THE CULTIVATOR. 
10 
9. If an awkward teamster drives a cart against one 
or both sides, (as some will,) if slightly fastened, he 
merely shuts the gate after him. 
This gate may be fastened shut or open, by a pin or 
catch near the bottom. Respectfully yours, 
HORACE HUMPHREY. 
Draining. 
Although much has been written on this subject, 
enough, one would suppose, to convince any agricultu¬ 
rist of its utility, and instruct him in the best mode of 
performing the operation; yet hundreds of dollars are 
annually thrown away by injudicious draining; and we 
deprive ourselves of other hundreds, by not draining at 
all. I have mowed two or three acres of land, (or ra¬ 
ther of mud,) some ten or twelve years, and the hay, 
(if hay it may be called,) has hardly paid the expense 
of mowing. A line of springs breaks out along the up¬ 
per side, the waters of which, slowly meander to a 
neighboring creek. Three or four years ago, I under¬ 
took draining, knowing, perhaps, as much about it as 
some of my neighbors, and practising full as well. I 
cut ditches from the Springs directly to the creek, say 
eighteen inches deep, and shallowly left the shallow 
things open for the frosts of winter to fill: but the se¬ 
quel proved that-nll was not right; for my meadow 
was ne’er the better for all my labor. But thanks to 
the Cultivator for a better system. Last fall I under¬ 
took again, with about half an acre for an experiment. 
I ordered a drain to be cut two and a half feet deep, and 
two feet wide, from the creek to within a rod of a fine 
living spring, in the line of my orchard and meadow, 
(w'hich spring I did not want to injure,) and then branch 
off to the right and left along the dry land. By digging 
this depth, we cut through the clay subsoil, into gravel, 
when we came into which, ever and anon a vein of wa¬ 
ter would tell us, that all was going on well; and it 
went well enough till we came to within a little over a rod 
of the spring, and then it went quite ill; for all at once, 
the water gushed up from the bottom of the drain, and 
away went my fine spring; and two others, one two, 
and the other three rods distant, were dry in fifteen 
minutes. Whilst we were digging, some of my neigh¬ 
bors, knowing my intention, advised me by all means to 
leave the drains open; but I was just stubborn enough 
not to mind them; for I first flagged the botlom of the 
drains with flat stones, well fitted together. I then 
placed narrow stones on each side, and flat ones on these; 
then filled with small stones to within a foot of the top, 
then inverted the sods on these, and finished with loose 
earth, I then tore up the hassocks with a plough, 
dried and burned them, and spread the ashes; sowed 
the ground with timothy seed, covered it with manure, 
and scarified it with an iron toothed harrow. What the 
result will be, time only can show; but this much I 
know, the ground that, last summer, dry as it was, would 
mire a team, is now dry enough to plough, and the ti¬ 
mothy looks well. S. HEATON. 
Plattekill, Ulster, 4th mo. 8th, 1839. 
Theory in Farming. 
Near Brownsville, Pa. December, 1838. 
Hon. J. Buel—T his has been pronounced an age of 
improvement, and very truly; but while the mechanic 
arts have been brought to a high degree of perfection, 
and improvements in them widely and rapidly dissemi¬ 
nated, agriculture, though it has made great advance¬ 
ment in some places, in others remains almost stationa¬ 
ry. Now, what is the cause of this difference in these 
two branches? It would seem to be that mechanics 
have greater advantages for becoming acquainted wdth, 
and appreciating the value of distant improvements in 
their business; while farmers, from their habits and 
other circumstances, are forced to rely on themselves 
for improvements, or at most are confined to their own 
vicinity; consequently, improvements are slowly disse¬ 
minated. The only remedy for this evil is to establish 
some channel, by which improvements, made in one 
section of country, may be communicated to the 
others. This channel, is books or agricultural papers. 
But against book farming, exists along established pre¬ 
judice ; and the mere mention of theory in fanning ex¬ 
cites in the farmer a perfect abhorrence; but with 
what justice, let us further inquire, as it is a matter of 
great importance. A theory is nothing more than the 
conclusion at which we arrive after examining the laws 
of nature. If we understand these laws correctly, and 
form our theory accordingly, our theory will be correct; 
if not, it will fail. Everyman (farmers included) forms 
a theory, or in other words, a plan, before he commen¬ 
ces any operation. Watt, with his steam engine ; Ark¬ 
wright, with his spinning jennies; Davy, with his safety 
lamp, and Archimedes, with his mirror ; each, made 
himself correctly acquainted with the laws of nature, on 
which he wished to operate, and on these, based his 
theory. Now, in these cases, had there been no theo¬ 
ries, there would have been no inventions. But, as 
theory is admissible in the mechanic arts, why not also 
in agriculture? Nature is as uniform in her operations 
in one case as in the other. If the chemist tells us that 
alkalies neutralize acids, and that lime possesses the 
properties of an alkali, and if we know that some acid 
exists in the soil, is not the conclusion legitimate, that 
the soil will be corrected by the application of lime? 
