.aO&Km 
123 
. 5. Causes of seeds not germinating. 
We have known, and heard of considerable loss and 
disappointment from seeds, particularly onion seeds, not 
growing. We have thought and inquired in reference to 
the cause, and the result of our cogitations and inqui¬ 
ries may be thus stated. 
Without a certain degree of moisture, seeds will not 
germinate. On dry sandy soils, and in a dry season, it 
seems highly probably, then, that seeds may be deprived 
of the requisite degree of moisture : perhaps receiving 
just as much as will mould them and destroy their vi¬ 
tality, or being so near the surface as to be injured by 
the sun’s heat and light. 
But the seeds may have germinated, and have com¬ 
menced to send out their roots and stem stalks and yet 
be destroyed. If the soil is not pressed closely to the 
seeds, and very dry weather occurs just at this period 
of the process of germination, the root being too distant 
from the soil, and too feeble to draw any supply of mois¬ 
ture, the liquid food of the plant contained in the fer¬ 
mented seed may be dried up, and the life thus de¬ 
stroyed. 
If you would avoid disappointment and loss from seeds 
failing to grow, the preventive process is indicated by a 
knowledge of the causes most frequently productive of 
this result, which we think are those stated above. If 
you sprout your seeds before putting them into the 
ground you will preserve them from the first cause of 
failure, but if you pulverize your soil thoroughly and 
press it in this state with hoe, spade, or roller, upon the 
seeds thus sprouted, the root stem will soon and surely 
derive sufficient moisture from the soil. 
In a few instances I have found my neighbors blam¬ 
ing the seed as useless, particularly of onions, carrots 
and parsnips, when I have obtained a little of the same 
seed, and found it to sprout quite well. You may easily 
save yourself from such reflections, or from the temp¬ 
tation to blame others, by steeping the suspected seed 
in warm or tepid water from six to twenty-fours hours, 
according to the size and hardness of the seed, and then 
setting it away in a warmish place for a day or two. If 
good it will sprout in this time; if kept warm in a dark¬ 
ish place, and it does not sprout in this time, the seed 
is faulty. 
In connexion with this subject, I may state that several 
circumstances incline me to the belief that corn which 
has been sprouted—no matter in what steep—is safe 
from the ravages of the red or wire-worm. It has been 
fashionable to steep in a strong solution of copperas, 
and to ascribe the safety of the seed in this state, not to 
the change which fermentation has produced in the germ 
or chit which is usually first attacked, but to the change 
in the taste from the copperas. We have known corn 
soaked in simple water—in water alone—to escape from 
the attacks of the worm as well as that soaked in a cop¬ 
peras steep. Until this matter is made more certain, 
however, I would hold it bad husbandry to neglect the 
copperas, as inaddition to the change produced by heat 
and moisture, we have also the disagreeable taste com¬ 
municated by this salt. 
6. Stirring the earth a relief against drought, 
Is the title of a very excellent article published by the 
Hon. John Lowell, in the Massachusetts Agricultural 
Respository, from which you will find an extract in the 
text-book I first putinto your hands—Fessenden’s Com¬ 
plete Farmer. In a very dry season, such as we had in 
1838, he had some early potatoes in a very sandy soil 
which seemed so feeble that they were on the point of 
withering daily. All hopes of a crop were abandoned; 
and therefore he though them the subject of what he 
then supposed a desperate experiment. He ploughed 
them thoroughly, and in three days, without a drop of 
rain, they were observed to have changed color, and to 
have started up afresh as if they had received the bene¬ 
fit of ample showers. A recollection of this experiment 
led us in the dry summer of ’38, to compensate to our 
hoed crops for the want of showers, by keeping the 
earth well stirred and pulverized around them; and we 
are confident that our operations in this way were bene¬ 
ficial. 
This need no longer be considered a desperate experi¬ 
ment, for science enables us to explain in what manner 
the benefit is produced, and might have indicated it as 
a proper course even before it had been tested by trial. 
