22 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
land. Now as long as land will produce good crops, it is 
immaterial whether it be rich or poor, and as longashe 
uses plenty offish, with an ordinary blessing, he may rely 
on good crops. I have used fish manure forty years suc¬ 
cessfully, and my land is much better than when I first 
commenced fishing. I make use of from fifty thousand 
to one hundred and fifty thousand of fish, known here 
by the name of mossbankers, per annum, and could I 
get a million I should have none to spare. There is no 
manure that I use equal to fish for a crop of wheat, and 
all kinds of roots; but they do not have that effect, after 
repeating, that they have at first; and that is the case 
with all kinds of manure. Thence the necessity of mix¬ 
ing manures. Ten thousand mossbankers per acre is 
sufficient for a crop of wheat, without any other manure. 
My practice is, to put on twelve or fifteen large wagon 
loads of litter, and five thousand fish per acre, and then 
I calculate for a good crop of wheat, and after the wheat 
a good burthen of grass for three or four years. The 
same quantity of manure makes a good crop of Indian 
corn. The manure fishery is the making of the east 
end of our island. I think I may say that the produc¬ 
tion of our land is three times as much as it was before 
we commenced fishing. But it mustnot all be attribut¬ 
ed to fish. We exert every means to make and collect 
manure, for without it we cannot raise our bread. For 
a farmer to break up a piece of land, and lay it down 
poorer than it was at first, is like borrowing money to 
pay his interest. It is astonishing to me that there are 
some few farmers yet, who will let their manure lie and 
ferment in the yard, when they must know that they 
lose half its virtue, for there is no time that it brings 
forth vegetation so well as when in a state of fermenta¬ 
tion under the sod. I might say that our soil is a sandy 
loam. JOHN WELLS. 
Relics of by-gone Superstition. 
Schenectady, January 10th, 1839. 
Dear Sir —Your industry and perseverence have en¬ 
riched the Cultivator with much useful instruction and 
advice, both for the cultivation of the fields and the 
minds of farmers. If they will be wise enough to put 
them in practice, with as much earnestness and zeal 
as you have composed and published them, our country 
will soon exhibit beautiful hills and dales, loaded with 
agricultural wealth. 
But sir, there is a quarter of our horizon yet incum¬ 
bered with the clouds of ignorance, which if you can 
clear up and expel, it will redound much to the honor 
and excellence of Christianity, over paganism and error, 
as well as to the improvement of agriculture. 
The last time I sat on a grand jury, a woman of Du- 
anesburgh applied for protection from her neighbors, 
who called her a witch. They sought opportunities to 
attack her when passing in the street, and attempted to 
draw blood from her head by striking her, believing that 
if they were successful, it would protect them from her 
witchcraft. The grand jury indicted several persons 
who had thus assaulted her. She was Scotch, and one 
of the grand jurors who lived near to her, said, that 
some of her neighbors believed that she had lately made 
a pass to Scotland, over the ocean in a wash-tub. 
About three or four years ago, Martin Sitterly, a de¬ 
scendant of German parents, in Rotterdam, adjoining 
this city, stopped at our store, and said he was on his 
way to the adjoining town of Glenville, to expel the 
witches from the cattle of a Dutch farmer there, who had 
sent for him for that purpose. Shortly alter, that lar- 
mer stopped at the store, and we attempted to admonish 
him for such folly. He answered with great pathos, that 
when his cows all slunk their calves, it was time to do 
something for them. My son asked him if he raised rye 
on his farm, thrashed it in winter, when his cows came 
about the barn doors, and eat the talings, or winnowings 
of the rye? He answered in the affirmative. We 
then told him, that the spur or ergot in the rye, which 
was eaten by the cows, caused them to lose their calves, 
and not the witches. 
If grand juries would indict, and the courts would 
condemn to be hanged those convicted of witchcraft, as 
they formerly did, witches would be as numerous now 
as then, notwithstanding the boasted light and know¬ 
ledge of the age. 
