UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 I
 
 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY 
 
 A SERIES OF ESSAYS ON AGRICULTURE. 
 
 COMPILED PRINCIPALLY FROM "THE CULTIVATOR 1 ' AND 
 "THB OENESEE FARMER." 
 
 WITH ADDITIONS 
 
 BY WILLIS GAYLORD AND LUTHER TUCKER. 
 
 IN TWO VO L M E 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS. 
 1864.
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1340, by 
 
 HARPKR & BKOTHKK* 
 In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York.
 
 
 V \ 
 
 COMPILERS' PREFACE, 
 
 n 
 
 IN offering to the agricultural public the present 
 
 volumes, the compilers feel that a few words in ex- 
 
 planation of their intentions and wishes may in this 
 
 place be necessary and proper. Profoundly im- 
 
 pressed with the important influence which .the cul- 
 
 , tivation of the soil exerts on the prosperity of the in- 
 
 ^ dividual and the nation ; confident that in too many 
 
 ^ cases the most effectual methods of promoting this 
 
 desired prosperity are not adopted; believing that 
 
 the systems of farming at present pursued in this 
 
 r country are usually more or less defective, and may 
 
 r be greatly improved by an acquaintance with the ad- 
 
 j vanced methods of more experienced countries, and 
 
 ^ a thorough investigation by our farmers of the prin- 
 
 ^ cipal points of difference between their husbandry 
 
 ^- and ours, we have endeavoured, in the papers se- 
 
 lected and prepared for these volumes, to embrace 
 
 such general principles and such courses of practice 
 
 as will conduce most certainly to benefit and im- 
 
 , i prove the condition and prospects of the tiller of the 
 
 J soil. Very little space has been devoted to mere 
 
 P theories of rural economy, a correct practice from 
 
 ^ already established facts being considered more im- 
 
 3 portant. It has been our wish and endeavour to pre- 
 
 - sent such a manual as will be found instructive to 
 ff 
 
 Q all who are engaged in the great undertaking of pro- 
 ^ duciug a nation's wealth as well as a nation's bread 
 
 310 
 
 777
 
 iv COMPILERS' PREFACE. 
 
 It will be seen that the first volume, with the ex- 
 ception of a few miscellaneous articles deemed ne- 
 cessary to its completeness, is from the fifth and 
 sixth volumes of the Cultivator, and may be con- 
 sidered as the expression of the matured opinions 
 of JUDGE BCEL on the subject of Agriculture. As a 
 proper termination to this volume, we have included 
 the Address prepared by him for delivery before the 
 New-Haven Agricultural and Horticultural Societies, 
 and on the journey to perform which duty his valu- 
 able life was closed. A large portion of the second 
 volume, the chapters on the Kitchen and Fruit Gar- 
 dejis included, were written and prepared expresslj 
 for this work ; the remaining part consisting of pa 
 pers selected from the volumes of the Genesee Far 
 mer. To the whole such notes have been appended, 
 and such alterations and additions generally have 
 been made as were deemed essential to accomplish 
 the object we had in view. 
 
 It is not expected or supposed that the theories 
 unfolded or the practices inculcated in these volumes 
 jje perfect. The science of agriculture is necessa- 
 rily progressive, and so, of course, must be the prac- 
 tice. Our object and aim have been to imbody as 
 much useful information as possible ; to excite in- 
 quiry and investigation, and furnish the means for 
 arriving at correct and just conclusions. How far 
 we have succeeded in our design is left for the de- 
 cision of an enlightened agricultural public. 
 
 September, 1840.
 
 C ONTENTS 
 
 OF . 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NEW HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Introduction. Manuring. Draining. Good Tillage. Alterna- 
 ting Crops. Root Culture. Fallow Crops. Rules and Sugges~ 
 lions in Husbandry. Comparative Profits of the Old and New 
 Husbandry Page 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE NECESSITY AND MEANS OF IMPROVING OUR HUS- 
 BANDRY. 
 
 Report by Judge Buel 58 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 
 
 The Potato. Manures. Early Potatoes. Choice of Kinds. 
 Mode of Planting. Harvesting the Crop. Sorting the Crop. 
 Wintering the Crop. Culture. Beet. Carrot. Parsnip. 
 Turnip. Introductory Remarks. METHODS OF FEEDING 
 ROOTS. Report by Judge Buel. Col. Meachant on the Carrot 
 and Ruta Baga . 73 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INDIAN CORN. 
 
 Varieties of Indian Corn. To render Com prolific. Culture of 
 Corn. Experiments in producing improved varieties of Indian 
 Corn. Experiments in Harvesting Corn. Selection of Seed, 
 and Early Maturity 108
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MANURES. 
 
 What quantity should be applied to an Acre T Winter Man- 
 agement of Manure Specific Manures. Bone Manure. 
 Leached Ashes. Peat Earth, Peat Ashes, &c . Page 123 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS-LANDS. 
 
 Of Pasture. Of Meadow. On converting Arable or Plough 
 Land into Permanent Meadow or Pasture. Report on Grass- 
 es and Grass-Lands 148 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PLANTS. 
 
 The Germination of Seeds. Roots and Leaves. Extent of the 
 Roots of Plants . 162 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SWINE .... 175 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 
 
 Native Sheep. Spanish Merino. Saxon Merino. New Lei- 
 cester or Bakewell Breed. South Down. The Influence or 
 Effect of Feed on the Quantity and Quality of the Wool and 
 Carcasa 182 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 OUR COUNTRY OUR WHOLE COUNTRY. Clover: its value for 
 Cattle, for Seed, and for the Soil. Use of Clover. Clover 
 and Clover-seed. Prevention of Smut. Why is it best to 
 bury Manure T Butter-making Drill Husbandry. Effect 
 of Steeps. Modus and Profits of Strawberry Culture. Sta-
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 tistics of American Wool and Wooljen Manufactures. Ex- 
 periment in Harvesting Corn. Cultivation of Cucumbers. 
 The circumscribed Farmer. On the Application of Manures. 
 Kfficacy of Lime in preventing Insect Depredations. Mil- 
 dew of the Gooseberry. The Philosophy of Pruning. The 
 Mind and the Soil - . Page 217 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES CONTINUED. 
 
 Caleb Kirk on Hedging. Animal Nutrition. On the Use 
 of Gypsum. Choked Cattle. Specific Food in Soils for 
 Plants 276 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Address of the Hon. Judge Buel, delivered before the Agricul- 
 tural and Horticultural Societies of New-Haven County, 
 September 25, 1839 305
 
 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NEW HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Introduction. Manuring. Draining. Good Tillage. Alterna- 
 ting Crops. Root Culture. Fallow Crops. Rules and Sugges- 
 tions in Husbandry. Comparative Profits of the Old and New 
 Husbandry. 
 
 To no one individual is the agricultural public of 
 this country more indebted for correct opinions on 
 the important subject of Improved Husbandry than 
 to Judge BUEL ; and his influence in bringing the sys- 
 vem into repute was deservedly the greater, as the 
 principles he advocated in his writings were most 
 happily illustrated and enforced by his practice. 
 These opinions and principles are imbodied in the 
 following chapter; and prepared, as the subject- 
 matter was by him, for the purpose to which it is 
 now applied, they may be considered as the result of 
 his settled convictions and his matured experience. 
 The principal features that distinguish the New from 
 the Old Husbandry are here made sufficiently appa- 
 rent ; and the theory is not more beautifully in ac- 
 cordance with nature, than the results are found to 
 be beneficial to the agriculturist. 
 I B
 
 10 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 The introduction and establishment of the New 
 Husbandry in England required many years for its 
 accomplishment ; a long series of experiments ; the 
 writings of many distinguished men ; and the exam- 
 ple of individuals of known science and skill. There 
 were old and deep-rooted prejudices to overcome ; 
 the dread of innovation to encounter ; the habits and 
 usages of ages to break up and eradicate, before the 
 improvements, which have proved so essential and 
 vital to the prosperity of that kingdom, could be fix- 
 ed on their present secure basis. Men bred to the 
 business of farming are proverbially reluctant to 
 submit to changes affecting their modes of proceed- 
 ing ; and when some of the proposed methods were 
 found to conflict entirely with the courses which 
 they and their fathers had pursued, it is not surprising 
 that such novelties were regarded with suspicion and 
 distrust. Perseverance, however, triumphed over 
 opposition ; and good sense, aided perhaps by national 
 necessities, frowned down illiberality and persecu- 
 tion ; and a return to the old systems of cultivation, 
 it is now universally admitted, would bring speedy 
 ruin, if not absolute starvation, on the whole nation 
 
 The United States have received their agriculture, 
 as well as their codes of morals and laws, from what 
 may well be designated the " Fatherland ;" and al- 
 though the revolution destroyed the sense of servile 
 imitation and dependance that was before so opera- 
 tive, still the changes that were gradually going on 
 in Great Britain were not without their influence on 
 the fanning systems of this. There was a mateii&l
 
 NEW HUSBANDRY. 11 
 
 difference, however, in the state and condition of the 
 two' countries, that produced important modifications 
 in the action of these changes. There the popula- 
 tion was great, and the quantity of land limited ; and 
 the necessities of that population enforced the adop- 
 tion of the New Husbandry by the strongest of mo- 
 tives, the avoidance of starvation. Here land was 
 abundant ; and no serious evils, so far as regarded a 
 supply of bread, could arise ; the difficulty to be 
 guarded against was only the deterioration of soil 
 to which the action of the Old Husbandry subject- 
 ed lands. Of course, little attention, on the whole, 
 was paid to the matter by the great body of Ameri- 
 can farmers ; and although it was well understood 
 that the lands in the older settled parts of the coun- 
 try had lost much of their productiveness, and that 
 the new system would remedy this alarming and in- 
 creasing evil, still the mass persisted in their ancient 
 habits, depending on migration to new lands hi the 
 West when those of the East should cease to reward 
 the labours of cultivation. 
 
 That such a feeling was erroneous could be doubt- 
 ed by no reflecting mind ; and, fortunately for the 
 country, various causes combined to show the im- 
 policy of such a course. Nature herself, in such an 
 extended country as ours, has interposed checks to 
 the general prevalence of such impressions. The 
 evils and privations necessarily consequent on a re- 
 moval 'from an improved district to an unimproved 
 one are not without their influence ; experience has 
 also shown, that at great distances in the interior, al-
 
 12 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 though all the necessaries of life can be produced in 
 abundance, there are comparatively few things' that 
 can be grown and forwarded to a distant market 
 with the expectation of profit ; and it was also seen 
 that, if the productiveness of old lands was not equal 
 to that of new, the profits of cultivation were not, 
 in the aggregate, so much inferior as at the first 
 glance appeared. More than all, examples were not 
 wanting of public-spirited and intelligent farmers, 
 who, by adopting a course of husbandry that had 
 succeeded so well abroad, proved most satisfactorily 
 that worn-out lands could be restored to fertility by 
 skilful cultivation ; that the progress of deterioration, 
 so prevalent in the older states, could be checked ; 
 and that the productiveness and consequent value of 
 eastern lands could be so greatly increased as to 
 render a resort to the virgin soils of the West unne- 
 cessary to those who were already in possession of 
 eastern farms. 
 
 In bringing about this state of things, the names 
 of Livingston, Powel, and Duel have an honourable 
 pre-eminence. Others effectively co-operated ; but it 
 may be said that to these men the high praise is pe- 
 culiarly due, of calling the attention of the public 
 mind to the advantages offered by the New Husband- 
 ry. . Unfettered by habits unfavourable to change, 
 and unaffected by a blind veneration for ancient usa- 
 ges, so pernicious to advances in the cultivation of 
 the soil, these men, and particularly the last named, 
 entered upon the business of agriculture with a de- 
 termination to avail themselves of whatever light
 
 NEW HUSBANDRY. 13 
 
 thn experience of others had afforded ; and to apply 
 to the cultivation of the earth the aids that science, 
 and an increased acquaintance with the laws that 
 govern the formation of arable soils, and the growth 
 and improvement of vegetables, could give. In do- 
 ing this, they necessarily adopted, with suchmodifi-i 
 cations as our climate and country required, the im- 
 proved husbandry of Britain and Belgium, and this 
 with a success which has constituted a new era in 
 the agricultural history and prospects of the United 
 States. Objections have been made and opposition 
 has been encountered, but in a less degree than was 
 perhaps to have been expected, where established 
 and ancient usages were assailed ; and the rapid ex- 
 tension of the principle and practice of the New Sys- 
 tem, and the general favour with which it is viewed 
 where best understood, seem to indicate that the im- 
 proved husbandry has gained a permanent and secure 
 footing among us. Now and then, indeed, an indi- 
 vidual may be found who persists in cropping his 
 land according to the old method, until it is so redu- 
 ced that the crops will not pay for the culture, when 
 he abandons it to the recuperative powers of nature, 
 and proceeds to repeat the same exhausting course 
 on another section of his farm ; but such instances 
 are comparatively rare ; and where the New Hus- 
 bandry is not avowedly made the basis of the agri- 
 cultural course, its influence may be traced in many 
 ways, such as in the more general rotation of crops, 
 the increased quantity of roots grown, and the con- 
 sequent improvement in the numbers and quality of
 
 14 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 the cattle and sheep of the country. It is to explain 
 more fully the principles of this system of farming ; 
 the reasons which render it preferable to the older 
 methods ; and the general outlines of the practice to 
 be pursued, that the following remarks of Judge Buel 
 were penned, and from which the reader will no long- 
 er be detained. Editors. 
 
 That system of agriculture known by the appella 
 tion of the New Husbandry, and the general princi 
 pies of which we propose to point out, is new only 
 comparatively, and in contradistinction to the old 
 system, which is generally adopted in the first set- 
 tlement of a country, in some degree as a matter of 
 necessity ; but which, being once established, is too 
 often persisted in, with a reckless indifference to ul- 
 terior consequences, long after the necessity for it 
 has ceased. This particularly happens in countries 
 like ours, where new and virgin soils are continually 
 inviting to emigration. What we denominate the 
 new system has long been in operation in the valley 
 of the Po, in Italy ; indeed, it seems to have been 
 practised there by the Romans in the meridian of 
 their greatness, and in Flanders, and for the last 
 half century in Great Britain ; and it has, besides, 
 for some time had many faithful followers in the 
 United States. By the old system we mean that 
 which, generally speaking, has impoverished, and is 
 still impoverishing, the soil on our Atlantic border, 
 and which is already causing indications of prema- 
 ture exhaustion and poverty in some portions of the 
 new West. "As much vacant land as this district 
 contains,".says a late writer of East Virginia, " there 
 is but little uncultivated [old fields] which, until en- 
 riched, will yield any clear profit. Therefore, East- 
 ern Virginia, in its present state, is fully populated, 
 and no increase can be expected except from the im-
 
 NEW HUSBANDRY. 15 
 
 provement of the soil, and the consequent increased 
 means of subsistence." This remark will hold good 
 in many portions of the older states. By New Hus- 
 bandry we mean the art (and to many yet a mystery) 
 of progressively increasing the fertility and products 
 of our soils, and the intrinsic value of our farms ; 
 and of thereby providing the means of subsistence 
 for our increasing population. 
 
 There are no universal rules for doing this. Much 
 depends upon climate and soil, and upon the distance 
 and demands of the market. The products of the 
 soil, as well as the demands for them, vary gener- 
 ally with latitude. Grain, pulse, roots, and grass, 
 are the natural products of higher latitudes ; rice, 
 cotton, and tobacco, constitute the staples of more 
 temperate regions ; while the productions of the tor- 
 rid zone vary from both of those before referred to. 
 Though there are no definite rules of practice that 
 will apply to all, yet there are essential requisites to 
 success that have a general application. These are 
 capital, industry, and perseverance, and knowledge 
 to apply them wisely with effect, under the varied 
 circumstances of climate, soil, and market. Great 
 success cannot be expected in any laudable underta- 
 king without persevering industry ; and in regard to 
 knowledge, the laws which govern matter, upon 
 which our labours are to be expended, are the same 
 everywhere ; and we are endowed with capacities 
 for investigating, comprehending, and applying many 
 of them in aid of labour, the profits of which are in 
 a measure graduated by the intelligence which gov- 
 ern and directs it. 
 
 The New System of Husbandry, or the art of in- 
 creasing the fertility and products of the soil, con- 
 sists in, 
 
 1. Manuring. 
 
 2. Draining. 
 
 3. Good Tillage. 
 
 4. Alternating Crops.
 
 16 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 5. Root Culture. And, 
 
 G. In substituting Fallow Crops for Naked Fallows. 
 
 Most of all these are necessary to good farming, 
 according to soil, climate, and location. They are 
 the distinguishing traits of the new husbandry ; and 
 as they are practised with more or less fidelity and 
 judgment, in the same proportion are they likely to 
 advance the condition of our agriculture, and to ben- 
 efit the commonwealth. 
 
 These objects have become so hackneyed from 
 our repeated attempts to illustrate their bearing upon 
 the prosperity of our country, that we almost de- 
 spair of interesting our readers by what we have to 
 offer ; but as we labour in our vocation, and deem 
 the matter in question of deep interest to the farmer, 
 we shall again throw our seed abroad, in the hope 
 that at least a portion of it may fall upon the ground 
 and yield a reasonable increase. 
 
 We intend to discuss the several subjects we have 
 named, and shall endeavour to show the why and the 
 how each of them tends to benefit the farmer, and to 
 advance improvement in our husbandry. In the re- 
 marks we shall offer, it will be our endeavour rather 
 to explain the principles upon which the new system 
 is founded, and which have a common application, 
 and to demonstrate their beneficial influence in hus- 
 bandry generally, than to detail the minutiae of prac- 
 tice, which must, in some degree, ever be influenced 
 and controlled by local causes. 
 
 I. MANURING. 
 
 The first requisite to improving the fertility of the 
 soil, is plenty of food for the crop which it is des- 
 tined to nourish. The meal-chest must be occasion- 
 ally replenished, or it will not long serve to supply 
 the wants of the family. The kine must have daily 
 her forage or her grain, or she will withhold her ac- 
 customed tribute of milk. The field, which yields 
 an annual contribution to the husbandman, wili be-
 
 MANURING. 17 
 
 come steril if nothing is returned to replace the 
 crops annually carried off. Philosophers have spec- 
 ulated for ages as to What constitutes the food of 
 plants ? Without recapitulating the various theories 
 which have had their day upon this point, every farm- 
 er can readily respond to the question, from per- 
 sonal knowledge, that it is MANURE vegetable and 
 animal matters which constitute the true food of 
 farm crops. Mineral, fossil, and earthy substances 
 may meliorate the soil, and increase its capacities 
 for the healthy development and maturity of plants, 
 or may impart wholesome stimuli to the organs of 
 plants themselves ; but vegetable and animal sub- 
 stances, after all, constitute mainly the elementary 
 food of plants : crops on well-prepared grounds are 
 always good when these, in a soluble state, are 
 known to abound ; and they are always defective or 
 prove a failure when these are wanting. Farmers 
 should hence regard manure as a part of their capital 
 as money which requires but to be properly 
 employed to return them usurious interest. They 
 should husband it as they would their cents or shil- 
 lings, which they mean to increase to dollars. They 
 should economize every animal and vegetable sub- 
 stance on the farm ; and when it has subserved other 
 useful purposes, apply it, by mixing it properly with 
 the soil, to the increase of the coming harvest ; put 
 it to interest, that it may return the owner its per 
 centage of profit in grain, roots, and forage, and ul- 
 timately in the increase of meat, and in the products 
 of the fleece and dairy. Every load of manure well 
 applied to the farm will increase its products to the 
 value of one dollar. The fanner, therefore, who 
 wastes a load of manure, is as reckless and improv- 
 ident as he who throws away a bushel of corn in the 
 dearest times. Not only what is denominated ma- 
 nure, as the contents of the cattle and hog yards, 
 and the cleaning of the stable (the amount of which 
 may be greatly increased by stalks, weeds, vines,
 
 18 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 and other vegetable matters), may be transformed 
 into farm produce ; but the rich earth of swamps, 
 ditches, and waters, the leaves of the forest, urine, 
 soapsuds, &c., are all convertible to a like use. He 
 that will not feed his crops with manure, should not 
 complain if his crops fail to feed him with bread. 
 
 As the grain, roots, and forage destined to feed 
 the family and the farm stock require the best care 
 of the husbandman to prevent waste and injury, so 
 does the manure which is destined to feed his crops. 
 Fermentation, if suffered to exhaust its powers upon 
 it, materially lessens its value ; the wind and the suu 
 dissipate its virtues, and the rains leach it and waste 
 its fertilizing powers. The same care given to the 
 food of vegetables which should be given to the food 
 of animals, will be richly recompensed in the in- 
 creased product of the harvest. 
 
 Lime, marl, gypsum, and ashes are all beneficial- 
 ly applied to increase fertility under certain circum- 
 stances, which it is unnecessary for us here to par- 
 ticularize. Stiff clays are also benefited by the ap- 
 plication of sand ; light sands are improved by the 
 admixture of clay ; while both clay and sand are im- 
 proved by the addition of marl or other calcareous 
 substances. 
 
 If we contrast the common with the improved 
 practice in regard to the management of dung, we 
 shall readily see that the difference in preserving the 
 fertility of the soil is incalculably great : enough to 
 induce poverty in one case, and to enrich the propri- 
 etor in the other. Even the best class of our farm- 
 srs, who are deemed judicious managers, seldom 
 avail themselves of half the resources of fertility 
 which their farms or neighbourhoods afford ; not 
 half that are put in successful requisition by the far- 
 mers of Great Britain and Flanders. Besides, what 
 manure they do make is in general badly husbanded. 
 They suffer the gaseous portions to waste in the air, 
 instead of being absorbed by and enriching the soil,
 
 MANURING. 19 
 
 and the liquid to course down hill to the highway or 
 the brook. But what shall we say of the mass of 
 our farmers T We have travelled hundreds of miles 
 to the west, and seen great quantities of manure in 
 the yards and about the barns (often the accumula- 
 tion of years), seemingly considered by the owners 
 rather as an encumbrance or a nuisance than as a 
 source of fertility and of wealth. In the new sys- 
 tem of husbandry, the farmer's profits are, in a meas- 
 ure, graduated by the quantity of manure he is en- 
 abled to produce from his farm. In the first num- 
 ber of the fourth volume of the Cultivator, we gave 
 estimates, from high authorities, of the amount pro- 
 duced upon farms in Great Britain. Dr. Coventry, 
 Agricultural Professor in the Edinburgh University, 
 gives to each acre of straw four tons of manure man- 
 ufactured by farm-stock. A Berwickshire farmer, 
 quoted by Sir John Sinclair, obtained four cart loads, 
 of 30 to 35 cubic feet each, from every ox wintered 
 upon straw and turnips. Meadow-land is stated to 
 produce from four to six tons of manure to the acre ; 
 and the available sources of fertility upon a farm are 
 estimated to be sufficient to give a full supply of ma- 
 nure once in every course of the four-year system 
 of husbandry. Arthur Young, with six horses, four 
 cows, nine hogs, and suitable litter, made 118 loads of 
 dung, 36 bushels each, in a winter. Cattle fed with 
 turnips are computed to make double the manure 
 that those do which are fed on dry fodder alone ; 
 and an acre of turnips, with an adequate quantity of 
 straw, has produced 16 cart loads of dung. It will 
 be readily perceived, that by this mode of arrange- 
 ment, ample means are provided for keeping up the 
 fertility of the soil when put under a four-shift sys- 
 tem of husbandry. 
 
 What, now, is the common quantity of manure 
 under the old system! Taking our state or our 
 country at large, we are confident the average quan- 
 tity which is judiciously applied will not amount to
 
 20 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 one load an acre, and we are doubtful if it will amount 
 to half a load. Can it be wondered, then, that, under 
 such reckless management, of returning to the soil 
 only a quarter or an eighth of what we take from it 
 of the food of plants, our lands should continue 
 to grow poor till they no longer yield a reward to 
 culture ? The cultivated lands in this state are esti- 
 mated at eight millions of acres. On the supposi- 
 tion that one half of them is appropriated to tillage 
 and meadow (and this is a low estimate), we might 
 produce and apply annually, under the new system 
 of husbandry (and we ought to do so), sixteen mill- 
 ion tons of manure, worth to the country, at a low 
 computation, sixteen millions of dollars ; whereas 
 we now produce, under the old system, certainly not 
 more than four million tons, thereby suffering an an- 
 nual loss, independent of the certain and constant 
 diminution in the product and value of our lands, of 
 twelve millions of dollars in the single item of ma- 
 nures ! This is not a visionary speculation ; it is 
 sober truth ; and we ask any intelligent man to show, 
 from facts, a less unfavourable conclusion. 
 
 We will merely remark here, in regard to the ap- 
 plication of manures, that, if used in an unfermented 
 state, they should be buried with the plough, and ap- 
 plied to a hoed or autumn-ripening crop ; if used in 
 a rotted state, they may be blended with the sur- 
 face, and applied to a summer-ripening crop. We 
 will give two reasons for this practice. Manure fer- 
 tilizes in two ways : by the gaseous matters which 
 are evolved in fermentation, and which rise ; and by 
 liquid matters, which sink. If used before it has part- 
 ed with its gases, manure should be buried, that the 
 incumbent soil may imbibe these fertilizing elements. 
 If the manure has been rotted, it has parted with its 
 gaseous matters, and all its remaining fertilizing 
 properties are liable to be carried down by the rains ; 
 nence this latter may be deposited near the surface
 
 MANURING. 21 
 
 Again, fresh manures, even in a liquid form,* induce 
 a rank growth of herbage ; but they do not produce 
 good plump seed. Hence, if applied to common 
 small grains, they cause a great growth of straw at 
 the expense of the grain : fermentation being most 
 rapid at midsummer, when the seed, and not the 
 straw, requires the food. Hut the autumn-ripening 
 crops, as com, &c., are in that state at midsummer 
 which requires strong food to perfect their stalks 
 and leaves ; and the fermentation of the manure has 
 subsided before the grain matures in autumn. Fos- 
 sil manures, as lime, marl, gypsum, are applied upon 
 the surface or buried superficially, because their dis- 
 position is to settle down, and they give off no gas- 
 eous food. 
 
 Individuals, it is tme, are but units ; yet the ag- 
 gregation of units makes millions, and the aggrega- 
 tion of individuals constitutes nations. We should 
 all act as though individual example had an impo- 
 sing influence upon the whole. In the matter which 
 we have just discussed, every farmer may be as- 
 sured that, by adopting our suggestions, he will un- 
 questionably promote his own interest, and, by his 
 example, benefit society. 
 
 Having shown that manures are indispensable to 
 good husbandry; that they constitute the food of 
 plants ; and that they may be greatly increased by 
 good management, we proceed now to the next re- 
 quisite in the new system of husbandry, viz. : 
 
 * Col. Le Courteur (see Fanner's Magazine) tried stable ma- 
 nure and liquid manilre, the latter diluted, upon his wheat. The 
 grain tillered much, or gave a great growth of straw and grass ; 
 but the product in grain was diminished. When the liquid 
 manure was applied a second time, by being poured upon the 
 growing wheat, the straw was very rank ; but the plants pro 
 duced only a few ears of wheat, and those were very defective 
 in grain.
 
 22 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 II. DRAINING. 
 
 Few improvements of modern date are likely to 
 become more beneficial to the northern section of 
 the union than systematic draining. In the first 
 place, it will reclaim and render highly productive 
 large tracts of land, which are now unproductive of 
 anything useful, by reason of the water which con- 
 stantly covers or saturates them. In the next place, 
 it will improve the lands that are wet, and render 
 them far more manageable and productive in grain, 
 roots, and the more nutritious grasses, by carrying 
 off the superfluous water. When there is an excess 
 of moisture in the soil, ploughing can be only imper- 
 fectly performed, and not until late in spring : the 
 benefit of manure is thereby lost, and the cultivated 
 crop is light, and more subject to vernal and autum- 
 nal frosts than it would be if the land were laid dry. 
 
 The soil, in regard to vegetable nutrition, may be 
 compared to the animal stomach, which digests ; and 
 the spongeoles or rootlets of the plant, to the lac- 
 teals of the animal, which absorb, and take up, and 
 propel the digested food to the elaborating organs 
 (the lungs in the one and the leaves in the other), 
 where this food undergoes its last preparation, and 
 is fitted to become a part of the organic matter of 
 the animal or vegetable. We all know that when 
 the animal stomach is from any cause out of order, 
 so that the food taken into it is not properly digest- 
 ed, the subsequent processes of nutrition are arrest- 
 ed ; and if the cause be not removed, the animal sick- 
 ens, and ultimately dies. So with the soil. If the 
 vegetable matter deposited there to feed the crop be 
 not decomposed or rotted, and resolved into a liquid 
 or gaseous form, so that it can be taken up by the 
 spongeoles, the plant will become sickly and unpro- 
 ductive, and the processes of healthy nutrition be at 
 a stand. Hence the accumulation of vegetable mat- 
 ters in swamps, marshes, and other localities habitu-
 
 DRAINING. 23 
 
 ally saturated with water, and their great fertility 
 when thoroughly drained and exposed to the influ- 
 ence of all the agents of putrefaction ; and hence 
 the necessity of draining the wet grounds on our 
 farms before we can expect to make them profitable 
 by culture. Coarse and aquatic plants, it is true, do 
 grow in wet grounds and in water; but few of the 
 cultivated crops, however, are found to thrive where 
 the ground is not dry and permeable to the influence 
 of the sun and atmosphere. 
 
 It is not enough that the surface of a soil be dry : 
 it must be so to the depth to which the roots of 
 plants penetrate for food, at least fifteen to eighteen 
 inches, to ensure a healthy growth of vegetation. It 
 is the extremities of these roots which gather the 
 food, and which are constantly elongating while the 
 plant grows ; and if roots extend into a wet stratum, 
 the food which they take up is either too much dilu- 
 ted, or not otherwise adapted to a healthy vegetation. 
 Nor is this all : the water injures or destroys the 
 fibrous parts of the roots, and unfits them for the per- 
 forrrtance of their functions. 
 
 We have published ample directions in the Culti- 
 vator for the various modes of draining, and have 
 pressed upon the notice of our readers the impor- 
 tance of this branch of improvement. Yet we have 
 a few remarks to offer here on the particular advan- 
 tages which under-drains possess over open drains 
 in certain situations. 
 
 The object of draining being to carry off the sur- 
 plus water before it saturates the surface soil, im- 
 pedes early tillage, and injures the crop, it should be 
 our first care to ascertain the cause of wetness, and 
 where the deposite or fountain is which is the 
 source of the evil. Where water rises through the 
 subsoil or-tower strata, in spouts or springs, as well 
 as where, falling upon a flat surface, it collects and 
 reposes upon an impervious subsoil, under-drains are 
 decidedly best, at. least to collect the surplus waters
 
 24 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 into a main open drain. They are not only best be- 
 cause the most efficient, but they are the most dura- 
 ble, most economical, and waste no land. 
 
 They are the most efficient. They can be made to 
 reach, by digging and boring, the dep6t of water or 
 water stratum, and thus to carry it off before it ap- 
 proaches the surface, or pasture of plants. Open 
 drains do this but seldom or but imperfectly, because 
 they are not often carried deep enough, and are con- 
 tinually liable to obstructions, which impair their ef- 
 ficacy. 
 
 They are most durable. An under-drain, laid in the 
 most approved mode, with stone or tile, will last an 
 age, if not a century. Whereas open drains are but 
 temporary in their beneficial effects without period- 
 ical repairs." 
 
 They are the most economical. A good under-drain 
 generally costs no more than a good open drain, 
 which effects a like purpose, and probably not so 
 much, as the former can be carried down with nearly 
 perpendicular sides, while the latter must be dug 
 with sloping banks, and must embrace a width of 
 surface.corresponding with its depth : the deeper the 
 drain, the broader it must be at top. The cost of 
 the stone or tile is in a manner counterbalanced by 
 the difference in excavation. And, when completed, 
 the under-drain will require no annual repairs, while 
 the open one will be a constant drain upon the labour 
 of the farm, requiring bridges, and frequent scouring 
 and cleaning. If under-drains cost sometimes the 
 most, they are unquestionably the cheapest in the end 
 provided they are well made. 
 
 Under-drains waste no land. They may be multi- 
 plied at every twenty feet, as they sometimes are 
 upon stiff flat clays, without excluding the plough or 
 the scythe from a foot of the surface. Open drains, 
 on the contrary, if made of suitably dimensions, re- 
 quire a breadth of three or four feet, and the plough 
 is excluded from as much more at their sides.
 
 GOOD TILLAGE. 25 
 
 We draw no comparisons, nor do we need any, 
 between the products of a field of habitually wet 
 soil, or the trouble and expense of managing it, and 
 the same field after it has undergone a thorough 
 drainage and amelioration. Every farmer, we pre- 
 sume, has noticed the vast disparity in both. If 
 there is one to whom it is not familiar, let him make 
 the trial, and he will be astonished at the result, and 
 at his own want of forethought in not having made 
 it before. 
 
 III. GOOD TILLAGE. 
 
 When thorough draining has been effected upon 
 lands to be benefited thereby, there is another oper- 
 ation which is calculated to aid in the efficiency of 
 manures and in the increase of farm products. This 
 is good tillage a perfect pulverization of the soil, 
 and the keeping it free from weeds, which retard the 
 growth of the crop, and rob it of its food. Good til- 
 lage is important not only as it serves to exterminate 
 weeds, to facilitate the digestion of vegetable food, 
 and to mix and to incorporate this food with earthy 
 elements ; but as it breaks and mellows the soil, and 
 enables the roots of plants to range freely in search 
 of this food. Every farmer must have observed, that 
 where tillage has been but imperfectly performed, as 
 is sometimes seen about stumps and rocks, and near 
 fences, the crop is comparatively feeble and light. 
 This cannot be owing to the poverty of the soil, be- 
 cause the plough, as it rises to the surface in these 
 places, deposites and accumulates there the best and 
 finest mould of the field. The feebleness of the 
 grain arises from the imperfect tillage which those 
 spots receive. The old practice of carrying the 
 main furrows to the extremity of the field, and of 
 dispensing with head-lands, is a bad and slovenly 
 one, and ought to be everywhere exploded. The cut 
 and cover practice is still worse, as it leaves one half, 
 and sometimes two thirds of the soil undisturbed by 
 
 I C
 
 26 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 the plough. We remember well, that when we fol- 
 lowed the plough in our boyish days, and knew no- 
 thing of the philosophy of ploughing, our aim was to 
 go over much ground and show a ploughed surface, 
 regarding the complete breaking up of the soil as of 
 minor importance. There will always be a great 
 many boys at the plough until the importance of good 
 ploughing is better understood . Good ploughing con- 
 sists in breaking or turning every inch of the soil ; 
 and good tillage requires that the harrow and roller 
 should finish, if the plough has failed to effect it, a 
 complete pulverization of the soil. A green sward 
 becomes pulverulent as the roots of the grasses de- 
 cay, and is best without a second furrow, because 
 this turns again to the surface, to the wasting influ- 
 ence of the sun and winds, the vegetable matter bu- 
 ried by the first ploughing, and which, if left buried, 
 would contribute largely to the sustenance of the 
 crop. As the roots of the grasses decay, the soil 
 becomes loose and porous, and is permeable to moist- 
 ure, air, and heat. Hence the advantage of fallow 
 crops over naked fallows, and of depositing seeds 
 upon the top of a clover lay : the sod then imparts 
 fertility to the soil, while it enables it to derive im- 
 portant advantages from the co-operation of external 
 agents. 
 
 Good tillage requires that, wherever it is practi- 
 cable, as in the culture of drilled and hoed crops, the 
 surface soil should be kept clean and pulverulent 
 while the crop is growing, for the same reason that 
 the soil is required to be made so before depositing 
 the seed, viz., to facilitate the decomposition of the 
 vegetable food, to stimulate the organs of the plants, 
 and increase the growth and product of the crop. 
 There is no better expedient for preventing the evils 
 of drought upon a soil, than that of keeping the sur- 
 face mellow and clean. Atmospheric air and dew, 
 both always charged with the nutritive food of plants, 
 settle into such a surface as into a sponge, and impart
 
 GOOD TILLAGE. 27 
 
 to the roots of plants both aliment and stimuli. 
 Dews falling upon a hard surface are evaporated by 
 the first rays of the morning sun ; but they penetrate 
 a loose surface, and moisten and fructify it. Hence 
 the high repute of the drill husbandry, which enables 
 the cultivator to keep his crops clean, and the surface 
 of his soil mellow and open. 
 
 Good tillage has reference to depth as well as qual- 
 ity of tilth. " There are many plants, the roots of 
 which are found at fifteen to twenty and even thirty 
 feet under ground sainfoin and lucerne, for instance : 
 even red clover will strike down to nearly three feet 
 if the soil be a fertile loam ; and some of our com- 
 monest vegetables, if it be friable or sandy, push 
 their tap roots to about the same depth. The roots 
 of wheat will penetrate as far as eight inches into 
 the earth ; and when sown on the crown of ridges, 
 they have been found at the depth of twelve. We 
 may therefore assume the depth of twelve inches as 
 the utmost vegetable limit of corn land. Provided 
 the soil be open and fertile, the nearer its depth ap- 
 proaches to twelve inches, the greater number of 
 plants may it therefore be supposed capable of fur- 
 nishing with support." Brit. Husb., vol. ii., p. 49, 
 50. Soils should be ploughed as deep as the sub- 
 stratum will admit, at least once in a course of crops, 
 if this can be reached with the force of an ordinary 
 team ; and when the surface soil is superficial, it 
 should be deepened, as fast as fertility can be im- 
 parted, by turning up, at suitable intervals, some por- 
 tion of the subsoil. The atmosphere imparts to this 
 apparent inert earth more or less of the elements of 
 fertility. Baron Von Vpght increased vastly the 
 value and products of his farm, by increasing the 
 depth of its mould (krume or vegetable pasture), 
 in this way, in the period of sixteen years, from 
 three to fourteen inches. Land that in the outset 
 would not yield him fourteen bushels of rye to the 
 acre, was by this mode of improvement brought to
 
 23 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 yield twenty-four bushels of wheat; and the im- 
 provement was not confined to a part, but exti-mlrd 
 to the whole farm, comprising some hundred acres. 
 The reader is referred for a detail of these improve- 
 ments, and an account of the baron's excellent sys- 
 tem of husbandry, to No. 1, vol. ii., of the Cultivator. 
 And it has just been announced to us in a foreign 
 journal, as one of the greatest improvements of the 
 age in rural affairs, that a plough has been invented 
 which breaks and pulverizes the subsoil without 
 turning it to the surface. Its advantages to agricul- 
 ture are thus described by Le Fever in Loudon's 
 Magazine : 
 
 " Smith's subsoil plough seems calculated to ren- 
 der the most steril and unproductive soil fertile and 
 profitable. Mr. Smith's most ingenious invention, 
 by breaking the subsoil without bringing it to the 
 surface, renders it pervious to both air and water. 
 The same chymical changes which take place in a 
 fallow, owing to its exposure to the action of the 
 winds and rain, are thus brought into operation in 
 the subsoil, while the surface soil is in the ordinary 
 course of cropping ; and when, after a few years, by 
 a greater depth of ploughing, the subsoil is mixed 
 with the upper soil, it is found to be so completely 
 changed in its nature as to be capable of producing 
 very kind of corn." 
 
 Jethro-Tull and his disciples maintained that the 
 great secret of inducing fertility consisted in mi- 
 nutely dividing and pulverizing the soil by culture ; 
 and John Taylor, the arator of Virginia, and an ex- 
 cellent practical as well as scientific farmer, consid- 
 ered the atmosphere as the great storehouse of ve- 
 getable food, where this food exists in a gaseous 
 form. The good tillage we advocate embraces all 
 the advantages of Tull's ana* Taylor's theories, with- 
 out lessening the importance which we attach to 
 barn-yard manure. 
 The deep ploughing of dry land, or the breaking
 
 GOOD TILLAGE. 29 
 
 up and stirring of the subsoil, promotes fertility by 
 increasing the power of the land to absorb water by 
 cohesive attraction. " The power of soils to absorb 
 water from air," says Davy, " is much connected 
 with fertility. This power depends in a great meas- 
 ure upon the state of division of its parts ; the more 
 divided they are, the greater their absorbent power. 
 When this power is great, the plant is supplied with 
 moisture in dry seasons ; and the effect of evapora- 
 tion in the day is counteracted by the absorption of 
 aqueous vapour from the atmosphere, by the interioi 
 parts of the soil during the day, and by both the ex- 
 terior and interior during the night." The soil im- 
 bibes caloric earlier in the spring, and retains it la- 
 ter in autumn, in proportion as it is dry and deep ; a 
 matter Of high consideration in cold climates, where 
 the length of the summer scarcely suffices to mature 
 the crops. The quality and dryness being the same, 
 a soil is fertile and durable nearly in -proportion to 
 the depth of the tillage which it receives : six inches 
 giving nearly double the pasture for plants that a 
 three-inch stratum does ; and a twelve-inch tilth 
 greatly exceeding in productiveness one of only six 
 inches. Von Thaer calculates this difference in pro- 
 portionate degrees in lands which contain a vegeta- 
 tive stratum of soil of four, six, eight, and twelve 
 inches in depth, provided, of course, that it be all 
 of equal quality. If, therefore, each seed were to 
 produce a plant, it would follow that ground which 
 contains eight inches of depth of fertile mould might 
 be sown with double the quantity of that which con- 
 sists of only four inches. He however admits, that 
 this principle cannot be carried to that extent, be- 
 cause the action of the atmosphere must d^er afford 
 that superiority to the surface, that a cubic foot of 
 mould, if divided into two square feet, will always 
 produce a greater number of plants than if the seed 
 were sown upon one foot superficial; but he as- 
 sumes the value of the land to be increased in the
 
 30 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 proportion of eight per cent, for every inch of mould 
 beyond the depth of six to ten inches, and to be di- 
 minished in the same proportion, from six to three 
 inches, in soils of a thinner staple. Principe* Rai- 
 sonnes Agriculture, vol. iii., p. 138, s. 735. Thc-r 
 considerations have been hitherto but little regarded 
 in our practice, though they constitute an important 
 feature in the new system of husbandry. . 
 
 Good tillage demands also the extirpation of 
 weeds. Every plant growing upon a soil tends to im- 
 pair its fertility, and weeds generally more than cul- 
 tivated crops, because they are commonly the most 
 hardy and the greatest consumers of vegetable food. 
 They are particularly prejudicial to crops in a dry 
 season, as they exhaust the soil of moisture in pro- 
 portion to their superficies, or the surface of their 
 stems and leaves ; some species transpiring their 
 weight of moisture every twenty-four hours. The 
 drill culture and deep ploughing both lessen the evil 
 of weeds ; the first tends to destroy them, and the 
 latter to bury their seeds so deep as to prevent the 
 plants getting ahead of and choking the young crop. 
 Clean tillage has been too much neglected in our 
 practice. Many crops are diminished a fourth, a 
 third, and even a half by pestiferous weeds, which 
 are permitted to seed and propagate upon the land. 
 
 Good tillage requires good implements, and these 
 to be kept in order, that the farm-work may be eco- 
 nomically done, and well done, and done at the prop- 
 er time. The disparity between the old and the new 
 implements of culture is great, not only in the time 
 employed, but in the manner in which they do the 
 work, and in the power which is required to perform 
 it. The%ld plough requires a four-cattle team and 
 two hands to manage it ; and the work ordinarily 
 was, after all, but half executed. The improved 
 plough is generally propelled by two cattle, requires 
 but one man to manage it, and, when properly gov- 
 erned, performs thorough work. Harrow** and other
 
 ALTERNATION OF CROPS. 31 
 
 implements have undergone a like improvement. 
 Besides, other new implements, which greatly econ- 
 omize the expense of tillage, are coming into use, as 
 the roller, cultivator, drill-barrow, &c. ; so that a 
 farm may now.be worked with half the expense of 
 labour that it was wont to be worked with forty years 
 ago, and better worked withal. Mind, likwise, where 
 it is put in requisition, and enlightened by science, 
 is doing ten times more in aid of agricultural labour 
 than it formerly did. 
 
 If we revert to old, and, in most cases, to present 
 practices, we shall perceive that thorough tillage has 
 not been sufficiently attended to. Our implements 
 have been defective, and the manner of using them 
 often imperfect. Good ploughing is all-important to 
 good farming, and still there is no labour upon the 
 farm that has been more imperfectly performed than 
 this has generally been. Light soils seldom require 
 but a single ploughing for the seed, if well executed ; 
 but, if badly executed, two ploughings are too little. 
 Our implements are, however, daily improving, the 
 importance of good tillage is becoming more and 
 more apparent, and our practical knowledge is in- 
 creasing. 
 
 IV. ALTERNATION OF CROPS. 
 
 Alternation of crops is an essential requisite in 
 good farming, and forms a part of it wherever it is 
 considered to have arrived at any degree of perfec- 
 tion. It is this Avhich gave to Flemish husbandry a 
 pre-eminence over that of every other country, long 
 before the new system had obtained a fooling in 
 Great Britain. It is principally this which has con- 
 verted the county of Norfolk, and other districts in 
 England, from the poorest and least productive into 
 the most wealthy and populous portions of that coun- 
 try. It is this alternating system which has contrib- 
 uted, in a great measure, to the astonishing improve- 
 ments recently made in the agriculture of Scotland ;
 
 32 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 and it is this which constitutes the pioneer marks of 
 improved husbandry in our own land. 
 
 la the preceding sections we have suggested the 
 importance and the modes of making our lands rich 
 and dry, and of subjecting them to good tillage. Let 
 us now inquire under what method of management 
 they are likely to make us the largest returns, with- 
 out diminishing their intrinsic value. 
 
 It is palpable to every observing farmer, that the 
 old mode of permanently dividing our grounds into 
 meadow, plough, and pasture lands is a most wretch- 
 ed system of exhaustion, both to the land and its oc- 
 cupant. The tillage ground deteriorates with the 
 scanty manuring it gets, till it ceases to make a re- 
 turn for the expense of culture, or till it is thrown 
 into old fields or commons. The meadow-grasses 
 run out, mosses and weeds come in, the soil becomes 
 too compact and impervious for the ready admission 
 of the great agents of vegetable decomposition and 
 nutrition, and the free extension of the roots of the 
 finer grasses ; and as all is carried off, and little or 
 nothing brought back, the soil is annually becoming 
 poorer and less profitable. The pasture is the only 
 portion of such a farm that is improving ; and even 
 in this, bushes, brambles, and noxious weeds are too 
 often permitted to choke and destroy the better 
 herbage. 
 
 It is equally apparent, that we caimot take two or 
 more arable crops of the same kind from a field in 
 successive seasons without a manifest falling off in 
 the product. The reason of this may be found in 
 an immutable law of nature, which has provided for 
 each species of plants a specific food suited to its 
 organization and its wants. Thus some soils, for 
 instance, will not grow wheat, although abounding 
 in the common elements of fertility, and although 
 they will make a profitable return in other farm crops, 
 in consequence of their being deficient in the specific 
 food required for the perfection of wheat. One fain-
 
 ALTERNATION OF CROPS. 33 
 
 ily or species of plants requires a different food 
 from that which another family or species requires ; 
 and it seems to be also a law of nature, that what 
 is not essential to one family or species shall be left 
 in the soil, or returned to it through the excretory 
 organs of the growing crop. Of course, the specific 
 food for any class or species continues to accumu- 
 late in the soil, the general fertility being kept up, 
 till the return again to the field of this particular 
 crop. Thus it is supposed to require ten or a dozt n 
 years for the specific food of flax to accumulate suf- 
 ficiently for a second crop after one has been taken 
 from a field. Even the specific food of clover be- 
 comes exhausted by a too frequent repetition of it in 
 the same field ; it being found necessary, in Norfolk 
 husbandry, to substitute for it, in every other course 
 of crops, other grass seeds, so that this may not be 
 repeated oftener than once in eight years. There 
 are exceptions to the rules of practice which these 
 laws inculcate. Some soils seem natural to wheat, 
 others to oats or grass ; and successive crops of 
 these are taken without apparent diminution of pro- 
 duct. Yet it is better to regulate our practice by 
 general laws than by casual exceptions. In the 
 cases noted as exceptions, there is probably so great 
 an accumulation of the specific food of the particular 
 crop, that it has not been exhausted, though it evident- 
 ly must have been diminished. It is in accordance 
 with the natural laws we have noticed that the grass- 
 es in our meadows change ; that the timber trees of 
 the forest alternate new species springing up as 
 the old ones decay or are cut down ; and it is in ac- 
 cordance with these laws that the alternation of 
 crops has been adopted in all good farming. 
 
 To simplify and render the subject still more plain, 
 the generality of tillage crops have been grouped 
 into two classes, differing essentially in their charac- 
 ter, culture, and exhausting influence upon the soil. 
 These two classes are denominated culmiferous crops
 
 34 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 and leyuminnus crops. The first is so named from 
 culm, the stalk or stem of grains or grasses, usually 
 jointed and hollow, and supporting the leaves and 
 fructification. ' Our intention here is not to embrace 
 the grasses. Culmiferous crops are termed robbers, 
 or exhausters of the soil. This class includes wheat, 
 barley, oats, rye, Indian corn, tobacco, cotton, &c. 
 These are particularly exhausting during the process 
 of maturing their seeds. If cut green, or when iu 
 blossom, they are far less so. Leguminous crops, 
 literally, are peas, beans, and other pulse ; but here 
 the class is intended to embrace all which are consid- 
 ered as ameliorating or enriching crops, as potatoes, 
 turnips, carrots, beets, cabbages, and clover. These 
 latter are not only less exhausting than the culmifer- 
 ous class, as most of them do not mature their seeds, 
 and all, on account of their broad system of leaves, 
 draw moie or less nourishment from the atmosphere ; 
 but they improve the condition of the soil, by dividing 
 and loosening it with their tap and bulbous roots. 
 For these reasons they are called ameliorating or 
 enriching crops ; and as they generally receive ma- 
 nure and drill culture, they are peculiarly adapted to 
 enrich and fit the soil for the culmiferous class. 
 
 Good husbandry enjoins that culmiferous and le- 
 guminous crops should alternate, or follow each 
 other in succession, except when grass is made to 
 intervene ; and it matters little which crops are se- 
 lected from the two classes. The good judgment of 
 the farmer may here be exercised to determine which 
 are likely to be to him the most advantageous. It 
 may be proper, however, to note two exceptions to 
 this rule ; Indian corn may, under certain contingen- 
 cies, be made to precede or follow another grain crop 
 to advantage, and oats may sometimes be profitably 
 sown as a fallow crop, to supersede a naked fallo'v, 
 preparatory to a crop^of wheat or rye. Some soils, 
 it is true, are more favourable to one kind of crop 
 than another ; as, for instance, calcareous clays and
 
 ALTERNATION OF CHOI'S. 35 
 
 strong loams are better adapted to wheat than sili- 
 cious gravels and sands ; while the latter are better 
 fitted to carry Indian corn, turnips, and clover, than 
 clays. In other respects, such as the exhaustion of 
 the ground, it is a matter of little interest with the 
 farmer what crops of each class are chosen to al- 
 ternate with each other. 
 
 Farm stock seems necessarily to be embraced in 
 the system of alternate husbandry. Cattle convert 
 the bulky products of the farm into meats, butter, 
 cheese, &c. These concentrated products are carried 
 to market at comparatively trifling expense. Cattle 
 also furnish labour, and manufacture into manure 
 the straw, stalks, and other offal and litter of the 
 farm, necessary to keep up its fertility ; for without 
 manure the soil will grow poor, and its products an- 
 nually diminish. Manures, we repeat, are the main 
 source of fertility to our soils, and the substantial 
 food of our crops. Our supply of these will depend 
 on the amount of stock we feed upon the farm 5 and 
 the amount of stock we can keep profitably will 
 again depend upon the fertility of the soil, and the 
 consequent abundance of its products. So that grain 
 and grass husbandly, and cattle husbandry, are recip- 
 rocally and highly beneficial to each other. It is 
 maintained by practical men, that grounds under 
 good tillage will yield as much food for cattle, in 
 roots, straw, &c., as the same grounds would yield 
 in grass, thus leaving the grain as extra profit. 
 
 Clover, which we have classed with ameliorating 
 crops, merits a farther and distinct notice. We find 
 that clover was cultivated at an early period by the 
 Flemings, and constituted an important item in their 
 excellent system of husbandry. Its introduction 
 into Britain is of comparatively modern date. Forty 
 years ago its culture may be said to have commenced 
 in the United States ; but its .progress was slow till 
 within the last few years ; and even now, large por- 
 tions of our country are practically ignorant of its
 
 36 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 improving and enriching qualities. Its benefits have 
 been great wherever it has been introduced, accom- 
 panied with the use of gypsum ; and the two com- 
 bined have hitherto been the principal basis of good 
 husbandry. But their benefits are capable of being 
 far more widely extended. We consider the use of 
 clover for cattle food, great as it is, but of secondary 
 importance to the farmer; its most profitable use 
 being to feed crops and ameliorate the soil. N<> 
 green crop is so serviceable for the latter purposes; 
 and \ve are satisfied from experience, that the practice 
 of habitually sowing it with small grains for these 
 objects, where it is not intended to stock with grass- 
 seeds, is an excellent one on all grounds adapted to 
 its growth. Upon this subject we quote as follows 
 from Chaptal : 
 
 " Artificial grass lands [constituting a part of the 
 alternating system, and in contradistinction to natu- 
 ral and permanent grass-lands] ought now to be con- 
 sidered as forming the basis of agriculture. These 
 furnish fodder, the fodder supports cattle, and the 
 cattle furnish manure, labour, and all the means ue 
 cessary to a thorough system of cultivation."* 
 
 V. ROOT CULTURE. 
 
 The advantage of root culture to the soil in the 
 alternating system has been already briefly alluded 
 to ; but this culture possesses higher claims to our 
 notice than the bare influence it has in ameliorating 
 the soil : it constitutes, otherwise, a valuable source 
 of fertility to the farm and of profit to the farmer. 
 It trebles the amount of cattle-food, and doubles the 
 quantity of manure. Potatoes constitute a great por- 
 tion of the bread and meat of the Irish peasantry, 
 
 * See Cbaptal's Chymistry applied to Agriculture, embracing 
 also the most valuable parts of Sir H. Davy's work on the same 
 subject, and an admirable Treatise on the Use of Lime as a 
 Manure, by M. Puvis, with introductory remarks by Professor 
 Renwick, published by Harper & Brothers, 1839.
 
 ROOT CULTURE, 37 
 
 feed their cows, fatten their pigs and poultry, and 
 form an article of foreign commerce. The turnip 
 has long been made an important crop in German 
 husbandry. The beet has become so important in 
 France as to engage the attention of her scientific 
 men and of the government in extending its culture 
 The field culture of the carrot has long been prof- 
 itably pursued among the Flemings. And as it re- 
 gards Great Britain, whose example in husbandry is 
 deservedly held up for our imitation, her best wri- 
 ters on rural matters, and her best practical farmers, 
 ah 1 concur in saying, that her pre-eminent success in 
 modern husbandry has been in a great measure ow- 
 ing to the introduction of turnips as a field-crop in 
 that island. We will here quote a passage from the 
 New Edinburgh Encyclopaedia in corrobo ration of 
 what we say : 
 
 " The introduction of turnips into the husbandry 
 of Britain occasioned one of those revolutions in 
 rural art which are constantly occurring among hus- 
 bandmen, and, though the revolution came on with 
 slow and gradual steps, yet it may now be viewed 
 as completely and thoroughly established. Before 
 the introduction of this root, it was impossible to 
 cultivate light soils successfully, or to devise suitable 
 rotations for cropping them with advantage. It was 
 likewise a difficult task to support livestock through 
 the winter and spring months ; and as for feeding 
 and preparing cattle and sheep for market during 
 these inclement seasons, the practice was hardly 
 thought of, and still more rarely attempted, unless 
 where a full stock of hay was provided, which only 
 happened in a very few instances. The benefits de- 
 rived from turnip husbandry are, therefore, of great 
 magnitude : light soils are now cultivated with profit 
 and facility ; abundance of food is provided for man 
 and beast ; the earth is turned to the uses for which 
 it is physically calculated ; and, by being suitably 
 cleaned with this preparatory crop, a bed is provided
 
 38 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 for grass seeds, wherein they flourish and prosper 
 with greater vigour than after any other preparation." 
 
 Few of our readers are probably apprized of the 
 fact, that English beef, so highly extolled, and of 
 which John Bull so vauntingly boasts (and perhaps 
 no people have better beef)> is mostly winter-fattened 
 upon turnips and straw, very little hay being used. 
 This will account for the high value which the turnip 
 culture has obtained in Great Britain. 
 
 All the above-named roots are well adapted to our 
 soils and climate ; and where their culture has been 
 undertaken with spirit and managed with judgment, 
 success has been certain. The great objection to 
 this culture has been, the labour which is required to 
 secure these roots from the frosts of winter ; and 
 yet the labour and expense required for this purpose 
 are perhaps no greater than we expend in securing 
 our grain and forage, if they are as great. Where 
 cellars are not at command or not adequate, these 
 roots may all be securely preserved in pits in dry 
 situations, due precaution being had to covering and 
 ventilation. It is the novelty of the labour, rather 
 than the amount, and a want of practical knowledge 
 and confidence of success, which intimidate and de- 
 ter us. We do save our potatoes, and we can save 
 other roots in like manner. Assuming the average 
 product of hay at a ton and a half to two tons per 
 acre, and of beets and ruta baga at 600 bushels ; and 
 allowing a bushel and a half of the latter (90 Ibs.) to 
 be equal, for farm-stock, to twenty pounds of hay, 
 an acre of the roots will go as far in the economy 
 of feeding as nearly three acres of meadow, to say 
 nothing of the tops, which will go far to repay the 
 extra expense of cultivating the roots ; while the 
 ground in the one case is ameliorated and improved, 
 and in the other impoverished. These roots, besides, 
 may be used as a substitute for grain for working 
 cattle and for pigs. The three acres of grass gives 
 less than 0000 pounds to the manure-yard, while
 
 FALLOW CROPS. 39 
 
 the one acre of ruta baga or beets gives 36,000, or 
 four times as much us three acres of grass-land. 
 
 VI. SUBSTITUTION OP FALLOW CROPS FOR NAKED FAL- 
 LOWS. 
 
 Fallowing is the mode of preparing land (general- 
 ly greensward) by ploughing it a considerable time 
 before it is finally ploughed for wheat and rye, to be 
 sown in autumn. A naked fallow is such as receives 
 no intermediate crop between the first ploughing and 
 seeding for the main crop ; a fallow crop is one that 
 intervenes between these two processes. In Eng- 
 land, fallows are generally broken up in autumn, re- 
 ceive repeated ploughings during the ensuing sum- 
 mer, and are sown in autumn, or cropped with turn- 
 ips, and sown the third year with barley. In the 
 United States, naked fallows are more often broken 
 up in June or July, receive repeated ploughings, and 
 are sown in September. For fallow crops, old 
 swards are broken up in autumn, and clover lays in 
 the spring ; the first receive one or more ploughings 
 in the spring, and, immediately after, the seeds which 
 are to constitute the fallow crop. Clover lays re- 
 ceive the fallow crop upon the first furrow, or with 
 but one ploughing. Naked fallows, in England, oc- 
 cupy the ground a year ; and if they are sown with 
 tares or rye, as they often are, to be fed off in the 
 spring, they are termed bastard fallows. With us, 
 fallow grounds lay idle but part of a season. 
 
 There is no agricultural writer of note, and very- 
 few good farmers, who now contend for the propri- 
 ety of naked fallows, except on stiff clays or wet 
 grounds, which can only be worked in the summer, 
 and this for the single purpose of cleaning such soils 
 from root-weeds. We subjoin two or three quota- 
 tions in corroboration of this fact : 
 
 " Fallowing was necessary as long as grains only, 
 all of which exhaust the soil, were cultivated ; du- 
 ring the intervals of tilling the fields, a variety of
 
 40 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 herbs grew on them, which offered food for animals, 
 and the roots of which, buried in the soil by the 
 plough, furnished a great part of tlie necessary ma- 
 nure. But at this day, when we have succeeded in 
 establishing the cultivation of a great variety of 
 roots and artificial grasses, the system of fallowing 
 can be no longer supported by the shadow of a good 
 reason. The ease with which fodder may be culti- 
 vated, furnishes the means of supporting an in- 
 creased number of animals ; these in their turn sup- 
 ply manure and labour ; and the farmer is no longer 
 under the necessity of allowing his lands to be fal- 
 low." Chaptal. 
 
 " It is already acknowledged, that it is only upon 
 wet soils, or, in other words, upon lands unfit for the 
 turnip husbandry, that a plain summer fellow is ne 
 cessary." New Edinb. Encyc. 
 
 " As there is only one good reason for fallowing, 
 namely, to destroy weeds ; and as this can be done 
 full as well by fallow crops, that is, by crops that 
 require frequent hoeing and cleaning during their 
 growth, no fallowing ought to be permitted in a good 
 system of agriculture." T. Cooper. 
 
 We have quoted in the last number of the fourth 
 volume of the Cultivator, the practical example of 
 the late Chancellor Livingston, showing an increased 
 profit of nearly two hundred per cent, resulting 
 from substituting fallow crops for naked fallows, be- 
 sides an increase of cattle-food, upon one hundred 
 acres of arable land, of sixty-five tons, and the ma- 
 nure from sixty-five cattle which this extra food 
 would keep. In page 88 and 104 of the same vol- 
 ume we have given Greig and Beatson's systems of 
 managing clay farms, in which naked fallows are 
 dispensed with, and the profits doubled by substitu- 
 ting fallow crops. These evidences might be great- 
 ly multiplied were it necessary ; but we have so 
 many examples and illustrations in every quarter of 
 our country, that he who will may profit by liis own
 
 FALLOW CROPS. CONCLUSIONS. 41 
 
 observation and inquiry. The expense of the sum- 
 mer fallows may be saved, and a very valuable ex- 
 tra crop obtained, by the new mode of practice. 
 
 In regard to what are the best fallow crops, much 
 will depend upon the soil. Upon stiff clays, oats and 
 peas are recemmended, which, although not cleans- 
 ing crops, succeed well upon an undecomposed sod. 
 Potatoes also answer well ; and if they do not ripen 
 early enough for winter grain, they prepare the 
 ground remarkably well for spring wheat. Clays 
 should be broken up in autumn if intended for a fal- 
 low crop, that the frost may break up and pulverize 
 the soil, and that the decomposition of the sod may 
 commence earlier in the spring. The late John Lor- 
 rain, of Pennsylvania, who was an excellent practi- 
 cal farmer as well as a gentleman of science, rec- 
 ommended that, in ploughing for grain after a fallow 
 crop, the furrow should be superficial, so as not to 
 turn up the vegetable matter of the sod, but to leave 
 it where the roots of the ensuing crop will most need 
 it. Upon light soils, Indian corn, beans, peas, pota- 
 toes, tuniips, or other roots, constitute good fallow 
 crops, particularly if preparatory to spring wheat 
 and barley/ 
 
 We have now gone over the ground we proposed 
 to examine. We have endeavoured to explain what 
 we mean by the New System of Husbandry ; to de- 
 velop its principles, and to show WHY and WHERE- 
 FORE it is superior to the old or common system. 
 We have, we think, demonstrated, 
 
 1. That the fertility of the farm may be kept up 
 and augmented by the manures it can be made to 
 furnish ; 
 
 2. That the condition of the farm may lie much im- 
 proved by thorough draining ; 
 
 3. That the capacities of the farm can be fully de- 
 veloped only by good tillage ; 
 
 4. That the profits of the farm are materially f uig- 
 *!. D
 
 42 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 mented by alternating crops, and a system of mixed 
 husbandry ; 
 
 5. That the cattle-food and manures of the farm, the 
 main sources of fertility and profit, may be greatly 
 increased by the cultivation of roots ; 
 
 6. That the labours of the farm may be econo- 
 mized, and its products farther increased, by substi- 
 tuting fallow crops for naked fallows. 
 
 And, finally, that, were these several improvements 
 generally introduced into our agricultural practice, 
 they would render our farmers more independent, 
 bring industry into better repute, and essentially pro- 
 mote the prosperity and happiness of all classes of 
 society. 
 
 There is no doubt that most of our impoverished 
 farms may, under the system of management we 
 have been describing, and with the auxiliary and 
 available aid of lime, marl, gypsum, swamp-earth, 
 ashes, &c., be progressively improved in fertility, 
 and rendered productive and profitable. We have 
 the strongest grounds for this belief. The like has 
 been done in Great Britain, in the Netherlands, in 
 Germany, in France. Worn-out lands have there 
 been renovated and rendered very valuable. They 
 have been so in the United States. They are now 
 undergoing this improvement in the valley of the 
 Hudson. The partial introduction of the New Hus- 
 bandry has, within a few years, doubled the surplus 
 agricultural products of most of the counties be- 
 tween Albany and New- York ; and yet the improve- 
 ment has there been but begun. 
 
 The same management which our subject sug- 
 gests for the renovation of old lands, will perpetuate 
 the fertility of those which have been newly brought 
 under culture. Although the soils of the great sec- 
 ondary formation of the West will not so soon be- 
 .come impoverished as those of primitive and transi- 
 tion formations ; and although fertility may be more 
 readily restored to them when they have become ex-
 
 RULES AND SUGGESTIONS IN HUSBANDRY. 43 
 
 hausted, yet the same general laws govern in all. 
 Deterioration will progress in all soils which are 
 cropped, unless there is returned to them, in the 
 form of manure, some equivalent for what is being 
 constantly carried off. 
 
 RULES AND SUGGESTIONS IN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 We shall now proceed to give some rules and sug- 
 gestions in husbandry, of general application, to en- 
 able farmers, and particularly novices in the art, to 
 judge of the character and qualities of their soil, its 
 adaptation to particular crops, the causes of its de- 
 terioration, and the means of perpetuating its fertil- 
 ity ; or, if worn-out or impoverished, of restoring it 
 to its pristine vigour. The facts and suggestions 
 which we shall give are the results of our reading 
 and our practice ; and though they may not in all 
 cases prove to be sound, we think that in the main 
 they will be found to be so. 
 
 The essential elements of a good soil are sand, 
 clay, lime, and vegetable or organic remains. Mag- 
 nesia, iron, and other matters are often found blend- 
 ed with the preceding ; but, in general, they are not 
 considered as exercising a great influence on its fer- 
 tility, except they exist in more than ordinary pro- 
 portions. 
 
 2. The presence of sand, clay, and vegetable mat- 
 ter in a soil is deemed essential to all crops ; and 
 lime, in some of its forms, is considered indispensa- 
 ble to many crops, and particularly to wheat. 
 
 3. The presence of sand and clay is readily de- 
 tected by the experienced eye ; that of vegetable 
 matter by the consistency and colour of the soil ; 
 and that of carbonate of lime by drying a portion 
 of soil, and pouring upon it some acid having a 
 stronger affinity for the base than the carbonic acid, 
 as muriatic acid, or even strong vinegar : if it con- 
 tains lime, effervescence will ensue ; and the propor- 
 tion may be ascertained by very simple modes of 
 analysis
 
 44 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 4. Sand is the most essential of the earthy ingre- 
 dients of a soil, and generally most preponderates ; 
 though where it exceeds eighty per cent, the soil is 
 virtually barren. Clay is next in proportion; but 
 where it is in excess, the soil becomes stubborn, is 
 hard to be worked, and more or less unproductive. 
 Lime exists in the smallest proportion ; and from 
 two to ten per cent, of this in the upper or tillable 
 stratum is deemed sufficient for all the purposes of 
 profitable husbandry. When in excess, it induces 
 barrenness. A calcareous soil is considered condu- 
 cive to the health of the neighbourhood. Organic 
 matter, that is, vegetable or animal, is indispensable 
 in a soil. It is the food of plants. Yet even this 
 is frequently found in too great quantity, as in peat 
 earth, which is often infertile till mixed with earthy 
 ingredients, or brought in contact with fermenting 
 materials. 
 
 5. When an excess of sand, clay, lime, or vege- 
 table matter is discovered to exist, the fault may be 
 remedied by an admixture of the deficient element 
 or elements. When one of the elements is found 
 wanting, it may be supplied by art. Thus a load of 
 clay upon an arid sand, or a load of sand upon a stub- 
 born clay, or a few bushels of lime, or marl, or ashes 
 upon a soil deficient in calcareous earth, are often of 
 more ultimate service than a load of barnyard dung. 
 But, 
 
 6. Both dung and lime are consumed by the grow- 
 ing crops ; and, if the crops are carried off the land, 
 it must be periodically replenished with the same 
 substances, or it will often become deficient in these 
 mate-rial elements of fertility. 
 
 7. The sand and clay of the soil may be likened 
 in their offices to the stomach of the animal ; the 
 lime and salts to the gastric juices, which assist to 
 dissolve the food in the animal stomach, and to the 
 condiments, as salt, pepper, &c., which we employ 
 to stimulate and aid the orgauis and process of di-
 
 RULES AND SUGGESTIONS IN HUSBANDRY. 45 
 
 gestion ; and the organic matter in the soil to the 
 food itself, which feeds and nourishes the animal 
 system. 
 
 8. If the crops grown upon a soil are permitted to 
 rot upon and return to it again, its fertility is not 
 impaired, but improved. Nothing is lost, but some- 
 thing gained, from the fertilizing influence of the at- 
 mosphere. But when all the crop is carried off and 
 nothing returned, deterioration must take place : the 
 vegetable food must undergo a continued diminution. 
 This is a plain exposition of the cause of lands wear- 
 ing out ; and, at the same time, it explains the neces- 
 sity of applying manures to keep up their fertility. 
 
 9. All the elements of a good soil being present, 
 its fertility and consequent profit will in a measure 
 depend upon its exemption from an excess of water, 
 which, like fire, is a good servant, but a bad master. 
 This excess may arise from spouts and springs burst- 
 ing up from below, or from surface waters, where 
 the ground is level or nearly so, settling and repo- 
 sing upon a tenacious subsoil, or from waters flow 
 ing from higher grounds. Hence the importance ot 
 draining. We do not know of any farm crop which 
 thrives well upon a soil that is habitually wet, either 
 upon its surface or within the natural range of its 
 roots. Water-meadows and rice profit by periodical 
 floodings ; but even these are injured by habitual 
 wetness. 
 
 10. Fertility depends much, also, upon the quality 
 and properties of the subsoil. If this be defective 
 or come too near the surface, its faults may be cor- 
 rected, and the tilth deepened, by bringing it up, in 
 small portions at a time, with the plough, to the meli- 
 orating influence of the atmosphere, and by blending 
 it with the upper stratum. 
 
 11. If a soil, under proper management, does not 
 return good crops, or if the crops are found annually 
 to diminish, it is a sure indication that there is a de- 
 ficiency in one of the primary elements of a good
 
 46 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY 
 
 soil, that the subsoil has a malign influence, or that 
 there is an excess of water. It is the province of 
 the manager to search out the cause of the evil, and 
 to apply the proper remedy, be it lime, manure, 
 deeper drainage, or deeper tilth. 
 
 1-.2. Grain-crops are the greatest exhausters of the 
 fortuity of soils, on account of their narrow system 
 of leaves, and the great quantity of nutriment they 
 extract from it to mature their seeds. The remark 
 extends to the narrow-leaved grasses, converted into 
 hay, when they are permitted to ripen their seeds in 
 the field. 
 
 13. Indian corn, tobacco, and beans may be em- 
 braced in the second class of exhausting crops ; for 
 although they have broad leaves, and are supposed 
 to derive much of their nourishment from the atmo- 
 sphere, they are, nevertheless, gross feeders, and are 
 bulky crops, and leave very little upon the soil to 
 compensate for what they take from it. But great 
 economy in feeding these crops may be effected by 
 applying to them the long manure of the yard and 
 stables, instead of summer-yarding it, as many farm- 
 ers are wont to do. These crops will feed upon what 
 is otherwise lost in the yard, the gaseous matters ; 
 and these afford exactly the food that the crops 
 named want, and at the very time they want it. 
 
