■■'S.

r.

THE

FARRIER'S MANUAL;

BEING

A PLAIN PRACTICAL TREATISE

ON THE ART OF

HUSBANDRY,

DESIGNED

ro mOMOTE AN ACQUAINTANCE

WITH THE

MODERN IMPR0\:EMFNTS

. ■ , IN

AGRIGUiTU-RE,' '- -

TOGETHER WITH REMARKS ON

GARDENING,

AND A TREAJlSJ^iXm.-^''^----^ ^ ^^

BY FREDERICK BUTLER, A.M. ^

AVlrtOR OF THE " CATECHETICAL CO^IPEND OF HISTORY,'*
" HISTORICAL SKETCHES," &C.

HARTFORD : .

PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL G. GOODRICH*
Clart & Lyman, Prijit..,.Middletoivn.

1819;

^.S

O-A

ji^mspW

Be it REMEMBUtiED, That on the twcnWhili
day of October, in the forty-fourth year of tlinde-
pendence of the United States of America, SaMl G.
Goodrich, of the said District, hath deposited this
mm^ t;i?e/itle_of a Book, the right whereof he claims as prcj^tor,

" The Farmer'' s Manual; being a plain Practical ^^caa'4 ^
art of Husbandry, designed to promote an acquaintance 4 //^g
modern improvements in Agriculture, together with reml on
Gardening^ and a Treatise on the management of m fy,.
Frederick Butler, A . M. author of the ' Catechetical C\nd
€f History,'* * Historical Sketches,'* kc.'*'*

In conformity to tlie Act of the Congress of the United StatL-
titled, " An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securhe
copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and propt
of such copies, during the time therein mentioned."
CHAS. A. INGERSOLL,

Clerk of the District of Con7ie\,
A true copy of Record, examined and sealed by me,
CHAS, A. INGERSOLL,

Chrk of the District of Connei

PREFACE.

The great object of this work is to collect all the most
I valuable improvements in husbandry, both in Europe and
^America, as they stand recorded by the most learned and
approved authors, and reduce the whole to one plain prac-
tical system of American farming, adapted to our cli-
mate, the state of our markets, and more particularly, to
the high price of labour in our country.

Having been engaged in farming upon a large scale for
about thirty years, and in the course of that time, tested
by my own experience most of the European systems ; I
enter with some confidence upon the labours before me j
but with what success, the public alone can decide.

By abridging the learned work of Mr. Huish on the
Culture of the Bee, as an addition to the work, together
with a few practical remarks on Gardening ; I have en-
deavoured to compress into one cheap volume, all that is
both valuable a»d useful in the science of husbandry, and
for the special use of the plain practical American farmer.
The whole is interspersed with occasional remarks of
the Author.

Farming has generally been considered, in our country,
as a rustic, old fashioned business, that any man of com-
mon sense could do, if he chose; and what was really be-
low the attention of a gentleman ; but happy is it for our
country, such sentiments are daily passing under the lash
of public opinion, and the true worth of the farmer, and
the art of farming, are rising to their true scale of pubhc
estimation.

The Agricultural Societies of our country, will in a few
.years excite an emulation, that will make our farms, in
some measure, resemble the Salem Alms-Hoiise farm, and
our farmers become the Paul Uptons of their country.

The numerous benefits resulting to every family from

iV PREFACE.

the productions of a well cultivated Garden, are too evi-
dent to need any remarks by way of illustration. The
health they afford to the family, not only in the luxuries
which they furnish for the table ; but in the exercise,
amusement, and enjoyment they impart in their cultiva-
tion, exceed all description : in fact, the fruits and vege-
tables of a garden are the life of a family, upon every
principle of enjoyment and economy. I have wholly omit-
ted all remarks upon the flower-garden, and confined my-
<?elf to the plain and useful remarks of the sauce, or kitch-
en-^av(}(^rt. with a few hints upon garden-fruits generally.

I

INTRODUCTION.

:■>^:^^«|ir■'■

Venemie^ th€^ I^lmiffh, ;

'&'

HcsBANd&Y was the first employment of man, therefore,
the most ancient, the most honourable, and, above all, of
Divine appointment.

The earth is not only the Parent of man, under God,
but the Parent of all his support. Husbandry is, therefore,
not only the basis on which the existence of the communi-
ty depends, but the source from whence the wealth of
the community is derived.

The prince and the peasant are both fed, clothed and
warmed from the field. The arts and sciences are alike
supported by the labours of the Husbandman ; and the
merchant derives all his wealth from the exchange of the
productions of different countries : all are the productive
labours of the cultivator, and the common bounties of our
parent Earth. Husbandry is, therefore, not only the most
ancient, and most honourable employment, but the most in-
dependent ; and yields the greatest quantum of enjoyment
to the industrious sons of labour.

These facts being settled, let us examine the science of
husbandry, and draw from thence such a system of prac-
tice, as shall enable us to cultivate and manage all the
variety of soils to the best advantage, and draw from them
the greatest amount in a given time, with the least possible
expense, and yet preserve the strength and fertility of the
soil. This is not only the true art, but the whole mystery
of fiirming.

We are all sensible that two great evils have uniformly
obstructed the attainment of this great object ; the one is,
when the farmer runs too hastily into new and visionary
schemes ; and the other, when he adheres too obstinately
to such old practices as are obviously bad. The design
of {hb work is, to correct, as far as possible, both of these

INTRODUCTION.

errors, by exhibiting a plain practical system of farming,
derived from the best, and most approved practical Mrriters,
and cultivators ; together with my own practical expe-
rience for more than thirty years.

I have arranged this treatise in monthly order, em-
bracing j^he^gevepal<fe5C!'iptions of husbandry that belong
to eachfhipqrth, tpvjwable Jshe^practical farmer, at one view,
to derive tfie^reat<^^t^dv^ntage' from stich truths as may
be fbuhi^ ;isse»f|ii!. / ^6 m\;piye'^9 this the more forcibly, I
have' introduced 'eacK month with a general recapitulation
of such improvements as should have been made, or such
labours as should h»ve beeo performed the preceding
m^ntb

THE

FARMER'S l\|A?JyA/L, kc

»&::^;f::^<

MARCH.

You have now collected your wood and fencing stuft
for the next season; your hemp and fla^ are in great
forwardness, and your threshing w^as all closed early
in February. You have cut your scions for grafting.
Cut up your wood, and house it, or pile it up for the
summer, and next winter ; the difference in the sav-
ing, between green and dry, or seasoned wood, will
nearly pay the expense of sleding, besides the extra
trouble of kindling fires ; both which are objects
w^orthy attention.

If you have neglected to sow clover, at seed-time,
upon your winter grains, you may now sow to advan-
tage, as soon as the ground is bare, (the sooner the
better,) or upon a light snow — both will answer well.
You may harrow down your corn-hills, or light po-
tatoe grounds, as soon as the surface is free from frost,
and sow your spring rye, it will generally do better,
than after a ploughing as late as the first of May.

Dress with stable, compost, hog-pen, or such other
well rotted manure as you have, such grass grounds as
you have neglected in autumn ; three loads now may
be equal to two then ; but it is best to secure a good
crop even now. Your winter-grain should now be
dressed with plaster, if it was neglected at seed-time ;
your mowing grounds, which are unon a dry soil,
1^

6 THE PARMER^S MANUAt*

will pay you well for a bushel or two of plaster, or
a few bushels of lime, or leached ashes, to the acre.

Your orchards continue to claim your attention,
finish tfimin^ ^is.fast a3^po|sible, and cart or sled off
the brdsi^.' before Ihe- ground becomes soft and
poachy-7-giy.e to, .each ctr^e'Gl^ top-dressing of your
best/,ciip; Vfebte,';Qr,,c6n^post manure; your fruit
wilt richly repay, besides the extra profits upon
your grass under your trees, whether mowing or pas-
ture, together with the growth of your trees. No far-
mer ever paid too much attention to his orchards, nor
probably ever will.

Look to your fences, and see that they secure your
orchards, grass and grain lands against your horses,
cattle, and sheep. If your fences are bad, you have
toiled in vaiii^; all is at hazard ; all is bad.

Commence setting your fruit and shade trees ;
these, if omitted in December, generally succeed
best (when set in the spring) as soon as the frost
is out of the ground. Whenever the frost will per-
mit, plough your hemp and flax ground, together
with such land as you design for peas. Freqaent
ploughings gready benefit these crops, and your peas
cannot be sown too early to prevent the effects of
the bug, and insure you a good crop.

Look to your water-courses, and change their direc-
tion, to receive the benefit of the spring rains ; the
frequent changing of your water-courses will render
your mowing even, and prevent one part from becom-
ing too rank, and lodging, before the other part is
grown fit to cut, and thiis turn to your best profit, that
which if neglected, would become waste and damage.

Now is the time to nurse your stock with pota-
toes and carrots ; and even your cattle and cows will
pay you as well for the use of the curry-comb as
your horses, and if you nurse them well in the spring,
they will repay you with interest through the summer.
Let your sheep range upon your old stubble fields,
where you have not sown clover for mowing — gveeu

herbage is the most natural feed for this animal at this
season ; but if you have no such range, potatoes and
carrots, (not turnips,) may be used as a substitute.
Secure them carefully against your grain, mowing, or
young clover grounds, which you design for mewing,
the damage they will do you by feeding on these,
would be greater than they could repay.

Some farmers complain that red clover, when sown
for mowing upon their orchard grounds, causes the
trees to wither and decay. This may be remedied by
sowing plaster of Paris upon your clover ; your or-
chards will flourish as well as upon English mowing ;
one bushel to the acre in the spring, or fall, annually,
will answer. It is of no consequence to inquire, why
a crop so fertilizing as clover, should injure the or-
chard, nor why the plaster should prevent it, facts
are stubborn things, and are generally, all that are of
importance in good farming. Others have found
from experience that red clover may grow to ad-
vantage upon orchard grounds, without injuring the
trees, provided the clover is fed off before it blos-
soms ; and thus fertilize their orchard grounds by feed-
ing their clover. From this it appears, that the in-
jury arises from the heads, or blossonft of the clover ;
but the manner in which the blossom produces this
effect, is again inexplicable, and so in fact are all the
operations of nature. One useful fact that shall ena-
ble the farmer to produce two spires of grass where
only one had grown before, is of more real value,
than a whole volume of nice philosophical disquisi-
tions upon the operations of nature, in producing
this grass ; the first may be done ; but the latter no
man ever discovered, and probably never will.

Ploughing.

The season is now opening to commence your

ploughing; every farmer, and even farmer's boy,

feels as if he knew how to hold and drive plough, bet-

;4er than the man who writes books ; all this may be

8 THE farmer's manual.

true ; he knows that he should never turn his furrow
wider than the plough-share will cut clean; but al-
ways as much narrower, as the stiffness of the soil
shall render necessary, to lay his furrows smooth
and light, and free from clods ; in all such cases of
narrow furrows, the extra expense of ploughing, will
be saved in the expense of harrowing, with this ad-
vantage to the crop, that the harrow pulverizes only
the surface ; but the plough, when properly directed,
renders the earth mellow, to the whole depth of the
furrow. This again involves the question. How deep
is best ? To this I shall reply particularly, as it has
become one of the most important questions in field
husbandry. When you turn in a stifT, or clover sward,
for corn, or potatoes, let your plough cut to the depth
of 8 or 10 inches, if the substratum is not an im-
penetrable substance; you will thus lay the founda-
tion for a deep soil for ever, in your after tillage.
Your corn, or potatoes, wdien planted, will lie below
the dead earth raised from the bottoms of your fur-
rows, and will strike their roots into the rich mould
which you turned down from the surface. The sun,
air, and rains, together with such manure as you may
apply, either iff the hill, or by way of top-dressings,
about the hills, will all fertilize the dead earth so
turned up, and render it food for plants. The frosts
of the next winter will further improve this dead sur-
face, and thus, by the next season, when commixed
with the original mould, by a deep ploughing of the
same depth, the whole will become a deep, rich, and
fertile soil, and may ever afterward be ploughed to the
same depth for the culture of any crops. The same
is true, in a degree, of stubble grounds, ploughed,
or ridged in in the summer, after harvest ; or of tur-
nip ground fed by sheep, or of clover, or buck- wheat
grounds, ploughed in, as fertilizing crops ; but where
you plough your fallows for wheat, rye, oats, barley,
or turnips, you will never succeed in deepening your
soil below the natural mould, unless you have first

THE TARMER's manual. 9

begun as above ; because these crops strike a shallow
root, and will be left to feed on the dead earth which
you have brought up to the surface. These are the
outlines, or first principles of good ploughing, and
the minute attention of every farmer, will soon dis-
cover the mode which shall be best adapted to his dif-
ferent soils, and different crops, with this general prin-
ciple, to deepen his soil at every ploughing, as far
as the nature of the substratum, or under soil, and the
safety of his crop will admit ; and in this way, he may
soon bring his farm into a deep tillage. The suc-
cess of one half of any one of his fields, under a re-
gular deep tillage, compared with the other half un-
der a shallow tillage, will be the most convincing ar-
gument in favour of deep ploughing, that can be laid
before the practical farmer, fry and see.

This being the life of a farm, it is injpossible to be
too particular in improving it. I shall conclude this
article with the following remarks.

1. The depth of your soil being determined as
before, plough flat, or ridge, directly according to
the nature of your soil.

2. If your soil is naturally dry, plough flat, and
as level as possible, this will give an equal diffusion of
moisture throughout your field ; but if your soil is
moist, plough into wide ridges of 18 to 34 feet, and if
it is a wet soil, let your ridges not exceed 6 to 12
feet. The object of ridge ploughing, is to improve
the furrows between the ridges, as drains for the wa-
ter, therefore multiply your drains, by narrowing
your lands, or ridges, according to the moisture of
your soil ; and so vice versa. This is the best, if not
only method of equalizing moist and wet lands.

3. In ploughing high hills, and steep acclivities, it
is generally practised ta^^lough directly up and down,
with a furrow both ways, (up and down,) this is at-
tended with two evils; 1st, it is-verv,fa,tiguing to the
team to carry a furrow up the hill; and 2a, it ex-
poses the lands to be washed, and gullied in the fur
rows, which is sometimes ruinous.

iO THE farmer's MANUAL.

4. These evils may be remedied by carrying a fur-
row down the hill only, and by inclining this furrow
to the left hand, directly in proportion to the descent
of the declivity — and suffering the team to re-ascend
the hill without a furrow. This will lessen your day's
work, not one half, but about one third, because your
team will travel so much faster, both up and down the
hill, when they carry but one furrow. — In this way,
the steepest hills may be ploughed without a single
furrow left open to the wash, except the last one, and
the saving in the strength of the team, and in the
value of the crop, which will arise from the extra
goodness of the ploughing, will doubly compensate
for the loss of time. In this way, the steepest hills,
on w^hich cattle can travel, may be ploughed to a(K
vantage, by striking the furrows transversely, or in a
direction inclined to the left hand, directly in propor-
tion to the steepness of the declivity.

5. In this way, one third or one half the strength
of team will perform the work.

6. Where the descent is gentle, and not exposed to
wash, let your ridges range exactly with the descent,
that the surplusage of moisture may pass off easy,
and regular, in the furrows.

7. If your business drives, and your land is light,
you may fully compensate for the loss of time by
widening your furrow slice ; your plough-share will cut
one fourth, one third, or even one half more, than in
ploughing directly up and down, according to the
steepness of the declivity, and the obliquity of your
furrows.

8. All this, together with the general width of your
furrow slice, must depend upon the judgment of the
husbandman, directed by the quality of the soil. If
the soil is hard and stiff, cut narrow ; but if it is light
and loose^ cut your furrow slice as wide as the share
will cut clean, and no further; all beyond this is cut,
and cover, which is bad ploughing.

9. Plough all your lands as much as possible when

THE farmer's manual. 11

the dew is on, in the morning, especially sandy, or
light loamy lands, (when ploughed in summer,) and
even in moist weather, if the season is dry ; but as a
general rule, improve a dry time, both for your
ploughing, hoeing, and for your seed-time ; your crops
will always repay your attention, some extraordina-
ries in your soil excepted, and the surface will derive
most benefit from the harrow in dry weather.

Harrowing*

No instrument of husbandry requires the judg-
ment of the farmer more than the harrow : it is capa-
ble of doing the most good, and hurt, at the same time,
Qf any other instrument.

1. The harrow in field husbandry, answers to the
rake in gardening, and cannot be made to pulverize
your tillage lands too fine 5 but if this is done after
your seeds are sown, it will cover them often too deep,
and thus injure your crop ; and in flax and hemp, of-
ten double the labour and expense in pulling ; and
in your grass seeds, by covering too deep, will destroy
their growth.

2. Make it a general rule to level, and pulverize,
as much as is necessary with the harrow, before you
cast your seed, and then cover lightly with the har-
row, according to the hardness, or stiffness of the soil
— when the lands are light, once over will answer ;
but when they are stiff, twice may be necessary.

Rolling,

The field Roller is an instrument much used in
Europe, and in some parts of our own country ; and its
good effects much extolled by the best writers, and
upon the following principles ; viz.

1. When used upon sward ground broken up for
corn, it compresses the furrows to the earth be-
neath, and thus guards the corn against the effects of.
droughts, by equalizing moisture.

12 THE FARMER'S MANUAL.

2. When used upon a stiff soil, it breaks the clods,
and thus pulverizes that surface which could not be
done with the harrow.

3. When used upon stony grounds laid down to
mowing, it presses the stones into the earth even with
the surface, at the same time that it breaks the clods,
and thus prepares the way for the sythe in a cheap,
and easy method.

4. When used upon a light, sandy, or loamy soil,
at seed time, it gives permanence, and consistence
to the surface, which guards against drought.

5. When used in the spring upon such winter
grains as are exposed to be winter-killed, by the
heaving of the frosts, it presses the earth to their
roots and thus secures the crops.

These and many other advantages are ascribed to
the roller ; but upon this subject I have no expe-
rience,—so far as it goes to break clods and press
in stones, it will doubtless do well.

Remarks on the General Principles of Husbandry.

1. Whatever may be the nature of your soil, and
situation of your farm, remember, that there is no soil
so good, but it may be exhausted, and ruined by
bad tillage, and that there is none so bad, that cannot
be rendered fertile by good tillage, even barren heath,
if it can be ploughed, and swarded.

2. The true art of husbandry consists, in suffer-
ing no crop to grow upon your land, that will so far ex-
haust your soil, as to lessen the value of your succeed-
ing crop, whatever profit such a crop may afford you.

3i To avoid this, suffer no one crop to grow two
years successively, upon the same piece of ground,
excepting grass, and buckwheat, without the fer-
tilizing aid of rich manures to support the strength
of the soil; and even then, a change of crops will
generally do best, excepting onions, carrots, and
iiemp.

THE FARMER'S MANUAL. lo

4. Every plant derives from the earth for its growth,
such properties as are peculiar to itself ; this plant,
when followed successively for two or more years
upon the same ground, will exhaust the soil of those
properties peculiar to itself, without lessening its
powers to produce some other plants ; this fact is most
striking in the article of flax, w^hich v/iil not bear to
be repeated oftener than once in seven years, and is
common to all crops, with the exception of those no-
ticed as above.

5. To avoid this evil, arrange your farm into such
divisions as will enable you to improve all the varie-
ty of crops your lands may require, in such regular
succession, as to form a rotine of 5. 6, or 7 years,
according to the nature, quality, and situation of your
farm.

G. This method will make poor land good, and
good land better. Try and sec.

APRIL,

Semination.

The European writers make very nice and curious
disquisitions and calculations upon the drilling sys-
tem, and generally extol and condemn the practice
at the same time, as requiring a great nicety of judg-
ment, both in its operation, and the different soils on
which it will, and will not answer. I shall leave them
to their own methods, both in theory and practice, and
treat this subject entirely upon the broad cast plan.

1. Because this plan answers well, and our com-
mon seeds-men can sow any quantity they choose to
the acre, with great precision, from thre<^ quarts, to
three bushels, and give every cast its due proportion.

2. This answers best on both smooth, and stony
soils, and the harrow njay be made to answer best,
either for a light, or deep covering.

J 4 THE farmer'* MAJ^UAL.

3. Weeds will not so readily grow upon a broad
cast seeding, as between the rows upon a drill seeding.

4. All unnecessary expense of tools in husbandry,
goes so far to lessen the profits, and increase the cares
of the farmer.

5. By the broad cast method, the seeds-man can best
apportion his seed to his diflerent crops, and different,
fields, or even different parts of the same field, and
this mode may therefore be accounted the best.

Peas.

Plough such a light sand, or sandy loam, as you de-
sign for the white, green, or blue boiling pea, as early
in March, or April, as the frosts will permit; the
earlier the better ; (once will generally answer,) and
sow your peas upon the furrows, about 3 bushels to
the acre, and cover with the harrow. Experience
can be your only guide whether your land will pro-
duce good boilers, and when you have proved which
fields will answer for this pea, you may always culti-
vate it with success in the regular succession of your
crops, and with a good profit, because the pea does
not exhaust your soil.

Peas when sown early in April, with oats, or in May
with beans, say one bushel of each to the acre, come
forward early, and give a handsome profit, to bring
forward your hogs in summer, and thus save your
corn in autumn for the profits of a spring market.

This crop may be mown, and threshed in the com-
mon mode, and the straw will answer both for winter
feed for young stock, and litter for your horses and
cattle, or perhaps to a better profit, as litter for your
hogs in summer ; such litter will enable you to cart
in an extra quantity of rich earth into your hogs
pen, and thus increase the quantity of this best of
manure.

Sow flax and oats as early in this month as possi-
ble, seed with 2 to 3 bushel of seed upon a strong
soil. Begin to plant potatoes.

THE l!\\K.\iKK's MANUAL. ) :

MAY.

Beans,

Plough in May, or early in June, such lands as you
Uesign to plant with beans ; your poor sand, or sandy,
or gravelly loams will answer ; provided you wet your
beans, and roll them in plaster, at planting. Set your
rows two and a half feet distance, and your hills from
one and a half to two feet distance in the rows, and
seed with 5 beans in a hill; the crop will always pay
you well, both as a tillage, and a fallow crop for
wheat, or rye, provided your bean lands can bear those
crops, with the aid of plaster, or such other dress-
ings, by the stronger manures, as you can give them.
Under this head I will insert an extract from the New-
York Daily Advertiser upon the Heligoland Eean.

*' A friend of mine handed me the following inter-
esting account of the Heligoland bean. I am induced
to make it public for the benefit of those who have
possessed themselves of some of this valuable article.
They appear peculiarly calculated for the Northern
States, and I have no doubt will prove an advantage-
ous substitute for corn, where frost is apt to injure
the crop. A small quantity have been sent for the
benefit of the Agricultural Society of New- York, by
J. Barclay of London ; they arrived a few weeks since,
and have been distributed in various parts of the State."

'^ The merits of those beans consist in their
extraordinary prolific quality, their perfect fulness
of form and thinness of skin, and in their ripen-
ing much sooner than the common sorts ; they are
short in their straw, and the pods which grow in
bunches, commence very near the ground. They
will succeed on soil not considered stifi' enough for
the common bean, and have produced generally, with-
out extra manure, from 64 to 80 bushels the acre.

" Xi the annual meeting of the Agricultural Society of
Wiltshire, held at Devizes, July 20th, 1814, Mr. Phil-
lips produced two stalks, which had on them two

to TriE farmer's manual.

pods, yielding 490 beans. In the spring of iSl;i;
Mr. Phillips planted a bushel and a half of these
beans, on half an acre of land, (a poor day,) at one
ploughing, without manure, and they produced the as-
tonishing quantity of 52 bushels, Winchester measure.
'' Several stalks of these beans were produced, and
the Committee declared them to be infinitely superior,
in point of productiveness and quality, to any other
sort ever introduced into the country, and felt it their
duty to recommend them not only to their own mem-
bers; but to the public at large, who they were cer-
tain would derive great benefit from their introduc-
tion/'*-—A'ero- York paper,

# Remarks. ^

The value of the white field bean has been general-
ly known and approved in our country, both for the
table and for stock, particularly for sheep and hogs ;
but the improvement of the Heligoland bean as above,
surpasses any thing of the kind heretofore known,
and will give an additional value to our tillage, and
to our farms, in facilitating the means of increasing
our stock of pork, and thus increasing our stock of
the very best manure. — Beans have generally been
admitted as a good fallow crop, in keeping the
ground clean without exhausting the soil ; but it has
been a serious objection to beans as a fallow crop,
that they ripen too late, and thus delay the sowing of
the winter grains beyond the proper seed time, to the
damage of the crop. — This objection, when true,
is a serious one ; but this it is now found may be ob-
viated by cutting off the top of the bean vines, as
soon as the first blossoms begin to drop; but not
before, as they will sprout again.

For the truth of this remark, I am indebted to Sir
JohnSinclair, who states, that the practice was^ntro-
duccd into field husbandry by John I^owthcr, Esq.
M, P. through his Bailiff, or overseer, George Lane,

THE FARMEa^S MANUAL. 17

who had been a Gardener, and that in ia04, more than
200 acres had been tested by this experiment, at an ex-
pense of about 3 shillings per acre, and that as soon as
the tops were cutoff, the pods began to sw^l, and in-
crease in their size, and that the period of ripening
was generally accelerated at least a fortnight.

The fact above stated is of the highest importance,
because it goes to secure the bean crop amongst the
fallow crops, with a handsome profit^ on its culture,
W'ithout injury to the soil, or the after crop. To be
able to select the soil which is best adapted to the
crop you wish to cultivate, and to prepare this soil by
manure and tillage to the best advantage, and thus
by a regular process to bring your crop to its highest
productive state of perfection, is truly a very import-
ant part of good farming ; but it is only a part. To
combine the cultivation of crops with a regular suc-
cession of other crops, so that each in succession
shall yield the greatest possible product, with ihe
least possible expense, and yet raise the productive
value of your soil, constitutes a second part of good
farming ; but the great art of the whole is in dispos-
ing of these crops in such a manner as shall insure the
greatest aggregate value to the farm, and the stock,
and secure the greatest and most permanent annual
revenue ; this comprises the most difficult, and im-
portant art of good farming. All these combined ;
the fallow crops are calculated to produce, particular-
ly the potatoe, and the Heligoland bean, not except-
ing the white bean, particularly the 1000 for one, (so
called.) The Bean should be harvested as soon as
the eye has attained a deep colour, or the leaf turned
yellow, and cured in the nicest manner ; it may be
housed, or threshed in the field, if the weather is fair.

Gypsum.

No one article of rural economy has proved so use-
ful, and no one has excited so much speculation and
2*

18 THE FARMEP.'S MANUAL*

inquiry, as Gypsum, or Plaster of Paris. Whcii
it was first introduced, its immediate effects were so
striking as to excite alarm ; and it was soon pronounc-
ed a dangoious drainer of the soil, or present benefit,
attended with an after evil ; a manure that would make
rich fathers, and poor sons ; this alarm has in some
measure subsided, (though not altogether,) and this
most valuable enlivener of vegetation is now coming
into general use.

The nice investigations of the learned Dr. Davy,
have proved Gypsum to be the most natural food
for plants, of all the manures in use ; by show-
ing by a chymical analysis, that Gypsum is the
only substance taken into circulation in its pure
state, and forming a component part of vegetable
substances. This fact being proved, and disclosed
by so high an authority, has led to further inquiry into
the modus opperandi — or the manner in which this
is done.

Chymists reason thus ; — Gypsum will not dissolve
i'n less than five hundred times its weight of pure
water, therefore it cannot enter the bodies of plants
by solution ; and again, it cannot be by solution, be-
cause this would destroy its being, and it would be
no longer found in the plants in its .pure state. One
of the properties of plaster i's, that it may easily be
reduced to an impalpable powder, and thus taken up
ioto the circulation of plants — hence the general re-
mark, tlie finer the better, as a manure. Another
of the properties of plaster is, that by a moderate heat,
it readily passes into a state of calcination ; becomes
liquid, and boils like water. This is also a test of
its quality — the best will most easily calcine ; and in
that state it imparts to the tongue the stythtic sensa-
tion of quicklime. It is the opinion of some, that
under this operation, by the heat of the sun, Gypsum
becomes an exciter of vegetation, passes into, and
forms a component part of plants. Another proper-
ty of Gypsum is, that by chymical analysis it is

THE farmer's MANUAiL, i^

found to be composed of sulpher, oxygen, and lime, as
its most essential properties ; these being the first prin-
ciples, or most powerful exciters, or promoters of ve-
getation, give to this substance the first rank in the
system of rural economy.

All the experiments which have been made with
this first of manures, unless upon a cold, dead, w^et
soil, have gone fully to prove, that Gypsum is not only
the best, but the cheapest manure, and most to be
depended upon, for general use, of all the manures.

Oxygen is the great vivifying principle in the animal
world, and is therefore styled, by way of distinction,
vital air. This vital air composes 28 parts of a hun-
dred of atmospheric air, and thus gives life, not only
to the animal, but to the vegetable world. Abstract,
or remove these 28 parts of vital air from the atmos-
j)herc, and neither animals, nor vegetables can live
an instant ; they both die. Animals inhale the vital,
or oxygen air into the lungs, this commixes with the
blood, and gives that florid, or vermilion hue to the
blood in the lungs, and thus passes into circulation,
giving vigour, life, and energy to the whole system,
and again passes off through the secretions of the
body, aqd commixes with common air. It is a well
known fact that the foliage of plants and trees, pro-
duces in constant succession, and emits into circula-
tion, this vital, or oxygen air, and of course it must
i'ollow, that by the inhaling vessels, both of the
roots, trunk, branches, and foliage, this oxygen, or
vital air is admitted into circulation, and becomes
the essential, or vital principle of vegetation.

Whatever renders the earth loose, so as to admit a
free circulation of air to the roots of plants, will best
promote the great system of the economy of nature,
and thus render it active and vigorous, by the free
circulation of vital or oxygen air; the same as in
the animal world. Whatever causes the greatest de-
gree of fermentation, when buried in the earth, best
promotes this economy of nature, by rendering the

20 THE

earth loose, for the free admission, and circulation of
air and moisture, and thus by their chymical combi-
nation promotes the growth, and forms the substances
of plants and trees ; hence the reason why animal
substances produce the best effects in the promotion of
vegetation, because they cause the greatest degrees
of fermentation, in their dissolution ; and hence the rea-
son why the groulh of trees and plants never exhausts,
or diminishes, the weight of earth in which they grow.

Electricity has its full share in producing the
above effects, both in the animal and vegetable
kingdoms ; but not upon the same principles of oxy-
gen, because electricity is the most subtle and
powerful of all substances, and pervades with equal
ease all bodies, whether hard or soft : not so with
oxygen, it cannot commix with the earth, and thus
become food for the roots of plants, any further thaa
this earth is rendered light, or pervious, for the admis-
sion of common air; hence the reason why frequent
ploughings, and fermenting substances promote ve-
getation ; hence the reason why plaster, when mixed
with the seeds which are planted in the earth, gives
the greatest vigour to vegetation ; because it imparts,
both its oxygen, and substance, to the absorbant ves-
sels of the roots, and thus stimulates the vital princi-
ples of those plants.

All this is true as far as it goes, and yet all this
without the heat of the sun, amounts to nothing ; and
all this combined with the heat of the sun, amounts
to but very little, without the light of the sun : but
the rays of light from the sun are not oxygen, nor elec-
tricity, and yet they constitute one of the essential
causes of vegetation, yet what effects they produce,
and hozo they produce them, are altogether concealed
from our research, therefore ! conclude as before, that
one fact in good husbandry is worth two hypo-
theses.

Experience has proved Gypsum to be one of the
best manures, and taught us how to use it.

THE farmer's majjual. 2\

From the Pennsylvania Farmer*

^- Mr. Holbrook op Derby.

'' I have used Gypsum, or plaster, for several year^,
as a manure. I have put many tons of it upon my
own land, and have furnished my neighbours v/ith it,
both they, and I, have derived great benefits from it.
One of my neighbours sowed a quaatity upon his up-
land mowing, and his crop of grass was greatly bet-
tered, as well as increased to three times as much as
the crop upon his adjoining land. I dressed a piece
of land with it, on part of which I used to spread a
run of water. Where the water was spread, I could
not perceive that I derived the least advantage from
the plaster, but the other part of the field produced
white clover in abundance. 1 had four times the
quantity of hay in proportion from the land dressed
with the plaster, that I had from the land adjoining,
on which none had been put ; and the land on w^hich
the plaster was put had no advantage over the other;
but merely what it derived from the plaster.

** In the year 1790, 1 dressed my land with plaster on
which my wheat was sowed. I could not perceive, at
any time, that the w^heat derived the least advantage
from it. In September 1791,1 sowed rye, and in April
1792 I sowed clover. The rye appeared to receive
but little advantage ; but the clover was fine and was
materially benefited. In 1793, the crop of clover
was very good. In 1795, I sowed the same piece
with rye, and had a very good crop. Whether the
plaster sown in 1791, benefited the rye, or whether
it was through the assistance of the -clover that the
crop was so much improved, I am unable to say;
but I am persuaded that I never did before receive so
great benefit to my wheat or rye, from the same quan-
tity of clover, as my crop now received from some
cause. In 1 796, 1 sowed it with rye, and harvested in
1797; but perceived no difference between this part

52 THE TARMER^S MANUAL.

of my field, and that on which no plaster had been
sown.

" In September 1791 ^ I dressed with plaster a field
of clover which was sown in 1 790 ; but no rain fell
in a long time. I received no benefit from it. In
September 1791, I strewed plaster upon part of my
wheat fallow, and ploughed it in, but cannot say that
my wheat received any benefit. In 1793, I planted
the field with indian corn, and put a quantity of stable
dung on that part of the field which had r-ot been
dressed with plaster, and left a small adjoining cor-
ner on which I put nothing. That part dressed with
plaster in 1791, was much better than that on which
no manure had been put, and as good as that recently
manured v/ith stable dung. In 1794, I sowed the
field with barley and clover. I could discover no
benefit derived from it to the barley,.but soon after
the barley was taken ofl*, the clover on that part of
the field dressed with gypsum, appeared much better
than any part of the field which had been dressed
with stable dung. The soil was a brown loam, mix-
ed with a ragged slate-stone.

'' In April 1792, I dressed part of a dry spire-grass
meadow with plaster, just before a rain ; it produced
a fine growth of white clover, and much increased the
natural grass. I judged my crop was double to that
produced upon the adjoining field, which had been
manured. In 1793, the product was equally great.
In 1794 the effects were apparently gone.

*' In April 1792, I dressed two adjoining pieces of
spire-grass meadows : one with unleached ashes, the
other with plaster ; they both produced a fine growth
of clover ; that dressed with ashes I thought had
some little the preference; but in 1793, that dressed
with plaster had manifestly the preference.

" In April 1795, I dressed a part of a poor field,
w^hich lay for pasture ; but bore litde, except five-
finger. It was thin poor land. I discovered no
effects until September, when w^hite clover began to

illE FAUMER\S MANUAL.

appear; and before winter, there was a material dif-
ference between this and the other part of the field.
In May i796, I ploughed the field for buckwheat
and turnips, and sowed it in July, extending into the
part which had not been dressed with plaster. There
was a great difterence between that part of the field
on which the gypsum had been applied, and the part
on which there had been none ; both in the buck-
wheat and turnips. The part dressed with plaster
produced nearly double to that which had not been
dressed, in 1797, I planted the field with potatoes ;
they appeared to derive some advantage from the
gypsum ; but it was not great.

" In the month of April 1 795, 1 dressed with plaster
part of a field covered with a turf of natural grass ;
in September the clover appeared amongst the natu-
ral grass. In April 1796, the difference between that
dressed, and that not dressed, was apparent. I then
ploughed the whole in ridges for indian corn ; on part
of the field I put plaster before the first hoeing ; on a
part soon after the first hoeing ; and a small part was
ploughed and planted without any plaster ; and that
part of the field on which I put plaster in 1795, I left
without applying any thing. In a short time, the part
of the field on which the plaster had been put in 1795,
appeared to have the advantage, and in the course of
the summer, the difference could be discerned at a
very great distance. At harvest I thought 1 had dou-
ble the quantity of corn on the land dressed in 1795,
that I had on that dressed in 1 796, though the crop in
this appeared greatly benefited. The land which was
not dressed at all, did not yield more than half as much
as the land dressed in the hills of corn with the plaster
in 1796, and not more than one fourth as much as that
dressed with plaster upon the sward in 1795. In 1797,
1 put a bushel of plaster upon an acre of this field, be-
fore planting ; then planted all the field with indian
corn and put plaster in the hills ; except upon the acre
as above j at harvest I could discover no essential dif-
ference.

24 THE farmer's manual.

" In April 1797, 1 dressed part of a spire-grass mea-
dow with plaster, there then being a light snow upon
the ground, which soon went off: ten or twelve days
after, I dressed the other part of the meadow with plas-
ter ; there was soon a material difference between the
two parts, and it continued through the season. The
part first dressed received much the most benefit.

'' From my experiments 1 have found that scatter-
ing gypsum over the whole land was better than
putting it upon the hills of corn ; that my pastures
have been greatly improved by it, and that when
I have ploughed them afterwards, on which plas-
ter had been strewed, the crops and grasses have de-
rived more benefit from the plaster, than if it were
applied the same year that the crops and grasses
were sowed. The land on which 1 have used plas-
ter is loamy. My neighbours have derived much be-
nefit from it upon their sandy river land. I have
been as successful with the Nova-Scotia plaster as with
any, and think it as good as the European. I used
to put as much as three bushels to the acre, I now
do not apply more than two, and I am persuaded that
two bushels answer as well as three. I have never
used so good, and cheap manure as the plaster, and I
look upon my land as double in value by its discove-
ry."

I have extracted this report of Mr. Holbrooks at
large, because it goes to prove with more nicety, and
precision, the real value, as w^ell as the true, and best
methods of using Gypsum, of any series of experi-
ments that I have seen. The fact that plaster sown
upon grass, or even pasture lands, gives an immediate
profit, is of importance ; but that the same lands
when ploughed for tillage, two or three years after-
ward give an additional value to the crops from the
plaster thus sown, is doubly useful, both from its im-
mediate, and subsequent effects : this is reaping the
profits of the manure twice over, and is an undoubted
evidence of its durability. Whoever reads this re-

THE farmer's manual. 25

port of Mr. Holbrook, can never doubt of the value
and utility of Gypsunij when properly applied as a
manure.

APRIL.

Your hemp and flax are all dressed ; your wood
cut and housed, or piled up ; and your sleds housed
safe for the next winter. Your orchards are all prun*
ed, and the brush removed and cut up for summer's
use. Your fences are in great forwardness ; your
mowing-grounds are dressed from your barn-yards,
and your hemp, flax, oats and barley grounds, to-
gether with your spring-rye, and wheat lands, now
claim your attention. This is one of the most impor^
tant months of the twelve, for the farmer. Harrow
down your ridges ; plough and cross-plough for your
hemp, flax and barley, and dress after the first
plougfiing with well rotted manure from your stables,
barn-yard, or hog-pens, at the rate of 10, 16, or 20
loads to the acre, according to circumstances, and
sow from two to three bushels to the acre, of each,
and harrow in the seed, not upon the furrows, this will
bury your seed to deep; but upon a surface made
smooth and even by the harrow. Your land cannot
be pulverized too much with the harrow after your
seed is sown. Your wheat two bushels, and rye one
and a half bushels to the acre will do best; when
dressed with plaster, one, two, or three bushels to the
acre, or with lime or leached ashes, sown, and har-
rowed in with the grain. Your crops will be more
secure against the rust, and blast, and smut, than
when sown upon the stronger manures, especially if
soaked in a strong pickle of sea-salt, or saltpetre,
linsed clean, and rolled in plaster, or live ashes,
when sown. Plaster and ashes answer well, also!
when sown upon your hemp, flax, barley and oats.'

-G THE PARMER^S MANUAL,

The time of sowing all your spring grains will de-
pend much upon the season, with this general rule,
the earlier the better, with proper security against
frosts; be sure to catch a dry seed-time if possible,
the difference in the value of your crop, will richly
repay a strict attention to this part of good farming.
Hemp will do to be repeated successively, for many
years, with high manuring ; but all the other crops as
above, should be sown after corn, or potatoes, or
upon stubble land, ridged in in the fall, and perfect-
ly free from weeds, or their seeds, or upon turnip
grounds after stubble. Select a warm rich piece of
ground near your dwelling, of 1, 2, 3, or 4 roods, ren^
der it rich with horse or hog manure ; plant this with
English white potatoes, they will answer to begin to
dig in July ; these, when steamed, or boiled, will serve
3or early food for your hogs, and bring them forward
for early pork, and save your corn in the fall. 1 can
say that 4 pigs, which averaged 27lbs. in the middle
of July, by this mode of feeding, averaged ISOlbs.
at Christmas following, with a very triPie of corn,
excepting the last month, they then had corn altoge-
ther, to harden the pork. This w^ill be found one of
ihe cheapest modes of bringing forw^ard pork-hogs.
it' the expense of fuel in boiling is an objection, let
it be remembered, that one or two gallons of water
are sufficient to steam a hogshead of potatoes, if they
can be placed over the steam, and covered with bran,
or lndian«meal, which is perfectly dry, of 4 or 5
inches thick, so as to prevent the escape of the
steam : before one gallon of water is exhausted, the
whole hogshead will be boiled fit for the table ; let
diese be mixed in your swill-barrel, or tub, with the
bran, or Indian-meal, and placed near your hog-pen
for ready use ; a good pen full of fat hogs in the fall,
makes the purse and the family rich through the
year; and the rich manure they will afford you, with
a little attention in carting in earth and litter, will in-
:rease your next crops more than the hogs expend-

THfi farmer's manual.

27

«d in their fattening ; thus you have your pork clear,
besides the increased value of your lands. Try it
and see.

Now is the time to begin the arrangement for your
rotine of crops, which will best promote the reve-
nue of your farm, with the best fertilizing improve-
ment for your lands. Hemp, carrots, onions and
buck-wheat, may be cultivated successively upon the
same grounds for many years ; but clover, potatoes
and Indian-corn, oats and barley, wheat and rye, will
not answer well for more than two years, without
high manuring ; and even then, they do best under a
change of crops ; flax will not succeed well upon the
same ground oftener than once in seven years, there-
fore, arrange your farm in such order as to have a re-
gular rotine, or succession of crops, once in 4, 5, 6,
or 7 years, according to the nature and circumstances
of your farm. Whenever you sow flax, oats, or bar-
ley, sow clover, as a fertilizing crop, or clover and
timothy, or orchard-grass, (which by many is preferred
to timothy,) and stock down ; if with clover only,
for two years ; but if with clover and timothy, or or-
chard-grass, for four years ; then turn in your clover
for wheat, either with one, two, or three ploughings,
according to the quality of the soil, or other circum-
stances, and sow one and a half bushels to the acre in
the fall, or two in the spring, and dress with plaster.

When your grass land has lain 4 years, turn in
your sward by deep ploughing, (say 8 or 10 inches
deep if possible,) and plant corn or potatoes, with d
good dressing of compost, or yard dung in each hill ;
this will subdue your sward for a second crop of corn^
or potatoes, the next year ; or any of the spring
grains you may choose; thus you may have a sue
cession of all the crops you may choose, vvithout ex-
hausting your farm, even without manure ; but if you
use the clover as a fertilizing crop, your lands will
rise in their value under every rotine, and increase
your revenue. Buck-wheat may be one of your ro'

^^ THE farmer's manual.

line of crops, if ploughed in when in full bloora, be-
tore a wheat, or rye crop ; but before corn it will
not answer. I have generally done best with buck-
wheat, by selecting some particular piece of land,
(unfit for the winter grains,) and devoted it to the cul-
ture of buck-wheat, successively, for many years.
To illustrate ray ideas of the succession of crops a
little more clearly, take the following : viz.
1st Yr. Barley, oats, flax, or spring wheat, or rye

with clover, or clover and timothy, &:c.
2d do. Clover, or clover and timothy, or orchard-grass.
3^^ ^'o. ^ do. do. do.

4th do. Wheat or rye upon the clover-sward, with I,
2, or 3 ploughings, with clover again, with
or without a potatoe fallow, &c. as at the
first.
5th do. Corn, or potatoes upon the timothy-sAvard,

then barley, oats, Sic. as at the first.
6:hdo. Or corn, or potatoes again, or beans as fal-
lows for wheat or rye ; or for the spring
crops, as at the first.
Under this management, every farmer can appor-
tion his farm so as to have an equal portion of each
successive crop, and never exhaust his soil.

It is common for farmers to argue thus : This land
must bear corn again ; this ground tills easy, and bore
good crops the last year, and the year before : without
reflecting, that after the third crop, the land will have
sunk one half of its value for the next year's tillage,
or will require a length of time, or an expense of ma-
nure to restore its fertility, which will gready reduce
the value of the preceding crops. The same farmer
would not say. Take such a horse from my stable to
perform such a journey, he has just returned from a
second of the same length, and he has done well ; but
he would rather say, Feed such a horse with particu-
lar care •, for he has just performed two long journeys,
and take a fresh horse for the next long journey ; the
other horse -with proper care, will do the business q{

THE farmer's manual. 29

the family until he is recruited. Just so with your
land ; all the animal principles peculiar to your horse,
or your ox, are common to your land, (except loco-
motion,) and require the same attentive care and
nursing, to render it profitable.

