118 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
23. There are other circumstances, in regard to 
the location of a farm, which demand the conside¬ 
ration of the master, which refer to latitude and ele¬ 
vation. Plants have their natural zone, or climate, 
beyond which they do not grow, or thrive but im¬ 
perfectly. There is a difference in every degree, 
or seventy miles, of latitude, upon tide-water, of 
five or six days, in the forwardness of natural vege¬ 
tation in the spring, and nearly a like difference in 
the blighting indications of autumn. But what is of 
equal importance, but less generally regarded, is 
the difference in climate produced by altitude. 
Three hundred feet of elevation is considered equal 
to one degree of latitude, in its influence upon tem¬ 
perature. Hence it does not follow, that because a 
crop will thrive and ripen in a given latitude upon 
tide-water, it will thrive and ripen well in the same 
latitude at a higher elevation. On the contrary, to 
be better understood, we say, that, other things be¬ 
ing alike, the climate on tide-water, in latitude 42 
is similar to that of a place three hundred feet ele¬ 
vated above tide-water in latitude 41°, or of a place 
nine hundred feet above tide-water in latitude 39°; 
so that the table land of Mexico, in latitude 16°, at 
an elevation of seven thousand and eight hundred 
feet above the ocean, should possess about the same 
mean temperature, and produce the same natural 
and artificial growth, as Kingston, upon the Hud¬ 
son, though the extremes, both of heat and cold, 
are probably greater at the northern than they are 
at the southern point.* * These data are assumed 
from recollection, and may not be precisely correct. 
24. The means of preserving, and of augmenting, 
the fertility of the soil, are sufficiently indicated in 
the preceding suggestions. They consist mainly in 
manuring, draining, the admixture of earthy mate¬ 
rials, and the alternation of crops. 
25. Stable and fold-yard dung is most profitably 
applied in an unfermented, or partially fermented 
state, and to hoed and autumn-ripening crops. Fer¬ 
mentation diminishes the fertilizing properties of ma¬ 
nure. If this fermentation takes place in the soil, 
the gases, the volatile portion which first escapes 
from the putrifying mass, are retained in the mould, 
and serve to feed the crop. If fermentation takes 
place in the yard, or upon the surface, the gases 
are wasted, and the dung undergoes further loss 
from the rains which ordinarily leach it. Long 
manure should be spread broadcast, and well buried 
by the plough. 
26. Short manure, or that which has undergone 
fermentation, is most beneficial when harrowed in, 
upon arable lands, or spread upon the surface of 
grass grounds. 
27. Old meadows may be kept in a productive 
state, in ordinary cases, by a triennial top-dressing 
with manure or compost; or may be renovated, and 
those that are more sensitive to cold, gross feeders, and that 
acquire the greatest weight. He goes on to show, from nu¬ 
merous examples, that these several breeds are the most pro- 
litable in the several districts assigned them; and that they 
are manifestly improved, in most cases, by a judicious cross 
with the improved short horns. There is much good sense 
in the writer’s remarks; and although the descriptions of the 
three formations, as to elevation, does not fully apply in the 
United States, the facts we have copied afford useful sugges-i 
tions to the American grazier. 
* “ All the western part of the inlendancy of Vera Cruz,” , 
says Humboldt, in his New-Spain, “ forms the declevity of the: 
Cordilleras of Anahuac. In the space of a day the inhabi¬ 
tants descend from the regions of eternal snow, to the plains 
in the vicinity of the sea, where the most suffocating heat 
prevails. The admirable order with which different tribes of 
vegetables rise one above another, by strata as it were, is no 
where more perceptible than in ascending from the port of 
Vera Cruz to the table land of Perote. We see there the 
physiognomy of the country, the aspect of the sky, the form 
of plants, the figures ot animals, the manners of the inha¬ 
bitants, and the kind of cultivation followed by them, assume 
a different appearance at every step of our progress. 
“ As we ascend, nature appears gradually less animated, 
the beauty of the vegetable forms diminishes, the shoots be¬ 
come less succulent, and the flowers less coloured. The as¬ 
pect of the Mexican bak quiets the alarms of travellers newly 
landed at Vera Cruz. Its presence demonstrates to him that 
he has left behind him the zone so justly dreaded by the peo¬ 
ple of the north, under which the yellow fever exercises its 
ravages in New Spain. This inferior limit of oaks warns the 
colonist who inhabits the central table-land how far he may 
descend towards the coast, without dread of the mortal disease 
of the vomito. Forests of liquid amber, near Xalapa, an¬ 
nounce by the freshness of their verdure that this is the ele¬ 
vation at which the clouds, suspended over the ocean, come 
in contact with the basaltic summits of the Cordillera. A 
little higher, near la Bandarila, the nutritive fruit of the bana¬ 
na tree, comes no longer to maturity. In this foggy and cold 
region, therefore, want spurs on the Indian to labor, and ex¬ 
cites his industry. At the height of San Miguel, pines begin 
to mingle with the oaks, which are found by the traveller as 
high as the elevated plains of Perote, where he beholds the 
delighful aspect of fields sown with wheat. Eight hun¬ 
dred metres higher, (two thousand and six hundred feet,) the 
coldness of the climate will no longer admit of the vegetation 
of oaks; and pines alone cover the rock, whose summits enter 
the zone of eternal snow. Thus in a few hours the naturalist, 
in this miraculous country, ascends the whole scale of vege¬ 
tation, from the heliconia and the banana plant, whose 
glossy leaves swell out into extraordinary dimensions, to the 
stunted parach^ma of the resinous trees.” 
