I

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
LIBRARY

DATE DUE

s

73
B3
1806-

LIBRARY

UNIVERSIT>' OF
MA$,;AC?(f ; SFTTS

AMhEkSi, MASS.

F E M S .^

CONSISTING OF

COMMUNICATIONS

MADE To TH£

Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture,

PUBLISHED BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE SOCIETY.

BOSTON :

PRINTED FOR YOUNG § MINNS, PRINTERS TO THE STATE,

By Greenougk es Stebbins.

1806.

CONTENTS,

Page

LETTER on the Culture of Potatoes, by Hon.
Timothy Pickering, Esq. ----- 9

Account of the MiLLWARn family - - - - 19

Account of Egyptian Millet^ ^j^N. Adams, - 26
Letter on the same Subject^ by R. Webster, - 28
On planting Osiers and Willows, - - - - 30

On boiling Potatoes, -------- 32

On the Agriculture of the Netherlands, - - 34
On the Propriety of bruising Oats for Horses, 5\
On the use of Parsley, as Food for Horses and
Cattle, -----------42

Food of Plants, - - -------53

Cider Press improved - -- - - - - 66

Experiment shewing the importance of selecting
the first ripe Seeds, -------68

On the Management of the Dairy, - - - - 70

Account of the manner of making Cheese in Eng-
land, ---------.-.80

Communication on the same Subject - - - 83
On the Management of Pigs, ^ - - - - 90

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY.

CHOSEN JUNE, 1S05.

Hon. JOHN ADAMS, Esq. President
JOSEPH RUSSELL, Esq. First Vice President.
AARON DEXTER, m. d. Second Vice President.
THOMAS L. WINTHROP, Esq. Treasurer.
Rev. JOHN T. KIRKLAND, d.d. Cor. Secfetarij.
JOHN AVERY, Esq. Recording Secretary.
CHRISTOPHER GORE, Esq.
THEODORE LYMAN, Esq.
JOHN WARREN, M.D.
SAMUEL W. POMEROY, Esq.
JOSIAH QUINCY, Esq.
DUDLEY A. TYNG, Esq.

Trustees

FRIEFACE^

THE communications and extracts in this ninth
pubHcation of the Trustees are presumed worthy of
perusal, as calculated either to afford instruction, or
to gratify curiosity. Some of them are entitled to
particular attention.

The first letter on the subject of potatoes^ con-
tains a valuable addition to the history of experi-
ments on this species of culture, and in conjunc-
tion with the several documents respecting it in the
preceding numbers of the society's papers, will
serve to furnish ground for decisive conclusions upon
this important article of cultivation.

The pleasing account of the Millwards is print-
ed here to show " the uses of keeping a family to-
gether, of concentering its labours under the direc-
tion of its heads, of excluding strangers from it, of
employing the fragments of time, and of making
the most of a little."

The agriculture of the Netherlands^ of which
some description is given, has long been considered
as conducted upon the best principles, evincing the
efficacy of culture to remedy defects of soil.

Such information on the growth and uses of the
Egyptian millet^ as the Trustees have received from
very respectable sources, is inserted for the benefit
of any who may think this plant deserving of trial
and experiment.

The treatise on thejood of plants may instruct
and entertain those, who are desirous of seeing the
appHcation of science to the purposes of art.

The letter on beans establishes the advantage of
selecting for seed, the first which appear on the
vines,

A model of the cider press described by Mr.
Dodge is lodged in the office of the Secretary of
the Commonwealth, for the inspection of gentle-
men, who wish to view it. A press of this kind,
though it appears to be new to Mr. D. has been
used for a long time in some parts of the State, and
particularly in this vicinity, and found very conve-
nient.

The papers on butter and cheese are republished
from the pamphlet issued by the Trustees, in 1793,
because they are valuable ; and because, though
once printed, so much tithe has elapsed, that they
will be new to most readers.

Since the last publication of the Trustees, a mu-
nificent provision has been made for the establish-
ment of a Professorship of Natural History and a
Botanic Garden at the University in Cambridge.
The Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for pro-
moting Agriculture, constitute a major part of the
Visitors of this institution. They hope to be able
to discharge this part of their trust, in such a man-
ner as to promote the interests ofagriculture, as well
as of other arts, connected with the science of Na-
ture.

PREMIUMS

OFFERED BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE.MASSA-
CHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING AGRI-
CULTURE.

1st, TO the person who shall discover an effectual and cheap
method of destroying the Canker-worm, and give evidence
thereof, to the satisfaction of the trustees, on or before the 1st
day of October, 1807, a premium of owe hundred dollars, or the
society*s gold medal.

2d. And a premium of o?ie hundred dollars, or the society's
gold medal, to the person who shall, on or before the 1st day
of December, I8O7, discover an effectual, and the cheapest
method of destroying the Slug-worm, and give evidence there-
of, to the satisfaction of the trustees.

3d. To the person who shall produce the largest quantity of
wool, meat, and tallow, from the smallest number of sheep, not
less than one score, raised on his own farm, a premium of
tkirti/ dollars ; to be claimed on or before the 1st day of Au-
gust, I8O7.

Ath. To the person who shall invent a cheap method of rais-
ing water, for the purpose of irrigating land from rivers and
ponds from ten to twenty feet above the level of the same, and
give evidence thereof to the satisfaction of the trustees, on or
before January 1, 1808, one hundred dollars, or the society's
gold medal.

5th. To the person who shall present to this society the most
complete (being nearly complete) Hortus Siccus, exhibiting
distinct specimens of the greatest variety of grasses, in general
use, and specify, to the satisfaction of the trustees, their re-
spective qualities, productiveness and usefulness as food for
different kinds of animals, the gold medal, oxiA fifty dollars ;
to be claimed on or before the 1st of October, I8O7.

Qth. To the person who shall produce, from seed, the best
growth of thrifty trees, not less than 6OO in the whole, and in
the proportion of 2400 to the acre, of any of the following kinds
of forest trees, viz. oak, ash, elm, sugar maple, beech, black
or yellow birch, chesnut, walnut or hiccory, tnentyfive dollars ;
if all oio&Vy Jifty dollars. Claims to be made on or before the.
1st of October, I8O7.

/

8

7M. To the person who shall ascertain by accurate analy->
sis, the constituent parts of several fertile soils respectively,
and in like manner the parts of several poor soils, and thus
shall discover the defects of the latter ; and shall show by ac-
tual experiments, how the said defects may be remedied by
the addition of earths or other ingredients, which abound in
the country, and in a manner that may be practised by com-
mon farmers, ^^j/ dollars. And if it shall appear to the satis-
faction of the trustees, that, upon an extensive practice, the
improvement of the poor soil would be more than equivalent to
the expense of the improvement, the addition of one hundred
dollars, A minute description of the several soils, and all the
circumstances attending the processes, cultivation, and results,
will be required. Claims to be made on or before Novem-
ber ], 1807.

