THE CULTIVATOR. 
$n 
slops, the best food for sheep dropping lambs in winter; and 
the condition of those on hand went far to prove it. As some 
criterion of the price of land in this vicinity, I learnt the sale 
of a two hundred acre farm, about 80 improved, 60 timber and 
balance unenclosed prairie, with very moderate buildings for 
$2500—the seller being bound for that new “Eldorado,” of our 
restless population, the Oregon territory. 
At Magnolia, I saw the first sugar maple; the timber north¬ 
ward being mostly oak. Upon Mr. Patterson’s land, I also wit¬ 
nessed the astonishing increase of timber, when kept from fire 
—a matter not sufficiently thought of in this country—a country 
where tens of thousands of acres of rich soil can never be fenc¬ 
ed except by growing the materials. 
From Magnolia to Washington, I passed over some poor, un¬ 
even, barren, much uncultivated prairie, few and poor mill 
streams, through the very poor county town of Woodford co. 
(so named perhaps to indicate that the county is not all prai¬ 
rie) to the latter town, which lies about 10 miles east of Peo¬ 
ria. where I saw a large steam mill in operation, and a very 
extensive pork house, and other evidences of a prosperous state 
of things. Here after many days of beautiful winter weather, 
I encountered in the afternoon of January 11th, a furious snow 
storm with a head wind too strong to beat up against, which 
drove me into quarters with a homesick Kentuckian, who was 
long-'ng to return to his {I own native land”—and here, after 
our * ambling ride, my dear readers, we will rest until the mor¬ 
row when you shall again “ go ahead” with your old friend. 
SOLON ROBINSON. 
IMPROVEMENT OF AN OLD FARM. 
Lather Tucker, Esq —The January number of your 
new series has been received, and I should be deficient 
in gratitude to your able contributors, were I to omit the 
opportunity to express the obligation I owe them for the 
valuable information contained in this publication. A 
single article therein has benefited me now, more than 
the cost of several years subscription. During years gone 
by, when your publication was issued from Rochester, 
most of my substantial ideas of farming were acquired by 
a perusal of its page-3; and these old volumes are pre¬ 
served and referred to yet, on many occasions, for prac¬ 
tical information that I could not otherwise obtain. 
I am disposed io contribute to your periodical my share 
of observation and knowledge of agricultural subjects as 
justly due to it, but the ground is so completely occupied 
by abler hands, that I can do but little more than cor¬ 
roborate the great value and practical utility of the plans 
laid down to increase the fertility of the soil, and improve ; 
the manner of its cultivation. But inasmuch as a state¬ 
ment of the method I pursued to produce the same results 
(though brief, imperfect and a repetition of that which! 
has been better detailed) maybe an encouragement toi 
some of your new subscribers to proceed at once to the 
improvement of their farms, I will endeavor to lay it 
before them. 
Sev en years ago my wife and I came into possession of 
about seventy acres of land. The soil naturally would 
rank as second quality in this part of Pennsylvania, but 
was much reduced in fertility, and sadly out of order, by 
bad farming, continued during a series of years, and the 
last fourteen in the hands of yearly tenants, the last of 
whom paid one hundred dollars a year, and frequently 
claimed an abatement of that. The soil generally inclines 
to a yeliow or reddish clay, with occasional stony ridg-es 
of sandy loam, the whole based upon a subsoil of im 
permeable red clay. In wet weather this soil becomes 
saturated with water, and during the winter and early 
spring, when mid-day thaws alternate with freezing 
nights, clover and other taprooted plants are thrown out 
of the ground, and generally perish. 
The fences on this property were in a decayed state; 
not one good panel could be found, but briers, elder, 
sassafras, cherry, noxious weeds and stones, occupied 
both sides of every fence. On the ridges, red sand rocks, 
from the size of a stove to a bake-oven, were obstructions 
to farming, and in spots small stones were so numerous as 
to throw the plow out when in the best hands. Briers, 
garlic, St. Johnswort, yarrow, wild carrot, and every 
other noxious weed in this part of the country abounded 
in the fields; and to add to the evils of this bad system of 
farming, the water from the public road and the adjacent 
higher ground, ran through the dung yard, leaching the 
manure of its fertilizing principles, and carrying its best 
substance to waste in the nearest mill-dam, leaving fifty 
or sixiy loads of light, strawy substance, to supply the 
exhaustion of the cropped soil. Ten bushels of wheat, 
twelve of rye, fifteen of corn, and one ton of rough field 
hay per acre, may be set down as its produce in a favor¬ 
able season. 
