298 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Oct. 
as it was laid on the heap, and soon after the work was 1 
completed, a powerful fermentation commenced; ear- t 
ly in the spring the heap was overhauled, and the 
animal matter was so thoroughly decomposed, that 1 
hardly a bone, of the size of a man’s hand, was found 1 
remaining. This compost was applied to about 1£ i 
acre; and the field planted to corn, which promises now i 
to yield a bountiful harvest. < 
Last season, ten or twelve stage-horses were taken i 
in to winter. They were turned loose into a yard, with * 1 
a large shed for shelter and a rack for feeding; and 1 
some 50 loads of muck were spread over the bottom to 
absorb their droppings. The contents of this place i 
were piled up under the shed, in the spring, and it is s 
now a black, free mass, of fine quality. ; 
The horse-barn has a cellar under the whole of it, ! 
which receives the horse-manure and all the wash of the i 
house, and into which muck, turf, &c., are thrown from : 
time to time, and the whole is worked over by the 1 
hogs. 
In these various ways, over 400 loads of manure have 
been made, which is now in a fine state of preservation 
for future use.—I have been thus particular in noticing 
the arrangement of these farmers for making manure, 
because in my estimation proper attention to this de¬ 
partment is the very starting-post in all good farming, 
certainly in this region of country. 
Field Cultivation. —About ten acres are broken 
up annually, on these farms, as deep as the plow can be 
made to run, heavily manured with compost and plant¬ 
ed, one year to corn and potatoes, and the next year 
stocked to grass with spring grain. The compost is 
spread on top of the furrows and harrowed in. The 
crops of corn and of spring grain are always good, and 
in favorable seasons often very heavy. A large bur¬ 
den of hay is cut, filling the spacious barns com¬ 
pletely. 
A field of second crop clover particularly attracted 
my attention; and on inquiry, I found that it had been 
broken up in the fall, three years since, to the depth of 
9 inches. The next spring, 40 loads of compost were 
spread on each acre and thoroughly harrowed in, and 
the whole planted to corn, the crop averaging 86 bush¬ 
els per acre, by actual measurement. The next spring, 
3 bushels of barley, with 5 bushel of herds-grass and 
16 pounds of clover seed were sown on each acre. The 
crop of barley was fine, and this year the soil is com¬ 
pletely filled wnth grass roots, not an inch of unoccu¬ 
pied space being visible, and the ground beautifully co¬ 
vered with the farmer’s best carpet. The second crop 
is already fit for the scythe, and will turn out a very 
heavy swath. 
The Messrs. Lynde are of opinion that true econo¬ 
my consists in sowing grass-seeds broadcast , with a li¬ 
beral hand; and as their land is thoroughly prepared to 
receive it, they in return harvest fine crops, both in 
quantity and quality. They are partial to the use of 
southern clover, as an ameliator of the soil, and esti¬ 
mate it highly as food for cattle, if sown thickly and 
properly cut and cured. Thby were formerly in the 
habit of fall-feeding their mowings, but of late years 
have abandoned the practice; believing the cattle’s feet 
to be more injurious than their mouths—particularly on 
the more recently seeded fields. 
Management of Wet Land. —Considerable atten¬ 
tion is now being paid to the improvement of their wet 
lands, of which they have a number of acres, the surface 
being quite broken into small knolls and hollows. These 
are levelled down smooth and the land diched and 
drained of superabundant moisture. The field is next 
planted to some hoed crop until subdued, and then laid 
down to grass, with a heavy seeding of herds-grass and 
red-top, designing to keep it in permanent mowing, by 
liberal top-dressings of compost. They are of opinion 
that this description of land may be made very produo 
tive and profitable by such cultivation. 
Feeding and cake of Stock. —None but the very 
best of animals are kept on these farms, and the same 
liberality is extended to them in feeding, that the land 
receive® in manuring. u Do well whatsoever is done/* 
is a favorite maxim with these farmers. In consequence 
of this system of feeding, their two-year-old cattle are 
as heavy as ordinary cattle at three years old. Their 
working oxen are sleek and well conditioned, requiring 
to be fed but a short time to fit them for the shambles. 
Their milch cows are the best the section affords, and 
are well eared for, both summer and winter; and, in 
short, no animal is suffered to lose ground, or to remain 
stationary that is susceptible of further improvement. 
Doubtless this is the true course, and we find fully real¬ 
ised in the practices of these gentlemen, the doctrine 
so often enforced of cultivating no more acres than can 
be well manured, and keeping no more stock than can 
be made constantly to improve. In either case, if the 
acres begin to deteriorate in produce, the profits of la¬ 
bor are at once diminished; or if the stock begins t© 
fall away, or, if growing stock, even to remain station¬ 
ary, the profit of feeding is at an end. 
In closing this hurried communication, I have to re¬ 
mark, that these gentlemen have never been wedded to 
old customs, simply as such, but have ever been ready 
for substantial improvements; and probably a good 
share of their success as farmers, may be attributed to 
the fact that, for many years, they have been intelligent 
and constant readers of one or more agricultural publi¬ 
cations. Indeed, the intelligent observer, in travelling 
past these farms, would not need to be told of this iaet; 
he would recognize it at once, by unmistakable, gene¬ 
ral appearances. 
F. Holbrook. 
JBrattleboro ’, August 14, 1848. 
Trench Plowing. 
There has been much said from time to time about 
trench plowing. I have never known it to succeed to 
any great extent. If attempted in the summer in stiff 
soil, it cannot be done—the labor and expense is too 
great. The only proper time to trench-plow is late in 
the fall, when the ground is saturated with water. But 
I think there is no need of a trench-plow. Three good 
horses to a good three-horse plow will be able to turn 
a furrow twelve inches deep. This is the true plan to 
commence on. The stiff clay sub-soil, thrown up to 
the action of frost, is broken down, and by being tho¬ 
roughly mixed, next summer, by frequent plowings, a 
deep soil, well fitted for the nourishment of plants, is 
secured. But it must in no case be plowed in summer 
when wet. All lands inclining to be wet, are greatly 
benefitted by being plowed very deep late in the fall. 
Wm. Todd. Utica Mills, Md., August, 1848. 
India-Rubber Boat. —In page 293 of your last 
number, an inquiry was made if boats are ever con¬ 
structed of India rubber. Col. Fremont, in his expe¬ 
dition to the Rocky Mountains, in 1842, had one, as al¬ 
so in his expedition to Oregon and North California, 
(vide Doc. No 166 of the H. of R.) In the first ex¬ 
pedition of 1842, the seams of the Boat were sown to¬ 
gether, but the last, being fitted out in a hurry, the 
seams were pasted, but still it lived amid the storms 
and tempests of the Salt Lake, and the numerous ed¬ 
dies, rapids and waterfalls of the rivers. He says it 
swam like a swan upon the mountain billows of the 
lakes, and floated uninjured on the tempestuous torrents 
of the river. It could be transported with ease by land, 
and bore heavy weights. Life boats are made of this 
material, and the Gutta Percha may be used instead of 
caoutchouc. James Boyle, Annapolis , Oct., 1848. 
