Oct. 
THE CULTIVATOR, 
for tljc llontli 
A Good System: and Good Soil. —In another col¬ 
umn (p3 15) will be found an interesting and really 
instructive article by Hon. Geo. Geddes, embracing 
the system of farming, by which he has not only main¬ 
tained, but, if anything, increased the naturally very 
high productiveness of the soil on which he resides. 
The object of the editorial note published in the Co. 
Gent, a week or two since,—to which Mr. G. alludes, 
—was merely to call attention to the fact with which 
a personal visit had made us acquainted, that all the 
credit of Mr. G.’s fine crops was not owing merely to 
the innate fertility of the soil; that, knowing that his 
soil was already most excellently adapted to bring 
large crops, he had shown a degree of wisdom and 
foresight rarely to be met with among similarly fortu¬ 
nate cultivators, in employing all the means at hand 
to preserve and promote that productiveness. Had the 
system which he describes—a system of clover, and 
plaster, and rotation, and composting,—been employ¬ 
ed as shrewdly and systematically by the farmers who 
first opened up the virgin wealth of many of our east¬ 
ern soils, that were once what, alas, they now are not, 
—multitudes of them and their children would be still 
farming the old homestead, instead of having sold and 
exchanged it for life on the prairies. And if the voice 
of this journal was only strong enough to be heard on 
every western farm, commending to the owner or oc¬ 
cupant the propriety of following the example which 
Mr. Geddes describes, the condition of the western 
soils, we can but think, would be very different twenty 
years hence, from what must result under the present 
agricultural practice. Mr. Geddes says : 
“ Sixty years of constant cultivation have resulted in con¬ 
stant improvement, and the application of the manure 
produced by straw and cornstalks, and the excrements of 
the farm stock applied only to fields nearest the barns— 
and upon tops of knolls and sidehills, and the use of clover 
and plaster, gives the further result, that every year more 
and more loads have to be carried from the yards to the 
fields .' 1 ' 1 
This is the uniform result of thorough farming; the 
more manure made, the more there will be made from 
the heavier crops it has brought; “to him that hath 
shall be given.” But the converse,—that “fromhim 
that hath not, shall be taken even that he hath,” has 
also an agricultural application. Our whole theory is, 
that it is utterly unsafe and suicidal for the farmer, at 
the west, or on the Onondaga Shales, or elsewhere, to 
crop his fields constantly without seeing that some re¬ 
turn is made to them ; while from the very nature of 
things, it is evident that on soils so favored as is that 
occupied by Mr. Geddes, a, less return is requisite than 
upon poorer ones. And there may be some river val¬ 
leys naturally fertilized by the freshets of spring—these 
affording a confirmation, rather than an exception to 
our theory. But no farmer, on poor soil or rich, will 
lose anything by a careful perusal of Mr. Geddes’ 
valuable letter, and an imitation in greater or less de¬ 
gree of his example—if it leads to similar success, our 
readers will be wiser and richer men. 
fppT* The editor of a western contemporary, who has 
labored earnestly in past years, to persuade the ladies 
of his adopted State, of the exceeding gracefulness 
and propriety of their exhibiting themselves on horse¬ 
back to the gentle gaze and kind and delicate criticisms 
of the crowds that assemble at our Agricultural Fairs, 
—has just presented his portrait to his admiring read¬ 
ers, and now proposes—having thus attended to his 
own merits and those of the gentler sex, to give a 
chance to the men of Ohio. He offers to present at 
the State Fair at Sandusky, “abroad-sword to the 
heaviest man who will muster in the Falstaff guards, 
(including three members of the State Board,) no one 
admitted to competition weighing less than 200 lbs.” !! 
Whether he has the countenance of the august body, 
several of whose members he thus announces as com¬ 
petitors for the editorial prize, we cannot say ; the 
matter is perhaps worthy of note, as illustrating the 
ideas which some have, and publicly express, of the 
dignity and improvement of Agriculture. 
New Yol. of the American Short Horn Herd 
Book. —The Editor of this work, Lewis F. Allen, 
Esq, of Black Rock, informs us that he is now pre¬ 
paring to issue a fourth volume, in the same style and 
at the same price (85) as the 3d vol. Gentlemen 
wishing the pedigrees of their stock inserted, are no¬ 
tified that they must be sent to Mr. Allen, on or be¬ 
fore the first of December next, and in order to do 
this correctly they should apply to Mr. A. for one of 
his Circulars, in which all necessary instructions will 
be found. 
Fine Pears. —We are indebted to Dr. H Wendell 
of Hazlewood, for very fine specimens of Doyenne 
Boussock and Beurre Thouin pears—the latter a very 
beautiful variety, but little known, we believe, in this 
country. In shape, but smaller, it somewhat resem¬ 
bles the Bartlett. 
Handsome Pyramid Pears —In answer to the in¬ 
quiry of a correspondent, we may state that the fol¬ 
lowing varieties, form the handsomest pyramidal 
growth: Giout Morceau, Josephine de Malines, Belle 
Lucrative, Urbaniste, (grows slowly at first,) Beurre 
Superfin, Stevens’ Genesee, Nouveau poiteau, Beurre 
Langelier, and Theodore Van Mons. The Vicar of 
Winkfield, although of straggling growth, makes a fine 
pyramid with but little pruning Louise Bonne of Jer¬ 
sey, and Duchesse d’ Angouleme, although the strong¬ 
est grown on quince, require a little more care than 
the proceeding to bring them into perfect form. The 
Brandywine, so far as we have tried, makes a good 
pyramid, and the Tyson is scarcely inferior The 
Beurre d’ Amalis, although one of the most vigorous 
of all growers on quince stock, is disposed to be an 
unmanageable straggler. The Rostiezer and Madeleine 
are sprightly and free growers as dwarfs, but do not 
branch well into pyramids. The Giffard is a perfect 
straggler. The Beurre d’Anjou is a moderate grower 
for this purpose. 
Top-Dressing Wheat. —The Genesee Farmer gives 
a successful experiment with top-dressing awheatfield 
with fine manure, harrowing it with the seed. On clay 
or heavy soil, we have no doubt this is an excellent 
practice. In the experiment mentioned, the charac¬ 
ter of the soil is not mentioned ; but if we remember 
correctly, the region where it was performed (Mendon, 
N Y.,) has a heavy soil. The manure gives the wheat 
a vigorous start, enables it to withstand winter-killing, 
and, by bringing on earlier ripening, to escape the 
midge. On light soils the manure is soon dissipated, 
unless in the form of compost; and our own experi¬ 
ments on such soils have not been very successful. It 
