42 
NOTES ON LONG ISLAND.-NO. 1, 
In order < show our readers the marked im¬ 
provements which have taken place in farming on 
Lon"- Island. we will relate what was told us by 
Mr. Youngs . Some 40 to 45 years ago, the general 
system praci -wd on his own farm and around him, 
was, the first year to plow up the sod in the spring 
and plant corn without manure. From this they 
obtained 12 to 15 bushels per acre. Rye was sown 
broadcast, and harrowed in among this corn, in the 
month of August, and the following year produced 
9 to 12 bushels per acre. Then the fields were al¬ 
lowed to be grown over with the natural grasses 
and weeds, and were pastured five or six years, by 
which time they got so well recruited, that they 
might be plowed again with the prospect of pro¬ 
ducing another crop of 12 to 15 bushels of corn per 
?icre. The little manure which was made in the 
e, tables and yards, was usually devoted to a few 
acres of meadow land adjoining the farm buildings. 
These produced fair crops of hay, which were the 
main dependence for wintering the stock. 
How changed now is this system. Swamps, the 
former products of which were nothing but frogs 
and alder bushes, have been drained, and found to 
abound from one to five feet deep with a rich, black 
muck, which will produce large crops of hay and 
corn, &c., for a series of years without manure ; fish 
have been caught in great numbers and applied to 
the land; sea weed has been gathered in large 
quantities for the compost heaps; while thousands 
of bushels of ashes, and sloop load after sloop load of 
city manure from New York, have been transport¬ 
ed thither, and recently guano to some extent. 
And what is the result! Why, the same land that 
formerly, averaged only half a ton of hay to the 
acre, now cuts 2 to 3 tons; corn which produced 
not over 10 to 15 bushels per acre, now yields from 
35 to 60—and the smaller grains and roots have in¬ 
creased in like proportion. But much larger iso¬ 
lated crops have been raised than these. For 
example, Mr. Daniel K. Youngs, has raised 80 
bushels of oats and 100 bushels of corn per acre, and 
550 bushels of carrots on half an acre. Mr. 
Thomas F. Youngs, raised on one acre of drained 
swamp 123| bushels of corn. Mr. Jacob Smith, of 
Centre Island, raised 400 bushels of wheat on ten 
acres, and a single acre produced him 50 bushels. 
We could enumerate many an acreable production 
equal to the above. The quantities were not 
guessed at either. With these increased produc¬ 
tions other improvements have gone hand in hand, 
such as better fences, and buildings, &c. ; for Long 
Island farmers tell us the general result of this sys¬ 
tem of liberal manuring is, that the more manure 
they .chase the mgre they are able to buy and 
make < home. We have no doubt that their out¬ 
lays for manure yield them from ten to one hun¬ 
dred per cent. We will recount one instance of 
liberal manuring. A friend of ours, who began 
life with less than one thousand dollars, and who 
has brought up reputably and well educated, a large 
family, and has now become rich from the profits of 
farming alone, informed us, that one season he ex¬ 
pended $900 for city manure, all of which he put 
on twenty acres of land ; that he had not a doubt 
hut this manure increased the hay product of that 
field at least one and a half tons per acre, but he 
■would only calculate it at one ton. Hay was then 
worth for a series of six years the average price of 
$15 per ton • thus he realized $1,800 more within 
that six years than he otherwise would have done, 
had he not purchased the manure. He calculated 
that the grass this field produced, which he fed off 
a|^er mowing, was an equivalent for the extra ex¬ 
pense of cutting and marketing this extra ton per 
acre ; and the land at the end of the six years was in 
much better condition than it -was before he put on 
the $900 worth of manure. It is true, that hay for 
the past few years has not paid so well; but that 
does not operate against the general experience of 
the farmers of this part of Long Island, that the 
more manure they judiciously purchase, the greater 
their profits. 
In addition to managing their farm in a superior 
manner, the sons of Mr. Youngs are devoting con¬ 
siderable attention to fruit and garden vegetables 
for the city market. They have just begun a vine¬ 
yard of some extent. The vines are trailed upon 
trellises and promise well. 
Their system of raising calves is excellent. In 
the first place, they have taken pains to procure a 
good breed of cows—high grade Durhams. The 
calves are not permitted to suck, but are fed new 
milk the first week or two. After this, they have 
a mixture of new and skim milk for the same length 
of time, then skim milk alone, till six or eight 
weeks old. All this time they are suffered to run 
in a grass pasture, and at the end of a month and a 
half, or two months, they become so accustomed to 
eat grass, which should be sweet and tender, that 
they henceforth take care of themselves without 
further resort to the milk pail. These are permit¬ 
ted to bring calves the spring they are two years 
old, at which time, such is the early maturing quali¬ 
ties of the Durham breed, they will have attained 
the growth of good sized cows. Under this sys¬ 
tem, and by breeding from good milking families of 
male and female, their heifers almost universally 
make good milkers. 
Farm of Mr. Thomas F. Youngs. —This farm 
lies a little back of Oyster Bay, running down to 
Cold Spring Harbor, and comprises about 400 
acres in one body. It is certainly one of the most 
beautifully situated and highly cultivated on Long 
Island. The buildings, also, are very fine and com¬ 
modious. The rotation and crops here, are similar 
to those of the best farmers of Long Island, hereto¬ 
fore described in this paper. Mr. Y. has been un¬ 
commonly spirited in his improvements. He has 
drained a large swamp, which previous to his pos¬ 
session of the farm, had never produced anything 
of value. It was here where he grew the second 
year after draining it, 123J bushels of corn per 
acre. It is now one of the richest and most pro¬ 
ductive fields on the island. These are the im¬ 
provements that we so much like, and which add 
largely not only to the productive ^wealth, but to 
the general health of the country. How many 
foetid pools, and fever and ague marshes still per¬ 
vade the state, which if drained and cultivated, 
would become mines of wealth to their owners ! 
Mr. Y. pays considerable attention to fruit, and 
has very fine and thrifty orchards. His apples are 
considered among the largest and best raised on 
Long Island. His stock ox cattle is superior. They 
are Durhams, descended chiefly from the importa- 
