and health, as they are in animal economy. Lime, 
marl, ashes, gypsum, &c. constitute these alteratives 
and stimuli. But we lack, though we hope the lacking 
will not long continue, we lack the same scientific in¬ 
vestigations, in regard to the digestive processes of the 
brute and the vegetable stomachs, that we possess in 
regard to the digestive processes of the human stomach; 
before we are able fully to understand the laws which 
must ever govern in these matters, we must know the 
constituents of our soils, if we would know what they 
lack, or what they contain in excess, prejudicial to fer¬ 
tility. We have all the elements of fertility, and the 
capacity of searching out and applying, and of profiting 
by them. Industry is enjoined by the holy pen, as one 
of the principal terms of our temporal happiness.— 
When applied to the body, it gives us health, and the 
means of gratifying our animal appetites. When ap¬ 
plied to the mind, it lightens the labors of the body, 
leads to high intellectual enjoyments, and benefits so¬ 
ciety. 
In regard to ashes, the commissioner has failed to 
note whether they were leached or unleached, or to 
state in what manner they were applied. Unleached 
ashes contain potash, an active and powerful fertilizing 
material upon most soils, if properly applied; and 
when thus applied they seldom fail to benefit a dry soil. 
Drawn or leached ashes contain far less of alkali, yet 
upon some soils they are highly beneficial, particularly 
upon the seaboard, where their fertilizing properties 
have been ascribed to the influence upon them of the 
marine atmosphere, or muriate of soda. 
Marl, too, has proved inefficacious in Berkshire; 
rather, we apprehend, from the imperfect mode of ap¬ 
plying it, or from applying it in excess—a shovel full to 
a hill of potatoes. We have the analysis of the marl 
thus used. This demonstrates to us the importance of 
correct punctuation; for according to the text, it con¬ 
tains but 1.2 in 100 of carbonate of lime. It reads and 
is pointed thus: It contained “of soluble geine 2.6 of 
insoluble, 3.4 of phosphate of lime, 1.2 of carbonate of 
lime, 86.2 of granitic sand, 5.0 of water of absorption 
1.6.” This reminds us of a notice once sent to the 
pulpit. It was read thus: “A man having gone to sea 
his wife, desires the prayers of the congregation.” The 
mistake was in placing the comma after wife, instead 
of putting it after sea. The comma, in the commission¬ 
ers report, has given to his marl 86.2 of granitic sand, 
and but 1.2 of carbonate of lime. 
But with regard to the application of marl, great er¬ 
rors have prevailed—exposure to atmosphericinfluence, 
in a pulverized form, and afterwards a thorough inter¬ 
mixture with the soil, seem to be indispensable requi¬ 
sites to its beneficial operation. See notice of Prof. 
Emmons’ report, in another column. 
Having thus made, we fear, too long a chapter, out of 
Mr. Colman’s too short one, we proceed to notice his 
remarks upon 
FARM BUILDINGS, 
In which we deem our brother Yankees generally 
deficient, both as regards economy, comfort, and taste. 
The commissioner noticed but one stone house in Berk¬ 
shire, where the best materials, in stone, lime and sand, 
abound for their construction; though he intimates that 
they may be constructed cheaper than wood. A sub¬ 
stantial stone fabric, with a basement kitchen and win¬ 
dow shutters, is twice as economical, in the end, where 
the materials abound, as a wooden one, and ten times 
more comfortable. And we woutffhave the roof project, 
as recommended by our correspondent Mr. Ashburner, 
four to six feet beyond the walls. We have seen such 
houses in Ulster, which have stood more than a centu¬ 
ry, nearly as good as new. Stone houses are the warm¬ 
est in winter, coolest in summer, least liable to take 
fire; and if well ventilated in summer mornings, and the 
shutters closed during the day, the apartments are al¬ 
ways healthy and agreeable, and free from flies and 
musquitoes, two formidable enemies to the siesta, or af¬ 
ter-dinner repose. 
