1850. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
195 
able, he has lately extended his operations ; has now 
cleared in one body, 90 acres, to which he is ma¬ 
king yearly additions; and intends to go on in this 
way till he has made a farm of 500 acres. 
His course of procedure in regard to this land, 
has latterly been to plow it as soon as the wood and 
bushes are off, and plant potatoes. The yield has 
never been less than 100 bushels to the acre. Last 
year seven acres yielded in the aggregate 900 bush¬ 
els. No manure is applied to this crop. The pota¬ 
toes have been sold at from 50 to 621 cents per 
bushel. The crop has generally more than paid all 
expenditures on the land, including clearing, culti¬ 
vation, &c. The second season, the land is sown to 
oats and clover, to which is added, on the more 
moist portions, timothy and red-top. The first crop 
of oats usually averages 40 bushels per acre. The 
clover is either mowed or pastured with sheep— 
sometimes mowed the first year and pastured the 
second. It is then, usually, plowed again, 15 loads 
(30 bushels to the load,) of rotted manure applied 
to the acre, and planted to corn, potatoes or tur- 
neps. The best portions are taken for corn, and 
the average yield of this grain has been 40 to 45 
bushels per acre, and in one instance, 63 bushels per 
acre were obtained. The yield of turneps has been 
from 400 to 550 bushels per acre. Last year, not¬ 
withstanding the prolonged drouth, seven acres 
gave 2,800 bushels. The land is then laid down 
with oats, clover and grass seeds. The second 
course of crops—that is, after the land has been once 
in clover—is usually better than the first. Ten 
acres of oats in one instance gave 610 bushels—or 
61 bushels per acre. The weight per bushel last 
year, when oats were generally light, was 35 lbs. 
The crop of clover has been from one to two tons 
per acre—the best portions yielding, at the second 
course, fully two tons. 
Sheep, (South Downs,) are the principal stock 
kept on the farm. There were last year 120 head 
of sheep, two oxen, two cows, and three horses. 
This stock did not consume all the hay, ten or twelve 
tons being carried off the farm. The turneps are 
fed, in quantities according to the condition and cir¬ 
cumstances of the sheep—-ewes with lamb and such 
as suckle, receiving the greatest allowance. Clover 
hay, passed through a cutting machine, is their dry 
food in winter. 
This farm is generally rather level; but there are 
many knolls of greater or less height. The level 
part is not subject to become very dry, except at 
the surface; the knolls are lighter, and in some in¬ 
stances the soil is liable to be moved by winds. Af¬ 
ter they have once been set in clover and pastured 
with sheep, they remain stationary. Where clear¬ 
ings have latterly been made, the lightest knolls, 
where the soil would be most likely to be blown, 
have been left in trees, and the underbrush being 
removed, these little groves, covering the principal 
eminences, give the fields a picturesque and park¬ 
like appearance. 
An experiment was tried in feeding off turneps 
with sheep, in the fall, on two acres of some of the 
lightest of this land. The sheep were put on in 
November, and when they had cleared off the crop, 
the ground was plowed. The next spring, it was 
sown to barley, and the yield was 42 bushels per 
acre. The only manure was the fifteen loads per 
acre for the turneps, and what was left by the sheep 
while feeding them off. The soil was much com¬ 
pacted by the tread of the sheep and enriched by 
the manure and urine—the benefit of the course be¬ 
ing seen in all the succeeding crops. The soil be¬ 
came well swarded with clover and grasses, and 
still retains its tenacity. 
Mr. Mel. considers clover, turneps and sheep, the 
chief instruments of improvement for this land. It 
is certain that the land grows richer, produces lar¬ 
ger crops, and supports more stock per acre under 
his system. The farm has derived little benefit 
from foreign manures. The application of manures 
purchased in the city, was once tried, but, with the 
cost of transportation, was found to be too expen¬ 
sive. Care has been taken, however, to save every 
thing which could be converted into manure on the 
farm. 
One considerable advantage of this soil is, that 
when crops are fairly started, they are comparative¬ 
ly sure, whatever may be the season as to wetness 
or dryness. They are not likely to suffer seriously 
either from excess or deficiency of moisture. The 
large average product of Mr. Mcl.’s farm, is owing 
in a great degree to this fact. So constant has been 
the growth of herbage on this farm through the sea¬ 
son, that even in our extreme drouths, the pastures 
have supported from four to six sheep per acre. 
We might refer to other examples of the profita¬ 
ble cultivation of this kind of land—especially to 
some tracts devoted to the production of vegetables 
for market—but the length of this article renders it 
necessary to defer further accounts till another oc¬ 
casion. 
Agricultural UHacuasions. 
Wheat Culture. 
The discussion in relation to the culture of wheat, 
which took place at Albany, at one of the weekly 
meetings held during the past winter, brought out 
some useful facts which we think are not generally 
known, and their insertion in our pages may interest 
and benefit our readers. 
Mr. Brewer, of Tompkins county, said he had 
cultivated wheat for more than twenty years, and 
would give some of the results of his experience. 
A part of his farm, which in 1830 was an open com¬ 
mon, has been wholly devoted to wheat and clover 
since that time—Laving produced thirteen crops of 
wheat and eight of clover. The soil is rather a gra¬ 
velly loam. His farm is on one of the hills, towards 
the head of Cayuga Lake, which it is said were 
burned over by the Indians every year. He had 
made various experiments in plowing at different 
depths—from three inches to seven inches—and has 
always had the best crops where the furrows have 
been the shallowest. Usually plows but once for 
wheat; has sometimes plowed in May, but had no 
better crops than when he plowed in September, just 
before sowing. The yields he had obtained were 
from sixteen to twenty-six bushels per acre. On 
new land—stiff* soils for instance—it might be ne¬ 
cessary to plow more than once for a wheat crop, 
and in such cases it might be better to plow deep 
the first time. 
Mr. B. stated that he had made some trials with 
various quantities of seed per acre, as 1{, If, 2 and 
2\ bushels, and had usually got the best returns 
from the latter quantity; that is, 2\ bushels of seed 
had given from 2 to 3 bushels more yield per acre 
than 2 bushels of seed, and 6 bushels more than 1| 
bushels seed. He had not been plagued with rust 
but once in twenty years. Was seldom annoyed 
with the Hessian fly or with the wheat midge; but 
the wheat has often been much injured by these in¬ 
sects in vallies, when it was not noticed on the hills. 
Has commenced sowing wheat in drills; sowed a 
