3« — 



No. 8. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



119 



a l.\rgc sliaro made of [Xifts and boards. The fields ! 

 arc generally in good order, and few weeds are aRowed 

 to [icrfect their seeds. All vacancies in the timber 

 liuid are filled by transplanting locust trees, which arc 

 taken from a nursery on the farm. By thus keeping 

 the locust tree shaded, Mr. Gavlord thinks he shall 

 avoid the depredations of the borer. The stock ontliis 

 f.imi consists of 33 neat cattle, all of which arc full 

 Mooil or grade Durham, 4 horses, 15 hogs, and 74 



i sheep, of the iuitirovcd English varieties. The divis- 



'i ion of the farm the present year, with the quantity of 



I crops is as foUows : 



I Wheat, IS acres, 400 bushels. 



I Barley, 10 do 300 do 



I Peas, 5 do 100 d<J 



] Oats, 5 do 2Q0 do 



Potatoes, 2 do 330 do 

 Corn, 5 acres, much injured by wire worm. 

 Meadow, 30 acres, GO tons. 

 Pasture, 45 do 

 The farm of Mr. Gaylord exhibits the practical good 

 ■ense and untiring industry of its owner, and is well 

 worthy of a visit from those who are designing to raise 

 stock, or erect the out buildings which are necessary 

 en a stock farm. 



Your committee were next called to view the farm of 

 Fletcjier Woodward, situated on the turnpike, five arid 

 a hail miles west of Syracuse. This fa m contains 

 S36 acres, 225 of which are under improvement ; all 

 tillable, and in a high state of. cultivation. This farm 

 is naturally adapted to the raising of grain, and to fhis 

 Mr. Woodward gives roost attention. The course of 

 crops which is produced is: 1st, corn or potatoes, on a 

 clover icy, then oats or barley, which are followed by 

 wheat, after one and sometimes two ploughings; then 

 sows eight quarts of clover seed, two quarts of timothy 

 seed, and three to four bushels of plaster per acre on 

 the wheat, early in the spring, and pastures one year 

 after the wheat is har/estcd. Mr. Woodward sows 

 from one and a fourth to two bushels of wheat per 

 acre, according to the time of sowing; prefers sowing 

 from lOlh to 15th September. Never sows grass seed 

 with any crop but wheat ; general average of wheat 

 crop per acre, from 20 to 27 bushels ; has raised 48 

 bushels per acre on small pieces. Corn is invariably 

 raited on green sward, wiih one ploughing, harrowed 

 down smooth, and struck out both ways; rows north 

 and solith, 3 feet 4 inches east and west, 2 feet 8 iii- 

 ches apart. Plants early in May, with plenty of seed, 

 coated with tar, and thins at hoeing to 4 stalks in hill; 

 plasters as soon as up, and again after second hoeing; 

 uses the cultivator, hoes 3 times, and makes very little 

 hill. 



Barley is generally sown on pasture land with one 

 ploughing ; general crop 30 to 53 bushels per acre , 

 BOWS from ^ to 2 1-2 bushel- per acre ; oats are cultiva- 

 ted afler corn; sows 2 1-2 to 3 bushels per acre; gen- 

 eral crop 30 to 80 bushels per acre. 



Mr. Woodward's method of ciiltivating potatoes is 

 to draw at the time of thresliing wheat, (with a pair of 

 horses and rope,) the straw, and deposit it in large 

 bunches on a clover ley, leavinga narrow strip allaround 

 the field, on which no straw is piit. In the spring this 

 narrow strip is ploughed and harrowed fine ; then drops 

 the seed once in two feet each way ; covers about one 

 inch deep, and keeps the surface as near level as pos- 

 sible. He then takes the straw adjoining this circle, 

 around the field, and deposits it evenly on the gi'ound 

 already planted, to the depth of about 4 inches, when 

 settled together. This leaves another strip for plough- 

 ing, which is treated in the same manner as t le first, 

 and so on, until the crop is ready to harvest, which is 

 usually from 300 to 500 bushels per acre. This farm 

 is divided into fields of the average size of 23 acres. 