 14. Roots come next in the order of exhausting 
 crops ; but they compensate, in a measure, for what 
 they take from the soil, by the meliorating influence 
 they have upon it, in dividing, pulverizing, and free 
 ing it from weeds, by means of their roots and the 
 culture they demand. 
 
 15. Green crops, that is, clover, buckwheat, rye, 
 oats, &c., ploughed under as food for plants, are en- 
 riching crops, and powerful auxiliaries to the fold 
 yard, but they are too seldom resorted to for this 
 purpose. 
 
 16. Depasturing with cattle, and particularly with 
 sheep, enriches a soil. According to Van Thaer, it
 
 AULES AND SUGGESTIONS IN HUSBANDRY. 4T 
 
 adds 20 per cent, annually to the fertility of an ordi- 
 nary soil, though probably for a limited period. Thi? 
 results from the fact that the crop is returned to the 
 soil in the droppings and urine of the animals which 
 graze it. 
 
 17. Lime and clay are essential in a wheat soil. 
 Indian corn delights in a rich, dry sandy loam. Tur- 
 nips excel on dry sandy soils. Rye is impatient of 
 wet. Barley does best on a clay loam, as do beets, 
 carrots, and peas. Oats and potatoes find a conge- 
 nial bed in cool moist grounds, though for the lattei 
 the surface stratum should be light or mellow. Of 
 the grasses, the tap-rooted, as clover, lucerne, &c., 
 require a deep soil, permeable to their long roots, and 
 free from water; the fibrous-rooted, as the tall-oat, 
 orchard, &c., thrive upon soils that are shallower ; 
 and the rough-stalked meadow, red-top, bent, and 
 some of the festuca family, are congenial to, and 
 often natural in, moist or swampy grounds. The 
 timothy, or meadow cat's-tail, the main dependance 
 for winter forage in the Northern states, adapts its 
 roots, it is said, to its location ; being fibrous-rooted 
 upon dry, and bulbous-rooted upon moist grounds ; 
 and, therefore, adapted to any situation. 
 
 18. Where arable and mixed husbandry prevail, 
 the natural fertility of a farm cannot be kept up or 
 increased from the resources of the farm stock with- 
 out resort to an alternation or change of crops. Al- 
 though the diminution of fertility may be impercep- 
 tible in some extraordinary cases, and although 
 some soils seem naturally and peculiarly adapted to 
 certain crops, yet, where the same crop is grown on 
 one piece of ground in successive years, deterioration 
 as certainly goes on as the sun shines by day. 
 Whether, according to the modern theory of certain 
 European philosophers of high repute, the excre 
 mentitious matter thrown into the soil by a growing 
 crop is poisonous to its species ; or whether, as we 
 maintain, each species requires and exhausts, 01 par
 
 48 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 tially exhausts, a specific food in the soil, suited to 
 its particular wants, we will not now stop to inquire ; 
 hut it. is a fact established by general experience, 
 that an annual change of crops upon a field, while 
 under tillage, tends very much to economize its fer- 
 tility, and to increase the profits of the labour be- 
 stowed upon it. Hence, 
 
 19. It has been laid down as a sound rule in farm- 
 ing, that two white, or grain, or culmiferous crops 
 should not be made to succeed each other in the 
 same field ; but that each of these should be alterna- 
 ted with, or followed by, a green, a grass, a root, o." a 
 jeguminous crop. 
 
 20. Where the soil of a farm will admit of it, a 
 good course is to alternate, 1, roots or Indian com, 
 with long manure., upon the sod ; 2, grain, with 
 grass-seeds ; 3, grass for two years. The poorer 
 the soil, the oftener should it be returned to grass, 
 particularly to clover and pasture. 
 
 21. Geologists refer to three distinct formations 
 as constituting the crust of the earth : the primitive, 
 containing little or no lime or organic remains ; the 
 transition, containing lime and organic remains ; and 
 the secondary, abounding extensively in both these 
 elements of fertility. Their natural relative/er/i/i/y 
 is in the reverse order in which they are named, the 
 secondary being the best, and embracing most of the 
 great basin of the Mississippi, and the country drain- 
 ed by its tributary streams. We say nothing of 
 alluvial formations deposited by the ccean and 
 streams. These partake of the character of the 
 country from which they are brought, and are more 
 or less fertile, according to the fertility of the dis- 
 tricts from which their soil is derived, and the force 
 of the currents by which theii deposites have been 
 made ; a rapid current leaving only the coarser or 
 heavier materials, while the lighter and richer mat- 
 ters do not subside until the current becomes siow 
 and le?s agitated. A sluggish current, therHbre.de 
 posites the richest soil.
 
 RULES AND SUGGESTIONS IN HUSBANDRY. 49 
 
 29. The three great formations which we have 
 mentioned possess, it is well known, characteristics 
 different from each other. They grow, naturally, 
 many plants peculiar to each, and they are adapted 
 to different branches of husbandry, or to different 
 farm-crops . The primitive will not generally grow 
 good wheat, but is suited to grass, oats, potatoes, 
 &c. The transition is adapted to natural grasses, 
 and to most of the arable crops, particularly to the 
 cereal class ; and the secondary to the cultivated 
 grasses, to roots, and particularly to wheat.* 
 
 23. There are other circumstances in regard to 
 the location of a farm demanding the consideration 
 of the master, which refer to latitude and elevation. 
 Plants have their natural zone or climate, beyond 
 which they do not grow or thrive but imperfectly. 
 There is a difference in every degree, or sixty miles 
 of latitude upon tide-water, of five or six days in the 
 forwardness of natural vegetation in the spring, and 
 nearly a like difference in the blighting indications 
 of autumn. But what is of equal importance, but 
 less generally regarded, is the difference in climate 
 produced by altitude. Three hundred feet of eleva- 
 
 * An able writer in the Edinburgh Quarterly Journal of 
 Agriculture, in reference to these formations, terms the primi- 
 tive, which, it seems, comprises the most elevated lands in Scot- 
 land, the region of heath and coarse herbage; the transition, 
 the natural region of the grasses; and the secondary, the region 
 of cultivated grasses, and particularly adapted to arable and al- 
 ternate husbandry. He assigns to each a particular and dis- 
 tinct breed of cattle. To the first, or higher region, a thick- 
 haired, small, hardy breed; to the second, or middle region, those 
 of larger size ; and to the third, or lower region, those that are 
 most sensitive to cold, gross feeders, and that acquire the great- 
 est weight He goes on to show, from numerous examples, that 
 these several breeds are the most profitable in the various dis- 
 tricts assigned them ; and that they are manifestly improved, in 
 most cases, by a judicious cross with the improved short-horns. 
 There is much good sense in the writer's remarks ; and, al- 
 though the descriptions of the three formations as to elevation 
 does not fully apply in the United States, the facts we have 
 copied afford useful suggestions to the American grazier. 
 I. E
 
 50 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 tion is considered equal to one degree of latitude in 
 its influence upon temperature. Hence it does not 
 follow, that because a crop will thrive and ripen in 
 a given latitude upon tide-water, it will thrive and 
 ripen equally well in the same latitude at a higher 
 elevation. On the contrary, to be better understood, 
 we say that, other tilings being alike, the climate on 
 tide-water, in latitude 42, is similar to that of a 
 place elevated three hundred feet above tide-water 
 in latitude 41, or of a place nine hundred feet above 
 tide-water in latitude 39 ; so that the table-land of 
 Mexico, in latitude 16, at an elevation of seven 
 thousand and eight hundred feet above the ocean, 
 should possess about the same mean temperature, 
 and produce the same natural and artificial growth, 
 as Kingston upon the Hudson, though the extremes, 
 both of heat and cold, are probably greater at the 
 northern than they are at the southern point.* 
 
 * " All the western part of the inlendancy of Vera Cruz," 
 says Humboldt, in his New Spain, " forms the declivity of the 
 Cordilleras of Anahuac. In the space of a day, the inhabitants 
 descend from the regions of eternal snow to the plains in the vi- 
 cinity of the sea, where the most suffocating heat prevails. The 
 admirable order with which different tribes of vegetables rise 
 one above another, by strata, as it were, is nowhere more per- 
 ceptible than in ascending from the port of Vera Cruz to the ta- 
 ole-land of Perote. We see there the physiognomy of the coun- 
 try, the aspect of the sky, the form of plants, the figures of ani- 
 mals, the manners of the inhabitants, and the kind of cultivation 
 followed by them, assume a different appearance at every step 
 of our progress. 
 
 " As we ascend, nature appears gradually less animated, the 
 beauty of the vegetable forms diminishes, the shoots become 
 less succulent, and the flowers less coloured. The aspect of 
 the Mexican oak quiets the alarms of travellers newly landed at 
 Vera Cruz. Its presence demonstrates to him that he has left 
 behind him the zone, so justly dreaded by the people of the 
 North, under which the yellow fever exercises its ravages in 
 New Spain. This inferior limit of oaks warns the colonise 
 who inhabits the central table-land how far he n ay descend to- 
 wards the coast, without dread of the mortal disease of the twit 
 ito. Forests of liquid amber, near Xalapa, announce, by the 
 freshness of their verdure, that this is the elevation at which
 
 RULES AND SUGGESTIONS IN HUSBANDRY. 51 
 
 These data are assumed from recollection, and may 
 not he precisely correct. 
 
 24. The means of preserving and of augmenting 
 the fertility of the soil are sufficiently indicated in 
 the preceding suggestions. They consist mainly in 
 manuring, draining, the admixture of earthy mate- 
 rials, and th alternation of crops. 
 
 25. Stable and fold-yard dung is most profitably 
 applied in an unfermented or partially fermented 
 state, and to hoed and autumn-ripening crops. Fer- 
 mentation diminishes the fertilizing properties of ma- 
 nure. If this fermentation takes place in the soil, 
 the gases, the volatile portion which first escapes 
 from the putrifying mass, are retained in the mould, 
 and serve to feed the crop. If fermentation takes 
 place in the yard or upon the surface, the gases are 
 wasted, and the dung undergoes farther loss from 
 the rains which ordinarily leach it. Long manure 
 should be spread broadcast, and well buried by the 
 plough. 
 
 26. Short manure, or that which has undergone 
 fermentation, is most beneficial when harrowed in 
 upon arable lands, or spread upon the surface of 
 grass-grounds. 
 
 27. Old meadows may be kept in a productive 
 
 the clouds, suspended over the ocean, come in contact with the 
 basaltic summits of the Cordillera. A little higher, near La 
 Bandarila, the nutritive fruit of the banana-tree comes no longer 
 to maturity. In this foggy and cold region, therefore, want 
 spurs on the Indian to labour, and excites his industry. At the 
 height of San Miguel, pines begin to mingle with the oaks, 
 which are found by the traveller as high as the elevated plains 
 of Perote, where he beholds the delightful aspect of fields sown 
 with wheat. Eight hundred metres higher (two thousand and 
 six hundred feet), the coldness of the climate will no longer ad- 
 mit of the vegetation of oaks ; and pines alone cover the rock, 
 who.-e summits enter the zone of eternal snow. Thus, in a few 
 hours, the naturalist, in this miraculous country, ascend? the 
 whole scale of vegetation, from the heliconia and the ban^n* 
 plant, whose glossy leaves swell out into extrar rdinary dimet 
 eion.s, to the stunted parachyma of the resinous trees."
 
 52 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 state, in ordinary cases, by a tr mnial top-dressing 
 with manure or compost ; or may be renovated and 
 restored to a productive state by the modes we have 
 already recommended in the Cultivator. 
 
 28. Composts are economical when made to ab- 
 sorb fertilizing liquids which would otherwise be 
 wasted ; or to decompose inert vegetable matter, as 
 peat, earth, &c. 
 
 29. Lime, gypsum, marl, and ashes are powerful 
 auxiliaries when applied to proper soils or suitable 
 crops. Observation and experience will be the best 
 guides in their application. They should all be ap- 
 plied to the surface, or but superficially covered. 
 
 30. All vegetable and animal matters constitute 
 the food of plants when they are rendered soluble, 
 or capable of being dissolved in the water of the 
 soil. 
 
 31. Bone-dust, horn-shavings, poudrette, woollen 
 rags, urine, and animal carbon or burned bones, are 
 concentrated manures, and should be used sparingly 
 and with great care upon or near the surface of the 
 soil. Pigeon and hen's dung partake much of the 
 character of the preceding, and require precaution 
 in their use. We think the best mode of applying 
 the two first named is to mix ashes with them or 
 long manure, just before they are put upon the soil, 
 whereby they are brought speedily into a state of 
 fermentation and decomposition. 
 
 32. The best guards against drought are keeping 
 the soil deep, rich, clean, and mellow on the surface. 
 
 33. The more cattle that are well kept upon a 
 farm, the more manure ; the more manure there is 
 applied, the greater the product and the profit, and 
 the greater the means of sustaining an increased 
 stock of animals upon it. All of these advantages 
 are increased when root-crops are made to enter 
 largely into the system of culture.
 
 OLD AND NEW HUSBANDRY. 53 
 
 COMPARATIVE PROFITS OF THE OLD AND NEW HUSBANDRY. 
 
 [We add, at the close of this chapter, the follow- 
 ing statement, given in the London Farmer's Maga- 
 zine from the pen of an eminent English agricul- 
 turist, as exhibiting some of the reasons that induce 
 the adoption there of the New System, and the com- 
 parative profits resulting. That more labour on a 
 given number of acres is required under the new 
 system than under the old, is apparent ; but the in- 
 crease in productiveness is in a still greater ratio, 
 and so are the ultimate profits. By keeping but few 
 acres under cropping, and doing the work of those 
 few acres in the best manner, the farmer gains some 
 important advantages ; he can retain more land in 
 grass, and, of course, can raise more stock ; he is not 
 wearing out his soils by improvident culture ; he re- 
 ceives a far greater interest on the capital invested 
 in his farming operations ; and when, in the course 
 of rotation, his fields are seeded to grass, they are 
 clean, in good tilth, and will not only produce great 
 crops of pasture or grass, but be in fine order for 
 their course in the production of grain crops.] 
 
 It may be proper to premise that my farm consists 
 of about 200 acres, comprising 30 of wood, 42 of 
 pasture, and the rest arable. Of the arable, 85 acres 
 are of good mixed soil, well adapted to turnips and 
 barley, but not considered equal in value to the best 
 wheat land ; the remainder consists partly of a hun- 
 gry gravel and partly of clay, of very inferior quali - 
 ty. It is cultivated on the Norfolk, or four-course 
 system.
 
 64 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 1. I dilrgcntly collect litter of every kind, sea- 
 weed, furze, fern, leaves of trees, &c., for bedding 
 my yards, in addition to the straw grown on t lie- 
 land. In the last twelve months I have brought in 
 about 50 wagon-loads of these materials : each wzs- 
 on load gives employment to about three men for 
 a day ; the total, therefore, being 150 days. 
 
 2. This increase of litter would avail little or no- 
 thing if I did not keep an extra number of live-stock ; 
 for I observe that many farmers do not even make 
 their straw into good muck. I therefore fat about 
 40 hogs and four or five head of horned cattle every 
 winter ; enough, in short, to consume half my Swed- 
 ish turnips, which are carried into the yards for this 
 purpose. The drawing, topping, and carting, togeth- 
 er with the time occupied in looking after the stock, 
 may be estimated at one man's employment during 
 the winter months, equal to 150 days. 
 
 3. The removal of one half the turnips would in- 
 jure the succeeding barley crop if I did not lay on, 
 at the time of sowing the turnips, an extra quantity 
 of manure, say 25 single horse cart-loads per acre, 
 about 10 loads more than the usual allowance! This 
 I am enabled to do, partly by the great quantity of lit- 
 ter in my yards, partly by placing a bottom of earth 
 or chalk under every dung-heap, and a thin covering 
 of the same materials over the top. The practice 
 of carting all my dung twice, first from the yards to 
 bottoms prepared in the fields, and then on the land 
 when wanted for use, of course employs many hands, 
 as well as the turning the composts, and mixing the 
 materials together. I believe I do not overrate the 
 number of cart-loads transported annually on my 
 farm at 2400 ; whereas on the same number of acres, 
 a farmer who moved his dung only once, carrying it 
 immediately from the yard, at the rate of 10 loads 
 per acre for turnips, and the same for wheat, would 
 transport only 600 cart-loads annually: The extra 
 1800 loads may give about 112 days employment, and
 
 OLD AND NEW HUSBANDRY 55 
 
 the turning of the compost about 20 more ; making 
 together 132 days. 
 
 4. I have introduced this year the Norfolk practice 
 of dibbling wheat. This occupies two men and six 
 children for 30 days, at the rate of half an acre per 
 man per day. Computing the six children equal to 
 one man, the dibbling gives extra employment of 90 
 days. The expense is paid in the saving of seed, to 
 say nothing of the increased produce, which is es- 
 timated by the best Norfolk farmers at a sack per 
 acre.* 
 
 5. Extra weeding, throwing ditches, draining, &c., 
 may occupy about 80 days. 
 
 Let us now recapitulate 
 
 Collecting litter ...... 150 days 
 
 Feeding stock in yards . . . .150 
 
 Carting earth and dung . . . .132 
 
 Dibbling wheat 90 
 
 Extra weeding, draining, &c. . . 80 
 
 Total 602 
 
 At 300 working days in the year, this is equal to 
 two labourers extra, winter and summer, employed 
 on a farm containing only about 120 acres of arable 
 land. 
 
 It is not easy to estimate with precision the in- 
 creased amount of produce which a farmer may ex- 
 pect to obtain in consequence of such an increased 
 outlay in labour ; the less so as that increased produce 
 does not make itself felt the first, second, or third 
 year to the full extent : indeed, I have heard an in- 
 telligent fanner say, that he has observed a progres- 
 sive improvement in his land during no less than 
 twenty years, from persisting in a system of high 
 cultivation. I beg leave to introduce here the esti- 
 mate of Von Thaer : 
 
 * A sack is four bushels.
 
 56 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 On a farm of 913 acres of good barley land. 
 
 'he olci tritem, t'udrr he in pmH or 
 
 two crop* and * (allow. alirrtnn i)t en>. 
 
 Produce in cattle ./ 210 f 1008 II'Ji'j-* 
 
 Produce in gram . 894- 4291 20 2030- 9.744 
 
 Gross produce . . 1104 529920 327915,73920 
 
 Expenses of cul- 
 tivation .... 537 2577 60 1051 5,044 30 
 
 Nett produce . . 567 2721 60 222810,694 40 
 
 The last line comprises rent, profit, interest on 
 capital, tithes and taxes of any description, the ob- 
 ject being simply to show the comparative results of 
 the two systems of cultivation. The system is not 
 founded on speculative views, but on extensive and 
 accurate observation during a long series of years 
 by a man well acquainted with the practical business 
 of agriculture. Indeed, I may observe in passing, 
 that there is no work in the English language to be 
 compared with Von Thaer's, so far as my knowl- 
 edge extends. I am not surprised at the low esti- 
 mation of works on agriculture among practical 
 farmers. Instead of containing, as they ought to 
 do, a digest of all that is necessary to be known by 
 a single competent hand, such works consist, for the 
 most part, of loose collections of suggestions, spec- 
 ulations, experiments, and observations ; correct 
 and incorrect, authenticated and unauthenticated ; 
 thrown together apparently almost at random, with- 
 out order or discrimination. 
 
 It will be seen, on comparing Von Thaer's num- 
 bers, that his estimate of the expenses and produce 
 on the two systems of cultivation respectively is in 
 round numbers as follows : On the improved system 
 the expenses of cultivation is double ; the gross pro- 
 duce is triple ; the nett produce is quadruple. 
 
 This statement, however, being expressed in so 
 general and abstract a form, and resting, as it does, 
 on the authority of an unknown author, is not likely,
 
 OLD AND NEW HUSBANDRY. 57 
 
 I fear, to weigh much with the majority of farmers. 
 Let me then endeavour to bring the question home 
 to them by a statement of a different kind. I sup- 
 pose it will hardly be disputed that, by means of the 
 system of high cultivation which I have described, 
 a farmer may be expected to get per acre at least 
 one sack of wheat, one of barley, a quarter of a ton 
 of clover hay, and three tons of turnips additional 
 Let us compute the value of these items : 
 
 4 bushels of wheat at 56s. ../.ISO $6 72 
 
 4 bushels of barley at 30* v ..0150 3 60 
 
 1-4 ton of hay at 3J 0150 360 
 
 3 tons of turnips at 5s. ... 15 3 60 
 
 4)/.3 13 4)$17 52 
 
 Average per acre 18 3 4 38 
 
 This on 120 acres amounts to M09 10 $52560 
 
 The labour of the extra 
 
 hands through the piece 
 
 at 11 shillings per week, 
 
 amounts to 1.57 04 $274 56 
 
 I charge nothing for horse 
 
 labour, since the cart- 
 ing of dung, litter, &c., 
 
 is performed at times 
 
 when the team would 
 
 otherwise be standing 
 
 still. But as there is 
 
 some additional weai 
 
 and tear of carts and 
 
 wagons, let us estimate 
 
 this at 10000 4800 
 
 67 04 322 56 
 
 Extra profit arising to the occupier /.42 06 $203 04 
 
 The result of this computation, if correct, ought 
 surely to encourage every farmer to be liberal in his 
 expenditure in the article of labour ; and if not cor- 
 rect, I hope some one will point out where I am 
 wrong. The actual produce of the present year, in 
 my own case, is as follows : my wheat, so far as 
 yet threshed, averages from nine to twelve sacks per
 
 58 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 acre ; the last is the produce of a new variety, whirl) 
 proves very prolific. My barley has yielded, on an 
 average, twelve sacks per acre. I have, however, 
 one field of barley not yet threshed, from which I dn 
 not expect to get more than nine sacks per acre, the 
 soil being a poor gravel. The general character of 
 the land I have already described. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 OX THE NECESSITY AND MEANS OF IMPROVING OUR HUS- 
 BANDRY. 
 
 Report by Judge Buel. 
 
 WE cannot be too often reminded of the contrast 
 which exists between good and bad husbandry ; nor 
 too often admonished to search into the causes of 
 this difference, and to apply the needful remedies. 
 The difference does not consist alone in a single 
 crop or a single season : the soil in the one case is 
 becoming more and more exhausted of fertility, and 
 losing its intrinsic value ; while in the other its rel- 
 ative worth is on the increase, and the difference in 
 product is consequently annually increasing. 
 
 We will illustrate our proposition by a comparison 
 between American and Scotch husbandry now and 
 sixty years ago. Sixty years ago the agriculture of 
 Scotland was in a wretchedly low and unproductive 
 condition, while the products of our yet unex- 
 hausted soil were abundant. But sixty years ago 
 the spirit of improvement fell upon Scotland ; her 
 -gricultural society was instituted, and commenced 
 ts useful labours, and was soon after greatly aided 
 by the organization of a national board of agricul- 
 ture ; agricultural surveys were made and published
 
 MEANS OF IMPROVING OUIl HUSBANDRY 59 
 
 ,)f every county ; the best practices of every district 
 thus became known to the whole nation ; men of 
 fortune and science turned their attention to the en- 
 couragement and improvement of this parent art 
 and the consequence has been, that a wonderful and 
 salutary change has come over that land, fraught 
 with abundance and with blessings. The value of 
 land 'has in consequence been enhanced three and 
 four fold, and its products have been increased in a 
 proportionate ratio. " In fertile districts," says Sir 
 John Sinclair, " and in propitious seasons, the farm- 
 er may confidently expect to reap from' 32 to 40 
 bushels of wheat ; from 42 to 50 bushels of barley ; 
 from 52 to 64 bushels of oats, and from 28 to 32 
 bushels of beans per statute acre. As to green 
 crops, 30 tons of turnips, 3 tons of clover, and from 
 8 to 10 tons of potatoes per statute acre, may confi- 
 dently be relied on. In the most favourable seasons 
 the crops are still more abundant." 
 
 Now what has been our progress in agriculture 
 during the last sixty'years ] Has it not been retro- 
 grade 1 We have, to be sure, obtained abundant 
 crops from our rich virgin soils, and when these, un- 
 der bad management, have become exhausted, we 
 have occupied and exhausted others in their turn. 
 But what is the condition now of the lands that were 
 cultivated by our fathers half a .century ago 1 Do 
 they produce the average crops which are given 
 above as the products of Scottish husbandry, under 
 all our favourable circumstances even of climate and 
 of civil liberty 1 Are our crops half as large 1 Nay, 
 are they more than a third as large 1 Do we get 
 from our old districts an average of more than 10 to 
 13 bushels of wheat, of 14 to 17 of barley, or of 17 
 to 21 bushels of oats per acre "! At the close of the 
 last and in the beginning of the present century, the 
 surplus products of our Northern agriculture were ex, 
 ported to an immense amount. Now* we import the 
 
 * In 1838-39.
 
 60 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 agricultural products of Europe to avert the evils of 
 famine ! The cause of this remarkable difference in 
 the surplus products of the soil may be partially 
 owing to unpropitious seasons, but is mainly to be 
 sought for in the neglect of our agriculture, both by 
 the people and the government. In Europe, gov- 
 ernments and influential individuals have bestowed 
 spirited attention upon the improvement of agricul- 
 ture, as constituting the basis of national prosperity 
 and independence. While with us, improvement in 
 husbandry has been considered a minor concern ; it 
 has at least not received the consideration of the 
 statesman or the political economist. Party politics, 
 and local or personal schemes of aggrandizement, 
 have so much engrossed the attention of the men 
 who ought to lead in these matters, and who do lead 
 in every other public improvement, that the humble 
 claims of agriculture have failed to attract their no- 
 tice or engage their attention, although it constitutes 
 the base which supports the whole superstructure 
 of civilized society. If we would preserve the su- 
 perstructure with its embellishments, we must take 
 care to make strong and permanent this foundation. 
 Our farmers, too, seem generally indifferent or spir- 
 itless in regard to the general improvement of our 
 agriculture, either because they mistake their duty 
 and true interest, or that, under the influence of a 
 strange fatuity, they fear they shall sink as others 
 rise. 
 
 We should consider our soil as we do our free in- 
 stitutions a patrimonial trust, to be handed down UN- 
 IMPAIRED to posterity ; to be used, but not abused. 
 Both are more easily impaired than they are resto- 
 red; and both belong, in their pristine vigour and 
 purity, as much to our children as they do to us. In 
 some of the once populous and fertile districts of the 
 old Continent, the productiveness of *he soil has 
 been recklessly wasted by men, whose descendants 
 have consequently become poor and wretched, and
 
 MEANS OF IMPROVING OUR HUSBANDRY. 61 
 
 tneir country almost a desert. In other portions, 
 where the fertility of the soil has been sedulously 
 preserved for ages, the population has continued 
 prosperous, wealthy, and happy. 
 
 It is undeniably true, that our general system oV' 
 farming is bad ; that, in most parts of our country, 
 the natural fertility of the soil has been gradually 
 diminishing, and its products becoming less ; that 
 the evil is increasing ; and that, without a radical 
 reform, we shall, in the North, not only cease to 
 have surplus products to pay for the foreign com- 
 modities which long habit has rendered necessary 
 to our convenience, but lack a supply even of bread- 
 stuffs for our own population. To what degrading 
 dependance will this course of things in a few years 
 reduce us, unless prompt and efficient means are 
 adopted to check our downhill course in the pro- 
 ducts of agricultural labour! With the finest coun- 
 try in the world, a population almost entirely agri- 
 cultural, exempt from the enormous burdens, as 
 tithes, rents, and poor-rates, which press like an in- 
 cubus upon the agricultural labour of Europe, and 
 dependant on foreign supplies for the means of sub- 
 sistence ! ! The idea is humiliating, is alarming, to 
 all who look to the ultimate prosperity and happi- 
 ness of our country. Our maritime commerce de- 
 pends upon contingencies which we can neither 
 foresee nor control. Venice and Genoa, and Por- 
 tugal and Spain, have each in turn had their " days 
 of commercial prosperity ;" they successively rose 
 to opulence and power, and successively sunk, the 
 victims cf corruption, into effeminacy, vice, and des- 
 potism. Manufactures too, as we have had abun- 
 dant cause to know, are but a precarious dependence 
 for national greatness. Commerce and manufac- 
 tures are the shaft and capital of the social column, 
 of which agriculture constitutes the base ; and with- 
 out this base they can no more withstand the shocks 
 and revolutions of time, than could the short -lived
 
 62 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 glory of the nations we have namrrl. Great Britain 
 now wields the trident, and the world is made tribu- 
 tary to her workshops. Hut, great as she is in 
 commerce and in manufactures, these are consider- 
 ed secondary and auxiliary to her agricultural great- 
 ness. Land is the basis of her national wealth ; it 
 is the surplus marketable produce of her soil, says 
 Sir John Sinclair, that is the source of all her polit- 
 ical power, and of the personal enjoyment of her 
 citizens ; and there is no source of domestic indus- 
 try or of foreign commerce, he adds, that can in 
 any respect be put in competition with the improved 
 cultivation of her soil. The agriculture of Great 
 Britain employs but two thirds of her population ; 
 and yet the surplus products of her soil suffice to 
 feed and support the other third, and to assist in 
 supplying our deficiencies.* Our population is at 
 least five sixths agricultural, yet during the lust two 
 years we have had to import about ten millions 
 worth of breadstuff's to supply our deficiency in this 
 first element of life ; and even in the most favoura- 
 ble seasons, the exports of the surplus products of 
 our northern soil have been merely nominal. 
 
 We will state one fact, derived from official docu- 
 ments, which will demonstrate, beyond the power of 
 refutation, our downward course in this great branch 
 of national industry. It is this: the average in- 
 crease of breadstuff's, passing from our canals to 
 tide waters, from the great grain district of the West 
 (the Flanders of America), has amounted to three 
 
 * The reader must not infer from this that Great Britain has 
 ordinarily a surplus of agricultural produce beyond her own 
 wants. In favourable seasons she produces about enough to 
 feed her population ; but is obliged to import breads) u Ms. some- 
 times to a large amount, when there is a partial failure of crops. 
 That Great Britain, with her limited territory and dense popu- 
 lation, should occasionally have to do this, must be expected ; 
 but the circumstances of our own country are so entirely dif- 
 ferent, that it must be owing mainly to bad husbandry that we 
 tuould ever be subject to such necessity.
 
 MEANS OF IMPROVING OUR HUSBANDRY. 63 
 
 and three quarters per cent., while our population 
 has increased in the ratio of six per cent, per annum ! 
 If such has been the deficiency in our grain-grow- 
 ing, new and fertile districts, to meet the wants of 
 our increasing population, how much greater must* 
 that deficiency have been in the exhausted soils of 
 old settled districts ] Many portions of our country, 
 which once exported grain, have, by bad husbandry, 
 become dependant upon the comparatively new set- 
 tlements, or upon foreign supplies, for this indispen- 
 sable necessary of life. This remark will apply to 
 almost our entire Atlantic border. Will any math- 
 ematician tell us how long it will require, according 
 to the disproportionate ratio of increase between 
 our population and our means of subsistence, to re- 
 duce us to a state of absolute dependance, or to a 
 state of national want and famine ? 
 
 It is apparent, from the examples of improvement 
 which are witnessed in many districts of our coun- 
 try, that we CAN improve the general condition of 
 our agriculture if we will adopt a wise and ener- 
 getic policy. Nay, we have a demonstration of the 
 practicability of doing it in the now palpable benefits 
 of the law to improve our agriculture, passed in 1819. 
 That law involved an expenditure of 40 or $50,000, 
 and expired in 1824. It was found fault with by 
 many from political motives, and by more from a 
 spirit of envy in those who either had not the en- 
 terprise or the talent to compete successfully for 
 the rewards which it gave to industry and skill. 
 And besides, the law, in some instances, was badly, 
 we may almost say corruptly, executed. Yet, under 
 all the disadvantages of want of organization, of in- 
 experience and abuse, has not that expenditure been 
 like manure spread upon our soiU Did not that 
 law excite a laudable emulation among the whole 
 farming community, and bring into action more skill, 
 more industry, and more improvement 1 Has it not 
 been instrumental in greatly improving our farm
 
 64 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 stock, our farm implements, and modes of culture ! 
 Has it failed to increase the farm products of any one 
 county, of a respectable population, to the amount 
 of the total expenditure ? Or has it failed to return 
 ihto the treasury, every year, the gross amount of 
 that expenditure, in the form of canal tolls upon the 
 increased productions of the soil? We do not put 
 these questions because we have any doubts in the 
 matter, but to bring the subject home to the calm 
 and deliberate consideration of those reflecting men 
 whose duty and interest it is to scan, to judge, and 
 to act wisely upon a question of momentous impor- 
 tance to our country. If these men think with us, 
 that the law of 1819 has amply remunerated the 
 state for its expenditure on the increased tolls on 
 our canals, and that it has added millions to the 
 value of our annual agricultural products, they will 
 not hesitate to renew that policy which has been 
 productive of so much public good. The improve- 
 ments of the last eighteen years might have been 
 respectable without the aid of that law ; but it was 
 that which gave a new impetus to improvement. 
 The fairs and exhibitions which it produced taught 
 our farmers that there was ye't much to learn in 
 their business ; that they could improve in their 
 farm stock, in their farm implements, in theif seeds, 
 and in their modes of culture ; and many of them 
 resolutely determined to profit, and did profit, by the 
 lessons of instruction which they then imbibed. And 
 when the spirit of improvement has begun, it is like 
 civil revolution ; it seldom retrogrades. One im- 
 provement leads to others as naturally as the active 
 mind, having attained to one branch of knowledge, 
 aspires to other and higher branches. Our Southern 
 brethren say we are in advance of them greatly in 
 agricultural improvement. If this is so, we owe it 
 to the law that was passed, upon Gov. Clinton's rec- 
 ommendation, in 1819. 
 It requires no science, and very little art, to weai
 
 MEANS OF IMPROVING OUR HUSBANDRY. 65 
 
 out and exhaust the most fertile soil. The process 
 is simple : take from it all you can by close crop- 
 ping for a few continuous years, and return to it 
 nothing in the form of manure, and the work is 
 done, or far advanced. In this business we have 
 shown ourselves to be no mean adepts. But it does 
 require science, and art, and perseverance, and cap- 
 ital, to restore fertility to a soil which has become 
 exhausted. This we hav* not yet sufficiently learn- 
 ed, but it should be our next lesson ; and the sooner 
 we begin, the sooner shall we profit by it. 
 
 Agricultural improvement is slowly developed, at 
 least to superficial observers. It requires years to 
 renovate the fertility of an exhausted soil, to im- 
 prove the stock of a farm, or to realize the benefits 
 which result from draining, from alternating crops, 
 and from root culture. We are much in the habit 
 of calculating upon immediate gains, without looking 
 to remote and ultimate benefits. We saw not the 
 change when the law of 1819 was in force, because 
 its benefits were but partially developed. But we 
 now hear the remark from hundreds, that the ap- 
 propriation of 1819 was one of the most beneficial 
 to the state that has ever been made by the Legisla- 
 ture. The popular vote of the state would never 
 have sanctioned the construction of the Erie and 
 Champlain canals ; and yet the wisdom of the meas- 
 ure is now sanctioned by an enlightened world. Al- 
 though the construction of these canals may have 
 operated prejudicially to some individuals and dis- 
 tricts, yet the benefits which have resulted to the 
 whole state have amply compensated for any person- 
 al inconvenience or injury they may have caused. 
 So with the law to encourage agriculture ; many did 
 not foresee its benefits, who now acknowledge that 
 they are palpable and important. We must judge 
 of public measures by their fruits ; and, before we 
 are competent to do this, the seed must germinate, 
 the plant grow and blossom, and the fruit mature. 
 I F
 
 66 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 This is particularly the case in all measures to im- 
 prove agriculture. It is the province of wisdom to 
 look ahead ; to sow the useful seed, and wait the 
 coming harvest for the recompense. We must sow 
 in the spring, and cultivate well in the summer, if 
 we would gather an abundant harvest in autumn. 
 We may, too, almost lay it down as a maxim, that 
 
 THE MENTAL AND MORAL CONDITION OF AN AGRICULTURAL 
 DIST1UCT IS IN THE RATIO OF ITS IMPROVEMENT IN HUS- 
 BANDRY. To borrow the spirit of a political saying, 
 as goes agriculture, so goes the state. There is cer- 
 tainly much truth in the remark, that where the 
 farming is slovenly and bad, ignorance, indolence, 
 and vice most generally abound ; and that, where 
 agricultural improvement is most advanced, the pop- 
 ulation are most industrious, most intelligent, and 
 most moral. Knowledge begets a love of knowl- 
 edge ; and when a man has acquired enough of it to 
 convince him of its utility in his business, he con- 
 siders it a part of his farming capital, and he is anx- 
 ious to increase his stock of it as the readiest means 
 of improving his condition in life, independent of the 
 mental pleasures which it imparts. But, not having 
 acquired the requisite degree to enable him to ap- 
 preciate its value, or to show him the defects of his 
 system of management, he plods on, with listless 
 indifference, in the ways of his fathers ; and as great 
 success nowadays seldom rewards such labours, 
 he too often becomes spiritless and dissatisfied, and 
 relaxes into indolence, of which vice is too frequent- 
 ly the concomitant. 
 
 Under the existing state of things, how does it be- 
 come us to act 1 What are we to do * Shall we 
 fold our arms, leave agriculture to decline farther 
 or to shift for itself, and depend upon more propi- 
 tious seasons and other Providential interpositions 
 to supply our wants ? Shall we depend upon the 
 cotton, rice, and tobacco of the South, which consti- 
 tute our almost entire exports, to pay for the foreign
 
 MEANS OF IMPROVING OUR HUSBANDRY. 67 
 
 commodities which we consume in the North T Or 
 shall we, animated by the enterprise and love of in- 
 dependence which were, wont to animate our fathers, 
 take it resolutely in hand to provide abundantly for 
 ourselves, by encouraging and enlightening agricul- 
 ture, elevating its character, and stimulating it to 
 new efforts by suitable honours and rewards ? 
 
 As regards the means of improvement, much has 
 been done and much is doing by the agricultural 
 periodicals of the day. The first of these was estab- 
 lished at Baltimore, by John S. Skinner, in 1819 ; 
 and we can now enumerate nearly twenty that are 
 diffusing light, awakening enterprise, and inciting to 
 industry in every section of our country. Probably 
 one hundred thousand farmers are now deriving in- 
 struction and improving their practice from the pe- 
 rusal of these journals ; and it is not extravagant to 
 say, that the benefits they are dispensing to the na- 
 tion are equivalent to millions of dollars every year. 
 But what is one hundred thousand compared to the 
 gross agricultural population of the union I and how 
 much greater would be their benefits if these jour- 
 nals had access to every farmhouse, or even to every 
 schoolhouse, in the state ! Besides giving much 
 that is useful in the science, or the first principles 
 of husbandry, they are continually advising their 
 readers of every improvement which is being made 
 in the practical operations of the farm ; of new seeds 
 and plants^ and the mode of cultivating them, and of 
 every improvement in labour-saving machines. 
 
 By concentrating, as it were in a focus, the prac- 
 tical knowledge of the country, and then scattering 
 it, like the solar rays, into every corner of the land, 
 to fructify the earth, thus rendering it subservient to 
 the benefit of all, some individuals have been enabled 
 no obtain a clear profit of fifty, one hundred, and even 
 one hundred and fifty dollars on an acre, who had 
 never obtained a profit of thirty dollars before. And 
 the benefits of these splendid results are not confined
 
 68 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 to the individuals who effected them : they are her- 
 alded in the agricultural journals ; become known all 
 over the country ; and every new and successful effort 
 at improvement soon has its fifty, its hundred, and 
 its thousand imitators. Suppose, for instance, what 
 we hope will yet prove tme, that an individual should 
 discover an effectual preventive of the ravages of 
 the Hessian fly or grain-worm instead of only ben- 
 efiting him and a few neighbours, or becoming grad- 
 ually known, as in olden times, the knowledge of it 
 would now be spread in a few days, by the agricultu- 
 ral periodicals, into every comer of the land, and the 
 advantages of the discovery would thus amount to 
 millions in a single year. So with every other im- 
 provement in husbandry. It is not the province, nor 
 is it the study of news journals and literary editors 
 to deal extensively in agricultural concerns. They 
 seldom publish even the incidental notices which 
 are designed to subserve the interests of husbandry 
 without a special request, and a fee in the bargain, 
 as though they had no personal interest in the prog- 
 ress of agricultural improvement. We must infer 
 from these premises, that every man will promote 
 his own interest, and benefit the public, by patroni- 
 sing and endeavouring to extend the circulation of our 
 agricultural papers. They tend to no possible evil, 
 while they are certainly calculated to do much good. 
 Another means of facilitating agricultural improve- 
 ment is to introduce class-books into our common 
 schools for the senior boys, which shall teach those 
 elementary principles of science which are indispen- 
 sable to the successful practice of agriculture. A 
 boy may be almost as easily taught to analyze soils, 
 and to comprehend the leading principles of animal 
 and vegetable physiology, as he can to commit to 
 memory pages of matter, the knowledge of which 
 seldom serves him any useful purpose in manhood. 
 We must begin in youth if we would bring about any 
 material improvement in the habits of society. The
 
 MEANS OF IMPROVING OUR HUSBANDRY 69 
 
 good seed that is sown in the springtime of Ufe ie 
 never lost : it will ultimately sprout, and grow, and 
 give its increase, as surely as the grain which wa 
 deposite in a fertile soil. The tree will grow a> t ... 
 twig is bent. Youth is the season to get instruction 
 in the principles of the business which is to consti- 
 tute the employment of life; and the more knowl 
 edge boys acquire in these principles before they 
 start in life for themselves, the more likely they are 
 to prosper and become useful to society. The time 
 that the senior boys in school devote to the business 
 of the farm, will give to studies which are connected 
 with their present and future business an interest 
 and an influence which will be as abiding as life. 
 
 But we would go farther in the business of agri- 
 cultural instruction ; we would establish schools to 
 teach simultaneously both the theory and practice 
 of agriculture. We would carry something of the 
 theory into the primary schools, and much of the 
 practice into the schools of science. Veterinary 
 schools, to instruct in the anatomy and management 
 of domestic animals, have long been established in 
 Europe ; their usefulness has been highly extolled, 
 and their numbers are increasing. Switzerland, 
 Prussia, and France have also their schools, in which 
 the science and practice of agriculture are taught to 
 hundreds of young men, who are thereby enabled to 
 manage their estates with greater benefit to them- 
 selves and the public, or to obtain honourable and 
 lucrative situations as managers for others. We 
 give bounties on our fisheries, to make them a nur- 
 sery for seamen ; but we give none upon agriculture, 
 which is the best nursery of freemen. We spend 
 millions annually to protect our commerce ; but we 
 give nothing to improve agriculture, which is the ba- 
 sis and support of that commerce. We protect out 
 manufactures by a heavy tariff; yet agriculture, 
 which furnishes the raw materials, and buys the fab- 
 rics which the manufacturer consumes and vends,
 
 70 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 is left to protect itself. We have expended nearly 
 three millions in this state to aid in educating al- 
 most exclusively professional and other gentlemen ; 
 but \ve have given nothing exclusively to educate 
 our agriculturists, who constitute the great mass 
 of our population. And yet there is probably no em- 
 ployment in life capable of being more benefited by 
 a professional education (in which a professional ed 
 ucation would conduce more to the public prosperity) 
 than that of managing our farms. A proper knowl- 
 edge of soils, manures, vegetables, and animals ; of 
 the agency of caloric, of moisture, of the atmo- 
 sphere, and of light, in the economy of vegetable and 
 animal growth, is of the greatest use to the' farmer, 
 and yet in what existing school can be acquired this 
 knowledge, during the period of life in which he 
 ought to obtain his practical information t 
 
 All impressions of general reform, to be success- 
 ful, must be first made upon the ductile minds of the 
 young. The old are apt to be too obstinately wed- 
 ded to their juvenile habits and prejudices. Men are 
 prone to grow up in the creeds in which they are 
 early instructed be they Christian, Mohammedan, 
 or pagan be they those of good or bad husbandry. 
 And if our youth are instmcted in the first elements 
 of agriculture, and taught to consider it, what it truly 
 is, an employment calculated, above all others, to 
 promote individual and national prosperity and hap- 
 piness, they will aspire to honour and distinction in 
 its labours ; and will not so generally press to the 
 cities, to the bar and the counter, for the means of 
 gratifying a laudable ambition. Society, too, will 
 reap an abundant reward from the change. \Ve will 
 illustrate this by an historical fact. Ernest, former 
 duke of Saxe Gotha, had his people instructed by 
 compendiums of every kind of useful knowledge, in- 
 cluding music and drawing, that were put into the 
 hands of youth in all the country schools, and which 
 in a few years entirely changed the face of his prin-
 
 MEANS OF IMPROVING OUR HUSBANDRY. 71 
 
 cipality ; and " it is amazing," adds our author, who 
 wrrte some years afterward, "to observe the differ- 
 ent irradiations of genius in this and the adjacent 
 circles." The effect was alike beneficial in the im- 
 provement of the soil and the mind. And the exam- 
 ple of Saxe Gotha probably led to the excellent sys- 
 tem of school instruction in agriculture which has 
 since been introduced by Prussia and most of the 
 German states. 
 
 It has been stated, as an objection to the establish- 
 ment of agricultural schools, that they would be only 
 accessible to the rich. This objection, even if well 
 founded, would not go to lessen their value to the 
 state : for if we could convert a few hundred drones, 
 as the sons of rich men may generally be termed, 
 into working bees, the public, as well as the young 
 men themselves, would certainly be gainers by the 
 transformation. The complaint is, that we have too 
 many consumers and too few producers. This 
 would tend to restore an equilibrium : for the exam- 
 ples of the rich, be they good or bad, have an impo- 
 sing influence on the middling and lower classes ; and 
 thus to improve the habits and morals of the rich, 
 would be the surest way to improve the condition of 
 society generally. Hence, therefore, if agricultural 
 schools can be made instrumental in annually con- 
 verting a few hundred of the idle and dissipated sons 
 of wealth (or, rather, in preserving them from vicious 
 and wrong habits) into wholesome, industrious farm- 
 ers, agricultural pursuits will become more respecta- 
 ble and be more followed ; and we venture to pre- 
 dict, that then we shall not long continue to do, what 
 we have done import potatoes from Ireland and 
 Germany, hay and oats from S4^tland, eggs from 
 France, and breadstuff's from all the countries of 
 Europe, including the dominions of the autocrat of 
 Russia and of the Grand Turk. 
 
 But it is not exactly true that the rich alone would 
 find access into agricultural schools, were such es-
 
 72 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 tablished. The rich rely upon their paternal wealth, 
 and have not often the ambition to become useful, aJ 
 least by the habits of manual labour, which would 
 be rigidly required in such schools. These schools 
 would be filled with the youth from all classes of so- 
 ciety, who aspire to fortune and independence by a 
 manly exercise of their mental and physical .powers. 
 Young men of this description, even from the poorer 
 classes, do obtain admission into literary institutions, 
 :>!! they would into agricultural ones with still 
 greater facility, since the terms of admission here 
 would be more reasonable, and with an equal pros- 
 pect of distinction and usefulness in after life. But, 
 whether these schools were filled from the rich or 
 the poorer classes, or, as we have supposed, from all 
 classes indiscriminately, a certain and great public 
 good would result from their establishment : the pu- 
 pils would go to swell the producing classes of soci 
 ety with habits of application and usefulness, minds 
 imbued with scientific knowledge, bodies hale and 
 robust, and hands practised in all the manual opera- 
 tions of the farm. 
 
 [NOTE. The foregoing just and forcible remarks 
 on the necessity of improving our husbandry, are 
 from a paper read by Judge Buel before the State 
 Agricultural Society in 1838. A few remarks re- 
 lating to the agricultural periodical, the Cultivator, 
 are omitted, as not precisely in place in this volume, 
 however just in themselves. It is to be regretted 
 that we have no correct or authentic means of deter- 
 mining the amoqfl| of any given article of produce 
 at different periods of time ; still there can be little 
 question that the opinion above expressed, that there 
 is a decided falling off in the quantity of grain pro- 
 duced per acre in the older settled parts of our COUD
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 73 
 
 try, is correct ; and there is little room for douln that 
 the same result will follow in the newer districts, 
 unless a more rational mode of culture>is introduced 
 and practised. That course has been pointed out in 
 a lucid manner in Chapter I. of this volume. In a 
 few words, it consists in draining, tillage, manures, 
 roots, and a rotation of crops. The ruinous practice 
 of exhausting our lands by continued cropping must 
 be abandoned; roots and clover must take their 
 places with the grains ; and a better^and more eco- 
 nomical system of making and managing manures 
 must be adopted before our agriculture can rank 
 with that of the most favoured nations. Editors.] 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 
 
 The Potato. Manures. Early Potatoes. Choice of Kinds. 
 Mode of Planting. Harvesting the Crop. Sorting the Cro^. 
 Wintering the Trap. Culture. Beet. Carrot. Parsnip. 
 Turnip. Introductory Remarks. METHODS OF FEEDING 
 ROOTS. Report by Judge Buel. Col. Meacham on the Carrol 
 and Ruta Baga. 
 
 I. THE POTATO. 
 
 EVERY farmer cultivates the potato, but few farm- 
 ers cultivate it as profitably as they might. The 
 average crop does not probably exceed one hundred 
 bushels an acre.* It may be made to exceed three 
 
 [* We are inclined to think that Judge Buel has underrated in 
 this place the average of the potato crop in this country. In 
 some instances in which the quantity on considerable tracts has
 
 74 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 hundred bushels the acre, and without increasing 
 materially the expense of culture. It is a reproach 
 to us, that thi&foot is brought three thousand miles 
 from England; Ireland, and Germany, to supply the 
 wants of our city population. Let us try to do 
 better. It is in the hope that we may contribute to 
 increase our average product, so as to supply the 
 demands of our own market, that we give the fol- 
 lowing directions for its culture. 
 
 Soil and preparation. A mistaken notion prevails 
 with many, that the best potatoes are grown on a 
 warm, sandy soil. The reverse of this is true. The 
 best potatoes, tfs to quality, are believed to be grown 
 in the west of England, Ireland, Nova Scotia, Maine, 
 and other high latitudes, and particularly in humid 
 climates. In a dry season, the quality and quantity 
 are with us not as good as they are in a moist and 
 cool one. The potato zone does not extend south 
 of New- York : that is, its quality deteriorates south 
 of that latitude ; and it probably has the most con- 
 genial climate between 42 and 45. If these as- 
 sumptions are well founded, then it should be our 
 aim to plant upon a cool and mcist, though not wet 
 soil, which approximates nearest to the temperature 
 of the best potato-growing districts elsewhere. The 
 potato will grow anywhere if there are vegetable 
 matter and moisture, but it will be inferior upon dry 
 sands, and stiff or wet clays. It does best in loams 
 or reclaimed swamps ; and it pays well for a good 
 dressing of long manure, and should, if practicable, 
 be planted on the first furrow of a grass ley. If the 
 sod is old and tough, plough deep in September, hav- 
 
 been ascertained, it has averaged from 150 to 200 bushels per 
 acre. In the county of Susquehanna, for example, the aver- 
 ago for the whole county was about 175 bushels per acre. 
 Some towns have given over 200, and a few, perhaps, have fallen 
 below an average of 100 bushels There is, hawever, no room 
 for doubt, that the average is much less than it would be wilh a 
 bettor system of cultivation. Ed*.}
 
 ROOT CULTURE 75 
 
 ing first spread the manure, if to be had at the time ; 
 but if the ley is one of clover, of one or two years 
 old, the ploughing may be postponed till spring. If 
 ploughed in September without manure, this may 
 be spread upon the ground just before planting, and 
 buried with a light furrow, so as not to turn up the 
 vegetable matter of the sod. In our practice of al- 
 ways sowing clover with small grains, we seldom 
 fail of having a tolerable grass ley for the corn and 
 potatoes which are to follow; and its value to the 
 crop doubly compensates for the cost of the clover- 
 seed. The potato has a system of roots, which 
 strike deep if the soil will permit, to collect food 
 for the plant. A decomposing sod, with the manure 
 which should accompany it, turned with a deep fur- 
 row, affords the best aliment for the plant, and is de- 
 posited where the roots naturally seek it, and where 
 it remains cool and moist. The stolens have a dif- 
 ferent office to perform. They require more air and 
 heat, shoot horizontally, and, if buried deep in culture 
 by the plough, will produce a new set near the sur- 
 face. So that a rich, deep soil, having a good sod 
 and a mellow surface, is best adapted to this plant. 
 Harrow thoroughly before planting. 
 
 Manures. The value of manures to the potato 
 crop can scarcely be overrated ; and, indeed, a large 
 crop is seldom obtained without this auxiliary. Long 
 or unfermented manure is preferable to that which 
 is rotten. And remember, this manure does not be- 
 come more impaired in value for the crop which is to 
 follow the potato than if it were summer-yarded. 
 We prefer applying it broadcast, with an unsparing 
 hand, previous to the last ploughing; and we ap- 
 prove of Mr. French's practice, of sowing plaster 
 upon the manure instead of afterward applying it to 
 the growing plants. 
 
 Seed. A thousand and one experiments have been 
 made, and with various results, to determine the rel- 
 ative value of large, medium, or small seed of cul
 
 76 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 or whole tubers. We think the majority of these ex- 
 periments is in favour of medium, or a little more 
 than medium sized roots for seed, cut into sets of 
 two or three eyes. On the principle that like pro- 
 duces like, such a seed will produce a crop of the 
 most desirable size for the table. Each eye forms 
 a distinct plant, like a kernel of corn ; and the size 
 of the tuber, and not of the set which is taken from 
 it, will give character to the product. If the variety 
 has a dwarf habit of growth, more sets may be put 
 in a hill, or they may be planted nearer in the drill, 
 than where the growth is tall, or where the tops 
 send out many lateral shoots. Rich ground will also 
 sustain a greater number of plants than poor ground. 
 The Rohan, and we are told, also, the forty-fold, re- 
 quire thin planting. The object should be to give 
 the plants a good pasture, and not to have the top-s 
 so thick as to exclude the solar rays from the soil. 
 
 To produce early potatoes, or to bring a crop to ear- 
 ly maturity, it is advised to gather the seed before 
 it has attained maturity, to expose it some days to 
 the influence of the sun, and to select the top ends 
 for the earlier crop. We have a strong illustration 
 of the correctness of these conclusions in London's 
 Gardeners' Magazine. A correspondent of that jour- 
 nal made the experiment : he dug every other row 
 of a potato patch for seed while the vines were fresh, 
 and exposed them in the sun until they had become 
 green. In February he cut them crosswise, leaving 
 the bottom and top in separate sets. He cut those 
 which had been suffered to ripen in a similar man- 
 ner, and planted the four kinds in alternate rows. 
 They were all planted on stable litter, and covered 
 with about three inches of earth. A part of each 
 kind received no subsequent earthing. We give the 
 result in the writer's own words. 
 
 "The early potatoes not earthed up grew close 
 around the stock or stem, like eggs in a nest, and so 
 near the surface of the ground that they might be
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 77 
 
 picked off with the finger, leaving the stock or stem 
 uninjured, to produce more potatoes from the run- 
 ners. From the eye-sets of the unripe tubers we 
 had a supply every day for a fortnight, when those 
 of the bottom sets came into use for another fort- 
 night ; at that time, potatoes from the eye or top sets 
 from the ripe seed came into use, and were succeed- 
 ed by potatoes from the bottom sets of the ripe seed. 
 Those kept for seed, or the table, were earthed up 
 as usual, and each row produced almost as large a 
 crop as any two rows not earthed up the luxury of 
 an early potato being a greater object than the 
 quantity." 
 
 Choice of sorts. There is a difference of nearly 
 one half in the nutritious or fattening properties of 
 different varieties of the potato. Those which are 
 best for table are best for market and best for farm- 
 stock, though their yield is generally less than thai 
 of the coarser varieties. Those in the highest es- 
 teem are the Pink-eyes, Mercers, Sault St. Marie, 
 St. Helena; and almost every district has its othei 
 favourites. The Rohan, we think, will ultimately 
 obtain the ascendancy, on account of economy iu 
 seed, its yield, and its intrinsic merits.* 
 
 Mode of planting. Three modes are practised : in 
 hills and in drills, as a distinctive crop, and in alter- 
 nate double or treble rows with Indian corn. The 
 propriety of planting in hills or drills depends upon 
 the condition of the soil ; if it has been thoroughly 
 subdued by the plough, drills are to be preferred, as 
 
 * The following remark is in this connexion worthy the at 
 tention of the practical agriculturist. " The first point to which 
 I wish to direct the attention of the cultivator of the potato is, 
 the age of the variety ; for it has long been known, that every vari 
 ety cultivated gradually bf comes debilitated, and loses a large portion 
 of its powers of producing ; and 1 believe that almost every variety 
 now cultivated in this and the adjoining counties has long since pass 
 ed the period of its age at which it ought to have resigned its place to a 
 successor.' 1 '' T. A. KNIGHT. Farmer's Instructo; i., 193, pub- 
 lished by Harpei & Hrotlf era.
 
 78 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 they are cultivated with the least expense, and gen- 
 erally give the largest product, though they in gen- 
 eral demand the most labour in gathering the crop. 
 The practice of raising potatoes with corn, by al 
 ternating two or three rows of each, has been emi 
 nently successful where it has been conducted with 
 spirit : the product of the mixed crop has been 
 greater than where each has had a separate depart- 
 ment of the field. We omit to notice the Irish mode 
 of planting in beds, as involving an economy in land 
 which we do not require, and an expenditure of la- 
 bour which we cannot afford. The seed should not 
 be buried more than three or four inches, and the 
 covering should be least in wet ground. 
 
 Culture. The culture of the potato, to be profit- 
 able, should be almost wholly performed with the 
 plough, cultivator, and harrow ; little other labour 
 being required with the hand-hoe than may be bare- 
 ly sufficient to destroy the weeds which these imple- 
 ments do not reach. In the first place, the seed 
 may be covered with the plough, whether in hills or 
 in drills. In the next place, the harrow should be 
 used, before the plants are above ground, to reduce 
 the ridges made by the plough in planting, to pulver- 
 ize the surface, and to destroy the young weeds. 
 In the third place, the cultivator or the plough, turn- 
 ing a superficial furrow from the plants, may be in- 
 troduced when they are not more than six inches 
 above the surface. In the fourth place, the plough 
 may be used to turn a light furrow to the plants, so 
 as to give their stems an earthing of three or four 
 inches ; but the plough should run twice nearly in 
 the same track, that the ridges upon which the crop 
 grows may be rather flat and broad than pointed 
 rather concave than convex calculated rather to re- 
 tain than to throw off water. Here the hand-hoe 
 may be of use in gathering around the stems a por- 
 tion of the earth raised by the plough, in destroying 
 weeds among the plants, and in perfecting the earth-
 
 ROOT CULTURE 79 
 
 ing or hilling process ; for the crop shou'.d receive 
 no farther earthing after the plants are in blossom, 
 when the stolens have shot forth, and the tubers be- 
 gan to form. Earthing after this time causes a new 
 set of stolens near the surface, and a growth of a 
 new set of tubers, which, in a measure, rob the ori- 
 ginal ones of their food. We have seen, by the ex- 
 periments quoted in raising early potatoes, that the 
 natural place for throwing out stolens, or roots 
 which produce the tubers, is the point of the stem 
 which first comes to the light and atmosphere ; that 
 if this point is covered in due time with two or three 
 inches of mould, stolens are protruded into it which 
 produce the potato ; but that, if this earth is wanting, 
 the stolens cannot protrude, but the potatoes grow 
 at the surface around the stem. After the earthing 
 process described, no farther care is required than 
 to destroy weeds, which may be done with the hoe, 
 or, if long omitted, by the hand. 
 
 In harvesting the crop, although we have made 
 much progress in improvement, much remains to be 
 done. The hoe, the dung-fork, the spade, the po- 
 tato-hook, and the plough, followed by the harrow, 
 have each their several advocates. From our experi- 
 ence, we should choose the last first, and the first 
 last, where the crop is in drills ; and we should pre- 
 fer the hook where it is in hills. With the potato- 
 hook, when the crop has been in hills, we have 
 thrown out fourteen bushels of pink-eyes in an hour, 
 and twenty-seven bushels of the Rohan, though in 
 neither case did we gather the potatoes ; but in both 
 the digging process was thoroughly done. Lawson 
 & Son's potato lifter, figured and described in vol. 
 v., p. 114 of the Cultivator, seems to be calculated 
 to abridge the harvest labour of this crop. 
 
 Sorting the crop. This is an economical process, 
 though little attended to, and may be more profitably 
 done before the crop is housed or pitted than after- 
 ward. There is a portion of the crop, often a fourth
 
 00 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 or a third, which is small, and unfit for the table, for 
 market, or for seed, but which is as good as the 
 large ize !or farm-stock, and which can be econom- 
 ically used for this purpose, in fattening hogs and 
 beef cattle, in autumn and winter. If they are sep- 
 arated at the harvest, they are always in readiness ; 
 if not, the sorting is tedious, or is neglected, and the 
 small potatoes are the last that remain, cither for 
 the table or for seed. With us the work is a trifling 
 affair. We have a wire sieve or riddle, the meshes 
 of which are of a size to admit those of a given size, 
 appropriated to swine or cattle, to pass through. As 
 the crop is brought home, a peck is thrown into the 
 riddle, and, by shaking it half a minute, the sorting is 
 completed. 
 
 Wintering the crop. The best mode of preserving 
 potatoes in perfection through the winter is to bury 
 them in shallow pits, in a dry and porous soil (a side 
 hill is the best), where they will be free from water, 
 and to cover them first with straw, and then with 
 earth, and, if convenient, coarse manure over the 
 earth, so that they shall be secure from frost. 
 Whether put in pit or cellar, they should be dry, 
 that is, free from external moisture. Potatoes put 
 into the cellar should be kept as cool as possible 
 without freezing, and air should be excluded by a 
 light covering of mould or sand. A dry, warm at- 
 mosphere will speedily impair their good properties. 
 
 In using potatoes, they are improved by boiling, es- 
 pecially for pigs. The potato belongs to a family 
 of poisonous plants, the solanum; the boiling 01 
 steaming of which is believed to expel the deleteri- 
 ous, and to improve its nutritious properties. To 
 neat cattle and horses they may be fed raw with 
 manifest advantage. In cooking them for the table, 
 it is preferable to do it by steam. The mode of do- 
 ing it is simple. Take a piece of sheet iron, of the 
 size of the bilge of your pot or kettle ; perforate it 
 whh half inch holes ; then clip off two parallel sides
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 81 
 
 so as to admit it into the mouth of the vessel ; put 
 it in ; put some water under, and some potatoes over 
 this perforated iron ; and, as the water boils, the po- 
 tatoes will be steamed and prepared for the table : 
 or, if to be boiled, put them into the vessel while the 
 water is cold, that they nay heat through as the tem- 
 perature of the liquid is increased, so that the inside 
 may cook as well as the outside ; and, when they 
 are near being done, turn off the water, remove the 
 cover, and leave them to dry over a moderate heat. 
 
 We will close this article, already longer than we 
 had intended, by giving the culture, expense, product, 
 and estimated profit of two crops raised by our- 
 selves, in different years, upon the Albany barrens, 
 the soil a sand-loam. 
 
 Culture. The field was in clover. We applied 
 twenty-five loads of long manure, in May, to an acre, 
 and dropped it at suitable distances for spreading ; 
 marked out two lands of equal breadth, twenty feet ; 
 and, having the seed prepared, proceeded to planting, 
 which occupied three men, a boy and team, three 
 half days. One man took charge of the team ; a 
 second raked the manure into the furrow, and trod 
 it down as he went on ; and a third spread the ma- 
 nure, and, with the boy, dropped the seed. The rake 
 followed the first furrow, and the manure from two 
 and a half feet surface was drawn into it, and the 
 sets or seed dropped at eight inches distance on the 
 manure. The plough followed and turned three fur- 
 rows, or made three bouts. In the mean time, the 
 manure and seed were deposited in the first furrow 
 of the second land, to which the plough followed, 
 and in this way they alternated till the planting was 
 completed. The ground was then rolled, harrowed 
 as the plants began to break the surface, and subse- 
 quently ploughed between the rows, and hand-hoed 
 once. About half the field was a dry sand-knoll, 
 which suffered severely from drought ; and the crop 
 here was but a little more than fifty per cent, of the 
 other half The product was ascertained by the ng 
 I.--G
 
 82 
 
 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 ricultural committee ; and, as stated by them, em- 
 braced the average of the entire acre. 
 
 EXPEXSK OP EXPERIMENT I. 
 
 Man and team 1} days, ploughing in seed 2 00 
 
 Two men and boy planting same 2 00 
 
 25 loads of manure, at 75 cents . 18 75 
 
 25 bushels seed, at 50 cents . 1250 
 
 Rolling, harrowing, and ploughing 1 00 
 
 Hand-hoeing once ... 1 50 
 
 15 days taking up crop (a long time) 1 1 25 
 
 Rent 5 00 
 
 954 00 
 
 $188 38 
 . 54 00 
 
 . $134 38 
 45 25 
 
 350 bushels large potatoes, at 50 cents . $179 50 
 71 do. small do., at 12i cents . . ' 8 88 
 
 Deduct charges .... 
 
 Nett profits in experiment 1 
 At 2s. a bushel, the nett profit would have been . 
 
 EXPERIMENT II. 
 
 Culture. This crop had been preceded by wheat. 
 It had 25 loads of long manure spread and ploughed 
 in. The ground was then harrowed, furrowed or 
 listed with two and a half feet intervals, the seed 
 dropped at eight inches, covered with a plough, a 
 furrow on each side, and the ridges rolled. The 
 after culture consists of two horse and hand hoe- 
 ings. The crop was harvested with the plough and 
 potato-hook. The product was determined by the 
 agricultural committee. 
 
 EXPENSE. 
 
 One ploughing ... $2 00 
 
 25 loads manure, at 75 cents 18 75 
 
 25 bushels seed, at 50 cents 12 50 
 
 Harrowing, furrowing, rolling, and horse-hoeing 3 00 
 
 Planting and covering, 3 days 2 25 
 
 Hand-hoeing, 2 days . 1 50 
 
 Taking up crop 9 00 
 
 Bent 5 00 
 
 CXI
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 83 
 
 183 bush, mercnantable potatoes, at 50 cts. $191 50 
 97 do. small do., at 12$ cents . . 9 62* 
 
 $201 12 j 
 
 Deduct charges 54 00 
 
 Nett profits $147 12J 
 
 At 2s. per bushel, the profit would have been about . 52 00 
 
 In these estimates the whole manure is charged 
 to the crops. Deducting one half, as is customary, 
 the profits would have been $9 37 1-2 more in each 
 experiment. 
 
 u. BEETS, 
 
 Of whatever variety, whether for sugar or for 
 cattle, require the same soil and the same culture. 
 The mangold-wurzcl or scarcity-beet has hitherto 
 been the principal kind cultivated for farm-stock, 
 though the blood-beet occasionally, and th" sugar- 
 beet recently, have both been grown for this 9 irpose. 
 
 Beets, like all tap-rooted plants, require a deep 
 soil, as it seldom happens that the roots enlarge 
 much in the subsoil, or below where the earth is 
 moved by the plough or spade. Moist loams, either 
 of sand or clay, suit them best ; though they grow 
 on all soils not wet or very stiff, provided they are 
 made rich and mellow. The mangold-wurzel will 
 do better on poor lands than the other sorts. 
 
 The deeper the ground is ploughed, the more thor- 
 oughly it is pulverized, and the more intimately the 
 manure is incorporated with the earthy matters, the 
 better is the prospect of a crop. Pulverization is 
 particularly necessary to the germination of the seed. 
 The harrow should therefore be efficiently used be- 
 fore the seed is deposited in the soil. 
 
 The manner of planting the beet, of whatever kind, 
 is in drills, which may be done either by the drill- 
 barrow or the hand. Mangold-wurzel should be in 
 rows twenty-seven to thirty inches apart, and the
 
 84 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 plants, when out of the reach of insects, thinned to 
 twelve or fifteen inches in the row, as the object is 
 to obtain large size. The table and sugar beet may 
 be sown in rows from twelve to twenty-four inches 
 apart, and left to grow at six to ten inches in the 
 rows, the object being not great size, but good qual- 
 ity : it being found that the quality of medium or 
 small- sized roots is better, both in regard to flavour 
 and saccharine matter, than that of very large roots. 
 Some prefer soaking the seed, and some even sprout- 
 ing it before it is sown ; as it is husky, and, in case 
 of dry weather, frequently does not germinate. But 
 if the seed is put into fresh-ploughed ground, planted 
 early in the season, and a roller passed over the 
 surface after it is covered, or the ground pressed 
 with the hoe or foot, it seldom fails to grow. The 
 seed should be covered from three fourths to an 
 inch deep ; and as the young plants are liable to be 
 destroyed by the grub, and even the turnip-fly, it is 
 advisable to sow thick, say from three to four pounds 
 of seed to the acre. 
 
 In the after-culture, the objects are to keep the 
 crop clean and the soil mellow. The first dressing 
 may be light, with a cultivator, where the breadth 
 between the rows will admit ; but when the plants 
 are well established, the cultivator or small plough 
 should be run deeper, and this operation may after- 
 ward be repeated to advantage. The crop should 
 be harvested as soon as it has ceased growing, which 
 is known by the under leaves turning yellow ; as, if 
 left in the ground longer, the roots deteriorate in 
 value. 
 
 Mangold-wurzel is the German name : mangold a 
 beet, wurzel a root. Their culture was introduced 
 into England, from Germany, about 18*20, and more 
 recently they have attracted considerable attention 
 in this country. In 1830, the Doncaster Agricultu- 
 ral Association, an institution which has rendered 
 vast service to the farming interest, sent abroad a
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 85 
 
 circular among the best English farmers, with a view 
 of collecting all the information upon the culture 
 and use of this vegetable which was likely to be 
 useful. Nineteen answers were received from large 
 growers of the root, and the society published, in a 
 condensed form, their purport. The report states 
 that 
 
 " The answers are from every description of soil, 
 the greatest number (nine) from sand, not, it ap- 
 pears, because that kind of soil is most favourable 
 to it, but because, on sands, fallow crops of all sorts 
 are more generally grown than any other; six are 
 from peat, four from clay, four from chalk or lime- 
 stone. 
 
 " The method of sowing appears to be drilling or 
 dibbling on ridges, from twenty-seven to thirty inch- 
 es apart, and afterward singling out the plants in the 
 rows at about sixteen or eighteen inches from each 
 other : the period of sowing any time between the 
 middle of April and end of May ; on cold soils ear- 
 lier than on warm. 
 
 " The tops and leaves should be ploughed into the 
 land immediately.* In comparing the quantity of 
 manure used for Swedish turnips and mangold-wur- 
 zel, it appears from the answers of those farmers 
 who have tried mangold- wurzel longest, that both re- 
 quire nearly an equal quantity, ten or twelve two- 
 horse cart-loads per acre. With respect to the com- 
 parative product of the two crops, it appears to be 
 in favour of mangold-wurzel in the proportion of 
 about one fifth. The greatest weight obtained is by 
 Mr. Simpson, of Babworth 54 tons. Of our corre- 
 spondents, ten decidedly prefer mangold-wurzel, two 
 give a partial preference to Swedes, and the rest 
 have not expressed an opinion. 
 
 " The feeding properties of mangold-wurzel and 
 Swedes are an important part of our investigation. 
 
 * After the rocts are harvested.
 
