318 



NEW ENGLAND FAEIMER. 



JuLy 



culation, like a maiden to dance, but a partner is 

 necessary." 



roots of plants may rove at will through them, 

 and find all the supplies they need for a vigor- 

 By the foregoing, we think our correspon- ous and perfect growth, 

 dent may see pretty clearly,— what he seems to I Let us, then, gather up every possible ma- 

 anticipate in the phraseology of his question, — j terial that can be converted into manure, and 

 that it is possible to render his land less fer- ! preserve it, until wanted for use, so as to re- 

 tile by the use of stimulants. Cases of this j tain all its qualities. Then work it over into 

 kind have been often recorded, where phos- a fine mass by the use of muck, loam or such 

 phates, guano, and other stimulating matter other means as each one's circumstances will 

 had been long applied, until nearly all action permit. Let us do this, and the seeming ne- 

 ceased in the'soil, and it refused to bring a cessity of employing large quantities of corn- 

 crop. 



We have always been of the opinion that 

 the moderate use of a pure "commercial fertil- 

 izer," sold at a fair price, could be made eco- 

 nomical to most farmers. But it must be in 

 connection with the common manures of the 

 farm, good muck, and an abundance of other 

 vegetable matter, in order to keep an ample 

 bed of humus in which the concentrated ma- 

 nures may act. 



It is said that lands in some portions of the 

 Southern States have greatly degenerated in 

 the use of concentrated manures. The sys- 

 tem there of keeping stock does not admit of 

 the saving of much manure ; even if it, did, 

 the amount of stock kept is so small that all 

 their manure would be of little account on 

 their large plantations. LTnder these circum- 

 stances they resorted to the natural beds of 

 fertilizers found in various portions of the 



country, and used it until the soil is depleted, 



inactive, dead. It must now lie barren, until 



Nature's processes impart life and vigor to it, 



or the hand of man turns it up to the light and 



air, and with clover, millet, or an abundance 



of other vegetable matter mingled with the 



soil, sets it into action again for the produc- 

 tion of paying crops. 



Now we come to the (Question, Is there not 



danger of adopting a system by which the 



ground must gradually lose the conditions of 



its fertility, by which it must be impoverished 



and exhausted ? We think there is such dan- 

 ger. Our main resources must be within our- 

 selves. Help, we can obtain, incidentally. 



So far, however, we have not managed our 



own means with that system and economy 



which would give us more ample returns. 



What manures we already have are capable of 



pi-oducing a two or four-fold action, by using 



them in a finer condition. So that they will 



mingle intimately with a fine soil, where the 



mercial fertilizers will gradually disappear. 



VISITING BY FABMEKS. 



We have often advised formers to visit each 

 other more frequently and more socially. We 

 believe that with mechanics in Europe it is a cus- 

 tom, if not a requisite for the completion of a trade, 

 for the journeyman on the expiration of his ap- 

 prenticeship to spend some years as a "tramp," in 

 travelling about and working in various shops to 

 learn the ways in which work is done in different 

 establishments. The young farmer who "works 

 round" a few years may enjoy similar advantages. 

 But after one buys a fixrm, the cares of business 

 and the press of labor are often deemed a sufficient 

 excuse for remaining at home, and many farmers 

 would as soon think of planning an expedition to 

 the north pole, as of taking a day's vacation to see 

 what their neighbors were doing and learning how 

 they do it. Occasionally, however, a farmer gets 

 loose, and enjoys the examination of the stock, 

 implements, and management of others so well 

 that we think the number of visiting fiirmers is 

 yearly increasing. 



A correspondent of the Maine Farmer is writing 

 for that paper a scries of articles entitled "A Far- 

 mer's Vacation," in which we have some very 

 pleasant views of the farms and homes he visited. 

 In his last article he describes two farms in Middle- 

 sex Comity, Mass.; that of the senior Editor of 

 this paper, and that of Sturtevant Brothers, South 

 Framingham. As Mr. Brown is busy with his 

 spring's work just now, the junior takes advantage 

 of his absence from the otlice in the city to copy 

 the following description of his farm by the writer 

 alluded to, who gives the initials "Z. A. G." 

 Farm of Gov. Brown. 

 My first visit was to the farm occupied and con- 

 ducted by the Hon. 6iuion Brown, well known to 

 the farmers of Maine as the senior editor of the 

 New England Faumku. His genial editorials 

 have cheered many a farmer's home, and his ad- 

 vice has been accepted as the highcsit authority. 

 His tarm is situated in the historic town of Con- 

 cord, and embraces the held on which the militia 

 assembled to resist the approaches of the British. 

 It consists of one hundred acres, and is pleasantly 

 located on the westerly bank of the Concord river, 

 sloping gentlv towards the low meadows which 

 for a long distance border the river. The snow 

 lay deep on the ground at the time of my visit, so 



