344 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Oct. 
fourth of a rod square, leaving a walk of about 7 
inches between them; they were numbered and sub¬ 
divided as follows: No. 1, in squares inches each 
way; No. 2, about 2 inches; No. 3, a little short of 
3 inches; No. 4, 3^ inches, including the outside 
lines of each bed. Then with the thumb and finger 
I carefully dropped a kernel of wheat in the corner 
of each small square, of No. 1 and 2; then, with a 
stick prepared for the purpose, I placed each grain 
l-§ inches below the surface, and then with the head 
of a rake made the surface entirely smooth. On 
Monday, 25th, I planted Nos. 3 and 4 in the same 
manner; they were all planted with the Soule’s va¬ 
riety of wheat—the seed dry, without any prepara¬ 
tion. The soil is a clay loam, with a slight inclina¬ 
tion to the north and north-west, and fully exposed 
to the winds from those directions. I used no ferti¬ 
lizers, except a little Gypsum ; on 17th of May . while 
sowing on the rest of the field, I gave the bed a 
slight coating at the rate of from 1^ to 2 bushels per 
acre. Harvested July 25th, 1849, with a hand cradle 
and bound it in sheaves and carried it into the barn 
in about two weeks. The parcels carefully shelled 
and kept separate. On the 22d August, each par¬ 
cel was weighed separately, by sealed scales, the re¬ 
sult of which may be found in the annexed table. 
On the 17th of December, 3 oz. were weighed in 
sealed scales, and by counting all the grains weighed, 
I found that there were 800 grains in an ounce. An 
estimate of the amount of seed planted is made from 
this data, as well as the average product from each. 
No. 1.—Number of grains planted 4,488; weight 
of product in pounds and ounces, 6 lbs. 8 oz; amount 
of seed sown per acre, 3 bu. 45 lbs.; yield per acre 
in bushels, 69 bu. 20 lbs. 
No. 2.—Number of grains planted, 2,525; weight 
of product in lbs. and oz., 5 lbs. 9-§ oz.; amount of 
seed sown per acre, 2 bu. 6 lbs.; yield per acre in 
bushels, 59 bu. 40 lbs. 
No. 3.—Number of grains planted 1,206; weight 
of product in lbs. and oz., 4 lbs. 12 oz.; amount of 
seed sown per acre, 1 bu; yield per acre in bushels, 
50 bu. 40 lbs. 
No. 4.—Number of grains planted, 870; weight 
of product in lbs. and oz., 4 lbs. 4 oz.; amount of 
seed sown per acre, 43| lbs.; yield per acre in bush¬ 
els, 45 bu. 20 lbs. 
66 Notes on American Farming.” 
The March and July numbers of the Scottish Quar¬ 
terly Journal of Agriculture contain several pages 
under this head, purporting to have been written by 
an Englishman who has spent some time in travel¬ 
ling in this country, and particularly noticing its ag¬ 
riculture. His remarks, in general, are expressed 
in a kindly spirit, and we think he intended to give a 
fair view of our farming, as he saw it; though he 
has, nevertheless, fallen into occasional errors—the 
result, perhaps, of limited observation, and the want 
of practical knowledge, in some instances, of the 
subjects on which he speaks. We make some ex¬ 
tracts, both for the purpose of correcting errors, and 
to show how some of our resources and products, as 
w r ell as some of our customs, strike the mind of a 
stranger. In regard to the cultivation of fruit in 
this country, the writer says: 
“ In scarcely any department of cultivation has 
there been such a decided improvement as in that of 
fruit. At present, throughout the whole Union, 
there is quite an excitement in the object of raising 
fine fruits. Numerous societies have been formed 
for the purpose of giving encouragement to cultiva¬ 
tors, and not a few of the pages of the agricultural 
papers are devoted to accounts of improvements, and 
of new fruits raised. It is the general opinion that 
the time is not far distant when the export of fruit 
will exceed in amount (that is to say, if there is a 
demand for it) that of any article of export. 
“ To judge of the value and importance of this 
crop to the agriculturists of the States, it must be 
remembered, that what we have been describing as 
the flourishing condition of only one State is but the 
type of others. In the Northern States there are 
numberless orchards, not only of pear and apple, but 
of peach and other fruit trees. ‘There are peach 
orchards in New Jersey and Delaware occupying 
upwards of a hundred acres each. There is one at 
Reyboid’s, covering a thousand acres. The crops of 
this latter orchard are so large as to give constant 
employment to two steamboats and a schooner in 
conveying the fruit to market.’ And attached to 
almost every farm there is a large or small orchard. 
One of the most striking curiosities of New-York, in 
the fruit season, is the various steam and sailing 
boats bringing their freights to the market. Last 
year we frequently went to the markets, and were 
abundantly repaid for the trouble. We certainly 
never expect to scg such a gorgeous display of fruit 
again. As might be expected from the statements 
we have given, fruit is everywhere cheap. Peaches, 
large, luscious, three a-penny of our money; some 
particularly large, one and two cents, sometimes 
four cents a-piece—the latter would have been 
charged a shilling or two here. The crop of apples 
was last year considered a failure, and yet we have 
bought three beautiful ones for a cent. No one in 
this country can have an idea of the amazingly rich 
flavour of some kinds of American apples. Those so 
highly prized here, as real Americans, convey no 
idea of the best quality of fruit to be obtained for a 
mere trifle in the fruit-growing States.” 
The writer seems highly pleased with most of our 
farm implements. He says: 
“ The agricultural implements in the United 
States are much lighter in construction than in this 
country, the plows particularly so. These are 
well adapted for the peculiarities of the land. It 
would be impossible to plow land recently cleared, 
with all the stumps and roots scattered here and 
there, with the heavy plows of this country. It is 
astonishing to see how easily the farmer turns aside 
from the stumps ; and even should he fall foul of one, 
the plough is so light, that he can fillip it past the 
obstruction very easily. Old Country farmers are 
disposed to find fault with them, but they are soon 
taught to perceive that they are very well adapted 
to the kind of labour they have to perform. With 
reference to other implements, the same rule holds. 
The hay-forks are amazingly light and handy: a 
young boy can easily use them. Scythes, hatchets, 
&c., are all made exceedingly light and portable, 
and in this we think the Yankees show real wisdom. 
There was no real utility to be gained by having 
huge heavy instruments to deal with. A farmer who 
had had, both in this country and in America, much 
experience as a hard-working man, told us that the 
result of his experience was, that more work could be 
done in the same space of time, and with less of fa¬ 
tigue, with the Yankee tools than with those of this 
country. The axes used for felling trees are very 
light: we must confess that, at first sight, we 
thought that heavier heads would have been better; 
but a sight of the execution they performed in good 
hands, on the sturdy sons of the forest, soon showed 
us our mistake. The ‘horse rake’ is almost univer¬ 
sally used for gathering the hay off the fields, and 
forming it into ‘cocks.’ There is scarcely such a 
thing as reaping corn by hooks, as here performed, 