The commissioner, like our thriving Dutch farmers, 
seems to have regarded barns with more interest than 
he does dwelling-houses; and really, after all, barns are 
the best criterion of the character of a farming commu¬ 
nity. Where these are capacious, well filled, and in 
good order, the dwelling, though small, is seldom out 
of order, or the family in want of the necessaries and 
comforts of life. The commissioner recommends that 
barns be constructed on the sides of hills, that teams 
may be driven in above, and the manure sheltered from 
the weather below. We should prefer the Pennsylva¬ 
nian mode of using the basement story for farm stock; 
and of depositing the manure in a concave yard, which 
would hold the liquids, and become a depository for 
the refuse litter. Dung, and especially horse dung, is 
apt to become fire-fanged, and seriously injured by be¬ 
ing deposited in a dry place in mass. And if in the 
yard, blended with the dung of neat cattle and litter, no 
injurious fermentation, or wastage, would take place 
before it would be wanted for the hoed crops, and to 
which it is always best applied. 
“ In Lanesboro’,” says the report, “ in one of the neatest 
establishments which I ever witnessed, there was a little 
contrivance connected with the doors, the convenience of 
which was admirable. The doors were none of them swung 
upon hinges; but run upon small wheels, and were made to 
slide in by the side of the wall. These wheels or trucks 
were attached to the upper end of the door, by a small 
wooden ledge, by which the door was suspended. The 
door when opened was entirely out of the way. It could be 
opened a greater or less distance at pleasure. There was 
no groove at bottom to become filled up with dirt, and ob¬ 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
struct the opening of the door; and there was no occasion 
of clearing away any snow or accidental obstruction from 
other matters, which might be accumulated in front, in or¬ 
der to open it. There were also none of the usual troubles 
of the door being lifted from its hinges, or being slammed 
and broken by the wind. It was but a small affair, but ac¬ 
complished much convenience; and is of a piece with every 
other part of this neat and exact establishment.” 
THE SHAKER ESTABLISHMENTS 
In Berkshire, receive high commendation from the 
commissioner, as models of order and neatness ; a com¬ 
pliment not withheld by any one who visits them. A 
magnificent circular stone barn, belonging to the society 
at Hancock is described, three stories high, ninety-six 
feet in diameter, and capable of stowing three or four 
hundred tons of hay. All the hay is deposited in the 
centre, around which is the drive-way, in which several 
teams may be unloading at the same time. The earts 
pass into the second story, and the cattle are lodged in 
the lower one. The society manufacture all their wool¬ 
len fabrics from their own wool, and carry on the 
broom making business on an extensive scale. 
EXPERIMENTS AND IMPROVEMENTS. 
This chapter consists of various experiments in rais¬ 
ing and feeding out. farm crops, destroying insect ene¬ 
mies, &c. The results are not sufficiently uniform, or 
the experiments were not conducted with sufficient ac¬ 
curacy, in many cases, to enable us to draw from them 
profitable conclusions. Indeed many of the results are 
contradictory or unsatisfactory. They consist of, 
1. Experiments with the potato. —Several are detailed 
to ascertain the most economical mode of using seed, 
and in feeding them to stock. The commissioner re¬ 
marks that, in his opinion, 
“ If a large crop is desired, the seed should be planted in 
drills, the rows being about two and a half or three feet 
apart, and the sets placed not less than a foot apart in the 
rows, that they may be mainly cultivated with the plough. 
They should not be planted deep; and they should be kept 
clean. In general few plants are cultivated in a more slo¬ 
venly manner. Under good cultivation few plants afford 
more valuable food to an acre. They are, however, I be¬ 
lieve, an exhausting, and not an ameliorating crop. They 
return little to the soil; and the most universal experience is 
that wheat does by no means so well after potatoes as after 
Indian corn.” 
We think that medium sized seed should be pre¬ 
ferred ; that new seed, grown on a different soil, should 
be employed every two or three years; that when culti¬ 
vated in hills a single whole tuber may be used, but 
when planted in drills, the seed should be cut,—that un¬ 
fermented manure should be spread broadcast for the 
crop, and ploughed under; that they should be fed raw 
to neat cattle, horses, &c. and cooked for swine. 