Flax is generally considered a poor crop, and with
poor husbandry it is correctly estimated ; but with 2,

3, or 4 ploughing^ and rich manures, flax will produce

4, 5, or 6cwt. to the acre, with 8 or 10 bushels of
seed ; this is no mean crop ; say 5cwt. at 12 cts. $ 60

10 bushels seed at 1 dollar, - 10

$10

If your land is suitable for flax, the season favoura-
ble, and you manure with 10, 15, or 20 loads of well
rotted, rich manure, and dress, and harrow in with 4
or 5 bushels of fine salt to the acre, or 1, 2, or 3
bushels of plaster, and sow clean seed, three bushels
to the acre ; you may always expect 4 to 6cwt. to the
acre ; whereas even two would pay you handsomely ;
6cwt. of flax to tha acre, have been raised from' five
pecks of seed, after hemp ^\we years in succession,
with about 13 bushels of seed ; this proves that hemp
* and flax are not incompatible with each other, and
that flax is no mean crop.

Gypsum. — Soils,

From the experiments made upon Gypsum, as a
manure, by Mr. Holbrook, of Derby, it clearly ap-
pears, that it answers best upon both grain and grasr*
grounds, (if sown \\\ the spring,) to be sown in this
month. His reports to the New-Haven County Agri-
cultural Society, have given full demonstration of this
fact, as has been quoted. One of the objections to
Gypsum as a manure, has been, and continues to be,
that it will not answer upon but few soils, and those
of a sandy, or gravelly loam. This objection is nov/

30 THE farmer's MANUAtiv

found from the best experience, not to be true. Gyp-
sum answers well upon all grounds where clover
will flourish, and this may be considered as a criterion,
notwithstanding it answers best upon a sandy, gra-
velly, or a loamy soil, and so does clover. If your
soil is a stiB'clay, you may reduce it to a loam, by
dressing the surface frequently when under a sward,
or covered widi herbage, with plaster, sand, and rich
manures, until you obtain a rich sward, then turn in
your sward for tillage, and stock down as soon as
possible, and dress again as before; in a few years,
the stiftest clay may be reduced to a rich clay loam.
If your land is a coarse, sharp sand, and even a
blowing sand, you may reduce it to a loam by sowing
plaster, with red-top, or other fibrous rooted grasses,
until you can obtain a sward, then dress with plaster ;
with strong clay loam ; marl ; or even with a stiff
clay, laid on in the fall, and well spread, and the
clods well broken with the harrow and roller ; these
dressings will commix with the sward, by the assist-
ance of the frosts and rains of w^inter and spring.
When your sward has become strong and rich by
the aid of rich manures, break up by deep plough-
ing ; take one crop of potatoes, or grain, then stock
down again, and proceed as before ; you will in a few
years obtain a rich sandy loam. It must be remem-
bered, that the texture of these opposite soils can be
changed, only, by dressing upon the surface, when
under a sward. The success of this mode of tillage
depends very much upon the attention of the farmer,
in avoiding a tillage with the exhausting crops, when
his lands are ploughed ; and in stocking down again
as soon as possible, that he may continue the means
of changing the soil, by raising the strength and fer-
tility of his land.

The clay soil, when under tillage, cannot be plough-
ed too frequently, to obtain the best crop; and on the
other hand, your light sandy soil will do best under
one ploughing, and that should always be as deep

THE FARMER'S MANUAL. 31

as the furrow which buried the sward, when broken
up, and no deeper. It is therefore of- importance, to
obtain a deep soil by burying the sward under a fur-
row 8 or 10 inches, upon all sward-grounds, when
broken up. You may sow turnips to advantage, as
a tillage crop, upon either of these grounds, in their
changing state, provided you feed them off with sheep,
by hurdles, upon the ground ; but not as a crop to be
pulled and removed ; because they are one of the
most exhausting crops ; they will impoverish your
soil, and thus defeat, in some measure, your object.
Clover, and buck-wheat may be used upon both, it
ploughed in when green, as a fertilizing crop, when
the soils begin to mix, and become fertile ; both these
soils may thus be reduced to a rich profitable tillage,
for every description of crop. The farmer must al-
ways preserve this caution, that if he exhausts their
strength by bad tillage, they will both revert to their
original state, and become clay and sand again ; but
by good tillage, they will continue to improve, until
the one becomes a rich clay loani, and the other a
rich sand loam, fit for clover and wheat for ever. It
is wor;hy of notice, that the substratum of sandy soils,
(even dead blowing sands,) is most generally a strong
clay ; thus nature furnishes the means of perfecting
her works for the use of man, upon the same grounds ;
the upper surface of sand may be removed, upon one
side or corner of your field, and the substratum of clay
be dug and carted on, sufficient for all the purposes
required, and at very little expense.

I am fully sensible that the high price of labour in
our country, is a very serious objection to any very
extensive improvements in reclaiming lands in this
mode ; but such lands as are near to our dwellings,
become more immediately the objects of our atten-
tion-, try these first, and you can then determine how
far it will be for your interest to continue the improve-
ments.

S2 THE farmer's manual.

Rut a Bag:a»

L*^H

I have seen in the month of Jane, the yellow
Sweedish Lapland turnip, known by the name of
Ruta Baga, as fair and clear from pith, as when dug
in autumn. This turnip is a rich, well flavoured, nu-
tricious root, and an object worthy the attention of
the farmers of our country. They are now becom-
ing common, and seed, or the roots for seed, may
easily be obtained. Let every farmer set in this
month, in his garden, as many roots as will stock
such lands as will answer for this turnip, their extra
price and demand in market, together with the ex-
tra advantage of their keeping fresh and sound over
to summer, render them valuable, both for the table,
and for cows, hogs and ewes. Every means which
the farmer can multiply upon his farm for the sup-
port of animal life, goes so far to save his corn and
grain, and these become ready cash in the best mark-
et, and thus increase the means of raising the value
of the farm, by manure and tillage.

This turnip may be raised to advantage upon such
stubble lands as you may wish to turn in, as a ferti-
lizing tillage, without much damage to such land, if
you sow 1, 2, or 3 bushels of plaster to the acre, at
the time of sowing your turnips ; provided also, that
you soak your seed in train-oil, (a sure preventative
against the %,) and mix it with piaster, so as to ren-
der your casts free : provided also, that you sow but
half a pound of clean seed to the acre.

Since writing the above, I have seen a treatise writ-
ten by Wm. Cobbetupon the culture, uses, &Ci of the
Ruta Baga, published in New-York, in the year 1818.

As Mr. Cobbet has taken the lead, in America, in
the culture of this most valuable root, and as his mode
of culture, together with his remarks on its uses, ex-
ceed any that I have seen ; I shall give a general
summary of his treatise by way of extracts from r
most essential parts.

THE farmer's manual. 33

RUTA BAGA.

Description of the Plant,

*' The Leaf of every other sort of turnip is of a yel-
lowish green ; but the leaf of the Ruta Baga is of a
blueish green, like the green of peas when of their
full size, or like the green of a young and thrifty
Yorkshire Cabbage ; hence it is called tiic OiiOOage-
Turnip. The characteristics that most decidedly
distinguish this root are these : the outside of the
bulb of the Ruta Baga is of a greenish hue, mixed
towards the top with a colour bordering upon the red ;
and the inside, if they are true and pure, is of a deep
yellow^ nearly the colour of gold."

Mode of saving and preserving the Seed,

** The Ruta Baga is apt to degenerate, if the seed is
lot saved with care. In England, we select tjie fair-
est roots, and of the best form, for seed, rejecting all
such as are of a whitish colour, or greenish towards
the neck, prefering such as are of a reddish cast.
These, when selected, should be carefully preserved
over the vWnter, and set in the month of, March or
April in a rich soil, remote from any roots of the Tur-
nip, or Cabbage kind, to preserve the seed pure and
immixed. Two or three roots, if they do well, will
yield seed sufficient for an acre of land. Let the
seed remain in the pods until the time of sowing."

Time of Sowing •

" The time of sowing may be from the 25th of June
to the 16th of July, as circumstances may be: as the
result of all my experiments will fully show."

Quality and preparation of the Land.

'^ As a fine, rich, loose garden mould, of great depth,

34 THE farmer's manual.

and haviHg a porous substratum, is best for every
thing that vegetates, except plants that live best in
water, so it is best \^ith Ruta Baga. I know of no soil
in the United States, upon which this root may not be
cultivated with the greatest facility, excepting a pure
sand^ and a stiff clay ^ which are very rare in this Coun-
try." Mr. Cobbet here goes on to state his success-
ful eApcrlraents in obtaining a good crop of Ruta
Baga, with very little manure, (and that of an inferior
quality,) upon an exhausted soil.

Manner of Sowing.

''My Ploughman put the ground up in little ridges.,
having two furrows on each side of the ridge, so that
each ridge consisted of four furrows, and the tops of
the ridges were about 4 feet from each other; and as
thet>loughiHg was performed to a great depth, there
was of course a very deep gutter between every two
ridges.

'' I took care to have the manure placed so as to be
under the middle of each ridge, that is to say, just be-
neath where my seed was to come, which was sown
principally in this manner : a man went along by the
side of each ridge, and put down 2 or 3 seeds in
places of 10 or 12 inches distance from each other,
just drawing a little earth over, and pressing it light-
ly upon the seed, in order to make it vegetate quick-
ly, before the earth became too dry. In this method,
four pounds of seed sowed 7 acres. Two men sow-
ed the whole 7 acres in two days.

" Broad-cast sowing will however generally be pre-
ferred ; but when I have spoken of the after culture,
I shall compare the two methods, that the reader may
decide for himself."

j^fter Culture.

" When the plants were fairly up, we went with a

THE farmer's manual. So

small hoe, and took out all but one in each 10 or 12
inches, and thus left them to stand single. We next
went with a hoe, and hoed the tops of the ridges, about
6 inches wide on each side of the rows of plants,
and then horse-hoed between the rows with a common
horse-plough, after the manner of tilling Indian-corn,
or potatoes ; by first turning the earth from the plants,
and next towards the plants, at the second hoeing.
There is no ground lost in these wide intervals, for
the lateral roots of the large turnip, as well as the
Jluta Baga, will extend 6 feet from the bulb of the
plant ; and my crop of thirty-three tons, or thirteen
hundred and twenty bushels to the acre, taking the
whole field together, had the same intervals ; and less
than this, as was practised by my neighbours, always
diminished the crop. Wide as my intervals were, the
leaves of some of the plants would nearly meet across
the rows, and I have had them frequently meet in Eng-
land.

'' Now I think no farmer can discover in this process
any thing more difficult, or more troublesome, and ex-
pensive, than in the process absolutely necessary to
the obtaining a good crop of Indian-corn ; and yet
I will venture to say, that in any land capable of
bearing fifty bushels of Indian-corn upon an acre,
more than one thousand bushels of Ruta Baga may,
in the above described process, be obtained.

" In the broad-cast method, the after culture must
of course be confined to hoeing, or as Tull calls it,
scratching,

" In England, the hoer goes in when the plants are
about 4 inches high, and hoes all the ground over,
setting out the plants at the distance of about 18
inches ; and if the ground becomes foul, he is obliged
to go in again in about a month afterwards, and hoe
the ground again. This is all that is done, and a
very poor all it is, as the crops on the very best
grounds invariably show, when compared with the
ridge crops."

.UK

>6

Transplanting. *

'' This is a third mode of cultivating the Ruta Ba-
ga, and in certain cases far preferable to either of the
others. My large crops at Botly, (England,) were
from roots transplanted.

'' I prepared one field of five acres, and another of
twelve, with ridges in the manner described for sowing,
and on the 7th of June, in the first field, and on the
20th of July in the 2d, I set my plants, as in sowing, 1 2
inches asunder. 1 ascertained to an exactness, that
there were thirty-three tons to the acre, throughout
the whole 17 acres, and after this, I have never used
any other method.

'' In my usual order, the rows 4 feet asunder on
the ridges, there are ten thousand eight hundred and
thirty turnips on each acre of ground ; and therefore
for an acre of ground to produce thirty- three tons,
each turnip must weigh nearly 7lbs.

'' From a large field i afterwards set on the 13th
of July, I weighed one waggon load, which averaged
eleven pounds each, and several w^eighed 14lbs. which
would probably give fifty tons to the acre.

" I will now give a full account of ray transplant-
ing at Hyde-Park, (Long-Island, in America,) between
the 21st and 28th of August ; the season remarkably
dry.

'' The plants will succeed best when set in fresh
earth, or earth recently moved by the plough.

" When we have our plants, and hands all ready,
the ploughman begins, and turns in the ridges, (which
have been prepared as before stated ;) that is, he
turns the ground back again, so that the top of the
new ploughed ridge, stands over the place where the
deep furrow was before he began. As soon as he
has finished the first ridge, the planters begin to set,
while he is ploughing the 2d, and so on through the
field. This process is not very tedious, for in
1816, I had fifty-two acres of Ruta Baga planted in

THE farmer's manual. 37

in this way, and a crop of more than fifty thousand
bushels. A smart lad will set half an acre per day,
with a girl, or boy, to drop the plants, and I had a
man who would set, often, an acre a day.

*' Observe well what has been said about fresh earth,
and never forgetting this, let us talk about the art of
planting. We have a setting-stick, which should be
the top of a spade-handle cut off about 10 inches
below the eye, and pointed smoothly : the planting
is then done in the manner of setting cabbages.
Choose a dry time for your transplanting, and for
this reason ; if your plants are put into wet ground,
the setting-stick squeezes the earth up against the
plant in a mortar like state ; the sun comes and bakes
this mortar into a hard, glazed clqd ; the hole also,
made with the stick, is smooth upon its sides, and
presents an impenetrable substance to the roots and
fibres of the plant, and thus the vegetation is greatly
checked; but when plants are set in dry earth, the
reverse of all this is true, and the fresh earth will
supply proper moisture under any degree of drought.
The hole thus being made \\\ dry weather, set your
plant without bending the poijit ; support it with one
hand, firm in the hole, and with the other hand, apply
the setting-stick to the earth on one side of the hole,
so as to form a sharp triangle with the plant, then
thrust the stick down a little below the bottom or
point of the plant, and with a little twist, press the
earth up to the plant, at the point, or bottom of the
root, and it is done. But if a vacancy remains be-
low the bottom of the plant, it will not thrive well.
This is true in all transplantings, both of roots and
trees." Mr. Cobbet here goes oii to state his reasons
in favour of transplanting, which are these :

1. " Time may be gained for one or two extra
ploughings, between the 25th of June and the 25th
of July, or even the 25th of August.

2. " This transplanted crop may follow some other

4

3S THE farmer's MANtrJAL.

crop, such as early June cabbages, early peas, or
potatoes, kidney beans, white peas, onions, &c.

3. " It saves much of the expense of after culture.

4. " It fixes a sure and regular quantity of plants
upon the field."

* Time and manner of Harvesting,

Mr. Cobbet here recommends, (after stating a va-
riety of experiments,) '* that the earth be turned off
from the roots by an ox-plough, in dry weather, be-
fore the hard frost sets in, and then gathered by hand,
which will save the expense and trouble of loosen-
ing them by the spade, and greatly expedite the work.

" The crop when pulled, may be secured, over the
winter in the usual manner of securing potatoes,
either in the cellar, or in pits dug in some dry part of
the field, and covered close and secure."

Uses and mode of applying the crop.

Under this head, Mr. Cobbet goes on with a
lengthy statement, to show the following valuable uses
to which this most excellent root may be applied to
great advantage.

1. "As feed for cattle, cows, sheep and hogs, both
raw and boiled, or steamed, (which is preferable,) or
even poultry, when boiled or steamed.

2. '* Cows that give milk, breeding sows, ewes with
their Iambs, and even pigs at weaning, are greatly
benefitted by the use of Ruta Baga, especially when
boiled, or steamed.

3. " This root far surpasses the turnip when fed off
by sheep with hurdles, or otherwise, or by hogs upon
;:he field.

4. " The tops, when cut before the roots are gather-
ed, are valuable as green feed for all the stock men-
tioned above. An acre will yield about 4 waggon
loads."

THE farmer's manual. 39

Mr. Cobbet next proceeds with an ingenious cal-
'€ulation upon the profits of a farm of 100 acres, with
12 acres of Ruta Baga, 15 acres of Indian-corn, 12
acres of orchard, under grass, three acres of early
cabbages, an acre of Mangel Wurtzel, (or scarcity-
root,) an acre of carrots and parsnips, together with
such white turnips as can grow conveniently witii
his corn, after the last ploughing and hoeing; and
forms this result,

" With these crops, which would occupy 32 acres
of ground, I should not fear being able to keep a
good house in all sorts of meat, together with butter
and milk, and to send to market nine quarters of beef,
and three hides, a hundred €arly fat lambs, a hundred
hogs, weighing twelve score each. These altoge-
ther would amount to about 3000 dollars, exclusive oi
the cost of 100 ewes, and three oxen; and I should
hope the trees in my orchard, and the other 56 acres
would pay the rent, or interest, of the farm and la-
bour, with the taxes."

It will be noticed here, that Mr. Cobbet calculates
to spend all his crops upon his farm, and thus secure
to himself the advantages arising from the manure
they would make. If any one should doubt the prac-
ticability of this plan, let' him turn back to the Salem
Aims-House Farm, and compare for himself; that
farm had not the advantages of the Ruta Baga crop.

As Mr. Upton has not given to the public his
particular mode of managing^ his farm, and feeding
out his crops, I will supply its place by continuing
this extract of Mr. Gobbet's proposed process, in -
detail.

" My feeding should be nearly as follows. I will
begin with February ; for until then, the Ruta Baga
does not come to its sweetest taste ; it is like an apple,
that must have time to ripen ; but then it retains its
goodness much longer, I have proved, especially
in the feeding of hogs, that the Ruta Baga is never
^-o good, till it arrives at a mature state. In Februa

40 ifHE TARMER's manual.

ry, I should begin with my Ruta Baga as above ; my
three oxen, which would have been brought forward
by other food, to be spoken of bye and bye, would
be tied up in warm and commodious stalls, well litter-
ed and cleaned frequently. The Ruta Baga, chop-
ped into small pieces with a spade, and tossed into
their manger, say two bushels per day, would make
them completely fat, without the aid of hay, corn, or
any other thing. If I killed one ox at Christmas,
one in March, and one in May, they would consume
about 260 bushels of Ruta Baga.

" My 100 ewes would begin upon Ruta Baga at
the same time, (February,) and continue until July.
They will eat about Slbs. a day each ; so that for 150
days, it would require 120,000ibs. of Ruta Baga, or
2400 bushels.

" Fourteen breeding sows to be kept the year
round, would bring 100 pigs in the spring; they and
their pigs would consume about the same quantity.

" Three cows and 4 working oxen, would, during
the 150 days, consume about 1000 bushels. I should
then want 500 bushels of Ruta Baga upon each of
my 12 acres; (I have this year raised 600;) which
may easily be done.

" I am now come to the first of July. My oxen
are fattened, and disposed of. My lambs are gone
to market, a month ago or more. My pigs are wean-
ed, and of a good size, and now my Ruta Baga is
gone ; but my ewes, kept well through the winter,
will soon be "fat upon the 12 acres of orchard, and
hay ground, aided by my three acres of early cab-
bages, which are now ready to begin cutting or rather
pulling. The weight of the crop may be made very
great indeed. Ten thousand plants will stand upon
an acre, in 4 feet ridges, and every plant ought to
weigh three pounds at least. I have shown before,
how advantageously a crop of Ruta Baga might fol-
low these cabbages, and so might a crop of buck-
wheat. My cabbages, together with my hay fields.

THE farmer's manual. 41

and grain fields after harvest, with about 40 or 50
waggon loads of Ruta Baga greens, would carry my
stock well till December, (cabbages being planted at
different times,) and from December to February,
Mangel Wurtzel, or scarcity, with white turnips,
would keep my sheep, cattle and breeding sows plen-
tifully; and my 100 fattening hogs, would be niore
than half fat upon the carrots and parsnips ; or I
should keep my parsnips over till spring, and supply
their place with corn for the fattening hogs ; which
would consume about 3 bushels to each hog to com*
plete their fattening, the remainder should be reserv-
ed for sows when giving milk, or the ewes occasion-
ally. Thus all my hay and oats, and wheat, and
rye, might be saved and sold, leaving me the straw
for litter ; these surely would pay the rent or inter-
est, and taxes and labour.

" If it should be objected that I have taken no ac-
count of the mutton, beef and pork my house would
consume, neither have I taken any account of the 100
summer pigs which the 14 sows would bring, and
which would be worth 200 dollars."

Mr. 6obbetgoes on to state, " that his stock would,
in one shape or another, give him more manure than
would amount in utility to a thousand tons weight of
common yard manure, which would give 10 tons to
the acre annually ;" and thus concludes ; " It is better
to have one acre of good crop, than two acres of bad.
If the one acre can, by double the manure, and dou-
ble the labour in tillage, be made to produce as much
as two other acres ; the one acre is preferable, because
it requires but half the fencing, and little more than
half the harvesting, witWialf the interest and taxes,
as two acres.

'' A heavy crop upon all the ground that 1 can put
a plough into, is what I should seek, rather than to
have a great quantity of land.''

N. B. Mr. Cobbet has not noticed the profits upon
young stock, with which he might have consumed his

4*

42 THE farmer's MANUAi.,

hay, nor the culture of pumpkins, which are certain
ly a nutricious and valuable crop. Neither has he
noticed the method by which he proposes to supply
his farm with manure : doubtless his hogs would pro-
duce an abundance for all his purposes, if properly
littered, and this would also surpass in value his
earth, when burnt into ashes. These two manures,
wlnmn combined, would support his system of farming
for ever, without exhausting his farm. Mr. Cobbet
very justly excludes the horse from the profitable
stock upon his farm, and treats him as an article of
luxury and convenience only. This doubtless will
stand as a general principle, with very few excep-
tions.

If Mr. Cobbet had combined the profits of the dai-
ry with the improvements of his other 5Q acres, (as
mentioned before.) his farm would doubtless have
been more complete. This every farmer can do to
suit his convenience.

In my former remarks, I have not noticed particu-
larly the several rotines of crops used in England, be-
cause the crop of Indian-corn, which is so valuable
in this country, is not known to them, and is not ad-
mitted into their system ; they substitute barley, oats,
peas and beans, in their fattening, for the Indian-
corn, and arrange their crops accordingly.

1 have given but one example, which includes In-
dian-corn, and every farmer can vary this example to
suit his own convenience, or the particular state of
his farm. He will readily see the necessity of pre-
serving the due proportions, and regular succession
in his variations, I shall conclude this remark on
the rotine of crops, with tli|| following remark of Sir
John Sinclair. •' The most effectual mode of increas-
ing and preserving the fertility of weak soils, is, by
having a division of them in pasture, thrown out of
the usual rotation for 3 or 4 years ; and then brought
in again, so that in the course of a 21 year's lease,
each division, in its turn, remains in grass for a pr

MANUAl.. 43

iiod of time. Every part of a farm thus derives a
proportional share of the advantage of being kept in
grass, which is preferable to the plan of preserving
one part of a farm constantly in grass, and the other
in yllage. On the whole, the convertible system of
husbandry, where a large proportion of a farm is cul-
tivated for grain, and the remainder for grass and
green crops, is in general to be recommended. By
the grain crops, a sufficient quantity of straw is pro-
vided as food for cattle, or for litter to be converted
into dung ; whilst at the same time, a fair profit is to
be derived from the grain. The superior advantages
of that system, can only be questioned by those who
have had no advantages of obtaining accurate infor-
mation.

^' These departments of husbandry, when conjoin-
ed, (instead of being kept separate,) reciprocally
contribute to the support of each other's prosperity.''

MAY.

Your Spring grains are now all sown, or about
closing; and your Indian-corn now claims your first
attention. I have before remarked that corn gene-
rally has been found to do best when planted upon
one-bout ridges, with a deep ploughing, either upon
long dung spread at large, before ploughing, or upon
yard, compost, stable, or hog dung, put in the hill,
(say one shovel full to the hill,) and the corn horse-
hoed between the ridges, and hand-hoed upon the
ridges, and thus preserving the ridges unbroken
through the season. As this mode is seldom practis-
ed, being an innovation upon the ancient custom, I will
cite a few reports to the Agricultural Society of New-
Haven County, to show the practical correctness of
my remarks.

44 THE farmer's manual.

INDIAN-CORN.

Mr. Mallet, of Milford.

'* When 1 plough my land for Indian-corn, I always
lay it in ridges, whether it be sward or mellow, and
plough the balks up to the ridges, and those ridges 1
never disturb by cross ploughing, while my corn is
upon the land. I am fully convinced by my own ex-
perience, and that of almost all my neighbours, who
pursue the same method, that one fifth more corn, at
least, will be raised in this manner than in any other
upon the same land."

Mr, Holbrook, of Derby.

*' Upon experiment, I find the method of ploughing
land for Indian-corn, heretofore recommended to the
Society by Mr. Mallet, to be the best I pursue. I
lay all ray land, of every kind, in ridges, when I intend
it for Indian-corn, and plough the balks clean, lay them
to the ridges, before planting ; I never disturb those
ridges by cross ploughing. Any person can seq by
looking at the part of my field which I have treated
in this way, and at another part of the same field, that
was cross ploughed, that the part lying in ridges has
much the advantage. I have always had full evidence
the same way upon experiment."

Judge Chauncey, of Nezo- Haven,

*' I have planted 2 acres of Indian-corn this year.
I ploughed in the manner mentioned hy Mr. Mallet,
The land has been mowed for hwe years past, and the
sward is very tough. My crop is better than any of
my neighbours have ; and they agree with me that this
method has increased it one third. From three years
experience of this mode of ploughing for Indian-corn,
I am fully confirmed in the opinion, that its tendency
is highly beneficial."

THE farmer's manual. 45

This mode of tillage saves about one half of
the ploughing, and a very considerable expense
in hoeing : it is therefore worthy of notice. In-
dian-corn is one of the most exhausting, as well
as one of the most expensive, crops ; therefore se-
lect your best lands for corn, and spare no pains to
fit your land at planting, so as to get the greatest pos-
sible crops from a little land ; this is the only mode
that can render this crop profitable. It is always
best for your corn grounds, to spread your dung at
large, and plough, or ridge in ; but this does not al-
ways insure so large crops as to dung in the hyj:*>=^-^
Farmers are generally agreed that one larg6 pace, or ^
three feet distance, for the rows of corn, is best; but ?
they are not all agreed as to the distance of the hills ^
in the rows. 1 Have seen experiments made upon
the hills, from two to six feet distance, and have
heard them all extolled. I have generally found,
three feet distance of the hills, to be about right. If*
you take the precaution to steep your seed-corn 24"
hours before you plant it, in strong tar-water, with
salt, and roll it in plaster, it will fully repay your ex-^^
pense and trouble ; besides the tar will keep ofi' the <J^
crows and blackbirds, and save your corn from being <y
pulled up. If you throw your corn promiscuously ^
into the hill, it generally falls together, and will not
admit of more than three stalks in. a hill, to advan-
tage ; but if you place your seed at the distance of
4, 5, or 6 inches in each hill, you may let 4 or 5
stalks stand to advantage ; children can drop your
seed-corn, and thus save all extra expense. I have
seen a publication of Mr. Benjamin Fowler, of Hart-
ford, in which he states, that he raised 160 bushels of
corn upon 155 rods of ground, dunged in the hill, at
the rate of G loads to the acre. The one half of this
corn was planted at the distance of 20 inches, and
the other half 18 inches distance of the hills, with
only one kernel in each hill, and the 18 inch hills
did the best. This goes to prove the importance of

46 THE FARMER^S MANCAI.

separating at some distance the kernels when planted
in the hills, at the usual distance. This mode of Mr*
Fowler's, gives only two kernels to the hill at the dis-
tance of 36 or 40 inches, whereas, by placing the
kernels at the distance of 4, 5, or 6 inches as above,
3 or 4 stalks may be permitted to grow without inter-
fering with each other, excepting by their shade, and
ir the suckers are removed at the third hoeing, (as was
done by Mr. Fowler,) the shading would be greatly
remedied.

It must be remembered, that Mr. Fowler rolled his
^eed in plaster, and ashed his corn at the first hoe-
ing.

Indian-corn is an exhausting, expensive crop, and
deserves every attention that will promote its in-
crease, especially one that will give 160 bushels to
the acre. Whenever ashes or plaster are put upon
corn at the hoeings, they are found to do best when
strewed around the hills, in a circle of 8 or 10 inches
diameter, with the greater quantity near the stalks.

The best seed-corn, together with the best method
of collecting, or saving it, you will find under Octo-
ber, the harvest month.

I have seen some good farmers plant potatoes with
their corn, alternately, and with such success as in-
duced them to follow the practice ; I could never suc-
ceed in this mode, and cannot recommend it, unless
the land is very highly manured, and from my own
experience not even then.

Pumpkins are a rich food, for your hogs in Septem-
ber and October, and for your cows and cattle •, they
may be planted promiscuously with your corn, and
do well ; but as they are often too thick, in this way,
to be profitable, they may be planted between the
hills of corn, of every 4th row, and every 4th hill,
upon a shovel full of rich manure, 2 seeds in a hill;
they generally do best in this way.

Some authors recommend to sow turnips, thin,
npon your last hoeing, and have confidence in it as

THE farmer's manual* 47

a successful practice, without damage to the corn ;
upon this I have no experience.

Continue to plant potatoes through this month, as
3^ou may have leisure, to stock your fallows. A pota-
toe patch, with pumpkins near your hogs pen, you
will find very useful, and convenient, in bringing for-
ward your hogs. A very little attention through the
summer will bring forward your hogs, so as to save
your corn in the fall, and thus save your cash.

Your cions which you cut in February for graft-
ing, now begin to expand their buds, and claim your
attention. Select the most thrifty stocks, either in
your field, or nursery, of 1, 2, or 3 inches over; put
two cions into each stock, and if they both grow, re-
move one the next year, this will give as much head
to your tree as the two, and will heal over sound ;
but if you suffer both to stand, thiey will never unite
v/here they grow, and meet, and when they become
loaded with fruit, they will open, or separate, so as to
admit the rains, and thus rot, and ruin your trees :
you cannot be too cautious upon this head. Never
graft two upright limbs upon the same stock, for the
same reason ; either cut off the one, or cut and graft
below both. Graft always as high as possible, to
guard against cattle, and to raise the head of your
tree, so as to admit the sun and air, as free as possi-
ble upon your undergrowth, whatever it may be ; it
will also improve your fruit, both in size, and quan-
tity. Mr. Forsythe recommends heading down large
bearing trees, to change their fruit by grafting ; this
will sometimes answer ; but I have suffered severely
in the loss of thrifty, full bearing trees, of 10 or 15
inches over, in obedience to Mr. Forsythe, and can-
not recommend the practice, unless you graft your
tree partially, the 1st, 2d and 3d years, until you
have accomplished your purpose, and I can say, that
even this is not always safe.

Guard your orchards carefully against the nest-
worms, at this season ; and if you discover any of

48 THE farmer's manual,

your fruit-trees to be unthrifty, or hide-bound, slit the
bark with the point of your pen-knife, upon 4 sides,
through the outer, but not through the inner bark
(particularly stone fruit, which will destroy your
trees,) from the ground up, as high as you can reach,
and dress with a corn-basket full of chip dung, about
the roots and near to the trunk of the tree, you will
soon perceive the good effects.

Open, and ventilate your cellars, and clear them
out for the season, and rinse clean, and bung tight all
such cider-casks, as you wish to preserve sweet in
your cellars over the summer, and free from must.

Weeds.

These are our cornmon enemy, and nature has ar-
rayed a host against us, consisting of more than fifty
different nations of weeds, as marauders, to destroy
our labours, and rob us of our crops. They enter
our gardens and corn-fields unobserved, by night,
and by day ; they pillage, waste and destroy, more
of our property than all the rest of our enemies, ex-
cepting rum and tobacco. Let us set our faces
against them, watch them close, and extirpate the
first, radically from our corn-fields, and the latter
from our houses ; then, and not till then, shall we
have peace and plenty, with the voice of health, both
in our borders, and in our dwellings.

Weeds are a noxious growth, quicker and more
succulent than any of the grains, they therefore ex-
haust the soil more, and quicker than the grains, and
they also rob all plants in their vicinity, of the ferti-
lizing properties of the air, and thus doubly destroy
your crop and interest. If you wish for any illus-
tration upon this idea of nutrition afforded to plants
from the air, examine such small trees as grow conti-
guous to large ones, or such corn or other herbage as
growsrnear to a tree, or other corn, or herbage, which
is greater ; the lesser will take their growth in a di-

iUh: FARyiKK 6 MANUAL. 4V

1-ection from the larger, for the purpose of drawing
from the air that nutrition, which the larger robs it
of upon the side next to it.

Thus we see, that every weed that springs up in
our corn-fields, becomes a tax upon our industry, or
upon our profits, the first is necessarily so; it is a
}>art of the original curse ; the latter, which is not
only the worst; but may become ruinous ; is the im-
mediate effect of our own neglect.

Weeds, when watched and extirpated in season, are
subdued at a small expense, with little damage; but
when neglected, their extirpation is attended both
with expense and damage ; thus, by neglect, we suffer
a double loss. Worse than this.

One year's neglect, will cause seven years toil,
and a seven year's damage ; so, on the other hand,
one year's close attention at weeding, will give seven
years ease, with their profits : take your choice. To
guard against this common enemy as far as possible,
let me recommend the following attention.

1. Plant such fallows with potatoes, as are infested
with wire-grass and noxious ^veeds. The plough
and hoe together, can alone destroy this enemy.

2. Suffer no weeds to seed your fallows, either in
autumn, or summer.

3. Be careful that your seed-grain is clean, and free
from all foul seeds.

4. Observe the same in your grass-seed, when you
stock down.

5. Pull out the docks upon your mowing grounds,
before they seed and ripen, that they may not further
foul your mowing, or be carted into your barn, and
fed out with your hay, and thus foul your dung.

6. Remove every noxious weed from your hedges
and fences, which can expose your fields to the effects
of their seeds. Of this class, are the thistle, the
dock, and burdock, &c.

7. Suffer no old tired field to lie waste, as a nurse-

5

lO THE farmer's MAJiJALo

ry for weeds ; the expense of ploughing will bear no
proportion to the after expense of weeding.

8. Weed your corn with the plough and hoe ; not
after the weeds are grown, but as soon as they begin
to appear ; one crop is enough for one piece of land
at one time, and if you suffer weeds to grow with
your corn, you will in fact have but one crop, and that
will be weeds, your corn will be only a nominal crop.

9. Weed your wheat, rye, barley, oats, flax and,
hemp 5 the profit will l:;^e as great upon either of these
crops, as upon your corn, and the expense com-
paratively small, (generally.) Try it and see.

Irrigation.

Jn my monthly remarks, I have noticed this spe-
v:ies of tillage generally ; a few remarks a little more
particularly, may be useful in this place. It is not
my intention to give my remarks upon irrigation
their full scope ; but to confine myself to such, only,
as are adapted to the practical state of our own coun-
try. To make the most of this subject will many
times require a large capital, even in England where
labour is cheap ; but the expense of labour, together
with the limited capitals of our own country, will not
enable the farming interest generally, to extend their
improvements by irrigation beyond such wash as they
can convey from gentle descents in the highways, on
to their adjoining mowing grounds, and such wash as
they may occasionally turn on to their meadows,
from brooks, or other small streams, by obstructing
them with dams suitable for the purpose. This me-
thod of irrigation is both useful and valuable, and,
when turned on to sloping grounds, may be multiplied
very extensively at small expense, upon the catch-
work plan, (so called.) Upon this plan, when the
wash is carried over the higher parts of the field,
(upon sloping grounds,) lead it back and forth at
vsuitable distances ; remembering -olwoys to keep

THE I^ARMER's manual. ol

your trenches as near to a water level as possible,
and yet suffer the water to run, excepting at the turn-
ings, where the water descends from one trench to the
next below\ Upon this plan, you can flow your
grounds even, by cutting small openings from your
trenches, and even obstructing your trenches occasion-
ally, to promote the flow through these openings. The
expense of this mode of irrigation is small ; but the
profits arc doubly great, both in the quantity and qua-
lity of your hay ; beside, both these profits will in-
crease annually. No manuring will give such profits
upon mowing grounds as irrigation, and the expense,
generally, may be considered cheaper than plaster.
Here let me repeat my former remark ; make the most
of this method of tillage in the winter and spring ; it is
then most valuable. Be careful to keep your cat-
tle, horses and sheep, from your watered meadows :
the first will injure them by poaching, and the feed
will give your sheep the rot, and even their hay may
be unfriendly to sheep, if flowed by great rains in
summer. I shall close this article with a remark of
Sir John Sinclair ; *' A productive water meadow, is
probably the true mark of perfection in the manage-
ment of a farm." — Sinclair'^s Code.

Remarks.

1. It is the easiest and cheapest mode of fertiliz-
ing /?oor land.

2. It promotes a perpetual fertility without the ex-
pense of manure.

3. It may be made to yield the greatest possible
products, both in hay and pasturage.

4. It will greatly increase the means of the farmer
to multiply stock, and thus enrich the other lands
with manure.

5. It is within the power of almost every farmer
to derive some advantage from irrigation ; this, when
better understood, will be more generally improved.

-^^2 , THE farmer's manual-

All alluvial lands enjoy the benefits of irrigation.,
and such as are upon the borders of large streams, that
annually overflow their banks, derive a fertility from
a warp, or sediment, which the waters deposit, which
is peculiar to that description of land, and renders
them peculiarly rich and valuable; such arc the lands
of the Nile in Y*%Y\ii, the Missisippi, the Connecticut,
&c. in America. The warp has formed by its depo-
sit a large district of country in Egypt, called the
Delta, and is constantly forming large and extensive
tracts on the above rivers in America. Wherever
this can be promoted by the assistance of art, it
should never be neglected"^.

* Since my remarks upon the culture of Indian-corn were in
press, 1 have seen in the ConnecLicut Caurant the following suc-
'•essful experiments upon the culture of that most valuable grain,
which a^^pear to be worthy of notice.

" From the Cooperstown Journal, Oct. 25.

''" ^.Agricultural. — We are pledged to publish Uie mode of culture
adopted by those who were the successful candidates for premiums
on corn, &c. at the late fair in this County. We have accordingly
selected the descriptions given by Mr, Hayden and Mr. Brightman,
the former having raised 125 bushels and 26 quarts of corn to the
acre, and the latter 109 bushels and 4 quarts.

" Mr. Hayderi^s Statement.

' The laud upon which the crop was raised, had been occupied *t -
veral years as a meadow, is of a flat surface, was ploughed first in 0<
tober, 1018 ; in the spring following harrowed, and soon after plougii-
ed and harrowed — then furrowed ; the farrows being about 2 feet J
inches apart. The seed was prepared by steeping it in a strong l\<e
made of hog manure, for 24 hours ; after which, the lye wasdraint
off, and I added to half a bushel of seed, a half peck of plaster — stii
ing it until the corn was covered with plaster. The seed was thru
suffered to stand until it had grown an inch, when I planted in siugU
kernels promiscuously at the bottom of the furrows, and then filled
the furrows about half full of barn-yard manure, to whicli had been
added about five loads of hog mvauure. In weeding time, 1 pulled
out many stalks, leaving those remaining about seven inches apart.
It uas succoured oucc; and hoed three times.'

^^ Mr. Brightmayi^s Slateiri<:?ii.

* The ground is clayey loam and had been many years in meadoAv
About the mitidle of April it was ploughed very sh;»llow. ju^t cir

tHE farmer's manual. -^^

JUNE.

Youf whole business of Spring husbandry, both in
the field and the garden, is now closed, and your
fences are all in good repair. You will now enter
with spirit upon the culture of the Potatoes Yoii
have doubtless planted a good supply for the table
and early feeding ; and the time is now come when
you have an opportunity to enter extensively upon
the culture of this most valuable root, as a part of
your field husbandry, for the use of stock and the
market; particularly upon your fallow grounds. It
is true, the potatoe may be planted at any time after
the ground is free from frost, but it will not vegetate
until the ground becomes warm. It is also true, that
the potatoe called the English white, may be planted
with success upon rich ground, as late as the 20th of
July ; very extraordinary frosts excepted.

My remarks on this most important branch of good
farming will be ; 1st, On the value of the different
kinds of potatoes, and their use; 2d, The different
soils to which they are adapted; 3d, The manner of
planting and hoeing ; 4th, The time and manner of
digging and housing them.

1. The English white, Irish yellow, common red,
red rusty-coat, yellow rusty-coat and purple pota-
toes, are the most farinaceous, produce the greatest

tin^ through the sward, I then carried on to about an acre and a
quarter, thirty wag-gon loads of good barn-yard manure, and ten
waggon loads of chip manure, then gave it a deep ploughing and '
harrowed it down. The whole of the ploughing was 4 time^!, and
harrowing was performed as often. About the middle of May, 1 dis-
ported the land into ridges about 3 feet apart. After levelling the
ridges with the hoe, I planted the corn on the ridges at the distance
of eight inches per grain apart, it was hoed in the usual manner 3
times. Previous to hoeing the last time, the succours were all taken
oif, immediately following with the hoe, and covering up the wound-
ed stalks, which I think was of essential service to the crop by pre-
venting them from emitting their juice. The corn that I planted was
the small 8 rowed white corn, intermixed in a slight degree with tlie
yellow.' "

5*

'■^^^ THE farmer's manual,

quantum of starch, and are the mildest and best lot
the table ; the Spanish or hog potatoe, (so called,) is
the most inferior, both for the table and market, and
is fit only for stock. The coloured potatoes require
the strongest soils, and will not admit of late plant-
ing, as they require the longest time for their growth ;
they should generally be planted between the first of
April and the middle of June ; the white and yellow
potatoes will do well as late as the 20th of July ; they
will obtain a good size by the 20th of September.
It must be understood, that this late planting requires
a rich soil. I have generally found, that lands of
any description of soil, that will produce 20 bushels
of corn, will produce 100 bushels of potatoes ; allow-
ing 1 dollar per bushel for the corn, gives g 20 00
25 cents per bushel for the potatoes, gives 25 00

Leaving a balance in favour of the potatoes of ^ 5 00

This, in the same ratio, if the land will yield 40 bush-
els of corn, will give a balance in favour of the pota-
toe crop of i^lO; together with another advantage,
too important to pass unnoticed. Indian-corn may be
considered as one of the most exhausting crops, and
potatoes one of the least.

When it is considered, that the true art of farming
consists in obtaining the greatest profit from an acre
of land without exhaustng the soil, or rather by cul-
ture to increase its fertility, the balance will be found,
in an increased ratio, in favour of the potatoe crop.

No field culture admits of a greater variety than
that of the potatoe; some farmers select the largest
for seed, and plant one in a hill ; others select the
smallest, and plant several in a hill ; some divide the
largest potatoe into two parts, and plant one half in
a hill ; others both halves ; some divide both the
!arge and small potatoes into four parts, and place
the four pieces in the hill at 4 to 8 inches asunder ;
others cut out the eyes of the potatoe, and plant them

THE farmer's manual. 66

promiscuously, as they plant Indian-corn, 4, 5, or 6 in
a hill, and thereby save the potatoe for their stock; f
have found all these modes to answer well, and have
heard good farmers extol each of these modes a
being the best, according to their practice. To illus-
trate this subject, I will give an extract from the
Pennsylvania Farmer:

*' On the 2d day of May, I had six large potatoes that
weighed 2lbs. and 2oz. cut into thirty-three sets, with
two eyes each, which were planted in a stiff, deep soil,
with a small quantity of rotten dung scattered under and
over the sets, which were placed about 6 inches deep,
at the following distance in the rows, divided by pegs :
No. 1, 11 cuts, at 6 inches distance.
No. 2, 1 1 do. at 9 do. do.
No. 3, 11 do, at 12 do. do.
They were hoed twice. On the 10th of October, the
earth was carefully drawn from off the plants, which
were extended across the rows. The produce was
as follows :

No. 1 contained 124 potatocfs, which weighed
28lbs. lOoz. and occupied 6 feet in length.

No. 2 contained 130 potatoes, which weighed
32lbs. 2oz. and occupied 9 feet in length.

No. 3 contained 145 potatoes, which weighed
311bs. 2oz. and occupied 13 feet in length; total
9 libs. 14oz. or 123cwt. to the acre*."

* All Nature is o^ovenied by fixed and immutable laws, or princi-
ples, and the true art of husbandry consists in a correct Imowledge
of the laws, or principles, of each plant, either separately, or collec-
tively, in connection with other plants, and in adapting the culture
directly to the assistance of nature.

By thl.5 example it will be seen, that the potatoe does not strike
deep in the earth ; but extends horizontally, at a given distance, be-
neath the surface, where it can derive its proper nutriment from
the sun, air and rains ; if you plant below this natural state, or
earth up your plants by hilUng; too much, yoa counteract nature, and
check the growth of the first settings, by covering them below their
natural depth, and if you hill up your potatoes too often, you will in-
crease the number of potatoes in your hills ; but they will be small,
for they will form new sets at each lioeing ; therefore, hoe but twice,
if it is possible to keep down the weeds without a tliird hoeing.

^O THE FARMER'S MAP»rUAL.

