No. II. 



AND GARDE NER'SJOURNAL 



171 



Etiuui'.uo ilinii a peck uf corn n woek, and one suil of 

 bad cloihing a year, to enable him to work well. Tbis 

 also should be an argument in favor of Negro emanci- 

 pation, at least with the north; for aside of all moral 

 coiiGiderations, the moment the iS'egro bcconicea man, 

 l.Ue his n]nster he bcomcs a customer. 



Apropos of labor. The groat cause why good farm 

 Inboiers are so few in number, bo extravagant in their 

 wages, and so dillicult to retain, is doubtless the low 

 price of lands in the west. Such is human nature, 

 under its best features of energy and hope, that to be 

 our own master, with ill requiti;J, endless toil, and 

 manilold privations — is sweeter, far sweeter, to the 

 imagination and the mind, than comfort and idcnty in 

 the bouse of a master, with well requited labor, and 

 money at intei est. SENECA. 



Clover a« a Mauiire. 



Mr.ssRs. Editoks — It has been decided by high au- 

 thority of late, that to plough in the dry crop as a ma- 

 nure, was much better than to turn under the crop be- 

 fore maturity, The experience of our Dutch far- 

 mers disproves this theory, and they are backed by 

 CTual authority to sanction their practice. Chnptal 

 says that the green crop is clear gain, as it draws its 

 6U8tei\anee from the atmosphere alone, and makes no 

 draft upon the soil until it begins to ripen. 



It is the opinion of the Dutch, that plaster is the 

 loaihlone which attracts this atmospheric sustenance 

 to the clover. SENECA. 



Fo' the yex Geiiesep Farmer. 



The Fair, and Plonghiijg Match at Kocliester. 



SIesshs. Editors — As 1 believe your paper is open 

 to a fair diicuoslon of all matters connected with agri- 

 culture, I take the liberty of forwarding my bumble 

 remorks (which I shall moke as brief as possible) on 

 the great Agricultural Fair lately held at Rochester. 



It gave me much pleasure to witness the Stock ex- 

 hibited on that occasion in Franklin Snuare, — which, 

 with reference both to the quality and number produ- 

 ced, reflected much credit on this section of the coun- 

 try. Having for the last quarter of a century, been 

 in the habit of attending the great cattle shows and ag- 

 ricultural meetings in England, Scotland, and Ameri- 

 ca, I profess to be somewhat of a judge of these mat- 

 ters, and am much interested in the welfare and pros- 

 perity of the society, whose thow I lately attended, — 

 being persuaded that the mlroduction of such valuable 

 Block OS these exhibited, into Wottern Now York, 

 must raj.iidly increase the real wealth of the country. 

 The Fruit, Vegetables, &c. , were also very fine, and 

 must have been highly admired by the many stran- 

 gers who were present. In the Mechanics' Fair, too, 

 was a sidendid exhibition of articles. The agricultu- 

 ral implements shown, (uhhough not numerous,) were 

 very excellent, in my opinion; and I believe the fan- 

 ning mills especially, could not be surpossed, if in 

 deed they could be equalled, by any in the world. 



But you must boar with me, if I cannot odd my 

 meed of praise to the monncr in which the ploughing 

 match was con iucted. In the fir^t place, the judges 

 ought, in my opinion, to have followed the custom ob- 

 served in all ploughi.ig matches in Europe, which is 

 distinctly to state what kind of ploughing is required, 

 BO that competitora may strive to work in accordance 

 with the instructions given. They ought to have 

 prescribed, for instance, that the fuirows should be 9 

 inches wide by 5 deep, or K inches by 6, (which I be- 

 lieve the best made ploughs, under the hands of a good 

 workman, are made to occompiieh,) or any other size 

 in proportion, they might deem advisoble. Though 

 the terms on which the ploughing match was adverti- 

 d to take place, appeared to me very vague and in- 

 definite, my love for such a trial of skill, induced me, 

 ihoHgh living at a considerable distance, to forward a 



team to compete ""or the prize', — on the supposifion that 

 the ploughing done by the competitors would be 

 judged of by its excellency, and not on the speed at 

 which it was accomplished. Had I understood, on 

 the contrary, that the prize was to be awarded to the 

 woiknion v.dio alioiild pare the most loud in the short- 

 est time, I could have prei^ored an instrument for this 

 purpose, lopnrc half an acre (though noili plough it, 

 in my senee of that word) in half the time in which it 

 was accomplibhcd. But, till the Rochester judges set 

 mc right, 1 had conceived that good ploughing, to me- 

 rit that name, couBibted in the furrow being laid at the 

 proper angle, with the red edge quite straight, so that 

 a ten feet pole, straight-edged, applied from the cen- 

 ter of the ridge to the furrow, shuli touch the edge of 

 every furrow. I grant that on the occasion to wh'ch 

 I allude, a more miserable piece of ground for a good 

 ploughman to show off upon, could scarcely have 

 been selected. Bosides, I contend that each competi- 

 tor ought to open his own furrow, and not be obliged 

 to begin upon those opened under the superintendance 

 of a committee, who, in the present instance, got 

 them run out (as if done by a boy) in a style which 

 caused much loss of time to such of the competitors 

 as endeavored to run their furrows straight. 



Some of your readers may probably attribute these 

 strictures to my disappointment at not obtaining the 

 prize for ploughing. True, I was disoppointcd; but 

 not OS regarded the volue of the prize plough. I have 

 imported two of Wilkes's best iron ploughs, one of 

 which was at Rochester. These being both elTective 

 and durable implements, I intend never to use any 

 other upon niy farm. Previously to moiling uc-e of 

 these iron ploughs, I rarely had more than 14 bushels 

 to the acre; but since their use, I have averaged be- 

 tween thirty and forty bushels. 



