196 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
over his perspectives, and embitter his days, the heart of the philanthro¬ 
pist expands with a seraphic joy, bounds with godlike palpitations, and 
feels emotions of exstacy ineffably exquisite, as liis eye roves over fields 
where the golden harvest luxuriantly waves to the wind; where every 
shrub and, plant is loaded with dainties, where every tree bends under its 
fruit, and all things seem to invite us to partake of their bounties and be 
happy. If then these things are pure, uncontaminated fountains, whence 
human happiness flows, surely we cannot contemplate them with a stoi¬ 
cal indifference; but as citizens, as Christians, and as legislators, must 
join our endeavors to cherish and support them.” 
OUR CANALS. 
The following abstract, of the receipts and expenditures upon our canals, 
during the last year, is taken from the Annual Report of the Commission¬ 
ers of the Canal Fund: 
ERIE AND CHAMPLAIN CANALS. 
Tolls and income on the Erie and Champlain Canals, de¬ 
ducting expenses of collection,.„.$1,426,071 78 
Expenditures in repairs on do. 361,714 70 
Interest on canal debt. 163,779 70 
Towards enlarging Erie Canal,. 691,103 10 
Sundry expenses,.. 26,333 13 
-$1,243,930 63 
Leaving as nett revenue. $182,141 15 
LATERAL CANALS. 
Expenditures. Revenues. Deficiencies. 
Oswego,.... 76,020 47 31,163 16 44,857 31 
Cayuga and Seneca,- 42,366 56 15,189 04 27,177 52 
Chemung. 31,552 61 3,274 55 31,278 06 
Crooked Lake. 12,146 02 822 48 11,323 51 
Chenango,. 107,705 05 4,955 89 102,759 16 
Annual cost to the state,.$217,335 59 
TWO RULES FOR PLOUGHMEN. 
The breadth of the furrow-slice should correspond with its thickness, 
and be in the proportion of three broad to two deep. This is necessary 
in order that the furrow may be suitably and handsomely laid. If the 
depth is in greater proportion, the furrow-slice will not be turned over 
enough, and will be apt to rest on its edge; if it is less, the furrow-slice 
will be turned too far; for, 
The furrow-slice should not be completely turned over, and laid fiat, 
except where it is to be sown with grass seeds, but made to rest in aslop- 
ing position against a previous one. If flat, the soil is less pulverized, less 
permeable, more subject to be injured by water, than if laid sloping. In 
this way too the greatest surface is exposed to the atmosphere, which is 
calculated to ameliorate and mellow the soil. A stiff clay, or a tough 
sward, is but little benefitted by the plough, if laid flat. It soon becomes 
almost as compact as it was before it was turned over. The same takes 
place if the soil is wet, or heavy rains follow. 
TESTIMONY IN FAVOR OF ITALIAN SPRING WHEAT. 
A letter from Philip Reybold, near Delaware city, Del. says—“ My son 
and myself obtained some Italian spring wheat of Mr. J. Hathaway last 
winter. I sowed six bushels, which yielded me about one hundred and 
twenty bushels, without manure. I merely ploughed up my stock field, 
as we do for oats, and sowed it. In the adjoining field, which I manured, 
and the chance being altogether better, my winter wheat was nearly all 
destroyed by the fly. I intend sowing all the spring wheat I have raised 
next spring.” 
Our correspondent is the gentleman, whose remarkable large crop of 
corn, and the mode of culture, were published in vol. iii, p. 34, of the 
Cultivator, and which may be profitably re-examined by the farmer who 
wishes to improve in the culture of this crop. A grass ley—plenty of long 
manure—deep ploughing—dressed with the harrow and cultivator only— 
harvested by cutting at the ground—product 2,216 bushels on twenty-two 
acres. Mr. Reybold and his sons raise about 20,000 bushels of corn an¬ 
nually. [gt|- We embrace this mode of advising Mr. R. that six barrels 
of Dutton corn have been forwarded to him, agreeable to his request.] 
A LESSON FROM FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. 
The Flemings house their clover hay when but partially cured, and al¬ 
ternate it in the mow, in layers of six or seven inches, with straw. The 
straw imbibes the nutritious juices of the clover, is rendered palatable and 
nutritious by them; consequently the clover does not heat, and the whole 
is converted into valuable fodder. Without being acquainted with this 
practice, we have twice or thrice treated our late crop of lucern in this 
way, after it had been partially cured in cock; and have thought it an ex¬ 
cellent way to increase our fodder. The clover should be first freed from 
all extraneous moisture. It is the natural juices of thegrass that eiyich 
the straw. 
