130 
speaking of “hill-side ditches,” remarks— “it is matter 
of some surprise that the agricultural journals of the coun¬ 
try should have so long preserved silence upon the subject.” 
Had he ever seen any of the early numbers of that excel¬ 
lent paper, the Farmer’s Register, by Mr. Ruffin, of 
Virginia, he would there have found many communica¬ 
tions, strongly recommending these ditches, by farmers 
who had long tried them, and thus proved their great 
utility. — 
I agree with your correspondent, Mr. John Moxon, of 
Monroe county, N. ¥., in thinking that the late condem¬ 
nation of the Potatoe oat has been too hastily made. If 
the circumstance of these oats, when unground or un¬ 
cooked, passing in an undigested state, through horses’ 
stomachs, be sufficient to condemn them as food for these 
animals, then all the varieties of this grain, as well as of 
corn and rye, must be rejected, for all kinds, when thus 
used, will partially pass through undigested. The pota¬ 
toe oat is one of the heaviest kinds yet known among us, 
and must therefore be presumed to contain more nutritive 
matter—measure for measure, than any lighter variety— 
until actual analysis proves the contrary. How then can 
it be less nutritious? With us it has long been cultiva¬ 
ted, and by numerous other farmers besides myself, yet I 
never heard any complaint about them, until I saw Mr. 
G. B. Smith’s publication. 
If Mr. Peters will excuse my former doubts in regard 
to the correctness of his assertion, that “ice were not 30 
years behind England in our Agriculture,” I will promise 
to utter no more, until I have as good an opportunity of 
comparing the two as he has had. But I must say, that un¬ 
less he knows of his own personal knowledge, what 
“ England teas 30 years ago,” his assertion that the great 
mass of her farmers were then, “ not one step more ad¬ 
vanced than this country is now,” rests upon no better 
grounds than my doubts. Should Mr. Peters live to “his 
three score years and ten,” as I hope he will, in health 
and happiness, it is my sincere wish that he may “see 
our Agriculture fully equal, if not superior ” to that of Eng¬ 
land; but in my humble opinion, equal density of popu¬ 
lation, and much more aid from our government than we 
have ever yet received, must both concur to produce 
even an equality of advancement. 
I have read Mr. Lyttleton Physick’s communication 
with close attention, and confess if I understand either 
his principles or their application, that he has thrown me 
into a complete quandary,—at least, in regard to Indian 
corn. This grain I have been cultivating for half a cen¬ 
tury or more, ami began to conceit that I knew a thing 
or two about it; but if he is right, then am I “ clear out 
of my reckoning.” For instance, he commences by pro¬ 
mulgating what he calls two laws of nature. The first 
of them is a law “ which keeps the earth covered with vege¬ 
table production, and which is necessary for the continuance 
of vegetable growth.” If this is really a law of nature, and 
not a mere notion of his own imagination, if seems clear 
that we should either sow our corn broad-cast, in order 
to “ keep the earth covered with vegetable production,” 
or, that as soon as possible, after planting it at any par¬ 
ticular distance, we should suffer the grass or weeds to 
form this necessary covering. The second law is ex¬ 
pressed in the following words: “All organic productions 
being possessed of a set of gencrant organs for re-producing 
their kind, cannot be disturbed, when these functions arc de- 
vclopedfor procreation, icithout injurious results.” With¬ 
out stopping to inquire whether an organ and a function 
mean the same thing, as Mr. Physick represents them, I 
would ask, if the generant organs of the corn plant be the 
tassel and the silk, what corn grower has ever followed 
or recommended any practice by which they should be 
disturbed? So far therefore, as corn growers are con¬ 
cerned, the promulgation of this law—to say the least of 
it—is somewhat supererogatory. 
