<«^t]S '^iJcdx^ 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aoricdltorai. WABEHonsE.) 



I.. XXII.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 4, 1843. 



[NO. 14. 



N . E . FARMER 



I BENJAMIN SHURTLEFF, Jr.'s FARM, 



CHELSEA. 



iVe were f.ivored, a few day-s since, with llie 

 lOrtuiiity to take a liasty view of Mr Benj. Sliurt- 

 ', Jr.'s farm in Chelsea. This farm was pur- 

 sed by Dr. Benj. Sliurtleff, of Boston, ahout five 

 ra since, and by him conveyed to his son, the 

 sent owner. Dr. ShurtletT is well known to 

 ny of onr readers as a gentleman deeply inter- 

 ed in, and enthusiastically attached to agriciil- 

 al pursuits, and althou^'h he is not at pre.^ent 

 sonally enjjaged in farniinjr, yet his past experi- 

 :e and frequent visits to his son's farm, enables 

 1 to note every operation and know the result, 

 ,h as much e.xactnes8 as though he were per- 

 ally concerned in the minutia; of the everyday 

 rk. The great improvements made on this 

 Ti during the five years' occupancy of Mr Shurt- 

 I'and the supervision of the father, has induced 

 to make a few inquiries of our respected friend, 

 )wing his willingness to communicate any thing 

 ich ni'iy be beneficial to the farming interest; 

 1 our apology for thus addressing him, must be 

 public good. 



Boston, Sept. 2G//i, 1843. 

 Dr. Bknj. SnuRTLEFF : — Respected Sir : Since 



ride with you to your son's farm in Chol.sea, 

 t week, I have been revolving in my rnind the 

 3t mode of presenting to the public through the 



E. Farmi!r, the instruction which may be de- 

 ed from the visit. The time to make observa- 

 na was so limited that I cannot do justice to the 

 m without making a few more inquiries, " Yan- 

 e like," tor the benefit of all. As I know you 

 3 not •■^ the habit of withholding good when it 

 in your power to impart it, I shall ask for fur- 

 ;r inforrna'.ion with the more assurance. 

 1st. How many acres does the farm contain ? 

 Iiat proportion of pasturage, tillage, English 

 jss, marsh, &c. 



2d. You remarked that when you first took pos- 

 ssion of the farm, there was not five tons of Eng- 

 h hay cut upon the place, and that you now 

 t about lUO tons. How much ground was mow. 



then ? How much now ? You informed me 

 It you had purchased but very little manure. 

 jw was it possible, then, to increase the quanti- 

 of hay at such a rate, and what were the means 

 ed to etfect such an extraordinary renovation ? 

 3d. You showed me a swale now producing large 

 ops of English hay, which you assured me was 

 vered a ft:w years since, with swamp bushes of 

 ery description, and was a useless waste, like 

 le you pointed out to mo beyond your premises, 

 ow did you manage to bring this into so produc- 

 es and fine a state ? 



4th. You said something about cutting bushes 



August, in the old of the moon, when the sign 

 as in the heart, as a sure mode of killing them, 

 have had the impression that this was all " moon- 

 line," but your experience appears to prove the 



contrary. What has been your practice and the 

 result ? 



.5th. I noticed a very luxuriant patch of corn- 

 fodder, eight or ten feet in height, and was told 

 that it was fed out to the milch cows. Is this 

 good husbandry .' How much corn do you sow to 

 the acre, to produce such a crop, and when is the 

 time to sow it .' How many tons of green fodder 

 do you suppose may he considered a fair estimate 

 for an aero of ground, and how is it prepared and 

 manured ? 



Cth. r perceived you had a very convenient barn, 

 spacious and well arranged, and, what is best of 

 all, well filled. 1 think yon said it was 1.50 feet 

 by 40, with 18 feet posts. I was particularly 

 ,=truck with the fine cellar under the whole. 1 

 counted 40 split stone pillars of massive dimen- 

 sions, 10 or i'i feet high, to support the front and 

 centre of the building, with the back wall set into 

 the side hill from 13 to 1(3 feet high, of beautiful 

 mason work, and very substantial. Will you favor 

 me with a more particular description of the barn, 

 with cost, as near as you are able to give ; the 

 manner in which you save the manure, and intend 

 to finish your root cellar, and convey water to your 

 cattle? 



7lh. I was shown three different qualities of 

 salt hay in the barn. The first was what you call- 

 ed "goose grass," very bright and sweet; the 

 second, "black or fox grass," not quite so fine, but 

 very fair; and the third poor enough: this you 

 called dyke grass. What is the comparative val- 

 ue of these grasses with English hay ? 