Education in Austria. —A late British traveller, Strang, has given us 
a high opinion of education in Austria. He says, that in Austria proper, 
every child must go to school for a certain number of years, and that if 
the parents are not able to defray the expense, the education is gratuitous; 
that numerous normal or pattern schools furnish a supply of teaches; and 
that Vienna alone sends out from 1,600 to 2,000 teachers annually, from 
her normal schools. The peasantry of the Austrian states, this traveller 
assures us, enjoy a superiority in worldly prosperity, and in moral advance¬ 
ment, consequent upon the general system of instruction, over the same 
class in Great Britain. There is good ground for believing, that the mass 
of population in many of the German states, are better instructed, parti¬ 
cularly in whatever conduces to success in their business, and to their 
moral deportment, than the mass of population of the free states of Ame¬ 
rica. Such things should not be. They should not be worse, but we be 
better off. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPODDENTS. 
LIME. 
C. Butler, of Plymouth, Conn, is desirous of obtaining information as to 
the application of lime, and what quantity should be applied to the acre. 
There can be no general rules laid down in this matter. In Great Britain 
it is common to apply from 120 to 350 bushels, and sometimes even 600 
bushels are given to the acre. The smallest quantity here named would 
destroy fertility in America, so far as experiments have been made. In 
Pennsylvania, where lime is in the greatest use for agricultural purposes, 
from 50 to 100 bushels are applied to the acre, the lesser quantity upon 
poor lands. The application of ten bushels to the acre annually, as re¬ 
commended by Mr. Puvis, as long as the crops continue to derive addi¬ 
tion benefit from its use, would perhaps be the safest mode of proceed¬ 
ing, where there is a doubt of its proving beneficial. But note well, we 
speak of caustic, fresh burnt lime, which can only be applied with certain 
profit to particular soils, where there is lignious, peaty, or inert vegetable 
matter, which it is the office of lime to decompose and fit as food for 
plants. And further—quick lime soon becomes mild or carbonate of lime, 
by its union with carbonic acid, which it imbibes from the earth and the 
atmosphere—when both its qualities and its offices becomes changed—it 
then improves the texture of the soil, and increases its capacities of fer¬ 
tility. The analysis of a soil can alone enable one to determine whether 
mild lime, or marl, is likely to benefit it, and to what extent. Carbonate of 
lime may beneficially, exist to the amount of two to four per cent, in the 
upper six inch stratum of the soil. But as our correspondent is located 
on a primitive formation, destitute, or nearly so, of calcareous earth, there 
is no doubt but mild lime, in all its forms, will constitute a profitable ap¬ 
plication. 
We subjoin the general rules, in relation to the application of lime, laid 
down in British Husbandry, which seem to apply well to our practice. 
“ 1. Before the application of lime, the land should be thoroughly 
drained and laid dry. 
“ 2. It may be carried on when the teams are most at leisure; but 
summer is the best season; and it never should be laid upon the land 
except in dry weather. 
“ 3. It should be laid on while in a powdery state—the drier the 
better—and kept as near the surface as possible, as then best adapted 
to mix intimately with the soil. 
“ 4. It may be applied either quick or effete; but if in the former 
state, it will have more effect in cleansing the land, and a less quan¬ 
tity will serve the immediate purpose. It should, however, be cart¬ 
ed upon the land as soon as possible, and spread directly before the 
plough, letting that follow so quickly, as that the body of the lime 
shall be slaked in the soil; and it must be cautiously applied to light 
soils. 
“ 5. As it has a tendency to sink info the ground, and it is impor¬ 
tant to preserve it near the surface, it should be ploughed with a shal¬ 
low furrow. 
“ 6. When found, after a few years, in lumps, and much below 
the surface of the land, it should be ploughed up and repeatedly har¬ 
rowed, so as to ensure its intermixture. 
“ 7. Clays and strong loams require a full dose; but for sands and 
other light soils, a much less quantity of lime will serve—each in pro¬ 
portion to the strength of the lime and the land. 
“ 8. If the land be not supplied with the same quantity of putres¬ 
cent manure that is usually laid upon other soils, the crops will suf¬ 
fer; and if it be not then laid down to grass fora long series of years, 
it will be worn out and exhausted.” 
We add the following from Prof. Low: 
“ Lime may be laid on the surface of land when it is in grass, and re¬ 
main there until the land is ploughed up for tillage, even though this 
should be several years afterwards The lime, in this case, quickly sinks 
into the soil, and acting upon it, prepares it for crops when it is again 
tilled.” 
“ It may be spread upon the surface even when plants are growing. 
This, however, is rarely to be imitated.” 
For more precise directions for the application of lime in the United 
