HORTICULTURAL REPOSITORY. 



17 



» But the time will come, and indeed in many places 

 kow is, when the land, repeatedly wounded by the 

 plough-share, and exhausted of its richness, shall be 

 too weak, of itself, to make plants grow with their for- 

 mer luxuriance. This may be called the era of system- 

 atic agriculture, when man taking the earth from na- 

 ture's hand, bare of manure, is so to manage and dis- 

 pose it artificially, that it shall yield him first a subsist- 

 ence, and then an overplus to grow wealthy upon. 

 How far art may go in this species of improvement is 

 yet unknown, as the ultimatum of fertility has never yet 

 been reached. 



" As far as experiments have been made, we find the 

 earth liberally affording its produce, in proportion to 

 the labor and skill bestowed in its tillage ; and as the 

 ingenuity and invention of man may increase to an un- 

 known and inconceivable degree, so may the improve- 

 ments and arrangements of husbandry keep pace there- 

 with, until the most fruitful spot that now exists, may 

 produce a ten-fold quantity, and the land which now 

 supports an hundred men, give equal enjoyment to a 

 thousand." 



Any man, with very little skill or knowledge, may 

 fall trees, plant, hoe, raise grain, cut hay, and rear cat- 

 tle ; and so long as the virgin fertility of his soil lasts, 

 he may do very well. At length, however, that be- 

 comes exhausted. The store of provision for the 

 nourishment of plants, which had been accumulating 

 perhaps for a century while the land was in woods, by 

 the annual decay of vegetables and the leaves of trees, 

 is at length spent. 



— -'»ke© ©«".— 



[From the New-York Statesman. - ) 

 ART. 14. — On the cultivation of Lucerne — Let- 

 ter from J. Buel, Esq. of Albany. 



We are happy to perceive by the subjoined corres- 

 pondence, that the spirit of improvement in agriculture, 

 cherished by the munificence of the Government, and 

 widely diffused through the medium of societies under 

 its patronage, is not yet extinct, thoughit seems to have 

 slumbered for a year or two, while public attention has 

 been engrossed by canals, rail-roads and other plans 

 for promoting the interest of the state. The former 

 ought to have been done, and the latter not left undone. 

 Agriculture must for centuries be the great source of 

 wealth and prosperity in the United States. Com-, 

 merce and manufactures cannot flourish, if this para- 

 mount interest, whence they draw their life and acti- 

 vity, be permitted to languish. We have always had 

 full faith in the salutary influence of agricultural socie- 

 ties ; and it is with us a subject of deep regret, that 

 theenthusiasm by which they were supported afew years 

 since, has in any degree subsided. Brief as was "the 

 full tide of successful experiment," and sudden as has 

 been its. reflux, it was like one of those inundations of 



the Nile, which bring down fertility and plenty. The 

 traces of the vivifying and invigorating principle are 

 visible over the whole surface of the state ; — and in 

 many instances, waste places have been converted in- 

 to productive farms. Look, for example, at the rural 

 retreats of the late Chief Justice and his neighbour 

 Judge Buel, whose fertile acres were reclaimed by the 

 hand of persevering industry. If such an impulse was 

 communicated to agriculture by a few seasons of ac- 

 tive exertions, what effects might not be produced by 

 systematic and continued efforts, such as are made in 

 Great Britain and in some parts of our own country '! 

 We have all the elements of one of the richest agricul- 

 tural countries in the world, with every possible facili- 

 ty of transporting produce to a ready market. With 

 such peculiar advantages, and with a population rapid- 

 ly increasing, the state of New-York presents the 

 strongest inducements for improving every acre of 

 its soil. 



In giving publicity to the following letters, we will 

 merely add, that it will afford us pleasure at all times 

 to make the Statesman the medium of similar commu- 

 nications, believing that if we may be the means of 

 " making two blades of grass grow, where but one 

 grew before," a service more beneficial to the com- 

 munity will be performed, than by filling our columns 

 with angry discussions on the subject of the Presiden- 

 cy. Without censuring any of our editorial brethren, 

 who have a taste for the turmoils of party strife, we can 

 only say for ourselves, that we would rather be found 



" Roasting' turnips on a Sabine farm," 

 than engaged as heated partizans for this or that, can- 

 didate, playing at cut thrust in the political arena, for 

 the amusement of the public. 



New-York Nov. 26, 1S27. 



Dear Sir — When I was at your farm last summer, 

 I observed a field of Lucerne* in luxuriant growth, and 

 of great promise. Your absence from home prevented 

 my learning the particulars of its culture, uses and 

 value. 



This grass, I think, is not grown to any considera- 

 ble extent in Great Britain or Ireland. In passing 

 through those countries a few years ago, I do no.t re- 

 collect to have seen it at all. Perhaps the humidity of 

 theclimate, fhenature of thesoil, and the strong growth 

 of the olhev finer grasses, may account for its absence. 

 In France, however, I found it held in great esteem ; it 

 produced abundantly, allowing of four or five cuttings 



* The botanical name of this plant is Medicago sativa 



It is a native of Spain and the soutli of Europe. It grows 

 to the height of from one to two feet, and the flower is of a 

 pale blueish purple. The term " soiling," made use of in 

 this correspondence, may not be familiar to all our readers. 

 It is applied to the feeding of cattle confined in narrow en- 

 closures, not affording sufficient pasturage. — Editor- 