This result corresponds with my own experience
for many years, and deserves attention, by its saving
in the expense of seed. If 4 sets were placed in the
hill, at the distance of 5 or 6 inches asunder, and the
hills 3 feet apart, they would probably produce as
many pounds of potatoes, with a handsome saving
of expense at digging. Some farmers cart on 10,
15, or 20 loads of long dung, and spread it on the
field, and ridge it in, by lapping two furrows together,
and plant their potatoes on the ridges in hills, from
2 to 3 feet asunder ; hoe the potatoes twice, upon the
ridges, and keep the ground clean with the plough,
between the ridges, in the furrows ; others plough
up the land smooth, and strike out the ground into
furrows of 3 feet asunder, set the potatoes (when cut
into one or two eye sets) at 10 or 12 inches distance,
in each furrow; cover them lightly with the plough,
and keep the land clean by ploughing up to the rows
two or three times, as the season may require. In
autumn, they turn off the earth from the rows with
the plough, and dig with the hoe, this answers well ;
but I have found an increase of labour in digging.
Some farmers plough up their land smooth, and strike
it out with a plough into squares of 3 feet, rank and
file, after the manner of planting Indian-corn, and
plant at the corners, and cover with the hoe ; others
make holes with the hoe, from two to three feet dis-
tance, manure with farm-yard, or hog manure, or roll
the potatoes (when cut and wet,) in plaster of Paris,
or throw into the hill with the sets, about a table
spoonful of plaster; this upon a gravelly, or sandy
soil, answers well. I have found this mode produce
from 1 to 300 bushels the acre. Should you neg-
lect either of these modes of manuring at your plant-
ing, you -may ^Jress your potatoes with a table spoon-
ful of plaster, or a handful of live, or leached ashes,
at the first, or second hoeing, with great advantage,
upon a dry soil. These are the common modes of
cultivating the potatoe.

THE farmer's manual. 57

Two important modes of cultivating this most
valuable root, claim the particular attention of
the farmer, who is in earnest, and regards the
best interest of his farm. The first is as a fallow
crop. Many years experience enables me to say,
that land which will produce 8 or 10 bushels of
rye, will produce 100 bushels of potatoes; the dif-
ference of expense between one ploughing and two
hoeings, for an acre of potatoes, exclusive of the
seed and digging, and two ploughings for a fallow,
is not very great; the profit is 100, 150, or 200 bush-
els of potatoes, according to the quality of the soil ;
with the assurance, that the grain crop will rather be
increased than diminished by the potatoe fallow, pro-
vided the potatoes are dug, and the rye sown, early
in the month of September, or the wheat before the
1st of October, which may always be done with the
English whites, if planted before the 20th of June.
The true value of this mode of tillage, will consist in
the increased quantity of stock it will enable the
farmer to keep, and the increased value which he
may derive from his manure from this stock in his
general tillage. Potatoes, when planted on the same
ground successively more than 2 years, will not do
well ; but when used as a fallow crop will continue
to do well.

The second mode alluded to as above, is, that
clover lands, or even English-sward, after the first
cutting, may be turned over, and planted with pota-
toes, with assurance of a good crop, provided the
land be in good heart, and the seed of the English
whites, and the planting be finished between the 1st
and 20th of July, with one or two hoeings, as the sea-
son may require. This mode of tillage, gives the
farmer not only a double profit upon his ground, but
a double advantage in keeping his stock, and pre-
pares his ground for a spring crop, as he may choose;
or he may even sow wheat to advantage after the po-
tatoes, if the sward is not too stiff.

Although the potatoe originated in America, and

oB THE farmer's MANUAL.

was not known in Europe, until after the discovery
of Columbus in 1492; it was little known in the hus-
bandry of our forefathers ; so late as 30 years ago,
if a farmer raised 100 bushels of potatoes in a sea-
son^ it excited particular notice ; and now they are
become one of our best crops, and our farmers often
raise 1,2, or 3000 bushels the season, which always
command a ready market, and a fair price. The
value of the potatoe in feeding beef cattle, hogs,
sheep, horses and cows, is found, by the experi-
ence of the best farmers, to exceed in value any
other feeding; even the Indian-corn. No feeding
v/ill afford that strength and support to Avorking cat-
tle, and enable them to bear the heat so well, as the
potatoe. When I come to treat of stock particularly,
J shall show in minute detail the practical calcula-
tions of the best farmers, both in England and Ameri-
ca, upon the use and value of this most excellent
root. Now is the time to prepare for your fall and
winter feeding ; no farmer ever raised too many po-
tatoes, and probably too many never will be raised.

The farmers of our country have too much good
sense and judgment, to render it necessary for me to
say, that great care should be taken to select the best
of every crop for seed, and that the several kinds be
kept pure and unmixed. The good, resulting from
this, must be too evident to have escaped the notice
of the most ordinary farmer.

The carrot is the only root that can vie with the
potatoe, both in the profits of its culture, and utility
for feeding ; but this requires that nice mode of hus-
bandry, which renders it too ditlicult and expensive
to be extensively raised, so long as the price of la-
bour is so dear in our country. A few hundred bush-
els may be easily raised by farmers generally, in the
kitchen-garden, with very little «xtra expense, under
a proper management ; but as the season for the cul-
ture is past, 1 shall defer my remarks upon this root,
together with the mangel wurtzel., and other roots. '

THE farmer's manual. 59

«

until i come to treat on gardening generally ; I shall
then give the subject a particular discussion, both as
to the best practical modes of culture, and the best
practical calculations upon their value and use in
feeding.

Let me close this number with one general exhor-
tation. Plant as much of your fallow grounds with
potatoes, as possible; break up, after mowing, such
sward as you design for tillage the next season, or
such as you would wish to sow with winter-wheat,
and plant it with the true English white potatoes ;
you will find your advantage in it. One hoeing will
answer upon the i^ard ground ; but two hoeings arc
best for both sward and fallow grounds.

Clover and Tillage.

This has become a most valuable and important
branch of husbandry, both as an article of tillage and
feeding, particularly for the use of horses ; but I shall
defer all remarks upon its value in feeding, until I come
to the subject of Stock, and treat only in this number
upon the valae of clover as an article of tillage, and the
mode best adapted to its cultivation. The red clo-
ver strikes a deep tap-root like the carrot, and when
designed for tillage, should be sown separately, with-
out herds-grass, or any other mixture, 4 or 5 quarts to
the acre ; it may be sown broad-cast, after the man-
ner of wheat, in autumn, with the winter grains, or in
the month of March, upon the winter grains, or with
the spring grains, or upon the spring grains after they
have made their appearance, or even with buck-
wheat at midsummer : long experience has proved
all these modes to do well ; but the buck-wheat is
the most uncertain ; when the crop is thick and
stout, it is very apt to check and smother the young
clover, and leave its tender fibres exposed to the
frosts of winter, which often prove fatal to it. If you
are constrained to sow your clover with buck-wheat.

60 THE tarmer's manual.

sow the buck-wheat thin ; and what you sacrifice upoii
the buck-wheat crop will be gained upon the clover.
Never cut your clover the first season, nor feed it
too close, both are an injury to it ; but the second
season cut your clover when in full bloom, when not
more than one fourth of the heads begin to turn
brown, which will generally be in the month of June.
The cutting and curing of clover is very nice and
critical farming, and demands the first attention. The
heads and leaves of clover are its principal value,
the stalk when coarse, is of little use ; therefore, in
order to preserve the most valuable parts, cut your
clover in dry weather; and whenghe dew is dried off
from the first swaths, turn them over gently, without
spreading, until you come to the swaths which are
free from dew, let those lie untouched until noon, un-
less showers, or a storm become threatening ; in this
case, break off your mowers, and get your clover from
the swath into small cocks. Let the cocks be made
with the fork, with only once or twice rolling ; but
if the weather continues fair, let your mowers keep
on and your haymakers follow with their forks, and
put all the swaths into small cocks. The next
day let these cocks stand, and go on cutting as be-
fore ; proceed thus until you have secured your clo-
ver. In two, three, or four days, as the weather may
be, the clover first cut will be fit to cart, if the wea-
ther proves fair, if not, the rains will never penetrate
farther than the winds and sun will dry ; the clover
will be injured only upon the surface. Should a long
cloudy, or moist turn of weather succeed, you may
give your clover air, by taking off the top of each
cock and placing it for the bottom, and thus with
your fork change the order of your cocks by bring-
ing the bottoms to the top, this mode will cause your
cocks to shed rain better than the common mode of
turning them over at once with the fork. When you
find your clover sufficiently cured for housing, take
the first good hay-day, turn over your cocks in the

AS!

THE farmer's manual. til

morning when the dew is off, and as soon as the
moisture is dried from the bottoms, clear your field
as fast as possible ; thus you will secure all the valu-
able parts of your clover : viz. the heads and leaves,
in full blossom, and as perfect a green as when
<yrowing ; and your horses will hold their flesh and
do more service on this clover, without grain, than
on clover cured in the common method with the usual
quantity of grain, and you will readily experience the
saving in expense, which, although of importance,
will be found to be of minor consideration in this
mode of husbandry*.

A few loads of clover may always be housed in this
mode with safety ; but if your fields are large, some
precaution will become necessary to guard your mows
^gainst heating, which is not only injurious to the clo-
ver, but will prove injurious to your horses, and give
them a cough. To prevent both these evils, let your

* If you sow your clover thin, with only 2 or 3 quarts of seed
to the acre, (as is the practice of some,) it will be of an inferior quali-
ty ; the stalk will grow large and rank, and require more attention
in curing ; therefore, never sow less than 5 or 6 quarts to the acre.
Whenever your clover has sweat and cured in the cock, so that you
can select the largest stalks, and twist them like a string, without
their emitting any moisture upon the surface, when twisted, you may
then house your clover ; it is^in its most perfect state. If you sow ti-
mothy, or herds-grass with your clover, you may manage in tliis way,
for the first year, witHP safety — the second year it will become about
one half timothy, or herds-grass, and must be spread and turned gent-
ly, to preserve as much as possible the heads and leaver of your clo-
ver : the third year, your clover will disappear, and the herds-grass
must be spread and cured in the common mode ; I say the common
mode, for I presume that every farmer spreads his hay into 3 swalli
winrows ; (unless it be heavy English grass, of 2 or 3 tons to the acre,
which will occupy all ihe surface of the field on which it grew, to
cure it ;) this saves the expense and trouble of one rakiog, and that he
spreads in the forenoon all the swaths cut before 12 o'clock, (leav-
' ing the swaths cut after 12 o'clock, to contini e in the swath until the
dew is off the next morning,) and that he gets into cocks, before 5 or 6
o'clock in the afternoon, all the hay spread upon his field. The fer-
mentation which hay undergoes by standing in the cock over night,
not only sweetens the hay, but prepares it for a more rapid evapo-
ration of its juices the next day, and will doubly pay the expense of
cocking, besides the security it affords against bad weather,

6

G2 THE farmer's uahval,

clover stand in the cock a day or two longer; open it
carefully when you are ready to cart, xuithout spread-
ing y- let your bays be open under the bottom, for a
free circulation of air; fill several large bags with
hay, set them erect upon the floor of your Ibays, mow
the clover around them with as little treading as pos-
sible ; raise up the bags with the rise of your mow,
and when your mow is finished, remove the bags ;
these openings will serve as ventilators, and secure
your mows from heating. If you reserve your wheat
or rye straw for this purpose, and cover your clover
occasionally, as you mow it, with straw ; your straw
will not only prevent your mow from heating, but
imbibe the moisture of your clover, and become
valuable feed for your horses arid cattle, and thus be-
come a double saving. One bushel of salt sprinkled
upon your clover as you mow it, will preserve it against
heating, and doubly repay you in the value it will
give to your hay. When your clover is housed, you
may turn in the sward the first or second year, and
plant potatoes for a wheat fallow, or feed lightly the
second growth ; but never mow it, if you intend to
cut it again the next year. The first and second years,
your crops will be good, the third will fail, and the clo-
ver will die, unless you dress it with manure that will
bring in other grasses. The death of your clover,
leaves your land enriched by the d^cay and putre-
faction of the roots, and thus, after the crops have re-
warded liberally your expense and labour, your land
has risen in the value of its tillage, and is better pre-
pared for the next rotine of crops than before.

All farmers of celebrity are agreed, that the true
and first principles of good husbandry, consist in ma-
nuring, ploughing, and a proper rotine of crops. I
shall defer my remarks upon manuring until I come
to treat upon the subject of compost, and manures ge-
nerally, and confine my remarks in this number to the
article of clover and tillage. If it is your wish to
combine the improvement of your stock generally

THE farmer's manual. 6o

with the improvement of your tillage, sow with your
clover 4 or 5 quarts of herds-grass seed to the acre ;
dress it in the fall or spring with about 3 bushels of
plaster of Paris to the acre, if a light or gravelly soil,
or with 8 or 10 bushels of live ashes to the acre, sown
u^Don your grass, or 10 or 15 loads of good yard, stable,^
compost, or hog manure, if a clay or moist soil. If
it is your wish to continue your field for mowing,
dress it again the 3d year as at the first, and so on
successively ; but even in this case, be careful to
avoid a second cutting until the 3d year, (and even
then, you will do well to omit it,) and feed lightly
in the fall ; a good coat of feed upon your mowing
grounds over the winter, is next to a good coat of
manure, and should be preserved as far as possible.
Let not a hoof enter your grass grounds in the spring,
particularly •sheep and horses ; the damage will be
greater than in June. Whenever you turn up your
grass grounds for tillage, be sure to plough as deep
as possible, this will not only give a good depth for
your corn, or potatoes, to extend their fibres, but will
lay your sward deep to rot, and thus give you a deep
rich mould that will not soon be exhausted by tillage,
and insure you more successful crops. The value
of clover, when cut and fed green in summer, or when
housed and fed in winter, together with the most ap-
proved method of feeding with it^ either with or with-
out straw, 1 shall consider under the article Stock.

Manures.

The basis of good husbandry, are labour and ma-
nure ; these rightly applied, will always insure good
crops. You have disposed of all your winter ma-
nures, from the farm-yard and hog-styes, undoubtedly,
to the best advantage ; the time has now come to at-
tend to your summer manures ; to dress your lands
in autumn. Let your hogs be enclosed in an open

64 THE TARMER's iMANUAL,

pen, near to, or in one part of your barn-yard ; throw
into this the scrapings of your barns, together with
every vegetable substance that will putrify and rot
through the summer : plough up and cart in occasion-
ally, such earth as can be collected from your ditches,
or old sward balks ; your hogs will root and nfix
them together, and thus, with a little attention, you
may obtain 20 or 30 loads of the best manure, or
much more if your hogs are numerous and receive
your attention. You will find an advantage, both in
the growth of your hogs, and in the quantity of ma-
nure, if you sow half an acre, or an acre, of clover
on a rich soil near the barn-yard, and begin to cut
early for feed for your hogs ; it will be found both
cheap and profitable. According to the best prac-
tical calculations, it will give a profit of $ 30 per acre,
when cut green and fed in the barn-yafd, either by
horses, cows, cattle, or hogs, besides the profits upon
the manure. If you are in earnest about your farm,
you may carry this mode of making manure to any
extent, by mowing and carting in your stout stubble ;
collecting and carting in your coarsest hay, pumpkin
and potatoe vines, corn bottoms, husks, &c. The
same materials will yield you a stronger and richer
manure from your hog-pens, than from the stercorary,
(as is practised in England,) and without the expense
of shifting, or changing it by hand, as in the sterco-
rary practice. Your hogs will do better than in a
close pen, and the same land, in clover, will yield
them more and better feed, than in pasture ; and the
manure thus obtained from the clover-field, will give
you a handsome profit. A little experience will soon
lead every farmer to make the most advantage in thi,s
way, which may be rendered very extensive-
Most farmers yard their cows at night, through the
sumnter; their manure should be collected into a
heap, in some convenient part of the barn-yard, to
prevent its being wasted by the sun and rains ; a
few minutes attention in the morning, when the co^^'^^

THE farmer's manual. 66

are turned out to pasture, would collect a heap of
several loads in a season, ready for your wheat, or grass
grounds in autumn. If you should cart on, and cover
your heap occasionally, with a load or two at a time,
of rich earth, (where it could be spared,) it would
commix with the manure by fermentation, and be-
come rich compost, and thus increase your quantity
and your wealth. If you stable your horses occa-
sionally, or generally, in saimmer, let this manure
also be conveyed to your heap, it will improve its
quality, by being mixed with the other manure and
the earths. Four good loads of this manure, will
dress in the hole an acre of Indian-corn, or potatoes,
and upon an average double your crop ; this is no
small advantage ; and a careful farmer will not neg-
lect it. Ten loads of such manure, spread upon your
grass grounds in autumn, may be considered equal
to 15 or 20 loads of farm-yard manure, laid on in the
spring, especially if the season in the spring, or sum-
mer following, should be dry. The best form for
constructing your farm-yard, either with or without
sheds, and the best mode of preparing the farm-yard
ill autumn, to receive the stock for w^inter, and col-
lect the greatest quantity of manure, I shall treat of
at large under the article Stock.

Indian-Corn,

The season is now past for planting your Indian-
corn, and it is to be hoped that you have ploughed
deep, upon a well spread coat of manure, or planted
your corn with a shovel full of rich manure in the
hill, or rolled your corn in plaster of Paris, or put in
a large spoonful of plaster into each hill ; but if you
have neglected all these sureties for a good crop, you
may correct your error in this month of June, by
dressing your corn-hills at the several hoeings, with a
handful of plaster, or of live, or leached ashes, which
will greatly benefit your crop ; particularly upon

9t 6 *

*)t) THE i-'AKMER^S MANUAL*

lands of a light and gravelly soil. This practice of
dressing the hills, does best when applied at the firs^
hoeing, and repeated again at the third hoeing ; the
first brings forward the stalk, and the last the ear.
When you weed your corn at the first hoeing, turn off
the furrows from the hills with your plough ; this will
leave a ridge of light loose earth between the rows^
which will be prepared to dress your corn with, by
ploughing it up to the hills at the second hoeing. At
your third hoeing, or hilling, strike a deep furrow be-
tween the rows, and haul up the earth to the hills
with the hoe ; but keep your plough as far from the
hills as possible, that you may avoid the extended
fibres of the roots, which, if cut with the plough,
would injure your corn. Avoid the corn-harrow at
your first weeding, as is practised by some ; this
leaves the earth close, or heavy, and dead between
ihe rows, and injures your crop. Be sure that you
finish hilling before your c©rn begins to silk and tas-
sel, (or blow out, arid set for the ears;) nature should
then be left to herself undisturbed, or your crop will
be injured. The farinae, or blossom, upon the tassel,
^ as small and light as the finest flower ; this, when
;ipe, falls off gently, and lodges upon the silk, which
surrounds the cob ; this again, the husk by its pro-
gressive growth, covers and protects from the weath-
er, or other injury •, each particle of farinae becomes
a kernel of corn, adheres to, and is nourished and
supported by the juices of the cob ; whatever dis-
turbs the corn in this state, shakes ofi* the farinas ir-
regularly, and renders the' filling out of the ears ir-
regular. The farinee of Indian-corn are so extreme-
ly small and light, that they have been known to float
in the wind, and mix in other fields of corn of differ-
ent kinds, at the distance of 80 or 100 rods*.

* If your com is planted on ridges, upon manure spread at large
npon the ground, and covered with the plough, preserve your ridges
rtr.broken iiyough the season j horse-hoe the furrows, (a plough with

THE FARMER'S MANUAL* 0 ■

Pasture grounds and Fencing,

These articles are of high importance in good farm-
ing ; but perhaps of the smallest consideration in the
estimation of the American farmer. If ten, fifteen, or
twenty acres of rough, half- fenced, undrained, or dry
and unwatered pastures, were, by clearing, draining,
watering and fencing, rendered as productive as one
hundred acres now are, in their present neglected state ;
80, 85, or 90 acres of the remainder might either be
applied to tillage, with advantage, or bring an addi-
tional revenue in the sam? ratio, if continued in pas-
ture ; both by the increased number, and value of the
stock they would feed.

Fencing is a certain ratio of expense, rent and inter-
est, the farmer pays for the use of his lands. If the pro-
fits upon an acre of ground, exclusive of the expense of
tillage, give $ 24, and it costs the farmer $ 6 per annum
to maintain the fence ; then his clear profit will be g 1 8 ;
but if with the same expense of fencing, his field brings
him but.g 12 clear upon his tillage, he then gains
but $ 6 ;' this is paying interest with a witness. If he
neglects his fencing, his whole crops, however va-
luable, may be destroyed ; this is sinking both princi-
pal and interest ; therefore, enclose no more land than
you can both fence and improve well.

Would you make the most of your farm, apportion as
small a part as possible to pasture, and multiply the va-
lue of this, by intersecting it with cross-fences into as
many enclosures, of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 10 acres each,
as may be found best, according to the situation and
size of your farm, and the number of your stock ; and
according to the situation of your brooks, springs, or
other conveniences for watering; thus you may mul-

a double mould-board would answer well,) and earth up your com
on the ridges with the hoe, the roo4s of your corn will extend upon
the ridges unbroken by tlie plough, and derive the greatest possible
benefit from your manure ; the labour will be less, and the crop luudx
better than iu the usual mode of ploughing across the ridges.

68 THE farmer's manual.

tiply the value of your pasture grounds by frequei/
changings, and your stock will have a regular suc-
cession of fresh feed, untrodden, and otherwise unin-
jured ; the advantages of this will soon be perceived
in your stock generally ; but will be most evident in
your dairy. Your cows are the prime object of
your pasture grounds ; therefore never suffer your
horses or sheep to enter your dairy pastures ; they
not only crop close, and thus protract the time for
the regular successive croppings ; and also, expose
your pastures to the scorching rays of the sun, espe-
cially in time of drought ;*but they also select the
finest and choicest feed, which will afford the great-
est nutrition to your cows, and thus destroy your best
interest. Your division fences in your pastures, de-
signed for your cows, or cattle, and horses, may be
made light, with two or three rails only, if of a good
height; no adjoining crops of tillage will induce your
stock to break out of their enclosure ; but your fences
dividing off your pastures from your tillage enclo-
sures, cannot be too secure ; you may then.till with
safety, and rest with security, without damage, or
anxiety. Where water is scarce and difficult to be
obtained for your pastures, (when multiplied as
above,) you may select some small stream, spring,
or pond, or even a reservoir of water, such as an ar-
tificial pond, or large trough, supplied from some
neighbouring spring, and enclose your pastures so as
to have four or more enclosures centre in, or upon
the brook, pond, or reservoir, and thus secure water
for the whole. I have seen careful farmers, water 50
or 60 acres, or more, (from one pond or spring,) when
divided into separate enclosures in this manner. A
little experience will soon show the value of this
mode of improving pasture grounds, and lead to a
practical knowledge highly interesting, and valuable
to our country.

Plaster, or live ashes, sown upon your pasture
grounds, will not only repay a handsome profit, by

THE farmer's MANUALi. 69

increasing the quantity and value of your feed, by
bringing in the finer grasses, such as white clover, Szc.
but will greatly improve your lands for a potatoe fal-
low, and a succeeding wheat crop, whenever you may
wish to take a proper advantage of a rotine of crops.

In some parts of our country, the pasture grounds
are infested, and too often overrun with the white
birch, thorn, and other noxious shrubs ; my own ex-
perience will not enable me to say, what are the
best and most effectual methods of clearing, and pre-
venting a successive growth ; the owners of such
lands might soon ascertain this, and carry it into
effect ; this is the most slovenly part of our husband-
ry, and must be cured. Bushes cut in the old of the
moon in August, and the sign in the heart, generally
die.

Such arable lands, as are worn down by bad til-
lage, and upon the dry and hilly parts of your farm,
you may reclaim by sowing white clover with oats,
two or three pounds to the acre, and devote them to
the pasture of your sheep ; half a bushel of plaster,
or a bushel to the acre, sown in the spring, or fall,
would richly repay the expense and trouble, both in
your feeding, as well as in your successive fallow
and grain crops. The value of this mode of hus-
bandry in fattening your sheep, and bringing forward
your lambs, I shall consider under the article Stock.

One more hint upon pasturing, will close this num-
ber. If your pasturing is short in proportion to your
stock and arable lands, break up early in the spring,
such fields as you design to fallow, (without a fallow
crop of potatoes,) and sow a bushel of spring, or
winter rye, or one and a half or two bushels of oats
to the acre ; they will spring quick and yield you a
rich and profitable early feed for your sheep, or
cows; in July, or August, you may feed close and
cross-plough as usual, without any apparent injury
to your successive grain crop ; particularly if you
dress your field at sowing, either in the spring, or au-
tumn, with one or two bushels of plaster to the acre«

TO TftE farmer's manual.

This, amongst many others, goes to assist the farmer
to take every possible advantage of the several parts
of his farm, at each successive season of the year,
with the greatest success, and profit.

Coarse or bog meadow, by draining, may be con-
verted into pasture grounds, which for a time will be-
come more profitable ; but with a little attention in
cutting up the bogs, and keeping them down smooth,
with a common bog-hoe, such lands may be greatly
improved in their pasturage state, and by the assist-
ance of manure, they may be reduced to mowing of
a good quality, at a very small expense ; 10 bushels
of lime to the acre would do well. If it should be
necesss^ry to carry your drains across your plough
lands, where an open ditch would obstruct your
ploughing, waste your grounds, and become foul with
noxious weeds, which by their seeds would also foul
your lands ; you may lay a cheap covered drain to
prevent these evils, in the following manner, viz. dig
your drains with as much descent as possible ; lay
upon the bottom an oak or chesnut plank, 12 inches
wide or more ; cover it with two others, 6 or 8 inches
wide or more ; let the covering pieces rest together
at the top over the centre of the bottom plank ; fill up
your ditch, and till as before ; such a drain is both
cheap and easy to be laid, and also to be kept free ;
the tillage upon the ground where it passes, will soon
repay, and if your drain is conveyed into other mov;
ing, this also will richly repay.

Arable Lands •

In the course of my remarks, I have noticed parti-
cularly the subject of pasturage, mowing, and the til-
lage of arable lands, with a reference to their gene-
ral and particular cultivation ; both in regard to their
present profit, and future improvement in value.

The subject of arable lands, as regards the gene-
ral improvements of a farm, shall now claim some
attention.

THE farmer's manual. 71

Here, let me repeat again my former remark. La-
bour and manure, are the basis of good farming.

Is your farm so situated, that it may be cultivated
upon the principles of a general rotine of crops, (as
before laid down,) enter immediately upon this sys-
tem, and let this l3e your plan :

1 • Assign so much of your farm to the purposes of
the plough, as you can manure well, either with plas-
r.'r, or the stronger manures, as before mentioned,
' Fce article Manure*)

2. Keep no more lands under grass, for mowing,
than you can consume upon your farm with profita-
ble stock, unless in the neighbourhood of some large
town, where the sale of your hay will buy you ma-
nure.

3. Keep no more stock upon your farm, than you
oan keep well, either by pasturage, or soiling, and
%v the following reasons :

1. Because one acre of plough land, well manured,
will yield twice or thrice the product, as when tilled
without manure. For instance, suppose you have
20 acres of rye and wheat fallows, in a steady way.
Put 5 acres to clover, with plaster, the first year;
and put 5 acres more to clover the second year ; cut the •
first 5 acres of clover, and feed it upon your farm ;
continue to feed out your clover upon your farm, and
put the dung your clover has made, upon such part of
the remaining 10 acres as may need it most; sow
grain as usual, and the next year, viz. the third year,
stock down 5 acres more with clover, and turn in the
first ^iwe acres of clover, which you stocked down, to
supply the place of the third 5 acres you have now
stocked down. * Thus you will have 10 acres of clo-
ver, and 10 tinder the. plough, or in grain in a steady
way. After one rotation in this way, your 10 acres
kept under the plough, will yield you more grain, and
of a better quality than the 20 did before ; continue
this practice, and, in a few rotations, the 10 acres will
yield you double, or treble to what the whole 20 did

72 THE farmer's manual.

at the first, in the old way. Should you increase
your stock, in this way, beyond the extent of your
pasturage, niultiply your pasturage, as much as pos-
sible, by division fences, {see pasturing,) and convert
a part of your clover fields to a temporary pasturage ;
this will improve their quality when under tillage
again. In a few years, you may derive more profit
from the stock onli/ upon your farm in this way, than
the whole product yielded before, and a double profit
upon your tillage grounds at the same time, together
with the aggregate rise upon the value of your farm
generally ; in addition to all this, you will live better
and much easier ; try it and see.

I am sensible that it will require some capital to
enter largely upon this method of farming ; let this
be no bar to the system ; if you possess the means,
enter upon it with spirit and liberality ; its principles
,are founded upon the broad basis of common sense
and common practice, both in England and America ;
it will repay you faithfully and liberally. If your
means are small, enter upon it by little and little, as
you can proceed without getting into debt, (I here
repeat again, farmers must never be in debt,) When
you buy stock for your purposes, buy cows ; they will
increase your stock with the least expense, and the
best^ as well as most immediate profit.

It is a common reflection of our country, upon the
general system of bad farming, now in common prac-
tice, that we run over a great deal of land, half fenc-
ed, half ploughed and half tilled, at great labour, toil
and expense, without order, calculation, or method ;
and finally, without profit; and that we obstinately
persist in this, hecdiuse ouv fathers ^M so before us.
The truth of these reflections I acknowledge, and
haVe offered a system which will completely correct
the error ; but the reflection upon our fathers, I re-
sent with spirit and indignation, as both cruel and
unjust. Our fathers were the wisest, most virtuous,
hardy, industrious, economical and valiant race of

THE FARMKn'rf MANUAL^ 73

men, that ever constituted a community. Would you
realize the truth of this remark, look at the face of
the country which they subdued ; the foes they van-
quished; the civil, religious and literary institu-
tions they founded, and transmitted down to us, and
which we so richly enjoy. These reflections upon
our fathers, are used indiscriminately to prejudice
our minds against the characters of our fathers gene-
rally, and as much against their excellent institutions,
as against their system of husbandry. Vindicate
their excellent characters, by preserving their wise
institutions, as well as by correcting their system of
husbandry ; not because this was bad in tliem, but
because it has become bad in us, under the changes
the face of the country has undergone since their
days, and under our bad tillage. Let us remember,
that this system of husbandry which I have laid
down, would have no more, and no better, applied to
our fathers, than to the present inhabitants of the fer-
tile wilds of Illinois. The soil was alike with both,
in a rich virgin state, the more corn they could plant,
and the more wheat they could sow, the more profits
they derived from their farms; so, that what in them,
under that rich state of soil, was good farming, has
become to us, under the exhausted state of the soil,
bad farming. Let this apology pass to \he credit of
our fathers ; but let it not be used as a cloak to cover
the obstinate practices of imitation, in any of their
descendants. The times are changed ; the face of
the country is changed ; the quality of the soil has
changed • and if we will live as well, and become as
rich and respectable as our fathers, we must cultivate
their virtues ; but abandon their system of farming,
and reclaim their lands, which have become exhaust-
ed by bad tillage, in passing down to us ; this cau
easily be done by labour and manure, under a regu-
lar rotinc of crops, with large and flourishing stocks
of cows, cattle, sheep and hogs, with as few horses
as the nature of things and rircumstoncc? of on*'

?4 THE farmer's manual,

farms will possibly admit. The horse is a useful and
valuable animal in the service of man, and his ser-
vices are indispensable to his comfort and con-
venience ; but he is the most unprofitable stock upon
your farms.

1. Because his high price exceeds all proportion
to his productive labours.

2. His expense in raising, exceeds all probable
calculations upon the profits of his sales in market.

3. His support requires such feed as robs your
dairy ; your beef cattle and hogs, for fattening.

4. He yields you no substitute for your dairy, beef
and pork.

5. He is more liable to disease and accidents than
other stock, and at his death, becomes a dead loss.
He does not, like the sheep, even leave a fleece in
payment.

Whenever you keep, or raise a horse, let him be a
good one ; such, and such only, will afford you any
profit, either upon your farm, or in market.

I shall conclude my remarks upon arable lands,
with the following observations of Sir John Sinclair.

'* The advantages to be derived from the alternate,
or convertible husbandry, cannot be too much dwelt
)n. None but those who have tried it, can be fully
aware of the vast improvements effected, by laying
down old ploughed lands into grass, as well as con-
verting old pasture lands into arable ; {see my re-
marks^ article Pasture.) If one million of acres of
old tillage lands were gradually laid down into her-
bage, and the like extent of old pasture, broken up
and put under a judicious rotine of crops, it would
T)robably be the m.eans of supplying the public
market with two million of stones of beef and mut-
ton additional, and three millions of quarters of
grain. Under that system, the crops are always
abundant, and the soil is kept in a constant state of
increasing fertility." — Code of husbandri/.

Again, *' If one half of a farm be kept under artifi-

THE TARMEr's manual. 75

eial grasses and other ereen crops, as much live
stock may be supported and fattened upon their
produce, as if the whole farm were in pasture ; while
the other half, enriched by the large quantity of dung
produced by the consumption of these crops, m\l
furnish as much disposable produce, for supplying
the markets with the various sorts of grains, as if the
whole farm had been kept under tillage. Hence the
superior advantages and profit, derived from a con-
junction of stock and corn husbandry ; by such a
union, the grand system of husbandry can be more
extensively and substantially improved, than upon
any other plan hitherto discovered." — Sinclair^ Code,

JULY.

Indian-Corn and Haying.

You doubtless have half hilled your Indian-corn,
and cut your clover in the month of June. Every
careful farmer will now dress his hills with ashes, or
plaster, to render his earing heavy and full, and
get through with his hilling as far as possible, before
his English mowing claims his attention : any inter-
ruption in time of haying, is both unsafe and perplex-
ing. Some farmers delay their hilling until haying,
to husband time, calculating to hill when the weather
is foul and unfit for haying ; this is the worst calcula-
tion possible. The damage to your corn by sucli
delay, is bad ; to hoe or hill when your land is heavy.
or wet, is bad ; it leaves your land tight, excludes
the free circulation of air to the roots of your corn,
and is a waste in the delay of hoeing, both in time
and strength ; all which are bad. Select, therefore,
the finest weather for your several hoeings ; your land
will plough easy, hoe easy, your weeds will wilt and
die in the sun, and vour corn will be refreshed with r-

t> TH£ FARMER'S MANCALc

warm, loose, or light earth, which wiil readily receive
the air and moisture, to nourish your corn. The
manner in which these unite, or combine in produc-
ing vegetation, I have considered under the Article
Gypsum.

Your corn being dressed and hilled ; watch your
English meadows critically ; cut your English spire-
grass when green, as soon as the blossom appears,
it is then the best of hay ; if you sufler it to stand
until the seed begins to form, and the stalk turns yel-
low, it becomes tough and wiery, and from being the
best, it becomes very soon, in this state, the worst of
hay; therefore, I repeat, watch it critically, and
when it comes to perfection, suffer no possible avoca-
tion to delay your cutting.

Your timothy claims also alike attention ; this, when
cut in early blossom, is the best horse, or stock hay,
next to the English spire-grass, and by some is pre-
ferred for horses, even to this ; but if you suffer it
to stand until the blossom falls off, and the seed be-
gins to form, and the stalk, or even the under leaves,
begin to turn, the true value of your crop is lost, and
your hay becomes comparatively bad ; therefore, cut
your English and timothy when in blossom, and cure,
by spreading into three swath winrows, all swaths
cut before noon ; turn it lightly as often as your time
and hands will permit ; and get into cock by 5 or G
o'clock, all the hay spread upon your field ; this is
both safe and profitable, both as to time and expense,
as well as in the value of your hay. You may
take a second cutting to advantage from your English
spire-grass, but never from your t^imothy, or herds-
grass, without an injury to the crop the succeeding
year ; therefore, be content to take the second growth,
by feeding lightly, and suffer as great a coat to lie on
the ground over the winter as possible ; the next yer*r
will repay you with interest, ,

Your common meadows of mixed, wild and coarse
grasses, will claim youv attention in res^ular sncre-

THE farmer's manual. 77

sion, after you have turned up and planted with po-
tatoes such rich swards as you design for wheat til-
lage in autumn, or for spring and summer tillage
the next season ; (be sure to accomplish this by the
fMiddle of July, if possible.)

When your potatoes are planted, and your harvest
is cut and housed, enter with spirit upon your late
haying ; let nothing interrupt yor.r progress ; if the
weather is foul, but not rainy, continue to mow ; when
the sun appears, your swaths will be ready for turn-
ing, and in this way, your haying will progress rapid-
ly ; unless you are slovenly, by putting off the evil
day, and prophesying smooth things, and leave your
hay in the winrow, or spread about your fields, until
the thundergusts and storms overtake you ; your bu-
siness is then obstructed and thrown into confusion,
your expenses increased,and your hay ruined. These
evils, a careful farmer always avoids, by keeping his
hay always under his control, ver^/ exiraordinaries ex-
cepted, and thus his hay is good and commands the first
price in market ; his barns are sweet, his expenses
are light, and his purse is heavy.

As soon as your harvesting is through, plough in
such parts of your richest stubble fields as yfiu in-
tend for turnips ; dress your turnip ground with plas-
ter, live, or leached ashes, or well rotted manure
from your stercorary, and sow^, and harrow, or bush
in, one pound of seed to the acre. .Thisprocess, will
insure you a good crop, and guard your soil against
the bad ^effects of this exhausting root. If you can
take advantage of feeding oft' your turnip crop with
sheep, by hurdles, upon the field, you cannot raise
too many ; the feeding will enrich your soil and your
flock ; but if your calculation is to pull for market,
you cannot raise too few; the profits upon the crop
will not repay the expense of tillage and damage to
your land.

You have doubdess given your buck-wheat lands
one fallow ploughing in June ; cross-plough and sow

7*

78 Tflfi FARMER^S MANUAL. v

half, or three quarters of a bushel, or if your lancl
is poor, one bushel to the acre at this time ; it is a
poor crop when considered in point of tillage, (unless
rolled down and ploughed in as manure, for a fallow
for winter grain,) or for the value of its grain ; but it
makes up one of the varieties of husbandry, will an»
swer upon some poor soils, in place of sor^ve other
crop, and may witk safety precede any of the crops
in a regular rotinc, excepting Indian-corn ; this grain
will not flourish after buck-wheat.

No insect will injure your buck-wheat crop ; bu
your turnips are often exposed to the destructive fly,
which frequently ruin the crop* To secure your tur-
nip crop decidedly against the fly, steep your seed
12 or 24 hours, before sowing, in fish, or train-oil ;
Jraia oft* the oil from the seed, and roll the seed in
plaster; this will separate the seed from the glutinous
adhesion of the oil, render the casts free, and enrich
your crop ; all other steeps at times are said to fail ;
this is not only cheap and easy, but is said never
to fail ; it will always preserve the crop.

The value of turnips as feed, either upon the
ground, or when pulled and housed, either for sheep,
^r cattle, I shall consider at large, under the article
Stock, when the season for tillage is over, and the
:armer has more leisure to read, and when his stock
will necessarily claim -his particular attention.

Wheat.

I have said very little upon the cultivation of wheat
by the use of compost, barn-yard, or other strong ma-
nures ; they generally answer well upon a moderate
soil, for one or two crops; but when continued upon
die same fields, or used upon a rich soi!, the crops of
wheat are generally ruined by the rust on the straw,
(commonly called the blast.) Farmers arc all full
well acquainted with the fact; but even the best wri-
ters are not agreed as to the manner in which the rust
is produced. They are generally agreed in this, thc\t

THE FARiMER's manuaI. 7^

at the time of the filling of the kernel in the ear, the
warm rains, or warm moist weather, cause an exhala-
tion from the surface of the earth on which the wheat
grows, which lodges upon the straw, and forms fun»
gus excrescences, of the toadstool kind, and that these
excrescences absorb the juices of the straw, for their
support, and thus check their natural course to the
support of the kernel, which causes it to shrink, op
blast.

Remarks.

So much of this is true, that the rust on wheat gene-
rally commences at this time, and under these circum-
stances, viz. in warm rains, or along season of warm,
moist weather. But does not this combination of heat
and moisture at this time, bring into action the rich
manures, and thus force into the straw, (which has
now finished its growth,) more juices than the kernel,
(already filled out) can take up, or than can pass off
hy natural perspiration, or evaporation? and do not
these juices force open, or burst the straw, and thus
suffer the sap to exude through these small fissures,
or openings, or even through the natural pores of the
straw, or stalk ? and do not these exudations, when
exposed to the air, become glutinous, and form that
excrescence upon the straw called rust, and thus rob
the kernel of its natural support, and cause it to shrink,
or blast ? It is not so essential in this instance to
know the manner in which the effect is produced, as
to know the true cause and the best remedy. The
true cause is the application of rich manures to the
cultivation of wheat upon a strong, or rich soil ; or
their too frequent application^ or loo long continu-
ance upon light, or moderate soils ; both are danger-
ous, and admit of but one remedy, and even that a
partial one. Cut down your wheat as soon as the
kernel becomes affected, and begins lo shrink, and
let it cure in the gavil ; the exuding fissures, and
pores, will immediately close, and the remaining

80 THE farmer's manual.

juices will support the kernel in the same state as
when you cut the grain ; it will rather swell than
shrink, after cutting. This is always safe, and must
not be neglected, if you regard the value of your crop.
The same causes often produce the same effects upon
rye, and the same remedy will always prove effec-
tual. I have said nothing in particular of the seve-
ral kinds of wheat in common use. I have sown the
white bald wheat and the red- bearded wheat, gene-
rally, and when free from rust, they have done well*.
The red-bearded spring wheat, when the seed can be
obtained from Canada, or Vermont, I have found to an-
swer well, for one or two years ; but never the third,
from the growth of the same seed ; it then runs out,
and must be renewed from the northern country. I
have generally found my spring wheat more inclined
to smut than the winter wheat, unless I use the pre-
caution of steeping and rinsing it, as before observed.
The stiff straw wheat, which is now coming into use,
may become a safe crop against the Hessian fly,
which alone will render it a great acquisition to our
country ; should it prove equally safe against lodg-
ing, when grown too stout and rank, as well as
against the rust, and the fly, it will soon become of
universal use — upon this we hope much ; but I can
say nothing from experience, and have seen no au-
thentic experiments on which I can rely.

Steeping and rinsing seed-wheat to prevent rust,
have been fully noticed. Several other remedies are
noticed by Sir John Sinclair, as practised in England,
viz. selecting the red wheats generally, as being
hardier than the white. Sowing earlier than the
common mode, say on or about the 1st of September,
instead of 1st of October, that the wheat may become
ripe before the usual times of rust come on. Sowing
thicker also at the same time, he remarks, will some-

* la all Uie recent experiments in the Agricultural Society of Hart-
lord County, a great preference has been justly given to tlic red-
bcarde^l wheat.

mE farmer's manual* 81

limes answer. Exchange of seed, either from fo-
reign countries, or different sections of the same
country, will sometimes prevent rust, and will other-
wise well pay the expense and trouble. Crossing
ihe different kinds of wheat, by sowing the seed com-
mixed upon the same field, and thus obtaining a new
kind ; this will generally prevent the rust.

The same writer recommends a top-dressing upon
wheat of sea^salt, or a manuring of salt ploughed in
with the wheat, or even with a turnip crop as pre-
paratory to a wheat crop, as a sure remedy against
the rust. Whenever lands become too strong by the
rich manures, they will always occasion the rust, and
they should be invariably tilled with corn, or pota-
toes, as a preparatory crop for wheat, and then dress-
ed with salt, or plaster only ; but never with the
rich manures ; this process will generally succeed, if
the seed is pure. The same writer goes on to ob-
serve, that wheat sown with rye, by way of meslin
(so called) is never subjected to rust, either in Eng-
land, or in Italy, and closes all his ingenius remarks
upon the causes of rust, with this conclusion, '* That
the disease is taken up at the roots." This conclu-
sion goes to confirm my former remarks, which were
drawn from my own experience and observation.

The same writer has given us some nice calcula*
lions upon the value of straw generally, as well as the
comparative value of the several kinds of straw, and
draws this general conclusion ; that straw generally,
cither for feeding, or litter, is of one third, or one
half the value of hay, and should be as carefully
preserved, and used for both these purposes ; but ob-
serves, at the same time, that straw, used for feed,
should be given out as soon as threshed, otherwise it
will become dry and of little value.

Remarks.

Straw when used for feeding cattle, is most valua-
ble when fed out with clover, or wheft sprinkled with
.strong pickle, and fed alone ; unless when cut fine

S2 THE FARMER^S MANUAL.

and mixed with provinder for horses, or mixed with
boiled flax-seed for fattening beef-cattle, as will be
shown by Mr. Landon of Litchfield. All these modes
of using straw, fully show its value as an object of
importance to the careful farmer ; but the improve-
ment of Mr. Landon, gives it a value of the first im-
portance. When straw is used for litter, either for •
hogs, or cattle, or horses, it is generally allowed that
one ton (the usual product of one acre of wheat or
rye) will produce four tons of manure ; this will dress
one acre of corn, or potatoes, in the hill, and thus
give a profit on the crops of 10 or 15 dollars ; where-
as 5 dollars may be considered as a fair market price
for straw for feeding : leaving a balance in favour of
littering, of 3 to 10 dollars, besides the benefit from
the warmth derived by the cattle and horses : allow-
ing the increased value of the land to pay for carting,
&c. By this value of straw, when used for litter,
may be seen the value of stubble when mown, and
carted into the hog-pen, or barn-yard, or even housed
for litter for the winter ; the undergrowth which gene-
rally may be mown with the stubble, will both in-
crease the quantity and vahie of the stubble, for litter,
if applied in its green state to the hog- pen, or barn-
yard, or even cured and housed for the winter's litter.
The difference between the value of such stubble,
when mown and used as above, and when left to waste
on the ground, will not admit of a comparison. Try
it and see. Although the practice of ridging in stub-
ble and its undergrowth, immediately after harvest,
may be accounted good husbandry, especially when
labour is difficult to be obtained, yet if the farmer
can find time to collect his stubble as above, he will
always find it to his interest, provided it be done im-
mediately after harvest, before the straw has suffered
waste.