 The fence consists of 9(33 rods of posts and boards, 

 215 rods of full wall, and 180 rods of half waii, ail in 



good order. For the convenience of passing these 

 fences, 33 gates are already hung, and the committee 

 were informed hy Mr. AVoodvVard that he had con- 

 tracted for 22 additional gates to bo erected this fiill. 

 The quantity of produce raised on this farm the pres- 

 ent season is as follows: 



Wheat, 88 acres, 17l'>0 bushels. 



Corn, 20 do 1460 do 



Oats, 33 Jo 1320 do. injured by drought. 



Barlsj*, 25 do 750 bushcts. 



Potatoes, 5 Jo 1500 do 



Meadow, 10 do 20 tons. 



Pasture, 47 do 



The Etoik kept on £he farm consists of l2 horses, 

 28 neat cattle, 83 hogs, and 150 sheep. 



Mr. AVoc'dward has given a practical illustration of 

 the fallacy of the idea which is so often advanced, that 

 the farmer cannot afford to be nice in his farming ope- 

 rations, and that the profits will nut pay for an outlay 

 of extra capital in improving the soil arid fence. One 

 of (he committee asked Mr. Woodward if he took an 

 agricultural paper, to whiih he replied—" I do, and 

 have for a number of years, and h'aVe found it of great 

 use. And couTd I have had the Cultivator, with the 

 present light upon the subject of farming, when I first 

 commenced, (18 years since,) I think it would have been 

 more than $1000 benefit to me." * 



The farm of Mr. Woodward Exhibits in a favorable 

 manner the beneficial effects of whit is denominated 

 the new syet^m of husbandry. The antiquated cus- 

 toms of farming which our forefathers followed, are 

 not so dear to him as to cause him to shut his eyes to 

 the improvements which modern agriculturists are an- 

 nually making in the science of farming. He is not se 

 fearful of being called a " book farmer" as to refuse to 

 take and read the agricultural publicatbns of the day. 

 He is not so' fearful of being denominaf cd a theorist as 

 to ref^jse to try the improvements which are recom- 

 mended in those publications ; and his farm shows the 

 conseqnence ; it being well fenced, well ciiltiVated, very 

 productive, and very clear frott weed?, none of which 

 are suffered lb seed, In short, everything shows that 

 the operations on this farm are directed by aft enter- 

 prising, intelligent, practical farmer. 



Your committee were nextcalled toe*afnihe the farm 

 of Hiram Church, situated in the town of De Witt, 

 2 1-2 miles northeasterly from Syracuse. 



This farm contains 137 acres, about 100 of which 

 are under improvement, and all suitable for tillage. It 

 is divided by a good cedar fence into fields containing 

 about, 10 or 12 acres each. The produce of this farm 

 the present year is, 



3Q acres wheat, 679 bushels. 

 4 do corn, 200 do 

 6 do oats, 360 dd 

 3 do peas, 75 do 

 1 acre potatoes, 150 bushels. 

 W acres meadow, 2-1 tons hay, 

 22 do pasturfe. 

 22 do summer fallow. 



Mr. Church prepares his ground for wheat mostly 

 by summer fallowing, ploughing three times. HiS 

 method of raising corn is much Uke that pursued ly 

 Mr. Woodward, except Mr. Church uses a small 

 plough instead of a cultivator ; consequently he makes 

 some hill around the corti. 



The stock kept on this farm consists of 9 neat cat- 

 tle, 7 horses, 10 hogs, 60 sheep. Mr. Church makes 

 liberal use of clover seed and plaster, and this practice 

 your committee would earnestly recommend to every 

 farmer. 



