138 
THE TRAVELER.—NO. 2. 
THE TRAVELLER.—No. 2. 
From Philadelphia to Wilmington, the road 
lies along the Delaware, over a very different 
land from that on the Jersey side. There it is 
level and sandy; here hilly, rocky, and clayey. 
There the farm houses are mostly of wood, with 
a light, cheerful look; here they are mostly of 
stone, with a dark, gloomy exterior, and from 
intercourse with the inhabitants, one is con¬ 
strained to think that they partake in some de¬ 
gree of the nature of their habitations. Most of 
the land along this road is used for grazing pur¬ 
poses, and every road-side inn is a cattle market. 
Many of the cattle fed here, first saw the light 
upon the grand prairie of Illinois, whence they 
travelled to the rich pastures of Northern Ohio, 
and from there to the sweet grass-clad hills of 
the Delaware, and will at last gladden the hearts 
of some of the hungry souls who buy their daily 
allowance of beef in the city markets. 
Average Crops near Wilmington—Farm of Wm. 
Webb .—Upon well-cultivated, richly-manured 
clay soil, corn, 70 bushels, wheat, 20, potatoes, 
200 per acre. Rotation. Commence by turning 
under Timothy sod six inches deep in the fall, 
put on twenty two-horse-cart loads of manure 
in the spring, and plow in without turning up 
the sod, and plant corn first of May. Plow in 
ridges in fall after the corn is off, and again in 
spring with forty single loads of manure, and 
plant in drills, fourteen bushels large potatoes, 
cut. After the potatoes are dug, haul off the 
vines for manure, plow, harrow, and sow 8 to 12 
quarts of Timothy to the acre. Mow three 
years without grazing or manuring, and then 
plow and plant corn again. Mr. Webb finds 
this course more profitable than sowing wheat, 
as upon land so highly manured, it makes too 
much straw, which falls down, and the profita¬ 
ble yield of grain is apt to fail. 
Mr. W. has enriched a poor, worn-out farm by 
the use of night soil, which he procures from 
Wilmington in large four-ox wagons, at one 
dollar a load, he finding team and wagon; or as 
they are called, “ barges.” These are tilted and 
emptied into a cistern upon a side hill, where 
the contents are diluted and drawn off by a gate 
and sluice into carts, and spread upon fresh- 
flowed ground. His stock, crops, and profits, I 
have given in detail at page 146 of the current 
volume. 
Bought the farm, 100 acres, about a dozen 
years since, at $50 an acre. It is now worth 
$100 to $120. Hires one man by the year and 
one for eight months, and occasionally by the 
day. Usual wages $10 a month, and 50 cents a 
day. Keeps two horses and works by exchange 
with his father, equivalent to three yoke of oxen. 
Keeps one good cow and one hog. Crops last 
year, 22 acres corn, 18 this year; wheat, 20 
acres each year, but intends to quit sowing 
wheat; oats, 2i acres last year and less this; 
mowing, 38 acres—hay sold in bulk. Intends 
to subsoil-plow the whole place. Limed once, 
50 to 100 bushels qnslacked, to the acre. Cost, 
12 to 14 cents a bushel, and two to three miles’ 
hauling. Prefers ashes to lime; they cost 12 
cents a bushel, as gathered from houses, or 8 
cents for leached. Of course, this system of 
farming can only be carried on in the vicinity 
of large towns, or where an equivalent of ma¬ 
nure can be returned to the land for crops car¬ 
ried off. 
Drilled Turnips .—No one can have an idea of 
the increased crop by drilling, until he has seen 
with his own eyes. This I saw well demon¬ 
strated upon the farm of Dr. Brown, a real 
working farmer, near Wilmington. Many 
bunches of six to eight grew so thick that the 
centre ones were lifted quite upon the top of 
others, the tap root only reaching the ground. 
Value of Swamp Muck on Grass. —Dr. B. used 
it as top-dressing for grass, and doubled the 
crop. Thinks it the most valuable application 
that can be given grass land at the same ex¬ 
pense. Dr. B. is a Yankee farmer, though 
only lately engaged in the business, and under¬ 
stands the profit of manuring. He gets three 
crops of market vegetables a-year, from a por¬ 
tion of the land. 
Hog Manure .—He thinks the manure that 
can be made by a pen of hogs, worth more than 
the pork, and that is worth 5 or 6 cents a pound. 
Price of Milk .—He keeps about a dozen cows 
and sells milk at 5 cents a quart, which is 
equal to butter at 75 cents a pound. 
How to Make a Heifer a Good Cow. —C. P. Hol¬ 
comb, says, let a two-year-old heifer have a 
calf, and let a steady good milker draw the 
milk three times a-day, and try to distend the 
udder and it will do so and mcrease her capaci¬ 
ty to secrete milk. Solon Robinson. 
THE BEST ROTATION OF CROPS.—No. 2. 
Judge Buel, who was an excellent practical 
farmer, says: “ The best guards against drouth 
are, keeping the soil deep, rich, clean, and mel¬ 
low on the surface.” He also assures us, that 
the fibrous-rooted vegetables gather their sus¬ 
tenance from the upper, and the tap-rooted from 
the lower stratum.” I have said deep plowing 
is necessary to prepare the ground for the suc¬ 
ceeding crop of rye and clover, in order that 
there may be a deep permeable soil for the long 
tap root of the latter, and thus enable it to draw 
its nourishment from the subsoil. The corn 
will also be greatly benefitted by deep plowing, 
because this is not only the best guard against 
drouth, but also enables the roots of corn to pen¬ 
etrate deeper in the soil, and thus derive a fuller 
supply of food than they could possibly do if 
only enabled to extend themselves along the 
surface of the. ground. 
The advantages of deep plowing may be best 
attained, in the foregoing rotation, by effectually 
turning under the clover ley, in the fall, or early 
in the winter. The sooner this operation is per¬ 
formed, after the second crop of clover is thor¬ 
oughly ripe and dry, the better, because it would 
have more time to go through the process of 
putrescent fermentation, before the clover is 
thrown to the surface, by plowing the ground 
the next summer. The following plan is recom¬ 
mended:—So soon as the second growth of clo¬ 
ver is thoroughly ripe and dry, let the clover 
ley be carefully turned under, with suitable 