2. Carrots. —The product of this crop is stated at 
from 600 to 1000 bushels an acre. The expenses of the 
crop are stated from four to nine cents per bushel. The 
commissioner recommends deep and frequent plough¬ 
ing, sowing upon ridges two feet broad, the plants 
thinned to 8 or 12 inches, and that they be harvested 
with the plough. With the products and expense of 
culture stated, the carrot is unquestionably a very pro¬ 
fitable crop. Their intrinsic value, for every kind of 
farm stock, may be safely stated at 18 to 25 cents per 
bushel. 
3. Ruta baga. —The weight of opinions in Berkshire 
seems to be decidedly in favor of this root, as a profita¬ 
ble crop, and as an economical food for farm stock; 
yet there are some who think little of the crop. Every 
new article of culture has strong obstacles to encounter, 
before its value ean be fairly graduated. It has first 
prejudices and old habits to combat. There are too 
many that are always prepared to reject and ridicule 
whatever they do not themselves originate or introduce. 
In the second place, the culture of a new crop is often 
imperfectly managed, and unnecessarily expensive; and 
many reject a good thing merely because their first ef¬ 
forts are unsuccessful. And there is no class of people 
who draw more hasty conclusions in these matters, or 
who are more pertinacious in adhering to old habits, 
than farmers. The turnip culture had the same preju¬ 
dices to encounter in Britain that it meets with here; 
yet still it triumphed there, and it will triumph here— 
for our soil and climate are as congenial to its growth 
as the soil and climate of Great Britain and Germany; 
and it can be made as useful here, in farm economy, as 
it has been made in Europe. No one now doubts its 
importantadvantages in British and German husbandry. 
We think the commissioner underrates the value of 
this root, when he says “ they are by no means as nutri¬ 
tious as potatoes, especially those kinds of potatoes 
which are most farinaceous; and they are not compara¬ 
ble to the carrot, or parsnip, or sugar beet for feeding 
stock.” The inference that the common reader would 
draw from this sentence, would be that the ruta baga is the 
least profitable of all the root crops; and we think pre¬ 
cisely the reverse of this to be the case; and for these 
substantial reasons: 1st. Because they give the greatest 
average product; this being about four times as great 
as in the potato. 2d. Because they occupy the ground 
the shortest time, and are cultivated and harvested, with 
proper tools and management, with far less expense 
than other root crops. And 3dly. So far as accurate 
experiments have been made, their fattening properties 
are as great, or greater, for neat cattle, as either those 
of the potato or beet, pound for pound. For proof of 
the latter fact, we refer to the experiments made under 
the direction of the Highland society, as noticed in the 
report upon root culture, in our March No. 
There are many other experiments recorded, and re¬ 
101 
suits and conclusions stated, which are of but secondary 
importance; for instance, one gentleman found no be¬ 
nefit from applying lime to his wheat crop; but neither 
the condition of the lime, nor the quantity are stated; 
another thinks ploughing in seed wheat better than har¬ 
rowing it in; another thinks he finds great benefit in 
harrowing his fields eight or ten days in succession, afi 
ter the wheat has been sown; another finds that grass 
is much better after corn than after potatoes, &c. &c. 
A case is stated of wheat being raised for 20 years in 
succession in Chelmsford, at the rate of 20 to 30 bush¬ 
els the acre, with but a single failure; and what is re¬ 
markable, the soil, on analysis, was found to contain 
neither carbonate of lime nor alkaline salts, though the 
sulphate and phosphate of lime were detected in very 
small proportions. The commissioner, we think, pre¬ 
sumes too much upon this and other facts, in concluding 
that there is “no difficulty,under proper management, 
of cultivating wheat in the primitive soils of New-Eng- 
land. 
A case is cited, in which the application of lime to 
wheat, when the dew was on, was supposed to have 
saved the crop from the ravages of the grain-worm. 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
This society is very justly commended. Says the re¬ 
port, 
“ It is remarkable, that in every part of the county, among 
the farmers themselves, who, as a class of men, are generally 
distrustful of the advances of such associations, and seem in 
such matters oftentimes as well skilled as their oxen in the 
art of ‘ holding hack,’ its utility is universally acknowledged, 
and a strong interest felt in its success. They are every 
where disposed, in this good matter, to pull together; and it 
would, as it seems to me, be difficult to find what is techni¬ 
cally termed, an ‘ off ox’ in the team.” 