Did you ever know a farmer make much progress oi 
improvement, to be called a good farmer, who delayed 
sowing and planting till a certain time of the moon . 
The moon passes round the earth as the sun does every 
day of the year alike, and is every day and night equal¬ 
ly bright and light; but her light side is not seen by us, 
except when the earth is between her and the sun, oi 
partly so. Why should her influence then, if any, be 
greater at one stage of her passage than at another ? 
Until men will cease to believe in the influence of the 
moon and in witches, they will not make good farmers. 
The heathen, who knew not God, saw the sun, and 
that it gave heat and light, caused the rains, and the 
growth of vegetables; they thought it the great and good 
spirit who blessed them, &c. They also reverenced 
the moon, as she illumined the night; and when they 
had been instructed by the revelation of Christianity, the 
force of education was so strong, they could not iorget 
the moon, as the cause of their good things. The glo¬ 
rious sun, without which the moon cannot be seen, gets 
no share of their praise for warming the earth, and 
bringing forth the crops, but all is bestowed on the moon, 
simply because it is all mystery. Eh, every thing which 
loses the mystery, loses its value, with the ignorant. 
The moon, like a looking glass, only reflects the light 
she borrows from the sun ; and if she has any influence 
it must be the light reflected only, for she affords not a 
particle of heat that can be measured. 
Would it not be well for you to advise the almanac 
makers, or those who print them, to omit the figure of 
the man in the moon, with the signs, &c. in the second 
page of the almanac? It is a mere pagan practice, of 
no value, invented to excite wonder and mystery, and en¬ 
tirely devoid of truth. Most respectfully. 
DAVID TOMLINSON. 
N. B. I have again to admonish the printer of the 
Cultivator with a fault, in the Recipe I sent for curing 
pork hams. 
It reads, “ rub with fine salt." We never rub salt on 
any hams or beef which are to be put in pickle. If 
hams were rubbed with fine salt,'and left in a warm place 
two or three days before put into pickle, they would be 
salted enough in fifteen or twenty days at most. Let 
“ rub ivith fine salt" be dashed out with ink by each 
holder of the Cultivator- 
A reader of the Cultivator has asked what must be 
the size of the bags for the hams! We answer, that 
we dare not incumber the Cultivator with useless re¬ 
marks—That if a dish of suppaun and milk, with a spoon 
in it, were placed before a man, he should not ask how 
he should eat it! My hooks are formed likeS—The 
bags may be putin strong pickle,and then dried to make 
them more tight if desired. Is not quackgrass a corrup¬ 
tion ? I call it quickgrass, for it is always alive and 
quick, u nless killed by drying it. _ 
Canal Policy. 
Schenectady, January 23, 1839. 
Dear friend —When the Erie canal was in making, 
on the flats in Schenectady, I asked the engineers what 
objection they had to the Mohawk river—that it was a 
natural canal, much better and safer than any canal 
made by art—that the bottom would not fall out, as it 
and the banks of the one they were making would. 
All the answer I received was, that they could not 
make a towing path! I replied, that half the expense 
of the tow path they were making, would form one on 
the banks of the river—but that none would be needed, 
as the broad sheet of water would allow steam-boats to 
pass and tow the frieght boats of much larger size, and 
cheaper than horse boats. 
But, the answer of the engineer of the Duke of Bridge- 
water, when catechised by the committee of the Parlia¬ 
ment, appointed to learn the feasibility of the Duke’s 
canal, whether it would be proper for the government to 
loan him aid to finish it—the question was, what are ri¬ 
vers made for? The pert answer was , to feed canals, 
sir. The answer was well in that place, and when can¬ 
als are made at right angles to rivers ; but to make an 
artificial canal on the banks of a natural one, the river, 
for the distance of a hundred miles, was a novelty, and in 
my opinion, a folly. 
