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VOLUME VI.
By M. MAC LEA>,
Tbrms:?Published weekly at three dollar? a
year; with an addition, when not paid within
three months, of twenty per cent per annum.
Two new subscribers may take the paper at
fire dollars in advance; and ten at twenty.
Four subscribers, not receiving their papers
in town, may pay a year's subscription with ten
dollars/*!) advance.
A year's subscription always due in advance.
Papers not discontinued to solvent subscribers
in arrears.
.Advertisements not exceeding 16 lines inserted
or one dollar the first time, and fifty cents each
ubsequont time. For insertions at intervals of
two weeks 75 cents after the first, and a dollar
if tho intervals are longer Payment due in
advance for advertisements. When the number
of insertioiifl is not rn.trkod on the copy, the
advertisement will be inserted, and charged till
ordered out.
13" The postage must b? paid on letters to the
editor oa tiie business of the office.
&&&?&&&% &&&?>*
COMPARATIVE PROFITS OF SMALL AND
LARGE FARMS.
We have received from I). W. Grant,
Esq., of Bloomfield. (Conn.) an estimate
of the comparative expense, crops and
profits of two farms, one of 20 and the
olher^of 100 acres; the most material
points of which \vii? be feund below. In
the note which .accompanied the estimate,
Mr. G. remarks.
"1 commenced farmer 12 years ago,
with 500 acres of improved land, on the
old system of farming. As I have been
unable to personally labor, I have been
under the necessity of hiring all my labor
done, and I found by cultivating middling
lands, and sending men to a considerable
distance to work, that the expenses absorbed
the income. I began to change
my mode of practice some years since,
and sold oha half of my acres, and by
improvi ,<t remaining half I have now
the p'eiisu < ?< ?g them produce more
than she .. r o^rly did ; audi have
no do.ibt but : a* i con id sell one half I
b\-t- and in liine. wit!) labor ilicli
ciouslv applied, the remaining half prod.
;ce a- much as the whole does, and with j
crrvafly increased profits. If vou wish,
M s-r.--. FMitnrs. *o ??fo- our young men
from gofrom 'h. old States to the
West, advocate thesvsfem of small farms.
On this depends on my opinion, the fu*
tore weailli of the old Slates. There is
no ncccssitv for emigration from the east j
to the west for one hundred years, and j
I have no doubt by diminishing the size J
of our farms, and giving them a more 1 '
^thorough and better cultivation, our
wealth and population can be doubled in
twenty years. Our Agricultural Society
of Hartford County, have offered a premium
for the best farm containing not
less than twenty acres. If vou will examine
the statements I send you, I think
vou will agree with me Uiev are about
"right."
Mr. Grant, in his estimate supposes the
capital invested in the two farms to he the
^ same, viz. 100 acres at S10 per acre, and
20 acres at $200 per acre, in both cases
$4 000. His estimate of crops and their
value on the 100 acres, is as follows:
Twenty acres in mowing, (1
ton to the* aero, average
produce of the land in
Bloomfield.) worth to feed
stock $7 per ton, 20 tons, $140 00
Ten acres corn, 30 bushels to
to the acre, at 50 cts. 150 00 J
Ten loads of corn stalks at
$3 per load, 30 00
Three acres potatoes, 150 bu.
per acre, 19 cts. 72 00
Seven acres of rye, 12 bu.
per acre at 75 cts., 63 00
Ten acres of oats 20 bu. to the
acre, at 33 cts., GO 00
The mowing and cultivated
crops take up 50 acres of
the farm, leaving 50 acres
for pasturing, which will
keep, and keep well. 1 yoke
4 of cattle, 7 cows and a
horse, 10 at $d each, GO 00
Produce worth ro feed stock, $575 00
Mr. Grant's estimate of the
oxpense of cultivating each
of those crops is drawn up
wiih great minuteness, and "
a careful examination has
convinced us with a close
apprximanation to to the
truth : but our limits oblige
us to omit the
items, and we only give the
aggregate of the excuses,
which, on the whole 100
acrei, amounts to 8454 80
Leaving a nett profit on the
large farm of 8120 20
Statement of the produce
and expenses of 20 acres of
rich land :
Four acres of mowing, 5 tons
to the acre, at 2 cuttings ;
20 tons of hay, worth to
feed to stock 87 per ton. 8140 00
Two acres of wheat. 00 bu.
