THE CULTIVATOR. 
107 
anust on no account be ploughed, the other pays 
best by being ploughed and cropped perpetually.— 
The one farmer drains wet lands, and adopts every 
improvement any way calculated to advance his 
purpose, the other rejects any alteration on certain 
established modes of proceeding which must not be 
altered; the one spares neither labor nor expense 
in increasing the produce, the other will make no 
expenditure, under the belief that any other mode of 
farming than his own will not pay.— Farm. Mag . 
Agriculture in France. 
There is at present in France 123 agricultural so¬ 
cieties, and 303 agricultural committees, where be¬ 
fore 1803, there were scarcely ten, and they are con¬ 
stantly increasing. Every thing has been done by 
the present government to encourage agriculture in a 
pecuniary way, as well as by the different societies. 
The sum of 500,000 francs—nearly 100,000 dollars— 
has been placed at. the disposal of the French minister 
of public works, for the encouragement of agriculture 
during the year 1838. There have been also several 
gentlemen travelling in Scotland, at the expense of 
the French Society of Agriculture, in order to exa¬ 
mine the system of farming in that country. 
Cheese from Potatoes. 
Cheese of extremely fine quality is said to be made 
in Thuringia and Saxony as follows: Boil a quantity 
of potatoes, white ones are preferable, and after be¬ 
coming cool, peel and reduce them to pulp, either by 
means of a grater or mortar. To 5 pounds of this 
pulp, which ought to be as equal as possible, add a 
pound of sour milk, and the necessary quantity of salt. 
The whole is kneaded together, and the mixture co¬ 
vered up and allowed to lie three or four days, accord¬ 
ing to the season. At the end of this time it is knead¬ 
ed anew, and the cheeses are placed in little baskets, 
when the superfluous moisture is allowed to escape. 
They are then allowed to dry in the shade, and plac¬ 
ed in layers in large pots and vessels, where they 
must remain for 15 days. The older these cheeses 
are the more their quality improves. A better kind 
is made in the same way, by mixing four parts of po¬ 
tatoes with two of curdled milk; and a still better 
kind, by blending two of potato and four parts of milk. 
Useful Tables for Reference. 
AN ACRE OF LAND CONTAINS 
4 Roods, each rood 40 rods, poles or perches. 
160 Rods, 161 feet each. 
4,840 Square yards, 9 feet each. 
43,560 Square feet, 144 inches. 
174,240 Squares of 6 inches each, 36 inches. 
6,272,640 Inches, or squares of one inch each. 
Breadths and Lengths of an Acre, in rods and perches 
and feet. 
Breadth. 
Length. 
Breadth. 
Length. 
Perches. 
Per. 
Feet. 
Perches. 
Per. 
Feet. 
10 
16 
28 
5 
I lil 
II 14 
11 
14 
9 
29 
5 
at i 
12 
13 
30 
5 
5h 
13 
12 
5 t V 
31 
5 
045 
14 
11 
7 1 
'IT 
32 
5 
15 
10 
u 
33 
4 
14 
16 
10 
34 
4 
uH 
17 
9 
m 
35 
4 
9f 
IS 
8 
14f 
36 
4 
n 
19 
S 
m 
37 
4 
K13 
20 
8 
38 
4 
Q 9_ 
^15 
21 
7 
10t 3 4 
39 
4 
1JL 
1 1 3 
22 
7 
40 
4 
23 
6 
1 1 8 
ltJ 2 3 
41 
3 
i ws 
24 
6 
u 
42 
3 
13- 5 - 
A 1 4 
25 
6 
6§ 
43 
3 
1 1 77 
1 1 56 
26 
6 
OJ7_ 
44 
i 3 
m 
27 
5 
1 5 5 
1 J T(T 
45 
' 3 
Comparison of American with Scotch and Irish acre. 
American. 
Scotch. 
Irish. 
Acre. 
A. 
R. 
P. 
A. 
R. 
P. 
1 
0 
3 
14.4 
0 
2 
18.7 
2 
1 
2 
28.9 
1 
0 
35.5 
3 
2 
2 
17.3 
1 
3 
16.3 
4 
3 
1 
17.8 
2 
1 
35.1 
5 
4 
0 
32.2 
3 
0 
13.8 
6 
5 
0 
6.7 
3 
2 
32.6 
7 
5 
3 
21.1 
4 
1 
11.4 
8 
6 
2 
35.5 
4 
3 
30.2 
9 
7 
2 
10 
6 
0 
27.7 
10 
8 
1 
24.4 
6 
0 
27.7 
20 
16 
3 
8.9 
12 
1 
15.5 
30 
25 
3 
33.3 
18 
2 
3.2 
40 
33 
2 
17.8 
24 
2 
2.1 
Hew Laborers in the Field. 
We have received two numbers of the American Silk 
Grower, devoted to the Silk Business, and to Rural Im¬ 
provement generally, published at Burlington, N. J. by 
Ward Cheeney and Brothers, a well executed sheet of 
eight pages, published monthly, at fifty cents per ann. 
