258 
FARM OF MR. PELL. 
FARM OF MR. PELL. 
This is one of the most interesting farms we 
have visited ; and although it has been under the 
direct supervision of its owner but a short time, 
there is already a system established, and science 
displayed in its cultivation, that reflects high honor 
upon him, and which we would gladly see copied 
throughout the country. The farm contains about 
300 acres, and is beautifully situated, directly on 
the Hudson river, in Pelham, Ulster county, 85 
miles above New York. The soil is a sandy loam, 
with a sufficient intermixture of clay to give it 
consistency and retain manure. By Dr. Gardner’s 
analysis, it contains a small quantity of gypsum 
and common salt, soluble in water; phosphate of 
lime, carbonate of lime, and silicate of potash, 
soluble in muriatic acid. Quarries of blue stone, 
of an excellent quality, are found upon the land, 
from which the material has been taken for fencing 
it round with a wall sunk two feet below the sur¬ 
face of the ground, and rising four and a half to 
five feet above it. This wall presents a handsome 
face on each side, and is laid up in the most sub¬ 
stantial manner. It is three feet thick at the bot¬ 
tom, every other course in it being flat stones placed 
across the whole width for binders. Thus formed, 
it will settle equally, and probably stand a century, 
needing, during this time, very little repair. The 
gates opening to the road are of iron, high and 
strong, and hung to massive stone pillars on either 
side. Within the outer wall are few cross fences, 
and as Mr. Pell soils his stock in large yards, or a 
single enclosure of a few acres, it is his intention, 
eventually, to take up even these few, and thus 
give the whole farm a noble, open, park-like ap¬ 
pearance. This will make a great annual saving 
in fence-building and repairs, which seems to be 
little considered, as yet, in the United States. 
Rotation of Crops .—The farm is devoted prin¬ 
cipally to orcharding. All this part, after un¬ 
dergoing a thorough renovation, has been laid 
down to grass, in which it will be permanently 
kept. On the other part, the sod is broken up 
the first year and planted with corn; the second 
and third years it is devoted to roots; the fourth 
year, wheat, seeded with grass at the rate of 
one bushel of clover and half a bushel of 
timothy or orchard-grass seed to the acre. On 
some soils, so much grass-seed as this would un¬ 
questionably be unnecessary ; but Mr. P. informed 
us, that when he seeded with the ordinary quan¬ 
tity he only cut one ton of hay per acre, whereas, 
by his method he obtained three tons. We well 
recollect, the first year of our own farming, adopt¬ 
ing the advice of our neighbors as to the quantity 
of seed to be sown. Our grass was so thin the 
first year as not to be worth cutting; we therefore 
let it all go to seed, and then pressed it down flat 
on the ground by passing a heavy roller over it. 
The next year we had an abundant yield of hay ; 
but had we used three times the quantity of seed 
first advised, we should have cut a large crop the 
first season, and not have lost the use of our land 
a whole year, and had it overrun with a host of 
weeds where there should have been grass. 
In putting up his hay, Mr. P. uses the extraor¬ 
dinary quantity of one bushel of salt per ton. The 
advantages of such high salting are thus stated: 
1st. It can be put up without injury in a much 
greener state than when less salted—sometimes 
within a few hours after cutting, and always the 
same day unless caught in a shower. The saving 
of time, therefore, in handling the grass in curing 
is considerable, in addition to lessening its exposure 
to rain. 2d. Thus highly salted, it will weigh 
much heavier when sold, probably at least one 
quarter, and it is calculated that this gain is more 
than equivalent to the cost of the salt, when cheap, 
at least five times over. 3d. It is preserved 
sweeter and greener than when cured in the ordi¬ 
nary method. We believe the greater the quan¬ 
tity of the natural juice or moisture of the grass 
that can be retained in the curing process, the more 
valuable the hay will be found; for this juice, if 
not the most substantial part of the fodder, is cer¬ 
tainly the most palatable, as it sweetens the food 
of the stock, and makes it more agreeable to them ; 
they consequently eat more, and thrive better upon 
it. In this opinion, we beg leave to add, that we 
are fully sustained by every intelligent farmer with 
whom we have conversed upon the subject, either 
in this country or in Europe. 4th. It brings a 
higher price than other hay in the New York mar¬ 
ket. 5th. Stock relish it as well as any other hay 
whatever, thrive uncommonly well on it, and ton 
for ton, it seems to go further with them ; nor has 
it been noticed that they drink much more when 
fed on this than on hay scarcely salted at all. It 
is well known that persons living on salt meat 
drink very little more than when eating fresh. It 
must be recollected that hay put up so green has 
much more moisture in it than when drier; it can 
consequently absorb more salt; moreover, it is 
believed that the grass can only take up and dis¬ 
solve a certain quantity of salt, however much may 
be put upon it. We know that this is the case 
with meat when pickled in barrels ; it absorbing 
such quantity of salt only as is sufficient to pre¬ 
serve it, and whatever more has been added is left 
undissolved. We wish, however, to be under¬ 
stood, as neither recommending nor disapproving 
so much as one bushel of salt per ton to hay; all 
that we ask of our readers is, to settle the matter 
for themselves by carefully experimenting with 
four quarts per ton up to thirty-two; we shall then 
know which is best. 
Mr. Pell has made many interesting experiments 
in growing different kinds of crops, the results of 
which, in several instances, have been quite aston¬ 
ishing. When more fully proved, we trust that 
we shall be allowed permission to communicate 
them to the public. 
Orchards. —Mr. Pell has been remarkably suc¬ 
cessful in treating his orchards, getting a rapid 
growth of the trees, and at the same time making 
them bear now abundantly every season, instead 
of only every other year, as formerly. The details 
of this treatment we shall give hereafter. He 
has fatted hogs weighing 325 lbs., on sweet and 
sour apples, the sweet fed for a week then the 
sour a week, without any other food. The pork 
was sweeter, and apparently quite as firm as corn- 
fed of the best quality. 
Manures. —Mr. Pell has made many experi- 