Sth. To the person who shall, by actual experiment, on a
qauntity not less than half a ton, shew the best method of cur-
ing clover hay with salt ; regard to be had to the quality of
the hay and the saving of labour, and the shortness of time
between cutting and packing it in the mow, the silver medal,
or thirty dollars ; and to the person who shall shew the next best
method, twenty dollars. Samples of the hay to be exhibited,
three months after it is cured, to a majority of the selectmen
or to the settled minister and justice of the peace in the vicin-
ity. Claims to be made on or before the last Friday of No-
vember, 1806.

^th. It is required that the communications, for which the
foregoing premiums are offered, be accompanied with proper
certificates from the selectmen, magistrates, or clergymen of
the vicinity, or other vouchers, to the satisfaction of the trus-
tees ; that they be delivered in without names, or any intima-
tion to whom they belong; that they be severally marked
in such a manner as each claimant shall think fit ; the claim-
ant sending also a paper, sealed up, having on the outside a
corresponding mark, and on the inside his name and address.

Bij Order of the Trustees,

JOHN AVERY, Secretary.

AGRICULTURE*

CULTURE OF POTATOES.

BEVERLY, OCTOBER 8, 1805.
DEAR SIR,

LAST spring, recurring to the report of
the committee of the London Board of Agricul-
ture, on the culture and use of potatoes, my atten-
tion was drawn to the communication of Dr. An-
derson, whose experiments on the management of
this vegetable, formerly published, appeared to have
been conducted with uncommon exactness. In
that communication, he recommends the planting
of sets (cuttings of potatoes) of not less than two
ounces in weight, as yielding, on the same ground,
at least double the crop that is produced from the
smallest cuttings, which, he says, some thrifty
managers are careful to employ. And in a note,
he adds, That an economy of this sort had been re-
commended in the newspapers ; to wit, " to cut off
thin slices from the surface of the potatoe, with an
eye in each, to be employed as sets, and the nu-
cleus in the heart to be kept for food. It is (says
he) scarcely possible to devise a direction that
would with greater certainty insure a deficient
crop ; unless it be another practice that has been
recommended, from the same quarter, with equal
strenuousness, that of planting sprouts without any
bulbs at all.^ But in the same report is published a
letter to Samuel Hayes, Esq. from Thomas King,
Esq. written in consequence of his having read the
Rev. Dr. Maunsell^s treatise on propagating pota-
toes, by planting the sprouts alone ; from which let-

B

10

ter a very different conclusion may be formed. Mr.
King, (whose letter is dated in 1794) says, that a-
bout two and twenty years before, he had raised very
jfine potatoes from the sprouts : and that " few years
had since passed in which he had not planted, more
or less, sprouts" He mentions another gentleman
doing the same ; and that the labourers, who had
laughed at his folly, could not, on taking up the pro-
duce, distinguish the drills planted with sprouts^
from those planted with potatoes : they were all re-
markably good/* " I have (says Mr. King) plant-
ed potatoes^ and the sprouts of potatoes, on the
scime dmj^ and always observed the sprouts to come
up about three weeks soorier than the potatoes,

Mr. KiNG^s letter, written with intelligence and
candour, to a friend to whom he appeals as a wit-
ness of some of the facts, left no room to doubt the
correctness of his statement ; and as he had, for up-
wards of thirty years, been employed in making ex-
periments on the culture of potatoes, and in Ireland
too, of all countries the most noted for their cul-
ture, I suspected Dr. Anderson's remark on the
planting oisproutsyv^^^ the confident expression of
an opinion^ without an experiments I Vvas hence in-
duced to make one for myself, though on a very
small scale. The result has proved so satisfactory,
that I shall certainly, in future years, plant all the
good sprouts my potatoes shall afford.

THE EXPERIMENT.

On the 20th of last May, in my garden (in that
part a sandy loam) w^as dug, about ten inches deep,
a vacant strip, nearly six feet w^ide, and seventy
tw^o feet long. In this were farmed, with a hoe,
two drills, about four inches deep, and two feet a-
part ; and in each drill was strowed a usual quan-
tity of stable manure. This strip I divided into
three parts, each twenty four feet long. In one

11

drill of that length I planted potatoes and common
cuttings of potatoes (the sort a reddish purple) a-
bout six inches apart ; and in the drill beside it, of
the same length, I planted po^a/o^^ and cuttings of
a white (or pale yellow) sort, which was wont to
yield a larger crop than the purple. In the next
twenty four feet, I planted hath drills with sprouts
of the purple potatoe ; and in the remaining twen-
ty four feet, I planted both drills with the sprouts ot
the white, or pale yellow, potatoe. The sprouts of
both sorts were about three inches long.

Contrary to Mr. King's, the shoots from my
sprouts appeared above ground about two weeks
later than those from the potatoes and cuttings ;
and were (and for a long time continued) so slen^
der and feeble, that I despaired of any produce wor-
thy of notice. The ground being light and clean >
they required, and received, but very little hoeing •
just enough to destroy the few weeds, which sprung
up among them. However, in the latter part of
summer, the stems from the sprouts throve well,
and at length became, though less numerous, yet
nearly as luxuriant as those of the potatoes and cut-^
tings : all continued green until this day, when I
took them up ; the frost of last night having killed
the leaves and small branches of the stems. The sev^
eral products were as follow :

lbs. oz.
No. 1 . Sprouts of the white sort produced

150 potatoes, weighing - - - - - 418

55 do. small, 1 12

Total, from 16 square yards, or about half »

a rod of ground -------43 4

No. 2. Sproutsofthepurplesort, whole pro-
duce from 16 square yards of ground - 35
No. 3. Whole potatoes and cuttings, of the
white sort, growing on 8 square yards of
ground ,f total - - - - - - - - 46

12

No. 4. Whole potatoes and cuttings, of the
purple sort, growing on 8 square yards
of ground, total - - ^6 lbs.

The \50 potatoes of No. 1. were all marketable,
weighing, on an average, nearly four and a half
ounces ; twelve of the largest weighed nine pounds.
They were generally more fair and handsome, than
any others of the sort, raised either in the field or
garden.

The potatoes of No. !^, were fair and well sized,
but with a greater proportion of small ones, than
No. 1.

The products of the ziDhole potatoes, in No. 3,
and No. 4, were generally rather smaller than those
from the cuttings.

It was manifest, from the long spaces between
the shoots growing from the sprouts, that many of
the latter had perished. Had they been planted
nearer together, so as to have sent up as numerous
stems as the potatoes and cuttings, I doubt not the
products would have been as great : though proba-
bly they were fairer, and individually bigger, by
having more room to grow in.

In handling the two sorts of potatoes, I was in-
clined to think the purple were specifically heavier,
than the white : and desirous of knowing the weight
of a bushel of potatoes ; I filled a half bushel meas-
ure with the white, heaping them up as usual, and
found their weight to be thirty three pounds. The
same measure of the purple, also weighed exactly
thirty three pounds. So I consider the weight of a
bushel of potatoes to be sixty six pounds.

