DEG. U 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
378 
<£conomir. 
FARMER GARRULOUS TALKS. 
Mixed Husbandry. 
I read a speech made to the young farm¬ 
ers of Maine, the other day, by Col. Wm. 
Swett, in which he said he did not believe 
a farmer oould make money on mixed crops, 
but thought that to succeed to the fullest 
extent lie should pursue some specialty— 
depending, somewhat, on his location and 
circumstances. Now, Mr. Editor, I am not 
opposed to specialties in farming. I be¬ 
lieve every farmer should strive to excel in 
tho production of some one crop or class 
of animals, at least. But I do not believe 
that it will pay tho ordinary farmer to 
select any one of the staple crops us a spe¬ 
cialty and grow it alone, year after year— 
say wheat, or corn, or potatoes, or any 
other one crop. 
The most independent and successful 
farmers I know of are those who grow a 
diversity of crops, and always have some¬ 
thin!? they can put on the market at prices 
that will pay. They are thus sure of an in¬ 
come of some sort. One who makes a spe¬ 
cialty of hop-growing altogether, may make 
double as much per acre with this crop, 
this year, as his neighbor averages; but it 
may not bo so next. Tie may lose hi* whole 
crop by some disaster, and then, sir, where 
is his dependance ? You say the surplus of 
the present year's crop I Aye. if he. him 
saved ill But there’s the rub I Don’t 
every farmer, nearly, double his expenses 
when his income doubles? Or does he not 
say, “If forty acres produce me so much 
income, eighty will produce me double, and 
I’ll double it.” Bo more land Is bought, 
or prepared, If owned. The expense of 
preparation and cultivation next year is 
doubled. Then comes disaster, and hisone 
success with a specialty has ruined him. 
Haven’t you seen hundreds of such cases? 
Haven’t, I? Yes, sir! 
I tell you, sir, it is pleasant to make a 
heap of money in a lump; but then it goes 
quick and it is far pleasanter to feel secure. 
If tho dairy business does not pay, then the 
small ilock of sheep will help till out the 
deficit: if tho potato crop is short, a 
few bushels of beaus are a substitute; if 
hay is scarce and high, a collar full of roots 
and a barn-loft full of cornstalks keep the 
Btook; if wheat fails, barley, rye, buck¬ 
wheat and corn will furnish the bread; and 
so 1 might go on. But do not suppose 1 
am In favor of these do-nothing, mixed 
farmers, who know nothing and caro less 
about the economical management of a 
farm and the rotation and succession of 
crops in such a manner as to make each a 
success and minister to the success of the 
other. The more grain and grass and root* 
and fruit grown on a farm the more stock 
can bo kept; and the nearer the stock eat* 
up tho grass and grain and roots, the more 
of theso crops can be grown—not that 1 would 
not sell grass, or straw, or anything else 
ofT a farm if 1 thought 1 could make more 
money by doing so than by feeding It. But 
1 should be sure that I could, ami take into 
account not only present cash receipts but 
tho possible future demands upon them to 
supply what I bad sold. 
No, sir! Again I say that is a vicious 
doctrine to teach the young farmors of 
Maine, or any other State. Illinoisans and 
Iowana will only believe it when corn is 
§1.50 and wheat $2.50 per bushel. Other 
years they’ll not believe it — this year 
especially, in the matter of corn. Why, 
sir, tho corn growers of the West are divid¬ 
ed into two equal factions. Each faction is 
waiting, watching and hoping to see the 
other burn up its corn for fuel so that the 
half tho corn left will quadruple iu value! 
That is one of the advantages of having a 
specialty in farming — or disadvantages, 
rather. If a farmer determines to have 
one, let him choose one that no one else 
has chosen, If he can. 
Farmer Garrulous. 
-»»» — ———• 
AMMONIA IN SOILS. 
Is it any ad vantage, permanently, to soils, 
that the roots of plants penetrate deeply 
into them? If not, why plow deep? Why 
not let the roots remain near tho surface, 
where they can feel the influence of the [ 
sunlight, and absorb and use the manure 1 
incorporated with the soils?— I*. V. s. 
Ammonia is 6ne of the most valuable fer¬ 
tilizing substances, because it furnishes 
plants a large proportion of their nitrogen; 
and our correspondent may or may not be 
aware that nitrogen is a very essential ele¬ 
ment in the production of plauts and the 
perfection of the seed. It forms from % 
to 4 per cent, of tho composition of plants 
in a dry state; 1,000 lbs. of dry red clover 
hay contains about 21 lbs. nitrogen ; of po¬ 
tatoes, 15 lbs.; of wheat, 20 lbs.; of wheat 
straw, 3>h lbs.; of outs, 22 lbs.; of oat straw, 
4 lbs., etc., etc. 
