THE WIKOFF FARM. 
143 
insects, besides such portions as are dissolved I 
and carried down. This consideration should J 
induce a frequent application of small quantities, 
say 20 to 40 bushels per acre, as often at least, 
as once every three to five years. And to secure 
its immediate action, which is not felt for one or 
two years, it may be intimately mixed with four 
or five times its bulk of rich turf or loam, and 
allowed to remain for a few months or a year, 
when it will be ready at once to commence its 
work of regeneration in the soil, besides yield¬ 
ing a valuable manure in the rich loam with 
which it has been mixed. 
Sowing Broom Corn.— The best soil for this 
plant is similar to that required for maize. It 
should be rich, warm, and not subject to early 
frosts, like the “ intervals,” or “ bottoms,” of the 
Connecticut, the Mohawk, the Sciota, &c. The 
best crops are usually raised on a green sward, 
turned over as late as possible in the fall, to kill 
the worms. But if the land be poor, it must be 
enriched by a liberal supply of well-decomposed 
farmyard dung, with additions of guano, plaster, 
oyster-shell lime, or poudrette. It should be 
planted as early as the 15th of this month, in 
hills, about two by three feet apart. If the seed 
be good, drop 15 or 20 of them into each hill, 
and cover them from an inch to an inch and a 
half deep. 
When properly cultivated and brought in 
good condition to the New-York market, broom 
corn, of the best quality will now sell for $100 
to $250 per ton. 
THE WYKOFF FARM. 
This farm contains about 230 acres, and lies 
in Manalapan, Monmouth county, New Jersey. 
The stage road from Freehold to Hightstown 
divides it near the centre, thus making a hand¬ 
some front on each side. Six years since, it was 
purchased by Mr. Ellis, and was then under an 
ordinary course of cultivation. Now it has been 
so much improved by Mr. E. that it is worth one 
third more than he gave. 
Mr. Ellis has on that part of the farm north 
of the road about 22 acres of low ground con¬ 
sidered by its former owner valueless, only for 
coarse pasture. By ditching and draining, he 
has discovered within the past five years, a vast 
reservoir of vegetable matter, which has been 
hid from observation by a layer of peat, which 
covered the entire field from 6 to 12 inches in 
depth. Under this, is the vegetable substance, 
resembling, in appearance, dry horse manure, 
which I think is a fair representation of that 
article in quality when warmed by a good mix¬ 
ture of lime. The layer extends from 3 to 10 feet 
in depth. 
By untiring industry, Mr. Ellis has already 
brought a portion of this waste land into culti¬ 
vation. While he has been preparing this part 
of the waste by ditching, he has materially im- 
roved his upland by applying to it what he 
as taken from the ditches. His process has 
been to cart the substance taken from the ditch¬ 
es to the high ground, then compost it by 
mixing slacked lime, one bushel to twenty of the 
I earth. Where manure thus prepared has been 
| applied, 20 loads to the acre, he says the pro¬ 
duct has been increased one third. 
On that portion of the field already reclaimed, 
he has had four successive crops—first, buck¬ 
wheat, a light coat of lime applied; second, 
potatoes, planted in the hill; third, potatoes and 
pumpkins. This crop completely covered the 
ground; fourth, oats, which grew full 5 feet high, 
and were tolerably well filled. These crops 
were grown on land that, six years since, was a 
swamp, used only for coarse pasture. 
Thus far he has succeeded well in his endeav¬ 
ors to reclaim the' entire swamp. By this dis¬ 
covery, he avoids the necessity of carting marl 
seven or eight miles, which would cost from 25 
to 50 cents per load, at the pit. He thus made a 
manure equally good as the marl; and, if instead 
of using slacked lime in his compost, he used un¬ 
slacked, I know not why this compost will not be 
equally as good as stable manure, as the vegeta¬ 
ble substance is impregnated strongly with al¬ 
kali. 
With the skill and perseverance which char¬ 
acterises Mr. Ellis, I think he will soon have 
all the varieties of grains, grasses, and vegeta¬ 
bles usually raised in his neighborhood, grow¬ 
ing profusely, and yielding abundantly on that 
once old quagmire, but now vast manure heap. 
Something of other parts of Mr. Ellis’ farm, build¬ 
ings, &c., at another time. 
A. Sherman. 
-- 
A VALUABLE SOUTHERN GRASS. 
On a recent visit to Millwood, the residence of 
that noble South Carolinan, Col. Wade Hamp¬ 
ton, we noticed a most beautiful grass plot, 
growing in all the luxuriance of spring, although 
in gloomy wintry February weather. It is true 
that such a green spot there appears far more 
pleasant to the eye than such a spot would in 
spring in a grass-growing country; because 
here all around, the earth presents but a bare 
surface, almost, if not entirely incapable of sus¬ 
taining cultivated grasses, except at the great 
expense of preparation which Col. H. has giv¬ 
en to the ground now glowing in its verdant 
coat. 
This grass is as yet without a name. Dr. 
Bachman, the eminent naturalist, of Charleston, 
at first thought it was the American Canary 
grass, but on further examination expresses 
some doubts. It grows about two feet high, 
with top and seed somewhat like blue grass, 
(Poa prdtensis,) only much larger. It is a na¬ 
tive wild grass, and may be found from the sea 
board to the mountains of the Atlantic southern 
states; and Col. Hampton says will endure 
frost and drouth better than any other grass he 
has ever seen growing at the south. 
Season for Felling Resinous Trees. —Any 
time during this month, or the next three months 
following, all kinds of pine, larch, and other 
resinous trees may be cut, as the pores of their 
wood will be filled with resin, which serves to 
increase the strength and durability of their 
timber. 