On these data^ then, it will be found,
That No. 1, produced at the rate of 1971

No. 2, - - - - - " - \5\ I bushels

No. 3, -------421 fan acre*

No. 4, - 238 J

is

I have been induced to give you these details,
on account of the greatly diminished crops of po-
tatoes of the present year, occasioned by the severi-
ty of the drought ; being satisfied that sprouts, as
far as attainable, may, the next spring, prove an ef-
ficient substitute for potatoe sets. Mr. King says,
" Sprouts are fit for planting at any time after they
acquire roots sufficient to support themselves, inde-
pendent of the mother potatoes ; which they gener-
ally do when about three inches long : and as the
[fibrous] roots increase in number and strength,
those parts of the shoots between the first set of
roots and the potatoes shrink and dry up ; and, as I
conceive, no more nourishment is received from the
potatoe by that channel. My happening to observe
this, gave me the first idea of planting sprouts.^'

One caution in setting sprouts may be useful ;
to plant them as soon as possible after separating
them from the potatoes : for, like all other tender,
succulent shoots, they wither very soon after being
separated from the parent stock. The want of due
attention to this point, probably caused many, which
I planted, entirely to perish.

I have had boiled some of the white potatoes
produced from the sprouts : they prove equal to any
of the sort grown in the common way. Seeing,
then, that the produce of sprouts is in favour equal,
and, when having more room, superior in size, and
fairer in form, than the product of the potatoes
themselves ; what room is there to doubt of the
sprouts being, upon the whole, at least egual, for
seed, to potatoes, or their cuttings; provided so
many sprouts be planted as will produce an equal
number of shoots or stems ? Mr. King, indeed, says,
" he is confident^^ [and it will be recollected that
he says this after about twenty years' experience]
" that sprouts will produce as good, if not better
crops, than potatoe sets, and more seldom fail of

14

growing." An abundant growth of stems, in num-
ber as well as size, seems, generally, to indicate the
size and number of potatoes at their roots. Whole
potatoes have many eyes ; and the cuttings com-
monly two or more: hence, partly, their greater
number of stems than appeared from the sprouts in
my experiment : and hence the propriety of plant-
ing more sprouts than cuttings ; whether the plant-
ing be in hills, as in New England, or in drills (con-
tinued rows) as in the middle States, and in Great
Britain and Ireland.

It would seem that Dr. Maunsell recommend-
ed setting the sprouts upright ; which would render
their planting much more tedious and expensive,
Mr. King says, " he always found the sprouts to
answer when laid horizontcdlij ^ covering them as po-
tatoe sets are covered.^^ In my experiment, they
were so laid and covered.

I have said above, that an abundant growth of
steins seemed to indicate a like growth ojf" potatoes
at their roots : at the moment of making this re-
mark, it occurred to me, that, as far as one instance
would go, I could immediately test its correctness.
I had taken up two detached hills of potatoes,
which proved to be the same white kind mentioned
in the experiment, and their stems lay on the
ground. Their product of potatoes exceeded any
I had ever before witnessed, being (with a few of
the same sort from two or three stems which grew
within a foot of one of the hills) a full half bushel
by measure, and consequently weighing about
thirty three pounds. I now measured the length
of their stems, and weighed them. They averaged
five feet -in length, and weighed thirty three pounds.
They were green and full of sap, the frost having
killed only their leaves. Yet I have no doubt that
these potatoes and stems all proceeded from two or
three potatoes or cuttings ; but the first shoots sent

15

forth such numerous and long branches, as increas-
ed them to the weight mentioned. They grew on
a deep, rich soil, in alow part of my garden, where
it was too wet to till in the spring ; so, at a con-
venient season some manure was spread over it, and
ploughed in, the spot being reserved for cabbages.
The two or three potatoes or cuttings had probably
been scattered there with the manure ; and the
shoots having thus accidently sprung up, were suf-
fered to grow. They were hoed two or three times,
but so little earth had been drawn up about the
stems, that the tops of the hills did not rise two
inches above the common level of the adjacent
ground. Indeed, at the taking up, I found several
of the potatoes without a covering; whence they
had acquired the green colour, which always ap-
pears in potatoes so exposed. The plants ought to
have been so much earthed up, as to cover all the
potatoes : for when exposed to the sun and air, they
acquire, with their green colour, a very ill flavour,
and perhaps a noxious quality.

The abundance of stems, in this instance, with
the corresponding mass of potatoes, not only corrob-
orate the observation above expressed, but tend,
together with the potatoes and their stems in my ex-
periment, to confirm an opinion I have long enter-
tained, that neither Indian corn nor potatoes are
the better for hilling ; except in respect to the lat-
ter, drawing up so much earth, (if the mode of
planting the sets, and their disposition^ or manner of
growing should render it necessary) as shall insure
a covering to the bulbs, at their full growth. Dr,
Anderson says, " an opinion is very generally en-
tertained, that when the stems [of potatoes] are
laid down in the earth, they send out bulbs from
these stems, in great abundance. I can say [he
continues] from experiments very carefully con-

16

ducted, that I have not found this to be the case in
the smallest degree ; but that laying down the stems
and covering them, [meaning, doubtless, covering
them entirely] with earth, diminished the produce.^^
And on the subject of mowing the stems as fodder
for cattle, he says, " My experiments prove, in the
most decisive manner, that the farther growth of
the potatoe (the bulb) is entirely stopped, the mo-
ment that the stem is cut over/' Hence it may be
inferred, that any operation by w^hich a coyisiderahle
portion of the stems shall be shut up from light and
ai}\ will proportionably diminish the crop. Yet in
the improved mode of culture proposed by Dr. An-
derson, he directs, that at each horse-hoeing,
(which he would repeat every fortnight, the weath-
er permitting) the earth be raised up a little higher
upon the plants than before ; and at the last hoe-
ing, he says, " the earth should be raised as high
up to the stems as possible. '^ But he assigns his
reasons : " In this way, the [fibrous] roots have a
deep bed of mellow, friable earth to range in on
both sides, which is in no danger of being drenched
n'ith too much moisture^ (the most destructive ene-
my of the potatoe) and the bulbs have full room to
swell, in a light, spongy bed at top." But our com-
mon misfortune is, to have too little fnoisture : we,
therefore, ought to provide for our potatoes a differ-
ent bed ; which, while sufficiently " light and spon-
gy" shall best insure an adequate supply of moist-
ure. The means are, I believe, deep tillage, a rich
manure at bottom, the coarsest manure, penetrable
by the potatoe shoots at top, keeping the ground
clean from weeds, and, instead of high hills or
ridges, leaving, at the last operation of the plough
and hoe, the surface of the ground nearly level.

If this communication shall appear to you to
merit the attention of the trustees of the Agricul-

17

tural Society, you will have the goodness to lay it
before them.

I am, my dear Sir, very truly yours,

TIMOTHY PICKERING.
Hon. George Cabot, Esq.

