156 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
May 
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hands, whereby he can give descriptive views of that 
knowledge more frequently, and in better style. Let 
every farmer, then, give his aid in improving the “ ag¬ 
ricultural paper,” by subscribing for its support, and 
inducing his neighbors, if possible, to unite with him in 
so simple and noble an enterprize. It is a very com¬ 
mon plea with farmers, that they do not think the pa¬ 
per adapted to their climate or their soil. It may not, 
it is true, in many particulars. Do the physician’s 
books lead him to remedies for every grade of the disea¬ 
ses on which they treat, or the “reports”on which the 
lawyer predicates his opinions of the fairness of his 
client’s suit, bring cases strictly parallel to those on 
which hope of success depends ? No, these things would 
be utterly impossible. They establish general principles, 
from which the observation and keen discernment can 
gather facts, which, by varying to meet new cases, dif¬ 
ferent in form, but the same in principle, go not to es¬ 
tablish new facts, but by an extended ramification of 
old ones, to bear on the case at issue, and thus give a 
confirmation to principles already laid down, whereby 
each particular object of research may be supported and 
attained. 
It is a truth not to be denied, that farmers are not 
minute enough in their narrations, in giving particu¬ 
lars with regard to soil, climate, and mode of proceed¬ 
ing; but if this were all done, similar soils vary' in pro¬ 
ductive character in different localities, so that no posi¬ 
tive rule can be given in. any case where the same 
causes will produce precisely similar effects, and the 
variations may result in the same town or neighbor¬ 
hood, as well as if the districts were more remote. So 
we may fairly infer, that agriculture, as a profession, 
can never be reduced to a systeqi of managing, by defi¬ 
nitely prescribed rules, or voluminous recipes, but like 
the physician or the lawyer, the farmer may have his 
general principles treasured in his library, from which 
he can draw them as necessity requires, and combine 
them with his close observation, and apply them by his 
active and discriminative judgment, to result in desira¬ 
ble effects. 
But we will name another way whereby the agricultu¬ 
ral paper can be improved. Keep notes, and send in for 
publication, the result of your. own experience, and in 
doing this, enter as # minuteiy into the matter as you 
please. This will result in one benefit at least. It will 
cut off your neighbor from the everlasting excuse you 
have so long made, “ I don’t think the paper adapted 
to our soil.” Go on, we say, by your own wise efforts 
make it better, by making it “ more practical,” and 
more beneficial to your neighbors. Yes, ye brilliant 
ones, who have such an eye to see the darkness around 
you, let your light burst forth and dispel that dark¬ 
ness and gloom with which prejudice and ignorance 
are to pass away. W. Bacon. Richmond , 1847. 
Detail of Experience in Farming. —I have read 
the Cultivator a long time, and find it full of entertain¬ 
ing matter. 1 here give you a short account of a long 
experience in farming. In 1795,1 commenced for my¬ 
self, in the town of Stanford, Dutchess county, N. Y. 
My father said he could not help me any, but I might 
sow the “ hill lot ” with rye. It was a thin, slaty soil 
—no water in the lot, and on that account had never 
been laid to pasture, but had always been sown to rye 
or buckwheat as long as I could remember. I summer- 
fallowed it, plowed deep, bringing the sweat out of the 
team pretty profusely. In the fall I sowed it with 
wheat. Next harvest I had the best wheat in the neigh¬ 
borhood. 
Now this shows two things, that rye does not much 
exhaust the land for wheat, and that by frequent and 
deep plowings, some land can be recruited without 
much manure. 
In 1798 or ’99, I ran in debt for a farm in what was 
called the “ Little Nine Partners.” It appeared to be a 
poor slaty soil; all the plow fields on the farm had been 
sown to rye for a number of years. I summer-fallowed, 
clovered, and plastered, and got up the name of the 
farm, sold,it, and bought a better farm in Red Hook. 
The soil of that was sandy and dry. I managed it as 
I had done the other. My Dutch neighbors taught me 
something about raising wheat. 
I next bought a farm in the town of Schodack, 
Rensselaer county, N. Y. After living there some 
years, I bought a piece of worn-out land, about thirty 
acres, adjoining the farm, of a sandy and cobble-stone 
soil. Soon after planting, I broke it up, and gave it a 
good coat of plaster, harrowing it over several times in 
the course of the summer, kept it clean from weeds, 
and in the fall sowed it with wheat, and had a good 
crop. I stocked it down in the spring with clover. It 
is called a good lot to this day. 
I merely tell this that farmers need not be afraid to 
purchase what is called “ worn-out land,” provided it is 
not too wet. Let farmers manure as much as they can. 
I now live where we need l^it little manure; but the 
decree has gone forth, and is as true as the book of 
Genesis :—“ thorns*and thistles shall the earth bring 
forth, and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread 
all the days of thy life.” From this there is no escape. 
Wm. Canfield. Granville , Ohio , March . 1847. 
Agricultural Capabilities of Georgia. —I have 
recently moved from the flat, low lands of Burke, for 
health’s sake, to the hilly section of middle Georgia. 
This part of the country is as broken as any part of 
New England, but there are no high elevations. The 
streams are numerous, and most of them are bor¬ 
dered by very fertile, low grounds. 
The hill-sides were originally free, productive lands, 
and where the soil still remains, are yet good, but the 
system of skimimng with a set of queer, shaped irons, 
misnamed plows, which loosen about as much of the sur¬ 
face as the summer’s rains can easily carry down the 
steep hill-sides, into the creeks and bottoms, has left 
this part of the state shorn of its primitive fertility and 
beauty, and it now presents a mournful spectacle of 
gallc and gullies, and denuded hill-sides, the unmistake- 
able indications of an erroneous system of cultivation. 
Yet there is much of this country, that with proper 
management may be brought back to a state of fertility, 
and is not surpassed for advantages of location, per¬ 
haps in the world. 
There is probably no country in which can be pro¬ 
duced a greater number of the staple commodities and 
luxuries of life, than middle Georgia. Cotton, all the 
grains and fruits of the northern and middle states, 
thrive here exceedingly. well. In fact, I have seen 
some fine crops of wheat raised here, under no other 
culture than being sown upon the unbroken ground, and 
plowed in with a bull-tongue plow. 
Many of the fruits of warm climates thrive well, as 
grapes, figs, almonds, apricots, pomegranates, &c. 
All valuable roots and tubers, from a pea-nut to a 
sweet potato, we have, (or can have,) in abundance. 
There are here, generally, two varieties of soil; the 
stiff red land, with a subsoil of pure red clay; and upon 
the surface a large quantity of white silicious rock is 
disseminated in small fragments, so as in some situa¬ 
tions, to nearly cover the whole surface, but not to a 
depth to materially obstruct the cultivation. This soil 
requires a great amount of rain, through the growing 
season to produce well, but with this, it usually yields 
abundant returns for the labor bestowed. The farmers 
upon this soil usually do not break it to a greater depth 
than two or three inches. If it were subsoiled to the 
depth of a foot, it would probably stand drouth much 