The farm of Mr. Church is newly improved, com- 

 pared with the farms of Mr. Gaylord and Mr. Wood- 

 ward ; but is naturally choice grain land ; and we 

 doubt not, Tjvith the industry and enterprise which Mr. 

 Church exhibits, it will soon show such a degree of 



neatness, and amount of produce as few, if any, farms 

 can now exhibit. 



Royal White, of Onondaga, called the attention of 

 the committee to a field of wheat, containing tour acre* 

 and fifty-two rbds, which Mr. White informed us 

 yielded 167 bushels of wheat. Method of cultivation — 

 ■broke up viUifdi the middle of June, about ten inches 

 ileep, and immediately harrowed. Ploughed and har- 

 rowed again the fore part of August. Ploughed and 

 harrowed the third time the 10th of September, and 

 immediately sowed with seven bushels of Canada 

 flint and white flint wheat. Three-fourths of an 

 acre of this piece of land was sowed with peas, and 

 was ploughed but twice. 



Col. W. Abbott, of Otisco, presented a fine sample 

 of spring wheat, which he originated by a series of cx- 

 periuients from the bald flint, which is a well known 

 variety of winter wheat. For an account of his cx- 

 pciiments we would refer to page 138, of volume 9 of 

 the old Genesee Farmer. 



The cornmittcc recommend that the first premium on 

 farms be given to Fletcher Woodward. The second 

 to Silas Gaylord, and the third to Hiram Church. 



It was unquestionably the intention of the Legisla- 

 ture, when they passed ihe act for the promotion of ag- 

 riculture, and devoted a part of the funds of the Stats 

 C8 that object, that the money so distributed, should bo 

 applied in the way btst calculated to benefit the agri- 

 culture of the State. To do this, it was not deemed 

 enough that agricultural fairs should be held, and the 

 money expended in premiums, but provision was ex- 

 pressly made for giving the greatest pubUcity to the 

 modes of agriculture adopted, or the diflerent processes 

 pursued, by the successful applicants forpremiums. No 

 premium was to be awarded, until the statements refer- 

 red to, had been made, as without the knowledge that 

 could be gained in this way, one half of the advan- 

 tages to agriculture, proposed by the State in its appro- 

 priation of funds, would be wholly lost. All such 

 statements, reports, vouchers, &c, made to the several 

 county societies, were to be transmitted to the Execu- 

 tive Committee of the State Agricultural Society, 

 whose duty it would be to select, compare, condense, 

 and arrange into a report to the Secretary of State, 

 such papers, statements, &c., as should be deemed best 

 adapted to subserve the cause of agriculture in the 

 State. The Executive Committee regret to say, that 

 in too many instances, these requisitions of the law ap- 

 pear to have been entirely overlooked ; and that where 

 partial returns have been attempted, they have in most 

 cases, been very meagre and unsatisfactory, barely an 

 approximation to the returns contemplated by the pro- 

 visions of the act." 



Sotcing Plaster. — Many farmers suppose that plas- 

 ter should only be sown after spring vegetation has ad- 

 vanced ; this is evidently a mistake, as plaster must 

 be dissolved before its manuring properties are devel- 

 oped ; rain, frost, and even snow, are necessary to 

 eflTect this result; hence some hove observed that their 

 plaster did no good in a dry season of the first year. 



S. W. 



What shall Farmers do, when Doctors disagree ?- 



It has been said that plaster thrown among horse lit 

 ter will seize upon the ammonia of the urine and pre- 

 serve it with the manure. I believe this is agreeable 

 to Leibig's theory ; but other chemists say that the 

 lime in the plaster will certainly expel the ammonia. 



S. W.- 



FaU Ploughing. — Some farmers condemn fall 



ploughing, because it does not succeed on an easy. 

 friable soil. Is this any reason why a stiff clay should 

 not be improved by it ? A clay garden with long ma- 

 nure ploughed under in the fall, will save much tedi- 

 ous labor in the spring, besides vegetation will be 

 much earlier. S, W. 