to the .v re, 81 r?or bu. 00 00
One acre of own, 90 bushels
a7 (>0 cts. per bu. 45 00
Four loads of com stalks, $3
per load, 12 00
One acre of sugar beets, 800
bushels at 1 shilling per
(J1IE1
bushel, 184 00
One acre of potatoes, 400 bu.
at 1 shilling, per bu. 67 00 1
Half an acre of ruta bagn,
450 bushels, at 12 1-2 cents
per bushel, 56 00 j
Half an acre of carrots, 440
bushels, at 1 shilling per
bushel, 73 67
The mowing and cultivated
crops take up up 10 acres,
leaving 10 acres for pasturage,
which will keep, and ;
keep well, 7 cows, a yoke
of cattle, and a horse, 10
head, at $6 each, 60 00
Produce, worth to feed he
stock, $647 67
As before, Mr. Grant's estimate
of the expenses is made
for each crop, but we omit
them, with the exception of
the corn, which we give as a
specimen, and to show that
he has not omitted or underrated
any important point.
Cost of cultivating an acre
of corn: (
Carting and spreading 30 buck
loads of manure, $6 00 i
Plowing turf once, 2 00 ,
Harrow.ug thoroughly, 1 00 i
Planting, 2 50
Hoeing throe times, 10 00 <
Gathering, husking andshel- 1
ling, 8 00 1
i
Labor in cultivating one acre
- ' 1
of corn, 829 59
The aggregate of (he e\,wn.
CD O I 0
scs on the 29 acre farm, '
including labor, seed, repair
of fences, & ., is 8*200 14 j
1
Nctt profit on small lunn, 8441 53 (
To our western friends it may seem -s
somewhat strange to see the product of 29 ?
acres of grass put at 29 tons of hay, and r
that as well as the other cropson the 100 *
acres may appear to them underrated.? j
To us, however, who remember the average
crops of common farms in the New. '?
England States, Mr Grant will seem
very near the mark, and his estimate of {
crop.': under ?he old system, a liberal one; c
and we have seen no estimate which pla- s
cos the results of good and had farming, ^
of applying capital to land, instead of c
drawing it away from it, in a more for- i
cible, and as a whole, indisputable man- '
ncr than Mr. Grant's. Those of our c
readers who have the Genesee Farmer, or 1
the lust volume of the Cultivator, will see v
that we have always been the strenuous 11
advocates of small farms, not so much (
for the reason that it would keep our .
C A 1.1 1 ,A '
young men ironi going wesi, uui utxauv:
we l>c!icve it would add most essentially
to the profits of agriculture. The most a
profitable part of every man's farm is his j
garden, and Mr. Grant's 20 acres is hut j
a garde.i on a large scale. t
Albany Cultivator.
From the Cultivator.
CHOI* MLLAllDEAU?BILLARDEAV CAB- i
BARE. r
To the Editors of the Cultivator. j
Gentlemen.?I have recently received 1
from the hands of a kind relative in Paris, ?
a small parcel of the seed of a cabbage, *
which if it answers the description given m
ofitbythe individual who introduced its s
culture in France, is destined to hold a 1
high rank not only in the horticultural but f
the agricultural department, and should a
it be adapted to our climate, will no doubt r
iu time, become most axtensively cultivated,
more especially for slock, sheep, &c.; f
it is called the Ckou Biflardcau, and took '
its name from the individual to whom wc I
are indebted for its origin. Accompany- r
ing the package forwarded, was a letter r
from Moiuieur d. flillardoau, which I ?