Tillage,

Should you have been under the necessity of driv-
ing your arable lands too fast with Indian-corn, or

THE FARMER^S MANUAL. 8a

Other exhausting crops, without resting and refresh-
ing them by a regular rotine, or succession of crops,
and thus have reduced your fall jw grounds below
the advantage of tillage with a potatoe fallow ; you
may recover such lands in one season, by sowing
early in June, or July, from one to two bushels of
buck-wheat to the acre, upon a deep ploughing, and
when your crop is in full bloom in July, or August,
roll down the buck-wheat with a common farm roller,
or where this is wanting, you may perform the same
operation with the back of your harrow, (giving it an
additional weight as occasion may require.) This
should be done by laying off your field into lands,
as you intend to plough, so that your plough may not
be choaked by crossing, or meeting the heads of
your buck-wheat. Care should be taken to bury
your crop as deep as possible, that the buck-wheat
may all be covered, and the depth of your soil im-
proved by the fermentation. The heads of the buck-
wheat which may appear uncovered upon the field,
may be prevented from seeding by one or two light
harrowings. This crop will undergo a strong fermen-
tation, and prepare your old tired fallows for a suc-
cessful crop of winter grain. If your field is of a
light sandy soil, you may sow rye, or even wheat
upon the tops of your buck-wheat furrows. In the
season of sowing, drag in your seed with a long
toothed drag, or cover your seed with the plough,
as you choose. If you have a clay, or stiff soil, you
may cross- plough in August, and proceed in the usual
way of sowing; both will answer well. This pro-
cess wyi prepare your field for a clover crop, (see
article Clover^) which may be cut for hay, or rolled
and ploughed in when in full bloom, after the manner
of the buck-wheat, and thus prepare your fields for
any successful tillage you may choose. 1 cannot say
from experience, that the English white potatoes may
be planted with success upon the top of your buck-
wheat dressing; but as the potatoes will not exhaust

84 THE f'ARMER's MANUAL,

your soil, or lessen the value of your wheat, or rye
crop, the experiment may be tried with safety, and
with strong probability of success. Before that most
valuable article, plaster of Paris, came into use, or
the mode of tillage, by deep ploughing, with buck-
wheat, or clover, were known as above, I have recov-
ered my old tired fallows by suffering them to lie for
pasturing, 2 or 3 years ; and then, after a summer's
feeding, have turned over the sward, and sown rye
with good success upon one ploughing, when 1 could
catch a dry seedtime, so as to render my field mel-
low with the harrow ; and with bad crops under a wet
seed-time, when my land was heavy. This mode of
tillage would be greatly improved by sowing one or
two bushels of plaster upon the first year's pasturing,
and by tilling v/ith a potatoe fallow with plaster,
when you plo'ugh up your field. If you sow plaster
broad-cast upon your furrows, before you plant your
potatoes, it will best improve both your potatoe and
rye crop, or if you choose to sow plaster, cither in
or upon the hills of your potatoes, you may sow your

f)laster with your grain at seed-time, and cover it
ightly with the harrow, or upon your grain without
covering; both will answer well.

How to preserve your lands in the highest possi-
ble state of cultivation, at the least possible expense,
I. have attempted to show under the article Rotine,
(V.' change of Crops.

Harvest,

For this most important business, you have had u
whole season, or I may say nearly a whole year to
prepare. 1 presume, not one single farmer has left
this employment to be attended to collaterally, when
some other jobs may be finished ; but has had his
eye iipon it as a work of the first moment, and is now
ready with hands, and tools, and teams, provided.
Your rye harvest first claims your attention ; is the

THE farmer's manual. 85

atraw all turned, excepting at the joints ? and is your
kernel become so hard, that you cannot mash it be-
tween your thumb and finger ? or is the straw below
the ear becom*^ so dry, that no juice can be forced
out by twisting it ? you may put in the sickle, if the
weather is fine, and cut, and bind, and shock as you
go, generally ; but if your stalk is very stout", and
your ear full and heavy, let your gavils lie until the
after part of the day, (thundorgusts excepted ;) you
may then bind and shock, stack, or cart, with- safety,
provided you house your grain where it can have
free air, or your mo\vs do not become too large ; in
this case, your grain will need more curing. The
advantages of beginning early upon your harvest,
are several.

1. Your grain will yield more and whiter flour;
will waste less by shelling ; your harvesting will be
expedited, so as to prevent the waste of shelling,
by having your last cuttings become too ripe, as is
common when the first cuttings become fully ripe, at
the commencement of harvest. You will have more
time to attend to your turnip crops, upon your stub-
ble lands, before the wheat harvest, or after the
wheat harvest. You will also be in readiness for
your wheat harvest, which you may cut and manage,
as in your rye harvest. If you take the same prf<>.au-
tions against heat in your grain, as in your clover, by
having your mows ventilated underneath, with proper
openings up through the mow, for the circulation of
air, the trouble will be trifling, compared with the safe-
ty and benefit. When your harvest is housed, you
have secured the prime object of your farm; bread —
this is truly the staff" of life; the basis of good husband-
ry, and good living.

If you discover a rust upon the straw of your rye, or
wheat, as is commom upon lands highly manured with
rich compost, or yard dung, you may conclude vegeta-
tion is checked, and that your grain, either begins, or
will soon begin, to shrink.

8

^0 THE FARMER'S MANUAL.

Lose no time with your sickle ; cut down your graia,
if the kernel is formed into a consistence; the juices
m the stalk will afford more nutriment to the kereel in
the gavil, than w^hen standing, and your crop will.be
saved from ruin. This method is always safe, and
must never be omitted. When your straw is cured,
shock, stack, or house it, as before. One or two days, in
good weather, will cure your grain in this state ; but if
the weather proves foul, bind and stack, or shock, for
security, and open your stacks in fair weather, until
they are fit to house. Every consideration must give
place to the saving of your crop. Ridge in with one
bout ridges, such stubble lands as you design to winter
Tallow for spring crops.

AUGUST.

Your harvest is housed, your late potatoes art
planted, and your turnips are generally sown. Your
late haying, and your oats, now claim your particular
attention. Proceed with your late haying as with
your English and timothy; if you gather it in a care-
less and slovenly manner, and suffer it to be exposed
to tf^e rains, as Jbeing of little value, and not worth a
careful expense, it will repay you in your own way,
and will become truly of little value ; but if you col-
lect and house it with proper attention, it will be
the more valuable, and will repay you with interest.
Be sure to finish before the 20th of August.

Watch your oats, as you have done your English
harvest; cut them when the straw is partially green,
and as soon as the oat has formed into a consistence.
The grain will be better, the straw more valuable for
feeding, and a handsome saving in thd shelling ; but
when you house them, use a little more caution than
with your grain, in ventilating your mov/s ; the oats will
pack closer, and be in more danger of healing, than
your grain.

THE farmer's manual. . 87

!l^our haying being closed ; your oat harvest secur
ed ; your cross-ploughing finished ; your early plant-
ed potatoes will now claim your attention. Your white,
and yellow potatoes, are first ripe ; take them before
the vine is entirely dead, and haul them out of the
hills with a three-tined hook-fork : in this state, they
\yill generally adhere to the vines, and by one stroke
of the fork, the hill will be nearly cleared; but if you
suffer your potatoes to stand until your vines are dead,
the coats of the yellow, and white potatoes, will soon
begin to rust and grow defective ; they will also sever
from the vines, and the expense of digging with the
hoe, nearly, or quite doubled. To save expense and
l3bour, is ready monej, in all business ; but in farming,
it is ready money with interest, because it saves time,
which is more valuable to the farmer, who is engaged
about his farm, than money. I can say from my own
knowledge, that one man, with such a fork as above,
can throw out of the hill, after two hoeings, and when
the vines are partly green, more than 100 bushels of
potatoes in a day ; but how many the same man could
dig with the hoe in the same time, I have no knowledge.

Your potatoes should be gathered, and housed, as
soon as dry, to preserve them from injury, from cat-
tle, and the weather. Your early potatoes generally
command a good market, anjd a fair price ; but one of
your best markets is your hog-stye. The value of
this root, when boiled and mixed with bran, corn, or
oat-meal, and given to hogs to bi ing them forward to
fatten, may be fairly estimated at 2s. or S^^the bushel.

Gather your potatoe-vines, coarse hay and stout
stubble, and fill your hog-pens. Cart in turf and
other rich earths, and cover the vegetables in your
hog-pens 5 tho e|;recit heat diid warm r'^inc in AnQ.r\/^j^y
will bring your manure forward fast. Spare neither
time nor expense ; it will prove a rich mine.

Flax and Hemp.

Your flax next claims your attention ; this, if you de-
sign it for the nicest domestic manufacture, you wil!

B8 THE farmer's manual.

pull when the blossoms begin to turn and fall ofl*, al
ter the Irish method, and rot it in the water after the man-
ner prescribed for rotting hemp ; {see hemp process.) If
you let it stand for seed, observe when the stalk begins
to turn, and the under leaves fall off, then pull your flax,
and in both methods bind up as you pull, in small bun-
dles, and set up your bundles in small bunches, to
dry ; or spread it upon the ground for several days, if
the weather is good, and then bind, and stack against
the rains, in long stacks, with the buts, or roots out,
and cover your stacks carefully with loose flax, that
will shed oflT the rains, or your flax will be injured :
the better way is to house your flax as soon
as dried, as carefully as you have done your har-
vest. You may rot it in the water, or dew rot it,
by spreading it upon your grass grounds, in Sep-
tember, after the seed is carefully beat off by the
flail, in the usual way of threshing, or beat oflf by
hand, by whipping each sheaf across a barrel, or
some other permanent body, such as a flax, or hemp
brake, &:c. The seed when cleaned is valuable,
either for the home, or foreign market, and commands
a fair price and good pay. No time can be fixed for
rotting your flax, either in the water, or on the grass,
both depend upon the warmth of the weather, and the
latter upon the moisture of the season"^. The success
of your crop depends very much upon a suitable rot ;
to obtain this, you must frequently dry a handful, and
try it in your brake, and when the rot is perfect, lose
no time in turning again your flax to dry and take up ;
and when dried, lose no time in housing it ; the least
delay may expose it to a rain at this season of the
year ; this, if the weather is warm, or if cold and long,
tvm-ttijxrrc-, if-crcrt T^in your crop ; the same is equally
true with your hemp.

Next to your flax, your hemp claims your at-
tention ; this requires a process somewhat dif-

* When you rot flax in the water, a pond or pit answers best ; th
coufined water renders the flax soft, but will not answer for hemp

THfi FARMER^S MANUAL. 89

ferent. When you observe the under leaves upon
your male hemp begin to turn yellow, and fali^
off, after the period of blossoming is over, divide oft*
your hemp field into rows, 4, 5, or 6 feet wide, by
pulling up the hemp clean in alleys of 2 feet wide, in
the irftermediate spaces ; bind up the hemp as you pull,
and carry it out, and set it up to dry, 10, 15, or 20
bundles in each bunch, and house it as soon as it will
answer without heating. You may then go on to pull
out the male hemp from the female, (which bears the
seed,) by passing in the alleys, and reaching into the
rows, and pulling up each male stalk separately ;
bind, and carry out, and stack as before, until you
have separated the male from the female hemp ; house
when dry as before. After 10 or 15 days, when the
burs in your seed-hemp begin to open, and the black
seeds appear, lose no time in pulling, binding and
stacking your hemp, as before ; the hemp-birds will
become numerous and busy in quest of seed : your
hemp will shell, and your loss will be great. In bind-
ing your hemp, select two spires of the shortest of the
best coated hemp for bands ; for if you use the short
undergrowth, which has but a thin coat, your bands
will fail you in rotting, and your hemp will suffer waste
by becoming loose, besides the difficulty, trouble and
expense of bindiri*g over again your bundles when
wet and heavy. When you are ready to put your
hemp into water, say about the first of October,
(which should always be in some river, or brook,
where the water changes often, and not in a pond, or
any stagnant water ; this will become foul and putrid,
and the stench so great, that few persons can be found
to draw your hemp,) you may thresh off the seed with
a flail, as in flax, or hold a bundle with one hand
across a flax or hemp brake, and whip out the seed
with a hand-staff, upon a tight floor : the seed is va-
luable for the same purposes as your flax-seed, either
for the home consumption, or a foreign market. Tlic
rotting of your hemp is also critical, like your flax^-

8*

90 THE FARMER'S MAIVUAtc

and must be watched and tried, when dried, in the
same manner. If you draw your hemp from the wa-
ter in October^ or even in November, and the weather
proves warm, it will over-rot before it can dry in the
bundle ; you must spread and dry it as soon as pos-
sible, and house it for the winter; but if the weather
should be cold, you may set up your hemp across
your fences ; and if it gets dry before the frosts of
winter set in, house it as before, if not, and your bun-
dles become frozen, you may let them stand over the
winter, and house and dress in March, or dress from
the field as they stand. The difference between the
dressing of your hemp and flax, is this ; your hemp-
brake must be about twice the size of your flax-
brake, in all its proportions, for the first braking;
and then if it is run through a flax-brake for a second
braking, it will greatly expedite the swingling.
Your swingling-knife must be about half the length of
the flax-knife ; the swingling-board about 4 or 5 feet
high. The shives must be separated from the hemp,
by stroking gently with your knife, instead of whip-
ping with a full stroke, as in flax, and by gently shak-
ing the hemp, between the strokes, and all without
the hatchel, as in flax. There is a great slight in
dressing hemp; an expert hand will swingle clean
about 100 lbs. per day. When your hemp is dress-
ed, it must be bound up in bunches of 20 or 30 lbs.
each, and then it is ready for market.

Hemp is a great exhauster of soil ; requires the strong-
est lands, and richest manures, in great quantity; re-
quires also, much labour,- and is of course an unprofita-
ble crop in our country. In time of war, it has proved
profitable, and may become so again; of course, its
mode of culture should be correctly understood. Your
hemp, as well as flax grounds, should be turned up
into ridges in autumn; the ridges should be levelled
with the plough in the spring, as soon as the frost will
admit; your ground then dressed with 10, 15, or 20
!oads of your best manures, well spread and covered

THE farmer's manual. ^1

with the plough, your furrows smoothed gently with the
harrow, and your seed, say from 2 to 3 bushels to the
acre, sown early in May, and covered lightly with the
harrow. If you sow on the furrows and cover deep
with the harrow, or sow on a stift'soil, your hemp will
pull very hard.

Paring and Burjimg,

This mode of culture in England, appears to stand
high in the estimation of Sir John Sinclair, and all the
best English writers ; and w^here labour is cheap, as in
Ei^gland, it doubtless, in many instances, will answer
well ; but the true result of this mode of tillage ap-
pears to arise from the fertilizing powers of the ashes
derived from the sward, when pared and burnt^. So
far as this goes to show the value of ashes sown upon
land to increase the value of tillage, leads me to in-
quire, whether the sward, when turned in to rot, un-
der the furrows, together with one half of the expense
of paring and burning, when laid out in wood-ashes,
and sown upon the tops of the furrows, would not, in
this country, answer a much better purpose for the
succeeding crops, and give a more permanent and
lasting value to the land for an after tillage ? If any
one can be at a loss for an answer, let him try and
see.

Summer Fallowing.

This is one of the most important branches of good
farming, and upon w^hich has arisen a great variety
of opinion and practice. Some farmers are of opin-
ion that the ploughings for a suE^mer fallow, cannot
be too frequent, and ihdit aW fallow crops are injurious
to the land, and particularly to the succeeding crops.

* Quere. Whether lime sowu upon the sward before ploughingfj
and the crop the*! dressed with ashes, would not be more valuable
than paring and burniog-,

92 THE FARMER'S MANUAL,

Others consider all naked fallows as a waste of ex-
pense without any adequate benefit, and insist up9n
some fallow crops either of turnips, to be fed oft* by
sheep, or of potatoes, to bedug for stock, or of buck-
wheat, or clover, to be ploughed in as a fertilizing
crop. Both probably are in an error, -and run into
the opposite extremes. A strong stiff clay, or a hard
gravelly soil, cannot be ploughed too often for a fal-
low ; but a loose sandy soil may be greatly jnjur.ed
by too frequent ploughings. The latter may be till-
ed to advantage, with ^a potatoe fallow ; and the for-
mer by a turnip fallow, to be fed off by sheep ; or after
several ploughings, with the fertilizing fallows of buck-
wheat, ploughed in : but a rough stony soil cannot be
tilled with a fallow crop to advantage ; this land, and
perhaps this only, requires a naked summer fallow.
The great advantages to be derived from a summer
fallow are these :

1. Frequent ploughings destroy the herbage upon
the fallows, and the roots and seeds of herbage, and
thus render the grounds clean for the following crops.

2. This is 'greatly promoted by a potatoe fallow,
both in jioeing and digging.

3. The plough renders the earth light and mellow, to
receive the seed when sown, and to admit the ex-
tension of the roots of the grain, when it vegetates.

4. At each ploughing it changes the soil, and ex-
poses a new surface to receive the benefits of the sun,
air, rains and dews, with their fertilizing powers.

5. It renders the earth light and pervious, for the
admission of the sun, air, rains and dews, and opens
a free circulation for them to the roots of the grain,
(or plants, whatever,) and thus they impart their fer-
tilizing properties to the vital princi})les of the crop
you cultivate.

6. The green fallow, when ploughed in, as well as
the potatoe fallow, greatly promote this benefit, by
meliorating the soil. Upon this principle, the
plough, with the fertilizing crops, upon a summer fa!-

THE farmer's manual. 93

low, arc the only substitute for manure, under til-
lage ; because the effects are the same, with this ex-
jpeptiou, that the meliorating effects arising from the
fermentation of strong manures, are both greatfT for
the time, and more permanent and lasting. The ma-
nure, also, will continue to assist the plough, in me-
liorating the soil for after crops, by causing a new
fermentation upon every new exposure of surface to
the air, until the strength of the manure is wholly ex-
hausted. Hence again, the value of your poiatoe fal-
low, to increase your number of stock, and quantity
of manure.

SEPTEMBER.

Begin the second cutting upon your English mow-
ing grounds ; but let your timothy stand for feed ;
remember that rowen requires double the drying of
the first crop, or the hay will be bad, and give your
horses a cough, and the heaves. ^

Top the stalks upon your Indian-corn close to the
ears, as soon as the ear becomes too hard to boil ;
when the weather is fine, bind in small bundles and
stack in small stacks, the same day, to secure against
rains ; your corn will ripen the faster and receive no
injury, and your stalks will be more valuable. If
your hay is short, or you wish to sow winter grain
after your Indian-corn, or secure your corn against
the effects of early frosts, you may cut up your corn-
hills close to the groi»nd, ii! fair weather, with a sharp
knife or sickh , and lay two rows into one, in small
bundles, as when )ou top and secure your stalks;
bind your buiidlos above the ears, and stack the same
day in small stacks, either upon the borders of your
field, or upon an adjoining field; you may then
pl.Mjgh anJ sow as upon fallow grounds ; secure your
stacks by doubling down the tops, and binding th-

04 THE farmer's manual.

heads with a pliable stalk ; this will exclude the rainSj
which otherwise would damage your corn. This
corn will be ripe at the u.^al time, without the least
diminution in its colour, weight, or value : but in the
opinion of some of the best farmers, (who are in the
steady practice of this mode from choice,) with an
increased value to the grain. The increased quan-
tity and value of your stalks, will richly pay the ex-
pense ; you may in this way, bring forward the sow-
ing of your winter grain, 2, 3, or 4 weeks, which will
again at harvest repay the expense of clearing your
corn-fields. If you house your corn-stacks before
you husk your corn, the pitching will be heavy, and
your bundles often break, and your places for hous-
ing, be difficult'and inconvenient, and often exposed
to your cattle ; therefore, husk your corn on the field,
and empty your baskets into your cart as you husk,
always remembering to leave the husk upon the
stalk, by breaking off the cob; these will again repay
your expense in feeding. The difference in the
mode of husking, will at first be considerable ; but
a little practice will soon remove this, and render
them equal. It is of high importance for every
farmer to know every mode of culture, that will af-
ford him successful advantage in managing his farm,
and in this point of view, this does not rank as one
of the least. If you plant the Canada corn, (so call-
ed,) it will, by early ripening, bring forward your sow-
ing 10 or 15 days earlier than the great tucket, or
common corn, with crops of equal, if not of superior,
value, which is also of some importance.

Enter with spirit upo/i your potatoe fallows ; dig,
house, or market, with all the help you can muster.
One man can throw out of the hill, with a hook-fork,
as mtniy as 5 or G hajids can pick up and cart ; chil-
dren can be of great use in gathering your potatoes.

Clear your poorestMands first, nnd sow your rye
upon them in the first week of September, if possi-
ble ; say one bushel to the acre : your rich grounds

THE FARMER'S MANUAL. Vo

will bear to sow as Ihte as the last week in Septem-
ber, and be as forward when the frosts of winter set
in, as your poorest lands, sown in the first week. If
the weather is fair, and your grounds dry, at seed-
time, you may cover with the harrow, unless upon a
clay, or stift'soil, which is apt to bake, your crop will
then be best when covered with the plough, upon
narrow lands, with deep furrows ; also, when the wea-
ther is moist, and your lands wet and heavy, cover
with the plough : in both cases, the harrow, after co-
vering, leaves "the land close and dead, and your
grain will lack roots sufficient to insure you a good
crop. I have said, say one bushel of rye to the acre,
because this is the common practice, and it does
well; but some farmers sow only half a bushel to the
acre, others again only one peck to the acre, where
the soil is light, and not exposed to be killed by the
winter. I can say from experience, that I have sown
1, 2, 3 and 4 pecks to the acre, upon a light soil,
and upon the same field, and could not discriminate
correctly the difference in the appearance of the
grain at harvest ; yet T practice the common mode of
one bushel to the acre. Let experience be the only
guide to your practice.

This is the time to ensure your crop ; let your lands
be well prepared, and rendered as mellow as possi-
ble, by deep ploughing ; let your seed be steeped for
24 hours, before you sow it, in a strong pickle of sea-
salt, with saltpetre, or in any rich liquid manure ;
then rolled in plaster, and sown immediately ; then
dressed with one bushel of plaster to the- acre, sown
on the furrows, if your seed is covered with the
plough, or it may be sowm and brushed in lightly with
the harrow. With this practice, and the blessing of
God, you ma^ expect a good crop, if your fences arc
good ; but if they are bad, you have no right to ex-
pect a blessing; this is your own wilful neglect.

Your orchards, at tiie same time, claim your atten-
lion ; your early apples, which fall, will soon ro^

96 THE farmer's manual.

and waste, if not gathered and made into cider.,
Children can do the business of gathering apples ;
they are the farmers richest blessing, and When train-
ed to habits of industry, become the best members
of society, when they grow into life. Let your chil-
dren pick up your potatoes, when dug, and pick up
and house your apples, it will be doubly profitable;
first to you, and next to themselves. If your fruit is
made up when ripe and sound, you may generally
have good cider, in the common practice; but if your
fruit is either rotten, or hard and unripe, like the
gleanings of your winter apples, no possible process
can ensure you good cider. I will wave all the va-
rious modes practised and recommended by the nice
and curious, and conclude my remarks upon the or-
chard, by the following extract from Thompson's
Notes on farming.

" The care of orchards, and the making good ci-
der, are so very profitable, that it will necessarily
draw the attention of every good fanner. Mr. An-
derson, a gentleman in England, famed for good ci-
der, gives fhe following account of his approved me-
thod of making it.

' I should first tell you that my orchards are upon
a clay soil, which I think conduces much to the good-
ness of my cider. 1 will be short in my practical
account, making but few observations, and leave the
curious to draw speculative reflections from it. I
permit my fruit to remain on the trees, until a great
part falls by ripeness ; then gently shaking the trees,
take in the apples in dry weather, laying them in
heaps of equal ripeness in a loft over my press.
There they remain until they have perspired, and that
perspiration ceases. As soon as convenient after-
wards, I grind my apples, and press out the jnice ; if
it casts a pale colour, I suffer the pulp to stand 12
or 24 hours, which will heighten the colour of the
juice. As soon as it is expressed, I pour it into vats,
through a sieve, (some filtrate through a hogshead of

THE farmer's manual. 97

clean sand, aft^r the manner of a leach, and place a
large strainer, or sheet, or table-cloth over the hogs-
head, to strain out the pumice,) where it remains
about two days, according to the state of the weather,
and the nature of the apple, (the longest when frosty,
or cool weather,) till a thick head, or scum, rises upon
it. Then I draw off a little into a glass to see if it
is fine, and as soon as I catch it so, I rack it off with-
out delay into open vats, or into hogsheads. If the
juice is racked into vessels larger at top, than the bot-
tom, and I rack it off as soon as fine, 1 need not take
off the head, or scum, it will not mix with the cider ;
but if-the cask is straight, or I have neglected to draw
off until the cider begins to become foul again, I find
1 do best to take off the head with a wooden skim-
mer, and then draw off as soon as possible. When-
ever the brown head begins to open in the middle, or
elsewhere, and a whiteness appears at the openings,
I am certain it is time to begin to draw off; but I
find from experience, that the- surest token is to ob-
serve its state by what is drawn off in a glass, and
this method should be closely attended to. I have
drawn a glass of cider out of a vat at 8 oVJock, foul ;
another at 10, fine, almost candle bright, without any
appearance of the heads opening, as above observ-
ed: at 11, it was growing foul f^st, without high
winds, or any extraordinary event that [ could per-
ceive, to occasion it. If then drawn off into open
vessels, a fresh head may arise in 24 hours, then it
may be racked into a close hogshead, or other receiv-
er, where it will begin to ferment after a day or two,
according to circumstances ; I then permit it to fer-
ment 3 or 4 days, (never exceeding a week, for the
hardest fruit,) then I fumigate a clean sweet hogs-
head, with matches of coarse cloth, dipped in melfed
brimstone, and rack off my cider into the cask as
quick as possible. If the fermentation still goes on,
I give it one more racking in this way, and cover the
bung with a tile, until I am sure tlie fermentation has

-^8 THE farmer's MANWAL.

ceased ; I then bung close loi- th^ winter. Some-
times f have had the fermentation.^ continue, and'
force me to 5, 6, 8, 10, or a dozen successive rack-
ings, after 1 begin to fumigate, and yet the cider has
proved good. Many other modes are practised with
good success ; but wherever this method is attended
to, I will answer for its doiag well.' *'

Remarks.

The most important parts of this method of mak
ing good cider, are,

1. The time and manner of gathering the fruit.

2. The care and attention in assorting it, by sepa-
rating the hard from the mellow.

3. The rackings which separate the liquor from
the lees, or fine pumice, which causes the fermenta-
tion.

OCTOBER.

You have now dug and housed your early fallow po-
tatoes, and finished sowing your rye; enter with the
same spirit upon your late planted fallow crops, (such
as were planted upon your clover, or English swards,)
and proceed in gathering your potatoes and preparing
your wheat lands as you have done your rye ; plough
deep, with small furrows. Steep your wheat as you
have done your rye, and roll it in plaster, and sow plas-
ter with your wheat, plough in, or cover with tlie har-
row, as with your rye. Sow your wheat broad-cast,
one and a half bushel to the acre ; this seeding is most
generally approved. If your wheat appears to be
smutty, wash it clean in some open vessel, where you
can rinse it by stirring ; skim off the smutty, and light
wheat'^and then go on to steep as before directed ; thir
will guard against a future smut upon yourcrop*

THE farmer's manual. 5'

Look to your field beans ; pull such as you design to
follow with wheat or rye, and remove them to the bor-
ders of your field, or on to the field adjoining, in small
heaps, to cure ; or ycKir sowing may be unnecessarily
delayed, to the damage of your crops. Beans are a
rich, healthy food for the table, occasionally in winter,
are valuable feed for your hogs and sheep, are easily
raised, and do not exhaust your lands. Even the
poorest light lands, or the stiffest clay, with a little
plaster, either in, or upon your bean-hills, will give
you a profitable crop, which, if pulled, and cured as
above, may serve as one of your fallow crops, if you
use plaster at sowing as before directed. One of the
great mysteries of farming is to suffer nothing to re-
main idle, but to make every article of your farm, both
animate, and inanimate, produce some steady, and
substantial profit : this a careful farmer may always do.
Your orchards claim your steady attention through
this month. Gather your winter apples by hand, from
your trees, and put them into your spare flour-barrels,
or any dry barrels, directly from the trees ; head
them up, and let them remain in the open air, either
upon the field, or in some other safe place, until the
weather becomes so severe as to endanger their
freezing; then house in your cellar, such as have
not been marketted ; the saving in this way will
doubly repay the extra expense of picking by hand,
and the cost of the barrel. Children can do the
business of picking, with small baskets, or with bags
slung over the shoulders, (as the seeds-man slings
his bag at sowing,) with the' assistance of a careful
hand to move their ladders, and fill and head up the
barrels. I have, in some seasons, gathered 3 or 400
bushels upon my farm, in this way, in a few days, and
always with good success. If you design your apples
for the Southern or West-India market, you may pack
them in your barrels with clean dry sand, at little ex-
pense, and always with good advantage. I have of-
^ a done this with my winter's store, and with a savins:

^Q(^ ^ THE farmer's manual.

Some persons construct shelves in a cellar secure
against frost, and place their apples separately upon
the shelves, and find an advantage in saving their fruit
over to the spring, which fully repays the expense.
This does well, and may be considered in the end
cheaper than barrels, as the shelves (if properly con-
structed) will last many years ; but the barrels, by
neglect, are soon gone. Try both.

I need not say that great care should be taken with
your orchards to cultivate the best fruit ; this every
farmer knows, who deserves the name of farmer, and
the manner of effecting this by grafting has become
common to our country. I shall treat upon this sub-
ject more particularly in my remarks upon gardening,
article fruit. Finish gathering your late fruit for
cider, make it up as fast as possible ; make some trial
of Mr. Anderson's plan, or method, to begin with ; if it
pays the expense this year, you may reap advantage
from it the next, besides the enjoyment of drinking
good cider. In Newark, in New-Jersey, they have be-
come famous for good cider, by such kinds of ma-
nagement, and their cider always commands the first
sales, the highest price, and best pay, in market;
often a double price, when scarce in market. This
is a consideration which no careful farmer will neg-
lect.

Look to your flax, and turn it when necessary, as
the upper surface will rot faster than the under side.
Look to your hemp, or flax, in the water, and see that
it is well covered with the water, and that it lies safe,
(not being washed away with the great rains.)

Dig and house your carrots and other roots, you
design for feeding ; excepting your turnips and cab-
bages, these may stand to close your field crops.

Draw your flax from the water as soon as it will
answer, (upon trial as above,) spread it to dry ; and
bind and house it the first moment it will answer
one extra rain may ruin your crop, or destroy yoi
profits. Observe the same with your hemp

THE FARMER'S MANUAL. 101

Watch your corn in your corn-!ofts, turn it often,
that it may dry even, and not mould, especially if the
weather is warm and rainy ; bin up your first corn in
narrow bins, as fast as it w^ill answer with safety, to
give room for your late husking ; this valuable crop
requires nice attention ; select the fairest and, ripest
ears, as you are husking, for year seed-cafo, particu-
larly those with the smallest coh .ami best filled out
at the ends. Now is thelirrje to;impi\oveyoi!r ftext
crop. By pure seed, and by selecting the earliest, or
the r4pe&t, you may bring forward your after crops
10, 15, or 20 days; this will secure your Indian-corn
against early frosts, and ought not to be neglected;
or will enable you to cut up by the bottoms as before
observed, 10, 15, or 20 days earlier, and thus im-
prove your late sowing^*.

It is of the highest advantage to the farmer, not
only to know how to cultivate in the best manner,
each particular crop separately, but how to combine
this cultivation with the improvement of other crops,
so as to be able to make the greatest advantage from
the seasons of seed-time and harvest.

The same is as true with the seed of your potatoes^
and all other crops, as of your Indian-corn, and maj'
as easily be attended to, and improved, and to as
good advantage. ^

Get your flax all in from rotting, in the course of
this month, if possible, and house it snug and dry;
secure your hemp as fast as it will answer, before
November; the season becomes critical for such
cropso Finish makingand marketing your cider, and
place such casks as you may resei've for domestic

* This improvement may be extended stiU further; you may se-
lect your seed-corn fr<?m your field, taking the ripest ears, at differ-
ent stag;es of your corn, (beginning early in September,) and from
the most thrifty stalks ; this will bring forward your next crop ; but
if you select your seed from such stalks as produce two or more ear?,
7/ou may^ by pursuing this pi-actice, double, or treble your quantity
of corn upon'the same grounds, with the same liliai>-c, *

9*

i02 THE FARMER^S MANUAL^

consumption, at the north side of your buildings
where it may be kept cool until the frosts of winter
set in, then stow it away in your cellar.

Plough into one bout ridges (with deep ploughing)
such grounds as you design the next season, for hemp
an^fl^x; the extra .benefit you will' derive from the
frosts ot' winter^ and iiie rotting of the herbage, will
richly r^poy the .expense, in your succeedmg crops.

NOVEMBER.

Your carrots, potatoes, and other roots, together
with your Indian-corn and flax, must now all be secur-
ed and housed ; and your hemp is also housed, or un-
der a proper management, and in a good way. Your
orchards are cleared and your cider all made, and
your ridge-ploughing for winter generally through :
now let your farm-yard claim your first attenilion.
Cart on to your mowing grounds all the hianure col-
lected in your barn-yard and in your stercoraries and
hog-pcns through the summer, spreadit in moist wea-
ther, or before a rain, as even as possible, and brush
it down thoroughly with a light harrow, or a thorn-
bush, or any other bush that will answer the purpose ;
your moist grass grounds which cannot be washed
by drains, or enrichexl with plaster, ajid^ your young
clover, claim your first attention for fall manuring.
Two loads of dung well spread on grass lands in the
fall, are equal to three in the spring, in ordinary sea-
sons; but if the following May and summer should
prove dry, two loads in the fall are equal to four ia
in the spring. This is too serious an advantage to
be neglected. After all your care and attention to
this most important branch of good farming, through
the summer and autumn, if your dung should fall short of
your demands, you may now supply the defect, by re-
serving your high and dry gravelly and sandy lands

THE farmer's manual. 103

for your plaster of paris, and dress with one, two, or
three bushels to the acre, as the tillage may require;
and upon your moister grounds, you may spread your
live, or leached ashes, in broad-cast, according to the
quantity you can collect; they will richly repay for
several successive seasons.

Drains which convey a wash on to your mow-
ing grounds, are of the highest value, and now
claim your serious attention ; therefore, repair,
njend and secure your dams ; dig or plough out
your dr-ains, change their directions on to a new
surface, (otherwise the parts last washed will be in-
jured by becoming too rich and rank, and your grass
will come forward and lodge, and rot at bottom, be-
fore the other parts of your field are fit to (mow) cut,
and thus you suffer a two, or three-fold waste from
your inattention.) One gallon of water in winter,
from the rains and melted snows, will exceed in va-
lue many gallons of summer water^ when applied as
a wash to your mowing grounds. Your barn-yards
being cleared as above, and your drains well secur-
ed, and as well directed ; your stabling and sheds to
receive your stock, next claim your attention. If you
are ready for the expense without injuring your other
improvements, or contracting debts, {a farmer should
never he in debt,) let your barn face the south, en-
close one rood of land, or less, (according to the num-
ber of your stock,) in a square form, erect low and
frame sheds upon the east and w^est sides of your
yard, with a single roof, that shall convey the water,
or rains, off from the yard ; let the sheds extend as a
side fence upon two sides of your barn-yard, from the
corners of your barn, with cribs, or racks, for your
cattle to feed. Next to good feeding, are warm and
dry coverings for your stock. Let your barn-yard
form a gentle xlescent, at or near to one corner, where
the heavy rains may settle 5 throw into this the coarse
clearings of your cribs, refuse straw, buck-wheat
straw, &c. these will fennent5 and form a reservoir of

104 THE farmer's manual*

long dung in the spring to dress your corn and pota-
toe grounds. Let your barn-yard be furnished with
separate racks standing in the open air; into these,
throw your loose straw when you feed out your clo-
ver in your cribs ; your horses and cattle will eat up
your straw clean in this way, and to good profit, by
passing alternately or successively from the cribs of
clover, to the racks of straw, and thus mixing them to
their liking.

In stabling, it is of the first importance that your
cracks be battened, your windows and doors snug and
tight, your floors tight and secure, your mangers
strong and tight, that you may feed with carrots, po-
tatoes, or turnips, as occasion may require ; thus you
will have the double advantage of good feeding, and
warm stables ; both which are of the first importance
in good farming.

If you cannot aflbrd the expense upon your barn-
yard as above, you may make cheap sheds for your
stock upon the sides of your yard as above, by set-
ting substantial crotches, at proper distances, as sup-
porters ; place such poles as you can conveniently col-
lect,upon your crotches, with others extending across,
with a gentle slope, or descent ; cover with coarse
hay, or straw, as is most convenient: a few boards,
of any quality, tacked upon the back sides, will
shield your cattle from the winds, and make a cheap
fence, at the same time. You may reserve from your
fences, when you repair them, such posts as are sound
at top, and have rotted ofiT at bottom, and set with
these a crib fence three rails high, and of a suitable
width : they will stand well several years, and
make you the same saving of hay as the nicest cribs.
You may also construct straw racks in your yard,
by setting down two posts, with one rail fixed in tine
posts of a suitable height, and place a number of old
refuse, or broken j-ails, upon each side, alternately,
to rest upon the rail fixed in the posts, as a support-
er, and extending its whole length, fixing the bolton:

THE farmer's manual. 103

of the cross rails firm in the ground, with a slant to
your liking, to form your rack. These cribs, and
racks will be both cheap, and of a great saving in
your feeding.

Draw your late rotted hemp and set it up across
your fences, for a winter's drying. Cart into your
barn-yard every thing that may be converted into
manure. Crop lightly your late feeding grounds,
such as clover, timothy, or English mowing, both by
3/our cattle, horses and sheep. Feed off your turnips
with your sheep, as they stand, by the use of hurdles,
if possible, and in the following manner, viz. collect
a number of chesnut stakes 6 feet long, and about 3
inches. square, and sharpen them at the bottom ; nail
on to two of these stakes five strips of boards, (saw-
ed for the purpose,) of about 4 or 5 inches wide, and
10 or 12 feet long, fasten each strip with two 10 pen-
ny nails, in each stake, thus nailing on the five strips
at such distances as will be of sufficient height to se-
cure your sheep in their enclosure. When you have
prepared a sufficient number of hurdles to enclose
one or two roods of your turnip field, let two hands
set the hurdles for the enclosure, with a crow-bar, or
a wooden bar sharpened for the purpose ; this may
be done quick, and at very small expense, in the
following manner ; let one hand (after the hurdles are
laid round the place of enclosure,) hold up a hurdle
erect, and the other with the bar strike into the earth
(he holes for the stakes, (at the foot of each stake.)
then plant the hurdle; then the next, and so on in
succession until the enclosure is finished ; then turn
in your sheep, cows, or cattle ; when one enclosure
is fed off and you have a desire to enrich that parti-
cular spot, for any special purpose, as for onions,
carrots, scarcity-root, &c*. you may pull the rest of
your field and cart on your turnips and feed them upon
the spot ; but if it is your wish to enrich your whole
field for wheat and clover ; you may remove your hur-
dles, and set again, and thus feed off the whole crops

106 THE farmer's manual.

this easy way of enriching your farm, together with
its profits, needs no comment. One set of hurdles
wilJ last, with careful usage, and careful housing, 20,
30, 40, or 50 years, provided they are taken up and
secured before the frosts of winter fix them in the
ground, and thus expose them to the weather unne-
cessarily over the v/inter. Cover with deep plough-
ing the manure of the first enclosure, as soon as you
have changed your feeding; this will secure against
all loss from evaporation by the sun, and give your
land an immediate advantage from the fermentation,
before the frosts of winter set in. Plough in this
manner successively, at your several movings, until
you have fed and manured your whole field ; thys your
land is prepared for any crop you may choose, and
at a smcrll expense, with a handsome profit. Your
fat sheep are now ready for market, and your lambs and
store sheep are prepared to winter, safe and cheap.
The growth on your wool will repay all your ex-
penses, both in its quantity and quality.

Plough up clean and deep such stubble, or sward
grounds as you design for Indian-corn the next sea-
son, particularly such as are accustomed to be eaten
by the cut, or grub-worm ; you v/ill find this practice
an effectual remedy. Salt vvhen sown on the sward,
will produce the same effect.

Harrow your land, when ploughed, as fine as possi-
ble ; this will prepare it to receive a benefit from the
air and frosts of winter, that will richly repay your
trouble in the next crop, whatever it may be.

Flouse your cabbages ; set oiit in some convenient
part of your cellar such as you design for the table,
and |)Iace those intended for stock in some open shed,
or loft, where they will lie secure against heating un-
til they are fed out. — See Stock.

Pull and house your turnips designed for market-
and the table, or winter feeding, and secure them 'v
your cellar against frost.

.TOE farmer's manual. 107

DECEMBER.

Your farming is now all done, and I trust well
done; no man hos thrown away a dollar unnecessa-
rily upon new and visionary schemes, by making
experiments upon English farming in our country;
or lost two dollars in saving the expense of one cent
in not increasing his stock of manure, ploughing,
and tilling his fields, draining and bogging his wet
mowing grounds, or not manuring, plastering, or
washing his dry mowing grounds, or by not rinsing
and steeping his seed-wheat, or by sowing too spar-
ingly, or by not steeping and plastering his seed-rye,
oats, barley, &c. or by neglecting to steep his Indian-
corn at planting, and rolling it in plaster, or even by
not plastering or ashing the hills, or even by neglect-
ing to plaster his potatoes at planting, or at hoeing;
or what is worse than all, by neglecting to plaster
his young clover, and suffering his fences to be out
of repair, and thus waste his crops; with all the
train of evils which follow ; poverty, disgrace, dis-
tress and ruin. 1 am persuaded that every farmer
who reads this work, has applied his money liberally,
and to the best advantage, and is now prepared to
amuse himself in the care of his stock, in the social
enjoyment of his friends, his family, and his fire-side,
through the long approaching winter, with his heart
full of gratitude to that God who is the parent of Na-
ture, and of all her productions, and who has thus
enriched him with the bounties of his common provi-
dence, rewarded liberally the labours of hi« hands,
and given him all things so richly to enjoy.

Farmers, you are, under God, the lords of this
lower creation ; in obedience to the command of God,
you till the earth, nature's vast store-house; into
your hands she pours her wealth, through a thousand
tributary streams, and from your stores are fed the
inhabitants of the palace, and the cot. This high,,
this elevated, this ennobled rank in life, is calculated

108 THE FARMER^S MANUAL,

to show you your dependence upon God, the authot
of nature, of nature's laws, and of nature's works :
to teach you such humility as will necessarily result
from these conclusions, that although you can plough
and plant, sow and reap, yet of yourselves, you can-
not produce one spire of grass, or explain how it is
produced ; you cannot eftect the formation of one
shower, or explain its effects upon the vegetable
world ; this should teach you love to God, and bene-
volence to men ; freely you have received, freely
give. From the vast store-house of nature, your
cup overflows with her richest blessings ; it becomes
your duty to use them without abusing them. Select
a full share of the best for your own comforts ; impart
in fair market, for the support of the community,
such as the consumption demands, and the reasonable
support of your revenue requires ; and, with the re-
mainder, be liberal to the virtuous and industrious
poor. These are plain practical duties ; but sources
of incalculable satisfaction and enjoyment.

In my remarks under September, the care of your
orchard was noticed ; let me call your attention to an
important article of this valuable and productive
part of good farming. Select some convenient part
of your garden, or field, contiguous to your house ;
plough it early in this month ; harrow and strike it out
with your plough into rows four feet asunder ; strew
these furrows with pumice from your cider-mill, (se-
lect the pumice from such fruit as you would wish \o
cultivate,) and cover it lightly with the plough ; keep
down the weeds for 2 or 3 succeeding years,* until
your trees have acquired the height of 3 or 4 feet ;
thin out and transplant, at the same time, leaving the
trees in your rows 6, 8, or 10 inches asunder. At
this stage of your nursery, (2 or 3 years growth,) you
may propagate such fruit-as you may choose, by bud-
ding, (a mode more safe and expeditious than graft-
ing,) without checking the growth of your trees.
For particulars on budding and grafting, see Garden-

THE farmer's manual. 101)

mg. Such trees as have already come to maturity for
field setting, may be removed to the best advantage
in this month, for three important reasons, viz.

1. The farmer generally has more leisure time,
than in April.

2. If the trees are taken up when the top of the
ground is slightly frozen, so as to hold the earth about
the roots of the trees, they will be sure to live.

3. In setting, be sure not to plant your trees be-
low the rich mould ; fill in with the richest of the
mould, and give a top dressing. With this, they
will be more sure than when set in the spring.

Now is the time to form your orchards to the best
advantage ; therefore, never sufler your trees to begin
to head short of six feet, and even ten would be bet-
ter than six; this would admit the sun and air, to
warm and fertilize the ground under your trees,
which will not only cause them to yield more, and
better fruit, but enable you to obtain about as much
grass under the trees, as in the open air ; and in dry
seasons, you may obtain more. This culture will
also repay double for manuring, both in the products
of the orchard, and the hay.

Stock.

Your fences are all in such repair, that neither
your own, nor your neighbour's hogs, sheep, or cat-
tle, can take advantage of an open winter to feed on
your mowing grounds, or your winter grain, or
injure your crops in the spring before the frost is
gone sufficiently for you to repair your fences. This
is an article of the first imporlance, and which no
careful farmer will neglect.

