270 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



envy, when indulged, leads to death. 



The old adage, that "Idleness is the mother of 

 vice," is a very just one. Men, claiming to be 

 rational creatures, who spend their time at the 

 higldy civilized and chivalric sports of horse-rac- 

 ing, cock-fighting, duelling and gambling, at whis- 

 key taverns, if they are non -producers of corn and 

 mutton, they are producers of social evils which 

 are a curse to the nation. Where one-third of 

 the population are slaves, and the other two-thirds 

 of the population dependent upon the labor of the 

 one-third, all the sophistry in the world will not 

 convince me that both parties can be supported 

 by the carelessly-applied labor of ignorant slaves, 

 and not run behindhand. The gradual deficiency 

 of the income to balance expenses or outgoes, 

 from year to year, of Southern farming, has grown 

 to such an oppressive degree that desperation 

 seized the minds of the slaveholding farmers, and 

 by one desperate effort they determined to win or 

 lose, have the whole Union or nothing ; and, of 

 course, this horrid war which is raging in our 

 country, is the offspring of the policy of slave- 

 holding desperadoes. We can see by this pic- 

 ture, an illustration of the difference between pro- 

 duction and non-production ; while the South is 

 scantily supplied with the necessaries of life, and 

 they at a famine price, the Northern producers 

 are bountifully supplied with the good things of 

 the land, and have some to spare to our foreign 

 friends across the water, and we hope will steer 

 clear of the stigma of repudiating their debts. 



North Wilmington, 1863. SiLAS Brown. 



EXTRACTS AND KEPLTES. 



THE SEASON AND CROPS. 



The mowing machine is in the field, but it fails to 

 find the support that was anticipated. The thin clouds 

 and slow coming rain have left the fields of grass with 

 feeble support, and the harvest will be light. Com 

 look.'! well and grows finely ; but even corn will not 

 continue togrow without the occasional shower. Fruit 

 is scarce, especially the most valuable of our fruits, 

 the apple. The blow was moderate, and the vermin 

 have been abundant ; especially the canker worm — 

 that pest of orchards. As a whole, the promise of the 

 harvest of the field is not encouraging. Praise be to 

 God, the rumors from the war are encouraging. May 

 they continue to increase until every rebel has found 

 his just reward. Essex. 



Julij 6, 18'j3. 



Remarks. — Since our correspondent wrote, the 

 earth has been watered and is made glad again. 

 Enough has now fallen to carry out the small grains 

 and carry the Indian corn and potatoes well into Au- 

 gust. Some of the later grass fields will also find 

 timely relief, and bring a usual crop. 



We had heavy rains last year on the the 14th, 15th 

 and 16th of July. 



A LITTLE INCIDENT, A BIT CURIOUS. 



I have seven hens that began to lay the first of last 

 December, and have laid more or less every day since, 

 up to July 4th, 1863. But on that day, "not an egg 

 would they lay, but on the fifth they laid two, and 

 have laid more or less ever since. Now, Mr. Editor, 

 is not this quite an exhibition of Biddy's independ- 

 ence ? A little show of love for her country ? And 

 who shall say that Mrs. Biddy is not in favor of uni- 

 versal "liberty ?" L. p. 



Klttery, Mahu, July 15, 1863. 



^^ The Treasury Department, having stopped 

 printing the postal currency, is now burning that 

 which is returned, preparatory to the new issue. 



Fiyr the Netv England Farmti. 



THOROUGH DRAINING. 



Written for, and read before the Concord FiTinert* Club, by At- 

 BBHT Ei. Wood, of Concord. 



The first attempt at thorough draining that I 

 find mention of, was commenced ninety-eight 

 years ago, by Joseph Elkington, in Warwick- 

 shire, England. The circumstances, as recorded, 

 are these : "His fields were so wet as to occasion 

 the rotting of several hundred of his sheep, and it 

 was to prevent this that the draining was attempt- 

 ed. It proved a complete success. For his dis- 

 covery, and the readine.%s with which he communi- 

 cated the principles upon which his operations 

 were conducted to the Board of Agriculture, the 

 British Parliament granted him a reward of a 

 thousand pounds." From this beginning, drain- 

 ing became quite common among the English 

 farmers. In an English work upon agriculture, 

 published at the beginning of this century, the au- 

 thor isSys : "Relieving land from superfluous 

 moisture is one of the most important branches of 

 husbandry. Unless that be accomplished, every 

 other improvement of which the soil is suscepti- 

 ble must often be unsuccessfully attempted. For- 

 tunately, no department of agriculture has been 

 of late more anxiously studied, nor with greater 

 success." It would seem, by this, that draining 

 was well understood in England at that time. It 

 has been a matter of considerable surprise to me 

 that the subject did not sooner attract the atten- 

 tion of the farmers in this country. But this was 

 soon explained when I came across an article in 

 a work upon agriculture published in this cotmtry 

 in 1818, in which the author says : "Labor with 

 us is a given quantity, and very limited, too, in its 

 amount. The great question among us ought 

 therefore to be, haw this given quantity of labor 

 can be the most economically and profitably em- 

 ployed ? If the amount of labor at our command 

 will afford us a greater return of profit, if expend- 

 ed on our dry, than it would on our wet lands, 

 then, certainly, every principle of economy would 

 require us to put it on the former rather than the 

 latter. If the return would be equal, then other 

 considerations beside mere profit must determine 

 us what course to take. Now it is an unquestion- 

 able fact, that we have not a sufficiency of labor 

 to cultivate our dry lands to the greatest advan- 

 tage. And it is another unquestionable fact, that 

 the same expense — generally sneaking — put on 

 our dry or upland, will afford a greater return of 

 profit than if put on our wet land." This article, 

 in a purely agricultural work, must have very 

 much dampened the zeal of the advocates of drain- 

 ing at the time. I have, however, no fear in quot- 

 ing it, or of dashinj? cold water either upon the 

 zeal or the meadows of the present company. 

 However true the argument might have been at 

 the time, I think it will hardly apply now. 



Our subject to-night, is limitetl to the effect of 

 thorough draining upon the soil and crops. This 

 is a deeper subject than I at first supposed, and 

 one involving chemical action beyond the knowl- 

 edge of man, and vital functions but little under- 

 stood. Yet, there is no subject in nature, I think, 

 offering greater promises to the student than thia 

 study of the soil and the growth of plants. The 

 seed is put in the ground, apparently, an inani- 

 mate thing, when lo, it springs into life. It puts 

 forth roots, and branches and leaves, and in due 



