THE CULTIVATOR. 
FARMING IN VERMONT. 
In the month of May last, we hail the pleasure of 
making an excursion to the “ Green Mountain State.-’ 
To one who, like the writer, has been for several years 
accustomed mostly to the comparatively level surface of 
a portion of the “ great valley” of the west, the physical 
features of Vermont are striking and impressive. The 
different geological character o 1 the two sections, forms 
a wide contrast in their surface and aspect—the primitive 
region we have lately visited, being, to the traveller ca¬ 
pable of appreciating the attractions of nature, much the 
most interesting. There is, it is true, beauty of surface 
to be met with in the west—the “rolling” prairie, the 
shady “ openings,” and in other sections the dark prime¬ 
val forests, are certainly beautiful; but the scenery sel¬ 
dom, if ever, rises to the grand and sublime. In the 
west, the elevated portions of the surface have but little 
variety; what are called hills appearing to have been 
formed by gulleys having been washed by rains from a 
surface originally uniform, leaving the tops of the hills 
on a general level. Here, the upheavings of the earth 
have given to its surface an almost endless variation, with 
elevations of different altitude, from the green hill, 
whose grassy sides, even in the most sultry heats of 
summer, are freshened by the ever-gushing fountain, to 
the hoary mountain, whose lofty summit arrests the 
•career of the storm-cloud.' 
The natural circumstances of Vermont, mark it parti¬ 
cularly as a grazing region. Its mountainous surface is 
unfavorable to the extensive use of the plow and the 
large cultivation of grain crops; while the richness 
and permanency of its pastures, the abundance of pure 
water, and the healthfulness of the atmosphere, show its 
admirable adaptedness to the rearing of horses, cattle, 
and sheep. The advantages of water which a hilly or 
mountainous country affords, are too often overlooked, 
or not duly valued. We have passed through sections 
where the farmers, during a drouth of not unusual conti¬ 
nuance were obliged to drive their stock miles for water, 
and even then were forced to raise the water by a slow 
and laborious process from a deep well. If the Vermont 
farmers should be placed for a while in such a situation, 
they would be able to form some idea of the worth of 
their numerous springs and mountain rivulets. 
The time allotted to our excursion was so short as to 
preclude the possibility of particularly examining a very 
large portion of the State. Our observations were con¬ 
fined chiefly to the counties of Addison and Chittenden, 
which are situated on the west side of the principal 
Green mountain range, bordering on Lake Champlain, 
and comprising, perhaps, the most fertile portion of 
Vermont. Under their appropriate heads, we propose 
to speak briefly of the different subjects to which our at¬ 
tention was attracted. 
Soil.— A considerable portion of the soil of this dis¬ 
trict may be said to be a calcareous clay, often strongly 
tenacious, based on what geologists term transition or 
Silurian limestone. This is more particularly the cha¬ 
racter of the valleys and lower parts of the district. 
The soil of the hills and higher parts, lying above the 
limestone, has in its composition a larger proportion of 
sand, and of course partakes also of the nature of the 
slaty rocks of which the hills are formed. In most cases 
gypsum operates well on these soils. We learned a re¬ 
markable instance of its effects from Mr. Rodman 
Chapman, of Vergennes. He had some casks of plaster 
which had been w’et in a freshet, hauled out on some 
barren clay knolls, and spread over the ground. The 
effect was to clothe the ground with the most luxuriant 
growth of W'hite clover, blue-grass, and yellow trefoil— 
a plant or two of the latter having come up accidentally, 
from which it was spread over nearly the whole field. 
The sward on the lot, (which we examined,) is still fine, 
and the product of herbage great. 
Cultivation_ As before remarked, the plow is not 
extensively used in this section of country—the object 
of farmers being generally to raise only about the quan¬ 
tity of grain and vegetables required for home consump¬ 
tion. It is, however, stated by those best qualified to 
know, that Addison county produced last year a conside¬ 
SM9 
rable surplus of bread-stuffs, beyond supplying the inha¬ 
bitants. Wheat has been less cultivated since 1830, than 
formerly, owing to the attack of the wheat midge, ( Ce- 
cidomyia tritici.) For the last two or three years, this 
insect has been diminishing, and a knowledge of this fact 
encouraged the farmers to sow this grain more extensively 
last season than they had done for several years before. 