This now, is mere theory; yet, we would feel justified 
in relying on it as strongly as though it were demon¬ 
strated. If also, as Davy has shewn, certain gases 
serve as the food of plants, and these same gases are 
given off during the fermentation of manure, who would 
not repose perfect confidence in the theory which woul^ 
bring these gases in contact with the plants rather than 
permitthem to escape into the air? Draining, also,might 
be cited as a complicated theory; but on that account, none 
the less certain in its results. In fact, nearly the whole 
routine of farming is theory. ’Tis true, many errors 
are committed in theorizing, but these must be laid to 
the ignorance of the theoiist, and not to the system by 
which he attempts to arrive at that conclusion by his 
reason which he cannot reach bysightand touch. But 
our farmers tell us they want something “ practical,” 
and if we should hand them the Cultivator, and tell 
them it contains the experience of its correspondents 
and contributors, it will be denounced in round terms as 
mere book-farming, which deserved no credence, be¬ 
cause forsooth they had not seen it. As though they 
would discriminate between what their neighbor told 
them viva voce, and that which he communicated to 
them by his goose-quill. This reminds me of the ori¬ 
ental despot, who dismissed from his empire, as a liar, 
an ambassador, who told his celestial majesty, that in 
his own country, water became in winter so hard that 
armies passed over, for the sage reason that he had ne¬ 
ver seen the like. While this old prejudice, and the igno¬ 
rance on which it is founded, and which forms its chief 
support, remain like ramparts, to stop the wave which 
is making in our favor, how can we expect to be carried 
forward to that glorious goal to which we seem des¬ 
tined? __G. E. H. 
Farm Buildings. 
Plattekill, Ulster co. 4th mo. 8th, 1S39. 
Friend J. Bdel —Among the many appendages to a 
farm, and the means of facilitating the labors of hus¬ 
bandry, I consider convenient buildings as holding a 
conspicuous place; and notwithstanding many plans, 
with different degrees of merit, have graced the columns 
of the Cultivator; yet I offer the plan of a small build¬ 
ing I have lately erected, which, to publish or to be 
thrown aside with other waste papers, is discretionary 
with thyself. 
'Fig. No. 14.] 
B 
D 
F 
g 
A' 
S 
E 
C 
F 
g 
C 
Fig. No. 14, is the ground plan of the building, which 
is erected on a side hill. A, is a cellar 14 by 16 feet.— 
B, a space between the cellar wall and the north founda¬ 
tion of the building, filled with earth. C, C, hog-pens, 
8 feet square. D, a room for boiling food for hogs, and 
communicating with the cellar by the alley E. g, g, 
doors. F, F, ysrds. 
[Fig. No. 15.] 
a, a 
Fig. No. 15, represents the partition between the alley 
E, and one of the pens, a, a, a, the frame ; d, a door; 
b , b, brackets; c, a latch, made fast at/, by a 1 olt; g, g, 
hinees. Under this door, is placed the trough ; a piece 
of board 6 inches wide is nailed to each pest, one di¬ 
rectly over, the other beneath the latch; in these boards 
are two notches to receive the latch, so that in two se¬ 
conds I can shut the hogs from the trough, and have it 
open to the alley, by lifting one end of the latch out of 
the notch, and pushing the door back to the opposite 
side of the trough; when it falls into another notch, 
the other end fastening in the same way above. This 
done, I can fill the trough without having to combat the 
greedy animals, and they have an equal chance after 
the door is swung back to its place. 
Over the cellar, is a building 20 by 24 feet, 14£ feet 
posts, for a carriage house below and granary above; 
over the hog-pens, the roof of which is low, is room for 
housing sleds, tools, &c. 
Now the advantages of this building are these—First, 
I have much room under a small roof;—second, I can 
draw my potatoes into the carriage-house, and shovel 
them through a trap-door into the cellar, without hav¬ 
ing to carry them in a basket, as I always have done, 
and many still do;—third, the cellar is on a level with 
the swill-house, or boiling room, so that there is no lug¬ 
ging them up stairs;—fi urth, I can, by placing my feed 
tub in the cellar, boil potatoes for my pigs in cold as 
well as warm weather. S. HEATON. 
American and British Agriculture Contrasted. 
