222 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



miums dispersed on a variety of objects, mififht 

 they not be ailvan'ageonsly concentrated lor tlie 

 purpose lierc intimated — the cleanest, most eco- 

 nomical, the most productive manajjcm ?nt of 

 farms? Fur it must be such a general improve- 

 ment of the entire farm that will constimtr. the 

 farmer^s permanent prosperity. The decision of 

 claims on this ground cannot be expected to be 

 made by a committee of this Society to travel 

 through the whole State : but will it not be 

 practicable by county committees'? Perhaps 

 it may not be diflinult for the Trustee; of the 

 Slate Society to prescribe some general prin- 

 ciples and rules of proceeding, that may pro- 

 duce uniformity in the reports of county com- 

 mittees acting under their direction. 



In ploughing, the just aim must be to make 

 straiglit furrows, and of a uniform breadth and 

 depth ; and so turn over the furrou-slice as 

 completely to cover whatever plants or manure 

 are upon it. All this cannot be effected with a 

 hurried step. And what benefit can possibly 

 result from such a step ? A farmer's oxen at 

 the plough must labor a great part of the day 

 properly to turn over an acre. To do this 

 without a driver, will require a skilful plough- 

 man and well trained oxen. To encourage the 

 forming of such ploughmen and oxen, should, I 

 conceive, be the sole object of ploughing match- 

 es. Working-oxen at the plough, may be con- 

 sidered as well traincil when they obey the 

 voice of the jtloughman, keep the track in 

 which they ought to move, and step as ijuick as 

 will be compatible with the necessary continu- 

 ance of their labor. And as the annual exhibi- 

 tions at this place have demonstrated the ['racti- 

 cabilily of performing the o-tHfj-u/ operations of 

 the plough with one yoke of oxen, without a 

 driver, it may merit consideration whether pre- 

 miums should not be thus limited in all future 

 trials with the plough. Under such limitation'^, 

 every farmer who is ambitious to exhltjit prof)ls 

 of superiority in these points, would be sensible 

 that his oxen must attain a certain size, and be. 

 though not fat, yet well fleshed ; which would 

 ffivcstren2:th to their sinews and momentum to 

 their exertions. With such oxen all our agri- 

 cultural labors would be so well performed, 

 that there would be no room to envy the con- 

 dition of farmers in any of our sister States; 

 in some of w hich, their horses consume perhaps 

 as much grain as would furnish bread to all the 

 inhabitants of New-England. 



for the new engi.a.nd farmer. 



Mr. Fesseniien, 



The improvements in agriculture which have 

 recently' and generally been adopted in our coun- 

 try, while they evince the intelligence and en- 

 terprise of the I'armer, have given him pre-em- 

 inence among the benefactors of the common- 

 wealth. He has acquired the skill of improvnig 

 his soil, and possessed himself of the best imple- 

 ments for its cultivation. He is judicious in his 

 rotation of crops, best adapted to the soil \n ref- 

 erence to the succession. He prci)arcs his seed 

 in the best manner, and sows it ;it the season 

 most favorable to vegetation, and with a liber- 

 ality which promises the greatest abimdancc. 

 Thus tar is well, and gives a fair indication that 

 the details of liis whole system are iii unison. 

 Still I am apprehensive that most fanners are 

 too inattentive to the must essential requisite in 

 good husbandry — 1 mean in the selection of their 



seed, generally, but particularly to the purity of 

 the kind sown, broadcast, upon their best pre- 

 pared Soil. One error, here, may mar our whole 

 system, and render our skill productive oi as 

 much evil as good. On poor and worn out land, 

 the evil of sowing a mixture of impure seed, 

 with grain or grass seed, would ba great — but 

 where the ground is in high order, the crop is 

 more injured ; the noxious plants take lirmor 

 hold, and are more difficult to be eradicated. 



I have known farms, otherwise ^vell cultivat- 

 ed and productive, incalculably diminished in 

 their value from neglect in this precaution. 1 

 have seen fields of grain in such lull blossom 

 with wild turnips, as to appear the standard 

 crop. I have seen others so choked and entan- 

 gled as to render it doubtl'ul whether the cul- 

 ture of rije or tares was intended. I have further 

 seen extensive enclosures of luxuriant grain 

 overtopped by the gaudy and luxuriant Canada 

 thistle, or more stately dock. 



I have no objection to the owners of these 

 farms regaling themselves and their cattle with 

 this nauseous mixture, if it best suits their taste 

 — but I protest against their vending it to oth- 

 ers for food — more especially for seed. In the 

 latter case, they do an act, worse than most 

 things which are considered frauds in other 

 transactions. To sell me a diseased animal, as 

 sound, would be a small injury compared with 

 the selling me a bushel of oats with the mixture 

 of an ounce of tares or wild turnip seed. The 

 animal might die, and I should lose only my 

 money, and some expense in endeavoring to 

 save him; but my farm has received a malady 

 of which it cannot be cured for years, nor ever, 

 without much expense of time and labor. 



These sentimeuts, in the abstract, will appear 

 pertinent to every judicious farmer — but I fear 

 (here are many, like myself, whose reflections 

 have been called to the subject by experience. 