 66 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Lord Althorp alone has tried their comparative mer- 
 its, and he gives them a decided preference over the 
 Swede. In tin's opinion his lordship is supported 
 1'v Mr. Kelk; but seven of our correspondents are 
 of the opinion that the Swedish turnips will feed 
 (juic'kcr. Five of our correspondents say it is ben- 
 eficial to milch cows, and two of the Norfolk farm- 
 ers say it is apt to injure the butter. 
 
 " To sum up, the advantages of mangold-wurzel 
 are these : 
 
 It is more sure to plant, being very little liable to 
 the fly or grub. 
 
 It will produce more weight. 
 
 It is off the land earlier. 
 
 It is useful as a change of fallow crop when the 
 land is tired of turnips. 
 
 It will grow on land where turnips cannot be 
 raised. 
 
 It is better spring food. 
 
 " On the other hand, in favour of the Swedish tur- 
 nips it may be said, 
 
 That the weeding and singling out are less expen- 
 sive. 
 
 There is more time for fallowing in the spring. 
 
 The succeeding crop is better than after mangold- 
 wurzel. 
 
 Perhaps cattle feed best on Swedish turnips when 
 they are fed alone." 
 
 Mangold-wurzel is relished by every description 
 of stock ; though, in feeding it to neat cattle, it is 
 recommended to commence with small feeds, and, 
 when it produces bad effects, to change the animal's 
 food for a few days. Charles Poppy, an enthusiast 
 in this culture, and whose pamphlet is before us, 
 particularizes twenty-six uses to which this root 
 m. iy be profitably applied. 
 
 The British farmers speak highly of this root as 
 a food for young calves. It is cut small, and fed to 
 them after they are a fortnight old with wonderful 
 benefit.
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 87 
 
 The value of this crop is certainly great in the 
 e<onomy of the farm. Estimating the product at 
 twenty tons an acre, it will give 746 bushels of sixty 
 pounds each ; which, at the rate of two bushels a 
 day, would keep a cow, with the addition of a little 
 straw or chaff, 373 days, or somewhat more than a 
 year. Two tons of hay, the average product of ar. 
 acre, would keep the same animal, allowing a quar- 
 ter of a hundred per diem, but 160 days, or about 
 one third of the time that the wurzel from an acre 
 would keep her ; while the animal would be better 
 ?n flesh and milk on the roots than she would be on 
 the hay. 
 
 In storing and keeping the mangold-wurzel in 
 winter, the same precautions must be taken, and the 
 same means adopted, as are required for securing 
 potatoes and ruta-baga. If deposited in pits, these 
 should be narrow, and ventilating holes made in the 
 crown of the pits. They are more liable to be in- 
 jured by frosts than the ruta-baga. 
 
 III. THE CARROT. 
 
 The soil best adapted to the growth of the carrot 
 is a deep sand-loam. The preparation of the ground 
 consists in ploughing to the depth of a foot, the ap- 
 plication of rotten manure, to be well incorporated 
 with the soil (except long manure has been applied 
 to the previous crop), and complete pulverization. 
 Ploughing the fall previously is recommended. 
 
 The kind of carrot best adapted to field culture is 
 the long red. The seed should be of the preceding 
 year's growth. The best mode of culture is in drills ; 
 though in Suffolk, England, sowing broadcast is pre- 
 ferred. We have modern drill-barrows adapted to 
 the sowing of this seed, though the sowing it by 
 hand is not a tedious process, as a man may go 
 ahead in sowing in this way as fast as another drives 
 a barrow. The difference consists in making the 
 drill wit! i the hoe and covering the seed. As the
 
 88 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 seed is of peculiar lightness, it is apt not to vegetate 
 weTl if the surface is light ; and the practice has ob- 
 tained with large growers of preparing it before- 
 hand, by mixing five pounds of seed with a bushel 
 of sand or fine mould a week or two beforehand, and 
 of moistening and turning the mass frequently ; by 
 this means not only do all the seeds grow, but the 
 plants come up quickly, and get the start of weeds. 
 Two pounds of seed is enough for an acre when 
 sown in drills, though five pounds are often sown on 
 an acre broadcast. Von Thaer uses poudrette in- 
 stead of mould in the preparation of his seed. The 
 drills should be eighteen inches apart, and the plant.' 
 thinned to six or eight inches. The seed should be 
 sown early in, or by the middle of May. 
 
 The after-culture of carrots consists in keeping 
 them free from weeds, and the surface of the soi) 
 open ; and as the rows are too near to admit of the 
 plough or cultivator, the hand-hoe must be depend- 
 ed on. 
 
 The best mode of harvesting the crop is that adopt- 
 ed by Col. Meacham ;* turning the earth from the 
 row with the plough, and then drawing them with 
 the hand. 
 
 The ordinary yield of carrots is less than that of 
 ruta-baga or mangold-wurzel : the average may be 
 stated at 400 to 500 bushels the acre, though the 
 product has exceeded 1000. They are so hardy, 
 that in the south of England they are permitted to 
 stand out during the winter ; but with us they should 
 be gathered and secured, like other roots, in October. 
 
 The carrot is eaten by all sorts of farm-stock, but 
 is particularly useful for horses and milch cows, 
 serving as a substitute for grain with the former, 
 and increasing and improving milk when fed to the 
 latter. Mr. Burrows, one of the greatest growers 
 of this root, has fed ten cart-horses with them du- 
 
 * See Col. Meacham'n letter at the close of this chapter.
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 89 
 
 ring the winter months and up to June, along with 
 hay, iinci without the addition of grain. Such does 
 he consider their economy in horse-feeding, that he 
 states, as demonstrated by his experience, that with 
 the assistance of lucerne for soiling in summer, a 
 workhorse may be kept the entire year round upon 
 the produce of only one acre of land. Mr. Burrows 
 feeds seventy pounds a day to a horse, cut or whole, 
 and mixed with chopped hay ; reducing the quantity 
 somewhat in the short clays of winter, and increas- 
 ing it a little in the spring months. Other growers 
 feed only forty or fifty pounds a day. An acre of 
 carrots, yielding 600 bushels, fed fifty-six pounds a 
 day, would therefore be equivalent to 300 bushels 
 of oats, fed half a bushel a day, to a working horse. 
 To save seed, select the best roots, and keep them 
 in sand in the cellar till spring ; plant them out ear- 
 ly, and the seed will be ripe in August. Preserve it 
 on the seed-stalks till wanted. 
 
 IV. THE PARSNIP 
 
 Is generally believed to be more nutritive than 
 any of the roots we have treated of, and the pro- 
 duct to be greater than that of the carrot or potato, 
 with the advantage over them both that the parsnip 
 is not injured by frosts. Yet its culture as a field- 
 crop has hitherto been very limited. 
 
 The. parsnip may be grown on stifler land than 
 the other roots we have named, provided it has a 
 rich, deep tilth. It requires the same treatment as 
 the carrot, though we would prefer intervals of 
 eighteen inches between the rows, as in good soil 
 the tops grow large. The Jersey variety is prefer- 
 red, on account of small growth of top. Sow early, 
 at the rate of four or five pounds of seed to the acre, 
 and keep the crop free from weeds. 
 
 V. THE TURNIP. 
 
 The turnip culture, it has been remarked, effected
 
 90 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 as great and beneficial a revolution in British hus- 
 bandry as did the introduction of the steam-engine 
 and spinning-jenny in British manufactures. This 
 crop has there proved a great source of wealth and 
 fertility. It constitutes by far the most important 
 material for making beef and mutton, as well as lor 
 enriching or keeping up the fertility of the soil. 
 From an experience of twenty years in the culture 
 and use of tins root, we are persuaded it is destined 
 to become the fneans of great improvement also in 
 American husbandry, when our farmers shall be- 
 come more familiar with its culture, and mode of 
 preservation and feeding. 
 
 In the fourth number of the third volume of the 
 Cultivator we gave particular directions for the cul- 
 tivation of this, root, with several illustrative cuts, 
 and for preserving and feeding them to farm-stock 
 and in our March number of the present volume we 
 have given an estimate of the product and value of 
 the Swede, compared with other crops which we 
 cultivate for feeding and fattening cattle. It would 
 be superfluous to repeat these details here, inasmuch 
 as they may readily be referred to ;* yet, as we have 
 many patrons who may not possess our third vol- 
 ume, we will give some brief directions. 
 
 The Swedish turnip or ruta-baga has a manifest 
 advantage over all other varieties of turnip as cattle- 
 food, being the most nutritive in its properties, and 
 retaining its soundness and richness much the lon- 
 gest. The common varieties, if drawn, as all turnips 
 must be with us, become pithy or spongy before 
 mid-winter, and lose much of their value ; while the 
 Swede rather improves by keeping till February, 
 and may be fed in a perfectly sound state till June. 
 And it possesses, moreover, one quality, not known, 
 that we recollect, in any other root, that of increas- 
 ing in nutritious matter with increase of size, the 
 largest roots being specifically heaviest and richest. 
 
 * See also Former'* Iiutrvcler, ch. Root Culture, p. 2(M, <f seq.
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 91 
 
 The reverse of this happens with other roots, par- 
 ticularly with beets ; those of medium or diminutive 
 size being found to contain a much greater propor- 
 tion of saccharine matter than very large ones. For 
 table use, the early rock-turnip may be sown in the 
 garden, the common flat or green-top for autumn 
 and early winter, while the yellow Aberdeen should 
 be chosen for late winter and spring use, being the 
 best keeping variety, when the ruta-baga is either 
 not liked or not to be had. 
 
 All kinds of the turnip prefer a sandy and dry soil ; 
 and the ruta-baga, in particular, requires a rich one. 
 We have been accustomed to raise the common va- 
 rieties as a second crop, t. e., of sowing upon a grain 
 stubble, with a single ploughing and harrowing, after 
 the grain is harvested, from the 25th of July to the 
 1st of August, brushing or lightly harrowing in the 
 seed. The plants must be thinned and cleaned with 
 a hoe. They should not be left to stand nearer than 
 six or eight inches. If sown broadcast, they yield 
 more, and are of a more suitable size for the table 
 than if raised in drills. 
 
 A grass ley is best for the Swede. If an old sod, 
 it should be ploughed in autumn or early in the 
 spring; and it should be manured and completely 
 pulverized on the eve of being planted. If a young 
 clover ley, the manure may be spread, ploughed un- 
 der, the ground harrowed, and the seed immediately 
 put in. We usually select the latter. We cut the 
 clover by the 25th of June, and manure, plough, and 
 sow the crop within the ensuing seven days. The 
 seed is generally sown with the drill-barrow, at the 
 rate of a pound to two pounds an acre. It is prefer- 
 able to sow thick on account of the fly, and as the 
 crop may be readily thinned when the plants are out 
 of danger. 
 
 The turnip-fly often commits great depredations 
 upon the crop This was particularly the case the 
 last season. We cannot recommend any certaiu
 
 92 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 preventive. It has, however, been stated, that mix- 
 ing the seed with sulphur several days before it is 
 to be sown, and then sowing the sulphur with the 
 seed, has preserved the crop from the fly. If this is 
 so, it is owing to the juices of the young plant be- 
 coming impregnated with the subtle properties of 
 the sulphur, which is obnoxious to every species of 
 insect. Another mode, which has been successfully 
 tried, is that of collecting the weeds in piles around 
 the field when the seed is sown, and, when the plants 
 are coming up, to put brimstone and fire upon the 
 piles on the windward border, which will continue 
 burning, ordinarily, for. some days, and the smoke 
 of which expels or destroys the fly. 
 
 In the after-culture of the Swede there is great 
 economy in taking time by the foretop in destroy- 
 ing the weeds while they are small. The cultivator 
 or hoe should be passed through as soon as the rows 
 can be well discerned, and as nigh to the plants as 
 possible. One day's work is worth more in destroy- 
 ing small weeds than four days' work is in destroy- 
 ing large ones, which overtop and choke 'the plants. 
 The objects which should be aimed at are to keep 
 the crop clean, to thin the plants to eight or ten 
 inches, and to keep the surface of the soil mellow. 
 With a timely use of the cultivator, and repeated 
 once or twice, these objects may be effected without 
 much aid from the hand-hoe. 
 
 The labour of harvesting the nita-baga is less than 
 that of any other root, except perhaps the mangold- 
 wurzel ; and, indeed, the remark will apply to the 
 labour of culture without any qualification. Other 
 root-crops require attention nearly two months 
 longer than this does, and at a season, too, when 
 their growth is slow, and the labour, consequently, 
 tedious and expensive. 
 
 The turnip should be the last crop gathered, be- 
 cause it grows the longest, is least liable to suffer 
 from frost, and is most apt to be injured by ferment-
 
 ROOT CULTUiyS. 93 
 
 ation when collected in heaps for winter. If buried 
 in pits, the roots should be raised above the surface 
 of the ground, and laid up to terminate in a ridge ; 
 so that when they are covered with straw and earth, 
 the heated or impure air of the pit will concentrate 
 at the ridge on the top, where it should be suffered 
 to pass off freely through holes made for this pur- 
 pose. 
 
 The cost of raising the ruta-baga is less than that 
 of raising corn or any of the other roots. The av- 
 erage product may be stated at 600 bushels, and it 
 is often double this quantity. The root is an excel- 
 lent food for every species of farm-stock, and is very 
 extensively used for fattening both beef and mutton. 
 Milch cows fed with ruta-baga should have daily ac- 
 cess to salt ; and should the milk retain any flavour 
 of the turnip, it may be got rid of by turning a pint 
 of hot water into a pailful when' it is drawn from 
 the cow. Tops that are undergoing fermentation, 
 and roots decayed or unsound, should be given only 
 to hogs. 
 
 THE TURNIP FLEA 
 
 Is one of the greatest scourges to British hus- 
 bandry. The Farmers' Magazine contains a learn- 
 ed article upon this insect (Haltria rumorium), giving 
 us its natural history, and containing an examination 
 also of the various remedies which have been rec- 
 ommended to prevent its destructive ravages, em 
 bracing the applications of lime, sulphur, soot, urine, 
 fumigation, &c. Although these remedies, or some 
 of them, are admitted to have had partial success, 
 vet none of them, in the opinion of the writer, 
 Mathevv M. Milburn, can be depended upon with 
 any degree of certainty. He thinks Mr. Poppy's 
 plan of protecting the Swede valuable, which is to 
 drill between the rows the common turnip, which 
 the flea seems to prefer to the Swede, and when the 
 latter has acquired the rough leaf, to plough up the
 
 94 AMIIRAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 common turnip : yet he concludes by saying, that if 
 attention is paid to the following particulars, he 
 thinks the crop may be generally saved. 
 
 " 1. Hasten the germination of the seed by all 
 natural means, as applying some portion of stimula- 
 ting manure, sowing when a proper degree of moist- 
 ure exists, and in close connexion with the manure, 
 to secure at once the benefit of it to the roots, if pos- 
 sible, making most of the season when favourable. 
 
 " 2. Sow a liberal quantity of seed, never less 
 than three pounds, and sow it in drills, which will 
 hasten the vegetation after it has come up. 
 
 " 3. Clear the land perfectly, that no weeds may 
 spring up to impede the growth of the plants, anil 
 give the soil a liberal supply of manure suited to its 
 character. 
 
 " 4. As a preventive, rid the soil by hand-weeding, 
 horse-hoeing, &C.,BS much as possible of weeds. 
 
 " 5. Select good seed, and test it before sowing, 
 to see how many germinate, and in how little time." 
 
 METHODS OF FEEDING ROOTS. 
 
 [The following paper is a report made to the State 
 Agricultural Society by Judge BUEL, as chairman of 
 a committee appointed to report on the best vegeta- 
 ble or root crops for feeding cattle, &c., and em- 
 braces much valuable information on the subjects of 
 which it.treats. As a matter of course, much of the 
 information communicated is derived from foreign 
 sources, as at that time American farmers had had 
 but little experience either in the cultivation or feed- 
 ing of roots. Now there are many among us who 
 are able to corroborate, by their own experience in 
 feeding roots, as well as in their cultivation, the gen- 
 eral correctness of the positions advanced by Judge
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 95 
 
 fuel, and add their testimony to the necessity and 
 importance of still farther extending this culture in 
 the United States.] 
 
 The culture of roots, as farm-crops for feeding and 
 fattening domestic animals, is of such recent intro- 
 duction, and so limited among us, and the few ex- 
 periments that have been made to ascertain the rel- 
 ative value of these roots have been so loosely man- 
 aged, that the committee do not possess the data 
 that they could desire to make a satisfactory report, 
 adapted exactly to our practice. But they are nev- 
 ertheless satisfied, from the numerous experiments 
 which have been made in Europe, in a climate very 
 similar to our own, and from the partial ones which 
 have been made among us, that the culture of roots 
 is destined to effect here, what it has effected else- 
 where, a great and salutary change in husbandry ; 
 not only as furnishing the easiest and cheapest means 
 of feeding and fattening domestic animals, but as an 
 important source of fertility to the farm ; and of se- 
 curing the main point ultimate profit to the owner 
 or cultivator. 
 
 Under these strong impressions of the advantages 
 of encouraging and extending root culture, your 
 committee proceed, with the limited means at their 
 command, to fulfil the duties assigned them by the 
 society. 
 
 The Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland 
 have recently awarded liberal premiums for experi- 
 ments in fattening neat cattle ; first, upon different 
 kinds of roots, as the potato, turnip, and mangold- 
 wurzel ; second, upon raw and cooked food ; and, 
 third, upon roots entirely, and a mixture of roots, 
 grain, pulse, and oil-cake. These experiments have 
 been made with a view of accurately ascertaining 
 the comparative value of each kind of root and other 
 food, and the economy of each mode of feeding it. 
 The experiments have been numerous. They have
 
 96 
 
 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 been made upon ten to thirty head of cattle at A time, 
 and they have been continued from three to sis 
 months. The animals were weighed or measured al 
 the time of starting the experiment, at the close of 
 it, and generally at intermediate periods, partic-ulrtrly 
 when the food was varied ; and the quantity of root? 
 and other food given was accurately noted ; so that 
 the result has indicated the relative value of each 
 kind of food in the fattening process, and the besl 
 mode of feeding it. The committee proceed to state, 
 in a summary way, the results of some of these ex 
 periments. 
 
 1. The relative value of different roots. 
 Mr. Howden, with a view to the experiment, set 
 apart the product of two acres of mangold-wurzel, 
 amounting to fifty tons, five acres of Swedish tur- 
 nips, being 140 tons, and two acres of potatoes, 
 weighing 29 tons 4 cwt. The experiment was made 
 with 21 head of cattle, which received, in addition to 
 the roots, a few distillers' grains and a little straw. 
 The following table shows the roots appropriated to 
 each lot, and the monthly increase of the animals in 
 girth. The abstract is made from the prize essays 
 of the society, which cannot now be referred to ; but 
 the impression is, that in all the experiments which 
 we quote, the roots fed to each lot was precisely the 
 same in weight. Lot No. 1 was fed from the pro- 
 duct of one acre of potatoes, one acre of mangold- 
 wurzel, and one acre of Swedish turnips ; No. 2 
 from one acre of potatoes and two acres of Swedish 
 turnips ; and No. 3 from one acre of mangold-wur- 
 zel and two acres of Swedish turnips. 
 
 Dte. 
 
 35 fe 
 .16 
 38 
 39 
 40 
 41 
 
 Lo! No. 1. 
 
 \f\ No. I 
 
 Lot No. 3. 
 
 1831, Nov. 30 
 Dec. 30 
 1832, Jan. 30 
 
 March 1 
 " 30 
 April 30 
 
 et 8 inches. 
 C " 
 2 " 
 7 " 
 8 " 
 4 " 
 
 35 feet 9 me 
 :i6 " 7 
 38 " 4 
 39 " 8 
 40 "10 
 41 " 7 
 
 ties. 
 
 35 fe 
 36 
 38 
 39 
 40 
 41 
 
 et 8 inc 
 ' 6 
 1 2 
 ' 6 
 ' 6 
 ' 3 
 
 hes. 
 
 i 
 
 < 
 i
 
 FOOT CULTURE. 97 
 
 Twenty-eight tons of mangold- wurzel and Swe- 
 dish turnips were withdrawn to feed other stock. 
 
 On the 30th of January Mr. Howden took a pair 
 of cattle out of each lot, and fed No. 1 with potatoes 
 and water, No. 2 with Swedish turnips, and No. 3 
 with mangold-wurzel. The following shows their 
 relative increase in three months. 
 
 1832, JHH. 30 10 feet 8 inches 
 April 30 11 " 6 " 
 
 10 feet 5 inches 
 
 11 " 3 " 
 
 10 feet 4 inches. 
 
 11 " 2 " 
 
 When the cattle were sold, the purchasers agreed 
 that the lot fed on Swedish turnips were from 7s. to 
 10s. ($1 68 to $2 40) a head better than the other 
 lots. The average advance upon the original value 
 of each was 6 12s., and the cost of the grains being 
 deducted, there remained JE120 ($576) in return for 
 the eight acres of produce consumed, or $72 for each 
 acre. 
 
 From the above statement it would seem there is 
 no great difference in the fattening properties of the 
 three kinds of roots ; and that, so far as measure or 
 weight is concerned, it matters little which are em- 
 ployed in feeding. We will note here, for future ref- 
 erence, the product per acre of each kind of*roots, 
 upon Mr. Howden's ground, adding the product in 
 bushels of 56 Ibs. 
 
 The potatoes gave 12 tons 4 cwt., equal to 488 bushels. 
 The mangold-wurzel 25 tons " 1000 " 
 
 The ruta-baga 28 tons " 1120 " 
 
 2. The comparative economy of feeding raw or pre- 
 pared food. 
 
 In 1833 the society offered a premium of 30 sover- 
 eigns for the best report, founded on actual experi- 
 ment made for that purpose, on a number of oxen or 
 heifers, not fewer than six, the animals to be of the 
 same breed, age, and sex, o.:id the term of feeding not 
 less than three months. Several reports were re-
 
 98 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 ceived and published in 1834. From these we ab- 
 stract the following : 
 
 Mr. Walker made his experiment with six two- 
 year old heifers and four two-year old steers. Each 
 parcel was divided into two lots, and fed on like 
 food, except that one half received their food raw, 
 and the other half in a steamed or cooked Mule. 
 The food consisted of Swedish turnips, potatoes, and 
 crushed beans, with a little salt and straw. At the 
 end of three months, it was found that the three heif- 
 ers fed on steamed food had gained 48 1-2 stone,* 
 or 679 Ibs., and the three heifers fed upon raw food 
 had gained 45 1-2 stone ; but the quantity consumed 
 by the first lot exceeded that of the latter. 
 
 Cost of feeding on steamed food . . $67 40 
 " " on raw food . . . 50 17 
 
 The first cost more than the last . . $1723 
 Deducting the first cost, and the price of fattening 
 from the price paid by the butcher, there remained 
 a profit on the three heifers fed with steamed food 
 of 9*. ; while the profit on the three fattened with 
 raw food amounted to jC3 10*. 6d. By a like esti- 
 mate, the loss on the steers fed with steamed food 
 was 3s. 8d. and the profit on those fed with raw food 
 10s. 6d. 
 
 Andrew Howden made a like experiment with 18 
 cattle in six lots. Their increase and expense of 
 keeping for three months, from the 20th March to 
 the 20th June, were as follows : 
 
 LOOT, in Ibt. 1, 
 
 Three heifers on raw turnips . 392 833 12 
 
 on steamed turnips . 532 
 
 on raw potatoes . 600 
 
 " on steamed potatoes . 572 
 
 Three steers on raw potatoes and com 722 
 
 " on boiled potatoes and corn 689 
 
 42 72 
 49 68 
 49 68 
 54 16 
 54 40 
 
 John Baswell fed ten honied cattle. The expense 
 * A stone is 14 Ibs.
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 99 
 
 of keeping the five cattle on raw food was $154 10, 
 while that of the cattle on prepared food was 
 $164 40. On being slaughtered the two lots appear- 
 ed to be very similar, but the particular weight is 
 not mentioned. 
 
 3. Relative economy of feeding with turnips alone, or 
 with turnips and other more expensive food. 
 
 Robert Stevenson was the successful competitor 
 for the society's premium. He took 18 oxen ; their 
 live weight was ascertained at the beginning, at the 
 end, and at intermediate periods of the experiment, 
 which continued 1 19 days. The cattle were divided 
 into three lots of six beasts each, and a correct ac- 
 count was kept of the weight of food consumed by 
 each lot. Lot 1 was allowed linseed-cake, bruised 
 beans, and bruised oats, in addition to turnips, and 
 during the last 24 clays of the experiment, 20 Ibs. of 
 potatoes were given per day to each. Lot 2 receiv- 
 ed the same allowance except the linseed-cake and 
 half the potatoes. And lot 3 was fed upon turnips 
 alone. The cost of the keep of each animal, during 
 the 119 days, was as follows : 
 
 Total cost of feeding one beast of lot I . $24 62 
 do. do. do. of lot 2 . 18 48 
 
 do. do. do. of lot 3 . 9 27 
 
 The improvement in live weight was as follows : 
 First lot increased in weight . 108 stone 
 Second do. do. . 101 " 
 
 Third do. do. . 49 " 
 
 Abstracting the cost of feeding from the value of 
 the increased weight, the loss and profit would stand 
 as below : 
 
 Loss on feeding lot 1 - . . $18 00 
 
 Profit on feeding lot 2 ... 953 
 
 Profit on feeding lot 3 ... 1226 
 
 " Thus, when turnips alone were used, a profit of 
 twenty-two per cent, was realized ; where beans and
 
 100 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 
 
 oats were used along with the turnips, the profit was 
 diminished to eight and a half per cent. ; but wheii 
 still more expensive food was tried, that is, grain 
 and linseed-cake, along with turnips and potatoes, a 
 loss was sustained of no less than 12.316 per cent." 
 Lot 1 were the largest oxen. They were fed each 
 with 132 Ibs. per day of Swedish turnips ; lot 2 wen- 
 fed each with 120 Ibs. of the same per day ; and lot 
 3, being the smallest, received but 115 Ibs. per day, 
 and for twenty-four days but ninety-two pounds. 
 
 Lot 1 cost 8.968 cents for every pound of increased live weight. 
 
 Lot 2 " 794 " " " 
 
 Lot3 " 6.78 " " " " 
 
 The turnips were estimated at eight cents per cwt. ; 
 the potatoes at 36 cents per cwt. ; oats and beans 
 at 84 cents per bushel, and linseed-cake at one ;.nd 
 a half cent per pound. 
 
 " In conclusion," says Mr. Stevenson, on this part 
 of the subject, " we give it as our opinion, that who- 
 ever feeds cattle on turnips alone, will have no reason, 
 on the score of profit, to regret their not having em- 
 ployed more expensive auxiliaries to hasten the fat- 
 tening process." 
 
 It would seem pretty evident, from the foregoing 
 experiments, that ruta-baga and mangold-wurzel are 
 the best root-crops for feeding cattle. The profit of 
 cultivating and feeding these roots will be more man- 
 ifest, if we compare their product to the acre with 
 that of hay, potatoes, and the coarse grains whir^h 
 we feed to fattening animals. To enable the com- 
 mittee to make this comparison, they assume the 
 following as the average products of crops, and at- 
 tach to each of these an estimate of their marketable 
 value. Both the product and the prices will greatly 
 vary ; but those assumed are deemed sufficiently 
 correct for comparison.
 
 An acre of grass 
 do. corn 
 
 2 tons at $10 
 40 bushels at 75 
 
 cts 
 
 do. 
 
 oats 
 
 30 
 
 do. 
 
 at 37t cts 
 
 
 do. 
 
 buckwheat 
 
 30 
 
 do. 
 
 at 50 
 
 cts 
 
 
 do. 
 
 potatoes 
 
 150 
 
 do. 
 
 at 25 
 
 cts 
 
 
 do. 
 
 ruta-haga 
 
 000 
 
 do. 
 
 at 25 
 
 cts 
 
 
 do. 
 
 rnan.-wurzel 
 
 600 
 
 do. 
 
 at 25 
 
 cts 
 
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 101 
 
 820 00 
 30 00 
 11 25 
 15 00 
 37 50 
 150 00 
 150 00 
 
 Estimating the cost of tho roots, in labour, at 
 twenty dollars an acre more than that of the hay, 
 oats, and buckwheat, it still leaves a great disparity 
 in the profits ; and considering the cost of culture 
 equal to that of Indian corn, there is a manifest ad- 
 vantage in the turnips and mangold-wurzel over the 
 corn-crop as a material for cattle food. Good beef 
 cannot be made on hay alone in winter: and those 
 who do not feed roots must resort to some more ex- 
 pensive food, as the meal of Indian corn, oats, buck- 
 wheat, &c. The turnips and mangold-wurzel, on 
 the contrary, with the aid of perhaps a little straw, 
 will serve- of themselves to feed and fatten animals. 
 In this matter the chairman can speak from expe- 
 rience. He purchased four oxen a little before 
 Christmas, and kept them till some time in April ; 
 after a short time, they ate each two bushels a day 
 of ruta-baga : they would eat very little else, though 
 laid before them, not even linseed-cake. They 
 made good beef, and afforded a handsome profit on 
 the turnips consumed. 
 
 If we now assume that an ox will require a quar- 
 ter of a hundred of hay per diem to keep him in good 
 condition, and that it will require an addition of four 
 quarts of corn meal, or eight quarts of crushed oats 
 or buckwheat per diem to fatten him; and if we 
 consider 112 pounds, or two bushels of roots, equiva- 
 lent to a ration of hay and grain, then the several 
 crops will feed an animal as below. 
 
 One acre of grass and half an acre of corn will feed 160 days. 
 
 One and a half acres of mangold-wurzel or Swe- 
 dish turnips will feed .... 450 days. 
 
 One acre of grass and one acre of oats or buckwheat 
 will feed . .... 160 days.
 
 102 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Two acres of Swedish turnip* or manmld-wurzel 
 will feed 000 days. 
 
 One acre of potatoes will frfl .... 75 days. 
 
 One acre of Swedish tin:: > or inangold-wurzel 
 will feed -. 300 days. 
 
 Making very liberal allowance for the difference 
 in the expense of raising these crops, and for any 
 error the committee may have made in fixing the dai- 
 ly rations, or in the produce of each to the acre, they 
 think that no doubt can for a moment be entertained, 
 that the Swedish turnip and the mangold-wurzel are 
 decidedly the best crops that can be raised for feed- 
 ing cattle. 
 
 The committee have no doubt that the sugar-beet 
 and carrot offer advantages nearly or quite equal 
 to the roots above recommended. Their product 
 and nutritive properties are very similar, and the 
 expense of culture is not very dissimilar. The su- 
 gar-beet is probably richer in nutriment than the 
 mangold-wurzel, though its product is ordinarily 
 less. The carrot may require more labour in the 
 culture ; but it is superior as food, particularly for 
 horses. 
 
 Arthur Young highly extols the carrot. Upon the 
 product of three acres of this root, he assures us he 
 kept, for more than five months, twenty work-horses, 
 four bullocks, and six milch cows ; nor did the ani- 
 mals during that period, he adds, taste any food ex- 
 cept a little hay. Our enterprising fellow-citizen, 
 Col. Meacham, of Oswego, has gone largely into the 
 culture of carrots as cattle-feed, as well as many of 
 his neighbours ; and they speak highly of the profits 
 of the culture. 
 
 Some very satisfactory experiments have also 
 been made among us, on a limited scale, in cultiva- 
 ting and feeding the sugar-beet. There seems to be 
 little doubt, from the high state of perfection and of 
 profit which the business has arrived at in France 
 and Germany, that the culture of this beet will soon
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 103 
 
 be extensively gone into in this country for the pur- 
 pose of making sugar ; and if so, the residuum of the 
 beet will form an important item in the material for 
 fattening cattle. 
 
 There are other advantages resulting from root 
 culture which should not be overlooked. It tends 
 greatly to increase the quantity of manure on the 
 farm, to meliorate the texture of the soil, and to fur- 
 nish excellent alternating crops in convertible hus- 
 bandry. In selecting for culture, the farmer should 
 choose the roots that are best adapted to his soil. 
 The turnips prefer a dry, sandy soil ; the beet a clay 
 loam. 
 
 As to the best means of cultivating these crops, 
 the committee summarily remark, that the product 
 and profit will materially depend upon the following 
 contingencies; viz., that the soil be dry; that it be 
 rich ; that it be deeply worked ; that it be thoroughly 
 pulverized ; and that the after-culture be well man- 
 aged. The implements necessary to cultivate them 
 advantageously, in addition to the plough and har- 
 row, are the drill-barrow and cultivator. The sea- 
 son for sowing the beet is from the 10th to the 20th 
 May; and for the Swedish turnip from the 10th to 
 the 25th June. The drill or row culture is decidedly 
 the best. A detail of the whole process of culture 
 would occupy too much space for this report ; and 
 it is unnecessary, as these processes are already un- 
 derstood by many, and have been minutely described 
 in the agricultural periodicals of the day. The com- 
 mittee will merely recommend, in conclusion, that 
 the roots be always cut previously to being fed to 
 cattle, for which purpose machines may be procured 
 at a moderate charge, which will cut a bushel in 
 from one to three minutes. If cut, the roots will be 
 eaten entirely ; if not cut, a portion is apt to be re- 
 jected and wasted. 
 
 The chairman has received a communication from 
 Col. Meacham, stating his mode of* cultivating the
 
 104 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 carrot, the product, and manner of using the crop. 
 He cultivates them in drills from 20 to 24 inches 
 apart ; he gets one thousand bushels an acre, at an 
 expense of $25 to $30 ; he kept six work-horses on 
 them from November, 1836, to June, 1837, without 
 grain, and they remained in good plight, and per- 
 formed as well as he ever had horses perform ; and 
 he thinks they are worth double as much for slock 
 as ruta-baga. 
 
 Upon the subject of the carrot culture, which is 
 j)c. iiajis less understood among us than that of the 
 beet and turnip, the committee will add, that this root 
 tli nves best in a sandy loam, light, moist, but not 
 wet, and of great depth ; in which the plough, going 
 to the beam, brings to the surface nothing that is not 
 fit for vegetation. The ground should be ploughed 
 immediately preceding the sowing. In Suffolk, Eng- 
 land, they sow 8 Ibs. seed, broadcast, to the acre ; 
 and the crop is from 400 to 500 bushels. To horses 
 they are considered superior to any other food. 
 Two bushels of carrots and one of chaff is the per 
 diem allowance to a horse ; or seven bushels of car- 
 rots and one bushel of oats is- the allowance for a 
 week. They are also profitably fed to all other farm 
 stock. They are raised in Suffolk without manure, at 
 an expense of Qd. (18 cents) per bushel. The yield of 
 the carrot is often from 700 to 1000 bushels the acre 
 The crop is gathered by making a deep furrow near 
 to the drill ; when a man seizes, draws the top to the 
 furrow, and pulls them up with great facility. 
 
 Another root, the parsnip, is deserving of notice, 
 though its partial culture hitherto will hardly enti- 
 tle it to be classed among field-crops. It is believed 
 to be the most nutritious root of any that have been 
 named ; is as easily cultivated as the carrot or the 
 beet : and has this advantage over all the others, 
 that its value is not impaired by frost. 
 
 From the preceding views, the committee do not 
 hesitate to recommend the extension of root culture
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 105 
 
 as the most ready means of keeping up the fertility 
 of our farms and of increasing the profits of their 
 cultivation. 
 
 CARROT AND RUTA-BAOA CULTURE. 
 
 The following is a brief account of my method of 
 cultivating the carrot and ruta-baga. My opinion in 
 regard to profit is in favour of the carrot. As to the 
 relative value, I have entertained the opinion that 
 the same weight of carrots is worth, for stock, near- 
 ly double that of the ruta-baga. I fed my work- 
 horses on carrots from November, 1836, till June, 
 1837, three span ; they remained in good plight, and 
 performed as much as I ever had any within that 
 length of time ; they ate no grain ; nothing but hay 
 and carrots, thrown whole into the manger. I have 
 raised one thousand bushels of carrots or over, year- 
 ly, for three years past, on an acre of land. 
 
 In 1836 1 raised between two and three thousand 
 bushels of ruta-bagas. They produced from six to 
 seven hundred bushels to the acre. They grew very 
 large : the largest one weighed thirty and a half 
 pounds. The land was stony and gravelly, made 
 mellow and ridged high with the plough, two and a 
 half feet or over apart from centre to centre. The 
 seed was planted about the 10th of June, which I 
 found to be late enough. Method of planting : one 
 man goes forward with the hoe, and makes marks 
 for the seed in the centre of the ridges, about twen- 
 ty inches apart, which is very quick done, nearly as 
 fast as a man would walk ; another man follows as 
 fast with the seed, and drops From four to five seeds 
 into the place with his thumb and fore finger, and 
 covers them at the same instant with the remaining 
 three fingers. In this way I think a smart man 
 would drop the seeds and cover two acres a day. 
 
 The same year, 1836, 1 raised one acre of carrots, 
 which produced over one thousand bushels. 1 meas- 
 ured one rod of the ground whe"e the carrots ap-
 
 106 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 peared to be the best : the produce of this rod was 
 at the rate of over fifteen hundred bushels per acre. 
 Multitudes of carrots from this acre measured four 
 and five inches in diameter at the butt : the longest 
 one that we found measured over two feet. The 
 soil was deep, gravelly, and stony, originally covered 
 with large sugar maple, interspersed with heavy bass 
 and hemlock. I cannot admit that the whole ex- 
 pense of labour on the one acre of carrots, including 
 the harvesting, was over thirty or thirty-five dollars. 
 The land on which they grew had been occupied 
 the year previous with carrots, potatoes, corn, ruta- 
 bagas, beans, and other garden vegetables, and ma- 
 nured with long manure on the one half, and hog- 
 manure on the other. Between the 1st and 5th of 
 May (it having been previously deeply ploughed) I 
 commenced work in the morning with six or seven 
 men and boys, three horse-team ploughs and har- 
 rows ; and at 12 o'clock, M., the same day, the 
 planting was finished. I have no doubt that Judge 
 Buel, had he been present, would have consider- 
 ed the planting of the seeds to be slightly done ; 
 but the crop was a good one, being one thousand 
 bushels or over per acre. First we ploughed the 
 ground very deep, and harrowed the furrows level ; 
 then took each man his hoe, reversing the edge of it, 
 and expeditiously scraping or dragging the hoe along 
 the surface of the ground twenty or twenty-four 
 inches apart, bearing on the hoe sufficient to make 
 a large mark or track, and to remove the stone and 
 other encumbrances from the track or drill ; and so 
 on, back and forth, until the whole acre was marked 
 out in drills : then each man or boy, taking a small 
 dish with seed in one hand, and stooping down so 
 as to bring the other hand as near the ground as 
 might be to prevent the wind from blowing the 
 seeds out of their place, walked quickstep, each one 
 strewing the seeds according to their own judgment ; 
 having, however, previously received a good lecture
 
 ROOT CULTURE. 107 
 
 from the master not to strew them too thick. When 
 this was done, each man took the hoe again, and 
 half reversing it, with the edge up, went through 
 again with an increased movement, gently puddling 
 or stirring the soil in the centre of the drills. A 
 piece of board or stick, four or five feet in length, 
 will answer this last purpose about as well as a hoe. 
 A great part of the seed sown by some farmers is 
 lost by deep covering. A shower of rain will bring 
 them up without any covering where the soil is 
 loose and well fitted. The ground between the 
 drills ought to be brushed over with the hoe imme- 
 diately after they begin to come up, or before, if you 
 can see where the drills are, so that you can avoid 
 disturbing the carrots. 
 
 I think a man may cultivate three acres of carrots 
 with the same amount of expense and labour, by 
 keeping in advance of the weeds, that he can one acre 
 in trie common way, with the weeds in advance of 
 him a number of days. When the carrots get up 
 ten or twelve inches high, I plough between the 
 rows with a horse again and again. When I har- 
 vest them, I run a strong team and plough as near 
 the outside rows as possible, and very deep, turning 
 the furrow from the rows ; the hands follow after,, 
 and pull them out by the tops with ease, a number 
 at once, and throw them in heaps ; and so I proceed 
 until the piece is finished. If there was any differ- 
 ence in the crop, it was in favour of that part where 
 the long manure was spread the year before. I 
 planted the same piece in 1837 without any addition- 
 al manure. The crop was about one quarter less. 
 I have no doubt that it would be a great benefit to 
 our farmers who keep stock to cultivate the carrot, 
 especially for milch cows. To those who are not 
 experienced in the cultivation of the carrot, I would 
 say, sow your seeds in drills, at least twenty or 
 twenty-four inches apart ; the earlier in the season 
 the better, if your land is in good order; if they
 
 108 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 stand thin in the drills, they will be large ; if very 
 thick, it will spoil the crop. 
 
 THOMAS S. MEACHAM. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INDIAN CORN. 
 
 Varieties of Indian Corn. To render Corn prolific. Culture of 
 Corn. Experiments in producing improved varieties of Indian 
 Com Experiments in Harvesting Corn. Selection of Seed, 
 and Early Maturity. 
 
 VARIETIES OF INDIAN CORN. 
 
 DR. BROWN, in an essay lately published in the 
 Farmers' Cabinet, enumerates thirty-five varieties 
 of Indian corn which he has in his possession. He 
 divides them into five classes, besides sub-classes. 
 We give the names, as well for future reference as 
 matter of curiosity. 
 
 A. YELLOW CORN. 
 
 A. a. No. 1, Genuine gourd-seed, of 24 rows ; 2, 
 of 22 rows ; 3, of 20 rows ; 4, of 18 rows ; 5, of 16 
 rows ; 6, of 14 rows : 7, of 12 rows. 
 
 A. b. No. 8, King Philip Indian corn, 8 rows. 
 
 A. c. No. 9, Sioux, or early flint, 12 rows ; 10, 
 Sioux of Pennsylvania, 12 rows; 11, Sioux and 
 gourd-seed mixed, 16 rows. 
 
 B. WHITE INDIAN CORN. 
 
 B. a. White flint. No. 12, genuine white flint, 12 
 rows, Virginia; 13, white flint, 10 rows; 14, early 
 white flint. 
 
 B b. White flour. No. 15, from Peru, 8 rows;
 
 INDIAN CORN. 109 
 
 16, Pennsylvania, 8 rows, called Smith's early white ; 
 
 17, New-Jersey, 8 rows ; 18, New- York, 10 rows. 
 B. a. and B. b. No. 19, Mandan Indian corn, a 
 
 mixture of 12 and 15. 
 
 B. c. No. 20, Early sugar or sweet corn, 12 rows, 
 grains shrunken. 
 
 C. H.EMETITE, OR BLOOD-RED INDIAN CORN. 
 
 No. 21, Common-sized, 12 rows and red cob. 
 
 No. 22, Red cob with white grains. 
 
 No. 23, Red cob with yellow grains. 
 
 No. 24, Red cob with brown grains. 
 
 No. 25, Red cob with white gourd-seed. 
 
 No. 26, Red cob with gourd-seed and yellow flint. 
 
 No. 27, White cob with yellow grains. 
 
 No. 28, Speckled red and yellow grains on a white 
 cob. 
 
 No. 29, The same on a red cob. 
 
 No. 30, Dwarf haemetite, commonly called Guinea 
 corn. 
 
 D. BLUE CORN. 
 
 No. 31, Blue corn, 10 rows. 
 
 E. No. 32, The corn of Texas ; each grain is en- 
 closed in a pod or husk, and the ear in a husk. 
 
 No. 33, Corn found in the envelope of a Mexican 
 mummy. 
 
 No. 34, Cobbett corn, grown in England. 
 
 No. 35, The famous Button corn. 
 
 We take the liberty of adding to the above list 
 five other varieties in our possession, seemingly not 
 embraced therein, viz. : 
 
 1. Lake Superior corn, ears six inches, 12 rows, 
 reddish brown colour, said to be very early ; from 
 S. Robinson. 
 
 2. Squaw corn, 8 rows, blue grain, also early. 
 
 3. Corn from Trieste, on the Adriatic ; ears six 
 inches, and semi-conical, 12 and 14 rows, orango 
 yellow.
 
 110 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 4. Rice corn, cars four inches, and grains like rice. 
 
 5. A yellow 12 rowed com, from Vermont, ears 
 considerably smaller than the Button. 
 
 Dr. Brown gives four criteria (the first three from 
 Mr. Taylor) v/hich should be regarded in selecting 
 our seed-corn, viz. : 1. The most stalk. 2. The lar- 
 gest cob. 3. Longest grain. And, 4. Early growth 
 and quick culture. The reason for the first is, that a 
 man can gather more grain, stalk, blade, top, shuck, 
 and cob, of large than he can of small stalks. This 
 quality, however, would not be so highly esteemed 
 in the North, for tall, large-growing corn would be 
 here later in ripening ; and besides, corn of this de- 
 scription will not bear planting so thick, and, conse- 
 quently, will not yield so much per acre as varieties 
 of more diminutive growth. 2. The large cob is 
 preferred, because it gives the most corn. 3. The 
 longest grain, because it decidedly settles the supe- 
 riority of the farinaceous product. We dissent from 
 this conclusion, and think the superiority in farina- 
 ceous product depends more upon weight than the 
 length of the kernel. The Dutton, it will be seen by 
 the communication of J. Wright, has weighed 69 
 Ibs. the bushel. This has a short kernel ; and yet 
 we doubt if any long-kernelled variety can be found 
 to weigh so heavy, or to afford so much nutriment. 
 The fourth requisite, early growth and quick culture, 
 is a very important one to Northern farmers. 
 
 TO RENDER CORN PROLIFIC. 
 
 It seems to be a great desideratum with farmers 
 to plant that variety of corn which will produce the 
 most ears on a stock. This criterion of a good va- 
 riety is deceptive, and passes for more than it is 
 worth ; and, withal, leads to a neglect of the main 
 point which should engage the farmer's attention. 
 It is not the number of ears on a stock, but the number 
 of bushels on an acre, that should be the first aim of 
 the grower ; and this depends not so much on varie-
 
 INDIAN CORN. Ill 
 
 ty as upon richness of soil. Corn, like cattle, will 
 produce according to the quantity and quality of 
 the food which is consumed ; and if this food be not 
 in the soil, it matters little how many ears grow 
 upon a stock ; the product will be in the ratio of the 
 food : if there are many ears, they will be compara- 
 tively small ; if but few, comparatively large, in pro- 
 portion to the richness of the soil. An acre of good 
 pasture will carry, say five sheep, through the sea- 
 son, and fit them for the butcher ; but if the^ acre is 
 made to carry ten sheep, they cannot $hnve.' tind 
 will not be fit for the butcher. And again : TP l tti& 
 acre of pasture is poor and light, the five sheep put 
 upon it will be stinted in food, and will not thrive. 
 The gain in the sheep will be in proportion to the 
 quantity of herbage they convert into mutton and 
 wool. So with corn. The roots of this grain, like 
 the sheep, range over the whole pasture of a field, 
 gather the nutriment which it contains, and this is 
 transmuted into grain and forage ; the aggregate of 
 which is not very dissimilar, whether the ears be 
 three, two, or one upon a stock, provided due re- 
 gard is had in planting to the habits of the variety , 
 so that the pasture be fed off clean without being 
 overstocked. We have frequently observed that 
 we have more ears upon a stock on the borders of 
 our cornfield, and where the intervals are large be- 
 tween the hills, or some of the stalks deficient, than 
 we have in the centre of the field, or where the plant- 
 ing is close ; and that the size of the ears, or the 
 aggregate of the product, is always in proportion to 
 the richness of the soil and the excellence of its 
 cultivation. The atmosphere undoubtedly contrib- 
 utes essentially to the food of the corn-crop, where 
 the surface of the soil is kept clean, open, and per- 
 meable to it. The fermentation of long dung in the 
 soil, and the frequent use of the cultivator, tend to 
 keep it in this favourable condition. There is no 
 danger of gorging or injuring the corn crop with
 
 112 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 long manure if it bo spread and buried with the 
 plough ; nor are its fertilizing properties so much 
 impaired in using it for corn, potatoes, and ruta- 
 baga in this way, as they are by the system of sum- 
 mer-yarding it, so generally adopted in some coun- 
 ties west of Albany. 
 
 The remarks which we have made upon Indian 
 corn, tending to show that the product depends es- 
 
 itiully upon the quantity of food which it finds in 
 '>i| JJUE its subsistence, applies, with greater or 
 l^jjjJJKeTKffHlJarm-crops. The economy of man- 
 / dg^pWlt cfppeglds K upon the judgment of the farmer 
 inT adttyvtifig- thej/ood, both as regards quality and 
 quantify, je.ihe wants of the particular crop. But 
 let uS'noTbeimsapprehended on one point: unfer- 
 mented 'dtnig should not be used for the small grain 
 or ojther crops .which ripen at midsummer, until it 
 has be'e'h first prepared and fitted for them by the 
 autuniit-fipening^crops, as corn, potatoes, ruta-baga, 
 &c. , These latter subsist principally upon the gase- 
 ous and volatile portions of the manure, which are 
 first disengaged from the mass in the process of fer- 
 mentation, and which are rather deleterious to the 
 former at the season when they are maturing their 
 seeds. 
 
 Another criterion which some farmers consider 
 as essential to a good variety, is smallness of cob. 
 So far as this conduces to the early and perfect dry- 
 ing of the grain, it is entitled to weight, but no far- 
 ther. The objection to a large cob was answered 
 by a gentleman by asking the objector whether it 
 required most cloth to make him or his son a vest, 
 pointing to a boy standing by his side. The circum- 
 ference of a cob two inches "in diameter will contain 
 double the quantity of grain that a cob of one inch 
 in diameter will. 
 
 There is no doubt but the habits of corn change 
 with change of climate ; or, in other words, that the 
 4warf Northern varieties, when taken to the South,
 
 INDIAN CORN. 113 
 
 tn a few years become acclimated, and assume the 
 tall growth of the South. It is hencp advisable, that, 
 whore early maturity is desired, as it seems to be in 
 our latitude, seed should be occasionally procured 
 from the North. Another means of preserving the 
 early ripening properties is to select for seed the 
 ears which ripen first. We have faised the Button 
 corn, obtained from the Green Mountains of Vermont, 
 for sixteen years ; and yet, taking care to save for 
 seed the earliest matured ears, we 
 that it ripens much, if any, later 
 when we first planted it. 
 
 CULTURE OF 
 
 In the fall of 1837, the grour 
 for my corn was in timothy anc 
 sward, having been stocked abou\ 
 ploughed it late in the fall. In 
 I covered it over with common 
 the barnyard, which was composed 
 tity of straw. My stock is 
 straw was thrown into the yard plentifully during 
 the winter for bedding. In drawing it out, a load 
 was usually dropped in a place, so that, after it was 
 spread, it completely covered the ground to quite a 
 thickness. About the middle of May the ground 
 was ploughed very deep, and boys were sent ahead 
 of the plough, who raked all the manure into the pre- 
 vious furrow, so that it was completely covered. 
 Some of my neighbours then said that they would 
 rather have that coarse manure off from the ground 
 than on it for the good of the corn-cropland that it 
 would do no good till the next crop, or until it should 
 be decomposed. I will here remark, that, from rea- 
 son and experience, I must protest against leaving 
 manure in the yard over summer, or even putting it 
 into heaps to decay, as some do, to heat and drain 
 off its strength. On the contrary, in most cases it 
 is nearly as cheap to haul it into the field as to heap
 
 114 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 it up in the yard. We get the use of it one year 
 sooner, and have all the strength on the land, where 
 it should be, instead of being washed into tlie streams 
 of water. I think, for corn and potatoes, that ilur 
 benefit the first year will more than pay the expciiM- 
 of carting an ordinary distance. To return to my 
 subject : I next harrowed and furrowed my ground, 
 or, rather, marked it very shallow, three feet apart. 
 It was now the 17th of May, having been hindered in 
 planting 1* number of days by a heavy rain. The 
 Mil* f&re* fiixteen to eighteen inches apart, and I 
 put three kernels'in a hih\ It being rather cold and 
 wet, the corn did not sprout as quick as usual ; and, 
 on examination, I found that a small wire-worm, that 
 had probably been in the manure, had eaten into the 
 chit of much of it, so that only a part was coming 
 up. Although now as late as the 4th of June, I 
 commenced planting over, by putting in just as much 
 seed as I did the first time, in a hill between every 
 two hills, which made them nearly join. As I had 
 only seed enough left of the kind to plant over 118 
 rods of the ground, the rest was planted in beans. 
 I will here state, that the 118 rods was all the ground 
 that had been manured, and a cast was made on the 
 acre from that ratio. The rest was equally as good 
 corn, but the ground was not well stocked. When 
 I hoed the first time, I concluded, at the second hoe- 
 ing, to pull out some where it was thickest ; but it 
 being left for some time, and forgetting to tell my 
 man to do it, it all stood. I directed him to hoe it 
 twice more ; but he did it only once, having for ex- 
 cuse that the corn had got so large he could not do 
 it ; so that it had only two hoeings. The stalks were 
 8 or 10 feet high, and a complete swamp to appear- 
 ance. 
 
 Now some of my neighbours said it would be all 
 stalks and no corn. On the night of the 2d of Sep- 
 tember, I think, we had a severe frost, which killed 
 the stalks ; but the corn was all ripe, the last plant-
 
 INDIAN CORN. 115 
 
 ed as well as the first ; making for the last planted 
 just 13 weeks. It needed no sorting to grind, and 
 handsomer corn I never saw. As to its being all 
 stalks and no corn, the result showed. I am strong- 
 ly of the opinion that great improvements may be 
 made in planting by distributing the seed more over 
 the ground, and by putting in more of it. L. C. 
 
 I here offer my mode of treating corn, which 1 
 consider the most important among the grain crops. 
 Whether manure has been spread before ploughing 
 or placed in the hills afterward, I adopt the same 
 practice. As soon as the corn is up, so that the 
 rows or lines can be distinctly seen, I run the plough 
 through, as near to the hills as may be without dis- 
 placing the plants, to the depth of five inches, throw- 
 ing the earth from the hills ; if moles or mice are 
 plenty in the field, both ways ; if not, only one way. 
 The rows are then gone over with the hand-hoe, the 
 hard surface or crust immediately about the plants 
 stirred and broken, and the contiguous weeds or 
 grass destroyed : this is the first dressing. After 
 about ten days, set in the plough in the same man- 
 ner as before, if it has been ploughed through only 
 one way ; if both, reverse the furrows, and let the 
 hoe be used to loosen the earth about the plants, 
 and to draw a little fresh soil to the hill, at the same 
 time eradicating all weeds and grass near the plants. 
 Now we have ended the second process, and are 
 ready, at the proper time, for the third and fourth, 
 or more, as the soil or season may require, with the 
 cultivator or harrow to break down small hillocks 
 or ridges, and to keep a soft surface between the 
 rows, that will absorb the showers or dews, when a 
 hard surface would be but little benefited, taking 
 care at each time to draw a little new mould to the 
 hills, yet leaving them at the last dressing wide and 
 square, and but slightly elevated. This little rise 
 about the corn will help to support it at the autum-
 
 116 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 nal gale, and will not turn the showers off to the in- 
 jury of the crop. This management may seem not 
 exactly orthodox ; but I fancy I derive some advan- 
 tages not to be obtained by the use of the harrow or 
 even cultivator alone. Those mischievous miners, 
 the moles and mice, are more effectually opposed in 
 their operations, a deeper and softer bed is prepared 
 for the roots to strike into, and greater extent of 
 surface is exposed to be heated by thf sun's rays ; 
 which is, in effect, protracting the summer a week 
 or ten days; time enough, not unfrequently, to save 
 a crop. A common saying with our farmers is, com 
 only wants hot weather; and the fact is notorious, 
 that a fair crop of^corn may be obtained by nice 
 management in a season so dry that any other grain- 
 crop would fail almost in toto. The harrow and 
 cultivator scarify the ground, but do not lay it open 
 with a bold incision, nor leave the corn-hill on a 
 prominent ridge or hillock at the commencement of 
 growth, when nothing but heat seems necessary to 
 the vitality and health of the plants. If it be object- 
 ed that by this use of the plough we assist the escape 
 of vegetable food in the form of carbonic acid gas 
 and volatile alkali, I reply, it may be so to the amount 
 of six or eight per cent. an inconsiderable matter 
 compared with the accelerated maturity of the crop. 
 
 ARCH. JAYNE. 
 
 EXPERIMENTS IN PRODUCING IMPROVED VARIETIES OF 
 
 INDIAN CORN. 
 
 Some ten or twelve years since, I instituted a se- 
 ries of experiments in crossing different varieties of 
 corn, and was perfectly successful. The variety 
 named in Dr. Brown's list (page 43 of the same num- 
 ber), " No. 16, Pennsylvania, 8 rows, called Smith's 
 early white," was the result of one of the experi- 
 ments. It was produced by what we call the Tus- 
 carora, or " New- York cheat," with the Sioux (No. 
 9 of Dr. Brown's list). From the parentage of thia
 
 INDIAN CORN. 117 
 
 new variety, you would naturally expect a mulatto 
 colour ; hut I will explain why it is pure white as 1 
 go along. I had two objects m view, the one to get 
 the large, white grains of the Tuscarora on the small 
 cob of the Sioux ; and the other, to produce a variety 
 earlier than either, if possible. To accomplish my 
 object, I planted a piece of ground, say the eighth of 
 an acre, with both varieties, one in each alternate 
 hill ; but as the Tuscarora was known to me to be 
 from 15 to 20 days later than the Sioux, I planted 
 the latter 15 days after the former. Now the pro- 
 cess of crossing is performed in the following man- 
 ner. The variety that has the cob that I wish to 
 retain is used as the female, and as the tassels (male 
 flowers) appear, they are carefully cut off and sup- 
 pressed ; the variety whose grain I wish to get is 
 used as the male, and its tassels are allowed to grow. 
 It is unnecessary to interfere with the female flow- 
 ers (the silk). The ears of corn produced by the 
 Sioux hills had the form and size of cob of the Si- 
 oux, but the grain was a beautiful sulphur colour, 
 and of the form of the Tuscarora, though smaller. 
 This corn I planted the next year, and the result 
 was a beautiful variegation of the grains, .of pure 
 yellow and pure white, though all the grains were 
 alike as to size and shape. The cream-colour had 
 evidently returned to its original elements. I then 
 carefully selected the white grains, and planted them 
 the third year, and the result was the establishment 
 of the variety called " Smith's early white." (I do 
 not understand how or whence Dr. Brown obtained 
 the name of Pennsylvania, 8 rows.) 
 
 My experiments established the fact satisfactorily 
 to my mind, that you can place the grains of any 
 variety of corn upon the cob of any other variety, by 
 the process detailed above ; and that there is no ob- 
 ject more worthy the attention of farmers than im- 
 provements of this kind. You have only to regulate 
 the time of planting each variety, so that they flower
 
 118 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 at the same time. I ought to observe, that if you 
 do not destroy the tassels of the variety that has the 
 objectionable grain, the crossing will not be so per- 
 fect, because the impregnation will be from two 
 males instead of one, and, const juently, the grains 
 produced will be various. The crossing is equally 
 important in making the large late kinds small and 
 early. You can get the tall Virginia corn (that is, 
 the grain of it) upon the early dwarf stalks. Indeed, 
 you may vary it almost at pleasure. As you will 
 perceive above, it requires three years to accomplish 
 the object perfectly. The first year effects the 
 crossing ; the second year certain characteristics re- 
 turn to their original elements, such as the colour, 
 and somewhat of the flinty quality ; the third year 
 the new variety is produced perfect and will re- 
 main so, so long as it shall be kept distinct from 
 other varieties. 
 
 Another experiment was combined by me with 
 the above, viz. : the first matured ears of good form 
 and size were always selected for seed. By this 
 process I was able, in five years, to make my new 
 variety from 15 to 20 days earlier than the Sioux, or 
 any other variety. I had green corn on my table 
 for some years, two weeks earlier than the hotels 
 which were supplied with early corn from Norfolk. 
 I beg to observe, that the Smith's early white has 
 but eight rows, and the Sioux (the female parent) 
 twelve : now to account for this. After I had pro- 
 duced the variety, I was still desirous of putting it 
 upon a smaller cob ; hence I planted it with the su- 
 gar-corn, using the latter as the female. The result 
 was the eight rows. I also once took a notion to 
 give it a red cob, and had no difficulty in doing so, 
 by using the red cob sugar-corn as the female ; but 
 I recrossed and got rid of the red cob again, because 
 it stained the lips and fingers while eating it. 
 
 GIDEON 15. SUITII
 
 INDIAN CORN. 119 
 
 EXPERIMENTS IN HARVESTING CORN. 
 
 Andrew Nicol has given in the Farmers' Register 
 a statement of some experiments he made last year 
 with his corn crop, the substance of which we ab- 
 stract. 
 
 1. He spread 32 loads of pine leaves on a piece of 
 corn land, planted very close for the climate of Vir- 
 ginia, so as to give an average thickness of four 
 inches/ The crop received no after culture. The 
 product was 75 bushels per acre, considered there a 
 very large return. The pine leaves counteracted 
 the effect of drought ; and Mr. N. thinks that, had the 
 covering been thicker, the product would have been 
 greater. 
 
 2. The second experiment was made to ascertain 
 the effect of topping, cutting up, and leaving the grain 
 to ripen upon the standing stalk. Eighteen rows of 
 150 yards in length were stripped of the fodder; that 
 is, all the leaves, except two above the ears, were 
 taken off on the llth September; the tops were cut 
 from six of these rows on the 20th September ; six 
 other rows of the 18 were cut by the ground the 
 same day ; and the third six rows were left to stand, 
 .ogether with the first six, until the corn ripened ; 
 other six rows, from which neither fodder was 
 pulled nor tops cut, were, on the same 20th Septem- 
 ber, cut off by the ground and set up in small shocks. 
 " The corn from each was gathered on the 2d De- 
 cember, and on the 7th February shelled and accu- 
 rately weighed. The following are the results i& 
 measure and in weight : 
 
 1st C rows measured 8 bushels, weight per bushel 58 Ibs. 
 2d 6 " " 7f " " 57 " 
 
 3d 6 " " 7| " 66J " 
 
 4th 6 " " 8i " " 59J " 
 
 These results go to show, 
 
 1. That leaves are essential, even after corn is cut 
 off at the ground, in increasing the quantity and 
 weight of the crop. And,
 
 120 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 2. That the mode of cutting up the whole, grain, 
 tops, and leaves, gives the most corn and heaviest 
 corn, and certainly improves t!i<> quality and in- 
 creases the quantity of cattle i'<l(U-r. The differ- 
 ence between No. 2 and No. 4 will be seen to be 
 nearly ten per cent, in quantity, and in weight about 
 five per cent. 
 
 The third experiment was in removing the suck- 
 ers from corn. Mr. N. considered the result deci 
 dedly in favour of the practice. "Where the corn was 
 not thus treated, the ears were diminutive, while the 
 suckers produced little or no sound grain. There is 
 no doubt that suckers abstract food from the plants, 
 and, if taken off (we should prefer to cut them off) 
 and well cured, they furnish excellent forage ; yet 
 we have hitherto doubted if the gain would repay 
 the labour ; still we may be wrong. 
 
 SELECTION OF SEED AND EARLY MATURITY. 
 
 We adopt the opinion of Joseph Cooper, so far a* 
 least as relates to maize, that a change of seed is not 
 necessary when due regard is paid to its selection. We 
 have cultivated the Dutton variety of corn for eigh- 
 teen years, always personally selecting the earliest 
 and fairest ears for seed, which were immediately 
 braided and hung in an airy loft. It has ripened as 
 early this as it did the first year we received the 
 seed from the far North, while we are satisfied it 
 has increased in productiveness ; that it has larger 
 ears, and more of them, and taller stalks. The seed 
 is left to mature on the stalk till the crop is gathered 
 from the field, the earliest ripened being then easily 
 determined by the appearance of the husk and the 
 rich colour of the corn. Hence the importance of 
 every farmer taking care to secure, in person, his 
 best seed. 
 
 There is one other fact that should not be lost 
 sight of the influence of soil and location upon ve- 
 getable growth. A moist, rich soil will give the
 
 INDIAN CORN. 121 
 
 largest growth, both of foliage and fruit, and a light 
 and dry one the earliest maturity, and the richest or 
 most concentrated product. Professor Ives states, 
 that plants from the seed of the morus multicaulis 
 have the foliage of the parent in a rich humid soil, 
 while they resemble those of the morus alba on a 
 thin, light soil; and it is believed that a pound of 
 the leaves of the latter are intrinsically more valua- 
 ble to the silkworm than a pound of the former. It 
 is not great size that indicates superiority either 
 in animals or vegetables. A very large apple is 
 seldom a very good one. The cider from a hilly, 
 dry, calcareous soil, is always superior to that from 
 a low and rich one. A very large beet contains 
 much less sugar than the same weight of small 
 beets. Indian corn, grown upon a light, dry soil, 
 comes to earlier maturity, but is inferior in its 
 growth and in the size of its ears to that which is 
 grown upon a highly manured loam. Indeed, the 
 difference is so great on our own grounds this sea- 
 son, that the growth and product in two locations 
 would hardly be taken for the same variety. 
 
 We have another suggestion to make in regard to 
 the influence of steeps. A communication from 
 Senator Johnson, inserted in the first volume of the 
 transactions of the .old agricultural society, shows 
 that the crop from seed-wheat, steeped in a solution 
 of saltpetre, ripened two weeks earlier, and gave 
 25 per cent, more product than the crop from seed 
 not thus steeped. We began to plant our main crop 
 of corn on the 12th of May, and finished on the 16th. 
 All the seed was steeped 12 hours in a solution of 
 nitre, in quantities sufficient for one day's planting. 
 A few quarts of seed which remained were set in 
 the cellar, where it remained, partially covered with 
 pickle, till the 19th, when it was planted in a vacant 
 patch of thin soil, in which we also planted, the same 
 day, six other varieties, all reputed to be remarkably 
 early, and the seed of all which had been soaked in 
 
 I. K
 
 122 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 saltpetre water. The last planted Dutton corn was 
 decidedly the earliest of the seven sorts in coining 
 to maturity, and was at least two weeks earlier than 
 the main crop, planted from three to six days sooner. 
 Its maturity may have been in some measure accel- 
 erated by the porosity of the soil, compared with 
 that of the main field, which was highly manured 
 with unfermented dung ; yet we think it not improb- 
 able that it was principally owing to the seed having 
 remained saturated for 96 hours in the nitrous solu- 
 tion. 
 
 Having referred to our specimen plat, we will add, 
 that it consisted of the following varieties of com : 
 
 1. Dutton; 2 and 3. Lake Superior and Squaw 
 from Lake Michigan ; 4. Early white, not recollect- 
 ed where from ; 5. Early Canada, from Poughkeep- 
 sie; 6. Red Blaze, from Elmira; 7. Early yellow, 
 from Vermont. These varieties were all planted 
 the same day, two rows of each, with intervals be- 
 tween the different kinds of 20 or 30 feet. On ex- 
 amining them to-day, August 28, we find No. 1 
 mostly ripe, the husks dry and separating from the 
 grain ; No. 2, Lake Superior, an eight-rowed yellow, 
 growing 4 1-2 feet high, but very prolific in suckers 
 and ears, next to the Dutton in maturity. The early 
 white is an eight-rowed corn, 5 1-2 feet high, and is 
 third in ripeness. The Vermont is a yellow, eight- 
 rowed corn, grows six feet high, and is next in ripe- 
 ness to the early white. The Squaw, No. 3, is an 
 eight-rowed coloured grain, grows six feet high, and 
 is fifth in forwardness. The Red Blaze comes next, 
 and the Early Canada is the latest. Both are eight- 
 rowed, and, like the Dutton, they grow seven and 
 eight feet high. As to number of ears on a stock, 
 they are about alike, except the Lake Superior, which 
 is far the most prolific in suckers and ears, though 
 they are very small. As to size of ears, the Dutton 
 has a manifest superiority ; but in length, those of 
 the early Canada and the Red Blaze eight-rowed
 
 MANURES. 123 
 
 are equal, if not a little superior, to the Button. Sev- 
 eral gentlemen who have visited the plat concur in 
 the correctness of this statement. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 . 
 
 MANURES. 
 
 > 
 
 What quantity should be applied to an acre. Winter Man- 
 agement of Manure. Specific Manures. Bone Manure. 
 Leached Ashes. Peat Earth, Peat Ashes, &c. 
 
 [THE subject of manures is one of great impor- 
 tance to the farmer, and under this head we have 
 arranged several papers from the pen of Judge Buel, 
 illustrating the particular topics indicated. That 
 there is a most lamentable deficiency in our general 
 management and use of manures, cannot be. ques- 
 tioned ; and to introduce a more correct and farmer- 
 like course was a favourite object with that suc- 
 cessful cultivator. In addition to the remarks of 
 Judge Buel, we have selected two papers of peculiai 
 interest as part of this chapter ; one being part of a 
 communication from Mr. ANTHONY, of Rhode Island, 
 illustrating the value of leached ashes as a manure ; 
 and the other a letter from the well-known farmer, 
 W. A. SEELY, of Staten Island, on the use of peat- 
 earth and peat-ashes as fertilizers of the soil. This 
 letter is particularly important to farmers at the pres- 
 ent time, as, in consequence of the geological sur- 
 vey of the state now going on, the presence of large
 
 124 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 bodies of peat have been made known where its ex. 
 istence was scarcely suspected, and thus an easy 
 and certain mode o'f fertilizing lands made poor by 
 injurious cultivation, has been placed within the 
 reach of thousands, n will be read with interest by 
 all who possess, or can obtain, this invaluable sub- 
 stance.] 
 
 WHAT QUANTITY OF MANURE SHOULD BE APPLIED TO 
 THE ACRE ? 
 
 The answer to this question involves many con- 
 siderations which preclude a definite reply ; such as 
 the condition of the land, the quality of the manure, 
 and the kind of crop. Too much, as well as too lit- 
 tle manure, may be applied. What would be bene- 
 ficial for an autumn-ripening or hoed crop, would be 
 prejudicial to a small grain or summer-ripening crop 
 (more particularly if the manure is applied in an un- 
 fermented state), and there would be, withal, a waste 
 of fertilizing matter. Twenty tons to the acre 
 would not be too much for corn, potatoes, ruta-baga, 
 &c., if applied broadcast and ploughed in; but if it 
 be long manure, and applied in the drill or hill, and 
 a dry season should ensue, it might prove an injury ; 
 and were this quantity per acre of long, or even 
 short manure, applied to small spring grain, it would 
 probably cause a flush of straw, likely to be affected 
 by rust, at the expense of the more valuable part, 
 the grain. Dr. Coventry, late professor of agricul- 
 ture in the University of Edinburgh, whose business 
 and study it was to collect data, and make correct 
 deductions in this and other agricultural matters, 
 was of the opinion that from four to five tons of the 
 kind usually denominated spit or tolerably rotted 
 dung, are yearly requisite to keep up the fertility of 
 the soil; and this supply he thinks a well-managed 
 farm may be made to produce. To show how this
 
 MANURES. 125 
 
 quantity may be obtained, and how it should be ap- 
 plied, we quote from Mr. Youatt, the author of 
 " British Husbandry." 
 
