282 
VIRGINIA FARMING. 
style; and trust that the animal it so faith- 
fully represents, will leave a numerous and high- 
ly improved progeny behind him. 
The 3d Duke of Cambridge won the first 
prize for bulls in agedelass of shorthorns, at the 
show of the New-York State Agricultural Soci- 
ety, held at Syracuse, in September, 18-19. 
VIRGINIA FARMING-. 
How to Improve Worn-out Lands. — The great 
error committed by most Virginia farmers, is, 
in cultivating too much land in grain, and par- 
ticularly corn. The corn crop is exhausting. It 
requires much nutriment from the soil, and fre- 
quent stirring of the earth with the plow, the 
hoe, or the cultivator, which soon exhausts the 
soil, unless it receives large and frequent sup- 
plies of manure, to restore what has been ex- 
tracted from the soil by the crops taken from 
it. If a piece of virgin land be cleared and put 
in corn, and this crop repeated annually for 
three or four consecutive years, the vegetable 
matter in the soil is exhausted, and the land is 
worn down by such an injudicious course. This, 
although improper and injudicious, is a very 
common practice. If such land, before a plow 
is put in it, could receive a dressing of 50 or 
100 bushels of lime, or 100 to 20Q bushels of marl, 
and after a crop of corn has been taken from it, 
succeeded by small grain, and on this crop clo- 
ver seed sown and permitted to remain on the 
land two years ungrazed, and then plowed down 
to be again cropped by corn or wheat, the land 
never would, and never could be worn out, but 
would be annually improving. Such, I am 
pleased to say, is becoming ihe practice of our 
best farmers, who are already reaping rich har- 
vests b'y such a course of improvement. 
The old three-field system, which has been so 
injurious to the farmers of our state, is becoming 
fast into disrepute, and the four and five-field 
systems are much more generally adopted than 
formerly. The old three-field system was 
very ruinous to our lands. The first year, one 
third of the arable land was put in corn, the 
next year in wheat, if it would produce it. If 
too poor for wheat, it was put in rye or oats. 
The third year, this same field was made a pas- 
ture for all the cattle and hogs on the farm, so 
that at the end of the year, there would not be a 
spire of grass remaining on the field. Then it 
was again subjected to the same course of crop- 
ping and grazing, without the application of 
manure, in many instances. And those who 
made great exertions to make and apply manure, 
could not raise a quantity anything like suffi- 
cient to apply to the large field intended for 
corn the next year, and consequently, the most 
industrious and persevering farmer was com- 
pelled to cultivate a large portion of his corn 
crop without any manure. And even such a 
one saw, by this system, his land deteriorating, 
or at best at a stand-still. 
But I am pleased to say a better system is 
coming into practice, and our farms are begin- 
ning to show the great advantage of a different 
system. Some adopt the four-shift ; one in corn, 
one in wheat, oats, or rye, and two in clover. 
This is a beautiful system, and if properly car- 
ried into practice, by the aid of lime, marl, and 
manures, will, in a short time, make the poorest 
farms present a different aspect. Instead of the 
bare and naked earth, you will have presented 
to your sight verdant and luxuriant fields of 
clover, wheat, or corn. And -the farmer, instead 
of reaping scanty and unprofitable crops, finds 
that he has to enlarge his granaries and build 
additional corn cribs. 
The five-field system is practised by some 
farmers. That system taxes the land more se- 
verely than the four-field. The custom is to put 
two fields in wheat, one in corn, and two in clo- 
ver. Thus three fifths of the farm are in grain, 
and two fifths in grass. Whereas, in the four- 
field, only one half of the farm is in grain, and 
the remaining half in grass. Both systems, 
however, have their advocates. 
Another four-shift plan has been adopted by 
some of our best farmers, and successfully pur- 
sued, for a long period, namely, two fields in 
wheat, one field in corn, and only one field in 
clover. Under this plan, there should be no graz- 
ing of the fields, and it becomes necessary to 
have a standing pasture, as it is called, or a 
piece of land devoted to grass and pasturage. 
Any of these systems, however, if well and 
properly carried out, will result in a rapid and 
decided renovation of worn-out farms, as they 
are called. Our farmers have abundant and 
ample sources from which they can, by a judi- 
cious system and an industrious application of 
the means within their reach, make their poor- 
est fields rich and productive. I can speak 
more particularly of the advantages of the 
seaboard where I reside. Here we have marl 
on or near most farms. If that cannot be had, 
we have navigable water to our farms, and can 
procure lime in any quantity. We have an in- 
exhaustible supply of vegetable matter in our 
woods and on our shores, as well as marsh mud 
in the greatest abundance. All that is neces- 
sary to give new life and vigor to our exhausted 
lands, is, to make a compost of lime, leaves, and 
marsh mud, and apply a good dressing before 
planting in corn, and it will show pretty soon 
that the farmer did not labor in vain. 
In consequence of the great abundance of 
marl in Eastern Virginia, and the use of it pretty 
extensively, it is effecting a wonderful improve- 
ment, wherever it is applied. Although it does not 
exist on my farm, except at such a depth as to 
be inaccessible for agricultural purposes, I have, 
notwithstanding, used marl with great and 
decided advantage. Marl, I have obtained from 
York River, and lime from Baltimore and from 
Maine. A Virginian. 
Mathews County, Va., June., 1850. 
Selection of Seed Corn. — This month seed 
corn should be selected. It can only be well 
done in the field, by gathering those ears with 
small butt-ends, the second ripe, and taken from 
stalks which have two or more well-filled ears 
to each. In this way, the best varieties of corn 
in cultivation have been obtained. 
