AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Advantages of a Mild Winter. 
The Winter now fast gliding away has been 
remarkable for its mildness. Up to February 12 
the weather was, for the most part, like that 
of an ordinary November. There was an ab¬ 
sence of snow, as well as of cold. The ice-deal¬ 
ers had well-grounded fears lest their crop 
would be cut short. Farmers were anxious 
for their exposed wheat fields, and were much 
hindered in getting out fuel and lumber. 
But we are now looking out for the advantages of 
such a Winter. And the one which strikes us first, 
is the saving of fodder it occasions. Throughout 
the early part of Winter, young cattle and sheep re¬ 
quired but little feeding; they much preferred the. 
green food they could glean from the pastures and 
corn fields. And other stock, confined mostly to 
the barn, ate less food than usual, in Winter—they 
were not obliged to eat for feed and for fattening 
too. An intelligent farmer lately gave it as his 
opinion, that the daily saving of hay in a neigh¬ 
boring country town, was at least 50 tons. In 
one of our exchanges, we see it estimated, that 
the daily saving of hay, in a single county in this 
State, amounted to one hundred tons. Multiply 
either of these numbers by the number of days 
less than usual, that cattle have required feeding, 
this Winter, and we ascertain, pretty nearly, the 
hay and money saved in each case by the mild 
weather. 
The saving, to the poor, of food and clothing, and 
fuel, is an item of no small importance. How many 
hearts trembled at the approach of the late Winter, 
coming, as it did, upon the heel of commercial dis¬ 
asters ! How many sick and poor thrown out of 
employment, and with no other means of gaining 
a livelihood, apprehended suffering from cold and 
hunger, and saw nothing before them but starva¬ 
tion or crime to avert it! But that long and much 
dreaded Winter has nearly passed away, and has 
brought with it far less privation and hardship than 
was feared. The weather, for the most part, 
was bright and genial. December and January 
gave us an almost constant succession of clear, 
sun-shiny days, with the air pure and bracing— 
yet not severely cold—and nights of unsurpassed 
brilliancy. The little of the Winter that remains, 
may be cold and stormy, yet it cannot be long, for 
in a few short weeks, the time of the singing of 
the birds will have come, and the sound of the 
turtle dove will be heard in the land. Let us not 
fail to note the hand of Providence, which tem¬ 
pers the wind to the shorn lamb, and in the cup of 
deserved discipline, mingles so many mercies. 
Old Time Agriculture. 
Among the books lately added to our library, are 
two antique and musty volumes which treat of 
agriculture as conducted several centuries ago. 
The nearest of the two is “ Ellis’ Modern Hus¬ 
bandry,” published in London, 1744. In reading 
it, we have been surprised to note how little the 
husbandmen of the present day have improved 
on their forefathers. Unquestionably, ours is an 
age of invention and improvement, but it ought to 
take all conceit out of us to see how little, after 
all, our advancement has been. For instance, in 
the management of turnip crops, on the value of 
muck and the mode of applying it, on rotation of 
crops, deep plowing, hop culture, preparing ground 
for wheat, composting manures. &c., &c., we do 
not see why this Hertfordshire husbandman did 
not know about all that we know. 
But we now refer to this book more especially 
to set forth some of its oddities, and to show that 
farmers in those times busied their minds with 
S7- 
some things which we consider of small account. 
Notice some of the titles of the chapters in this 
book : 
“How a Farmer, by a right Way of plowing, 
got good Crops of Grain, where there had not 
been such in the Memory of Man.” 
“ How a Person got poor, and was forced to 
sell his Land for Want of ploughing it deep 
enough.” 
“How a Farmer after four Piowings and Sow¬ 
ings, lost his Crop of Turnips.” 
“ A Particular Account of a great Gain being 
made by Means of Cole-Seed.” 
“ The cheapest Way of Victualling Harvest- 
Men.” 
“How one Farmer broke, and another had like 
to do the same, by wrong Plowing their 
Ground,” &c. 
Take the following as a specimen of the author’s 
style, in treating the last mentioned topic : 
“ On the Farm before mentioned, it was usual 
for the former Tenant to give strict Orders to 
his Ploughmen to plow an Acre and a half at 
one Journey, or in one Day, before he came 
Home: accordingly the Ploughman did, but 
when he was forced to plow large Thoroughs 
with his wide set Broad-Board Wheel Fallow- 
Plow, which every Time turned almost sixteen 
or.eighteen Inches wide of Earth, and which 
should indeed have been rather turned at twice, 
for then (he Ground would have been so broke, 
that Weeds would have had less Power, to 
grow and increase. This Mismanagement 
broke the Farmer, and had like to have done 
another, but his Eyes got open just in Time, for 
as soon as he was sensible of his Error, he 
took in his Fallow Plow narrower, and saved 
himself from that Ruin which otherwise must 
have come upon Him. For such Plowing not 
only keeps the Land sour and hard, but gives 
Weeds a Foundation to breed and grow luxu¬ 
riant; because in sour, hard Ground, the Roots 
of Corn can’t strike in their thready fine Fibres 
with that Freedom and Ease as are requisite to 
maintain them in a thrivingcondition; and when 
Corn is stunted, Weeds will certainly grow pre¬ 
dominant; and then follows the great Charge 
of employing a Number of Weeders a long 
Time, to the Damage of the Corn and the Im¬ 
poverishing of the Farmer. But the succeed¬ 
ing Farmer, with his Foot-pecked Shave-plow, 
plowed the ground into very narrow Thoroughs, 
by which he laid the Land evener and better 
than the first Tenant did with his Wheel Fal- 
low-Plow; so that he sowed his Grain in a 
fine, loose Earth, that caused it to grow a-pace, 
and outrun the Weeds to his great Advantage.” 