 " According to that calculation," says our author, 
 " it must be observed, that the course of crops is 
 supposed to consist on light soils, of the alternate 
 plan of corn and green crops [see New System of 
 Husbandry] on clays, which do not admit of that 
 system, that the holding contain a proportionate 
 quantity of grass-land, and that the quantity of 
 manure should be supplied, not in small quantities 
 annually, but in large ones, at intermediate dis- 
 tances of four, five, and six years. Light soils, in 
 the common course of husbandry, rarely require the 
 application of putrescent manure oftener thaironce 
 in four years, and in all cases where the clover is 
 allowed to stand two seasons, it may be deferred 
 without disadvantage for another year. Heavy soils 
 may run six years without it, provided that the land 
 be laid one year in fallow, and that there be suffi- 
 cient meadow to be reckoned at least one crop in 
 the course. It being, however, clearly understood, 
 that, whether on light or heavy land, nothing but 
 grain, seeds, and livestock is to be sold off the farm, 
 unless replaced with an equal portion of purchased 
 dung ; that the whole of the green crops, the haulm 
 of pulse, and the straw of corn, is to be used in the 
 most economical manner ; and that some of the live- 
 stock are to be either soiled or fattened upon oil- 
 cake : this plan, if carefully pursued on good soils, 
 with capital sufficient to secure an abundant work- 
 ing and fattening stock of cattle, ought, under fair 
 management, to furnish an adequate supply of dung 
 for any of the usual courses of culture. 
 
 " Having thus submitted to our readers all that oc- 
 curs to us of importance on the subject of famyard 
 manure, we shall here recapitulate a summary of 
 the chief points which we deem particularly worthy 
 of their consideration :
 
 126 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 1. To bottom the farmyard with furze, fern 
 [brake], dry haulm [stubble, &c.], or any other loose 
 ivi'ii>t* that takes the longest time to dissolve ; and 
 over that to bed it deep with straw. 
 
 2. To occasionally remove the cribs of store-cat- 
 tle to different parts of the straw-yard, in order that 
 their dung may be dropped and their litter trodden 
 equally. 
 
 3. To spread the dung of other animals, when 
 thrown into the yards, in equal layers over every 
 part. 
 
 4. To remove the dung from the yard at least 
 once, or oftener, during the winter, to the mixen.* 
 
 5. To turn and mix all dunghills until the woody 
 or fibrous texture of the matter contained in them, 
 and the roots and seeds of weeds, be completely de- 
 composed, and until they emit a foul, putrid smell ; 
 by which time they reach their greatest degree of 
 strength, and arrive at the state of spit-dung. 
 
 6. To keep the dung in an equal state of moisture, 
 so as to prevent any portion of the heap from be- 
 coming fire-fanged. If the fermentation be too rapid, 
 heavy watering will abate the heat ; but it will after- 
 ward revive with increased force, unless the heap be 
 either trodden firmly down or covered with mould 
 to exclude the air. 
 
 7. To ferment the dung, if to be laid upon arable 
 land during the autumn, in a much less degree than 
 that to be applied before a spring sowing. 
 
 8. To lay a larger quantity on cold and wet lands 
 than on those of a lighter nature ; because the for- 
 mer require to be corrected by the warmth of the 
 dung, while on dry, sandy, and gravelly soils, the 
 application of too much dung is apt to burn up the 
 plants. Stiff land will also be loosened by the unde- 
 cayed fibres of long dung, which, although its putre- 
 
 * The place of deposite where ihe manure is heaped up and 
 mixed.
 
 MANURES. 127 
 
 taction will thus be retarded, and its fertilizing power 
 delayed, will yet ultimately afford nourishment. 
 
 9. To form composts with dung, or other animal 
 and vegetable substances, and earth, for application 
 to light soils. 
 
 10. To spread the manure, when carried to the 
 field, with the least possible delay ; and, if laid upon 
 arable land, to turn it immediately into the soil. 
 
 11. To preserve the drainage from stables and 
 dunghills in every possible way ; and, if not applied 
 in a liquid state, to throw it again upon the mixen. 
 
 12. To try experiments, during a series of years, 
 upon the same soils and crops, with equal quantities 
 of dung, laid on fresh and afterward rotted, in order 
 to ascertain the results of their application to the 
 land. The whole quantity to be first weighed or 
 measured, and then divided. 
 
 " Tho fermentation of farmyard manure is, in fact, 
 a subject of far greater importance' than is generally 
 imagined ; for on a due estimation of its value mainly 
 depends the individual success, as well as the na- 
 tional prosperity of our agriculture. The experi- 
 ments to which we point cannot, therefore, fail to 
 come home to the interests of every man ; they may 
 be made without expense, and without any other 
 trouble than the mere exercise of common observa- 
 tion and intelligence. Leaving, however, aside the 
 discussion concerning the disputed worth of fresh or 
 fermented, of long or short dung, let the farmer 
 sedulously bend his attention to the accumulation of 
 the utmost quantity that it may be in his power to 
 procure The manner and the time of using it, in 
 either state, must, however, be governed by circum- 
 stances which may not always be within his control; 
 and every judicious husbandman will rather accom- 
 modate himself to the exigency of the case, than ad- 
 nere strictly to his own notions of what he conceives 
 to be the best practice. In fine, whether favouring 
 the one or the other side of the question, let him col-
 
 128 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 lect all he can ; apply it carefully to hia crops ; and 
 then, trusting to events, ' let the land ard the muck 
 settle it. 1 " 
 
 Oli THE WINTER MANAGEMENT OF MANURE. 
 
 Wf make this preliminary remark, upon which 
 what we have to offer is in a measure predicated, viz., 
 that all the manure from the stables, yard, and hog- 
 pon should be carried out in the spring for the corn 
 and pQtato crops. . 
 
 The objects to be obtained in the winter manage, 
 ment of manure are, 
 
 1. To prevent waste by leaching and drainage ; 
 
 2. To prevent its becoming fire-fanged ; and, 
 
 3. To prevent more than moderate or incipient 
 fermentation. 
 
 1. Where cattle-yards are upon a slope, or are con- 
 vex, or nearly upon a level surface, the liquid portions 
 of the manure, which may be termed, in a measure, 
 the cooked food 'of plants, continually pass off and 
 are lost. Heavy rains, and the drip from the barns 
 and sheds, also passing through the manur:; in their 
 escape from the yard, leach and deprive it of its finest 
 and most fertilizing properties. 
 
 The remedies against this evil consist, first, in giv- 
 ing a concave or dish shape to the yard. The earth 
 excavated from the centre being deposited upon the 
 borders, which should be fifteen or twenty feet broad, 
 with a slight inclination to the centre, a dry passage 
 to the barn is secured, and a sufficient space of dry 
 ground to feed the stock upon which run at large. 
 Secondly, the yard should be bedded, after it is clean- 
 ed, with peat or swamp earth, if the farm affords it, 
 six to twelve inches deep ; or, if this is not to be had, 
 with any other porous waste earth ; and afterward 
 should be kept well littered with straw, stalks, po- 
 tato-tops, ana the coarse grass and weeds of the 
 farm. This shape of the yard prevents the escape 
 of the liquids, and the earth and litter absorb and be-
 
 MANURES. 129 
 
 come enriched by them. Even should the liquids of 
 ihe yard be dried up, as they are in summer, the 
 earth and litter will retain the fertilizing matters 
 which they held in solution. By these operations 
 alone the quantity of manure will be double what it 
 is where they are neglected. Thirdly, to prevent an 
 exess of water in the yard, what falls from the build- 
 ings should be conducted off by gutters. And, fourth- 
 ly, a reservoir should be constructed under ground 
 for the reception of the liquids that unavoidably flow 
 from the yard, and particularly for the urine from 
 the stables. By this latter means a great accession 
 may be made to the fertilizing resources of a farm, 
 and a material obtained fitted for the immediate 
 wants of a growing crop. 
 
 2. When dung is accumulated in large masses, ei- 
 ther when' thrown from the stables or in the fields 
 where it is to be applied, even though it be protected 
 from the weather, a violent fermentation takes place, 
 moisture is exhausted from the mass, and it becomes 
 what is termed fire-fanged dry, light, and mouldy, 
 and seriously impaired in its value. 
 
 To avoid this in the yard, spread the manure oc- 
 casionally over its surface. It thereby becomes 
 blended with other matters less disposed to ferment, 
 is trodden by the stock, and the air, one of the agents 
 in causing it to ferment, is in a measure excluded. 
 Under cover, it should not be suffered to accumulate 
 in excess without the admixture of earthy matters, 
 which will retard fermentation and preserve moist- 
 ure. It is often convenient to draw manure to the 
 field in the autumn oj winter, where it is to be used. 
 If such manure has not undergone fermentation, it 
 should never be laid in heaps of more than three feet 
 in depth, or more than six or eight loads together; 
 the surface should be handsomely smoothed off, and 
 then covered, when the frost will permit, with six 
 or eight inches of sod or earth. This prevents vio- 
 lent fermentation, and the loss of the gaseous mat- 
 ters which fermentation always sends off. 
 I. L
 
 130 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 With the foregoing precautions, there is little dan- 
 ger of fermentation proceeding to a wasteful or im- 
 proper length before the manure is wanted for the 
 corn or potato crop. 
 
 What fanner is there, who makes any pretensions 
 to economy, who would not feel insulted to be told 
 that he carelessly wasted one half of his family 
 food or of his cattle food one half of what his farm 
 
 -educed for animal subsistence '\ And where is the 
 fference, whether he wastes the food of his family, 
 his animals, or his crops ? His crops feed both his 
 family and his livestock ; and, unless he feeds his 
 crops, the others must ultimately suffer the penal- 
 ty ; for the earth, though a kind and prolific mother, 
 cannot always give when we withhold from her the 
 means of giving. Return to her what is no longer of 
 use to us, and she will requite us with her richest 
 blessings. Let us bear in mind, that every animal 
 and vegetable substance which we give back to her 
 bosom, she will faithfully elaborate into new organ- 
 ized matter for our pleasure and profit ; but that if, 
 like the prodigal, we exhaust the parental treasure, 
 it can no longer supply us with bread or meat. Too 
 many who occupy a rich virgin soil, may be com- 
 pared to useless drones who waste their patrimonial 
 wealth : they waste that which would benefit both 
 themselves and their children. 
 
 SPECIFIC MANURES. 
 
 We have repeatedly said that wheat cannot be 
 depended on as a profitable c*rop on primitive soils 
 without the application of animal matters and lime. 
 The hopes of making New-England a wheat-grow- 
 ing country always seem to us fcHacious, from the 
 absence, in all primitive formations, of these two 
 essential elements, lime and animal matter. Lime 
 is now generally admitted to be essential to a wheat 
 soil ; but as lime consists of 20 parts of the metal 
 calcium, and about 7.5 of oxygen, it does not seem
 
 MANURES. 131 
 
 to furnish nitrogen. Upon this subject we quote 
 from the Edinburgh Quarterly Journal of Agriculture 
 the following, in support of our own opinions. 
 
 " On analzying the grain of wheat and the bulb of 
 the turnip (the parts for which the crops are culti- 
 vated), it is at once found that both of them contain 
 elementary principles not entering into the composi- 
 tion of ' common vegetable matter J namely, nitrogen in 
 the grain of the wheat, and sulphur in the turnip ; 
 besides which, the saline matter is also found to be 
 peculiar ; but this last will be considered more fully 
 hereafter. Having once, therefore, discovered that 
 these elements are essentially necessary to the 
 growth of the above-mentioned plants, we are evi- 
 dently led to ask ourselves the question, Whence 
 are they to be obtained ? Dear-bought experience 
 has long since answered, in animal manures. Yes, 
 all substances derived from the animal kingdom 
 contain more or less of both nitrogen and sulphur, 
 and hence the value, or, in fact, the absolute neces- 
 sity, of such manures for the particular crops now 
 under consideration. It may, indeed, be said by 
 some, that, ' however necessary animal manure may 
 be for turnips, still there can be no absolute neces- 
 sity for its application to the wheat-crop ; for, as ni- 
 trogen is the substance here wanted, surely the at- 
 mosphere will present a ready and never-failing res- 
 ervoir of that element.' But it must here be re- 
 marked, in answer to such a statement, that it is 
 exceedingly probable that the higher order of plants, 
 at least, never obtain the nitrogen they possess from 
 the air, but always from decomposing animal matter." 
 
 And what, it may be asked, are animal manures ? 
 Not, we answer, mere vegetables, which have rot- 
 ted in the yard or passed through the cattle of the 
 farm not farmyard and stable dung, in the ordina- 
 ry mode of its management. The common" vegeta- 
 ble matters consumed by the farm-stock do not con- 
 tain nitrogen, this essential element of wheat. It,
 
 132 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 however, abounds in the urine of animals and in all 
 animal substances, as wool, hair, bone, horn, the 
 dung of carnivorous animals, or such as feed upon 
 flesh; it exists in fish, in soap-boilers 1 waste, im- 
 pregnated with animal oil, and, to some extent, in 
 shell-marls. 
 
 We shall be told, probably, in contradiction to our 
 theory, that the primitive formation of New-Eng- 
 land has produced good wheat, and that it promises 
 to produce it again. When first subjected to cul- 
 ture, even soils of primitive formation have a quan- 
 tity of animal matters upon their surface, which 
 have been accumulating for centuries, and which 
 may suffice for one or more crops of wheat ; but 
 these being exhausted, the crop necessarily fails. 
 Art may in many cases supply the deficiency, by 
 the application to the soil of one or more of the 
 above-enumerated animal substances ; and these el- 
 ementary matters may have been accumulating from 
 ordinary manuring, until the soil has become suffi- 
 ciently charged with the specific food of a wheat- 
 crop. We fear, however, that all attempts to raise 
 good wheat we mean the grain, not the straw on 
 soils of primitive formation, without the aid of ani- 
 mal manures, will be found to be rather an uphill 
 business ; and that, even with this aid, like Frank- 
 lin's whistle, it will cost more than it is worth. 
 
 We will extract one other remark from the writer 
 above quoted, which is, that " although practice has 
 long ago shown the necessity of animal manures for 
 the above-mentioned crops [wheat and turnips], still 
 chymical analysis alone could ever have explained the 
 reason for this necessity ; thus placing the advanta- 
 ges to be derived from the science in a truly promi- 
 nent and important light." 
 
 BONE MANURE. 
 
 Since bone manure has become accessible to a 
 considerable portion of the farming community, by
 
 MANURES. 133 
 
 the erection of bono-mills at Albany, Waterford, 
 New-York, Boston, and other places, and is likely 
 to come into more extensive use as its value is bet- 
 ter appreciated, we propose to give some account 
 of its fertilizing properties, of the soils and crops 
 which it is calculated most to benefit, of its mode of 
 application, the quantity that should be applied to 
 the acre, &c. In doing this, we shall draw our facts 
 principally from the report of the committee of the 
 Doncaster Agricultural Association a society which 
 has rendered eminent service to the agricultural 
 community, in different departments of husbandry, 
 by its investigations and reports. 
 
 With a view of collecting facts to form the basis 
 of their report, the committee addressed seventeen 
 queries to the most intelligent farmers of the coun- 
 try, embracing men of science, and asking answers 
 to their interrogatories in regard to this manure. 
 Forty-nine answers were returned. From these ihe 
 committee made out their report ; and it is the sub- 
 stance of this report we are about to give. 
 
 Bone manure had been used by those to whom 
 the queries were addressed for an average period 
 of twenty years. " Our . correspondents," says the 
 report, " with only two exceptions, all concur in 
 stating it to be a higlty valuable manure, and on 
 light, dry soils, superior to farmyard dung and all 
 other manures." In copying the language of one 
 of them in relation to dry, sandy soils, we express 
 the opinions repeated by the far greater number. 
 " I consider bone for tillage one of the most useful 
 manures which has ever been discovered for the 
 farmer's benefit. The lightness of carriage, its suit- 
 ableness for the drill, and its general fertilizing prop- 
 erties, render it peculiarly valuable in those parts 
 where distance from towns makes it impossible to 
 procure manure of a heavier and more bulky de- 
 scription. The use of the bones diminishes labour 
 at a season of the year, too, when time is of the first
 
 134 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 importance ; for one wagon-load of a hundred and 
 twenty buslirls of small drill-bones is equal to forty 
 or fifty carf-loads of field manure." 
 
 "Upon very thin sand land," say the committee, 
 " its value is not to be 'estimated ; it is not only 
 found to benefit the particular crop to which it is 
 applied, but extends through the whole course of 
 crops, and even in the succeeding course its effects 
 are visible in the improved quality of the land, and 
 the efficiency of a smaller quantity than would have 
 first ensured a crop." Numerous facts are here cited 
 in proof of this declaration of the committee. Where, 
 for instance, in a district of many thousand acres, 
 turnips would produce only tops, and those very 
 small, the use of bones alone has increased the tur- 
 nip-crop in some cases ten, and in few cases less 
 than five fold ; and all the succeeding crops of grain 
 and grass were amazingly improved. 
 
 On light loams, provided they are dry, bones were 
 found preferable to yard dung ; but they do not seem 
 to benefit wet soils at all. 
 
 On heavy loams and clays the experiments were 
 unfavourable; and the committee infer that clay 
 soils are, in general, too moist to receive any con- 
 siderable benefit from bone manure. 
 
 Upon peat soils, thoroughfy drained, the advanta- 
 ges of bone manure were very striking. Fifteen to 
 twenty bushels per acre were found to surpass, very 
 far, the ordinary dressing of farmyard dung, and 
 even lime and pigeons' dung. 
 
 Upon gravels, the opinions of its efficacy are con- 
 tradictory. Upon wet ones it does not succeed. 
 
 As to its durability three acres were boned with 
 one hundred and fifty bushels per acre by mistake. 
 Fourteen years after, the land had not forgotten it, 
 but was nearly half as good again as the other part, 
 farmed precisely in the same way, witli the excep- 
 tion of this single dressing of bones. 
 
 To the question, Do you continue to use bones 1
 
 MANURES. 135 
 
 not one in the forty-nine returned an answer in the 
 negative. Their use was rapidly increasing. 
 
 Upon grass, either for meadow or pasture, their 
 effect was favourable, the herbage being improved 
 in quality and quantity. Six hundred bushels were 
 spread upon twenty-four acres of a dairy-farm, of 
 dry, sandy gravel, which had been laid down ten 
 years. The effect was to produce double the butter 
 from the cows depastured upon it to those which 
 were fed upon like pasture not boned. 
 
 The general application of bone-dust in England 
 is to the turnip-crop, one of the most important in 
 British husbandry ; and the opinions as to the best 
 mode of applying it, whether in drills $ or broadcast, 
 are various, though the former opinio'n rather pre- 
 vails. 
 
 As to the size of the bones, the opinion is in fa- 
 vour of half-inch bones. Mr. Burk says, " If I were 
 to till for early profit, I would use bones powdered 
 as small as sawdust : if I wished to keep my land in 
 good heart, I would use principally half-inch bones, 
 and in breaking these I should prefer some consid- 
 erably larger." " By using bones of a large size, 
 with dust in them," says another correspondent, " I 
 think I have sufficient of the small particles to set 
 the crop forward, and sufficient of the large particles 
 left to maintain the land in good" condition for the 
 last crop" in the course. 
 
 In regard to the quantity to be applied to an acre, 
 although the committee admit that the average of 
 the returns is thirty-nine bushels, they neverthe- 
 less recommend, as a sufficient dressing, twenty- 
 five bushels of the small size and forty bushels of 
 the half-inch, giving to the poorer lands a greater, 
 and to the richer a smaller quantity. 
 
 Some of the correspondents prefer raw or fresh 
 bones, and some those which have been boiled, and 
 the glue and oil extracted. 
 
 Without going into farther detail, we shall close
 
 136 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY". 
 
 our notice of the report by copying a summary of 
 the deductions which the committee draw from the 
 facts they collected. They are as follow : 
 
 " On dry sands, limestone, chalk, light loams, and 
 peat, bones are very valuable manure. 
 
 They may be laid on grass with good effect. 
 
 On arable lands, they may be laid on fallow for 
 turnips, or used for any of the subsequent crops. 
 
 That the best method of using them, where broad- 
 cast, is previously to mix them up with earth, dung, 
 or other manures, and let them lie to ferment. 
 
 That, if used alone, they may be either drilled with 
 the seed or sown broadcast. 
 
 That bones.which have undergone the process of 
 fermentation are decidedly superior to those which 
 have not. 
 
 That the quantity should bo about twenty-five 
 bushels of dust or forty bushels of large, increasing 
 the quantity if the land be impoverished. 
 
 That upon clays and heavy loams it does not yet 
 appear that bones will answer." 
 
 From the foregoing data, the farmer will be able 
 to judge how far bone manure is adapted to his soil ; 
 and, from estimating its cost and transportation, he 
 can calculate the economy of purchasing and apply- 
 ing it. In the report before us, it is computed to be 
 cheaper at 2*. (48 cents) per bushel for manuring, 
 than yard dung at 10s. ($2 40) the load, the price 
 the latter is stated at in Britain. The price at the 
 mills in this state is $14 to $16 per ton, which would 
 bring it to more than 40 cents a bushel. So that to 
 manure an acre with twenty-five bushels would cost 
 about $10 75, besides transportation and spreading. 
 This dressing would be equal to that afforded by 
 twenty common loads of manure, which ought to be 
 estimated to be worth 50 cents a load, besides the 
 expense of hauling it out and spreading it. It would 
 therefore seem to be cheaper than stable-manure ; 
 and, at all events, it would afford a valuable auxilia-
 
 MANURES. 
 
 137 
 
 ry where manure is scarce, or has to be brought 
 from a distance. 
 
 As it is necessary, for the investigation of this 
 subject, that the component parts of bones should 
 be understood by every one interested in their use 
 as a manure, I submit an extract from an analysis 
 by that eminent chymist, Mr. Hatchett. He says : 
 
 " The component parts of bones are chiefly four, 
 viz., the earthy salts, fat, gelatine, and cartilage. 
 
 ' The earthy salts are three in number. 
 
 ' 1. Phosphate of lime. 
 
 ' 2. Carbonate of lirtfe. 
 
 ' 3. Sulphate of lime. 
 
 ' The proportion of fat seems to vary from one 
 sixth to one fourth of the weight of the bone." 
 
 Annexed is also a table, calculated from experi- 
 ments made from the bones of various animals (by 
 the same chymist) : 
 
 100 parti con- 
 tain of the 
 
 Gelatine. 
 
 Phoipliate of 
 
 Carbonate of 
 Lime. 
 
 Loss. 
 
 TotL 
 
 Horse 
 Ox. . 
 
 Sheep 
 Swine 
 Calf. 
 Elk.. 
 
 9 
 3 
 16 
 17 
 25 
 1.5 
 
 67.5 
 93 
 70 
 52 
 54 
 90 
 
 1.25 
 2 
 0.5 
 1 
 
 1 ' 
 
 22.25 
 2 
 13.5 
 30 
 21 
 7.5 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 100 
 100 
 100 
 100 
 
 Thus it appears that the bones of the calf afford 
 the most gelatine, and those of the ox and horse the 
 least, except the elk. 
 
 The gelatine, the most beneficial portion to the 
 land, is also an important ingredient in making port- 
 able soups and in the manufacture of glue ; and 
 there can be little doubt that, in most cases, the gela- 
 tine is, with the fat, extracted from the bones, by 
 boiling or otherwise, before they are sent to the mills 
 to be crushed for manure.* 
 
 * Chaptal says that this renders the hones comparatively 
 worthless, by depriving them of tiieir most feitilizing properties. 
 See Chaptal's Chymistry applied to Agriculture, Harpers' edi 
 tion, p. 162.
 
 138 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 LEACHED ASHES. 
 
 In 1833, a lot of land falling under my manage- 
 ment which had then recently been purchased at 
 $30 per acre, seven acres of it (and perhaps the 
 least valuable part, which, in my opinion, never pos- 
 sessed fertility, though it is usually called worn-out 
 land, being a sandy plain with gravelly subsoil) were 
 ploughed and rolled, in order to secure for the ben- 
 efit of the crop what little valuable matter might be 
 turned under ; about 1600 bushels of leached ashes 
 were spread upon the piece, and it was sowed with 
 ten quarts of millet and sixteen pounds of Southern 
 or small clover seed to the acre. The season proved 
 dry and the seed took badly : the crop of millet was 
 ten tons by estimation, and was sold for $180. Nine- 
 teen tons of clover were supposed to have been ob- 
 tained the two succeeding years at four cuttings ; 
 and this was sold for $316. The clover having 
 nearly all perished in the winter of 1835-6, it was 
 pastured the season following, and last year, 1136 
 bushels of ashes having been applied to it, it was 
 again sowed with millet, and stocked as before with 
 Southern clover, twenty pounds to the acre. The 
 product was thirteen tons of millet, for which I cred- 
 ited the owner $221, retaining it for my own use. 
 Like results have been obtained from similar treat- 
 ment of the same description of soil in various in- 
 stances ; this not having been selected because the 
 most striking, but because the amount for which 
 the crops sold fixes their value, without knowing 
 exactly the quantity produced, which in each case 
 has been supposed. The labour bestowed on the 
 lot was more or less Wended with other business of 
 the farm ; it is therefore difficult, a't this period of 
 time, to ascertain the amount. I believe, however, 
 it did not exceed the charge in the subjoined ac- 
 count.
 
 MANURES. 139 
 
 Cost of land $21000 
 
 " ashes for both dressings .... 215 54 
 
 Seed fordo. ... 41 25 
 
 Ploughing 10J days . .... 21 00 
 
 Rolling 3i do. 
 Harrowing 3i do. . 
 
 Caning outside furrows 
 
 Sowing 3 days . 
 
 Carting and spreading ashes 
 
 7 00 
 7 00 
 7 50 
 3 00 
 54 00 
 
 Cutting, curing, and housing41 tons millet and clover 123 00 
 
 Five years taxes 2 10 
 
 Interest accruing on transaction .... 46 00 
 
 $737 39 
 Cr. 
 
 By produce sold, amounting to $717 00 
 
 Value of pasturage . . . . . . . 1500 
 
 Value of lot in its present condition . . . 385 00 
 
 $1,117 00 
 737 39 
 
 $379 61 
 
 There is reason to suppose, from present appear- 
 ances, that ihe lot in question will cut two tons of 
 clover this season per acre ; it will therefore be seen 
 that my valuation is not a high one. A repetition 
 of the treatment it has received would no doubt im- 
 prove still more the texture of the soil, though I am 
 inclined to thTrik there might be a falling off instead 
 of an increase in the amount of its products by sub- 
 sequent ashings. Should this be the case, it would 
 indicate a suitable condition for more permanent im- 
 provement by manuring. 
 
 PEAT EARTH, PEAT ASHES, &C. 
 
 In the number of the Cultivator for January, 1839, 
 p. 191, a correspondent, in noticing " a recently pub- 
 lished account of the proceedings of the British As- 
 sociation for the advancement of Science," as to the 
 improvement of peat-bogs, and the use of peat-moss 
 or turf as a manure, speaks of the preparation of the
 
 140 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY 
 
 latter in barnyards, and of expelling from the turf, 
 through that mode of preparing it, the qualities with 
 which it is imbued, when taken from the swamps, 
 deleterious to vegetation. I began, some months ago, 
 the use of it, in some degree, after the modes advert- 
 ed to by the members of the association ; and have, 
 from information I have been able to obtain from 
 emigrants, and from my own observation and read- 
 ing, been led to a series of experiments with it. 
 Though the results are not yet as complete as I 
 hope eventually to make them, I apprehend that 
 what I have thus far observed may be useful. I ap- 
 ply the turf in a variety of ways : First, after the 
 mode of preparing it in compost, directed by Lord 
 Meadowbanks, " which was printed and distributed 
 gratis among the Scotch peasantry many years ago, 
 and which has ever since been highly approved of, 
 both by practical and scientific cultivators," in Scot- 
 land, Ireland, and generally in all the European 
 countries in which peat is to be found. That meth- 
 od has been described in former numbers of the Cul- 
 tivator, and will be found, in all its essential particu- 
 lars, in Fessenden's New-England Farmer and Rural 
 Economist, pages 209 to 212, and in Loudon's Ency- 
 clopaedia of Agriculture. Composts have been made 
 by me which, when prepared in strict-eonformity to 
 those directions, have fully justified them. Through 
 this means, there is no difficulty in trebling or four- 
 folding an ordinary farm supply of manure, and which 
 may (as the authors say) " be used weight for weight 
 as farmyard manure, and will be found, in a course of 
 cropping, fully to stand the comparison." Whenever 
 I have deviated from the track laid down, I have 
 found that a strict pursuit of the old practice was 
 the better, and have returned to it. In particular, I 
 find the necessity not only of avoiding the compres- 
 sion of the compost heap by the tread of the men or 
 cattle employed, but the expediency of throwing into 
 it every vegetable material which may contribute to
 
 MANURES. 141 
 
 Keep it light and as springy as possible. I also find 
 it most prudent to avoid compression through rais- 
 ing the heap above the allotted height. 
 
 My supply of turf to this time has been taken from 
 a swamp about five feet deep, of about two thirds of 
 an acre, one half of which, down to the clay subsoil, 
 I have used in composts or otherwise, and which I 
 propose tilling the coming summer. I have also 
 used the turf in bottoming my barn and cattle yard, 
 stables and hog-sties, and in burning it for ashes. 
 My first application of it to manuring began with the 
 last spring. 
 
 The ashes were used as I have already stated in 
 a previous number, and I can assure you my clover 
 and grass crops fully justified all the anticipations I 
 was authorized to make. Some of my neighbours, 
 of excellent practical information in ordinary mat- 
 ters, attempted to dissuade me from the use of it. 
 A f<iw days before my harvest, I asked them to call 
 and see a result 1 wished to, exhibit to them. Lead- 
 ing them to a stand a short distance from a field to 
 which the ashes had been applied, I pointed their 
 attention to a very visible line which could be traced 
 across a part of the field, and asked them if they 
 could perceive a difference on its two sides. Ad- 
 mitting it, I asked them to accompany me to the line, 
 and to follow it across the field, observing to them, 
 that for the wheat-crop of the preceding fall, the ma- 
 nuring on both sides of the line, and the seeding for 
 wheat, for timothy, and for clover had been precisely 
 similar ; but that, in the spring, an application had 
 been made to the field to improve the grass, which 
 was found, however, not to be sufficient for the whole 
 field, and became exhausted on the land at which the 
 line was visible. On examining the course of the 
 whole line, the clover on the side to which the ashes
 
 142 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 had been applied, even to the last rast of the shovel, 
 was nearly double the height and i-.xiiriance of the 
 other, and far better loadc*: v i:!i ! 1 >ssoms ; and here 
 I said, my friend, is the iine up to which my turf- 
 ashes, of which you disadvised the use, have been 
 applied. Fortunately, in spreading, it run out on this 
 land, and thus has afforded me an opportunity of 
 again consulting with you as to its usefulness. 
 
 My mode of burning has also been heretofore de- 
 scribed in the Cultivator, and my. experience has 
 convinced me of the policy of smothering the fire, 
 and burning the turf as slowly, and confining as much 
 of the smoke during the combustion as possible. 
 My heaps are generally four to six weeks in burn- 
 ing. That the turf is* purely vegetable will be per- 
 ceived from the fact that" twenty cart-loads of turf 
 are necessary to produce one of ashes. Sand or 
 clay are not destructible by combustion, and would, 
 if present, have been found still the same in bulk 
 and visible to the eye ; none, however, can be dis- 
 covered in the ashes ; and this may be considered as 
 a fair method of testing the question as to how much 
 of mossy-earth the turf contains. 
 
 The correspondent in the Cultivator before al- 
 luded to queries as to the application of sulphuric acid 
 for converting turf into manure, and for fertilizing a 
 turf soil. This induces me to call attention to facts 
 which have ever been witnessed by me : around al- 
 most every opening of the heap through which the 
 smoke issues, an oily substance resembling sulphur 
 will be perceived. Bottoming, before covering them 
 with litter, the shelters under my barn and sheds, as I 
 always do, to the height of about twelve inches, with 
 turf, in order that it may absorb the stale and moist- 
 ure of the place, I have observed that though, when 
 taken there dry from the swamp, the turf is perfectly 
 devoid of all smell, after having been thus used it 
 becomes as sensibly acid to the smell as the most 
 sour lemon. In turning it over, the acid exhalation 
 cannot but be perceptible to every by-stauder.
 
 MANURES. 143 
 
 All writers upon turf, in speaking of its antiseptic 
 properties, say it is imbued with a phosphoric acid, 
 having some affinity to gallic acid or tannin, and 
 which renders it, in that state, anti-putrescent, and, 
 consequently, deleterious to vegetation. It will dry- 
 rot and pulverize when exposed to the air, and is in 
 that state pernicious, because it has not gone through 
 the fermentation necessary to render it soluble, and 
 fitting food for plants. The fermentative decay and 
 solution of vegetable and animal substances afford 
 to vegetation its proper nutriment. The turf, it will 
 be perceived, when used in compost, and in contact 
 with fermentative manures, attracts to itself and ab- 
 sorbs so much of the putrescent exhalations as is 
 necessary to expel the acid which checks its decay, 
 in common with the manure placed in juxtaposition 
 with it. If this, then, be a tendency of the turf in the 
 compost, why should it not operate similarly, though in 
 a less degree, in the earth to which it is applied, and, 
 so far from affording nutriment to surrounding ve- 
 getation, attract it to itself, and absorb the putrescent 
 or fermentative substances already in the soil * In 
 the first instance, it has always been said, and it is 
 no doubt true, that the turf, while saturated with the 
 acid, is remotely deleterious to vegetable growth 
 and to the soil ; and after having, within the soil, 
 taken to itself what will promote its decay, it prob- 
 ably gives it back, and does become in some degree 
 beneficial as a manure. It may well be that sulphu- 
 ric acid will, by its action on the turf, accelerate the 
 souring to which I have adverted, and thus promote 
 the decay of the turf. Turf was, for a long while, 
 the source of disappointment as a manure, until the 
 principles applied to it by Lord Meadowbanks were 
 scientifically explained and brought into practice. 
 
 In the spring and in the fall, immediately after car- 
 rying out the supply of manure from my cattle- 
 yards and hogsties, I bottom them anew with turf 
 to the depth of at least a foot, covering it with six
 
 144 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 inches of seaweed or drift. To the accumulation of 
 the place during the winter, when little is to be lost, 
 in fermentative manures, by solar heat or evapora- 
 tion, I cart around the yard and spread on its upper 
 edges, some eight, ten, or more feet wide, the empty- 
 ings of my stables and yard-sheds, with the litter- 
 ed surface occasionally of my hogpens (which are 
 placed in the centre of my barnyard). The feeding- 
 racks and moveable pens are from time to time 
 shifted, that the turf and seaweed may, by the tread 
 and droppings of the cattle, and the occasional moist- 
 ure of the yard, be worked together, and the turf sat- 
 urated with them as much as practicable. The main 
 part of the manure, being placed on the upper sides 
 of the yard, in settling down to the centre and to- 
 wards the barnyard drain, passes necessarily among 
 the bottoms of the turf and seaweed, which thus be- 
 come imbued with the substances necessary ft> pre- 
 pare them for the fermentative decay, which the acid 
 of the one and the saline impregnation of the other 
 require for them. In the spring, as soon as solar 
 heat may induce a tendency to fermentation, and 
 consequent evaporation and loss, the yards are turn- 
 ed over with a plough or the shovel, that the whole 
 may be so commingled that the turf may attract and 
 absorb the waste which would otherwise ensue. At 
 the lowest part of the barnyard, and that to which 
 everything from the farmhouse, kitchens, farming- 
 yards, and stables tends, I have a cemented cistern 
 or tank capable of containing 250 hogsheads. The 
 windmill and horse power of the yard is connected 
 with this tank by pulleys, straps, and chain buckets, 
 so that if, during the winter, spring, or summer, ] 
 think best to wet my compost heaps, hogsties, or any 
 of the yards with those drainings, the power is con- 
 veniently applied, and by leaders the draining is 
 thrown back to settle again through the mass and 
 return to the tank. The compost-yard adjoins the 
 barnyard ; and is so graded, that if the drainings from
 
 MANURES. 145 
 
 the tank be thrown on to the heaps, after settling 
 .hrough, they return by box under-drains into the 
 yrards> and tank. If a surplus is still on hand, a cart 
 with a hogshead and sprinkler is used, with which, 
 in a four to one diluted state, I irrigate such grass- 
 lands as I think may be benefited by it, or my grain 
 crops in such parts of a field as I apprehend may 
 want it : an excellent method of readily adding to 
 the manure, and of forcing those parts of a field 
 which in the spring are perceived to want manuring; 
 or my garden is fertilized and forced by it to any 
 state of productiveness which can be effected by such 
 an application of the most stringent and prompt in 
 its influence, of all manures. The last spring, in 
 spots where my wheat did not thrive comparatively, 
 applying it with a watering-pot, the grain advanced 
 and outstripped the surrounding parts of the crop, 
 which before had afforded better promise of thrift. 
 Pouring a pint of it into a hill of corn, of potatoes, or 
 of vines of any kind, will be found to give an aston- 
 ishing impulse to them. 
 
 The filling and driving of the cart, of sprinkling it 
 on the field, or applying it to the hill or garden, is the 
 work of the barnyard power, a boy, horse, cart, 
 sprinkler, and watering-pot. The cart and its sprink- 
 ler, in its form and use, is in all respects like those 
 employed in cities for sprinkling the streets. To 
 irrigate and manure drilled crops, the sprinkler 
 should be taken from the rear of the cart, and two 
 of them should be hung parallel with the shafts and 
 over the drills. 
 
 During the heavy rains of the fall and spring, 
 should the drainings of the yard accumulate and fill 
 the tank, and not be otherwise wanted, the surplus is 
 let off into a muck-road, embanked on the sides, and 
 filled to the depth of ten to fifteen inches with sea- 
 weed, turf, turf ashes, and a small supply of manure, 
 and made gradually to percolate and settle down- 
 ward through a distance of from four to six hundred 
 feet in length and twenty in breadth, and through 
 which muc/c-road cattle, carts, and vehicles of every 
 
 I. M
 
 146 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 kind, when it is not too wet, are forced to find their 
 way, to break up and mix its contents with the drain- 
 ings of the barnyard. Until the drainings of the 
 yards have reached the farthest extent of this road, 
 they should not be applied to agricultural uses. He- 
 fore driving my cattle from rny yards, if it becomes 
 necessary to do so, and always two or three times a 
 day when its surface is moist, a boy, as a standing 
 rule, drives them for exercise several times round 
 the yards, the better to bring the manure in contact 
 with the bottomings. I have other modes, not here 
 explained, by which I readily avoid the access to my 
 yards and tank of the excess of drenching rains, 
 when the storms are heavy and of long duration. 
 This I may explain, if desirable, on another occasion. 
 "Within the last year I have lost none absolutely 
 none ! of the leaching of my yards and stables.* 
 
 * " The modern agriculturist, he thought, did not pay suffi- 
 cient attention to the manures made in the foldyard. Some- 
 times he had been asked how his fattening animals paid him for 
 the trouble of producing them. This, however, could not be 
 answered by a mere reference to the sum he obtained for them 
 by sale, but there was a variety of circumstances to be consid- 
 ered before he could answer it properly. For instance, the 
 quantity of manure obtained from them was one not wet straw, 
 but good manure. There was another thing which required at- 
 tention: when the manure was carried from the foldyard into 
 the fields, it was suffered to lie in a large heap for a long time ; 
 so long, indeed, that, before it was spread upon the land, its qual- 
 ities had perished. He was aware that it required a certain 
 time for fermentation to take place, but it was frequently left till 
 such fermentation had passed off. It was his practice, as soon 
 as the heaps were raised on the field, to throw a quantity of 
 mould upon them, and thus prevent evaporation taking place too 
 rapidly. Proper attention ought also to be paid to draining the 
 foldyard. The produce saved was now, in ten out of twlevo in- 
 stances, lost. It would be advisable, when the yard had a full, to 
 establish conveniences for catching it, and then convey it to the 
 lands. In France and the Netherlands they were extremely 
 careful in preserving this liquid manure, and the peasants inigbt 
 be seen conveying it out to the fields, and giving each plant -i 
 proper proportion." Shillito in Quarterly Journal of Agricul 
 'ure.
 
 MANURES 147 
 
 To this it will be said by some, it is laborious and 
 expensive. Not so much so as may be apprehended, 
 or as would be the case with others not assisted 
 with mechanical powers and under-drains as I an; , 
 but what I have thus done at some expense, others 
 may do, in a great degree, for a mere trifle, and t j 
 a way that I may hereafter suggest. 
 
 I assume, as a standard, the fact that farmers with 
 us pay one dollar per load for manure, and that this 
 is a criterion by which to form an estimate of the 
 labour or capital which may profitably be bestowed 
 in obtaining it as I do. If this be the true criterion 
 for judging, every day's labour I expend in produ- 
 cing it is worth twenty-fold the sum I pay my hands 
 to effect it. 
 
 Turf affords an invaluable medium for saving the 
 waste of manure, and for increasing its amount and 
 usefulness ; and it is better than rich mould, earths, 
 or the pearings and bottoms of ditches, inasmuch as 
 it is all vegetable, and in itself, strictly speaking, a 
 manure, when properly prepared. 
 
 The contents of stables, barnyards, and cattle and 
 hog pens should never be exposed to the solar heat 
 or to fermentative evaporations, or their drainings 
 lost, when turf, or any inert vegetable substance, or 
 surplus farm materials of a vegetable or animal na- 
 ture abound ; nor should animal substances, fish or 
 any other, be suffered to waste their effluvia in the 
 air when such materials can be had. For all use- 
 ful purposes, enough of the agricultural influence or 
 effect of manure is produced as soon as vegetable or 
 animal decay is sure to progress. From that moment 
 a compost should be resorted to, and the heat and 
 action of the manure (which is sure and irresistibly 
 powerful) be thus brought to operate on substances 
 to which this propensity has not been sufficiently 
 imparted. In this state, all that is ordinarily wasted 
 tends to a useful result in augmenting the mass. 
 
 It is a common practice to bury fish, preparatory
 
 148 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 to their use as a manure, in common, raw earth. 
 The most soluble of ordinary manures, it is soon 
 dissipated by atmospheric action, and leaves on the 
 soil to which it has been applied a raw earth, in its 
 then condition injurious to it. .1 find it far more 
 beneficial to bury the fish in turf and in turf ashes, 
 seven loads to one of fish (in Loudon, it is said, of 
 turf alone, even 20 to 1), which the decay of the fish 
 will make an excellent and very powerful manure, 
 and one which will endure long after the fish will 
 have done their office in the soil and disappeared.* 
 
 W. A. SEKLY. 
 
 Wheat- Sheaf Farm, Staten Island, Jan. 18, 1839. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS-LANDS. 
 
 Of Pasture. Of Meadow. On converting Arable or Plough 
 Land into Permanent Meadow or Pasture. Report on Grass 
 es and Grass-Lands. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the alternation of grass and grain crops 
 is deemed most profitable, on soils and in situations 
 which will admit of this kind of husbandry, yet there 
 are many situations in which this alternate change 
 cannot be carried into effect without manifest preju- 
 dice to the interests of the cultivator. There are 
 some soils so natural to grass as to yield an uiuii- 
 minished product for many years, almost without 
 care or expense. There are others, upon the banks 
 of streams which frequently overflow, which it is 
 
 * For much valuable information on the use of lime an a ma- 
 nure, seo the very full and able article by M. Pnvis. in C'liym- 
 istry applied to Agriculture, p. 20J, tt teq., published by Haipw 
 & Brother*.
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS-LANDS. 14P 
 
 prudent to keep in grass, lest the soil should be worn 
 away by the rapid flood of the waters. Others, 
 again, are too precipitous or too stony to admit of 
 arable culture. Nor should we conceal the fact, 
 that it is still a controverted point whether rich, 
 stiff clays are not most profitable when permanent- 
 ly appropriated to grass. Whatever causes prevail, 
 the fact is indisputable, that a considerable portion 
 of our lands are, and will continue to remain, in 
 meadow and pasture. It is with the view to aid the 
 farmer in correcting any defects that may exist in 
 such grass-grounds, and in improving and keeping 
 them in condition, that we offer the following sug- 
 gestions. And, first, 
 
 OF PASTURE. 
 
 The evils that are experienced in pasture-grounds 
 are, the gradual disappearance of the best grasses ; 
 the growth of mosses and weeds in their stead; and 
 the prevalence of coarse herbage in situations where 
 there exists a superabundance of moisture. Where- 
 ever there are stagnant waters, as upon flat surfaces, 
 the pasture is rendered peculiarly unhealthy for 
 sheep ; but it is remarked, that if the water is in 
 continued motion, as is generally the case upon the 
 declivities of hills and mountains, no ill consequences 
 follow. 
 
 To remedy the evils we have enumerated, and to 
 improve the condition of pasture-grounds, one or 
 more of the following expedients may be advanta- 
 geously resorted to, viz., sowing and harrowing in 
 grass-seeds, scarifying, bushing, draining, manuring, 
 and top-dressing with marl or lime. 
 
 Grass-seeds may be sown either in the autumn or 
 spring, followed by the harrow, and, if practicable, 
 by the roller. The harrow partially extirpates the 
 mosses, breaks and pulverizes the surface, and buries 
 the seeds ; and the roller presses the earth to the 
 seeds and smooths the surface. The bush-harrow
 
 150 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 is to be preferred. This may be constructed by in- 
 terweaving some strong but pliant branches of trees 
 through the open squares of a heavy harrow, which 
 thus forms an efficient brush, and, when drawn over 
 the ground, performs' its duty perfectly during a 
 short distance ; but the branches being pressed close, 
 and worn by the motion, soon become so flat as not 
 to have the effect of spreading the earth thrown 
 upon the surface by earth-worms, or ground-mice, 
 or ants. It is therefore recommended in British 
 Husbandry, as a better mode, to fix the branches 
 upright in a frame, placed in the front part of the 
 carriage of the roller ; by which means they can be 
 so placed as to sweep the ground effectually, and, 
 when worn, can be moved a little lower down, so as 
 to continue the work with regularity. This opera- 
 tion also completely breaks and scatters the manure 
 dropped on the field by the stock, and partially in- 
 corporates it with the surface-mould. 
 
 Scarifying is cutting the sod and loosening the 
 surface. Concklin's Press-harrow is a suitable im- 
 plement for this purpose. We also subjoin the 
 drawing of an implement constructed for this pur- 
 pose, which we take from British Husbandry, calcu- 
 lated to be drawn by a one or two horse team. 
 
 This implement is intended to cut the sod perpen- 
 dicularly, so far down as to sever the roots of the 
 grass, which occasions it to throw out fresh ones. 
 It slices the sod without tearing it, and should be 
 constructed with a number of very sharp coulters, 
 fixed into a crossbeam at such distances as may be
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF- GRASS-LANDS. 151 
 
 thought advisable, say from six inches to a foot, and 
 of a width according to the strength intended to be 
 employed in drawing it. The blades should be oc- 
 casionally whetted to preserve their edge, and the. 
 implement should be used when the ground is in a 
 moderate state of moisture, and the grass short. If 
 the land is poor or moss-bound, it may be passed 
 crosswise. It is best adapted to moist clays which 
 do not contain stones or gravel. It is advantageous- 
 ly used to precede the sowing of grass-seeds. The 
 foot- wheel is to regulate the depth of the work. 
 
 Draining improves the quality of the herbage, and 
 marling or liming increases, the quantity. It is re- 
 marked, that animal dung, when dropped on coarse 
 pastures, produces little or no benefit ; but when 
 calcareous matters have been laid upon the surface, 
 the finer grasses soon take possession of it. 
 
 Manures alone are seldom applied to pasture, 
 especially with us ; but applied in the form of com- 
 post, as a top-dressing, they are serviceable. Gyp- 
 sum and spent ashes may be used with undoubted 
 benefit in most cases. 
 
 It need hardly be added, that bushes, thistles, and 
 other perennial weeds obstruct the growth of grass, 
 and that they should be carefully extirpated. 
 
 Our pasture-grounds are generally left to take 
 care of themselves ; but there is no doubt that some 
 expense bestowed upon their improvement, in some 
 of the modes above suggested, would be profitably 
 laid out. 
 
 OF MEADOW. 
 
 The crop being here annually carried off, it b3- 
 comes a matter of necessity, if the field is to be kept 
 permanently in grass, to apply manure occasionally, 
 if we would prevent a diminution of product. It is 
 affirmed that a perfectly thick bottom cannot be 
 maintained on permanent meadows in England, un- 
 less it is manured every second year Gypsum will
 
 152 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 effect much here upon dry soils, though there ita 
 i Ht-cts arc equivocal; but gypsum alone will not 
 suffice t-vcn here. The average product upon our 
 old grass-lauds will hardly average over a ton and a 
 half to the acre. With a biennial or triennial top- 
 dressing of dung or compost, where the sod is in 
 good condition, it is believed the average would be 
 double. 
 
 Meadows are subject to all the evils that are ex- 
 perienced in pastures from mosses, wetness, and the 
 diminution of the finer grasses, besides the greater 
 exhaustion of fertility consequent upon carrying off 
 the annual growth ; and the same measures are best 
 adapted to renovate them. Meadows are generally 
 depastured after the hay has been taken oft* and the 
 rowen partially grown. " After the cattle have been 
 removed,'' says an English writer, " the land is bush- 
 harrowed and rolled.' 1 '' It has been stated, though 
 some question the fairness of the experiment, that 
 the operation of heavy rolling has been found to add 
 six or seven hundred weight of hay per acre to the 
 produce of the crop.* 
 
 The effect of pasturing meadows in the spring 
 upon the coming grass-crop has been a matter upon 
 which farmers have differed, though all agree that 
 heavy cattle should not be kept on so late in au- 
 tumn, or put on so early in spring, as to injure the 
 sole of the sod by poaching it when in a wet state. 
 Mr. Sinclair has stated, that a given space of the 
 same quality of grass having been cut towards the 
 end of March, and another space of equal size left 
 uncut till the last week in April, the produce of each 
 having afterward been taken at three different cut- 
 tings, that of the space last cut exceeded the former 
 in the proportion of three to two ; and in one in- 
 Btance during a dry summer, the last cropped space 
 exceeded the other as nearly two to oue.f It is 
 
 * Derbyshire Report, vol. ii., p. 83. 
 
 t Treatise on Agriculture, p. 113, U4, Harpers' edition.
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS-LANDS. 153 
 
 generally conceded that it is better to feed off rowen 
 than to cut it as a second crop. 
 
 ON CONVERTING ARABLE OR PLOUGH-LAND INTO PER- 
 MANENT MEADOW OR PASTURE. 
 
 The first obstacle to encounter is the practice, yet 
 loo prevalent, of throwing plough-land into old field 
 or pasture, without stocking it with grass-seeds. 
 We lay it down as an unerring rule in good hus- 
 bandry, that ploughed fields intended to be conve r t- 
 ed in pasture or meadow should be well stocked 
 with grass-seeds ; and, as next in importance, that 
 as many species of grass-seeds be sown as can be 
 procured or are adapted to the soil ; and that, if 
 possible, there be included the seeds of those grass- 
 es which are either indigenous to, or which are 
 found to thrive well in, the immediate neighbour- 
 hood, and in similar soils. The reasons for recom- 
 mending several species are these : Each kind has 
 its particular season of growth, and exhausts a par- 
 ticular food in the soil ; and by multiplying the num- 
 ber, we are more apt to obtain a constant growth of 
 herbage, and a far more abundant supply of feed. 
 Thus, for instance, say a square foot of surface will 
 support but six stocks of timothy ; this grass, grow- 
 ing neither very early nor very late, the herbage 
 would neither be abundant nor permanent. But the 
 same square foot, which would support but six plants 
 of timothy, would support, at the same time (because 
 every kind requires its specific food), six plants of 
 five other species, say meadow fox-tail, red clover, 
 white clover, orchard, and tall oat-grass, or species 
 of the agrostis or fescue families. Of these six 
 kinds, some one would be in luxuriant growth at all 
 seasons, and the herbage would be increased from 
 three to four fold, if the soil be good, by the admix- 
 ture of the different seeds. 
 
 We cannot too often repeat, that pastures and 
 meadows are almost as much benefited by a rich
 
 154 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 soil, and a soil moist, not wet, as amble husbandry. 
 The food of the grass, as well as of the grain crop, 
 must come mainly from the soil; and if this food is 
 scanty, the crop will in like manner be scanty. 
 And, again, the more nutritious grasses will not 
 grow on soils habitually \\vt. 
 
 " The products of natural meadows," says Arm- 
 strong, " have been carefully and skilfully analyzed 
 in Germany, in Italy, in England, and in France ; 
 and the result shows that wet meadows contain the 
 smaller number of the different species of plants, 
 but the greater number of those which are either 
 useless or injurious ; and, on the other hand, that 
 moist meadows contain the greater number of the 
 former, and the smaller number of the latter. The 
 following simple table exhibits at a glance the pres- 
 ent state of knowledge on this important part of our 
 subject : 
 
 No. of Pilots. Uraeful. Vtelcm or bad. 
 
 In wet meadows ... 30 4 ' 26 
 
 In dry ... 38 8 30 
 
 In moist "... 42 17 25 
 
 " The agricultural labours suggested by these 
 fact.* are of two kinds : the eradicating of useless, 
 pernicious plants, and the continuance and mul'ipli- 
 cation of those which are good. The first of these 
 objects is promoted by mowing the meadows before 
 the seeds of noxious plants ripen, by pasturing them, 
 oni e in three years, with sheep, horses, and cattle 
 in succession ; by harrowing them in the spring and 
 fall ; by destroying by hand perennial weeds ; and, 
 lastly-, by sufficiently draining those that are wet. 
 
 " Many pernicious plants are annuals, and are kill- 
 ed by the first of these operations. A similar effect 
 is produced by the second ; the harrow or scarifier 
 will destroy mosses or other weeds whose roots 
 are fibrous and superficial ; the hand-hoe will extir- 
 pate such tap-rooted plants as resist the harrow and 
 are refused by cattle ; and Iraining will expel all 
 worthless aquatics."
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS-LANDS. 155 
 
 In order to obtain seeds of indigenous kinds which 
 are not to be had in the shops, it is common in Eu- 
 rope to have the seeds carefully gathered by chil- 
 dren, which, being sown on a well-prepared piece of 
 ground, and taken care of, will soon yield seeds for 
 far in -culture. It is easier to accommodate the plant 
 to the soil than to adapt the soil to the plant. 
 
 In laying down lands to permanent meadow o> 
 pasture, it is all-important to have the soil perfectly 
 broken and pulverized ; as the future value of th& 
 crop will depend upon the perfect germination of the 
 seeds, and this cannot be expected without a thor- 
 ough pulverization and preparation of the soil. It 
 is also important to sow plenty of seed. The 
 ground, to be sure, will sustain and nourish only a 
 certain number of plants ; yet it is better to go to 
 an extra expense for seed than to have a deficiency 
 of plants. It is usual, in Britain, to sow from ten 
 to sixteen pecks of grass-seed to the acre on lands 
 intended for permanent grass, and from six to \ 
 dozen species. Another practice there, entitled to 
 our notice, in laying down lands permanently to 
 grass, is to sow grass-seeds exclusively, that is, un- 
 accompanied with any sort of grain. A good turf is 
 the main object ; and if grain is sown with the grass- 
 seeds, it robs the soil of much of the food which is 
 necessary to nurture the young grass, and perma- 
 nent value is thereby sacrificed to temporary and 
 comparatively trifling profit. 
 
 The best time for sowing, for permanent grass-lands, 
 is said to be the early part of autumn, say in August 
 or the first of September, in order that the plants 
 may become well established before winter. Or, 
 the more hardy kinds may be sown then, and the ten- 
 derer kinds sown upon the same field in the spring, 
 as we sow clover upon the winter-grain. As the 
 seeds of grasses are generally small, the use of the 
 roller, to pulverize and press the earth upon them, 
 and to smooth the surface, is almost indispensable
 
 156 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 in good husbandry. It is considered of great advan- 
 tage to give a light dressing of compost or of rotted 
 dung to young grass ; and to avoid feeding it with 
 heavy animals the first year, before the turf has 
 thickened and become firm. 
 
 If the grounds laid down in grass are intended for 
 permanent meadow, reference should be had to the 
 grasses which are fit for the scythe at nearly the 
 same time. For information on this point, we refer 
 to p. 30, vol. iv., and to pages 11, 33, 47, and 63, vol. 
 iii., of the Cultivator. 
 
 Should pasture and meadow be made to alternate, 
 or should fields be kept exclusively for each 1 The 
 American practice is not to alternate ; and yet there 
 seems to be substantial reasons for a contrary 
 course. The object in both cases is to obtain the 
 greatest quantity and the best quality of food for 
 farm-stock ; and this object is promoted in both 
 cases by scarifying, draining, and top-dressing. La- 
 bour is as profitably laid out in improving our pas- 
 ture as our meadow grounds. But feeding and mow- 
 ing have different effects upon the soil. In one case 
 the crop is annually carried off, and in the other con- 
 sumed upon the ground. Meadows, therefore, di- 
 minish in fertility, while pasturing increases the 
 productive powers of the soil. Is it not proper, for 
 this reason alone, to alternate, in order to keep up 
 fertility ! But there is another argument: pastures 
 soon abound with biennial and perennial plants, as 
 thistles, mulleins, &c., which, as cattle do not con- 
 sume them, mature and shed their seed, and multiply 
 rapidly ; whereas, if they are occasionally converted 
 to meadows, these plants would be cut down before 
 the seed matured, and at least the biennials would 
 be soon extirpated. These weeds are as prejudicial 
 in pastures, in diminishing the quantity of herbage 
 as they are in meadows, and the same good manage- 
 ment requires their extirpation in both. 
 
 Something depends vn the size of enclosures. Small
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS- LANDS. 157 
 
 enclosures, say ten acres, are believed to be better 
 than large ones. Grass grows better when there is 
 no stock upon it than when it is subjected to the 
 constant tread of heavy animals ; hence it is deemed 
 economical to shift cattle occasionally from one en- 
 closure to another. Another advantage of small en- 
 closures is, it enables the farmer to keep different 
 classes of stock separate, and thereby prevent inju- 
 ries, which ofter occur to weaker animals from run- 
 ning with stronger ones. 
 
 " Respecting the stocking of enclosures (we quote 
 from British Husbandry), it is the opinion of the 
 most intelligent graziers, that the cattle fed upon 
 them should be divided in the following manner. 
 Supposing four fields, each containing a nearly equal 
 quantity of land, one of them should be kept entirely 
 free from stock until the grass has got up to its full 
 growth, when the prime or fattening cattle [or the 
 cows, where the dairy is the prominent business] 
 should be put into it, that they may get the best of 
 the food ; the second best should then follow ; and, 
 after them, either the working or store stock, with 
 lean sheep to eat the pastures close down: thus 
 making the whole of the stock eat over the four en- 
 closures in this succession : 
 No. 1. Clear of stock, and reserved for the fattening 
 
 beasts or cows. 
 
 No. 2. For the fatting beasts till sent to No. 1. 
 No. 3. For the second-best cattle, until forwarded 
 
 successively to Nos. 2 and 1. 
 No. 4. For stores and sheep to follow other cattle, 
 
 then to be shut up until the grass is again 
 
 ready at No. 1 for the fattening beasts," 
 
 p. 482. 
 
 " Land that is constantly mown must also be fre- 
 quently manured, or it will be thrown out of heart." 
 There is no doubt on this point. If the crop is fre- 
 quently carried off, and nothing in the shape of ve- 
 getable matter returned to the soil, the land must and
 
 158 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY 
 
 will deteriorate, till the crop will' not pay the laboul 
 of gathering it. Those, therefore, who will have 
 good, permanent meadows, must, once at least in 
 four years, give it a bountiful top-dressing of dung. 
 
 [We add here the following concise but valuable 
 report made to the Agricultural Society of this state, 
 on grasses and grass-lands, by L. E. ALLEN, Esq., of 
 Buffalo, merely remarking that we fully concur in' 
 the opinion expressed, that the quantity of grass- 
 seeds sown is in most cases far too limited.] 
 
 REPORT ON GRASSES AND GRASS-LANDS. 
 
 The committee on laying down grass-lands, &c., 
 report : 
 
 In the consideration of this subject, but two dis- 
 tinct propositions submit themselves to the reflec- 
 tion of the committee ; and, first : our soils in the 
 Northern states may be ranged, for the purpose of 
 this report, into two classes : the tenacious, whether 
 clayey, loamy, or vegetable ; and the silicious 01 
 sandy. These are sufficiently well known to every 
 farmer without analyzation. The first division of 
 these soils may be termed " natural grass-lands ;" 
 the second requires the grasses to be frequently cul- 
 tivated by rotation with other crops, and, for the 
 present purpose, may be termed " artificial" soils for 
 grasses. 
 
 In the management of the first, the committee feel 
 warranted in the assertion (and for the tnith of this 
 they appeal to the innumerable instances in all parts 
 of the Northern states, where large and productive 
 tracts of meadow and pastures have been in uninter- 
 rupted grass-culture for more than half a century), 
 that, so far as has yet been tried, lands may be kept 
 in grass for such a length of time as " the mem- 
 ory of man runneth not to the contrary." It is true 
 that there so ; ls will not, more than others, bear con-
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS-LANDS. 159 
 
 tinual cropping without occasional, nourishment, 
 with impunity ; but when once well seeded, by the 
 application of various manures, among which that 
 of the barnyard is the best, and in the absence of 
 close after- feeding, they will yield grass, as the com 
 mon saying is, "almost for ever." 
 
 In many sections of our country, where vegetable 
 loam preponderates upon a clayey or a hardpan sub- 
 soil, the ploughing up of meadows and pasture-lands 
 for many years is almost destructive to their future 
 production of grass ; and it is only by long and regu- 
 lar applications of mixed and rich manures that they 
 can be brought back to their primitive luxuriance 
 In proof of this remark, your committee need only 
 refer to some of the most celebrated and productive 
 grazing districts of the state, where the staple grass- 
 es of our country have been always successfully cul- 
 tivated. In frequent instances, perhaps in a large 
 majority of cases, lands of this description, which 
 have been cleared within the last fifty years, and are 
 now occupied as pasture and meadow, have never 
 been ploughed, but remain in the same uneven con- 
 dition of surface as they were left when the harrow 
 followed the first grain and grass-seed which were 
 deposited in them after clearing. Great reluctance 
 is usually manifested in disturbing these fields, al- 
 though somewhat inconvenient to the mower, their 
 proprietors being so well satisfied with their annual 
 crops as to prefer the old adage, and "let well 
 enough alone." Your committee have witnessed 
 instances of this description of soil, which have been 
 for thirty years in grass, and but slightly manured, 
 and, under very ordinary cultivation, producing in a 
 common season two or three tons of the finest hay 
 per acre. Such, however, are extraordinary cases 
 in favourable positions. An ordinary crop may be 
 one to two tons per acre, according to the care and 
 attention of the farmer. 
 It is true that these lands may become exhausted.
 
 160 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY 
 
 and the grass " run out," as the term goes, through 
 bad husbandry and neglect ; but the application of 
 yard-manures, of new grass-seeds and the harrow, 
 will, in nearly all instances, restore them to their 
 wonted luxuriance. It need hardly here be stated, 
 that irrigation, draining, and other artificial stimu- 
 lants may be important to the productiveness of the 
 meadow and the pasture ; but, as these always sug- 
 gest themselves to the judgment and good sense of 
 the cultivator, they do not necessarily come within 
 the province of this discussion. The quantity of 
 seed sown to the acre, for either pasture or meadbw, 
 should not be less than half a bushel ; the kind or va- 
 riety to depend somewhat upon the soil and its situ- 
 ation. For mowing, the red clover, timothy, and 
 red-top are the best and most desirable. For pasture, 
 the same, with the addition of white clover and blue 
 or June grass, which are almost everywhere indi- 
 genous to the soil, and are among the richest and 
 most nutritious of all our grasses. In fine, the sim- 
 plest methods compatible with the established rules 
 of good husbandry, your committee believe, with 
 such soils, are the best for their profitable and per- 
 petual cultivation. 
 
 In treating the second proposition, viz., the culti- 
 vation of grasses on the lighter soils, your commit- 
 tee will remark, that much must necessarily be left 
 to the judgment of the cultivator as to the time that 
 his lands are to be kept in grass, depending upon his 
 own necessities, or what he requires from his land. 
 As a general rule, if the raising of grass be an object, 
 so long as the lands produce well, either from their 
 natural fertility or by the application of artificial 
 stimulants, they should not be disturbed ; but when 
 the object is a regular rotation, with a strict regard 
 to the greatest profit, two to four years is sufficient 
 for the benefit of the land, and as long as such soils 
 will usually yield a grass-crop that will pay. It is 
 better that the soils be properly prepared, by pro-
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF GRASS-LANDS. 161 
 
 vious grain or root crops and abundant manuring, 
 and hy harrowing and rolling, for the reception of 
 grass-seeds, and that the manures of the farm, save, 
 perhaps, lime, ashes, and plaster, be withheld for 
 the use of the current ploughed crops, rather than 
 to expend them upon the grasses ; yet much must 
 depend upon the local position of the ground, the 
 climate, and the dry or moist condition of the soil. 
 
 The descriptions of grasses best fitted for these 
 soils are, so far as our experience has yet tested, the 
 red clover and timothy. They are strong, hardy, 
 and rich in their properties, universally known and 
 cultivated, and have, in competition with all rival ex- 
 periments, maintained their reputation and superior- 
 ity. The proportions of seed distributed on the soil 
 may vary with the views of the cultivator, as he in- 
 tends it for hay or for pasture, and may range from 
 one to two thirds of either variety ; but in no case, 
 for thorough seeding, should the combined quantity 
 be less than from half a bushel to three pecks per 
 acre. The great fault with our farmers is, that they 
 do not half seed their grass-lands, the usual allow- 
 ance being less than half the quantity recommended. 
 As to the time and manner of seeding, your commit- 
 tee unhesitatingly recommend the earliest spring, oh 
 a light loam ; or, if that be wanting, while the ground 
 is yet unsettled, on a crop of winter-grain. If this 
 be not practicable, the other best plan would be ei- 
 ther sowing with spring-grain, or seeding in the sum- 
 mer with buckwheat or turnips, as the occasion may 
 demand. 
 
 Ploughing into the soil an occasional grass-crop 
 for its renovation, in the absence of stimulating ma- 
 nures, cannot be too highly recommended in the 
 lighter soils ; and for succeeding crops of almost 
 any description, this process is also highly advanta- 
 geous, and may, without hesitation, be always rec- 
 ommended. 
 
 As the discussion of this subject at greater length 
 I. N
 
 162 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 would lead your committee into minute details not 
 required by their duties on this occasion, they beg 
 leave to close their communication with the follow- 
 ing suggestion to all who would cultivate grasses : 
 
 Read attentively, and follow the practical rules 
 laid down in the best agricultural papers of the day, 
 and no intelligent farmer need be at a loss to under- 
 stand how he may most successfully cultivate his 
 lands with grasses. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PLANTS. 
 
 The Germination of Seeds. Roots and Leaves. Extent of (he 
 Roots of Plants. 
 
 THE GERMINATION OF SEEDS. 
 
 SEEDS often fail to grow ; and the seedsman is of- 
 ten found fault with for vending bad seeds, when 
 they are really good, and when the cause of their 
 not growing is owing to the gardener or planter. To 
 induce germination, moisture, atmospheric air, and 
 a certain temperature are indispensable; and it is 
 also requisite that light be excluded from the seed 
 until the nutriment in it is exhausted, or until the 
 root can draw nourishment from the soil. The first 
 effect of the air, heat, and moisture upon the seed is 
 to change its properties ; to convert its starch into 
 sugar into a sort of milky pulp, the proper food of 
 the embryo plant. If at this stage the seed becomes 
 dry, its vitality is believed to be destroyed ; but if 
 the agents referred to are permitted to exert their 
 influence, the contents of the seed swell by degrees, 
 ind the point of the future root being formed, breaks 
 through the shell in a downward direction, while,
 
 PLANTS. 1 63 
 
 about the same time, the point of the future stem 
 comes forth in an upward direction. The presence 
 of air, heat, and moisture are afterward as indispen- 
 sable to the growth of the plant as they were to the 
 germination of the seed. 
 
 Now it often happens, that wheji seeds are planted 
 in fresh-stirred ground, or when the soil is moist, 
 they undergo the incipient process of fermentation, 
 and the earth not being pressed upon them, and dry 
 weather ensuing, the moisture is abstracted, and the 
 seeds perish. Too much moisture is also often de- 
 structive to the vital principle of seeds ; while others, 
 again, are buried too deep to be vivified by solar and 
 atmospheric influence. The first object in planting, 
 therefore, should be, to place the seed just so far un- 
 der the surface, and to cover it with so much earth, as 
 shall barely secure to it a constant supply of moist- 
 ure. There are many seeds, as of the carrot, parsnip, 
 orchard-grass, &c., which, if not previously steeped, 
 or the soil well pulverized and pressed upon them, 
 fail to grow for want of moisture. Hence, in sow- 
 ing orchard-grass, it is found prudent to spread the 
 seed upon a floor and sprinkle it with water, and to 
 pass a roller over the ground after it is sown. And 
 hence, in loose garden mould, it is advisable to press 
 the earth with the hoe or the spade upon all light 
 seeds after they are sown. 
 
 But we would draw the attention of the farmer, 
 as well as of the gardener, to another mode of pre- 
 venting failure and disappointment in the growth of 
 certain seeds; and that is, by sprouting them before 
 they are planted. This may be conveniently done 
 with Indian corn, pumpkins, mangold-wurzel, beets, 
 &c., on the farm, and with melons, cucumbers, beans, 
 peppers, and a great number of other seeds which 
 are assigned to the garden. The mode of doing it 
 with the field-seeds we have named is this : steep 
 them from twelve to twenty hours in tepid water ; 
 then pour off the water, and leave them in a warm
 
 164 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 place, covered, to exclude the light and prevent their 
 drying, or in a dark cellar or room, and the radicles 
 or roots will shoot in a few days, and may then be 
 planted without injury. Having been obliged to sus- 
 pend our planting for four days on account of rain, 
 we found our seed, which had been previously steep- 
 ed and set by in a dark room, with radicles two or 
 three inches long. It was planted, however, with 
 but little inconvenience, and did remarkably well. 
 Mr. J. Nott sprouted" a part of his corn last year, and 
 a part of it was not sprouted ; and, what is worthy 
 the particular notice of farmers, he assures us that 
 the sprouted corn was not hurt by the wire-worm, while 
 the unsprouted seed was seriously injured, although 
 planted by the side of each other. Mr. Nott ac- 
 counts for the difference in this way : the wire-worm 
 attacks the chit, and feeds upon and destroys the 
 germe : but the radicles having already protruded, 
 and not being to the taste of the worm, the insect 
 attacked the solid part of the kernel, where its prog- 
 ress was too slow and too remote from the germe 
 to retard its growth. Mr. Nott also sprouted his 
 mangold-wurzel-seed, and planted it as late as the 
 27th of June. Almost every seed grew, and the 
 crop might be called a good one early in September. 
 
 To sprout garden-seeds, procure two sods of equal 
 size, say eighteen inches square ; place one in the 
 corner of the kitchen chimney, with the grass down ; 
 lay your seeds upon it, and if they are small, wrap 
 thrmjn a piece of brown paper ; then place the other 
 sod upon them, with the grass up ; water well with 
 warm water, and the seeds will sprout in from 
 twenty-four to forty-eight hours. 
 
 There is one manifest advantage in sprouting 
 seeds : it tests their goodness, and shows whether 
 they will or will not grow. A small quantity of 
 seed-corn submit tod to this test before planting, 
 would in many instances prevent great loss to the 
 farmer.
 
 PLANTS. 165 
 
 ROOTS AND LEAVES. 
 
 Plants may be said to consist of two great pzdhs, 
 the root and the stem, with their various appenda- 
 ges. But since we are in this place merely to con- 
 sider one function of vegetable life, namely, the 
 function of absorption, or the manner in which plants 
 bring matter, external to themselves, within the 
 range of their vital actions, we may confine our re- 
 searches almost entirely to the roots and leaves ; 
 these being, beyond doubt, the parts by which ex- 
 traneous matter is first received into the plant ; and, 
 in the first place> let us examine the functions of the 
 root. 
 
