158 
THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
stock of the farm. Now, suppose A. divides 
his land into two equal fields of 50 acres each, 
and has one in wheat and the other in clover 
each year.. The clover he plows under and 
sows wish wheat annually, and he has 50 acres 
of wheat to harvest. If he pursue this course 
for ten years, his wheat crop, i believe, will not 
average over 20 bushels per acre — but call it 22 
and it will be 1100 bushels; from which deductSO 
bushels for seed, and he will have 1050 bushels 
for market. Call this 6s. 6d, per bushel, which 
is as high as we can calculate for an average, 
and it will make $853.12 yearly income lor A. 
F. divides his land into three equal parts of 
33i acres each, one_^of which he has in wheat, 
the other two in clover each year. He also 
keeps 450 sheep; these he pastures on his fal- 
low till it is plo ived, instead of plowing in the 
clover as A. does. The third field he divides 
with a temporary fence, and takes 20 acres of it 
for bay, which, together with hi.s chaffand straw, 
will be sufficient for his sheep; and the 13 acres 
not mown, together with the fall feed on the 
meadow and stubble, will afford ample pasture 
for the sheep after the fallow is plowed. B. 
having 16| acres less wheat to sow and harvest, 
his expenses of labor will be very little more 
than A’s. His sheep will make his hay and 
straw into excellent manure, which he must put 
on the 20 acres of mow'ed land, and this is to be 
his next year's fallow. 
B’s 33^ acres of wheat will average for ten 
years under the sheep system, 27 bushels per 
acre, or 900 bushels — from which take 33j for 
seed, and he has 866s for market; this, at the 
price before named, will give him $704.16 for 
wheat. His 150 sheep will yield in wool and in- 
crease of flock, $1.50 each, or $225 in all, mak- 
ing the whole amount of B’s income $929.16. 
C. divides his land inta ten acre lots, with 
several of the division fences temporary, so as 
to be removed at pleasure. He will have annu- 
ally 30 acres in wheat, 10 in barley, 10 hay, 20 
pasture, and 10 in hoe crops, of which 2 acres 
should be potatoes, 3 wurtzels, and 5 corn. He 
will keep two hundred sheep, (which he can do, 
and keep them well,) and breeding sows sufii- 
cient to raise 20 hogs annually for market. The 
kegs and sheep will make all the stalks, hay, 
and straw into valuable manure, which will be 
much improved by feeding the sheep with wurt- 
zels. The 3 acres of wurtzels, 5 of cornstalks, 
10 of hay, and 40 of straw, will winter 200 sheep 
well; and the fallow, together with the after 
feed on the mowed ground and stable fields, and 
twenty acres of pasture, will be abundant for 
their summer keeping. 
The 10 acres of mown land must be well ma- 
nured and plowed in the fall, for the next spring’s 
hoe crops ; the 10 acres previously hoed must 
be plowed in the fall for barley; and as soon as 
possible after the barley is off, give a shallow 
plowing and thorough harrowing, so as to vege- 
tate all the barley and other seeds on the surface, 
then give it a light dressing of well rotted ma- 
nure, plow it well, and sow it with wheat. In 
this way, C’s thirty acres of wheat will be, ten 
after barley, and twenty summer fallow, on 
which his sheep were pastured till plowed. The 
20 on summer fallow, will average 30 bushels 
per acre for 10 years, owing to the increased 
quantity and the quality of manure he will an- 
auafly apply ; and the 10 after barley, will be 
as good as A’s 22 bushels per acre — making the 
whole amount of wheat, deducting 30 bushels 
lor seed, 790 bushels, worth, at the price stated, 
$641.89. Then the 10 acres of barley will ave- 
rage 40 bushels per acre ; (this has been my 
average yield for ten years past,) deduct 20 
bushels for seed, and the rema^der, at Es. 6d. 
per bushel, will be worth $166.63. The 3 acres 
of corn, highly manured, will yield 50 bushels 
per acre ; deduct 1 for seed, and keep 30 to feed 
the sows and young pigs, and the remainder, at 
3s. 6d. per bushel, will be $95.81. 
The wurtzels feed to the sheep and hogs in 
winter; the two acres of potatoes, with the thir- 
ty bushels of corn, and the stubbles, &e., will 
keep the sows and twenty hogs raised for the 
market, until they are a year old, when they 
will average 200 lbs. each on foot, at 2^ cents 
per pound, which will be $100. The sheep, at 
$1.50 each, will be $300: the whole together 
making an income for C. of $1304.32. But he 
will have extra expenses in cultir aling his land ; 
he muct employ three extra laborer.' — one for 
the year, at $120, and two for seven months, at 
$12 per month — $168 : but these men will do 
each one month’s work in harvesting and thrash- 
ing, which will be worth $18 per month. If we 
deduct this from their wages, it will leave $234, 
as the extra expense of cuhivating C’s land : de- 
duct this from the proceeds, and his income will 
be $1070.32. 
Each of these three farmers must use alike of 
plaster, say eight tons per year — five on their 
land and three on their manure in the yard. 
Their wheat must all be seeded each year with 
clover, and B. and C. must add three quarts ol 
timothy per acre. But their expense in seeding 
will not be greater than A’s, owing to his having 
more acres to seed. If B. and C. do their duty 
in making, saving and applying their manures, 
B’s ground will improve, and his crops increase 
over A’s, and C’s over B’s more than in the 
foregoing estimated proportions. 
RECAPITULATION. 
Yearly income of A from 100 acres is $853 12 
“ B “ 929 16 
“ C “ 1070 32 
Now, fellow cultivators, test this matter for 
yourselves, and let your experience settle the 
question. But do iiot forget that C. must pay 
particular attention to his stock and vianure — 
especially the sheep in winter. 