P. S. Thinking, since my letter was concluded,
that the difference in the time of their coming up,
between Mr. King^s sprouts and mine, may present
some difficulty, I offer the following solution.

If you have noticed the sprouting of potatoes, as
the warmth of the spring advances, you will recol-
lect that at the base of each sprout are thrown out
many roots, which, like the spread hand grasping a
ball, embrace the body of the potatoe. These
roots continue to extend themselves (multiplying at
the same time, by numerous ramifications) in search
of food ; while the sprouts grow rapidly in length.
Doubtless, these fibrous roots may derive some nour-
ishment from the moist air, in which they thus veg-
etate : but the chief resource of roots and sprouts
must be the mother potatoe, to which they still ad-
here by the short necks between the roots and the
body of the potatoe. Now when these sprouts are
separated from the potatoe, it is the short neck of
each which breaks, and the roots naturally remain
attached to their respective sprouts. Then if these
sprouts are planted in the earth, they will be in the
condition of any other transplanted vegetable ; a
cabbage plant, for instance. This, from the loss of
its numberless fibrous roots, which, in the ordinary
mode of drawing from the seed bed, are nearly all
stripped off, receives a check ; and does not recov-
er, and sensibly grow, until, after many days, fresh
fibres begin to shoot from the principal broken
roots ; just so it must be with the newly planted
potatoe sprout. Violently torn from the 0iaternal

18

breast, its growth is stopped ; and will not be re-
newedj until its roots take hold of the mother earth,
and there, extending and multiplying, gather new
food to foster the sprout. Then the latter begins
to rise, and at length appears a stem above ground.

Now to the best of my recollection, the potatoes
and cuttings used in my experiment, had sprouts
upon them, more or less advanced, at the time they
\vere planted ; and therefore were in condition to
continue growing from the moment the earth receiv-
ed them ; and, consequently, must soon have ap-
peared above ground : and such was the fact.

Why, then, did Mr. King's not come up so soon
by three weeks, as his mere sprouts ? I answer : be-
cause his cuttings, when planted, had no sprouts
upon them, but eijes onhj ; which are long in push-
ing up into stems. I am warranted in this answer,
by'facts stated, (though for other purposes) by Mr.
KjNG himself. "Dr. Maunsell says there is no
use in having the sets of potatoes cut, and let to lie
any time before they are planted. I, (says Mr.
King) am of a diiferent opinion ; because I am
convinced a set will not sprout^ until the cut be
healed ; and therefore, if the catting be performed
long enough before the setting [planting] to allow
time for the cut to heal or dry, so much time will
be gained by the planter." This demonstrates that
he cut his sets before they had sprouted. And as
healing and drijing the sets mean the same thing,
he must, consequently, after cutting, spread them
to the drying air, and thus effectually prevent their
sprouting, until committed to the earth. If suffered
to lie in a heap^ he says they are apt to heat^ and
produce curled sialics^ and a had crop,

I will trouble you with but one more observation.
I presume the stems which proceed from planted
sprouts, are merely a continuance, or extension, of
their previous growth ; which, therefore, Dr. Maun-

19

SELL might think an erect positmi might facilitate :
but Mr. KiNG^s long experience, (with which my
single trial agrees) proves this not to be necessary.
And the natural tendency of the shoots of other
plants, might, beforehand, have led to the same
conclusion. If, for instance, a pea vine, rising a
foot or more in height, finds no bush or twig to lay
hold on, it reclines, or falls to the ground : but im-
mediately its end turns upward, and continuing to
grow, rises into the air ; resting its elbow on the
ground. So in the case of the potatoe sprout,
which, while attached to its parent potatoe, and
this remains unmoved, alw^ays takes an erect posi-
tion ; upon being planted horizontallij^ its end, as
soon as its growing is renewed, turns upward, and
rises into a stern. T. P,

Extract from an account of a cottager's cultivation,
in Shropshire, in England ; hy Sir William
PuLTNEY, Bart. ; taken from the 26th report of
the Society for bettering the condition, and in-
creasing the comforts of the Poor ; dated Maij^
1805.

Within two miles and a half of Shrewsbury,
a cottager, whose name is Richard Millward,
has a house, and adjoining to it, a garden and land ;
making about one acre and one sixteenth of an acre,
including the garden. He is a collier; and the
management of the ground is in a great measure
left to his wife. The soil was a thin covering of
about three or four inches of strong loam, over a
c/«j/ impregnated with iron, and considered as the
worst soil. They pay three shillings sterling of
yearly rent for the house and land^ It was leased
to them 38 years ago for three lives, one of which
is dead.

20

The wife has managed the ground in a particular
manner, for thirteen years, with potatoes and wheat,
chiefly by her own labour ; and in ti way which has
yielded good crops, fully equal or rather superior to
the produce of the neighbouring farms, and with
little or no expense.

The potatoe and toheat land (exclusive of the
garden) contains sixty four digging poles of land,
(eight yards square to the pole, seventy five of
which make an acre) and is divided into two parts.
One of the divisions she plants alternately with po-
tatoes, and the other is sown with wheat. On the
wheat stubble, she plants potatoes in rows; and
sows wheat on the potatoe ground. She puts dung
in the bottom of the rows, where she plants the po-
tatoes ; but uses no dung for the wheat. And she
has repeated this succession for nearly the thirteen
years ; but with better success and more economjj
during the last six or seven years.

She provides manure, by keeping a pig^ and by
collecting all the manure she can from her house^
and by mixing with it the scrapings of the roads^
Sec. She forms it into a heap and turns it, before
she puts it on her ground for potatoes.

The ground is dug for potatoes in the month of
March and April, to the depth of about nine inches,
(This digging would cost six pence per pole, if hir-
ed.) After putting in the dung, the potatoes are
planted in rows, about twelve or fourteen inches dis-
tant. The sets are placed about four or five inches
apart in the rows.

When the potatoes come above ground, the zveeds
are destroyed by the hoe ; and the earth laid zip on
both sides to the shoots. And this is repeated from
time to time, as the season requires. Hand weed-
ing is also used when necessary.

In the month of October, when the potatoes are
ripe, she takes ^off all the stalks (or haulm) of the

21

potatoe ; which she secures, to produce manure l>y
means of her pig. She now goes over the whole -
with a rake, and takes off all weeds ; and before
laking up the potatoes, she sows her wheat on as
much of the ground as she can clear of potatoes
Tat day: They are taken up with a three pronged
fort; in which her husband assists ; and by the
same operation, the z^heat zs covered deep. She
Laves i^ ,uite rough; and the frost mellows the
earth and by the earth falling down, it adds much
strength and vigour to the wheat plants in spring.
HeTcrops of wheat have been of late always good ;
and even this year (which in this country has not
been favourable for the wheat-crop,) she has thrash-
ed out fifteen Winchester bushels from thirty four
poles ; though part of her wheat has suffered by the
mildew. The straw of her wheat she carefully
preserves for litter to her pig, and to increase her
manzire. When her potatoes are gathered, she sep-
:X the best for use, then a proper quantity for
seed and the small potatoes are given to her pig.

