THE CULTIVATOR. 
369 
MR. COLMAN’S EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 
The second part of this work has made its appearance. 
The great difficulty of procuring the information sought, 
in an exact and authentic form, amidst the embarrassments 
and inconveniences which surround a stranger, are men¬ 
tioned as reasons why this portion of the work has been 
so long delayed. Mr. Colman says he cannot promise 
his third and fourth numbers at any particular time, but 
assures us that no unreasonable delay shall be permitted. 
He has yet to visit Ireland, some of the counties of 
Scotland, the dairy portions of England, and the flax and 
hop districts. In the spring he intends to visit the con¬ 
tinent, and hopes to be able to return to this country in 
the autumn. 
The first division of the number before us, is devoted 
to a continuation of remarks on the Allotment system. 
Under this head, many useful facts are given, showing 
the large amount of sustenance which the soil, under pro¬ 
per management, is capable of yielding—though, as Mr. 
C. says, it is probable that the <e utmost productive capa¬ 
city of an acre of land, in any crop has not yet been fully 
determined.” 
An instance is mentioned where a man had supported 
himself, wife and son, from two acres of land, for which 
he paid a rent of $45,60; and in the course of 7 years sa¬ 
ved enough from the produce of his two acres to pur¬ 
chase two acres at $144 to $192 per acre. In another 
case, 6 acres under spade cultivation, is stated to have 
given an average of 52 bushels of wheat per acre. An¬ 
other witness brought before the Parliamentary commit¬ 
tee, testified that on the estate of Lord Howard, Barbot 
Hall, Yorkshire, twenty-eight bushels of wheat had been 
obtained from a quarter of an acre; being at the rate of 
112 bushels per acre. Mr. Colman thinks, however, that 
the accuracy of this statement may be considered doubt¬ 
ful. 
At Horsham in Sussex, some seed wheat, brought from 
Australia, was sown in rows 9 inches apart, and hills 6 
inches apart, only one seed in a place. At this rate it 
took 9| lbs. seed per acre—at 63 lbs. per bushel, one 
bushel of seed would plant more than 6 acres. The yield 
of this wheat was at the rate of 71 bushels per acre. Some 
of the straw ^as 6 feet high. 
A laborer, John Harris, in Sussex, produced the fol¬ 
lowing crops from his allotment. “ One acre and 12 
rods, wheat, 53 bushels—half an acre of oats, 61 bushels 
— 30 rods of barley, 13| bushelg—20 rods of peas, 4-i 
bushels—one acre potatoes, 404 bushels—half an acre of 
turneps, 150 bushels—15 rods carrots, 3| tons—15 rods 
mangel-wurtzel, 3 tons. The rest of his land was occu¬ 
pied as green food for his cows, such as cabbages, rye, 
elover, tares, &c. He kept two cows. He had from 8 
to 12 pigs all winter, and they consumed all his potatoes, 
and his turneps, mangel-wurtzel, and carrots, were given 
to his cows. He fattened 20 stone, or 960 lbs. pork, 
which he sold to the butcher. He sold 6 shoats at 3 months 
old, for stores, and one pig for roasting; he also sold 2 
sows in pig for $12,25.” 
An instance is mentioned where a man in Sussex, John 
Piper, who occupied four acres, and kept two cows, 
worked one of the cows in a cart, by which he makes an 
annual saving of $24. Notwithstanding the cow is work¬ 
ed, “she makes eight pounds @f butter a week, besides 
furnishing some milk for the family.” 
Great pains are taken in all cases to save the manure. 
Nothing is wasted. The animals are stall-fed, and only 
turned into a yard a few hours a day for exercise. Brick 
or stone tanks, well cemented, are sunk near the cow-sta¬ 
bles and pig-sties, for the reception of all the liquid ma¬ 
nure. ‘‘ The contents of these tanks, on becoming full, 
are pumped into a small cart with a sprinkling box at¬ 
tached to it, like that used for watering streets in cities, 
and distributed over the crops, always with the greatest 
advantage, and with effects immediately perceptible.” 
