THE CULTIVATOR. 
msaassam 
253 
1846. 
(?°r.'L ■ , s~ixsss r ssif3!iXT'^‘f : ~’-' , a''ir 
only true one. I mentioned the observations I had 
made on chess—its small and hard seeds allowing it to 
be carried about in the stomachs of animals, birds, &c., 
while the land was yet forests, and thus distributed; its 
astonishing productiveness where it could flourish, as 
where wheat riad been killed, and the chess remaining the 
undisturbed occupant, yielding and scattering sometimes 
3000 to 5000 seeds from a single grain, as I had counted; 
and again when shaded by heavy wheat or grass, being 
two inches high with only a single grain, as I had also 
observed. Collateral cases were named where supposed 
clean land, or new land, had been plowed and produced 
as spontaneous crops, a dense growth of pig-weed, in 
one case, and fox-tail grass, in the other case. But this 
was not quite satisfactory to my friend. I then stated 
that I had often examined what was called clean seed 
wheat, and found on a careful search, chess enough to 
seed the ground for a tolerable chess crop. Being 
about to make a call on an excellent and skilful farmer, 
I determined to prove my position; and so, the first op¬ 
portunity, we examined some very fine seed wheat. It 
was pronounced by all parties as remarkably clean. 
Having scarcely ever failed in finding chess, I began 
the search, confident of gaining my point; but after a 
long and careful examination. I utterly failed. Not a 
grain of chess could be found. At last, turning to the 
owner of the seed, I inquired, “ Don’t you ever raise 
any chess?”—“NO!” was the prompt and decided an¬ 
swer, “ I have completely eradicated the weed from 
my farm—I sow none but clean seed, really so, not 
apparently; and where my wheat is winter-killed, no 
chess springs up in its place, stooling out on all sides 
for a heavy crop. Whatever others may experience, 
I find that chess will not grow unless it is first sown.” 
The argument was finished. X. 
MR. GOLMAN’S EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE—PART VI. 
The principal subjects of this number are, Paring 
and Burning, Admixture of Soils, Improvement of Peat 
Lands, Warping and Drainage. 
The operation of paring and burning, to which the 
first chapter is devoted, has been long practised, although 
its utility has been much controverted. In reference to 
the contradictory opinions which have been held on the 
subject, however, the remarks of the Rev. W. L. Rham 
(Dictionary of the Farm, p. 368,) may be given as af¬ 
fording a rational explanation. “When we come,” 
says Mr. R., “ to apply to the subject the test of expe¬ 
rience, and reason correctly on the facts which are 
presented to us by the abettors of the practice and its 
adversaries, we shall find that the advantages and dis¬ 
advantages arise chiefly from the circumstances under 
which the operation is carried on. 
Mr. Colman remarks, that the objects of paring and 
burning are three fold:—“the first, to reduce the coarse 
vegetable matter on the surface to a state of decomposi¬ 
tion, that it may be supplanted by a more profitable 
vegetation; the second, to destroy grubs, insects, and 
the larvse of insects, which infest the soils, and are 
pernicious to the cultivated crops; and the third, to 
convert the coarse vegetable matter on the surface into 
ashes, for nutriment of the crops which are to follow.” 
Mr. C. describes, with considerable minuteness, the 
process of paring and burning, and believing that his 
description may be read with advantage by a large por¬ 
tion of our readers, we give it at length. 
“ In the process of paring and burning, a thin slice, 
or turf, varying from one to three inches [in thickness] 
is taken from the surface, and after being sufficiently 
dried, is cut into pieces of a convenient length, and 
then piled in heaps preparatory to being burned and 
reduced to ashes. The turf is cut sometimes with a 
plow with a broad share, of the width of the slice de¬ 
sired to be raised, or, otherwise, with a spade made 
with a flange or wing on one side of the blade, resem¬ 
bling, in this respect, a spade for the cutting of peat, 
and with along curved handle with a cross-piece at the 
end, by which it is forced under the sward by a pres¬ 
sure against the thighs of the workman. The work, 
when performed with the spade, is deemed severe, and 
it is considered a sufficient day’s work for a man to ac¬ 
complish a quarter of an acre. 
