57 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
be well manured,—the state of agriculture may be considered near¬ 
ly perfect. 
Lime is, in some instances, added to earthy composts, preparatory 
to distribution on the fields : But it is doubtful whether the extra la¬ 
bor of this method is compensated by any peculiar advantages. It 
is not generally practised. 
Query VIII. “ Is powdered limestone (carbonate of lime ) applied to 
soils; and if so, does it induce fertility otherwise than by mechanically 
ameliorating their texture l” 
Answer . No instance of powdered limestone being applied to 
soils has come under my notice. I can, therefore, form but a very 
imperfect opinion of its utility. If it were even as beneficial as 
quick lime (which I doubt) I apprehend it could not be procured and 
applied with less cost and labor. 
Query IX. “ On what soils, if any, in your neighborhood is lime 
found to be inoperative, as a fertilizing application; ami the cause of its 
failure?” 
Answer . There is no soil in this district deemed worthy of cul¬ 
tivation, on which lime is wholly inoperative as a fertilizer. On some 
sterile, slaty ridges, and on magnesian rocks, it has indeed but a 
slight effect; and even the benefits of barnyard manure are very 
transient. In low, swampy grounds, also, unless they are previous¬ 
ly well drained, the labor of applying lime is pretty much thrown 
away. There seems to be something in the constitution of magne¬ 
sian rocks peculiarly unfriendly to the growth of the more valuable 
plants. Indeed there are patches of the soil perfectly destitute of 
all vegetation. Repeated attempts have been made to cultivate the 
bases of our serpentine banks; but neither lime, nor manure, will 
enable the farmer to obtain more than a light crop of small grain. 
Neither clover, nor the valuable grasses can be induced to take root 
and flourish in the ungenial soil.' It is, therefore, almost universally 
neglected. 
I have thus endeavored, (in rather a desultory manner, I confess) 
to answer your queries according to my best judgment. If what I 
have furnished shall in any degree tend to make the subject better 
understood, I shall be amply gratified. 
With great respect, I have the honor to be, your ob’t servant, 
WM. DARLINGTON. 
Jesse Buel, Esq. Cor. Sec'y, Ape 
[From the Memoirs of the Board of Agriculilure.'] 
REMARKS ON CUTTING OATS AND INDIAN CORN—MAKING AND APPLY¬ 
ING MANURES—ROTATION OF CROPS, &C.—BY PHILEMON HALSTED, 
OF WESTCHESTER. 
To Jesse Buel, Esq.—Dear Sir—Being honored with a circular 
from the Board of Agriculture, I will offer a few experiments which 
have proved to me of great advantage. 
In the first place, every landholder who tills the ground should be 
very careful to provide and make manure by all possible means in 
his power; and this he may do to a considerable extent. He should 
rovide himself with as much fodder as will winter more cattle than 
e can summer; and this is done in the following manner: Cut 
your oats when the straw is green in part; let them lay and cure in 
the swath until they are sufficiently dry not to mould; bind them in 
sheaves, and stack them. When they are thrashed, the farmer will 
find that his oats will thrash to greater advantage. The light oats 
sticking to the straw, makes it good fodder, and I consider it of as 
much value as will pay the expense of raising the oats. 
Secondly, give up the old method of cutting your top-stalks ; and 
when your corn is sufficiently hard, or when you cannot find an. ear 
soft enough to boil and eat, then proceed to cut and stout your corn 
in the field, in the following manner: Bring the tops of two hills to¬ 
gether, without cutting: bind them with a few spears.of straw: 
then cut and set up about enough to make four sheaves, if bound ; 
then put on a band of straw about the top; and then you may add as 
many more, and bind the whole with two bands, always keeping the 
bottom of the stout open, so as to admit the circulation of air. At 
the proper time of gathering corn, you may proceed thus : Throw 
down the stout, unbind and begin to gather the corn; when you 
have stalks enough for a sheaf, bind them and lay it aside until you 
have enough for a stout. By this you save all the silk and small 
husks and under leaves of the corn, which were all lost by the for¬ 
mer pactice of topping and gathering corn. I will recommend that 
the stalks be stacked on a hovel, or poles laid on crotches, and fod¬ 
dered in the yard. I have been particular as to the time it takes in 
Vol. I. H 
this process, and can say I am satisfied it takes no more time than in 
the old method. 
