NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



221 



'iiait Dost (jroper lor makiiiff tlietn into cider. Ap- 

 ^Ker )les until mellow do not attain their highest fla- 

 ' iliiUor ; and till then cannot give the highest fla- 

 •imror to cider. Many reach that mellow-ripe 

 ' ; itate in Octoher and November, which may be 

 ailed the cider-making months in Massachu- 

 (etts. It would require but little attention to 

 select and propagate the best apples thus ripen- 

 ing in succession. Such ciders, made of ripe 

 ,,,|,jand unmixed fruits, would be more easily man- 

 jjjaged ui the most difficult and iinpnr'ant part of 

 ,)„the process of cider-making — its first fermenta- 

 lytion; on the right or wrong conducting of which 

 ; ,y the character of the cider depends. In one case 

 tJit will be soft and pleasant — in the other bard 

 and austere. 



The Trustees of this Society have. I believe 

 for several years, been offering a liberal pre- 

 mium to encourage the 



Turning in of Geeen Crops, 

 as a mode of manuring land: but I do not recol- 

 lect that the premium has been claimed. It has 

 been an ancient practice in other countries ; 

 and is not unknown in our own country. Dr. 

 liiJ ElioJ (whom I have already had occasion to 

 m mention) noticed it seventy years ago, in his 

 m Essays on Field Husbandry ; and recommended 

 M millet as a plant well adapted to that purpose. 

 ifi| The seed being but little bigger than cabbage 

 seed, a small quantity will be sufficient for an 

 acre. I have often heard of the turning in of 

 Green Crops being occasionally practiced in 

 Pennsylvania. Many years since, an intelligent 

 man of that State mentioned to me a farmer, 

 who had purchased a farm in a township re- 

 markable for the general poverty of the soil ; 

 and that he improved his own by ploughing in 

 if green crops— buckwheat, oats, rye ; — turning 

 them in repeatedly, until the land produced 

 crops worth harvesting. Sir John Sinclair, in 

 Lis Code of Agriculture, speaks of the practice 

 of ploughing in buckwheat and other crops, 

 when manure was deficient. But he says that 

 in Lincolnshire, buckwheat had for several 

 years been ploughed in as a manure, and ulti- 

 mately given up as doing no good. He then adds 

 — " Unless so far as nourished by the atmos- 

 phere, the vegetables thus treated are supposed 

 merely to restore the nourishment obtained 

 from the soil." And this is the very principle 

 on which the ploughing in of green crops ma- 

 terially depends. The plants while growing 

 derive a portion of their food from the air ; and 

 being turned in, so far at least add manure to 

 the soil. But this is not all the benefit : weeds 

 spring up with the sown green crops, and are 

 sown in with them ; thus increasing the manure, 

 and at the same time cleaning the ground tor a 

 harvest crop. But besides the growing plants, 

 the soil itself, under their shade, made light by 

 the ploughing and harrowing, is also receiving 

 a portion of the same fertilizing airs. Lord 

 Kames, however, in his Gentleman Farmer, 

 says — " I approve not of ploughing down buck- 

 wheat, red clover, or any other crop, Ibr ma- 

 nure. The best way of converting a crop into 

 manure is, to pass it through the body of an ani- 

 mal. The dung and urine,not to mention the profit 

 of feeding, will enrich the ground more than to 

 plough down the crop." Notw.thstanding these 

 authorities — and the opinion of Lord Kames is 

 entitled to very great respect — I am inclined to 

 think that the circumstances nn I coii.lili. n of 

 many farms may be sueb as to render the 



practice eligible ; particularly when manure is 

 deficient ; — and where is it not deficient ? Is 

 it not a received fact, when lands have been 

 impoverished by cropping without manuring, 

 that by letting them lie a few years at >ts/, they 

 acquire such a degree of fertility as to bear, a 

 crop of some sort that rewards the farmer's toil ? 

 ll this happen to unseeded land, thrown out as 

 waste, how much sooner may it be recovered 

 when sown with buckwheat, oats, rye or millet, 

 and the crops when in full blossom ploughed in ? 

 If this product be small, let the land be again 

 sown, and a second crop be ploughed in. And 

 if a third sowing and ploughing in were given, 

 what would be the whole expense ? A trifle 

 compared with a dressing with stable or barn 

 yard manure — if it could be procured. This is 

 to be carted to the field and spread, in order to 

 be ploughed in : but the green crop is on the 

 ground, and evenly spread, ready for the opera- 

 tion of the plough. But leaving all theoretical 

 reasoning, I will recur to well authenticated 

 facts. 



