AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Designed to improve all Classes interested in Soil Culture 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN —WASHINGTON 
ORAIGE JUDD, A. M., 
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 
IIMBMiMIi II mt* 
$1.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE. 
SINGLE NUMBERS 10 CENTS. 
VOL XVIII.—No, 2.] 
NEW-YORK, FEBRUARY, 1850. 
[NEW SERIES—No. 145. 
t^Oftice 18D Watcr-st., (Near Fulton-st.) 
^Contents, Terms, Arc. on pajes GO, 01, 
[CuPY RIGHT SECURED.] 
Entered ac ording 10 Act of Congress in the year 1858, 
by Grange Judd, in the Clerk's Office of the District 
Court of the United States for ttie Southern District of 
New-York. 
N. IS.— Every Journal is invited freely to copy 
any and all desirable articles, and no use or advantage 
will be taken of the Copy-Right, wherever eaclt article 
or illustration is duly accredited to the American Agri¬ 
culturist. ORANGE JUDD, Proprietor. 
2lmericcmj Agriculturist iu German. 
The AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST is published in 
both the English and German Languiges. Both 
Editions are of Uniform size, and contain as 
nearly as possible the same Articles and Illustra¬ 
tions. The German Edition is furnished at the 
same rates as the English- 
February- 
And all this uniform, uncolored scene 
Shall be dismantled of its fleecy load, 
And flush into variety again. 
From dearth to plenty, and from death to iite, 
Is Nature’s progress, when she lectures man 
In heavenly truth ; evincing, as she makes 
The grand transition, that there lives and works 
A soul in all things, and that soul is God 
COWPER. 
The change of the season in passing from Win¬ 
ter to Spring is not more marked and obvious than 
the transition now taking place in our rural dis¬ 
tricts. The last six or eight years has been a 
period of unexampled activity in agricultural im¬ 
provement. It has witnessed a great increase in 
the number and excellence of our agricultural 
iournals, and societies. Not only have new pa¬ 
pers devoted to husbandry as a specialty been 
started, hut many of our political, literary, and re¬ 
ligious journals have established a department de¬ 
voted to this art, and spread the teachings of 
science, and the experiments of our best farmers 
among multitudes, who never see a farm journal. 
These records of husbandry so widely circulated 
have stirred the minds of our rural population as 
never before, and State and County Societies 
have been firmed so generally, that those with¬ 
out them are rare exceptions in all the northern 
and western States. These societies have their 
annual fairs, at which the best products of the 
farm and work shop are displayed, and the whole 
tural population turn out to enjoy a holiday, and 
learn something new of their neighbors. In ad¬ 
dition to all these means of instruction, Farmers’ 
Clubs have been established in many villages and 
neighborhoods, meeting monthly, or oftener, to 
discuss in a social way crops, stock, and other 
matters of mutual interest. 
The results of these multiplied teachings, ex¬ 
hibitions, and discussions, are already apparent, 
so *c n ‘ the most careless observer can hardly fail 
to notice them. No part of the country has felt 
these influences more powerfully than New-Eng- 
land, and nowhere do we behold more substan¬ 
tial changes upon the farm. The whole popula¬ 
tion is astir, and the great event of the year is 
the County Fair, that calls out its ten or fifteen 
thousand people to witness the triumphs of the 
plow-share and the pruning knife. The spirit, if 
not the letter of prophecy is here in the process 
of fulfilment. 
A pleasing indication of this progress is the 
improvement in the style of farm houses. With 
rare exceptions every new house put up is much 
better than its predecessor. It is not only more 
conveniently arranged within, but its exterior is 
attractive, indicating that the owner has studied 
Downing, or consulted some competent architect 
in the location and building of his home. It is 
not thrust so entirely into the street, has an in¬ 
closure, and a carriage drive, and its ornamental 
trees. It does not belong to the packing box 
order of architecture, hut has tasteful features 
that readily distinguish it from a barn or work¬ 
shop. The whole expression of the home indi¬ 
cates that the owner has a new ideal of domestic 
wants. 