 The term root is generally considered to include 
 all that part of the plant which is beneath the sur- 
 face of the soil. This, however, "is not strictly cor- 
 rect ; for many plants possess what botanists call 
 a rhizoma, or underground stem. The true root is 
 that part of the plant which, from the instant of its 
 bursting the coverings of the seed, begins to direct 
 its course downward (or towards the earth's axis), 
 " with a tendency so powerful that no known -force 
 is sufficient to overcome it." Moreover, it differs 
 from the stem in many of its characters ; thus, it 
 does not divide itself into smaller fibres in the regu- 
 lar manner in which stems generally give off their 
 branches. Again, it never produces leaves or scales ; 
 and another important distinction is, "that it never 
 becomes green (at least in tissue) when exposed to 
 the action of air and light, while all the other parts 
 of vegetables, when thus exposed, assume that col- 
 our." The root is divided into the body and fibres, 
 the latter of which will alone claim our attention. 
 These fibres are furnished at their extremities with 
 a remarkable structure, which, from its resemblance 
 to a sponge, has been termed spongiole. It consists 
 of an extremely loose texture, and is most probably 
 merely " the nuwly-formed" internal " tissue" of the
 
 166 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 root itself, deprived of its more dense covering or 
 cuticle, as it is termed. This opinion is very much 
 strengthened by the well-established fact, that roots 
 grow by their extremities only, in this manner the 
 spongiole is always being renewed ; and, what is of 
 still more consequence, is never long in one place. 
 On ihis account it is that plants which live many 
 years (if not growing too near othera of the same 
 kind) are not liable to die from having exhausted the 
 soil ; or, in other words, are not liable to be starved 
 to death ; for it is evident that, by the constant 
 change of position of the spongiole, which is the only 
 part of the root by which nourishment is received 
 into the plant, there must be a constant supply of 
 food, so long as the soil around it contains any or- 
 ganic matter in a jit state for absorption. It has 
 been shown, by innumerable experiments, that the 
 spongioles, or absorbent extremities of the roots, 
 cannot take up anything but fluids ; or, at all events, 
 if they can absorb solids, they must be in such a 
 minute state of division that they would remain sus- 
 pended in water even for a considerable time, which 
 is a fineness of particles far greater than will proba- 
 bly ever be attained by any mechanical means. 
 
 It has likewise been proved that plants are capa- 
 ble of choosing, to a certain degree, their food ; or, in 
 other words, of selecting those substances which 
 are best adapted for their peculiar nature, and re- 
 jecting what would be injurious. This power, how- 
 ever, appears to be limited, as it is perfectly possible 
 to destroy a 'plant by giving it poison by the roots. 
 The root, moreover, has the power of excretion, or 
 returning to the earth such matters as are either 
 useless or injurious. From this last property of 
 roots, we may draw two valuable conclusions : first, 
 that, in order to poison a plant, the substance used 
 must be capable of acting rapidly, or it will most 
 probably be rejected before it has had time to pro- 
 duce its effect ; and, secondly, that, since plants reject
 
 PLANTS. 167 
 
 substances useless and injurious to them, the soil 
 where they grow may in time become so impreg- 
 nated with such substances as to render it incapable 
 of supporting the same species of plant any longer ; 
 or, at least, until such time as the rejected matter 
 shall have been decomposed. The next purpose 
 which the roots of all land, and of the majority of 
 aquatic plants, serve, is obviously to fix them firmly 
 in their places. On tin's account, we find, in many 
 cases, that a certain proportion exists between the 
 size of the stem and the root. This, however, is 
 subject to exceptions. But, on the other hand, in all 
 cases, an obvious relation may be perceived between 
 the form of the root and the kind of soil in which the 
 plant grows. Thus, if two specimens of the same 
 plant some of the grasses, for example be found 
 growing, the one in clayey, the other in a sandy soil, 
 it will be seen, on examination, that the root of the 
 one growing in the sand is much more minutely sub- 
 divided, and contains many more small fibres, than 
 the one which grows in clay ; and the reason of this 
 is obvious. We have already seen that the spon- 
 gioles are the only absorbent parts of the root ; that 
 they exist only at the extremities of the smallest 
 fibres ; and, moreover, that they can take up nothing 
 but what is presented to them in the form of solu- 
 tion. Now, in the clayey soil, from its retentive 
 nature, the soluble parts are not allowed to drain 
 away ; and hence the plant is supplied with food 
 near at hand, and, consequently, a few short fibres 
 are sufficient. On the other hand, plants growing in 
 sand are frequently deprived of. all fluid near them 
 by the sinking of the soluble matters through the 
 loosely aggregated soil ; in which case the plant 
 would inevitably perish from starvation, were it not 
 for the wise law of nature, which provides against 
 such calamities by endowing the roots of plants 
 placed under such circumstances with the power of 
 shooting forth innumerable minute fibres in all direc-
 
 163 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 tions, in order that advantage may be taken of every 
 drop of moisture which falls in their neighbourhood. 
 Nor is it merely in the number of minute fibres that 
 the roots of plants growing in sand differ from those 
 which inhabit the stiffer soils. The form of the body 
 of the root is distinct : thus, nearly all bulbous and 
 other large succulent roots as the turnip, for exam- 
 ple require sandy soil ; and, moreover, some plants, 
 as that species of grass named Phleum pratense 
 (meadow cat's-tail, or timothy grass), change the 
 form of the root according to the soil they inhabit. 
 In stiff clays, the plant just mentioned has a fibrous 
 root, whereas in sand it becomes bulbous, and as- 
 sumes all the characters of Phleum nodosum. The 
 explanation here is as evident as in the former case. 
 The bulbs of the roots act as reservoirs of food for 
 the plant : thus, in very dry seasons, these bums 
 shrivel up, their fluids being all needed, by the rest of 
 the plant, and hence withdrawn. So beautifully do 
 we perceive in this, as in all other cases, that design 
 and adaptation of means to specific purposes, which 
 must impress even the most skeptical with the ab- 
 solute existence of a Great First Cause. Maiden, 
 
 EXTENT OF THE ROOTS OF PLANTS. 
 
 Roots perform a double office to plants : they 
 serve as braces to keep them in an upright position, 
 and they are purveyors to supply them with food 
 suitable to their growth and maturity. To enable 
 them to perform these offices well, three requisites 
 in the soil are essential. First, it is important that 
 the soil be mellow, that the roots may penetrate it 
 freely, not only to strengthen their bracing power, 
 but to extend their range for food, this being absorb- 
 ed or taken up by the spongioles or extreme points ; 
 and the greater their range the more abundant the 
 food which they supply. Secondly, it is important 
 that this food be in the soil, in a soluble state ; that 
 is, in a condition to be dissolved by, and incorporated
 
 PLANTS. 1(39 
 
 with, the fluids in the soil. This food consists of 
 vegetable and animal matters, or of whatever has 
 been such. Thirdly, it is important that a quantity 
 of moisture be always present in the soil, to dissolve 
 the focd of plants, or to serve as the medium for 
 conveying it first to the spongioles, and from thence 
 into and through the plant. Air, heat, and moisture 
 are all essential agents in preparing the food of 
 plants in the soil, and in giving vigour to vegetable 
 growth. 
 
 It should be the object of the farmer and gardener 
 to aid these natural operations in cultivated crops j 
 and to repay the soil, by labour and skill, for the an- 
 nual tribute which they draw from it. These la- 
 bours consist in returning to it vegetable food (ma- 
 nure) equivalent to that which they annually take 
 from it ; in rendering it mellow and penetrable to the 
 roots of the growing crop ; in regulating the supply 
 of water, too much being as hurtful as too little ; and 
 in keeping the surface loose and porous, for the free 
 admission of air, heat, and moisture. Hence the ad- 
 vantage of deep tillage, perfect pulverization, drain- 
 ing, manuring, and the frequent use of the cultivator 
 among drilled or hoed crops ; and these considera- 
 tions also suggest one objection against using the 
 plough in the culture of these crops, and earthing or 
 hilling them to any considerable extent ; as both of 
 these modes of culture, ploughing and hilling, tend 
 to curtail the natural range of the roots, and, conse- 
 quently, to diminish the pasture and food of the crop. 
 
 The depth and horizontal spread of roots are 
 greater than is generally apprehended, as they often 
 branch into minute filaments imperceptible to the 
 naked eye ; still these minute imperceptible fila- 
 ments collect" food for the parent plant. Jethro Tull, 
 the father of drill-husbandry, has given us a good 
 and satisfactory illustration of the great extension of 
 the roots of the common turnip, which we here in- 
 sert, not only to convince our readers of the fact, but 
 I.
 
 170 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 to illustrate the importance of good ploughing and 
 thorough pulverization in tillage husbandry. We 
 invite attention to the cut, and then to the explana- 
 tion in the words of Tull. 
 
 " A method to find the distance to which roots extend 
 horizontally. A piece or plat, dug and made fine, in 
 whole, hard ground (Fig. 1), the end A two feet, the 
 end B 12 feet, the length of the piece 20 yards: 
 the figures in the middle of it are 20 turnips, sown 
 early and well hoed. The manner of this hoeing 
 must be at first near the plants, with a spade, and 
 each time afterward a foot distance, till the earth be 
 once well dug ; and, if weeds appear where it has 
 been so dug, hoe them out shallow with the hand- 
 hoe. But dig all the piece next the outlines deep 
 every time, that it may be the finer for the roots to 
 enter when they are permitted to come thither. If 
 the turnips be all bigger as they stand nearer to the 
 nd B, it is a proof that they all extend to the out- 
 side of the piece, and the turnip 20 will appear to 
 draw .nourishment from six feet distance from its 
 centre. But if the turnips 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 ac- 
 
 Su're no greater bulk than the turnip 15, it will be 
 ear that their roots extend no farther than those cf 
 the turnip 15 does, which is but about 4 feet. By this 
 method the extent of the roots of any plant may be 
 discovered. There is another way to find the length 
 of roots, by making a long narrow trench at the dis- 
 tance you expect they will extend to, and fill it with 
 salt ; if the plant be killed by the salt, it is certain 
 that some of its roots enter it. 
 
 " What put me upon trying this method was an ob- 
 servation of two lands or ridges (Fig. No. 2), drilled 
 with turnips in rows, a foot asunder, and very even 
 in them ; the ground at both ends and on one side 
 was hard and unploughed. The turnips, not being 
 hoed, were very poor, small, and yellow, except the 
 three outside rows,., c, d, which stood next to the 
 land (or ridge) E, which land, being ploughed and
 
 PLANTS. 
 
 171
 
 172 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 harrowed at the time the land A ought to have been 
 hoed, gave a dark, flourishing colour to these three 
 rows ; and the turnips in the row d, which stood 
 farthest off from the new-ploughed land K, received 
 so much benefit from it as to grow twice as big as 
 any of the more distant rows. The row c, being a 
 foot nearer to the new-ploughed land, became twice 
 as large as those in d; but the row b, which was 
 next to the land E, grew much larger yet. F is a 
 piece of hard, whole ground, of about two perches 
 in length, and about two or three feet broad, lying 
 between those two lands which had not been plough- 
 ed that year. It was remarkable, that, during the 
 length of this interjacent hard ground, the rows d, c, b 
 were as small and yellow as any in the land. The 
 turnips in the row rf, about three feet from the land 
 E, receiving a double increase, proves that they had 
 as much nourishment from the land E as from the 
 land A, wherein they stood, which nourishment was 
 brought by less than half the number of roots of 
 these turnips. In their own land they must have 
 extended a yard all roun3, else they could not have 
 reached the land E, wherein it is probable that these 
 few roots went more than another yard, to give each 
 turnip as much increase as all the roots had done iu 
 their own land. Except that it will hereafter ap- 
 pear that the new nourishment taken at the extrem 
 ities of the roots in the land E might enable the 
 plants to send out more roots in their own land, and 
 receive something more from thence. The row c 
 being twice as big as the row rf, must be supposed 
 to extract twice as far; and the row b four times as 
 far, in proportion as it was of a bulk quadruple to 
 the row J." 
 
 " When roots are in a tilled state," says Tull, " a 
 great pressure is made against them by the earth, 
 which constantly subsides, and presses their food 
 closer and closer, even into their mouths, until itself 
 becomes so hard and close that the weak sorts of
 
 PLANTS. 173 
 
 roots can penetrate no farther into it unless reopen- 
 ed by new tillage." 
 
 Tull's work was published a hundred years ago. 
 ft has been quoted and commented upon by most 
 of the subsequent writers upon agriculture ; and the v 
 facts above stated have never been controverted nor 
 doubted, either by these writers, nor, so far as we 
 have learned, by practical farmers. They are. there- 
 fore, undisputed. Why is it that cultivated crops 
 upon the margins of fields, and about stumps and 
 fast stones, give more dwarfish plants and less pro- 
 duct than the well-tilled portions of the field 1 It is 
 not owing to the poverty of the soil ; for these por- 
 tions abound most in the elements of fertility, by 
 reason of the plough, on being raised from the fur- 
 row, depositing there the finest and richest mould. 
 Why do meadows deteriorate 1 Is it not because 
 the roots of plants have not a sufficient range in 
 mellow earth to supply the requisite food ; and be- 
 cause the unbroken soil " becomes so hard and close, 
 that the weak sort of roots can penetrate no farther 
 into if?" 
 
 There are some practical improvements which we 
 would draw from the preceding facts. And, 
 
 First : In regard to the use of the plough in Indian 
 corn and other hoed crops. The roots of Indian 
 corn are known, from repeated observation, to ex- 
 tend in the soil at least six, eight, and ten feet ; and, 
 if planted in squares four feet apart, each hill has 
 virtually a pasture of four feet square to feed upon. 
 Now if the plough is run both ways through the 
 crop, this pasture is reduced to at least two square 
 feet, for the roots which furnish sustenance are 
 within reach of the plough, and must be cut by it. 
 Hence the plough, where it is employed, reduces 
 the pasture of each hill from sixteen to four square 
 feet, or three tourths. 
 
 Secondly : In regard to the application of manure, 
 whether it should be applied in hills and drills, or
 
 174 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 spread broadcast. The roots extend simultaneously 
 with the stems, and draw sustenance for the plant 
 through their extreme points. Hence, by the time 
 the crop is first dressed, the roots have extended be- 
 yond the manure deposited in the hill, and, conse- 
 quently, the plant derives but a partial benefit from 
 this central deposite of food. If, on the other hand, 
 the manure is spread broadcast, the roots, as they 
 extend, are constantly reaching new supplies, and 
 the plant is sustained in undiminished vigour. 
 
 Thirdly: In regard to fallow crops instead of na 
 ked fallows. Where sward ground receives but one 
 plmghing (but that should be a thorough one), the 
 vegetable matter of the surface is turned completely 
 under, safe from the wasting influences of the weath- 
 er. This vegetable matter readily decomposes, fur- 
 nishing a permeable stratum for the roots, the food 
 which these roots seek for, and moisture to convey 
 it to the plants. As the roots of the sod decay, the 
 upper stratum becomes permeable to heat and air, 
 and crumbles into a fine tilth. In the case of naked 
 fallows, a good portion of the vegetable matter is 
 lost by being turned to the surface at the second 
 ploughing, and the ground consequently becomes 
 more compact, and is not so readily penetrated by 
 the roots of the crop, nor by heat, air, and moisture, 
 the essential agents of vegetable growth. And, 
 
 Fourthly: The facts which we have detailed af- 
 ford a strong argument in favour of the alternating 
 system of husbandry wherever it can be introduced ; 
 of periodically breaking and pulverizing the soil with 
 the plough, harrow, and roller, and with root-crops, 
 thereby rendering it more congenial to the growth 
 of grasses and small grain.
 
 SWINE. 175 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 [THE following report, made by C. N. BEMENT, 
 Esq., at the annual meeting of the New- York State 
 Agricultural Society, will be found to embrace much 
 valuable information on the several breeds, as well 
 as the treatment of this animal. In scarcely any 
 instance has improvement been more manifest than 
 in the case of swine ; and it must be admitted, thai 
 in no case was such improvement more needed. 
 For farther information on this subject we refer to 
 the Cultivator, vol. vii., No. 1.] 
 
 Until recently, very little attention has been paid 
 to the breeds of our farm-stock; and pigs, being 
 considered an inferior species of domestic animals, 
 have been the last to engage the attention of the 
 farmer : even at the present day, in many districts 
 of our country, the old, unprofitable kinds of this 
 animal continue to prevail. Indeed, systematic 
 breeding, with a view to improve the form and value 
 of the animal, may be said to have hardly com- 
 menced among us, the improvements which are 
 perceptible being rather the fruits of European thak 
 American skill. 
 
 A common error in this country has been to re- 
 gard more the size of the animal than its symmetry 
 or good points ; to estimate a breed according to the 
 great weight which it could be made to attain rather 
 than the profit with which it could be fitted to the 
 hands of the butcher the most material point to the
 
 176 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 farmer. But experience is teaching us a new lesson 
 on this head. Butchers now judge of an animal, not 
 according to its gross weight, but according to its 
 good points, or the value of the meat which it car- 
 ries. Breeders have learned to prefer those which, 
 with a given quantity of food, will lay on the most 
 meat. And the consumer has learned, too, that 
 meat that shows the most solid fat is neither the 
 most healthy, the most savoury, nor the most eco- 
 nomical. It is the due admixture of fat and lean, or 
 the prevalence of what is termed fat-lean (such as 
 is seen in the Devonshire ox and the South Down 
 sheep) that gives the greatest value to butcher's meat. 
 
 It was lately remarked by an eminent breeder in 
 England, Mr. Gray, at an agricultural dinner, that he 
 could feed, on an acre of land, a greater number of 
 pounds of mutton, in carcasses from 18 to 20 Ibs. 
 per quarter, than in carcasses from 28 to 30 Ibs. per 
 quarter ; and that a quarter of mutton from a sheep 
 of 18 to 20 Ibs. weight per quarter is worth more in 
 proportion than from a sheep of 30 Ibs. per quarter ; 
 and, consequently, that the advantage is on the side 
 of the smaller carcasses. And he assigned this 
 among other reasons, that, in case of drought or 
 scarcity, a small animal can collect as much food as 
 a larger one, and, having a smaller carcass, it de- 
 rives more advantage from it ; that, while the larger 
 is losing in condition, the smaller one, if not impro- 
 ving, is remaining stationary ; and when the period 
 arrives at which an abundance of food can be ob- 
 tained, it almost immediately recovers itself, and is 
 fit to go to market sooner than the larger animal. 
 
 These remarks are found to hold good in regard 
 to swine as well as sheep. The same quantum of 
 food that will give 600 Ibs. to hogs of a very large 
 breed, will fatten two hogs of 300 Ibs. each ; and the 
 meat of the latter, though not so fat, will be of the 
 better quality. This and other considerations have 
 giren to what is termed the Berkshires a decided
 
 SWINE. 17? 
 
 superiority, both in England and America, over most 
 other breeds. 
 
 The history of the introduction of this breed 
 among us was stated in the report upon swine made 
 at the last meeting of this society. Since that time, 
 the demand for this breed of pigs, from almost every 
 state in the Union, has greatly increased, and prices, 
 in some cases, have almost ' exceeded credulity. 
 Two hundred and fifty, three hundred, and even five 
 hundred dollars a pair, have been, paid for them. 
 Nor have they been found deficient in weight when 
 they have had time to mature their growth. They 
 have been fattened to weigh five, six, and seven 
 hundred pounds ; and one, eighteen months old, pur- 
 chased of Judge Buel, was brought to this market 
 last week from Fulton county, which weighed, when 
 dressed, 633 Ibs., the carcass of which sold in the 
 market at about $56. 
 
 But it is not the weight which this breed of hogs 
 may be brought to that gives them their great in- 
 trinsic value. They are docile, quiet, come to early 
 maturity, have but little offal, give a large and ex- 
 cellent ham, one of the most valuable parts, sweet, 
 sound, and high-flavoured pork, and make, it is be- 
 lieved, as great, if not greater returns for the food 
 consumed, than any other breed among us. 
 
 It is a matter of congratulation to the admirer of 
 this breed of hogs, that Mr. Lossing,pf this city, has 
 recently imported three animals of this breed, care- 
 fully selected by Mr. Hawes in England. This, it 
 is hoped, will prevent the necessity of breeding in- 
 and-in, and thus preserve to us the breed in its pu- 
 rity. 
 
 In corroboration of the high opinion entertained 
 of this breed of hogs, I will state that Col. Williams, 
 a spirited and wealthy gentleman residing on Long 
 Island, desirous of procuring a superior breed of 
 hogs, wrote to his friend and agent at Liverpool to 
 procure for him, without regard to price, six pigs of the
 
 178 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 le.it breed in England, and to take time arid satisfy 
 himself before purchasing. After diligent inquiry, 
 his friend finally settled on the Berkshire, as being 
 considered, taking all things into view, the best and 
 most approved breed, and purchased seven, four 
 males and three females, being the entire litter (the 
 owner refusing to sell a part), and forwarded them 
 to New- York, where they arrived in October last. 
 One of the male pigs will be sent to the chairman 
 of this committee in the spring, which will go still 
 farther to keep the breed from degenerating. 
 
 There are other good breeds of hogs in some sec- 
 tions of the country, each of which has its advocates 
 and admirers, such as the Bedford or \Voburn, 
 Mackey, Leicesters, Mocho, China, Byfield, and 
 Grass-breed, as they are termed. 
 
 Much loss has been sustained by our fanners in 
 not keeping up the purity of blood when possessed, 
 the importance of which has been too little regard- 
 ed; and, before they were aware of it, the good 
 qualities were lost, either by breeding in-and-in, or 
 by crossing with inferior animals. 
 
 As it regards the choice of hogs for breeding, it is 
 recommended that the male should be small-headed, 
 deep and broad in the chest, the chine rather arched, 
 the ribs and barrel well rounded, and the hams fall- 
 ing full down nearly to the hock. He should also 
 be more compact in his form, and rather smaller 
 than the female ; for if she be coarse, her progeny 
 will be improved in form and flesh by the cross ; and 
 ths more roomy she is, the better chance will she 
 afford of producing a large and healthy Utter. Re- 
 specting her make, no other observation need be 
 made than to choose her of a deep and capacious 
 body, with a good appearance, and belonging to as 
 perfect a race as can be found. 
 
 The boar should be well fed, and, when young, 
 used sparingly. The sow should also be kept in 
 good condition, so as to support her offspring, but
 
 SWINE. 179 
 
 should not be made too fat : for, if in very high or- 
 der, she will probably bring but a weak and indiffer- 
 ent litter of pigs. She should not be allowed to far- 
 row in the winter, as the young are then extremely 
 tender, of all animals the least able to endure cold, 
 and thrive with great difficulty. March and the first 
 of April for the spring, and August and September 
 for the fall litters, are therefore to be preferred as 
 the best seasons for farrowing. 
 
 When breeders possess a good kind of stock, they 
 are too apt to follow it up by breeding what is term- 
 ed " in-and-in" with the same family ; a practice 
 which, it is well known, cannot be successfully per- 
 severed in ; for the animals will become bad feeders, 
 grow delicate, fall off in size, and almost entirely 
 give up breeding ; and, should they casually have a 
 litter, the pigs will be small and weak, and die al- 
 most as soon as they are born. 
 
 It not unfrequently happens that a young sow will 
 devour her young : she should, therefore, be care- 
 fully watched, and well fed when about to farrow, 
 which may be known by her carrying straw in her 
 mouth to form her bed. It is a good precaution to 
 sponge the backs of the pigs immediately after they 
 are born with a strong infusion of aloes in lukewarm 
 water, as its bitter taste will. prevent her from de- 
 stroying them : care should also be taken, before 
 farrowing, to separate her from other hogs. She 
 should have a dry and warm place, and be provided 
 with a good supply of straw cut short, to prevent 
 the pigs from getting entangled, in which case she 
 is apt to lay upon and kill them. To protect the 
 pigs, an open frame or strong rail on each side of 
 her, elevated a few inches from the ground, under 
 which the pigs may run, has been recommended. 
 Eight or ten days after farrowing, the sow may be 
 allowed to leave her sty for a short time every 
 day, and when the pigs acquire a little strength they 
 may accompany her. A grass-field is the best place,
 
 ISO AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 for the herbage improves the sow's milk ; the piga 
 also grow faster as well as more healthy, and tlie 
 sty is rendered more cleanly by their absence. If 
 the brood be numerous, they should be lessened, in 
 order to relieve the sow, to eight, or, at most, nine; 
 though from ten to thirteen have been brought up 
 in perfect order, without any apparent injury to the 
 mother. In such cases, however, she should be a 
 strong and healthy animal, as well as supplied with 
 an abundance of the most nutritious food. During 
 the whole period of her nursing, the offals of the 
 kitchen or dairy-wash, with shipstuffs, ground oats, 
 barley, buckwheat, or corn, mixed and given luke- 
 warm morning and evening, and in the middle of 
 the day, boiled potatoes, beets, or carrots, with a 
 little Indian meal, or pease and barley ground and 
 mixed, or something equally nutritious, may be fed 
 to her. 
 
 The young pigs, even while sucklers, should not 
 be left wholly to the nourishment offered by the 
 sow, but should be furnished, two or three times a 
 day, with skim-milk, or buttermilk-whey, or pot 
 liquor, made lukewarm, and having a little meal, 
 shorts, and boiled roots mixed up with it ; or, if this 
 be thought too troublesome, skim-milk, with a small 
 quantity of meal, may be left constantly for them 
 in a part of the sty to which the sow cannot have 
 access. In six or seven weeks they will generally 
 weigh from thirty to thirty-five pounds, and be 
 strong enough to wean. After weaning, they should 
 not only be kept dry and clean, but regularly fed. 
 
 The importance of swine, to consume the refuse 
 or coarse grain of the farm, and for the production 
 of manure, is too well known to the farmer to require 
 farther notice. 
 
 Pigs that come in March and are intended to be 
 killed in December, should be well fed with the wash 
 of the kitchen and dairy from the time of weaning, 
 should have a run in good clover where there is 
 plenty ol water, and. as soon as pease will answer, a
 
 SWINE. 181 
 
 small'quantity of these should be added to their food 
 daily, to be increased as they increase in size : feed- 
 ing and fattening hogs exclusively on corn, at the 
 present high prices, it is evident, would be a losing 
 and ruinous concern. It is therefore recommended, 
 that, as soon as the harvesting of potatoes com- 
 mences, the hogs should Lc: confined and fed with 
 boiled or steamed potatoes, with a few pumpkins, 
 beets, or carrots : pease also, and oats and buck- 
 wheat ground together, should be well mixed when 
 hot, and fed lukewarm regularly three times per day. 
 Great care should be taken not to cloy their appe- 
 tites by giving them more than they will eat at each 
 time ; and, as they advance, it is recommended to 
 feed them a little at a time several times in the day. 
 To keep them easy and quiet, much depends on reg- 
 ularity ; for they are much better observers of time 
 than many are aware of. 
 
 To harden and give solidity to their flesh, about 
 two or three weeks previous to their being killed 
 they should be plentifully fed with c6rn and pure 
 water ; but it would be more economical to have the 
 corn reduced to meal, and, if convenient, made into 
 mush or pudding, adding a little salt by way of relish. 
 A little fine charcoal thrown into their pens occa- 
 sionally, and a small quantity of sulphur mixed with 
 the food, will add much to their health. 
 
 It has been ascertained that one bushel of grain, 
 ground and cooked, will go nearly as far as two in 
 its whole state ; and these remarks will apply equal- 
 ly well to grown hogs. 
 
 March pigs, well fattened, weighing from 200 to 
 250 pounds, and killed in December, will command 
 in this market the highest price ; but for consump- 
 tion on the farm, an older and larger hog is recom- 
 mended, say from 300 to 400 pounds. 
 
 Hogs treated as above, if of a good breed, will re- 
 quire from six to eight weeks to fatten them suffi- 
 ciently for slaughtering.
 
 182 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 
 
 Native Sheep. Spanish Merino. Saxon Merino. New Lei- 
 cester or Kakewell Breed. South Down. The Influence or 
 Effect of Feed on the Quantity and Quality of the Wool and 
 Carcass. 
 
 [THE first part of this chapter consists of a report, 
 made by Col. H. S. RANDALL, of Cortland county, to 
 the State Agricultural Society, and presents the 
 best history of the several breeds of sheep, and their 
 introduction into this country, that has yet been pre- 
 sented to the American public. The raising of 
 sheep and the growing of wool have become one of 
 our greatest agricultural interests, and deserves a 
 proportionate share of public attention. To those 
 engaged in these pursuits, this paper will be most 
 acceptable. The second part of this chapter is a 
 similar report, made to the same society, on the man- 
 agement of sheep, by FRANCIS ROTCH, Esq., of Ot- 
 sego county, the present able and respected pres- 
 ident of the State Agricultural Society, whose expe- 
 rience in the management of cattle and sheep, and 
 Judgment of their respective qualities, is probably 
 not exceeded by that of any other individual in this 
 country. The course pointed out in the report is 
 plain, and the advantages resulting from following it 
 are great and certain.]
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 183 
 
 NATIVE SHEEP. 
 
 Although this name is popularly applied to the 
 common coarse-wooled sheep of the country, which 
 existed here previously to the importation of the 
 improved breeds, there is, properly speaking, no race 
 of sheep " native" to North America. Mr. Living- 
 ston, in speaking of a race as " indigenous," only 
 quoted the language of another,* and his informant 
 was either mistaken -as to the fact, or misapprehend- 
 ed the term. The only animal of the genus Ovis 
 originally inhabiting this country is the argali,f 
 known to our enterprising travellers and traders 
 who have penetrated to the Rocky Mountains, where 
 the animal is found, as the Big Horn. Though the 
 pelage of the argali approximates but little to the 
 wool of the domestic sheep, they are, as is well 
 known, considered by naturalists to have belonged 
 originally to the same species ; and the changes 
 which have taken place in the form, covering, and 
 habits of the latter, are attributed to their domesti- 
 cation, and the care and skill of man during a long 
 succession of years. 
 
 The common sheep of the United States were of 
 foreign, and mostly of English origin. The writer 
 of the volume on sheep in the " Farmer's Series" 
 [Mr. Youatt] speaks of them as, " although some- 
 what differing in various districts, consisting chiefly 
 of a coarse kind of Leicester, originally of British 
 breed."{ Others have seen, or fancied they saw, in 
 some- of them, a strong resemblance to the South 
 Downs. Mr. Livingston was of this number. But 
 it is far more probable that they can claim a common 
 descent from no one stock. Our ancestors emigrated 
 from different sections of the British dominions, and 
 some portion of them from other parts of Europe. 
 
 * Livingston's Essay on Sheep, p. 56, 60. 
 
 t Godman's American Natural History. 
 
 i Vol. on Sheep, p. 134. Essay on Sheep, p. 53.
 
 194 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 They brought their implements of husbandry, and 
 their domestic animals to fertilize the wilderness. 
 Each, it would be natural to suppose, made choice 
 of the favourite breed of his own immediate district, 
 to transport to the New World, and the admixture 
 of these various races formed the mongrel family 
 now under consideration. Amid the perils of war 
 and the incursions of beasts of prey, they were pre- 
 served with sedulous care. As early as 1G7G, Mr. 
 Edward Randolph, in a " Narrative of the Lords of 
 the Privy Seal," speaks of New-England as " abound- 
 ing with sheep."* 
 
 The common sheep yielded a wool only suited to 
 the coarsest fabrics, averaging in the hands of good 
 farmers from three to three and a half pounds of 
 wool to the fleece. They were slow in arriving at 
 maturity compared with the improved English 
 breeds, and yielded, when fully grown, from lo to 
 12 pounds of a middling quality of mutton to the 
 quarter. They were usually long legged, light in 
 the fore-quarter, and narrow on the breast and back, 
 although some rare instances might be found of 
 flocks with short legs, and some approximation to 
 the general form of the improved breeds. The com- 
 mon sheep were excellent breeders, often rearing, 
 almost entirely destitute of care, and without shel- 
 ter, one hundred per cent, of lambs, and in small 
 flocks a still larger proportion. These, too, were 
 usually dropped in March or the earlier part of 
 April. Restless in their disposition, their impatience 
 of restraint almost equalled that of the untamed ar- 
 gali ; and in many sections of our country it waa 
 common to see from 20 to 50 of them roving, with 
 little regard to enclosures, over the possessions of 
 their owner and his neighbours, leaving a large por- 
 tion of their wool adhering to bushes and thorns, 
 and the remainder placed nearly beyond the possi- 
 
 ' Colonial Papers of Massachusetts.
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEiMENT. 185 
 
 bility of carding by the " Tory bur," so common on 
 new lands. 
 
 The old common stock of sheep, as a distinct 
 family, have nearly disappeared, having been univer- 
 sally crossed, to a greater or less extent, with the 
 foreign breeds of later introduction. The first and 
 second cross with the Merino resulted in a decided 
 improvement, and produced a variety exceedingly 
 valuable for the farmer, who rears wool only for do- 
 mestic purposes. The fleeces are of uneven fine- 
 ness, being hairy on the thighs, dewlap, &c. ; but 
 the general quality is much improved ; the quantity 
 is considerably augmented ; the body is more com- 
 pact and nearer the ground ; and they have lost their 
 unquiet and roving propensities. The cross with 
 the Saxon, for reasons wb'ch we shall hereafter al- 
 lude to, has not been generally so successful. With 
 the Leicester and Downs, the improvement, so far 
 as form, size, and a propensity to take on fat are 
 concerned, is manifest. 
 
 SPANISH MERINO. 
 
 The history of this celebrated race of sheep, so far 
 as it is known, has so often been brought before the 
 public, that it is deemed unnecessary here to re- 
 capitulate it. The first importation of them into the 
 United States took place in 1801. Four rams were 
 shipped by Mr. Delessert, a banker of Paris, three 
 of which perished on the passage.* The fourth ar- 
 rived in safety at Rosendale, a farm owned by that 
 gentleman near Kingston, in this state. In 1802, 
 two pairs were sent from France by Mr. Livingston, 
 the American minister, to his estate on the Hudson ; 
 and later the same year, Mr. Humphreys, our minis- 
 ter to Spain, on his departure from that country, 
 shipped one hundred for the United States. But 
 they attracted little notice until our difficulties with 
 
 * " Archives of Useful Knowledge." Cultivator, vol. i., p. 183. 
 I P
 
 186 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 England led to a cessation of commercial inter- 
 course with that power in.1808 and 1809. The at- 
 tention of the country being now directed towards 
 manufacturing and wool growing, the Merino rose 
 into importance. So great, indeed, was the interest 
 excited, that from a thousand to fourteen hundred 
 dollars a head was paid for them. Other and nu- 
 merous importations soon followed ; and, unfortu- 
 nately, some of the cargoes arrived in the worst con- 
 dition, bringing with them those scourges of the 
 ovine race, the scab and foot-rot. These evils and 
 the increased supply soon brought them down to 
 less than a twentieth part of their former price, so 
 that they could be bought for $20 a head. When, 
 however, it was established, by actual experiment, 
 that their wool did not deteriorate in this country, as 
 had been feared by many, and that they became 
 readily acclimated, they again rose into favour. But 
 the prostration of our manufactories, which soon 
 after ensued, rendered the Merino again compara- 
 tively of little value, and brought ruin on numbers 
 who had purchased them at their previous high 
 prices. The rise which has since taken place in the 
 value of fine wool, as well as the causes which led 
 to it, are too recent and well understood to require 
 particular notice. With the rise of wool, the valu- 
 ation of the sheep which bear it has of course kept 
 pace. 
 
 The Merino has been variously described. This 
 arises from the fact that it is the gqperal appella- 
 tion of a species, comprising several varieties, pre- 
 senting essential points of difference in size, form, 
 and in quality and quantity of wool. The Escurial 
 flocks stand first in point of fineness. Attached to 
 the convent El Escorted, within a. short distance of 
 the capital, and being the private property of the 
 kings of Spain, no pains or care have been spared 
 upon these beautiful flocks. They are of a good 
 size and fine form, "combining excellence," as is
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 187 
 
 remarked by an intelligent writer,* " scarcely admit- 
 ting of improvement." It is supposed that most of 
 the Escurial sheep which found their way into this 
 country are but indifferent specimens of this cele- 
 brated variety of the Merino. Their fleeces are 
 somewhat lighter than those of the Paulars, Negret- 
 tis, &c., and altogether they bear a close resemblance 
 to the genuine Saxons, of which they are the parent 
 stock. 
 
 According to Mr. Lasteyrie,f the Negretti " are 
 the largest and strongest of all the Spanish travelling 
 sheep." The Guadaloupe "have the most perfect 
 form, and are likewise celebrated for the quantity 
 and quality of their wool." The Paulars " bear much 
 wool of a fine quality ; but they have a more evident 
 enlargement behind the ears, and a greater degree 
 of throatiness." 
 
 As the last named was one of the principal varie- 
 ties introduced into the United States, a more par- 
 ticular description of it may not be unacceptable. 
 The sheep of the Paular Convent are large, with 
 heavy, but, compared with the Escurial or Saxons, 
 coarse fleeces. The wool of the pure bloods con- 
 tains a considerable quantity of jarr or hair, and it 
 abounds in yolk, to such a degree, that it catches and 
 retains at its extremities much floating dust, the pol- 
 len of hay, &c. This gives it a peculiarly stiff and 
 hard feeling externally. It however forms an ex- 
 cellent protection against storms and cold. The 
 form of the Paular is generally good ; but an unusu- 
 ally large dewlap, so plaited and doubled as to go by 
 the popular appellation of " the ruffle," extends from 
 the lower jaw to the brisket, presenting a great ob- 
 stacle to the shearer, and an unseemly and ungrace- 
 ful appendage in the eye of the refined breeder. 
 On the sides of the neck, and not unfrequently the 
 
 * Cultivator, vol. ii., p. 150. 
 
 t " Farmer's Series," vol. on Sheep, p. 156. We quote Mr 
 Youatt.
 
 188 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 face, the skin also lies in loose wrinkles. The head 
 is coarse, and, in the male, usually surmounted by 
 large horns. The skill of the American breeder has 
 obviated some of these defects, and there are :i few 
 (very few) flocks claiming purity of blood, .\\liidi 
 have little or no jarr, and an almost entire absence 
 of the throatiness peculiar to this variety. Proba- 
 bly, however, in most of such instances, they owe it 
 to a cross with the Saxons. 
 
 There are some other varieties of the Merino 
 which we shall not pause to describe. Taken col- 
 lectively, the Spanish rams, according to Chancellor 
 Livingston, yield about eight and a half pounds of 
 wool, and the ewes five, which loses half in washing; 
 making four pounds and a quarter the average weight 
 of fleece of the rams, and two and a half the average 
 of the ewes.* Some varieties considerably exceed 
 this estimate, and probably it would fall short if ap- 
 plied to the prime sheep of any variety. In the cel- 
 ebrated flock of French Merinos at Rambouillet, the 
 average weight, exclusive of tag and belly wool, is 
 six pounds to the fleece. It should be stated, how- 
 ever, that both Mr. Livingston and Mr. Humphreys 
 assert, that the Rambouillet sheep carry more wool 
 than any of the Spanish flocks. f Col. Humphreys, 
 in a letter to the Agricultural Society of Massachu- 
 setts, even goes so far as to say " that the improved 
 stock of France yield twice as much wool as those 
 of Spain/' Some carefully selected small flocks in 
 this country, which were "salved"! after the pre- 
 ceding shearing, have averaged, including the ordi- 
 nary number of rams, four and a half pounds of wool 
 to the head. The gummy, thick wool of the Merino 
 can be but imperfectly cleansed on the back of the 
 animal, where it is the universal custom in the Uni- 
 
 * Essay on Sheep, p. 39. 
 f Livingston's KSSHV, p. 71, and note. 
 J Uuboed over with a salve consisting of oil, wax, &.C., 
 which adds to the weight of fleece.
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 189 
 
 ted States to wash it ; and probably four pounds of 
 clean wool would be as high as the maximum aver- 
 age in the choicest flocks. Few overgo three and a 
 half. 
 
 The Merino, though the native of a warm climate, 
 becomes readily inured to the greatest extremes of 
 cold, flourishing as far north as Sweden, without de- 
 generating in fleece or form.* It is a patient, docile 
 animal, bearing much confinement without injury to 
 health, and we never have been enabled to discover 
 in it that peculiar "voraciousness of appetite" as- 
 cribed to it by English writers. f Accurately con- 
 ducted experiments have shown that it consumes 
 two pounds of hay per diem in winter ; the Leices- 
 ter consumes from three and a half to four ; and the 
 common wooled American sheep would not probably 
 fall short of three. The mutton of the Merino, in 
 spite of the prejudice which exists on the subject, is 
 short-grained anA of good flavour when killed at a 
 proper age, and weighs from eight to ten pounds to 
 the quarter. It is remarkable for its longevity, re- 
 taining its teeth and continuing to breed two or three 
 years longer than the common sheep or the im- 
 proved English breeds ; but it should be remarked in 
 connexion with this fact, that it is correspondingly 
 slow in arriving at maturity. It does not attain its 
 full growth before three years, and the ewes in the 
 best-managed flocks are rarely permitted to breed 
 before they reach that age. The Merino is not a 
 good breeder, the bearing ewes giving little milk, and 
 sometimes neglecting their lambs. Eighty per cent, 
 would probably be as high as the average number of 
 lambs usually reare:!. 
 
 We have already adverted to the cross between 
 the Merino and the native sheep. On the introduc- 
 tion of the Saxon family of the Merinos, they were 
 universally ingrafted on the parent stock, and the 
 
 * Lasteyrie. t " Farmer's Series," Sheep, p. 1 19.
 
 190 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 cross was continued until the Spanish blood was 
 nearly bred out. When the admixture took place 
 with pure-blooded and prime Saxons, it roulttd 
 most favourably. A variety was produced superior 
 to the Merino in form, carrying less wool, but this 
 more than compensated by its fineness. The ex- 
 cessive throatiness of the Paulars disappeared or 
 was greatly diminished. But, unfortunately, these 
 instances of judicious crossing were rare. Our 
 country was flooded by eager speculators with the 
 grade sheep and refuse Merinos of Germany. Fine- 
 ness of wool during the period of this strange excite- 
 ment was made the only test of excellence, no mat- 
 ter how scanty its quantity, no matter how diminu- 
 tive or miserable the carcass. Governed by such 
 views, the holders of most of our Merino flocks pur- 
 chased these pseudo-Saxons, and the consequence 
 was, as might have been foreseen their flocks were 
 ruined. 
 
 SAXON MERINO. 
 
 Tn the year 1765, Augustus Frederic, elector of 
 Saxony, obtained permission from the Spanish court 
 to import 200 Merinos, selected from the choicest 
 flocks of Spain. They were chosen principally from 
 the Escurial flock, and on their arrival in Saxony 
 were placed on a private estate belonging to the 
 elector, under the care of Spanish shepherds. So 
 much importance was attached to the experiment, 
 as it was then considered, that a commission was 
 appointed to superintend the affairs of the establish- 
 ment ; and it was made its duty to diffuse informa- 
 tion in relation to the management of the new breed ; 
 to dispose of the surplus rams at prices which would 
 place them within the reach of all holders of sheep ; 
 and, finally, by explaining the superior value of the 
 Merinos, to induce the Saxon farmers to cross them 
 with their native breeds. Popular prejudice, how- 
 ever, was strong against them, and thi*. was height-
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 191 
 
 ened by the ravages of the scab, which had been in- 
 troduced with them from Spain, and which proved 
 very destructive before it was finally eradicated. 
 But when it became apparent that the Merino, so 
 far from degenerating, had improved in Saxony, and 
 that the Saxon wool exceeded the Spanish in fine- 
 ness and value, the wise and patriotic efforts of the 
 elector began to reap their merited success, and a 
 revolution took place in popular sentiment. The 
 call for rams became so great, that the government 
 resolved on a new importation, to enable them more 
 effectually to meet it, and to improve still farther 
 the stock already obtained. For this purpose an in- 
 dividual, considered one of the best judges of sheep 
 in Saxony, was despatched to Spain in 1777, with 
 orders to select 300. For some reason, probably 
 because he experienced difficulty in obtaining a 
 greater number presenting all the qualifications he 
 sought, he returned with but 110. They were from 
 nearly all the different flocks of Spain, but principal- 
 ly the Escurial, and were considered decidedly su- 
 perior to the first importation. In addition to the 
 establishment at Stolpen already founded, others 
 were now commenced at Rennersdorf, Lohmen, &c. ; 
 schools were established for the education of shep- 
 herds ; publications were distributed by the com- 
 missioners to throw information on the subject be- 
 fore the people ; and the crown tenants, it is said, 
 were each required to purchase a certain number of 
 the sheep. When we take into consideration the 
 unwearied pains bestowed on this favourite object 
 by the Saxon government ; the fact that the Saxon va- 
 riety are descended only from the choicest sheep of 
 Spain, and that a degree of care and attention are 
 bestowed on their breeding in the former country 
 entirely unknown in the latter, it is not a subject 
 of surprise that the emigrant Merino in Saxony ex- 
 cels the parent stock in the quality of his fleece and 
 that roundness of form and fineness of bone which
 
 192 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 indicate better feeding properties. The Spanish 
 shepherd is little changed from what he was 111 the 
 days of Cardinal Ximenes or Pedro IV. ; with much 
 practical knowledge of his business, but never dream- 
 ing of improvement ; and his knowledge strangely 
 blended with prejudices as ancient as the pedigrees 
 of his sheep, running back to a period when Spain 
 was a Roman province. He is not the owner of llic 
 sheep under his care, but the ill-paid servant of a titled 
 family or a religious order, who, in nine cases out 
 of ten, are no more disposed or more competent to 
 carry out a system for the improvement of their 
 flocks than himself. And, finally, the Spanish cus- 
 tom of pasturing their sheep during the entire sea- 
 son in large flocks, without enclosures,* to render 
 the necessary divisions practicable, entirely prevents 
 that nice adaptation to each other of the male and 
 female selected for breeding ; that counterbalancing 
 of the defects of one parent by the marked excel- 
 lence of the other in the same points, which exhib- 
 its the skill of the modern breeder. In Saxony, and 
 the other states of Germany, the case is far other- 
 wise. The electoral flocks, the parent stem, are un- 
 der the direction of commissioners appointed for 
 their intelligence and their knowledge of the sub- 
 ject ; and the noted private flocks employ the first 
 agricultural skill of ihe Saxon landholders. The 
 low price of labour, too, admits of a degree of atten- 
 tion and constant care over their flocks unknown 
 in other countries. The attention bestowed upon 
 breeding may be inferred from- the fact, that in many 
 of the largest flocks, every individual sheep is num- 
 bei^d and registered, its pedigree known, and its off- 
 spring recorded. The number and age of the sheep 
 
 * Neither are there enclosures in Saxony ; hut the division is 
 effected by the bucks being placed in pen>, and the ewes classi- 
 fied and nwrked. The ewes are from tune to time driven in the 
 yard around the pens, and when the teaser has selected one, it 
 placed in the pen of the buck for which it is marked.
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 193 
 
 is expressed by an ingenious method of marking on 
 the ear, invented by Mr. Thaer, which causes little 
 mutilation, and effectually distinguishes any number 
 of sheep. " When lambs are weaned," says Mr. 
 Charles Howard, in a letter to the author of the vol- 
 ume on sheep in the " Farmer's Series," " each is 
 placed upon a table, that his wool and form may be 
 minutely observed. The finest are selected for 
 breeding, and receive a first mark. When they are 
 one year old, and prior to shearing them, another 
 close examination of those previously marked takes 
 place : those in which no defect can be found re- 
 ceive a second mark, and the rest are condemned. 
 A few months afterward, a third and last scrutiny is 
 made ; the prime rams and ewes receive a third and 
 final mark ; but the slightest blemish is sufficient to 
 cause the rejection of the animal." 
 
 Considerable attention has also been bestowed in 
 Germany on the breeding. of grade sheep a cross 
 between the Merino and the native sheep of tho 
 country. These native sheep were of two varieties, 
 and they bore a strong resemblance to the old com- 
 mon stock of the United States ; those which were 
 fed on the uplands being smaller and of finer fleece, 
 and the lowland sheep carrying more flesh and'coar- 
 ser wool. The sheepholders who were unable to 
 purchase pure bloods resorted to this cross. The 
 wool of some of these flocks, after a few genera- 
 tions, has rivalled even the electoral in fineness ; 
 but it loses in quantity, as the native German car- 
 ried much lighter fleeces than the Spanish sheep. 
 The sheep themselves are also much less perfect in 
 form, the means of the common breeder not permit- 
 ting him (and, indeed, there being no prospect for an 
 adequate return) to bestow the same labour that the 
 breeder of pure bloods does, to sacrifice for the least 
 defect, and, in short, incur the same expenses, when, 
 at best, his sheep will not sell for more than one 
 eighth or one tenth of the price of pure bloods.
 
 194 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 In 1834, the best Spanish wool solJ in the English 
 markets at from 2s. 6d. (GOcts.) to 4*. (96cts.) ; the 
 Saxon at the same time commanded from 4s. 6rf. 
 ($1 08) to 55. 3d. (Si 26) per pound.* In the Uni- 
 ted States, where less difference, and very unjust- 
 ly, is usually made, the full-blooded Saxon sells for 
 about one third more per pound than the Merino. 
 The fleece in good flocks averages about two and a 
 half pounds, and often, if only grown sheep were in- 
 cluded, would rise as high as three. But this is far 
 from the standard of many flocks in the United 
 States, called, and doubtless believed by their own- 
 ers to be, genuine Saxons. This brings us to a most 
 painful part of our subject, and one which we would 
 willingly pass over in silence, were not our obliga- 
 tions to the public paramount to any considerations 
 for the feelings of individuals. In disclosing the 
 frauds practised on the American public, we are 
 compelled, for the purpose of doing justice to the in- 
 nocent and the guilty, and also for the information 
 of those who have been the purchasers of the im- 
 ported sheep, to go into a minuteness of detail which 
 would be otherwise uninteresting, and perhaps be 
 deemed censurable. 
 
 THfe following statement was submitted to the 
 committee by Mr. Grove : 
 
 " The first importation of Saxony sheep into the 
 United States was made by a merchant of Boston, 
 at the instance of Col. James Shepherd, of North- 
 ampton. They were but six or seven in number. 
 In 1824, Messrs. G. & T. Searle, of Boston, import- 
 ed 77 Saxon sheep. They were selected and pur- 
 chased by a Mr. Kretchman, a correspondent of the 
 above firm residing in Leipzig, and shipped at Bre- 
 men on board the American schooner Velocity. I 
 was engaged to take charge of the sheep on the pas- 
 sage, and I also shipped six on my own account. I 
 
 * " Farmer's Series."
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 195 
 
 am sorry to say, that as many as one third of the 
 sheep purchased by Kretchman (who shared profit 
 and loss in the undertaking) were not pure-blooded 
 sheep. The cargo were sold at auction at Brooklyn 
 as ' pure-blooded electoral Saxons,' and thus, unfor- 
 tunately, in the very outset, the pure and impure 
 became irrevocably mixed. But I feel the greatest 
 certainty that the Messrs. Searle intended to import 
 none but the pure stock ; the fault lay with Kretch- 
 man. In the fall of 1824, 1 entered into an arrange- 
 ment \vith the Messrs. Searle to return to Saxony, 
 and purchase, in connexion with Kretchman, from 
 160 to 200 electoral sheep. I was detained at sea 
 seven weeks, which gave rise to the belief that I 
 was shipwrecked and lost. When I finally arrived, 
 the sheep had been already bought by Kretchman. 
 On being informed of what the purchase consisted, 
 1 protested against taking them to America, and in- 
 sisted on a better selection, but to no purpose. A 
 quarrel ensued between us, and Kretchman even 
 went so far as to engage another to take charge of 
 the sheep on their passage. My friends interposing, 
 I was finally induced to take charge of them. The 
 number shipped was 167, 15 of which perished on the 
 . passage. They were sold at Brighton, some of them 
 going as high as from $400 to $450. A portion of 
 this importation consisted of grade sheep, which sold 
 as high as the pure bloods, for the American pur- 
 chaser could not know the difference. It may be 
 readily imagined what an inducement the Brighton 
 sa!e held out to speculation, both in this country and 
 Saxony. The German newspapers teemed with ad- 
 vertisements of sheep for sale, headed ' Good for the 
 American market;' and these sheep, in many in- 
 stances, were actually bought up for the American 
 market at five, eight, or ten dollars a head, when the 
 pure bloods could not be purchased at from less than 
 $30 to $40. In 1836, Messrs. Searle imported three 
 cargoes, amounting in the aggregate to 513 sheep.
 
 196 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 They were of about the same character with their 
 prior importations, in the main good, but mixed with 
 some grade sheep. In the same year a cargo of 
 221 arrived, on German account, Emil Bach, of 
 Leipzig, supercargo. A few were good sheep and 
 of pure blood ; but, taken as a lot, they were misera- 
 ble. The owners sunk about $3000. Next came 
 a cargo of 210 on German account. Wassmus and 
 Multer owners. The whole cost of those was about 
 $1125, in Germany. With the exccjtli.m of a small 
 number, procured to make a flourish in their adver- 
 tisements of sale, they were sheep having no pre- 
 tensions to purity of blood. In 1827, the same in- 
 dividuals brought out another cargo. These were 
 selected exclusively from grade Socks of low char- 
 acter. In the same year, the Messrs. Searle made 
 their last importation, consisting of 182 sheep. Of 
 these I know little. My friends in Germany wrote 
 me that they were like their other importations, a 
 mixture of pure and impure blooded sheep. It is 
 due, however, to the Messrs. Searle to say, that, as 
 a whole, their importations were much better than 
 any other made into Boston. 
 
 " I will uow turn your attention to the importa- 
 tions made into other ports. In 1825, 13 Saxons, 
 arrived at Portsmouth. They were miserable crea- 
 tures. In 1826, 191 sheep arrived at New- York, per 
 brig William, on German account. A portion of 
 these were well-descended and valuable animals, 
 the rest were grade sheep. In June, the same year, 
 the brig Louisa brought out 173 on German account. 
 Not more than one third of them had the least pre- 
 tensions to purity of blood. Next we find 158 ship- 
 ped at Bremen on German account. Some were 
 diseased before they left Bremen, iv\ 1 an happy 
 to state that twenty-two died before th*i>- p rriv a l in 
 New- York. All I intend to say 01" them i-, that 'hey 
 were a most curious and motley mess of wrot^-h*"! 
 animals. The next cargo imported a. lived iu U*
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 197 
 
 brig Maria Elizabeth, under my own care. They 
 were 1G5 in number, belonging to myself and F. 
 Gebhard, of New-York. These sheep cost me $65 
 a head when landed in New- York. They sold at 
 an average of $50 ahead, thus sinking about $2400! 
 I need not say that they were exclusively of pure 
 blood. A cargo of 81 arrived soon after, but I know 
 nothing of their quality. The next importation con- 
 sisted of 184, on German account, per brig Warren. 
 With a few exceptions, they were pure-blooded and 
 good sheep. We next have an importation of 200 
 by the Bremen ship Louisa. They were commonly 
 called the " stop-sale sheep." They were of the 
 most miserable character, some of them being hard- 
 ly half-grade sheep. The ship Phrebe Ann brought 
 120 sheep, of which I know little, and 60 were land- 
 ed at Philadelphia, with the character of which I am 
 unacquainted. Having determined to settle in Amer- 
 ica, I returned to Saxony, and spent the winter of 
 1826-7 in 1 visiting and examining many flocks. I 
 selected 115 from, the celebrated flock of Machern, 
 embarked on board the ship Albion, and landed in 
 New- York June 27, 1827. In 1828 I received 80 
 more from the same flock, selected by a friend of 
 mine, an excellent judge of sheep. I first drove 
 them to Shaftesbury, adjoining the town of Hoosic, 
 where I now reside. On their arrival they stood 
 me in $70 a head, and the lambs half that sum." 
 
 It should be remarked, that the above statements 
 were made by Mr. Grove with the greatest reluc- 
 tance, and only at the earnest solicitation, or, rather, 
 requisition of the committee, who conceived it their 
 duly to place the whole circumstances before the 
 public. 
 
 It will be inferred, from the facts above stated, that 
 there are few Saxon flocks in the United States that 
 have not been reduced to the quality of grade sheep 
 by the promiscuous admixture of the pure and the 
 impure which were imported together, and att sold
 
 198 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 to our breeders as pure stock. This accounts in t 
 satisfactory manner for the different estimation in 
 which this breed of sheep are held in Germany and 
 in this country, and for the degeneracy of tlje pseu- 
 do-Saxon of the United States. 
 
 In its general habits and characteristics its do- 
 cility and patience under confinement, as well as its 
 deficiency as a breeder and its slowness in arriving 
 at maturity the Saxon bears a close resemblance 
 to the Merino. It consumes about the same amount 
 of food, and is equally remarkable for its longevity. 
 Its mutton, however, is considered of better quality, 
 and rather superior in quality. 
 
 THE NEW LEICESTER OR BAKEWELL SHEEP. 
 
 The unimproved Leicester was a " large, heavy, 
 coarse-wooled breed" of sheep, inhabiting the mid- 
 land counties of England. It is described also as 
 having been "a slow feeder, and its flesh coarse- 
 grained and with little flavour." The breeders of 
 that period regarded only size and weight of fleece. 
 The celebrated Mr. Bakewell, of Dishley, was the 
 first who adopted a system more in accordance 
 with the true principles of breeding. He selected 
 from the flocks about him those sheep " whose shape 
 possessed the peculiarities which he considered 
 would produce the largest proportion of valuable 
 meat and offal ;" and having observed that animals 
 of medium size possess a greater aptitude to take on 
 flesh and consume less food than those which are 
 larger, and that prime fattening qualities are rarely 
 found in sheep carrying a great weight of wool, he 
 gave the preference to those of smaller size, and 
 was satisfied with lighter fleeces. To reach the 
 wonderful results obtained by Mr. Bakewell, it was 
 supposed that he resorted to a cross with some oth- 
 er varieties ; but it seems now to be well establish 
 ed that he owed his success only to a judicious prin- 
 ciple of selection, and a steady adherence to certain 
 orinriplps of breeding.
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 199 
 
 The improved Leicester is of large size, but some- 
 what s-inaller than the original stock, and in this re- 
 spect falls considerably below the coarser varieties 
 of Cotswold, Lincoln, &c. Where there is a suffi- 
 ciency of feed, the New Leicester is unrivalled for 
 its fattening properties, but it will not bear hard 
 stocking, nor must it be compelled to travel far in 
 search of its food. It is, in fact, properly and ex- 
 clusively a lowland sheep. In its appropriate situa- 
 tion on the luxuriant herbage of our highly-cultiva- 
 ted lands, it possesses unrivalled earliness of matu- 
 rity ; and its mutton, when not too fat, is of a good 
 quality, though usually coarse, and comparatively 
 deficient in flavour, owing to that unnatural state of 
 fatness which it so readily assumes, and which the 
 breeder, to gain weight, so generally feeds for. The 
 wethers, having reached their second year, are turn- 
 ed off in the succeeding February or March, and 
 weigh at that age from thirty to thirty-five pounds 
 to the quarter. The wool of the New Leicester is 
 long, averaging, after the first shearing, about six 
 inches, and the fleece weighs six pounds. It is of 
 coarse quality, and little used in the manufacture of 
 cloths on account of its length, and that deficiency 
 of felting properties common, in a greater or less 
 extent, to all the English breeds. As a combing 
 wool, however, it stands first, and is used in the 
 manufacture of the finest bombasins, &c. 
 
 The high-bred Leicesters of Mr. Bakewell's stock 
 became shy breeders and poor nurses ; but crosses 
 subsequently adopted have obviated these defects. 
 In England, where mutton is generally eaten by the 
 labouring classes, the meat of this variety is in very 
 great demand, and the consequent return which a 
 sheep possessing such fine feeding qualities is en- 
 abled to make, renders it a general favourite with 
 the breeder. Instances are recorded of the most 
 extraordinaiy prices having been paid for these ani- 
 mals ; and Mr. Bukewell's celebrated buck " Two
 
 200 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Pounder' was let for the enormous price of four 
 hundred guineas ($2000) for a single season! The 
 New Leicester has spread into all parts of the Brit- 
 ish dominions, and been imported into the other 
 countries of Europe and the United States. They 
 were first introduced into our own country hy the 
 late Christopher Dunn, Esq., of Albany, about twen- 
 ty-five years since. Subsequent importations have 
 been made by Mr. Powel, of Philadelphia, and va 
 rious other gentlemen. 
 
 We conclude this notice of the Leicester with 
 the following description of what should constitute 
 a perfect animal of this breed, from the " Farmers' 
 Series :" 
 
 " The head should be hornless, long, small, taper- 
 ing towards the muzzle, and projecting horizontally 
 forward. The eyes prominent, but with a quiet ex- 
 pression. The ears thin, rather long, and direct- 
 ed backward. The neck full and broad at its base, 
 where it proceeds from the chest, so that there is. 
 with the slightest possible deviation, one continued 
 horizontal line from the rump to the poll. The 
 breast broad and full ; the shoulders also broad and 
 round, and no uneven or angular formation where 
 the shoulders join either the neck or the back, par- 
 ticularly no rising of the withers, or hollow behind 
 the situation of these bones. The arm fleshy 
 through its whole extent, and even down to the 
 knee. The bones of the leg small, standing wide 
 apart ; no looseness of skin about them, and com- 
 paratively bare of wool. The chest and barrel at 
 once deep and round ; the ribs forming a considera- 
 ble arch from the spine, so as in some cases, and 
 especially when the animal is in good condition, to 
 make the apparent width of the chest even greater 
 than the depth. The barrel ribbed well home ; no 
 irregularity of line on the back or belly ; but, on the 
 sides, the carcass very gradually diminishing in 
 width towards the rump. The quarters long and
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 201 
 
 ftill, and, as with the fore legs, the muscles extend- 
 ing down to the hock ; the thighs also wide and full. 
 The legs of a moderate length ; the pelt also mod- 
 erately thin, but soft and elastic, and covered with a 
 good quantity of white wool, not so long as in some 
 breeds, but considerably finer."* 
 
 THE SOUTH DOWN. 
 
 This breed of sheep has existed for several cen- 
 turies in England, on a range of chalky hills called 
 the South Downs. They were, as recently as 1776, 
 small in size, and of a form not superior to the 
 common wooled sheep of the United States. Since 
 that period, a course of judicious breeding, pursued 
 by one man (Mr. Ellman, of Glynde), has mainly 
 contributed to raise this variety to its present high 
 degree of perfection, and that, too, without the ad- 
 mixture of the slightest degree of foreign blood. In 
 our remarks on this breed of sheep, it will be under- 
 stood that we speak of the pure, improved family 
 as the original stock, presenting, with trifling modi- 
 fications, the same characteristics which they exhib 
 ited sixty years since, are yet to be found in Eng- 
 land, and, as the middle space is occupied by a va 
 riety of grades, rising or falling in value as they 
 approximate to or recede from the improved blood. 
 
 The South Down is an upland sheep of medium 
 size, and its wool, which, in point of length, belongs 
 to the middle class, is estimated to rank with half- 
 grade Merino. The average weight of fleece in the 
 hill-fed sheep is three pounds, and in the lowland four 
 pounds. But the Down is raised more particularly 
 for its mutton, which for quality takes precedence 
 of all other in the English markets. Its early ma- 
 turity, and extreme aptitude to lay on flesh, render 
 it peculiarly valuable for this purpose. The Down 
 
 * Sheep Husbandry, p. 110. 
 
 i. a
 
 202 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 is turned off at two* years old, and its w eight at that 
 age is from 80 to 100 Ibs. High-fed wethers in Eng- 
 land have reached from 32 to even 40 Ibs. a quarter! 
 Notwithstanding its great weight, the Down has, in 
 the language of Mr. Youatt, a patience of occasion- 
 al short keeping and an endurance of hard stocking 
 equal to any other sheep. This gives it a decided 
 advantage over the bulkier Leicester, Lincolns, &c., 
 as a mutton sheep in hilly districts, and those pro- 
 ducing short and scanty herbage. It is hardy and 
 healthy, though, in common with the other English 
 varieties, much subject to the catarrh or " snuffles," 
 and no sheep better withstands our American win- 
 ters. The ewes are prolific breeders and good 
 nurses. The Down is quiet and docile in its habits, 
 and, though an industrious feeder, exhibiting little 
 disposition to rove 
 
 A sheep possessing such qualities must, of course, 
 be exceedingly valuable in upland districts in the 
 vicinity of markets. Accordingly, they have been 
 introduced into every part of the British dominions, 
 and imported into various other countries. The 
 Emperor of Russia paid Mr. Ellman three hundred 
 guineas for two rams ; and in 1800, " a ram belong- 
 ing to the Duke of Bedford was let for one season 
 at eighty guineas, two others at forty guineas each, 
 and four more at twenty-eight guineas each."-)' 
 These valuable sheep were introduced into the Uni- 
 ted States a few years since by Col. J. H. Powell, 
 of Philadelphia, and a small number was imported 
 by one of the members of this committee in 1834. 
 The last were from the flock of Mr. Ellman, at a 
 cost of $60 a head. Several other importations 
 have since taken place. 
 
 The following is the description of the perfect 
 
 Among breeders, the sheep is termed a two-year old, or & 
 two shear sheep, until three years old. In this case the sheep 
 is between two and a half ana three vears old. 
 
 t " Farmers' Scries."
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 203 
 
 South Down by Mr. Ellman, the founder of the im- 
 proved breed : 
 
 " The head small and hornless ; the face speckled 
 or gray, and neither too long or too short. The 
 lips thin, and the space between the nose and the 
 eyes narrow. The under jaw or chap fine and thin ; 
 the ears tolerably wide, and well covered with wool, 
 and the forehead also, and the whole space between 
 the ears well protected by it, as a defence against 
 the fly. 
 
 " The eye full and bright, but not prominent. 
 The orbits of the eye, the eye-cap or bone, not too 
 projecting, that it may not form a fatal obstacle in 
 lambing. 
 
 " The neck of a medium length, thin towards the 
 head, but enlarging towards the shoulders, where it 
 should be broad and high, and straight in its whole 
 course above and below. The breast should be 
 wide, deep, and projecting forward between the 
 fore legs, indicating a good constitution and a dis- 
 position to thrive. Corresponding with this, the 
 shoulders should be on a level with the back, and 
 not too wide above ; they should bow outward from 
 the top to the breast, indicating a springing rib be- 
 neath, and leaving room for it. 
 
 " The ribs coming out horizontally from the spine, 
 and extending far backward, and the last rib pro- 
 jecting more than others ; the back flat from the 
 shoulders to the setting on of the tail ; the loin 
 broad and flat ; the rump broad, and the tail set on 
 high, and nearly on a level with the spine. The 
 hips wide, the space between them and the last rib 
 on either side as narrow as possible, and the ribs 
 generally presenting a circular form like a barrel. 
 
 " The belly as straight as the back. 
 
 " The legs neither too long nor too short. The 
 fore legs straight from the breast to the foot ; not 
 bending inward at the knee, and standing far apart 
 both before and behind ; the hock having a direction
 
 204 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 rather outward, and the twist, or the meeting of the 
 thighs behind, being particularly full, the bones fine, 
 yet having no appearance of weakness, and of a 
 speckled or dark colour. 
 
 " The belly well defended with wool, and the 
 wool coming down before and behind to the knee 
 and to the hock ; the wool short, close, curled, and 
 fine, and free from spiry projecting fibres." 
 
 ON THE MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP. 
 
 The committee on " the feeding and management 
 of sheep in winter," while they are fully aware of 
 the importance of the subject thus brought under 
 their notice, feel that they can-suggest but little that 
 is new and instructive to the intelligent farmer or 
 nock-master in the home management of sheep as 
 now practised ; yet they are inclined to believe that 
 there is much, both highly interesting and useful, to 
 be gathered from a knowledge of sheep husbandry 
 in other countries, where its vast importance (form- 
 ing, as it does in some cases, the chief wealth of the 
 nation) has called to its aid all that education, 
 science, and close observation could suggest for its 
 improvement : nor are instances wanting where this 
 valuable knowledge has been practically applied in 
 this state, with a success that warrants thecommittee 
 in offering some suggestions from the German prac- 
 tice that may materially improve the winter man- 
 agement of sheep with us. 
 
 Most of the sheep in the Northern and Middle 
 States produce wool of an improved quality, being 
 more or less mixed with the Merino, or the impro- 
 ved Merino of the Saxony family, and are principally 
 kept for their fleece, the carcass being a secondary 
 consideration : within a few years, however, this 
 latter has become more valuable, from causes which 
 it is not necessary to examine, as they are evident 
 to every observing mind. The committee would 
 therefore have it understood, that their attention has
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 205 
 
 been almost exclusively directed to the management 
 of the (Spanish sheep, in all their various grades, as 
 found in this country 
 
 Many plans have been recommended, rules have 
 been prescribed, maxims laid down, and the requi- 
 site quantities of food stated, for maintaining sheep 
 in a thriving and good condition. But all these can 
 only be understood relatively, for we must take the 
 size of the animal into consideration ; and it should 
 be borne in mind, that a large sheep requires more 
 food than a small one, and that a sheep which gives 
 five or six pounds of wool must consume more than 
 one which gives but three pounds. 
 
 These facts lead to a consideration which has re- 
 ceived little or no attention from the great mass of 
 our farmers who keep sheep, namely : 
 
 The influence or effect of feed on the quantity and 
 quality of the wool and carcass : 
 
 It may be laid down as a rule, that two pounds of 
 good "hay, or its equivalent in grain, roots, and straw 
 per day, fed regularly at three different times, are 
 sufficient for a grown sheep of the Merino family, 
 producing three pounds of fine wool, provided it en- 
 ters upon its winter keep healthy and in good condi- 
 tion. For breeding ewes, or a larger race of sheep, 
 this quantity would not be sufficient ; while for a 
 race by nature small and weak, it would be more 
 than they require, and, if fed to them, would greatly 
 diminish the quality of the wool, though it should in- 
 crease its quantity. 
 
 Farmers in Germany generally allow their sheep 
 an average of from one and three fourths to two 
 pounds of hay daily (including the whole flock), and 
 their sheep are vigorous, healthy, and in good condi- 
 tion, with the best of wool. Others allow them one 
 and a half pounds daily, and they do not suffer with 
 this quantity, but are healthy and rather thriving ; 
 still they do not yield so much wool, nor is the car- 
 cass so heavy ; while others -again, through ill-ad-
 
 206 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 vised economy, have limited their sheep to one and a 
 quarter pounds of hay per day ; but it was found that 
 they sheared from ten to sixteen ounces less wool 
 per head ; that the constitution of the animal could 
 not be matured, and that he ultimately became a 
 diminutive and feeble animal. The wool from such 
 sheep is termed " hunger-fine" appearing to possess 
 a high degree of fineness upon the sheep's back, and 
 being extremely soft to the touch. " But," says 
 Mr. Eisner, a writer on sheep husbandry, " this kind 
 of softness is as exceptionable as its fineness, both 
 arising from the poverty of the animal ; for, after 
 shearing and washing, it lessens to an unusual de- 
 gree in volume." It is deficient in strength, elasti- 
 city, and the felting properties, and it does not make 
 as perfect and durable a fabric as it would had the 
 sheep been kept in a thriving condition. Its intrinsic 
 value, therefore, to the manufacturer is not so great 
 as its apparent fineness would indicate ; and the 
 grower, who anticipated a " good clip" of wool from 
 his flock, is very unpleasantly awakened from his 
 dream when he finds that they shear much less 
 than he expected; and this, we fear, is too often the 
 case with many of our economists who undertake to 
 keep flocks of fine-wooled sheep. 
 