Mr. Physick’s next step,—after laying down these two 
laws of nature, is, to tell us, in three brief precepts, what 
should be the practice of farmers. The first is— “to re¬ 
store fertility to exhausted soils,”' to tvhich, I presume, all 
will agree. But the second is one which appears to me 
to forbid all culture of corn or any thing else. It is in 
the following words:— “ To prevent as much as possible, 
the escape of gaseous matter from the soil.” This precept 
taken in connection with his first law, (I beg pardon— 
nature's first law,) would certainly put a stop to all stir¬ 
ring of the earth by the plow, or any other implement. 
But what renders the matter still more incomprehensible, 
is, that Mr. Physick, himself, violates both the law and 
the precept; for he told us, in a former communication, 
that he actually worked his corn, although not after it 
had attained one-third of its growth. During this work¬ 
ing, however,—if it resembles any other known to corn 
growers in general—not only must the soil on which it 
grew, remain without any covering of “vegetable pro¬ 
duction,” on the spaces between the corn, but much ga¬ 
seous matter must escape from these spaces, for the want 
of this covering, should his opinion be correct. And if 
it is, then the opinions of all other writers on agricul¬ 
ture, whom I have ever read, must be utterly wrong; for 
they recommend deep and frequent tillage for the express 
purpose of admitting gaseous and other matters into the 
soil; whereas Mr, Physick’s notion seems to be, that all 
the requisite gaseous matter is already in the soil, and 
should not be permitted to escape, as he affirms it cer¬ 
tainly will, unless the earth be constantly covered with 
some “ vegetable production.” But it is proverbially' 
true that doctors will differ. Yet it is equally true, I be¬ 
lieve, that where there is only a single doctor of one 
opinion, and some hundred or thousands against him, the 
safest plan will be to side with the majority. 
Commentator. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
THE YANKEE CORN PLANTER—(Fig. 74.) 
Messrs. Editors— I send you an engraving (fig. 74 
of T. & J. Lewis’ Yankee Corn Planter anil Seed Sowe , 
for insertion in the Cultivator. I have used it in plant¬ 
ing corn and sowing garden seeds, and can say that I 
think it the most perfect machine of the kind, which I 
have ever seen. By the use of a set of rotary plates, fit¬ 
ted to the hopper, seeds of all kinds may be deposited in 
hills or drills, from three inches to six feel apart. The 
cost of the planter is $15. Seth Holden. 
Bar re, Mass. July, 1842. 
The above was accompanied by a certificate, signed 
by Wm. L. Russell, of Barre, and John J. Pierce, Da¬ 
vid Long, jr. and Alfred Wells, of Greenfield, in which 
they say that they “ have used T. & J. Lewis’ corn plant¬ 
er and seed sower, exhibited by Seth Holden, to plant a 
small piece of corn this spring, and that it answered eve¬ 
ry expectation. It furrowed, dropped and covered, at 
the rate of 6 or 8 acres per day, and the corn all came up 
admirably; and they can safely r say it is the most perfect 
machine of its kind they have ever seen.” 
USE OF MUCK. 
Editors of the Cultivator— As I promised a short 
time since, to give you some account of my experience 
in muck, I now proceed to state that in the winter of ’39 
—’40, I drew from a large mill pond on the Kayadaros- 
seras, 1,000 loads, and put on a poor worn out field of 
17 acres; soil, sand and gravelly loam; planted to corn 
the following spring; product 50 bushels to the acre. 
This field had gone through the genuine skinning pro¬ 
cess previous to coming into my hands, and grew no¬ 
thing but sorrel and mullein. The extra product I count¬ 
ed at over 20 bushels per acre. In the fall of ’40,1 drew 
from what had been a black ash swail or narrow strip of 
swamp, 300 loads, and put on 4 acres of almost barren 
sand; planted to corn in ’41, and though the drouth was 
severe, yet the produce was at least 50 bushels per acre. 