She has sixteen poles for her g-rden ;uvon
which she plants peas, beans, and a part with caD-
Wes • but has early potatoes and turnips the same
yTon the same griU She sells her early po a
toes, and peas and cabbages, and boils the turnips

■for Vipr Di^.

The only other expense of feeding her P^- '« fwo
or three bushels of peas ; and when fit to kill, it
weighs about three hundred pounds. She buys it
Tt the age of four or five months, about the m-onth
of February; and it is killed about the month of
January in the following year. , , ^ ,^ .

When she first began this method of alternate
crops, and for several-years after, ^^e depended on
the neighbouring farmers for ploughing the land
and harrowing, both for the potatoes and wheat,
but as tie farmers naturally delayed to work tor

22

her, till their own work was chiefly over, her land
was not ploughed in proper season. She has been
for the last six years independent of the farmer.

She is careful to soz^ no more land at a time, than
she can clear of potatoes that day.

OBSERVATIONS BY THE SAME WRITER.

This mode of culture proves, that potatoes and ^

wheat can be produced alternately upon the same
land,yor a long course of if ear s^ provided that a
small quantity of manure be every year used for
the potatoes, and it shews that a cottager may pro-
cure food from a small portion of land, by his own
labour, without any expense.

Both wheat and potatoes have been reckoned ex-
hausting crops ; but this mode of culture shews,
that great crops of both may be long alternately pro-
duced ; which may probably be imputed to the cul-
ture by the spade and hoe, to the manuring every
second year for potatoes, to the careful destroying
of weeds, to the planting and sowing in the proper
season, and to the preventing the earth from being
too loose, (by the mode of sowing the w^heat before
the potatoes are taken up.)

An experienced farmer is of opinion, that the
same culture and succession of crops, will answer
on almost any land, if properly drained and skilfully
managed ; for that although strong land does not
answer well for potatoes, nor very light land for
w^heat ; yet that cultivation and manure, (and par-
ticularly the manure of hme) will soon render
strong land, when drained, more loose ; and will
make light land more firm, especially if cultivated
with the spade and hoe. April o, 1805.

23

Remarks on the English Accounts of the cultivation
employed bij the MiLhW ART) Jamil i/ ; hij a member
oj' the Kennebec Agricultural Society,
From the above English accounts it appears,
that the same soil is laboured and manured every
other year, to make it produce an exhausting crop
every year ; for the potatoe crop only is assisted,
and this crop occupies the same ground only once
in two years. Perhaps this is the only instance in
common farming, of the cares of one year answer-
ing for two crops of such different natures, sown
and reaped at such distant periods, one after the
other.

The clay bottom, bad as it was from its mixture
with iron, nevertheless evidently served to retain
both manure and rain water ; but at the same time,
as it was ver}^ near the surface, it rendered the soil
liable to suffer from dry w^eather. We must there-
fore carry our inquiry farther, if we wish to see all
the causes of these singular effects.

The ground, then w^e may perceive, by being left
rough when the potatoes were dug, formed little
hills for covering the seed from cold during the win-
ter ; as also little holes, which drain^ away the
water from the surface, but retained it to settle
down into the earth, there to be ready for use in
the summer ; while the frost and rain made the
surface level again in the spring. The frost also,
with rain produced great change of place in the par^
tides of the soil, during the winter and spring ; and
the rough surface of the soil presented a great ex-
tent to be exposed to the beneficial influence of the
air ; especially as this surface w^as perpetually chang-
ing. The different depths of covering left to the
seed, seems to have provided an assortment of
wheat plants differently rooted, so as to leave one
or other of them capable of meeting all the chances
of weather ; and consequently, so as to furnish at

24

proper intervals, at least one plant suited to the na-
ture of the season.

The perishing of some of the seed, from want of
covering, or from ravages of birds, &c. vras of little
consequence ; as experience must have taught the
MiLLWARDS how much seed was, on the average,
necessary for their land, under every circumstance.
It was with a view to save their seed from birds
and other enemies, that no more seed was sown in
a day, than answered to the potatoes to be dug in
that day.

It is unfortunate that we hear nothing of the quan-
iitij of potatoes raised by our cottagers. We may
presume, as this crop had particular favour shewn
to it, that it was at least in proportion to the crop
of wheat.

The potatoes were in the ground about six
months ; for the English climate, during the grow-
ing season, is less forcing than that of America.
Many in the United States do not allow more than
four months for the growth of their potatoes ; some
allow only three. But a potatoe, like an apple,
may look large, and not be ripe ; for both the apple
and potatoe jipen after they have got to their full
size. Want of ripeness is a great defect in a pota-
toe ; and probably injures both its keeping and its
fitness for seed.

The MiLLWARDS consumed their best potatoes,
and reserved only their second best for seed. Here
seems to have been an error. By using the best
for seed, the whole crop would soon have improv-
ed. In good cultivation, the whole crop becoriies
tolerably even ; especially if the planting has been
early, and the earthing of the potatoe has not been
too frequent. The weeding of the potatoe, it must
be observed, IS distinct from the earthing of it.

The English commonly plant their potatoes in
rows. Perhaps such rows would admit of a simple

25

instrument, managed by a man and boy, to pass
along between them, for the purpose of weeding
and earthing.

It will be observed, that the Millwards are
not said to have had any instrument or machine,
beyond a spade, a hoe, a three pronged fork, and a
wheelbarrow ; the rest was, in general, accomplish-
ed by hands and fingers ; by eyes and diligence ;
if we add a rake, a sickle, a flail, and a pitchfork,
still the cost will not be much. This was another
way of rendering themselves independent of their
neighbours, as well as of capital and of expense.

The manure was new for the potatoes, and old
and mellow for the wheat ; that is, it was by turns,
in a state to be suitable to each. The soft nature
of the straw and stubble, and of the roots of the
wheat, and also of the potatoe stalks, added to that
of the weeds, made manure of an excellent quality
for yielding to the sw^elling of the potatoes. The
weeds, it will be remembered, were weeded up be-
fore they seeded. As the chief means of renewing
the weeds was from the scraping of the roads, the
effects of winds, or the act of some animal, the
wheat had a chance of being comparatively clean.

In short, accident seems to have suggested, and
practice to have confirmed the system of the Mill-
wards ; and such advantages naturally belong to
those who labour for themselves, and who know ev-
ery foot of their own territory, and the issue of eve-
ry thing done upon it. The uses of keeping a fam-
ily together, of concentering its labours under the
direction of its heads, of excluding strangers from
it, of employing the fragments of time, and of mak-
ing the most of a little, are too evident to be insist-
ed upon. Let the example then be imitated, with
such changes as may suit the American climate ;
but let the labour of the field, as much as possible,

26

be spared to the female, who, if a good house wife
and mother, will have much to do within doors.
A Member of the Kennelec Agricultural Societij.