restored to a productive state, by the modes recom¬ 
mended in the first number of our present volume. 
28. Composts are economical, when made to ab¬ 
sorb fertilizing liquids which would otherwise be 
wasted—or to decompose inert vegetable matter, as 
peat earth, &c. 
27. Lime, gypsum, marl and ashes are powerful 
auxiliaries, when applied to proper soils, or suitable 
crops. Observation and experience will be the best 
guides in their application. They should all be ap¬ 
plied to the surface, or but superficially covered. 
30. All vegetable and animal matters, constitute 
the food ot plants, when they are rendered soluble, 
or capable of being dissolved in the water of the 
soil. 
31. Bone dust, horn-shavings, poudrette, woollen 
rags, urine, and animal carbon, or burnt bones, are 
concentrated manures, and should be used sparingly 
and with great care, upon or near the surface of the 
soil. Pigeon and hen’s dung partake much of the 
character of the preceding, and require precaution 
in their use. We think the best mode of applying 
the two first named, is to mix ashes with them, or 
long manure, just before they are put upon the soil, 
whereby they are brought speedily into a state of 
fermentation and decomposition. 
32. The best guards against drought, are keeping 
the soil deep, rich, clean, and mellow on the sur¬ 
face. 
33. The more cattle that are well kept upon a 
farm, the more manure; the more manure there is 
applied, the greater the product and the profit, and 
the greater the means of sustaining an increased 
stock of animals upon it. All of these advantages 
are increased when root crops are made to enter 
largely into the system of culture. 
The Farmer’s Garden. 
The approaching is the proper season to lay out 
gardens, or to remodel old ones, preparatory to 
the operations of the coming spring. We shall 
therefore offer some remarks upon their formation 
and prepai ation; and intend hereafter to speak of 
the fruits and culinary vegetables most worthy of 
garden culture ; and, subsequently, for the guid¬ 
ance of such as have a taste or desire to mingle the 
ornamental with the useful—to gratify the eye as 
well as the palate—we propose to give a list of 
shrubs, herbaceous plants and annuals which are in 
most esteem, and best adapted to our climate. 
A kitchen garden, to which our observations will 
chiefly refer, should be near the dwelling, where it 
is not always practicable to choose the soil, the as¬ 
pect, or the surface ; these are in a great measure 
contingent upon the abiding residence. The best 
aspect is south, east, and the intermediate points, 
because it is the earliest; the best soil, is a rich 
deep loam, with a porous subsoil, that the roots of 
trees and plants may penetrate deep and broad, find 
plenty of sustenance, and be exempt from standing 
water. The best surface is one that is level or 
gently sloping, as such is least liable to be washed 
and impoverished by heavy rains. 
Having selected a site, the next step is to enclose 
it with a substantial durable fence ; for without this 
precaution the usefulness and beauty of the garden 
are at the mercy of every unruly boy, pig and cow 
of the farm and neighborhood. A hedge, with a 
fence to protect it on the exterior till sufficiently 
strong, is the handsomest, if not the best material. 
We don’t make this recommendation in the expec¬ 
tation that it is likely to be followed by many, or 
perhaps any—for the idea is a prevalent one, and is 
sanctioned by the high authority of the Hon. James 
Garnet, that live fences are neither economical nor 
practicable in our climate—but because we think 
they can be made both cheap and efficient, when 
we become better acquainted with their manage¬ 
ment, and that they will ultimately be resorted to 
in many districts of our country where the materi¬ 
als for dead fences may become scarce and dear. 
Our reason for thinking they are practicable, results 
from our own experience : we have a strong substan¬ 
tial hedge of the three thorned locust growing, one 
of our native thorn, and one of privet. The two 
first are already a barrier to cattle, and they are all 
annually improving in strength and beauty. We 
have began to rear a fourth with plants of the buck¬ 
thorn. 
The size of the garden will depend upon the taste 
or convenience of the proprietor. It should not be 
less than the fourth of an acre, and may embrace, 
if garden fruit is to be cultivated, two acres. 
The plan which we submit with these remarks, and 
which we borrow from Cobbett’s Treatise on Garden¬ 
ing, embraces about one acre. 