Spring wheat is the kind generally sown—winter wheat 
being less certain to yield well. But since it has been 
ascertained that the injurious insect before mentioned is 
diminishing, some farmers have concluded to try winter 
wheat, and we were shown several small lots which were 
very promising. The Black-sea spring wheat is consi¬ 
dered most hardy, and on (his account has commonly the 
preference. Vield, twenty to forty bushels per acre. 
Indian Corn is cultivated with success on some of 
the lighter and warmer soils. On the best lands, ami with 
good cultivation, it frequently yields sixty, and sometimes 
eighty bushels per acre. We were shown many sam¬ 
ples of this grain which were as bright and heavy as we 
ever saw. Mr. S. W. Jewett has a variety, which, for 
a northern latitude, we think highly superior. It is a 
twelve-rowed corn, but has been greatly improved by 
selection. The cob is small, and completely covered 
with corn, packed in the closest possible manner. Oats 
are a sure crop, and produce from forty to seventy-five 
bushels to the acre. 
Potatoes flourish remarkably well, and are of superior 
quality. The yield is two hundred to five hundred 
bushels per acre. They are in some instances raised for 
the purpose of fattening stock, and for feeding sheep and 
store cattle through the winter. Those who have tried 
potatoes for this purpose speak very highly of them. 
Other vegetables are in some instances cultivated for 
feeding stock, Mr. W. Chapman, of Middlebury, is 
much in favor of the sugar-beet. He has tried it for 
store stock, and to some extent for fattening cattle. In 
February, 1842, he killed a heifer, fatted wholly on beets 
and hay, two years and nine months old, which weighed, 
dressed, 838 pounds, and had 135 pounds loose tallow. 
Mr. C. contends that beef fatted on this root is much 
more sweet, tender and juicy, than when fatted with meal. 
We observed that it is a very uniform practice in this 
district to manure the ground intended for corn and pota¬ 
toes very heavily. Where, from the nature of the soil 
or the dearness of labor, (as is the case here,) it is inex¬ 
pedient to cultivate much land, we believe this to be the 
true course. It takes but little more labor to cultivate an 
acre which is made so rich that it will yield sixty or 
seventy bushels of corn, or four hundred bushels of po¬ 
tatoes, than to cultivate one that will produce only half 
as much. We noticed that the manure from stables and 
sheep-pens was spread very thick over the ground and 
plowed in with a deep furrow. If it were not for the 
fact that the quantity of manure used is so great that it is 
difficult to bury it or mix it properly with the soil, we 
should say it was plowed in too deep. We are in favor 
of deep tillage for general purposes; but there are two 
ways of performing it—deep plowing with the common 
plow, and using the sub-soil plow in the furrow after the 
common one. Where the sub-soil is cold and wet, we 
decidedly prefer using the sub-soil plow. Where the 
sub-soil is so composed that pulverization and aration 
are only required to render it fertile, it may be an ad¬ 
vantage to break and bring it to the surface by the com¬ 
mon plow. We feel confident, however, that in the 
region of which we are speaking, the sub-soil plow 
might be used in many cases with excellent effect. 
Buildings, Barn-yards, Fences, &c. —The build¬ 
ings through this district are generally in good repair. 
Many of the houses are of a superior style—are conve¬ 
nient and well finished, and are sometimes tastefully 
ornamented with trees and shrubbery. Less care and 
judgment is generally shown about the barns and out¬ 
buildings. In planning and locating these, convenience, 
taste, and economy, seem to have been too often disre¬ 
garded. The improvident waste of manures from this 
cause, is in some instances a glaring defect in farm 
management. Though the land is generally good, na¬ 
turally, it is not all uniformly so, neither has it been 
equally well managed; and we saw some fields where 