EGYPTIAN MILLET.

PORTSMOUTH, (N. H.J DEC. 2, J 805.
DEAR SIR,

In compliance with your request, I have made
mquiry of the several gentlemen in this neighbour-
hood, who have cultivated the new species of grain,
which is here generally called Jerusalem wheat, re-
specting its history, culture, and properties, the re-
sult of which is :

That two years last spring a few seeds of a singu-
lar kind of grain, which were found in a crate of
ware, at Exeter, were sown in a garden there ; the
novel appearance of which, in the fall of the year, at-
tracted the attention of many, and among others, of
a Mr. Goss, of Greenland, who, thinking it necessary
to give it some name, called it Otaheite corn ; he
procured some of the seed, and sowed it the next
year on his farm, and there Col. Walker and his
son saw it. The son had seen a description of
grain, called Jerusalem wheat, cultivated in Ireland,
published in the Dubhn Magazine, by the Agricul-
tural Society there, which was republished in one of
our papers, and concluded this to be the same spe-
cies of grain. Col. Walker procured of Mr. Goss a
small quantity of the grain, and distributed it to
several gentlemen of this town, who raised it in
their gardens. Col. Walker, on the twentieth of
May, sowed one and a half ji 11 in drills two feet a-
part, but set the seed in the drills as thick as he
would anv small seeds ; the inconvenience of which

27

he discovered 80on after it came up ; but he suffered
it to grow notwithstanding : the soil was high, dry,
and gravelly, and some butchers, without Col.
Walker's knowledge, had buried a quantity of
blood there the year before, which burnt up the
grain at one end of the drills, extending nearly one
quarter the length of them ; he hoed it twice to kill
the weeds; the stalks grew about six feet highy the
produce which was gathered on the tenth day of
October, amounts to one and a half bushel.

Col. Moses Woodward obtained about half a jill
of seed, and sowed two rows of it in a field, on the
eighteenth day of April ; the rows were eighteen
inches apart, and he dibbled the seed at six inches
distance, but the seed rotted in the ground. On
the fourteenth of May, he planted in holes three
feet by two and a half feet asunder, three hundred
sixty holes in all, placing five kernels, at suitable
distanccj in each hole. The ground was stiff, hard
and cold clay, covered with about two inches of
soil near a wall, and was broke up the same spring
to destroy the sord, was not manured, and was ho-
ed twice to destroy the weeds, but was not hilled,
as in raising Indian corn. About three seeds froffii
each hole came up, and produced generally three
stalks apiece, which grew about six or seven feet
high ; the grain is formed in a head on the top of
the stalk : he gathered on this piece twelve hun-
dred heads, which, on an average, contained one
jill of seed. On the third of June, he planted the
remainder of his seed ; but hieing injured by the
drought, it did not come to maturity. Col. Wood-
ward thinks the time of planting Indian corn, is the
proper time of sowing it, and that it should be dib-
bled six inches apart, in drills three feet wrde.
The stalks and leaves make excellent fodder for
horses and cattle, but the value of the grain yet
remains uncertain. Those who pretend to have

28

seen it abroad, call it by different names, and de-
scribe it differently. The stalk and leaves bear a
near resemblance to Indian corn, and I believe it
will be classed in that genus, rather than be ac-
counted any species of wheat. In the description
of the Jerusalem wheat, the grains are said to be
large and round ; these are flat like the kernel of
Indian corn. Mr. Caze Aux,the French commissa-
ry here, shewed some of this grain to an Irish gen-
tleman, who called it the greater or larger millet,
and said it was common in Ireland.

One gentleman in this town has been so curious
as to count the grains in one head, and found it to
contain twenty five hundred and fifty four. If
three of these heads are produced from one kernel,
the increase is very great.

We have procured a small quantity of it to be
ground and bolted, and have made it into bread of
different kinds, but all of them prove very ordina-
ry. Yeast, or leaven, does not produce any fer-
mentation in it ; but when made into a batter and
baked in thin cakes, it is palatable while warm.

I have the pleasure of sending you some of the
flour, and a small quantity of the grain for seed.
If it will not answer for bread, it may be valuable
for other purposes.

I am, very respectfully,

your most obedient servant,

NATHANIEL ADAMS.
Hon. Dudley A. Tyng.

BOSTON, NOVEMBER 12, 1805.
DEAR SIR,

Last year I obtained a head of Egyptian
millet, (Holcus Dura) weighing five ounces, the
grain of which weighed lour ounces. This was

29

planted in April, in the manner of Indian corn, five
grains in a hill, making tiiree hundred and eighty
nine hills. From these, seventeen hundred and
two heads were cut on the first of October, and
about fifty were broken off by the wind early in the
season. The whole produce was seven bushels of
fair, clean, and plump grain. Comparing it with
the same number of hills of Indian corn, the pro-
duct was rather better, but the millet does not
spread so far, and might have been doubled on the
same quantity of land ; and two rows, planted in
drills eight inches apart, with room for a horse
plough between the rows, proved that this would
have been a better method of planting, than in hills
nearly four feet apart.

When Indian corn began to be injured by the
drought, the millet grew more rapidly, and not a
head was blasted. Some that was near a brook, on
cold, wet land, was not ripe, till late in October ;
that on warm loam, was the fullest, and largest,
and early ripe ; that on warm gravel, earlier still,
but not so large. One row I manured with plas-
ter of Paris in the hills, which was only one foot
high, when the other was three ; a spoonful of plas-
ter was then put round each stalk, and in three
weeks, it equalled the other in height.

It is the opinion of some farmers, that half aii
acre of good land will produce, with less expense,
as much of this grain, as an acre will of barley, oats,
or rye.

I send you a few heads, and will add some of the
flour, when I get it from the mill, and any of your
friends that are disposed to try it, may have as much
of the seed as they will plant.

I am, sir, your humble servant,

R.WEBSTER.
Dr. Aaron Dexter.

30

FROM THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, (SCOTLAND.)

ON PLANTING OSIERS AND WILLOWS.

If you please to lay before the publick, the fol-
lowing method of planting willows in the fens of
Cambridgeshire, you will probably render essential
service to many of your readers.

In the fens, many holts, (as they are provincially
called) or plantations of osiers, are raised, which
beautify the country, keep the stock warm in the
winter, and provide much useful wood for baskets,
cradles, and all kinds of wicker work, and also for
cribs for cattle to eat straw or hay out of, and to
make stows or hurdles to fence in stacks, part lands,
&c. &c. ; or they make hedges that will last four
years well ; and if alUowed to grow five years, ma-
ny of them would make good fork shafts for hay or
corn.

These holts, or plantations of osiers, are com-
monly made in the middle of the land, in the north
and east corners, and sometimes at any end, side,
or place, that appears most easy, or in any respect
the most desirable.