 Making it my rule that nothing should be suf- 

 fered to grow which injured the crop, my vex- 

 ation was extreme when in two instances the 

 grain which 1 had purchased for seed commu- 

 nicated a profusion of wild turnip to mv ground. 

 By great care and diligence through the sum- 

 mer, I in both instances succeeded in prevent- 

 ing a further spreading — but the time spent, 

 and the injury to my grain in eradicating il. 

 made a deduction of nearly half the value of 

 the crop, besides a further trouble from the 

 seed which was brought to vegetate in succeed- 

 ing years. In the s|)ring of 1821 I laid a tJeld 

 down to grass with rye. Learning that a farmer 

 in town had raised a rare and valuable kind, I 

 purchased, at an enhanced price, a supply for 

 sowing. The grain appeared well ; but so be- 

 set will) tares that it was useless to attemp* to 

 pull them out. After harvesting I dug up ivhat 

 roots 1 could find, and secured many of the un- 

 shelled pods. Instead of mowing the grass the 

 present season, as I intended, I turned in mv 

 cows to prevent the further seeding of this 

 baneful plant, in this case the damage was not 

 only great, but what is worse, there is no cal- 

 culating its duration. 



There was culpable error, I admit, in sowing 

 any gritin without carefully examining it. Tiii^ 

 negligence is too common. The only pall'at.'on 

 in my case, was, that I purchased it of pers(i:i.. 

 who pass for good farmers. Dut the security 

 ol' having good seed ought uot to depend ujiou 

 the inspection of the buyer. If he is vigilant 



himself, he ma) often be und.-.- the nece-sity ' 

 entrusting his business to others who are u^ 

 faithful. The seller, if he raises the seed 

 l<nows whether it be impure. If it is so, it is] 

 fraud ; for the consequence of which, he ough 

 10 be made liable. But whether he raises it 

 not, if it IS bad, the effect is the s^me to thi" 

 f'urchascr ; and the render should be answera^ 

 ble. 



In England, wholesale renders of seed are rel 

 quired by law to brand their casks with theil 

 names : and all who sell are responsible to thl 

 pure baser if the seed is bad. In this commonj 

 wealth, where agriculture is so liberally pati 

 roniscd by the Legislature, a law of this kin(f 

 is obviously required and expected. The lirsl 

 dawnings of this kind, in that body, upon the 

 subject of the Canada Thistle, are hailed with 

 pleasure. But it is hoped that while they are 

 endeavoring to expel a foreign enemy, they wi III 

 not be unmindful of domestic foes, more insid-l 

 ious and destructive. 



Yours, with respect, 



O. FISKE. 



Worcester, January io, 1823. 



THE FARMER. 



BO.STO.V .—S.iTVRD.'ir, FEB. 8, 1823. 



Mr. Pickering's Address. — We are sure that our col-l 

 umns coiikl not have been better filled than with thel 

 able Address of the Hon. Timothv Fickeri.vg, which I 

 occufiies most of the pages of our present number. Itl 

 is true that many of our readers will be furnished with! 

 this valuable paper from the Massachusetts Agricultu- 

 ral Repository, in which it originally appeared. Bull 

 there are others, who, it seems, have for some time been | 

 waiting with solicitude for its appearance in our paper. 

 We have repeatedly been requested to furnish it, and I 

 are now happy in complying with the wishes of our 

 friends, who have made such applications, 



AVc are somewhat at a loss how to express our opin- I 

 ion of this Address in such a manner as to convey our 

 real sentiments ; and at the same time avoid the ap- 

 pearance of that kind of encomium which ofti n dis- 

 pleases men of merit. We shall, however, venture a 

 few words, with a disposition to say no more tlian truth 

 justifies, and justice demands. 



Although the subjects of the Address arc not only' 

 important, but many of them abstruse, forming what 

 may be styled the metaphysics of ch'mistry and physi- 

 ology ; still there appears to be nothing in Mr, Picker- 

 ing's observations, which is hard to be understood. 



\olumes alter volumes have been written on the food of 

 plants ; the elements, or chemical constituents of vege- 

 tables ; the mode of operation, the manner of apply- 

 ing, and the benefits resulting from the application of 

 lime ; the dilTerent kinds of earth necessary to coBsti- 

 tute fertile soils ; the burning of clay for manure ; the 

 obstacles, v.hich prejudice, and a pertinacious adher- 

 ence to old u.sages oppose to improvements in agricul- 

 ture, and the best means of overcoming such obstacles ; 

 1h< best methods ofaccumulating and applying manure; 

 mt ihods to iinprovi the different breeds of live stock, 

 ,vc. &c. But we do not ri tn.tmber ever to have seen 

 so many, and such important topics comprehended in 

 even more than double the number of pages conlainingf 

 Mr. Pickering's remat ks on those subjects. But, though 

 th' progress of the orator was necessarily rapid, from 

 the great extent of tb.. field, which he undertook to 

 survey, 'le was able to shed new light on every object 

 which e.ame in hi» ci'urse. In short, we never read aa 

 agricultural essay, which, iu our opinion, exhibits s» 



