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THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
140 
next spring as bouniitully manured, and planted 
it with roots, and the following autumn obtained 
over one thousand one hundred bushels ufsugar 
beet to the acre from it, and other crops in pro- 
portion. 
Subsoil plows may now be had in this city, 
of excellent pattern and strongly constructed, 
from ten to iideen dollars each, which will stir 
the earth from twelve to eighteen inches deep, 
requiring from two to five yoke of cattle to move 
them, according to the nature of the soil, and the 
depth required to plow. 
From tlie American Agriculturist. 
TOO MUCH LAND. 
During a recent excursion in this, and some 
of the Ne w England Slates, I was struck with 
the comparative sterility ut land which might, 
by proper cultivation, become “the garden of 
the world.” Instead ui seeing fields of wheat 
bearing 30 bushels to the acre, we find that 
scarcely 12 to 15 is the yield : where two lonsof 
hay should be cut, hardly one is the product; 
where thriving fruit-trees might be expected, 
bending beneath the weight of their delicious 
fruit, our eyes are pained by the sight of gnarl- 
ed, stunted, and half-dead trees, scarcely able to 
sustain the life of the few curled-up leaves that 
come forth as it to reproach their owners by the 
sight of their consumptive appearance. If they 
had tongues to speak, how bitterly woqld they 
complain of their irea'rnent.- is it because na- 
ture is so miserly, that she does not reward man 
for the labor he bestows on her, or because man 
will not let her yield a bountiful supply in re- 
ward for his labor? What is the cause of this 
sterility, and the complaints of the la-mers that 
they cannot make a living, though they have 
hundreds of acresat their command ? it is evi- 
dent the fault is with themselves. They attempt 
the cultivation ot too much land! 
Our farmers have Irom 50 to 500 acres under 
w'hat they call cultivation. Still they are in 
debt, and in trrany cases the more they possess 
the worse they are off. Their land is scattered 
far and near. Two acres here, and ten there, 
instead ot being compact together. In this 
manner, more lime is often lost in going from 
one lot to another, in building the fences ot oth- 
er people, and keeping out their cattle, than the 
whole income of the land amounts to. I have 
mysell lost more time in this way in a single 
year, than it would take to keep ten acres in the 
finest condition. 
What is the remedy ? Sell halt of your land 
and spend the proceeds of it on the remainder, 
and thus make v/hai you have yield a liberal in- 
come. This may appear to those who have al- 
ways “ followed in the footsteps of their fore- 
fathers,” of adding field to field to their farms, 
as the height of lolly, but I am confident it will 
be their salvation. There is a good old adage, 
one that should be remembered by farmers as 
well as others — “ Never attempt too much.” 
Depend upon it, there is no course so suicidal as 
that of owning and attempting to cultivate 200 
acres, when vou can hardly do justice to 100. 
Suppose, lor instance, a man has 50 acr^s of 
naturally good land, and he has but a certain 
amount of manure, time, &c., to use in its cul- 
tivation, which is not enough to keep it in heart, 
or pay that attention to rotation of crops, w hich 
it requires, is it not evident that the land, the 
owner, or whoever is connected with it, must 
suffer 7 Would not all intelligent persons con- 
demn such a course 7 Yet how many such in- 
stances are to be seen all around us ! I believe 
it would be lor the interest of many larmers, 
even to give away a portion of their land, rather 
than have .so much in their care. Self-interest 
tells us, it is the true policy of such a man to sell 
what he cannot properly use, for he would gain 
time to devote to the remainder, money to pur- 
chase all that it required, his crops would yield 
in double ratio, his land increase in value as it 
increased in fertility, and thus he w'ould be in 
every way benefitted. 
I have seen acres of the best land, overrun 
with daisies, mulleins, andother noxious plants, 
>hat root out the grass, and eat up the life of the 
soil, without affording nourishment to man or 
beast, which might by a little attention yield a 
rich harvest. But the farmer has no time to at- 
tend to it, and the land becomes worse than use- 
less; lor it is self-evident that land musl either 
increase in fertility, or decrea^'e in value; there 
is no middle way — it must afford a profit or be 
an expense. 
Look again at the swamp and meadow lands, 
with which our country .abounds, that are now 
worthless, and causing sickness and death in 
their vicinity. All these might be reclaimed 
and made the most productive land, by a small 
outlay of time and capital; the owners have 
neither, because they have too much land- al- 
ready calling lor their attention. The muck 
contained in these places, can be made to pay 
better interest than bank stock; yea, if properly 
used, it may be the farmer’s mine ot wealth. 
This leads me to inquire how are our lands 
rightly to be cultivated 7 I reply, by using the 
experience and directions ot those who have 
studied the chemical formation of soils, and the 
effect different manures have on different soils. 
Much time is lost, and land injured, by the far- 
mer not knowing the relative value ol his ma- 
nure, and the theory ot rotation of crop.s, which 
might be saved by the expenditure ol a little lime 
and money in procuring and reading agricultu- 
ral papers and books. There is too muchol the 
saving a cent, and losing a dollar economy in 
this age. When the time shall have arrived 
that men will be willing to study the theory and 
practice of farming in all its details, then shall 
we see agricultural pursuits elevated to a proper 
standing and yielding a profit that shall rejoice 
the hearts of all. C. Casse. 
Orange County, Neto York. 
From the Plow Hoy. 
AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS. 
So wide is the field of the farmer’s labor, and 
so many the objects connected with his various 
employments, that we see no reason, having 
aught of soundargumenc, wfiy the larmer should 
not be the most learned of men. They have 
more to do with the element of nature than oth- 
ers, and are practical chemists, depending upon 
the earth for subsistence; they, by lime, sepa- 
rate, modify, and change the simple and com- 
pounds, so as to afford the several elements of 
which the vegetable kingdom is composed, thus 
making of the farm a workshop and laboratory. 
