242 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Aug. 
Improvement of tlje Soil. 
Renovation of Rands. 
Eds. Cultiv4Tor —It appears as though there was 
an absolute ignoranee amongst farmers, of the relative 
value of the various kinds of manures; and especially 
so amongst those whose means enable them to have ac¬ 
quired the most accurate information. Is there any one 
who can even tell us how much more he will raise from 
an acre of land manured with six cords of stable ma¬ 
nure, throughout a course of farming for four or five 
years, than he would from the same, land not manured 
at all ? Can any one tell what increase will result 
from liming land ? Or can any definite result be predi¬ 
cated from the application of bones, poudrette, guano, 
or any of the various kinds of fertilizers now in use ? 
That the application of these various manures will pro¬ 
duce a great effect is known to us all; but which will 
soonest repay the cost, which last the longest, or which 
will best suit the various kinds of soils, is as yet a 
mystery to the generality of farmers. 
But enough of this carping and fault-finding. And 
that I may practice as well as preach, I will give you 
a short history of some'of those who, I think, have 
pursued the true system; even though, according to 
wtne learned Thebans, it is one that will not pay. 
Nearly twenty years since, there was a farm of about 
yixty acres, so poor as almost to defy description. The 
best comparison I could give, would be some -of the 
worn-out, or as they call them, the “tired lands” in 
the southern states. The owner was a young lady, 
and she attempted to manage the farm when it came in- 
to e her possession, in the same manner as it had been 
managed by those from whom she inherited it—without 
having any pecuniary means, other than its resources. 
She hired a farmer, and for some years they plowed and 
re-plowed the same worn-out and exhausted fields, and 
gathered in the same poverty-strilcen crops, which had 
been gathered in, “ from a time beyond which the me¬ 
mory of the oldest inhabitant runneth not to the con¬ 
trary.” The result was as all foretold, she was com¬ 
pelled to quit farming. Amongst her creditors washer 
farmer, I believe almost the only one of any magnitude, 
and to pay him off she married him,-—at least so the 
story went. Again they started fresh with the world; 
but still it would not do. The same incubus was pres¬ 
sing upon them. They toiled early and late, lived pru¬ 
dently and economically; but notwithstanding all, they 
could not make both ends meet, and were fast coming 
out of the little end of the horn. Their true friends 
urged them to raise money on the lands and improve it, 
so that at least, they might be paid for their labor; but 
this, although the only true policy, was a policy running 
counter to all their preconceived opinions. They said, 
as others before them have said, it would not pay. At 
last they did what under the circumstances, and with 
their views of policy, was perhaps the only prudent 
thing they could do—they so’d the property. 
It was purchased by a hard-working practical farm¬ 
er, one who had previously had some experience in re¬ 
novating worn-out lands. The price given was, I think, 
sixty dollars per acre,—hardly the value of the build¬ 
ings upon it. Instead of doing as his predecessor had 
done, he mortgaged it, for a part of the purchase mo- 
ney, and took the balance of his means to improve the 
soil. In order to effect this object, he hauled stable 
manure from the city of Philadelphia, a distance of ten 
miles, for which he paid about three dollars the two- 
horse load; that is, what two horses could draw on the 
pavement, and three or four off. I cannot give the 
quantity he put to the acre; I think it was five or six 
of these loads. He continued this practice for some six 
or eight years, at the end of which period, he was of¬ 
fered more than twice what he gave for the farm. 
It is hardly necessary to say, it was then a farm of 
altogether a different character. Old fields, which for¬ 
merly produced nothing but sorrel or moss, were then 
verdant with the richest grasses, or covered with the 
most luxuriant crops; old fruit trees, which had been, 
under the former owners considered as almost worthless, 
then sprung into new life, and brought forth excellent 
fruit. And everything, both animal and vegetable, be¬ 
tokened prosperity and abundance. All this was effect¬ 
ed, mark you, whilst at the same time, the owner was 
yearly making his living from its proceeds. It has 
been but a short time since his son told me, they made 
money faster then, than at any other time; “because,” 
said he, “ although we did not lay by any money, yet 
every year our land was becoming more and more va¬ 
luable. The owner, now an old man, is living inde¬ 
pendently and comfortably; he has the fattest horses, 
the best cows, and the finest crops of any one around 
him. 
In my last communication I mentioned an Englishman, 
who farmed Mr. W.’s farm. He is one of my standing 
examples of the benefit of this system of farming. About 
ten years since, he, then a hired farmer, leased from a 
Mr. S. in Philadelphia, who kept a livery stable, a 
miserably poor farm, with a bleak northern exposure, 
on Chestnut Hill, near Germantown. The conditions 
of the lease were that Mr. S. was to find the manure, 
and that Mr. H. (the farmer.) was to cart it to the 
farm. He had saved from his hard earnings, a few hun¬ 
dred dollars, barely sufficient to purchase a few of the 
most indispensible farming implements. You can judge 
how limited his resources were, from the fact that the 
loss of one of his horses threw him on his “beam ends,” 
until his friends advanced him money to replace his loss. 
But he boldly met the disheartening circumstances of 
his situation; and, as he afterwards told me, it was as 
much as he eould do, with the most rigid economy, to 
keep himself from sinking. To use his own words:— 
Whenever he could get a day’s work for himself or his 
boys, from his neighbors, he took it, and thus earned a 
little money for his family, and when he could not, he 
would haul up a load of manure from the city. When 
I last saw him, some three years since, he was surround¬ 
ed by all that a farmer could desire; his yard was 
stocked with fine cattle, his horses were excellent, and 
in fine condition; his implements were good, and in 
their places; and to sum up all, he had the appearance 
of being a forehanded farmer, and one “ well to do” in 
the world. It really made my heart glad to see this 
man, whom I had known, as a stranger in a strange 
land, and toiling day by day for his daily bread, now 
comfortable, independent and happy ; and taking rank 
in his social position, with those who form the most nu¬ 
merous and respectable portion of the community. 
A farm, which is, perhaps, the very best in this coun¬ 
ty, was made so, by following the method I have point¬ 
ed out. Many years since, Mr. C., who had been an 
orphan boy, had some money left him by the person 
who brought him up. With the money, he purchased a 
piece of land about eight miles from the city, contain¬ 
ing about thirty acres. ‘When he purchased it, it was 
thin, and if not in the lowest condition to which it might 
have been reduced—yet too poor for any one to make 
money from it by farming in the usual manner. He, 
also, pursued the same system, and though some may 
have deemed him unwise, the result was, he made his 
living from the land, whilst at the same time he was 
changing its appearance. It would be fruitless to at¬ 
tempt any description of the high degree of fertility to 
which it has now been raised. You can form some idea 
of its productiveness when you learn, that for years 
past, he has been putting by his five hundred or a thou- 
