THE CULTIVATOR. 
205 
feet square, 12 or 14 high, weather boarded, and covered 
with cypress shingles. 
Mr. Patterson commences on the poor worn out land 
by spreading two hundred bushels of lime per acre, 
(measured at the kiln unslacked,) on the surface, and lets 
it remain two or three years. Then breaks it up and 
puts whatever dung he can muster, anil plants in corn. 
The following is his system of rotation:—First year, 
corn; second year, oats, rye or wheat, and clover sowed 
in the spring; third year, clover, first year mowed, se¬ 
cond crop left on the ground; fourth year, clover either 
left on the ground or moderately grazed; fifth year, 
wheat, timothy sowed with the wheat; sixth year, timo¬ 
thy mowed; seventh year, timothy mowed; eighth year, 
grazed; ninth year, grazed, and top dressed the last four 
years. Top dressing he prefers to plowing in the ma¬ 
nure of any kind. Lime, he thinks, acts slowly, and does 
not show much the first year or two, and should be always 
applied to grass , and not on fallow. Much of this land 
is now in a high state of cultivation—producing 20 to 
30 bushels wheat, 60 to 80 bushels corn, and two to 
three tons hay, per acre. The contrast between this farm 
and some of the adjoining land is wonderful! The one 
green, and luxuriant in crops; the other barren, and de¬ 
void of vegetation, having no green thing except a few 
low running briars. 
This land was also very stony. With the stones Mr. 
P. has turnpiked several roads across his farm, which 
enables him to haul wood, lime, ami manure in wet 
weather. He has also applied a portion of these stone 
(to making drains. He makes drains by cutting a ditch 
four feet deep, and filling two feet with fine broken 
stones. Swamps and swails heretofore useless, are now 
made dry, and are among the most productive parts of 
his land. The fences are in primeorder-—the few worm: 
fences that he has, are eleven rails high, staked antlj 
ridered, and six feet worm. The greater part are post 
anil post and rails—upwards of ten thousand pannel— 
posts of mountain locust. A few chestnut posts he has 
been compelled to use, and these he protects from decay 
by filling round with stone, which drain the water ra¬ 
pidly off'. 
His barns, where the greater part of the cattle and 
hogs are fed in the winter, are situated on two opposite 
knolls, and drains are so arranged as to convey the wash 
from both to permanent meadows adjoining. 
His stock is all of the most approved kind, and pure 
in blood. Of horses, there are several full blood mares, j 
of high pedigree and beauty. “Mary Randolph,” a! 
superb mare of rare good points, a gray, has a filly one! 
year old, the handsomest creature I ever saw. He has 
in all some twenty-five or thirty fine horses of various 
ages. At present, he is about crossing these mares with 
a large well formed horse, a cross of the Canadian— 
similar to the Morgan horse—with the view of increas¬ 
ing the size more suitable for carriage or draft horses. 
His herd of Devon cattle, about sixty in number, are a 
rare lot. I had heard of the Devon cattle, and seen the 
prints representing them; but I had no idea of their 
beauty. The prints, or some of them, are carricatures, 
at least of Mr. Patterson’s best cattle. His bull “Eclipse,” 
imported two or three years since, now five years old, is 
a perfect gem, the best bull of any stock, not excepting! 
my old favorites, the Durhams, that I have ever seen. 
The cows have fine shaped and well developed udders, 
and must be good milkers. Mr. Patterson says they give 
rich milk, and a good deal of it. He has bred his stock 
with that object, and selected the best milking families. 
They have size enough—the bull would weigh 1000 lbs. 
nett beef—the cows are also large enough. They have 
fine shaped yellow noses, with a ring of the same round 
the eye—all uniform as so many peas. What will you 
think if I tell you that this will become the favorite 
stock before many years ? The beef, you know, is cele-l 
brated for its fine quality, being so evenly mixed, fat and! 
lean, instead of laying the fat on the surface. 