All which Mr. Colman saw, convinced him that there is 
no necessity of impoverishing the soil, but that under the 
right management, it will keep itself in condition, and 
be ever improving. The allotment system, though so 
evidently beneficial to the poorer classes, is strongly op¬ 
posed by the farmers in general. In relation to the cau¬ 
ses of this opposition, it is alleged that the farmers are 
not willing to lessen the dependance of the laborers on 
them for support—that the great crops obtained under 
such nice cultivation, contrasted with those of the farmer, 
tend to throw the latter into the shade, or by proving 
what the land is capable of producing, may induce the 
landlords to raise their rents. Besides, it is said the far 
mers are unwilling to see the laborers appear in the mar 
kets in competition with themselves. Mr. Colman ob¬ 
serves, that whether these reasons actually exist or not, 
the “motives named are but too consistent with the 
weakness and too often unrestrained selfishness of human 
nature. Every man certainly has a fair right e to live,’ 
and the duty of every just man, is to f let him live.’ 
Blessed be the day, if come it ever should, when every 
man will learn that his own true prosperity is essentially 
concerned in the prosperity of his neighbor, and that no 
gratification on earth, to a good mind, is more delicious 
than that which is reflected from the happiness of anoth¬ 
er, to which he has been himself instrumental.” 
Some of the allotments are managed by men who act 
in the capacity of school-teachers, and the scholars, who 
are boys from eight to fourteen years of age, perform the 
labor of cultivating the crops—working on the farm a 
given number of hours each day in return for their in¬ 
struction. The system works well, both for the boys, 
and the condition and product of the grounds. Yet Mr. 
Colman feels constrained to add his “ strong conviction 
that the education of the laboring classes is not viewed 
with favor by those who move in a higher condition of 
life.” “Every approach, therefore,” he continues, “ in 
this direction, is likely to be resisted; and this feeling of 
superiority pervades, with an almost equal intensity, 
every class in society, above the lowest, from the master 
of the household to the most menial beneath whom there 
is any lower depth. Education is the great leveler of all 
artificial distinctions, and may therefore be well looked 
upon with jealousy.” 
Quantity or Seed per Acre. —Under this head we 
find also many useful facts and experiments The Eng¬ 
lish farmers generally practice very thick sowing, and it 
is the opinion of some very judicious cultivators, that a 
1 large portion of the seed may be saved, and quite as 
j large, if not larger crops be obtained, as there are now. 
I Some experiments strongly support this opinion. The 
practice in England is to sow from 2| to 3 bushels of 
wheat per acre. One man has reduced his quantity to 
only three pecks per acre. He nowever, drills and hand- 
hoes every thing, clover seed excepted. He sows one 
and a half bushel rye, two bushels of oats, seven pecks 
barley, and two bushels peas, per acre. In cultivating 
cabbages, he allows one to three square feet. He has 
!produced 40 bushels wheat, 104 bushels of oats, and 40 
bushels barley, to the acre. There is no doubt that by 
substituting the drill, for the broadcast mode of sowing, 
a large portion of seed might be saved. 
Steeping Seeds —Considerable has been said, during 
the past year, of a mode of steeping seeds, introduced by 
Mr. Campbell, of Scotland. Mr. Colman introduces one 
or two letters from Mr. Campbell, in reference to this 
subject. The steeps he employs, are sulphate, nitrate, 
and muriate of ammonia, nitrates of soda and potass, and 
combinations of these. One experiment given, is in sub- 
tance, the following. Some earth was dug up 6 feet be¬ 
low the surface, which was totally destitute of organic 
matter. It was sown with seeds which had been soaked 
in these solutions, and produced plants with 7 or 8 stem* 
each, while plants from the unprepared seeds produced 
no more than three stems each. They had not reached 
maturity when this statement was given, and of course, 
the relative yield of grain could not be told. 
Spade Husbandry. —This mode of cultivation seem* 
to be extending itself in Great Britain, and under th« 
cheapness of hand labor which there prevails, is found 
fully remunerating. The principle is the same as thal 
of subsoil plowing. The best tool for the work, is a 
three pronged fork, 14 inches deep, and 7\ inches wide 
This works easier than a spade, and pulverizes the ground 
better. Though, as Mr. Colman observes, spade husband- 
ry cannot be generally introduced into the United State? 
with advantage, yet he says there are some cases iq 
