NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



283 



flocks, and thus add another feature to this somewhat 

 national exhilntion, which will be made at the New 

 York State Fair. A. L. BINGHAM. 



Cornwall, Vt., July 16, 1849." 



CLAY. 



This earth is, as most of your readers arc prohahlv 

 well awaic, "a coin]50und of silica and alumina." 

 Tiicsc con-;titucnts are not merely miiit^led to<j;other, 

 but chemically cnmhinod. In much of the clay 

 found in nature, there is an extra quantity of silica, 

 " whiuh exists in it in the form of sand, of various 

 de3;rees of fineness." Clay also, in all cases, con- 

 tains iron '• in a hisi'hor or lower state of oxidation, 

 and it is probable that this metal constitutes an es- 

 sential jiart of it." This, indeed, is now the preva- 

 lent view taken of the subject, by those who have 

 most carefully examined it, and there appeirs but 

 little ground to doubt the correctness of tTie conclu- 

 sion. This matter, oxide, is of various colors, and 

 is, indeed, dependent UDon the deajree of oxidation. 

 It is sometimes red, soniotimes black, brown, and 

 yellow. The " black indicates the lowest degree of 

 oxidation, and the red the hii^he-it." 



As a general thing, the presence of clay, in some 

 quantity, seems to be indisjiensable to the iertility of 

 soils ; and hence I tind that light, pulverulent, and 

 sabulous loams are decidedly improved by spreading 

 clay upon them, and mixin'^ it, in a pulverized state, 

 with the superior stratum, or surface soil, and in such 

 quantity as is necessary to insure an increased ab- 

 sorbent ])ower, as well as greater compressibilitv of 

 the entire stratum which is the medium of vegetable 

 germination and growth. Plains land, which is 

 almost and invariably of a sandy texture, possessed 

 of little ]n-oductive energy, and too light to be suc- 

 cessfully worked, becomes highly fertile when highly 

 ameliorated by liberal applications of clay. 



A friend of mine from the east remarks, in refer- 

 ence to the subject of amalgamation, as follows : 

 " When I commenced life, my means were too lim- 

 ited to allow of my purchasing, or even seriously 

 thinking of such a farm as I wished to possess. 

 Compelled by neces.sity, I thereibre ' sat down ' on a 

 tract of ' plains land,' which I purchased for two 

 dollars i)er acre. The growth was mostly pine, and 

 a species of dwarf vegetation, called here 'gray 

 birch,' with a profuse ' crop ' of underbrush, com- 

 posed of fern, whortleberry, and other diminutive 

 shrubs. 



" As soon as the soil was broken, I commenced 

 hauling on clay, and have continued the practice 

 constantly ever since. I have now brought most of 

 my farm to a degree of jiroductiveness not surpassed, 

 I presume, by the best loam lands in the state. The 

 last season, I harvested ninety-seven and a half 

 buslicls of sound Indian corn from an acre, and from 

 a field adjoining, measuring four acres, I took eight 

 and three fourths tons of English hay — nearly two 

 and a quarter tons per acre. I am still improving 

 these fields by continuing the process of amalgama- 

 tion — there being not yet clay enough to qualify the 

 sand." 



A MONTGOMERY COUNTY FARMER. 



Jiihj 10, 1849. 

 — Germantown Teleijraph. 



Rkmarks by Editor N. E. Farmer. — In New 

 England, there are a great many thousand acres of 

 light lands that are regarded as almost worthless, that 

 might be rendeied fertile by the addition of cla)- and 

 good culture ; and clay banks are common near such 

 lands. Y'et these lands, for miles and miles in extent, 

 even near good markets, are neglected, while many 



farmers have passed by them, gone thirty to one 

 hundred miles farther into the interior, and there till 

 a hard, rugged soil for scanty crops, and pass over 

 these lands of easy culture, on their way to market, 

 with their produce, which has cost as much in its 

 transportation as it would to raise the same produce 

 on these light lands, if placed under judicious man- 

 agement. 



HOUSE CISTERNS. 



It is frequently the case that farmers and others 

 are so circumstanced as to render a constant and full 

 supply of water impracticable. We have now in our 

 mind's eye a beautiful village, containing a popula- 

 tion of some one hundred or more, in which there is 

 but one well ! The village in question is located on 

 an eminence, from which the land descends in every 

 direction, and which is surrounded, at its base, with 

 numerous springs and rills of excellent vvater. The 

 well is about eighty feet deep, and the expense of 

 digging it proved the experiment to be too costly to 

 warrant its repetition; consequently, it is the only 

 well in the place, and the proprietor is remunerating 

 himself for his outlay in digging it, by a regular tax 

 on the neighbors, who use his water, at so much a 

 year. In such situations, the construction of cisterns 

 for the reception of rain water, is the only resource, 

 and when the formation of them is properly conduct- 

 ed, will secure a full supply of the necessary article, 

 for ordinary domestic and household uses, the year 

 round. The cost of a good cistern, sulHciently capa- 

 cious to hold from one to two hundred lio^sheads, 

 need not be great, as a very large proportirni of the 

 woik can be performed by the hired help during 

 seasons of leisure. One of the greatest inconven- 

 iences a farmer can experience, especially in a dry 

 sea-ion, is the lack of a sufficient supjily of water. 

 The following method of constructing cisterns, of 

 large or small size, is said to be common in many 

 places, and to be the most economical of any yet dis- 

 covered : The workmen proceed first to dig a hole, 

 of a circular form, and of the desired ca[)acity, at the 

 place where a cistern is wanted, and shape it after 

 the usual fashion of an earthen pot, which shape is 

 deemed best adapted to give strength. Care should 

 be taken to have the sides as smooth and even as 

 possible. The plasterer then comes to give it a coat 

 of mortar, made of hydraulic cement and clean sand, 

 in the proportion of one part of the lormijr to two of 

 the latter, wet with water to a suitable consistency. 

 This is plastered immediately against the sides of the 

 pit, beginning at the bottom and extending upward, 

 and on the horizontal part of the offset to the per- 

 pendicular part. If the soil should be sandy, it may 

 occasion some trouble to the plasterer, which an 

 expert workman can readily overcome, and if any 

 part should cave a little, a few broken bricks or 

 stones may be put in to hold up the sand or caving 

 earth, till the first coat is put on, which will soon 

 harden and sustain the earth in its place. When 

 this coat is sutiicicntly dry, of which the workman 

 can judge, a second must be added, then a third, 

 each about half an inch in thickness. These render 

 the sides perfectly secure against the caving of the 

 earth, forming a powerful stone pot or cistern, which 

 hardens and strengthens for proper use. The roof or 

 caving is lodged upon the offset, and should be made 

 of two inch plank, leaving a suitable hole for draw- 

 ing the water, or the insertion of a pumj). One bar- 

 rel of cement is suthcient for a cistern holding eighty 

 barrels of water, and more than suthcient, where the 

 soil is compact and the sides of the excavation fair 

 and smooth. AGiUCOLA. 



Lower Dublin, June 27, 1849. 

 — Germantown Teleyraph. 