The barns and out buildings are even more im¬ 
proved than the dwellings. Almost without ex¬ 
ception every new barn is furnished with a cellar 
for the storing and manufacture of manures, and 
not unfrequently the yards are surrounded with 
sheds for the same purposes. Old barns are fre¬ 
quently removed to a new place where they can 
be put over a cellar. The conviction is pretty 
thoroughly wrought, into the minds of farmers, 
that manure made under cover is far more val¬ 
uable, and that no good cultivator can afford 
the loss on stable manures exposed to the 
weather. 
The use of absorbents is another sign of pro 
gress upon the farm. One sees almost every¬ 
where long lines of muck thrown out from ditch¬ 
es, or large heaps drawn to fields that are to be 
planted the next season. The benefits derived from 
its use are so manifest, and so generally known 
that most farmers regard their muck swamps as 
mines Of wealth. The shore farmers resort ex¬ 
tensively to sea weeds, and mud taken from the 
harbors and creeks. These are carted into the 
yard and slys, and mixed in various ways with 
stable manures, they not only furnish large quan¬ 
tities of carbonaceous matters, but the salt in 
them serves to fix the ammonia, and prevent all 
loss. Many have doubled the quantity of manure 
made upon the farm, and cultivators are becom¬ 
ing settled in the opinion, that it is far better to 
make, than to purchase manures. Guano, dis¬ 
solved bones and bone-dust are very good for 
special crops, but do not pay so well as the home¬ 
made article. The results of fifty loads of stable 
manure applied to an acre rarely fail to be satis¬ 
factory. 
The reclaiming ot waste land is another cheer¬ 
ing indication. Almost every farm contains more 
or less of these unproductive acres, swamps, 
marshes, or rocky pastures. The swamps are 
generally the first to be improved because the 
necessary ditches furnish large quantities of 
muck. Every year there is. a spirited competi¬ 
tion both in the State and County Societies for 
the premiums offered for this class of improve¬ 
ments. In every county hundreds of acres of 
these wild brush swamps have been turned into 
beautiful meadows, including bountiful crops of 
corn, potatoes, and grass. They are esteemedby 
their owners, as the best lands upon the farm. 
The reclaiming of rocky pastures is mainly con¬ 
fined to the vicinity of cities and villages, where 
land is high, and commands a great rent for pas¬ 
turage, or for gardening purposes. A hundred 
dollars will clear a very rough acre of land, and 
it is claimed by those who have tried the experi¬ 
ment, that where lands are worth two hundred 
dollars an acre for cultivation, it will pay a good 
interest on the investment necessary to remove 
the boulders. 
The reclaiming of salt marshes, and under- 
draining, are beginning to attract attention, though 
the majority of farmers have not full faith in these 
improvements. Several tide gates have been put 
down within the past year on the sea board, and 
farmers are waiting for the results with great in¬ 
terest. Experiments in underdraining are much 
more common. The fact, that Albany has been 
the nearest depot for tile has retarded their use. 
A manufactory has been started the pres¬ 
ent season at Hartford, Ct., and the home-made 
article is coming into use. But the stone under¬ 
drains work well for a time, and demonstrate the 
economy of this operation for wet lands. There 
are also tile factories recently started at Whate- 
ly, and Manchester, Mass., and at Exeter, N. H., 
good indications of the new leaven that is work¬ 
ing among our rural population. 
But the greatest change of all, is in the mind 
of the farmer himself. There has been a great 
deal of mental quickening, and he sees that his 
business belongs to the class of improvable arts. 
Mind as well as muscle has a fair field for exer¬ 
cise upon the farm. This conviction is rapidly 
gaining strength in the rural parishes, and in some 
of them, the process of depopulation, that has 
been going on for forty years is already arrested. 
Enough of the sons are retained at home to make 
good the place of the fathers. Many a pastor's 
heart is cheered by this new spirit that is abroad 
upon the farm. There are fuller congregations 
upon the Sabbath, and evidence of increasing in¬ 
dustry and thrift during the week. In many 
places the day of “ the good time coming ” has 
already dawned. Its brightness even now il¬ 
lumines many an eye, cheers many a household, 
and causes many a desert place “to blossom as 
the lose.” May its full power soon dispel every 
shade of ignorance, and scatter every mist of 
error. 
