A CONSOLIDATION OF BUEL’S CULTIVATOR AND THE GENESEE FARMER. 
Cult. Vol. IX.—No. 4. 
ALBANY, N. Y. APRIL, 1842. 
Cult. & Far. Vol. III. —No. 4. 
PUBLISHED MONTHLY. 
GAYLORD &, TUCKER, EDITORS. 
LUTHER TUCKER, PROPRIETOR. 
One Dollar per annum—Six Copies for $5. 
(PAYABLE ALWAYS IN ADVANCE.) 
20 per cent commission on 25 or more subscribers, and 
25 per cent commission on 100 or more. 
Subscriptions to commence with a volume ; and the money 
to be sent free of postage. 
THE BACK VOLUMES OF THE CULTIVATOR, 
Handsomely stitched in printed covers, 
Can be furnished to new subscribers—Yds. I. II. III. IV. at 50 
cents each, and Vols. V. VI. VII. VIII. at $1. each. 
They can also be procured of Dayton & Newman, booksellers, 
cor. of Fulton and Nassau-streets; Israel Post, bookseller, S3 
Bowery, and at G-. C. Thorburn’s Seed store, 11 John-st., New- 
York —of D. Landreth & Co., Seedsmen, and Judah Dobson, 
bookseller, ’Philadelphia— of Hovey & Co., Seedsmen, Boston — 
of A. H. Stilwell, bookseller, Providence —of R. Hill, Jr., & Co., 
Richmond — of J. F. Callan, Seedsman, Washington City. 
These volumes, it js believed, form a better Farmer’s Libra¬ 
ry than be procured in any other form for double the cost. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
“TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND.” 
PREMIUMS OF THE N. Y. S. AG. SOCIETY. 
We wish to call the attention of the agricultural pub¬ 
lic to the list of premiums on agriculture, horticulture, 
&c., published in the last and the present numbers of 
the Cultivator. It is believed to be far the most liberal 
and extensive of any list of premiums yet presented in 
the United States, and will secure, we cannot doubt, an 
active and spirited competition. The list, it will be 
seen on examination, embraces almost every subject of 
agricultural or horticultural excellence or utility, and 
the field of competition is open to all who choose to 
avail themselves of, it. Cattle of all ages and breeds, 
working oxen, fat cattle,—horses and mares of all ages 
and kinds,—swine,—sheep, long wooled, middle wool- 
ed, and fine wooled,—farm implements of all kinds,— 
silk,—silk reels,—butter and cheese,—field crops,—ma¬ 
ple sugar,—discretionary premiums, &c. &c. For the 
list of premiums on horticultural products see the present 
number of the Cultivator. 
We would in particular invite the attention of che¬ 
mists to the liberal premium of $100, offered for the best 
popular treatise on agricultural chemistry. The subject 
is one of great importance; and though several most va¬ 
luable works on the subject have appeared within a few 
years, so rapid has been the progress of this science as 
connected with agriculture, that much new light may 
reasonably be expected as the result of further investiga¬ 
tion. We have the satisfaction, also, of knowing that 
we have in this country several gentlemen whose pur¬ 
suits have led to much consideration of the chemical re¬ 
lations of vegetables, and have thus qualified them for 
the elucidation anil investigation of the subject for which 
the premium is offered. 
The liberal premiums offered on the several subjects, 
—of the rotation of crops best suited to the soils of this 
state; the general management of the farm; on the in¬ 
troduction of new agricultural products; anil the ma¬ 
nagement and application of manures; together with the 
intrinsic importance of the matters named, will, we hope, 
call out from the many practical farmers of the state, or 
the country, who are qualified to discuss these topics, 
essays of permanent utility to the agricultural community. 
An error occurred in our last number in relation 
to the time when the essays for which prizes were offer¬ 
ed should be forwarded to the society. It should have 
been “ January 1, 1843,” instead of “June 1, 1842,” as 
it was printed. 
The attention of all who propose becoming competi¬ 
tors for any of the premiums is particularly directed to 
the rules and regulations adopted, which may be found 
in the last number of the Cultivator, as a close adherence 
to them must be very desirable and necessary. It will 
be seen that the premium list is equal to about two 
thousand dollars; and it will be the endeavor of the Ex¬ 
ecutive Committee to carry out fully the objects of the 
society, in encouraging and promoting the great inte¬ 
rests of agriculture in every form, and in rendering the 
annual fairs and shows of the society worthy of the great 
state of New-York. 