This was not always the case. The farmers of Berk¬ 
shire, twenty and twenty-five years ago, were generally 
as shy, and as mulish, in regard to encouraging the so¬ 
ciety, as they are every where else, where the benefits 
of such institutions are not appreciated. It is to the 
persevering efforts of a few worthy individuals, profes¬ 
sional and mercantile as well as agricultural, that the 
agricultural society of Berkshire has become what it is 
—an institution of great and palpable usefulness—and 
that all now cherish and feel proud of it. All now 
agree, that the best effects have resulted from its labors. 
“ It has every where excited and cherished,” says Mr. 
Colman, “ a spirit of generous emulation ; and men of the 
highest distinction in the county for education, charac¬ 
ter, political standing and wealth, give their time and 
their zeal to its excellent objects.” 
Like efforts and perseverance, from half a dozen in¬ 
dividuals, will produce like benefits, and ultimately the 
like unanimity in public feeling in its support, in any 
other county, that it has produced in Berkshire; and 
there will redound to those who take and keep the lead, 
the high consolation, of having been instrumental in 
effecting a great public good, and of having overcome 
opposition and prejudice, by the exercise of a kind and 
generous philanthropy. 
“Agriculture, in all its moral aspects,” the commissioner 
very justly and appropriately remarks, “recommends itself 
to the regard of every good mind. Emulation in this busi¬ 
ness awakens none of the bad passions, which are so often 
engendered by rivalry in other departments of life. One 
man’s success in agriculture never injures his neighbor; but 
always tends to the general benefit. There is in agriculture 
no monopoly of improvements and advantages; and every 
effort, discovery, experiment or invention, by which the im¬ 
provement of the art is advanced, and its productiveness in¬ 
creased, is a direct, substantial and permanent benefit to a 
town, to the country, and to the world.” 
“COMPARATIVE VALUE OF HAY, VEGETABLES AND CORN. 
“ I wish briefly to draw the attention of farmers to the value 
of hay, compared with other crops, for the feeding of stock. 
An acre of hay yields one ton and a half of vegetable food. 
An acre of carrots or Swedish turnips, will yield from ten to 
twenty tons; say fifteen tons, which is by no means an exag¬ 
gerated estimate. It has been ascertained by experiment, 
that three working horses, fifteen and a half hands high, 
consumed at the rate of two hundred and twenty-four pounds 
of hay per week, or five tons one thousand and forty-eight 
pounds of hay per year, besides twelve gallons of oats each 
per week, or seventy-eight bushels by the year. An un¬ 
worked horse consumed at the rate of four and one-quarter 
tons of hay in the year. The produce, therefore, of nearly 
six acres of land is necessary to support a working horse by 
the year; but half an acre of carrots, at six hundred bushels 
to the acre, with the addition of chopped straw, while the 
season for their use lasts, will do it as well, if not better. 
These things do not admit of doubt. They have been sub¬ 
jects of exact trial. 
“ It is believed that the value of a bushel of Indian corn 
in straw and meal, will keep a healthy horse in good condition 
for work a week. An acre of Indian com which yields sixty 
bushels, will be ample for the support of a horse through the 
year. Let the farmer, then, consider whether it be better to 
maintain his horse upon the produce of half an acre of car¬ 
rots, which can be cultivated at an expense not greatly ex¬ 
ceeding the expense of half an acre of potatoes, or upon half 
an acre of ruta baga, which can be raised at a less expense 
than potatoes, or upon the grain produce of an acre of Indian 
corn, or on the other hand, upon the produce of six acres of 
his best land in hay and grain; for six acres will hardly do 
more than to yield nearly six tons of hay and seventy-eight 
bushels of oats. The same economy might be as successful¬ 
ly introduced into the feeding of our neat cattle and sheep. 
“ These facts deserve the particular attention of the farm¬ 
ers who are desirous of improving their pecuniary condition. 
It is obvious how much would be gained by the cultivation 
which is here suggested; how much more stock would be 
raised; how much the dairy produce might be increased; and 
how much the means of enriching the land, and improving 
the cultivation, would be constantly extending and accumu- 
