GENERAL JOHNSON’s FARM -FARMERS’ CLUB.-POPULAR ERRORS.-NO 4. 
207 
single-horse turning plows certainly cost me over 
$30 a year without counting the loss of time going 
to the shop and working with bad tools. 
I cultivate seventeen acres per hand, not includ¬ 
ing my garden, potato, or oat crop; and I can do 
this as easily as my neighbors cultivate twelve to 
fifteen acres. Many of the planters within 25 to 
30 miles of me will scarcely credit this, because 
they do not know the economy and saving of labor 
in using improved implements. I have now ten 
acres of corn growing per hand, from which I hope 
to raise 3000 bushels this season. 
REVISIT TO GENERAL JOHNSON’S FARM. 
Agreeably to promise in our April number, we 
have made another visit, in company with the 
Board of Agriculture of the American Institute, to 
the farm of General Johnson, in Brooklyn. We 
were highly gratified in walking over the grounds 
with the old gentleman and his sons, and had a fine 
opportunity to judge of the capabilities of his farm 
and of the manner in which it is conducted. His 
crops all looked well and some of them were in a 
high state of perfection, particularly his pie-plants 
(rhubarb), of which he has growing eight or nine 
acres. We noticed several plants of the Victoria 
rhubarb, with leaves nearly a yard in diameter, and 
stalks of a corresponding size. His horses and other 
stock were in fine condition, and showed the 
effects of good keeping by his improved mode of 
soiling. 
There is one feature in regard to General John¬ 
son’s farm, that we cannot omit to notice, which, 
in our estimation, entitles him to be considered as 
a benefactor. It appears that his lands with those 
of others in the vicinity were laid out, in perspec¬ 
tive, into city lots, about ten years ago, and had he 
yielded to the offers that were frequently made him, 
his farm, long ere this, would have been cut up in¬ 
to streets, divided, sold, partially built over, and 
probably would have been doubly profitable to him¬ 
self in a pecuniary point of view. But what 
has been the result ? The farm has been kept to¬ 
gether, carried on and maintained after his own 
heart, and has annually produced to the public a 
large amount of food and vegetables which other¬ 
wise never would have existed. 
NEW YORK FARMERS’ CLUB. 
Special Premiums by Individuals .-—At a late meet- 
: ng of the club, the Secretary announced the fol¬ 
lowing special premiums to be awarded at the 
Twentieth Annual Fair of the American Insti¬ 
tute :— 
By General James Tallmadge, late President of 
the Institute, for the best twenty yards of American 
Linen, regard being had to the economy of its pro¬ 
duction, a large Gold Medal. 
By Shepherd Knapp, Esq., Vice President of the 
Institute, Four Gold Medals, for the following ob¬ 
jects:—1st, For an Improved Farm-Waggon for 
farming purposes, combining the following requi¬ 
sites : lightness of draft, strength, durability, and 
moderate cost. 2d, For the best four-wheeled 
leather-covered waggon, capable of carrying four 
persons and designed for common use, taking into 
consideration strength, lightness, economy, dura¬ 
bility, and appearance, the price to be given—also 
an estimate of the cost of one with seats for six. 
3d, For the best Double Harness for a waggon. 
4th, For the best Single Harness for a waggon. 
It is a rule of the Institute that the exhibitor has 
no claim to a premium, if there is no competition. 
Premium for the Analysis of Indian Corn .— 
Mr. Roswell L. Colt, of Patterson, N. J., authorized 
the Institute to award a premium of One Hundred 
Dollars for the best analysis of an entire plant, 
including the grain, cob, silk, husks, spindle, leaves, 
stalk, and roots, of Indian Corn. 
Although we highly commend Mr. Colt for this 
liberal and praise-worthy offer, we think that he 
will see upon reflection, an insuperable difficulty in 
appropriating the money in the shape of a premium. 
For it is well known that almost every variety of 
Indian corn differs in the nature and proportions of 
its constituents ; and should two or more competi¬ 
tors each select a distinct variety for analysis, it is 
obvious that they would arrive at different results, 
however able or faithful they might perform their 
work. We would suggest, therefore, that the sum 
be placed in the hands of an able chemist, with in¬ 
structions to expend it, as far as it will go, on some 
well-known variety of corn, commencing with the 
grain, cob, husks, silk, &c., and in due time report 
the same to the parties concerned. 
The Strawberry Question. — Mr. Wm. R. 
Prince wishes to put on record the fact, that the 
strawberry which Downing has so often com¬ 
mented upon as the Hovey seedling, with perfect 
blossoms and of a vacillating character, is not 
that plant, but a totally distinct variety in foliage , 
flowers, and fruit. He proposes to publish an article 
on the subject, as soon as the fruiting season of 
the strawberry is p ast. 
POPULAR ERRORS.—NO. 4. 
Summering Manure. —Notwithstanding all that 
has been said and written, showing that fresh ma¬ 
nure immediately applied to the land, or such as is 
preserved in tanks or under cover, or by a mixture 
with straw or earth, is at least four times the value 
of that left in the barn-yard all summer exposed to 
sun and rain, wasting its richness in the air and 
drenching its fertilizing salts away ; yet many far¬ 
mers still believe, or act upon the principle of be¬ 
lief, that manure is like cider, growing better with 
age ; and thus their dung is safely kept in the yard 
till August or September, a great nuisance to all 
around, and a sad loss to the growing crops. 
We are well aware that rotted manure is con¬ 
sidered indispensable for certain crops, and there¬ 
fore many say they prefer to sustain the loss of its 
rotting to the inconvenience of using it in an un¬ 
fermented state. Let those who thus think, con¬ 
sider, that when manure has become rotted it is 
then mere humus or vegetable matter, such as decom¬ 
posed leaves of trees, straw, hay, cornstalks, muck, 
turf, peat, road and ditch scrapings, which may be 
had on every farm to answer the same purpose as 
the rotted manure. • How many farmers let all these 
substances go to waste, thus subjecting themselves 
to a double loss—a depreciation in the value ot 
their manure, and a neglect of the vegetable matters 
on their premises and around them. 
