THE CULTIVATOR. 
161 
answer. If the soil be stiff] or is covered with an old sod, fall plough¬ 
ing is beneficial; ploughing exposes it to the mellowing influences of 
the winter, and a partial decomposition of the sod takes place in time 
to benefit the young corn. If the soil is sandy, and particularly if a 
clover ley, we would not advise ploughing till immediately preced¬ 
ing the time of planting, that all the green vegetable matter may be 
turned under for the crop. In either case we recommend that ma¬ 
nure be spread before the ground is ploughed; and that if cross- 
ploughing is necessary in the spring, it be superficial, so as to leave 
the manure and vegetable matter of the sod still covered by the 
earth. 
In regard to millet, this crop has its advantages and its disadvan¬ 
tages ; but on the whole we deem it a profitable one. It exhausts 
the ground, and leaves it foul. It yields as much seed as wheat or 
rye; and upon this we have fattened hogs with advantage before 
the corn crop was gathered. It also affords a good burthen of fo¬ 
rage, say ordinarily two tons to the acre, which cattle eat tolerably 
well, and which would be more serviceable if cut for them. This 
crop may be sown in May, June, or early in July ; but instead of re¬ 
quiring three pecks of seed to the acre, as suggested by Mr. Seitz, 
four quarts, we think, suffices. It is sown broadcast, and will do 
well on any soil adapted to Indian corn. We are inclined to think 
it would do best sown in drills, with a drill-barrow, with intervals of 
two feet, when the crop might be tilled and cleaned with the culti¬ 
vator and hoe. " 
Profitable Farming. —We give to-day another illustration of the 
productiveness of our pine lands, when under good management, in 
a communication from Samuel T. Vary. His improved lands have 
afforded him a nett profit of about thirteen dollars an acre, notwith¬ 
standing that his wheat and corn crops were seriously diminished by 
the grain and wire worms. If our farmers can all do as well as this 
in the old settled counties, we doubt whether they are likely to im¬ 
prove their condition by removing to Michigan or Illinois. We in¬ 
vite the reader’s attention also to the interesting experiments of Mr. 
Miller and Messrs. Huntingtons. 
Manual Labor Schools —Have frequently been the subjects of our 
commendation. They are calculated to give health and hardiness 
of constitution, blessings that cannot be too highly prized; and ma¬ 
terially to lessen the expense of education. They afford, also, prac¬ 
tical instructions in agriculture and horticulture. The Hudson Ri¬ 
ver Seminary is of this description. It is under the care of the Rev. 
D. M. Smith. It has accommodations for 128 pupils, besides a large 
school room, and has attached to it an excellent farm of 200 acres. 
It is estimated that all the expenses of a pupil, including board, 
tuition, &c. will not exceed $75 per annum. This school is design¬ 
ed to fit young men for college, or for the business and duties of life. 
Force of Prejudice. —The prejudice of our farmers against new im¬ 
plements, new modes of culture, and what they are pleased to call 
book farming, brings to mind an historical fact, strongly illustrative 
of the unreasonableness of vulgar prejudice. Walter Blith observes, 
that “it was not many years since the famous city of London peti¬ 
tioned the parliament of England against two nuisances, and these 
were Newcastle coals, in regard to their stench, &c. and hops, in 
regard they would spoyle the taste of drink, and endanger the peo¬ 
ple.” These two nuisances have since become almost mdispensable 
necessaries to the good people of London. And it will be found, 
that what the illiterate and bigoted farmer rejects as useless, will 
soon be found necessary to successful farming. 
Importance of Education to the Farmer. —We particularly com¬ 
mend to the notice of readers of all classes, the excellent remarks of 
the Rev. H. Colman, copied into this number of the Cultivator, from 
the New-York Farmer, on the importance of education to the agri¬ 
culturist. They are not only interesting to the farmer, but to the 
statesman and all others, who are interested in the future charac¬ 
ter and prosperity of our country. 
NOTES ON FARMING. 
FROM OUR MEMORANDUM BOOK. 
Roots. —The roots of many plants will creep aside to avoid bad 
earth, or to approach good.— Buff on. Darwin says, roots put out 
no absorbent vessels where they are not stimulated by proper juices ; 
and that they elongate only where they find proper nutriment.— 
Phy. 17. Where the soil is rich and mellow, the roots of most 
plants are longer than the stems. Mr. Thurell traced the fibres of 
the roots of wheat five feet deep, on the side of a marl pit; also 
Vol.II. 21 
the root of a turnip, drawn by hand, two feet and a half in length. 
