THE CULTIVATOR. 
191 
PRODUCE OF A^ VERMONT FARM. 
Messrs. Editors —I herewith transmit to you a state¬ 
ment of the products of my farm for 1843. I keep Dr. 
and Cr. and know at the end of the year how much nett 
profit or loss I sustain in my operations. I have not ta¬ 
ken into the account the support of my family consisting 
of six individuals, but have offset that against the inte¬ 
rest on the capital invested. Mine is a clay and muck 
farm of one hundred and thirty acres, lying on the banks 
of lake Champlain, with only ten acres of wood upon it; 
the rest being under improvement. I cannot boast of 
any great crops, it being my first year of cropping; con¬ 
sequently I have not got my land prepared for large 
crops of grain, but intend to practice a thorough system 
of rotation for the purpose of obtaining large yields per 
acre. I will give the gross amount of each crop, togeth¬ 
er with the price it brought, and also the expense I have 
been at in carrying on the farm: 
Wheat,. 100 bush, at $1,25_$125,00 
JRye, . 168 “ 50 .... 84,00 
Peas,. 71 " 50_ 35,50 
Oats,. 250 “ 30 .... 90,00 
Corn,. 20 « 50.... 10,00 
Buckwheat,. 26 “ 50 .— 13,00 
Potatoes........ 200 « 25 .... 50,00 
Hay,. 50 tons at,.. 6,00 .... 300,00 
6 steers sold,. 25,00 each 150,00 
Wool, 100 lbs.,. 28_ 28,00 
$885,50 
1 paid for labor, seed, &c,. 252,00 
Leaving a balance in my favor, of.. $633,50 
In addition to the above, I kept on the farm two span 
of horses, eight head of cattle and fifty sheep, and have 
wintered them thus far on the straw and, coarse fodder, and 
no cattle in this vicinity look so well as mine. I have 
also in the above estimate for labor, included the putting 
in of twenty-three acres of winter wheat and rye, now 
on the ground, and it looks extremely well this spring. 
I am in hopes the present year, of doubling the above 
amount, if the season is favorable. Yours truly, 
Chimney Point, Vt., March, 1844. D. C. Goodale. 
« KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.” 
Never w T as this motto more signally illustrated than in 
the advantages derived by intelligent farmers from the 
aid of science. Even a slight acquaintance with che¬ 
mistry and geology, is productive of profit for the pock¬ 
et, as well as pleasure for the mind. “You may be 
somewhat surprised to find me farming on the hard soil 
of Connecticut, instead of teaching mathematics in a ship 
of war,” said a worthy friend who lately visited Albany. 
“I am somewhat surprised myself, at the transition,” 
continued my friend; “ but the truth is, that when leav¬ 
ing the ship on a visit homeward, I bought a copy of 
Liebig’s newly published book about Agricultural Che¬ 
mistry, for the purpose of reading on my journey; and so 
much was I instructed and entertained, that I determined 
to take hold of the old farm once more, and endeavor to 
practice on the doctrines taught by that scientific German. 