In the winter of ’40-’41, I drew from the pond afore¬ 
said, about 700 loads, and applied to two other fields; 
planted to corn the following spring, produce equal to 
anything in the neighborhood. I drew last fall and win¬ 
ter, from the ash swail, about 500 loads and put on 8 
acres; now planted with corn and looks first rate. After 
corn, I have sown oats and seeded down; the seed which 
before was invariably lost for want of nourishment, has, 
since the muck application, taken in the most perfect 
manner. The fields are all renovated, and I consider the 
experiment a complete triumph, to the great discomfiture 
of certain wiseacres, who prophesied on my commence¬ 
ment, a failure. I have the happiness to state that seve¬ 
ral of my neighbors, who “seeing, believed,” have 
adopted the practice, and as uniformly successful, when 
applied to light worn out soils, for which it is, in my es¬ 
timation, pre-eminent. For heavy loams, or clay, an 
admixture of lime or yard manure, would be indispen¬ 
sable. The muck of my mill pond is making new ac¬ 
cessions at each freshet, and where I first began removing 
it there has nearly as much more accumulated. I intend 
making large and continued drafts on these “banks ofde- 
posite,” finding thus far, the dividends fat, and repudia¬ 
tion and protest unknown in the matter. 
Respectfully yours, Seth Whalen. 
Whalen’s Store, Saratoga co. N. Y. June 7, 1842. 
WOBURNS vs. BERKSHIRES. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —Upon reading Docl. 
Martin’s reply to me in the March No. of the Cultivator, 
the arguments appeared so unfair, and the tone of it was 
so different from the mild and gentlemanly character I 
had heard of him, that I at once dismissed the subject 
from my mind, determined to take no farther notice of 
it, as this communication of his, I thought, would carry 
its own best answer and refutation with it. I have so 
great a repugnance to anything like controversy, that 
I had rather suffer some injustice at the hands of an ad¬ 
versary, any time, than engage in it, particularly after it 
has assumed the character that Dr. M. has chosen to give 
it. But inasmuch as some of my friends are mixed up in 
the affair, their importunity forces me to a reply; which 
I am determined shall be my last on this subject, and con¬ 
fined to as strictly a negative character as possible. I 
can only regret now, that I had not known the spirit of 
this article when in Kentucky, for had I, one thing is cer¬ 
tain, I should have never crossed the thrcshholil of Col- 
byville, under the imputation of some charges made in it. 
If I can understand Dr. M.’s language, he misappre¬ 
hends and misstates my argument about the ship stuffs 
and corn. 
He makes a difference of 250 per cent, between the 
gain of one of his Woburns in warm and cold winter 
weather. I can only say that northern hogs are gene¬ 
rally fattened during this same cold weather, and gain 
rapidly, and were I disposed now to pause here and make 
an argument,! should add that this only shows the worth¬ 
lessness of his particular breed, and that the Doctor gene¬ 
rally seems equally unfortunate when he comes before 
the public with his animals. They don’t thrive in cold 
weather, and they die in hot;* and every time to be fed 
on trial, they either have an abscess, get sick, or are 
foundered, or have to be physicked, or something of the 
kind. But I am not disposed to dwell on such themes, 
or class the “fact” of this difference of gain of 250 per 
cent, with another equally extraordinary “fact,” of his 
Courteney making 30 lbs of flesh, and filling up on 52 
lbs. of corn in ten days! which is certainly the most won¬ 
derful feeding and gain I ever heard of. Could not pork 
with such animals, be manufactured from corn for one 
cent per pound, and prove the most profitable business 
that the farmer or planter could possibly engage in dur¬ 
ing these hard times? I only ask for the benefit of those 
employed in pork raising; for this certainly beats Berk- 
shires, according to a western expression, “ by a forty 
horse power,” and almost equals the pretty little Chi¬ 
nese, which I have half thought sometimes, would live 
upon air. 
He finds it convenient to slide over my trial of Berk- 
shires when fed at Columbus, and easily beating his Wo¬ 
burns, which I am confident they will ever do on a/n/r 
trial. As to the “ poor Berkshire boar, &c. to show 
off - against his fat Woburns,” I had both oral and writ¬ 
ten testimony from several gentlemen in Kentucky, whose 
candor and veracity I could not impeach, asserting the 
fact. It was such evidence as would have been received 
in any court of justice in the land. It is not improbable 
that they might have seen the Berkshire at some particu¬ 
lar time, rather wanting in condition, by the side of 
some fat Woburns; but whether this be so or not, the 
words, “malicious and destitute of truth,” are pretty 
strong terms to apply to persons of the respectable stand¬ 
ing that I know them to be in the society of Kentucky. 