In preparing the ground, three prominent objects 
should be kept in view : that the soil be made dry, 
that it be made deep, and that it be made rich. 
Underdrains, when necessary will effect the first; 
trenching, the second, and manure the third. A 
wet soil, or a soil liable to be wet during any part 
of the growing season, will not grow healthy vigor¬ 
ous plants. A shallow soil will not give sufficient 
pasture to the roots of trees, or a sufficient depth to 
the tap-rooted plants which must ever constitute a 
part ot the products of the garden—and is soon af¬ 
fected by drought. A poor soil will hardly com¬ 
pensate for labor in garden products. But the soil 
being dry, and deep, and rich, the seeds well put 
in in season, and the crop well taken care of, no 
branch of rural labor makes a more profitable re¬ 
turn than that which is bestowed upon a kitchen 
garden, especially where there is a contiguous 
market to take off what is not wanted for the fami¬ 
ly. The expenses of draining and trenching may be 
considered great and unnecessary; but they are 
not so in the long run. They are for time, and not 
for a season ; and when once well done, need not be 
repeated. The fibrous roots of plants penetrate deep, 
where the soil is congenial, and extend to a great 
breadth. Cobbett traced roots of the common tur¬ 
nip four feet, and Tull proved that they extended 
to six feet. “ It is well known,” says Cobbett, “to 
all who have had experience on this subject, that of 
two plants of almost any kind that stand for the 
space of three months in topsoil of the same quali¬ 
ty, one being on ground deeply moved [or trench¬ 
ed,] and the other on ground no deeper than usual, 
the former will exceed the latter one half in bulk. 
And as for trees, from the pear tree down to the 
currant bush, the difference is so great, that there 
is no room for comparison.” A tolerable spades¬ 
man can easily trench four rods in an October or 
November day. This, at seventy-five cents a day, 
would bring the cost of trenching an acre, and of 
rendering it permanently useful, to $30—and the 
ploughings, harrowings, &c. would be superseded 
in the work of preparation. 
The process of trenching is this : Begin at one 
end of the plat of ground, with the spade, a trench, 
all along, two feet wide, and two feet deep, unless 
an ungenial subsoil intervenes, in which case you 
may go some inches into this. “ Throw the earth 
out on the side away from the garden that is to he ; 
shovel out the bottom clean, and make the sides of 
the trench as nearly perpendicular as possible. 
Thus you have a clean open trench, running all 
along one end of your garden ground. You then 
take another piece, all along two feet wide, and 
put the earth that this new piece contains into the 
trench, taking off the top of the new, two feet wide, 
and turning that top down into the bottom of the 
trench, and then taking the remainder of the earth 
of the new two feet, and placing it on the top of the 
earth first turned into the bottom of the trench. 
Thus, when you have again shovelled out the bot¬ 
tom, and put it on the top of the whole that you 
have put into the trench, you have another clean 
trench two feet wide and two feet deep. You thus 
proceed till the whole of your garden ground be 
trenched”’ filling up the last trench with the earth 
taken out of the first; “and then it will have been 
cleanly turned over to the depth of two feet.” Cob¬ 
bett, § 20. There is another strong inducement for 
trenching, where fruit trees are to be grown. Some 
gardens are found not to be congenial to the growth of 
certain fruits, as the pear, the plum, &c. This is oft¬ 
en owing to the superficial stratum in which their 
roots are permitted to penetrate, often to stagnant 
water, reposing unobserved upon the subsoil, and 
often to deleterious materials in the subsoil itself. 
By draining, the water is conducted off; by trench¬ 
ing, the tilth is deepened, and the deleterious mat¬ 
ters in the subsoil, within the natural range of the 
roots, brought under the improving influence of the 
atmosphere, and its injurious properties destroyed 
by that influence, and from becoming incorporated 
with the true soil. To those who know how to ap¬ 
preciate the value and luxury of a succession of 
choice garden fruit, an outlay of $30, or rather of 
$20—for the suitable preparation by the plough will 
cost $10—will think little of the expense, when put 
in competition with the advantages which are likely 
to result from trenching. And if a garden is to be 
trenched, it is better to do it before trees or shrub¬ 
bery are planted in it, and the ground laid out, 
than after these operations have been wholly or par¬ 
tially performed. 
We copy, as we before observed, from Cobbett, 
our plan of a garden, because we think it well suit¬ 
ed to the wants and convenience of the American 
farmer ; and that it is better to have trees and culi¬ 
nary vegetables in distinct compartments, than to 
mix them, to the prejudice of both, as is generally 
the practice^ The plan embraces one acre. One- 
half, or one-quarter, of this space may be taken lay 
those who are parsimonious of means, or who dis¬ 
trust the utility of a larger plat; and with trifling 
modifications which will suggest on reflection, the 
general outlines of the plan may yet be preserved. 