 It is, however, certainly a most erroneous conclu- 
 sion, that sheep produce an increased or extra quan- 
 tity of wool in proportion to their increased or extra 
 quantity of food. " Farmers who were deceived by 
 this theory," says Mr. Eisner, the author above 
 quoted, " have been disappointed ; for the increased 
 quantity of wool was scarcely half in proportion to 
 the extra quantity of feed, and the quality was con- 
 siderably deteriorated." Such is the opinion of one 
 of the most intelligent breeders and close observers 
 of the economy of sheep in Germany. The expe- 
 rience of one of the members of this committee fully 
 goes to confirm the above position ; and his experi- 
 ments, made with great attention and exactness for
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 207 
 
 a series of years, both here and in Germany, enable 
 him confidently to offer the following results : that 
 sheep of good size, superior fineness, and thick fleece, 
 when rightly fed and managed, produce, on an aver- 
 age, two and three fourths to three pounds of clean 
 wool, washed on the sheep's back. But a flock is 
 only rightly fed and managed when they are not al 
 lowed quite as much as they would eat, thus ensu- 
 ring thriftiness and bodily health. To effect this 
 desirable object, as has been already stated, two 
 pounds of good hay, or its equivalent in grain, roots, 
 and straw per day, are required ; whereas the same 
 sheep, were they allowed as much hay as they could 
 eat, would consume over three pounds, or its equiv- 
 alent in grain, roots, and straw. Now, in order that 
 the increased or extra quantity of wool be equal to 
 the increased or extra quantity of hay or other fod- 
 der, they ought to shear from four and an eighth to 
 four and a half pounds of wool per head. But this 
 is not the case ; the increase seldom amounting to 
 more than 25, instead of 50 per cent. In other 
 words, six pounds of hay. fed to three sheep, pro- 
 duced from eight and a quarter to nine pounds of 
 wool ; while the same quantity, and of the same 
 quality, fed to two sheep daily, produced from six 
 and seven eighths to seven and a half pounds only, 
 leaving a balance in favour of the former of from 
 one and three eighths to one and a half pounds : an 
 item in the profits of a sheep establishment of some 
 importance, especially where large flocks are kept. 
 But this is not the only disadvantage of high feed- 
 ing ; for, while it ruins the constitution of the ani- 
 mal, it injures the quality of the wool. 
 
 Some German writers on sheep-husbandry esti- 
 mate this reduction in quality at ten per cent., and 
 maintain that the greater waste in cleansing it in- 
 creases the loss to twenty per cent. ; such wool 
 containing a larger quantity of oily or greasy sub- 
 stances, which go far to make up the increased
 
 208 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 weight of the fleece. Assuming this to be a correct 
 estimate (and it is believed to be so), it will be found 
 that, for an outlay of- 50 per cent, in extra feed, only 
 five, or, at the most, ten per cent, of wool is obtain- 
 ed in return. It would, however, doubtless increase 
 the carcass and the quantity of manure ; but this 
 would be done at too great a price ; though, if the 
 sheep were intended for the shambles, it would alter 
 the case. 
 
 Having considered the influence or effect of feed 
 upon the quality and quantity of the wool, and 
 shown that either extreme, too little or too much, is 
 unprofitable to the wool-grower, the committee will, 
 in the next place, proceed to that part of their sub- 
 ject relating to the care and management of sheep 
 during winter. 
 
 It may be classed under three heads : Feeding, 
 Watering, and Shelter. 
 
 Food. This should be such as to agree with the 
 habits and economy of the sheep, and should con- 
 tain nourishment and bulk equivalent to two pounds 
 of hay. 
 
 The varieties of winter provender to be consider- 
 ed are hay of all the cultivated grasses, such as clo- 
 ver, lucerne, &c., &c., and hay from natural but dry 
 meadows ; sound oat, barley, rye, and wheat straw, 
 and well-cured vetches and pea-vines ; all kinds of 
 grain (with the exception of the less healthy rye), 
 roots, such as potatoes, carrots, ruta-baga, mangold- 
 wurzel, turnips, and the different kinds of beets ; all 
 of which are suited to the health, thrift, and the in- 
 ternal economy of sheep. 
 
 Of the different kinds of hay, white and red clo- 
 ver, sainfoin and timothy, stand first, and seem to be 
 best adapted to the nature of sheep ; they eat it with 
 great avidity, and with but little abatement in appe- 
 tite, through the whole of a long winter. Of red 
 clover there are two kinds, the Northern and the 
 Southern ; the latter of which makes much the best
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 209 
 
 hay. Sheep should be made to eat up their hay 
 clean when it is cut at the right time and well cured, 
 ami that time is when clover, lucerne, p.nd sainfoin 
 arc in full bloom, and when timothy has about one 
 quarter to one half of the blossom off. But when 
 the growth is large and the hay decayed at the bot- 
 tom, then they should not be forced to eat it clean; 
 but an allowance must be made, as the decayed 
 parts, were they compelled to eat them, would prove 
 hurtful. Also, where hay has been somewhat in- 
 jured by rains during the process of curing, allow- 
 ance should be made. Mow-burned or mouldy, hay 
 ' should never be used in the sheep-cot, for it causes 
 a general debility of the system, and, if continued, 
 will ultimately produce the rot. 
 
 Hay from lowland meadows is not as good as 
 that from the uplands ; though, if the former be ren- 
 ovated by occasional ploughing and reseeding, it im- 
 proves the quality : but, in portioning out the quan- 
 tity of hay to sheep, a suitable allowance should be 
 made ; and the more of the wild and sour grasses 
 that are mixed with it, the greater should the allow- 
 ance be. 
 
 Hay from wet meadows is not wholesome for 
 sheep, and should never.be given them unless from 
 necessity ; then double the usual quantity must be 
 allowed. Were they confined to such hay, and 
 compelled to eat it nearly or quite clean, it would 
 prove ruinous to the flock. 
 
 Hay from meadows that have been very highly 
 enriched by top-dressings, afford a luxuriance and 
 rankness of growth possessing a laxative property, 
 and should be dealt out to sheep very cautiously, 
 especially to lambs ; and if it is pretty freely salted 
 with a view of preserving it, still greater caution is 
 necessary. Sheep will then eat it greedily, espe- 
 cially if salt has been withheld from them for some 
 length of time ; but it is then the more dangerous, 
 as foddering from it a few days in succession, or 
 I. R
 
 210 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 even a few times, creates excessive thirst. Sheep 
 drink an unusual quantity of water, and scouring is 
 thus produced, which often proves very fatal. 
 
 But, before entering upon any course of feeding, 
 it is advisable to divide your sheep into different 
 flocks. The breeding ewes into one, the wethers 
 into another, and the lambs into a third. From 
 these main divisions, subdivisions may be made as 
 circumstances require, taking care that the individu- 
 als composing the different flocks are as nearly as 
 possible of equal size and strength ; if not, the weak- 
 er portion are not apt to get a due share of fodder. 
 And if there be any individuals that are old, feeble, 
 &c., an invalid department should be added, and 
 extra care and attention bestowed upon it. 
 
 Having all these arrangements completed, a care- 
 ful supervision must be extended over the whole, 
 and the* course of treatment regulated by circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Supposing the breeding ewes to be in good condi- 
 tion, they should receive one and a half pounds of 
 hay, and one and a quarter pounds of grain per day, 
 until the rutting season is over : the grain must be 
 then withheld, and the flock go through the winter 
 on hay, increasing it to two and a quarter pounds, 
 and givfng an occasional foddering of straw, until 
 within five or six weeks of lambing, when this al- 
 lowance should be decreased a little and roots sub- 
 stituted, commencing by degrees with one bushel 
 of potatoes, or one bushel and five eighths of ruta- 
 baga to one hundred ewes, and increasing the quan- 
 tity gradually, of potatoes to three bushels, and of 
 ruta-baga to four and three quarter bushels per day. 
 With this kind of treatment there will be very little 
 difficulty in raising lambs. 
 
 But when a flock of ewes are not in such condi- 
 tion, and require, therefore, more feed and better 
 treatment, two pounds of hay and one quarter of a 
 pound of grain ought to be fed daily until the rutting 
 season is over, When the grain should be withdrawn
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 211 
 
 and roots immediately given, of potatoes two, or 
 ruta-baga three bushels to a hundred per day, until 
 about lambing-time, when that quantity is to be in- 
 creased to three bushels of the former and four and 
 three quarter bushels of the latter. Both flocks 
 should receive a foddering of straw or good corn- 
 fodder three times a week, generally at night, of 
 which they will eat a considerable portion, while 
 the orts serve for litter. 
 
 The three-year old wethers will go through the 
 winter on hay, with an occasional foddering of 
 straw, the orts of which serve them for litter. But 
 the younger wethers require better feed, and, being 
 hard to winter, the best hay should be given them, 
 with some small additions, of grain or roots, say one 
 fifth of a pound of grain, or three quarters of a pound 
 of potatoes, or one and a quarter pounds of ruta- 
 baga. 
 
 It being very desirable that the lambs should go 
 through the winter in the best possible condition, 
 much care is required ; and having given them a 
 few sheaves of oats every evening before they were 
 taken out of the pasture, it remains now to be de- 
 termined as to the kind and quantity of feed they 
 are to receive. This ought to be the best hay, and 
 as much of it as they will eat without cloying. If 
 it is well mixed with white and red clover, and has 
 been cut in good season and well cured, it should be 
 eaten up clean. In addition to this, from a quarter 
 to half a bushel of oats per hundred head may be 
 their daily allowance, as circumstances require. 
 
 The flock of invalids, having been placed in the 
 warmest situation, claim every care and attention ; 
 and no pains or trouble must be spared to carry 
 them through the winter, so that the old ewes shall 
 be enabled to raise a lamb each, which will pay foi 
 all the extra expense and trouble the whole have cost. 
 In connexion with the foregoing remarks, it be- 
 comes necessary to ascertain the feeding properties 
 of grain, ny>ts, and straw, as compared with hay, to
 
 212 
 
 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 enable the farmer to make his estimate of the quan- 
 tity he will require, and to calculate the probable 
 profit or loss of raising certain crops, and feeding 
 them to sheep. 
 
 The experiments of Mr. De Raumer, of Kaluvas- 
 ser, in Silesia, go far to establish certain facts on 
 this subject. They are interesting to the inquiring 
 mind, and may be considered as settled. Mr. De 
 Raumer is a thorough, practical, and scientific far- 
 mer, and is considered high authority on agricultural 
 subjects : his farm-establishment is very extensive, 
 and his experiments may be relied upon. 
 
 " Potatoes, raw and cut into slices, sheep eat gree- 
 dily, and with continued good appetite ; they ate 
 seven pounds per head daily, with an allowance ol 
 straw. The animals remained healthy and lively, 
 and drank three pints of water per head daily. 
 
 " Mangold-wurzel, sheep eat with less greediness : 
 they consumed regularly eight pounds per head dai- 
 ly, with straw as with the potatoes, and drank scarce- 
 ly one quart of water. The animals remained like- 
 wise healthy. 
 
 KINDS OP FEED. 
 
 1 - " 
 |fjl 
 
 Pndua d 
 wool. 
 
 fallow. 
 
 lb>. or 
 
 IU. nl. 
 
 1000 pounds raw potatoes, with salt . 
 
 4bi 
 
 t> 83 
 
 >2 5t 
 
 1000 do. do. without salt 
 
 44 
 
 6 8 
 
 10 14* 
 
 1000 do. raw mangold -\vurzel 
 
 38 
 
 5 3} 
 
 6 5* 
 
 1000 do. pease 
 
 134 
 
 14 11 
 
 41 6 
 
 1000 do. wheat 
 
 155 
 
 13 131 
 
 59 9 
 
 1000 do. rye, with salt 
 
 90 
 
 13 I4J 
 
 35 111 
 
 1000 do. do. without salt 
 
 83 
 
 12 ioi 
 
 33 8i 
 
 1000 do. oats 
 
 146 
 
 9 It 
 
 40 8 
 
 1000 do. barley . 
 
 1J6 
 
 11 Gj 
 
 60 1 
 
 1000 do. buckwheat 
 
 1-0 
 
 10 4J 
 
 33 8 
 
 1000 do. good hay 
 
 58 
 
 7 10J 
 
 12 14 
 
 1000 do. hay, with straw, without 
 
 
 
 
 other fodder 
 
 31 
 
 15 8 
 
 6 11 
 
 1000 Ibs. whiskey still-grams or wash 
 
 35 
 
 6 1 
 
 4
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 213 
 
 " Pease, sheep eat very eagerly ; they consumed 
 two pounds per head per day, drank two to three 
 quarts of water in twenty-four hours, and the ani- 
 mals remained perfectly healthy. In an unsoaked 
 condition, they are nard for sheep to eat, and affect 
 their teeth. 
 
 " Wheat, sheep eat greedily, and it disposes them 
 to be very lively ; they consumed two pounds per 
 head daily, drank from two to three quarts of water, 
 and remained perfectly healthy. 
 
 " Rye, sheep do not eat readily, and it does not 
 suit them well, as the above results in the increase 
 of weight show : they drank from two to three quarts 
 of water daily. 
 
 " Barley : of this the sheep ate two and a half 
 pounds per head daily, and throve upon it, drinking 
 three quarts of water in twenty-four hours. 
 
 " Oats the same as barley. 
 
 " Buckwheat the sheep ate with great avidity, and 
 with the best results as to health and liveliness. A 
 sheep can eat from three to four pounds, and will 
 drink from two and a half to three quarts of water 
 in twenty-four hours. 
 
 " Of gd hay a sheep can consume four and a 
 half pounds, and will drink from two and a half to 
 three quarts of water in twenty-four hours." 
 
 Mr. W. A. Kreisig, a celebrated farmer in East 
 Prussia, considers that one pound of oil-cake meal 
 is as nutritious as two pounds of good hay. 
 
 80 Ibs. of clov ^r hay* are equal to 100 Ibs. mead- 
 ow hay. 
 
 80 Ibs. lucerne and sainfoin, to 100 Ibs. do. 
 
 200 Ibs. sound and well-cured vetches and pea- 
 vines, to 100 Ibs. do. 
 
 300 Ibs. sound barley and oat straw, to 100 Ibs. do. 
 
 * Note by the Translator The clover in Germany grows 
 finer than the clover in this section of country : it resembles 
 more the Pennsylvania clover, and yields two crops a season. 
 It is cut when in full blow, and well cured in cocks.
 
 214 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 400 Ibs. sound wheat and rye straw, to 100 Ibs. do. 
 
 100 Ibs. water-turnips, equal to 40 Ibs. of potatoes, 
 or 50 Ibs. of mangold-wurzel. 
 
 Mr. John Philip Wagner says, in his work entitled 
 " Contributions to the Science and Treatment of 
 Wool and Sheep," that " 200 pounds of potatoes, 
 266 pounds of carrots, 350 pounds of ruta-baga, and 
 90 pounds of clover-hay, lucerne, and sainfoin, are 
 each of them equal to 100 pounds of good hay." 
 
 Your commitee beg leave farther to cite the prac- 
 tice of a few of the most celebrated breeders of sheep 
 in Germany ; and, first, that of Mr. Albricht Thaer. 
 of Moeglin, in Prussia. Potatoes and straw consti- 
 tute the main feed for his large flock of 1500 during 
 winter. He cuts the potatoes into small slices, 
 feeding them alternately with straw. When his 
 pastures, in the fall of the year, begin to fail, he 
 commences feeding potatoes, by scattering them in 
 the field in such quantities as he deems sufficient, 
 with the best effect upon the health and condition 
 of the animals ; his flock fully attesting that sheep 
 may be kept principally on roots and straw. One 
 of the committee, who has been familiar with sheep- 
 husbandry both in this country and in Germany, 
 confidently believes, from his knowledge on the sub- 
 ject, that the same practice can be profitably applied 
 in our sheep-husbandry. 
 
 Mr. Bloeck, of Schieraw, in Silesia, one of the 
 most intelligent and experienced breeders of sheep, 
 keeps a flock of 500 in the following manner. 
 He fodders six times a day. 
 
 1st fodder 208 Ibs. rye straw, of which they eat . 52 Ibs. 
 2d fodder 130 Ibs. oat do. do. do. . 97 Ibs. 
 3d fodder the dry sheep receive 160 Ibs of pea- 
 vines, of which th*>y eat . . 120 lha. 
 
 the ewes receive hay . 
 4th fodder potatoes mixed with cut straw 750 Ibs. 
 
 rye bran 
 oil-cako meal, 
 barley meal, 
 
 120 Ibs. 
 
 31 Ibs. 
 8 Ibs. 
 33 Ibs. 
 
 822 lb.
 
 SHEEP AND THEIR MANAGEMENT. 215 
 
 5th fodder the ewes receive hay . . .120 Ibs. 
 the wethers 160 Ibs. pea-vines, of 
 
 which they eat .... 120 Ibs. 
 6th and last fodder 208 Ibs. of rye and wheat 
 
 straw, of which they eat . . 52 Ibs. 
 
 Total amount consumed per day . . 1503 Ibs. 
 
 The flock was of superior quality, the animals 
 large, and always in excellent condition. 
 
 Count Magnis, of Eckhardsdorf, gave to 100 breed- 
 ing ewes the following per day : 
 
 1st fodder straw and clover hacker . . .69 Ibs. 
 
 2d fodder the same 69 Ibs. 
 
 3d fodder clover hay 100 Ibs. 
 
 4th fodder potatoes and straw hacker . . 72 Ibs. 
 5th fodder straw 75 Ibs. 
 
 Total ...... 395 Ibs. 
 
 The daily portion of the electoral flock of Rennes- 
 dorf, the private property of the King of Saxony, 
 consisting of 400 breeding ewes and rams, was 1000 
 pounds of hay in two meals, and at night a fodder- 
 ing of straw. 
 
 Many other valuable practices of the German 
 shepherds might be cited ; but your committee, fear- 
 ing that they have already exhausted your patience, 
 forbear to enlarge upon them ; they therefore pro- 
 ceed to the consideration of the second proposition, 
 namely, water. 
 
 All domestic animals require water in proportion 
 to the quantity of dry provender they consume ; and 
 sheep demand particular attention in this respect, as 
 well as some care in regulating the quantity, accord- 
 ing to circumstances. Warm springs are always to 
 be preferred ; though sheep are frequently to be 
 seen eating snow, which may be attributed in most 
 cases to fever. 
 
 It is desirable that the flock should be able to drink 
 without wetting their feet or wading into the mud, 
 both of which are not only very injurious by pro-
 
 216 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 ducing disease in the foot, but deter the animals 
 from drinking as often as inclination prompts. 
 
 Protection against the inclemencies of the season 
 is the third consideration in the " feeding and man- 
 agement of sheep in winter." It is almost as ne- 
 cessary to their health and prosperity as food itself, 
 and for this reason, comfortable shelters should be 
 built for them : they not only do much better, but it 
 is a great saving of time, fodder, and manure. It 
 will be found that ten tons of hay, fed to sheep that 
 have warm shelter, will go farther than twelve tons 
 fed out to them from a stack, and when they have 
 no other protection from the inclemencies of the 
 weather than the side of the stack or a fence. Such 
 stables, if properly constructed, will pay at least 
 from 15 to 25 per cent, interest annually. This 
 alone should prompt the owner of a flock to provide 
 comfortable lodging places for them. " A merciful 
 man is merciful to his beast." 
 
 Each full-grown sheep requires six square feet of 
 room, including racks. The stable should be eight 
 feet high, with windows in the upper part, that may 
 be closed as circumstances require. The floor over- 
 head ought to be made tight, that nothing may fall 
 through. The animals must be well littered, as it 
 will add much to their health and comfort. Where 
 this is neglected, the dung accumulates and creates 
 an offensive smell, and the sheep are then very loath 
 to enter their stables. It is but too often the case, 
 that when farmers do shelter their sheep, the stables 
 contain a mass of dung so offensive that the flock 
 will not enter them, and, if forced in and confined 
 .there, it proves highly injurious : hence the preju- 
 dice " that housing sheep is injurious to their health."
 
 OUR COUNTRY OUR WHOLE COUNTRY. 217 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 OUR COUNTRY OCR WHOLE COUNTRY. Clover: its value for 
 Cattle, for Seed, and for the Soil. Use of Clover. Clover 
 and Clover-seed. Prevention of Smut. Why is it best to 
 bury Manure ? Butter-making. Drill Husbandry. Effect 
 of Steeps. Modes and Profits of Strawberry Culture. Sta- 
 tistics of American Wool and Woollen Manufactures. Ex- 
 periment in Harvesting Corn. Cultivation of Cucumbers. 
 The circumscribed Farmer &c., &c. 
 
 THERE is no one business of life which so highly 
 conduces to national prosperity and independence, 
 and to general and individual happiness, as the cul- 
 tivation of the soil. Agriculture may be regarded, 
 says the great Sully, as the breasts from which the 
 state derives its support and nourishment. Agricul- 
 ture is truly our nursing mother, which nurtures, 
 and gives growth, and wealth, and moral health, 
 and character to our country. It may be consider- 
 ed as the great wheel which moves all the machine- 
 ry of society ; and that whatever gives to this a new 
 impulse or energy, communicates a corresponding 
 impetus to the thousand minor wheels of interest 
 which it propels and regulates. Providence seems 
 wisely to have ordained, that because this is the 
 most necessary employment towards the subsist- 
 ence and comfort of the human family, its labours 
 shall receive the highest and most substantial re- 
 ward. While the other classes of society are di- 
 rectly dependant upon agriculture for a regular and 
 sufficient provision of the means of subsistence, the 
 agriculturist is 'enabled to supply all the absolute 
 wants of life from his own labours, though he de- 
 rives most of his pleasures and profits from an in-
 
 218 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 terchange of the products of his industry with the 
 other classes of society. Agriculture has been call- 
 ed the parent of arts, not only because it was the 
 first art practised by man, but because the other arts 
 arc its legitimate offspring, and cannot continue long 
 to exist without it. It is the great business of civ- 
 ilized life, and gives employment to a vast majority 
 of almost every people. 
 
 The substantial prosperity of a country is always 
 in the ratio of its agricultural industry and wealth. 
 Commerce and manufactures may give temporary 
 consequence to a state ; but these are always a 
 precarious dependance. Venice, Genoa, Portugal, 
 Spain, &c., each in turn rose to wealth and power 
 from commercial enterprise ; but they all now ex- 
 hibit melancholy evidences of fallen greatness. 
 Their population degenerated under the corrupting 
 influence of commercial wealth, and, having no suit- 
 able agricultural basis to rest upon, they have fallen 
 in succession from their high standing, victims to 
 the enervating influence of domestic cabals, or be- 
 fore the more robust energies of rival powers. They 
 exhibit nothing now, in their political or social insti- 
 tutions, in their agriculture or the condition of their 
 population, that can be admired or coveted by the 
 freemen of America. -Great Britain has now be- 
 come ascendant in commerce and manufactures ; 
 yet her greatness in these sources of power and op- 
 ulence is primarily and principally owing to the ex- 
 cellent state of her agriculture ; without which she 
 could not maintain her manufactures or commerce 
 in their present flourishing state, or long retain her 
 immense foreign possessions, or anything like her 
 present population. Only one third of her people 
 are said to be employed in agriculture ; yet their 
 labours, such is the high condition of her husbandry, 
 suffice to feed themselves and the other two thirds. 
 An agricultural population of five millions, of all 
 ages, produces annually, from her limited soil, seven
 
 OUR COUNTRY OUR WHOLE COUNTRY. 219 
 
 hundred millions of dollars' worth of agricultural pro- 
 duce, averaging about one hundred and forty dollars 
 to each man, woman, and child. The recently-pub- 
 lished letters of Dr. Humphreys are so conclusive 
 and instructive upon this subject, not only in regard 
 to the importance of agriculture to a nation, but as 
 showing the susceptibility of this art of high im- 
 provement and great productiveness, that we subjoin 
 below an extract from one of them. 
 
 " It is the opinion of competent judges, that the 
 advances made in the agriculture of Great Britain 
 during the last seventy or eighty years, are scarcely 
 exceeded by the improvement and extension of her 
 manufactures within the same period, and that to 
 these advances no other old-settled country furnish- 
 es any parallel. That they have been very rapid, 
 indeed, the following figures and comparisons abun- 
 dantly show. In 1760, the total growth of all kinds 
 of grain in England and Wales was about 120,000,000 
 bushels. To this should be added, perhaps, 50,000,000 
 for Scotland ; making a great total of 170,000,000. 
 In 1835, the quantity in both kingdoms could not 
 have been less than 340,000,000 bushels. In 1755, 
 the population of the whole island did not much, if 
 any, exceed 7,500,000. In 1831 it had risen to 
 16,525,180, being an increase of 9,000,000, or 120 
 per cent. ! Now the improvements in agriculture 
 have more than kept pace with this prodigious in- 
 crease of demand for its various productions ; for it 
 is agreed on all hands, that the 16,500,000, or, rath- 
 er, the 17,500,000 (for more than a million has been 
 added since 1831), are much fuller fed, and on pro- 
 visions of a far better quality, than the 7,500,000 
 were in 1755. Nor is Great Britain indebted at all, at 
 present, to foreign markets for her supplies. Since 
 1832, she has imported no grain worth mentioning; 
 and till within the last six months, prices have been 
 so exceedingly depressed as to call forth loud com- 
 plaints from the whole agricultural interest of the
 
 220 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 country. England is at this moment so far from 
 wanting any of our breadstuff's, if we had them to 
 export, that she has been supplying us liberally all 
 winter from her own granaries ; and, according to 
 the latest advices, she had still bread enough and to 
 spare. Again : it is estimated by British writers of 
 high authority, that the subsistence of 9,000,000 peo- 
 ple costs, in raw produce, no less than 72,000,000, 
 or 8 for each individual, per annum. According 
 to this estimate, the annual product of this great 
 branch of national industry is $350,000,000 more at 
 present than it was in 1755; which is more than 
 twice the value of the whole cotton manufacture of 
 the country in 1831. Now if it costs $350,000,000 
 to feed the increased population of 9,000,000, then 
 to feed the whole population of 17,500,000 must cost 
 nearly $700,000,000 ! What an amazing agricultu- 
 ral product for so small a territory ! And yet it is 
 the opinion of practical men of the highest respecta- 
 bility in England, that the raw produce of the island 
 might be wellnigh doubled, without any greater 
 proportional expense being incurred in its produc- 
 tion ; that is to say, 35,000,000 people might draw 
 their subsistence from one little speck in the ocean ! 
 Now we have a territory more than fifteen times as 
 large as the island of Great Britain ; and what should 
 hinder it, when it comes to be brought under no 
 higher cultivation than some parts of England and 
 Scotland, from sustaining a population of 500 or 600 
 millions of people 1 This would give to Virginia 
 something like thirty millions ; to Illinois and Mis- 
 souri about the same number each ; to New- York 
 near twenty-five millions, and so on in proportion 
 to the other states. I am quite aware that this es- 
 timate will be regarded as extremely visionary and 
 incredible by many readers ; but not more so than 
 it would have been thought, in the middle of the last 
 century, that England, Scotland, and Wales could 
 ever be made to sustain thirty-five, or even thirty 
 millions."
 
 OUR COUNTRY OUR WHOLE COUNTRY. 221 
 
 A city may flourish by foreign commerce, by be- 
 coming the carrier of other nations, till foreign ag- 
 gression, or foreign rivalship, or the opening of new 
 channels of trade contingences of no unfrequent 
 occurrence shall blast its prospects, and consign it, 
 like Persepolis, Petra, Tyre, and other ancient cities 
 of the East, to ruin and oHivion. 
 
 A town or distinct may llourish by manufacturing 
 industry, as many have done in ancient and in mod- 
 ern times, so long as it can exchange its merchan- 
 dise for the means of subsistence and of acquiring 
 wealth ; but if its dependance for these is upon for- 
 eign lands, its prosperity is unstable ; the interchange 
 is liable to be interrupted by wars, rivalships, and 
 other contingences. 
 
 A country can be long prosperous and truly inde- 
 pendent only when it is sustained by agricultural 
 intelligence and agricultural industry. Its foreign 
 commerce may be swept from the ocean ; its manu- 
 factures may perish ; yet still, if its soil be tilled, 
 and well tilled, it can be made to yield all the abso- 
 lute necessaries of life ; it can, when misfortunes 
 abate, like the roots of the trunkless tree, send forth 
 a new stem, new branches, new foliage, and new 
 fruit ; it can rear again the edifice of the manufac- 
 turer, and spread again the sails of commerce ; and 
 it will yet retain the germe and the spirit of inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 The preceding facts will serve to show the im- 
 portance of agriculture to a nation in sustaining its 
 prosperity and its independence, and in supplying 
 the wants and multiplying the comforts of its popu- 
 lation. The same reasoning that applies to nations, 
 applies to states, to counties, to towns, and to neigh- 
 bourhoods. A griculture constitutes the basis of their 
 prosperity, directly or remotely ; and the blessings 
 which it confers are always in the ratio of the intel- 
 ligence, skill, and industry which direct and control 
 its operations. Take a town, for example, which
 
 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 has a mixed population of the various classes of so- 
 ciety. If the average produce of . .ich acre of land 
 is but ten dollars, it is l>;m ly sufficient to cover ex- 
 penses and to feed the dinner's family. Having 
 nothing to sell, the farmer, of course, cannot buy ; 
 or, if he buys, he cannot pay the merchant, the man- 
 ufacturer, or the mechanic ; nor can he support the 
 ifcwyer, the physician, the schoolmaster, or the cler- 
 gyman. But if every acre be made to yield thirty 
 dollars' worth of produce annually, which most 
 lands, properly managed, are capable of doing, the 
 twenty dollars, or two thirds of the whole product 
 of the soil, become virtually a circulating medium. 
 It is so much surplus wealth created by the agricul- 
 tural labour of the town. Now let us suppose, far- 
 ther, that the lands in the town amount to twenty 
 thousand acres. Under the reckless system of 
 management which too generally prevails, and 
 which, upon the average, does not produce over ten 
 dollars an acre on old improved lands, the product 
 would be barely sufficient to maintain the agricul- 
 tural population, without adding to their wealth, or 
 enabling them to buy of the merchant or others the 
 necessaries and comforts which they stand in need 
 of. I am aware that this does not hold good in 
 practice ; for even the most shiftless farmers buy ; 
 but if they pay, it is at the expense of many of the 
 substantial comforts of life, or perhaps, ultimately, 
 of their farms, which they might continue to enjoy, 
 and to increase in value, under a more enlightened 
 system of management. But under the improved 
 system, which we have not graduated high at thirty 
 dollars per acre, and which is under the average 
 product of well-cultivated lands both in Europe and 
 America, the aggregate agricultural labour of the 
 town would give an annual increase to its wealth of 
 four hundred thousand dollars. Is there, then, an in- 
 telligent, reflecting man, who cannot see and appre- 
 ciate the advantages to society, to the state, and to
 
 OUR COCNTRY OUR WHOLE COUNTRY. 223 
 
 the nation, of a highly-improved stale of agriculture? 
 Is there one who does not see that his personal in- 
 terests are promoted by this certain and constant 
 influx of wealth, drawn from the soil, prolific in the 
 bounties and blessings of a wise and beneficent Cre- 
 ator ? HE has spread everywhere the means of 
 making man wise and happy. HE has given him 
 the capacity to apply these means to his own good. 
 HE has commanded him to bring his capacities 
 into constant and active exercise ; and HE has 
 promised to reward, and HE will reward, all who 
 prove faithful to the command. 
 
 I do not aim to disparage the other great branches 
 of national industry, which are bountiful sources of 
 wealth and happiness, by praising agriculture ; but I 
 think the importance of this great business to the 
 state has not been duly appreciated, nor its interests 
 sufficiently regarded and promoted by those who 
 have had the management of our state affairs. My 
 object is merely to make agriculture the base, as it 
 ought to be, of the social edifice. We are so prone 
 to look up for blessings to what are termed the high- 
 er walks of life, and to expect them to fall upon us 
 without an effort, that it becomes necessary, at 
 times, to point to their legitimate sources below, in 
 the soil. Agriculture, manufactures, and commerce 
 are all important, in a public point of view, in the 
 order in which we have named them ; and, like the 
 human body and its members, are reciprocal aids to 
 each other. The agriculturist gathers from the soil 
 the elements of usefulness ; the manufacturer fits 
 them to our wants ; and the merchant becomes the 
 factor of both, and the medium of interchange 
 
 It is but just, in the mean time, to suggest some 
 of the important bearings which our manufactures 
 have upon the prosperity and independence of our 
 country. These consume the surplus products of 
 the soil ; they convert into useful fabrics the wool, 
 the hemp, the flax, and much of the cotton, of the
 
 224 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 farmer and the planter ; and they supply to the great 
 agricultural mass of population articles of necessity 
 and convenience, at a cheaper rate and of better 
 quality than the farmer could fabricate them for 
 himself. The manufacturers of our country consume 
 more of the surplus provisions of our soil than all Eu- 
 rope, Asia, and Africa put together. I know it is said 
 that we can gel our wearing apparel from Europe, 
 had we no protecting duties, cheaper than we can 
 manufacture it ourselves. And this is undoubtedly 
 true as regards many articles that we use. But 
 what would be the consequence ? What was the 
 consequence in 1836, when we were flooded with 
 foreign goods without the means of paying for 
 them * Our manufacturers became embarrassed ; 
 many of the mills were stopped; and a general 
 stagnation of all business ensued. Had the causes 
 which produced that state of things continued to 
 operate, a complete prostration of our manufacturing 
 energies must have ensued, and the manufacturer 
 been obliged to seek his employment and his bread 
 among the agricultural class : the home market for 
 the surplus products of our soil would have been 
 thus cut off, and the stimuli to industry and enter- 
 prise everywhere paralyzed. Europe does not want, 
 and will not buy, our agricultural products. She 
 sells to us even breadstuff's. Ours must find a home 
 market, or no market at all. 
 
 But there is another consideration which claims 
 from us an interest in ou manufactures. Why are 
 manufactured goods cheaper in Europe than they 
 are in America] Not because our workmen are 
 less expert or our machinery less perfect. The 
 difference lies in the social condition of the work- 
 men of the two countries in the price of labour. 
 So depressed is the condition of the operatives in 
 Europe, that they are compelled to labour for a bare 
 subsistence. They enjoy but few political rights. 
 There the many toil to support the few in luxury
 
 OUR COUNTRY OUR WHOLE COUNTRY. 225 
 
 and extravagance. Here the case is widely differ- 
 ent. Our citizens enjoy equal rights, and the spirit 
 of our institutions demands that they should be so 
 rewarded for their labour as to be able to assert and 
 maintain their rights. Depress them by poverty 
 and want to the condition of the operatives in Euro- 
 pean workshops, and you degrade them as men, and 
 render them dangerous as freemen. 
 
 The interests of the different classes of society in 
 our country are so intimately interwoven, that it 
 may be assumed as a truth, that each class and 
 each individual best subserve their own good, when 
 they endeavour to promote the welfare of all, of ev- 
 ery other class and individual. It conies, then, to 
 this, if our views of the matter are correct, that ag- 
 riculture, being the great conservative principle of 
 national prosperity, independence, and character, 
 should be primarily supported should be encour 
 aged, enlightened, and honoured ; that our manufac- 
 tures, being necessary, like the elaborating organs 
 of the plant, to convert to convenient and useful 
 purposes the products of agriculture, should hold the 
 second rank in our regards as a branch of national 
 industry which cannot be dispensed with without 
 manifest injury to the other classes of society, and 
 without perilling our independence as a nation ; and 
 that agriculture and manufactures being duly cher- 
 ished, commerce, as a necessary medium of inter- 
 change between the two great branches of national 
 industry, and between them and foreign nations, 
 will as certainly prosper and flourish as the tree in 
 a rich soil, which is braced and supported by a good 
 system of roots -below, and has a healthy top and 
 foliage above. Let us, then, improve our agricul- 
 ture, and foster and protect our manufactures, that 
 our commerce may enlarge its boundaries and mul- 
 tiply its gains. Then may we, in the spirit of oui 
 motto, exclaim, OUR COUNTRY OUR WHOLE ' OUNTRY. 
 
 I. S
 
 226 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 CLOVER : ITS VALUE FOR CATTLE, FOR SEED, AND fOR 
 THE SOIL. 
 
 We have received a communication from Mr 
 Henry Brewer, of Enfield, Tompkins county, illus- 
 trating the value of clover as a means of keeping up 
 the fertility of his soil, and of rendering its culture 
 profitable. Mr. Brewer was from old Dutchess, the 
 land of clover. He purchased his farm in Enfield 
 in 1830, at $8 50 per acre. It now gives a product 
 of from fifteen to forty dollars per acre per annum ; 
 and the improvement and the profit he ascribes prin- 
 cipally to the cultivation of clover. As the commu- 
 nication is very lengthy, having the writer's permis- 
 sion to do so, we give the purport of it in a con- 
 densed form. 
 
 Mr. Brewer remarks, that New- York farmers pay 
 io those of New-Jersey and Pennsylvania annually 
 many thousand dollars for clover-seed, which they 
 might raise for themselves with profit. He would 
 as soon think of buying his seed-oats and seed- 
 wheat as his clover-seed. He prefers the Southern 
 or dwarf clover, because it is fit to cut five or ten 
 days earlier than the tall-growing or Northern kind, 
 and is more certain'of ripening the seed of the sec- 
 ond crop. He sows with his small grain at the rate 
 of fifteen Ibs. the acre, and sometimes sows his corn- 
 fields after the last hoeing. 
 
 Mr. Brewer appropriates his clover to three very 
 valuable purposes : to feed his stock, to fertilize his 
 land, and to fill his purse ; and he has succeeded 
 admirably in them all, so far as we can judge. His 
 cattle thrive upon it, both as a green and a dry crop, 
 in summer and winter ; his wheat and corn feed and 
 thrive upon it, when buried and decomposing in the 
 soil ; and his purse increases with the increase of 
 his cattle and his crops. And, finally, besides feed- 
 ing his cattle and fertilizing his soil, the seed of his 
 second crop gives him an acreable profit, annually,
 
 CLOVER: ITS USES. 227 
 
 of from fifteen to fifty dollars. Now there is no se- 
 cret in the business, no patent right. He gives you 
 his whole process, that you may profit by his exam- 
 ple if you will. We shall endeavour to present it in 
 concise and plain terms. 
 
 Clover is used either for hay or pasture the first 
 crop, and uniformly for seed and forage the second 
 crop. If for pasture, he turns his stock upon it 
 about the first of May, or when the soil has become 
 so firm that the feet of the cattle will not poach the 
 sod. At this time, the growth is such as to enable 
 the cattle to thrive. He pastures till about the 20th 
 of June, and the closer it is cropped at this time, the 
 better, he thinks. The cattle are then withdrawn, 
 and the second crop is permitted to grow and ma- 
 ture its seed. If the first crop is designed for hay, 
 it is cut from the 20th to the 25th of June, although 
 it may not have passed the bloom, or arrived at that 
 state "when most farmers deem it in a proper condi- 
 tion to be cut. It is important to cut it as early as 
 the 25th, Mr. B. thinks, in order to give the second 
 crop time to grow and mature its seed before it is 
 injured by the frosts of autumn; five days often 
 making a material difference in the seed-crop. We 
 do not like Mr. B.'s mode of curing this early-cut 
 clover: he takes it, when partially cured, to his 
 barn, and spreads it about upon scaffolds and poles 
 till made, and then puts it into his bay. This causes 
 unnecessary labour. Cured in grass-cocks, accord- 
 ing to our repeated directions,* it will be as good as 
 
 * We have this year varied our practice somewhat, and, we 
 think, with advantage. The grass cut in the forenoon has been 
 turned in swath directly after dinner, and put into grass-cocks 
 the same day. If rain has threatened, the cocks have been 
 opened the second day, and the hay finished ; but we prefer to 
 .eave them to the third day, when a slight opening, to evaporate 
 the external moisture, suffices. The grass mown in the after- 
 noon is turned the same day in swath, or, if not wilted enough, 
 in the forenoon of the second day, and in the afternoon put into 
 cocks. We deem it important, 1st. That clover should st_?id
 
 228 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 when spread over a barn, and more than half the la- 
 bour will be saved. Mr. B. thinks clover hay made 
 in the shade is much better than that made in the 
 sun. " '/he next way of curing this green clover," 
 says the writer, "is with wheat-straw that has 
 been kept in the barn for that purpose, by laying a 
 course of hay and then of straw, and so on until 
 you have it all secured." The importance of mow- 
 ing the first crop early is illustrated by the fact that 
 ous of Mr. B.'s neighbours, who had been persuaded 
 to cut his first crop some days earlier than usual, 
 acknowledged that he should obtain thirty bushels 
 more clover-seed than usual in consequence of it. 
 
 The seed-crop is gathered with care and brought 
 to the barn as soon as it is fit, that rain upon it, or 
 unnecessary exposure to the weather, may be avoid- 
 ed, both of which materially impair the value of the 
 butts or straw for fodder. The heads are separated 
 with a flail, and the seed extracted by Robert Ritten- 
 house & Go's, patent clover machine. The average 
 product in seed is from four to five bushels the acre ; 
 which, at present prices, is worth sixty to seventy 
 dollars : a tolerable acreable profit for a second crop. 
 In regard to his clover machine, Mr. B. has cleaned 
 four hundred bushels of seed with it, without a dol- 
 lar of expense in repairs. It is portable ; and, 
 " when there is once a machine in a neighbourhood," 
 says Mr. B., "I think the farmers will then raise 
 
 in cocks some time, in order to equalize the moisture, to sweat ; 
 that is, that the moisture contained in the thick stems may have 
 time to disseminate itself upon the surface, and into the thin 
 leaves ami blossoms. If a slight fermentation takes place in 
 the cocks, so much the better ; as the hay, in that case, is not 
 likely to undergo a second fermentation in the barn. 2dly. 
 1'bat the curing process should be carried on, as much as pos- 
 sible, without the aid of the direct rays of the sun, which cer- 
 tain!) imp.tir the nutritive propeities of the hay. Kxpose a 
 lock ol clover two days to the direct influence of the run's rays, 
 and il becuiuw blanched and valueless, and cattle will reject it. 
 -Corn*. Cult.
 
 CLOVER : ITS USES. 229 
 
 their own seed, as is the case in my neighbourhood. 
 And if they raise it themselves, they think it costs 
 nothing ; they then sow liberally, and get a bounti- 
 ful return." The machine cost sixty dollars ; and it 
 would verily seem to be worth more than that 
 amount annually to the farmers of the neighbour- . 
 hood. 
 
 In regard to the value of clover in keeping up the 
 fertility of the farm, Mr. Brewer considers it of the 
 first consequence ; for, says he, " I think I can ma- 
 nure my farm with clover cheaper than I can cart 
 manure from my own barnyard ; although I have it 
 all carried out in the spring of the year for my hoed 
 crops, while unfermented, because 1 think it. of more 
 value to have it rot in the soil than in the farmyard. 
 I do not wish to have it understood that I am an ad- 
 vocate of the miserable practice of leaving the ma- 
 nure in the barnyard, as many of my neighbouring 
 farmers do, to waste one half of its best qualities, 
 for I have my barnyard thoroughly cleaned every 
 year." 
 
 One word as to the condition of the farm when it 
 came under Mr. B.'s management. The soil is de- 
 scribed as being a sandy loam, mixed with slate 
 gravel, and most of it very stony. When he went 
 on to it, remarks he, in 1830, " there were about fifty 
 acres of cleared land, and it was considered one of 
 the poorest farms in the town by my neighbours, 
 who assured me I could not get grass enough from 
 the farm to keep one cow. There was but two 
 acres of meadow upon it, and that was too wet to 
 plough. But this did not discourage me. I pur- 
 chased two and a half bushels of clover-seed the 
 first spring, which some of my neighbours thought 
 was enough to seed my whole farm, weeds and all ; 
 but I sowed it on sixteen acres." Such was Mr. 
 Brewer's beginning ; and the reader is already ad- 
 vised, that this spirited start has been followed up 
 for eight years with increasing advantage. The
 
 230 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 wheat-crop has averaged from eighteen to twenty-* 
 four bushels per acre. 
 
 USE OF CLOVER. 
 
 Almost uniformly, clover (with plaster) is used as 
 an ameliorating or enriching crop ; yet the land is 
 but little benefited thereby. For, as soon as the 
 clover has attained to such a height that cattle can 
 'get a good bite," while the herbage is tender, and 
 before the stalk becomes in the least indurated, the 
 cattle are turned upon it, and are continued there as 
 long as they can get a living. Then comes the turn 
 for colts or sheep, which continue the spoliation till 
 the field is a complete waste, and almost as barren 
 of herbage as the Libyan desert. And now, per- 
 haps, it is time to put in the plough for a winter 
 crop ; so the soil is turned over, and if ten bushels 
 of rye, or fifteen or twenty bushels of oats per acre 
 are obtained, the proprietor is entirely satisfied. 
 
 Now it strikes me that this is a very mistaken 
 policy. It is true, the stock that takes the first clip 
 fares most daintily, and the land is somewhat ben- 
 efited by the manure left upon the surface ; but, in 
 the case of a dairy farm, where the cows are often 
 driven a considerable distance from the pasture to 
 the yard, there is a great waste ; though many nev- 
 er think of that. But the root of the clover thus 
 sheared of its lungs can never attain to much size ; 
 and, as hardly a leaf or a stalk is turned under, the 
 soil can be but little benefited by the green crop ; 
 and if it does not degenerate, it certainly does not 
 improve. 
 
 About three years since, in July, I called on a 
 gentleman in the north part of the town where I re- 
 side, who makes use of clover, " according to my 
 notion,' 1 in the right way. He went with me over a 
 considerable portion of his farm, and through fields 
 which he intended to sow with wheat or rye. The 
 soil was a gravel, and by nature not the most fertile.
 
 CLOVER : ITS USES. 231 
 
 In these were horses, swine, and cows, up to their 
 eyes in clover in full bloom, and of most luxuriant 
 growth ; and it gave me pleasure of no ordinary de- 
 gree to witness such a feast : a feast for the eye, for 
 the brute, and for the. soil. I remarked, " Indeed, 
 Mr. T., your stock fare sumptuously." " Yes," was 
 his reply, " and that is the way I manure my fields. 
 When the clover is pretty well rolled down (I don't 
 allow the cattle to eat it all up) I go in with my har- 
 row, and complete the levelling process by drawing 
 it in the same direction that I plough, that in the 
 latter operation the herbage may be more complete- 
 ly buried." He likewise told me that it was by far 
 the cheapest manure he could use ; and that, as long 
 as he could produce clover in such abundance, he 
 would not draw manure if it were given him. 
 This is carrying the principle to its fullest extent, 
 farther than I should approve ; but it might have 
 been only his extravagant manner of showing his 
 entire confidence in the system of cultivation, inde- 
 pendent of other means of fertility. Still I very 
 much doubt his willingness to give away his yard 
 manure, or to part with it for the market price ; and 
 I did not observe that he " summered" any. He 
 need not have told me that he obtained large crops ; 
 they were splendid ; for his oats in adjoining fields 
 proved it. By-the-way, oats are the crop he most 
 cultivates. The land in this region is often plough- 
 ed in the fall, and only harrowed (but that thorough- 
 ly') in the spring. 
 
 CLOVER AND CLOVER-SEED. 
 
 Clover is becoming of more and more importance, 
 and the quantity sown is annually increasing, in 
 proportion as the new system of husbandry extends 
 among us. Its tap roots penetrate and loosen the 
 soil ; its stems and foliage produce abundance of 
 .'y.tritious food for the neat stock of the farm ; and 
 ooth roots and stems, when turned under by the
 
 232 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 plough, are highly enriching to the soil. It is ,ndis- 
 pensable in alternate husbandry ; and we feel justi- 
 fied in saying that its liberal and judicious use, to- 
 gether with gypsum, upon many light soils, has add- 
 ed fifty, one hundred, and even two hundred per 
 cent, to the profits of their culture. Yet there are 
 a great many districts of our country in which its 
 value is seemingly but little appreciated, and in 
 which its cultivation has been yet hardly begun. 
 There is scarcely a plant grown upon the farm that 
 returns to the soil more of the elements of fertility ; 
 affording almost a certainty that its cultivation will 
 continue to increase for some years in a progress- 
 ive ratio. 
 
 From this view of the subject, it is apparent that 
 clover-seed will continue to increase in demand as 
 it has continued to advance in price ; and that the 
 raising of it for market promises to be a lucrative 
 business. The dwarf Southern clover will afford a 
 crop of hay to be cut the last of June, and a crop of 
 seed to be gathered towards autumn. The price 
 of seed is now from twelve to fifteen dollars a bush- 
 el; and if we suppose the acre to yield but five 
 bushels, the profit will be enormous. Machines for 
 cleaning the seed are already abundant, and others 
 have been introduced for gathering the heads in the 
 field. We give below the drawing and dimensions 
 of one described by Mr. L'Hommedieu, in the trans- 
 actions of the old Agricultural Society
 
 PREVENTION OF SMUT. 233 
 
 Dimensions. 
 
 1, 2. The shafts, 4 feet 4 inches long, and 3 feet 
 asunder. 
 
 3, 4. The handles, 3 feet long, and 20 inches apart. 
 
 5. The fingers or teeth, 13 inches long. 
 
 The wheels are 16 inches in diameter. 
 
 The machine is drawn by one horse, and guided 
 by a man or boy. It simply consists of an open 
 box, about 4 feet square at the bottom and about 3 
 in height on three sides. To the forepart, which is 
 open, fingers are fixed similar to those of a cradle, 
 about 13 inches in length, and so close together as 
 to hold fast and break off the heads of the clover 
 stocks which catch between them, and which are 
 thrown back into the box as the horse advances. 
 The box is fixed on an axletree supported by the 
 wheels. The driver raises or lowers the fingers of 
 the machine, so as to take off all the heads of the 
 grass ; and, as often as the box is filled with them, 
 they are thrown out, and the horse goes on as before. 
 
 PREVENTION OF SMUT. 
 
 We extract the subjoined table from the Quarter- 
 ly .Journal for June, as particularly applicable and 
 useful at this season. . It gives the results of trials 
 with various liquids as steeps for seed-wheat, made 
 by Mr. Bevan, on a sandy soil in Bedfordshire. The 
 columns in the table marked A. contain the results 
 from the steeped grain sown, and those marked B. 
 are the results from smutted samples.
 
 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 
 
 His 
 
 <<booiri o6>6'( ; a> oo-ri 
 
 see 
 
 ^ -^ Cl t*~ CO GO W CO O ^^ 00 
 
 W * O f- ^ OD 
 
 . C"^ 6 
 J- "5-^ E 
 B 2 
 
 s. s- 
 
 c J3 a 
 
 .w-c S 
 
 bS 
 
 It will be seen that the seed steeped in a pickle of 
 common salt was free from smut, gave the greatest 
 product in good grain, and the greatest weight in 
 straw. This steep may be used by every farmer. 
 
 The article from which the above table is extract- 
 ed was written by George W. Johnson. The writer 
 examines the erroneous theories and opinions which 
 have prevailed as to the origin or cause of smut in 
 grain, and, we think, satisfactorily shows their falla- 
 cy. Mr. Johnson then proceeds to detail what he 
 considers correct knowledge upon the subject, and
 
 PREVENTION OF SMUT. 235 
 
 quotes some of the most eminent naturalists in sup- 
 port of the opinion, that what passes by the different 
 names of smut, dust-brand, and burned corn is a parasit- 
 ical fungus, which preys not only upon the sap, but 
 destroys the very organic structure of the grain and 
 chaff upon which it fixes. Botanists generally dis- 
 tinguish this fungus by the name of urido segeturn. 
 Chymical analysis has shown it to consist, 1st, of 
 about one third of its own weight t)f a green, buty- 
 rous, fetid, and acrid oil: 2d, nearly one fourth of a 
 vegeto-animal substance, perfectly similar to that 
 which comes from putrid gluten : 3d, of a black coal, 
 one fifth of its weight, similar to that which is found 
 in all remnants of putrid organic compounds : 4th, of 
 free phosphoric acid, amounting to scarcely more than 
 .004 of the smut : 5th, of phosphates of ammonia, 
 magnesia, and lime, in the proportion of a few thou- 
 sandths. " The contagion attacks especially the 
 gluten, and precedes, indeed prevents, the formation 
 of starch." It has also been shown by Duhamel, 
 Kirby, and others, that the disease exists in the af- 
 fected plant before the development of the head ; 
 that it is propagated by minute seeds, which attach 
 to the kernel, and which are so light as to float 
 buoyantly in a damp atmosphere ; that the vitality 
 of these seeds is not destroyed by frost; but that 
 they will contaminate seed-grain with which they 
 come in contact after being long in the soil. In 
 early spring, when the plants were but a few inches 
 high, upon carefully opening the hose or blade which 
 covers the ear, M. Duhamel found this erribryo al- 
 ready black and distempered. After quoting the re- 
 sults of many experiments, besides those in the 
 above table, made by Mr. Bevan, Mr. Johnson adds : 
 " The conclusion from these and many other ac- 
 cordant experiments is, that washing the seed is ef- 
 fective in preventing the communication of the dis- 
 ease to the crop. If the washing were frequently 
 repeated, or the cleansing made complete, by pass-
 
 236 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 ing a continued stream through the wheat for som* 
 hours, it is probable that simple water might be em- 
 ployed for this purpose as effectually as any saline 
 solution. But, as this would require more labour 
 than is dc.sinible, and as the salts, &c., employed 
 a^e beneficial in other ways, by protecting the seed 
 from vermin, and ministering to the future vigour of 
 the plants, steeps are generally and very properly 
 adopted." 
 
 If lime be employed, it is recomnrmdjd to prepare 
 it by mixing "one pound of fresh lime with three 
 gallons of boiling water, allowing these to stand for 
 two hours, and the clear liquid then to be poured off 
 and immediately used. In this liquor the wheat 
 should be soaked for twelve hours, stirred twice or 
 thrice during the time, and then mixed upon a floor, 
 with the powder made by pouring three gallons 
 [pints'!] of boiling water upon five pounds of lime." 
 
 Mr. Johnson has had no experience with lime 
 himself; but he has witnessed many experiments 
 with stale urine and a solution of common salt. He 
 thinks the latter the most agreeable ; and, although 
 both were completely effective, he has used the salt, 
 as being most cleanly as well as convenient. His 
 mode is to wash the seed with pure water, skim off 
 the floating light grains, and then soak it twelve 
 hours in a pickle made with common salt, strong 
 enough to float a hen's egg. Mr. Johnson is satis- 
 fied, from experiments he made, and which he details, 
 that the soil is one source of infection, and that salt 
 is an antidote to this infection ; and he thinks the 
 truth of his opinions is confirmed by the fact " that 
 fields in the vicinity of the sea are rarely injured, 
 and never extensively, by the ravages of the smut. 
 
 WHY IS IT BEST TO BURY MANURE 1 
 
 Animal matters decompose with facility when 
 acted upon by moisture and air, the greater propor- 
 tion of their elementary parts making their escape
 
 ON BURYING MANURE. 237 
 
 in various forms of combination, and leaving the 
 earths, alkalis, and carbonaceous matters remain- 
 ing. 
 
 When this decomposition takes place beneath the 
 surface of the ground, these gaseous compounds, as 
 well as the carbon (which there is reason to believe 
 assumes also the gaseous state by combining with 
 oxygen), may be supposed to be partially or wholly 
 retained in the earth, to afford the matter of nutri- 
 tion to plants. 
 
 Purely animal substances, therefore, which thus 
 readily decompose, do not absolutely require fer- 
 mentation before they are mixed with the soil. 
 
 Vegetable fibre is, under certain circumstances, a 
 slowly decomposing substance. When vegetables 
 are green and full of juice, as all green crops and 
 grass leys, they readily ferment [hence the impro- 
 priety of wasting these fertilizing properties by 
 cross-ploughing] ; but when the stems are dried, as 
 in the case of straw and litter, they decompose with 
 slowness, and the mixing them with animal matter 
 hastens the putrefactive fermentation. 
 
 The principal animal matters which are mixed 
 with the ligneous fibre of the litter, and which cause 
 it to undergo decomposition, are the'dung and the 
 urine of the animals. Prof. Low. 
 
 The practical lessons to be drawn from the above 
 theory are, 1st, to make your cattle-yards concave, 
 or hollow in the middle, to retain the urine of the 
 animals, nearly a moiety of the manure : 2dly, to 
 strew or feed your straw, stalks, and other litter in 
 the yard, to absorb the urine and other liquids there 
 accumulating : 3dly, to apply this manure before it 
 has undergone much fermentation, that the soil may 
 absorb its gaseous portions ; and we would add, 
 4thly, to apply it to a hoed, crop, that the weeds and 
 grasses, the seeds of which are blended with the 
 dung, may be extirpated in the process of after cul- 
 ture.
 
 238 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 BUTTER-MAKING. 
 
 A nice process of butter-making, as practised by 
 Mr. J. M. Weeks, of Salisbury, Vt., is given in the 
 Yankee Farmer. Mr. W. makes three qualities of 
 butter : one, he says, worth 38 cents, being the pure 
 butyrous matter, of exquisite flavour ; the second, 
 worth 19 cents ; and the last, 9 or 10 cents, a gluti- 
 nous substance, and insipid in taste. Mr. Weeks 
 heats his milk after the animal heat has passed from 
 it, but to what temperature he does not say, and then 
 sets his pans in cool, running water ; and, when cold, 
 they are raised out of the water, and the milk skim- 
 med in 6 to 18 hours. We conjecture, for Mr. Weeks 
 has not told us, that the first skimming is made be- 
 fore the milk is placed in the running water, or per- 
 haps before it is heated, and the last at the end of 
 the 18 hours. The butter is salted and worked when 
 it comes from the churn, worked again the next day, 
 without cold water in any of the processes, and then 
 packed tight in tubs, lined with bags previously sat- 
 urated with beeswax, and covered on the top with 
 fresh pickle. The great requisites in making and 
 preserving good butter are : 
 
 1. That everything should be cleanly throughout 
 the process. 
 
 2. That the milk should be kept at a proper tem- 
 perature, say from 45 to 55, while the cream is 
 separating. 
 
 3. That the cream should be taken off and churn- 
 ed before its quality is impaired. 
 
 4. That its temperature should be from 55 to 
 650 when put into the churn, and the churning should 
 oe moderate and uniform. 
 
 5. That salt of the best quality, in sufficient quan- 
 tity to suit the palate, should be blended with it at 
 the first working, and the buttermilk completely 
 separated from it by the butter-ladle. 
 
 6. That the working of the butter should be re-
 
 DRILL HUSBANDRY. 239 
 
 peated at the end of 24 hours, after the salt has be- 
 come completely dissolved, when all the liquid 
 should be pressed out. 
 
 7. That it should be packed (without any addition 
 of salt to make it weigh) in stone jars, or in wooden 
 firkins or tubs, such as will not impart to it any taint 
 or bad flavour, and in such manner as will totally 
 exclude the air. 
 
 Butter made in this way will be of fine flavour ; 
 and, if put down and kept in the manner here rec- 
 ommended, its flavour will be preserved for an al- 
 most indefinite period, provided it is not exposed to 
 a temperature of over 70. Water, mixed either 
 with the milk, the cream, or the butter, and especial- 
 ly soft water, adds nothing to, but materially injures 
 the flavour. We have no doubt that the position 
 assumed by Mr. Weeks is correct, that milk skim- 
 med at three several times will give three qualities 
 of butter the cream taken off first being the richest 
 and most valuable. 
 
 The common remark of our good dairy- women is, 
 " my butter is good enough ;" and many think so 
 who have no very sufficient reason for such an opin- 
 ion. But as the principal object in making butter is 
 gain, and as it will sell according to its intrinsic 
 value, every one should seek to improve its quality, 
 if not to please themselves, to please their custom- 
 ers, that they may realize a larger profit. 
 
 DRILL HUSBANDRY, 
 
 We have no doubt, will ultimately come Into vogue 
 among us we mean, in the culture of wheat and 
 other grains though for a long time its progress 
 will be slow. At the late Preston agricultural meet- 
 ing in England, the question proposed for discussion 
 was, " the comparative advantages of the drill and 
 broadcast systems of husbandry." Mr. Binns ably 
 advocated the drill system, and set forth its advan- 
 tages under the following heads.
 
 240 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 1. The seed is delivered with regularity. 
 
 2. It is deposited at a proper depth. 
 
 3. The weeds, during the growth of the plants, 
 are destroyed with great facility. 
 
 4. The plants cultivated receive the undivided 
 benefit of the soil and manure, and have not to main- 
 tain a constant struggle with weeds. 
 
 5. The land, by the process of hoeing, is under- 
 going preparation for another crop. 
 
 0. The necessity of summer fallowing is avoided. 
 
 7. By admission of the sun and air between the 
 rows, a stronger and healthier plant is produced, 
 and, of course, a heavier crop. 
 
 8. By stirring the soil, it is rendered more suscep- 
 tible of benefit from the atmosphere, imbibing more 
 oxygen, and being both warmed and enriched by the 
 sun. 
 
 9. The roots shoot freely in a pulverized soil. 
 
 10. By drilling, the farmer is enabled to have heav- 
 ier crops of beans and wheat on light land. 
 
 11. Clover and grass seeds answer incomparably 
 better with the pulverization^ produced by hoeing, 
 independent of clearness from weeds. 
 
 12. The drills give facility for depositing smaller 
 portions of manure with greater effect. 
 
 These advantages are all self-evident to a good 
 farmer; and it might have been added, as a thir- 
 teenth advantage, that drilling economizes seed, 
 though Mr. Binns rejects it on the ground that if 
 the plants are thin, they throw out side-shoots, 
 which produce imperfect grain, and ripen unequally. 
 Mr. B. affirms that fifty-six bushels of wheat have 
 been raised on the light soils of Norfolk by drill hus- 
 bandry. 
 
 The drills employed in sowing wheat, &c., are 
 drawn by a horse, and sow six or eight rows at a 
 time at the required distance, dropping and covering 
 the seed. The machine for clearing between the 
 rows is also drawn by one horse, and consists of a
 
 EFFECT OF STEEPS ON WHEAT. 241 
 
 frame with six hoes attached to it, which occupies 
 the same space as the drill. The rate of drilling is 
 an acre per hour. Wheat is drilled at nine inches 
 between the rows, and barley at seven. The horse- 
 hoe is used once, and the hand-hoe twice. The ex- 
 pense of weeding in England is stated at two shil- 
 lings (forty-eight cents) per acre. 
 
 EFFECT OF STEEPS ON WHEAT. 
 
 Mr. Hathaway's letter, published in the June num- 
 ber of the Cultivator, 1838, giving his opinion that 
 steeping Italian spring wheat in strong brine for a 
 length of time is injurious to its vegetating principle, 
 has induced me to make some experiments for my 
 own satisfaction. The results have not been what 
 I anticipated, and they certainly go to prove that 
 gentleman to be correct. 
 
 The wheat on which I experimented was the Ital 
 ian the berry fair and plump. The pickle was im- 
 pregnated with as much salt as the water would 
 dissolve. Parcels containing twenty-five kernels 
 each were steeped at different periods of time, placed 
 in moist earth, and marked in such manner that they 
 might be easily distinguished, and were suffered to 
 remain undisturbed until the greater part of tiie 
 stems made their appearance above ground. 
 
 Result of First Experiment. 
 
 No. 1, 25 kernels, steeped 5 minutes, 2 did not vegetate 
 " 2, do., do. 30 do., 2 do. 
 
 " 3, do., do. 1 hour, 4 do. 
 
 " 4, do., do. 18 hours, 12 do 
 
 [2 kernels missing. 
 
 The result of the parcel steeped 18 hours being 
 unexpected, I made another trial, which was as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 No. 1, 25 kernels, well washed in brine, every kernel vegetated. 
 " 2, do , steeped 4 hours, 2 kernels did not vegetate. 
 " 3, do., do. 8 do., 6 do. do. 
 
 " 4, do., do. 12 do., 1 1 do. do. 
 
 " 5, do., do. 18 do., 13 do. do. 
 
 I. T
 
 242 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 It seems from the above, that the injury sustained 
 is proportioned to the length of time the grain has 
 been steeped, and that when it has been in the brine 
 18, or even 12 hours, almost one half loses its vege- 
 tative power. 
 
 1 ;un fully satisfied that pickling and liming the 
 seed is an infallible preventive of smut in the wheat 
 crop ; but I do not think that steeping for 10, 12, or 
 18 hours is necessary. This opinion is founded on 
 my own experience and 'observation, as well as the 
 long practice and experience of others. My method 
 has been to make the brine as strong as I could, 
 permitting the wheat to be no longer in it than is 
 necessary for washing it, and skimming off what- 
 ever floats on the surface ; when taken out it is 
 mixed with fresh slaked lime, and sown soon after. 
 With this preparation, even when the seed is im- 
 pregnated with smut (as was the case last year with 
 part of the Italian wheat that I obtained), the crop 
 has been perfectly clean. Liquoring, as it is called, 
 has been practised in the wheat-growing districts of 
 Scotland for these forty years past, and how much 
 longer I do not know : but as long ago as at that 
 period, good farmers would almost as soon have 
 thought of throwing their seed into the sea as of 
 sowing it without that preparation. Brine made 
 from salt or seawater, or otherwise, and stale cham- 
 ber-ley, were used, the latter most generally. When 
 chamber-ley was applied, the usual method was to 
 sprinkle it on the heap of grain until it was well 
 wetted, adding fresh slaked lime, and sowing im- 
 modiately. In the application of brine, some steep- 
 ed the seed for a longer or shorter time, and others 
 sprinkled it. Without liquoring, in nine cases out 
 of ten, the crop was smutty ; with it, never. I will 
 conclude with a quotation corroborative of what I 
 have just stated. " There is some danger from the 
 first ; for if the seed steeped in urine is not immedi- 
 ately sown, it will infallibly lose its vegetative pow-
 
 STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 243 
 
 er. The second, viz., sprinkling the urine on the 
 seed, seems to be the safest, if performed by an at- 
 tentive hand ; the last, brining, may do equally well, 
 if such a quantity of salt be incorporated with the 
 water as to render it of sufficient strength. But it 
 may be remarked, that this last mode is often ac- 
 companied with smut, owing, no doubt, to a defi- 
 ciency of strength in the pickle ; whereas a single 
 head with smut is rarely discovered where urine 
 has been used." Treatise on British Husbandry. 
 
 JAS. SMEALEE. 
 
 MODES AND PROFITS OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 
 Having noticed an article in the August number 
 of the Cultivator, 1838, on the culture of strawber- 
 ries, to which my attention has been directed for a 
 number of years, and wishing the public to possess 
 all the light on the subject which can be obtained, I 
 am induced to communicate what little knowledge I 
 have of it. The kind generally cultivated on Long 
 Island (where I reside) for the supply of the New- 
 York market, I believe to be the early scarlet ; and 
 of these I have at present about three acres under 
 cultivation. We generally transplant, and form our 
 new beds in the beginning of May. Formerly the 
 universal practice was to plant in rows from two to 
 two and a half feet apart, the plants single being left 
 single, and at a distance of from 12 to 18 inches from 
 each other. My present practice, and that of many 
 others, is to plant them in hills about three and a 
 half or four feet asunder each way, placing four 
 plants in a hill, two and two together, about three 
 inches apart. By planting in hills there is a great 
 saving of labour, for it takes less time, the plants 
 are more easily kept clean by running the cultivator 
 through them both ways, and there is less labour in 
 hoeing; whereas, by the old method, when planted 
 close, the cultivator could not be used among them 
 at all, or, at most, only oxie way. The cultivator is
 
 244 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 run through the plants as late as it can be done with- 
 out serious injury to the runners, hoeing them each 
 time ; and it is seldom, when judiciously performed, 
 that they require this operation over "three times. 
 I have always, in my practice, found the plants 
 when properly managed, sufficiently to cover the 
 ground to produce a good crop of fruit the next sea- 
 son. A piece, covering less than half an acre, of 
 last year's planting, produced this season over 3000 
 baskets, containing nearly a pint each, which were 
 sold in the New- York markets for $200. This, 
 however, is an uncommon yield, and is seldom ex- 
 celled, or even equalled. New beds almost invaria- 
 bly yield better than old ones, and produce larger 
 fruit, though the berries are apt to be sandy after 
 showers. It took nearly two acres of my old beds 
 to yield the same quantity that the half acre of new 
 did. The soil I prefer for strawberries is light, sandy 
 land newly cleared, on which no animal or vegetable 
 manure has been used. On land of this kind, which 
 has been prepared by previous crops, and on which 
 weeds have not been suffered to go to seed, the 
 plants will last four or five years, Avhile on old land 
 they are seldom profitable over two, and often not 
 more than one. 
 
 The greatest enemy to the beds is white clover, 
 which, in old lands, after the first year's bearing, 
 generally gets possession, and eradicates the plants. 
 Land lately cleared is not often troubled with this 
 grass : the great danger here is froTn sorrel, but this 
 is less destructive. Our beds cover the whole 
 ground : there are no alleys, no clipping of runners, 
 no digging the paths, no burning with straw, as rec- 
 ommended by some gardeners ; for it is doubtful 
 whether these operations would be profitable, and 
 pay cost. At all events, our experience leads us 
 to adopt the plan I have describod The only oper- 
 ation whicli I have found necessary and advantageous 
 after the first year, is to pull up and destroy the
 
 WOOL AND WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 245 
 
 weeds and grass, and to run a light harrow over old 
 beds early in the spring, when matted too thick with 
 plants. As for manure, it is not customary with us 
 to put any on. I once read an account of plaster 
 being highly beneficial, which I tried, but it failed of 
 improving the plants. Lime might aid in destroying 
 sorrel, but I have not tried it. 
 
 Much has been written about male and female 
 plants, and of the necessity of mixing them in the 
 beds to make them fruitful. Now all this may be 
 necessary with some varieties ; but with the one we 
 cultivate I can assure you it is not : no cultivator in 
 my neighbourhood (Narrows, L. /.), from which the 
 New-York markets are principally supplied, as far 
 as I have ever heard, does it. I once tried an ex- 
 periment which appears to me conclusive. I plant- 
 ed a small bed in my garden at the time when the 
 fruit commenced ripening, taking only such plants 
 as had good and fair fruit on them, and no others. 
 This bed produced the next year abundantly : they 
 were all female plants, and there were no males in 
 their vicinity to impregnate them. The male and 
 female blossoms of this variety must be on the same 
 plant, although, to the eye, no difference is present- 
 ed in their appearance. T. G. BERGEN. 
 
 STATISTICS OF AMERICAN WOOL AND WOOLLEN MANU- 
 FACTURES. 
 
 The following is a statement of the number of 
 sheep and of the woollen manufactories in the dif- 
 ferent states, the number of pounds of wool pro- 
 duced in each, and its value at 50 1-2 cents per lb., 
 which seems to have been the average price for the 
 last ten years.
 
 246 
 
 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 
 Ch*n 
 
 Seta 
 
 Ouintitjr. 
 
 AT -.M. 
 
 
 Mwep. 
 
 r ir- :.rrv. 
 
 IU. 
 
 .: ,ln. 
 
 Maine . 
 
 622,619 
 
 21 
 
 2,023,512 
 
 1,021.873 
 
 New. Hampshire 
 
 465.179 
 
 43 
 
 1,511,632 
 
 763.475 
 
 Vermont 
 
 1,099.011 
 
 100 
 
 3,571,786 
 
 1,803.751 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 373.3-.22 
 
 519 
 
 1,213,297 
 
 612,715 
 
 Kh<le Island 
 
 81.619 
 
 80 
 
 265.262 
 
 133,957 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 265,169 
 
 184 
 
 829,vi99 
 
 410,313 
 
 New York . 
 
 4,299,879 
 
 234 
 
 13,974.606 
 
 7,057,176 
 
 New-Jersey". 
 
