No. 9. 



AND GARDExXER'S JOURNAL. 



^m 



r.m 



a C1UKC 10 try at tUe Circuit; some good friend in the 

 mlcriur has sent iia inuney to pny taxes, or a power 

 jf attorney to procure o pension for one of the gallant 

 ipirits who sbcd his blood in assorting our independ- 

 rncc, and we must see the ComiroUer or the Pension 

 Agent: wc have promised to meet our friend Jenkins 

 It hi8 rooms, and assist him in that ugly business with 

 tvliick he is entangled. We are in the street. The.-e 



8 not a cloud in the sky, and the sun shines out with 

 jquotoriol splendor. He has just reached a point in 

 :he heavens, from which he looks straight down the 

 ureet we are to walk through, leaving not a foot of 

 "hade on either side foreheiler. There is no choice 

 ■ ui to hce him in all his fierceness. The pavement 

 iiui side-walks are healed to the temperature of a 

 urnac-. Our soles are none of the lightest; but our 

 -et burn aa we tread these pavements of brick, which 

 wm frefh from the biking. We pass along the 

 treet. The sun has been shining for hoiira on the 

 ronu of these houses, wkioh are exhaling, for our 

 hstomiurt, the i;ent they hf.ve absorbed. Here comes 



1 cart heavily ladou, dragged painfully over the pave- 

 nent. Ths horsa is struggling with his load, pant- 

 ng at least thrice for every step he takes; and the 

 larnian is looking for a dry spot in his ted liandanna 

 landkerchief, to wipe olftho streams that are pouring 

 .own h'i mottled visage. An unhappy cur, with hie 

 lose muzzled under the dog-law,ha6 just passed nlons. 

 ire our Common Council ignorant of the natural hia- 

 jry of the animal, or did tlicy invent this torment for 

 lie express purpose of luikiii.^' him in«d by shutting 

 p his tongue -n his niMuth, and thus closing the 

 nncipal outlet i.r his surplus heat? A htlf a dozen 

 ibore™ have gathered under this awning, for want 

 f abetter shade. Ther have just finished their half 

 ay's IshoT, and are breathing a moment before they 

 icounter the fiery ordeal, through wh;ch they are to 

 us to their dinner. What would they not give, of 

 le little they have to give, it they coidd exchange pla- 

 J8 with one of the thousand groups of their i'ellow-la- 

 )rers in the fields, wh.i, at this very moment, are 

 lishing their lunch under a tree of impenetrable 

 lade, end are preparing to lie down for an hour upon 

 e boramof their mother earth, with the purest air 

 1 around, and the grass and ground and wild fiow- 

 sbcn.-ath them sending up freshness and fragrance? 

 'hat a contrast to all this do we prfc--ent! We have 

 ■vered up the fair face of our mother with bricks and 

 ving-sionea; a few trees ssaiiered along the streets 

 ntalize us with conceptions of shade, which we are 

 ■t to realize: narrow patches of grass of a few feet 

 length, i-.i front or rear of our dwellings, parched 

 Dwn, meet the eye here and th»re— solemn monu- 

 ;nti, as they are, of the broader surfaces, which we 

 ve overspread and buried alive under our contrivan- 



9 to hide the face of nature. 

 Bat, the heat of the day is past, and the night is 



■■•- alike over the face of the country and the 



him. We bring forth our pocket pistols, see that 

 they are loaded, put fresh caps on iheni, and place 

 them within reach of our bed. Thus prepared for tlic 

 most desperate extremities, we commit oursolvoB to 

 the caic of a superintending Proviaence, brondin" 

 over apprehended invasions of onr domestic altars by 

 our (ellow-man, and with a host of bloody reaolutiims 

 at our hearts. 



These, however, are eras in our lives. We are not 

 always thus belligerent. But in our best estate there 

 is no lack of discomfort. We must lie down at night 

 in steaming bcd-chnmbers until the suiiiiner hcat« are 

 over, and rise in the morning, unrefrcolud, for the 

 repetition of the samcecenes, through which wc pass 

 ed ycaierday. JVor are w« comforted lijr the ft»^uiiu 

 suggMtions, which spring up wiihin u^, as to the 

 condition of him, who, in the calm and quiet retreats 

 of the country, lays bis head upon his pillow, with 

 the coid breath of Heaven pouring in at every door 

 and every window, thrown wide open to receive it, 

 and sinks to rest with the assurance that, amid such 

 evideuccs of the power and benifieence of the Al- 

 mighty na those which surround him, no impious 

 hand will be raised to take from him his property or 

 shed his blood. 



Agriciiltnre is Missouri. 



We have often rcmaiked that western agriculture 

 mu->tbe peculiar in some of its essential features, and 

 arc more and more impressed with the importance ol 

 discussing such psculiariiies in a manner that will 

 awaken attention a«d embody prohtable information. 

 We may say with much propriety that the agricultu- 

 ral science, regarded in its proper construction, as ap- 

 plicable to the west, has yet to be learned. 