From my own observation and that of others, who 

 have witnessed the manner in which wheat crops are 

 put in, ploughing seems to be the department of agri- 

 culture, of all others, farthest in the shade, and most 

 in need of improvement in your district of country. — 

 Having been o member of various agricultural socie- 

 ties, and frequendy on committees, I can bear testimo- 

 ny to the great advantages to be obtained by a farming 

 community, by ploughing matches being properly 

 conducted and judged of. They have been one great 

 means of leading the farmers of Scotland to raise ex. 

 traordinary crops from the generally poor soil they 

 have to work upon; nnd enabling them, in this way, 

 to pay a high rent for the use of their land. Were 

 they, in the ungeaial climate of Scotland, to plough 

 after the manner of the Rochester ploughing match, 

 they might look in vain for any return of their labor- 



These remarks I forward to you from a sincere de- 

 sire that the committee of arrangement will next year 

 specify, in precise terms, the style in which they re- 

 quire the ploughing to be executed; and in the hope 

 that hereafter judges may he appointed who will take 

 a proper estimate of such miserable work as that per- 

 Ibrnied by the yellow and sorrel team, which, in skim- 

 ming over the ground within the hour, only tended, 

 by the example, to perpetuate the superficial style of 

 ploughing so prevalent in this section of the country, 

 and to discountenance which, ought to be the aim of 

 every well reguloted society. 



I am, gentlemen, 



Your most oh'dt. serv't., 

 A CANANDAIGUA FARMER. 



(ANOTHER.) 



Remaiksi ou the Cn.ttle Show and Fair of the 



Genesee AsvicuStatal Society. 



Messrs. Thcmas & Bateham — Perhaps it would 

 be unreasonable to expect you to insert this letter in 

 your next Genesee Farmer, seeing that it will be so 

 fully occi;p(8d in ^etaibng the proceedings of the lalo 



show and fair at Rochester. But feeling anxious for 

 the future prosperity of the society, and thinking no 

 time equal to the present, wliilst every circumBionce 

 is fresh on the n:eniory, I would with to suggest some 

 alterations, which, I humbly submit, would be im- 

 provements on the late arrangements. In the first 

 ploce allow me to congratulate you and the friends o." 

 agriculture generally, on the autpjcious commence- 

 ment of this insiiimion. Every one present must 

 have been gratified with the superiordisplay ol farming 

 stock there exhibited. And, with regard to the field 

 crops, the man who is not satitficd with the progress 

 m.ode in thot branch of agriculture within the latt few 

 years, must be unreosonable indeed. I have a publi- 

 cation now belore me, in which is a letter from Judge 

 Mitchell to the author, informing him that he had 

 grown within a fraction of 500 bushels of ruta boga 

 to the acre; and he further enys, "end 1 verily be- 

 lieve that on this mode of cultivation, thot an acre of 

 land which will bring 100 bushels of corn e:aie, will 

 produce from 700 to 600 bushels of ruta baga." I 

 know not whether Judge Mitchell be still alive, but if 

 he be, what must be his astonishment and delight to 

 learn that in about twenty years from the date of hia 

 letter, his onticipotions ore reolized two fold. The 

 some author, in speaking of a crop of ruta bogo which 

 he grew on 17 acres of laiid in England, eaye, '* I as- 

 certained to on exactness that there were 1,320 bushels 

 to an acre, ihiougbout the whole 17 acres. I never 

 saw above half as great a crop on any other perton's 

 land, though we rca-1 ofjnuch greater in agricultural 

 prize reports." So thot the crop of ruta boga which 

 gained the premium at Rochester, is not only the best 

 that I ever heard of in this country, but ronkswidi 

 the very beet in England. I hope that the suceesjfi 1 

 grower of this crop will be very niintile in his state- 

 ment for publication in the New Genesee Farmer, w ilh 

 respect to quality of soil, preparation ot ground, time 

 of sowing, after culture, distance of drills, if sowed 

 in drills, and distance of turnips in the drills; also, 

 whether the tof a ond roots were cut off before mea- 

 suring, whether the bushel was heaped up, and the 

 weight of a bushel. I feel that I ought to apologize 

 for this long digression; but as the preamble is so 

 lengthy, I will try to compress what I have to soy, oa 

 much as possible. The alterations which I would re- 

 commend are these: — That the animals contending 

 for the some premium, be placed as contiguous to each 

 other OS possible, for when they are of about equal 

 merit, and placed at a consideroble distance from each 

 other, itis difiicult for the best judges to decide cor- 

 rectly. Certainly every facility ought to be offbrdcd 

 to the judges, for after all it is but a thankless ofiice, 

 I also think thot it would be more eatisfoctory if the 

 judges were not made ocquointed with the names of 

 the owners of the animals — not that I mean to imputo 

 the slightest partiality to the judges at the late meeting 

 — but it is desirable that they should be lemoved os lar 

 as possible from suspicion. In on ogriculturol society 

 in England, of which I was a member, the judges 

 were eelected from some other county, and they did 

 not see the animals until they were taken round by the 

 secretary to give in their decision ; and whilst doing 

 so, no person was allowed to be near to them. With 

 regard to the field crops, I think that unless a moro 

 uniform and satisfactory plan be adopted for ascertain- 

 ing the exact amount of crop, it would be better to 

 withhold all premiums on this branch of agricul- 

 ture. For root crops, I would propoee that weight 

 be substituted for measurement; and if the same per- 

 son could inspect the weighing of all the crops, there 

 would be a better chanco of arriving at a just decision. 

 As to the ploughing match, I cannot allow that tho 

 "race ought to be to the swift;" for it is more than 

 probable that the worst ploughman will finish first. — 

 Perhaps it would be well to fi-X a reasonable time for 