They might have been mistaken in their judgment, but 
as for the other part, I suspect Doct. M. in his cooler 
moments, will have regretted making use of the ex¬ 
pression. 
Mr. Fanning, doubtless, called his Berkshires “ very 
superior,” in comparison with others in Tennessee, but 
the reports of their weight proved them small by the 
side of the larger families of this breed, kept in other 
parts of the United States. 
For the next paragraph of Doctor M., I refer as an¬ 
swer to what I said in Dec. No. of the Cultivator, about 
the different varieties of Woburns. If he is satisfied 
with the insinuations of the closing sentence, very well. 
I leave those who better know me, to judge whether 
they are correct or not. 
Doct. M. asserts “ the breeders of Berkshires write big 
bantering letters, but never come up to the trial.” I be¬ 
lieve Mr. Curd, and others of Kentucky, have repeatedly 
challenged him to a contest; and certain it is that Mr. 
Mahard, of Ohio, concluded if he would stop the boyish 
trials which he so solemnly paraded before the public in 
a chapter of “nine facts,” (I won’t be under oath as to 
the exact number—pity, though, they had not been a ba¬ 
ker’s dozen,) equal in importance, probably, and some¬ 
thing like the “nine wonders of the world,” and place 
an equal lot of pigs with him in the hands of a disinter¬ 
ested person, to be kept in the common farm way in the 
west of making pork, for a year or so, and then be dri¬ 
ven to market and slaughtered; and the animals found to 
drive the best, and that had given the most and best pork 
on the quantity of food consumed, &c. to be declared the 
victors, he would enter some Berkshires against his Wo¬ 
burn. To this Dr. M. has consented, and I hope next 
fall to hear of a result worthy to be recorded. I would, 
most gladly, long ago have challenged the Doctor to a 
similar trial, but residing at least 800 miles apart, this 
was out of the question. 
Doct. M. asserts that myself and brother have done 
much to prejudice the public against his white Berkshire 
boar Albion. I have not the agricultural periodicals to 
refer to for all our writings, but should be glad to see him 
point out where Albion is mentioned by either of us, 
previous to his communication of Dec. last. If apprised 
of it, the knowledge of his owning such an animal never 
dwelt upon our memories; we only wrote against white 
Berkshires in general, believing them to be a spurious 
breed. If the Doctor can convince the public that they 
are not, we shall be happy to hear him; we only hope 
he will be more fortunate than he was in making that fa¬ 
mous “ Martin” breed of swine, which, to use another 
western phrase, “ were going to whip out all creation,” 
and not have “ one drop of black Berkshire blood in them 
either!” Query. Did any one ever see a pure “ black 
Berkshire,” without a white hair in him? Or did Mr. 
Hawes, their first importer, ever call them “black,” to 
distinguish them from “ white.” I suppose if we were 
sent a white-black-Scotch-Galloway, from the other side of 
the water, with a certificate of pedigree, that the unbe¬ 
lieving American public would be obliged to open its 
boa constrictor mouth, and swallow him whole, without 
winking. 
As I get on in writing, I find that a little of the high 
pressure steam with which I started, is, like Bob Acres’ 
courage, “oozing out at my fingers ends,” and as I keep 
a general hospitality account in the Miami Valley, the 
Doctor has my carte blanche for bacon and eggs, and re¬ 
quest that he take a jaunt up there, and stop with friend 
Hendrickson, over a day and night, or two, or a whole 
month if he pleases. He will there see Windsor Castle, 
* See Western Farmer and Gardener, Kentucky Farmer, and 
other publications, and particularly an account of Woburns 
sent Messrs. Affleck & Foster. 