“ The sods, when collected, are piled in heaps of a 
larger or smaller size, according to the convenience of 
the operator, pains being taken to form a sort of furnace 
beneath, in which are placed some brush-wood, fagots, 
or coal, as in the oven of a brick-kiln. The sods are 
piled over this, and, fire being kindled, attention is paid 
to prevent its blazing out, so that whenever a hole is 
found, by which the fire might escape, it is immedi¬ 
ately filled with fresh earth; and as the fire advances, 
new sods are occasionally heaped upon the pile; the 
object being to reduce the whole to ashes by a smoul¬ 
dering fire. It is surprising to find to what a fine state 
the sods and vegetable matter may be reduced, and how 
the burning will continue to go on, though the whole 
seems to be in a perfect state of quiescence. A thorough 
burning requires frequently a month, or a longer time 
for its completion. 
“ The head-lands of a field are occasionally burned 
without the rest of the field being subjected to the same 
process. Here there is always an accumulation of soil 
and a collection of rubbish, coarse grass, weeds, or 
bushes; and all these are dug up occasionally to the 
depth of six or ten inches, and piled in heaps and burn¬ 
ed as I have described. In cases where the whole is 
not consumed, the part which is not sufficiently reduced 
by the action of the fire, is transferred to another heap. 
Two or three pieces of advice are commonly given in 
regard to the management of this burning. One is, not 
to make the heaps too large in the beginning, as the 
weight of the incumbent mass is liable to extinguish 
the fire, but to heap it up gradually as the fire goes on; 
the second is, not to allow the fire to blaze out, as else it 
would soon burn itself out; and a third is, not to make 
the fire too hot, as otherwise much of the earth, instead 
of being made to crumble, and reduced to a friable state, 
would become baked hard, like bricks. 
“ The ashes, then, of these heaps are evenly spread 
over the fields operated upon, and this is generally fol¬ 
lowed by a green crop, such as vetches or turneps, 
which, under good management, are consumed on the 
ground. Then follows the usual coarse of wheat, barley, 
and grass. The amount of ashes obtained by the ordi¬ 
nary process of paring and burning, has been made the 
subject of exact calculation, and is so remarkable that 
I deem it worth stating. ‘An acre of land, from which 
the turf was taken in the common mode of paring and 
burning, appeared to have produced an average of 2660 
bushels of ashes, which, at their mean weight of 65 
pounds to a bushel, when dry, would give 172,900 
pounds, or rather more than 77 tons per acre.’ ” 
Mr. Colman observes, that as the process of burning 
dissipates, more or less, the vegetable matter of the 
soil, we must look to the ashes produced as some com¬ 
pensation for this loss. The ashes, he believes, “ are 
powerful absorbents and retainers of moisture, and they 
answer a valuable purpose in the disintegration, or 
loosening of the soil. They certainly, in many cases, 
operate as efficient manure; I have seen their effects 
often, both upon old and new land. In examining the 
returns of nearly four thousand different wheat crops in 
Massachusetts, in which, with a view to secure the pre¬ 
mium offered by the state upon the cultivation of wheat, 
it was required to give the mode of culture in detail, I 
found, in every case, where ashes were applied to ma¬ 
nure the crop, the beneficial effects were emphatically 
affirmed. In clearing new land, it has been the custom 
to fell the standing wood, and after it has become suffi¬ 
ciently dried, to burn it completely upon the land. 
This always leaves a large deposit of ashes on the 
ground. It is common to plant Indian corn directly 
upon these ashes, without plowing the land, and, at the 
close of the season, at the last hoeing of the corn, or 
indeed its only hoeing, to sow wheat among it, which, 
to use the common phrase, is f hacked in’ by the hoe. 
Some of the largest crops of Indian corn and of wheat, 
which I have ever heard of, have been grown in this 
way. In one case, upon a very large field, the product 
of wheat averaged sixty-four bushels to the acre.” 
