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VOLUME III. NO. 34. S- 
Agricultural Department. 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT. 
AGRICULTURE AND ITS NEEDS. 
— Troth can never be confirmed enough. 
Though doubts did ever sleep.— Skakspeare. 
Agriculture and the life and employ¬ 
ment of a farmer has never lacked its eulo¬ 
gists ; indeed, it has been bepraised and 
lauded from classic days until now, beyond 
all other occupations which men follow for 
a subsistence. The members of all other 
activo business callings, seem to look upon 
it as a pursuit rich in varied charms and 
ample rewards, and often picture to them¬ 
selves a farmer’s life, as free from the thou¬ 
sand cares that vex them now, and sigh for 
the time when they may retire from the 
anxieties of law, merchandize, medicine or 
politics, to enjoy the quiet elysium of a farm 
of their own, in some pleasant rural neigh¬ 
borhood. They have a kind of poetized 
idea of the business of carrying on a farm 
—very different from tho experience of the 
practical agriculturist—and little dream of 
going earnestly to work themselves, or of 
depending upon their own labor or its pro¬ 
ducts for support as he must do,—but they 
have made money in other occupations, and 
now propose to themselves a leisurely en¬ 
joyment of agricultural felicity. 
Another class,—men w T ho have had one 
sort of experience in tho matter—look with 
very different opinions upon the pursuit of 
agriculture.. We find the case well put by 
a cotemporary journal: “Look at that man, 
says one; ho has toiled, toiled, toiled thro’ 
long days and weary years, and what has ho 
made ?—something to be sure—but what 
he has got has been gained more by saving 
than by making. He has denied himself 
the fruit of his own labor. He has stinted 
himself and his family, and scarce allowed 
them the bare necessaries of life, and for 
what ? Why to get a few paltry dollars to¬ 
gether, that had ho been engaged in any 
other business, he might have obtained with 
half the toil. Thus says tho opposer of ag¬ 
riculture as an occupation, and he backs his 
assertion not by one case alone, but by 
scores.’,’ There are indeed too many, to 
to whom this will truly apply. All they 
possess they owe to tho closest economy 
and to hard work. Tho farm has been to 
them a scene of much toil and a source of 
little profit. To make “both ends meet” 
has taxed every energy and all the surplus 
attained seemed to bo at the expense of 
some much needed comfort or convenience. 
Others — practical farmers, also—take 
another, and, it seems to us, a far more rea¬ 
sonable, and certainly a more encouraging- 
view of the subject. They believe that ag¬ 
riculture underlies all other avocations of 
men, as their basis and substratum, and 
“like tho primal rock whoso giant ribs and 
bones sustain the waters and their fleets— 
the fertile ground and its array of verdure 
—the lordly tree and modest flower—man 
and his mansions—so agriculture sustains 
all other employments, and provides the 
foundation, too often forgotten on which 
they are erected. It is the fuel that feeds 
them all—it giVes motive power to the great 
locomotive of human achievement.” With 
this high idea of its importance, they do 
not content themselvos to follow the old 
routine, whether successful or unsuccessful 
—they do not toil on satisfied that no im¬ 
provements can be made—no more profita¬ 
ble course pursued—no waste prevented— 
no neglected crop, product, or fertilizer be 
turned to valuable account, but they apply 
all their energies, mental as well as physical, 
to the development of the resources of their 
farms, and tho means at command around 
them. These men do not como to you with 
the tale of all work and no profit on their 
lips. These men not only save but make 
money, and they do it fairly and honestly, 
without stooping to the shifts and paltry 
meannesses that too often disgrace othor 
avocations. 
How, then, stands the true state of the 
case ? Is farming so pleasant as a pursuit, 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.-THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1851 
WHOLE NO. 138. 
honorable as a profession, and profitable in 
result, or the contrary? We believe that, 
like other pursuits, there are certain requi¬ 
sites to success which may not be foregone. 
[Enterprise, intelligence, capital and indus¬ 
try, are necessary to this as to all other pro¬ 
fessions and pursuits. “ Successful agricul¬ 
ture,” says tho N. Y. Times, “ calls for 
something moro than mere application of 
sinew. It is not enough to plant and hoe. 