have now before mo, who states that lie t
sowed the seed in October, 1837, but c
gives no account, of its origin. He thinks (
r O
the spring, say the months of April and *
Mny in this country, a preferable time *
for sowing, describes the mode of culture, *
&c. similar to that of other cabbages, 3
states the leaves to be five or six French f
feet long, and the product in leaves in the f
two years of its vegetation (it being bien- r
nial,) to bo from 1,000 to 1,200 pounds to j(
each plant. Thcv are represented by r
him. to stand the winters of ibat climate, 1
and to furnish leaves in the coldest and
most rigorous seasons. He draws a com- (
parison between thcin and the Chou Cava- 1
? /"'I..... I*,,*//, nr/icnmprl In hp I hp I
licit, til i. i?/i; i i.i it, |iivow...v- ?? ~- ...cow
cabbage, a species of cabhage which <
he says, is so extensively cultivated in y
Britanny and Normandy, (famed for the '
superior quality of its milk and but fir,) 1
and concludes by affirming, that this new (
species possesses all the qualities appcr- 1
taining to the former, and its product to 1
be a hundred fold. Under the influence 1
of feelings arising from the impositions y
so frequently attempted to be palmed on *
the deserving but too credulous class of *
agriculturists, I could not at first but look (
upon it as a humbug, and felt tempted to '<
to exclaim with the Roman hard, uCredal
Judeas apclla&c.; but from the respect- 1
ability of the source whence the package I
-mm
RAW. SOUTH-CAKOLIN
was received, I shall for the present suspend
my opinion, and having now about
one hundred thriving plants up, look forward
with intense interest to the result,
which may tend to remove or confirm my
previous incredulity. By a hasty calculation
made by me, supposing the plants
to be put out at the distance of fourteen I
feet each way, if correct in his statement, i
(taking .Monsieur Billardeau's lowest estimate
of the weight of the leaves of a
single plant,) an acre will yield about one
hundred tons in weight in two years, or
fifty tons per year.
From the Farmers' Register.
LIMING 0?f THE PENNSYLVANIA "BARRENS.M
To the Editor of the Farmers' Register.
U. S. Ship Levant, Jan. 9, 1841.
I have been ordered to sea, and have
broken up my farming establishment, and
my object in writing this is to discontinue
my subscription for the 4 Farmers' Register."
I wish you full success in your publicspirited
publication, and consider it honorable
to Virginia that an agricultural paper,
of so high a scientific cast, is supported
as well as yours is. Your efforts to
extend the use of marl and lime are beginning
to be appreciated, and are operating
upon the community to an extent
of which you probably have no conception.
While on this subject, I will mention a
circumstance in another State, which has
recently come to my knowledge. I am
* native of York, in Pennsylvania, and
ccollect, in my boyhood, hearing the
4 barrens" frequently spoken of. This
was a large extent of sandy country,
commencing about five miles from York,
ind proverbial for poverty. The land
was considered scarcely worth accepting j
is a gift. A townsman, whom I met ai
ew days ago, lolls me that they havo
atcly taken to liming this section, and
hat the value of it has in consequence
suddenly started up to 8">0 per acre.?
Vlanv of the farmers now prefer it to the
ich hut heavy soils which it is surround}J,
as they consider it less liable to suffer
roni the summer droughts. York and
Lancaster counties, you know, are contidercd
the garden of Pennsylvania: and
t is a circumstance worthy of note, that
i sandy region in their midst is beginning
o have such a value merely from the use
if lime. In my last visit to York, I was
surprised to find how much the limestone
|uarrie.s in that neighborhood had incrcasid
in value, and how rapidly the lime kilns
n the neighborhood of the town have
nultiplied, in consequence of the demand
>f this article for agricultural use. .And
his, it must he remembered, is in a region
vhere farmers arc proverbially skilful,
ind where they never throw away a cent
in wild or useless schemes.
If you think the above useful you arc at i
iberty to publish it. Geo Joxes
P. S. If any of your subscribers take
deasure in a fine-looking poultry yard, i
illow me to recommend the Pucks coun
y (Pa.) fowls. They can bo purchased
n Philadelphia?cost high; but are of cxraordinary
size.
saving manures lime.
We have ma 1c as yet, small advances
n the art of saving and compounding j
nanures. There is little doubt that as i
nuch valuable manure is now lost or j
hrown away, through ignorance or ne- |
jlect, as is used. The practice of renovating
and enriching land by ploughing
n green csops, or by inverting the old !
