94 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
March 
well as their cattle if they would have it productive; 
and that true economy consists in highly cultivating 
smaller quantities of land, by deep plowing and ma¬ 
nuring, rather than running over a large quantity of 
land with slight tillage. 
“ A little farm well tilled. A large barn well filled. 
A little wife well willed, Give me, give me.” 
This lesson is one our farmers have been slow to learn. 
While it has been their practice in cultivating their 
gardens to resort to thorough tillage, and, as a conse¬ 
quence, they produce more from them than from any 
other equal portion of their land : in the raising of field 
crops the hint thus given them has been entirely neg¬ 
lected. It is supposed that the fruit and kitchen gar¬ 
dens in the vicinity of the city of London, occupy 
20,000 acres of land, and that the produce of this land 
is sold for over $7,000,000, while in the most favored 
portions of farming lands in our own country, $500,000 
would generally be considered a good product for the 
same quantity of land. Knowledge and experience 
will in time correct the errors into which our farmers 
have fallen in regard to" cultivating their lands, and 
even now I think I see a bright prospect for the future, 
in the formation of agricultural associations, in the cir¬ 
culation of agricultural papers, and other periodicals; 
in the improvement of the farm stock; in the improved 
tillage and drainage of lands; and above all, in the in¬ 
creased attention given to the saving and use of ma¬ 
nures. When these come to be well understood and 
practiced, we may confidently expect to see farms of 
40 and 60 acres producing more, and returning abetter 
and more certain profit to the farmer, than farms now 
do which contain many additional acres. Oneida. 
Varieties of Wheat. 
We have been experimenting 1 ' some in the wheat line, 
having procured from Philadelphia, in the fall of 1846 
some of the celebrated “ Stewart,” or u Etrurian’’ 
wheat, and also some of the 11 White Blue-stem,” from 
Mr. Hunter, of Lycoming County, Pa., and some of 
the u Yellow Blue-stem” from our own neighborhood. 
The Stewart wheat is a fine grain, and has a long¬ 
head ; but we could not tell so well how it would suc¬ 
ceed, for the frost killed half or two-thirds of it. The 
other kinds stood the winter well; but the White Blue- 
stem is far the finest grain—has the longest head, and 
yielded a fourth more than the Yellow Blue-stem, al¬ 
though sowed side by side, on the same kind of ground. 
In fact, the White Blue-stem is with us every way 
equal to the Stewart wheat, without the danger of be¬ 
ing winter-killed. We have sowed no other kind this 
year, and have distributed the seed among our farmers. 
Subsoil Plowing. —We have been trying the subsoil 
plow on our hilly land,and find it will fully pay in pre¬ 
venting washes by rain, besides being very useful in oth¬ 
er respectsi It causes the soil to act somewhat on the 
sponge principle; that is, if the ground is made mellow 
twelve or fifteen inches deep, it absorbs the wafer that 
will fall in an ordinary rain; whereas if only three or 
four inches of the surface is loosened, as is generally 
the case, it is soon filled with water, and a sudden dash 
of rain washes the soil away, leaving the fields cut up 
in gullies. James L. Cox. Zanesville , O., Jan. *48. 
Good Hogs. 
Much is said about good and poor breeds of hogs. I 
am willing to admit that there is all the difference as¬ 
cribed, but the poorest breed that q man ever had is as 
good as any breed to many. I killed seven hogs this 
fall that averaged 455 lbs each. They were a year old 
last spring, except one, which was older, and weighed 
580 lbs. These are not the heaviest hogs I know, but 
lebreed is not extra, and there was no extra pains ta¬ 
ken in keeping them. I sold them at $5£ per hundred, 
when lighter ones brought $4.75 and $5. I have some 
pigs now feeding which were dropped last March, that 
if dressed, would weigh over 300 lbs. each; they have 
been only middling well kept—not extra. The grain 
that I fed my hogs, aside from the dairy refuse, (which 
was whey,) was worth here just about $80. E. P. 
Ingalls. Cape Vincent, N. Y., Jan., 1848. 
Hints for March. 
Cows and ewes, which are near the period of partu¬ 
rition, require attention. For three or four weeks be¬ 
fore they bring forth, their food should be of such a 
nature as will impart strength to them and their off¬ 
spring, and at the same time promote the secretion of 
milk. Brewer’s grains, where they can be obtained, 
are among the cheapest and best articles that can be 
used. They may be fed to cows at the rate of a peck 
for each cow, per day, before calving, and a lialf-bushel 
per day afterwards. Sheep may be fed from one quart 
to three quarts per day. Where the grains cannot be 
had, a little corn or oats, for sheep—say a pint of oats, 
or from a gill to a half pint of corn to each, per day, 
and for cows, corn meal, or meal from corn and oats; 
or corn and cob ground together, at the rate of front 
two to four quarts each per day, will be beneficial. A 
few carrots—say a peck to a cow, and a quart to a 
sheep, per day—will greatly favor the secretion of 
milk, and may be given with advantage in addition to 
the meal or corn. The best of hay should be provided. 
Clover, cut before it was too ripe, and so nicely made 
that none of its heads or leaves have been lost, and is 
free from mustiness and dust, is not inferior to any 
other hay, excepting for working horses and oxen. 
The animals should have dry and comfortable shelter, 
and should not be exposed to storms. 
March is the best month in the year for securing wood 
and timber. Wood should therefore be cut, split, and 
piled, that it may have the benefit of the drying winds 
which usually prevail during this month. 
Hot-beds, if not already made, should be formed at 
once. Directions for making will be found in our last 
volume, page 85—also in vol ix, (old series,) p. 55. 
Manures may be composted in this month, and will 
be sufficiently decomposed for use by the time they are 
wanted for spring crops. 
Oats may sometimes be sown in the latter part of 
this month or beginning of April. It is always advi¬ 
sable to sow them as early as practicable, or as soon 
as the ground is in a suitable state. The best varieties 
of the Irish and Scotch oats are very heavy, and from 
some trials made here with them, appear to exceed in 
yield and value the common oats of this country. The 
Hope-Town oat is one of the best kinds. It is early, 
hardy, and productive. An advertisement of seed of 
this variety will be found in this number. 
Agricultural Discussions, 
Weekly meetings for the discussion of agricultural 
subjects, have been held at the Capitol in this city, 
since the 12th of January last. They have generally 
been better attended, and have been carried on with 
more spirit than in former years—circumstances indi¬ 
cative of a growing interest in agricultural investiga¬ 
tion. This is evidently the case in most parts of the 
country. In Boston, where these meetings were com¬ 
menced nine years ago, they have been continually in¬ 
creasing in popular favor. v 
Considerable interest is evinced in the reports of 
these discussions, and we have had various inquiries in 
regard to their publication; but as our work is only is¬ 
sued monthly, it would be impracticable to give them 
as early as would be desired. Besides, the great press 