On page 58, speaking of hop-growing, he says : 
“ Sometimes, dwarf roses are allowed to grow 
in low Hedges, in the middle of Hop-Alleys, 
and if there happen to be a full Crop of them, 
they may (as they have,) pay the Rent of the 
whole Hop-Ground, by selling them to the 
Apothecaries.” 
Will our hop-growers please make note of this 1 
In the Chapter headed, “ How to make Crams 
that will whiten Calf’s Flesh,” he says : 
“ I will here tell you a way to do this that will 
make a calf sell for more Money than otherwise. 
I mean to make a Calf’s Flesh which is natur¬ 
ally red, to become white. Take a half Pen¬ 
ny’s worth of Senna Leaves, and pouraquatern 
of Gin on them in a Pot, let them stand an 
Hour to infuse: then, with the Liquor, make 
Crams with Wheat Flour, and give three of 
them at a Time, dipped in Milk, in a Morning 
immediately after suckling, and do the same 
once next Day, twice in all, and it will purge 
the Calf and cause its Flesh to become White.” 
In the Chapter on “ Victualling Harvest Men,” 
he says that: 
“The Farmer should have ready his March 
strong stalish Beer, and a June-brewed mild 
Ale, which being drank in a Mixture, goes a 
great deal farther, by quenching Thirst better, 
by reaching the Men’s Heart sooner, and keep¬ 
ing them in Health surer.” 
He then goes on to speak of 
“ Pickle-Pork as mighty useful to eat with lean 
Beef, and commonly together becomes an ac¬ 
ceptable hearty Dish, with a Plum-Pudding.” 
What could John Bull do without hi:, mug oi 
beer and a plum-pudding ! 
We should like to quote many chapters from this 
simple and honest Husbandman's book ; but must 
lay it aside for the present, to notice brielly the 
other and more ancient volume. This is styled 
“ The Best, Sure and Readiest way to make a 
good Orchard and Garden. London : Print¬ 
ed by Nicholas Okes, for John Harrison, at 
the Golden Unicorne, in Pater Noster Row, 
1631.” 
This book is chiefly occupied with the details 
of orchard and garden culture. It gives excellent 
rules for manuring, and plowing the soil, and for 
planting, pruning and grafting trees. In connec¬ 
tion with one of his plans for laying out a Garden, 
he says : 
“ I have shadowed out these for the better ca¬ 
pacity of those that are led more with the eye 
than the mind, craving pardon for the deformi¬ 
ty, because I am nothing skilfull either in paint¬ 
ing or causing.” 
Few men lnve greater faith than he, in the 
longevity of trees. On this point, here are some 
good thoughts : 
“ If, therefore, out of reason grounded upon 
experience it be made (I think) manifest, but I 
am sure probable, that a fruit tree in such a soilc 
and site as is described, so planted and trimmed 
and kept, as is before appointed and duly foiled, 
shall dure 1000 years why should we not take 
pains and he at two or three years charges tu 
reape such a commodity and so long lasting. 
“ Let no man think this to be strange, but 
peruse and consider the reason. I have apple- 
trees standing in my little orchard, whose age 
before my tune I can not learne, it is beyond 
memory tho 1 have inquired of divers aged men 
of80 years and upwards; I asure myself they 
are not come to their growth by more than two 
parts of three which I discerne not only by their 
owne growth, but also by comparing them with 
the bulk of other trees. * * * 
“ If my trees be a hundred yeers old, and ye! 
want two hundred of their growth before they 
leave increasing, which make three hundred, 
then we must needs resolve that this three 
hundred yeers are but the third part of a trees’ 
life, because they must have allowed them for 
their increase one third, another third for their 
stand, and a third part also for their decay. All 
which time of a tree amounts to 900 years. 
“ But every living thing bestows the least part 
of his age on his growth, and so it must needs 
be with trees. A man comes not to his full 
growth and strength before thirty years, and 
some slender and cleane bodies not till forty, 
so long also stands his strength, and so long 
also must he have allowed for decay. * * * 
“ Ever supposing that he be well kept with ne¬ 
cessaries, and from and without straines, bruises 
and all other dominysing diseases, 1 will not 
say upon true report, that physieke holds it 
possible, that a cleane bodie kept by these 3 
doctors—Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet and Dr. Merry- 
man may live neere a bundled yeares Neither 
will I here urge the long yeeres of Methusaleh. 
“ So that I resolve upon good reason that fruit 
trees well ordered may live a thousand yeeres 
and beare fruit, and the longer the more, the 
greater and better, because his vigor is proud 
and stronger when his yeeres are manny. 
“ It is good for some purposes to regard the 
age of your fruit trees, which you may easily 
know, till they come to accomplish twenty 
yeeres, by his knots. Reckon from his roots 
up to an arme, and so to his topmost twig, and 
every yeeres growth is distinguished from 
others by a knot, except lopping or removing 
doz hinder.” 
We had marked for quotation several more 
quaint passages in this volume, but our limits 
forbid further citation. May we moderns learn 
to pursue our callings, as farmers or gardeners, 
with something of the quiet philosophy and ear¬ 
nest enthusiasm which distinguished these hus¬ 
bandmen of old times! 
The trials of life are the tests which ascertain 
how much gold there is in us. 
