338 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Nay. 
with chaff, saw-dust, or other non-conductor of heat. 
We have known of a farmer who cooked his chop¬ 
ped food in a small way, by placing it in an ob¬ 
long wooden box, then pouring on a portion of boiling 
water, and immediately covering it with a tight lid. 
When cold, the food was found to be cooked by the 
steam from the hot water; but there is no doubt that 
the process could be much better effected if the steam¬ 
ing were longer continued by means of successive sup¬ 
plies from a boiler. —<$»— 
Letters on British Agriculture. 
[As we cannot publish in the Cultivator, the whole 
of the series of letters on British Agriculture, now ap¬ 
pearing in our weekly paper, the Country Gentleman, 
we shall give such extracts as our limits will permit, 
selecting such parts as seem to contain suggestions of 
the most importance to American farmers.] 
ADVANTAGES OF LARGE FIELDS. 
L. Tucker, Esq. —Among the causes which have 
contributed to the results of British agriculture, is the 
enlargement of the lots 0 :r fields into which farms 
are divided. You are aware that the hawthorn hedge 
is almost the only fence in England. This is true also 
of Scotland and Ireland, with the exception of some 
rocky portions, where stone walls are adopted. It 
is estimated that these hedges are, on an average, at 
least ten feet wide. Some of the best English farmers 
have told me, that when we consider how far the roots 
are known to sap the ground, 12 feet are little enough 
to allow. Others say that if you allow a rod, it is 
little, if any, over the truth. The old practice was to 
divide farms by these hedges into many small'lots, often 
not more than two or three acres, and from that to-eight 
or ten. I see that in those parts, where a reform has 
not yet commenced, those lots are generally very near¬ 
ly square, and consequently are inconvenient to plow, 
especially with from two to four horses, one before the 
the other, as the English practice is. Four acres in a 
hundred have been lost by thus cutting land into too 
small lots, and making the hedges too numerous. In 
large portions of the country a reform has commenced. 
The superabundant hedges are fast disappearing. 
But nowhere is the improvement, in this matter of 
ousting the hedges, thinning off the vermin that took 
shelter in them, and letting in the sun upon the crops 
morning and evening, so manifest as in the south of 
of Scotland. Hence, instead of little square fields, se¬ 
parated by wide hedges, occupying one twenty-fifth of 
the land, and shading twice as much more, you see ob¬ 
long fields of from ten to one or two hundred acres. 
The lands in the Lothian counties, which have been 
thus cleared of hedges and distributed into long instead 
of square enclosures, are now renting the highest of any 
in the British empire—as high in some cases as £6 
(nearly $30) an acre. * When this process shall have 
been carried through, the country may appear less 
picturesque in the eyes of some tourists; but to the 
sound economist, it will appear more beautiful; and 
certainly it will be far more productive. American 
farmers have not to contend with old hedges. To the 
game and vermin sheltered by such hedges, they are, 
for the most part, strangers. But I would inquire 
whether, in some parts of our country, it is not the prac¬ 
tice to cut land into too small enclosures 2 Is it not 
easier to cultivate ten acres in one field, than in three or 
four 3 and will it not produce more 2 If so, the profit 
of cultivation is increased in proportion as the fields are 
of considerable size. There is another objection to 
mincing land into mere bits—it requires too much 
fence ; the farmer cannot keep so many lines of fence 
in repair, and a consequence is, that his cattle get un¬ 
ruly and his neighbors become impatient with him. 
There is a question connected, with this subject, which 
I will not here discuss, but which deserves attention. 
It is, whether, in certain portions of our country, espe¬ 
cially in grain-growing districts, where fencing mate¬ 
rial is scarce, all fences might not be dispensed with 2 
I know that objections may be raised to this plan; but, 
if I am not mistaken, there are strong arguments in its 
favor. 
TREES. ON FARMS. 
Another point of some importance, as connected with 
British farming, is that of scattering trees in the 
hedges and open fields. On lands devoted exclusively 
to pasturing, such are needed for their shade; and, 
scattered generally over a country, they add much to 
its beauty and picturesqueness. Especially is this the 
case in this country, where, owing to a damp atmos¬ 
phere, the falling leaves soon decay and mingle with 
the soil, instead of becoming dry and littering the land 
and highways, as with us. Englishmen are justly proud 
of their old, spreading trees. Landlords often enter 
it in their leases, that no tree shall be cut down. 
Still, in those parts of the empire, where the farming 
is besty. the trees are going. You now see but few trees 
in the wheat-fields of the low-lands of Scotland, for in¬ 
stance; and very few in the fields of such farmers as 
Mr. Pusey and Mr. Mechi. These men do not sacrifice 
their love for the beautiful in nature. They cultivate 
trees in their proper place. They are the last men, I 
suppose, who would leave a country naked and bald ; 
but trees have no longer a place among their wheat and 
barley. 
In our land of scorching summers, let there be trees. 
It would be barbarous to root them out from our culti¬ 
vated fields, where they are injurious, without, at the 
same time, securing their growth in other places, where 
they are not only harmless, but pleasing to the eye, con¬ 
ducive to health, and often more profitable than, any¬ 
thing else thesoil will grow. Let them stud our pasture 
lands, as gems of beauty and of comfort. Our cattle 
need the means of coolness in summer, and warmth in 
winter. Only by attending to this matter, shall we ever 
approach that excellence in this department, which our 
British brethren have attained. More depends upon 
cherishing the breeds we have, than upon importing 
new. Let trees line our highways. Their roots and 
tops will be a little injurious to the bordering lands, 
but not much; the weary traveler and his beast will 
rest under their shade ; our /children will delight the 
palate from their produce; and our grand-children 
l 