 250,000 
 
 20 
 
 812,500 
 
 410,313 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 1,714(640 
 
 123 
 
 5,572,580 
 
 2,814,158 
 
 Delaware 
 
 150,000 
 
 20 
 
 487,500 
 
 246,187 
 
 Maryland 
 
 275,000 
 
 15 
 
 893,750 
 
 451,343 
 
 Virginia 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 
 3,250,000 
 
 1,641,250 
 
 Ohio . 
 
 1,711,200 
 
 30 
 
 5,561,400 
 
 2,808,500 
 
 Kentucky . 
 
 600,000 
 
 
 1,950,000 
 
 934,750 
 
 Total . . 12,907,638 1392 41,917,324 21,159,761 
 
 There were imported in 1S36, over and above our 
 exports, 12,296,249 pounds of foreign wool, mostly 
 of coarse quality, costing abroad less than eight 
 cents per pound, and not subject, therefore, to duty. 
 
 Of this gross amount of wool, it is estimated that 
 thirty-one million pounds were worked up in the 
 manufactories, leaving twelve million for family 
 manufacture, three million and a half of which are 
 supposed to be used in New- York, three in Pennsyl- 
 vania, and two in Ohio. 
 
 The woollen-manufacturing establishments in the 
 United States are employed on the following fabrics, 
 viz.: on broadcloths, 344 ; cassimeres, 178; satinets, 
 574; flannels, 158: jeans, linseys,&c., 210- blankets, 
 yarns, and hats, 24; carpets, 61. 
 
 Hoosic has 37,807 sheep, the greatest number of 
 any town in this state ; and Dutchess county 23 1,294 
 the greatest number of any county in the state. 
 
 EXPERIMENT IX HARVESTING CORK, 
 
 In the November number of the Cultivator, 1838, 
 we gave the result of an experiment in harvesting 
 corn, going to show that it is better to cut it up than 
 to top it. We now give the result of another es 
 periment of the same kind.
 
 EXPBRIMENT IN HARVESTING CORN. 247 
 
 In the first week of September we went with two 
 neighbours into our cornfield, where our men were 
 cutting up corn, and caused 36 hills to be cut up, of 
 the fair average quality of the field, and stocked 
 separately : adjoining which, 36 hills were topped in 
 the usual way, and other 36 hills, immediately ad- 
 joining the last, were left to ripen upon the entire 
 .stock. On the 23d of September we proceeded to 
 pick, husk, and weigh the corn on the several par- 
 cels. The result was as follows : 
 
 No. 1, cut up, had 126 ears, which weighed 56 Ibs. 
 " 2, topped, " 127 " " " 52 Ibs. 2 oz. 
 
 " 3, standing, " 125 " " " 52 Ibs. 10 oz. 
 
 We found on trial the same evening, that it re- 
 quired 78 Ibs. of ears to give a bushel of shelled 
 corn. The field was planted at exactly three feet 
 between the rows, and at about two feet four inches 
 in the rows ; but, assuming that the distance was 
 three by two and a half feet, it would give to the 
 acre 5808 hills ; and there probably were not 20 hills 
 deficient in five acres. With these data, the pro- 
 duct on an acre, under the different modes of har- 
 vesting, would be as follows, omitting fractions : 
 
 No. 1 would give 9274 Ibs., or 119 bushels. 
 " 2 " 84091 " JOS < 
 
 " 3 " 8490 " " 109 " 
 
 Although the parcels selected were supposed to 
 be similar, it was perceived, after the corn was 
 gathered, that an apple-tree, casting a shade from 
 six to seven feet broad, stood in No. 3 the whole 
 field being a young orchard which undoubtedly had 
 an influence in lessening the product of that parcel 
 
 In regard to the condition of the grain in the dif- 
 ferent parcels, that of No. 1, which had been cut up 
 and stocked, was unquestionably the best : it was 
 dry, sound, and bright ; while much of Nos. 2 and 3, 
 which had been topped or left standing entire, had 
 fallen upon the ground, was wot or mouldy, and
 
 1248 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 some of it had actually grown. The difference ia 
 the fodder was still more palpably in favour of No. 
 I ; it evidently exceeding in value either of the other 
 parcels more than one half. 
 
 In an experiment made by us last year, the loss 
 in topping over cutting up was found to be about six 
 bushels to the acre ; in this last experiment it ap- 
 pears to be eleven bushels to the acre. The mini-- 
 ber of ears and the product are less this year than 
 the last, owing to the drought. None of the suck- 
 ers produced ears this year, though many produced 
 them last. 
 
 This experiment confirms us in the opinion we 
 have long entertained, that there is a prodigious 
 waste, both of corn and forage, and, we insist, of la- 
 bour also, in the still common practice of topping 
 corn. And we again beg those who remain incred- 
 ulous in this matter to make the experiment, as we 
 have repeatedly done, and satisfy themselves. Say 
 there are 300,000 acres of corn cultivated in this 
 state, and that the loss by topping is only five bush- 
 els to the acre, the aggregate loss would amount to 
 1,500,000 bushels, equal in value to one million of 
 dollars annually, to say nothing of the loss in labour 
 and forage. 
 
 The reason why topped corn produces less than 
 that which is cut up, although often stated, is here 
 repeated: the topped corn is deprived' of its elabo- 
 rating organs its lungs the leaves above the 
 grain ; and, of course, receives no farther accession 
 of growth, or but very little, while the corn that is 
 cut up retains these organs, which continue to send 
 down nourishment to the grain for some days 
 through the green, succulent stocks. Any fanner 
 may readily satisfy himself that leaves are indispen- 
 sable to growth, by a simple and easy experiment : 
 let him pluck all the leaves from a fruit-bearing 
 branch of an apple, plum, or other fruit-tree, at any 
 stage of growth of the fruit, and he will find that the
 
 CULTIVATION OF CUCUMBERS. 249 
 
 1. jii <n such limb will neither grow nor acquire its 
 flavour, though it may change its colour. 
 
 CULTIVATION OF CUCUMBERS. 
 
 My abject in this article is to describe the manner 
 in which cucumbers are cultivated on Long Island 
 for the supply of the New- York markets. I would 
 premise, that the kind of cucumber grown is suited 
 to field-culture, and that the great object is to have 
 good fruit, and as early as possible, for two or three 
 days make a great difference in its value in market. 
 
 Cucumbers will grow on any good soil ; but, to 
 have them early, we require one that is rich and 
 sandy, and of a dark colour yellow and light-col- 
 oured soils being later. The field should, if possi- 
 ble, be protected from the south and northwest 
 winds, and be situated near the bay or river, where 
 there is always less danger from late frosts. The 
 south winds with us, in May and June, retard vege- 
 tation more than any other, in consequence of their 
 being chilly and cool, from blowing over the ocean. 
 
 Ground intended for cucumbers we prefer plough- 
 ing in August or the beginning of September of the 
 preceding year, and sowing it with rye : the pasture 
 which this produces pays for the labour; and its 
 other advantages are, the prevention of weeds going 
 to seed to trouble us in the spring ; the soil not 
 blowing about in the winter, especially on the knolls, 
 nor being so liable to blow when ploughed in the 
 spring, on, account of the roots of the plants, and the 
 sustenance afforded to the crop by the decay of the 
 rye. Previous to ploughing for the crop, there 
 should be spread seven two-horse loads of street or 
 horse manure to the acre ; but if the soil is poor, 
 more will be necessary, and the ploughing should 
 take place immediately after the spreading. The 
 ground is then harrowed over two or three times 
 until it is quite mellow, furrowed shallow with a 
 plough into hills four and a half feet apart, half a 
 I. U
 
 250 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 shovel of manure dropped in each hill, which is then 
 flattened down with a hoe, and covered about an 
 inch thick with fine soil. Short hog-manure, carted 
 out of the pen the preceding fall, and cut over once 
 or twice early in the spring, and made fine, is pre- 
 ferred for the hills ; but this not being in general 
 sufficiently abundant, we procure from New-York 
 in the fall the manure of cows fed on distillers' 
 slops, mixed with that of horses, so as to make it 
 sufficiently firm to handle with a fork, and mix it 
 with the hog-manure. The manure should be cool, 
 for fermentation in the hills is injurious to the plants. 
 The sooner the seed is planted after ploughing, 
 the better : the time of planting depends upon the 
 forwardness of the season, and it is generally com- 
 menced when single apricot blossoms are open, but 
 some seasons earlier. About a week is occupied in 
 putting in the first seed, and nearly the same period 
 in planting over the second and third times. The 
 casualties to which the seed and plants are subject, 
 induces us to continue putting in seed almost every 
 day for this space of time, so as to make sure work. 
 It sometimes happens, when the weather has been 
 unfavourable, that every hill in some fields is plant- 
 ed over the third, and even single hills the fourth, 
 time. I prefer spreading the first seed in the south 
 half of the hills, the second planting jn the north- 
 west, and the third in the northeast sides : if it be- 
 comes necessary to plant the fourth time, I put the 
 seed in the south half, where the first s^ed is by 
 that time rotten. If this plan is properly followed, 
 the different plantings will not interfere with each 
 other. We generally put in from thirty to forty 
 seeds each time, and cover them with fine soil from 
 three quarters to an inch deep. Sprouting the seed 
 previous to planting does not succeed well early in 
 the season, though it sometimes answers well, wheii 
 the weather is favourable, in the latter part. Cu- 
 cumber-seed is the most tender of the vine kind,
 
 CULTIVATION OF CUCUMBERS. 251 
 
 for if, after planting at the usual depth, wet weather 
 should follow, it is almost sure to rot ; if the weath- 
 er is dry, the seed dries out ; if, when favourable to 
 their vegetation, and the plants have advanced so as 
 to be breaking ground, a storm should occur, they 
 generally perish : a northeaster of three or four 
 days' continuance destroys the plants when young, 
 and, in some instances, when more than a week 
 old ; if they are up too early, a late frost is apt to 
 sweep them clean. Seed, to vegetate, requires to 
 be near the surface of the wet soil, not buried deep 
 in it : our ignorance of the weather which will fol- 
 low after planting causes most of our errors ; when 
 planted in a heavy soil, the seed is less liable to rot 
 and dry out than in a sandy one, but the fruit is later. 
 If it happens that there are more plants in a hill than 
 we require, we find it an easy matter to eradicate 
 them with the hoe and fingers ; but it is not so easy 
 to place them in the hills when deficient. 
 
 When the first rough leaves of the plants are 
 about the size of a twenty-five cent piece, a cultiva- 
 tor is run through the rows both ways, and they 
 receive the first hoeing: the plants are also thinned 
 out, so as not to crowd each other. In hoeing, the 
 soil between the plants should not be disturbed ; 
 large weeds (if there are such) should be pulled out, 
 fine soil drawn around the plants up to the seed- 
 leaves, so as to cover the small weeds, and the hill 
 made flat, and not concave. We are careful not to 
 hoe while the plants are very young ; for, if a storm 
 should occur shortly after the operation has been 
 performed, the hills soak in too much water, which 
 is injurious. Ten or twelve days after the first hoe- 
 ing, the plants, if good, are thinned to six or eight in 
 a hill, leaving the largest ones, and, if possible, three 
 or four inches apart. About eighteen days after the 
 first hoeing, or about the time when single blossoms 
 open, we run a one-horse plough twice through a 
 row each way (if the ground is hard, three times),
 
 252 AMEH/CAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 throwing the furrow from the hills, and then com 
 mence the second hoeing, which is performed in the 
 same manner as the first, care being taken not to 
 earth up higher than the seed-leaves, and to set ape 
 out the crust between the plants if the ground is 
 hard or covered with weeds : if the plants are fair, 
 they are thinned down to five in a hill. 
 
 When the vines extend so that single ones meet 
 each other between the hills, to prevent injuring 
 them, they are carefully laid aside by hand, or with 
 a short stick, and the cultivator is for the last time 
 run once through the rows each way. They then 
 receive the third and last hoeing, the ground being 
 .oosened and drawn up around the hills with the 
 hoe, and broken between the plants with the fingers. 
 It is customary to leave jive plants in a hill, standing 
 from four to five inches apart, but some reduce them 
 to four : I have made no experiments to test which 
 is the best. 
 
 Cucumber-vines will yield fruit about eight weeks, 
 and the fields are picked over at least every second, 
 and sometimes every day. In picking, a light stick, 
 with a crosspiece framed to it, so as to resemble 
 the letter T, is made use of to push the leaves aside, 
 the more readily to discover the fruit. 
 
 The insects which trouble and destroy the plants 
 are the black worm and striped bugs : the first are 
 apt to be numerous in ground which was occupied 
 the preceding year with red cl<Jver ; they cut off the 
 plants at or just above the surface in the.night, and 
 are generally hunted out and destroyed early in the 
 morning, when their burrowing is fresh, and they 
 lay near the surface : the striped bug or yellow fly 
 eats the plants in the daytime, and is sometimes 
 veiy destructive on land where a crust is formed on 
 the surface, which, being raised up by the young 
 plants, affords them a harbour. The best remedy 
 is to catch and destroy them with the fingers in the 
 morning, when the dew i?- on them and they arc
 
 THE CIRCUMSCRIBED FARMER. 253 
 
 chilled, which prevents their flying and escaping as 
 freely as when the sun has warmed them. Sandy 
 land, having no crust to shelter these pests, is gen- 
 erally exempt from their depredations. 
 
 We are acquainted with the system of rotation of 
 crops, and it has been practised among our farmers 
 for years; but cucumbers, as well as some other 
 vegetables, do not seem to require it. I have a 
 piece of about half an acre, on which I have culti- 
 vated them for the last ten successive years, plough- 
 ing in the usual quantity of street-manure every 
 second year, and they have flourished as well as on 
 the adjoining ground, which has been similarly ma- 
 nured, and on which the crops have been changed. 
 
 The following is the number o'f hills planted, their 
 produce, and the amount of sales for the last four 
 years, viz. : 
 
 fear. Hills planted. Cucumber, sold. Amouut received. 
 
 1835 . . 6000 . . 104,965 . $823 84 
 
 1836 . . 6600 . . 99,670 . . 820 96 
 137 . . 7370 . . 130,735 . 532 00 
 1838 . . 7110 . . 118,600 . . 734 874 
 
 During each of these years large quantities of 
 cullings, and, when unsaleable, good cucumbers, 
 were fed to the hogs and cattle, of which no ac- 
 count was kept. TUNIS G. BJSRGEN. 
 
 Narrows, L. I , October > 1838. 
 
 THE ^ICUMSCRIBED FARMER. 
 
 By this we mean such as possess a limited capi 
 tal, and a limited desire for improvement, except in 
 their own way ; such as decline taking an agricul- 
 tural paper, because it teaches nothing, they say, 
 that is adapted to their practice or that is graduated 
 to their scale ; because, in fact, it is not oral, or de- 
 livered by word of mouth, but has been subjected to 
 the operation of the printing-press. 
 
 Let us ask these gentlemen, if they were disposed 
 to have their son become a first-rate farmer, wheth-
 
 254 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 er they would select a teacher of circumscribed 
 knowledge, who followed the practices of the last 
 century, and knew only how to kill land, or one who 
 was familiar with all the improvements of the age. 
 and whose thrift in business was a guarantee that 
 he worked it right 1 Now the agricultural journal is 
 to the circumscribed farmer what the good teachei 
 would be to the boy, an instructor in the improve- 
 ments and best practices in his business, written bj 
 chose who have made and adopted them, and have 
 profited by them ; and for the particular benefit of 
 those who have limited means, or cannot go abroad 
 for the information they need. The modern im- 
 provements in farming go to economize labour, or, 
 rather, to render labour more productive and profit- 
 able, and to keep up the fertility of the soil ; two 
 objects of as much or more importance to the cir- 
 cumscribed farmer than to one of more extended 
 means. The man who takes an agricultural journal 
 profits by the experience of hundreds ; while he 
 who takes none can profit only from his own, and 
 that, perhaps, of a few neighbours. The adage 
 teaches that two heads are better than one, the 
 world over. 
 
 These remarks are preliminary to some extracts 
 we are about to make from John Lorain, a philoso- 
 pher and a first-rate farmer, written for the special 
 instruction of circumscribed farmers, to whose no- 
 tice they are respectfully recomimnded. 
 
 " In this country land is very cheap : an excellent 
 ready-cash market for the produce of the* soil gen- 
 erally prevails. This offers every rational encour- 
 agement to the poor but industrious farmer, who 
 depends principally on his own labour and that of 
 his family for cultivating the soil occupied by him. 
 He is but little affected by the high price of labour, 
 or the idleness and insolence of workmen, which 
 take place in every country where labour is scarce, 
 unless the laws be oppressively severe.
 
 THE CIRCUMSCRIBED FARMER. 255 
 
 " The principal reason why this class of farmers 
 so seldom become wealthy, and but too frequently 
 continue poor, is the desire of immediate returns 
 from cropping, and the mistaken idea that the prof- 
 its to be derived from rearing live-stock progress 
 too slowly to answer their purposes. This induces 
 them to crop the soil yearly, with but little attention 
 to grass or an increase of cattle, until their grounds 
 become so much exhausted that rest is absolutely 
 necessary to procure crops worth gathering. The 
 soil being greatly impoverished, and the seeds of the 
 grasses destroyed, as far as perpetual ploughing and 
 cropping can effect this ruinous purpose, the grounds 
 rest with no other covering but that of some scat- 
 tering and debilitated grass and weeds. This ex- 
 poses the soil to the very injurious action of the sun, 
 wind, washing rains, and melting snows. When 
 such grounds are ploughed for crops, instead of 
 being richly stored with grass-roots, and well cov- 
 ered by their tops, scarcely any vegetation is found 
 to replenish them, or to nourish the crops grown on 
 them. 
 
 " These ruinous practices naturally introduce pov- 
 erty of soil, and its inseparable companion, poverty 
 of purse. This, however, is not all : it entails on 
 posterity the wretchedness introduced by their in- 
 considerate forefathers, or an Herculean task to 
 counteract the curse of poverty which their negli- 
 gence has produced. Whether Satan is also the in- 
 stigator of this evil I do not presume to determine ; 
 but certain I am that it is much greater (so far as 
 farming is concerned) than the curse entailed on the 
 soil by the fall of Adam. That seems to consist 
 simply in brambles and thorns, including with these 
 such other vegetation as would compel man to earn 
 hie bread by the sweat of his brow. This curse, we 
 may all see, is irrevocable ; but we may also, at the 
 same time, observe, that if man complies with Heav 
 en's mild decree, and removes those obstacles to the
 
 256 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY 
 
 growth of plants which better suit his purpose, ngn- 
 culturc flourishes, and his rational want* an: abun- 
 dantly supplied. 
 
 " But when the hand of folly inflicts the additional 
 curse, of poverty on the soil, this insatiable monster, 
 like Aaron's serpent, swallows up all the rest, 
 brambles, thorns, &c. (the mild chastisement of 
 Heaven), cannot prosper where poverty has obtain- 
 ed dominion over the soil, as may be readily seen ; 
 for these, and all other vegetation on such grounds, 
 look sallow, starved, and debilitated. 
 
 " That man is inexcusable, and ought to be pun- 
 ished for this sin against common sense, himself, 
 his posterity, and the community in which he re- 
 sides, is evident. 
 
 " Before this inconsiderate being enters the for- 
 est, glade, or prairie, nature has been for ages en- 
 riching the soil for his use. This fertility might be 
 preserved and increased, even by the circumscribed 
 farmer, if a system of agriculture calculated to keep 
 the ground fully replenished with decaying animal 
 and vegetable matter were practised, and due at- 
 tention paid to the augmentation of livestock in 
 proportion to increased ability, instead of the ruin- 
 ous practice of perpetual ploughing and cropping. 
 
 " Reason alone demonstrates this interesting fact. 
 It has also been clearly shown by actual practice 
 in almost every neighbourhood by tho successful 
 enterprise of farmers who commenced their busi- 
 ness on lands bought on credit, and covered with 
 timber, without any buildings on them, and with 
 not more than a pair of working cattle, and cows 
 barely sufficient to supply the family with butter 
 and milk. Nay, more : some who were not half as 
 well off as this have paid for their land, acquired 
 an extensive stock of cattle, and become wealthy, 
 though their mode of management was very inferior 
 to that which has been proposed. They, however, 
 increased their livestock in full proportion to the
 
 ON THE APPLICATION OF MANURES. 257 
 
 means furnished by the system of management em- 
 ployed by them. 
 
 " From first to last, they have been enabled to 
 live better, and far more independently, than those 
 who relied principally on the plough. The cause 
 of this is evident : milk, butter, cheese, wool, meat, 
 hides, and manure, are continually increasing. It is 
 true that but little manure could be obtained in the 
 beginning : that little, however, was spread, the pro- 
 duct was greatly increased, as was also the fertility 
 of the soil for a succeeding crop, and the grasses 
 following it. Where is plenty of good grasses and 
 hay, young cattle will grow as much or more in one 
 year than they do in two when kept on pasture fed 
 bare during summer, and on straw through the prin- 
 cipal part of the winter. 
 
 "It is proper to remark, that, although many cir- 
 cumscribed farmers make considerable progress in 
 increasing their livestock, their laudable enterprise 
 is too often suddenly checked before they obtain 
 half the number of domesticated animals necessary 
 to the proper cultivation of their grounds. 
 
 " This evil originates in the prevailing error, that 
 huge piles of stone and mortar, or of boards and 
 scantling, are the best means that can be pursued by 
 the cultivator to improve his farm. Hence it is that 
 we see, almost in every part of Pennsylvania where 
 it is possible to effect this mistaken improvement, 
 extensive barns and dwelling-houses standing on 
 farms where we do not observe half the quantity of 
 grass or number of caf tie necessary for the proper 
 cultivation of the surrounding soil." 
 
 ON THE APPLICATION OF MANURES. 
 
 Whether by the term manure be understood all 
 things commonly so called, or only putrescent sub- 
 stances, I have had but one opinion for a long time 
 in regard to thoir application, and this has been con- 
 firmed by all my subsequent experience, each year
 
 258 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 adding something to the great mass of consentane- 
 ous facts. When my attention was first turned to 
 this subject (some thirty-five or forty years ago), I 
 had adopted, but without examination, the notion at 
 that time most common among us, that it was best 
 to let all putrescent manures be well rotted first, 
 and then bury them deep, either by the plough, 
 spade, or hoe. This notion, like the common law, 
 was so old, that " the memory of man extended not 
 to the contrary ;" but, happily for us all, the revolu- 
 tion had broken the entail of opinions as well as of 
 landed estates, and left us at liberty to think and act 
 for ourselves. The natural consequence of this in- 
 creased freedom was the introduction of many new 
 practices in the arts as well as in government ; and 
 agriculture came in for some small share of these 
 benefits. Among them was the application of pu- 
 trescent manures to the surface, and in a much less 
 fermented state than had ever been -tried before. 
 But so dreadfully afraid were the first experimenters 
 of the formidable laugh of that once numerous fam- 
 ily, " The Goodenoughs," that they made their trials, 
 as it were, by stealth ; and, consequently, the results 
 remained for a long time .unknown, except to a few. 
 I happened to be among this small number, and 
 could not long resist the evidence of my senses, al- 
 though I must confess that at first it seemed to me 
 a sort of sacrilege even to doubt, and still more to 
 act, in direct opposition to an opinion which, for 
 aught I know, had descended from Triptolemus him- 
 self. By degrees, however, my courage waxed 
 stronger and stronger every year, until I felt myself 
 brave enough to commence the following experi- 
 ment, which several old farmers, in whose veracity 
 I perfectly confided, had assured me they had often 
 tried, and always with the result which I am about 
 to report in my own case. 
 
 I began penning my cattle late in the spring, and 
 continued it until frost in pens of the same size.
 
 ON THE APPLICATION OP MANURES. 259 
 
 moved at regular intervals of time, and containing 
 the same number of cattle during the whole period. 
 These pens were alternately ploughed and left un- 
 ploughed until the following spring, when all were 
 planted in corn, immediately followed by wheat. 
 The superiority of both crops on all the pens which 
 had remained unploughed for so many months after 
 the cattle had manured them, was just as distinctly 
 marked as if the dividing fences had continued 
 standing : it was too plain to admit even of the 
 slightest doubt. A near neighbour, a young farmer, 
 had made the same experiment on a somewhat dif- 
 ferent soil the year before, but with results precisely 
 the same. Similar trials I myself have made, and 
 seen made by others, with dry straw, alternately 
 ploughed in as soon as spread, and left on the sur- 
 face until the next spring. In every case the last 
 method appeared to be the best, as far as the fol- 
 lowing crop could prove it. The same experiment 
 has been made by myself and others with manure 
 from the horse-stables and winter-farm pens, con- 
 sisting of much unrotted corn offal, and, without a 
 solitary exception seen or heard of by me, the sur- 
 face application, after the corn was planted, pro- 
 duced most manifestly the best crop. I pon these 
 numerous concurrent and undeniable facts my opin- 
 ion has been founded, that it is best to apply manures 
 on the surface of land ; nor is it likely to change un- 
 til I see a still greater number, equally well authen- 
 ticated, on the opposite side : up to the present time 
 I have not heard of a solitary one. True it is that 
 I have read many ingenious, fine-spun arguments in 
 opposition to the opinion which I hold in common 
 with numerous other agriculturists, but no proofs 
 whatever have accompanied them, and therefore I 
 must remain incredulous until they are sustained 
 and corroborated by such facts as should always be 
 deemed indispensable to establish any practice what- 
 ever in any of the various branches of husbandry.
 
 260 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 To collect these facts is a slow and tedious process, 
 not very flattering to that pride of opinion which 
 delights in speculative theories, and which sickens 
 at the thought of the labour necessary to make and 
 record accurate experiments in agriculture. In no 
 other way, 1 think, can we account for those differ- 
 ences of opinion as to matters of practice which are 
 often found among our brethren where all the facts 
 are on one side. But unwillingness to believe in 
 that which we cannot explain in some way to grat- 
 ify our vanity, gave rise to the sect of skeptic phi- 
 losophers, and, it is to be feared, will keep up the 
 race as long as the world stands. Let me not be 
 here misunderstood. Far be it from me to object 
 to theory and speculation, provided the sole object 
 be to arrive at truth. As this should be the aim of 
 all, I am in favour of the utmost latitude of discus- 
 sion in the honest pursuit of it. But I do, and must 
 ever protest against that practice, which is far too 
 common among us, of regarding plausible and appa- 
 rently scientific conjectures more than the actual 
 results of experiments fairly and accurately made ; 
 so that not unfrequently we indulge our fancies with 
 the former, even in direct opposition to the latter. 
 Take, for example, the two conflicting theories as 
 to the best mode of applying manures, and test them 
 by the uniformly-concurring results of the several 
 experiments which 1 have stated. All these results 
 undeniably prove that the surface-application was 
 the best, although the kinds of manure differed con- 
 siderably. And what^actj have we in opposition to 
 this 1 Not one : nothing but the conjecture that the 
 evaporation from surface-spread manure must carry 
 off the greater and the best portion of the food of 
 plants therein contained. But that such evapora- 
 tion cannot so act seems to me to be unquestion- 
 ably proved by every fact I have mentioned : for, if 
 it did, then the land of summer cattle-pens, plough- 
 ed up as soon as the cattle were removed, would in
 
 ON THE APPLICATION OF MANURES. 261 
 
 eveiy case have produced better crops than that of 
 the unploughed, instead of doing it in none. Similar 
 results, too, must, have followed in the other cases 
 which I have stated, whereas- 1 have never seen nor 
 heard of their doing it in any one. 
 
 My belief, founded on the facts already stated, is, 
 that all the fertilizing substances of manures are 
 soluble in water, and will remain uninjured them- 
 selves, and useless to plants until the solution be- 
 gins, whether they be deposited on or under the 
 earth's surface. I also believe that this solution is 
 caused by every fall of rain, and is immediately ab- 
 sorbed by the subjacent soil, which absorption re- 
 sults from two causes : first, the principle of gravi- 
 ty ; and, secondly, the stronger attraction of the 
 earth than of the atmosphere for every substance in 
 solution which constitutes the food of plants more- 
 over, that the earth never parts with this food, when 
 thus absorbed, to anything but the plants themselves ; 
 for it is their peculiar aliment, and not that of the 
 atmosphere, whose existence, for aught we know to 
 the contrary, is entirely independent of it, although 
 its agency seems essential to the health and vigour 
 of all plants. If this were not the fact ; if, for ex- 
 ample, the earth did give the best and greatest, por- 
 tion of this food to the atmosphere, or if it escaped 
 from surface-spread manure before gravity and at- 
 traction could impart it to the earth, then the evap- 
 oration which is supposed to be the medium of con- 
 veyance, and which is known to be constantly going 
 on from the soil, would, in process of time, certainly 
 render it barren, even without any cultivation what- 
 ever. Yet neither total nor partial barrenness is 
 ever known to be produced by any other cause than 
 incessant culture without manure. That evapora- 
 tion does take off something from manure while in 
 a moist state, is proved by the offensive smell which 
 constantly exhales from it until it is entirely dry. 
 This smell arises from a gas which is said by some
 
 262 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 to contain the most valuable portion of the food ol 
 plants. But admit the fnrt, when, is the proof of 
 this portion being lost ''. \ say there is none. On 
 tne contrary, we have what 1 consider a conclusive 
 reason for believing that this food is immediately 
 given by the atmosphere to the tops of plants, as 
 more suitable to them than to their roots. My rea 
 son for this belief is the result of the following ex- 
 periment, which I have known to be repeated sev- 
 eral times. All the bark was taken off from around 
 the body of certain young trees, in a ring about three 
 inches wide, for the purpose, in the first case which 
 I saw, of ascertaining whether this process would 
 kill the tree. But, to the surprise of us all, not 
 more than a year or two elapsed before that part of 
 the body above the ring became obviously larger 
 than the part below ; and this difference in size in- 
 creased every year afterward, as I had frequent op- 
 portunities of noticing. 
 
 Another reason why I believe that manures act 
 better spread on the surface of land than buried un- 
 der it in the customary manner, is, that, in the first 
 case, the rain-water carries the dissolved substances 
 no deeper than the roots of most of our cultivated 
 plants ; and that these substances are there held fast 
 by the earth's chymical affinity until the stronger 
 attraction of the spongioles- of the roots begins to 
 act upon them. But, in the second case, that is, 
 where manure is ploughed under as soon as spread, 
 all the food of plants contained therein being placed 
 at once quite as deep as their spongioles naturally 
 extend, and this, too, before the rains begin to dis- 
 solve it, the subsequent solutions necessarily sink 
 still deeper, and generally beyond the reach of the 
 plants for whose nourishment they are designed. 
 In no other way can I account for the long-noticed 
 and invariable superiority of crops produced by sur- 
 face-spread manure to those produced by that which 
 has been ploughed in. To me there appears to be
 
 ON THE APPLICATION OF MANURES. 263 
 
 but this alternative; either to deny the facts already 
 stated, which I myself have often witnessed, or to 
 explain them (if we must theorize on the subject) in 
 some such way as I have attempted to do. Permit 
 me farther to add, that on this subject nature her- 
 self seems to oflfer us a useful lesson, if we were 
 not too wise in our own conceits to be taught by 
 such an instructress ; for I know not a single ex- 
 ception to her practice of depositing on the earth's 
 surface all the putrescent substances, of every na- 
 ture and kind, which appear designed to preserve 
 her fecundity. 
 
 In close connexion with this subject, there is one 
 other matter on which I will take the liberty to ex- 
 press an opinion : this is in regard to the best state 
 in which manure can be applied. So far as my own 
 experience enables me to judge* (an experience con- 
 firmed by that of many others, in whose practical 
 knowledge of the subject I have great confidence), I 
 believe that the fresher it is the better ; for in this 
 state so much less will suffice than in a more ad- 
 vanced stage of putrefaction, that time, labour, and 
 value are all saved in the application : while none 
 of the alleged " turning" ascribed to manure's being 
 " too hot" ever occurs if the quantity used be less- 
 ened in proportion to its- freshness. This injury to 
 plants, if I mistake not, is always caused by excess 
 in the quantity, and not by the quality of the manure 
 we apply to them, although the two things are often 
 confounded, and thereby contribute to the perpetua- 
 tion of error in regard to the nature and operation 
 of all fertilizing substances. There is not, I believe, 
 an agriculturist of any experience in our country 
 who has not had frequent opportunities of witness- 
 ing numerous facts to prove the correctness of these 
 opinions. But, as I before remarked, we are all 
 vastly fonder of our own fancies than of facts in 
 opposition to them, and, consequently, pass by all 
 such without notice ; or, when too strong and ob-
 
 264 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 trusive to be entirely disregarded, we spare no la- 
 bour nor pains to force them, as far as we po.s>il>ly 
 can, to support some previously-conceived notion 
 which our silly pride forbids us to abandon. This 
 obstacle to the progress of all improvement, but 
 especially in husbandry, is one of the most perni- 
 cious of our besetting sins ; and, but for this, it 
 seems to me impossible that any controversy should 
 still exist in regard to the best manner and state in 
 which to apply manures to land. Two or three 
 years, at farthest, would have been amply sufficient 
 to establish the most beneficial practice, if all those 
 whose special interest it is to ascertain it would 
 have diligently and impartially resorted to compara- 
 tive experiments, accurately and assiduously made 
 for the purpose, rather than to speculating and the- 
 orizing about it. But it can never be too late to 
 make such experiments. Let me, therefore, most 
 earnestly recommend to all who have doubts on the 
 subject, forthwith to commence making trials of the 
 different methods of applying manures, and also of 
 the different states in which it is best to apply it. 
 The opinions of experienced men are certainly well 
 worth consulting in regard to all matters connected 
 with their respective trades, professions, or callings ; 
 but we should never implicitly take them as guides 
 for our own practice any longer than until we can 
 have leisure to test their correctness by actual ex- 
 periments. When a number of these concur in pro- 
 ducing the same uniform result, it is matter of very 
 little comparative importance how others may en- 
 deavour to account for the fact, as the fact itself is 
 the all-important thing, especially in every practical 
 art. But this war between speculation and practice, 
 between nature's doings and our fanciful ways of 
 accounting for them, is destined, I fear, never to 
 cease so long as such a thing remains in the world 
 as pride of opinion. Let a man once commit him- 
 self so far (either in speaking or writing) as publicly
 
 USE OF LIME AS A PREVENTIVE. 205 
 
 to deliver what he considers an argument in support 
 of his ipse dixit, and there are a hundred chances to 
 one that he persists in it to the day of his death. 
 
 JAMES M. GARNETT. 
 
 Fredericksburgh, Va., June) 1839. 
 
 EFFICACY OF LIME IN PREVENTING INSECT DEPREDA- 
 TIONS MILDEW OF THE GOOSEBERRY. 
 
 In the Cultivator for May, 1839, page 57, 1 noticed 
 a communication which stated, among other things, 
 that a piece of corn, on ground where fragments of 
 wall, &c., had been strewn for manure, was exempt 
 from the ravages of worms. This recalled to my 
 recollection some facts which were communicated 
 to me in conversation some time ago by an intelli- 
 gent old gentleman, who was for many years a farm- 
 er in Columbia county, in this state, and which were 
 in substance as follows : He once applied what he 
 supposed at the time was plaster or gypsum, but 
 which was afterward ascertained to be lime, to a 
 number of hills of corn, potatoes, cucumbers, mel- 
 ons, &c. It was used at the time of planting, about 
 a handful being thrown directly over the seeds in 
 each hill previous to their being covered with earth. 
 He remarked that the corn to which this application 
 had been made was entirely exempt from worms, 
 while other pieces in the vicinity suffered severely 
 from their depredations. The cucumber and melon 
 vines, &c.,thus treated, were also exempt from their 
 attacks, neither were they troubled by the striped 
 bugs or flies with which they are generally attacked. 
 My informant farther assured me that he had after- 
 ward repeated this experiment a number of times, 
 and always with a like satisfactory result. It would 
 seem from this that lime is to a great extent a pre- 
 ventive of the ravages of the grub and other insects, 
 when applied at or previous to the time of planting. 
 The mode practised by my informant may not an- 
 swer for all soils and situations, but the same result 
 
 T. X
 
 266 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 
 
 might probably be attained by throwing the lime 
 mixed with earth over the surface, and ploughing or 
 harrowing it under previous to planting.* 
 
 There are in my garden some young gooseberry- 
 bushes which have been well manured and pruned, 
 but the fruit, since they commenced bearing (about 
 three years ago), has been uniformly rusty, as it is 
 commonly termed. To prevent this, I have tried 
 several remedies without success. Last year, see- 
 ing salt dissolved in water somewhere recommend- 
 ed, I had it sprinkled over the bushes several times, 
 commencing when they were in blossom, but with- 
 out any effect. I have also tried lime (recommend- 
 ed, I believe, in the Cultivator). Last fall it was 
 applied freely about the roots, and the branches 
 whitewashed as thoroughly as practicable, and a 
 small quantity mixed with water was sprinkled over 
 the bushes two or three times this spring. E. 
 
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING. 
 
 We apprehend that the common practices in this 
 branch of rural labour are not altogether based upon 
 a sound philosophy. The animal structure, we all 
 know, is admirably adapted to its wants, its habits, 
 and its uses. There is no surplusage ; no useless 
 encumbrance ; all is necessary to fulfil the designs 
 of nature. From analogy, then, and from the sys- 
 
 * Remark. We have cultivated the gooseberry eighteen years, 
 during sixteen of which we lost most or all of the crop by mil- 
 dew or rust ; but the last two years the fruit has been fine, 
 clean, and healthy. We impute the recent exemption from 
 these diseases to the application of brine (salt and water) to the 
 ground about the bushes in the month of February the two pre- 
 ceding years. We consider the mildew a vegetable parasite, 
 which abides permanently upon the collar and root of the bush, 
 and irom which see>ls are disseminated, under a suitable state 
 ol the atmosphere in summer, to the fruit; and that the appli- 
 cation of salt, when vegetation is dormant, destroys the par.tsite 
 without hurling the bush. Pickle may be used in the growing 
 eason at the rate of one ounce of salt to one gallon of water 
 In winter it may be made much stronger. Cond.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING. 267 
 
 tem and order which everywhere pervade the visible 
 creation, is it not reasonable to infer that every part 
 of the vegetable structure is alike essential to its 
 well-being ? Are not the branches and leaves as in- 
 dispensable to the tree as the limbs and lungs are to 
 the animal? Who will say otherwise 1 ? Nature 
 produces nothing in vain. Although we may assist 
 in carrying out her designs, we cannot cross her 
 purposes without suffering the penalty imposed for 
 a violation of her laws. 
 
 No one part of a plant can be affected without at 
 the same time affecting the other parts. Roots and 
 branches reciprocally produce and nourish each 
 other. If a tree has part of its roots destroyed, the 
 branches which these support will decay ; and when, 
 on the other hand, some of the branches are destroy- 
 ed, a portion of the roots will perish also. The ex- 
 tent and form of the one will, in a measure, ever cor- 
 respond with the extent and form of the other. If 
 a young tree be kept close pruned divested of its 
 limbs and foliage it will soon be stinted in its 
 growth, the wood will become carious and diseased, 
 and the plant will be short-lived. If, therefore, we 
 destroy the equilibrium which nature has establish- 
 ed between roots and branches, by greatly diminish- 
 ing the one or the other, we thwart her designs and 
 mistake our own interest. Every branch has its 
 roots its mouths in the soil, to supply it with the 
 elements of its nourishment ; and every root has its 
 branch and its leaves its lungs in the air, to con- 
 vert those elements into food for the joint benefit 
 of them both and of the stem. One cannot attain 
 growth without the co-operation of the other. With- 
 out the roots the plant cannot receive the elements 
 of its food, and without the leaves, those elements, 
 when taken into the system, are of no benefit ; but, 
 on the contrary, like undigested food in the animal 
 stomach, generate disease instead' of promoting 
 health and vigour. Every leaf performs its office
 
 268 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 in the process of nutrition and growth ; and, other 
 circumstances being alike, the increase in the growth 
 of the plant will he in proportion to the number of 
 its healthy leaves : if one half of these be destroy- 
 ed, the growth will be only one half as great as if 
 the whole had remained ; and, if complete defolia- 
 tion takes place, the growth will entirely cease. 
 Hence pruning decreases growth in proportion to 
 the extent or severity with which it is practised. 
 
 " Whenever a tree has a live spray cut from it, an 
 injury is inflicted on that tree that can never entire- 
 ly be repaired. Every wound received is stored up ; 
 and if wounds be constantly added, they will accu- 
 mulate to a degree too great to be borne, and the 
 tree will sink under its infirmities. It is useless to 
 attempt to transfer the timber of the boughs to the 
 stem, or to confine the growth entirely to it. How- 
 ever desirable it may be to the pruner to have all 
 the growth diverted to the increase of the stem, he 
 never will be able to effect it. He may, like the 
 dog, snap at the shadow and lose the substance ; 
 but never will he b'e able, by pruning off the boughs, 
 to increase the growth of the stem one jot. No : 
 the size of the stem will be in proportion to the 
 head it has to support. The stem is not, as he may 
 imagine, a production formed merely for the use of 
 man ; it is the canal or passage in which the juices 
 pass between the roots and branches ; and the size 
 of this passage is always in proportion to the offices 
 it has to perform. If the number of branches [mean- 
 ing to include leaves] be increased, the quantity of 
 sap passing between them and the roots will be in 
 creased; a greater space becomes necessary for the 
 increased quantity of sap, and, consequently, the 
 stem is increased. Let the head of the tree in- 
 crease, and, depend upon it, there will be a corre- 
 pj ending increase of the stem. 
 
 " It is said to be right to cut away a small propor- 
 tion of the weaJter branches, and thus turn the cur-
 
 THE "PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING. 269 
 
 rent of the descending sap more abundantly into the 
 stem. It is hard to understand what is meant by 
 this explanation of the effects of pruning. Does 
 the sap descend down the stem till it arrives at the 
 weaker branches, and then ascend up them and in- 
 crease their size instead of that of the stem 1 If so, 
 the weaker branches would soon become the strong- 
 er ; or, rather, if trees have the property of sending 
 the s'ap from the strong branches to the weaker, all 
 the branches would be equally strong. The de- 
 scending sap, on reaching the weaker branches, 
 would become ascending sap. And if the small 
 branches be considered obstructions, preventing the 
 descent of the sap, the large branches must be 
 greater obstructions. But where does the sap de- 
 scend from ? Primers forget that they cannot cut 
 a live spray from a tree without lessening the quan- 
 tity of its leaves. Their theory is founded in error, 
 and all their reasoning is false." Bollard, in Farm, 
 Mag. 
 
 This explains what often seems enigmatical to 
 superficial observers in vegetable economy, viz., 
 that moderate-sized trees from a nursery have or- 
 dinarily a much thriftier and healthier growth, and 
 arrive sooner to a good bearing state, when trans- 
 planted, than trees that are very large. In the for- 
 mer, the natural proportion between the roots and 
 the branches is preserved, the roots being taken up 
 nearly entire ; the sap-vessels, therefore, are filled, 
 and the growth is but partially retarded. While, in 
 taking up very large trees, whose roots have greatly 
 extended, the mouths of the plant are seriously di- 
 minished, the sap-vessels contract and become in- 
 durated in consequence of the diminished supply of 
 sap, and the tree must acquire new roots and new 
 sapwood by a slow process of growth ere it can 
 flourish with its accustomed vigour. The same evil 
 results from cutting off the entire top of a tree. It 
 is deprived of its elaborating organs ; and, although
 
 270 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 the root may send up the elements of food, they 
 cannot benefit the plant for want of leaves to con- 
 vert them into vegetable blood. It is no argument 
 against this position, that deciduous trees spontane- 
 ously develop foliage and flowers in the spring. 
 There is a store of elaborated sap laid up in autumn 
 to effect this. Strip a tree entirely of its leaves in 
 June, when this store is exhausted, and the tree will 
 not grow, and probably will die. The stem, at least, 
 will sustain serious injury. The nurseryman knows 
 that, after an apple, pear, or plum stock has been cut 
 down and grafted upon, the heart-wood becomes 
 unsound if the graft fails to grow, and the whole 
 stock dozy, and, in a manner, worthless for a future 
 scion, and that it will not grow a particle above 
 where it sends off suckers. 
 
 The tendency of pruning to generate disease and 
 to shorten the life of trees is illustrated in the ap- 
 pearance of old orchards which have been injudi- 
 ciously pruned. Wherever a limb is split off by 
 winds or accident, it will be seen to expose a dis- 
 eased heart-wood ; and this disease at the heart 
 spreads to the roots and branches, and induces pre- 
 mature death. The natural duration of the apple- 
 tree is believed to be more than one hundred years ; 
 and yet how few are found in a healty state at fifty 
 years ! Mark the contrast, in soundness of wood, 
 in vigour of growth, and in duration of life, between 
 the apple and other frequently-pruned trees, and 
 those trees, whether fruit or forest, which are left 
 to luxuriate naturally, without the artificial aid of 
 the pruning-knife. 
 
 If pruning be prejudicial to growth and longevity, 
 v> liy, then, we may be asked, prune at all ? We an- 
 swer, for utility, to give beauty to the tree, and to 
 improve and increase the fruit. 
 
 In natural forest-growth, trees attain height, and 
 a straight, clear timber form, from their crowded sit- 
 uation ; and as the lower branches become useless,
 
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING. 271 
 
 they die and fall off. But in cultivated grounds, or 
 where there is ample room for roots and branches 
 to spread, this does not take place ; and hence the 
 propriety ol pruning here to obtain a good stem for 
 timber, or a handsome top for shade and ornament. 
 Often there are two or more leading shoots striving 
 for the mastery, and, unless they are shortened or 
 taken oft', there will be two or more stems of dimin- 
 utive size, instead of one of larger size. We may 
 therefore prune shade-trees to improve their form 
 or to please the fancy, and timber-trees to improve 
 the bole ; but in neither case do we either increase 
 the growth or prolong the life of the tree. 
 
 " As the twig is bent, so will the tree incline," is 
 literally true in regard to pruning. We can give 
 almost any form to trees which fancy may conceive, 
 by beginning early, and persevering with the pru- 
 ning-knife or shears, as is often witnessed in clipped 
 hedges and in ornamental garden-grounds. We 
 may make them dwarfs or standards, or give them 
 a thin or dense foliage at our pleasure. They may 
 be trained or cut into the shape of animals, into ge- 
 ometrical fprms, or architectural or sculptural com- 
 positions. 
 
 We prune fruit-trees to improve the fruit and to 
 induce a bearing habit. The roots of trees take up 
 from the soil a certain quantity of vegetable food, 
 call it geine, or humus, or organic remains, or what 
 you please ; it has previously constituted parts of 
 vegetable structure, and is convertible by natural 
 processes into wood or fruit, or both. If the ten- 
 dency of the plant is to wood, as is generally the 
 case with all healthy young trees, the fruit will be 
 scanty and inferior, at least till the tree has attained 
 to mature size. But if the tendency to growth is 
 checked by poverty of soil, disease, or judicious pru- 
 ning, the tree will be brought into a precocious state 
 of bearing, and, in the case of judicious pruning, pro- 
 duce more and better fruit.
 
 272 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 In pruning or training to induce a fruit-bearing 
 habit, the object is to check the uninterrupted, and, 
 we may say, natural descent of the elaborated sap 
 to the root, by encouraging a horizontal instead of 
 an upright growth of the branches when the tree ap- 
 proaches the bearing age. This causes a stricture 
 in the descending sap-vessels at the bifurcation or 
 junction of the branches with the stem, and a conse- 
 quent accumulation of elaborated sap in the branch- 
 es, to generate fruit-buds and to swell the fruit. 
 The same object is sometimes, though injudicious- 
 ly, effected by cutting out a narrow circle of bark, 
 or by ligatures, to prevent the descent of the elabo- 
 rated sap. Hence the upright shoot is often cut 
 out, particularly in the apple-tree, and the branches 
 are trained horizontally, diagonally, or in a half-in- 
 verted position, as on walls, espaliers, and in the en 
 queneille, or distaff form of training. These opera- 
 tions have also a tendency to improve the quality of 
 the fruit, by giving it a better exposure to the kind 
 influences of the sun, air, and light, all essential to 
 its due maturity and high flavour. Nature provides 
 for the propagation of the species by producing per- 
 fect seed, leaving to. art the labour and contrivance 
 of enlarging and enriching the pulp or fruit. All 
 fruits may be improved from their natural state by 
 artificial culture, though nothing can be added there 
 by to the intrinsic value of the seed or the natural 
 duration of the tree. The seeds of the wild crab or 
 wild pear are as good to sow for stocks to graft or 
 bud upon, as the seeds of the cultivated varieties of 
 these fruits ; and, indeed, according to Dr. Van 
 Mons's theory, which his practice seems to have 
 confirmed, they are the best from which to start 
 new varieties. 
 
 Prune, therefore, when necessary to improve 
 timber; prime for ornament; prune to improve the 
 fruit ; but do not prune in the hope of accelerating 
 jjrowth or of prolonging life. And, in all your pru-
 
 THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRUNING. 273 
 
 nings, cut while the wood is small, and spare to the 
 tree all the foliage you can consistent with the ob- 
 ject you have in view. By pruning when the tree 
 is young, and pruning often, we may secure a hand- 
 some stem and a well-formed head, and we cause 
 no wounds that do not speedily heal. 
 
 The common practice is to prune in autumn or 
 spring, when the tree is divested of foliage. To this 
 practice we make two objections. In the first place, 
 the wounds are exposed (unless covered with a suit- 
 able composition) to the searching and corroding in- 
 fluence of the sun, wind, and rain, there being no 
 leaves to shield nor circulating pulp to heal them. 
 In the second place, it causes the multiplication of 
 suckers, and often increases the evil which it is de- 
 signed to cure. The sap is arrested in the spring* 
 when its flow is greatest, in its natural course to 
 the amputated branches, oozes out and corrodes the 
 bark and wood, or exhausts itself in the production 
 of a prolific growth of suckers, more detrimental to 
 the tree than the parts that have been lopped off. 
 If pruning is performed the last of June, when the 
 exuberant flow of sap has abated, the wounds are in 
 a measure protected by the foliage from the weath- 
 er ; much unelaborated has then become elaborated 
 sap, transformed into cambium or pulp, whose heal- 
 ing qualities soon cover the edges of the wound; 
 few or no suckers are generated, and the heart of 
 the tree is preserved from canker and decay. These 
 opinions as to the propriety of summer-pruning have 
 been confirmed in our mind by three years' practice 
 and observation. 
 
 Another common error in pruning is the practice 
 of cutting all the lateral shoots from a young tree 
 except a few at the top ; and to cut young, vigorous 
 wood from the tops of old trees, leaving long, ex- 
 tended, naked branches, which are often broken by 
 the winds. In the first case, we obtain long, spin- 
 dling stems, incapable of supporting, when trans-
 
 274 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 
 
 planted to an open situation, a good top. The same 
 evil occurs in the nursery or the forest, when the 
 young trees stand in a crowded position. In the 
 second case, we produce unsightly and compara- 
 tively unproductive tops. Since the offices and the 
 importance of leaves in the vegetable economy have 
 been better understood, a manifest improvement in 
 pruning has taken place. It is now contended, and, 
 we think, upon correct principles, that none, or but 
 very few of the lateral branches should be cut en- 
 tirely from young trees until the tree is tall enough 
 to form a head ; and that the pruner should be con- 
 tent with shortening those which interfere with the 
 main stem, and such as are of unreasonable length. 
 By this means we get a tapering and straight stem, 
 and retain the aid of a large portion of the leaves 
 towards its enlargement. Every leaf contributes to 
 the growth of the stem below the point of connex- 
 ion. When the tree has attained a proper height 
 to form the top x it is advisable, particularly with the 
 apple, to cut out the upright shoot, leaving three, or, 
 at most, four lateral branches upon different sides. 
 If a little attention is afterward annually given to 
 cutting out the small limbs which are likely to cross 
 or interfere with each other, the necessity of cutting 
 off large branches will be for a long time prevented. 
 In old trees, the older branches frequently become 
 cankered and diseased, and young, thrifty wood is 
 thrown out at or near their base. In this case, it is 
 always preferable to cut away the diseased wood, 
 leaving the healthy shoots to take their place. In 
 transplanting trees the knife should be used sparing- 
 ly. If the roots are greatly diminished in digging 
 up the tree, the top may be lightened by thinning its 
 branches ; or, if none of these can be spared with- 
 out marring the form, the longer branches may be 
 shortened, or cut in at a bud ; but we do not advise, 
 in any case, the cutting off the entire top.
 
 THE MIND AND THE SOIL. 27f> 
 
 THE MIND AND THE SOIL. 
 
 In cultivating the soil, we have our seed-time and 
 our harvest-time ; and we all very well know, that 
 if good seed is not deposited in good time, the har- 
 vest will either be scanty or altogether fail. We 
 can reap only what we sow, unless it be the weeds 
 and noxious plants which spring up spontaneously 
 from our neglect. So it is with the mind. It has 
 its seed-time and its harvest-time ; its vernal season 
 of youth, and its summer season of manhood. And 
 the good seed we sow in the young mind will as as- 
 suredly grow and give its increase as that which we 
 deposite in the soil. Our crops tend to increase our 
 wealth and add to our animal enjoyments. The im- 
 provement of the mind not only tends to these de- 
 sirable ends by aiding the labour of the hands, but it 
 tends also to knowledge, to virtue, to happiness. 
 
 Do we estimate these things rightly, and assign 
 to each its relative value 1 Do we not graduate the 
 wages of the labourer who cultivates our soil by the 
 measure of good he can render us 1 And do we not 
 graduate the wages of the teacher, who cultivates 
 the minds of our children on a very different princi- 
 ple, by the small amount which his wants or his 
 limited capacity induces him to take ? While we 
 make merit the criterion of our choice in the culti- 
 vation of the soil, do we not too often make the want 
 of it the criterion in choosing the cultivator of the 
 mind ? And yet all must acknowledge that qualifi- 
 cation and excellence are as much more important 
 in the latter than in the former, as mind is superior 
 to matter, as a good man is superior to a good crop. 
 Who would not feel a higher pride in rearing a fam- 
 ily of intelligent, virtuous, and useful children, than 
 in rearing a fine beast, or in raising a great crop of 
 corn ? Let us try to mend in this matter ; to get 
 good labourers in the mental and moral no less than 
 in the vegetable field of culture. Thin shall our 
 children " rise up and bless us."
 
 276 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. , 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES CONTINUED. 
 
 Caleb Kirk on Hedging. Animal Nutrition. On the Use of 
 Gypsum. Choked Cattle. Specific Food in Soils for Plants. 
 
 HAVING preferred plashing to any other mode that 
 I had seen made use of in training a hedge, I began 
 the process when the stalks were about an inch in 
 diameter near the root, and from that to au inch and 
 a half: if well attended to in their previous growth, 
 they will attain that size in six or seven years after 
 they are planted ; but, if neglected, they may require 
 double that period. It may be observed, that no ad- 
 vantage is gained by plashing before a good root is 
 formed, for that is the future support and basis of 
 the superstructure. By having a good strong root, 
 the cutting or wounding the top or body of the stalk 
 will soon recover from any injury received in the 
 necessary work of plashing, which is done by cut- 
 ting the body of each stalk with a hedge-knife or 
 pruning-hook, bending the stalk with one hand in 
 the direction it is to be laid, at the same time, by a 
 stroke of the knife with the other, about four inches 
 from the surface of the ground. If one stroke should 
 not prove sufficient, a second or third may be appli- 
 ed, being careful to leave as much of the wood uncut 
 as to afford the sap to flow into the top, and yet to 
 bend easy into an inclined position of about forty- 
 five degrees' elevation from the base or bank on 
 which it stands : one third or one fourth of uncut 
 wood is sufficient to supply sap to the plashing, 
 which must bend easy, otherwise it would incline 
 to rise out of the proper degree of inclination. Much 
 depends on this circumstance in forming a good and
 
 CALEB KIRK ON HEDGING. 277 
 
 uniform hedge ; the plashings should not press one 
 upon another so much as to prevent a free and un- 
 obstructed circulation of air, and the sun's rays also, 
 as the health and vigour of the plashing is much 
 promoted thereby. If there should be too much 
 wood in the hedge, by planting too close or any oth- 
 er cause, it must be cut away, leaving no more than 
 what is really necessary to form the basis of a good 
 and lasting live fence. One of my errors was suf- 
 fering too much brushwood to be crowded into my 
 first live hedges, both living and dead ; brushwood, 
 such as was cut away in some places where too 
 thick, and filled in where too thin. In order to 
 make a present fence, I was induced to suffer it to be 
 done in this way, from the recommendation of my 
 hedger, who was from the west of England, and had 
 been in that practice ; for the immediate making a 
 fence of such materials as he had to do with, I read- 
 ily gave his judgment the preference, he having had 
 experience in the business. 
 
 But my observations in two or three years more 
 convinced me of the impropriety of introducing dead 
 wood to fill every vacancy, as well as crowding too 
 much of that which was living. I had much of it to 
 remove in places where a want of health demonstra- 
 ted the present evil. After this was done the re- 
 maining part became more healthy, but it remains 
 thin, and never will overcome the injury. There 
 seems to be no inclination to put out shoots from 
 the old wood in those vacancies, which would have 
 put forth shoots when newly laid if no obstruction 
 had been present. 
 
 I find it is best to trim off the branches, especially 
 the large ones, though not very close to the body of 
 the stalk. It shoots young sprouts more abundant- 
 ly from the plashing, which rise in an upright form, 
 as well as those from the stumps shooting up through 
 the plashing ; interlocks the whole together, holding 
 the plashing in their place as crossbars, and forms
 
 278 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 a kind of lattice- work. On the contrary, if the plash- 
 ing is too crowded, the shoots rising from the stump 
 will evade the thicket and push out in a lateral di- 
 rection, endeavouring to gain the benefit of sun and 
 air, and rise on the outside, where they are injurious 
 instead of beneficial ; by secluding the plashing from 
 the benefit of sun and air, the sap no longer inclines 
 to the plashing, but flows freely into the suckers on 
 the outside. 
 
 I have been more particular on this point, having 
 seen errors in others, as well as my own, on that 
 head. 
 
 Previous to laying a hedge, a quantity of stakes 
 are to be provided about four feet and a half long if 
 it stands on a bank, or a little longer if the ground 
 is not elevated, and split as small as they will bear 
 to drive about one foot in the ground ; they are to 
 be driven through the plashing occasionally, as the 
 work progresses, in a straight line two feet and a 
 half or three feet distant from each other. These 
 stakes are driven through the plashing, so as to keep 
 
 the part laid directly over the stumps, for reasons 
 before given, the shoots rising immediately through 
 the plash : the stakes are bound in their place by 
 wattles or poles, prepared of alder or willow, or any- 
 thing that will not in future make useful timber, as 
 their use is only temporary, until the hedge becomes 
 set by growth. 
 
 This binding has the appearance of a twisted rope.
 
 CALEB KIRK ON HEDGING. 279 
 
 If rightly done, it steadies the head of the stakes, 
 and keeps them in a direct line, and serves the pur- 
 pose of holding straggling shoots that may be di- 
 rected under its confinement, and confines the top 
 of the hedge, holding it. steady for trimming until its 
 own growth gives it stability. 
 
 The next year after being laid it-should be exam- 
 ined, and any shoot that inclines to leave the right 
 direction should be cut away, unless there is a va- 
 cant spot to receive it ; then it ought to be intro- 
 duced into such vacuum. By frequently trimming 
 the superfluous branches off, the body becomes more 
 dense and impenetrable. 
 
 About five years past I adopted the summer trim- 
 ming about the middle of June, and found it much 
 easier to accomplish while the shoot was in a tender 
 state ; and I have regularly done the trimming in 
 that and the following month ever since, finding the 
 labour much easier performed, and no bad effect on 
 the hedges, though warned by some to the contrary, 
 apprehending bad consequences to arise from cutting 
 at that season. 
 
 The present season having been excessively dry 
 and warm, I have not discovered the least injury : 
 they have held their foliage as well as usual. 
 
 My conclusion has been, that by cutting when the 
 sap is in full flow, and taking away the small shoots 
 that were carrying off a considerable portion for 
 their support, that portion must diffuse and spread 
 through the whole body of the hedge, and add 
 strength to every remaining part. 
 
 The foregoing remarks will apply to either kind 
 of thorn as it regards the treatment of them ; but 
 the Virginia kind has advantages, though not so 
 rugged in appearance as the Delaware : they are 
 more uniform in their growth, and give regularity 
 and uniformity to the hedge. But what is very im- 
 portant is their inclination to send out an abundance 
 of shoots or suckers when cut, not only from the
 
 280 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 stump, but from the plash also : the latter is not the 
 case in the Delaware thorn; they seldom afford 
 shoots out of the plash ; except where the top end 
 is cut off, the suckers will rise. 
 
 To attain a regular distribution of shoots from the 
 plashing, we must be mindful to give every stalk laid 
 a proper degree of slope or inclined plane, as before 
 observed : by that means they are likely to rise on 
 the body of the plash. If too much elevated, the sap 
 flows to the head, and produces a cluster at that 
 point ; and if laid too much in a horizontal position, 
 the sap is not encouraged to follow that direction, 
 and will produce suckers from the stump only, leav- 
 ing the plash without sufficient nourishment to be- 
 come useful, and which must consequently decline. 
 
 It will be readily understood, that the more gener- 
 ally we can direct the flow of sap through the whole 
 body of the hedge, strength and uniformity is there- 
 by promoted, it becoming healthy in all its parts. 
 After that object is attained, all that is necessary is 
 the keeping it within proper limits by trimming. 
 
 The figure represented on page 278 is a view of a 
 section of newly-plashed hedge divested of foliage, 
 after having formed the first shoots from the old 
 stalks, making the first effort to fill the vacancies, 
 and seven years old before it was cut. This figure 
 
 represents a section of one that has been laid seven 
 years and annually trimmed, being in full foliage at
 
 CALEB KIRK ON HEDGING. 281 
 
 the time the drawing was taken. The first, show, 
 ing the skeleton of a hedge, may be useful to de- 
 monstrate the subject in that stage of its progress 
 to maturity. This figure presents an 
 end view of the section represented on 
 page 280, showing a correct view of 
 the shape which I preferred for form- 
 ing a hedge the most impenetrable at 
 the bottom ; these views are elevated 
 on a bank from a foot to eighteen inch- 
 es high, which was formed from re- 
 peated dressings, as they required fresh 
 earth to cover the grass about the roots, 
 which retards their growth in a young 
 state remarkably if not kept down., 
 This elevation gives the hedge a much more forbid- 
 ding appearance to ungovernable animals. 
 
 The trimming may be done with a hedge-knife 
 about eighteen inches long, with a hooked point,, 
 used with one hand, or with any othpr sharp, light 
 tool that may best suit the operator, making the 
 stroke upward rather than downward : the root 
 being secure in the ground, it will not give way be- 
 fore the stroke as it would in making the stroke 
 downward. The last trimmings of these speci- 
 mens were made with a common grass-scythe, as 
 the mowers were cutting the grass in the field. I 
 found, by applying the scythe to the hedge, it was an 
 expeditious mode, though rather unhandy to strike 
 upward ; but a little practice overcame the difficulty. 
 
 After viewing these specimens of hedges produced 
 by the foregoing mode of management in a given 
 time, it will be information. I have no doubt, to some, 
 sufficient to determine their choice whether a dead 
 or living fence is to be preferred. 
 
 I made the choice upon an imaginary view, with- 
 out having the advantage of ocular demonstration, 
 and without any idea of the comparative expense, or 
 even attempting to make any calculation on the sub- 
 I. Y
 
 282 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 ject, as I had made up my determination in favour 
 of a live fence. 
 
 There are now some djata to form an estimate 
 upon ; and the subject is of such a nature as to re- 
 quire a series of years to gain the desired object ; 
 yet I have confidence in believing it can be ascer- 
 tained with much correctness. 
 
 The last number on this subject was more fully 
 demonstrated by a drawing, not only to assist the 
 young husbandman in the best mode of forming his 
 live fences, but to give a view of what may be con- 
 sidered a specimen of a finished hedge, or one that 
 has attained maturity being thirteen years old from 
 the time of planting, and needing no farther care but 
 that of annual trimmings, shearing or clipping the 
 extra shoots that incline to enlarge it beyond proper 
 limits. The mode has been already treated of. 
 
 The next inquiry is, What is the cost of obtaining 
 such a desirable enclosure, to protect and secure the 
 labours of the farmer, and, at the same time, orna- 
 ment his farm ? The following is a correct esti- 
 mate, as near as the nature of the case will admit, 
 calculated for the latitude or neighbourhood of the 
 writer of these notes, being done from actual exper- 
 iments made by himself, and some of his neighbour- 
 ing farmers pursuing the same plan of hedging. 
 Taking a given distance, say one hundred panels of 
 post and rail fence, measuring ten feet to the panel, 
 which is the usual length, makes sixty perches and 
 ten feet over. 
 
 One thousand quicks will plant that distance : their cost from 
 
 nursery is $5 00 
 
 Planting them by a man and boy, each two days ; 
 
 man's wages and board at 75 cts 1 50 
 
 boy's do. do. 60 " . . . 1 00 
 
 One dressing the first year by running a furrow or two 
 
 with the plough . 25 
 
 And then a light dressing with the hoe (same hand) . 75 
 
 Expense of first year ... f 8 50
 
 CALEB KIRK ON HEDGING. 283 
 
 Sd year, dressing as above . . . . 81 00 
 
 3d " do. do ] 00 
 
 4th " do. do 1 00 
 
 5th " do. do. . . . . 1 00 
 
 Cth i; do. do 1 00 
 
 5 years' dressing $5 00 
 
 7th year, trenching to prepare for plashing, 
 
 plough, and horse $0 50 
 
 Three days' work, at 75 cts., throwing up a 
 
 ditch 2 25 
 
 500 stakes, counting labour as above, including 
 
 timber 3 50 
 
 Wattles, and cutting them . . . 2 CO 
 
 One hand three days at plashing, at $1 . 3 00 
 
 Expense of 7th year .... 11 25 
 
 8th year, 1 day's work, trimming and cleaning $0 75 
 
 9th " do. do. do. . 75 
 
 10th " do. do. do. . 75 
 
 llth" do. do. do. . 75 
 
 12th " do. do. do. . 75 
 
 13th" do. do. do. . 75 
 
 Expense of six years .... $4 50 
 
 $29 25 
 
 The foregoing process has produced such a hedge 
 as is exhibited in the drawing, taken from a section 
 of one thirteen years old, now in good condition and 
 improving, becoming more dense every year; and, 
 so far as I am able to form a judgment, I am of the 
 opinion that seventy-five cents annually applied to 
 the trimming will keep it in that form perpetually. 
 
 The calculation on this section of sixty perches 
 will afford data to "apply to any quantity of greater 
 extent ; and tha. annual expense on this, after the 
 seventh year, is uniform, and may be considered to 
 continue so for as long a time as it is regularly at- 
 tended to, and will apply to any extent, at one cent 
 and a quarter per rod or perch of sixteen and a half 
 feet. 
 
 If the writer of these observations had commen- 
 ced hedging with the knowledge now obtained by 
 experience, one half his labour would have been 
 saved.
 
 284 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 The expense of a fence made of timber, say posl 
 and rail, which is the most common in the vicinity 
 of this place, is seventy-five cents for each panel of 
 a four-rail fence to those who have their fencing to 
 purchase and the labour to pay ; that is, seventy-five 
 dollars for one hundred panels, which, compared 
 with the same length of hedging, places the case, 
 for a perishable material, with thirteen years of the 
 
 time gone $75 00 
 
 And for a hedge growing better every year 29 50 
 
 Leaving $45 50 
 
 as a balance in favour of sixty perches and ten feet 
 distance : what this will amount to on a large farm 
 I shall leave to the owner's calculation. 
 
 I may farther remark, the labour of making live 
 fence can be done by weak hands if rightly direct- 
 ed : my plashing was done by a man seventy-four 
 years of age. The making of rails and handling 
 them require a person in the prime of life ; and ev- 
 ery stage of the process of erecting wooden fences 
 is laborious, besides the destruction of much valua- 
 ble timber, which in some neighbourhoods is a heavy 
 tax on the owner. 
 
 Each neighbourhood may make their calculations 
 of fences made of timber. According to circum- 
 stances attending the hedge, calculations may be 
 relied on, if the foregoing rules and remarks are 
 strictly attended to, which will a^pply to either kind 
 of thorn ; but it was the " Virginia parsley-leafed 
 thorn" of Marshall's catalogue of forest-trees that 
 was preferred, and which grows spontaneously from 
 this place to the South as far as the Mississippi ; and 
 I have no doubt of its thriving in a northern lati- 
 tude, seeing no bad effect from the winters of our 
 Delaware climate, although I had a section plashed 
 in the midst of winter to prove the consequence. 
 
 The hedge may be considered as made in seven 
 years from the time of planting, as it is only trim-
 
 ANIMAL NUTRITION. 285 
 
 ming that is required afterward, which amount* to 
 one cent and a quarter for each perch of distance : 
 the quarter may be thrown off if the clipping is nev- 
 er omitted in due time, as this lessens the labour a 
 rule that will apply through every operation in hus- 
 bandry, and should never be forgotten while twen*y- 
 five per cent, is saved, and often fifty. 
 
 ANIMAL NUTRITION. 
 
 Until within a very few years, little attention seems 
 to have been paid to the subject of animal nutrition : 
 the quantity or kind of food most suitable for this 
 purpose was mostly overlooked ; and if life were 
 supported, no questions were asked as to the why 
 and the wherefore. So long as the population of 
 the world remained few in number compared with 
 the acres from which subsistence was to be drawn, 
 there was, indeed, little use in inquiries of the kind ; 
 then, as now in the United States, or on this Conti- 
 nent generally, a supply of food of some kind was 
 usually certain. Now and then, years of famine in 
 particular sections might occur ; for in those times, 
 when the means of intercourse were so limited, the 
 inhabitants of one country might be starving, while 
 those at a distance of a few hundred miles were 
 rioting in abundance ; but these calamities were soon 
 forgotten in the succeeding plenty, and led to no 
 valuable investigation as to the nature of food or 
 nutrition. The population fared more nearly alike 
 in former times than at present, so far as food was 
 concerned ; it was bulky and hearty, and, if it pro- 
 duced disease, it was of a different kind from that 
 which now assails the modern omniverous eater and 
 drinker, and in all cases was decidedly the same. In 
 these days, the differences in mankind made by rank 
 or wealth are scarcely more deeply marked than 
 those observable between the diseases of the rich 
 and the poor : differences, in the main, to be attribu- 
 ted to the nature of their diet and its effects on the 
 animal system.
 
 286 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Among the inquirers into the effects of different 
 kinds of food or animal nutrition, Dr. Stark, of Vi- 
 enna, appears to have taken the lead ; indeed, he 
 seems to have fallen a martyr to his zeal in the 
 cause of science, perishing, as he undoubtedly did, 
 from the results of his long-continued experiments 
 on himself. By confining himself to food of a par- 
 ticular kind for a considerable space of time, he was 
 able to ascertain its actual effect on the organs of 
 digestion, and its value as a source of nourishment. 
 Bread, meat, and milk, each in its turn, for a consid- 
 erable period was his sole nutriment ; and the result 
 showed that these things, certainly among the most 
 nutritive of substances, could not maintain the vig- 
 our of the body, or even life itself, for but a limited 
 time. In this respect man differs from the majority 
 of animals ; his organization is such as to admit and 
 even require a variety of food ; while many animals 
 are, by a law of their natures, confined to a particu- 
 lar kind, as flesh or vegetables. 
 
