1849 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
299 
It has been truly said, you cannot cheat the land, for it 
will reproach you if you do. Another maxim, which I 
believe is held for truth among us, is, that the more ge¬ 
nerously you treat the land, the more abundantly it will 
repay the outlay. 
Rotation of Crops and Manures. —I will now 
proceed to say a few words upon the general rotation of 
crops on regular farming lands, and the application of 
manures to the various crops, as they come in their as¬ 
signed order, from my own observation, as well as from 
the report of others. It may be stated that the lands 
in Queens county, as a general rule, are broken up eve¬ 
ry five or seven years,- that corn, one of the surest 
crops, succeeded by oats, are the two fallow crops, and 
that the land is then laid down with wheat, rye or bar¬ 
ley, and the grass seeds. It is mowed two or three 
years, and pastured afterwards, until it is time to re¬ 
peat the same process. The manner of applying ma¬ 
nure, ashes, lime, &c., which are those chiefly relied 
upon, and used in the cultivation of the various crops— 
(though guano bone and fish have their advocates) de¬ 
pends, as to their quantity, upon the condition and cha¬ 
racter of the soil, and the nature of the crop to be cul¬ 
tivated. While nearly all the straw, and more than 
half the hay, is carried off the farm and sold, and their 
place only measurably supplied by salt and sedge hay, 
the quantity of manure made in the barn-yard, must ne¬ 
cessarily be much diminished, and its deficiency sup¬ 
plied, if the system of frequent cropping is carried on, 
from other sources. Hence Long Island, in all its 
length and breadth, particularly in its western counties, 
depends essentially upon a supply of the richest ma¬ 
nures, from the cities and towns on the North and East 
Rivers, which is brought by water and railway to the 
nearest points where it is required; and the farmers of 
this county proceed, and have proceeded for years, upoaa 
the principle that it is better and more profitable to sell 
the corn and oats, the straw and the hay, for cash in 
the market, and with it, to purchase the manures re¬ 
quired for the growth of their crops, and the mainten¬ 
ance of their farms in good condition. 
In breaking up the land for corn, they do best who 
plow in the fall, and cross-plow in the spring, spreading 
the whole ground with such manure as they may have, 
and then adding at the time of planting in the hill, half 
a shovel full of well-rotted manure. By this process a 
quick start is given to the plant, leaving it afterwards 
to draw its support from the soil around, in w'hich the 
long manure is slowly decomposed, and continues to 
supply nourishment to the plant during the period of its 
growth. Others manure the corn in the hill only, and 
sometimes, when it is up, and of sufficient size, strew a 
little leached or other ashes, around the young plant. 
As it is a certain, so it is a general crop, yielding, ac¬ 
cording to cultivation and manure, from twenty to eigh¬ 
ty bushels per acre. For oats, it is not usual to give 
any manure; sometimes, however, ashes are applied, 
where the nature of the soil is supposed to require it. 
But usually it is a crop which is grown free from any 
other charge, than putting the ground in good condition 
by the plow, and an early sowing of the seed. As soon 
as the oats are cradled, or as soon thereafter as the 
ground will admit of it, the land is slightly plowed, so 
as to cover the stubble sufficiently, in which state it re¬ 
mains until it is time to mark it out, and cart on the 
manure and ashes, as both are frequently applied to¬ 
gether where the character of the soil would seem to 
indicate the propriety and advantage of their joint use. 
