I860.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
339 
A6EICULTURE V 
Farmer A. enriches his farm. 
Farmer A. is too busy to attend the political 
meeting 
Farmer A. on elect ion day, having voted, gathers 
his noble crop of potatoes. 
Farmer A,'s townsmen, unsolicited by him, have 
elected him to the Legislature, and come to offer 
their congratulations. 
The “Politics” of the Agriculturist are pretty 
clearly set forth in the above hasty sketches, 
prepared by our humorous artist, which will not 
EESUS POLITICS. 
Mr. B., having secured the nomination for Assem¬ 
blyman, harangues his fellow citizens. 
be deemed out of place now when almost every¬ 
body's attention is called to such subjects. Our 
creecl, expressed in due form, lqiglit be stated thus: 
We believe in heavy manuring, in seasonable 
and thorough cultivation, in large potatoes and 
plenty of them, with other crops to match. We 
believe that the industrious pursuit of an en¬ 
lightened husbandry will conduce to the pros¬ 
perity of the country, and that those who manage 
their own business succsssfully , can he most safely en¬ 
trusted with public concerns. 'We don’t believe it 
pays a man to neglect his private business to 
seek an office, and we wish, as the artist has in¬ 
dicated above, that such characters might be 
elected to stay at home, and that good men and 
true might be selected for places of trust. Not 
that a knowledge of public affairs should be 
neglected. It is the right and duty of every 
American citizen to watch the doings of his 
government, to study the principles on which it 
should be administered, and to vote understand- 
ingly and in accordance with his convictions. 
* 
Maine Lands not worn Out. 
A subscriber writing from’ Cumberland Co., 
Me., says. “ Here where I am writing, only 38 
miles northwest from Portland, we have 25 to 
30 bushels of wheat raised on a single acre in 
many instances this year, and this, upon our 
old lands which were supposed to have been 
pretty much exhausted of their wheat-bearing 
properties. Within a circle of one mile from, 
my house, containing about 20 farmers of mod¬ 
erate, and several of them of quite small means, 
it is estimated there are not much less than 2000 
bushels of wheat raised the present season. This 
is not much in a wheat growing country, but 
“ Down East ” where for the last 25 years we 
have had to look westward for nearly all our 
flour, we think it is something for self gratula- 
tion, especially when we believe it is principally 
owing to improved methods of cultivation, in¬ 
creased quantities of good muck manure, and 
the general diffusion of scientific knowledge 
pertaining to farming.” 
[“ Old lands ” are not like old horses, which 
must inevitably become useless; feed them 
properly, and they will retain their strength. 
Happily for the country, this is being discovered 
and acted upon, though to a less extent than we 
hope to see at no distant day.—E d.] 
Agricultural Progress op California.— 
Up to the year 1854, California imported the 
greater part of her breadstuffs: now, enough is 
grown not only to satisfy the home demand, but 
large shipments are annually made to Australia, 
Chili, and even to Neiy-York ! A Chilian re¬ 
ports that the flour of California is sold at Val¬ 
paraiso cheaper than the native produce, not¬ 
withstanding that in Chili, farm labor is worth 
but eighteen cents a day, and the country has 
been settled by the whites for two hundred years. 
Plowing in Wheat and Manure.— The 
following method of plowing in Wheat, which 
has been practised for twenty years by a farmer 
near Dundas, C. W., is given in the Genesee 
Farmer. After the land has been prepared in 
the ordinary manner, manure is spread on the 
surface early in September, the wheat sown on 
immediately and both harrowed once over. 
The wheat and manure are then plowed under 
together. The wheat so put in has invariably 
yielded one third more than that sown in the 
usual manner the same year, and though it 
takes a longer time to make its appearance, it 
is never winter-killed, nor is, it l atm in riocuink 