 The French physiologists, Magendie and his coad- 
 jutors, followed up the experiments of Stark, not on 
 themselves, but on animals ; and found they could 
 not long survive on food, however nutritious in itself, 
 unless they received a large portion of that on which 
 they naturally subsist. Thus a dog fed on white 
 sugar and water alone soon became emaciated, lost 
 his appetite and sight, and perished. Few substan- 
 ces can be more nutritive than sugar, but it lacked 
 the power of properly distending the stomach and 
 exciting its digestive energies. Dogs fed on pure 
 wheat bread and water lived but little longer ; and 
 rabbits, which eat a variety of vegetables, such as 
 clover, cabbage, barley, corn, and carrots, were una- 
 ble to live for any time when confined to one of 
 these. It was found that animals, when much ema- 
 ciated and reduced by one kind of food, were not of 
 ten restored by another, though they frequently par 
 took of it with greediness the tone of the stomach 
 could not be regained.
 
 ANIMAL NUT1UTION. 287 
 
 To facilitate proper digestion of food by the ani- 
 mal or man, it is necessary that, with the nutritive 
 part, substances more bulky, or containing little nu- 
 tritive power, should at the same time be taken into 
 the stomach. An experiment has been made in 
 England on the feeding of horses, which demon- 
 strates this fact most conclusively. Some cavalry 
 horses were selected; and while one part of them 
 received sugar and water alone, the other part had 
 a few pounds of cut straw added to their portion of 
 sugar and drink. Those which received the sugar 
 alone fell away rapidly, while those fed with the 
 sugar and straw throve as perceptibly ; and a repe- 
 tition of the experiment on another set of animals 
 showed the same result. In man, the rich and high- 
 seasoned food, the fine flour and the fat meat, are to 
 the stomach what pure wheat or sugar would be to 
 the stomach of the horse. There is much nutriment, 
 but little that can facilitate digestion. A man swal- 
 lows nourishment enough for half a dozen ; but, in- 
 stead of its producing a good effect, his stomach be- 
 comes disordered, its functions debilitated, and in 
 the midst of plenty he becomes dyspeptic, and in- 
 capable of enjoying anything. The man who lives 
 on common food, sound and sufficiently nutritious, 
 is rarely troubled with the evils that press so heavi- 
 ly on him who, regardless of the law of nature, takes 
 more nutriment and less substance than is consistent 
 with a healthy tone of the digestive powers. 
 
 Perhaps. the best estimate of the time required for 
 the digestion of the various substances used as food 
 by man, and their general effect on the animal or- 
 ganization, is given in the book of Dr. Beaumont, 
 from experiments made on the living subject, and 
 under circumstances more favourable to correctness 
 than are known to have ever before existed. We 
 give below a table of the results obtained by him, 
 not as a mere matter of curiosity, but as furnishing 
 information of the most valuable kind in connexion
 
 289 
 
 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 with animal nutrition. The first column indicates 
 the substance taken into the stomach ; the last the 
 time required for its digestion. * 
 
 Boiled rice . . . 1 00 
 Sago, tapioca, barley, and 
 
 boiled milk . 2 15 
 
 Tripe and pigs' feet 1 00 
 
 Fowl*, beef's liver 2 30 
 
 Hard eggs . . 3 30 
 
 Soft do. 3 00 
 
 Custard . . 2 45 
 
 Trout, boiled or fried 1 30 
 
 Other fresh fish . 3 00 
 
 Beef, rare-roasted . 3 00 
 
 Do. dry-roasted . 3 30 
 
 Salt beef, with mustard 230 
 
 Pickled pork . . 4 30 
 
 Raw do. . . 3 00 
 
 fc. *>. 
 
 Mutton, fresh . . 3 15 
 Veal . . . . 4 00 
 Wheat bread, fresh baked 3 30 
 Com bread . . .315 
 Sponge cake . . . 2 30 
 Succotash . . . 3 45 
 Apple-dumpling . . 3 00 
 Apples, sour and mellow 200 
 
 Do. sweet and mellow 1 30 
 Parsnips, boiled . . 2 30 
 Potatoes, do. . .3 30 
 
 Do., roasted . . 2 30 
 Raw cabbage . . 2 30 
 Raw, with vinegar . 2 00 
 Cabbage, boiled . . 4 30 
 
 Dr. Beaumont found that the envelope of the seeds 
 of the apple and the skins of potatoes were scarcely 
 acted upon by the gastric juice, and that they were 
 consequently indigestible. As a whole, it would 
 seem that animal aliments are digested easier than 
 vegetable ones ; but his experiments show conclu- 
 sively, that, whatever the kind of food, the ultimate 
 principle of nutrition, or the chyle, is the same in all 
 eases. 
 
 Digestion is much facilitated by the particles of 
 food being made fine when taken into the stomach, 
 and the quantity of nutritive matter furnished is 
 greater. Individuals, therefore, in whom -the digest- 
 ive powers are weakened, find a benefit in thorough- 
 ly masticating or chewing their food. This princi- 
 ple is of great importance in the feeding or fattening 
 of animals, and shows the necessity of grinding or 
 cooking the materials given them if we would have 
 them derive the full benefit of the nutritive matter 
 contained. 
 
 The experiments of Dr. Beaumont farther prove, 
 that when food of great nutritive powers is taken
 
 ON THE USE OP GYPSUM. 289 
 
 into the stomach in large quantities, the functions of 
 that organ. become evidently clogged, and that usual- 
 ly, in eating, a larger quantity of nutritive matter is 
 received than is beneficial. A certain quantity of 
 solid food, or food of a bulky nature, he found to be 
 essential to easy digestion and a proper separation 
 of the nutritive principle. This agrees with the 
 fact that horses or cattle require cut straw or hay 
 mixed with their grain, both to ensure mastication, 
 and to furnish the necessary bulk of solid matter in 
 the stomach. It is a common saying with farmers, 
 Hint an ox, when feeding on meal, must be furnished 
 with a lock of hay to make him a cud. They re- 
 quire more than this ; and the reason, from what has 
 been said above, is perfectly obvious. 
 
 ON THE USE OP GYPSUM. 
 
 There is no longer any doubt in our mind of the 
 advantage of applying gypsum in the spring to all 
 our meadow-lands which are beyond the influence 
 of the sea atmosphere, and which are habitually dry. 
 There are instances recorded, to be sure, of its not 
 producing perceptible benefit the first year; and 
 some instances where it did not seem to operate 
 even the second year, and yet ultimately developed 
 its fertilizing properties. 
 
 We do not design now to discuss the question how 
 gypsum does operate, but to inquire and state, from 
 the facts within our reach, to what crops its applica- 
 tion is particularly beneficial ; on what soils its ef- 
 fects appear to be greatest ; how much should be 
 applied to the acre, and at what season it is best ap- 
 plied. We are satisfied, that if the value of gypsum 
 were better known, it would be much more exten- 
 sively used than it is ; and that, the more it is used, 
 the greater will be our agricultural surplus. 
 
 Gypsum, according to Chaptal, consists of 
 L Z
 
 290 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Pure calcareous earth or lime ... 30 parts, or 33 
 Sulphuric acid 32 " 43 
 
 Crystallized water ... 38 " 24 
 
 100 100 
 
 It requires from 450 to 500 times its weight of 
 water to dissolve it. When pure, it does not effer- 
 vesce with acids ; it is insipid in taste, and free from 
 smell. A simple mode of trying its quality consists 
 in putting a quantity of it pulverized into a dry pot 
 over the fire, and when heated it gives out a sul- 
 phurous smell. If the ebullition or bubbling which 
 then takes place be considerable, the plaster is good ; 
 but if not, it is considered indifferent ; and if it re- 
 main motionless, like sand, it is not thought to be 
 worth anything. Its colour is white, gray, or blue. 
 Its effects in benefiting agriculture have been great- 
 est in Germany and in the United States. Its bene- 
 fits in Great Britain and France have been less ob- 
 vious. 
 
 The soils upon which gypsum operates most beneficial 
 ly are the light, dry, sandy, and gravelly. Upo.n 
 soils containing little or no vegetable matter, its ef- 
 fect is trifling r but when these lands are dressed 
 with dung, the gypsum then produces a great effect ; 
 and, the dung being present, the poorer the land, the 
 greater its benefits. It seldom produces any sensi- 
 ble effect upon wet grounds, and frequently none 
 upon stiff clays. 
 
 The crops which are most benefited by gypsum are 
 the clovers, lucerne, Indian corn, and pease. There 
 are some few cases noticed of its being found ben- 
 eficial to wheat and other small grains ; but it is the 
 generally received opinion that it does not operate 
 directly on these. Gypsum, however, may be made 
 indirectly beneficial to all crops which are grown 
 upon a clover lay, by causing a greater growth of 
 clover, which becomes food for the crop which fol- 
 lows, and which is abundant in proportion to the
 
 ON THE USE OF GYPSUM. 291 
 
 rankness of the previous clover. Its efiect upon 
 turnips is doubtful ; and some will not allow that it 
 is beneficial to potatoes. Davy lays it down as a 
 fact, that it is most beneficial to those plants which 
 always afford it on analysis ; and the small grains 
 are not found to contain it at all. Many instances 
 are given where its application has doubled and 
 tripled the clover-crop. 
 
 The quantity which should be applied to the.Mcre is a 
 point quite unsettled ; and it should probably be va- 
 ried according to soil and circumstances. John. 
 Taylor, of Virginia, and Judge Peters, of Pennsylva- 
 nia, concurred in opinion, that on lands where it was 
 applied annually, one bushel to an acre was an ample 
 dressing. In Europe it is recommended to dress 
 with five or six bushels to the acre. We have gen- 
 erally sown but a bushel ; but last spring, by way of 
 experiment, we doubled the dressing on a portion of 
 a meadow, and found the grass there much the heav- 
 iest. It is advisable to try it in different quantities, 
 and to note the result of each, as a guide to future 
 practice. 
 
 The time of applying gypsum is generally in the 
 spring, sometimes as late as May or June. The 
 writer of British Husbandry recommends, with much 
 plausibility, that gypsum be applied to clovers semi- 
 annually, viz., soon after the crop is mown in sum- 
 mer, and in the spring just after the plants have be- 
 gun to shoot. We shall be thankful for memoranda 
 of any experiments that may have been made in this 
 practice in our own country, and also whether it 
 produces a better effect when laid on in dry than in wet 
 weather. The work from which we have just quo- 
 ted dwells with emphasis on the importance of hav- 
 ing the gypsum attach to and remain upon the leaves 
 of the young plants, and repeats the charge to sow 
 it when the leaves are wet with dew or with a re- 
 cent light rain, and never just preceding or during a 
 rain. Professor Low says that mineral substances,
 
 292 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 as powdered lime and gypsum, are absorbed through 
 the pores of leaves when scattered upon them. A 
 watery temperature, it is alleged, at least arrests its 
 effects, and seems to suppress them altogether if the 
 gypsum has been calcined, a process which it is 
 sometimes subjected to, to facilitate its reduction to 
 powder. Burning, however, merely expels the crys- 
 tallized water, without otherwise altering the gyp- 
 sum, the strongest heat not being sufficient to expel 
 the sulphuric acid. When applied to tillage- crops, 
 it should be either sown broadcast in spring, or scat- 
 tered upon the hills or drills of the growing crop. 
 Upon the principle quoted above, the latter would 
 seem to be the better practice in regard to hoed 
 crops ; though our mode of applying it to corn has 
 been to sow it broadcast before the ground is har- 
 rowed for seeding. When applied at the rate of five 
 or six bushels to the acre, the effects of a dressing 
 have sometimes continued some four or five years. 
 The most common practice is to sow it annually 
 upon the crops and grounds likely to be benefited by 
 it, and to sow it in quantities from one bushel to two 
 bushels on the acre. 
 
 To determine the capacity of gypsum for absorb- 
 ing moisture, an ounce and a half, in fine powder, 
 was exposed to the air during three foggy nights, 
 and afterward carefully weighed, when it was found 
 to have gained not quite half a grain in weight. 
 This fact overthrows the theory that plaster is ben- 
 eficial on account of its capacity and tendency to 
 imbibe moisture from the atmosphere. 
 
 The benefits of gypsum are so palpable in our 
 country upon clover and some other crops, and indi 
 rectly upon nearly all, that we cannot but hope these 
 remarks will serve to extend its use upon our farms, 
 and to indnce many to try it who are experimentally 
 ignorant of its fertilizing powers.
 
 CHOKED CATTLE. 
 
 293 
 
 CHOKED CATTLE. 
 
 The facts that more attention is now paid to the 
 rearing of cattle and the introduction of improved 
 breeds than formerly, and that many valuable ani- 
 mals are yearly lost from obstructions in the throat 
 or by choking, which might be saved were proper 
 measures adopted, have induced us to present to our 
 readers drawings of a cattle-probang or throat-tube, 
 from the work on cattle by the Useful Knowledge 
 Society, and a condensed account of the best meth- 
 ods of removing obstructions known at the present 
 day. We give these engravings the more willingly, 
 as the tube is found one of the most efficient and 
 immediate agents of giving relief in hoven or bloat 
 that has yet been devised, and, where it can be had, 
 far preferable to the knife- to which farmers in this 
 disease are frequently compelled to resort. 
 
 oh 
 
 a 
 
 <s> 
 
 Sr O 
 
 a FL92 
 
 CI^ 
 
 These cuts will give a sufficient idea of t'ne con- 
 struction of the most useful probang or oesophagus- 
 tube, and which should be in the possession of every 
 farmer who breeds cattle extensively ; t)r, where 
 this is not the case, one might answer for several 
 neighbouring farmers. No man, however, who 
 pretends to the character of farrier or veterinarian, 
 should be without these or similar instruments.
 
 294 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Fig. 1. a. The tube made of simple leather, or of 
 leather covering a canal of spiral wire. It is about 
 four feet and a half in length, so as to reach from 
 the mouth to the rumen or stomach, leaving a suffi- 
 cient portion outside the mouth to be firmly grasped. 
 
 b. The stiletl or rod, represented as introduced 
 into the tube, and running the whole length of it. It 
 gives greater firmness and strength to the tube when 
 it is either passed into the stomach in cases of hoove, 
 or used to force obstructions down the gullet. 
 
 c. The handle of the stilett. 
 
 d. A hollow piece of wood running freely upon 
 the stilett, and placed between the handle of the 
 stilett and the round extremity of the tube. The 
 stilett is longer than the tube by the extent of this 
 piece of wood, but is prevented from protruding by 
 the interposition of this slider on the handle. The 
 stilett may be introduced at either end of the tube. 
 It is usually inserted at c when the instrument is 
 used to force anything down the throat, because the 
 bulb at the other end has a flat, or, rather, concave 
 surface, and can therefore act with more certainty 
 and power on the obstruction in the throat. 
 
 e. The end of tne tube which is introduced into 
 the paunch in cases of hoove. It is rounded to per- 
 mit it to be more easily forced through the pillars 
 or roof of the paunch, and is perforated with holes 
 for the escape of the gas with which the stomach 
 may be distended. 
 
 Fig. 2 represents the whalebone slilett (any tough 
 elastic wood will do for the rod when whalebone 
 cannot be had), with the hollow piece of wood run- 
 ning upon it, and shows how easily that may be 
 withdrawn when the stilett is taken from the tube. 
 This piece of wood taken off, the stilett will project 
 a little at the end of the tube ; and by moving the 
 stilett up and down in the tube, this may be made 
 to act on the obstructing body in the manner, and 
 with somewhat the force of a small hammer.
 
 CHOKED CATTLE. 295 
 
 Fig. 3 will be presently described. 
 
 Fig. 4 is a piece of strong, thick wood, widest in 
 the centre, and perforated for the passage of the 
 tube. Its use is to keep the mouth open during the 
 use of the probatig; and it is secured by leather 
 straps nailed to the extremities, and buckled round 
 the horns. The farmer should have another mouth- 
 piece, with a central hole that will admit the passage 
 of a small hand. He will thus be enabled to grasp 
 and remove any obstruction that has not descended 
 beyond the commencement of the gullet. 
 
 Let it be supposed that a cow has swallowed a 
 potato or turnip too large to descend the gullet, and 
 thus arrested in its progress, and evidently seen at 
 a certain distance down the throat. The farmer 
 should have immediate recourse to the tube, intro- 
 ducing the flatter end, and using moderate force. 
 If the body yields to this, he is justified in pushing 
 it into the chest ; but if it is with difficulty pushed 
 on, the operator should instantly cease attempting 
 to drive it down, for the fibres of the gullet soon be- 
 come irritated by distention, and grasp the foreign 
 substance, as it were, spasmodically. The gullet 
 also itself becomes smaller as soon as it enters the 
 thorax, and a substance that moves easily in the 
 upper part can scarcely be moved at ill in the lower 
 portion. 
 
 But if it cannot be driven down, it may perhaps be 
 solicited or drawn upward. The fibres of the gullet 
 have allowed the substance to pass them, and are 
 somewhat weakened by the unnatural distention; 
 and, not having recovered their tone, they may yield 
 again. The internal coat of the gullet is smooth and 
 yielding : it may, however, be made more so, and 
 some effect may also be produced on the surface of 
 the obstructing body. Half a pint of olive oil should 
 be poured down, a persevering attempt being made 
 by the fingers externally to give the body a retro- 
 grade motion. When moved sufficiently upward, it
 
 296 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 may be drawn out by the hand, introduced through 
 the large mouth-piece. 
 
 If the obstructing body cannot be moved in this 
 way, recourse may be had to the corkscrew tube, 
 Fig. 3, in the cut. 
 
 a. The leather tube as before, but somewhat lar- 
 ger, longer, and stronger, with the upper part, for 
 the purpose of additional strength, sometimes of 
 brass. 
 
 b. The handle of the stilett, that runs through it 
 as through the other tube. 
 
 c. The piece of wood sliding on the stilett. In 
 consequence of the corkscrew termination, this must 
 be in two parts, easily removed. They are here 
 removed, and one of them hangs down, suspended 
 by a string. When removed, they allow the point 
 of the stilett to project two or three inches. 
 
 d. The bulb which is introduced through the 
 mouth-piece. It is larger than those on the other 
 tube, but not so large as the distended gullet. 
 
 e. A corkscrew fixed at the end of the stilett ; and 
 which, coming out at the centre of the knob, cannot 
 possibly wound the gullet. 
 
 When this instrument is used, the screw is re- 
 tracted within the knob, and secured by placing the 
 pieces of wood c on the handle of the stilett. The 
 instrument is then introduced through the mouth- 
 piece, and forced down the throat until it reaches the 
 obstruction. The pieces of wood are then taken off, 
 and the screw, by turning the handle, is worked into 
 the obstructing body as the common corkscrew into 
 a cork. If the potato or turnip is fresh and sound, 
 a great purchase is thus obtained, and in most in- 
 stances the root may be thus drawn out and got rid 
 of; but if only a portion is brought away, some good 
 has been done, and the screw should be returned as 
 long as it will take hold. The substance will now 
 probably yield to the pressure of the first probang, 
 and in a crushed state pass into the stomach.
 
 CHOKED CATTLE. 297 
 
 Sometimes, too, the stilett of the first tube, the slide 
 being taken off, can be advantageously used as the 
 rod of a gun, forcing the obstruction down by re- 
 peated percussions. 
 
 Should these contrivances fail, and the obstruction 
 still remain, bleeding, sometimes carried to absolute 
 fainting, may be resorted to, in preference to crush- 
 ing the root by external violence, though even this is 
 sometimes admissible. There is not a more pow- 
 erful relaxant of the muscles than bleeding ; and 
 during this momentary relaxation the operator may 
 frequently move the body upward, if possible and 
 in preference, but downward if it will not come up. 
 If the obstruction can neither be forced down nor 
 removed by crushing, the animal must be lost un- 
 less the operation of asophagotomy be resorted to, 
 or the obstruction cut down upon, and then removed 
 through the opening. The veterinary surgeon will 
 here find no difficulty, and may proceed with confi- 
 dence. 
 
 The animal should be cast, thrown on the right 
 side, the head stretched out, and lying as flat as the 
 horns will permit. The point of obstruction will be 
 seen at once. An opening is now made through the 
 skin, the cellular substance a little dissected away, 
 the gullet opened, and the obstruction removed. 
 The edges of the gullet should then be brought to- 
 gether and confined with two stitches, and the skin 
 secured in the same way. The beast should have 
 nothing but gruel for two or three days, then gruel 
 and mashes may be allowed, and in a fortnight or 
 three weeks the wound will generally be healed. 
 
 If the root has passed into the thorax before it is 
 observed, or the operator has been called, the chances 
 of saving the animal are much diminished. The ob- 
 struction must be either drawn up or pushed down 
 without delay ; and great force is here allowable ; for, 
 if it be not overcome, the animal will surely die. Cat- 
 tle that have once been choked are found more liable
 
 298 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 than others to suffer agr.in; and it will therefore be 
 generally advisable to fit them for the butcher as 
 early as possible. 
 
 The tube may be made of thin, firm sole-leather ; 
 or, if of upper-leather, it may be sowed over a spiral 
 tube of small flexible wire. It maybe three fourths 
 of an inch in diameter, with a suitable bore, and the 
 bulb may be one and a quarter or one and a half inches 
 in diameter. The stiffness of the tube is greatly 
 aided, when necessary, by the introduction of the 
 rod or stilett. 
 
 Every one has lost some animals which in all 
 probability might have been saved by the cheap and 
 simple apparatus we have here described, while 
 many have perished by quackery or the ill-judged ef- 
 forts made to save them. It is but a few days since 
 a gentleman of our acquaintance lost a cow that was 
 choked with a potato. Some little effort had been 
 made to remove it, when he was told that a quantity 
 of soap put down would have the desired effect, and 
 the informant undertook to see it administered. 
 The required quantity was prepared and poured 
 down, when the animal died almost instantly. The 
 probability is, that more was given than the gullet 
 could contain, and that the first breath, by drawing 
 the fluid soap into the lungs, produced instant suffo- 
 cation. Soap, too, is a dangerous remedy for an- 
 other reason : it is very rare that the alkali is so 
 thoroughly neutralized as not to retain some caus- 
 ticity ; and, when put down the gullet, if it remains 
 a considerable time in one place, it excoriates the 
 inner membrane, or in some cases eats through the 
 gullet, and thus destroys the animal. Oil, as above 
 directed, is better in all cases than soap ; and no 
 farmer should intrust another with the care of a dis- 
 eased animal, unless he has reason to believe that he 
 possesses some knowledge of the structure, forma- 
 tion, and capacity of the part diseased. We have 
 known animals killed by thrusting a stick so far into
 
 SPECIFIC FOOD IN SOILS FOR PLANTS. 299 
 
 the stomach as to perforate its walls ; and this was 
 owing to ignorance of the distance between the 
 mouth and the stomach. If regard to the sufferings 
 of the animal does not influence them, the fact that 
 such cruel treatment must be a source of loss should 
 induce farmers to adopt a better and more scientific 
 mode of treatment. 
 
 SPECIFIC FOOD IN SOILS FOR PLANTS. 
 
 That soils the most favourable for the growth of 
 plants of any particular kind may, unless attention 
 is paid to furnishing a supply of the food in which 
 such plants delight, become exhausted and unfit for 
 their production, is a fact which a multitude of ex- 
 periments fully proves, and which seems to be gen- 
 erally admitted. The earths themselves, silex, lime, 
 and clay, can hardly be said to be the food of plants, 
 though minute portions of them are taken up by the 
 ^ssels and appropriated to the structure of the 
 firmer parts. The earths seem only to serve as a 
 reservoir for the nutritive matter; or perhaps they 
 constitute rather the fountain of that electro-mag- 
 netic agency which has been proved so efficient, if 
 not, indeed, the sole cause of vegetation. 
 
 We may reduce plants to their elements by cal- 
 cination, and we may examine the products given 
 by their decomposition, but we only discover the 
 parts that are left: the power that collected their 
 particles has ceased to operate ; and we should be 
 almost as well qualified to judge of what the human 
 lody can perform, and of the nature of its nutrition 
 and growth, from a post mortem examination, as to 
 decide on these same functions in a living plant 
 from an examination of the remains of a dead one. 
 Chymistry has performed wonders, and from its in- 
 valuable aid much more may be expected ; but the 
 causes that change the qualities of a soil, and, of 
 course, the whole character of its vegetation, are of 
 such a nature, and, perhaps, so slight or evanescent,
 
 300 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 as to escape or be overlooked in the scrutiny of the 
 most competent observer. 
 
 The fact that, by continued cultivation or crop- 
 ping, the soil becomes exhausted of the food of 
 plants or incapable of producing them, is too evi- 
 dent to be denied ; and that in some cases a good 
 growth of a particular kind of plant may be had, 
 when the one previously cultivated has run out, 
 seems equally certain. The trees of our forests, no 
 less than the plants cultivated for food, seem subject 
 to this law, and the instances that prove such ten- 
 dency to change abound in every part of our coun- 
 try. In some places, where the timber on large 
 tracts of land has been felled and allowed to spring 
 up again without intervening cultivation, it is not 
 UHCommon to find the young growth consisting of 
 entirely different varieties from those that first oc- 
 cupied'the soil; and in some places, where the soil 
 has been cultivated for years and then left to it.sutf, 
 the same result of a total change of timber has en- 
 sued. In many places in Western New- York, 
 where the original growth was beech or even hem- 
 lock, we have seen, when this has been removed 
 and the soil left to itself, the whole surface covered 
 with cherry, laurel, and other trees, not one of which 
 was known previously to exist near the place. 
 
 In Virginia and the states adjoining, it is well 
 known, and the fact has frequently been noticed, 
 that where the original growth is pine, as it is on a 
 very large part of the low country, when this is 
 cleared off, the succeeding growth of timber is never 
 pine, but a mixture of the hard woods, principally 
 oak, chestnut, and their congeners. On the contra- 
 ry, where these latter formed the original growth, 
 the succeeding one is most usually pine, growing up 
 in dense and almost impenetrable thickets. In some 
 of the oldest- settled parts of that region, this process 
 lias been repeated several times on the same lands ; 
 the former, but most unskilful practice in farming
 
 SPECIFIC FOOD IN SOILS FOR PLANTS. 301 
 
 having been to crop a piece of land until completely 
 exhausted, and then leave it to the recuperative ef- 
 forts of nature, while new lands were cleared and 
 put under cultivation. 
 
 In the valuable papers of Dr. Hildreth on the coal 
 region of the West, and in the notes of a Naturalist, 
 both to be found in Silling n's Journal, are notices 
 of large tracts on which nothing but a heavy growth 
 of white oak and its kindred trees are found, and 
 the soil of which is full of pitch-pine knots, scattered 
 in the greatest profusion over large districts, on 
 which a pine-tree has not been seen since the dis 
 covery of the country. The inference is irresistible, 
 that, owing to some unexplained cause, these im- 
 mense forests have perished, and their place has 
 been occupied by the magnificent oak woods that 
 now form so conspicuous a feature of these districts. 
 So plentiful are these pine remains in some places, 
 that the collecting and burning them for tar has been 
 a profitable business. 
 
 That there is the same tendency in cultivated 
 plants to change, or to run out and be succeeded by 
 Others, is well known to every one. Continued care 
 is required to keep meadows that lie long in grass 
 from becoming filled with other and worthless vari- 
 eties ; and reseeding and frequent manurings are 
 necessary to prevent the kinds desired in the soil 
 from running out. So soils on which the same crop 
 is too .frequently raised will show a tendency to 
 throw it off in the inferior value of the crop pro- 
 duced. New-England and Eastern New- York were 
 once the best of wheat-growing districts, but have 
 long since ceased to be such ; and the most moment- 
 ous question that can be asked by the Western 
 farmer is, will that region, now so productive, ex- 
 hibit a similar decline T There can be no reason to 
 doubt that it will, unless an improved and more ra- 
 tional mode of farming be adopted to prevent it. 
 As illustrating the changes that take place in soils
 
 302 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 from cultivation, rendering them unfit for plan 4 .? of a 
 particular kind, we make the follow rig extracts from 
 a communication in the ji'ultivjitor of April, 1838. 
 It is from the pen of a g<-.. tic-man of Suffolk county, 
 Long Island : 
 
 " With us, wheat was raised from the first settling 
 of the county until 1780 or 1790; it then failed. 
 About that time we began to get fish (for manuring), 
 which were used for rye, and did well. It was no 
 uncommon thing to have 40 bushels to the acre. For 
 wheat they did not answer, neither did any other 
 manure. Farmers, as a general thing, gave up try- 
 ing to raise it. At the present time, wheat is a far 
 more certain crop than rye, and has been for years 
 past. Rye has been failing for some time, and lat- 
 terly many pieces have been cut merely for the 
 straw. There is a complete revolution in the two 
 grains. * * * * Corn has not fluctuated ; it has 
 been a steady crop, and governed by the seasons. 
 Oats the same. Flax has run nearly the same 
 round as wheat ami parley." 
 
 Two causes have, by vegetable physiologists, been 
 assigned for this action of plants on the soil, both of 
 which have been advocated with great skill, and in 
 favour of both of which a formidable array of facts 
 and experiments may be adduced. One of these 
 theories supposes that a specific food for each kind 
 of plant exists in greater or less quantities in the 
 soil, and that, when this food is exhausted by a suc- 
 cession of crops of the same kind, the plant must of 
 necessity fail for want of its proper nourishment. 
 In this way the changes of forest timber noted 
 above may be explained, since rendering the soil 
 unfit for the production of one kind of plant by no 
 means disqualifies it for growing another. By this 
 theory, also, the cause of the changes of the grain- 
 crops in our country is made plain ; as the specific 
 food of each plant being in a great degree different, 
 that required by the rye had been untouched by the
 
 SPECIFIC FOOD IN SOILS FOR PLANTS. 303 
 
 wheat, and vice versa. The second theory by which 
 these facts are accounted for is that of the justly 
 celebrated De Candolle, which supposes that plants, 
 in growing, secrete substances injurious to, and not 
 required by them ; which substances, strictly excre- 
 mentitious, are thrown off by the roots into the soil, 
 and, by repetitions of the process, finally render it 
 unfit for the growth of the plant. This excrementi- 
 tious matter is, however, supposed to affect no plants 
 except those of the same kind with that from which 
 it has been ejected : thus that from the pine would 
 not prevent the growth of the oak, nor would that 
 which rendered the soil unfit for wheat injure in the 
 least a crop of rye. 
 
 It is clear that most of the phenomena alluded to 
 above as attending a succession of crops on the 
 same soil, or the changes which the forests of a 
 country undergo, may be explained by either of 
 these theories; and it is not improbable that both 
 may be more or less influential at the same time. 
 To us the weight of testimony has appeared to be in 
 favour of the theory which attributes these changes 
 to an exhaustion of the specific food of the plant ra- 
 ther than to the excretion of poisonous matter from 
 the preceding vegetation. It must be admitted, how- 
 ever, that the experiments of De Candolle and Ma- 
 caire go far to prove such an exudation or secretion 
 form plants ; and, this fact once established, it cannot 
 be unreasonable to suppose that the matter thus re- 
 jected must be unsuitable for the succeeding plant, 
 should it be one requiring the same kind of nutri- 
 ment. 
 
 Thus, admitting the truth of either of these the- 
 ories, or of both, we arrive at the conclusion that 
 change of plants is a law of nature ; and the manner 
 in which we can imitate her, and thus avoid the in- 
 evitable consequences of continued successions of 
 the same kind of plant, is distinctly pointed out. 
 Nature restores the original constituents of the soil
 
 304 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 by a slow and gradual process : science has enabled 
 us greatly to abridge this period, by producing our- 
 selves, in rapid succession, the same changes that 
 nature, unassisted, would require half a century to 
 effect. We do this in two ways : either by resto- 
 ring to the soil, in the form of manures, what we have 
 taken from it in the shape of grain or grass, or by 
 such a rotation of crops as shall prevent the ex- 
 haustion of the specific food of the plant" in the one 
 case, or the injurious accumulation of excrementi- 
 tious matter in the other. The successful combina- 
 tion of both these methods, manuring and rotation, 
 constitutes the great secret of successful agricul- 
 ture ; and the establishment of the principles on 
 which the system is based may be considered the 
 greatest improvement of its age. In those parts of 
 our own country and in Europe where the system 
 of manuring and rotation has been fully adopted, a 
 steady improvement in the soil and in the crops is 
 clearly apparent, and not the least symptom of ex- 
 haustion or of deterioration can be seen. It is time 
 that the unphilosophical system of taking crop aftei 
 crop of the same kind from land should be aban- 
 doned for the more rational one pointed out by na- 
 ture herself, and which has been proved to be so far 
 superior to the former methods. Corn, wheat, clo- 
 ver, and manure (the last applied to the first crop) 
 have trebled the produce of the lands in Dutchess 
 and on Long Island within thirty years ; and lands 
 that had been exhausted and abandoned have been 
 reclaimed, and restored to a state of fertility rivalling 
 the best districts of the West. There is great rea- 
 son to fear that this subject is not yet properly ap- 
 preciated by our farmers. We, in the comparatively 
 new parts of our country, go on as though exhaus- 
 tion were impossible, and reducing the fertility of 
 our lands a mere fiction. Do we not already begin 
 to perceive proofs (and particularly where the skin- 
 ning process in cropping is adopted) that these
 
 JUDGE DUELS ADDRESS. 305 
 
 causes have already begun to operate 1 Do we get 
 as much wheat per acre on such lands as we did 
 twenty years ago ? 1 f not, to what cause shall we at- 
 tribute the falling oft"] One of the most important 
 questions a farmer can ask himself is, How shall 
 this reduction of crops be arrested where it has al- 
 ready commenced, and prevented where it does not 
 yet exist ? 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Address of the Hon Judge Buel, delivered before the Agricul- 
 tural and Horticultural Societies of New-Haven County, 
 September 25, 1839. 
 
 I APPEAR here, gentlemen, by invitation, to address 
 you on the cultivation of the soil, which it is the ob- 
 ject of the associations here convened to promote 
 improvement in. I have been prompted in the un- 
 dertaking rather by a desire to render a service, 
 than from any confidence in my ability to perform 
 one ; and, in the few remarks I have to offer, shall 
 need much of your indulgence for imperfections in 
 style and deficiency in matter. 
 
 Agriculture and Horticulture are intimately related 
 to each other. They both depend upon the soil, and 
 the animals and plants which it nurtures, for sup- 
 port, for profit, and for pleasure. They both admin- 
 ister and are indispensable to our wants and com- 
 forts. They are governed in their operations by the 
 same natural laws. Agriculture has cognizance of 
 the farm, which supplies our principal wants ; Hor- 
 ticulture of the garden, which administers to our 
 more refined appetites, to our health, and to the ra- 
 tional pleasures of the mind. The one gives us 
 bread and meat, and the materials for our clothing; 
 I. A A
 
 306 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 the other, choice delicacies for the table, uid multi- 
 plies around us the charms of floral beauty and xu- 
 ral scenery. Both tend to beget habits of useful 
 industry and sober reflection, and to improve us in 
 all the social relations of life. It is befitting, there- 
 fore, that institutions designed to foster and pro- 
 mote improvements in these primary and associate 
 branches of labour should unite in their anniver- 
 sary celebration, and in returning thanks to the Su- 
 preme Being for the bounties of a fruitful season. 
 
 Of the utility of these celebrations, and the exhi- 
 bition of the products of the farm and garden which 
 are made at them, I have no kind of doubt. They 
 bring to public notice whatever is new and most 
 valuable in a business which highly interests us. 
 They perform the work of years in diffusing useful 
 knowledge in all the departments of rural labour. 
 They awaken in the bosoms of hundreds the dor- 
 mant powers of the mind, which otherwise might 
 have slumbered in apathy. They excite to indus- 
 try, to emulation, and to the study of those laws 
 which everywhere control the visible creation, and 
 which enlighten and reward all who humbly seek 
 and follow their counsels. Nor is it the cultivator 
 of the farm and garden alone that are to be benefit- 
 ed by these exhibitions. Whatever tends to in- 
 crease and improve the products of the soil, serves 
 to augment the common stock, and enables the 
 grower to supply the market with more and better 
 products, and to buy more liberally of the other 
 classes in return. The merchant, the manufacturer, 
 the mechanic, and the professional man, have all, 
 therefore, as deep an interest in promoting the im- 
 provement of agriculture and horticulture as the 
 farmer and gardener have. Society is in some 
 measure a joint concern, at least so far as relates to 
 what are termed the producing classes ; the more 
 the.sr ourn by their labour, the greater is the acces- 
 sion of substantial wealth to the community. The
 
 JUDCJE BUEL'S ADDRLSS. 307 
 
 amount of honey in a hive depends not upon the num- 
 ber of bees which it contains, but upon the labour and 
 skill of the working bees. The farmer virtually pro- 
 vides for the other classes, and is, at the same time, 
 their principal patron and customer ; and, although 
 his labours are too often held to be low and menial by 
 those who cannot or will not appreciate their value, 
 his condition affords the best criterion by which to 
 judge of the welfare of those around him. No coun- 
 try can long flourish, or preserve its moral and physi- 
 cal health, whose agriculture is neglected and degra- 
 ded. The amount of a farmer's sales and of his 
 purchases will depend upon the profits of his labour. 
 Double these by an improved system of husbandry, 
 which I feel assured can be done, and which has 
 been far more than realized in many old districts of 
 our country, and you will double the substantial 
 wealth of the neighbourhood, and impart correspond- 
 ing life and activity to every other department of 
 business. If we look to Spain, to Portugal, to a 
 great portion of Italy, to South America, or any 
 other country where agriculture is neglected, or 
 holds but a subordinate rank, we shall find a de- 
 graded population, characterized by superstitious ig- 
 norance, poverty, and crime. Every class of the 
 community, therefore, has a deep interest in pro- 
 moting the improvement of the soil ; and all should 
 willingly contribute their aid towards enlightening, 
 honouring, and rewarding th^se who are honestly 
 employed in its cultivation. 
 
 With regard to the utility of agricultural and hor- 
 ticultural societies, much will depend upon the ob- 
 jects which bring their members together. If they 
 associate for selfish purposes, merely to monopolize 
 the spoils, and withdraw whenever they are disap- 
 pointed in their sinister hopes, jealousies and apathy 
 will ensue, and the association will fall, as many 
 under like circumstances have fallen, without pub- 
 lic loss or public regret. But if the association be
 
 308 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 formed for mutual improvement, and in the benevo- 
 . 'lit and patriotic desire to do a public good ; to 
 stimulate and reward industry and enterprise, how- 
 fiver humble their condition ; and if it strive, by con- 
 centrated and persevering efforts, to improve the 
 condition of a district, of a county, or a state, then 
 will it inspire public confidence, obtain public sup- 
 port, and become a public blessing. To illustrate 
 this last proposition, I beg to refer to some associa- 
 tions which have been tried, and whose labours have 
 been crowned with palpable and brilliant success. 
 
 The counties of Berkshire, Essex, and Worcester 
 in Massachusetts, have each, for many years, main- 
 tained an agricultural society ; and they each dis- 
 tribute ten or twelve hundred dollars a year, one 
 half of which is paid out of the state treasury, in 
 prizes to successful competitors in the various de- 
 partments of agricultural and household labour. It 
 is said, and I believe with truth, that every dollar 
 thus expended has made a return of twenty dollars 
 in the increase of agricultural products which it has 
 caused ; and so satisfied are the inhabitants of the 
 benefits of the expenditure, that an increased spirit 
 is annually manifested by all classes to maintain 
 and perpetuate these nurseries of industry and im- 
 provement. 
 
 The Highland Society of Scotland affords another 
 illustrious example of the utility of agricultural as- 
 sociations, when conducted with a view to public 
 improvement. This society was organized in 1784 ; 
 but so few were its members and so limited its 
 means, that it attracted but little public notice, nor 
 effected any great improvement in husbandry till 
 the commencement of the nineteenth century. Yet 
 it had sown the good seed, which never fails, under 
 proper management, to yield to the husbandman a 
 bountiful harvest. Nor did it fail in this case. The 
 society now numbers twenty-two hundred members, 
 embracing most of the opulent and influential men
 
 JUDGE DUEL'S ADDRESS. 309 
 
 of the country, of all professions, and distributes an- 
 nually in prizes about seventeen thousand dollars. 
 In no country or district has agriculture made more 
 rapid strides in improvement than it has in Scot- 
 land since the organization of this society ; which, 
 although it may not have been the only, has most 
 assuredly been a principal, cause of this wonderful 
 and salutary change. Up to 1792, the agriculture 
 of Scotland, to adopt the language of the Edinburgh 
 Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, was " wretched ; 
 execrably bad in all its localities ! Hardly any 
 wheat was attempted to be grown ; oats full of this- 
 tles was the standard crop, and this was repeated on 
 the greater part of the arable land, while it would 
 produce twice the seed thrown into it; turnips, as 
 part of the rotation of crops, was unknown ; few po- 
 tatoes were raised, and no grass-seeds or clover 
 were sown. A great part of the summer was em- 
 ployed, in the now fertile shire of Fife, in pulling 
 thistles out of the oats and bringing them home for 
 the horses, or mowing the rushes or other aquatic 
 plants that, grew on the bogs around the home- 
 stead." But a change soon came over the land. 
 The seed which had been sown by the Highland So- 
 ciety had germinated, and its luxuriant foliage al- 
 ready covered the soil. In 1815, according to the 
 authority I am quoting, " beautiful fields of wheat 
 were to be seen; drilled green crops everywhere 
 abounded ; the bogs had disappeared ; the thistles 
 no longer existed ;" naked fallows were abolished ; 
 draining was extensively introduced ; wet lands 
 were made dry ; poor, weeping clays were convert- 
 ed into turnip soils ; and " whole parishes were com- 
 pletely transformed from unsightly marshes inl > 
 beautiful and rich wheat-fields ; and where the plough 
 could scarcely be driven for slush and water, were 
 heavy crops per acre and heavy weight per bush- 
 el."* The improvements in Scottish husbandry 
 
 * Quarterly Journal of Agriculture for June, 1839, p. 70.
 
 310 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 have continued to advance until, according to the 
 estimate of Sir John Sinclair and Professor Lowe, 
 both high authority, until the acreable products of 
 her soil more than double those of our Atlantic 
 states. 
 
 The means adopted by the Highland Society to 
 effect these radical improvements in Scottish hus- 
 bandry are such as may be employed by us with al- 
 most a certainty of corresponding success. " In the 
 days of its youth and feebleness," says the Quarterly 
 Journal which I have just quoted, "the Highland 
 Society sent the leaven of the turnip husbandry into 
 all the glens and straths of the North, by offers of 
 small prizes to certain Highland parishes, and the 
 same may be said as to the growth of clover and the 
 finer grasses. As it advanced in strength as to num- 
 bers and to cash, attention was turned to premiums 
 for stock ; then came offers of reward to men of sci- 
 ence to discover better implements and machines, to 
 diminish friction, and consequently draught, such as 
 in the threshing-mill, and other parts of agricultural 
 machinery. Still advancing in the scale of intellect 
 and of science, premiums were offered for essays to 
 bring to light the facts connected with chyrnistry 
 and natural philosophy ; and under the auspices of 
 the society was set up the Quarterly Journal of Ag- 
 riculture, a work which has been the vehicle of con- 
 veying so much useful information to the agricultu- 
 rist, that we humbly venture to say it ought to ap- 
 pear on the bookshelf and table of every farmer's 
 parlour. After this, the great stock shows were re- 
 solved upon." At the Glasgow show in 1838 there 
 were exhibited for prizes 461 neat cattle, 1*21 horses, 
 274 sheep, and 47 swine ; total, 903 domestic ani- 
 mals, in 031 lots. Of the other competitors the 
 numbers were as follows :
 
 JUDGE BUEL'S ADDRESS. 311 
 
 For Butter . . . . * . . 18 
 
 Full Milk Cheese J5 
 
 Skim Milk Cheese 
 
 Wool 
 
 Koots and Seeds 
 
 Implements 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 28 
 
 In 88 lots. 
 
 The number of persons present was estimated at 
 over 17,000, besides workmen and official people; 
 not one in a thousand of whom probably left the ex- 
 hibition without carrying home with him some new- 
 ly-acquired knowledge in his business, or some new 
 stimulants to improvement and industry. Not only 
 has Scotland profited by the labours of her agricul 
 tural society, but Great Britain generally, and even 
 the United States have been highly benefited by 
 them. The information which that society has pro- 
 mulgated has been widely disseminated among us 
 by our agricultural journals, and has contributed not 
 a little to the improvement of the agriculture of our 
 country. And in England, which had been thrown 
 into the background by the superior improvements 
 in Scottish husbandry, it has within the last year 
 induced the formation of the English Agricultural 
 Society, on a broad and liberal scale, which prom- 
 ises important advantages to English husbandry, and 
 to agriculture generally. 
 
 As evidence of the utility of horticultural societies 
 in multiplying and improving the products of our 
 gardens and in promoting rural embellishments. I 
 would refer to the neighbourhoods of Boston and 
 Philadelphia, where societies of this kind have long 
 existed, and to the Horticultural Society of London. 
 In the first-named cities and their environs, the 
 progress of horticultural improvement has been 
 manifestly great. Alany new and choice fruits, cu- 
 linary vegetables, and ornamental plants have been 
 introduced, culture has been much improved, the 
 markets better supplied, and prices cheapened.
 
 312 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 The London Society, although its garden has been 
 established but about twenty years, has concentrated 
 in it, from both continents and from the islands of 
 the sea, embracing every clime, more than five thou- 
 sand varieties of edible fruits, including fourteen 
 hundred varieties of the apple, and seven hundred of 
 the pear, and an almost endless number of. orna- 
 mental plants, many of them before unknown in pur 
 catalogues. Its collection of pears, which embrace 
 hundreds of recent origin from Flanders and from 
 France, have been already broadly spread over these 
 states, and supply our dessert with a succession of 
 this delicious fruit. As a corresponding member of 
 this society, I have participated, and have enabled 
 others to. participate, in the good which it has been 
 generously diffusing abroad. In 1825, and at sub- 
 sequent periods, I have been supplied liberally with 
 grafts of the choicest fruits which it had collected. 
 
 The great obstacles to horticultural improvement 
 are ignorance of the relative merits of different kinds 
 of fruits and culinary vegetables, and of the proper 
 modes of cultivating and preparing them for the ta- 
 ble. The generality of country gardens exhibit but 
 a scanty assortment of vegetable productions, and 
 these but badly cultivated, and often of inferior qual- 
 ity. The tendency of horticultural exhibitions is to 
 show the good and bad in contrast, or rather to pro- 
 mulgate a knowledge of the better sorts, of their cul- 
 ture and use, to excite useful competition, and to 
 demonstrate the utility of garden culture as a source 
 of health, pleasure, and profit. 1 have had many 
 fruits presented to me which the donors considered 
 of the first quality, but which I found, on compari- 
 son, to be of secondary or inferior grade. The man 
 who has seen or tasted only inferior fruits, may 
 well mistake them for good ones. It is as easy to 
 cultivate good fruits as bad ones ; and no one eats so 
 good fruits as he who cultivates them himself. It is 
 as easy to cultivate the vergaleu as it is the choke-
 
 JUDGE BUELS ADDRESS. 313 
 
 pear ; the green-gage as the horse-plum ; and yet 
 the difference between them, in all the qualities 
 which we most esteem, is incomparably great. But, 
 till we can show our neighbour better fruits, he will 
 continue to cultivate and rest content with his choke- 
 peaf and horse-plum. 
 
 With regard to what is termed ornamental gar- 
 dening, or the cultivation of flowering shrubs and 
 plants, there is an objection, real or affected, often 
 made by very many people, on the ground that it 
 yields no profit. If the great object of life were to 
 accumulate money, without enjoying any of the com- 
 forts, save the gratification of animal appetite, the 
 objection would be conclusive. But we are endowed 
 with other and higher appetites than the mere brute ; 
 and Providence has everywhere surrounded us with 
 suitable objects for their development and innocent 
 gratification. Shall we. then, reject the proffered 
 benefactions so kindly tendered because they add 
 nothing to our pelf ] And what is there in the nat- 
 ural creation better calculated to soften down the 
 rough asperities of our nature, to awaken kind feel- 
 ings towards each other, and to excite reverence and 
 love for the Most High, than a familiar acquaintance 
 with the wonders and beauties of His vegetable 
 kingdom. Did you ever know a misanthrope or a 
 miser who was an admirer of flowers 1 1 would not 
 recommend the neglect of more important duties for 
 the culture of a flower-garden ; yet, when there is 
 ability or leisure (and these may be found to a greater 
 or less extent in almost every family), a taste for 
 floral beauties should be inculcated in the young, not 
 only as a source of rational pleasure, but as a salu- 
 tary precaution against bad companions and bad hab- 
 its. The mind must be employed and must have 
 recreation. It is better to direct it to the works of 
 the Creator than to the works of man. Lord Bacon 
 has said of the garden, " It affords the purest of hu- 
 man pleasures : the greatest refreshment to the spiri'
 
 314 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 of man : without which, buildings and palaces ire 
 but gross handiworks." 
 
 But I am forgetting myself. In my ardour to 
 commend horticulture for its useful, elevating, and 
 purifying influence upon the habits and inarm* 
 society, 1 did not recollect that 1 am addressing the 
 highly-polished inhabitants of a classic city, who 
 have long since demonstrated in practice the truth 
 of the lessons I would inculcate. I will therefore 
 dismiss this branch of my subject, and turn to the 
 less attractive, though more important topic of agri- 
 culture ; barely adding, 
 
 That in all endeavours to improve the condition 
 of society, whether religious, moral, or industrial, in- 
 dividual efforts and example can affect but little ; 
 and hence, that in every great work of reform or 
 improvement, the concentrated strength of many 
 has been resorted to and brought to a focus by 
 means of associations ; and that the great objects of 
 society are not likely to be promoted in a more em- 
 inent degree by any, than by associations formed for 
 like purposes with those which I have now the hon- 
 our to address. 
 
 Being a native of this state, and having spent my 
 early days within its borders, I can well remember 
 the farming practices that were wont to prevail. 
 The farm was, to use the commendatory language 
 of that day, " suitably divided into meadow, pasture, 
 and plough land ;" and each division was exclusively 
 devoted to its object, until most of the nutritious 
 grasses had " run out" in the meadow, and the plough- 
 land had become too much impoverished to bear a 
 remunerating crop. Many an acre was turned into 
 " old field" or commons, destitute alike of natural or 
 artificial herbage, affording scanty gleanings to half- 
 famished cattle. I beg not to be misunderstood. I 
 am describing what was a bad feature in Yankee 
 husbandry. Farming has no doubt recently under- 
 gone great improvements in Connecticut, as it kas
 
 JUDGE DUEL'S ADDRESS. 315 
 
 elsewhere. Yet, on a fair comparison with highly- 
 cultivated agricultural districts, I believe it will be 
 found that the husbandry of this state, in the main, 
 is susceptible of great improvement. The lands of 
 Connecticut were originally rich and productive. 
 The seasons are about as propitious as they were 
 wont to be ; the earthy elements remain in a great 
 measure unchanged ; and the lessons in improve- 
 ment that have been taught elsewhere, leave little 
 reason to doubt that, under proper management, 
 these elements may again be restored to their ori- 
 ginal fertility. 
 
 In a late tour which I made through parts of New- 
 York and New-Jersey, I found many evidences of re- 
 cent improvement, and I doubt not that similar ones 
 abound in my native state. In a part of Dutchess 
 county which I visited, the best farms have been 
 sold within my recollection, with improvements and 
 buildings, at from seven to seventeen dollars an acre. 
 They cannot now be bought for one hundred dollars 
 an acre ; and one was sold last year at auction, with- 
 out buildings, at one hundred and thirty dollars an 
 acre. Fifteen years ago, a farm in Western New- 
 York of 400 acres, exhausted by bad husbandry, was 
 bought by a Scotch farmer for $4000. This farm 
 has been so improved by good husbandry, that the 
 owner was last year offered for it $40,000. He re- 
 fused the offer upon the ground that it actually net- 
 ted him the interest of $60,000, or $1050 the acre. 
 A farm was pointed out to me in New-Jersey which 
 was recently sold for $7 the acre, and that was all 
 it was said to have been worth in its then condition. 
 By a liberal outlay in draining, it being level and wet 
 ground, and in liming, manuring, &c., it is now con- 
 sidered worth $125 an acre. 1 went over another 
 farm which a few years ago was bought at the same 
 price, and which now, on account of the improve- 
 ments which have been made upon it, is -considered 
 worth $100 per acre. I am informed, on the best
 
 316 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 authority, that similar cases of the rapid increase in 
 the products and value of farms, consequent upon an 
 improved system of management, are to be found in 
 Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. Although 
 these cases are isolated ones, they nevertheless 
 serve to show the practicability of vastly increasing 
 the value and products of our exhausted lands. 
 
 Among the causes which have essentially con- 
 tributed to the deterioration of our 1 r.vds and the 
 consequent depression of our agriculture, I consider 
 the following as prominent : 
 
 Ignorance of the principles of agriculture ; 
 
 The want of a sufficient outlay in the manage- 
 ment of our farms ; and 
 
 The low estimation in which the employment has 
 been held by all classes, including farmers them- 
 selves 
 
 Agriculture has too generally been considered a 
 business requiring mere physical power, with which 
 the principles of natural science had little or nothing 
 to do. To plough, sow, and gather the crop has 
 been the general routine of farming operations, re- 
 gardless of the poverty which our practice was in- 
 flicting upon the soil and upon our children. Like 
 the reckless heir of wealth, we found ourselves in 
 possession of a treasure; and without inquiring for 
 what purpose it came into our hands, or realizing 
 our obligations to husband and preserve it for oth- 
 ers, we have squandered it lavishly, through our ig- 
 norance or our folly. True, we have been occasion- 
 ally admonished of our error by the schoolmen, 
 who, wrapped in abstract science, and knowing little 
 practically of its application to husbandry, have as 
 often tended to confuse and mystify as to enlighten 
 and instruct. Hence the prejudice which has arisen 
 against book-farming. But science and art are now 
 uniting their labours, and are deriving mutual aid 
 from each other on the farm, as they have for some 
 time been doing in the manufactory and in the shop
 
 IUDOE BUEL'S ADDRESS. 317 
 
 of the artisan. A new era is dawning upon the vis- 
 ion of the farmer ; new light is illuming his path, and 
 a new interest and new pleasures are urging him on 
 to improvement. He begins to study the laws which 
 Providence has ordained for the government of im- 
 proved culture, and he finds, in their application to 
 his labours, the means of increasing profits and of 
 high intellectual enjoyment. And the more he stud- 
 ies and is guided by these laws, the more does he 
 become satisfied of former errors and his compar- 
 atively limited sphere of usefulness. Science is 
 probably capable of rendering more important ser- 
 vices to husbandry than to any other branch of la- 
 bour, and presents a wider field of useful study to 
 the cultivator of the soil than to any other class of 
 society. 
 
 The deficiency of farming capital, or, rather, the 
 stinginess with which capital is employed in im- 
 proving and maintaining the condition of our lands, 
 is another cause of declension in the profits and 
 character of our agriculture. The farmer is too 
 prone to invest his surplus means in some new bu- 
 siness, or in adding to his acres instead of applying 
 them to increase the profit of his labour and the pro- 
 ducts of his farm. He either works more land than 
 he can work well and profitably, or he diverts to 
 other objects the means which would yield a better 
 return if applied to the improvement of the soil. He 
 is apt to consider twenty or thirty dollars an enor- 
 mous and wasteful outlay upon an acre of land or 
 upon a choice animal ; and yet the interest of this 
 outlay will be ten times paid by the increase of crop 
 or the increase of the animal ; and, in most cases, the 
 principal also will be returned to him in the course 
 of two or three years. Many of the most thriving 
 farmers in Southern New- York, New-Jersey, and 
 Pennsylvania make a quadrennial expenditure of 
 twenty dollars or more to manure an acre ; and it 
 has become a maxim with them, that the more the
 
 318 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 outlay for manure, the greater the nett profit of their 
 lands. But it is not the outlay for manure alone that 
 demands a liberal expenditure of capital. Good 
 seed, good farm-stock, and good implements are all 
 essential to the economy of labour, and to neat and 
 profitable farming. And I think it will appear, from 
 the cases I have quoted, that in many locations cap- 
 ital may be very advantageously employed in re- 
 claiming wet and marshy grounds, generally rich 
 and the most productive when laid dry. 
 
 \Vhen our cattle grow lean and threaten to disap- 
 poinl our hopes of profit, we do not hesitate to im- 
 pute the evil to the want of food or to inattention in 
 the herdsman. And, if we are prudent managers, 
 we at once graduate our stock to our food, knowing 
 that one well-fed animal is of more value in the 
 market than two animals that carry but skin and 
 bones, and we take care that the food is properly 
 fed out. When our crops become lean, we need not 
 hesitate to ascribe the decrease in product to like 
 causes want of food, or want of attention in the 
 farmer; and prudence and profit, in like manner, 
 require that our crops, like our animals, should be 
 limited to the food and labour which we have to be- 
 stow upon them. In other words, an acre well ma- 
 nured and well worked will be found to be more 
 profitable than four poor acres badly worked. 
 
 I may here be asked, from whence are to be ob- 
 tained the vast supplies of manure requisite to ma- 
 nure our old lands 1 I answer, from a multiplicity 
 of sources around us, from every animal and vege- 
 table substance within our reach. Nothing that has 
 once been part of an animal or a vegetable but can 
 be converted into corn, grass, and roots. I think I 
 may assume as facts, that, upon an average, not half 
 the manure is saved upon our farms that might be, 
 and that this moiety is half lost before it is applied 
 to the soil. Every horse, ox, or cow wintered upon 
 the farm, if well fed, and littered with the straw,
 
 JUDGE DUEL'S ADDRESS. 319 
 
 stalks, &c., of the crop, should inake from six to ten 
 cords of good manure. Dr. Coventry, late professor 
 of agriculture at Edinburgh, estimated that the straw 
 of an ordinary acre of grain, computed at 21 cvvt., 
 may be converted by the urine and liquids of the 
 stables and cattle-yards into three and a half tons of 
 manure ; that meadows that cut one and a half tons 
 of hay will give four tons of^manure ; clover, the 
 first year six tons, and the second year five and a 
 half tons per acre ; and that, with the extraneous 
 substances which may, with due care, be collected 
 without expense from the roads, the ditches, the 
 ponds, and from refuse of every kind about the house 
 and premises, the acreable amount should be amply 
 sufficient for a full supply of manure once during 
 every course of the four-year system of husbandry. 
 Arthur Young, with six horses, four cows, and nine 
 hogs, which consumed 16 loads of hay and 29 loads 
 of straw, obtained 118 loads of manure, 36 bushels 
 to each ; and from 45 fatting oxen, well fed and lit- 
 tered, 600 tons of rotten manure. But an American 
 lawyer,* and an excellent practical farmer withal, 
 has gone beyond these estimates. I visited his farm 
 a few weeks ago, which lies upon the seashore. It 
 consists of about 200 acres, most of which was in a 
 course of crops. The crops of the season had all 
 received an ample supply of manure, as their ap- 
 pearance indicated ; and yet I was shown masses of 
 well-prepared compost in reserve, consisting of yard 
 manure, peat ashes, peat earth, seaweed, and fish, 
 estimated at twenty-five hundred dollars all pro- 
 duced upon his farm. 
 
 The third impediment to agricultural improvement 
 which I propose to notice is the subordinate rank 
 which has been assigned to this employment, and to 
 which the farmers themselves have contributed, by 
 a want of respect for themselves and for their voca- 
 tion. The wholesome habits of society have been 
 
 * W. A. Seelv. Esn.. of Staten Island.
 
 320 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 broken up by the civil and political convulsions of 
 the age, and the inordinate thirst for acquiring wealth 
 and fashionable consequence through mercantile and 
 other speculations, so that honest, productive labour 
 has been thrown entirely into the background, and 
 considered not only ungenteel, but menial and ser- 
 vile. Yet I venture to lay down this proposition, 
 that he who provides for the wants and comforts of 
 himself and family, aiTd renders some service to so- 
 ciety at large by his mental and physical industry, 
 performs one of the high duties of life, and will ul- 
 timately be rewarded, in the conscious rectitude of 
 his life, by a greater measure of substantial happi- 
 ness than he who makes millions by fraud and spec- 
 ulation, to be squandered in extravagance, or wasted 
 in folly by his children or grandchildren. The rev- 
 olutions that are constantly taking place in families 
 sufficiently admonish us that it is not the wealth we 
 leave to our children, but the industrious and moral 
 habits in which we educate them, that will secure to 
 them worldly prosperity and the treasure of an ap- 
 proving conscience. 
 
 Tjie farmers, I have remarked, share in the errors 
 of the day. Not content with the gains which are 
 ever the reward of prudent industry, and which might 
 be greatly increased by the culture of the mind not 
 content with one of the most independent conditions 
 in society, hundreds and thousands of them seek 
 other and new employments, and some those of a 
 truly menial character, to get rid of labour (the great- 
 est blessing to man), and to raise themselves in the 
 scale of fashionable society. And if they cannot 
 participate themselves in this imaginary greatness 
 (and it is seldom anything more than imaginary), 
 they are anxio as to reflect the evil upon their pos- 
 terity ; to rear their sons to the law the railroad to 
 office, to political power and turmoil ; to make them 
 merchants, a useful but greatly overstocked busi- 
 ness, or to place them in some other genteel em 
 ployment, which shall exempt them from the toite
 
 JUDGE BUEI/S ADDRESS. 321 
 
 of labour, the salt that best preserves from moral 
 corruption. 
 
 Mistaken men ! What class of men in society 
 have within their reach so many of the elements of 
 human happiness so many facilities for dispensing 
 benefits to others, one of the first duties and richest 
 pleasures of life as the independent tillers of the 
 soil! "The farmer," says Franklin, "has no need 
 of popular favour ; the success of his crops depends 
 only on the blessing of God on his honest industry." 
 If discreetly conducted on the improved principles 
 of husbandry, agriculture offers the certain means 
 of acquiring wealth, and as rapidly as is consistent 
 with the pure enjoyments of life, or with the good 
 order and prosperous condition of society. Agricul- 
 ture is the golden mean, secure alike from the temp- 
 tations of mushroon opulence, and the craven syco- 
 phancy and dependance of poverty. " Give me nei- 
 ther poverty nor riches" was the prayer of the wise 
 mm of Scripture; "lest," he added, "lest I be full 
 and deny thee, and say, who is the Lord ? or lest I 
 be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in 
 vain.'' 
 
 When we consider that agriculture is the great 
 business of the nation of mankind ; that its suc- 
 cessful prosecution depends upon a knowledge in 
 the cultivators of the soil of the principles of natural 
 science ; and that our agriculture stands in need of 
 this auxiliary aid, we cannot withhold our surprise 
 and regret that we have not long since established 
 professional schools, in which our youth, or such of 
 them as are designed to manage this branch of na- 
 tional labour, might be taught simultaneously the 
 principles and practice of their future business : a 
 business on which, more than on any other employ- 
 ment in society, the fortunes of our country, moral, 
 political, and national, depend. We require an ini- 
 tiatory study of years in the principles of law and 
 medicine before we permit the pupil to practice in 
 these professions. We require a like preliminary 
 
 I. BB
 
 322 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY 
 
 study in our military and naval schools, in the sci- 
 ence of war and navigation, ere the student is deem- 
 ed qualified to command. And yet, in agriculture, 
 by which, under the blessing of Providence, we vir- 
 tually " live, and move, and have our being," and 
 which truly embraces a wider range of useful sci- 
 ence than either law, medicine, war, or navigation, 
 we have no schools, we give no instruction, we be- 
 slow no government patronage. Scientific knowl- 
 edge is deemed indispensable in many minor em- 
 ployments of life ; but in this great business, in which 
 its influence would be most potent and useful, we 
 consider it, judging from our practice, of less conse- 
 quence than the fictions of the novelist. We regard 
 mind as the most efficient power in most other pur- 
 suits ; while we forget that in agriculture it is the 
 Archimedean lever which, though it does not move, 
 tends to fill a world with plenty, with moral health, 
 and human happiness. Can it excite surprise, that, 
 under these circumstances of gross neglect, agricul- 
 'ure should have become among us, in popular esti- 
 mation, a clownish and ignoble employment ? 
 
 In the absence of agricultural professional schools, 
 could we not do much to enlighten and raise the 
 character of American husbandry, by making its 
 principles a branch of study in our district schools ? 
 This knowledge would seldom come amiss, and it 
 would often prove a ready help under misfortune to 
 those who had failed in other business. What man 
 is there who may not expect, at some time of life, 
 to profit directly by a knowledge of these principles ? 
 Who does not hope to become the owner or cultiva- 
 tor of a garden or a farm 1 And what man enjoying 
 the blessing of health would be at a loss for the 
 means of an honest livelihood, whose mind had been 
 early imbued with the philosophy of rural culture, 
 and who would rather work than beg ? 
 
 An early acquaintance with natural science is cal- 
 culated to beget a taste for rural life and rural la- 
 bours, as i source of pleasure, profit, and honour.
 
 JUDGE BUEL'S ADDRESS. 323 
 
 It will stimulate to the improvement of the mind ; 
 to elevate and purify it ; it will lead to self-respect, 
 to virtuous moral deportment. And it will tend to 
 deter from the formation of bad habits, which steal 
 upon the ignorant and the idle unawares, and which 
 consign thousands of young men to poverty and dis 
 grace, if not to premature graves. A knowledge of 
 these principles, to a very useful extent, can be ac- 
 quired with as much facility in the school or upon 
 the farm as other branches of learning. Why, then, 
 shall they not be taught 1 Why shall we withhold 
 from our agricultural population that knowledge 
 which is so indispensable to their profit, to their in- 
 dependence, and to their correct bearing as free- 
 men ? Why, while we boast of our superior privi- 
 leges, keep in comparative ignorance of their busi- 
 ness that class of our citizens who are truly the 
 conservators of our freedom ? I know of but one 
 objection : the want of teachers. A few years ago, 
 civil engineers were not to be found among us. The 
 demand for them. created a supply. We have de- 
 monstrated that we have the materials for civil en- 
 gineers, and that we can work them up. We have 
 materials for teachers of agricultural science, which 
 we can also work up. Demand will always ensure 
 a supply. 
 
 The enumeration of the foregoing obstacles to 
 agricultural improvement sufficiently indicates the 
 means which will be efficient in removing them. 
 These means consist, so far as I now propose to 
 notice them, 
 
 1. In giving ^professional education to the young 
 farmer, which shall embrace the principles and prac- 
 tice of the business which he is designed to follow 
 in life ; and, 
 
 2. In diffusing more extensively among those who 
 have completed their juvenile studies, and are better 
 fitted to profit by the lessons of wisdom and experi- 
 ence, a knowledge of the same principles, and of the
 
 324 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 best modes of practice which these principles incul- 
 cate, and which experience has proved to be sound. 
 
 We have professional schools in almost every 
 business of life, except in the cultivation of the soil, 
 one of the most important and essential of them all, 
 and one embracing a larger scope of useful study in 
 natural science, and in usefulness to the temporal 
 wants of the human family, than any other. The 
 policy of monarchs and of privileged orders has 
 been to repress intelligence in the agricultural mass, 
 in order to keep them in a subordinate station. But 
 neither the policy nor the practice should be counte- 
 nanced by us. Our agriculturists are our privileged 
 class, if we have such. They are our sovereigns, 
 because, from their superior numbers, they must 
 ever control our political destinies for good or for 
 evil. And the more intelligent and independent we 
 can render them, the more safe we make our coun- 
 try from the convulsions of internal feuds and the 
 dangers of foreign war. 
 
 I put the question to fathers : Would you esteem 
 that son less, or think him less likely to fulfil the 
 great duties of life, who had been educated in a pro- 
 fessional school of agriculture, with all the high 
 qualifications which it would confer for public and 
 domestic usefulness, than him who had been educa- 
 ted for the counter, the bar, or other high profession- 
 al callings ] On which could you best rely for sup- 
 port and comfort in the decline of life ? Nay, I will 
 venture to carry the appeal farther ; to the discrim- 
 inating judgment of the unmarried lady : Would you 
 reject, as a partner for life, the student of such a 
 college, coming forth with a sound mind, deeply im- 
 bued with useful knowledge, and a hale constitution 
 invigorated by manly exercise, whose cares and af- 
 fections were likely to be concentrated upon home 
 and country, and whose precepts and examples would 
 tend to diffuse industry, prosperity, and rural happi- 
 ness around him? The father's response would, I 
 think, he ;in unhc^itiiting no to the first question;
 
 JUDGE DUEL'S ADI.UKSS. 325 
 
 and the lady's, after due deliberation, I verily sus- 
 pect, would be a half-articulate amen. I pretend 
 not to the spirit of prophecy, yet I venture to pre- 
 dict that many who now hear me will live to see 
 professional schools of agriculture established m 
 our land, to see their utility extolled, and to be in- 
 duced to consider them the best nurseries for repub- 
 lican virtues, and the surest guarantee for the per- 
 petuity of 01 r liberties. They should be establish- 
 ed ; they will be established ; and, the sooner they 
 are established, the better for our country. 
 
 To those who have passed to manhood, and who 
 have made up their minds, from necessity or from 
 choice, to till the ground, the means of improve- 
 ment, of studying the rrin:iples of their business, 
 and of becoming acquah ted with the most approved 
 modern practices in husl andry, the opportunities of 
 acquiring useful knowledge are abundant and cheap. 
 One of these means, and a valuable one, is proffered 
 him through the exhibitions and publications of these 
 societies. Another is the perusal of books upon ag- 
 riculture and rural economy, which should form a 
 part of social and rural libraries. And another fa- 
 cility of acquiring this useful knowledge is afforded 
 by the agricultural periodicals of our country, which, 
 besides containing a great deal that is instructive in 
 the philosophy of farming, are a record of the best 
 modes of practice, tind of much that is new and im- 
 portant in the various departments of rural and 
 household labour. A volume of the Cultivator, of 
 which I can speak with accuracy, contains about as 
 much matter as five or six volumes of the popular 
 novels of the day, and twice as much as four num- 
 bers of our literary quarterly journals. The price 
 of the Cultivator is one dollar per annum. I verily 
 think, that if the farmer would divide his patronage 
 between political and agricultural journals, he would 
 be a manifest gainer in his fortune and in his fami- 
 ly ; would be more happy in his business, and more
 
 326 AMERICAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 domestic in his habits ; a better manager, and a more 
 useful citizen. 
 
 Time will not permit me to go into the details of 
 modern improvements in husbandry. These im- 
 provements are great, and afford the brighest hopes 
 to the philanthropist and the patriot. No one who 
 can carry back his memory forty years can with- 
 hold his wonder at the astonishing advances which 
 have in that time been made in the manufacturing 
 and mechanic arts by reason of the aids of science ; 
 and those who can scan the future will have no less 
 reason to rejoice in the anticipated advantages which 
 are in prospect, from an improved culture of the 
 mind and the soil, consequent upon a better system 
 of education among the agricultural population, and 
 the general diffusion of useful knowledge which is 
 likely to result from it. 
 
 I will merely farther remark to the farmer, that, 
 if he would prosper in his business, he should study, 
 practice, and adopt the better system of husbandry 
 which is abroad in the land, and which has already 
 greatly profited thousands, so far as his soil and cir- 
 cumstances will permit ; that he should drain his 
 wet lands, economize his manures, and apply them 
 with judgment ; that he should cultivate well what 
 he does cultivate ; alternate his crops ; extend his 
 root-culture ; increase and improve his stock as the 
 products of his farm will permit ; and substitute fal- 
 low crops for naked fallows. 
 
 In conclusion, gentlemen, permit me to express 
 my hearty wish that success and honour may crown 
 your efforts to improve the condition of your coun- 
 try, industrial and moral associate benefits almost 
 as intimately connected as cause and effect and 
 that you may long live to enjoy the blessings which 
 are promised to him who truly loves his neighbour, 
 and reveres and worships his God. 
 
 or VOL. i.
 
 University of California Library 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
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