16 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
jsa 
use of plaster and clover been introduced, the deterioration would 
have continued in spite of all the manure ordinary farms could 
have produced. The rotation of crops is founded on the obvious 
principle that in drawing their nourishment from the earth differ¬ 
ent kinds of food are required by different plants—for instance, that 
peas or barley do not deprive the earth of the important principle 
which furnishes the best food for wheat—that some plants derive 
more of their support from the air, and take less from the earth 
than others—and that no two crops which require the same food 
should be taken in succession from the same piece of land. To 
this doctrine there may be a few seeming exceptions ; such as 
plants that require for their perfection little besides heat and a 
small quantity of moisture, as onions have been grown for half a 
century on the sandy plains of Weathersfield, and the finest me¬ 
lons of the world on the shifting sands of Egypt. Every one must 
have noticed in some sections of this district a disposition to put 
in wheat after wheat, and instances have occurred in which such a 
course has been partially successful; but from the invariableness of 
the laws of nature, it may be relied on that such farming must be 
ruinous in the end, and if the abundant materials for wheat in our 
soils at present should, with such treatment hold out for years, 
still an impoverished and nearly ruined country must be left to 
our successors. Of all plants for the renovation of the soil, none 
can be considered equal or superior to clover, and it may be deem¬ 
ed a happy dispensation of providence that those soils best adapted 
by nature to wheat, are also the most congenial to clover, and de¬ 
rive the most essential benefit from plaster. 
I have said that more attention is paid to the preparation and ap- 
plication of manure than formerly, but still this is a point on which 
we are most culpably deficient as farmers. There are soils in eve¬ 
ry country, on which plaster produces little or no effect, and which 
must speedily, under a course of cropping, become valueless unless 
frequently and thoroughly manured ; and on all soils manure must 
be considered a most important and powerful auxiliary. Hitherto 
from the extraordinary fertility of our western soils, the necessity 
of inquiry respecting this branch of farming has not been very ur¬ 
gent ; but the experience of every year is rendering the propriety of 
f iving this subject increased attention, more and more apparent. 
n Holland and in some parts of England, the business of farming 
is carried to a higher degree of perfection than in any other part of 
the world, and perhaps the greatest returns are received for the 
capital and labor employed, and no where does the subject of ma¬ 
nure receive so much attention as in these very places. In those 
countries quantities of manure, which in proportion to the farms 
cultivated would appear utterly incredible were not the facts pla¬ 
ced beyond the shadow of a doubt, are produced by the skill and la¬ 
bor of the occupants ; and if in the Empire State, every rood is to 
maintain its man, this example must be followed. In Holland, in¬ 
stead of a ton or a ton and half to the acre, which may be consider¬ 
ed about the maximum in New-York, from fifteen to twenty tons to 
an acre are considered as not an extraordinary production of ma¬ 
nure, and the results from the application of such a mass of com¬ 
post are such as might rationally be expected. 
But though our grand staple is, and probably will be wheat, still 
there are many farms where this grain cannot be profitably raised, 
the owners of which must of course look to other articles of pro¬ 
duce for a renumeration of their labors, and to these different sour¬ 
ces of wealth the public attention should be properly directed. 
Those lands in the western district which cannot be called wheat 
lands, are in general admirably adapted to grazing, and in raising 
cattle and horses for market, in enlarged dairies, and in the pro¬ 
duction of wool, there seems to be a ready and profitable employ¬ 
ment for skill and capital. To carry these branches of farming in¬ 
to effect, care should be taken to provide the best animals, and to 
commence with the best breeds for the particular purpose aimed at. 
It is rarely the case that in cattle the qualities of size and aptitude 
for fatting, are combined with those of large quantity and richness 
of milk. Of course the object intended must be considered in the 
commencement of stocking a farm, or much time and expense may 
be thrown away. There are multitudes who are engaged in the 
dairy business, who have never dreamed of testing the quality of 
the milk given by their different cows, although it is very easily 
done, and the milk of some cows will at the same expense of keep¬ 
ing yield nearly double the quantity of cream to that given by 
others. Deep slender glasses are used for this purpose, where the 
business is properly attended to, but the usual tall champaigne glas¬ 
ses, or where these are not to be had, deep common tumblers will 
answer the purpose. It ought to be remembered however that 
the deeper the column of milk in proportion to its diamater, the 
more satisfactory will be the test. Fill these glasses of the same 
depth, with milk from different cows, and when they have stood a 
sufficient time, the thickness of the risen cream can be easily mea¬ 
sured on the outside of the glass. By doing this a few times the 
value of each cow as a dairy cow can be fully known. 