The experienced reader will believe this picture too 
highly colored until I mention one encouraging feature 
on this farm, which alone enabled its occupant to pay 
any rent at all. About eight acres formed a valley, 
through which ran a small but constant stream of water. 
Half a century ago artificial channels were dug at the 
proper level, along both sides of its banks, for this stream 
to flow in, enclosing about that quantity of ground, which 
could be watered at pleasure, and with due attention could 
be made to produce two tons or more of hay to the acre, 
making the most valuable kind of provender for milch 
cows. 
On taking possession of this land, my partner afore¬ 
mentioned and I sat down to calculate the cost of making 
the necessary improvement to bring this land into a pro¬ 
fitable condition. We borrowed five hundred dollars, 
land commenced working. We enlarged our garden to 
jan ample size, and enclosed it with a good picket fence. 
I enlarged my hog pens to contain thirty or forty two 
jhorse loads of manure; had many loads of small stones 
'hauled from the fields into the roads, and breaks made 
[across the road, with inlets for the water into the sod 
[fields, and open ditches or covered drains to carry the 
excess off; plowed the road down below the barn and 
filled up around the dung yard, so as to turn the water off 
the manure; next cleared the meadow of all obstructions 
of wood, stone, or unsightly heaps of earth, harrowed 
the surface with a sharp and loaded harrow, sowed timo- 
Jthy seed, opened the ditches on the sides and the middle 
[of the meadow, and spread the water evenly over its 
jsurface; then moved the fences, grubbed the headlands; 
chopped level with the ground every tree not useful for 
[fruit, shade or ornament; collected the bones of animals 
[and oyster shells, and on heaps of briers or brush reduced 
[them to cinders, applied this as a top dressing to poor 
[spots of sward; applied thirty or forty bushels of fresh 
slaked lime to every acre of arable land, and about one- 
half has a second dressing of the same amount applied; 
have taken up, split, and carted to convenient places for 
building wall, every rock in the way of farming; have 
enclosed the land and divided the fields with substantial 
fencing, and planted about two hundred and fifty grafted 
fruit trees; and lastly, but not least in importance, I 
made during the last year upwards of two hundred two 
horse loads of good manure. 
Now, what is the result in figures of this system 
of farming? Book farming, if you choose to call it 
so. Last summer fattened six steers on grass, (that I 
fed the previous winter on straw and corn fodder,) and 
jsold them to the butcher in hay-making; fattened and 
I sold forty-three sheep, one-third of them my own rais¬ 
ing; sold one fresh cow, also my own raising; sold four 
hundred pounds of chickens, besides a lot of other poul¬ 
try; sold seven barrels of vinegar; butchered four hun¬ 
dred and fifty pounds of corn fed beef, and one thousand 
nine hundred and fifty pounds of pork, also my own 
raising; sold fifty bushels of early potatoes, and sell about 
eight pounds of butter weekly the year round; raiseu 
one two year old and one three year old colt; made the 
last season, though a dry one, one ton and a half of 
clover and two tons of clear timothy hay to the acre, and 
raised twenty bushels of wheat, thirty-eight bushels of 
oats, and thirty-three bushels of corn per acre, each. 
In presenting this statement of improvement in ex¬ 
hausted land, I claim no particular merit; it has been 
done by application of the principles again and again laid 
down in your valuable paper; and I doubt not that in the 
hands of an experienced farmer greater improvement 
would have been made. Enough however is done, to 
justify me to present it to your readers, as proof of what 
may be done to renovate impoverished soil, and make it 
profitable. Agricolaris. 
Coventry, Chester co., Pa., Jan. 23, 1845. 
Mammoth Hog. —Hiram Duell, of Hebron, N. Y., it is 
said has gone to Boston with a live hog, which is two 
and a half years old and weighs 1,548 pounds. 