Your carts, hnrrows and ploughs, together vrith all
the implements- of the summer's tillage, are securely
housed. Your wood-house is well stored with wood
kept over the summer, to last you until the season of
good sledding arrives. You have plied voi:r hoo-<

10

110 THE farmer's manual.

since the first of September, with pumpkins, or car-
rots, and potatoes well boiled and mixed with bran,
or meal, and you arc now driving them with Indian-
corn, cither shelled and boiled, or boiled upon the
cob; this mode of boiling your corn, has been prov-
ed to exceed in value the same quantity when ground,
and ^iven in the usual way; and thereby the expense
of toll, and going to the mill, are saved; the pork
will be equally hard and good. No more expense
will be necessary, in boiling a kettle of corn or po-
tatoes, that will hold a barrel, than in boiling your
tea-kettle, for the same time ; one gallon of water
will be sufficient, provided you cover your corn, or
potatoes close with dry bran or meal, so as to pre-
vent the steam from escaping : where fuel is scarce,
this saving will be an object of attention.

You have now collected all your stock from your
p?>stures, and closed your fields for the winter. You
have selected such cattle as you have designed for
market, and are now closing your sales, particularly
all horses, not immediately useful and necessary.
This animal is of the least value to winter over, of
any of your stock. He requires your best feed, and
gives you very liltle productive labour in winter;
yields you neither beef, nor wool, in the spring, and
never advances his price in the spring market, equal
to one-fourth of the expense of wintering, exclusive
of risk and trouble : both which are very considera-
ble. Let your working cattle, cows, sheep, and such
young stock as you can be sure to feed well over
the winter, be selected as the special objects of your
winter's care ; and be sure to market to the best ad-
vantage all the supernumeraries. The difference ia
the value between either of these articles of stock,
which are full fed, and well kept over the winter, and
those half fed, and poorly kept, is greater than I
should dare to name ; not only in its value the ensu-
ing spring, but for all succeeding purposes of such
stock*

THE FARMER'S MANUAL. iH

Your barn-yards are cleared of their summer's ma-
nure, all which is well spread upon your mowing
rrvounds', {see article mamire ^) your sheds and racks
are all prepared ; your stables are rendered tight and
warm ; your barns, as well as your houses, are all
patched wherever a shingle is missing ; the glass is
all set in your houses ; your house-doors, and barn^
doors, are all rendered tight and secure •, your cellars,
are all banked up where it is necessary, and thus ren-
dered secure from the frosts of winter. Your cidei
is all got in, and put up upon the stalls; such apples
as you put up in barrels for the use of the family, are
now snug in your cellar ; your turnips are dug and
housed, and your cabbages are all pulled, and such
as you intend for the table, are carefully set out in
the driest part of your cellar; such carrots, beets
and parsnips, as you design for the table, would pay
you well in their relish and flavour, if you will pack
them in sand, in dry casks. Such turnips as you
wish to keep late, and preserve from being pithy, co-
ver under a heap of loose potatoes, where you can
conveniently draw them when wanted ; you will pre-
serve them pure over to the spring. Your French
and Swedish turnips,*will then supply for the sum-
mer.

In selecting your stock for the winter, you have
been careful to reserve such, and such only, as are
of the best size and form, and such as show the great-
est disposition to fatten, at the least expense, and are
the most orderly and manageable; having disposed
of all the ill-shaped, unruly, unmanageable, and of a
lean disposition ; in this way, you will in a few years
have under your care a perfect stock, if you are care-
ful at the same time to select the best size and form
of each kind, to propagate with, or encourage your
neighbours, by propagating from theirs if they sur-
pass yours. The cultivation of your farms, by good
husbandry, has not only taught you how to raise the
value of your lands, and increase the profits upon your

i 12 THE

crops, at the same time, by tillage, but has taught
you^ also, that the same attention to your stock, will
enable you to derive the same profits from this source
of winter's husbandry.

The general hints given as above upon the neces-
sary attention to your stock, will be sufficient to ex-
cite the farming interest generally to their stock;
but the best mode of effecting this, may be learnt from
the practice of Mr. Bakewell, the noted reclaimer
and cultivator of the Diskley farm, (so called,) in Eng-
land.

*' The choice of the best breed of horses, cattle,
sheep and hogs, which is too little regarded, is of
great importance to a farmer, and deserves his nicest
attention. The expense is as great, nay, many times
greater, in keeping a creature of a bad breed, as of a
good, and the value is very different. It appears
that the Canada breed of horses would be found ex-
cellent for the plough, or draught, and the Esopus
breed for the carriage. In the choice of horses, the
form should be particularly attended to. The Cana-
da breed comes the nearest to the form of horses in
the highest esteem in England, for draught, viz. that
of a true round barrel, remarkably short, and lower
over the forehand than any part of the back, the legs
also short. The Esopus breed, of a proper size, are
f^ightly horses for a carriage ; they are gentle, tracta-
ble, and easily broke, and yet have a proper degree
of spirit, have a good carriage, are easily kept, and
. hardy. The Narragansett breed have been account-
ed excellent for the saddle. A cross breed with the
Narragansett and Esopus, or with the English, (known
by the name of the old Ranger breed,) have been ac-
counted the best for the saddle in New-England." —
Thompson's J^oles on Farmings

These breeds are nearly extinct in Connecticut;
but with proper attention they might be restored.

'' Mr. Bakewell (of the Diskley farm in England)
hag rendered himself famous by his breed of cattle.

THE rARMER\s MANUAL. H^

His principal aim is to gain the best, whether sheep
or cow, which will weigh the most in the most valua-
ble joints ; and at the same time that he gains the
shape which is of the greatest value in the smallest
compass, he finds by experience that he gains a
breed much hardier and easier fed than others. In
his breed of cattle, his maxim is, the smaller the
bones the truer will be the make of the beast ; the
quicker it will fatten, and the weight will have a lar-
ger proportion of valuable meat,''

The shape, which should be the criterion of an or,
bull, sheep, or cow, is that of a hogshead, or barrel,
truly circular, with small, and as short legs as possi-
ble ; upon this plain principle, that the value lies in
the body, and not in the legs. All breeds whose
backs rise in a ridge, arc bad.

By proper management, Mr. Bakewell brings up
his cattle in amazing gentleness ; his bulls stand still
in the field to be handled ; they are driven from field
to field with a small switch. His cattle are always
fat, and this he insists is owing to their breed.

The small quantity, and inferior quality of food,
that will keep a beast perfectly well made, in good
order, is surprising. Such an animal will grow fat
in a pasture which would starve one with great
bones and ill made.

Mr. Bakewell is equally curious in the breed of his
sheep. The bodies of his rams and ewes are as true
barrels as can be seen ; round broad backs, and the
legs not more than six inches long. An unusual
proof of their kindly fattening, is their feeling quite
fat between the fore-legs, upon the ribs, where the
common kind never carry any fat.

He finds that hardly any land is too bad for a good
breed of cattle, and hardly any good enough to make
a bad breed profitable.

With regard to the rot in sheep, Mr. Bakewell
thinks it is solely owing to their feeding on lands
which have been flooded : hence it appears, that sheep
10*

^^4 THE FARMER^S MANUAL^

should not be suffered to feed on watered raeadows^
Water flowing over grass-grounds after the first of
May, is sure to give your sheep the rot, whatever be
the soil,

Mr. Bakewell is remarkably attentive to the point
of wintering his cattle. All his horned cattle are
tied up in open, or other sheds, all winter, and fed
according to their kind, on straw, turnips, or hay.
The lean beasts have straw alone. Young cattle,
which require to be kept in a thriving state, and fat-
tening ones, are fed with turnips ; and in the spring,
when the turnips are gone, hay is their only substi-
tute ; by these means, he is able to keep a large
.tock. His farm, in all, consists of 440 acres; 110
jf which, are arable, and the rest is grass ; and he
vceps 60 horses, 400 large sheep, 150 horned cattle,
and has generally 13 acres of wheat, and 25 of spring
grain.

It deserves particular notice, that Mr. Bakewell
pays a yearly rent for this farm ; and when he came
into possession, the farm was so low, from bad ma-
nagement, as to render it very diflBcult to rent it at
rmy price.

The first attention of Mr. Bakewell, upon en-
tering this farm, was turned to the improvement of
his stock; this- he effected in a gradual manner, by
procuring the best breeds for their general propaga-
ion, until he raised the reputation of his farm, and of
nis stock, to a rank of the first eminence in England.

The method of littering horses and cattle, as is of-
-cn practised both in England and America, not only
lenders the animals so much more warm and com-
rbrtable, as to lessen the expense of food, but great-
ly increases* the quantity of manure, by preparing
10 or 15 loads of long dung to each creature, in a
winter, so stabled and littered, either with coarse hay,
htraw, &c. and thereby furnishes the means of saving
ihe whole (or nearly) expense of wintering, in the
next year's tillage. Now if we take into considcra-

THE farmer's manual. 115

tion, the extra number of stock the same farm would
keep by the culture of the potatoe, as a fallow crop,
and thus increase the quantity of manure, by consum-
ing the straw, &c. for litter, and thus again, by the
help of the manure to increase the quantity of hay,
grain and straw, as well as potatoes, &c, it will at
once be seen, that under this management, all our
farms may become Disklcy farms, and all our farmers
gain the wealth and reputation of Mr. Bakewell ; be-
sides, the pleasure of managing such a farm, will, of
itself, doubly compensate all extra care and attention.

JANUARY.

^'^our pork hogs are all now killed, and doubtless
marketted to the best advantage, excepting a good
supply of the best, which you have carefully reserv-
ed for your own use. Your hams and chops, are all
put into a strong pickle, to prepare them for smoking ;
if you have saltpetre, put it'into the pickle with your
hams, and if the barrel or tub is crowded, turn them
often ; and at the end of 4 or 5 weeks, hang them up
for smoking. If by any means your saltpetre should
not be dissolved in your pickle with your hams, you
may pulverize it at the time of taking the hams out
of pickle, and with a wet cloth rub over the hams
wnth the saltpetre, particularly at each end, around
the bones, say loz. to each ham ; it will strike through
immediately, and your hams, when smoked, will be as
high coloured, and as tender, as when preserved in
the saltpetre pickle. Entire accident discovered this
method, and frequent practices has confirmed it.
Your beef is also all marketted, or put up for your
own use, excepting such as you design for your win-
ter's feeding. If you feed with carrots, your cattle
will require some water, but if upon potatoes, they
will do best, after the first week, to be fed withou

116 THE FARMER^S MANUAL*

water; the moisture of the potatoe will be found suf-
ficient. You may now bej^in to realize the value of
your potatoe fallows ; your beef-cattle will fatten
faster than in the usual method, upon meal and pro-
vinder, and your corn may be sav^ed over for the
spring and summer markets, which always com-
mands cash, and a good price. Your cattle kept for
labour, will pay you in their appearance, in their ex-
tra labour, and in the saving of your hay, if you
give them one peck a head each day. Your cows,
also, will repay you in their milk, as well as in their
appearance, and saving of hay, if you give each one
a peck of potatoes each day : but this is not all, they
will make you more butter from the same milk, and
pay double the next summer in your dairy*.

I have before me an experiment upon fattening
beef, published by Mr. Nathan Landon, -of Li-ich-
field ; in which he states, that he fattened an ox, and
a three year old heifer, \viUiout either corn, or pota-
toes, for a less expense than even a common feeding,
and in the following manner, viz. *' 1 boiled about
two quarts of flax-seed,' and sprinkled on to cut
straw, which had been previously scalded, and sea-
soned with salt, together with some oil-cake, and
oat-meal ; working them in a tub, with a short pitch-
fork, until the whole became an oily mush. I fed
the heifer regularly in this way, about two months,
when she had eaten about one bushel of flax-seed,
with the other ingredients in proportion. When she
was butchered, she weighed 584lbs. ; 84lbs. of which
was tallow. She would not have sold for more than

* One acre of potatoes properly fed out to your stock, will afford
you manure lo dress two acres well the next year ; the profits on
your stock, and on your extra crops, from your extra manure and
tillage, will be your second profit ; the increased value of your land,
will be your third profit ; and ag;ain, the increased quantity of stock this
will enable you to keep, and thus, in a chain, augment your wealth,
together with the value of your farm, will be a constant profit ; this
may not only be witnessed in the case of Mr. Bakewell, but in tlv
case of every farmer who will practise it. Try and see.

THE farmer's manual. 117

,^16 before fattening. I sold two quarters of her
for $ IS 13, She cost me not more than ^10, ex-
clusive of the hay she ate, which was chiefly scald-
ed, as above. On the first of February, I began with
the ox. I fed him about three months, but not altoge-
ther as well as I did the heifer. He digested about
one peck of boiled flax-seed per day, prepared as
above, which 1 suppose formed about one half of
the fat in these two cattle. The ox was short, mea-
sured 7 feet 2 inches, and when killed, weighed
1082lbs. and had 180lbs. of tallow. He cost me
when fattening, 25 cents per day : he had previously
cost me $ 35. My nett gain in fattening these two
catde, was more than all I have cleared before in
fattening oxen and cows, for fifteen years, and this is
owing 1 think chiefly to the use of flax-seed"^."

Since writing the above extract, I have seen an
extract from the Berkshire Star, recommending the use
of flax-seed ii^raising calves, as follows, viz.

'' Boil half a pint of flax-seed in two quarts of
water ten minutes, to a jelly ; then add skim-milk
enough for three calves, or in the same proportion
for any number of calves. This food, given twice
a day, or thrice, will make them healthy and vigor-
ous. The jelly may be used with hay-tea, without
the milk."

This method is now coming into general use, and
it will enable dairy farmers to enlarge their stock,
without injuring their dairies.

Your horses, kept either for the saddle, or the
harness, will perform more service when fed upon
potatoes, than upon oats, or grain, and will not readi-
ly have the bots, or heaves. Even your young cat-
tle and horses, will richly pay you for a few potatoes
occasionally, both in their appearance and growth.

* Qi/ere. Whether potatoes, or carrots, steamed, or boiled, as onr.
of the ingredients, will not be found to be an improvement ; and
whether flax-seed mixed in this way, with boiled corn, carrots, c '
potatoes, will not improve the fattening of pork ho??.

118 THE farmer's manual.

Whatever multiplies feed for your stock, enlarges
the quantity of your hay, and enables you to in-
crease the quantity of your stock. Whatever will
enable you to increase the quantity of your stock,
increases the value of your property directly, and
the subsequent value of your farm indirectly, by in-
creasing the quantity of your manure, and thereby
the quantity and value of your crops ; thus you see
that your potatoe fallows, which do not exhaust your
soil, may be made the source of great improvement
and wealth to the farmer^'.

Your sheep should be fed daily upon potatoes ; no
article of stock will repay you with greater profit;
the quantity of their wool will be greater, and qua-
lity hner ; they will be free from ticks, unless kept in
too warm a covering, and too many in a fold ; they
will never shed their wool, and seldom lose their
lambs, when fed daily upon potatoes. The saving
of hay will be as great as with your^thcr stock in
the same ratio. The rage of our country has been
great for the merino breed of sheep; this has now
subsided, and the farmers generally calculate to keep
a due proportion of the English and merino breeds,
to suit the mutton and wool markets. Experience
can only be the true guide upon this subject.

Your affairs are now all snug, and well arranged ;
let your accounts claim your particular attention.
They should all be posted by the first of this month,
and all balanced and closed, before the month is out 5
the saving you will make in yearly reckonings with
your merchants, mechanics, labourers, <Sz:c. will rich-
ly repay your attention. Perhaps there is no one
thing in which farmers generally are more slack, than
in their accounts, and it is of importance that it
should be corrected.

* From the best calculations made by the best feeders, carrots and
potatoes, i.re found to be worth 2*. per bushel boiled and g:iven to
hogs, or given raw to beef cattle, or \s, when given to hogs, rav
or unboiled*

THE FARxMEr's MANUAL. 119

Imnrove the first turn of good sledding to draw
liome your wood and fencing stuff, for the next season ;
the winters are so precarious, you may not have an-
other. It is of the highest importance that you pro-
vide in winter for the next season, as well as to pro-
vide in summer for the next winter. Think of ease,
but work on ; the rich improvements before you,
should be your ample reward, together with the flour-
ishing state of your families. The example of every
thriving merchant, or mechanic, is before you ; if
they did not lay in their stock in due season, they
would soon run out, and so will you.

Look often to your water-courses ; see that the
wash is properly directed, by not flowing too long,
or too much, in one place, to the damage of your field,
and see that your banks and dams are not broken,
and washed away ; this is both a cheap and rich ma-
nure, and such as no prudent farmer will neglect.
The wash of the roads may be turned on to your
sloping grounds, with very little expense and trouble,
and afford you a handsome profit.

Two most important things now claim your atten-
tion ; the first is, see that your children are not only
steady at school, and well supplied with useful, and
valuable school books ; but improve every possible
opportunity to improve your own minds by reading
history, geography, biography, and the sciences ge-
nerally.

Converse with, and examine your children often
upon their studies at school 5 you will not only dis-
cover the state of their*mprovements, but you can
do more than the master, by encouraging and excit-
ing their ambition. One hour's instruction by con-
versation, is worth two by reading, upon the same
subject.

In vain you toil to become rich, if your children
are not educated properly, to take good care of it af-
ter you are dead. In our children we live again after
we arc dead, and all the good there is in acquiring
more wealth than is necessary for our support, is to

120 THE FARMER^S MANUAto

enable us to educate them in such a manner, as to
give to them the means of improving to the best ad-
vantage, the surplusage of our earnings, and thus
continue the family name with respectability, to the
latest generation.

No man was ever too old to learn ; and a correct
expansion of the mind, and information of the un-
derstanding, is more precious to the owner, than sil-
ver, and renders him more valuable to the communi-
ty, than gold.

FEBRUARY.

Your stock are now snug and warmly housed ; your
beef cattle, cows, sheep and working cattle, are re-
gularly fed with potatoes, or carrots ; your clover is
at proper times regularly apportioned in your racks,
with straw, that your stock, by passing from rack to
rack, may feed on clover and straw alternately, as
they choose. Your threshing is now progressing as
fast as possible, and every possible opportunity im-
proved to finish your sledding for the next season.
Your hemp and flax, are also the objects of your
particular care ; get them forward as fast as possible ;
the market, and the spinning-wheel, will now begin
to urge the work. Every cent you save in domestic
manufactures, is three cents gained ; first, from its
extra durability, antl next,^rom the saving of yoyr
money, and above all, the promotion of domestic in-
dustry. One |)iece of handsome domestic manu-
facture, will go further to raise the reputation of
the young ladies, than the most expensive foreign
dress, if you have stored more turnips than are suf-
ficient for the use of the table, give them to any
stock that will eat them, except your sheep; give
to them potatoes, but not turnips, at this season;
they will injure thf»ir lambs. It will be needless to
give any directions for the preservation, and manage-

THE TARMEr's manual. 121

went of weak and feeble lambs ; the best nursing for
such lambs is, by keeping the ewes well, either upon
your best English hay, particularly rowen, with
potatoes, carrots, or white beans ; these will ensure
you strong lambs, with a plenty of milk, and save
all the trouble of nursing. Should any one be so
unfortunate as to want the proper means of ensuring
strong lambs, as above, or neglect a proper use of
such as he may have, (for even barley, oats and corn,
will answer as substitutes for the potatoes, carrots,
or white beans, if given in small quantities, so as
not to excite fever, and thereby cause ticks, and the
shedding of the wool,) let him remember that such
weak lambs should be treated, in all respects, as if
they had been drowned, and'you would restore them
to life. Apply gentle and regular warmth ; give warm
milk, frequently, in small quantities, (the milk of the
sheep is best,) and .if the ewe has milk sufficient for
its support, you may generally raise them ; but if
not, they generally die. It is more work to nurse
one such lamb for 24 hours, than to feed regularly
100 sheep for the same time ; take your choice.

Your breeding sows are now about to bring your
pigs for the next season ; keep them well, and in
good flesh, but not fat, and salt them often to prevent
their eating their own pigs, which often happens if
they are too fat, and you neglect to give them salt.
Now is the time to lay a proper foundation for your
pork harvest, and in order to show you the value of
this part of good farming, l will at this time lay be-
fore you sundry extracts upon this important subject.

Extract from the Boston Centinel, March, 1819.

" All Europe boasts of Leaden-Hall* ;
But Yankee products beats them ali."

*' Dai/ of fat things. — Of the numerous improve-
ments of which our country can boast, thqit made in

* Noted flosh-market in London.

n

12^2 THE farmer's maxual.

rearing hogs, is perhaps the most extraordinary ; and
ought to confer on the individuals who have been in-
strumental in introducing and promoting, in our coun-
try, breeds so capable of improvement, the proud
title of Public Benefactors. This remark occurred
on learning, that, during the last week, one of our
merchant victuallers purchased no less than sixty thou-
sand weight of pork, principally raised in New-Hamp-
shire and Vermont. We saw about thirty of the
hogs which composed the purchase^^ and which, for
whiteness of flesh, smallness of bones, thinness of
skin and ears, and plumpness of body, could not be
exceeded. Some of them, we learn, before they were
slaughtered, could scarcely see, were unable to rise
upon their hind legs, and were fed in a recumbent
posture. We were told by the drovers, that a farm-
er, in one of the upper towns in New-Hampshire, had
in his pen twenty pigs, which, when slaughtered, are
supposed to weigh eight thousand weight ; and that
one of his neighbours has twelve others, which are
supposed to weigh six thousand weight."

From the last Massachusetts Agricultural Repository
and JournaL

'' One of the most successful experiments in Agri-
culture that we have ever known, is that of the Alms-
house Farm, in Salem, which is under the caie of Mr.
Paul Upton.

" This farm consists of about 35 acres, (as we arc
informed,) and was, two years since, in a state of na-
ture, and very rough land. It has been brought too,
and the produce during the year 1818, was as fol-
lows, viz. pork killed, weighed seven thousand nine
hundred and sixty pounds. Twelve live pigs, sold
for thirty-two dollars. On hand, fifty-seven pigs.
Corn, four hundred bushels. Potatoes, two thousand
two hundred and fifty bushels. Turnips, nine hun-
dred bushels. Three tons of squashes. Fifty ton-

THE faumer's manual. 1^23

of pumpkins, together with all the common summer
vegetables for the Alms-house.

'' We doubt whether any farm in the United States,
has produced more, in proportion to its size ; and il
is a proof what well directed industry can effect.^'

South' Berzi3ick Mammoth Hog.

" February 17, 1819. — Mr David Nichols, a worthy
member of the Society of friends, has this day killed
a hog aged 21 months, 13 days, half blooded, of the
Newbury whites ; his girth 6 feet 5 inches ; unusually
short in proportion to bis size ; weighing with the
rough fat 670lbs. precisely ; having gained at least
lib. per day since he was littered; he was sold for
12 1-2 cents per pound." Kennebunk Paper.

Poiighkeepsie^ Dec. 16, 1818.

*' We learn that five hundred and twenty-five wag-
gon loads of pork were brought to this village on Sa-
turday last, which will probably give our farmers
$15000.''

Mammoth Ho

s-

'' A hog was lately killed by Capt. Joel Lull, of
Windsor, Vermont, which weighed 582lbs. ; only 19
months old."

Instances of the improvements of our country in
Agriculture, might be thus extended to a very great
length ; but these would only swell the expense oi
this work uiynecessarily. The above are sufficient to
show what has been done, and what may be done
agam, by every farmer who is in earnest about hi>
iarm, and will learn how to work it right.

You see that upon the Salem farm were raised
about eight thousand weight of pork ; besides live hoffs
marketted, and fifty-seven reserved for stock the nex^

I '24 THE farmer's manual,

season ; also, 400 bushels of corn. You also see, at
the same time, more than two thousand bushels of
potatoes. These, when boiled, produced the pork ;
this again, produced the manure, which in its turn,
will produce corn again, and, at the same time, raise
the productive v^lue of the land; and thus you see
how my former remarks (under the articles, Majiure
and Stock) are verified. The size of this farm, also,
shows how great wealth, with a little expense, can
be drawn from a small farm, with proper manage-
me!it. The profits and the reputation, are worthy
of the first attention.

Cut your cions for grafting, from such fruit as you
wish to propagate ; be sure to select from the ends
of the most thrifty, and best bearing limbs, upon the
most thrifty, and best bearing trees, and of the last
year's growth only, excepting so much of the growth
of the preceding year, as may be sufficient to fix in
the earth to preserve them moist ; let this be done by
tying in separate bunches, the several kinds, with
labels, and fix the bunches in the ground, in some
dry part of your cellar, where they will stand secure
until wanted for use.

If the weather is warm at the close of this month,
commence the pruning of your orchards and fruit-
trees, generally. Cut ofl'all the old dead limbs from
your old trees ; but preserve the young shoots ;
ihey will come forward and bear, when the standing
parts of your trees are dead. When you trim your
young trees, cut oft' such limbs as incline to droop,
are defective, or intersect each other; a little atten-
tion in pruning your fruit-trees, will carry them up in
a handsome, regular shape, and both improve the
quantity and quality of your fruit and your tillage un-
derneath. To effect these two objects, it will be-
come an object of your attention to accompany your
trimmer, and both watch and direct his trimming; a
person on the ground can generally judge better than
one upon the tre^. I need not repeat, that your orchard

I'HE farmer's manual. 1^5

are objects of prime importance upon your farms, not
only for the revenue which they afford, but for the ex-
pense of rum, and other liquors, which your good ci-
der will save, ai!d for the saving, more especially, in
your time and doctor's bills, in using cider in the
place of rum, or other ardent spirits. I am sensible
that all arguments against the use of rum and tobac-
co, are lost upon those who have long been accustom-
ed to their use ; but I hope to be believed, by those
whose habits are not irrevocably fixed, when I say,,
that I have in the course of my life used both rum
and tobacco, and for many years have disused both,
with a full conviction, that my health is better, and
my strength more permanent and durable when I la-
bour, than when 1 used either — mark the difference
of expense — yes, of useless expense — an expense
that would pay the taxes and clothe the families of
many farmers, and how much more, I dare not say---
let such farmers calculate, and see for themselves, it
they dare look the evil in the face. All this, and
more too, your orchards will remedy, with one bar-
rel or two of good malt, or hop beer, for the warmest of
the weather. Try this mode as 1 do, and if you find me
in an error, correct my error, and I will yield to your
better judgment. But if you are satisfied with the
improvement, let this waste of money, v/hich costs
you so much toil and sweat, be placed at such inter-
est as shall ensure a quiet life, a tranquil old age, and
a happy and peaceful death. Neither of these were
ever obtained by rum and tobacco, nor ever will be.

For remarks on your other fruits, see Gardening.

Here let me repeat again the remarks I made in
January, upon education. The news-papers are the
great vehicles of general information ; they give us
a general knowledge of men, their political connec-
tions and movements ; their commercial relations,
agricultural improvements, &c. To understand pro-
perly this important source of information, a genera!
knowledge of Geographv is absolutely necessary*

11 *

^26 THE farmer's manual.

This may now be easily acquired by the assistance
of the small school Geographies, with their Atlasses,
which cost about 75 cents ; and tb^s your winter
evenings may be converted to the pleasure and im-
portance of acquiring the valuable science of Geogra-
phy, so that when you read in your news-papers the
events, occurrences and transactions of foreign na-
tions, you may, by the assistance of these school
maps, bring those countries before you, and thus
render them as familiar to your minds as the towns,
or societies, in which you live. In this way, this
news-paper foreign intelligence will be both interesting
and useful. In this way, the general instruction of
your families will be greatly improved, and a free and
pleasant social intercourse heighten the enjoyments
ot a winter's fire-side. The study of Astronomy and
Natural Philosophy, should also make up a part of
these useful and social enjoyments. Philip's Lec-
tures on Astronomy, and Blair's Grammar of Philoso-
phy, are cheap and valuable books adapted to the
:apacities of children as well as men, and will im-
part all the knowledge upon these important subjects,
iseful or necessary in common life. This system of
instruction your children cannot obtain in your com-
mon schools ; but with your encouragement and as-
sistance, they may become ambitious to obtain it, and
by a proper spirit of emulation, they may be made to
excel in these sciences ; this will not only render
them familiar to your own minds, and thus become
a source of enjoyment to you, but they will aflbrd
you the lasting satisfaction of witnessing the improve-
ments of your families. In this way, a laudable emu-
lation amongst children of the same family, and of the
same neighbourhoods, may be excited, and thus the
most valuable improvements of the mind become the
medium of the most social and familiar intercourse.
It must be understood, that the farmers of all coun-
tries are the pillars of the State, and that the wealth,
sup{x»rt and well-being of all communities, depend on

THE farmer's manual* 1^7

them* It must also be remembered, that virtue, indus-
try, economy, and a well informed mind, constitute the
basis of their wealth, strength, or influence, and re-
spectability ; and that the waiit of any one, or all of
these virtues, will subject them to the cunning, in-
trigue, arts and duplicity of such ambitious specula-
tors of the community, as are more knowing ; such
as infest all communities, and feed on the labours,
and depend on the virtues of others, to maintain and
support the interest and tranquility of a State, which
their own pride, indolence and vices would otherwise
#i| and destroy.
ilRarmers, let me repeat again, you are the lords of
the soil and the pillars of the State, spare no pains
to give to your minds that expansion, which alone can
be derived from an enlarged education, that you may
become the guardians of the State ; that the liberties
of your fathers may be preserved inviolable, and
transmitted down to your children to the latest ge-
neration.

In the course of the successive months, I have en-
deavoured to place before the farmer the most valua-
ble and useful crops, with the best practical modes of
improving those crops, with a general reference to
their use at this season of the year, both in feeding
and improving stock.

It has now become your care to convert to the best
use and profit, every article that will promote the
growth, and better the condition of your horses, cat-
tle, sheep and cows. Give out all such coarse fod-
der as you design for feeding, before this month is
out; when the sprmg opens, it will become useless
excepting for litter, and to this use, all should be ap-
plied, that can possibly be spared. Every load of
manure you can possibly make, becomes better to
you than so much value of cash in the bank ; because
the next crops will pay you a much greater interest,
and the increased value of your lands, by the means
of this manure, will render this better than compovuid
interest. Here let me repec^t again, apply every dry

128 THk farmer's manual-

substance you can collect and spare for litter foi
your stock, it will not only keep them warm and thus
save hay, but be the means of giving life and vi-
gour to all parts of your husbandry, by the manure il
will make.

The long winters of New-England are generally
considered as being a great damage and expense to
the farming interest, generally ; this is true to all such
as choose to make them so ; but directly the reverse
to all such as consult their true interest. Our nor-
thern winters are not longer than are best for the
improvement of the mind, education of our childi^,
cultivation and improvement of our stock, threslp^
out our grain, dressing our hemp and flax, making and
collecting manures, the provision of fencing stuff, fuel,
&c. together with the promotion and enjoyment of that
social intercourse, which is the life of society, the en-
livener and polisher of manners, and the basis of the
good order and best interest of the community. Now
is our time to combine all these advantages, and reap
the benefit of them.

Let the merchant and the artist boast of their
nice calculations, their stocks in business well laid
in, and contemplate their profits, amounting to vast
stores of wealth, in expectancy ; the success of all
their schemes, and even their own personal support,
depend on the farmer.

As well might the Apiarian construct his splendid
hives, and stock them well with bees ; if the fields
yielded no blossoms for their support, his stock
would all perish ; his fine calculations would all fail,
and his vain expectations end in disappointment.
Just so the calculations of the merchant, the ar-
tist, and even the government, and the nation itself
would fail, without the labours of the husbandman,
and the blessing of God, to crown those labours with
success. •

These are the plain practical truths of common
sense, and common experience; Irt me call on every
description of character in the community, and say,

129

thou art fed and clothed, and warmed from the field —
venerate the plough.

Farmers, I have before remarked, ye are the lords
of this lower creation, and I have shown you this by
clear demonstration ; reverence yourselves, by your
industry, economy, temperance, sobriety and punc-
tuality, with all the christian virtues, and you will
compel the world to reverence you. Should any one
order, rank, station, or individual in society, withhold
from you the tribute of respect, justly due to your
rank, and worth in society, let him alone ; reflection
will correct his error. Let no advantages of im-
proving your knowledge in the science of husbandry,
escape your attention ; apply this improvement in
knowledge, to the improvement of your farms, by lit-
tle and little, as circumstances, and your means may
afford you opportunity; a well directed industry,
with the blessing of God, will enable you to sur-
mount all difficulties, and will make you both rich
and independent, and your families after you. Re-
member the Salem Alms-house Farm ; the example is
before you, go and do likewise, and become the Paul
Uptons of your country. Under such husbandry,
the merchant will flourish ; the artist, and the labour-
er will flourish ; the agriculture and commerce of our
country (those handmaids of nations) will flourish ;
our country will become the garden of the world, and
America the store-house of the world. Enjoying, as
we do in America, the advantages of every clime,
which constitute the delight of the temperate zone;
blest, as we are, with a variety, and fertility of soil,
unrivalled in the geography of Nations ; together with
the privileges of civil and religious liberty, unparal-
lelled in the history of nations ; let us remember
that the eyes of God, and of the world are upon us ;
in proportion to the distinguished magnitude of our
privileges, so let us fill up our duties to ourselves,
to the world, and to our God.

Let us keep free from debt, and once more I say,
wo are of all men the most happy and independent.

ON

GARDENING-

MARCH.

In i^ew-England, we are excluded, generally, from
our gardens, by the frosts of winter, from the middle
of December, to the middle of March, and often
from the first of December, to the first of April.

Whenever the frost subsides, we begin to prepare
our hot-beds, for the purpose of forcing vegetation,
and in the following manner.

Hot-Beds.

Mark out your bed, to the size of the frame you
design to cover it, which is generally six feet in
length, and three in breadth, covered with glass set
in sashes of 12 panes each, of 7 by 9 glass. These
sashes are hung with hinges upon the back side, to
admit of their being raised up, and let down in front,
at pleasure. The front side of the sashes to incline
from the bark side about six inches. The frame, or
box, is tight upon all four of its sides, and generally,
about 12 inches high in front, and 18 inches on the
back side.

Dig your bed thus marked oft', and cover it witjj
litter from your horse-stable ; stamp down your seve-
ral layers, until your bed is raised to the height yon
wish, then cover the bed with a layer of rich earth,
from 6 to 12 inches thick, and set on your frame ; in
8 or 10 days, it will generally be ready for plantins^

T^E Parmer's manual, 131

if the weather is mild. Ff the fermentation is too
powerful, and the heat too active, give it air by rais-
ing the lights in your frame, until you have obtained
a rigtit tempen\(ture ; (which you may determine by
placing your hand upon the bed, or even thrusting
your hand into it.) You may then plant your early
cucumbers, radishes, sallads, &c. ; these plants will
soon come forward, and may be transplanted on to
other hot -beds, not so powerful, or promiscuously,
into the gardei, and covered with other small frames,
#f 1, 2, or 4 panes of glass according to circum-
stances, and the remainder may stand for use.
These plants may be brought to perfection, general-
ly, about one month earlier than in open ground,

As|)aragus may be forced in hot-beds to advan-
tage, in the following manner. Draw, or dig from
your asparagus- bed, as many roots as will fill your
hot-beds, and set them in rows that will admit the
hoe between, and from one to three inches asunder
in the rows, (roots of four years old, and that have
never been cut, answer best ;) cover with your frame,
and when you pick for use, cut within the ground.

Peas.

Prepare your pea-ground as soon as the frost is out,
by digging and raking, until it is completely pulver-
ized ; if your soil is weak, manure with live or
leached ashes, or chip-dung, and rake it in ; then
plant your early hotspurs in double rows, 4 or 5, or
even 6 inches asunder, and set your peas by hand,
about half an inch distance in the rows ; cover light-
ly, and press down the surface of the earth upon the
rows with the hoe. Hie them gently as soon as they
come up, and when you set your brush for support-
ers, set one row in the centre between the double
rows. Be sure to select for this crop the driest and
ivarmest soil in your garden, particularly, such as is
secured from the north winds, by a tight fence, or
a wall.

132 THE farmer's manual.

When your hotspurs are up, plant, in the same
way. early turners, nonpariels and marrowfats, &c.
in succession, and in this way> you may continue
your peas until autumn.

Cabbages.

Select from your cellar the best of your cabbages
with heads, and set in some secure place, to stand
for seed ; set different kinds remote from each other,
to prevent their mixing their seed at the time of blos-
soming. Set, at the same time, your best cabba^-
stumps for early sallad and greens. If your ground
is moist, set fleet ; but if it is dry, set deep ; say six
inches or more.

APRIL.

Remove the covering from your strawberries, and
hoe them lightly.

When your early planted peas are all up, continue
to plant marrowfats, or other rich peas, and go on to
bush your early peas as directed before.

Set rareripe onions ; sow late onions ; and plant, at
the same time, beets, carrots and parsnips, for sum-
mer's use ; sow sallads and radishes with your on-
ions, they will be fit for use when your hot-beds arc
done.

Cover your asparagus-beds with rich manure, (if
you neglected it in the fall,) dig over the surface
lightly, and rake it until the earth is mellow.

Set garlics, plant Scarcity, or Mangel Wurtzel,
sow cabbages, turnips, radishes, &;c. Set all your
seed roots, if you have not set them before ; such as
ruta baga, beets, carrots, turnips, both long and
flat. Sow sage, thyme, mint, summersavery, &:c.
with spinach, parsely and celle.ry.

Plant English white potatoes, on a rich warm soil.

THE PABMER^S MANUAL* 139

Asparagus,

Select the driest and warmest part of your gar-
den for your asparagus- bed, as you have done for
your early peas ; render it a deep rich mould by fre-
quent digging, and high manuring ; lay it off into
beds of four feet wide, and sow your asparagus-
seed as you have done your onions and carrots, in
rows of about 10 inches asunder. When the plants
come forward, hoc and weed as often as may be ne-
cessary to bring forward the plants free from weeds,
through the first season.

In April of the next season, stir, or dig the ground
lightly upon your asparagus, and give a top dressing
with rich manure ; continue to hoe, and keep down
the weeds, as before. At autumn, cover your bed
with long-dung, or litter, from your horse-stable ; and
in April, rake it off, and dig and rake as before.
When the plants come forward, you may now begin
to select a few of the most thrifty, for use ; remem-
ber always to cut just beneath the surface of the
ground. Continue this process, with occasionally
a little salt strewed over your beds in the spring,
and you may enjoy the luxury of good asparagus.

You may now set a bed of horseradish in the same
way, if you have not done it in March.

MAY.

Plant bush-beans and pole-beans of various kinds,
upon a warm soil, and manure with horse, or hog-
dung; (to set the poles first, and then plant the beans
round the pole, is generally preferred ;) be sure to
plant fleet. Hoe and bush such peas as have come
forward ; hoe and weed your onions, rareripes, gar-
lics, sallads, &c. Plant your cucumbers in open
ground, upon a rich, warm soil, and manure with

12

134 THE farmer's manval.

horse, hog, or chip-dung in the hill. Continue to
plant late peas. Plant early corn, such as the small
tucket, sweet corn, Canada corn, and great tucket.
Sow cabbages, cauliflowers and broccoli; plant
early squashes, musk-melons, canteloupes and water-
melons. Begin to cut asparagus for use. Continue
to sow celery, spinach, parsely, sage, thyme, and
other aromatics, with beets, carrots, &c. Continue
to plant potatoes ; plant broom-corn, holcus bicolor,
or chocolate broom, and close your seeding before
the 25th. '

Culture of the Carrot.

Select a deep rich garden mould for the culture of
this root ; a warm sandy loam answers best. Pre-
pare this land with high manuring, by the richest
and best rotted manures, and deep ploughing. Let
the earth be nicely pulverized with the harrow, and
struck out into beds of 3 1-2, or 4 feet wide. In
striking out these beds, let the plough pass up and
down, or return back, in the same furrow ; this will
turn the earth equally up to each bed. When the
beds are thus struck out, haul in the loose dirt from
the furrows on to the beds, either with a hoe, or a
rake, and let it meet on the centre of each bed ; this
%vill lay the beds crowning ; then break all the clods
upon the beds fine with the back of the hoe, or with
a wooden clod-knocker, made for the purpose, and
finish the beds by pulverizing as fine, and as deep
as possible with the rake ; (a rake with sharp iron
teeth is preferred.) When the beds are thus pre-
pared, mark them off into rows 10 inches asunder,
with a large heavy rake made for the purpose, with
3 or 4 teeth placed at that distance, and about 5 or
6 inches in length, well sharpened at the points.

The beds are now ready for sowing ; prepare your
carrot-seed by rubbing it with the hands, after it is
shelled, until the seeds are all separated, so as not
to stick together ; then mix them with plaster of Pa-

THE farmer's manual. 135

lis, or live ashes, or both, or with a dry loam, and
strew your seed in the rows so as to have ihcm fall at
the distance of 3 or 4 inches apart; this will give
them room to grow without crowding, so as to obtain
a good size. If ynu mix a small quantity of onion-
seed with your carrot-seed, the onions will come for-
ward first, and assist in finding the young carrots at
the first weeding; they will also serve for early fami-
ly use without injury to the carrots. The carrot
must be kept perfectly clean, and free from weeds
through the season ; 3, 4, or 5 hoeings and weedings
will be necessary, and in October, they may be dug
with the spide, or dung-fork : 500 bushels to the
acre is a good crop, and I have known 2500 bushels
to be raised upon an acre, or in that ratio. The car-
rot is worth 2s. when given raw to hogs, cattle, sheep
and cows, or 2s6 when boiled, or steamed, and
mixed with bran ; no feed makes richer pork, beef,
mutton, or butter and cheese, than the carrot. The
same culture is required for beets and parsnips.

Mangel Wurtzel, or Scarcity Root.

This root requires the same culture as the carrot,
but as it grows much larger, it is necessary to place
the seeds in the rows at the distance of about six
inches, and when the roots have obtained a good size
in July, and August, you may begin to pluck the un-
der leaves as feed for your hogs and cows, without
injury to the roots ; if you begin to pluck upon one
side of your patch, say one rood, you may have,
from the time as above, a regular succession of pluck-
ing through the season ; for by the time you have
gone over the patch, the roots first plucked, will be
ready to be plucked again, and so on. This food is
very nutritious, and may become a profitable saving
of your corn. The value of the roots you may ex-
perience in your winter's feeding, either for hogs,
sheep, cattle, or cows, the same as the carrot, or they
may be kept over until spring, as you choose. Thi«^

136 THE farmer's manual.

root may be rendered much more productive than the
carrot, and its summer's croppings give it a prefer-
ence to that root. Onions may also be sown with
this root without injury to the crop.

JUNE.

You may plant cucumbers to advantage the first
of this month ; they will often be as early as those
planted the middle of May, and generally bear bet-
ter. Clip off the runners on strawberries.

Weeds are the common enemy of man ; they now
begin to infest your garden. Remember, that as you
till, so you will reap. Hoe and weed your plants as
sbon as you can do it with safety. One crop is suf-
ficient for one piece of ground, at one time, and if
you suffer it to be weeds with your plants, you will
have only weeds. Nurse your plants with your hoe
frequently ; remove the dry earth, and give them
fresh earth, especially if the season is dry : early
in the morning is the best time, both for your own
health, and the health of your plants. Under this
management, you may enjoy the luxuries of a good
garden, without impeding the labours of the field, or
abridging your field husbandry. Continue to hoe
and weed out your onions, and all other plants, even
if possible, before the weeds appear ; this is good
economy, both in time and labour, as well as profit
to your plants. Hoe and bush your late peas ; plant
more potatoes ; sow more turnips ; continue to plant
bush and pole-beans; plant gourds, squashes and
melons, of all kinds. Continue to plant cucumbers
for pickling. Top all such bush-beans as are in
blossom, by cutting off the top of the; vines near to
the blossom, they will be earlier, and bear better.
Watch your vines, and destroy worms, bugs, &:c.
by ashes, lime, soot, or a strong solution of hen«
dung. Thin out, and earth up all your plants ; re-

tHE farmer's manual. 137

member that frequent hoeing, is both rain and ma-
nurie to your plants, especially in dry weather, if
done in the morning. Cut your sage, mint, &c.
when they begin to flower, and spread to dry in an
airy place. Plant out your cabbages, cauliflowers,
broccoli, &c. in moist, or cloudy weather, but not
when the ground is wet and heavy. Thin out your
beets, carrots and parsnips, and fill up such rows as
may be vacant. Transplant your ruta baga into
long rows of 4 feet asunder, and 12 inches 'distance
in the rows, and manure the rows with rich manure,
or live ashes, or plaster of Paris. Continue to ga-
ther herbs when in full bloom, and dry as before.

JULY.

You may continue to plant the white potatoe, until
the 20th, on rich ground. Continue to sow broccoli.
Continue your transplanting, particularly your cele-
ry, and in the following manner. Dig your trenches
one foot wide, and one foot deep, or more, if on a
warm soil, and of any length you may choose; lay
the earth upon both sides of the trench ; then dig up
the bottom of the trench 5 or 6 inches deep with a
dung-fork, and manure, at the same time, with rich
hog, or horse-dung, or compost. Set your plants in
the trenches (in the centre) about 5 or 6 inches asun-
der; earth up the plants as they continue to grow,
from both sides of the tops of the trenches, until
they are even with the surface of the earth, then
continue to earth up your plants as they continue to
grow, say 10, 15, or 20 inches above the surface, un-
til they have acquired their height ; be careful not to
bury the plants, at any time.

Pull rareripes, garlics, and even late onions, as they
come forward and ripen ; house them in dry weather,
and bunch such as you choose to keep for use.
12*

^^S THE farmer's manual*

Continue to watch your vines, and destroy worms,
bugs, &c. Continue to nurse your plants with the
hoe in the morning ; this must not be omitted, until
the frosts and snows come. Your garden should be
as free from weeds as your drawing room. Continue
to sow ruta baga, turnips, &c. Continue to clip
your strawberries.

