234 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
I^^We would call especial attention to the following 
letter from Hon. B. P. Johnson, the able Secretary of the 
New York State Agricultural Society, It is of peculiar 
significance and value at the present time, when the sub- 
ject of improving our lands is beginning to receive the 
earnest attention of our people : 
IMPROVED EAND AND INCREASED VALUE. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — I received yours of 
the 27th ult., in due lime, and, perhaps, I cannot better 
answer your inquiries, as to the improvements made by 
farmers here and the increased value of lands from im- 
provements made, than by giving you the statements of 
some individuals which have come before our Society, 
and are entirely reliable. 
A farm, situate in this county, which, for fifty years, 
had been under a system of destructive cultivation, taking 
everything off and returning nothing to sustain the land, 
came into the possession of a farmer in 1845. The land 
was so exhausted that, for the first two years, little could 
be raised; but, by a judicious system of manuring, rota- 
tion of crops, &c , this farm, consisting of 185 1-2 acres, 
gave a gross income of ^4,852, and a net income, after de- 
ducting expenses of cultivation, of $2,678 16, in 1851 — 
six years from the time it was entered upon. 
The method of improving this land (a sandy loam soil) 
was by plowing under green clover — plowing at least 8 
inches deep — applying manure generally as a top dressing 
(twenty to thirty loads per acre) to grain crops. The 
manure, mainly made from the droppings of cattle and 
horses kept on the farm, averaging about 300 loads (of 30 
bushels) per year. Lime and plaster, used plenty — stable 
manure and lime considered the best manure for this 
land. The increased fertility of this land was secured by 
judicious culture. 
To show you what was the condition of the land when 
the farmer took possession of it, I give the statement of the 
former occupant ; 
“I occupied the farm 16 years previous to your pur- 
chase ; the farm was all the time in market ; I was a tenant 
at will, and had no incentive to improvement, so that the 
farm rather deteriorated under my management. I farm- 
ed it with a view of getting the most of it at the least pos- 
sible expense. I paid one hundred dollars a year rent; 
some of the land was new when I went upon it and it paid 
me very well, but for the last few years the land was bo 
worn down that I no longer considered it an object at the 
price I paid. With regard to the amount of sales of pro- 
duce, I should think I must have sold about 400 dollars 
worth yearly. I do not think I left the farm any better off 
than when I came upon it 16 years before. I did not sup- 
pose the farm was capable of doing what I see you have 
made it dof' 
It will be seen thatthe reason this man did not accom- 
plish anything was, that he had no inducement^ as he 
thought to farm well because the landlord would have the 
benefit of the increase as well as himself, and so he labored 
for his board and lodging for 16 years — the best part of 
his life. There are multitudes of such men who are own- 
ers of land and pursue the same depleting system this man 
did, and then say farming don't pay. 'Tis true^ and al- 
ways will be, that such farming will never pay — it is but 
using land as if it was a plaything, and after a little 
time may be thrown away. It is proper to say, that this 
farm was advantageously situated as to market ; but that 
was as good for the tenant, during his 16 years, as the 
owner after him. It does not militate against the certain 
success of the farmer by his pursuit, if he will avail him- 
self of the means adapted to secure the result. Evidences 
are abundant that the fertility of the land cannot only be 
maintained, but increased in richness; and there is no 
necessity of having this exhausting process continually go- 
ing on. 
Another case in the interior of the State— a farm re- 
deemed from the forest. In 1839 the farmer com.menced 
his operations in the wilderness — land purchased, pro- 
bably, at not more than $5 per acre. The forest had to be 
removed and the land brought under culture, which was 
a work of time. A plan of gradual improvement was 
adopted in clearing the land and preparing the soil, which 
has resulted in success. The hard crust underlaying the 
native soil was attacked year after year by plowing deeper 
each season, bringing it up to the influence of air and 
water, forming a deeper and more valuable soil. While 
crops, formerly of wheat, averaged 10 or 12 bushels; corn 
20 to 25 bushels; now wheat (before the insect appeared) 
averaged 20 to 25 bushels, and corn full 60 bushels; and 
an equal advance in meadows — and this all accomplish- 
ed by the labor of the farmer and his judicious manage- 
ment. 
In January, 1857, this farm, of 60 acres, of which 20 
acres is in woodland and 5 acres in buildings, highways, 
&c., leaving only 35 acres under culture, gave the follow- 
ing result : 
Value of the stock, implements, &c., on hand, $1,065; 
value of grain and other products sold, $1,210; leaving, 
after all the expenses of the farm and family had been 
provided for, $468 to the credit of this little farm. 
During the period of its occupancy, and since the forest 
has been felled, it has been paid for, thoroughly drained, 
good and sufficient stone and other fences erected, weeds 
eradicated, neat and commodious buildings erected which 
are most attractive. And here the value of this land from 
its nominal price in 1839 (when it was bought) has been 
brought to its present condition by a careful and judicious 
management, ever keeping in view that it must, each year, 
be increased in its value for cropping — ^judicious rota- 
tion of crops so that no one crop should exhaust and run 
out the land. 
This farm is now worth $40 to $60 per acre. 
I could multiply these evidences, especially in our dairy 
districts, were it necessary. The system of scourging the 
land and exhausting its life blood and then abandoning it 
for little, and fleeing to the cheap lands at the West, there 
to repeat the same course of exhaustion, is being arrested, 
and the management of farm land is greatly improving 
and the occupation of the farm is giving as much real and 
substantial comfort and independence as any other pursuit. 
And it will continue to be more and more successful, as 
more skill and intelligence is enlisted in this pursuit. 
I regret 1 could not answer your letter more fully and 
at an earlier day ; but a pressure of engagements is the 
only reason. I shall be pleased to answer any inquiries 
that you may desire, as far as I can. I desire to do all 
the good I can to the great agricultural interest of our 
country — the foundation of our prosperity as a nation, the 
conservative element in our population, which will be 
proven in the hour of peril, should it ever come (which 
may God in his infinite mercy prevent. 
I am most truly yours, 
B. P. Johnson. 
State Agricultural Rooms, Albany, N. Y., } 
May 25, 1859. j 
Strength of the Camel. — The Mobile Advertiser 
says : 
“A trial of strength was made with one of Machodo's 
camels yesterday afternoon. Two bales of cotton, weigh- 
ing together about 1100 pounds, were lashed together and 
placed upon his back, with which he marched off appar- 
ently as unconcerned as though they were not there. 
This was not one of the large camels.’’ 