In a time of drought take a piece of earth and pulverize 
the surface of one half of it, allowing the other half to 
remain in its hardened and baked condition. For se¬ 
veral mornings afterwards observe upon which of these 
pieces the dew seems to remain the longest, or to have 
been imbibed the most. The piece which has been stirred 
will so evidently be seen to be the moistest, that no doubt 
can be entertained of your having gained some moisture 
for the soil in this way. Now it is universally or very 
generally admitted that the dews abound in the food of 
plants, and this being so, by stirring the soil around 
plants you furnish this nutriment to the roots by making 
the soil light and porous which conveys moisture more 
readily than a hard, baked soil. The air also is sup¬ 
posed to contain the food of plants in a gaseous or very 
readily-appropriated state. If this is so, and we have 
no reason to doubt, then it is easy to see that a light and 
porous soil is more permeable to the air and to whatever 
food it contains than a hardened soil can be. This con¬ 
sideration shows that stirring the earth may be benefi¬ 
cial not only in seasons of drought, but also at all times. 
And in confirmation of this, we recollect that it has been 
recorded of Curwen, an English agriculturist, that by 
continually stirring the soil around some field'cabbages, 
he obtained them of the enormous weight of 50 lbs. 
Mr. Lowell suggests another mode by which plants 
i ruin -1--- • •, i .Mj—»« b99C 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
may be benefitled in a dry season, by stirring the sur¬ 
face, and keeping the soil light and porous. It is well 
known that porous bodies are bad conductors of heat. 
If you take apiece of woollen cloth or a little wool, and 
a piece of slate or metal, and place them upon a piece 
of lard or butter exposed to the rays of the sun, you 
will in a few minutes be convinced of the difference 
there is, as conductors of heat, betweenporous and com¬ 
pact bodies. Now it is reasonable to infer from our 
knowledge of this law, that earth in a hard and com¬ 
pact state must convey heat much deeper than soil that 
is loose and porous. And it is stated in confirmation of 
this, that compact earth will become very hot, while a 
light garden loam well stirred, will remain cool, at two 
inches under the surface, at noon of a sunshine day. 
Stirring the earth, therefore, not only allows more mois¬ 
ture and more food to be imbibed from the air and dews 
of night, but it also enables it to resist the heat of the 
sun’s rays. 
7. How to make agricultural pursuits pleasant as well as 
profitable. 
For ages the employment of the husbandman has been 
looked upon as dull, uninteresting work. It has been 
thought to be a dull, plodding occupation of the hands 
and not of the head. And there has been too much 
foundation for such an impression. The agriculturists 
of years not long by-gone, did little with the head to 
dignify or enliven the work of the hands. A change 
for the better seems now near at hand. Perhaps in your 
day, farmers may be generally more intellectual, more 
intelligent, and more able to bring the truths of science 
to benefit them in their manual labors, and to give them 
interest and delight in their occupations. But whatever 
others do, I hope you at least will take such measures 
as will convince yourself, if not others, that agricultural 
employments are as interesting, intellectual, and pleas¬ 
ing pursuits as any with which they may be put in com¬ 
parison. I know of no method by which you can more 
effectually render them so than by employing your mind 
upon your work. Most assuredly the more your mind 
is employed upon your work—in tracing effects to their 
causes, in accounting for failure and disappointment in 
understanding the operations of nature, in devising im¬ 
provements, &c.—the more interest you will take in your 
employments and the pleasure and gratification you will 
derive from them. Moreover this is not only the way 
to make your pursuits pleasant, but it is the way to make 
them profitable also. Your mental operations must be 
wrong-sided and injudicious indeed if they do not lead 
you to the discovery of means whereby you can educe 
more produce out of any certain amount of labor and 
expenditure. The most intelligent farmers, you may 
easily convince yourself, if industry is not wanting, ge¬ 
nerally succeed in making their farms the most profita¬ 
ble. But what I wish especially to inculcate upon you, 
at this time, is, that you will feel more interest, more 
pleasure, more conscious dignity in your pursuits, the 
more you occupy your mind on the subject. 
