250 
IHE CULTIVATOR. 
4 
grass for brutes, or grain for man, is principally exhaust¬ 
ed of its produce by the creatures whom it supports, a 
very inconsiderable quantity remains for manure. What 
then is to be done ? Must the land go on to be impover¬ 
ished from year to year ? No. The animal, the vegeta¬ 
ble, and the mineral kingdom most be ransacked for 
something to aid the growth of plants. The ashes of 
wood and of peat, the muddy depositions of puddles and 
ponds, the unrespirable portion of our atmosphere, and 
some of the particles floating therein; the various earthy 
productions of marl, chalk, gypsum, clay and lime, and 
likewise the excrementitious matters of most animals, 
are found by experience when properly employed, to 
promote directly or indirectly the process of vegetation. 
When these things are added to the soil, they act in one 
of these ways. 1st. They are a pabulum plantarum, and 
materially contribute to the nutriment of plants; or, 2d, 
They are stimuli to plants, and by exciting them to ac¬ 
tion cause a greater absorption of food, a better assimila¬ 
tion of it, and consequently a more rapid and vigorous 
growth ; or, 3dly, They so alter and dispose the earth in 
which plants are rooted, that the radicles shoot more 
easily and more extensively through it, or in other words 
it becomes a better filter for straining and applying nour¬ 
ishment to their inhaling and absorbing vessels.” p. 23. 
In this short extract, (Mr. Editor,) we have the princi¬ 
ples contained in what are considered as discoveries and 
improvements of the present day. Very little notice and 
no application of them ever was made at the time they 
were promulgated. Well might your late deceased asso¬ 
ciate say of him and some of his co-laborers in agricul¬ 
ture, that in 1792 they were « evidently in advance of the 
age,” as we shall hereafter be able to show in other par¬ 
ticulars. 
It was stated in our first number that manufactures 
were embraced in the plan of the “ Old Agricultural So¬ 
ciety.” The address now under consideration speaks of 
these with due respect and discrimination: 
“ But I would not wish to be understood that the whole 
of our labor should be applied to agricultural pursuits, as 
if those were, as some argue, the only industry that is 
productive; for I think it may be clearly proved, that the 
capital and labor of this country, will be most advanta¬ 
geously employed, if a part of it is expended in manu- 
factures; the best policy in this respect, being to carry 
on agriculture without neglecting manufactures, and at 
the same time so to manage manufactures, as that agri¬ 
culture may be conducted with a due degree of spirit.” 
This first address before the old Agricultural Society 
treats of quicklime, plaster of Paris, and fish as manures, 
and recommends the preservation and even the cultiva¬ 
tion of the sugar maple for the production of sugar: also 
the rearing of the yellow locust (Robinia pseudocacia) 
for its timber. Attention is called to the vine, the mul¬ 
berry, the mangel-wurtzel, barley, hops, &c., as neglect¬ 
ed articles of husbandry. Of animals, he recommended 
the introduction into the United States, the Bosbubalisor 
tamed BufFaloe of Europe, which Dr. Mitchell observes 
“has been long domesticated in Hungary and Transylva¬ 
nia.” He also recommends mules and oxen in prefer¬ 
ence to horses for draught on a farm. He also spoke in 
the aforesaid address, of sheep, and the wheat insect, 
(Tipula tritici, more recently named Cecidomia destruc¬ 
tor.) Of the latter he subsequently wrote an account 
which is in the transactions of the old Society. The ad¬ 
dress concludes by directing attention to injurious insects; 
for says the author, “We are almost entirely in the dark 
respecting the history of the insects injurious to our use¬ 
ful plants, and that man would be laudably and benefi¬ 
cially employed, who should collect what is knowable 
concerning the different moths, bugs, flies and worms, 
which infest our fields and gardens.” 
