on more 

 slow and regular so that the gas will not escape 

 laster than is necessary. From ten to fifteen 

 hundred bushels per acre would be likely to save 

 about one third of the manure, necessary, on some 

 very sa:..iy plains, that is. rerltouin"- f'oi- any con- 

 siderable number ol years. 



From the fact that seed grain needs air, moist- 

 ure, and warmth to make it vegetate, it should 

 also be covered to a depth iiroportional to the 

 dryness of the land. In some instances it has 

 been ibund expedient to substitute the plough 

 for the harrow, taking a shallow furrow, two or 

 three iuclies deep. 



Geology and chemistry may furnish powerful 

 aid to liirmers. Different kinds of rocks and 

 stones, on decomposition, afford carbon, lime, or 

 potash, besides the usual elements of sand and 

 clay. The atmosphere always contains a small 

 quantity of carbon and probably some ammonia 

 (which is an alkali.) Our soils are made up of 

 decomposed and pulverized rocks and stones. 

 Decomposition is perpetually going on, wherever 

 heat, air, and moisture can penetrate. The rocks, 

 stones, air and earth contain all the elements of 

 fertility, excepting heat and light. Hence a pos- 

 sibility of renovating worn-out land, without pur- 

 chasing manure. Carbon, lime and potash are 

 the parts most likely to be exhausted by crop- 

 ping. If all of them are naturally abundant in 

 the soil, renovation will be much easier than 

 where one or more of them are scarce. The 

 roots and leaves of plants collect from earth and 

 air, in proportion to their number and size. 

 Bushes and trees that have leaves, collect more 

 than grass or grain, on account of extending 

 their roots to a greater depth, and spreading out 

 more surface to absorb troiii the atmosphere. 



One crop concentrates a quantity of matter, 

 which may become food for another, if suffered 

 lo decomp'ose in the soil where it grew. A sec- 

 ond crop in this case finds materials to make a 

 vigorous stand, and extend roots and branches 

 to greater distances, and thus collect additional 

 matter to the former store, and so on until the 

 plants have a sufficiency within reach to afford 

 all the means of growth that their nature requires. 

 In this way, ploughing down green crops, espe- 

 cially such as have much roots and leaves, in- 

 creases the fertility of the land. 



Provided the soil is naturally deficient, either 

 in common lime, plaster, or potash, renovation 

 cannot succeed well by ploughing down green 



crops, until these things are artificially supplied. 

 A compound of limestone, granite, and mica 

 slate, indicates a well constituted soil. Chemical 

 analysis is a more sure criterion, if the whole 

 subject of chemistry combined with agriculiure 

 was thoroughly understood. If the natural 

 growth is such as will afford a large quantity of 

 potash, on being reduced to ashes, it is a favora- 

 ble indication. For example, n large heavy 

 growth of maple, beech and elm, especially ma- 

 ple and elm, are good symptoms, if t'le land is 

 not too wet. Much sorrel indicates too much 

 acidity. Hemlock, spruce, pine and other kinds 

 of soft wood often predominate, in consequence 

 of too much acid, or loo little potash and lime. 



DKAIMNG. 



There are various opinions of the value of 

 draining ; probably much is depending on cir- 

 c'lmstances. Some of our best liirmers make 

 use of covered drains. A metho.I of this kind 

 has been commenced in Barnet which seems to 

 answer a good purpose, although expensive. It 

 is to dig narrow ditches about two and a half or 

 three feet deep, and place small stones on their 

 edge in an open manner in the bottom, then oth- 

 ers more compactly on top of the first, until the 

 ditch is filled up perhaps about one and a half 

 feet, and a covering of inverted sods is placed 

 on top of the stoiies, and earth on top of the 

 whole ; and lastly, as an im])ortant protection of 

 the work, open furrows are made in such a man- 

 ner as to carry off all surface water, which must 

 not be permitted to run over the drains in any 

 quantity. Slight variations oi' the same method 

 are practit;ed hi Danville and many other places. 

 They should have just suffic'-int inclination to 

 let the water run freely. If too sieep, they will 

 be liable to gully ; if too level, to choke. 



If the land has much descent, the drains should 

 run obliquely across the inclination. It does not 

 require so many of them, when they are cut 

 across the direction of the water. Inclinations 

 varying from one to fourdegrees are perhaps the 

 best. One degree is probably rather flat, how- 

 ever, to be safe about choking. It is also impor- 

 tant to have the covering stones close, to prevent 

 holes from breaking through. All kinds of 

 drains do more good in proportion to run oblique- 

 ly across the direction of the water. This meth- 

 od applies to clear land, where labor and mate- 

 rials are comparatively cheap. It is considered 

 much the best method when the expense will 

 justify the practice. 



A much less expensive system is to have open 

 drains ; they carry off surfiice water and all to- 

 gether, and thereby save the necessity of having 

 open furrows. They are easily kefit in repair, 

 but waste land, and are inconvenient to pass 

 with a team, and do not in general preserve the 

 beautiful appearance of the field so well as by 

 the other method. 



Another way is to plough the land into ridges, 

 making them like turnpikes. Where a wet field 

 requires to he often ploughed, draining may cost 

 less in this way than by any other method. If 

 the surface soil is of a porous nature, and no 

 trouble from springs rising from below, they may 

 be made from two to six rods wide, and raised 

 until sufficiently dry. 



In wet climales and clay soil, as is the case in 

 some parts of Scotland, narrow and high ridges, 

 in addition to under drains, are indispensable. 

 But in this country, where the soil in general is 

 comparatively open and porous, and the atmos- 

 phere warm and dry, the necessity for narrow 

 tidges probably does not often exist, where 

 ditching is pro()erly attended to. At any rate 

 they are not so important. 



Another method of improving wet land, with 

 a hard pan, only six or eight inches below the 

 surface, is to get a large stout plough, and a 

 strong team, ami turn over the sod ten or twelve 

 inches deep, or what is perhaps better, to have a 

 subsoil plough follow one of the cdniiion biwj 