Intellectual must mingle with physical toil; 
a good head, as well as a strong arm is re¬ 
quired. In the development of the best 
mode of agricultural cultivation, observa¬ 
tion study, and experiment, are as necessa¬ 
ry, as in the progress of natural philosophy. 
It is not only a science, but other sciences 
contribute, and are indispensable to its suc¬ 
cess. Tho study of soils—the best mode 
of enriching them—tho proper alternation 
of crops—the adaptation of ground to wheat 
or corn, oats or hemp, root crops and vines, 
or clover and the grasses—the application 
of chemical principles to the treatment of 
the ground—tho exhausting power of cer¬ 
tain productions—tho best system of irriga¬ 
tion—the true time of sowing, or harvest¬ 
ing, or felling of timber—the introduction 
of labor saving machines, or of new grains, 
plants, or fruits—how provisions may be 
preserved—how cattle fattened, and a hun¬ 
dred other kindred topics connected with 
agriculture, aro subjects it may readily be 
seen, requiring something more than a su¬ 
perficial examination; calling, rather, for 
tho highest efforts of scientific industry.— 
agriculture in its true sense, is an encyclo¬ 
paedia in itself—requiring great knowledge, 
lino powers of observation, high mental cul¬ 
tivation, assiduous thought and study, and 
opening its arms to ingenuity and inven¬ 
tion.” 
The respectability—tho dignity—-of agri¬ 
cultural employments, few now question, in 
theory at least; and they would have still 
less cause to do so, would tho farmer show 
himself always a truo master - workman, 
and no bungler in his profession. Of its 
pleasure and profit there will ever be varied 
opinions, as men may succeed or fail—as 
they may make or loso in their experiments 
in farming. Wo repeat what we have re¬ 
peated before, but 
“ Truth can never be confirmed enough ”— 
that, with tho requisites to success in this, 
or any othor pursuit.—intelligence, capital, 
enterprize and industry — agriculture will 
prove as profitable and far pleasanter as a 
life-long employment than any othor which 
may be chosen. Thus seems to us, the true 
state of the case. 
And what is now needed is the increase 
and diffusion of agricultural information, 
and its thorough practical application. For 
this wo ncod agricultural schools and col¬ 
leges, connected with experimental farms in 
every State in the Union. We need thor¬ 
ough farmers who would exemplify tho best 
modos of culture and management, and 
show by their farms, their stock, their crops 
and their success, the most direct \yay of 
making a living—arid a good one—by tilling 
tho soil. The example of Messrs. Dela- 
FiELD and Johnston, to mention no others 
? 
has by its influence on the farming commu¬ 
nity around them, added many thousand 
dollars to the wealth of Western New York, 
and it is an influence which will never cease 
to act for good while the world shall stand, j 
Though these men may never have gradua¬ 
ted at an agricultural college, yet they are 
men who understand and apply what should 
bo taught there, and to this, with their en¬ 
ergy and business tact, their success may be 
mainly attributed. 
Corn after Buckwheat. —The Middlesex 
Farmer thinks corn will riot succoed after 
buckwheat, as there is some property in 
the latter which seems to poison the soil, 
or at least render it unfit for corn. The 
editor says ho has tried it, and noticed the 
results in other people's trials, and there 
has been invariably a light and uneven crop 
of corn. 
Plow deep, and manuro well. 
LETTER FROM MASSACHUSEITS.-NO. 2. 
Friend Moore :—I am stopping a few 
FARMERS’ GARDENS,-BOYS’ WORK, &c. 
Eds. Rural :—Although hints upon gar¬ 
dening would seem more fittingly bestowed 
.lajs with tho farmers of this, probably the thj( t few would bo satisflod with the 
rockiest town in tho universe. I never have ti of sllch a petitloil ._ w . 
visited any other place that can furnish, ac- Hardwick, Worcester Co., Mass, A» S . 1852. 
cording to its area, as much stone-wall, or -*-■ — ... ——— - 
anything liko it. It is nevertheless one of FARMERS’ GARDENS,—BOYS’ WORK, &c. 
the best dairy towns in Worcester County, „ „ „ A1 ,i i 
...... J J Eos. Rural:—A lthough hmts upon gar- 
wlnch is famous m Boston for making and , . ,, a... , , , , 
, . , denuig would seem more fittingly bestowed 
furnishing good butter and cheese—m oth- . ? . , . " , . . 