The quantity of manure, and of the best quality, which 
at this time is put upon each acre, will vary from 30 
to 40 cart loads; with an addition sometimes of 100 
bushels of ashes. Between the end of September, and 
the first ten days of October, the wheat is sown at the 
rate of two bushels an acre, with from six to eight 
quarts of timothy seed ; and as early in the spring as 
the state of the weather and of the ground will admit,_ 
about eight or ten pounds of clover seed are sown per 
acre. From land thus laid down, if the season is favor¬ 
able, from twenty to twenty-five, and in some instances, 
thirty bushels of good wheat will be harvested; of rye, 
from twenty-five to thirty bushels; of barley, from 40 
to 50 bushels. If the grass seeds take well, from twe> 
to two and a-half tons of hay may be cut on the ensu 
ing year. The labor of tillage in this county is, gene¬ 
rally speaking, comparatively light, and hence a less 
number of animals are needed for the purposes of a 
farm. A pair of horses, mules, or cattle, have, with 
some few exceptions, power enough to turn up the sod 
with ease, and to prepare the land for a crop. And 
with the aid of the same horses and mules, where th*. 
farm is near enough to the cities the farmer is enabled 
himself to transport his produce in wagons or carts to 
a ready and a cash market. So far as my own experi 
ence and observation can be relied on, and they are sus¬ 
tained by the opinion of many practical agriculturists, 
deep plowing for corn and potatoes, where the land will 
admit of it, is a practice which if more frequently fob 
lawed, would well repay the farmer. But if you plow 
deeply, you should manure generously, and by the aid 
of both you will increase the depth and excellence of 
the soil, in which the roots of plants will find room to 
spread, and find protection from the extremes of heat 
and cold. The amount, the variety, and the value of 
the productions of Queens county, can only be estima 
ted and measured by the census of 1840; the only 
means at this time within our reach for such a purpose. 
By the returns of that census, the number of improved 
acres of land in the county was 125,636, of which 
there were in grain 49,906, and in meadow and pas¬ 
ture, 73,710, whose annual products of all kinds 
reached the value of $1,764,604; agreeably to a state¬ 
ment and calculation, which will be found in a note 
below.* 
There is another source of profit, which I must not 
omit on this occasion, and in connection with the fore¬ 
going statement. It is the large and valuable nurseries, 
and horticultural and botanical establishments, which 
for so many years have given celebrity to the county, 
as well as to their enterprising and intelligent proprie¬ 
tors; who cultivate about 200 acres, on which nearly 
2,000,000 trees are supposed to stand. 
The above sum of $1,764,605, the 
Acres. In Grain. Meadow & Pasture 
* Newtown,. 12,397 
Jamaica,. 11,098 
Flushing, . 11,688 
North Hempstead,. 23,580 
Oysterbay,. 35,995 
Hempstead,. 29,878 
5,403 
4,106 
4,541 
11,791 
10,192 
12,873 
6,992 
6,127 
10,789 
25,803 
17,005 
125,636 49,906 
73,710 
Acres. 
Total bu. 
Bu. pr. 
acre. 
Value. 
In Wheat,. 
. 4,464 
99,374 
20 
at 10s. 
$124,217 
Corn,. 
. 17,228 
440,200 
25 
5s. 
275,125 
Oats,. 
. 12,148 
323,824 
27 
3s. 
121,434 
Potatoes,.... 
. 2,435 
229,966 
95 
4s. 
114,983 
Rye, ----- 
. 5,810 
61,682 
11 
5s. 
38,552 
Buckwheat,.. 
. 4,417 
67,567 
15 
4s. 
33,783 
Peas,. 
,. 617 
38,219 
62 
4 s. 
38,214 
Beans,. 
289 
26,796 
90 
8 s. 
26,798 
Of the 75,000 acres in meadow and pasture, two-fifths, 
or 30.000 acres, may be set down as mowing ground, 
yielding, one year with another, one and a-half tons 
of hay, or 45,000 tons, at $12.50 per ton, is,.. 
Wheat and Rye straw, one-half the value of the grain, 
Salt and sedge hay, at one-fifth the value of English 
hay. 
Oat straw, corn tops and bottoms, 40,000 loads at $1.50, 
Cabbages, asparagus, and other vegetables, and small 
fruit, .... 
Pork, poultry, lambs, veal, eggs, butter, milk, cord 
wood, and locust timber,.... 
572,509 
82,009 
112,009 
60,008 
50,008 
125,060 
$1,764,604 