WORK FOR THE MONTH. 
Repairing and putting in complete order every fence 
on the farm, and particularly road and division fences, is 
one of the first and most essential of spring labors. If it 
has not been done in March, don’t neglect it in April. 
Good fences prevent eructations of bile among neigh¬ 
bors, contribute much to the good appearance of the 
farm, prevent the destruction of crops, and check in the 
bud that disposition to live at large which exists in most 
animals. Our winter winds make sad work with our 
worn, unstaked fences; and too frequently the rails blown 
off, lie the whole year buried in grass or weeds, decay¬ 
ing thrice as fast as they would if occupying their pro¬ 
per places on the fence. Common rail fences are best 
secured by perpendicular stakes placed at the corners, 
and secured at the tops by caps. Stakes of durable ma¬ 
terials .so placed will keep a fence in its place for years. 
It will prove injurious to a soil to plow it when so 
wet as to smooth over and render compact the surface 
moved by the implement, as it dries into a kind of un¬ 
burnt brick, fatal to all hopes of a good crop until again 
pulverized by frost. Clay soils, and those undrained, are 
most apt to suffer from this cause, which locks up all 
manures, and renders the part consolidated impervious 
to all atmospheric agency. Loamy or sandy soils may 
be plowed without danger of being rendered compact: 
and there are a few soils so constituted, that though they 
may exhibit a smoothed surface on plowing, they be¬ 
come friable and fall to pieces as soon as wet after dry¬ 
ing. Such soils belong to the class called marly. One 
improper plowing on compact clay soils, undrained, will 
render useless all cultivation for the season. 
As a general rule, the farmer will find it to his advan¬ 
tage to put in his -spring grains, such as wheat, barley, 
oats, &e., as early as the soil can be fitted for their re¬ 
ception. The grain from early sown crops, when pro¬ 
perly put in, is always more valuable than from later 
ones; being better filled, heavier, and of a finer qualitv 
in other respects. It suffers less, also, from the injuri¬ 
ous effects of our dry summers, by which the later sown 
is prematurely ripened. 
The pea is one of the crops which should be put in as 
early as possible, particularly if intended to be followed 
by wheat. The ground for this crop should be in good 
condition, not too heavily manured, but such as would 
be suitable for a wheat crop. We have known fine crops 
of peas grown on land turned over in the fall neatly, 
harrowed smooth and fine in the spring without disturb¬ 
ing the sod, and sown with peas as early as the season 
would admit. This course left the ground very clean, 
and the peas and rotted turf form a very good prepara¬ 
tion for wheat. 
Manures may now he drawn upon the fields for the 
crops to which they should be given. These should be 
corn, potatoes, and other roots, all of which will bear 
high manuring; while if the manure is applied to the 
grains directly, the product is very apt to be more straw 
than berry. There is scarcely any one thing in which 
farmers are more deficient than in the management of 
manures. Mr. Haggerston, the manager of Mr. Cush¬ 
ing's farm, near Boston, finds by experience that a com¬ 
post made of two-thirds swamp muck and one-third sta¬ 
ble manure, fermented together, makes a manure as 
valuable,.and produces as good crops of hay, grain, and 
roots, as if stable manure alone was used; yet how few 
there are who ever used a load of muck to enrich their 
lands, when perhaps they have thousands of loads on 
their premises. Stable or barn-yard manures, when put 
unfermented upon land, should be covered, that the earth 
may absorb the fertilizing gases evolved during the pro¬ 
cess of decomposition. If they are made into compost 
with muck or vegetable earth, and decomposed in that 
state, they will be sufficiently incorporated if spread on 
the surface and mixed with such earth with the harrow. 
Compost manures are the most proper for top dressing 
and renovating pastures or meadows, where plowing 
cannot be well adopted; but its application should be 
accompanied with fresh seeding, and a thorough har¬ 
rowing. 
Potatoes require a loamy soil; one abounding in ve¬ 
getable matter, and moist rather than dry. Gen. Ear- 
num, who has raised greater crops of potatoes than per¬ 
haps. any other man in the United States, attributes much 
of his success to his not disturbing the plants in hilling 
after the rootlets for the tubers begin to form; his me¬ 
thod of performing that operation being to bring rich 
earth in a horse cart, the wheels of which pass between 
the rows, and from this dropping a shovel full upon each 
hill. This furnishes a bed of rich, fresh earth for the 
tubers, and avoids all interference with the roots. 
