244 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
August. 
Editorial Correspondence—X. 
* m 
From Wilmington, Delaware, across the Christiana 
river, over the low flats from which the water is diked 
out, and upon a fine turnpike road, one can see from 
his wagon some of the very finest farming land of this 
country, and probably a larger extent of hedging 
than it can anywhere else boast in an equal terri¬ 
tory. There is a strip of soil here, covering a conside¬ 
rable tract—perhaps from 20 to 30 miles in length, and 
from 5 to 10 in width—which includes a less proportion 
that is waste and poor, than perhaps any other area we 
have of the same size—there being few trees to shade 
it, (whence the scarcity of timber and abundance of 
hedges,) few stones to obstruct the plowshare, very lit¬ 
tle that is so wet as to be unavailable, and, with here 
and there a rare exception, scarce a rood that is not 
naturally and with fair treatment very productive. 
When the .early settlers first visited the country, they 
are said to have reported the existence of a bay large 
enough to ride the navies of the world ; but a further 
examination revealed the fact that the water was most¬ 
ly very shallow, rising from its channels over a wide 
extent of country, and experience, (I do not know at 
how early a day,) taught that by getting rid of this 
water and banking it out, some of the richest of allu¬ 
vial deposits might be placed at the disposal of the 
farmer. And the higher ground back from the marsh, 
although not so productive I believe, of grass, and not¬ 
withstanding twenty or thirty years ago it had been 
very much worn down if not nearly exhausted—is now 
like a garden. The labors of several eminent agricul¬ 
turists, have been devoted to restoring the lost fertili¬ 
ty, and extending the knowledge how to do it, more 
and more widely—among them the lamented Chauncy 
P. Holcomb and the late Senator Clayton. Here, too 
have flourished the much-talked of Reybolb peach 
orchards. And here there is now carried on some of the 
best farming the traveller may find after many a long 
journey—the results of such glances at which as I could 
get during two days of constant rain, are now at the 
service of the reader. 
44 Bloomfield Farm” 
Has been occupied for the past eighteen years by Mr. 
Bryan Jackson, Who came upon it after nearly twen¬ 
ty years experience upon another place near by. When 
he began in 1820 or 1821, land within a few miles of 
the city was in market for $25 to $30 per acre ; it was 
so low in point of productiveness, that three or four 
bushels of wheat, forty of corn, and thirty of oats, 
were all it would yield, and as the first was bringing 
75 cents, corn 28 cents and oats 18 cents a bushel at 
that time, farming with such crops and prices, could 
scarcely be considered a very remunerative business. 
Apples, Mr. J. remarked, were selling at 15 cents a 
bushel—which, compared with prices as they now are, 
does not look as if we had made much advance in giv¬ 
ing the country a supply of fruit. 
For the past ten years the wheat crop, season with 
season, has averaged on Bloomfield farm between 23 
and 24 bushels per acre, the corn crop between 40 and 
50, and oats about 50. Last year 22 acres in the last 
grain, very much beaten down by the rain, turned out 
finally 1,236 bushels, a fraction over 56 per acre. 
Niney tons of hay were cut from 40 acres, which is little 
if at all above the average. 
If one is disposed to inquire how these results have 
been accomplished, the answer is simple. Mr. Jack¬ 
son’s practice has in a great degree coincided with that 
of John Johnston, except when the different circum¬ 
stances of the case involved the use of different means 
in reaching similar ends. Nearly one-half the 220 acres 
of his farm are either in meadow or pasture, and he 
generally keeps a flock of about one hundred sheep, 
feeds a dozen head of cattle annually, and raises eight 
to ten calves. He sells however large quantities of 
hay, for which the market is almost always a good one, 
and, that the land may not suffer, buys a hundred wa¬ 
gon loads of manure, and in addition uses lime when¬ 
ever expedient. He began by liming at the rate of 40 
to 50 bushels per acre, and now applies 20 to 30 more 
at intervals of five or six years, as it seems to be de¬ 
manded. His plan is to plow the oat stubble about the 
middle of August, and a second time from the 25th 
September to 1st October; to sow as soon after the 
wheat has been drilled in as possible, four to five quarts 
timothy seed per acre, and the following spring six 
quarts of clover. The first year the field is pastured, 
the second mowed for hay; a good dressing of com¬ 
posted manure is applied about the breaking up of 
winter, and a crop of corn put in ; after com, oats suc¬ 
ceed, and the rotation continues as above. Like all his 
neighbors, Mr. J. drills in his grain crops, but I be¬ 
lieve he was the first to set the example ; at any 
rate he imported a drill as early as 1838, and an im¬ 
plement manufacturer in Wilmington made others 
after it, which in time he sold quite extensively. 
Mr. Jackson’s land is generally a pretty stiff clay, 
about 20 acres however being a sandy loam. Eight 
acres which were too swampy to put to any practicable 
use, he reclaimed by means of board underdrains, of 
which he has laid between 14,000 and 16,000 feet. 
They were constructed of six inch boards at a cost of 
$15 per thousand feet, and this is now one of the very 
best parts of his farm. 
The culture of cabbages for the city market is found to 
be about the most profitable use to which the land can be 
devoted. Mentioning an instance I had seen in which 
grass seed had taken on land beaten down compactly, 
better than in other parts of the field, Mr. J. showed 
me some cabbage plants sown upon a patch of ground 
previously made quite hard, I think by treading, which 
had come up and-were doing remarkably well. The 
culture of roots Mr. J. has also been long engaged in, 
having begun with the ruta baga 30 years ago, and 
having grown large quantities also of carrots and pars¬ 
nips. The last his experience has led him to think 
preferable for milch cows, while for horses he considers 
carrots the best food, and ruta bagas for fattening and 
working cattle and sheep. The breed of sheep he finds 
to pay the best for feeding is the Cotswold, or a grade 
of this blood. He had at the time of my visit a much 
smaller flock than usual, but such of the Cotswolds as 
we could get out in the rain to look at, were of the best 
description. 
He has this year 30 acres in oats and 43 in corn— 
the latter planted three and a half by four feet apart, 
and kept clean entirely by the cultivator, no hoeing 
being done. The cultivator is put through it about five 
times, three lengthwise and twice across the field. A 
very commodious granary with corn cribs below, the 
building 44 feet by 36, has been recently erected, and 
will accommodate at least 2,000 bushels in the ear, and 
above large quantities of the small grains. In the sta- 
