1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



527 



minds me of a story told me some years ago, 

 about a planter giving out directions to one of his 

 plowmen in laying out land to plow. 



"Sambo, you see that cow on the other side of 

 the field ?" 



"Yes, massa, I seed him." 



"Well, then, mark her for a stalce, and then 

 plow right straight to her, and the furrow will 

 come as true as an arrow." 



"Yes, Massa, I'll jest do dat ting right off." 



Sambo started his team, kept one eye on the 

 cow and while she stood in her tracks it was 

 well; but as she moved along to feed, Sambo had 

 to swing to keep her in his eye. Finally the cow 

 turned another corner, and Sambo, too, as he was 

 bound to plow up to her, any way. At last he 

 brought vip at the other side of the field. "Well, 

 is dat Avhat you call straight furrowing 'cross de 

 lot, Massa ?" The furrow he had made was much 

 like one of Tristam Shandy's curved lines on 

 blank paper. 



But to return to the subject. That there is too 

 much guess work in laying out plowing lands, all 

 plowmen will acknowledge. And if our South- 

 ern farmers are always in the habit of laying out 

 their planting lands in measure, or by a tape line 

 measure, then with a good team plow, and plow- 

 man that is a workman, they can turn their fur- 

 rows true and straight. Again, in order to have 

 no short rows in a corn-field, it is necessary that 

 the field should be of equal length on the sides 

 and ends. That is to say, if the field is 60 rods 

 in length on the sides and 30 rods in width at the 

 ends, then there need be no short rows of corn. 



But should the field be 30 rods in width at one 

 end, and only 20 rods at the other end, then here 

 is an angle of unequal sides, so that if the rows 

 of corn are marked straight each way, then the 

 short rows of corn must come off on the side 

 marked last. The short rows of corn are not of 

 so much consequence, provided the rows are 

 marked straight ; it all depends on whether the 

 field has equal sides or not. The plan of plowing 

 lands in furrows to plant corn by, in order to 

 make straight rows, may be all well enough for 

 our Southern farmers ; but I prefer to make use 

 of the "corn-marker" for that purpose, and this is 

 a simple implement which most of our farmers 

 make use of at the present time. 



Take a white oak or hickory scantling, seasoned, 

 three inches square and twelve feet long, and in 

 this bore holes with an inch and a half augur, so 

 as to mark rows from two to four feet apart. 

 Then take some well seasoned M'hite oak timber, 

 split out your pins for teeth, and make them 

 about L5 inches in length. Fit the teeth so as to 

 go up through the scantling, say a half inch flush 

 above the top. Then take a small bit, bore through 

 the teeth on top and fasten them with pegs. 

 The teeth should be made larger in the middle, 

 and taper down and round off on the points. Then 

 take a pair of old plow-handles that are strong 

 and mortice into the scantling for handles ; next 

 take a pair of old wagon thills, and your marker 

 is ready for work. If your field has oblong sides, 

 begin to mark on the longest straight side first, 

 then the short rows will come off on the side that 

 is marked last, marking the field both ways. The 

 outside teeth of the m.arker must follow each on 

 the inside mark ; this will guage the width of the 

 rows correctly, so that you mark one row less 



across the field, than there are teeth in the mark- 

 er. That there is much advantage in having the 

 rows of corn run straight through the field both 

 ways, all farmers must acknowledge. It lets the 

 sun shine on all sides of the corn rows alike. 

 And then, again, you can cultivate close to the 

 rows of corn without fear of tearing up the hills, 

 as is the case when the rows are in and out. 



There is an idea abroad, I presume believed in 

 by many, that for years past there has been a 

 gradual diminution of rain-fall over the country 

 at large. I see that this same idea is now preva- 

 lent in some parts of Great Britain and that some 

 prizes are offered to such men and writers as will 

 investigate this subject, by the Scottish Meteoro- 

 logical Society. Now, in regard to our own coun- 

 try, on the subject of rain-fail, it is my opinion 

 when facts are brought out that no falling off 

 of rain has taken place in this country during the 

 past fifty years, or the average fall of that time ; 

 also, my opinion is, that the same facts with re- 

 gard to rain-fall in Great Britain will hold true af- 

 ter a fair investigation of the subject. But I will 

 confine my remarks on this subject, in the main, 

 to this country. 



The arguments which the advocates of rain di- 

 minution make use of are various. Principal 

 among them are that the cutting off of timber 

 over the country has a tendency to diminish the 

 water in running streams, brooks and springs. 

 This causes less evaporation of moisture to rise 

 in the atmosphere, and so less clouds to form and 

 come down again in rain. This may be true to a 

 certain extent upon new lands, where the growth 

 of wood and timber has been cut off and the soil 

 reduced to cultivation. But still over the old sec- 

 tions of country the amount of surface water in 

 streams, taking an average of ten years together, 

 will remain about the same. Again, taking an 

 average of ten years together, there will be found 

 as much rain-fall over the country as there has 

 been in the past fifty or one hundred years. The 

 grand processes of nature are always at work, and 

 why should they not produce similar results in 

 every generation or decade of years, in the atmos- 

 phere, as well as upon the earth's surface ? But 

 if it is true that the fall of rain is diminishing 

 yearly, pray how long is it since this work of di- 

 minution begun, and when will it end ? And, al- 

 so, how long or what proportion of years will it 

 take to make this country as dry as the Sahara 

 Desert for lack of rain ? For if this doctrine is 

 true in theory or principle, this calamity must at 

 last overtake us. It is a well-known saying in re- 

 gard to the weather that extremes follow each 

 other. This, in general, is a true saying. Hence 

 from November, 18o3, to May, 1854, a period of 

 six months, more rain fell, causing greater water 

 floods than were ever before known in all this 

 section of country. 



This was followed by a strong drought that set 

 in about the middle of July of the same year and 

 continued till the 10th of September, burning up 

 the surface soil and grass, also killing many trees 

 on gravel soils. Since that time there has been 

 no drought to speak of to injure vegetation. Al- 

 though for a year past springs and brooks have 

 been very low owing to the fact that through the 

 last winter and spring no long continued heavy 

 rains took place, and so in the spring all streams 

 were low and have so continued till the present 



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