In order to breed cattle with success, more attention must be 
paid to green crops. By green crops 1 mean common or Norfolk 
turnips, mangel wurzel, ruta baga, carrots, &c. In no way can so 
large an amount of food for cattle, horses, hogs, or sheep, be drawn 
from an acre of land as in one of these crops, or one which in every 
way is so profitable to the raiser of stock. In estimating the value 
of green crops there is no necessity of taking the extraordinary 
yields which are sometimes obtained, as a standard. A thousand 
bushels ol ruta baga and eight hundred of carrots have been raised 
to the acre, but taking the amount at only one-half—and under al¬ 
most any ordinary circumstances that amount can be produced— 
and it may be seen at once that a crop of corn, oats, or potatoes 
cannot be compared with the ruta baga or the carrot for profit. 
The man who wishes to make the most of his farm, must raise 
root crops ; for if wheat is his object he can spare mucli more of 
his land for that purpose, and yet keep the necessary stock, and if 
raising stock is his business, he may depend on seeing his herds 
and flocks through the winter in much better order, and with less 
expense, than if he relied on hay alone. 
Another source, and I believe an exhaustless mine of wealth, has 
been too long overlooked by our farmers, and our citizens generally. 
Such is the perfection of machinery and the competition of manu¬ 
facturers, that most articles of clothing which formerly were made 
by female industry at home, are now made at these establishments. 
The wheel and the loom as implements of domestic economy, are 
now rarely seen or heard ; and the woollen, the linen, and the cot¬ 
ton, instead of being the production of the fair hands of wives and 
daughters, owe their existence to power looms and spinning jen¬ 
nies, and are purchased at the store as would be an article of fo¬ 
reign importation. This is well enough, if the time formerly spent 
in these domestic avocations, is more profitably employed : on this 
subject I express no opinion ; but can assert with confidence, that 
the introduction of the silk worm would be in most families not on¬ 
ly a source of great profit, but the care and feeding of them an inno¬ 
cent and healthy amusement. The procuring a few mulberry trees 
is the first step, and there are few places where these cannot readi¬ 
ly be procured ; this done, the rearing and feeding of the worms, 
and the whole process to the finishing the cocoons fur market, is ex¬ 
tremely easy and simple. There is not the least reason why mil- 
lions”should be sent from this country every year, for an article 
which might be produced herein perfection, and which only re¬ 
quires the care and labor of females and children for a few weeks 
in a year. 
Farmers are more remarkable for their deference to antiquity 
than perhaps any other class of practical men. They are content 
to follow on in the routine of their predecessors without inquiring 
whether the course they are pursuing is not erroneous, and does 
not admit of decided improvement. ‘As our fathers did, so do we,” 
is held a sufficient justification of the most absurd systems of cul¬ 
ture. To the agricultural societies which have existed within the 
state during the last fifteen years, much of the improvement in 
farming which has certainly taken place within that time, may 
fairly Lie attributed. These societies awakened a spirit of emula¬ 
tion and inquiry—they brought together men of kindred minds, 
men ardently engaged in the same honorable and peaceful pursuits, 
and the meetings were places where opinions and facts were free¬ 
ly and beneficially interchanged. Never were the funds of the 
state more profitably appropriated than in the trifling sums annu¬ 
ally distributed from the treasury among these societies; and the 
day when the voice of the people shall be so far heard as to cause 
their revivification under the patronage of the state, may be hailed 
as a proud one for the resources and spirit of New-York. It is 
not to the comparatively paltry sum divided that we look for the 
benefit, but to the spirit of inquiry it will create, and the public 
attention that will be directed to the interests of agriculture gene¬ 
rally. 
Next in benefit to agricultural societies, and in a great measure 
springing from them, is to be placed the influence of agricultural 