Also, the Ainerican Journal of Productive Industry, de¬ 
voted to Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, an 8vo. 
sheet of 16 pages, published semi-monthy, at two dollars 
a year, at Maryville, Te. and conducted by Mr. M’Tew. 
We hail these as co-laborers in the work of usefulness, 
and wish them a liberal patronage. We think well of 
Mr. Cheeney and Mr. M’Tew’s abilities, and hope much 
good from their labors in the public vineyard. 
And last, though not least in our estimation, we no¬ 
tice the receipt of two numbers of a recently commenced 
periodical work, called “ The Educator .” It comes to 
us from Easton, Penn.—is printed semi-monthly on a 
sheet of 8 quarto pages, at $1 per ann.—and is conducted 
by the president and two of the professors of Lafaytte 
college; the first, Mr. Junkin, we believe, an American; 
the second, Mr. Cunningham, a Scotchman; and the 
third, Mr. Schmidt, a German,—all gentlemen of high 
literary standing, and, if we are to judge from the spe¬ 
cimens before us, of strong minds and correct modes of 
thinking. Their objects, are to improve the mind and 
the soil—ours to improve soil and the mind. Our ob¬ 
jects are so similar, in the end, that we hail this publi¬ 
cation with a heartfelt pleasure, as a powerful and effi¬ 
cient auxiliary in the work of general improvement, 
and heartily commend it to the notice and patronage of 
all who are desirous of seeing our country blessed with 
an intelligent, a moral, a prosperous and an independent 
yeomanry. We intend, in our next, to give an extract 
from this work, as an evidence of the talents of those 
who conduct it, and of its tendency to promote the best 
interests of the American republic. 
Hoffwyl Agricultural School. —An' American 
who has recently travelled in Europe, paid a visit, 
which afforded him high gratification, to M. Fellen- 
burgh’s school, in Switzerland. He saw there a student 
from New-York city, who informed him that there were 
several other boys in the school from the same place. 
“There were pupils on the ground,” he adds “from 
Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, North 
and South America, and two from Tifflis.” When shall 
we become wise and imitate the good, as we are ever rea¬ 
dy to do the had examples of our European ancestry. 
When shall ive establish schools of scientific and prac¬ 
tical agriculture for our sons? Whenever their im¬ 
portance shall be duly appreciated—and our citizens 
consult their true interests in endeavoring to promote 
the best interests of their country—of their whole coun¬ 
try. ____ 
To Correspondents. 
Some of our correspondents seem disposed to over¬ 
rate our professional knowledge; and put to us ques¬ 
tions which we either cannot answer, or which would 
require too much time and space to do in a satisfactory 
manner; and there are others who question us upon 
matters which have been already repeatedly and fully 
discussed in the Cultivator. We have received several 
specimens of soils and earths, supposed to contain marl 
or carbonate of lime, with requests to give their analy 
ses, and to direct the mode of management and applica¬ 
tion. We have no chemical laboratory. The expense 
of procuring an analysis, in the many cases which pre¬ 
sent, would be heavy, without producing a correspond¬ 
ing benefit to the public—as marls and soils vary much 
in their relative qualities; and, besides, we possess no 
other scientific knowledge than any young or middle 
aged man may soon acquire by reading and observation 
—without the aid of schools. It is in agriculture as it 
is in the other arts—the head must work as well as the 
hands. We must put in requisition the faculties of the 
mind. We must read, reflect, analyze, compare, and 
try, what comes recommended to us as established 
truths; otherwise we cannot expect to derive that ad¬ 
vantage from the study and labor of others which lies 
within our reach. It is the province of the hands to 
perform, and of the head to direct when and how to 
perform. Our schooling was very limited. We were 
brought up to a mechanical profession; and when, 
twenty years ago, we commenced farming, we were 
conscious we had everything to learn, both in the theo- 
i ry and practice of husbandry. Our theatre of action 
was an unsubdued pine barren, by many considered inca¬ 
pable of profitable cultivation. Yet with great facili¬ 
ties for obtaining extra manure, our farm is under as 
profitable culture, in proportion to its size, as any in 
the vicinage, or, we believe, in the county. Our know¬ 
ledge in farming has thus been acquired at an advanced 
period of life, by combining book farming with practi¬ 
cal farming—the science with the art—and by adopting 
after close observation and a fair trial, whatever we 
found to he excellent in the practice and recommenda¬ 
tion of others. We sought to profit by the suggestions 
of our own mind as well as by the labors of other men. 
We have thus laid ourselves open to the charge of 
egotism, in order to show, that it is in the power of the 
young—-of all —to become competent judges of the pro¬ 
per means of improving their farms and their fortunes, 
and of thereby enlarging the sphere of their enjoyments. 
The principles of science have a general application; 
yet the judicious application of these principles to prac¬ 
tice depends upon a greatmany local contingencies which 
practice and observation can alone detect and modify. 