8th. I was told that on one marsh where you 

 did not formerly cut 3 tons of poor hay, you now 

 cut more than 30 tons, of the best quality. Was 

 this change brought about by ditching, or by what 

 moans ? 



Uth. ( noticed on your best marsh that the ditches 

 were cut about two rods apart : would it be profita- 

 ble to cut an intermediate ditch? What is your 

 mode of ditching, and the expense per rod ? Is it 

 injurious to take a second crop from the marshes ? 

 What amount of hay do you cut per acre on your 

 improved marshes ? 



lOtI). Last of all, you took mo to another marsh, 

 through a number of gates, over the premises of 

 other farmers, whose grounds, to all appearance, 

 were very rich, indicating large crops of grass. 

 This marsh was dift'erent in aspect from the others. 

 Its value, you said, did not consist in its crop of 

 grass, but in the rich deposits of peat. Here, I 

 imagine, is the secret of your luxuriant crops — or, 

 perhaps, I may wiih more propriety call it the ba- 

 sis. This peat resembled the fine bog and meadow 

 peat, so valuable for composts, found in so many 

 places in the country. You informed me that this 

 marsh was originally a cedar swamp, but long 

 since encroached upon by the sea : no vestige of 

 it now appears visible, until exposed by digging. 

 Do you use this peat freely ? What proportion of 

 peat do you mix with your barn manure ? What 

 distance is the marsh from the barn? What is 

 the comparative value of tliis peat with common 

 salt mud ? 



lllh. As the afternoon was spent, I did not have 

 an opportunity to seethe cows, which, I understood, 

 were kept for milk. Have you any particular 

 breed? Have you had any experience with the 

 Durham Short-Horns as milkers ? How much 

 stock is kept on the farm, and how much hay sold ? 



12lh. I observed a thrifty hedge of the Wash- 

 ington thorn, five or six feet high. How long since 

 it was planted, and how many years from planting 

 docs it require to liave it strung and thick enough 

 to keep out cattle ? 



I fear I shall trouble you too much to answer 

 all the questions proposed : if so, omit such as are 

 of less importance. It will be very gratifying to 

 learn all the facts in relation to the management 

 and economy of the farm, the appearance of which 

 is highly creditable to your son, Benj. Shurlleff, jr., 

 and speaks well for his industry and skill as a far- 

 mer. Yours, with much respect, 



JOSEPH BRECK. 



Ji Virguxia Farm. — A correspondent of the Bos- 

 ton Traveller, writing from the valley of the Shen- 

 andoah, gives the following account of the Steen- 

 bergen farm, situated in that valley, some 40 miles 

 above Winchester. Few parts of the United 

 States afl!brd examples of more fertile soils, and 

 few instances of better cultivated farms than the 

 rich valley of the Shenandoah : 



" On ascending thif opposite bank of the river, 

 we entered the extensive grounds of the colebra- 

 ted Steenhergen farm, a view of which is worth a 

 day's journey in more oppressive heat than we ex- 

 perienced today. The farm consists of 7,000 

 acres, a large portion of intervale or bottom land, 

 and nearly the whole is under cultivation. The 

 family mansion is beautifully situated on rising 

 ground, overlooking the whole area, and the farm- 

 houses are conveniently arranged in the vicinity 

 for the overseers and slaves. The hay crop was 

 gathered, and the quantity may be judged from tho 

 fact that from 1500 to 2001) head of cattle are kept 

 on the premises. The wheat, too, between 400 

 and ,500 acres, had been harvested, and much of 

 it was already threshed and sent to market. Our 

 road passed through a luxuriant field of corn, near- 

 ly ripe, embracing a level tract of liOO acres, and a 

 richer sight 1 have never seen. Mr Sleenbergen, 

 who formerly owned this unrivaled farm, and by 

 his agricultural skill, extraordinary energy and 

 perseverance, in a few years greatly improved the 

 strength of the soil, rendered the properly more 

 valuable, probably, than any other farm in the 

 United States." 



We may add here, as a warning to others, that 

 not satisfied with his farm, Mr S. became infected 

 with the speculating notions at one time so preva- 

 lent ; that ho was, with many others, unfortunate, 

 and when he failed some three or four years since, 

 his liabilities amounted to more than a million and 

 a half, of which about $050,000 was to the United 

 States Bank. Mr S. is now resident of La Porte, 

 Indiana, and his farm has passed into the hands of 

 Mr Munn, Lynchburg, Va. — Alb. Cult. 