Wo cannot find a portion of land in the whole 

 earth like ours; and while wc admit that there arc 

 certain principles asctrtained to be proper in the 

 management of all soils, still there are oiheis only 

 suitable to such as in their nature require their adop- 

 tion. We require a somewhat pecul.nr mode ol 

 ploughing, a peculiar character of grains and seeds, 

 and peculiar treatment. This must be admitted, for 

 look at distant removes in any part of the v, orld, ond 



respect, the policy beet to be adopted is apparently 

 obTious, for we are, in an unrestricted sense, an btti- 

 cu tural community. In keeping onr eye upon de- 

 velopment and epplication, we ■nf)nld say that al. 

 though we might orrive as a cominunitv to consider, 

 able eminence as a grain raising portion of our coun- 

 try, yet our markets are, and in all probabilily will 

 I'e such as to make it suicidal to our interest to make 

 taiB product a sinplc. 



Wc say, tl,«t having properly ascertained all our 

 relations »s an agricultural community, wo must, if 

 we would thrive, mnke our atopic productione— 

 */of/.-, robaccii and Hemp. Th»oe must be mod* 

 the articles c' export. Upon these wc must depend 

 ior our circulating medium. All of thsse criiclca ore 

 steadily rising in value and the demand for them 

 growing greater. There ie no danger of orerstock- 

 ing the eountry, for we are importing end shall bo 

 for many years, two of them, viz: Stock and Hemp, 

 and there is a substantial market of Tobacco in Eu- 

 rope, and this is growing better.— JJfo. Fiiriiur. 



lin* 



you find local prineiples and local treatment in tilling 

 soils that are only proper for their own locality. The 

 vast quantities of laud amongst us to be had at a 

 small valuation, and their exceeding richness, renders 

 it necessary tbot our agricultural operations and policy 

 should be pecidiar. 



With what an ill grace do recommendations roach 

 us through the medium of foreign agricultural works, 

 such as the benefit of a nico system of driil husban- 

 dry — a system that woidd require as many honda to 

 an acre as we appropriaie to a dozen, the one acre 

 yielding, perhaps, double one of ours, which ie its 

 only argument. Drill husbandry is necesea.-y where 

 practiced, because land is senrce ond high, mailing it 

 important that every inch should be made available 

 in the highest de gree. When we take into account 

 the value of labor, the laigencas of our plantations, 

 ond the productiveness of our soil, such nice measures 

 must be discarded as imirolitic. 



Then for us to adopt as a general principle, the lav- 

 ish appl'caiion of manure, is a doubtful means, and 

 unless an intelligent disci iminotioii is practiced, at- 

 tended sith danger. We do not say that we look 

 upon the attempt to increase the richness of our soil 

 as useless, or that it ought to bo regarded with indil- 

 ferenee, but would recommend, at present, other 

 means than the ajiplication of manure. 



Such o( our soils as are inferior in production may 

 be vastly benefitted by deep ploughing, a mode that is 

 easy in i:s practice, and m.-.king li 'le .idditional draft 

 upon our time or force. This, toj^/i'.sr with a ;ho- 

 rough pulverizntion <if ev.-ard, will bv 1 -iind sufficient 

 for our lands for mony years — at It'sat it will be found 

 bettor to depend upon this, unii! odier equally vital 

 coneidereiions are acted upoi; yh.ch now plead more 

 or immediate attent«-5. We will not speak 



ccd; 

 say 



seem to requiro in order to advance' rapidly our inter- 

 ests by a suitable devei'wmcnt and application of oitr 

 rew)urcc9. 



To this end we rs; Srst to loam the noture and 

 extent of these rcvivrcta. No individuol or commu- 

 iiity can employ mzvia with a good prospect of con 

 tinucd success u:'''.«8 a knowledge is first attained of 

 the character cf means in possession; when this is 

 decided, it ir -y.jy properly to apply. Are the re- 

 sources of a ^iAe or larger community geographical- 

 ly conlinc-J <•■> particular policy, diversified in their 

 nature, 6-,-.,-> j.ill it h •■ more diificuli to fix upon o 

 unifarrr. Y..-u of mear? 'ju; situated as we arc in tLi. 



frn. We begin at length to think we breathe more 

 e'y. The streets arc no longer blazing vs-ith the 

 ■'■of the sun; but aiii-! they have been gathering 

 It all the day long, and they are now giving it out'^ 

 we pass through them, in streams as sensible as the 

 !ath of a volcano. Those, who keep or can afford 

 hire vehicles, have driven out of town, and are 

 atbing the free air, or snatching hasty glimpses of 

 ■ fields and trees before they are lost in the diu-kness. 

 .esc are the favored lew. The lot of most of us is 

 pass the evening and the night where we have 

 «cd the day — in the heart of the city. And, spite 

 <t8_ heated atmosphere, there is something animat- 

 ; in its aspect at the early hours of nicht — in its 

 g lines of ifiekering lamps,in the numbcricss lights 

 t stream from the windows of its dwellings, and in 

 hundreds and thousands thn: are seen in the streets, 

 ing at their porches or making the fhn'.y pave- 

 nta vocal with their tread. 