iward, is seldom practiced among us, alhough
where this has been done, the efeels
have surpassed the nrost sanguine
nticipations. The introduction of bone
nanurc and poudrette, is likewise recent;
mt from their proved efficacy and the
acility of their transportation, they are
ikely to prove extraordinarily beneficial,
n New Jersey, I have witnessed the most
emrakable effects of a newly discovered
narl, of an alkaline character, and of
jreat efficacy. It has more than doubled
he value of lands in the neighborhood
>f the pits where it is found. The applination
of one hundred bushels of this
narl to land which under common cultivation
would produce not more than 20
nishels of corn to the acre, causes it to
i'ield 60 bushels, and wheat and clover in
)ropor(ional abundance. Nor are its cfects
transient, but it produces a premaient
improvement of the soil, the duration
>f which is not yet ascertained. In this
espoct it differs most favorably from
* i
ishes and many otner manures, wnose
ifficacy is continued seldom more than
>ne or two years. At present this marl
s delivered at the pits at seven cents per
nishel, and might he delivered at many
)f the ports of New Jersey at a small advance
upon that price. The farmers of
Long Island have for 3*00 rs been in the
labil of purchasing for their wheat fields
)ur leeched ashes at a cost of ten and
welve cents per bushel. If these shrewd
armors have then found an advantoge in
mining to our ports after our drawn ashes,
vhv may not we import marl from New
Fersey,?a substance far more efficacious
md more enduring in its effects than ashis.
at even a less price than is paid for our
ishes?
In regard then to manures and the
neans of enriching our lands in New Engand,
there is no deficiency; but we are
* (SSwtSIf
A, WEDNESDAY, MA it
greatly wanting throughout the State, ir
frugality to save the vast amounts whicl
are now wasted; in industry to collect the
means around us; and in skill and labor ir
preparing them for use. In soil climate
and manures there is no impediment ir
New England to a successful agriculture,
Colman'
Signs of a poor Farmer.
He grazes his mowing land late in the
Spring. Some of his cows are much past
their prime. He neglects to keep the
dung and ground from the sills of hu
IttiiMinflrM- Hd on#l I 1
?"U piauii* His ia.HU
till it is exhausted before he thinks of m*.
nuring. He keeps too much stock, and
many of them are unruly. He has a place
for nothing, and nothing in its place. Il
he wants a gimblet, a chisel or a hammer,
he cannot find it. He seldom does an\
thing in stormy weather, or in an even,
ing. You will often perhaps hear of his
being in the bar-room, talking of hard
times. Although he has been on a piece
of land twenty years, ask him for grafted
apples, and he will tell you that he coulc
not raise them, for he never had any luck
His indolence and carelessness subject bin
to many accidents. He loses cider foi
want of a hoop; his plough breaks in hi:
hurry to get in his seed in season, because
it was not housed, and in harvest time
when he is at work, on a distant part o
his farm, the hogs break into his garden
for want of a email repair in his fence
He always feels in a hurry, yet in his bu
sicst day he will stop and talk till he ha:
wearied your patience. He is seldon
neat in his person, and generally late a
public worship. His children are late a
school, and their books are torn and dirty
He has no enterprise, and is sure to havi
no money, or if he must have it, makes
a great sacrifice to get it; and as he is slacl
in his payments, and buys altogether 01
credit, he purchases every thing at a dea
rate. You will see the smoke come on
of his chimney long after daylight in win
ter. His horse stable is not daily cleansed
nor his horse curried. Boards, s!)ingles
and clapboards aro to be seen off hi:
buildings, month alter month, without be
ing replaced, and his windows are full o
rags, lie feeds his hogs and horsc9 witl
whole grain. If the lambs die, or the woo
comes off his sheap, he does not think i
is for want of care or food. lie is gener
ally a great borrower, and seldom return:
the thing borrowed. He is a poor hus
band, a poor father, a poor neighbor, i
poor citizen, and a poor Christain.
Exchange paper.
Prkmiums on Farms.
The Committee of the Massachusett!
Society for promoting Agriculture hav<
made the following award as publisher
in the N. E. Farmer.
First premium ot 8200 to Abel Moon
of Concord.'
Second premium of 8175 to Paoli Lo
throp of South Hadley.
The third premium of 8150 was dividei
between Fitch Winchester of Southboro'
and Win. Salisbury of Groton.
The fourth premium of 8100 was di
vidod between Zauheus Reed of West
ford, and Roswcll Converse of New
Braintree, iV. E. Far.
infallible cure for kidney worm.
To the Editors of the Western Farmei
and Gardener.
Cincinnati Dec. 18th 1840.
The editor of the Southern Cultivator,
in his paper of Nov. 33J ult. has furnished
his readers with the following article.
" KIDNEY WORM.
" We have mentioned that on examining
a hog affected with this disease) sc
called) we found the spine injured, and
the kidneys sound and free from worms.
There appeared a round orifice through
the spine?and finding no worms, we or
first reflection, concluded that the minytenessof
the insect and the hastiness
of the examination had prevented oui
finding it, though present. Subsequenl
reflection, however, and the opinions oi
professional gentlemen skilled in the
knowledge of anatomical structure and
defection, determine us to believe thai
the injury to the spine was not occasioned
by a worm, but was the result of disease
or injury, accidental or constitutional,
the cause of which is unexplained. Al
all events, it is clear that when the diseesc
has progressed thus far, there is no cure
for it."
Having dv voted considerable attention
to the subject, the result both of my
experience and reflection leads mc to a
conclusion the reverse of the above men
tioned editor's.
So long as the swine in the northerr
parts of Ohio, to which my experience
was confined, had the range of extensive
woodst and derived their sustenance in s
great measure from acorns, hickory-nuu
[ and beechnuts, they were frequently at
j tacked with a paralysis of the posterioi
extremities, which was usually attrihutec
to (he effect of Kidney Worms, as the)
were formed. This morhid conditior
I made its approach by an unstableness o
motion, and a rough and illconditionec
appearance of the animal. If permittee
to take its course, it ultimately producer
extreme emaciation, and finally death.
rttr>
2B?
CH 1J, 1341.
. i.? ! in mm
i 1
i On making examinations in many b
i such eases, I invariably found a oonside-! j]
} rable number of worms, not as that editor : t*
1 would seem to suppose, in the orifice or a
? the spinal nerves, out contiguous tojthe u
1 Psoas torn uscle,and external to the periodi- <(
' cal membrane (the lining of the cavity ?
of the abdomen.) Tncy were usually r)
lodged in the cellular substance and fat, ti
i and in some cases were so numerous as li
t to occupy considerable portions of what l!
; is called the kiduey fat. Nor wcro they t|
i minute, as we should infer from that auth- a
I or, but were from one to two inches in tl
length, and about the size of a common u
' darning needle. They appeared to be J
extremely delicate and semi-trans-parcnt, n
L a. iL - 1 J aL I
exniuiung 10 me naKea eye, me convo:u- p
| tions of their intestinal structure.
I formerly tried various remedies to dc- 11
j stroy them, hut without success, till I was t|
I at length informed, that a persevering
5 use of corn soaked in an alkaline solution, w
1 a weakly for instance, as a food for the li
I swine, would correct the evjl. Anexten- %
. c
. tensive use of this remedy for many years, t|
i enables me to say that it is infallible, if it ii
r be exhibited before the animal has lost its o
* appetite. a
' My neighbors as veil as myself, were
* in the habit for many years, of feeding '
I our fattening hogs with this article, for a
' week or two before the time for butchering,
in order to exterminate this trouble3
some intruder from the kidney fat.
j In later years they have in a great me- v
t asure disappeared; how these parasitic l
t worms find their way into the animal sys- p
. tern, or how in this instance, a solution of "
5 alkali can act so as to exterminate them, '
s we are wanting a hypothesis to explain. ^
< The fact that they do frequently exist i
i and irritate the lumbar nerves of swine to
r such an extent, as often to induce perfect J
1 paralysis, does not admit of a doubt. t
* That paralysis is occasionally produced f
' by other cause*, as it probably was in the t
'* instance alluded to by the editor of the
Southern Cultivator, we are prepared [(
p to believe.
1 Yours, j. r. kirti.and.
j It affords us much pleasure, to lay Iks
t fore our readers such a communication as
. the above. Many good hogs are lost evs
ery year from this disease, and lost too
after they have reached such an age and
i size, as to be tit inmates of the fa'teni.ig
pen ; and the opinions a3 to the cause
and cure, were various enough. Such a
simple cure as this, pronounced infallible
by our esteemed correspondent, leaves
those, whoserswine seem to be affected
j with kidney worm, no excuse for permitting
them to be lost by it.
We have heard it remarked by another
medical gentleman of this vicinity,?
who does also a little in the way of farming
and who allows nothing of the kind
1 to escape hint?that it is rare to find dis,
eased livers or lungs, in hogs of any of the
improved breeds, and crosses from them i
on our common swine?or to see one of
- them suffering from kidney worm. This
he ascribes in part to the better care taken
of them, but more to their constitutions
heing generally better, than those of the
half starved-fur.generations, long-nosed
r varmints, so uufortunalely common
through the west.
Since writing the above, we have seen
> another article from the Southern CultiI
vator, in the Kentucky Farmer?our Dec.
number of the Cultivator not having yet
reached us?wherein the editor of that
paper advises his readers to terminate, at
) once, the existence of those hogs affected
I as in kidney worm, as the only sensible
- course to be taken as it will save farther s
1 trouble and expense ! 1
1 This we must say, is very inconsider
ate advice?let our readors do no such ?
1 thing, but let them try the remedy given a
above, and our word for it, their hogs will '
t get well. t. a. p
r b
From the Cultivator for June 1831. ||
i "the use of lime in agbicultuke." a
| Bennington Vt. April 7 th, 1834. ^
; "Sir?I saw it stated in your report to ^
the New-York State Agricultural Society. ^
' that Dr. Win Darlington, of Penn. had n
made a communication to the society on y
! the 'use of lime in agriculture.' b
' "lfit Iia9 been published, I would thank e
you tosend it tome, if you can do it without s
too great inconvenience. 1 find it h
exceedingly difficult to obtain the necessary d
informal ion upon this point; indeed all that I v
1 have, has been obtained from English pul l ca- s
tions, not entirely suited to this country I am t!
fully convinced that lime is as necessary upon i<
f our lands, especially those which have been
highly manured, as the manure itself, and if u
5 I Droparlv manufactured, will cost much I ss and ^
' he more durable. I began with one or two
l | loads per year, but increased the quantity each v
5 | year, and shall probably apply twenty loads the y
j present season.
"Excuse me if you please, for troubling you.
r | I know of no other way to obtain the commuI
location. M
. Yours, &c. 1
"HAMILTON GAY. d
"J P. Berkman. Cor. Scc'y. N. Y. S. A. *
' j Society. 8
I j The communication to which our corrcs. tl
I 1 pondont refers in the foregoing letter, was a
I published in the proceedings of the New-York 11
Stale Agricultural Society for 1833, and a? I
it was printed at the expense of the society,! b
.*
I - . '
4
NUMBER 18.
-- ?
ut a few hundred copiea were stricken oT|f ?r
be use of its members. As extensive a circuition
has not been given to the cornm imraion
of Dr. Darlington, on the use of lune in
griculture, as its intrinsic merits and the
rants of the public require it being now caHed
>r, we are happy in having an excuse for its
B-pubhcation in the column? of the Cultivator,
3 diffuse it more, extensive'y, in hopes our ,
faders will avail themselves of the itifonnaion
contained in it, to make a general use hf
me as a manure. Lime, as an agent in fer?
lization, has been, in this coun ry, comparavely
but little used; all. however who have
ried its p iwera, unite in ascribing to it a strong
nd quickening influence on vegetation, and
lie letter of Dr. Darlington will be the more 4
seful to the public, bccaue * he avails hnnse f
s well of the experience of his prac'ical neighors,
as his own, to treat of this su ject in a
lost clear and satisfactory in inner. The
ubhshers of the Cultivator would be pleaded
a receive : jeir Vermont co respondent's fume
observation, on tiie use of lime as a maure,
should he be induced to give it a thorough
rial; and thev will now add this general oh.
ervation, that in those districts of country
there it has been extensively, and for some
me used, the per acre price of laud has been
reatly, and we presume proportionately increased.
Hereafter, we must again take up
Ins suhjcct,j|be<-ausc it'is an extensive field for
ivestigation, i>< which fanners, as weli as men
f science are interes'ed, ai.d both will be most
mply rewarded, rdiould any farther ligh's be
licited on so important and useful a topic.
jetterfrcm Dr. William Darlington, of Pennsylvania.
on the use of Lime in Agriculture.
Wcschester. (Penn.) Dec. 17,1$32.
Dear Sir,?Your letter, containing a numier
of queries rehrive to tlie operation and
itiiity oflirne, in the pro. ess of agriculture,
vas received in the early part of June last:
Jut as I have boon mU' h < ngjged, during the
last summer, will- duties winch required all
nv attention,?and, as v<>ur letter intimated
r * ,
hat answers furnished "any time during the x
irescnt year" would bo in season for >o':r purK>
es,?I have taken the liberty to postpone
ny rep'y until now.
1 proceed then, wi'h great pleasure, to furlish
you with such facts and remarks as my
ipportunities for observation have enabled me
,o offer. W ith a view to render the answers
noreexplicit and satisfactory. I will annex
hem seratm, to your several inquiries.