AUGUST.

Continue to transplant late cabbages, broccoli,
ruta baga, celery, &:c. Continue to gather seeds
as they ripen, and dry them carefully ; see to such
seed-peas as were not gathered last month, and plant
a new crop for tiutumn. Continue to pull late on-
ions. Continue your hoeing in the morning when
the dew is on. Let me repeat it, this is the best
way of watering and manuring, unless it becomes
very dry, a little water may then become necessary,
early in the morning, or at evening, upon a dry soil.
Continue to earth up your celery, and nurse such
potatoes as are not fit to dig. Dig such as are ripe,
or hare dead vines. Begin to sow turnips for win-
ter's use, and transplant your ruta baga on to your
early pea and potatoe ground, in rows 4 feet asunder,
as before directed. In digging your ground, leave
an open trench at each 4 feet distance ; manure in
these trenches plentifully, with rich manure ; cover
it with earth, and set your roots over the manure,
when the earth is fresh dug ; keep your plants clean
with the hoe.

SEPTEMBER.

Continue to earth up your celery v"^ gather your
late seeds, and dry them carefully 5 sow onions to

THE farmer's manual. 13d

Stand over the winter ; nurse your late potatoes ;
weed turnips; hoe and weed ruta baga, &c. Finish
digging early potatoes. Finish pulling late onions.
Continue to clip your strawberries. Continue to
gather your seeds as they ripen.

OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER.

Gather from your garden all winter vegetables,
before the hard frosts commence, particularly winter
squashes ; dry and house them carefully. When the
frosts commence, let not a weed, nor the seed of a
weed have a place in your garden. Gather your ce-
lery in dry weather, and pack it in boxes with dry
sand, in a warm cellar, leaving the tops and leaves
open to the air. Gather ruta baga, beets, car-
rots, parsnips and turnips, and secure them in a
warm dry cellar. If you pack in casks, or boxes,
such as you design for the table, they will richly re-
pay your trouble in their extra relish and flavour,
particularly your turnips, which may thus be kept
sweet over until spring. This may sometimes be
done, by covering them under a heap of potatoes,
upon the ground. Ruta baga will not become ripe,
and obtain its best relish, until February, or March ;
it will then supply the place of the turnip, and hold
its relish through the summer. Transplant strawber-
ries on to rich beds, in rows of 10 inches asunder,
and in hills 10 inches distance in the rows, and cover
the beds lightly with straw, or other litter, and this
with horse-dung.

DECEMBER.

Continue to transplant such strawberries as you
have neglected the last month ; this must be repeated

140 THE farmer's manual.

again the third year to root out the grass. If you
set a fresh bed every year, either in August, or in
autumn, you may always have this fruit in high per-
fection. Plant such peach-stones as you wish to pro-
pagate, and where you choose to have the trees grow.
Transplant all such vines and trees as you wish to
remove, and secure them with stakes.

Ploughing,

If you have been accustomed to till a rich garden
mould under a shallow ploughing^ now is the time to
begin to correct the error.

Put in your plough, and turnup your garden to the
depth of 8, 10, or 12 inches, and give the dead earth
you turn up, a dressing of your beet manure, well
spread and mixed with the earth by the harrow. In
the month of April, turn in with the plough this manure
to the same depth you ploughed in autumn^ or 7ointer,
and no deeper. Your rich mould will again appear
upon the surface, ready for tillage*. Repeat this pro-
cess again at autumn, and you will, in a few years, have
a deep rich mould, equal to the original surface, which
will give you nearly double your former crops, espe-
cially in dry seasons, and only with the expense of
one extra ploughing in autumn. If your soil is light,
and you wish to push it into a state for high cultiva-
tion, you may dress the surface (after the spring
ploughing) with live, or leached ashes, or plaster, and
harrow the ground until it is well mixed 5 or you may
spread on a coat of rich manure, and cover it lightly
with the plough, and then go on to till either with or
without your top dressing, as before. This process
will soon make poor .land rich.

THE

MANUAL. 141

Fruit-Trees, Fines, and Shrubbery.

MARCH AND APRIL-

Cut and set all such fruit as you wish to propagate
by the slip ; such as currants, goosberries, raspber-
ries, Sic. Plant out such fruit-trees as you wish to
remove, together with your grape-vines, particularly
such as you have propagated from your standing
vines. Prune your currants, goosberries, raspber-
ries, &c. remove all dead stalks, and support your
bushes by frames.

MAY.

Set by grafting such cions as you may have collect-
ed in February ; choose for this purpose the most thrif-
ty stocks, if you expect good success 5 place two
cions in each stock ; but do not suffer more than one
to grow and come forward. Bend down such
branches of your grape-vines as you can bring to the
ground ; open a small trench 5 or 6 inches in length,
place in it your vine, (leaving the growing end open
to the air,) then cover over the Wne with rich mould,
and cover it with a stone ; this will both steady your
vine and keep it moist. In this position it will take
root in summer; and in autumn, or winter, it may be
separated from the standing vine, and in March, or
April following, be removed to such a place as you
may choose. This is the surest and easiest way of
propagating the grape.

142 THE farmer's manual.

JUNE AND JULY.

Your strawberries, cherries, &c. now begin to re-
ward your labours, and if you have rightly arranged
your Fruitery, you may now enjoy a rich succession
without intermission, until the frosts commence ; and
with a little attention by preserving, you may enjoy
it round the year. Go on to enjoy the fruit of your
labours ; you alone have the best right. Let the hoe
rank amongst the delights of the moroing; nature's
school is full of variety that never cloys, when right-
ly used, and richly repays for all our care and toil.
Gather your currants and goosberries, and make up
your wine.

AUGUST.

Propagate fruits generally by inoculation ; choose
a cloudy or moist time, when the sap in your stocks
is in full spring. Stone-fruit will heal over best
when propagated by inoculation. The process of
grafting and moculating are both so simple and com-
mon, that it must be unnecessary to describe them
here ; every farmer's boy of 1 4 years of age may be
capable of propagating fruit in this way, with ease and
safety. Transplant such strawberries as have be-
come foul with grass, and give them a rich fresh bed*
as directed in November, (under Gardening.)

SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER,

Continue to enjoy the fruits of your labour ; pears,
plums, nectarines, apricots, cherries and peachc?.

' THE tarmer's manual, 143

with raspberries, strawberries, currants and goosber-
ries ; not forgetting the choicest apples and grapes
in the richest variety and profusion, have rewarded
your labours from early in June, without intermission,
down to this time, and your grapes, if carefully pack-
ed in clean sand, or ^^aw-dust, may be preserved on the
cluster, fresh, round the year.

Make up your stock of grap€ wines for the year,
in October ; it is iess expensive (on account of su-
gar) thaA the currant, and far superior.

DECEMBER.

Plant out your vines, strawberries and raspben^es,
and prune such as stand, and give your garden a tho-
rough preparation for the next season. Prune your
stone-fruit generally this month, particularly your
vines. Remove from your vines part of the bearing
wood of the last season, and all straggling shoots ;
preserve such shoots of the last summer's growth as
you wish to have stand for fruit the next season ; from
these only will spring the bearing shoots. To im-
prove this fruit as much as possible, shorten those
shoots of the last summer's growth, down to about
six joints, and cut from half an inch to an inch fromi
the eye, when you divide the shoot. All unthrifty
branches must be removed.

Plant out of your nursery, such trees as you wish
to have stand for fruit, and plant such peach-stones
as you wish to propagate, and where you would
choose to have the trees stand, and guard them by
stakes. Take up such shoots as have sprung from
your quince-trees, anJ other trees and vines, and
place them where you wish them to grow. Dress
all your fruit-trees and vines with rich compost, or

144 THE farmer's manyal.

chip-dung; but avoid all long-dung, this will hartour
mice, which may ruin your trees. Let your exam-
ple of industry and enjoyment, be an example to all
others, to go and do likewise.

ON BEES.

The native instinct of the Bee, offers to the use of maa
one of the first and greatest examples in nature.

1. By her uniform habits of industry in all her labours.

2- By her unrivalled habits of economy.

3. By her wisdom and sagacity in constructing her cells,
which constitute both her habitation and store-house.

4. By the peaceful regularity of her little communities.

5. By her temperate use of the choicest luxuries of nature.
She also offers to man n rich reward for all the care and

attention he may bestow in cultivating her species, and in
promoting their improvement.

" The Bee observe.

She too an artist is, and laughs at Man,

Who calls on rules the rightly hexagon to form :

A cunning Architect, that at the roof

Begins her golden work, and builds without foundation.

How she toils ! and still, from bud to btid, from flower to floweiv

Travels the live long day. Ye idle drones.

That rather pilfer, Uian your bread obtain

By honest means like these, look here and learn

How good, how fair, how honourable 'tis

To live by industry. The busy tribes of Bees,

So emulous, are daily fed with Heav'ns peculiar Manna,

^Tis for them, (unwaried Alchym'sts,) the blooming world

Nectarious gold distils ; and bounteous heaven,

Still to the diligent and active good, their very labour, makes

The certain cause of future wealth."

Impressed as I am with the truth of these remarks, 1
shall consider my system of husbandry as im|K*rfect, with-
out some general knowledge of the cultivation of Bees to
accompany it, and every farm as being incomplete, until
the labours of the Bee are added to its regular profits.
I can say nothing upon this interesting and valuable sub-
ject from my own experience, and shall therefore annex to
my work an abridgment of a learned work upon Bees,
published in London, in the year 1817, by the celebrated
Apiarian, Robert Huish ; Author of the Peruvians, a
poem, &c. Fellow of the University of Arts and Sciences
of Gottingen ; Honorary Member of the Imperial Apia-
rian Society of V^ienna, and Corresponding Member of the
Agricultural Societies of Bavaria and Silesia. — vSecond Edi-
tion, with additioTW.

13

INTRODUCTION,

Democritus, jvhodied 361 jears before Christ, aged
109 years, is the lirst Apiarian whose works have come down
to us. The knowledge of the Bee at that age, was con-
hned to the speculative knowledge of Natural History, ra-
ther than a practical knowledge of the economy and va~
lue of this most useful Animal.

Alexander De Montfort wrote the two first modern
1 reatises upon the Bee, about the middle of the 17th cen-
tury, entitled " the Portrait of the Honey Fly, its virtues
form, &c." Also, '* the spring of the Honey Fly," divided
into two parts ; in which will be found a curious, true and
new history of the admirable ai.d natural conduct of the
Bee, &LC. De Montfort notices a long catalogue of ancient
writers upon Bees, particularly, Aristotle, Columella, Var-
ro, &c. and adds the first practical touch to their visionary
speculations. Virgil says, that a Bee is a ray of th€ Divinity }
Plutarch, that it is a magazine of the Virtues ; Quintilian,
that It IS the chief of the Geometricians ; and De Montfort,
the Bee surpasses, in architecture, the skill of Archi'
medes. Plato, who riourished about forty years before
Democritus, ascribes to the Bee a certain portion of that
angry Divinity which inspires Poets, and cautions his Dis-
ciples against disturbing either of them.

At the close of the 17th century, appeared Swammer-
dam,Marald! and Ferchault, all men of science, who open-
ed to our view the natural history of the Bee ; but Hodi-
erna, of Totria, first disclosed \he fl^ct, that all young
swarms spring from the eggs of the Queen Mother. These
men laid the foundation of the true Apiarian science, and
were translated into every language.

This interesting subject engrossed the attention of a
host of writers through the 18th century, and at the close
of it by Huber, (though blind nearly,) most visionary of
them all.

Bonner, a Scotchman, is the first good practical Apiarian
that has appeared, and his valuable conversation has great-
ly assisted the labours of t s work, with what success (ho
public must judge.

PRACTICAL IREATISE ON BEES,

*:;^:

CHAPTER I.

On Bees in general.

I SHALL wave a description of the different species of
Bees disseminated throughout the natural world by
the great Author of Nature, and confine my remarks
solely to the common Bee, or honey fly ; particu-
larly, as the most social, sagacious, interesting and
useful, of all the instinctive tribes of animals. ^

The Abbe Rosier, one of the best informed of the
French agriculturists, particularizes four species of
the domestic Bees. The first species are very long
and brown; the second are less, and almost black-,
the third are still less, and of a grey colour ; the
fourth are still less, and of a bright yellow, shining
and polished, and known only in Flanders,

The Bee rises with the dawn, and rests only at the
dusk of evening, and continues her industry through-
out the year, in all countries where the frosts of win-
ter do not impede her labours. The Bee is the only
insect whose sagacity has taught us, that honey con-
stitutes the essence of the blossoms of plants, and by
her industry has imparted to man the luscious boon*
The whole vegetable world is the garden of the Bee,
and her cell her store-house.

The community of the Bees is the first, the great-
est, and best example in nature, of a perfect commu-
nity In their harmony and good order, mutual en-
terprise, and efforts to promote the general good, in
their ardour of pursuit in quest of stores, to lon^*

148 THE FARMER'S MAITUAL.

theiF legs, back, and wings, and flit away to the
store-house of common deposit ; and in their mutual
aid in assisting each other to unload their burthens,
together with their nice economy in feeding out the
con:;mon stock. The community of the Bee is not a
republic, but a brotherhood, a monarchy with a com-
munity of goods, and governed by a queen. The
queen is not the tyrant of the swarm, but the mother
of the swarm. She is not the dispenser of laws to
the swarm, but the subject of the same fixed and
immutable laws of nature, which govern every Bee
in the swarm.

The Bees know each other, and are armed with a
sting for common defence. They know their keep-
ers, and generally respect them. They possess a
natural disgust, which has not yet been fully ac-
counted for, and attack, and sting the objects of this
disgust wherever they meet them ; invariably. The
Bee is very sagacious in judging of the weather, and
avoids the storm by retiring to her hive, or shelter-
ing herself under the foliage of plants and trees.
The whole swarm manifest an affectionate attention
to the queen mother, unexampled in nature', and are
constantly employed for her support and preservation.
The natural period of the life of the Bee is not yet
known, but they are more generally the victims of
the casualties of nature, rather than old age. The
dysentery is their most common and fatal nialady,
and they destroy by violence all the lame and infirm,
together with the drones, by banishing them from the
hive; thus illustrating the sacred maxim, '' He that
will not work, neither shall he eat ;" with the addi-
tion of their own natural law, *^ He that cannot
work, neither shall he eat." The first is perfectly
conformable to the principles of humanity, and com-
mon sense ; the latter is repugnant to both. A ge-
neral, as well as particular system of cleanliness per
vades the community, and no dead Bee is suffered *
remain in the hive.

VHE farmer's manual. 149

The particular laws of instinct, bc^in to govern
the Bee as soon as it quits its nymphal state, and is
capable of action ; and one uniform system of order
regulates his movements, in union with the whole
swarm, throughout all the instinctive operations of
them. As well might the wise man have said, Go to
the Bee thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise*

CHAP. II.

Description of the Queen Bee.

In our last chapter, we noticed the character of the
Bee, and the instinctive character of a swarm, or com-
munity, with its queen Bee, as the mother and ruler of
the family; as an elective monarchy, upon the death of
the queen, and a monarchy with a community of pro-
perty, and nature's immutable instinctive laws as
their only guide. This chapter describes the queen
mother as not formed by nature for labour, but form*
ed only to rule, and to breed. Her teeth and her
tvings are unfit for labour, being much shorter than
the common Bees and the drones. The body of
the queen is much longer and slimer than the other
Bees, her belly of a bright yello\v, an^ her back
and wings, of a brighter hue. The queen pos-
sesses an astonishing fecundity, unequalled by any
thing in nature, except the fish 5 her body is re-
plete with eggs, arranged in two ovaria, and prepar^
ed for the breeding season. These she deposits iit
her cells, so long as a cell is vacant, and thus lays
the foundation for the young swarm. I say lays the
foundation, but whether perfect, or imperfect, is yet
a question ; the fecundity of the Bee after all the
elaborate research of man, is yet a mystery unsettled
13 *

ioG run FARMER^S MANUAL*

by Apiarians. Mr. Huish is decidedly of opiraoi:,
that the queen knows not coition, that she is a virgir
mother, and that her eggs are impregnated by th
drones, after she has deposited them in the cells ; but
a whole host of Apiarians are opposed to the senti-
ment, yet all agree in this, that the act of coition has
never been discovered. The queen is not only the
mother and queen of the hive, but the soul of the
hive. All is order whilst she lives, and all is confu-
sion the moment she is dead ; hence the reason why
she seldom if ever ventures abroad, and why the
whole swarm ^o cheerfully and affectionately support
and protect her in the hive. Thus nature provides
for their peace and order, by giving the queen Bee
short and feeble wings for flight, and short and feeble
teeth for labour, fitted only for her own feeding, to-
gether with a feeble sting, and a mild temper to
shield her from exposure to violence and death.
The queen not only governs the swarm by their affec-
tions, but she leads them wherever she goes, and is
their rallying poifit, both in and out of tbe hive,
whenever she ventures abroad. All this, together
with every movement and operation of the Bee, is
the result, not of their particular municipal laws, but
of that general law of instinct, derived from God
their Creator, at their first formation. Much visiona-
ry speculation has infested the brains of Apiarians
upon the fecundation of the queen Bee, but all are
agreed in this, that the cell in which the queen Bee
is born, is perpendicular and circular, whereas all
the others are hexagonal and horizontal, and the
queen mother knows what will be the offspring of the
egg that she lays in the circular cells. The cell of
the drone is diflerent still, being neither circular, nor
hexagonal, but irregular; this has again led Apia-
rians into much hypothetical disquisition, without de-
monstration, and all fraught with more theory thar
profit.

THE farmer's MANUALr l5t

CHAP. III.

On the Drones.

The wings of the drone are shorter in proportion
to his body than the mules, or working Bees, which
occasions that humming sound which distinguishes
them in their flight. Nature has regulated the num-
btr of drones in each hive with a direct proportion
to the number of working Bees, from 4 to 8 and 1200,
and the fecundity of the queen according to the num-
ber of cells. The drone has no sting, and gathers
no food ; he, therefore, neither works nor fights, but
his whole utility in the hive consists in being an in-
strument of fecundating the eggs when deposited in
the cells, or otherwise as may be.

The antenna of the drones possess eleven articu-
lations, and the other Bees have fifteen. Their eyes
cover all the upper part of the head, and the other
Bees have one oval eye upon each side of their head.
Their teeth are smaller, and their probosces shorter
than the common Bees ; and thus nature has prepar-
ed them for useful inoffensive animals in the hive*
Whenever you discover that a hive becomes deficient
in drones, (which sometimes happens,) you may re-
plenish such hive by catching a few from^some other
hive, as they pass and repass, generally about mid-
day ; confine them until evening, and you may theo
introduce them to a general acceptance. Where a
want of drones is not sensibly felt, the new intruders
are sometimes murdered, by a general assault. For
safety, two or three may be introduced, and their re-
ception will decide what is best. When the season
of fecundation and gathering food are over, the work-
ing Bees assemble, and commence a general assault
upon the drones, drag them out of the hives, and de-
stroy the whole, by a general slaughter. Thus the
whole system of nature is finished for the season, in
the community of the Bees.

•^* THE farmer's manual, ,-

CHAP, IV.

071 the common Bees^

The term common Bees, working Bees, or mules,
will apply to all the others in the swarm, exrcpting
the queen and the flrones, because they form the
mass of the community, and do the labour, by laying
in stores for the hive, and nourish the brood, and are
neutral in their propagation. Much curious hypothe-
sis has appeared amongst Apiarians, upon the order
and regularity in apportioning the employments and
tasks of labour in the community, but this is now ge-
rally exploded, and each Bee is left to the govern-
ment of his own instinct, in apportioning and per-
forming his several duties.

The whole field of nature abounds with the inex-
plicable mysteries of providence ; and the Bee, by her
wonderful sagacity, has unlocked one of those myste-
ries, by extracting honey from plants, and flowers, and
converting it to the support of herself, and the use of
man ; but how this honey is produced in the opera-
lions of nature, in the growth of the plants, and how
the Bee extracts it in exclusion to the other juices of
the same plants, is all inexplicable to us, and is one,
amongst the millions of nature's works, to show how
little of nature man can know.

I shall continue this chapter with a description of
the Bee by Mr. Huish. " In regard to the physical
description of the Bee, the most remarkable parts of
it are the head, the breast, and the bell}'. On the
former, are observed two wonderful eyes placed in
the side, two antenna, two hard teeth, or jaws, which
play on opening and shutting, from the left to the
right. These teeth enable it to collect the wax, to
knead it, to construct the cells, and to remove from
the hive every obnoxious thing. Below these teeth
we observe a proboscis, which has the appearance
of a thick fleshy substance, of a very shining ches-

THE J'ARMER^fi MANUAti, 153

nut colour. This substance is divided into two parts
very supple at the end, and it is only seen at its full
length when the Bee is employed in collecting honey
in water. If the teeth be separated, we observe at
the orifice of the proboscis an opening, which is the
mouth, and above it a fleshy substance which is the
tongue ; their use will be explained in the sequel.
The breast is attached to the head by a very short
neck ; it carries four wings upon it, the two last are
longer than the two first. It has six feet, on the two
hinder of which, are two triangular cavities, in which
the Bee by degrees collects the farina from' the plants.
At the extremity of the six feet, are two sorts of fangs,
with w^iich the Bees attach themselves to the sides of
the hives, and to each other. From the middle of
these fangs, on the four hinder legs, project four
bushy substances, the use of which are to collect the
dust of the flowers, attached to the hairs of their bo-
dy, and are of the same use as hands. The body,
properly called, is united to the breast by a species
of thread, and is composed of six scaly rings.
The whole body of the Bee appears, even to the
naked eye, to be well clothed. Age makes a little
difference with them in point of colour ; those of the
present year are brown, and have greyish hairs ;
those of the preceding year, have reddish hair, and
the scales less brown, rather inclining to a black.
Their wings are often torn and fringed at the ends,
occasioned by their former flights. On the wings^
and on the breast, are observed small orifices, or
pores, in the shape of a mouth, by which the Bee
respires, these are the lungs of the body, (technical-
ly called stysmates ;) this part, which is of a wonder-
ful construction, is both common to the Bee, and all
other insects. The interior of the body consists of
four parts ; the intestines, the honey-bag, the venom
vessel, and the sting. The honey-bag is as large as
a pea, when it is filled ; transparent as chrystal, and
is the store-house of the Bee, when collecting th*^,

154 -THE farmer's manual.

honey, and which she transports, and lays up for the
use of the swarm in winter, in the common stock.

" The vessel which contains the venom is at the
root of the sting, and is conveyed with the wound of
the sting. The sting is a sharp, barbed, hard sub-
stance, at the extremity of the belly, and is both the
offensive, and defensive weapon of the Bee.

" The Bee easily inflicts a wound with her sting, and
from its barbed surface, often leave the sting behind,
which generally proves fatal to the Bee. The sting
of the Bee effects persons very differently, some witii
much pain and injury, others with very little sensi-
ble effect. Many remedies have been suggested for
the sting of the Bee, but the best remedy may be
found in extracting the sting immediately, and apply
a little laudanum. To prevent the swelling arising
from the sting of the Bee, I know of no remedy more
efficacious than Venice Treacle, or olive-oil. In
regard to the former, it is well known to be a speci-
fic against the bite of the viper. In the Archipelago,
it is customary to keef> a bottle of olive-oil close to
the Apiary, and apply it instantly to the puncture of
the Bee ; the mischief is generally prevented. The
juice of the onion, mixed with common salt is also a
good remedy."

All these details can only produce on the rational
mind a more distinct and extensive knowledge of that
infinite intelligence, who has arranged the creatures
of this earth, presided at their organization, and re-
gulated their existence and configuration. There is
nothing in nature which can so fully demonstrate to
us, an equally wise and powerful Being.

The insects, the most vile, are, perhaps, more ad-
mirable in their structure than the sun, and the most
brilliant stars. What proportion ! w^hat harmony I
what correspondence in every part of the Bee. How
many combinations, arrangements, causes, effects and
principles, which tend to the same end, and concur
in the same design I What exactness, what symme

THE farmer's manual. 155

try in its Uttle body, apparently contemptible, and so
little admired by ignorant and inattentive persons !
As in the greater number of animals, so we observe
in the Bee, vessels without number, liquids, motions,
often united in an imperceptible point; all the organs
of life, the instruments of labour, weapons to com-
mand victory when attacked, or the instruments of
escape from a superior foe, with a thousand that adorn
its exterior form. Every thing in these insects an-
nounces that supreme Wisdom, that presided at the
formation of a work so perfect, so industrious, so su-
pei*lor in structure and sagacity to every thing that
art could ever produce. All this, when combined with
the rich blessings which they impart to man, call for hk
homage, gratitude, admiration and love*

CHAP. V.

On hives in general.

The forest is the original and natural dwelling for
the Bee, and the recess of some cavern, or hollow
trunk of a tree, the ancient and most natural resi-
dence, and place of deposit for this sagacious insect.
It is the art of the Apiarian, which has taught the Bee
to become domesticated, and yield part of his labours
and rich treasure, for the comlbrts and conveniences
of man. To assist the Apiarian, the farmer, and
even all classes of people, who may possess the ad-
vantages and the disposition, in deriving the greatest
possible good from this store-house of nature, is the
immediate design of this Treatise, or rather of these
extracts. In order to invite the Bee into our domes-
tic employment, it became necessary to substitute a
new dwelling in place of the hollow tree of the forest \
hence the reason why hives were first made of a sec-
lion of a hollow tree. The difficulty of obtaining this*.

156 THE farmer's manual,

led to the expedient of weaving the straw hive, which
continues in common use to this day. The many
objections which have arisen to both these hives,
have led the Apiarians, through nice and curious re-
search, to ascertain t|ie best materials for construct-
ing the hives for Bees, and the best forms to con-
struct those materials into, to obtain the greatest pro-
fit from the labours of the Bee, with the least ex-
pense to ourselves, and loss and damage to the Bees :
for the solution of this question, we must resort to the
experiments of the Apiarian. Happy would it be
for us and them, if their labours could furnish an an-
swer to the inquiry promptly ; but unfortunately this
is not the case, their own experiments have deceived
them, and this should lead us to be cautious that they
do not deceive us. Mr. Huish admits, that no seri-
ous objections can lie against straw as a materia! for
the construction of bee-hives; but objects only to
the common form, viz. the bell-hives, as being un-
healthy to the swarms, and difficult to extract any
portion of the honey from, without suffocating the
bees, which he very justly abhors : he therefore ex-
plodes the bell shaped hives. Our author goes on
to object to the glass hives, constructed to gratify the
curious, as being unfriendly to the labours of the Bee.
He adds, " I have kept glass hives of every sort in
hopes to obtain some clue to the developement of
their secrets ; but I candidly confess, that light was
no sooner admitted, than the utmost confusion prevailed
in the hive, in that particular part, and the Bees were
seen running about in the greatest consternation ; con-
sequently I never attained to the knowledge of a single
operation of the Bees by means of a glass hive. I
therefore, call in question all fat:ts stated as the dis-
coveries of a glass hive. Although the Bee will
work in any hive, of any shape, yet the choice of that
shape is of importance to the health and profit of
your Bees. The great body of the people continue
the common hive, and the common practice of smo-

'I'WE pahmer's manual. 1.5T

thering the swarm, when they take their honey —
both are bad; and the latter is not only bad, as
being unprofitable, but absolutely cruel, and unne-
cessarily so. To remedy these evils, the Apiarians
in all countries have been led to the improvement,
both in the form of the hive, and method of dividing
the profits of their labours with the Bees, and yet
preserve the swarms. Happy for the cause both of
interest and humanity, they have succeeded. Had
these Amateurs been agreed in one result, as being
the best of all their experiments, I might now say so,
and close this chapter with their joint recommenda-
tion ; but their decisions are so various, it may be
useful to sketch a few of their improvements, as ex-
emplified in the form of their hives.

The storying system has been, and is now, greatly
approved in France, and was invented by Gelieu ; yet
/i his system has its opposers now, even in France,
and with some severity. All are agreed, that the sto-
rying system has its advantages, as well as some dis-
advantages ; yet one thing ^s certain, it divides the
labours, or profits, of the Bees, without injury, or dis-
turbance, to their lives, or labours. This system has
also been strongly approved and recommended bv
Bonner, in Scotland : also by Ducouedic, of the
Canton of Maure. This is the common straw
hive placed on a pedestal, or table. The Bees it
contains were a swarm of the 21st of June, 1812.
In this state, they passed the summer, autumn,
and winter, and on the 21st of March, 1813, it
would be nine months old. On the 2 1st of March,

1813, the first story will be added to it, and this
is called a Scotch hive, in compliment to Bon-
ner. This hive will remain in the state of a sin-
gle story, for an entire year, to the 2Ist of March,

1814. If the population of the hive has been consi^
derable, and the season favourable, during the first
year, it may be expected in the second to throw oft^
one or two strong swarms. On the return of the

14

158 THE farmer's manual^

spring, 1814, this hive will be 21 months old; nine
months as a simple hive, and twelve with one story.
It commences, on the 21st of March, 1814, its pyrami-
dal form, at the age of 21 months. These three hives
are plastered with mortar, or clay, at their junction, by
which they appear to form but one distinct hive, and
the Bees can only enter and depart at one open-
ing in the lower «tor)% By means of holes bored
in the top of the lower stories, the Bees can pass
from one story to the other freely. This colony will
exist in the state of a two storied hive from the 21st
of March to the 21st of September of the same year 5
it will then be 27 months old. Several swarms will
have been obtained through all the different stages,
from the single one, to the pyramidal one. The
swarms of the latter are considerable ; especially
those of the second and subsequent years. They
generally weigh from twelve to tv;enty pounds. On
the 21st of September, as soon as the drones have
been destroyed by the Bees, you may remove the
iirst story of the colony, it will be found full of wax
and honey, without Bees and brood ; the honey will
be of the present year, as the Bees will have consum-
ed that of the preceding years. When, on the 21st
of September, the first story is removed, the hive
will cease to be pyramidal, and will return to its for-
mer state of two stories ; in this state it will pass the
6 months of autumn and winter, but on the return of
March, another story must be given to it, and it again
becomes a pyramidal hive. The Bees of a pyramidal
hive never perish with hunger, nor cold. It is too
rich to want provisions, and too numerous to be ef-
fected by the severity of winter, and by their heat,
they bring forward their spring brood one month
^3arlier than a single hive. Such is the character
'riven by Ducouedic of the storied hive. Let me re-
mark that their swarming one month earlier in spring
than the single hive, is no small advantage in the es

THE farmer's manual* 159

dmation of all such as are acquainted with the value
and economy of Bees.

An advocate of the st0i7ing system says, *' No
cause exists why a certain number of stories should
not be placed, for several months, and even for a
^^ear; that much is gained by it, provided, for this
period of time, the boxes are made of a convenient
and proper size," &;c. To this system, Mr. Huish
is lengthy and particular in his objections ; the amount
of which is, that the flat hives used in this process,
are injurious to the health, and even life of the Bees,
and principally on account of the moisture which the
swarm emits by perspiration, being collected upon
the tops of the hives, and there being condensed by
the influence of the cold air, falls again upon the
Bees, and occasions their worst malady, the dysentery.
These vapours, Mr. Huish found actually frozen to a
sheet of ice in the top of one of his glass hives, in
the hard winter of 1814, and at once concludes this
vapour to be both noxious and destructive to the
swarm. He then proceeds, '* Hives with convex tops
conduct this condensed vapour down the sides of the
hives, and thus screen the swarm from the falling
drops, and preserve them dry." The writer con-
cludes this chapter v/ith the following description
of a hive of his own invention, for his own particu-
lar use, which pleased him, and has the strength of
his recommendation added to its value.

'* Having now examined the different hives which
are now in use in this country, (England,) and upon
the continent, it barely remains for me to describe the
hive, which, although its general principles are of an
early date, yet its improvements have been entirely
suggested by myself. As it has always been my
invariable study to preserve the lives of these valua-
ble insects, and, at the same time, to reap the great-
est possible advantage from their labours, the se-
lection of a proper abode for them, was a matter of
p.o secondary consideration ; for on this must depend

'BO THE farmer's manual,

the success of the undertaking. My first object was
to select those materials which I judged most suita-
ble for the purpose, and, after repeated experiments,
I was convinced that none were more suitable than
straw. This I know is denied by Huber ; but I must
be allowed, in this instance, to differ from that cele=^
brated Apiarian. The shape of the hive was my
next consideration. 1 had been so often defeated in
Q^y expectations regarding the deprivation of the
common straw hive, and especially by the sticks with
which they are superfluously furnished, to keep the
honey from falling, that I was persuaded it was a
shape suited only to the use of those persons who
suffocate their Bees ; but to the deprivator, it was the
most inconvenient and unmanageable sort that could
be devised. It was a flower-pot which first gave me
an idea of the shape, and which appeared to possess
peculiar advantages. It would, in the first place, su-
percede the necessity of sticks, for the comb then
acting like a wedge, being larger at the top than the
bottom, would not fall on to the board. One only
method now presented itself of extracting the comb,
and this was at the top ; and this I knew could not
be effected, if the combs were all constructed in one
mass, upon one basis, which is common to the gene-
rality of hives, I reflected that a Bee will never
work upon an unstable foundation, and that my plan
would succeed, if I could insert some network be-
tween the "pieces of wood. Having obtained seven
pieces of well seasoned wood, about one and a half
inch broad, and about a quarter of an inch thick,
I laid them equidistant on the top of the hive ;
and having fastened them to the outer band which
serves as their basis, and covered them with network,
over which I placed n circular board, the whole
size of the hive. I then divided the circular board
into five pieces, which are attached to each oth-
er by hinges; each one can be opened separately
-non occasiori- To obviate the obiection of thb

tHE farmer's manual. 161

flat top, (on account of the moisture as before notic-
ed,) 1 made six holes in the top board, and closed
them with plates of tin, perforated with small holes.
The whole I covered with a convex straw cover,
constructed in the same manner as the hive. This
guarded the swarm from moisture, without and with-
in. Whenever 1 require some honey-comb, at any
season of the year, I open the top, by removing
the cover, and take out one of the side boards,
(as above,) cut oft' the comb, and replace the board
again, as before, or clap in another of the same di-
mensions, if the Bees prove troublesome. This
operation is quick done, without disturbing the mid-
dle combs, and often without the loss of one single Bee.
In the month of August, 1810, I obtained from one
of my hives 18lbs. of beautiful honey-comb; by
the 10th of September, the void was filled again, and
I took out lOlbs. more, leaving a sufficiency to sup-
ply the sv/arm through the winter. This hive will
aever require any enlargement to give the Bees
more room ; this may always be done by extracting
the comb as above. It opens the whole interior of
the hive for your inspection, whenever you wish
to search the hive for moths, mice, or other destruc-
tive evils to your Bees."

Mr. Huish goes on to observe, that from his expe-
rience in the management of Bees for more than
twenty years, from his very extensive correspond-
ence and personal acquaintance with most of the
learned Apiarians in Europe, he concludes that no
form of hive can be constructed, which will ensure
great harvests of wax, honey and swarms. These
are chimerae which it is in vain to pursue, because the
whole depends upon the season, the face of the coun-
try, and the general supply of honey ; all which, have
a peculiar influence on the fecundity of the queen
Bee. To these causes it must be ascribed, why the
mode of treatment which answers well this year, will
not answer well the next, or is so variable under the

14*

^^^ THE FARMER^S MANUAL

same appearances. This difference of seasons has
occasioned all the various construction of hiveSj
which serve only to show, that the Bee will work in
any hollow vessel, that will conceal her from view,
and guard her from the weather. To illustrate this
tact, I have sketched the form of several different
hives, as well as to illustrate a more important fact,
that every system is bad, that destroys the Bees to
rob the hives, and that all the systems are good,
which preserve the Bees, and divide their labours for
the use of man, without injury to the swarms ; but
more particularly to show, that the storying system,
:s one of the best modes, and that his new invented
'live is the very best*.

CHAP. VL

On the portion of the Apiary^ or Bee-House*

This is the place where the hives are assembled,
whether in the open atr, or under cover, called the
bee-house. In southern countries, Mr. Huish ob-
serves, the aspect should always be to the east, to
give the Bees the first light of the dawn. In nor-
thern countries, the aspect should be between south
ind east, to enjoy the morning dawn, under a shelter
from the north winds. In England, he observes, the
aspect is often in all directions, but adds, they should
he secure against the winds. The hives should al-
ways stand upon a right line, in a single row ; that
rows one above the other do well, but seldom when
double upon the same shelf — as they are more ex-
posed to robbery from each other ; that the Bee, in

* Quere. Whether the new invented hive of the author, with its
oiivex top, might not be apphed to the storying system, and thus
omplete ka perlection. It may be worth aa experiment.

tH^ farmer's manual: i63

his flight from the hive, generally takes an elevation
of 45 degrees with the horizon, therefore, the hives
should stand low, say two feet from the ground.
This elevation will guard the Bees against the mois-
ture of the ground, the toads, mice, ants, &:c. and
prevent their gaining such an ascent in their flight,
when they swarm, as to prevent ther lighting, and
thus occasion their loss to the proprietor. To esta-
blish this remark, Mr. Huish cites a memoir address-
ed to the Society of Agriculture of Paris, illustrating
the fact. He then observes, that the board on w^hich
the hive stands, should be carefully secured against
warping, as the wasps, &ic, will rob the hives at such
openings, under the bottoms of the hives, and that
every shrub, plant, or weed, should be cleared away
from the Apiary, that can obstruct the flight of thfe
Bees, or give the mouse, the ant, &c. access to the
hive ; that great cleanliness should be observed in
and about the Apiary, generally. He concludes, that
the neighbourhood of large towns, and large rivers,
are unfavourable situations for an Apiary ; the first,
from the destruction the Bees suifer from smoke, the
swallows, particularly the chimney swallows, and the
last, from often being drowned in their flight, from
high winds, &c. He recommends an open country,
a free air, an eastern aspect, security from winds and
moisture, &c. as being essential to the position of an
Apiary.

CHAP. VII.

Oil the enemies of the Bees»

Man, the worst enemy of the Bee; where he uses
the sir.othering method of robbing the hives ; yes,
man, that boasted child of reason, for whose enjoy-
ment the Bee toils through her life, to draw from nar-

i64 THE farmer's manual y

ture, nature's choicest nectar; man, ungrateful mai^
in wanton spite of all his boasted reason, robs the
Bee, and makes her life the forfeiture. But I forbear,
mm is uow becoming more civilized ; the researches
of the Apiarian have not only taught him how to share
with the Bee the rich rewards of her toils, without
destroying her life, or even abridging her enjoy-
ments, but how to promote the enjoyments of the
Bee, and become her {protector.

The mouse, of all kinds, the rat, the toad, and the
ant, are amongst the common enemies of the Bee,
The attention of man, in fixing his Apiary, may
guard the Bee, generally, against these common ene-
mies; but birds, which also are generally the enemies
of the Bee, who catch him, and devour him in his
ilight, are out of the reach of man, and generally go
unpunished ; except the king-bird and wood-pecker,
who hover about the Apiary, to feed on the Be6s,
they may be carefully watched and destroyed. The
spider, also, is an enemy to the Bee, the same as the
bird, not to feed on the honey like the mouse, and
the ant, but to entrap the Bee in his web, and feed
on him. The spiders enter the hive when the wea-
ther is cold, and the Bees have lost their energies,
spin their web, and thus obtain their prey. The
wasp is, also, an enemy of the Bee ; he surveys the
hive in summer, and wherever he finds a crevice, en-
ters and robs the hive, and feeds on the honey. The
wasps collectively, sometimes attack weak hives, the
same as robbing Bees, and rob the swarm. Mr.
Huish adds, I do not know a more efficacious method
of destroying wasps' nests than sulphur. The wasp,
the humble Bee, and honey Bee, all feed upon the
same food ; for this reason, the two first should be
driven as much as possible from the neighbourhood
of the Apiary, particularly in September and Octo-
ber, when the herbage'of the fields fails, thev then
are driven by hunger to rob the hives.
. Watch your Bees close at this season, or they may

THE farmer's manual. i6cir

be ruined before you are aware, and thus your hopes
of the season be blasted in autumn.

The toad is the natural enemy of Bees, as of the
wasp, and common fly, and will catch them indis-
criminately, particularly in warm weather. He should
be driven from the vicinity of the Apiary. A little
garlic rubbed about your hives, will guard them
against the ravages of the ant.

The moth is an enemy of the Bee. It is the ca-
terpillar, which, in a certain state, gnaws our trees,
books, paper, &;c. Strong hives can protect them-
selves against the moth ; but weak hives are some-
times injured and ruined. The moth, in the butterfly
state, infests the hives in April and October, and by
her dexterity deposits her eggs amongst the comb,
and dies. From every egg a smooth caterpillar
bursts forth of a pale white, its head brown and sca-
ly. It encloses itself in a little web of white silk,
which it attaches to the combs, and in which it finds
its food by projecting its head beyond its case.
When the food around it begins to fail, it prolongs its
silken web, which, though a mere thread at the be-
ginning, becomes almost insensibly as large as a quilL
This insect, having attained its growth, submits to the
metamorphosis com^ion to all caterpillars; it quits
its residence, retires to one corner of the hive, or de-
parts from it ; spins a white covering, emerges as a
butterfly, copulates and re-enters the hive to deposit
its eggs as before. 1 have been the more particular
in describing this insect, because, next to man, he is
the most destructive enemy of Bees. Mr. Huish
states with confidence, that in sixteen years, the moth
has destroyed more than a fifth part of his hives an-
nually. Mr. Huish continues the subject of the moth
much more extensively, both as to its manner of
laying its eggs, in and out of the hive, and the
manner by which they are introduced carelessly by
the Bees into the hive, where they are hatched with
the other eggs; the substance upon which the moth

166 THE farmer's manual,

feeds in ihe hive when grown, &ic, ; but as all this can-
not be of great importance, I pass it over, and notice
the practice of some persons who surround their
Apiary with torches in the evening, in order to de^
stroy the moth, by singing his wings, together with
the objection to this, as being alike destructive to the
Bee, who will be drawn out upon the wing by the
same light that destroys the moth. Mr. Huish thus
concludes, *^ A remedy against this insect is very dif-
ficult, and the only advice I can give on this subject,
is, that ivhenever you suspect your hives are devour-
ing by the moth, join your Bees to another hive, and
thus save the little which remains. If your Bees
become inactive when other swarms are at work, and
continue so 10 or 15 days; no time is to* be lost in
examining your hive, where the ravages of the moth
will appear. Save your Bees if possible by removal
to another hive ; all their labours are lost in that
hive.''

The death-head spinx, or hawk-moth, is a great
butterfly, and belongs also to the family of phc^lenoe.
It is one of the most formidable enemies of the Bee ;
it alarms them very much, and sometimes in one
night, will rob a hive of a great portion of its store*
This butterfly emits a sharp and plaintive sound,
which, with the spot on its breast, rudely representing
a death's head, give rise to its name. It feeds on
the leaf of the potatoe, and appears in the month of
September. It is confounded with the bat, because
of its size, and of its flight at the same time. As
soon as the Bees perceive its approach, they are al!
in commotion, and retreat into their hive. Mr. Hu-
ish notices some remarks of M. Lomebard upon the
curious defensive position of the Bees, by way of se-
curity against this enemy, which I shall pass over,
together with Mr. Huber's remarks upon the same vi
sionary scheme. Mr. Huish notices no particular
remedy against this insect.

The Bear, the Fox, and the Badger, are o-

THE farmer's manual. 167

ihe enemies of Bees. One trait of sagacity in
the Bear, mentioned by the Abbe Delia Rocca,
deserves some liotice. " 7'he Bear seldom at-
tacks a. hive openly, from fear of its stings; but
he will in the most gentle manner take a hive ia
his paws and carry it out to the first river, or pond,
and plunge it, until the Bees are drowned, and then
feed on the spoil. T'he proprietors, therefore, in
those countries infested with Bears, attach their hives
to walls, and other places, for their security against
the Bear.''

The sparrow and the lizard are also enemies of the
Bees, and must be carefully watched.

1 cannot too strongly impress it upon the minds of
every Apiarian, who wishes to reap any profit from
his hives, to be constantly upon the alert, to effect
the destruction of those enemies by which his pro-
perty is so materially injured. Let him remember,
they carry on their depredations in secret, and that
in this instance, as well as in every relation in life, a
false security, is the most dangerous situation in
which a person can repose.

CHAP. VIII.

On ihe Maladies of Bees.

On this subject, Mr. Huish acknowledges great dif-
liculty, both in discovering the maladies of the Bee,
and the remedies ; but adds, if you have many hives
and any one becomes sickly, remove it as soon as pos-
sible, that it may not infect the remainder. If you
have few hives, you may attempt, first to investigate
the disease, and next its cure. Mr. Huish states,
that the dysentery is one of the most common as well
as fatal diseases of the Bee ; and that the mark of this
disease is the excrement voided by the Bee at the

iGB THB FARMER^S MANUAL.

entrance of the hives, in spots, like linseed, nearly
black, and of an insupportable smell, and that this
malady is contagious. The Bees when afflicted with
this disease, destroy each other by contaminating
their wings with this excrement, and thus stop the
organs of perspiration. The cause of this disease is
by some ascribed to new honey, when eat in winter ;
by some to the deficiency of propolis, or bea-bread ;
and by^others, to the flowers of the elm and lime, from
which they extract their honey. These, and several
other causes, have been named by various writers ;
but they do not appear to be agreed in any one ge-
neral cause of the dysentery. Many remedies have
been prescribed by various authors, for the dysente*
ry ; but, adds Mr. Huish, I consider it incurable ; al-
though its prevention may be effected. As soon,
therefore, as 1 perceive any of my hives affected witb
it, I give them a little of the following composition,
which has invariably checked the malady, when
given in the early stages. Rule, To a quart of white
wine, add a pint of honey and two pounds of loaf su-
gar ; put the whole into a tin sauce-pan, and let it boil
gently over a slow fire, skimming it at different times,
until it is reduced to the consistency of syrup. It
may then be bottled, and put into the cellar, and
kept cool for use. Whenever it is used, it must be
gently heated, until it partakes of the consistency of
honey. Mr. Ranconi, an Italian author, recommends
fresh urine, placed on plates near the hives, for the
use of the Bees. He also recommends white wine
boiled with an equal quantity of loaf sugar, with an
addition of cloves and nutmegs, as doing well. Also
the bark of pomegranates, pounded and mixed with
honey and sweet wine, as being conducive to the
health of the Bee.