I told the engineers, that before ten years should pass 
the business on the canal would so multiply, as to show 
its want of capacity to meet the great increase of the 
country—that the time would soon arrive, when every 
gallon of water in the Mohawk would be wanted for 
navigation. I grant that my prophesy was not in exact 
accordance with events—but, the fact, that the canal 
was discovered to be of too small capacity for conveni¬ 
ence, within the ten years, proved to be correct, although 
the resort to the natural canal, the river, has not been 
considered by the engineers and commissioners. 
Although it is a noble act in man, to acknowledge er¬ 
rors when discovered, and retract, yet our worthy en¬ 
gineers and commissioners are either slow of discovery, 
or too proud to acknowledge the error. 
When I stated to Judge Wright, the objections to dig¬ 
ging up the flats, instead of putting locks in the river, 
he acknowledged the force of the arguments, and said, 
we are merely executing the orders of the commissioners, 
and are not allowed to exercise our own best judgment. 
He said, the commissioners were appointed to make con¬ 
tracts and oversee the execution, and. their pride leads 
them to become directors of the engineers. 
The legislature placed such unbounded confidence in 
the canal commissioners, simply because the Erie canal 
has proved to be a successful project, which every one 
knew as well, would be the fact, that a canal must be 
the great desideratum for the internal improvements ; 
therefore, as if the discovery had been the result of their 
gigantic minds, have given implicit confidence to all their 
projects of improvement and enlargement of the canal. 
After spending fifteen millions of dollars in enlarging 
the Erie canal, by disturbing the farms and villages, &c. 
with high and inconvenient bridges over farms and high¬ 
ways, it will soon be seen, that the great error must be 
corrected by abandoning it, and taking the river, (much 
safer against breaches) and lakes to make a ship 
canal. 
This cannot be seen now, in looking up the stream: 
but when the ship canal shall be made around the Nia¬ 
gara falls, and the ships advance down to Oswego, that 
will open the eyes of the judicious, to see the folly of 
enlarging the Erie canal from the Hudson to Oswego. 
From Syracuse to Buffalo, the Erie canal is of sufficient 
size for internal improvement for many years. But, 
when ships from the far west reach Oswego, they’ll say 
we must go to New-York and the Ocean, or follow the 
rival canal now making in the St. Lawrence from Kings¬ 
ton to Montreal for ships, and they will then throw away 
the enlarged Erie, on the banks of the beautiful Mohawk, 
and adopt the natural canal, the river. It will not cost 
half the sum to make the ship canal from Rome to the 
Hudson, that it will to effect the present project of en¬ 
larging the Erie canal, by purchasing the expensive pro¬ 
perty of individuals, &c. The facility of steam, the en¬ 
larged boats and ships, in the enlarged and broad sheet of 
water of the river, will reduce the freight to one-eighth, 
as well as save half the time, which are two enormous 
items. 
The surplus and waste waters at the dams in the ri- 
ver, will be worth more than the cost of erecting the 
dams. The dams and locks may be more frequent, and 
of less depth, than in the Erie canal. 
The locks for descending in the right bank, and for 
ascending in the left bank of the river, to be made out 
of the way of the current and ice, would be perfectly 
safe, and afford more expedition. Rolling dams would 
allow ice and surplus water to flow over with safety, 
and the whole valley of the superb and picturesque 
Mohawk, by means of the surplus water powers, for 
hydraulic use at the dams, would be converted into one 
continuous village, from the majestic Hudson to the ele¬ 
gant city of Oswego. My remarks, when the Erie can¬ 
al was in making, had no force, as I was a humble citi¬ 
zen, and not clothed with the wonderful mystery of en¬ 
gineer. But, I venture to prophesy once more, that all 
the canal will be abandoned for the river, from the Hud¬ 
son to Oswego, by the next generation, when a new 
class of men come into charge of the canal, who can 
see, and dare condemn the errors of those who acted be¬ 
fore them, without wounding their own pride. 
