184 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
farm is more level, soil and subsoil the same, and I presume the product 
would be much increased if it could be made dry. Open drains must be 
much in the way, and under drains I fear would be of no use on such a 
soil. L. B. 
Slimmer Hill, Cayuga co. N. Y. November 1 4th, 1837. 
If we apprehend aright the situation of the above described* ground, we 
should substitute covered, or underdrains, for the proposed open drains to 
run north and south; and open drains on the northern and western bor¬ 
ders only. If the surface ascends beyond the south bounds, an underdrain 
may also be necessary on that border, to arrest the water coming from 
above. The underdrains should have but a moderate inclination. Marl 
and mild lime will either of them constitute a proper dressing, when the 
ground is laid dry. Marl should be laid on, and exposed to the pulverizing 
influence of a winter’s frost, before it is mixed with the soil. We refer, 
for directions for applying these fossils, to the back numbers of the Culti¬ 
vator.— Cond. 
PUDNEY’S REVOLVING HORSE RAKE—Fig. 47. 
Stamford, Nov. 20, 1837. 
This rake consists of 
two heads, A, A, and two 
sets of teeth, B, B; the 
heads being connected to¬ 
gether by connecting rods, 
C, C, and end bars, D, D. 
The end bars also form a 
grove in which the slide 
pin, (K, in the end view,) moves from one head to the other, every time 
the rake revolves. The horse is attached to'the rake by hooking the trace 
chains, G, H, iuto staples driven into the under side of the cross-bar, F, 
F. The rake is held by the teeth, which serve for handles when they are 
up, and for teeth when on the ground. Yours respectfully, 
A. COWLEY, for Pudney Cowley. 
EXTRACTS. 
MSJYTS TO STtfTXlSJfiJEW. 
ON THE MEANS OF IMPROVING THE AGRICULTURAL STATE 
OF A COUNTRY. 
“ Agriculture is the great art, which every government ought to protect;— 
every proprietor of land to practise;—and every inquirer into nature to im¬ 
prove.” 
Introductory observations on the Importance af Agriculture. 
The prosperity of a nation, possessing an extent of territory, sufficient 
for maintaining its inhabitants, chiefly depends; 1. Upon the quantity of 
surplus produce derived from the soil, after defraying the expenses of cul¬ 
tivation; 2. Upon that surplus produce obtaining such a price at market, 
as will encourage re production; and, 3. Upon the cultivator having such 
a command of. capital, as may enable him to carry on his business with 
energy. 
1. The surplus produce arises, from that inestimable quality possessed 
by the soil, which enables it, in proportion as it is skilfully managed, to 
furnish maintenance, for a greater number of persons, than are required 
for its cultivation. Thence proceed the profits of the farmer;—the rents 
of the landlord;—the subsistence of the manufacturer, and of the mer¬ 
chant;—and the greater proportion of the income of the state. That sur¬ 
plus marketable produce, therefore, is justly considered to be, the princi¬ 
pal source of all political pow'er, and of personal enjoyment. When that 
surplus produce does not exist, (unless in circumstances of a very peculiar 
nature,) there can be no flourishing towns;—no military or naval force-— 
none of the superior arts;—none of the finer manufactures;—no learning- 
—none of the conveniences and luxuries of foreign countries;—and none 
of that cultivated and polished society at home, which hot only elevates 
and dignifies the individual, but also extends its beneficial influence, 
throughout the whole mass of the community. What exertions ought not 
then to be made, and what encouragement ought not to be given, to pre¬ 
serve, or to increase, so essential a resource, the foundation of our nation¬ 
al prosperity! 
In order to form some idea, of the amount of the surplus marketable 
produce, on very different soils, under a judicious system of cultivation, 
the following statements were drawn up by two intelligent farmers, re¬ 
specting that amount, in their respective occupations, the one possessing 
land principally clay, the other a turnip soil. 
[We omit the details. The clay farm produces, after deducing the to¬ 
tal consumed by all the laborers, who subsist upon the produce of the 
farm, all consumed by the working cattle, and the grain required for seed 
—and these absorb one-half the produce of the farm—after these deduc¬ 
tions, the average product is eleven bushels and a fourth of grain, and 
twenty-one pounds of butcher’s meat, for each acre. The sand farm, af¬ 
termaking like deductions, averages per acre ten bushels of grain and 35 
pounds of butcher’s meat. This is considered surplus produce.] 
To these estimates of surplus produce, there are to be added, the hides, 
the skins, the wool, the tallow, and a variety of other articles, the basis* 
of many important manufactures, the value of which, though it is impossi¬ 
ble to give its amount correctly, from its great uncertainty, and the fluc¬ 
tuation of prices, must be very considerable. 
If such are the beneficial effects resulting from cultivating of the soil, 
(and the facts are established beyond contradiction,) what source, either 
of domestic industry, or of foreign commerce, can in any respect be put 
in competition with such a mine of wealth, when extended over a great 
empire ? 
2. But the prosperity of a nation, as already observed, depends not only 
on having a great marketable surplus, but also on its disposable produce 
fetching such a price, as to encourage re-production. This was the case 
during the last war; and hence the nation was enabled to persevere in it 
for so many years, and finally to bring it to a successful conclusion. By 
means of a great surplus of agricultural productions, sold at a high price, 
the profits of the farmer, and the rents of the landlord, were doubled; 
these two classes, .were thus placed in a condition to pay very heavy taxes 
to government;—to engage in great undertakings of a private description; 
—to furnish employment to laborers, to whom the price of bread was of 
little consequence, while work was always to be had, at wages proportion¬ 
ed to the price of corn;—and to consume immense quantities of merchan¬ 
dize, and articles of manufacture, by means of which, those two branches 
of national industry were supported, when they were in a great measure 
deprived of foreign markets. History does not furnish an example of a 
nation, which abroad, made such incredible exertions, while at home, so 
many millions of people enjoyed all the necessaries, the comforts, and 
most of them the luxuries of life; the whole originating in prosperous 
agriculture, without which, our manufacturing industry, our commercial 
relations, or the necessary operations of our finances, could not have been 
carried on. 
3. Nor is it alone sufficient, that the farmer should have a price ade¬ 
quate to promote re-production: he should'likewise have, such a com-. 
mand of capital, (and if it must be borrowed, at a moderate rate of inte¬ 
rest,) as will enable him to carry on his business with energy. Indeed, 
when that takes place, it lays the foundation of general prosperity. It will 
not be disputed, that a hundred persons may be put to the greatest incon¬ 
venience, because one individual, at the head of a chain of circulation, 
cannot pay one hundred pounds. Enable.him to pay that sum, and pro¬ 
gressively, those connected with him are relieved. “ But it is the farmer 
who is the first link, in the great chain of national circulation.” When he 
is supplied with money, he is enabled to pay his rents regularly;—the land¬ 
lord is thus enabled, not only to employ a number of laborers, but to pur¬ 
chase goods, from the British manufacturer, and the foreign merchant;— 
the latter finding thus a demand for foreign goods, is enabled, in return, to 
export British manufactures to foreign markets;—by means of an abun¬ 
dant circulation also, the revenue is paid without difficulty, it is regularly 
remitted, and furnishes the means of paying the dividends due to the 
stock-holders; the credit of the country is thus maintained, and, every 
class in the community prospers. The whole, it is evident, originates 
with the farmer, the first link, in the great chain of circulation, whose 
basis is the plough. 