As a large amount of our scientific knowledge of ag- 
riculture is derived from British works, let us inquire 
how far the system adopted there should be modified so as 
to suit our circumstances; for difference of circumstances 
renders a difference of system necessary. Many con- 
siderations are necessary to be taken into account, in 
order to determine the relative value of different sys¬ 
tems of agriculture; and that one adopted, which suits 
best the respective circumstances of each. The agri¬ 
culture of China would not answer for England; nor 
is that of England, in all respects, suited to the United 
Stales. For, first, the rent of land there is exceedingly 
high; consequently, it becomes necessary that every 
acre shall produce to the full extent of which it is ca¬ 
pable. This high rate of rents is owing to a supera¬ 
bundance of competitors, and but a limited supply of 
land. There, land is the chief article of value, and hence 
the chief object of attention; hence a greater outlay 
would be justified on the same extent there than here. 
Secondly, on the contrary, in this country, labor is the 
great article of value. The comparatively low rate of 
wages in Great Britain, enables the farmer to make im¬ 
provements which would never compensate in the Uni¬ 
ted States. There, it enables him to bestow more care 
upon, and work more frequently and thoroughly his 
soil. We cannot adopt the system of England, for the 
same reason that she cannot adopt that of China, viz: 
difference of wages; for best imformed agriculturists 
are aware that we canhot bestow the same labor on the 
same object as the English. There is a medium point 
beyond which the extra profit does not justify the ex¬ 
tra labor. This point changes with the change of cir¬ 
cumstances. With us it is exceeding low. Thirdly. In 
England, the superabundance of capital, and low rate 
of interest, enable the farmer to make those improve¬ 
ments, and farm to that perfection, which would not be 
justifiable in the American farmer. Many of our farm- 
ers can appreciate the value of improvements, but their 
means are yet too limited to advance with the gigantic 
strides of the wealthy farmers of England. Grain does 
not bear the same price here as there. This high price 
of agricultural produce, and consequent profitablenes of 
the business, furnish both the inducement and means of 
improvement. This flourishing state of agriculture ari¬ 
ses from legislative encouragement; large proportion 
of consumers to producers, and great facilities for trans- 
portation and exportation; in all which, we are far their 
inferiors. 
All these causes co-operating, suggest that we should 
adopt a somewhat modified system, until the obstacles 
which impede our course, shall be removed. Yours re¬ 
spectfully, G. E. H. 
Mode of applying Manure—Antidote to Grubs. 
Sing-Sing, April 17th, 1839. 
Friend Bttel —I frequently notice in the Cultivator, 
that your advice to farmers respecting the application 
of manure, to tillable land is, to apply it in the spring 
for hoed crops, by burying it with the plough to the 
depth of the soil; and you do not seem to admit of any 
variation on account of the different kinds of soil. I ad¬ 
mit that where the soil under cultivation is dry, it may 
be best to manure for hoed crops,* and that it should be 
incorporated with the soil, but not buried very deep. 
(I write this, under the supposition that farmers, in this 
country, do not make manure enough, to apply it more 
than once to the same land, in the course of a rotation 
of crops.) But there is another description of soil, 
which, if ploughed at all, should be manured in the fall 
for the winter grain crop, in preference to any other. I 
allude to soils naturally moist, and particularly to those 
underlaid by hardpan ; first, because on such soils, with¬ 
out manure near the surface of the ground, winter grain 
and the young timothy, is apt to freeze out, besides 
making it very uncertain for clover, the year following. 
The rich juices of the manure, in the fall and spring, 
leach among the roots of the plant, giving it strength and 
vigor. By being light and spongy, the soil does not set¬ 
tle away from the roots of the young plant after a frost, 
as does the earth alone. Again, it is all important to 
most parts if the country, to keep the soil in a state of 
progressive improvement. If the manure be applied in 
the spring to a hoed crop, and after that we take two 
more crops of grain before seeding, we leave heavy 
land, but little if any better than we find it. And the 
succeeding grass crops, on which we mainly depend for 
the means of enriching our land, are sadly deficient in 
quantity. If we manure in the fall for winter grain, the 
succeeding crops of grass will be heavy, and when the 
ground is again turned up for corn, it will bring, I think, 
as good a crop without, as it would the time previous 
with manure, and that too, without deteriorating the 
soil to the condition in which the manure first found it; 
then our stock of manure on hand may be applied to 
enrich another piece of ground. If at the commence¬ 
ment the land is too poor for corn without manure, do 
* We contend that no hoed crop, except potatoes, should 
be planted upon any but a dry soil—and that even potatoes 
should not be put upon a wet one. Under, or lurrow drain¬ 
ing, will render any soil dry, where there is a sufficient de¬ 
clivity to drain off the water. 