The importance of extended roots and of tilling the ground, to the 
vigor and productiveness of a plant, may be evidenced in our til¬ 
lage fields, where the outside rows, or outer border of grain, is ge¬ 
nerally inferior, because the roots cannot so freely extend into the 
adjoining grass grounds, and because the ground is often less per¬ 
fectly tilled. Cobbet has given a forcible illustration in this matter : 
several rows of turnips were drilled one foot apart, along side of a 
ridge, which was ploughed and harrowed, when the turnips ought 
to have been hoed, but which were not hoed at all. The third row of 
turnips from the fresh ploughed ridge were double the size of the 
rows beyond it; those of the second row were double the size of 
those in the third : and those in the first row were much larger than 
those in the second. This difference was imputed wholly to the in¬ 
fluence of the fresh ploughed adjoining ridge ; and this influence ex¬ 
tended to the third row, so as to double its product, and consequent¬ 
ly the roots of the turnips growing in the third row must have ex¬ 
tended three feet to reach the ploughed ground. These facts ad¬ 
monish the farmer to plough well, and to use the cultivator freely 
among his hoed crops. 
Norfolk course. —Norfolk is a sandy district, and, until the in¬ 
troduction of the turnip culture, was one of the least productive 
counties in England. That culture, and the improvements conse¬ 
quent upon its introduction, have rendered it one of the most pro¬ 
ductive. The course of crops is, 1. Turnips always with manure ; 
2. Barley or oats and grass seeds ; 3. Grass two years; 4. Wheat 
or rye. Mr. Young thinks but one ploughing should be given to a 
two year’s lay, in the fall, for winter grain, and but one in the 
spring for (with us) corn or potatoes.— See Young's Norfolk, p. 62. 
The only variation which modern improvement has made in the 
Norfolk course, is to sow, in some cases, peas on the sod, and fol¬ 
low with wheat in autumn. The rotation is a judicious one on our 
sandy lands, where turnips are sufficiently cultivated; but as this 
culture is too limited in all cases, Indian corn may be advantage¬ 
ously substituted, or superadded, with manure, as the first crop in 
the course. Peas, as a fallow crop, to be followed by wheat, upon 
a two years lay, is preferable to a naked fallow. 
Norfolk maxim .—Never take two crops of white corn (i. e. small 
grains, as wheat, rye, barley, oats, &c.) in succession. —See as be¬ 
fore p. 364. Mr. Young thinks the pre-eminence of Norfolk hus¬ 
bandry is principally owing to a strict adherence of this maxim. 
This maxim should be amended so as to read, “never take two 
crops of any kind in succession,” and the result will be found cor¬ 
respondingly beneficial. 
Arable System. —Mr. Berckham asserted it as a fact, of which he 
had not the least doubt, that tillage, well managed, would support 
as much live stock, on the seeds, turnips and straw, as the same 
land would do all under grass ; consequently the corn is all gain to 
the public, I am certain it would, adds Mr. Young. He spoke of 
pasture that would support two bullocks of 40 stone (560 lbs.) on 
the acre.— Young's Norfolk, p. 367. Reference was had to sandy 
lands, adapted to alternate husbandry ; and we believe the remark 
will hold good here, where the lands are well managed, though the 
high price in manual labor may make some difference in the result. 
Summer fallows were common thirty [now sixty] years ago in 
Norfolk ; and seeds [grass] were then left three years. Now no 
such thing as summer fallows are known, and seeds are left but two 
years. The number of horses is lessened ; ploughings are not so 
frequent; often but one for barley, and some trust to scarifying, and 
have succeeded well. Those and other improvements have increas¬ 
ed the product one-fourth or one-third.— lb. 367. It is a fault with 
some of our best farmers, who have adopted the alternating system, 
that they leave their grass too long, three, four, or five years, till 
the clovers, which are to impart fertility to the soil, have in a mea¬ 
sure disappeared. The clover roots penetrate and break the soil, 
which is always loose and permeable while they are undergoing de¬ 
composition. 
Marl is applied in Norfolk at the rate of from 8 to 100 loads per 
acre; if the less quantity, it is often repeated. Seventy loads per 
acre will last fifteen or sixteen years. This is said on the authority 
of Young. 
Planting.—We have said that the forests of England have all 
been planted by the hand of man. To give an idea of the extent 
of these plantations, we state, that in twenty years, Mr. Coke plant¬ 
ed 718 acres to forest trees of various kinds, with 2,123,000 plants. 
Mr. Sevan planted 96,000 trees. 