Here I also saw upwards of seventy Berkshire store 
hogs —hog fat, in the clover field—and as many sucking 
pigs, intended for next year. The sows are allowed but 
one litter each year, and they all have pigs in May. Mr. 
P. has a fine flock of sheep—some full blood Downs 
from the flocks of Mr. Rotch, N. Y., and Cope, of Penn¬ 
sylvania. 
Every thing is done here in the best manner, and all 
the stock is of the best, without regard to price. The 
whole establishment is well worth one hundred thousand 
dollars. I have not done credit in the description. Mr. 
Patterson manages the farm himself—has no white man 
on the place but himself, and is a pattern in indus¬ 
try and frugality, even to Pennsylvania farmers. His 
neighbors are beginning to follow his example in the 
use of lime. A few years hence will have completed 
Mr. Patterson’s plans of improvement, and then he will 
have the best farm in Maryland. 
Isaac Dillon. 
Eutaw House, Baltimore , 20 th May, 1845. 
THE LAKE COUNTY SAND WASHED OUT OF 
SOLON ROBINSON’S EYES. 
Mr. Editor —My object in writing is, to correct some 
remarks in the April No. of the Cultivator, page 125, 
by Solon Robinson, touching this place, which, from the 
known character of your correspondent, as well as that 
of the Cultivator, we in this place feel is calculated to 
do us much injustice. We do not charge Mr. R. with 
intentional misrepresentation; but this does not alter the 
effect his remarks are calculated to have upon many of 
your readers to the injury of this place. We would say, 
however, that he .must have been misinformed, or have 
formed his opinion of the people without knowing their 
character; and as to some other remarks of his, we think 
he must have had his eyes shut, or filled with Lake 
county sand, for had his vision been clear he would have 
received other impressions. He says “this place is 
located upon good prairie;” which is correct; but how 
he could say “inconvenient to mills,” we suckers think 
mighty strange. A steam saw mill, also a flouring mill, 
has been in full operation for some four years within 
fifty rods of where Mr. R. lodged. 
Mr. R. seems wonderfully taken up with the yankees, 
but just tell him we are all suckers here, although w« 
came, some from old, some from New England, some 
from New Jersey, and some from old Kaintuck, fol-ming 
a compound that finds it may be equal, yet not superioi 
in industry, intelligence and virtue. Your correspondent 
says we never read agricultural papers here. For his 
information I will state that there are 28 copies of the 
Cultivator and Prairie Farmer taken at this office, and as 
money does not grow on bushes even in this productive 
land, it is not reasonable to suppose that we take these 
merely for waste paper. 
This place was first settled about the same time as 
Bunker Hill; and I will say that “in this eight year old 
settlement” we now have three public schools in this 
village, one of from forty to fifty scholars three-fourth's 
of a mile distant, two Sabbath schools, two meeting 
houses and worship in each every Sabbath; a temper¬ 
ance society, with 147 signatures to the pledge; a Bible 
society which has sold and distributed nearly 350 copies 
of the New and Old Testament, since January, ’44. We 
have two public houses where the weary can find rest. 
Intoxicating liquor is not sold in the village, nor nearer 
than Bunker Hill, that I am aware of. There are seven¬ 
ty-five subscribers to newspapers and periodicals at this 
office. These are facts, Mr. R.; but not the half that might 
be said. You did not observe those shade trees by the 
road side and around our dwellings—eh? and those fruit 
trees in our gardens and orchards? did not notice our Dur¬ 
ham cattle—our flocks of sheep; cal! on us next lime, and 
let us take you by the hand, and let. us show you some of 
our orchards, grass lots, barns, good horses; more scholars 
at school, and more readers of agricultural papers than 
there is in some of the oldest settlements in the state 
where the population is double. 
I will dose this epistle, Mr. Editor, after calling your 
attention and that of the public to a review by a subscri¬ 
ber, in the April No. of the Prairie Farmer, of remark** 
made in the March No., same paper, by Mr. Robinsou 
Jona. Huggins, p. m 
Woodburn, Macoupin county, III., May 12, 1845. 