Now, ammonia consists of fourteen parts 
nitrogen and three parts hydrogen, by 
weight; it is largely produoed by the decay 
of vegetable substances in the soil, for 
when they penetrate and fill tho subsoil 
with vegetable matter, and It decays In a 
confined atmosphere, the hydrogen they 
contain combines with the nitrogen of the 
air which may reach them, and thus form, 
ammonia, which is absorbed by the humic 
and ulmio acids in the soil, thus rendered 
soluble, and enters into the roots of living 
plants. 
This manner of securing nitrogen to 
plants is a very important one; for at ev¬ 
ery point in the growing shoot and root, all 
agricultural chemists agree nitrogen must 
be present—that is, at every stage of the 
plant s growth and development, from the 
point of germination to tho perfection of 
the seed, it must be supplied in some form 
or other. And the more fully the supply 
corresponds to the requirements of tho 
crop, the more nearly perfect and compen¬ 
satory is the crop. 
In stiff clay soils, in which there is little 
humus, the roots of plants help to supply 
ammonia to the soli; where there is an 
abundance of nitrogen near the surface, 
roots do not penetrate tho soil; audit is 
because clover roots thus go deep In stiff 
soils that it is an excellent fertilizing crop. 
Plowing deep, even in stiff soils, does not 
always lusuro tho deep penetration of It by 
the roots; for roots seem to require resist¬ 
ance in their downward course, and one of¬ 
ten finds a clover or oak root going deepest 
in the Btiffest soil and one that has never 
been stirred. Tho objeot of deep plowing 
Is not so much to iuduce tho roots to go 
deep, as to aerate tho soil, allow the water 
to percolate through and give up its gases 
to it, and to prevent evaporation at the sur¬ 
face which so cools tho soil as to retard the 
germination and growth of plants. 
cjtchl Ofnrp. 
SOUTH CAROLINA FARMING. 
As illustrative of what can be done in the 
pine barren hills of this section, I send you 
a statement of the produots of a farm six 
miles from our town, in a district usually 
classed as poor lands, as given to me by tho 
farmer last week: 
20 acres rented to negroes produced 10 
bales cotton. 450 lbs. each, which sold 
at life, per lb. $810 
45 acre* produced .'10 bugs (450 lbs. each) 
sold at 18 eta. per lb. 2 430 
75 acres In corn mid peas, 750 bu. corn Vs) 
3 tons peas and pea haw . 220 
2 tons t odder (com leaves).... ... 40 
30 aercs In wheat, 300 bushels, sold at $3.1400 
45 acres in small grain pastured to cattle. 
Gallic sheep and truck sold. 300 
Value of cotton seed for manure. 150 
Besides having in his barn a supply of 
corn, pens, fodder, potatoes, &c., for the 
ensuing year, and a large quantity of cotton 
seed for manure. 
Of the 210 ucrea cultivated, twenty acres 
were rented to soma negroes for one quar¬ 
ter of the product, and the balance worked 
by himself am] five negroes, the compensa¬ 
tion of the negroes to be one-third of the 
portion produced on the land Worked by 
them, the farmer to find the stock and the 
negroes to feed themselves. The soil is 
about an average of our pine barren lands 
and the climate as healthy as any part of 
the United States, 
It will bo noted that on the rented land 
tho product waa a half bale to the acre; 
whilst on tho luqds worked by himself and 
hands it was two-thirds of a bale. Other 
farmers of this vicinity have made as much 
as a bale to the acre, and in one instance 27 
bales were made on t wenty-two acres. At 
present prices a bale of cotton (450 lbs.) is 
worth $80. What product of the West 
brings $80 to the aero? 
Near tho farm referred to are thousands 
of acres of heavily timbered land of n like 
quality which cun be purchased at from $2 
to §3.50 per aero; $2,700 In cash (besido the 
reserve of com fodder, cotton seed, etc.,) 
was realized from 210 acres, or over $12 per 
acre. What would be tho value of lands in 
your State returning* this sum to the farm¬ 
er? While cotton pay* so well Is it surpris¬ 
ing that this culture engrosses the attention 
of our entire people? At 10 cts. a pound a 
crop of 0,500,000 bales would put over 
$250,000,000 in circulation in the South. 
I have ofteu heard Northerners express 
their surprise that lauds apparently so 
barren should produce such results; and 
some who attempted to farm after a short 
trial have returned homo utterly discour¬ 
aged. They do nut understand how to 
adapt themselves to existing circumstances. 