The late distinguished agricultural writer, 

 Arthur Young, Secretary to the English Board 

 of Agriculture, so lately as the year 1811, de- 

 livered before that body an interesting lecture, 

 to describe the husbandry and speak the praises 

 of three celebrated British Farmers. One of 

 these was Mr. Ducket, who occupied in succes- 

 sion, two " sand farms ;" that is, farms in whose 

 soil sand was predominant. It was one of the 

 practices of this very ingenious farmer, to 

 plough in green crops to enrich his land. And 

 to do it effectually, he contrived a plough with 

 which, when drawn by four horses, he could 

 open his furrows to the depth of eight or ten 

 inches, and in them perfectly bury his green 

 crops. The opening ot so deep a furrow was 

 called Treiich-plovghing ; and by the simple ad- 

 dition of an arm partly curved, and fixed on the 

 right side of the coulter, at the desired height of 

 eight or ten inches above the sole or bottom of 

 the share, the growing crop was pressed to the 

 ground ; and the furrow-slice raised by the 

 plough, following close behind and turned com- 

 pletely over, perfectly buried the crop and 

 weeds. This coulter of Ducket's trench plough, 

 with the curved arm attached to it, is called a 

 skim-couUer. The arm must necessarily extend 

 so far to the right as the breadth of the furrow ; 

 and just at that extreme, I conceive, the curve 

 downward begins, so as, when the growing crop 

 is pressed flat, the stems or straws may not 

 spread out any further; and being thus confin- 

 ed, are completely overwhelmed. Hence there 

 would be no vegetation in the seams of the fur- 

 rows. " By means of this tool (says Mr. Young) 

 I have repeatedly seen on his farm, stubbles 

 completely turned down, and crops of turnips, 

 tares and other plants instantly put in ; which 

 crops I have afterwards viewed with equal plea- 

 sure and surprise ; the execution was as com- 

 plete as the design was sagacious : but it went 

 further — converting the nuisance of any weeds 

 into manure. So efi'ective was the work of the 

 plough, that I once saw him turn down a crop 

 of rye six feet high, and immediately roll in 

 turnip seed. The efiect did not depend so much 

 on an extraordinary depth of ploughing, as on 

 the subversion of the soil ; for of the rye I have 

 just alluded to, not an aiora was left vis- 

 ible ; and yet the depth did not exceed eight 

 inches But if there be Cuucii [twitch grass] 



in the soil, this ploughing is ten inches deep ; 

 and the succeeding crop in any case well hand- 

 hocd. This trench-ploughing system is not 

 practiced above once in two or three years, and 

 the successive tillage shallow, upon the surface. 

 By such deep ploughing, seldom given, Mr. 

 Ducket conceived that a due degree of mois- 

 ture was preserved in his light land ; by means of 

 which his crops were flourishing in seasons 

 of drought which destroyed those of his neigh- 

 bors." 



Here perhaps the question will occur — were 

 Mr. Ducket's improvements adopted by other 

 farmers? Mr. Young says they were, by some 

 of his enlightened brethren. Why thev were 

 not generally imitated, Mr. Young ascribes (I 

 repeat his words) to " the perversity which 

 characterizes the ignorance of English farmers." 

 Again he says, " If our farmers would have 

 adopted the practices really excellent, as soon 

 as they were known, British agriculture would 

 forty years ago have arrived at its present 

 state ; and at this time the kingdom would have 

 been a garden." 



In connexion with this account of Mr. Duck- 

 et's practice, I take leave to suggest the ne- 

 cessity, or at least the great utility, of an oc- 

 casional fallowing; primarily, in order to de- 

 stroy the weeds which infest so many fields, 

 and essentially injure all crops of small grain, 

 especially spring wheat, which ripening more 

 slowly than rye and barley, is much more op- 

 pressed by the weeds. In eflecting the object 

 here suggested, and to enrich the soil while 

 making a fallow, I would recommend the fol- 

 lowing mode of practice. As soon as it can be 

 done in the spring, plough, sow and harrow in 

 the seed of the crop intended to be turned in. 

 Weeds will spring and grow with the crop. — 

 When the latter is in full blossom, turn it in. 

 Immediately sow for a second crop. With this 

 also will arise another crop of weeds; and both, 

 as before, are to be turned in. Should the sea- 

 son permit, and the foulness of the ground re- 

 quire it, sow for a third crop, to be ploughed 

 in, like the former, before winter. A field thus 

 managed will be in good order for a crop of 

 barley, summer wheat, rye or oats, in the ensu- 

 ing spring; and of either a comparatively clea« 

 crop may be expected. 



This dressing with green crops, valuable as 

 I conceive it to be, need not be confined to sand 

 farms ; it will be not less beneficial in all light 

 gravelly loams, which I suppose rather to abound 

 in Massachusetts ; certainly, stiff, clayey loams 

 are not common. 



A feif concise remarks on the general princi- 

 ple, and on some of the objects of these annual 

 exhibitions, will conclude this address. 



It is supposed, and justly, that these public 

 shovvs, by exciting an emulation among farmers, 

 will lead to important improvements in our hus- 

 bandry. The general question which the case 

 presents, is. What will be the easiest, cheapest, 

 and most effectual means to accomplish this 

 great object ? A principal one has been to grant 

 premiums for the greatest crops of specified 

 plants on given quantities of land. One pleas- 

 ing result has appeared — that by ample manur- 

 ing and good culture, the usual crops of the same 

 plants may be doubled and trebled. But is it 

 necessary to continue premiums of this kind? 

 May not now the management of farms rather 

 claim attentioD ? Instead of xiumerous small pr*- 