Agricultural schools would aid in thus elevating agri¬ 
culture. 
8. The Horse—its management. 
Of gross and direct cruelty to your animals, I have 
no fears of your being guilty; but there are other cruel¬ 
ties which may pass under the milder name of neglect, 
against which I would warn you earnestly. For that 
man stands low in my estimation, who is careless of the 
comfort of his cattle, and especially of his companion 
and servant—the horse. I trust you will adopt the rule 
which I have endeavored to follow, as your maxim: I 
will treat my horse as I think I would like to be treated 
were I in his place ! Allow me to drop you a few hints 
which may contribute to your accomplishment of this 
benevolent purpose. 
When you purchase ahorse, endeavor to find out how 
and upon what he has been kept—how he has been fed 
and otherwise managed. This it is important to ascer¬ 
tain, for you cannot make any sudden changes in the 
mode of management with out discomfort to the animal, 
and the risk of injury. If a horse has been grained 
higher than you mean to, you must reduce the quantity 
of grain very gradually, and not, by any means, all at 
once. Again, when you take your horses from grass in 
the autumn, they should not have a totally dry diet all at 
once, but should be gradually accustomed to it by giv¬ 
ing them roots and mashes with their hay. Begin like¬ 
wise with a small quantity of oats, and gradually in¬ 
crease the quantity until you arrive at their wonted or in¬ 
tended allowance. 
Feed your animals, your horses especially, as regu¬ 
larly as you feed yourself. Have certain hours of feed¬ 
ing, and do not deviate from these. Your horse, as well 
as yourself, will not feel so comfortable if feeding is 
postponed long after the usual hour. 
Make no sudden changes, as I have said, in the quan 
tity and quality of your horse’s food, but at the same 
time accommodate the food to the exercise and fatigue 
which the horse has to undergo. Even if there is a ra¬ 
ther sudden change in this respect, your change as to 
the quantity and quality of the food should be gradually 
accomplished. I am convinced, from errors and injudi¬ 
cious management in this respect, many diseases are en¬ 
tailed upon the horse. 
All grain would prove more nutritive, if ground or 
chopped up. Some horses, however, chew up their oats 
much better than others. A good substitute for grind¬ 
ing the grain when that is inconvenient, is to mix with 
the grain a quantity of line’y chopped straw. If the 
straw is coarsely chopped, you may probably find, as I 
have done, that your horse can pick up all the oats and 
yet leave a very considerable portion of the straw. 
Let your horse be driven rather slow at starting, es¬ 
pecially if just newly fed or watered. Increase his speed 
by degrees; and if warm, when within a mile or two of 
his journey’s end, slacken his pace and let him cool down 
somewhat before being stabled. More anon. 
X. C. A. 
Clinton, Lenawee Co. Mich. June 22, 1839. 
Massachusetts Premiums on Farms. 
The Massachusetts State Agricultural society have offered 
premiums upon farm stock, to the amount of about $400, 
to be awarded at the Pittsfield and Worcester cattle show 
next autumn; and they have offered premiums to the 
amount of $600 for the best cultivated farms in the state. 
The queries to be propounded to the competitors, and to 
which they will be required to make answers, serve to in¬ 
dicate the points to be aimed at in good farming, and are 
therefore of general interest to all who seek to improve 
their practice; but independent of this, our subscribers in 
that state have a special claim upon us. We therefore 
copy from the New-England Farmer, so much of the pub¬ 
lication of the trustees as relates to 
THE BEST CULTIVATE!! FARMS. 
