16 
NEW-JERSEY FARMING. 
NEW-JERSEY FARMING. 
Draining Land—A Big Ditch .—In our Novem¬ 
ber number, we gave some account of the farm¬ 
ing operations of Mr. Buckalew. We have a few 
more notes of his successful improvements. 
Near his house, he has a saw and gristmill upon 
one of those beautiful gravelly-bottomed streams 
which abound in that state. Below the mill, 
this stream winds its course through a timbered 
swamp of some hundred and fifty acres, every 
bend and fallen tree obstructing the course of 
the stream, so as considerably to injure the 
water power, besides keeping such a large tract 
of rich land lying worse than useless. 
This state of things was not to be endured by 
one possessing such an energetic disposition to 
make improvements as Mr. Buckalew, and he 
at once determined to clear and drain it. This 
Herculean task, he has nearly accomplished, 
by cutting off the timber, wood, and lumber, 
which almost paid for the labor; and then 
straightening the creek by a ditch a mile and a 
half long, twelve or fourteen feet wide, and six 
feet deep. This had the effect not only to drain 
the land, but greatly add to the value of his 
mill property. Into the big ditch, he is now cut¬ 
ting side ditches, and some of the swamp has 
become dry enough for grass, and the whole un¬ 
doubtedly is now the best land upon the farm. 
The excavation from the ditch was a mass of 
vegetable fibre which makes excellent manure, 
when composted, and is very benefical when 
used just as it comes from the swamp. Alto¬ 
gether, this is one of the greatest undertakings 
in the way of swamp draining that has lately 
come under our notice. There are thousands of 
acres in New Jersey which might be treated in 
the same way. 
Benefits of Railroads to New Jersey .—No state 
in the Union has been more benefitted by rail¬ 
roads than this. Had it not been for the Amboy 
Railroad, Mr. Buckalew would probably never 
have cleared the above-mentioned swamp, be¬ 
cause the wood and timber would not have been 
of sufficient value; neither would those 60 : 000 
peach trees ever have been planted, because this 
fruit would have been quite worthless. Land, 
which was once considered of no value, is now 
highly estimated, because the railroad gives a 
market for everything grown, at almost city 
prices at the very door of the farmer. 
The advantages of railroads to agricultural 
improvement are never duly estimated. San¬ 
guine as were the original projectors of the 
Amboy road, that it would be a great passenger 
thoroughfare, they never imagined how much 
benefit it would be to farmers, or what wonders 
it would do to improve the agriculture of the 
country. 
Mr. Buckalew related an anecdote in point to 
this effect; that when it was first talked of put¬ 
ting a freight train on the road, one of those 
shrewd gentlemen, the Messrs. Stevens, thought 
such a train could not be supported—that per¬ 
haps one car a-day might find employment. 
This conclusion was perfectly natural to one who 
knew what a miserable tract the road was loca¬ 
ted through. But what a change a few short 
years has made. During the past season, it has 
hardly been in the power of the company with 
the best-furnished road in cars and engines in 
America, to keep the depots clear of freight. It 
is a subject worthy of serious reflection. 
ADVANTAGES OF LARGE WHEELS TO HORSE 
CARTS. 
The advantages of large wheels to horse 
carts, are obvious, as they greatly increase the 
facility of draught, and tend to lessen the num¬ 
ber of accidents to which all two-wheeled car¬ 
riages are liable, from the shaft horse falling 
down. 
Large-Wheeled Horse Cart.—Fig. 1 
By adopting large wheels, and a bent axle, as 
denoted in fig. 1, the cart becomes less liable to 
such accidents, as the centre of gravity, (the 
fore end of the cart body,) and the centre of 
suspension, (the axle,) are brought much nearer 
together, the former being placed nearly over 
the latter, at a small distance only from it. A 
horse falling with a loaded cart so constructed, 
will experience but little increase of weight 
upon him while down. The centre of gravity 
will be thrown forward, but in a very trifling 
degree. In carts, &c., it will almost always 
happen that the centre of gravity will be above 
the point of suspension (the axle); but in gigs, 
&c., the body may be placed so low that the 
centre of gravity may fall below that point 
when the body will always maintain the erect, 
(that is, a horizontal,) position, and should the 
horse fall down, will operate to lift him up 
again. A gig so constructed would be almos 
beyond the possibility of those serious, and fre 
quently fatal accidents, which occur from tb 
falling of the horse. 
