Farm Buildings. 
115 
compressed into a single line ? The deep and 
early ploughing of stiff, argillaceous land, and 
the later and lighter ploughing of siliceous, sandy 
or granitic poor soils, and the rotation of crops 
are insisted on by the Poet. Even the kind of 
crops in the rotation is expressly mentioned— 
the very best known even now. Pingue solum 
pfimis , etc. “ Let your sturdy steers turn up 
a soil that is rich forthwith, from the first 
months of the year : ” At si non fuerit , etc. 
« But if the land be not fertile, it will be suffi¬ 
cient to raise it up with a light furrow, even so 
late as towards the rising of Arcturus.f You 
will likewise suffer your lands after reaping to 
rest every other year, and the field to harden and 
be overgrown with scurf. Or changing the 
seasons, you will sow there yellow wheat, 
whence before, you have taken up a joyful crop 
of pulse, with rattling pods, or the vetch’s slen¬ 
der offspring, and the bitter Lupine’s brittle 
stalks.” The exhausting effects of flax, oats, 
&c.j are alluded to. TJrit enim lini , etc. “ For 
a crop of Flax, burns the land, as also oats and 
poppies.” No greater advocate of abundant 
manuring than Virgil, is to be found in China 
or in Flanders, much less in England or the 
United States. 
Ne saturare fimo , etc. “ Be not backward to 
saturate the parched soil with rich dung.” And 
Liebig has lately taught us scientifically, only 
what the Roman husbandman knew experimen¬ 
tally of the value of Ashes on exhausted lands. 
The latter it is true knew nothing of the Sili¬ 
cate of Potash, or that it is a constituent of 
those plants which alkalies enter. Yet he avail¬ 
ed himself of its use and inculcates it on others. 
Effcetos cinerum , etc. “ Or to scatter sordid 
ashes upon the exhausted lands.” The burning 
of stubble on sterile fields, and the theories pop¬ 
ular in that day as to its modus operandi, are 
mentioned ; cross ploughing, harrowing and 
dragging hurdles in the preparation of lands 
for wheat. Thorough pulverization and culti¬ 
vation only, can ensure the smiles of Ceres, the 
goddess of the golden grain. On him her gifts 
she showers. 
Qui exercet frequens tellurem. “ Gives it 
frequent exercise, and rules his lands imperi¬ 
ously.” Draining, irrigation, the feeding down 
of too luxuriant grain, and the right time, the 
protection of crops from birds, &c, the injuri¬ 
ous effects of weeds and shade, are all mention¬ 
ed. The medication of seeds, before sowing, 
with nitre, and the lees of oil too. Have we 
any better preparation even now ? 
Et nitro prius, etc. “ I have seen many 
sowers artificially prepare their seeds, and steep 
them first in nitre and black lees of oil. 11 Steal¬ 
ing a march On grass and weeds by hastening 
the germination of seeds before planting, by 
soaking them in tepid water was practised even 
more than at present, although so labor-saving 
a practice, especially in gardening, and with 
root crops. The selection of the best seeds 
with the view of improving the quality and in¬ 
creasing the quantity was deemed all import¬ 
ant. Et quamvis , etc. “ And though to pre¬ 
cipitate them, they were soaked over a slow 
fire, selected long and proved with much labor, 
yet have I seen them degenerate, unless human 
industry with the hand culled out the largest 
every year.” The necessity of counteracting 
the constant tendency to degeneration is illus¬ 
trated by a figure of great force and beauty. 
Non aliter , etc. “ Not otherwise than he who 
rows his boat with much ado against the stream 
—if by chauce he slackens his armsf &c. Or¬ 
chards, vineyards, meadows, bees, stock of all 
kinds are treated with ability. Even the ar¬ 
rangement of trees in the Quadremium and 
Quincunx is taught. Need I multiply instan¬ 
ces ? Is not my position proved ? If the clas¬ 
sics, instead of Bulwer and Co. were read, de¬ 
pend upon it Sirs, we should have young men 
of better discipline and stronger minds, more 
capable of reasoning and judging than the 
mustachioed Miss Molleys, who infest both 
town and country. Nati cosumere fruges : on 
a level with pug-dogs and pet monkeys. 
Very truly Sirs, your obedient serv’t., 
John Lewis. 
* We insert a literal translation for the benefit 
of those ot our readers who may not be familiar with 
the Latin tongue. 
t About the middle of September. 
For the American Agriculturist . 
Farm Buildings. 
Next to good soil, and enclosures, nothing is 
more important to a well managed farm or 
plantation than good buildings. No matter 
what the climate be, if any where above 36° of 
north latitude, good shelter for beast, as well as 
man, is a most important requisite. Without 
shelter the farm crops are liable to destruction, 
and domestic animals to casuality, disease, and 
oftentimes death. Deprived of it, the farmer 
of the south, and lower Mississippi valley, may 
get along with his stock tolerably well, but 
those of the northern and middle states cannot 
dispense w!th barns and outbuildings short of 
an annual loss of at least twenty to fifty per 
cent., on their actual cost and repairs. They 
are in fact an item so indispensable to good 
husbandry that an essay of some pages on the 
subject may not seem inappropriate in a paper 
aiming to encourage all permanent improve¬ 
ment in the agriculture of our country. 
Farm buildings may be divided into two 
| classes : the useful and the ornamental. With 