3ut the hour of rest has come, bringing newdis- 

 nforu with it. As the air begin3 to grow cool and 

 for the renovation of our drooping bodies and spir- strongly f 



we intist shut it cat. This is the overruling ne- negatively longer in reference to our local needs, but 

 sity of every night. The eity burgess of the raid- say a few words cunveyin.t our opinion of what we 

 ages was not more vigilant to close up the in- ' ' 



1 to his fortified dwelling than wa to shut up our 

 1 martial tenement — he against the feudal enemy, 

 I we against the houaebreoker and the thiel'. But 

 re are great occasions which call for fresh precau- 

 IB. The evening papers tell us that a gang of des- 

 f oto villains are abroad, and that our property and 



I ^8 ore in danger. What a peering into the condi- 



I I of locks ond fastenings do these warnings pro- 



Wo exainino every wind)w, we lock aiid bar 



'.'niblc-bolt the street door, end shut up every 



n:,' through which the breath of night can gain 



"ace. The dojj has his proper station OEsif^ncd 



Subsoil Cnltivatiun. 



Sir — I am an old man, and an old farmer; but my 

 eyes are not »o dim, but I can see that there is much 

 to learn m the way of o profession that has hilhcrto 

 been considered eith«r too high or too low— ic//iVA, I 

 cannot say— to admit of much advantage from obser- 

 votion or reflection; indeed it is plain that w» tholl 

 be distonced in the rocc if inipiuvements thot is ta- 

 king place around us, in farming, as well as in every 

 other science. But the subject that has awakenid 

 me to new life and fresh vigor, even in my old age, 

 ie, the cultivation of tho subsoil, by inetna of moving 

 it by such an instrument us that, of which you have 

 given us a drawing in your last,the Dr anston Plough; 

 and for the first time in my life, ) rcrret that ] was 

 born so soon, by 20 years. Why, MrT Editor, I con 

 see with half an eye that the thing will woik, and 

 can fully understand how that the operation must bs 

 as beneficial for a ssndy, as for a clay soil, much of 

 the former, as well as of the latter, having a retentive 

 siibsoil, which operates in u two-fold way to the injury 

 of the crop; first, in wet weather, ns preventing a glut 

 of water from passing away, until it has become pu- 

 trid and poisonous to vegetation, and next, in a time 

 ol drought, preventing the descent of the roots of the 

 plants in search of moisture, which is ever present, 

 even in the driest seosons, within n given distance of 

 the surfoee of the earih, and where, as you eay, they 

 go for water, which by their tap rents ie7)H7«p«/ up 

 to the lateral roots, while busily engaged in searr h of 

 food in the surface soil — a pretty idea that, and worth 

 many times tho subscription money of ihe Cabinet. 



To a wont of deep ploughing might be attributed, I 

 have no doubt, the weakness of our v.hect-crop', 

 which are so Table to be prostrated by any little gust 

 of wind, after it has shot into tho ear, and often, in. 

 deed, before that period. With a strength, equal in 

 appearance to any vicissitude of climate, we find our 

 crops ready to fall by their own weight, ond wonder 

 that wilh straw ofieniimes like reed, they have the 

 substence only of the common grasses. This is the 

 cause, depend upon it, ond it is but natural that it 

 should be so, for I have long considered the top-root 

 of a plant — and which even wheat is furnirhed with — 

 10 act the part of an anchor, and the lov.er end deeper 

 this is cost, the greater will be the power of resist- 

 ance; vvhile the secondary purpotc \ihich it serves, 

 ihfit of " pumping from below the moiture that is to 

 servo as drink to the food which is collected by tho 

 lateral roots in the surface soil, " is new to me, ond 

 finishes the picture ndniirably. I consider therefore, 

 the operation of subsoil-ploughing the "neplus ul- 

 tra, " as the old blacking mukers eny — of euccesaful 

 ■igriculturc, and have grent hope that by its adoption, 

 'Uie-half, at least, of the the evils attending the cuJti- 

 vationofthe wheat-ciop will be obviated, possibly 

 '.he blight and rust, end even the Kcssian fly, and es 

 •ecially Ike lifting of U,c crop by /TOSt.—ruriiuTS 

 Cabinet. 



I 



Improved Husbauclry. 



The vast improvements in Agriculturul Products — 

 in roots, grain, fruit, and live stock — show whr.1 may 

 :.e done by judicious cultivation. It sh-ould be the 

 lim of every farmer to secuic tho best that can be 

 raised. The comfort of his family, and his pet un- 

 ary profits would thus be alike promoted. " A Vule 

 ■arm well cultivated,'' is more jdtasant and profitcble 

 ihnn great deserts of land overgrown wilh mullcna 

 ind thistles. Thousands of farmers wlio now coi 

 scarce "make bith ends meet" on o hundrcd-ccrs 

 arm, might realize double the income and tenfcilJ 

 oinfort from fifty ^vcH-cul;^vatcd acred. 