Query 1. 44U[nm u hu' lands docs lime
ypcrate most beneficially,? I. In regard
0 geologicalformation ?as jirimtiive Irantilion,
secondary and alluvial!
2, In reference to the soil,?as sand,
day, lime, and vegetable nntterl
3. As indicated by nalura! growth of
imberand plantsV'
Answer. My residence has always been in
1 primitive region, and my o?ser annus very
nuch limited to agricultural processes in soils
jpon that formation. The prevailing rock
lore is gneiss,?w ith occasio al beds, or1 pins
>f hornblende, greenstone and seeinite. About
ive mil"S to the north of us, is the grrai valley
>f transi on I.m -tone, stretching fminnorth.
;a*t to southw si; and immediately on tlie
tort hern side of tins vail-y. running parallel
vith it is a brok<'U ridge of h lis. formed of mi.
:a slate,?with beds of serpentine rock and
lornbtende, on the side ne\t to the gneiss
ock, on the southeast. (. t r the genius
ock, and among the hornblende, the so;! is
[Cneraily a stiff loam ; anl t i?re, I thin . t'm
k'fi eticcts are percop i 1 rr<?:n * g o nq tanuyollime.
(>ti the sod < v-Tlayiug th schtluiie
rock, the good erf'e L of lone are suffiuently
oblivious under the n>a ug. in ml **t
kililul farmers; but the benefit b-ojh to be
ess permanent. On the a.>ip>>rrine ro k the
oil ib extremely sterile.? and neither lone nor
larnyard manure can be used with much advantage.
In the limestone so.I of the great
alley, where one wool-! suppose it was a! ivfdy
edundant lime is used with advantage; and
nuch heavier dres.-mgs are put on, than ju
he adjacent districts. I cannot furnish the
at ion.tie nt this practice; tint I believe the fact
3 established, that more lime >s required to
roduce the same leiieficial ffect nn soils r st.
ag on limestone rock, than upon those over,
tying gneis-,?and - eouio other primitive
ocks.
I have had no opportunity to witness the
tfect of li ne upon secondary, and strictly al.
jvial. formal ions; but the above < ircumstances
as led me to suspect, that the same quantity
f lime would not be -o signiatly beneficial in
econdary, as it is certain pruni-time forma,
ions.
Lime, undoubtedly, has a good eflect in sods
/Inch are sandy,?even where sand predomi.
ales; but I behove its meliorating properties
re most conspicuous in a clay soil,?or lather
i a stiff Soain? A good proportion of decomposed
v gotable matter adds greatly to tho
eneficial efL-cts of lime; and hence our faivrs
are desirous to mingle as much barnyard
lancre as po>s ble with their hm ? dreeing*,
nd to get the r fields into what is called a
w?d sud, or t urf?full ot grass roo's. Then
dressing of lime has an aihniiabie etfect.*?
" he soils indicated by a natural growth ol
i^ .- (miprrus tinctorial walnut, fiutdans
>??,.. ....... ? _.f . . ?
i^ra) and poplar, (linodendrou) ?and these in
I'hit h such grass a as the pons and festucus
est flourish, are generally most signally benfited
by the us* otlirnj. In fhort, I may oberve,
thar lime has been found more or lea*
cnericial in every descripiion of soil in th a
istrict. 11 is most aoon hiiy, or rolling land?
t here ciay predominates,?less pe rmanently,
o among the mi :a slate;?and least of all, on
be magncsiun rocks. T;ie aoil on these last
j rarely worth cultivating.
Query II. " What quantity lime applied
j the acre, upon (liferent soils, at a single
Iressing, and during a period of years'!"
Answer. The quaulity of lime, per acre,
fhich can be used advantageously, varies
t'ith the condition and original character of
The yard manure it not usually mingled
.:*u ti,*? i;.?? tnhonihA larter is first aDDhed.
riVII illO iliur y fir UVII Maw -WW ?- , r __
^he practice is; to lime the Idian corn ground
rior to planting that grain on the inverted
od,?and, the ensuing spring, to* manure the
aioc field for a barley crop,?or, to reserve
he manure until the succeeding autumn, and
pply it to the wheat crop. It is not well setled
which of these is th?* better practice.?
Jach jias its advupates; hut it is most usual
i) reserve manure for the wheat.