This labor, recommended nearly fifty years since, was 
neglected until it was undertaken by our late esteemed 
agricultural writer, Willis Gaylord, who commenced the 
work, (Trans. N. Y. State Ag. Soc. 1843, p. 127,) but 
was removed to his rest ere he completed the underta¬ 
king. 
Lying _The credit that is got by a lie, only lasts till 
the truth comes out. 
SOILING CATTLE AND HORSES. 
Soiling, or feeding animals during the summer season 
with green food, cut daily, and given to them in yards or 
stables, is nearly unknown in this country, and its advan¬ 
tages but little understood. This is owing chiefly to two 
causes. Land is comparatively cheap, and labor costly; 
and the saving of the former, and increase of the latter, 
by this practice, have prevented a fair trial of its merits. 
If, however, experience shows that the nett profits of 
the farm are greatly increased, even though attended with 
greater temporary outlay, the practice ought to be more 
extensively adopted. The chief advantages of soiling 
are these:—The whole of the green food is consumed 
with less waste than by pasturing; it is not beaten under 
foot by cattle's hoofs while in a feeble state, but a full 
and luxuriant growth allowed before it is touched. The 
ground is not poached in wet weather; the cost of divis¬ 
ion fences is diminished; a great saving of manure is ef¬ 
fected; and the advantages of rest and quietude secured to 
the animals. The chief objection is the amount of labor 
required in cutting the food, arid in feeding and littering 
the animals. Hence it becomes a matter of importance 
to strike a balance, as nearly as the results of experiments 
will allow. 
Loudon estimates the product of an acre, mown and fed 
green to cows, at triple the quantity obtained by pastu¬ 
ring; experiments reported by John Sinclair give the 
same results,—17 acres in one case, having supported 
33 head of cattle more than four months, which had pre¬ 
viously required 50 acres of pasture; and the same re¬ 
sults were obtained by Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts. 
Other trials make the difference considerably less, but in 
such cases the pasture appears to have been suffered to 
acquire a tall and heavy growth before the cattle were turn¬ 
ed in, and thus the advantages of the practice just recom¬ 
mended were partially secured. 
Several limited experiments made by the writer, deci¬ 
dedly confirm the opinion that not far from three times 
the amount of product is obtained by soiling, over the 
common practice of feeding on short pasturage. 
Many experiments have been performed in England, 
showing the increased rapidity with which cattle thrive 
when fed by soiling. In one case, two cows were fed 
four and a half months, one being soiled, and the other 
pastured. The former gained 16 stone, the latter 9 stone. 
In another experiment, 48 cattle were fed, one half by 
soiling, and one-half by pasture. The soiled cattle sold 
at six dollars more per head than the other; the food con¬ 
sumed by the former was grown upon 12% acres, one-se¬ 
venth of which were ruta bagas, the rest chiefly clover. 
Thus half an acre supported one head for nearly five 
months. 
It is obvious that if soiling were generally practiced on 
the farm, the necessity of division fences would be near¬ 
ly obviated. This is the case on the farm of Josiah 
Quincy, and many farms in England. Sheep, and s*ich 
other animals as need feeding on the ground, being con¬ 
fined by hurdle fences, which are removed from time to 
time as needed. 
In order to place before the eye at one view, the mer 
its and disadvantages of this practice, # the following esti^ 
mate is made, which it is believed is not very far from 
correct: 
Profits. 
In 100 acres used as pasture, by soiling, 66 
are saved, as already shown; the annual in¬ 
terest on which would be about $3 an acre. 
Saving of about 1A miles division fence, at 40 
cents a rod in ten years, or 4 cents yearly, a 
moderate estimate,. 
Saving of at least 100 loads manure, if litter is 
freely used, as it ought to be,.. 
Cost. 
Expenses of cutting 33 acres of grass, drawing 
and feeding, but not curing; littering and 
cleaning yards or stables, say. $100 
Annual profit on 100 acres,. $145 
The preceding calculation is for the average price and 
$200 
20 
25 
-- $245 