Wheatland, Aug., 1844. Wm.Garbutt. 
From the Central New York Farmer. 
FALL PLOWING. 
Messrs. Editors — Will you allow one, who 
has derived much instruction and pleasure from 
a perusal of your pages, to contribute his small 
share to the common stock of agricultural 
knowledge, by placing at your disposal a short 
communication on the subject of fall plowing. 
The season is now at hand when this work 
should be performed, and 1 beg lea . e to state 
some of the advantages which are, in my opin- 
ion, to be derived irom it. One important ad- 
vantage to be derived from fall plowing, is a 
more thorough and complete pulverization of 
the soil intended for spring crops?, than could 
otherwise be obtained. This, on stiff soils, is of 
the first importance. The action of the frost du- 
ring the cold season, has the effect to divide and 
pulverize the upturned furrows, and to separate 
the parts, so that in the spring a mellow tilth is 
found, which cannot fail to be beneficial to all 
crops we may desire to raise. Upon this point, 
I am not aware that there is any difference of 
opinion, and I only call attention to ii here for 
the purpose of urging the advantages of fall 
plowing. And, as a means of facilitating this 
process of pulverization, the plan of lapping the 
furrow slice is undoubtedly to be preferred. To 
this, I am aware, many persons object, but to 
me it seems capable of the fullest demonstra- 
tion, that as by lapping the furrow both the sur- 
face and the edge of the furrow slice are exposed 
to the action of the atmosphere, a more perlect 
pulverization must take place than when the 
flat surface only is exposed, which must be the 
case when the furrows are turned perfectly flat, 
as is frequently the case. There may be, and 
doublless are, good reasons for flat plowing even 
in the fall, as on ground where the grass is tall 
and cannot otherwise be covered, and perhaps 
other causes. But these are only exceptions to 
the general rule. At other seasons of the year, 
and on dry or porous soils, it is doubtless pro- 
per, in many instances, to invert the soil so as 
to leave a smooth and even surface. But I 
have been led from the subject of fall plowing 
to a dissertation on the method of plowing gene- 
rally. Another reason for fall plowing, al- 
though it may be considered only as consequent 
upon those before alluded to, is the fact, proved 
by the almost unanimous voice of farmers, that 
crops on fall plowed land are generally better 
than on land plowed solely in the spring. I 
have known excellent crops grown on ground 
which was plowed in autumn only , without any 
preparation in the spring further than a thorough 
harrowing, and so far as my information ex- 
tends, has proved generally successlul. 
I desire, however, to mention one other argu- 
ment in favor of fall plowing, which I regard 
equally important with those already mention- 
ed, I refer to the great advantage of advancing 
the spring work by having, as far as possible, 
all the plowing done in the fall ol the year. In 
those sections of country, w'here winter grain is 
not extensively grown, and where, consequent- 
ly, the principal reliance must be on spring 
grain, the spring work is excessively fatiguing 
and laborious, especially foi teams; and any 
method which wnU relieve this branch ol farm 
labor, must be advantageous to the farmer’s in- 
terest. It not nnfrequently happens, too, that 
land intended for spring crops is so much satu- 
rated with w'ater in spring as not to admit of 
plowing until just about the season for sowing 
or planting, so that when the land is to be plow- 
ed, the putting in of the crop must inevitably be 
delayed beyond the proper season. Add to this 
the consideration that all crops can be got in in 
better season, and all the operations of the farm 
performed in a more proper manner, when suf- 
ficient time is allowed, than when all the labor 
of plowing and putting in crops, fencing, &c., 
is crowded in the short space of two months, and 
we have, as I should think, sufficient reasons 
for practising fall plowingto a much greater ex- 
tent than is now prevalent in this couutry. 
I have now given you my views at sufficient 
length upon this subject, and will only add that 
if any of your readers hold to different princi- 
ples from those I have advanced, they will con- 
fer a favor on your correspondent, and doubtless 
on the public also, by communicating them to- 
you, where they will have a fair chance of be- 
coming known to the community. I do not de- 
sire controversy, but shall be ready to discuss 
the subject with persons entertaining different 
views, provided the discussion can be properly 
conducted and with a view of arriving at cor- 
rect results, 
I have, however, written sufficient for my first 
communication, and will close by expressing 
the satisfaction which 1 have derived from agri- 
cultural reading, and urging upon farmers the 
propriety of sustaining agricultural journals. ) _ 
August, 1844. Pljwman. 
From the Central New York Farmer. 
THE REAPER’S HARVEST SONG. 
The light winds gambol among the flowers, 
The clouds have rolled away. 
And the rflists have fled from the leaping streams 
Before the coming day. 
And the ripened grain on the fruitful plain 
Invites us, "sons of toil f 
Now, with ready hands to gather in 
The products of the soil. 
For lo ! ’tis the harvest time,. 
The blessed harvest time. 
Away to the harvest field, away 1 
The sun wheels up the sky; 
No bondsmen we, but untasked and free. 
Our sickles keen we ply ; 
And the waving ranks of bearded grain 
Fall prostrate on the field. 
And grateful we bless the Hanp that gives 
Such lull and ample yield. 
For lo ! ’tis the harvest time, 
The blessed harvest time. 
Work ! work ! for the day will soon be gone ! 
We may not linger now, 
Each trusty steel ply with earnest zeal. 
With bared and moist brow. 
In faith we sowed, and with gladness reap 
The bounties God has given; 
And fondly trust when He binds his sheaves, 
He will gather us in heaven; 
At the coming harvest time, 
His blessed harvest time! De 'V’eee, 
CassviUe, N. Y., August, 1844. 
