FARM OF MR. BUCKALEW. 
333 
FARM OF MR BUCKALEW. 
In the month of June last, we had the gratifi¬ 
cation of visiting Mr. James Buckalew. His 
residence is at Jamestown, N. J., about 16 miles 
west of South Amboy. Few men have done 
more for the improvement of the agriculture of 
his country than Mr. Buckalew, and all this has 
been accomplished by his own genius, coupled 
with an enlightened enterprise and untiring in¬ 
dustry. Mr. B. commenced the world with 
nothing, as many of the successful men in Amer¬ 
ica do, and now he has about 3,000 acres of land, 
1,500 to 1,800 of which is under excellent culti¬ 
vation. He cuts from 300 to 400 acres of grass, 
averaging 1£ tons per acre; plants 200 acres in 
corn, averaging from 35 to 40 bushels per acre; 
oats about 70 acres, with the same average; 
wheat 80 acres, averaging 20 bushels; besides 
these, he cultivates rye, buckwheat, turnips, and 
potatoes, all yielding much more than the gen¬ 
eral average produced on New-Jersey farms. 
In addition to these crops, he has peach or¬ 
chards of his own, containing upwards of 30,- 
000 trees, and others equally as extensive, which 
he owns in company with the Messrs. Stevens 
and Cook, all yielding a good income. 
We can fancy many of our readers rubbing 
their eyes with astonishment at the mention of 
such large crops, taken from the poor sandy soil 
of New Jersey, and they are ready to ask, is 
the writer dreaming, or is he stating facts; if 
so, how has this success been achieved ? Wait 
a while and you shall see; but first we must 
begin at the beginning. 
We have said that the soil of this region is a 
light shifting sand, with scarcely any vegetable 
matter in it. The forest growth on this land 
is generally stunted pine, which the inhabitants 
of the country have been in the habit of cutting 
off about every twenty years, and then leave it 
to grow up again with wood. So poor was the 
land, that few thought it would pay for cultiva¬ 
tion, and the result is, that the greater portion of 
it still remains in forest, worth only $3 to $5 
per acre. 
After clearing the land of the wood and burn¬ 
ing the brush, Mr. Buckalew does not add the 
extra expense of grubbing it, but takes a strong 
lock-coulter plow, which will easily cut through 
any root two inches in diameter, and with this 
implement, he can turn up the soil nearly as 
well as if it were destitute of stumps and roots. 
The first crop is rye without manure, which 
yields well. Now he plows again, and spreads 
40 bushels of lime to the acre, harrows 
that in, and then applies 50 to 100 bushels of 
Squankum marl (green sand improperly called 
marl). Thus prepared, he sows wheat, followed 
by grass. The lime helps to bind and give 
consistency to the loose soil, and the marl sup¬ 
plies it with potash ; the result is, the large crops 
spoken of in the commencement of this article. 
Such a dressing will last ten to twelve years. 
Thus our readers will see that this dressing is 
the great renovator with Mr. Buckalew. Still, 
he does not neglect other fertilisers. He now and 
then plows in a green crop of clover, buckwheat, 
&c., in order to furnish vegetable matter to the 
soil; he has, also, plenty of muck or peat in his 
meadows, which he mixes with barnyard ma¬ 
nure and applies to the land, more particularly 
when planted with corn. The result of all this, 
is, that the crops pay a profit as they go along, 
and in a few years, the land which cost origi¬ 
nally $5 per acre, becomes worth, and will 
readily sell for $20 to $30, excluding the buildings. 
The marl should be well dried before spread¬ 
ing, and the lime applied hot from the kiln. Mr. 
B. prefers sowing grass seed in the fall with 
the grain. The yield of grain he says is not 
so good under this system, but the grass is 
enough better to pay for it. He puts on plenty 
of grass seed, probably two or three times as 
much as farmers generally do; the result is, he 
gets a good crop of grass the first year. 
The hay is unloaded in the barn with a tackle 
and fall, by hooking on to the four corners of 
the frame containing the load, and raising it 
from the cart. It is then swung round over the 
mow, and turned topsy-turvy. A ton can thus 
be unloaded in five minutes. 
Mr. Buckalew is very enterprising in adopt¬ 
ing all new and well-approved agricultural im¬ 
plements. He has horse power as well as water 
power, grain mills for his own grinding, thresh¬ 
ers, fanning mills, raking and mowing machines, 
hay presses, &c. Water rams are placed on 
every little stream, to convey water to the top 
of his house and into every barnyard. It is his 
intention to carry it hereafter to the rising 
grounds on his farm, and thence irrigate the 
surrounding fields whenever required. This is 
a capital plan, and we hope he may be suc¬ 
cessful in carrying it out. It is surprising that 
so useful a thing as a water ram is not adopted 
wherever it can be applied. Though they are 
now well known and their value is indisputable, 
not one farmer in ten thousand has them in use, 
nor can they be persuaded to adopt them. 
Having a contract for towing the boats on the 
Delaware and Raritan Canal, Mr. B. keeps about 
300 mules, as he finds them much better for 
his purpose than horses. He has several rea¬ 
sons for this preference. 1st, their first cost is 
not so much; 2d, they begin to work a year 
sooner than horses; 3d, they last twice as long; 
4th, they are hardier and not so liable to. dis¬ 
ease ; 5th, it costs less to keep them. The best 
feed he finds for them is as much good hay as 
they will eat, and a mixture of half oats and 
half corn, ground fine, and the meal fed dry. 
During the working season, he keeps their col¬ 
lars on when at rest in their stables at night, as 
well as when at work by day. This so tough¬ 
ens the skin on their shoulders that it rarely be¬ 
comes sore or rubs off. 
Mr. Buckalew saves the expense of much 
fencing, by having his farms divided into large 
fields. Some of these, which, when he pur¬ 
chased, had fences running in every direction, 
dividing them into small inconvenient sections, 
he has thrown into large fields of 40 to 100 
acres. He thus saves a large annual outlay for 
fences and repairs; makes it much more con¬ 
venient to cultivate the land, and gives the es¬ 
tate an incomparably fine appearance. 