The situation and size of these holts vary exceed-
ingly : sometimes they are made, in the middle of
lands, from ten to sixty yards square ; and in others,
in the sides or ends, of from one yard wide to ten,
and from ten to one hundred vards lonsr.

The mode of planting is very simple ; fii-st to dig
the land from six to twelve inches deep, and then
10 prick down cuttings of four years growth and
eighteen inches long, at about three feet distance
from each other. The soil should be moor or clay,
or any that is low and wet : if drowaed half the
year, it will be but little the worse.
• These holts or osier plantations, must be fenced
round either with dikes, which is most common.

31

or with hedges, as is most convenient. The proper
season for making them, (thougli they seldom fail
of growing at any time) is from the fall of the leaf,
till very late in the spring, and the sets are very
cheap. Such plantations are cut annually for bas-
kets, skeps, scuttles, cradles, and all kinds of wicker
work ; but when the osiers are kept for sets, or to
make hedging wood, or for stows or hurdles, they*
are cut only once in four years.

Our mode of planting red or white willows will
likely be acceptable ; therefore a few words shall be
given on that subject.

Now when wood is growing scarce and dear in
Britain, and likely to become more and more so,
gentlemen of landed property should cause many
red and white willows to be planted on their es-
tates;-and it answers well for tenants that have
long leases to make such plantations, as they turn
out a profitable concern. Indeed, in all leases, my
opinion is, that the tenants should be taken bound
to raise a given number of young willow trees. Ev-
en tenants at rack rent should not be excepted,
because the measure would produce important ad-
vantages to the country.

Either the red or white willows will grow well,
as may be seen in all the fen parishes. They will
prosper on all kinds of fen, moor or moss, or wet or
low lands ; on any kind of clay, loam, or mixed
soils ; but should never be planted on any high,
dry, or burning lands.

These willows are always planted of cuttings or
boughs, commonly of four years growth ; the sets
have frequently the tops cut off, and are left about
eight feet long ; but, before planting, they should
have the thick end put in water three or four weeks,
which makes them grow the better. When the
planting season arrives, holes are dug about two feet
deep, and at nine or ten feet distance : the sets are

32

then put ill, and the holes filled up with earth.
After the sets are planted, if the weather be very
dry, they should be watered sometimes during the
first year of their growth. Such plantations should
be either fenced in, or stock kept from them for a
few years, till they are covered with a coarse, thick
bark, that stock will not eat. Those which were
topped before planting, should be cut every four
years, when they will produce many sets to plant
fresh fields, or valuable wood for other purposes.

But it is a most excellent plan not to cut the
tops off the sets when they are planted, but to let
them grow for timber, and only cut the side boughs
off every four years for sets, &c. These willows
will grow, in most situations, more rapidly, I be-
lieve, than any other wood, and to a prodigious
large size, even as large as oaks or elms. The -wood
is very tough and durable, when kept dry or paint-
ed, and is valuable for buildings, and other pur-
poses. It is a proverb in the fens, that " a willow
will buy a horse, before an oak will buy a saddle.^^
I am yours. Sec.

A Cambridge Agriculftiralisf.

FROM THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, (SCOTLAND.)

Observations on the best and most economical Method
of Boilijig Potatoes.

Sir,

In your supplement, a receipt is given for
boiling potatoes, which I have formerly seen ; and
it was then said to be recommended by Count
Rum FORD. Admitting it to have been recom-
mended by that celebrated economist, I must af-
firm, that the receipt is calculated not only to boil,
but, at the same time, to spoil the potatoes, cooked

53

in the mode therein recommended, -when they are
in the smallest degree of an inferior quality : partic-
ularly by putting in cold water from time to time,
to lessen the heat of the water in the pot, and boil-
ing them with their skins on.

The fact is, that to render potatoes mealy, the})
must be boiled in the most expeditious manner possi^
hie : and for accomplishing this, I give you the re-
ceipt followed by my own good wife at home. Po-
tatoes of last year's growth are generally of an indif-
ferent quality ; but any attentive housewife who
tries both methods, can then judge which deserves
the preference.

\st^ Pick out the quantity to be used as nearly
of an equal size as possible, let them be well wash-
ed, and the skins scraped off, as is done with car-
rots, taking out the eyes, and any earth that re-
mains about them, with the point of a knife ; when
the potatoes are large, they may cut into two, three,
or four pieces ; throw them one by one, as they are
done, into clean water, and rinse them well about,
before they are put into the goblet.

2fi^/y, Put the scraped potatoes into a goblet that
has a tight, well fitted cover, with as much clean
water as will barely cover them ; throw in. a little
salt ; fit on the cover as closely as possible, for keep-
ing in the steam, and increasing the heat, and place
the goblet on the hotest part of a hotfire^ in order
that it may boil as rapidly as possible. Whenever
the potatoes are enough boiled, they mustlDe taken
off the fire, otherv^ise they will immediately begin
to absorb the w^ater (to the detriment of their mealy
quality ;) which being poured off, the goblet is a-
gain put upon the fire, with the cover off, to dry up
the moisture ; they are then taken out with a spoon,
and put upon a dish for serving up to table.

Potatoes, boiled in this manner^ will be found per-
fectly clean, more mealy than w^hen dressed with

34

the skins on ; besides, when they come to table in
this last mentioned state, it is certainly a very dis-
agreeable operation, taking off the skins, by soiling
the finger^, dirtying the table cloth, confusing the
jDlates, and taking up the time and attention of the
eaters, when they ought to be better employed.
The mode here recommended, is also more econom-
ical ; for if part of the potatoes should fall down into
meal, it is found perfectly clean, and fit for being
made into a pudding ; but when the skins are left
on, the mealy part being attached to them, is en-
tirely lost, or only fit to be given to swine or poultry.
I am your old friend, E .

On the Agriculture of the Netherlands. Bij the
Abbe Mann. Extracted from the 5th volume
of Hunter's Georgical Essays.

The characteristick features of the Belgick peas-
ants are, industry^ great economif^ and a strong attach-
ment to the methods and customs of their prede-
cessors.

Few people are more attached to their customs
and practices, than the Belgick peasants. They
seldom change their methods of agriculture, being-
persuaded that their forefathers were as wise and
knowing as themselves, and that what they did, is
the best themselves can do.

As to the methods of agriculture, or the nature of
crops, the government of the Low Countries takes
no cognizance of them, but leaves every one to do
what he thinks best ; and certainly, private interest
and the love of gain, are the best stimulants on this
head, and seldom fail to excite each one to cultivate
his ground in the manner, and with the produc-
tions, which he finds most profitable. Experience
thereon is his only rule and guide.