...... . . ,, in early spring, when garden-making is the 
er words it is the dairy county of the “ Bay ,, , L. , „ , . 
„ j j j “order of the day, yet,as m other miport- 
‘ ' . , , , ant subjects, frequent agitation better com¬ 
ine drouth hero has been very severe.— , , . . , , ., ,. , 
J mands the interest and attention ot the 
I he pastures m some instances are almost ... rr , u • <•. ,, ,, . 
. * . , „ , . , , public. There is, after all, something in 
entirely dead—feed is very short. The hay f , 
y J tins season of tho year, peculiarly calcula- 
crop is scarcely two-thirds ot its usual . , - , . .. 
1 J ted for making men ot agricultural pursuits 
amount. Com here, what I have seen. ... , , ,, , , f. , , , 
, , „ . ’ ’ sensitive and heedful to hmts of a practical 
looks well—some pieces unusually so— . XT • r. j.u r c • 
, , , , 1 _ J nature. Now it is, when tho fruits ot their 
though rather late. It will require a warm , , , ., . ,, , ,, , , 
0 ° , T v 1 , labors become manifest, that tho careful 
September to perfect Indian corn here.— , , . 
1 1 frnvrwinar c paq whfmun ha hie tmi hirna nm 
no person of much observation will deny.— able appearance. So John goes back to the 
That it is always so, none will affirm.— large middle walk, making up his mind for 
Agur’s prayer would seem to remind one of a thorough eradication of all the weeds.— 
this; yet few would be satisfied with the But his nice eye is suddenly shocked and 
his ardor completely damped, by finding tho 
walk filled with rank hardy weeds, trodden 
down compactly, but still alivo and grow¬ 
ing, and hero and thero covered with heaps 
of dirt with weeds sprouting out in all di¬ 
rections, and beds awry,—some boldly co¬ 
in early spring, when garden-making is the croaching upon its limits, and others sadly 
“ order of the day,” yet, as in other import¬ 
ant subjects, frequent agitation better corn- 
falling short. Is it strange if “ Johnny 
wants some bread and butter” and goes in- 
mands the interest and attention of the to tho house ? 
public. Thero is, after all, something in —One principle at. a time, others may bo 
this season of tho year, peculiarly calcula- hinted at in future. Q. r. s. 
ted for making men of agricultural pursuits 
sensitive and heedful to hints of a practical 
nature. Now it is, when tho fruits of their 
labors become manifest, that tho careful 
Palmyra, N. Y., Aug., 1852. 
THE BASKET WILLOW- - INQUIRY. 
Messrs. Editors :—Having seen an arti- 
* , , . v 1 , , ' , gardener sees wherein lie his failures and cle in your paper on the subject of the cul- 
Potatoes, early planted, on dry land, will f . x . „ f. , . . ... T i 
. ... i . mi . where his theories partake too tittle of an tivation of the basket willow, I have con- 
hardly be worth digging. I ho oat crop is , , , . . . .„. i . 
. .. . , „ 1 earthy nature, and he is very willing to eluded to try the experiment, if it is practi- 
much lighter than common. Oats are worth 
almost half a dollar per bushel. I have 
rarely if ever seenjffie apple trees of Mas¬ 
sachusetts, so borne down with the matur¬ 
ing fruit, as now. As for peaches they will 
“compare notes” with his experienced cable. I have about twenty acres of marsh, 
brethren; and the less systematic farmer which I have mown this summer; it can bo 
looks out upon his worthless garden, and ditched so as to render it nearly dry. Is 
his regrets and new resolves can easily 
bo turned, by a littlo salutary advice, into a 
bo, in my opinion, found after careful ob- - , , ,, 
. , ...... „ fixed determination to do better another 
servat'ion, about as rare as “old bachelors. 
Berries aro very abundant—blackberries, 
and raspberries, currants and goosberries, 
blueberries and whortleberries, abound in 
the gardens and the hedges, in tho fields, 
that tho kind of soil required, and if it is, 
how can I get the start ? IIow long will it 
be before I can receive some benefit from 
tho cultivation, and what will be the prob- 
There are a great many gardens, which, able profits per acre ? Sucli information 
though not entirely useless, are of little will bo thankfully received by a subscriber. 
profit to their owners. They have within 
their bounds, a few very flourishing vines 
Grass Lake, Mich., August, 1852. J. C. 
