22 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



ways mixes them with the manure in his barn 

 cellar. This proves, not that oyster shells are fer- 

 tilizing agents, but that mixed with manure, the 

 manure is not injured essentially by their presence. 

 It should be said, once for all, that oyster shells 

 are composed of carbonate of lime ; and carbonate 

 of lime is not a manurial agent. It is hard, in- 

 soluble marble, and of no value in agriculture. 

 The Indians left upon the coast in certain locali- 

 ties, great heaps of these shells, and mixed with 

 them is found charcoal or carbonized wood, and 

 some leaves and other organic matter, partially 

 decomposed, which gives to some of the heaps a 

 dark hue. The:;e heaps, and all other heaps of 

 clam and oyster shells, are valueless to farmers 

 and should be let alone." 



May not the Ix)nes, ashes, coals, leaves and other 

 or-,'anic matter which would natui-ally find its way 

 from the wigwams of the Indians, who fed on the 

 oysters frcm these large deposits of shells, and 

 which give them the dark color spoken of, add 

 sufficient value to the mess to justify its use, al- 

 though the carbonate of lime of which the shells 

 were originally composed may be valueless in 

 agriculture ? 



IRRIGATION OR FLOWAOE. 



I do not propose to speak in this article of that 

 branch of irri_,ation by which water is conducted 

 along the lirows of hills by means of ditches, but 

 I desire to call attention to the winter flowage of 

 natural mtadows or swamp lands, through which 

 a stream of water flows. Often only a short dam 

 is needed near the outlet, to effect the purpose, 

 with a bulk-head by which the water can be let on 

 or o.i and its depth regulated. Land thus flowed 

 xvould not only be enriched by an annual deposit 

 of fertilizing matter, but the roots of grass would 

 be protected from injury by frost. 



Millions of tous of hay might be added every 

 year to the crops of the New England States by this 

 method. Almost every farm of any extent, con- 

 tains many acres of unsightly swamp, now con- 

 sidered worthless by many, but in reality by far 

 the most valuable of all its acres, which if cleared 

 and flowed would not require artificial or barn- 

 yard manures to produce annual crops, as is the 

 case with high land fields, from many of which 

 much of the manure is yearly washed into the 

 streams and lost. 



N.iture in all cases provides the means of res- 

 toration to her own exhausted energies, if short- 

 sislU'jd mortals would not pervert her course. 

 When the upland pastures and fields become al- 

 most worthless by a suicidal mode of skinning, 

 kind Nature would spread a growth of forest trees 

 over the exhausted landscape, restoring potash to 

 the soil, and bringing it back to its primeval state 

 of Icrtility in a lew years. 



The low lands she would restore by the element 

 of water as well as by fallen leaves. Snow water, 

 according to the best authorities, contains ammo- 

 nia, and perhaps other enriching qualities. These 

 principles were well understood by the nations of 

 antiquity. The flat fields of old classic Egypt 

 were fertilized by the annual overflow of Father 

 Nile, while her once productive lands, lying above 

 the reach of the enriching waters, became barren 

 sands which are not only unproductive, but are 

 gradually drifting around and covering up the stu- 

 pendous ruius which still attest the former pros- 

 perity a-nd greatness of that country. Ancient 



Rome, too, has remains of vast works which 

 show that the value of water was well understood 

 by the farmers of old. Virg-il, in Georgic 1st, says : 



"Lo 1 on yon brow, whence bubbling springs arise, 

 The peasant, bending o'er the expanse below, 

 Directs the chance'ed waters where to flow. 

 Down the smooth rock.) melodious murmurs glide. 

 And a new verdure gleams beneath the tide." 



The following circumstance, quoted by Warton, 

 from Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, is to the point : 



"When the Persians were masters of Asia, they 

 permiited those who conveyed a spring to any 

 place which had not been watered before, to enjoy 

 the benefit thereof for five generations ; and as a 

 number of rivulets flowed from Mt. Taurus, they 

 spared no expense in directing the course of their 

 streams. At this day without knowing how they 

 came there, they are found in the fields and gar- 

 dens." Isaiah testifies to the same sentiment — "as 

 the rain and the snow that cometh down from 

 heaven returneth not thither again, but watereth 

 the earth and causeth it to bud and blossom, and 

 bring forth seed to the sower and bread to the 

 reaper." M. J. Harvey. 



Bpping, N. U., 1869. 



A NEW OUTLET TO THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 



The following paragraph is going the rounds of 

 the papers in this section : — 



"A project is to be brought to the attention of 

 Congress at the next session, to make for com- 

 merce a new mouth of the Mississippi river, by a 

 canal of great capacity, on the line of the unfin- 

 ished James River and Kanawha canal, across the 

 mountains of Virginia. The proposed work vi^ould 

 be 400 miles long, and would make a continuous 

 water communication from the sea westward to 

 the 17,000 miles of navigation in the Mississippi 

 valley. It is claimed that such a work would in- 

 crease the value of Western produce a hundred 

 millions a year, while cheapening bread in the 

 East ; because, as estimated. Western grain would 

 save fully two-thirds of the freight now paid by 

 the consumer and producer to the carrier." 



In my opinion there is no projected improve- 

 ment in the whole country that will compare with 

 this in importance both to producer and consumer, 

 and I wonder that it should have been so long 

 overlooked. Once in operation, its v.'hole cost 

 would be saved, many times over, every year to 

 the people. It would not only cheapen bread at 

 the East, and give the producer at the West a bet- 

 ter price, but it would open a market for an al- 

 most inexhaustable supply of coal and timber, 

 which exists along its route, which could be fur- 

 nished at much cheaper rates than from any other 

 source. New England capital and skill would 

 here find a most inviting field. Already several 

 factories are at work, or in process of construction, 

 for manufacturing furniture, &c., &c., from the 

 fine material furnished by the forests of Western 

 Virginia, or rather for preparing all the parts ready 

 for transportation, to be put togeiher at other 

 points. The superiority of our soil, the excellence 

 of our climate, and the cheapness of our materi- 

 als for manufacturing, are already admitted, and 

 the fact that we are comparatively near market, 

 will soon become manifest. j. h. u. 



West Virginia, Oct. 25, 1869. 



COARSE AND FINE WOOLED SHEEP. 



I have read with interest all the communications 

 on this subject in your valuable paper for the last 

 year. In breeding sheep, I have sought as much 

 weight of sheep as amount of wool. My sheep are 

 Merinos. They average about 100 pounds, and 

 sheared a little over six pounds washed wool this 

 spring. When wool brought $\ a pound, my lambs 