I address you, sir, on this important subject, because 
the sphere in which you move, has given to your opini¬ 
ons great celebrity in public improvements. If your 
mind should accord with mine on this subject, it is not 
too late to effect the alteration in the improvement of 
the canal. And, I beg you to give some heed to it, be¬ 
fore more of the funds of the state are wasted in an er¬ 
ror which the next generation must and will correct, 
after the great waste of millions. With great respect 
and esteem, _ D. TOM LINSON. 
South-Down Sheep. 
St. Andrews, New Brunswick, via ) 
Robbinston, Me. 14 th January, 1839. $ 
Sir —Being a subscriber to your useful and widely 
circulated paper the “ Cultivator,” I take the liberty of 
addressing you, as you appear from your publication to 
take so lively an interest in the welfare of your agricul¬ 
tural friends. 
During a short visit that I made last summer to the 
state of Pennsylvania, I was much pleased to find a desire 
to improve the breed of sheep, by importing South Downs 
into that state, but the great obstacle that offered itself to 
the flock-masters there, was the difficulty of obtaining 
good bre J sheep from England, as they corresponded with 
no person who had an opportunity of procuring them, 
from some of the first flock-masters in England, where on¬ 
ly they are to be found. I am aware that many sheep 
said to be South Downs, have lately been imported into 
the United States; but I very much doubt if they are of 
that breed; however, I can only speak with certainty of 
those that have been pointed out to me as such, which 
were decidedly merely a cross with the Downs, some 
with the Dishley, or New-Leicester breed, and others 
with a sheep known in England as the Romney Marsh 
sheep; which although they fatten early, and kindly, 
are only calculated for a rich marsh or pasture grounds. 
To obviate the before mentioned difficulty I have of¬ 
fered to procure some ram lambs next fall, for any of 
the gentlemen in Pennsylvania who may wish a cross 
with the long established, and much admired stock of my 
late father, Mr. Ellman, late of Glynde farm in the coun¬ 
ty of Sussex, in England, which are now in the posses- 
sion of my brothers, who still defy all Europe to pro¬ 
duce sheep equal to them. Should any of your neigh¬ 
bors be desirous of trying a cross with this valuable 
breed, I shall be happy to facilitate their views, and I 
will engage to import from the above mentioned flock, 
at $125 each, to be delivered here, a few ram lambs fully 
equal in blood to the rams now letting on my brothers 
farms, at fifty guineas each for the season. The pur¬ 
chasers to pay me all reasonable expenses that I may 
be at for the keep of the lambs after their arrival here. 
From hence they can be conveniently shipped on board 
the Eastport packets direct to New-York, or should 
anyone prefer importing them at their own expense, 
by making arrangements with me for the payment of 
the sheep, they shall be deliverd onboard either in Lon¬ 
don or Portsmouth, at $102 each, or £20 sterling, if 
paid for in London at the time of shipment. Sheep at 
a more advanced age would of course cost more, and 
any application to me post paid shall receive my early 
attention. 
I recommended the flock-masters whom I met with 
last summer to try the South Down sheep,remarking on 
the good qualities they possess; which it would be use¬ 
less to repeat, as I observed in your number for Novem¬ 
ber 1836, a hasty description of these sheep, which I am 
satisfied was taken from a treatise on this breed, writ¬ 
ten by my late father, who it is well known brought the 
South Down sheep to their present high state of per¬ 
fection. If the object of the farmer is length of woql, 
without regard to fineness of pile, or the quality of the 
mutton, I would not recommend the South Downs, but 
where both are an object, they are decidedly to be pre¬ 
ferred. It must also be recollected that the cross with 
the long woolled sheep will not bear hard keeping, they 
are only adapted for good lands; while the cross with 
the South Downs will stand any hardship, as no other 
sheep in England are capable of enduring so much ex¬ 
posure, or are so highly prized: and no sheep show a 
disposition to fatten so early. If I were to enter at large 
into the good qualities of these sheep, I should trespass 
