185 2 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
39 
peculiar state of the atmosphere, and high winds espe¬ 
cially prove no barrier to the progress of the work. As 
the best season for sowing wheat is confined to the single 
month of September, throughout the entire wheat belt 
of the union, any process, that would at all times secure 
the early and perfect completion of the work, is deserv¬ 
ing of consideration and favor. This in the hands of a 
good managing farmer may be greatly facilitated by the 
use of an efficient drilling machine, and any person who 
becomes once acquainted with their properties and use, 
would not return to the old and somewhat slovenly me¬ 
thod, although they obtained no additional yield from 
the use of the implement. 
An increased product may in a majority of cases be 
realised, but the greatest disappointments will occasional¬ 
ly occur, which to the uninitiated might create prejudices 
against the improvement , from the fact that the cause of 
the failure could not be practically comprehended. It 
will frequently happen that an increased production of 
from eight to ten bushels of wheat may be realised per 
acre from the employment of the drill, but in other cases 
decided damage rather than a benefit will accrue from the 
practice. It is of the greatest importance to the farmer 
that he should know all about the influence that this, or 
that, practice has upon his growing crops; and it ought to 
be the business of the agricultural philosophers of the 
day, to point out the shoals and quicksands upon which 
so many flounder, in their vain attempts to carry out 
systems of farm practice and management, of which they 
are practically totally unacquainted. No one should at¬ 
tempt to use the drill unless the ground be previously 
brought into a fine state of tilth and cultivation. The 
work cannot be creditably or perfectly done when the 
ground is rough, or the surface is uneven, and when an 
attempt is made to plow the land in ridges, either nar¬ 
row or wide, regard should be had to regulating the width 
of those ridges, so as to work the drill lengthwise of 
them, securing, if possible, straightness and uniformity, 
so that the furrows made by the drill shall correspond 
exactly with the open furrows of the ridges. On a fine 
porous wheat soil, such as is underlaid either by a strata of 
gravel or drift sand and shales, some five feet from the sur¬ 
face, there will be found no advantage whatever from 
forming the land in narrow or even wide ridges, as no 
surface water can long remain in contact with the roots 
of the wheat plants. In the management of all soils of 
this kind, the indented appearance given the surface by 
the coulters of the drill, is a decided advantage, as the 
rows of plants are considerably below the common sur¬ 
face of the ground, and they are thus sheltered from the 
raking winds of winter, and in process of time the soil 
crumbles down around the roots, thus imparting strength 
and vigor to the plants at a period when their growth is 
passing through its most delicate stage. Whilst this is 
true on all soils on which the surface water passes off 
freely, the reverse is the case, on heavy clays, or on soils 
which are underlaid near the surface with a close reten¬ 
tive sub-stratum calculated to hold water like a basin. 
The furrows or indented lines formed by the drill, act as 
so many reservoirs to retain the falling rains, and when 
the ground freezes up in winter, by a minute examina¬ 
tion, it will be found that immediately around the roots 
of the plants it is completely saturated with water, and 
in many cases pools of ice are formed by this influence 
in places where the water would have passed from the 
surface had the common practice of sowing been adopted. 
The losses obtained from this cause have in many cases 
staggered the faith of many of the strongest advocates 
of the system, and not a few can be found who are dis¬ 
posed to condemn rather than favor drill husbandry, 
simply because they did not understand the influence 
that an imperfect application of the practice would have 
upon the growing crops. In all cases where the drill is 
used upon a stiff clay soil, or where the water would be 
likely to remain on or near the surface, a light pair of 
seed harrows should be passed singly lengthwise of the 
drills, which will smother the surface without displacing 
the seed from the bottom of the drills, and thoroughly 
remove the cause producing the prejudicial effects pointed 
out. 
When the drill is used by a farmer, who, understands 
its practical working powers, and who takes proper pains 
in preparing bis ground for its use, he may not only rea¬ 
sonably hope for a greatly increased product, but be may 
safely expect that the sample of the grain will be superior 
to his neighbor’s. The straw is invariably much harder 
than when the seed is sown broadcast, and consequently 
the rust is not so liable to attack it; and besides the crop 
is not so likely to lodge, as would be the case were the 
common system of sowing practiced. The advantages 
resulting from the adoption of the drill system of hus¬ 
bandry, might be greatly extended, but sufficient has 
been adduced to convince those whose attention may be 
turned to the subject, that in careful hands at least, no 
modern improvement will pay a better interest upon the 
investment, than drill culture. 
This, however, like most other branches of improve¬ 
ment, requires great care in its management. It ought 
not to be attempted by a slovenly farmer—and unless the 
ground he previously fitted for the process, it would be 
unwise to attempt using the machine, although it might 
be in the hands of the farmer, and be paid for at an ex¬ 
travagant rate. Only now and then a field is sufficiently 
cultivated to warrant the employment of a drilling ma¬ 
chine ; and this fact is pressed upon the attention of the 
readers of the Cultivator at this time, to prevent them 
from taking steps which for want of better experience, 
they might have reason to regret. The use of the drill 
is strongly to be commended, but no .slovenly farmer need 
expect to derive any advantage from it. W. G. Ed- 
mundson. Keokuk. Iowa , 1851. 
; -- 
State Agricultural Societies. 
Editors of the Cultivator— The enterprising far¬ 
mers in Vermont are friendly to a State Society for the 
advancement of Agriculture; many of them read The 
Cultivator, and they would, doubtless, like to know the 
doings and present position of their State Association. 
It may also, perhaps, be agreeable to individuals in other 
communities, about engaging in a similar enterprise, to 
have our state organization in a convenient form for re¬ 
ference. With your permission, then, I will give a brief 
history of the Vermont State Agricultural Society. 
Several months ago, The Cultivator and other papers, 
announced that a respectable number of the farmers of 
Vermont, met at Middlebury, and resolved to try the 
experiment of a State Fair, fixing upon the 10th and 11th 
days of September, at Middlebury, as the time and place 
for holding the same. At the time and place designat¬ 
ed , an Exposition was accordingly made; the people of 
the state were there in great numbers, and this first ef¬ 
fort of the kind ever made in Vermont, proved quite 
successful, exceeding, in results, the expectations of its 
most sanguine friends. On the second day of the Fair, a 
State Society was organised, by the adoption of a Con¬ 
stitution, and by a choice of the necessary officers, a list 
of whom may he found in The Cultivator for November, 
1851. 
The Constitution is a pretty close copy of that of the 
New-York State Society, hut for immediate and conve¬ 
nient reference, I here give it. 
Constitution of the Vermont State Agricultural Society. 
Sec. 1. This society shall be called the Vermont State Agricultural 
Society, and its object is improvement in Agriculture, Horticulture, 
and the Arts. 
Sec. 2. The Society shall consist of such citizens of the State as shall 
signify, in writing, their wish to become members, and shall pay, on, 
subscribing, not less than one dollar; and also of henarary and cor¬ 
responding members. 
The Presidents of County Agricultural Societies, or a delegate 
from each, shall ex-officio be members of this Society. 
The payment of twenty-five dollars or more, shall constitute a mem¬ 
ber for life, and shall exempt the donor from annual contribution. 