Many expect to find the alluvial soils and 
hot climate of the lowlands in our middle 
and highland regions; ami as a general rule 
Northerners complain bitterly of the cold 
weather of this vicinity in Winter. 
The usual crowd of invalids and visitors 
to Aiken are now beginning to arrive, mak¬ 
ing the place look much more lively than it 
did a few weeks since. Among the number 
.ire many familiar faces of those who ootno 
annually. Each yoar tho reputation of 
Aiken a* a health resort is increasing, and 
it is confidently anticipated that the num¬ 
ber of visitors this season will bo larger 
than ever. Should any of your readers 
think of coming South during the Winter, 
tell them not to neglect bringing their furs 
and wrappers, for occasionally they will 
need them. E> j c 
Aiken, S. C. 
Total, 210 acres. 
.$5,000 
CONTH V. 
Laborers’ portion on the 20 acres rent¬ 
ed... *305 
Laborers’ portion on lalaneo "% of 
cotton, corn ami peas. 1 too 
Cash paid for 3 tons guano. .!!. ’210 
Cost of feeding horses, $402.50, and 
other cash expenses $112.50 . 585 
$2,500 
Farmer's profit.. $2 500 
Cash received for ginning 125 bales of cot- ’’ 
ton for neighbors, $4 per bale.. 500 
Total.$3,000 
Iu 18G7 this young man, owning a tract of 
laud having only forty-live acres of open 
land, purchased an adjoining tract having 
the same amount of open laud for $3 pet- 
acre. After paying for the land, he had 
but $500 cash to build house*, procure stock 
and implements, and support his family 
until a crop could be made. His capital at 
the commencement of this year may bo 
summed Up a* follows; 
700 acres laud at $3 (210 cleared).$2,100 
Cost of houses gin. etc.. 2 000 
Vaiue of stock, viz. 3 mules, 1 horse, 13 ’ 
sheep. 12 hogs, and 25 head of cattle. -.. 1,000 
Value of fanning implements. 400 
Value of corn, fodder, etc., and cash as 
commercial capital.. 1,000 
Total. $^500 
His receipts for his portion of the arti¬ 
cles sold, etc., were as follows: 
Cotton. $1,823 50 
Wheat. 400 00 
Stock. 300 0o 
Ginning cotton. 500 00 
Less paid for guano. 210 
Los* paid for sundry expenses . 112 50 
$3,022 50 
$322 50 
Total.$2,700 00 
DIGGING POTATOES, 
I would say a word to tho readers of the 
Hu hat. (although it is out of’season) in re¬ 
gard to digging potatoes. It is not neces¬ 
sary to have a regular potato “ digger,” al¬ 
though there are some that, look a* though 
they might do tho work well. Just take a 
common plow and run it right through tho 
center of t he row as near a* possible, and 
you will fiud three-quarters, or more of 
the potatoes will be loft in *ight, you need 
two boys to pick up and two men to go be- 
hind them with potato hooka and junt haul 
the loose dirt over 1.0 get at what are left, 
which will not be many, if the plow is prop¬ 
erly held. This is done where they are 
planted in drills; it leaves tho potatoes iu 
a great deal better condition than where 
they are digged out of the hard ground 
with the hooks; for iu this way scarcely 
any of them get picked with the hook. 
In regard to digging roots, such as turnips, 
beets, etc., I do not believe any thing better 
than the hands will be found, for this 
reason, that almost always such roots have 
to be knocked together to got tho dirt off 
of them. I Hhould think a machine might 
be made to dig Hat turnips with; but it 
would have to work well to do the work as 
fast as t wo men would. Two of us pulled 
fifty bushels this season in less than half an 
hour, which, 1 think, is getting them out 
about fast euough. A. S. Nash. 
-—- 
FIELD N0TE8 AND QUERIES. 
"Pennsylvania Premiums on Corn 
Crops.—The Germautown Telegraph says: 
“The Chester County Agricultural Society 
having offered premiums for the best one 
aorp and live acres of Indian corn, have 
awarded them os follows: ,J. NY. Cox, 80.10 
bus. on one acre; William A. Cloud, U8J53 
bu*. on one acre; Baldwin Gray, 5)3.51 bus. 
on one acre; same, five acres, 91.3 bus. 
per acre; Charles M. Griffith, five acres, 111 
bushels per acre; E. B. Darling, five acres, 
5)2.4 bushels per acre. Eor seventy pounds 
on the cob lifty-six lbs. of shelled corn or 
one bushel were allowed. Ail the crops 
were estimated after hushing a, few shocks. 