Mr. Duchet recommends good old port wine, n)ix-
ed with honey.

Mr. Wildman recommends fine salt, as a remedy,
to be placed on tli€ bee-Stand where they may eat it
at pleasure.

MANUAL. 169

M. Le Abbe Bienairae recommends oat-meal in the
dysentery.

Mr. Huish approves of all these remedies, and
adds, great care should be taken to keep the hives as
clean as possible during the prevalence of the dysen-
tery amongst your Bees.

Mr. Huish observes that the antenna of the Bee
are sometimes diseased and turn yellow, attended
with some swelling; but considers the disease as
slight. He also notices that Bees sometimes have
the vertigo, for which no remedy had been discover-
ed 5 but this was never general in hives, and not ve-
ry serious in its consequences in the swarms.

The abortive brood, although not an epidemical
disorder, is still very injurious in its effects upon the
Bees. Two causes produce this effect; 1. When
the Bees have given the larva improper food ; 2.
When the worm is placed in the cell with the tail to-
wards its mouth. In this case, the young Bees, inca-
pable of extrication, die and putrify. The Bees ge-
nerally remedy the evils of this putrefaction, by re^
moving the abortive brood ; but should this accident
take place in winter, the infected combs may be cut
out when the hives are examined in the spring. The
tops of the cells, when sound, are convex and yellow-
ish ; when abortive, concave and blackish.

CHAP. IX.

On the Brood.

Having described the origin of the Bees, the na-
tural constitution of the queen, and of the drones, I
now proceed to treat of their brood. By the brood,
we understand the three different states of the eggs,
worm and nymph, and it is on these states, that the
prosperity, the conservation, and multiplication of the

15

170 THE farmer's manual.

Bees depend, for the establishment of the new colpniesc
In the chapter entitled, Enemies of the Bees^ may be
seen what a field of destruction constantly awaits this
most valuable insect, from their common enemies ; but
the accidents, or casualties of life, together with the
common diseases of the Bees, open another extensive
field of mortality for their destruction, so that, whe-
ther at home or abroad, asleep or awake, the Bee
may truly be said to be in the midst of death : all
this is highly to be regretted by the friends of the
Bee. To counteract these evils of extermination
which surround the Bee, nature has rendered them
vastly prolific, and fixed in their breasts an indisso-
luble bond of union. Their broods are very numer-
ous, and they, like the Chinese, never emigrate, by
deserting their swarms ; when a swarm is once form-
ed, they never dissolve by desertion.

I have noticed that the Brood all spring from the
eggs which the queen Bee deposits in the cells, and
that their number always corresponds to the exact
number of cells. These eggs are broad at one end,
and pointed at the other ; at the end of three days
ihey are hatched, and a worm appears at the bottom
of the cell. In this state, it is termed larva, and re-
tains one position in the form of a ring, without mo-
tion, yet replete with life. At the end of five or six
days, it envelops itself in a whitish silken film, and
changes into a chrysalis. In this state, it is called a
nymph. These wonderful changes are common to
all classes of the fly, as well as the Bee, and take
their rank amongst the mysteries of nature. '' The
Bee in its state of nymph is enveloped in a pellicle,
so delicate and fine, that its six legs may be distinct-
ly seen arranged under its belly, and its proboscis
bent, in its whole length. The Bee in this state is
white ; in the sequel, all the parts of the body gra-
dually become covered, and insensibly develop them-
selvesj and become perfect on the 21st to the 23d
day. The drone takes its flight generally on th^

i'HE FARMER^S MANUAL, 171

27th; the queen about the 16th. These develop
ments are slowest in small swarms, or in temperate
seasons, and are suspended during the cold weather*
The young Bee makes use of its teeth to liberate it-
self from its prison, and to break the envelope ; this is
an operation very difficult to the young Bees, and
cannot be effected by all. The Bees, like all other
animals, express great affection for their young, un-
til they are come to maturity to support themselves,
they then become indifferent. As soon as the young
Bee obtains the use of his wings, he flits away into
the fields, and commences the labours of the swarm:
the old Bees proceed immediately to cleanse out
the cells they have left, by removing the film, &c.
and thus prepare them for eggs again, or honey."

The Bees are irascible, directly in proportion to
the quantity of brood in the hive, and at this time,
they should not be disturbed ; when the brood dimi-
nishes, their agitation subsides, and when it comes to
maturity, they become tranquil again.

Mr. Huish enters into an elaborate discussion of
the question, whether any food is administered to
the brood when in the state of larva, as is questioned
by some ; and if any, whether it be pure honey, or ho-
ney and farina, as is the opinion of others ; but as he
concludes with this remark, '' the truth cannot be po-
sitively ascertained," and then assumes a decision, by
way of analogy from the butterfly and other insects^
I shall wave that part of his discussion, and enter up-
on the next chapter.

CHAP. X.

On the Combs of the Bee,

immediately when a swarm of Bees take posses-
,>iQn of a hive, they begin to clear and cleanse it

i72 THE farmer's manual.

from all obstructions ; even the ends of straws that
project in the interior of a new straw hive, are all
removed, and often with great trouble. To remedy
this, every new hive should be smoked, and cleansed,
and rubbed with a stiff brush, until it is quite smooth,
before it is presented for the use of the swarm.

It is universally admitted by all Apiarians, that the
Bees employ no other substance for the foundation
of their combs than propolis, although the ancients,
even Pliny, has furnished them with two others
of an unctuous, pithy nature, more adhesive than
propolis. On leaving the parent hive, the young
swarm are provided with all the requisites for their
new labours, with food for several days; and when
they take possession of their new habitation, their
activity and order are truly striking. Some cleanse
the hive, others close up every crevice where the
light can penetrate, others construct the combs, whilst
others repair to the fields, and collect the necessary
materials ; thus all is action and order, amidst the
busy hum.

The Bee always begins her labours at the top of
the hive, and generally in the middle ; thus they lay
their foundation for the deposit of the eggs of the
queen, around which they construct the cells for the
reception of honey, and the whole fabric hangs sus-
pended in air. They attach their combs with such a
viscous glue, that they are always firm, and were
never known to fail ; and to diminish as much as
possible the weight of their edifice, they give the
least possible thickness to their cells; but, at the
same time, they strengthen the entrance of their
cells by a border of wax ; this part being most ex-
posed to suffer from use. This border, also, serves
to assist in retaining the honey, and thus discloses
the fact, that the Bee possesses a perfect knowledge
of the laws of fluids ; by the assistance of this bor-
der, the eel! can be filled with honey even to a con-
vex form, and thus being covered by a pellicle of wax.

THE farmer's manual. 17S

may be secured for winter against the eftects of the
moisture.

The Bees construct several cells at a time, parallel
with each other, all attached to the roof of the hive^
and perpendicular to its base. The spaces between
the combs are always sufficiently wide for two Bees
to pass freely, these are the streets of their city ;
perpendicular, not horizontal. Every comb is com-
posed of a double row of cells, which are placed
back to back, having one common base, and their
figure is an exact hexagon. Pappus, the famous geo-
metrician of antiquity, demonstrated that this figure
possesses the double advantage of filling a space, with-
out leaving any vacuum, and of enclosing the largest
space in the same circumference ; and it is most
wonderful, that the Bees have chosen, amongst an al-
most infinity of figures, the only one which could ex-
actly fulfil the essential conditions to which their na-
ture restricted them. The figure of the base is a
pyramid of three lozenges, formed perfectly equal.
The four angles of these lozenges are again so hap-
pily combined, and their opening is in such propor-
tion, that the wax is used with the greatest possible
economy, and in such a manner, that any other lo-
zenge composed of any other size, would not yield
the same results. Samuel Koenig, who made use of
the analysis of infinite units, to resolve this problem,
v/hich was given him by M. Beaumur, arrived, after
all his calculations, at the mere result furnished him
by the Bees. The choice of the figure is, however,
not surpassed by the astonishing manner in which
they construct all the sides of the hexagons, all the
lozenges of their bases, and all the angles of the lo-
zenges. The thickness of each of the combs is ra-
ther indefinite ; it may, however, be stated in the ag-
gregate at one inch, the upper is, however, generally
larger. The depth, then, of each cell, is about half
an inch, and the breadth is constantly two lines, two
fifths, invariably, the world over, wherever Bees arc

15''

^'^4 THE farmer's manual*

known. Indepenrlently of the kind of cells which
are the most numerous, others are constructed of a
size rather larger, which are appropriated to the re-
ception of the eggs from which the drones are to
spring. The Bees, in the construction of the cell|,
regard particularly these two combinations, that if
the size, and the number of Bees to be produced, or
generated. The cells of the drones differ in their
depth and breadth, but they have in general a regular
diameter, which is three lines and a half; from which
it appears that twenty of the drone cells would cover
a space of five inches, ten lines, whilst twenty cells
of the working Bees cover a space of exactly four
inches. All this labour is performed with so much
skill and firmness, that three or four of these sides
placed on each other do not exceed the thickness of
common paper. A different species of cell is also
constructed, destined to be the cradle of the queens.
The architects now abandon their ordinary form of
building, and construct the cells of a circular and
oblong figure, which possess much solidity. One of
these cells will weigh as much as 100 or 160 of the
common cells. There is less economy used in their
construction ; the wax is used with more profusion ;
the exterior is waved ; in fine, they are really royal
cells. They are trifling in number compared with
the other cells.

A piece of honey-comb is one of the wonders of
art, produced by the powers of instinct, and may be
considered as a masterpiece of nature. Even man
himself, with all his boasted reason, must bow with
profound deference to the superior industry, econo-
my, sagacity, political harmony, and order of the Bee.

CHAP. XI.

On the particular substances which are found in a hive.

In the front rank of these substances, stands pro-
polis j for with this, they stop all the crevices of the

THE FARMER^S MANUAL. 17o

hive, to exclude both air and light, and with this,
they attach their cells to the surface of the hive.
Propolis is a resinous substance, soluble in spirits
of wine, and oil of turpentine ; in this state, it is an
excellent substitute for the varnish which is used in
giving the colour of gold to silver, or to tin, made
into tinfoil. It is very useful to expedite the matu-
rity of abscesses; its vapour, when in a consuming
state, gives great relief to coughs, if inhaled into the
lungs. Crude wax, or bee-bread, is the next sub-
stance worthy of notice ; this is the farina of plants,
collected by the Bees, for the various purposes of
the hive, and constitutes one of the elements of wax.
Farina, also, forms the chief element of propolis, by a
process which it passes through in the stomach of the
Bees ; yet propolis is not wax, although very similar,
because propolis is much more glutinous and fra-
grant than wax. Propolis has been analyzed by
M. Vauquelin in the Anals De Chimie, 1802, and
1818, and in the Bulletin de Pharmacie, by M. Ca-
det. By distilation, a very sweet essential oil is ob-
tained; if it be placed on burning coals, it emits an
odour similar to that of aloes ; it mollifies, and in
this state, it cannot be broken until it is stretched to
the fineness of a thread. M. Lombard says, *' That
a perfect ignorance prevails, regarding the matter of
which propolis is made, or whence the Bees extract
it."

CHAP, XII.

On Pollen^ or Farina.

Botanists designate by the term pollen, or farina,
that fecundating dust which hangs on the stamina of
all flowers, and which the Bees collect and transport
to their hives, in iiHle balls, or pellets, attached tQ

176 THE FARMER'S MANUAL.

the cavities of their hinder legs. The Bee roams
from flower to flower in quest of this substance, and
never quits the species of flower on which she first
alights, until she has collected her load, and returned
with it to her hive, where she is unburthened of her
load, by the attending labourers. This is performed
with their teeth, and the treasure deposited in a cell,
and pressed close with their hinder feet. This pol-
len, or farina, is placed at the bottoms of the cells,
until they are about half full, and then covered with
honey until the cell is filled ; this secures the pollen
from both air and moisture ; and thus, by their won-
derful sagacity, they screen their food from the tivo
elements, which, if they found access to it, would
sour and destroy it. This perishable property in
farina, shows, also, that it is not wax, although it is
the substance from which wax is made, for wax is
imperishable, either from air, or water ; wax is solu-
ble with heat, pollen is not; wax will float on water,
but pollen sinks in water; all these particulars show,
that pollen is not wax, yet all Apiarians -are agreed,
that wax is the result of certain operations which
pollen undergoes by the management of the Bees,
yet, they are not agreed how this is performed ; the
Bee has never disclosed the secret, and probably
never will. All are agreed, that farina is converted
into wax, by the mouth of the Bee, and many, that
the digestine powers of the stomach are brought into
action to aid the process ; but, even here, all becomes
conjecture again, and the question is left as undeter-
mined, as how the leaf of the mulberry is converted
into silk, by the mouth and stomach of the silk-worm ;
so much behind the curtain, and so concealed from
the research of man, are these two useful, common
and valuable operations of nature. The use of pol-
len as food for the Bees, and more particularly for
the broods, may be illustrated more fully by the fol-
lowing fact. '* Mr. Huber had a stock of Bees in a
glass hive, with twelve partitions; the queen of

THE farmer's manual* 177

which was barren. The cells were destitute of pollen,
and possessed some honey. On the 16th of July, he
removed the queen, as well as all the partitions, ex-
cepting the 1st and 12th combs, the cells of which were
occupied with eggs and larva, of all ages ; the cells
in which pollen were perceived, were cut out, and
the hive was closed again with a grate. On the 1 7th,
the Bees appeared to tend their young; on the 18th,
after sunset, a great noise was heard in the hive ; the
shutters were opened, and it was remarked, that the
whole community was in a tumult; the brood combs
were abandoned; the Bees gnawed the gratings of
their enclosure, and were set at liberty. Night soon
compelled them to return to their combs, order was
restored, and the hive was closed as formerly. On
the 19th, the sketch of two equal cells, was seen dis-
tinctly. At evening, as before, the Bees recommenc-
ed their tumult, and were let loose, and again return-
ed to the hive as before, and it was closed. On the
20th, being the 5th day of their captivity, the brood
was examined,- in order to discover the cause of this
periodical agitation of the Bees ; the hive was car-
ried into a chamber, the windows of which were
closed, the Bees were set at liberty, and it was dis-
covered that the royal cells had not been continued ;
not a single egg, nor larva, were to be found ; all
had disappeared ; the larva had perished from hun-
ger. Can this be supposed to arise from any other
cause than the absence of pollen ? To ascertain this
fact, it was only necessary to carry them some pol-
len, and observe the result. For this purpose the
Bees were restored to their prison, after having sub-
stituted new combs, containing eggs and young lar-
va, in the place of those which had perished. On
the 22d, the observation was made, that the Bees had
fastened their combs, and fixed themselves on the
new brood ; some fragments of comb were then given
them, in which some other Bees had stored some pol-
len, and they were placed openly on the stand of

178 THE farmer's manual.

the hive. In the course of a few minutes, the Bees
partook of the pollen, devoured it greedily, attached
themselves to the cells of the young larva, into
which they entered head foremost, and remained in
them for a greater or less time. The hive was gent-
ly raised, and the Bees which devoured the pollen
were powdered, and it was observed that the Bees
which were powdered returned to the pollen, and
then again repaired to the brood, and entered into
the cells of the larva. On the 23d, the royal cells
were begun. On the 24th, it was observed that all
the larva had some mucous matter upon them, that
some of the cells had been lately closed, and that
the royal cells had been elongated. On the 26th,
two royal cells had been closed during the night. On
the 27th, full liberty was given to the Bees ; the mu-
cous matter was still found in the cells, which con-
tained larva, and a greater number had been closed
with a covering of wax, and on opening several of
them, the larva were found spinning their cocoon.
After this experiment, no further doubt can be enter-
tained, that the pollen was the food of the young
Bees, and it was the deficiency of this substance that
caused their death, and the evident agitation of the
Bees., during their former captivity."

CHAP. XIII.

On Wax.

We have before observed, that propolis is not
wax, neither is pollen, wax ; but that both form the
basis of wax, through the operations of the Bees,
which are inexplicable to us. The great variety of
sentiment upon this subject, began as early as the
days of Ari'^totle, and continues down to our times,
and will most probably continue. Messrs. Hubci

MANUAL. 179

and Blondelu, have both attempted to show from ex-
periments which appeared satisfactory to them, that
the Bees produced wax from honey only. M. Bon-
net and M. Duchet have attempted to show, that the
Avax of the Bee is only an exudation of honey from
the stomach of the Bee, and the scales of the body ;
and they cite as proof, the small particles of wax found
on these parts of the body of the Bee. M. Ber-
nard de Jussieu, a man of science, has undertaken to
show that wax forms a constituent part of farina, or
pollen, by swelling the seeds of pollen in water until
they burst, and disclosed an unctuous matter, which
constitutes the wax of the Bee ; also, that aromatic
trees and shrubs, exude from their pores, foliage and
flowers, an unctuous matter, which is the genuine wax
of the Bee. Instances of the wax-tree in Louisiana,
and Carolina, are cited ; but as these are wholly ir-
relevant, I shall pass them over, and conclude as be-
fore, that the modus operandi of the Bee in forming
her wax, has never been discovered. The reality of
bees-wax, its utility in common life, its advantages
in commerce, &:c. are familisr to all, and within the
limits of almost every member of the agricultural
community to partake of its benefits, both for public
and private use ; and it is with a special reference to
these benefits, that 1 have been induced to mak^
these extracts public.

CHAP. XIV.

On Honey,

This interesting chapter not only embraces the
subject of honey as the essential and' component part
of all plants, as well as the food of Bees, and the luxu-
ry of man ; but also the subject of the honey-dew
which has so much excited the speculations, and in-

t80 THK farmer's manual.

quiry of the curious, as well as of all classes of socie-
ty. I shall quote this chapter at large, and give full
scope to the reasonings of the writers, for the pur-
poses of general instruction. " Honey is a gum-
my, saccharrine, fermentative substance, and the im-
mediate principle of all vegetation, without distinction.
This elementary substance appears destined to the
nourishment of all plants, and particularly in their
infancy, in the same manner as milk is destined to
the nourishment of the young viviparous animals. It
is found in all flowers, but principally in the single
ones ; its presence is afterwards perceived in all fruits;
it shows itself in the humble flowers of our meadows, in
the ears of corn in our fields, and in the leaves of the
trees. It exists in the roots, as well as in the body
and bark of all vegetables ; it exudes from the trunks of
trees ; finally, it appears to be the soul an-d vital prin-
ciple of all plants. On losing this principle, the
plants generally decay, and it is the period of their
existence. Even the aliments of the human body
are impregnated with this fluid, and the Bees know
how to obtain it from almost every substance. It is
vStill, however, but a gummy, saccharrine substance,
which must pass into the stomach of the Bees before
it is converted into honey. As the productions of
nature are infinitely varied, so the honey, its consist-
ency, taste and colour, vary according to the produc-
tions of each country. The same species of flowers
yield a different kind of honey according to the dis-
tricts, and the greater or less humidity of the season.
Even honey of different qualities is extracted from
the same hive : that in the cells, in which there has
been no brood, is less acrid ; the honey of the swarm
is superior to that which has been exposed for one year
to the vapours of the hive ; and the honey of the spring
is superior to that of autumn. The honey extracted
from flowers is the nectar which they enclose, and
which was so much boasted of by the ancients, who
formed from it tlie celestial beverage of their gods^

THE farmer's manual. 181

to which they gave the name of ambrosia. Honey
is particularly to be ascribed to the circulation of the
sap at the return of spring. Like the other produc-
tions of the Bee, Naturalists have differed as to the
origin of honey. Some moderns, led away by vul-
gar opinion, have thought that honey is a moisture
in the air, or a dew which falls upon the flowers and
leaves of trees, and no where else. It is not a diffi-
cult matter to convince those persons of their er-
ror, who ought,, in the first place, to consider, that
dew and rain are very injurious to honey, as they di-
lute it, and prevent the Bees from finding it. It is on
a close and sultry day that the Bees find the richest
harvest of honey. If dew were the principle of it,
the Bees would find it indiscriminately upon all flow-
ers and vegetables ; this is not the case, as confirmed
by experience; and besides, how many flowers are
there, which being in themselves fertile in honey, and
having an horizontal or perpendicular inclination
to the earth, consequently do not allow the dew to
be received into their orifices. It is, therefore, most
consistent with reason and experience to suppose,
that the honey-dew is an exudation of the vegetables
themselves, or a sensible transpiration of that sweet
and mellifluous juice, which, having circulated in the
different parts of certain vegetables, separates itself,
and bursts quite unprepared, either at the bottoms of
flowers, or at the upper parts of the leaves, and in
some plants appears in great abundance. The pri-
mary destination of this mellifluous liquid, or honey-
dew, appears to be the nourishment of the fruit in its
infancy. But an objection here presents itself; why
are the male flowers, which never produce fruit, also
provided with this honey ? Linneus himself was
aware of this objection, and could not solve it to his
satisfaction. The utility of honey to the flowers^
and the reason of its being accorded to them by the
Author of nature, are but imperfectly known to us.
No Botanist has as yet given a direct aad convincing

16

iS^ THE farmer's manual,

elucidation of it, nor has demonstrated either ii3
destination or utility, in the vegetable economy of
flowers. On this account, the solution of this question
appears to be wholly abandoned to the researches of
our successors. From the supposition that honey
transpires from the plaiits and trees, by the action
and admixture of heat and humidity, our surprise
need not be great to find it at the bottom of the nec-
tarium of the flower, which is the proximate part to
the bark or peel, and it may, therefore, be easily con-
ceived, why, in certain days, it is abundant, in others,
scarce; because it follows the motion, more or less
strong, of the sap. Also, why certain vegetables sup-
ply a greater quantity than others ; because they are
more favoured with a soft humidity, and are more
abundant in sap. Why the honey possesses quali-
ties so various in different climates : from the diver-
sity of the vegetables. Why the cold rains, north
winds, frost and snow, are unfavourable to honey ;
because they impede the circulation of the sap. Why
this mellifluous liquid can abound without dew, pro-
vided the sap circulates freely ; why, with an ardent
sun, the harvest of honey can be great, when the ve-
getables are full of humid juices, and why, during ex-
cessive heat, honey is scarce ; because, from the avi-
• dity of the soil, all the vegetable juices are checked
in their circulation. It is evident there are two kinds
of honey, the one contained in the nectarium of flow-
ers, and the other an exudation on the leaves of trees.
The oak and the laurel, are particularly abundant ia
the latter, and on the first view, it appears paradox-
ical, that the juice of a plant which is so very dele-
terious should produce an exudation of a saccharine
and wholesome nature. This circumstance has been
one great ground on which certain persons found
their argument, that the saccharine matter observed
on the laurel, cannot possibly be an exudation from
the plant, but must have fallen upon it in some other
shape. The homogeneousness of this liquid, is an-

THE

MANUAL. 183

Other argument against its being an exudation, un-
less it can be proved that the sap of all plants is ho-
mogeneous, and this 1 believe the most hardy dispu-
tant will not attempt to do. It is certain that the
most credible writers on this subject, men of science
and knowledge, have maintained that they have ac-
tually witnessed the fall of this honey-dew ; and Mr.
Ducarne, one of the most intelligent of those writers,
thus expresses himself upon the subject."

'' You know what that honey is which the Bees
collect with so much ardour in the flowers, but you
do not know, perhaps, that there are two kinds ; one,
which is the real honey, is a juice of the earth, which,
proceeding from the plants by transpiration, is col-
lected at the bottom of the nectarium of the flowers,
and is thickened afterwards ; it is, in other words, a
digested and refined sap in the tribes of plants ; the
other, which is called the honey-dev/, is an effect of
the air, or a species of gluey dew, which falls earlier
or later, but generally during the dog*days. This
dew, lights upon the flowers and leaves of plants and
trees; but the heat operating upon it, coagulates and
thickens it, whilst, on the other hand, the honey
which falls on the flowers, is preserved a much longer
time. It is said that an abundance of this dew ren-
ders the Bees idle, and makes them careless of col-
lecting the common honey from the nectarium of the
flowers. 1 however, never saw them collect it, but
upon the flowers. One great disadvantage, there-
fore, of this honey-dew is, that if the season be fog-
gy and moist, and especially if attended with small
rain, this rain, or the too great humidity of the air,
corrupts it, and forms a composition very inferior to
the honey of the first species, or to that which has
not undergone this adulteration. Those persons who
have not viewed the honey-dew fall, as I have done,
assert, that it is nothing more than the juice, or sap
of the plants, which, in hot weather, experiences per-
hiips a greater fermentation, by which it is forced

i84 THE farmer's MANUAl..

through the leaves. In contradiction to this, I assert,
that it is perceived much better in the morning, be-
fore the sun has been able to dry and harden it.
These persons are, however, deceived. I have not
only seen this honey-dew fall a hundred times in
small rain on the leaves of the ash, but I have also
shown it to others, and the globules were most dis-
tinctly to be perceived." Mr. Huish objects to this
bold assertion, that honey-dew never appears in
moist weather, and is the result only of sultry heats :
and adds, I have long adhered to the opinion, that the
honey-dew dispersed upon the leaves of trees, was
only an exudation, although the globules scarcely
bore any resemblance in form to each other, but
w^ere rather in imitation a species of rain. On exa-
mining more particularly different trees, on which the
honey dew was apparent, chance led me to the dis-
covery of an holm-oak on which the honey-dew had
recently appeared, and in its primitive form, which is
that of a transpired humour. The leaves were co-
vered with several thousands of globules, or smaJl
round and compact drops, without, however, touching
or intermixing, similar to those which are seen on
plants after a thick fog. The position of the globule
seemed to indicate, not only the point from which it
exuded, but also, the number of pores or glands of
the leaf in which this mellifluous juice had been pre-
pared. 1 assured myself, that the honey-dew pos-
sessed the real colour of honey, which of itself, was
sufficient to decide on its origin without removing the
doubts, which a contrary prejudice establishes. The
honey-dew of a neighbouring bramble had not the
same distinct appearance ; the little globules had no
doubt commixed, or being united to each other,
either by the humidity of the air, or by the heat
which had dilated and extended them, they formed
large drops, or broad layers, the dried matter of
which, had become more viscous. It is under these
.latter forms that the honey-dew is commonly per-

THE farmer's manual. 185

ceived, and our surprise need not be great, that exu-
dation is not suspected to be the cause. In the sea-
son when r remarked the honey-dew upon the ever-
green oak, in globules, this tree bore two sorts of
leaves ; the old ones, of a close tissue, like those of the
holly, or those trees which, on the approach of win-
ter, do not shed their leaves ; and the new ones,
which were yet tender, and which had shot forth only
a short time. The honey-dew appeared constantly
only on the leaves of the year old ; the leaves were,
however, still covered with the tufts of the new
shoots, and consequently sheltered from all species
of rime, or drisling rain, which might have fallen upon
them ; this is a convincing proof, that the honey-dew
is not foreign to the leaves on which it is found, and
that it never appears in any other place, as the
. new shoots of our ever-green oaks, which ought to
have been touched the first, as being the most expos-
ed, did not exhibit the smallest drop. The samt sin-
gularity struck me in regard to the honey-dew of the
bramble, although, by the conformation of this shrub,
all its leaves are exposed nearly alike to the air, or
to'the dew, which should fall in a vertical direction.
The honey-dew appeared only upon the old leaves,
the new ones had not a greater quantity than the new
shoot of the oak, which has just been mentioned.
It is probably only the long exposure to the air, per-
haps to its intemperature, and especially to the sun,
which ought to be regarded as the true agent of this
secretion. To elucidate this subject still further, the
plants or shrubs of different species in the vicinity of
which the honey-dews appear, and of a nature less
suitable to the formation of the juice of which I am
now speaking, do not carry the least vestige df it.
This honey never appears oh the rocks, or stones, un-
der the trees on which it is found, which is a fresh
proof, that this species of liquid manna does not fall
from the air like rain, as it would then diffuse itself
on all bodies indifferently, and would not appear sole-
16 '^

i^^ THE FARMER^S MAIfUAt^

ly on certain vegetables, and even on some of then
parts to the exclusion of others. The only objection
to this theory, (and I must acknowledge, that the ex-
perience of the most able Naturalists is against me,)
IS, that the dew is attracted by some bodies, whilst it
is not by others ; but it is known that this phenome-
non w^hich often rises from the earth, always floats in
the air, where it always obeys the least breath, and
the weakest attraction, and often attaches itself to
the upper as well as the lower parts of the leaves of
trees. If it fell like rime, it would moisten indiffe-
rently every object. The acceleration of its fall,
would enable it to surmount the obstacle of the weak
repulsions, which it would find in its course. The
circumstance, however, that favours in the greatest
degree the illusion of the pretended fall of the honey-
dew is, that it is only the upper part of the leaves
which is moistened with it. It has been seen, also,
that the moisture appears only on certain leaves, that
is, on the new ones and those that are the least ex-
posed, and this attraction or attachment is not the ef-
fect of chance ; it is further known, that it is on the side
of the leaf where the pores are not open and distin-
guishable that the greatest exudation takes place. It
is there that the excretory vessels unite, by which
the humour of the plants escapes in the same manner
as the absorbents, which serve for their nutrition, in
attracting the water of the rain and vapours which
are diffused in the air. If the different proofs be
now collected, which have been advanced, it may be
considered as undeniably proved, th'it the honey-dew
exudes from the leaves of certain trees, and doe.«
ot fall from the atmosphere.

CHAP. XV.

On Szuarms in general.

In the spring, when a hive is over stocked with
young Bees, a particular period arrives when they

THE farmer's manual. 18(7

seek for a new habitation. A swarm, therefore, is
nothing more than a colony of Bees which are for-
saking their native home in quest of another place of
residence. This change of abode now becomes ne-
cessary from their obedience to nature's law, increase
and multiply^ and is absolutely necessary to the pre-
serv^ation and support of the whole, as well as the ge-
neral principle of increase. One of the fundamen-
tal principles amongst Bees is, that the small hives
(all other things being equal) generally swarm, one,
two, or three days sooner than the large ones ; 1st,
from the want of room ; 2d, from their increased
heat in bringing forward their eggs. The time in
which Bees swarm differs in all countries. Mr. Men-
tille says, they swarm in the Isle of Cuba throughout
the year, and Don Ulloa says, they cast their swarms
every month, and sometimes double. In Europe,
generally, as in America, they cast their swarms in the
spring and summer, according to the state of the sea-
son ; the warmer the climate or weather, the ear-
lier they swarm.

As soon as a young queen has emerged from her
nymphal state, she becomes capable of laying eggs,
this is never done in the mother hive, but always in
a new habitation. The Bees rally around their
queen, and conduct, or follow her to some secure re-
treat, where she may deposit her eggs to lay the
foundation of a new swarm. This retreat being se-
cured, she deposits her eggs as before stated, and
thus lays the foundation for a new swarm the next
spring. Several important things are now necessary
to be understood, and carefully attended to, as the
sure signs of their being about to swarm. 1st, An
extraordinary number of Bees which hang in clus-
ters about the hives. 2d, An apparent idleness
amongst the Bees. 3d, A particular noise of chip^
chip, made by the young queen, two or three nights
before they swarm. 4th, An unusual bustle amongst
the drones. 5th, A sudden silence succeeding a vio-

188 THE farmer's manual.

lent uproar. 6th, The continual motion of the wings
of the Bees which stand at the entrance. 7th, Vio-
lent commotions at the entrance of the hives, and the
Bees crowding out in great numbers. Ahhough these
are certain indications of swarming, yet they some-
times take place at other times, when they do not
sw.irm. The time of swarming is critical, and must
be carefully attended to ; the least neglect may occa-
sion the loss of a swarm. The profits of a swarm
are worthy of the highest attention ; but the pleasure
to an Apiarian is highly gratifying. The buz of con-
fusion that accompanies a swarm when they quit the
mother hive, and rise into the air in quest of their
new abode, fills the Apiarian with anxiety; but the
calm of order, which follows when they light, fills
him with joy, and their safe deposit into their new
habitation, affords him the highest gratification. The
question, whether the Bees send out a scout to disco-
ver a proper place for their new habitation before they
swarm, may be answered by the following extract of
a letter from Mr. Knight, addressed to Sir Joseph
Banks, which is inserted in the philosophical trans-
actions of 1807. Thus says Jan de Crevec.oeur in
his letters Du Cutivateur Americaine ; '' One of the
problems most difficult to solve, is to know when
the Bees will swarm, and whether the swarm will re-
main in the hive provided for them, or escape, to es-
tablish themselves in the cavity of some hollow tree ;
for when J by means of their emissaries^ they have cho'
sen themselves a retreat^ it is not possible to retain them
in any hive you may select for them* I have many
times forced swarms into hives, which I had prepared
for them, but I always lost them towards night; at the
very moment when I least expected it, they flew
away to the woods."

It is only by a particular management that a swarm
of Bees can be reconciled to a hive, when a distant
domicil has been chosen. If they desert their hive
soon after swarming, they must be pursued, and their

THE farmer's manual. 189

iiew abode discovered if possible, and the Bees must
be hived again, and confined in the hive two or three
days, with some feeding, until the queen begins to lay
her eggs, then the swarm may bo considered as se-
cured, Dubost in his works on Bees asserts, that he
has seen a collection of Bees enter an empty hive in
the morning, and before night of the same day, a
strange swarm from some foreign Apiary, enter the
same hive and take possession, and that the same
facts have been noticed by other Apiarians. One
of the greatest errors of the cotager in the manage-
ment of his Bees, is in giving his swarm old and de-
cayed hives ; these hives are generally infested with
those insects which are the enemies of the Bees, and
ruin their swarms* It seldom happens that the first
flight of a swarm is to any great distance, but it ge-
-nerally alights upon some neighbouring tree, or bush.
Every exertion should then be made to hive it, for it
will not tarry more than two or three hours, especial-
ly under a hot sun ; and when it is hived, it should be
covered with a sheet, or table-cloth, to shield it from
the heat of the sun. The best mode of hiving your
Bees is, either to cut off the bough on which they
hang, and place it under the hive, either in your
Apiary, or upon a table near to it, or place the hive
under the bough when taken off, and shake off the
Bees into the hive. Many persons perform this ope-
ration, without any safe-guard to their persons, but
I would recommend some covering, that will guard
the head, and particularly the face and eyes, the
hands and legs ; that for the head, may be of canvass
placed over the hat, which will extend it from the
face beyond the reach of the stings of the Bees, and
it must extend down so low, as to tie around the
body, and be closed upon the back, so as to exclude
the entrance of the Bees. This covering will give
confidence, which is one of the requisites in handling
Bees. Bees shouM never be breathed upon at the
entrance of the hive, this irritates them. If they arc

290 THE farmer's makual.

blown upon with a bellows, it exasperates them. A
great light dazzles them ; hence the reason why they
can be better managed in clear bright weather, than in
cloudy weather. In swarming your Bees, let your
dress be of some light colour, and guard the hair and
the eyes particularly, for these are the objects they
aim at in their wrath. If the swarm are restless after
they are hived, you may suspect the queen is lost,
and the Bees will soon return to the mother hive. If
you examine the parent hive, and obtain a supernu-
merary queen, and introduce her into your new hive,
she will be well received, and all will be tranquil,
and the swarm will hum with joy. Whenever a
swarm divides itself into several clusters, it is the ef-
fect of several queens in the hive, they should be im-
mediately joined, and the Bees will destroy all the
supernumerary queens, and the one joint stock will
greatly exceed in value any number of small ones.
If such a divided swarm should be one of your first
swarms, and you should wish to multiply your Bees
by keeping tliem separate, spread a sheet upon the

f round, invert your hive in which your Bees have
een hived, and by a smart knock upon it, the Bees
will all fall upon the sheet, they will not fly away, but
will separate themselves into as many groups as
there are queens, and each group will cluster round
their queen ; you may then hive them separately, and
place them at a distance from each other ; the con-
fusion which this process may occasion, will subside
in one night, and all become tranquil again. If your
swarm is hived in the morning, which is the usual
time, the hive must not be moved until evening, to
give opportunity to the stragglers to come in. The
place of swarming, will be the resort of the Bees for
several days. If you neglect to remove your swarm
at evening, let it remain five or six weeks, that the
combs, which are very tender at first, may acquire
strength, so as to bear moving without injury.
Whenever your swarms fly at a distance from your

THE farmer's manual* IDl

Apiary to swarm, you may collect them into a bag,
somewhat like a jelly-bag, the same as you would
coiled them into your hive, by cutting off the bough,
thrust it into the bag, anil tie it close; when you ar-
rive at your Apiary, then hive them in the usual way.
Some rub their hives with aromatic herbs, and in
Italy and France, they rub the hives with the leaves
of onions, and garlics ; and the noted Apiarian Con-
tardi says, '' The Bees accustom themselves to this
odour for the want of a better;" but Le Abbe della
Nona says, *' We should refrain from approaching
our Bees when we have touched onions, or eaten
cheese, for both will excite their acrimony." The
best test of the value of a hive of Bees is its weight,
and this can only be correctly ascertained, but by
vveighing the hive without the Bees, or one of the
same size and structure, and then, by weighing them
both together. The best swarms are from 5 to Gibs,
they sometimes weigh 8lbs., but this is rare, and are
not desirable, as they impoverish the parent hive too
much. 5000 Bees, generally weigh a pound, a good
swarm of 4lbs. consists, therefore, of 20,000; the
quantity of honey such a swarm carries with it to be-
gin a new colony, is generally about 4lbs.

The signs attending the flight of the second swarms
at the time of swarming, vary from those of the first.
Wildman says, the second swarms appear generally
about ten days after the first, this is not absolutely
correct ; I have known them often swarm on the in-
termediate days, from the 4th to the 10th, and some
hives do not throw a second swarm, and this may be
ascertained upon examination of the hives, when it
appears that the combs are bare and destitute of
Bees, when the supernumerary queens arc dead be-
fore the hive, and when the Bees tear from the cells
the nymphs of the dronfes, no second swarm is then
expected ; but if the Bees leave 3 or 4 queens alive
in the hive, there is some chance of a second swarm.
Thece particular examinations are not common to all

192 THE farmer's manual.

proprietors of Bees ; I would advise generally, that
the hives be watchi^d from the 4th to the 12th day af-
ter they have cast their swarms, and if none appears
by that time, it may be concluded there will none ap-
pear, A second swarm is seldom worth preserving
Over the winter ; the stock of honey which it collects^
not being, generally, adequate to its support ; but if
two swarms, after the first, are thrown oft', a junction
should be effected between them without delay. This
may be done by searching the hive of one of the
swarms, and removing the queen, and then imrnersing
the two swarms, so to be united, in pure water, or
water saturated with ale, sugar and honey, and plac-
ed in a tub for the purpose : when they are well mix-
ed together by stirring, I then strain out the Bees, by
passing the liquor through a sieve, and return both
swarms, so mixed, into one hive, and place it near the
fire ; they will soon begin to hum, and in one hour,
will be restored to life again ; no quarrel will ensue
upon this method. All other methods of joining
swarms, generally expose them to quarrels. Even in
this method, it is absolutely necessary that one of the
queens should be destroyed, or all will be quarrel.
Whenever the weather is rainy the next day after
hiving your Bees, it will become necessary to feed
them at evening, particularly if it should continue
rainy two or three days ; continue feeding at evening,
until the weather becomes fair, they will then visit
the fields, and supply themselves. Whenever you
have occasion to move the hive of the young swarm,
either for feeding, or otherwise, let it be done very
gently, or the young and tender combs will be injur-
ed. It is always best to let them stand qxiiet for two
months, they are then solid and firm, and may be in-
spected with safety. The purest honey, called vir-
gin honey, is always found in the hives of the second
swarms. 1 have noticed the clustering of. the Bees
without the hive, as one of the signs of ^warraiiig;
this sometimes arises from a want of room in the

THE FARMER'S MANUAL. 193

hive, and may be remedied either by an eking on
the bottom of the hive, of 3, 4, 5, or 6 inches, as oc-
casion may require ; or by drawing honey from the
top of the hive, as has been described by ray own
invented hive, which may be considered the best
way. The author, here, runs into a lengthy detail
of forming artificial swarms, which may answer the
purpose of curious Apiarians to amuse themselves
with, and write about. I shall pass over the whole,
as foreign to the design of this work, which is to il-
lustrate the correct principles of nature, and apply
them to the plain practical principles of common
sense.

CHAP. xvr.

On preparing Honey and Wax for market.

If a large quantity of honey is gathered annually.
a specific place should be appropriated for its mani-
pulation, and its aspect should always be to the
south, and it should be perfectly secured against all
access to the Bees. When only a small quantity of
honey is collected, it will be sufficient to have two
or three small sieves of horse-hair cloth, with as
many small vessels of earthen, together with some
vessels to receive the honey, for its preservation. A
small press is indispensably necessary, and some
strong linen cloths which are to contain the honev
when expressed, and finally, some great buckets, and
glazed earthen vessels, with two handles, having a

u-^ u^^J""^ ^^^^ ^" '"^^ ^^^^ ^^^ bottom, through
which the honey is to be poured, as it flows from the
combs, and which must be kept constantly closed
with a cork. To obtain the prime honey, heat, ce-
lerity and cleanliness are requisite. The honey
should be extracted from the combs as soon as possi^

194 THE farmer's maktual.

ble after it is drawn from the hives ; it will then flow
more readily. The operations should be in a fair
day, and under the influence ol the sun, falling di-
rectly upon the honey, when extracting?,. Particular
care must be taken to remove all dead Bees, and all
such cells as contain brood, or pollen , these will all
injure the honey. If the season is far advanced,
the heat of the sun must b- supplied by the heat of
the stove, to render the r^fwHtion more free. The
sieves are now placed ove th • vessels, and the combs
are now cut in pieces ; bui t irust be observed, that
they must be cut transvers^ Iv \ and twice, viz. at top
and bottom, in order to hy open each cell. The
combs must not be crushed ; this injures the purity of
the honev, both from brood, and. bee-bread. Water
should be in readiness to wash the hands of the ope-
rator, and his utensils, and this water should be pre-
served. When a certain quantity of honey has flow-
ed into the pans, it is then poured into the buckets
with the hole at the bottom, and carefully covered.
On the following day, it may.be poured into the ves-
sels, either for use, or to convey it to market. This
is prime honey.

Second honey is thus obtained ; let the combs
from which prime honey has thus been obtained, be
kneaded a little ; then wrung in a clean cloth, or
pressed through a strong canvass cloth ; when the first
is pressed, you may add a second, then a third, and
so on, leaving them to drain ; after draining, the
cakes of wax are removed from the cloths to be melt-
ed. If the weather is so cold as to render it neces-
sary, the combs may be placed, for a time, in an
oven, moderately warm, and drawn for pressing, as
occasion may require. This second honey will be
distinguished by a scum which will soon arise upon
its surface. All the utensils used in this process
should be taken to the Apiary, and exposed to the
Bees -, they will soon cleanse them ; but care should
be taken not to expose to them pure honey, this will

MANUAL. 105

injure the Bees. Honey to be preserved, should be
piu into close vessels, corked close, and put into a
dry place, to preserve it from souring; it should
never be mixed with honey that has acquired consis-
tency ; this will cause a fermentation, and render
both sour. The Abbe della Rocca says, that sixty
pounds of honey-comb, will yield six or seven pounds
of wax ; but I could never obtain more than three or
four pounds of wax to a hundred pounds of comb.
There is scarcely any article in commerce more adul-
terated than honey ; it is generally sold by weight,
and mixed with other farinaceous substances, by
which means it is very seldom obtained pure, in
market. Water is a test by which adulterated ho-
ney may be discovered. Honey, impregnated with
flour, gives to the water a q;^ilky colour ; and, when
boiled in water, gives a scum, which, when taken off
and cooled, becomes a fine farinaceous substance.
Honey is, however, not equal in its quality, but the
choice is easy and important. The best honey, is
new, transparent, of a ropy consistency, of a fra-
grant and agreeable smell, rather aromatic, and of a
sweet pungent taste. The white is preferable to the
yellow; the new to the old; the honey of the spring,
to that of the summer, or autumn ; and that when
boiled, gives the least froth; and that which gives
a mild odour is preferable to that which gives a
strong odour. These are the general characteristic
features of honey.

CHAP. XVII.

On the cause of the mortality of Bees*

The first of these are the diseases to which they
are incident, and the casualties of life, together with the
cruelty of man in robbing and destroying his swarms

'^96 THE FARMER^S MANUAL.

at the same time ; all these have been considered
under the chapters, Diseases of Bees, and Enemies of
Bees. Many Apiarians, as well as common people,
believe, that cold is an occasion of the mortality of
Bees ; but this is true only in a limited sense ; and it
is found from the nicest observations, that more Bees
die, in proportion, in warm, than in cold climates.
The Bee flourishes well in Siberia, and throughout
Russia ; and where the summers are short, and the
tvinters long, the almost torpid state of the Bee dur-
ing winter, renders him incapable of devouring much
food, and yet they seldom if ever perish with frost,
In their hives. The woods of Russia are known to
abound with Bees, and the peasants have honey from
the forests in great plenty, and always at their com-
mand.