The trustees again, with a hope of further awakening the 
attention of the farmers of Massachusetts to a sense of the 
importance of good cultivation, and at the same time of ex¬ 
citing an honorable competition for exhibiting the best culti¬ 
vated farms, have decided to appropriate to this object six 
hundred dollars of the funds entrusted to them the present 
season, as follows: 
For the best cultivated farm of not less than 70 acres 
exclusive of wood land, regard being had to the 
quantity of produce, the manner and expense of 
cultivation and the general appearance of the farm, $200 
For the next best,. 175 
For the next best,. 150 
For the next best,. ..... 75 
To obviate the objections which some claimants for pre¬ 
miums may have to making a written statement of the con¬ 
dition, products and management of their respective farms, 
as heretofore required, the trustees propose to relieve them 
of this trouble by an inspection, either personally or by an 
agent, of the farms which may be offered for premium. 
The person or persons making the inspection, will require 
of the respective owners or occupants of farms, answers to 
the following inquiries: 
Of how much land does your farm consist, exclusive of 
wood land ? 
What is the nature of your soil—does it consist of sand, 
gravel, clay, loam or peat ? 
If of a part or all of the above kinds, what do you con¬ 
sider the best method of improving them ? 
How many acres do you till, and how many cartloads of 
manure (meaning by cartloads 30 bushels at least,) do you 
generally put on an acre ? 
Is your manure applied in its long, or green state, or in 
compost ? 
Do you spread and plough in your manure put upon fields 
to be planted with corn or potatoes, or put it into the hills 1 
What is your method of ploughing and cultivating green 
sward ? 
How many acres of upland do you mow, and what is the 
average quantity of hay upon an acre ? 
How many acres of grass land do you irrigate; at what 
season and how long do you allow the w r ater to flow your 
land, and what is the effect ? 
Do you manure the land irrigated, or any other land you 
mow, how much to an acre, and what kind of manure do 
you put on ? 
How many acres of low land, not suitable for the plough, 
do you mow, and what is the quality and quantity of the 
hay cut the present year ? 
What is your method of reclaiming low, bog or peat lands, 
and what has been your success 1 
How many acres of corn have you planted the present 
season; what was your mode of preparing the ground and 
the seed, the kind and quantity of manure used to an acre, 
the manner of applying it, and the quantity of corn raised 
to an acre ? 
How many acres did you plant with potatoes the present 
year; what was your method of planting, your manner of 
cultivating, and what the average quantity raised on an 
acre, and what kinds did you plant 1 
What number of acres of other vegetables did you plant, 
what kinds, and how many bushels of produce had you to 
the acre, and to what use shall you apply them ? 
How many acres of winter or spring grain did you sow 
the present year; how was the ground prepared; what quan¬ 
tity of seed did you sow on an acre 1 If you have raised 
wheat, of what kind; the nature of the soil, and was it sown 
with or without using lime ? 
How many acres have you laid down to grass the present 
season, at what time in the year did you sow it, how much 
seed to the acre, and was it sowed alone or with a grain 
crop ? 
What are your means and what your manner of collecting 
and making manure? 
How many oxen, cows, young cattle, horses and sheep 
do you keep through the year? What is the size of your 
barn or barns, and have you a cellar under them; is your 
manure covered? 
Are your cows of native, foreign or mixed breed ? 
What is your management of calves intended to be raised ? 
How much butter did you make this year, and how much 
cheese, and what proportion of it new milk ? 
How many swine did you keep, what quantity of pork 
did you make, and of what breed were your swine ? 
What do you feed them upon through the summer months 
and on what do you fatten them? 
How many cartloads of manure do you take from your 
cow' styes in a year, and of what materials is it made ? 
What number of hands is employed on your farm, and 
what do you pay for labor ? 
What is the number of your apple tree.!, and are they of 
natural or grafted fruits ? 
What number of fruit trees have you exclusive of apple 
trees ? 
Have your trees been attacked by canker worms or borers, 
and what is your method of destroying them ? 