In plowing and preparing his land lor seeding, 
he is a practical mineralogist and geologist; in 
observing and preventing the ravages of destruc- 
tive insects, he is a practical entomologist. In- 
deed, to enunr erate his various employments 
would be hardly possible. He is the practical 
botani.<^t and meteorologist; but it is quite im- 
probable that one man should be perfect in all 
these branches: yet the farmer, by a more atten- 
tive examination into the cause and effect of all 
which occurs under his immediate observation, 
may become a better natural philosopher than 
heretofore, and, by the cultivation of his mental 
powers, command and retain that respect to 
which he is so justly entitled, as one of the pro- 
ducers of the wealth of the nation, and as one ol 
the many pillars of the constitution. Of all the 
various employments 'vhich have from time im- 
memorial engaged the attention of men, none 
have been so pre-eminently useful, more hono- 
rable, nor so nearly connected with our interest 
as nations, as individuals, than agriculture; its 
pursuits offer to the ingenious mind more op- 
portunities for research audexperiment than any 
other science , yet it is a lamentable fact, that 
there exists among the. farmers an apathy to the 
pursuits of knowledge, and a want of that spirit 
ot inquiry respecting the nature and habits of 
those objects upon the perfected cultivation of 
which depends the production ot real wealth. 
What is the cause of this? A want of the pro- 
per estimation of the pursuit of agriculture. Is 
the cultivation of the soil regarded with con- 
tempt? ’Tis an abused idea, and we believe it 
too generally prevails, else why are so many of 
our young men engaging in the professions, too 
full, long ere this, for the country’s good? and 
why are so many.ensconced behind the counter, 
to learn the art and mystery of measuring a piece 
of tape? and v.diy are the many mechanical 
branches so completely overstocked, wliile agri- 
culture, the main support oi the nation, Imlds 
out so many inducements for its pursuit, atonce 
more interesting, more profitable, and, as im- 
provements are made, less laborious than either 
t* e professions, the mechanical, or mercaritile 
pursuits ? 
Agricultural pursuits may be made profita- 
ble ; and the farmer’s profits are sure, while, by 
the fluctuations of the market, the merchant or 
manufacturer may be robbed of the reward of 
their labor. They may have doue everything 
which intelligence and industry could to insure 
success, and yet, at the year’s end, wind up bu- 
siness with a loss, not only of profits, but capi- 
tal too: but this cannot happen to the indus- 
trious fai mer ; his capital is invested in the soil, 
and he draws upon a fund which has never fail- 
ed, since time immemorial, to honor all just de- 
mands: his profits may be diminished, but ne- 
ver wholly suspended. Although they are more 
imposed on than any other class of the commu- 
nity, and have less money, still they may grow 
rich. The mechanic may earn his six, eight, or 
twelve dollars a week, yet his condition is no 
better at the year’s end than when he commenced 
it; while the fartoer, earning from fifty cents to 
one dollar a day, grows rich. If the ariizan lays 
down his tools, and the professional man is idle, 
they ai e sinking money : not so with the farmer; 
ifhesleep.s, his wealth still accumulates. In- 
deed, the. mechanic, physician, merchant and 
idler, may receive their thousands yearly, yet 
die poor; while the farmer .scarcely receives as 
many tens, and lives and dies as the lord of the 
soil. Many deem farming fit employment for 
such only as have not sense enough to pursue 
anything else; notwithstanding the glaring facts, 
that from the soil is drawn nearly all the wealth 
of the nation. 
From the Boston Cultivator. 
RECLALMING EXHAUSTED LANDS. 
Messrs. Editors- I present you with the 
following experiment in reclaiming worn out 
lands, which will be read with interest; for the 
mode adopted is so judicious and rational, that 
such a course ol procedure must of necessity 
prove decidedly advantageous under any cir- 
cumstances. I have no doubt the plan of mix- 
ing lime with earth before using, would be 
found of far greater importance in the applica- 
tion of that article to land than any other mode; 
allow me, therelore, to call tne attention of your 
readers to the circumstance of the compost ac- 
quiring, by frequent turning, “the appearance 
and smell of soaper’s ashes,” and proceed to 
give, in the words of the writer, the following 
interesting statement. S. Marshall, 
I will inform you the Rockland Farm exhibit- 
ed a subject for experiment, as it has been re- 
duced by cropping. Having read in various 
books the result ol sowing plaster and clover, it 
was presumed that the sowing of these would 
be the extent of the expenses required to fertilize 
the fields in a lew years; but the experiment 
proved that the plaster and clover used w'ere both 
lost, as no one could point out, at any season of 
the year, what field they had been deposited up- 
on. The soil V as a cold or heavy clay, blue, 
white, light, brown, and a few spots of red clay, 
loaded with hard blue stone and rocks, chiefly 
quartz, mixed with iron and copper. Some of 
the experiments were made with plaster ; others 
were made by top-dressing with lime, at therate 
of 25 to 30 bushels per acre; the lime being 
brought 25 miles from the kiln, and laid on the 
land at 25 cents per bushel. It was formed into 
a bed, six inches in thickness, and covered with 
earth that had been plowed and thrown over it 
before it was slaked; a heavy harrow was 
passed over it as soon as it had been reduced to 
powder, and the bed of lime and eaith was then 
frequently turned by the plow and harrow, until 
the whole assumed the appearance and smell of 
soaper’s ashes, containing about ten parts of 
common soil to one of lime. It was then carted 
