68 farmers' and mechanics' journal. 



time under cultivation, and is sometimes called old land. A few 

 Queries, in regard to the mode of changing wild into cultivated 

 land, will be found among the Miscellaneous Questions at the end. 

 Some repetitions of ideas may occur, in consequence of presenting 

 the same subject under dilferent points of vievr. The questions 

 have been rendered minute, with the belief that the labor of an- 

 swering them would thus be diminished. 



" Permit me respectfully to request your answers^ and those of 

 your agricultural friends, to these Queries, or at least, to such of 

 them, as have been the subject of your experiments and observa- 

 tions. Any important facts and observations, connected with Ag- 

 riculture, although not direct answers to any of the following Que- 

 ries, are also solicited. — It would perhaps be more useful and plea- 

 sant, if two or more individuals, resident in the same town, should 

 unite in furnishing a joint answer. 



" It is requested, that your answer? may be communicated as 

 early as December, IS'28, or as soon after as may be convenient ; 

 and to avoid unnecessary expense, it is also requested, that they 

 may be sent to the subscriber by private conveyance, or. if more 

 convenient, to the care of Josiah VV. Seaver, South Bencick, Judah 

 Dana, Fryeburg, Wm. C. Whitney, Hebron, William Ladd. Minot, 

 Stephen Longfellow, Portland, Eleazar Coburn, Bloomfield, Tho- 

 mas Eastman, Palermo, Jedidiah Herrick, Hampden, Wm. Abbot, 

 Castine, or Rufus K. Porter, West Machias. 



" Yours respectfully, Parker Cleaveland. 



''Bowdoin College, Dec. 5, 1827." 



QUERIES, 



ADDRESSED TO THE FARMERS OF MAINE. 



1. How many acres of cleared land do Farms in your town or 

 vicinity generally contain ; and what is the usual reserve of wood- 

 land for fuel, and to furnish timber for occasional purposes ? 



2. What proportions of the cleared land, in farms under good 

 cultivation, are devoted to pasturage, mowing, and tillage, respec- 

 tively ? 



3. Rotation of Crops. W^hat is the usual rotation or succession 

 of crops on the same piece of ground ? 



What order or succession of crops is found beneficial to the soil ? 

 What crops, or succession of crops, are found peculiarly exhaust- 

 ing, or injurious to the soil ? 



What crops, if any, can be raised with advantage, for several years 

 in succession, from the same piece of land, and under what circum- 

 stances ? 

 Has the subject of rotation of crops received much attention ? 



4. Would not the same quantity of labor and manure, usually 

 employed on tillage land, be more productive, if expended on a 

 number of acres somewhat less ? 



5. Soil. What varieties of soil in your vicinity, in regard to 

 sand, clay, loam, dryness, and moisture ? 



What is the most common variety, and its average depth ? 