Remarks. —We have no personal experi- 
and the meadows, by tho wayside and in toe 0 f squashes, cucumbers, and tomatoes, and ence or observation to guide us in replying 
woods. stout rows of beans and potatoes, while the to this inquiry. If any of our subscribers 
Lootj. help, as ever, commands good wa- greater half of the ground lios undisturbed can do so, we shall bo glad to give tho in- 
ges. Such as are called good hands receiv¬ 
ed thirty-five dollars a month for July.— 
Such as work by the six or eight months re¬ 
ceive at the rate of from twelve to fifteen 
dollars a month. Good Yankee help for 
farm work is rather scarce, both “ in doors 
and out,” even in New England. 
The farmers have generally done haying 
and are now gathering their oats and bar- means the only requisites. It is doubtless 
ley. Barley is raised not for beer-making, the too common mistake among American 
under a rank growth of grass and weeds, or formation to J. C. and the public.—[E d. 
perhaps tho first growth having been do- -—---- 
molished by the hoe, a second springs up LIME AND ITS APPLICATION. 
•• mightier than the first, and The American Farmer, the best of au- 
-,<, 1 . “ Monarch of all it surveys, thority on lime, guano and composts, gives 
Whose right there is none to dispute. J 5 ® # 1 5 & 
r , , , ,, .... . the following valuable advice on lime, and 
Good soil and proper fertilizers are indis- ° . ’ 
,, ,. , , , the manner and time of its application: 
pensable of coupe, - but these are by no 1 r 
means the onlv requisites. It is doubtless A correspondent asks sundry questions 
„ , . . as to the best time of applying lime to poor 
tho too common mistake among American , , , * 1 
. land, when it is not practicable to turn un- 
farmers, that they place comparatively too quq or more green crops. 
much importance in strength of soil, while It is not a matter of very great impor- 
but for feeding swine. It was remarked to farmers, that they place comparatively too q er one or more green crops. 
me by a good farmer, that an aero will pro- muc h importance in strength of soil, while It is not a matter of very great impor- 
duco about as many bushels of barley, as the English husbandman regards that or- tance how lime may be applied to land 
of oats and tho former is much heavier ncr dor and regularity so characteristic of his ma ! 11< ? et /t, the great object is to 
w Udis, dim mu lurmtr is muen nuviei pci b j get it on tho land and distribute it evenly 
bushel, and a much moro profitable crop for nation, a qualification uui as necessary.— nvnr t ; 1( , surface and then to harrow it in. 
bushel, and a much more profitable crop for 
fattening hogs. 
get it on the land and distribute it evenly 
over the surface and then to harrow it in, 
Regularity of time and method ot planting so as ultimately mix it with the surface 
The farmers in tho interior parts of the anc ^ sowing is not here referred to, but reg- soil. This presupposes tho previous prepa- 
State have improved their condition very ularity and order as the foundation of good ration of tho land by plowing and harrow- 
mud, within the last twenty-five yuars. i gardoning-tbe planning and arrangement '“*; lack ilh sail brine!and whSkS 
remember the time well, within this period, ot grounds more particularly. A garden 
when it was as rare to see a painted house should have, then, for a starting point in its 
to powder, apply twenty-five bushels to the 
when it was as rare to see a painted house should have, then, for a starting point in its acre, taking care to distribute it evenly 
in a rural district, as it is now to see an un- history, a good regularly built fence, and its over the land, so that every part may re¬ 
painted one. Then it was an unusual thing principal walk of gravel bottom or some coiye an equal portion. _ 
to find a carpet upon a farmers’parlor floor • other hard, sterile substitute, while tho beds A s t0 1 ho pi ope t tune , any timo is the 
wiiuuAwipu upun a laimtus parioruooi, ’ ’ , .. proper one; thero is, perhaps, nono bettor 
now it is no unusual thing upon his kitchen should be. every year arranged with the ttian w hen the land may have been prepar- 
floor; then a good one-horse wagon was far strictest nicety, to suit the gardener’s taste, ed for the corn crop. After being spread, 
from being common; now carriages after 
the various improved styles are very com¬ 
mon ; then large numbers walked to church; 
and few rode; now very few walk, though 
^ j j ' -o " than when tne land may nave Deen prepar- 
strictest nicety, to suit the gardener’s taste. e q f or the corn crop. After being spread, 
It is tho work of a bold reformer to mako it should be harrowed in, so that it may be 
order out of confusion, while order once disseminated thoroughly throughout the 
fully established can easily be maintained. and b / it . s f P r f en f. e and ccmtact ha ™ 
J J tho opportunity ot acting upon the inert 
It is of great advantage to tho farmer if matters of tho soil. If the lime which he 
the number is not large that rides. The ho can enlist the interest and pride of his may purchase has been previously slacked, 
pooplo are not generally as fond of going boys and girls in cultivating a garden. He then he should, in addition to tho limo, sow 
“ to meeting ” now as they were a few years can point out to them tho beautiful order broadcast two bus els of salt per acie over 
, ^ . J .. , , 1 „ , , , , the land, and it to that he could add five 
ago, when subject to a fine it they did not and arrangement oi tho bods and walks, bushels of ashes per acre, he would bo able 
go a certain number of times during the and thereby he will awaken tho delightful to placo his laud in the best possiblo condi- 
year. Then a newspaper was a rare luxury pleasuro of gratifying the eye and tasto for tion to be benefited by whatever putres- 
among farmers; now it is no unusual thing beauty and symmetry natural to children, cent manure he may have to apply, whether 
to find two or three taken, read, and .mid and which have been so often displayed in compost fSmedTf twoffiadTof “haTto^ev- 
for. It is, however, my honest conviction, their childish sports. evy ono of w00 d’s mould, marsh, river or 
that the rural population as such, is not, gen- An example, which experience and obser- creek mud, or any kindred substances. 
that the rural population as such, is not, gen- An example, which experience and obser- 
erally speaking, so much of a reading popu- vation proYO is of but too common occur- 
lation as it should be. rence. well illustrates the point in ques- 
compost formed of two loads of that to ev¬ 
ery ono of wood’s mould, marsh, river or 
creek mud, or any kindred substances. 
Lime in some form, must be the basis of 
every system of improvement; but it is fu¬ 
tile to attempt to build up tlie constitution 
of any worn out land, without the aid of 
lation as it should be. reuce, well illustrates the point in ques- every system oi improvement; oucitism- 
T . , . . tile to attempt to build up the constitution 
In no direction has the improvement been tion : - of any worn out land, without the aid of 
more apparent, perhaps, than in the change “John,” says a farmer to his son, “ como nn tritive manures. What we mean by nu- 
that has taken placo in tho implements used John, we must have a fine garden. I want tritive manures are such as by putrefaction 
upon tho farm. All these improvements you to weed out that nice bed of beans and and decomposition will afford as one of it3 
scarcely 
the farmer produces now that cannot be ex- John says nothing, ho has a plan in his head; the four last substances be used, they must 
changod for cash; then it was not so. The his ambition is raised ; and he takes his hoe be excited into fermentation and decay by 
condition of the outward man has greatly and commences to work vigorously upon animal or alkaline substances, as with barn 
improved during the last twenty-five years, the bed ot beans. Row after row he clears g reaves or as h es , the whole to be formed 
I fear as much cannot bo said of the inward from weeds, often looking around, with his j tl to compost, and suffered to lie in bulk for 
man, judging, as pf tho outward, by the squinting, artistic eye, to view his labors.— some weeks, until the incipient stage of de- 
fruits. This is deeply to be regrotted, Ho is highly ploased with his success and composition shall have been brought about, 
though a very common fact in man’s histo- cuts up tho weeds in the littlo paths and "the packed a^ouldVdd^ 
ry. Why should it bo so ? Why is it that about tho fenco, but the projecting boards bushels t0 every twenty loads of tho rough 
great worldly prosperity, belittles moral and and receding cornors, thickly intertwined materials, tho valuo of the compost would 
‘ spiritual growth ? That it is generally so, with briars and grass, present a too formid- be greatly increased .—American Farmer. 