It is impossible, therefore, to judge of the defects of a 
soil, or the best means of improving it, without seeing, 
analyzing or experimenting upon it. The occupant is, 
or may be, or should be, the best physician. By keep¬ 
ing a journal of the operations of the farm—of the ex¬ 
pense and products of the several crops and fields—the 
manures applied, &c. and by posting these annually 
into a ledger, to the several compartments of the farm, 
the farmer can, at any time, bring into view, the rela¬ 
tive profits of his several crops and courses of crops— 
and can judge satisfactorily of the deterioration or in¬ 
creased productiveness of his soil. These accounts are 
as essential to the farmer as they are to the merchant 
or mechanic, and may be as easily so kept, that the 
farmer may, at the end of each year, know the profit or 
loss of his business, or of any branch of it. 
We will, in our next, suggest some rules that shall 
have a general application, and which will enable the 
novice to judge of the composition of his soil,—of its 
defects, and the modes of improving it—and of the means 
of increasing and perpetuating fertility, by manures, the 
alternation of crops, draining, &c. 
We offer the foregoing remarks, not to complain of 
those who interrogate us upon matters of husbandry— 
for we consider a desire for knowledge commendable, 
and the first step to improvement—but as an apology 
for the summary manner in which we have answered 
many of their interrogatories, and for our total neglect to 
answer others;—and to induce our correspondents to 
rely more upon the resources of their own minds, and 
the suggestions of their own experience. Agriculture is 
a business in which a man may continue to learn as long 
as he lives, even should his life be prolonged for centu¬ 
ries; and the more a man knows, the less vain is he of 
his knowledge ; because, as he advances, the wonders of 
nature so accumulate upon his vision, and the means of 
improvement become so multiplied, that he is wonder- 
struck and humbled at his comparative ignorance. 
Knowledge is not the ultimate object of education; but 
it is the application of it to the useful purposes of life—to 
the advancement of public virtue and general happiness, 
that renders its attainment valuable. The man who 
thinks he can learn nothing in husbandry, must be a 
dolt, that is, according to Webster’s definition, “ a heavjq 
stupid fellow; a blockhead ; a thick skull.” 
With these preliminary remarks, we proceed to notice 
several letters, in the order in which they lay before us. 
EVIDENCE OF THE CORN CROP. 
Mr. D. M’Neil, of Morefield, Ya. advises, that he will 
be a competitor for our corn premium, and wishes to 
know what evidence we require of the product? We 
answer, his certificate of the fact, with that of a magis¬ 
trate, that he is a man of veracity, and that his state¬ 
ment is to he depended on. Mr. M’Neil writes us a 
good letter, which evinces much zeal in a good cause. 
A copy of the Cultivator will, be furnished to the agri¬ 
cultural society of the Valley, (South Branch,) and to 
EVERY OTHER AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY IN THE UNION, 
gratis — on the application, post-paid, of the President 
of said society, accompanied with the assurance, that an 
agricultural exhibition has been held by said society du¬ 
ring the preceding year, at which at least three hundred 
dollars have been distributed in premiums. 
CATTLE, PIGS, SHEEP, &C. 
We have a letter of inquiry from R. G. Underhill, of 
New-York, in relation to pigs, one from P. St. George 
Ambler, of Ya. in regard to the improved Short Horns, 
Ncw-Leicester Sheep, &c. and several other letters in re¬ 
lation to stock. In the stock business we make no preten¬ 
sions to proficiency. We are not breeders. Of course all 
we can say must be guess-work, or the opinions of better 
judges in these matters. In regard to “ pigs for or¬ 
chards,” or any other mode of fattening, we can say the 
'Berkshires are good, though we do not mean to say they 
are the best. As to the Short Horns, we have requested 
that Mr. Ambler be advised, and he may depend upon the 
facts which Mr. B. shall give him. In regard to the 
New-Leicesters among us, the pure blood are pretty 
much alike: the difference consists principally in the 
attention which has been paid to their breeding and keep, 
and to the selection of individual animals. The price 
of Mr. Bement’s pigs has been stated in our present vol. 
by Mr. Bement; and the price of New-Leicester bucks 
may vary from $15 to $50, according to quality. This 
last remark is also in reply to the letter of G. H. Mac- 
cary, of West-Poultney, Yt. Thomas Dunn, of Albany, 
has as good as any, if not the best New-Leicester flock. 
A Vermont Farmer asks us many questions. We 
refer him to our preliminary remarks, and to our pre¬ 
sent and back numbers, for answers to such as relate to 
the turnip fly, to charlock, the spiked roller, to the cul¬ 
ture of potatoes, to farm accounts, &c. His 250 acre 
beaver meadow, which he represents as dry and y et in¬ 
fested with sedgy grass, should be broken up, cropped, 
thoroughly subdued, and then stocked with timothy and 
other grass seeds. Sawdust is good for nothing as a 
manure till it rots, and is not worth much them The 
name of a writer, however humble, will ever command 
more attention from us than an anonymous signature. 
No man should be ashamed of a desire to he better in¬ 
formed in his business. 
MARYLAND FARMING. 
IVe are not sufficiently acquainted with the farming 
practices in Maryland, to venture to direct “A Young 
Enquirer” how to manage his estate, which he advises 
us consists of 240 acres divided into three fields—a na¬ 
turally good soil, susceptible of high improvement, with 
abudant resources ol manure in peat earth and oyster 
shells. His object is to “ improve his farm, and make the 
1 most money in the shortest time.” We propose that he 