The kitchen garden will require much attention this 
month; as all plants which are not liable to suffer from 
spring frosts should now be set out or sown. By begin¬ 
ning in season, we may secure two or three crops of 
many valuable vegetables in a single season, even where 
no hot or forcing beds are employed. Salads, radishes, 
cabbages, potatoes, peas, &c., may now be planted or 
sown. The earliest varieties of each should of course 
be selected for the first planting. Asparagus and straw¬ 
berry beds should be cleaned off, dug over, and manured. 
None but compost manures of the best kind should be 
used for such purposes. 
If the ghosts of starved-to-death animals were permit¬ 
ted to haunt the men who have so cruelly used them, we 
have some men in our mind’s eye who would have little 
quiet sleep about these days. Domestic animals were 
not given to men to be maltreated and starved; and no 
man has a right to undertake to keep more than he can 
supply amply with food. Accident or disease may, how 
ever, cause the occasional loss of an animal; and when 
such is the case, don’t draw it out into the field to invite 
the dogs and crows, or leave it by the roadside to offend 
the olfactories of the traveler; but take it to your field 
and throw on a few bushels of lime, and cover the 
whole with earth. Decomposition will take place with 
little or. no offensive exhalation, and the mass used as ma¬ 
nure will rival the most powerful. There is not a more 
disagreeable sight to a good farmer, or one more indica¬ 
tive of an unthrifty one, than to see the apple trees 
around the barn decorated with dead lambs, or the ad¬ 
joining meadow strewed with the defunct carcases of 
older sheep. If an animal is weak or sick, save it if 
you can; but if it dies, bury it where it will still profit 
you. Last year we were walking over the grounds of a 
farmer in company with the owner, and he pointed out 
a spot in a field of very badly killed winter wheat, where 
for some twelve or fifteen feet square the wheat was as 
large and as thick as it could well grow, and very fine 
ears. It would attract instantly the attention of any one 
who looked at the field. The owner assured us he was 
for a long time unable to account for the appearance of 
the spot, until he recollected that about a dozen years 
before, the then owner lost a horse and drew it to that 
place. Several crops of other kinds of grain and of 
grass had been taken from the field, and had all exhibit¬ 
ed the surprising effect of decomposed animal matter in 
the growth of crops, previous to the one then upon the 
ground. 
We hope all our readers will remember the advice 
that has been given in the Cultivator to farmers, not to 
sell their ashes, and act upon it. There is scarcely any 
kind of soil on which ashes do not produce a decided 
benefit; and for the grasses which require so much sili¬ 
cate of potash to the formation of their stems, some al¬ 
kali is indispensable. Mr. Putnam, of Mass., has lately 
given the public an account of some experiments, made 
by him to test the comparative value of ashes and lime 
in making compost. He made two masses of compost, 
one of peat earth and 50 bushels of ashes, and the other 
of peat earth and 50 dollars worth of lime. The first 
fermented readily, made a fine compost, and proved ex¬ 
cellent for every crop to which it was applied; while 
that made by lime did not ferment or decompose well, 
and its application in no case seemed to produce any ef¬ 
fect. We therefore again urge farmers to keep and use 
their ashes on their own farms. It is a good plan to 
sovv plaster and ashes on your lands as soon as the vege¬ 
tation has received sufficient start to be acted upon °bv 
them. 
Don’t allow your boys, or your neighbors’ boys, or 
any biped who calls himself a man, to be strolling about 
your fields and orchards with a gun, popping away at 
the. beautiful little birds that are such effectual aids in 
extirpating or checking the progress of the whole race 
of millers, worms, bugs, grubs, Ac., that commit such 
depredations on the farmer. If you allow this vile 
slaughter of birds, do not be surprised if your apple 
trees are stripped by the canker worm, your apples de¬ 
stroyed by the larva; of the codling moth, your plums by 
the curculio, your cabbages by the black grub, and your 
peas by the pea grub. These little birds are the farm¬ 
er’s best friends. True, they occasionally take as a re¬ 
ward for their labor some of the fruit or seeds they have 
been so active in preserving; hut this is no more than 
equal and exact justice. The person who could dis¬ 
pense with the early carol of the song sparrow, the 
merry song of the bobolink, or the sweet notes of the 
brown thrush, may possibly be an honest man, but he 
has no ear for the fine melodies of nature; “he has no 
music in his soul.” 
4 