The farmer should embrace every open spell in the winter to col¬ 
lect from his milking yard the scrapings, and also from the pond, 
holes and hollows in his woods the leaves and dirt, and draw and 
spread them in his yard or yards. This will enable him to make, 
(by the help of twenty head of cattle.) one hundred loads of manure: 
which will be fit to put on the ground the next autumn, at the rate 
of twenty loads to the acre; which, if ploughed in, and the land 
sowed with wheat or rye, and seeded with timothy seed at the same 
time, and clover the next spring, it will produce a burden that will 
be satisfactory to the o'vner, and the ground will be in better con¬ 
dition than when first ploughed. 
It may not be amiss to mention what kind of cattle a farmer can 
winter on such fodder as I have spoken of. I would recommend that 
he buy, in the fall, young heifers of good quality, and good looking 
young cows; and if his situation permits, a pair or two of steers 
broken to the yoke ; all of which are in demand in the spring, and 
will advance in price sufficient to pay for the wintering, and leave for 
his advantage a yard full of good manure. I will also recommend 
attention to be paid to the hog-pen, and as much litter, weeds and 
refuse from the gardens and yards, as can be procured, and by a 
careful mixture of some good black earth, the quantity of manure 
may be swelled to a large amount. As almost all landholders have 
on their farms ponds or swamps, that are miry, I will recommend 
that they draw out, in the month of August, when most of swamps 
are dry, a large quantity, and put it in a heap, and there let it lay 
until the next spring, when it will be fit to put on corn in the hill, 
and will have a very great effect. If, after the operating of the frost 
on the heap, the compost should crumble, and have a proportion of 
dust, it is then good. If it should dry hard and lumpy, like clay, it 
is only fit to be put in the barn-yard or hog-pen, and be trodden in 
with the compost. By application of pond manures as above, I have 
been enabled to make some poor land become very productive. 
As I have given some practical remarks on the making of manure, 
I shall now proceed to state my process of culture. I break the 
ground in the month of April, and have the sod turned under by one 
of Freeborn’s ploughs, about eight inches deep ; (and here it is that 
many make great blunders, and much to their disadvantage, by not 
attending in person, and having their ground ploughed deep and 
well;) and then harrowed with an iron tooth harrow, or wood will 
do, if it be heavy, and the teeth made of good hickory, and kept 
sharp. Harrow the same way you have ploughed, until your ground 
is well mellowed; then, when you see the earliest apple-tree begin 
to drop its blossoms, furrow your ground three feet apart at right an¬ 
gles, and plant four grains of corn in a hill. 
Almost every farmer has some method of steeping his corn before 
planting, and rolling it in either plaster, ashes, lime, or tar; all of 
which, at some times, are an advantage, and at other times a disad¬ 
vantage. After my corn comes up, and is sufficiently large to be 
seen in rows, I commence ploughing and hoeing, and continue it un¬ 
til the corn begins to shew signs of setting for ears, being particular 
to keep the plough a going in dry weather. By the above culture, I 
have been enabled to collect from fifty to eighty bushels per acre; 
and by mixing pumpkin seed, and planting it with the corn, I have 
raised four ox cart loads to the acre. 
I have already described my method of collecting and preserving 
the tops and bottom stalks for fodder. I shall proceed to my next 
crop, the next spring, which shall be corn, and a proportion of pota¬ 
toes ; giving the preference to corn, on account of the great quanti¬ 
ty of fodder. And this year tilling, I break up the sod which laid last 
year beneath the furrow of corn plough ; thereby I am enabled again 
to raise a good crop of corn, and subdue all the wild grass, roots and 
weeds which laid at the bottom of the furrow. Third year, 1 split 
the corn hills with a plough, harrow the ground well, then plough, 
harrow again, and sow my oats and flax. My oats will produce about 
forty bushels, and upwards, per acre, depending on the season for 
their yielding ; and my flax will average sixteen bushels of seed, and 
three hundred weight to the acre. I will observe, that where the 
ground is strong, and the oats very forward, they ought to be fed off 
to the ground, before they have a joint. This prevents their lodging, 
and gives the under oats an opportunity to come'forward, which will 
much increase the quantity. The oat stubble and flax ground should 
soon be ploughed, harrowed and cross-ploughed; then draw on your 
manure, about twenty ox cart loads to the acre ; spread and plough 
it in as soon as possible. If you intend to sow rye, put it in about 