YV'e put little faith in the*e estimates, how¬ 
ever honestly they may be made. We want 
actual yields. 
<$he ^ittiite-gfijd. 
POLAND-CHINA H0G8. 
The following is the report of the Com¬ 
mittee on Poltind-China bogs adopted at the 
recent National Swine Breeders’ Conven¬ 
tion, the name Poland-China being retain¬ 
ed : 
The history of the breed of swine known 
as the Poland-China is as follows; 
In the early history of swine breeding in 
the Miami Valley, Ohio, it is clear, from 
the best written authorities available, 
and from oral testimony, that there were 
two breeds, which to a great extent had 
been profitably crossed with the common 
bristled breed of the country. These were 
the Russia and Byfield breeds. The Bed¬ 
ford brood i* also named iu connection with 
the other two. To what extent it was used 
cannot now bo readily determined. 
In 1810, we have positive proof from an 
unquestioned sotiree, that the Shakers of 
Union Village, situated iu Warren Co.. Oh o, 
and being four miles from Monroe, in But¬ 
ler Co., purchased at Philadelphia one hoar 
and three sows of what was at the time 
believed to be pure China. They were rep¬ 
resented to be either imported or the im¬ 
mediate descendants of Imported stock. 
They were called “ Big China hogs.” These 
animals were tho first China hogs evex- 
brought, into Southwestern Ohio. Subse¬ 
quently other Cliiua hogs were introduced 
and extensively used. 
The Shaker* and other judicious breeders 
in Warren and Butler counties, continued 
to use tho breeds at command, and pro¬ 
duced by repeated crosses a hog of exceed¬ 
ing fine qualities, for that period, which 
was generally known as the “ Warren Coun¬ 
ty Hog.” These hogs continually increasing 
in good qualities, were bred in both coun¬ 
ties, and the very best specimens were 
carefully and interchangeably used, so as to 
make tho best crosses. 
Such was the progress that had been 
made in forming the ground work of a 
good specimen of a hog. This condition of 
tho breed continued until about the year 
1835 or 1830, when Mr Munson or Beach 
of Warren county, first introduced tho 
Berkshire, which were obtained from C. N. 
Bkmknt of the State of New Y 01 k; other 
lots of Berkshire* continued to flow into 
tho Miami Valley until about 1811, 
Tho Berkshire blood was liberally in¬ 
fused into the stock existing in, not only 
Southwestern Ohio, but in Kentucky al o. 
Crossing with the Berkshire* was almost 
exclusively done until about 1838 or 1389, 
when Mr. Wm. Nkff of Cincinati, import¬ 
ed some choice specimens of the Irish 
Grazier. This breed soon grow into hieh 
favor, and as a consequence, was liberally 
used in making crosses with the best speci¬ 
mens of the crosses previously made. Tills 
intermingling of blood, this crossing of 
breeds, continued for some time. In afew 
years, however, the use .»f the purer blood¬ 
ed Berkshire was entirely discontinued, 
and there were no further importations 
made of the [rish Grazier. The breeders of 
swine in the Miami Valley settled down to 
the conviction that the basis of a good breed 
of hog* had been established, and that in 
the future Judicious and discriminating 
breeders could use, and If necessary modify, 
the material furnished, so us to meet tho 
highest demands of the public. For more 
than thirty year* no new blood has been 
introduced into our breed and no effort 
made to obtain a new supply of the blood 
of either breed previously used. 
While this is true, our breeders have not 
been indifferent to tho further Improve¬ 
ment of our breed. Stimulated by their 
success, they have persovorlugly aimed to 
improve what they have been *0 successful 
in forming. Tho best points or qualities 
have been preserved, and whore practica¬ 
ble, have been made even more excellent. 
All defective points or undesirable quali¬ 
ties have been corrected or improved by 
tho care, skill and judjgment of our experi¬ 
enced breeders. 
Thus, we have a breed thorougblv estah- 
l.shed. of fixed characteristic*, Iff fine styfe 
and unquestioned good qualities, which can 
be relied upon for tho production of a « 
env of like qualities and character. 1 
The following are presented as the ohar 
actensitics of the foregoing breed: 
The best specimens have eood tpncnh 
short legs, broad, straight backs, deep ”d5’ 
flanking well down the log, v“rv broad 
full square hams and shoulders! drooni.i 
ears, short head-, wide between tbo eyes 
of spotted or dark color; aro hardy vi^r! 
mi* and prolific, and when fat are naft 
m-,dd s all »v„, « 
b^edT lar 4 »"d .SMS 
creeds, J. M. Millike.v, Chairman. 