I have done so for a couple of years; and the result more 
than realizes my expectations. By economy in increas¬ 
ing the quantity and improving the quality of manures, 
and by applying more manure and better cultivation, our 
corn crop is more than doubled—aye, almost trebled; 
our potato crop is much improved in quality, and greatly 
in quantity; aud our meadows produce hay enough to 
leave a handsome surplus, where formerly the cattle we 
now keep would have found rather e short commons.- But 
the greatest improvement in reference to the cattle and 
meadows, results from adopting the plan which I saw 
mentioned in the Cultivator, as pursued by Josiah Quin¬ 
cy of Boston. The old stone fences running through our 
farm, were a nuisance in my sight—forming ready har¬ 
bors for noxious vermin and weeds, besides occupying 
considerable ground. I determined to follow the Quin¬ 
cy fashion, (and those Quincies have many good traits 
about them,) by soiling our cattle, and thus rendering di¬ 
vision fences needless. I thus keep the cattle in better 
order on the products of much less land, and save addi¬ 
tional quantities of manure that would alone pay me for 
all the trouble I have in housing the animals. By under¬ 
draining, I have reclaimed considerable marshy land, ma¬ 
king it now productive; and the peat-bog of twelve 
acres, formerly a mere nuisance, is now one of the most 
valuable parts of our farm—furnishing us with abundant 
material to throw into our hog-pen and cow-yard, for 
forming compost in connexion with an occasional sprink¬ 
ling of lime to promote decomposition. I should not for¬ 
get that even the weeds with which the old farm was in¬ 
fested, are now made tributary to the improved mode of 
cultivation; for, cut frequently, (as all weeds should be 
cut till they are exterminated,) they form material for 
additional manure, when drawn by me into the hog-pen 
or cow-house for litter. It is satisfactory to find that ma¬ 
ny in our neighborhood, who at first smiled incredulous¬ 
ly at my notions of book-farming, (and also some well- 
meaning doubters, who are always slow of faith,) are 
now satisfied there is something in it less ridiculous than 
they formerly supposed. So, with this brief account of 
myself, since you last met me on board the line-of-bat- 
tle-ship, do you wonder that I have now returned with 
increased interest to the old farm, where I learnt to plow 
in the same fields that were cultivated by my ancestors 
from the early settlement of Connecticut?” 
As one of the multiplying evidences of the beneficial 
results of agricultural publications, as an example worthy 
of imitation by many of our farmers, young and old, the 
foregoing sketch is at your service—in the hope that 
young men who are inclined to abandon farming in the 
hope of better fortune otherwise, will at least “ read, 
| reflect and judge,” before they abandon their farms, 
however (l worn out” or unprofitable those farms may 
have been. Farmers who practice on such doctrines, 
have little need of crossing the Rocky Mountains in 
search of lands in Oregon. Rjig. 
PRESERVATION OF CORN FROM FROST. 
Mr. S. N. Hawes, of Slioreham, Vt., relates a remark¬ 
able case of the exemption of a piece of corn from frost, 
which he thinks is to be attributed to the plentiful use 
of long barn-yard manure, in connexion with the stalks 
of a crop of corn which had grown on the ground the 
year before—the whole having been plowed into the 
soil. He says:— 
“I plowed deep, strewing the old crop of stalks in the 
furrows and covering the whole entire. I had a rank 
and extra growth of a large kind, which required a long¬ 
er time to mature; and some of the last days of August or 
first of September, the earliest ears had commenced har¬ 
dening, when we had one of the severest frosts I ever 
witnessed at that season of the year. I had much anxiety 
respecting my corn crop, which I visited early in the 
morning; but the crackling of the frozen grass at every 
footstep, prepared my mind to behold it in ruins. Yet 
determined to know the worst, I pressed on, mounted the 
fence, which surrounded it, and to my surprise, not a 
particle of frost was visible upon it! I looked around 
upon every side; all bore a wintry aspect. I looked 
again upon the crop before me; it bore the appearance 
of having been wet by a gentle but profuse shower. I 
sprang over the fence, determined to pass through it; but 
ere I had reached half a dozen rods, was glad to retreat, 
and before I could effect it, was completely drenched. 
again remounted the fence where I could take a view of 
every side; it was alike surrounded by a heavy frost. 
“ As I stood pondering upon the apparent phenome¬ 
non, the fact flashed upon my mind, that the process of 
decomposition from the extra quantity of long manure, 
particularly the old crop of stalks, was still going on to 
that degree that the heat completely counteracted the ac 
tion of the frost. Near the middle of the day (which 
was extremely warm and clear,) I traveled a mile ir 
length, visiting every field on the same level with my 
own, and all without distinction were entirely destroy 
ed. Mine remained uninjured, and yielded an abundant 
crop of remarkable sound, ripe corn.” 