Travels in Lapland, by a Swedish officer who ac-
companied the French Academicians, who went out
to measure the length of a degree at the Pole, states,
that " in these countries contiguous to the Pole, there
are three months continual night in winter, and the
cold is so intense that spirits of wine will freeze in
the thermometer ; when the door of a room is open-
ed, the exterior air converts the vapour immediately
into snow. In summer, there are three months con-
linual day, and we are so annoyed with Bees and flies
of all kinds, that we are obliged to burn green wood
to occasion a smoke to drive them away." A sum-
mer of three months perpetual day gives the Bees an
advantage for laying in stores, which may always be
sufficient for food for their long winters, under their
torpid state, and the natural heat of the swarms, suf-
ficient to preserve them from freezing to death. Mr,
luish states, that he measured the atmosphere in the
yard winter of 1814 with the thermometer, when the
:o!d was 20 degrees below freezing point, and then
olaced the thermometer within his bee-hives, and
bund the temperature 20 degrees above it, making a
iifference of 40 degrees. This proved to his satis

THE

MANUAL. 197

faction that the swarm, in their compact state, might
set all cold at defiance, if they were full fed. This
also led him to conclude, that whenever Bees died
with the cold of winter, their food must be short, and
their hives old, and bad, so as to admit both frost and
wet. He also remarks, that heat often destroys the
swarms, when the hives are exposed to the intense
rays of the sun, and that this evil ought carefully to
be guarded against. Mr. Huish also remarks, that
the light of the snow, in a clear day, often invites the
Bees abroad, and a chill causes them to light upoa
the snow, where they all perish ; he directs that the
hives be closed at such times. Twelve or fourteen
pounds of honey may be considered suflScient food
for a common swarm, through the winter; you may al-
ways determine the state of your hives with regard to
food, by weighing them in January or February, (al-
ways allowing more for the weight of an old hive
than a new one, on account of an accumulation of
bee-bread, which, by its augmentation in old hives,
increases their weight.) If your quantum of food
falls short, feed your Bees.

Butler, in his feminine Monarchy, remarks, " That
no hope can be entertained of saving a hive through
the winter, that weighs only 10 or 12 pounds; but
one of 15 pounds may be preserved by feeding, and
one of 20 pounds will winter safe, and free from all
fear of famine."

CHAP. XVIII.

On the life of the Bee and period of duration of a
hive.

There are two seasons which exhaust the hives af
their inhabitants ; the spring and autumn. It may
be calculated with some certainty, that more than
one-third of a hive dies in autumn, and nearly the
same number in the spring. The life of the Bee has
17*

198 THE farmer's MANyAi..

been generally estimated at one year, or t\to at fur-
therest. Mr. Reaumur was of this opinion, although
the experiments which he made were not decisive.
Mr. Reaumur marked 500 Bees in the month of April,
and in November following, not one was to be seen.
The Germans estimated the life of the Bee at .one
year. Mr. Huish is of opinion that the Bee may
live 3, 4, or even more years, because, he once mark-
ed one of his queen Bees, by clipping her wings, and
;ound that she lived 4 years ; when the hive was for-
saken by the whole swarm, and he had no knowledge
of her afterwards •, and he thus concludes, '' If the
queens, who lay a great number of eggs, live 3 or 4
years, the Bees, by a natural conclusion, ought to live
as long.'' The barbarous method of destroying the
Bees by suflbcation, to rob them of their honey, ren-
ders it difficult to ascertain with precision the natu-
ral life of the Bee ; added to this, the enemies of Bees,
together with the perishable structure of their straw
hives, make general changes once in 3, 4 or 5 years.
In the Archipelago, where hives are made of baked
earth, they have sometimes lasted from 20 to 30
years ; peopled, like a city, with a succession of po-
pulation. Old combs become destructive to the
Bees, and generally destroy the swarms if they are
iiot removed ; but upon the plan of my new hive, the
combs may all be changed every year or two, and
thus the hive be preserved free from this evil of old
combs ; and thus the depredations of one of the worst
enemies of the Bees (the moth) may be prevented.
The duration of the straw hive may be prolonged by
a good coat of paint, to shield it from the weather.

CHAP. XIX.

On the deprivation of the hives, ^c.

One of the most important questions which can
be agitated relative to the management of Bees is.

THE parmer'^s manual. 19S^

whether it be more advisable to suffocate annually a
certain number of hives, or to save their lives by de-
priving them of ^ part of their treasure ? The latter
sentiment begins generally to prevail ; but the com-
mon hive is a great preventative ; because few have
the skill and courage necessary to perform the ope-
ration. I have shown how this may be done, by
placing one hive upon another, upon the story ing
plan, by placing one hive by the side of another, by
partitions in the same hive, and by my own new hive.
I will now show how the Bees may be changed from
one hive to another, and thus the honey removed with
safety to the operator, and the Bees. Having ascer-
tained the weight of the hive, and consequently the
quantity of honey-comb to be extracted, begin the ope-
ration at evening, by inverting the hive of Bees and
placing over it an empty hive of exactly the same
circumference; then beat the lower hive gently, and
the Bees will ascend into the upper hive with a loud
humming noise. When they are still, invert the up-
per hive with the Bees on to the shelf, from whence
they were taken, and remove the honey hive. When
you cut out the comb which you design for use, cut
upon one side of the hive, and extend your cutting
quite to the top, otherwise the combs left behind,
which had been cut, will drip on to the Bees on their
return, and drown or injure them, or run on to the
shelf, and thus invite other Bees to become robbers,
to the ruin of your swarm. The honey thus being
extracted, return the hive in the morning to its usual
place, in the same way that you took it, by re-
versing the hives again, and the Bees will be restor-
ed to their own hive, and to their food. This may be
done either immediately after the swarming season,
when the Bees may have opportunity to fill up the
chasm, or in October, but the former is much to be
preferred. Mr. Huish now proceeds to notice the ar-
guments in favour of the suffocating plan, by M. La
Grende at full length, and to refute them, and thu^

200 THE PARMER^S MANUAL.

concludes ; If I manage my hive well, and preserve
it for ten years, it will yield me the same quantity
every year, viz. l5lbs. ; and M. Grenee, by destroy-
ing his hive, has got 40lhs. his hive has only yield-
ed him one swarm, and mine, at the end of ten years,
has produced to me at least ten, without re{:;iirding
the multiplied produce of the swarms, both in Bees
and honey. At the end of ten years, my 15lhs. a
year, will give 150lbs. with their swarms, &:c. to his
40lbs of honey only ; Who has the advantage ?

CHAP. XX. *

On the manner of feeding Bees*.

There are two seasons in which the feeding o!
Bees becomes necessary, and these are in winter and
spring ; at these seasons, the hives should be careful-
ly watched, and when found light, an immediate sup-
ply be given them. It is the opinion of our author,
that it is best not to feed profusely, by giving a great
quantity at a time, but gently, say about 2 pounds a
month, and that the feeding should be in the morning
early, before the Bees leave the hive, and always in
pleasant weather, and that the entrance of the hive
should be closed immediately after feeding, to prevent
robbery from other hives. Or, it may be considered
most prudent and safe to administer food at evening,
after sunset, when ihfe entrance of the hive need not be
closed ; but the vessel containing the honey must be re-
moved before the next morning, to prevent robbery as
before. Care should be taken not to delay feeding your
Bees until their old store is all exhausted, for they will
thf^n become feeble, and if you preserve your Bees, you
will lose much of their labours the next season. Sugar
is sometimes administered as food for Bees, as well as
clear honey ; Mr. Huish considers the first as impro-

'THE farmer's manual. 201

per food, and the latter as dangerous, and often ex-
posing the Bees to the dysentery ; and adds, '* Wher-
ever honey is given, it should be mixed with some
good old white wine, in the proportion of six pounds
of honey to one of wine ; it should then be placed on
a slow fire, and stirred until the honey is all dissolved,
then poured out into a jar or other vessel for use.

Dissolve one pound of sugar in a quart of good old
ale ; boil and skim it until it is clear, when cooled, it
will have the consistence of honey, and may be given
your Bees. A little salt added to their food is both
safe and useful, especially when they are threatened
with the dysentery. Molasses and water boiled, with
a little salt, may be a good substitute, together with
a little treacle.

M. Ducouedic recommends the addition of a little
flour to their food ; but Mr. Huish objects, and adds,
" the admixture of any farinaceous substance acts as
a laxative upon the Bees, and instead of invigorating,
weakens and debilitates them."

CHAP. XXI.

On the establishment of a hive, tht Bees of which have
perished by accident or zoant.

When Mr. Reaumur gave his explanation of a
swarm, he was not far removed from the discovery of
the re-establishment of a hive, the Bees of which
have prrished by hunger, or accidrnt. A very sim-
ple remark on the existence of the eggs ^ f the queen in
the hive, and on the promptitude with which those
egg^ are hatchod upon the rf^turn ot the warm season,
would have infallibly led to this discovery. Mr.
Huish thus closes this chapter; '' Whenever the Bees
of a hive have perished in autumn or spring, the
hiv^ should be immediately taken from the Af)iHry,
and deposited in a dry place, carefully protected
from insects, spiders, mice. &c. When the warm
weather has set in, it may be brought from its repo-

i202 THE farmer's manual.

sitory, and exposed to the effects of the sun, with some
caution however, lest the sun be too intense, and melt
the combs : care should be taken to secure this hive,
also, from the pillaging Bees, by removing it at some
distance from the Apiary, in some retired spot. The
eggs left in the cells will come forward, and thus re-
people the hive, and if no queen appears amongst
them, the earliest opportunity must be taken of ex-
tracting a queen, with some drones, from another hive,
(as has before been noticed,) and thus effecting the
formation of this new colony. Mr. Huish thus adds,
" I never, however, knew that a hive thus regenerat-
ed, swarmed the same year, although Mr. Ducouedic
affirms it, especially if the Apiary be in the vicinity
of heath, or buck-wheat. Neither is it to be desired
from so weak a stock ; it is fit only for to be preserv-
ed over for the next season."

CHAP. XXII.

On the custom of transporting hives of Bees from
place to place J for a change of pasturage, tj/-c.

In many countries, this is considered as a very im-
portant point in the practical management of I3ees.
Savery, in his letters on Egypt, enters into a long de-
tail of the manner in which the Egyptians transport
their hives along the banks of the Nile, for the pur-
poses of fresh pasturage, and concludes thus," This
species of industry, procures to the Egypt inns, an
abundance of wax and honey, and enables them to
export a considerable quantity to foreign countries.'^
This practice is alike common to the Chinese, Ita-
lians, French, Germans, &c. Mr. Boman, in his dic-
tionary, observes, ** Great are the advantages of be-
ing in the vicinity of some navigable river ; by these
means the spring of a dry country, can be united
witl» the autumn of a fertile, umbrageous one, and
thereby ample amends be made for the poverty of
*he coujotry in which the Apiarian may be established.''

THE Parmer's manual. 203

Mr. Boman further adds, *' we are informed by a Me-
moir of Duhamet, that the profit which is extracted
from the Bees, under this management, is very consi-
derable. From the month of July, when the Bees
have swarmed, and have made an excellent harvest
from the sainfoin, the whole of the wax and honey is
taken from them, and the Bees put into an empty
hive. The hives are then transported into the vi-
cinity of fresh pasturage, where flowers and melli-
fluous herbs abound, and where they are often filled
by the latter end of July. They are then again
changed (care being taken to preserve the brood-
combs) and transported into the neighbourhood of
the buck-wheat fields, where they are again filled so
as to yield an extraction of one third of this last
stock ^'' and thus concludes, " By the aid of human
industry, the most surprising quantity of honey is
often obtained; but it must be confessed, that all
years are not alike, and that some will not admit of
more than one change,''

CHAP. XXIIL

. On the robberies of Bees, and the method of preventing
them.

It has generally been understood throughout the
preceding remarks, that robbery amongst Bees,
arises from a scarcity of food. I shall, therefore,
pass over the general remarks of Mr. Huish, and se-
lect only the following; ''As the majority of the
hives which are tormented with robbers are weak,
and in want of provisions, it would be well to give
them some food in the evening, after sunset, securing,
at the same time, the entrance of the hive, against
the admission of strangers, otherwise you will in-
vite further pillage. Remove the hive, at the same
time, into some close room, with a window to the
south, and continue to feed them three or four days^

204 THE farmer's manual.

when you may open the window, and let your Bees
pass out and in at pleasure, when the weather is fine.
If the robbers appear again, close the window, and
when the robbers are gone, admit the stragglers of
your swarm ; continue to feed, and you may save
your hive. It is a good precaution to place an emp-
ty hive in the place of the one you thus remove, it
will deceive the robbers."

CHAP. XXIV.

On the advantages which accrue to the State and indi-
viduals from the culture of the Bee.

It is a notorious fact, that England pays annually
to the north of Germany 40 or £50,000 sterling for
the produce of the Bee, which could be saved by a
small expense by her own peasantry. Even in Ame-
rica, we are so regardless of the profits of the Bee,
as to import honey in^ hogsheads from the island of
Cuba and elsewhere. No country possesses greater
advantages for the culture of the Bee, and perhaps
no country has so grossly neglected it. Mr. Huish,
after having gone over a complete system for the ma-
nagement of the Bee, observes, " I consider that 200
hives may be managed by one person, with some
slight assistance, during the swarming season. Some
French authors eulogize the skill of M. Prouteac,
who had constantly under his care from 5 to 600
hives ; this is rare, and perhaps the only one. 1 will
state the profits of five years, on a fair and equitable
scale, making, at the same time, fair and ample al-
lowance for the losses, which, even the most skilful
Apiarian cannot prevent. I will suppose a person
to buy a swarm in 1812, for \vhich he pays one
guinea. In the month of May or June, his hive
swarms, and in about lO days, it swarms again, this
is called a cast. His Apiary now consists of three
hives, from one of which, (the cast,^ it will be most

THE farmer's manual.

205

prudent for him to take the honey, and the Bees be
joined to the strongest stock hives. Suppose the
casts weigh 15lbs*, say twenty-two shillings; thus,
in the first year, he has received back the price of his
original hive, and doubled his stock. The second
year, his two hives produce him four swarms and two
casts; let him sell the honey of his casts, at 15
shillings each, which will give him 30 shillings, and
add the swarms to his stocks. He has now four
good stocks ; at the end of each year, let him
weigh his hives, and take out all the comb over
30lbs. ; say lllbs. a year from each hive ; this gives
him 40lbs. of honey-comb, at U6 gives him three
pounds ; this added to the profit on the two casts as
before, gives four pounds ten shillings. The third
year, his four hives produce four swarms, and four
casts ; he goes on as before, and on the fourth year,
his Apiary consists of eight stocks. At the begin-
ning of the fifth year, his Apiary has increased to
16 stocks. 1 will now calculate the actual profit.

1812, To 1 swarm, - £l

1813, To 2 new bee-hives, 0
To 2 new stools, - 0

1814, To 4 new bee-hives, 0
To 4 new stools, - 0

1815, To 8 new hives, - 0
To 8 new stools, - 0

1816, To 16 new hives, 1
To 16 new stools, 1

1817, To 32 new hives, 3
To 32 new stools, 3
To lOlbs. su»ar for

feediag' Bee?, - 0
To20qts.aie,at6rf. 0
To incidental expen-
ses, - - - - - 1

1 0

4 0

4 0

8 0

8 0

16 0

16 0

12 0

12 0

4 0

4 0

6 8
10 0

1 0

£15 6 S

Or.

1813, By one swarm, £ i 10
By one cast, - - 0 15 0
By lOlbs. honey fr.

the first swarm, 0 15 0

1814, By two swarms, 2 2 0
By two casts, - 1 10 0
By 201bs. honey fr.

the two swarms, 110 0

1815, By 4 swarms, - 4 4 0
By 4 casts, - - 3 0 0
By 401bs. honey, 3 0 0

1816, By 8 swarms, - 8 8 0
By 8 casts, - - 6 0 0
By 801bs. honey, 6 0 0

1817, By 16 swarms, - 16 16 0
By 16 casts, - - 12 0 0
160Jbs. honey, - 12 0 0

Deduct - -

£79
15

1 0
6 8

Actual profit^- - jG63 14 4

18

206 THE farmer's manual*

The profit which is obtained from the Bee, stands
in no proportion to the little trouble and time required
in their culture, and this is sufficient to induce those
who estimate things properly, to give a preference to
the culture of the Bee, above all other agricultural
pursuits, especially as no sacrifice of time or proper-
ty arc required, and no extensive capital necessary.
As a proof of tl^e importance attached to the culture
of the Bee, Wildman quotes a modern author, who
affirms, that when the Romans took possession of the
Island of Corsica, they imposed a tribute of wax on
the inhabitants, to the amount of 200,000 pounds an-
nually ; supposing the Island retained the same quan-
tity, that would give 400,000 pounds per annum made
in one Island by this wonderful insect. The known
proportion of wax to honey in a hive, is as 1 to 1^
or 20 ; then multiply 400,000 pounds by 15 or 20,
we have 6 or 8 millions of pounds of honey, independ-
ent of the wax as above; what a source of wealth for
Corsica, and all countries which will profit by the im-
provement.

I have before me a French news-paper of the 20th
of September, 1787, which states, under an article
dated Hanover, August 30th, " The culture of the
Bee is a particular object with the Hanoverians ; the
produce of wax this year is estimated at 300,000lbs. ;
this, multiplied by 15, gives 4,500 ,000lbs. of honey;
a most incredible quantity to be collected in globules
by a particular species of insect." The Turks derive
great profits from the culture of the Bee. The im-
mense quantities of wax the Europeans annually draw
from Smyrna, Salonichi, and the Morea, are well
known. Paysonnec, on the commerce of the Turks
on the Black Sea, says, Wax is the most important
article in the commerce of Moldavia and Wallachia.
Speaking of Bulgaria, he says, An immense quantity
of wax is exported from Bulgaria ; it is yellow, and
of an excellent quality. The Bee flourishes well in
all parts of the world, in China, Siberia, Lapland,

THE PARMER'S MANUAL.

207

and in the West-Indies, and thus offers its labours to
all classes of men without exception. The immor-
tal Linneus, in speaking of the Bee, says, " It is not
yet determined if the Bees, and other insects, which
feed on honey, occasion any injury to the little em-
bryos, or cause any obltruction to their generation,
by imbibing the nectar of the flowers." Since it is
so well known that the Bees afford such immense
profit to the cultivators, with so little expense and
trouble, and without the least injury to the most deli-
cate parts of the vegetable kingdom, it must be ow-
ing to a want of knowledge, or a want of attention,
that America derives so little share from the profits
of this wonderful insect.

CHAP. XXV.

Directions for the purchase of Hives.

There is no commodity in which a purchaser can
be so easily deceived as in a hive of Bees, and it is
only the experienced Apiarian who can detect the
particular defects. The value of a hive can only be
known by a minute and close examination of its inte-
rior. If the exterior be sound, the interior may be
bad ; the combs may be black and ill-flavoured, which
is always the case in old hives. When the age of
the hive is determined, (which may be known by the
number of queen cells,) and the hive is found free
from moths and other enemies, the month of Februa-
ry and March will be the best time to purchase, and
the activity of the Bees, together with the weight of
the hive will give the best criterion. Hives pur-
chased from a distance, generally do best, not being
so often obstructed in their labours, by losing their
way, and returning to their old habitations. Swarms,
when moved, do best when carried by water, and in.
the evening.

208 THE farmer's manual*

CHAP, XXVI.

On the countries most beneficially situated for the cul-
ture of the Bee, and the number of hives each can
support.

The former has already been fully considered, and
the latter cannot well be determined ; as much de-
pends upon the nature and quantity of the herbage of
all countries, and the advantages which may be deriv-
ed from the transportation, or pasturage of Bees, in
different districts of the same country, and as no da-
mage has yet been recorded of any country, from hav-
ing been overstocked with Bees. The celebrated La
Grente concludes, that, without contradiction, there
are some countries more favourable to the cultivation
of the Bee than others, yet that they may be kept to
advantage in all, and that no one ought to neglect to
provide himself with Bees, whatever be the country
and the soil, and the productions of the places

CHAP. XXVII.

On the distance which Bees fiy for food.

It is generally understood by Apiarians, that the
Bee can fly 3 or 4 miles, and that they sometimes col-
lect honey at this distance ; but Mr. Huish has ren-
dered this certain by the following fact. '• I once
accompanied a party of friends to the Isle of Man, si-
tuated at the entrance of the Frith of Forth, and
which is at a much greater distance than 4 miles from
any land. Not a single hive of Bees is kept upon
this Island ; how great then was my astonishment to
find a considerable number of Bees busily employed
upon the Island amongst the heath, and who must
have winged their way across the ocean in quest of

THE FARMER^S MANUAL. 20S

lioney.^' From some observations afterwards made
by Mr. Huish upon the labours of his own Bees, he
ascertained that they often went to a distant field, two
miles, in quest of honey, and that the velocity of their
flight was about a mile in two minutes.

I shall here omit Mr. Huish's Monthly Manual, as
it contains nothing but what has been noticed in the
course of these remarks, and would be only an use-
less repetition. His catalogue of plants which fur-
nish food for Bees, cannot be of sufficient importance
to render it necessary to swell the expense of this
work. His remarJts upon the utility of Apiarian So-
cieties, miist be apparent to every person who reads
this work, without the necessity of a particular chapter
to illustrate it. The profits which have been fairly
demonstrated by Mr. Huish upon the culture of the
Bee, must be sufficiently striking to impress every
candid mind with the value and utility of both the
science and practice, and to induce every careful
farmer to add the profits of the Bee to the profits of
his farm, as well as to furnish his family and friends
with one of the richest luxuries of nature. I shall
close these extracts with Mr. Huish's chapter on
Mead.

CHAP, xxvin.

Manufacture of Mead^

Mead is a beverage prepared of water and honey;
There are three distinct kinds of Mead, the simple,
the compound, and the vinous. Simple Mead is made
of water arid honey which does not undergo fermen-
tation. Compound Mead is mixed with fruits and es-
sences, in order to give it a flavour. Vinous Mead
is made of honey and water, which is subject to fer-
mentation. Simple Mead is made by boiling three
18* ^ &

^^^ THE FARMEK^S MANUAL.

parts of water to one of honey ; the honey may be in-
creased, or diminished to the taste. The process is
over a slow fire until one third has evaporated, then
skimmed, and put into a cask, until the cask is full ;
after 3 or 4 days it will be fit for use. The cloths which
have been used in filtrating the honey from the combs,
may now be used and cleared from their honey in the
boiling Mead.

Compound Mead.

Daring the boiling process of simple Mead, add
half a pound of raisins, stoned, or seeded, to six
poundsof honey, and 4 pints of water ; boil these well
together until the raisins become soft, and the 4 pints
are wasted to two ; strain this liquor through linen,
gently, and mix it with your Mead, and let them con-
tinue to boil ; add to the boiling Mead a toasted crust
of bread steeped in beer. Skim the Mead again ; re-
move the Mead from the fire, and when cool, barrel
it, as in simple Mead, with an ounce of salt of tartar
dissolved in a glass of brandy. Let the barrel be
full, that the froth may work over, and continue to fill
as the barrel diminishes by working ; when this sub-
sides, bung close, and stow it away in your cellar;
after a few months it will be fit for use. To give a
variety of flavour to this Mead, a few drops of the
essence of cinnamon may be mixed with the salt of
tartar and brandy; some lemon-peel, syrup of goos-
berries, cherries, strawberries, or aromatic flowers,
according to the taste of the fabricator, or those who
use it.

Vinous Mead.

This is the beverage of all the northern people;
they call it Miod. The Russians, for example, com-
pose their Mead with honey, cherries, strawberries,
goosbcrries and mulberries ; they soak these fruits
several days in clear water, to which they add some
virgin honey, and a piece of bread soaked in beer.

THE farmer's manual. 211

The barrels are placed in a room of 1 8 to 25 degrees
of heat, day and night. The fermentation com-
mences in 6 or 8 days, and lasts about six weeks
spontaneously ; it is then fit for use, but increases
its value by age. The Grecians put into their wines
the flour of sesame, kneaded with the honey of Mount
Hymettus. By this method they made their wines
delicious. The Turks make a very delicious pastry
and confectionary with honey, and the flour of se-
same, and even the sesame itself. The French imi-
tate with Mead the choicest wines, such as Malaga^
Rota, Muscat, Constantia, &;c. ; and it is fortunate that
the beverage is not unhealthy.

Vinegar.

Put half a pound of honey into a pint of water,
when dissolved, expose it to a warm sun, under a li-
nen cover, to exclude flies, &c. ; in about six weeks
it will change, and become good vinegar.

FINIS,

CONTENTS,

ly]^::*

MARCFI.

Wood, &c., - - - - - - ' .^

Clover and Spring Rye, - . - - H,

Grass Grounds and Winter Grain, - - - - ib.

Orchards and Fences, 6

Fruit-Trees, Water-Courses and Stock, - - ib.

Red Clover injurious to orchards, - - -. 7

Its remedy, - - - - * - - ib.

Ploughing, &c., - - - - - - ib.

Harrowing and Rolling, 11

Remarks on the general principles of Husbandry, 12

APRIL.

Semination, ---,-^. 13

Peas ; their general culture, - - - - 14

MAY.

Beans ; their general culture, - ^ - 15

Heligoland Bean, - ----- - ib.

Remarks on the Bean culture, - - - 16

Gypsum, 17

Dr. Davy's, and Chemical remarks generally, - 18
Sulphur, Oxygen and Lime, the constituents of Plas-
ter of Paris, ------ ^J.

Remarks on Oxygen, Air, &c., - - - 19

Electricity, Oxygen, Light, &c., - - - - 20

From the Pennsylvania Farmer, - - - 21

Mr. Holbrook's experiments upon Gypsum, - - ib,

APRIL.

Spring Grains, and Early Potatoes, - - . - 26

Hogs, ---.-- n - 2*6.

Kotine of crops, - 27

214 CONTENTS.

Flax, Gjpsum and Soils, - - - - -29

Ruta Baga, ------- 32

Cobbet's System for 100 acres, - - - - 39

General Remarks, - - - - - 41

MAY.

Indian-Corn, -*----- 4^

Potatoes ; Grafting, &c., ----- 47

Weeds, 48

Irrigation and Remarks, . - _ . 50, 51

Successful culture of Indian-Corn, - - - 62

JUNE.

Culture of Potatoes, ^ - - •■ - 53

Clover and Tillage, 59

Manures, - - - - - - - 63

Indian-Corn continued, . , . - - 65

Pasture Grounds and Fencing, - - - 67

Arable Lands, and the Convertible Husbandry, - 70

JULY.

Indian-Corn and Haying, . - - - 75

Potatoes, Turnips and Buckwheat, - ^ - 77

Wheat ; Remarks, 78, 79

Tillage, - ^82

Harvest, ------- 84

AUGUST.

FInx and Hemp, . . - - - ^ 87

Paring and Burning, - ■- - ■- - 91

Summer Fallow, 26.

SEPTEMBER.

Indian and Potatoe Harvest, - " - * 93, 94

Semination, -.-----, 94

Orchards and Cider, ----- 96

Remarks, 98

OCTOBER.

Semination^ ..•---- 98

Beans ; Winter Apples, ^^

Flax; Carrots, lOCi

Seed-Corn, - ^ - - - - 10 J

CONTENTS.

NOVEMBER.

215

Watering and Manurins:, - ^ - - - - 102

Barns and Barn- Yards, 104

Hemp ; Hurdles, - • - - - - 105

Winter Fallows, &c., - 106

DECEMBER.

General Remarks, - - - - '*■ 107

Nurseries, - - - - - - " 108

Transplanting, - - - - - - 109

Stock, - ih>

JANUARY.

Pork, Hams, &c., 115

Fattening, - ^ - - - - - 116

Calves, - - - - - - ' - 117

Sheep; Accounts, - - - - - -^118

General Remarks, - - - - - - 119

FEBRUARY.

Domestic Manufactures, - - - - >- 120

Feeble Lambs, - - 121

Extracts on Pork, - - - - - " ib.

Salem Aims-House Farm, - - - - 122

Cions and Pruning, - - - - - - 124

General Remarks, - - - - - - 125

Remarks on Gardening, - - - - 130

Remarks on Fruit-Trees, Vines and Shrubber}', - 141

Treatise on Bees.

CHAPTER I.

On Bees in general. — Natural history of Bees imper
fectly known. — Simplified by Swammerdam, M^raldi
and Reaumur. — Various species of Bees. — Activity of
Bees. — Honey solely produced by them. — Different
substances on which they feed. — Flowers fecundated
by them. — Governed by a Queen. — Know the persons
who work in the Apiary. — Dishke certain persons. —

216 CONTENTS.

Extent of their lives not yet ascertained. — Their clean-
liness.— Their instinctive sense of labour, . 147

CHAP. II.

Description of the Queen Bee. — Her make, — Fecundi-
ty.— Various systems of the manner of her fecunda-
tion.— The Qjueen knows not coition. — Reluctance of
the Queen to sting.— Attachment of the Bees to the
Queen. — Her importance to the hive. — Supernumerary
Queens massacred at the end of the season. — Descrip-
tion of the Queen's cell. — Erroneous opinions of cer-
tain Naturalists with regard to the fructification of the
eggs. — Analogy of the Queen Bee and the Wasp. — Ex-
periment to ascertain the existence of eggs in winter. — -
Method of driving a hive explained, . .149

CHAP. 111.

On the Drones. — Characteristics of the Drones in a
hive. — Possess no sting. — Tho. eggs of the Queen fruc-
tified by them. — Natural make of the Drone. — Not
brooding Bees. — Refutation of the opinion of Reaumur
and Debraw, respecting two kinds of Drones. — No
3warms produced if a deficiency of Drones. — A reme-
dy for this disadvantage. — Experiment to prove its effi-
cacy.— Drones massacred at the end of the season. —
Opinion of Keys. — Drones always found in a swarm. —
Manner in which they are killed, . . .161

CHAP. IV.

On the Common Bees. — Called mules in some parts ot
England. — Their use.— Erroneous opinion respecting
their economy. — Four kinds of Bees mentioned by Na-
turalists.— One sort only known in England. — Difference
in the size of the Bee accounted for. — Physical descrip-
tion of the Bee. — The honey-bag. — The honey contain-
ed in it not intended for the support of the Bee. — No ho-
ney to be found in it in the winter. — The sting,— The ve-
nom bladder. — The poison most virulent in summer. —
Remedies for the sting. — Suggestions of M. Lombard re-
specting the sting. — Swammerdam's method to prevent
a Bee from stinging. — Specific used in Prussia for the
sting of the Bee*^ — Eulogy on tl)e Bee, .^ . 152

C?§NTENTir. 2W

CHAP. V.

On Hives in general. — The forests the natural domicil of
the Bees. — Origin ofthe domestication of the Bees. — The
present shape of the straw hives in England reprobat-
ed.— Straw the best material for the hive. — Glass hives
of no use to the Naturalist. — Disadvantages of the com-
mon hive. — Description of Huber's hive, &c. — Expo-
sition of the storying system. — Advantages and disad-
vantages of the storying system. — The error of flat
hives demonstrated. — The vapours in the hives proved
injurious ; occasion the death of the Bees. — Glass hives
only tit for the Amateur. — Description of the author's
hive. — Great harvest of honey and wax not attainable at
pleasure. — Bees will work in hives of any shape, 165

CHAP. VI.

On the Position of the Apiary. — In England the aspect
to be to the southward and eastward. — Aspect varies
with the climate. — The southwest wind to be guarded
against. — Hives to be placed in a right line. — Error of
placing several hives on the same bench. — The single
pedestal to be preferred. — The Apiary to be kept clear
from rubbish. — No high plants to be suffered to grow
near the Apiary. — The vicinity of great towns detri-
mental to Bees, 162

CHAP. VII.

On the Enemies of Bees, — Men the principal enemies of
Bees. — The common field and shrew mouse. — The spi-
der the cause of Bees abandoning their hives. — The
iVasp. — Rules for destroying wasp's nests.— The Hum-
ble Bee to be destroyed — Erroneous method of killing
wasp's nests. — Wasps the ruin of hives. — Toads, de-
vourersofBees, — Also of wasps. — The woodpecker, &c.
devourers of Bees. — The ant. — Method of preserving
the hives from the ant. — Destruction ofthe ant's nests. —
The wax moth. — The death-head sphinx. — Huber's,
and Lombard's discovery of the fortifications of Bees. —
The Fox, the Bear, the Badger. — Manner in which
Bears destroy the hives. — The Sparrow. — The Li-
zard, , . . . . , . .163
19

21^ CONTENtS.

CHAP. VIIL

On the Maladies of the Bees. — Difficulty af ascertain-
ing the precise nature of the maladies of Bees. — The
dysentery the most frequent malady. — False opinion of
Ducouedic respecting the excrement of Bees. — Symp-
toms of the dysentery. — Occasioned by long confine-
ment.— Other causes stated. — Remedies proposed. —
Recipe of Ranconi.— Remedy proposed by Wildman. —
Management of the hives during the disorder. — The
abortive brood productive of diseases. — Lice seldom
found in any new hives. — Bee-bread considered by some
Apiarians as a malady, 167

CHAP. IX.

On the Brood. — Definition of the brood. — Different
states of the brood. — Description of the eggs. — The
Larva. — The Nymph. — Gradual growth of the Bee. —
Its emancipation from the cell. — Attention of the old
Bees to the young. — The irascibility of the Bees in pro-
portion to the quantity of the brood. — Disputes respect-
ing the nature of the food administered to the brood.—
Opinion of Ducouedic respecting it.-— Analogy between
the Bee and the butterfly.— The Larva not fed with ho*
ney. — Experiment to determine it.—- Objections there-
to.— Investigation of the contents of the bladder of the
Bee. — Conclusions drawn therefrom, . ,^169

CHAP. X.

On the Comb of the Bee. — New hives to be smoked. —
Propolis the only substance made use of in the construc-
tion of the comb. — Different substances mentioned by
th^ ancients. — A swarm provided with the requisites for
the construction of combs.— -Method of their construc-
tion.— Description of the cells.— Mathematical propor-
tion of them. — The Drone cells.— The Queen cells, 1 7 1

CHAP. XL

On the different Substances found in a Hive. — Pro-
polis,—Its nature,— The use to which it is appHed,—
Its medicinal qualities, — A substitute for varnish.—
Crude wax, — Definitions of it.— Opinion of the ancients
respecting it. — Diflerence between propolis and wax. —

CONTENTS. 219

Proof of the propolis being fabricated by the Bees.—
Its analysis by Vauquelin and Cadet, — Opinion of M.
Lombard, . . * ^ . . .174

CHAP. XII.

On Pollen, or Farina.— Natural history of pollen.—
The Bee never mixes the species of pollen.— The man-
ner in which the Bee is delivered of its load.— A cell
seldom full of pollen.— The farina not wax.— Experi-
ment to determine the same.— Use of pollen for the
brood.— Experiment of Huber decisive of the use of
pollen, . . . . . . . » 176

CHAP. XIII.

On Wax.— Analogy between wax and propolis.— Import-
ance of wax as an article of commerce.— Various opin-
ions of the qualities of wax.— The experiments of Hu-
ber examined.— Extract from the Memoirs of Blondelu,
on the nature of wax. Opinion of Bonner on the origin
of wax.— Examination of the opinion of M. Jussieu.---
Description of the wax-tree of America and China, 178

CHAP. XIV.

On Honey.— Its general history,- Origin of it,— Differ-
ence of opinion as to its origin,— Varies according to
the climate of a country.-~The honey-dew.— Examina-
tion of its nature.— Considered as an exudation from the
plants.— Primary destination of honey.— Two kinds of
honey.— Opinion of Ducarne on the fall of the honey-
dew. — The honey-dew on the oak and the bramble,
not the same. — Opinion of the ancient Naturalists. — De-
scription of the honey-dew, examined by M. Bossiers du
Sauvages and Ducouedic, . ; . .179

CHAP. XV.

On Swarms in general.— Nature of a swarm.— A small
hive generally swarms before a large one.— Time of

swarming generally varies in different countries In

Cuba the hives swarm throughout the year.— In Eng-
land, in May and June.— No Queen, no swarm.— The
first swarm the produce of the eggs of the preceding
year. — Signs of a swarm.— Implicit confidence not to be
placed in them. — Person to be appointed to watch.—

^20

CONTENTS.

Description of a swarm leaving the hive. — Question dis-
cussed whether the Bees send out a scout. — Confirmed
by Mr. Knight. — Opinion of St. Jean de Crevecoeur.—
Duchet.— Ducarne. — Dubost. — New hives to be kept in

readiness for the swarms No specific rules for hiving

a swarm.— .Depend on circumstances.— Description of
the dress to be used when hiving a swarm. — Me-
thod to be adopted with a swarm having no Queen.—
Swarms divided into cluster-s.— Junction of swarms.—
Method to be adopted in that case. — Practice of
the ancients to induce the Bees to enter the hive.—
The value of a swarm determined by its weight.—
Second swarms — Signs of them.— Supernumerary
Queens massacred.— Second swarms seldom worth
preserving.— Method of uniting swarms. — Food to be
given to a swarm in rainy weather. — Virgin
swarms.— -Clustering Bees. — Artificial swarms. — Differ-
ent methods.' — Method of obtaining Queens. — Suggested
by Ducarne, .186

CHAP. XVI.

On the method of preparing Honey and Wax for mar-
ket.— Situation of the place for the manipulation of the
honey. — Implements required for the purpose. — Me-
thod of extracting primary honey. — Particular rules to be
observed. — Method of obtaining secondary honey. —
The operation not to be performed in cold weather. —
The instruments to be used, to be taken to the Apiary
for the use of the Bees. — Directions for the same. —
JRules for the preservation of honey. — Proportion of ho-
ney and wax. — Adulteration of honey. — Two methods of
discovering it. — Rules for choosing honey. — Medicinal
properties of honey, . . . . ,193

CHAP. XVII.

On the cause of the mortality of Bees. — Two kinds of
mortality. — Cold not injurious to Bees. — Error of keep-
ing Bees warm in winter. — Travels in Russia. — Bees
kept in Siberia.^ — Never die from cold. — Travels in
Lapland. — Experiment to determine the interior tempe-
rature of a hive in this country. —More hives destroy-
ed by heat than cold.— Hives ruined by the too great
influence •f tbe sun,— Method of averting it.— ^Danger

CONTENTS.

221

to a hive from humidity.— Bees to be prohibited t©
leave the hive in time of snow.— One of the causes of
mortahty.^ — Famine the chief cause. — Ducarne's me-
thod of immuring Bees.— Precautions to be used in weigh-
ing hives.— Danger of famine may be averted.-- Hives
to be weighed a second time in January.— Food to be
regularly administered, . . . . .195

CHAP. XVIII.

On the life of the Bee, and period of duration of a
Hive. — General estimate of the life of the Bee. — Opin-
ion of Reaumur. — Experiment by which the life of the
Queen has been ascertained. — Its duration be3^o|id fouf
years. — The longevity of a hive difficult to be determin-
ed.— The causes thereof. — Duration of hives in the
Archipelago. — The age of a hive may be determined
by the combs. — Hives may be preserved by paint, 197

CHAP. XIX.

On the deprivation of the Hives, 'and w^hethbr it is
better to suffocate them, or to deprive them of a

PART OF THEIR HONEY AND WAX. QueStiOD COUSider-

,ed. — Process of the deprivation of a hive. — Instructions
to be observed. — Seasons of the year in which it is to
be performed. — Various opinions thereon. — Depriva-
tions easy in the author's hives. — Calculation of the
comparative profit of hives suffocated, and deprived. —
Transversing of hives not beneficial. — Deprivation by
the storying system. — The bell-shaped hive improper
for deprivation.— Disadvantages of the storying system. —
The system of suffocation examined. — Examination of
the opinion of La Grenee. — His erroneous calcula-
tion, . , . . , , , .198

CHAP. XX.

On THE MANNER OF FEEDING Bees. — SeasoDS for feeding.-*-
Food to be given at intervals.— Too much food not to
be given to a weak hive.— Danger thereof.— Feeding
of Bees not to be deferred until they are in actual
want. ---Materials proper for food.— Honey alone inju-
rious.—Recipes for food.— Manner of supplying the
hives.— Salt to be mixed with the food.— Quantity of

222 CONTENTS.

food consumed by a hive in a month.— Treacle to be
used instead of sugar, * . . . . 200

CHAP. XXI.

On the establishment of HrvES, the Bees of which

HAVE PERISHED BY ACCIDENT, OR THROUGH WANT.— Ge-
neral custom adopted with perished hives.— Error
thereof.— Eggs left in the cells in a fecundated state.— •
Method of managing a hive under similar circumstan-
ces.—A regenerated hive not to be placed in the Apia-
ry.—-Reason thereof —No swarm to be expected from
it.-"The contrary affirmed by Ducouedic, . 201

CHAP. XXII.

On THE CUSTOM OF TRANSPORTING HiVES FROM PLACE TO
PLACE, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FRESH PASTURAGE, ACCORD-
ING TO THE PRACTICE OF THE AnCIENTS AND MoDERNS.— -

Profits attending the removal of hives to the vicinity of
heath.— Custom of removing hives in Egypt describ-
ed.—The same practised by the Greeks and Chinese.—
Manner of transporting the hives in France.— Rules laid
down by M. de Bomare."-The different systems of re-
moval examined.— Examination of the transversing of
hives.— Contradictory statements of the quantity of ho-
ney and wax in a hive.— Increase of the weight of a
hive on being removed to the vicinity of a heath. —
General recommendation, .... 202

CHAP. XXIII.

On THE ROBBERIES OF BeES, AND THE GENERAL METHOD OF

PREVENTING THEM.— The Bce, the natural enemy of the
Bee.— Weak hives only suffer from pillage.— A popu-
lous hive often in want of provisions.— Resorts to rob-
bery.—A hive defended weakly from pillage, if infested
with the moth.— Different causes of pillage.— After rain
pillage most frequent.— Two seasons of pillage in the
year.— Symptoms of an attacked hive. --Regular visits
io be paid to the hives in the robbing seasons.— Me-
thod of discovering young Bees from robbers.— Plan to
be adopted with a weak hive.— Food to be given to
weak hives.— An artifice to be adopted to mislead the
Bees.-— Instructions respecting a neighbouring Apia-
ry ........ 205

CONTENTS. 22t

CHAP. XXIV.

Orr THE ADVANTAGES WHICH ACCRUE TO THE StATE AND IN-
DIVIDUALS FROM THE CULTURE OF Bees.— Importance
of the wax and honey trade to this country.— Degraded
state of the culture of the Bee in this country.— Calcula-
tions on the profits of an Apiary for five years.— The
common straw hive a great impediment to the culture of
the Bee in this country.— Advantages of their culture.—
Immense quantity of wax and honey produced in the
Island of Corsica.— Extract from a French news-pa-
per.—Great quantity of honey and wax produced in
Hanover.— The Bee much cultivated in Turkey.—
Commerce of Moldavia, Wallachia, &c. in Wax.—
Doubt of Linneus, 204

CHAP. XXV.

Directions for the purchase of Hives. ---Caution to pur-
chasers.—Presence of mind to be observed.— The in-
terior of a hive to be examined first.— An old hive to
be rejected. — Signs thereof. — A number of Q,ueen cells
a sign of the oldness of a hive. — Proper seasons for the
purchase of hives. — Signs of a thriving hive. — Hives
not to be purchased in the immediate vicinity. — The
weight the best criterion of a hive. — Precautions to be
used in this respect. — Method of transporting a pur-
chased hive. — Proper time for the same, . 207

CHAP. XXVI.

On the countries most beneficially situated for thk

CULTURE OF THE BeE, AND THE NUMBER OF HiVES EACH

CAN SUPPORT. — The southern countries most advanta-
geous to Bees.— Opinion of La Grenee ©n the number

of hives a country can support.— The same examined.

A country not to be overstocked with hives.— Number
of Bees to be kept in a district, according to its fer-
tility, 2oa

CHAP. XXVII.

On the distance which Bees fly for food. — Import-
ance of the question. — Its solution most necessary.—
Various opinions concerning it.— Huber's decision upon

i24 CONTEIfTSr.

the subject. — Curious circumstances attending aHCXcur*^
sioji to the Isle of Man, . , \ . 20S.

CHAP. XXVIII.
On the manufacture of Mead, . , . . 200

ERRATA.

16, line 3, from top, for a poor da%/^ read a poor clay; p. 18,
m bottom, for slythtic^ read styptic ; p. 39, 1. 15, from bottom,
. back, read turn over ; p. 31, 1 17, from top, hr preserve, read
ousfrcc; p. 112, 1. 10, from top, for jDwfc/e^/, read Dishley ; p. 115,
1. 8» from top, for Diskley, read Dishley; p. 115, 1. 6, from bottom,
for practices, reQ.d practice ; p. 117, 1. 7, from top, for oneptchf rea^

mie pint

; "^m^-.-^:^^

:*?-.."^/m.T'" -c T

14 DAY USE

RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED |

LOAN DEPT.

RENEWALS ONLY—TEL. NO. 642-3405

This book is due on the last date stamped below, or

on the date to which renewed.

Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.

m 14 «363 5 a

isd^

-xit

-^0^

%3^

-Stf^

8 1987

AU ro. DISC.

SEP 18 198b

LD 21A-40m-2,'69
(J6057sl0)476 — A-32

General Library

University of California

Berkeley

GENERAL L1BRABY-U.C. BERKELEY

B000B'=l5'm

./ ,

(■

S ^ ^^' ■ /

w-^^

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY