VOLUME III. NO. 35. 5 
ROCHESTER, N. Y-THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1852. 
8 WHOLE NO. 139. 
PROtiliESS AND IMPROVEMENT. 
/* ■ .-^ 
MANURING THE WHEAT CROP. 
The direct application to the at heat crop 
of active manures and stimulants, is a prac¬ 
tice, which as yet does not extensively pre¬ 
vail in Western New York, and the adjacent 
country. Most of our farmers have held 
the opinion that such a course would prove 
an injury to the value of the crop, by stim¬ 
ulating a heavy growth of straw at tho ex¬ 
pense of the perfection of the grain; and 
that the rank luxuriance of tho plant ren¬ 
dered it more liable to rust and blight, and 
also to lodge by storms and wind. This has 
in some instances proved the case, when the 
manure applied was deficient in some ele¬ 
ment necessary to tho perfection of both 
grain and straw, but fertilizers, judiciously 
selected and applied, have always produced 
large and excellent crops in return. 
Wheat, of all grains, is found by analysis 
to contain most nitrogenic substances—fif¬ 
teen per cent, of its organic matter belong¬ 
ing to this class. Hence, tho soil must con¬ 
tain theso elements, or the grain will not be 
produced. The straw may grow luxuriant¬ 
ly, and promise largely, but tho kernel will 
be shrunken and imperfect. Nitrogen is 
abundant in all animal manures and sub¬ 
stances, and also, more or less in the vari¬ 
ous grains and grasses. We suppose that 
woll managed barn-yard manure, with ad¬ 
ditions of salt, ashe3, lime and plaster, fur¬ 
nishes tho bost fertilizer for the wheat crop, 
which can bo applied. It yields materials 
for flie growth of both straw and grain— 
the essential requisites to largo productive¬ 
ness. Animal manures alone, in soils lack¬ 
ing in carbonates and silicates, would bo 
likel to induco rust and lodging,—hence 
tho value of lime, ashes, &c., and these are 
always useful as stimulants unless abundant 
in tho soil. 
The valuo of clover as a green manure 
for tho wheat crop, arises from its possessing 
in abundance nearly all of tho elements 
necessary to tho production of this grain.— 
Phosphoric and sulphuric acids, chlorine or 
salt, magnesia, potash and soda; all the 
necessary elements except silica, are more 
abundant in clover than in wheat. Both 
crops thrive well on rich clay soils, combining- 
sand and lime, and tho proper amount of 
animal and vegetable manures. Heavy 
loams, containing sufficient clay to render 
them retentive, and the proper proportion 
of nutritive animal or vegetable fertilizers, 
are also productive. Sandy loams, too, if 
rightly treated, will bring large crops of 
clover and wheat. Hence, theso seem pe¬ 
culiarly to belong to the same system of 
farming, though it has been found that clo¬ 
ver alone will not keep up tho fertility ne¬ 
cessary for a long course of wheat crops.— 
Animal manures must also bo applied, and 
tho mineral stimulants seem to be required 
to enable the plant to appropriate the food 
which is furnished in both of these forms. 
Many instances might bo given of large 
crops, after tho application of strong animal 
manures, both in this country and England. 
In tho latter place the use of tho most con¬ 
centrated fertilizers has been practiced for 
years with uniform success, and guano, and 
other nitrogenic manures are now much ap¬ 
plied to tho wheat crop in Maryland and 
Virginia, restoring to productiveness their 
worn-out lands, and making large additions 
to the wealth of the country. 
To the production of good crops of wheat 
thero are several well known requisites.— 
Tho soil must be suited to its growth. Wo 
have already spoken of those bost adapted 
to this product. The land must bo well 
drained—be free from superabundant moist¬ 
ure, and light, open and porous. The soil 
must be deeply plowed, and should be sub¬ 
soiled, if possible, as indoed most soils must 
bo, to produco largely. It should be of fino 
tilth; well worked with tho plow and harrow 
or cultivator, that tho roots may penetrate 
deep and wide and draw freely upon tho 
soil for tho elements of vegetable growth. 
It should be rich—well manured,—and all | 
these previous requisites are needed to pro- I 
pare for such manuring—that tho plant 
may find its proper food ready for assimila¬ 
tion, and every constituent it requires, pres¬ 
ent in the soil. 
LETTER FROM MASSACHUSETTS—NO. 3. 
A RECLAIMED SWAMP AND ITS PRODUCT^. 
Friend Moore :— Old Iladlcy is situated 
on the East side of the Connecticut river, 
opposite of Northampton, tho shire town j 
of Hampshire county. Tho town of Had¬ 
ley being in the valley of the Connecticut, 
has an exceedingly fertile and productive 
soil. Maize, broom-corn, oats, potatoes, 
and tobacco, constitute tho chief produc¬ 
tions of the soil. 
Our chief object in visiting this town was 
to see a piece of reclaimed swamp, owned j 
and cultivated by John Siiipman, Esq. He 
came in possession of it, ho told us, in 1825. 
Tho swamp contained fifty acres or moro, 
forty of which is a peat swamp. It was 
formerly covered with a large growth of 
pine and maple. Fifty years ago Mr. Ship- 
man remembers that it was literally covered 
with decaying timber. There wero then 
but few few living trees and scarcely any 
under-brush. There grew annually upon 
it wild rushes, to the height of six or eight 
feet and very thick. The surface of the | 
swamp in tho Spring was two feet under 
water, and not unfrequently so in midsum¬ 
mer. It is located about three-fourths of a 
mile east from Hadley street. The ground 
on the east side rises several feet and con¬ 
tains many springs of water. On all the 
other sides it is nearly level. In 1825, when 
ho bought it, it was covered with brush. 
In August, 1826, it being like the present, 
a very dry season, he commenced ditching 
it. He dug a drain north and south thro’ 
the centre of it, six feet wide at the top ; 
and four at tho bottom, and three and a j 
half feet deep. Then to open an outlet to 
the river, it was necessary to dig 320 rods, ' 
160 of which he dug from six to ten feet in j 
depth, with about three feet of fall, lie ! 
next cut a ditch on tho east side near the 
baso of tho hill, to take off tho springs that 
ran in from the hill. This drain was three 
feet at the top, one and a-half at tho bot¬ 
tom, and three feet deep ; also several cross 
drains from this into tho centro ditch, thus 
giving the water a passage to tho river. 
In tho spring of 1827 it appeared well at 
first. There was no water on tho surface, | 
and but little in the drains. Ho now sup¬ 
posed that he should bo ablo to plow it as | 
soon as the frost should leave the ground. j 
“ But,” to quote his own words, “ I found j 
that I had built my works on tho sand, and 
they had fallen. The deep cut at the hot- j 
tom was quicksand; the water had washed ; 
under tho banks, and when the frost came | 
out it caved in on both sides almost the j 
whole length, 160 rods, filling tho ditch, and j 
stopping tho water which sot back upon the 
land, completely covering forty acres. It j 
now seemed, as I stood and looked at the | 
ruins, that the work must stop forever. I j 
thought tho matter over whether it was j 
best to turn tho lake into a fish-pond, and j 
give up draining, or say as did David Crock- j 
ett, ‘ Never give up, but go ahead.’ I final- I 
ly decided upon the latter and again went 
to work.” 
He opened his drain again, and about the j 
1st of June, 1828, began to plow. This re- i 
quired threo men and four yoke of oxen, the 
plow cutting fourteen inches deep. The J 
old logs buried beneath the Surface two or 
three feet in diameter, sometimes charred ! 
on the outside, hindered tho plow. Three j 
men with this team plowed half an acre per 
day. lie kept this team constantly at work j 
on the swamp during the fair weather for 
four months. The next season he plowed 
thirty acres, and sowed ten with rye and j 
two with wheat. Both grew very rank, but i 
blasted. After experimenting and satisfy¬ 
ing himself that ho could not produce rye 
nor wheat, ho tried buckwheat with good 
success, for oight years in succession. Un- 
dor this culture the peat had become black 
and very fine. It was reddish. He next 
tried broom-corn and potatoes, using five 
loads of compost manure per acre, adding 
a bushel of lime per load. His broom-corn 
yielded 75 bushels per acre on eight acres. 
From ten acres of potatoes he raised 2,500 
bushels, or 250 bushels por aero. The 
broom-corn was 600 pounds per acre. He 
continued theso crops for twelve years with 
good success, with one exception. In 1843 
thero was a heavy shower which caused a 
slide of earth to fill the deep cut. The 
drain was again opened and tho water drawn 
off in less than 24 hours. It spoiled how¬ 
ever, ten acres of potatoes, without doing 
any injury to the corn, and other crops. 
In 1849, he said that ho planted forty 
acres with potatoes and raised 10,000 bush¬ 
els, averaging 250 per acre. In 1850 he set 
two acres with tobacco, which produced 1,- 
700 pounds per acre. In 1851 ho set fiteen 
acres with tobacco. He put six loads of 
compost manure and eight bushels of lime 
per acre. The buckwheat yieldod from 15 
to 20 bushels per acre, averaging 700 bush¬ 
els per annum. 
Ho thus sums up the debit and credit. 
The wood paid for clearing tho land. 
525 rods of drain at 37 U cts. per rod,.. $ 197,873 A 
160 “ “ 40“ “ .. 64,00 
160 deep cut at $2 “ .. 320,00 
Plowing, Ac.,40acres,at$15 peracre,.. 600,00 
3 years interest before getting crops,_ 215,00 
First cost of 50 acres at $5,37 jo per acre, 268,75 
Total,.$1,665 62 % 
The present worth of the land, forty 
acres at $150 per acre,.$6,000 
10 acres at $50 per acre,. 500 
Total,.$6,500 
Net profit,.$4,834,37 
He can now take $200 an aero for twenty 
acres, one half tho reclaimed portion of the 
swamp, but refuses to do so. He told me 
that be owned somo of the best land on 
Hadley meadows, and that ho could raise 
as good tobacco on tho swamp with six 
loads of compost per acre, as ho could on 
tho meadow land with sixteen loads per 
acre. Though the season is so unusually 
dry, his tobacco, broom-corn and potatoes 
look well. 
I have never been on such a piece of land 
as this before. Forty acres in one tract of 
reclaimed swamp, once the home of frogs 
and blackbirds, now one of the most fertile 
and productive spots within the temperate 
zone. There is one fact concerning the po¬ 
tato crop of this reclaimed land that should 
bo mentioned; it is this : the potato disease 
has never prevailed here, though on the up¬ 
land joining the swamp, along by the side 
of it, the disease destroyed the potatoes.— 
How do those who attribute the potato dis¬ 
ease to an insect account for this ? Here is 
a chance for another speculation among 
theorizers. 
Mr. Shipman and his son are extensively 
engaged in broom-making. They manufac¬ 
ture a superior article. They furnish em¬ 
ployment in the shop and on the farm for 
about 25 mtu. 
Mr. Siiipman, judging him by his works, i 
is tho best improvor and and cultivator of j 
the soil in the State. He, notwithstanding j 
lie has lived more than throe score years, | 
leads his help now, not by precept alone, 
but by example, lie was engaged when we ! 
visited him, on his swamp, hoeing tobacco \ 
with five or six men following him, 
Hadley, Mass., Aug. 18, 1852. w. 
Livonia Fair. —The Annual Fair the of 
“ Agricultural, Mechanical and Horticultural 
Society of the Town of Livonia ” will bo held 
at Livonia Centre, Tuesday, Oct. 5th. 
The following are tho officers of the So¬ 
ciety:— Lewis Coe, President; Joe! Stone, 
Vice President: Edward 1). Clark, Secreta¬ 
ry ; Georgo F. Ramsdell, Recording Secreta¬ 
ry ; Irving Parmlee Treasurer. Executive 
Committee, Andrew Sill, Norton Gibbs, S. B. 
Fowler, George Thayer, Walter Wadsworth, | 
C. C. Purdy, Lewis J. Chamberlin, II. H. 
Williams, D. C. Dibble. 
Punctuality in engagements is as ne¬ 
cessary to an agriculturist as it is to a 
merchant. 
A SUBURBAN COTTAGE. 
Mr. Downing, the author of “ Country 
Houses,” and other works on Landscape and 
Horticulture, is no more, but tho precepts 
and the examples he lias left us aro alive, 
and his influence is as verdant and as pow¬ 
erful as ever. We never see a tastily plan¬ 
ned country houso or a suburban cottage, 
surrounded with appropriate lawns, trees 
and shrubbery, but wo involuntarily think of 
the benefits he has conferred on tho coun¬ 
try by the diffusion of a knowledge of tho 
fitting, beautiful and useful, as connected 
with our homes and the scenery around 
them. 
To promote this end we have 
givon from time to timo designs of 
houses suitable for different classes 
of our readers, and this week take 
great pleasure in presenting the ac¬ 
companying elevation and ground 
plans of a bracketed suburban cot¬ 
tage, with veranda. The descrip¬ 
tion will be found in the Letter of 
Mr. Bradley. 
Messrs. Editors :—As you are 
in the way of circulating thro’ the 
Rural New- Yorker, specimens 
of tasto in Rural Architecture, I 
venture to send you a daguerreo¬ 
type view, and plans of a cottage 
recently erected by my neighbor 
and friend, Prof. S. W. Clark, of 
this villago. It is located in the 
garden attached to the East Bloom¬ 
field Academy. 
Size. — The upright part, two 
stories high. 34 by 22. North wing, 
one story, 14 by 16. Lean-to, west 
end, 6 by 25. Bay window, 8 by 5. Front piazza, 5 by 18. 
Accommodation. —First Jloor .—Front hall, 7 by 15. Parlor, 15 feet square. Dining 
room, 13 by 16. Library, 9 by 12. Bed room, 11 feet square. Cook room, 9 by 12.. 
Wash room, 11 by 12. Closet, 3 by 7. Pantry, 5 by 6. Back entry, 4 by 5. W 
C, Water Closet. 
Second Floor. — A, Entry, 10 
feet square. B, Parlor, 15 by 13. 
C, Bed-room, 12 by 9. D, Chil¬ 
dren’s bed-room, 12 by 16. E, 
Bed-room, 10 by 12. F, and G, 
Closets. II, Lumber garret. 
Cellar .—Cement bottom, 22 by 
24 feet. 
Cistern .—Capacity, 190 barrels, 
with filtering apparatus. 
The plan of the House in point 
of convenience and taste will place 
it in rank among our Model Cot¬ 
tages. Cost .—Exclusive of land, 
$1,400,—all the material and work¬ 
manship being of the best quality. 
Yours, Resp’y, 
E. M. Bradley. 
ECONOMY AND SUCCESS IN FARMING. 
Messrs. Editors :—I have noticed with 
interest the gradual improvements which 
are going on in agriculture; 1 think thero 
must soon be a change in Western New 
York in raising wheat. It seems to bo a 
practice with farmers, when one raises a 
grain t’pqt js profitable, that all must go in¬ 
to it, until wo clog the market. The idea 
seems to bo that all land which is wheat 
land, must be kept to wheat. When wheat 
Is below a dollar a bushel,—which seems 
tho prospect now,—other grains would be 
more profitable. 
I think tho surest and best way, is for 
farmers to raise a variety of crops; by so 
doing, wo keep up the price of each, and 
bosides havo a rotation of crops, which is 
far better for our land. I have noticed tho 
last year, that farmers are turning their at¬ 
tention moro to barley; it holds a good 
price, and those who raise it this season 
will most likely do well. I havo no doubt 
that flax, in a few years will be raised to a 
large extent. Tho Chevalier Claussen’s pro¬ 
cess of making llax cotton is one that will 
doubtless do a large amount of good, by 
helping us to compete with the South in 
raising cotton. I believe the patent right 
has been sold in most of the Northern 
States. By cutting it at a period when tho 
seed and flax are the best, and sending the 
latter to the manufacturer in its raw state, 
farmers will realize a far better profit than 
when they had to prepare it themselves, the 
seed also fetching a good price. 
Thero is another point I wish to bring to 
tho minds of farmers,—about selling wheat. 
If they would get it floured, and sell tho 