35

The most universal land measure in the Low
Countries, is the bunder, or bonier. In Brabant
and Hainault, it contains four hundred square perch-
es or roods, of twenty feet long ; so that the square
rood contains four hundred square feet, and the
bunder, one hundred and sixty thousand. The
rood varies in different parts, as does also the foot,
which, in general, is less than the English one. On
an average, the bunder may be reckoned three En-
glish acres. In Flanders, land is usually measured
by what is called a ghemet, a measure containing
three hundred square roods ; the rood being in some
places twelve, in others fifteen Flemish feet long :
but, in some parts of this province, a bunder or bo-
nier is in use, containing four hundred square roods,
as in Brabant and Hainault ; but the rood varies in
different cantons, from ten to twenty feet in length.
The bonier contains four journals of land. '

In the rest of this essay, I shall treat briefly of
the methods of agriculture, in different parts of
Flanders, Brabant^ and Hainault, distinguishing
them according to the different nature of the soil,
and confining myself to such practices as are gene-
rally established in each. As the difference of ch-
mate is insensible within these hmits, I shall prefer
the order which results from the soil, to that of lo-
cality, as the practices of husbandry, in an extent of
flat country, not exceeding one hundred miles any
way, are determined in a great measure, by the soil
alone.

The different soils I shall speak of, are the fol-
lowing :

1. The sandy heath of the Campine of Brabant.

2. The parts of Brabant contiguous to the Cam-
pine.

3. The strong clayey soil of Walloon Brabant,
and the northern parts of Hainault.

36

4. The soil of the middle fegion of Brabant, be-
ing a mixture of sand and loam.
6. The light, sandy soil about Bruges.

6. The rich loam of the districts of Ghent, CxDur*
tray, and Maritime Flanders.

7. The artificial soil of the Pays de Waes.

The Camphie of Brabant,

It is well known that the Campine of Brabant,
which is the northern part of that province, consist-
ed originally of sand covered with heath, interspers-
ed with lakes and extensive marshes, and here and
there, with woods of fir. Tradition supposes it to
have been once a part of the sea. To this day,
where cultivation has not extended, the soil of itself
produces nothing but heath and fir. The sand is
of the most barren and harsh kind, nor can it be
rendered fertile, but by continued manuring. As
the property of this ground may be acquired for a
trifle, many have been the attempts of private per-
sons to bring tracts of it into cultivation : every
means have been tried iox that purpose, and gov-
ernment has given every possible encouragement
to it. But 1 have not heard of any one, however
considerable might be his fortune, that has succeed-
ed in it, and many have been ruined by the project.
What is cultivated in the Campine, is owing to the
religious houses established in it, especially to the
two great abbeys of Tongerloo and Everbode.
Their uninterrupted duration for five or six hun-
dred years past, and their indefatigable industry,
have conquered these barren, harsh sands, and ren-
dered many parts of them highly productive. The
method they follow is simple and uniform ; they
never undertake to cultivate more of this barren
soil at a time, than they have sufficient manure for ;
seldom more than five or six bunders in a year ;

37

and when it is brought b}^ labour and manuring in-
to a state capable of producing sufficient for a fam-
ily to live on, it is let out to farmers on easy terms,
after having built them comfortable habitations.
By these means, many extensive tracts of the Cam-
pine are well cultivated, and covered with villages,
well built houses, and churches. The abbey of
Tongerloo alone, furnishes about seventy of its
members as curates to these parishes, all of whom
owe their existence to that original stock. I may
add here, and that from the undoubted testimony
of the historians of the Low Countries, that the
cultivation of the greatest part of these rich prov-
inces, took its rise from the selfsame means, eight
hundred or a thousand years back, when they were
in a manner, one continued forest.

A Campine farm of tvi'^enty bunders is stocked
with two or three horses, seven or eight cows, some
oxen, and is cultivated with coleseed^ clover, rye,
oats, and little or no wheat. It is hardly necessary
to add, that potatoes, turnips, and carrots, are culti-
vated, not only in the Campine, but throughout all
the Low Countries, But the culture of spergule,
(alcine spergida major) is more pecuhar to the
north of Brabant, though not confiiled to that tract
alone. It serves the cows for autumn food, and the
butter of this season is called spergule butter, of
which the Campine furnishes a great quantity, es-
pecially to Brussels, where it is employed for the
use of the kitchen, as being both cheaper and more
profitable than any other for that purpose. This
plant is sown where corn has been reaped, after the
ground has been lightly ploughed. Cows are teth-
ered on it in October, and a space allowed to each
one, proportionable to the quantity of food which
is proper for her. This pasture lasts till the frosts
come on.

38

As spergule gives but little straw, and conse-
quently little manure, the farmers supply the want
thereof, in the following manner. The peat or sods
which are cut from the heath, are placed in the
stables and cow stalls, as litter for the cattle. The
ground under them is dug to a certain depth, so as
to admit a considerable quantity of these peat sods,
and fresh ones are added, as the feet of the cattle
tread them down into less compass. These com-
pose so many beds of manure, thoroughly impreg-
nated with the urine and dung of the cattle. This
litter is renewed at proper times, and that which is
removed from the stables and cow stalls is laid up
in heaps, till it be carried into the fields where it is
to be spread. This mixture produces a compost of
excellent quality for fertilizing ground, where corn
is to be sown. By these means a far greater quan-
tity of manure is produced from the peat, than
could be had by burning it, as is done in some
parts. In the Campine of Brabant, the main object
which the farmers have in view, is to obtain a great
quantity of manure, without which, all attempts to
cultivate that barren soil are in vain.

Besides butter, the Campine furnishes the rest of
Brabant, and Brussels particularly, with great quan-
tities of fat fowl ; the markets are constantly sup-
plied with them, and they are preferred to any oth-
er of the same kind. They are not less sought for
and esteemed in South Holland.

me.

The parts of Brabant contiguous to the CampL

There are no great farms in these parts, and hard-
ly any such thing as tenants ; each farmer is a pro-
prietor ; and as he cultivates his own ground, it is
clear that he will do all he can to render it fertile,
without impoverishing it : far different in this re-
spect from the tenant, who only seeks his own tern-

39

porary interest, by forcing the soil, during his lease,
if he has no assurance of renewing it, indifferent
how much he may impoverish the land for the fu-
ture.

There are many meadows in these districts, which
give regularly two crops of hay, one at midsummer,
the other towards the end of August. It is not ob-
served, that frequent mowing impoverishes those
meadows whose soil is deep and fat. If others of
inferior soil appear spent, the custom is to sow them
for three succeeding years with oats, and the last
thereof mixing clover with the oats ; by this means,
they become excellent meadows anew.

In proportion as the ground rises from the mead-
ows, it diminishes in goodness, becoming at last a
rough, brown sand, mixed with pebbles ; and under
this is -a stratum of compact clay, through which
water fdtrates with difficulty. Such ground as this,
gives small crops of rye, but it is excellent for black
or turkey wheat, (bled Sarrazin.)

The productions of this part of the country are,
wheat, rye, barley, oats, and turkey wheat ; and as
food for cattle, spergule, clover, turnips, and pota-
toes. They cultivate also rape, coleseed, and flax,
chiefly for their oils ; and also tobacco. I shall add
a few observations on some of these.

The good corn land of this canton never lies
fallow ; the only rest that is given it, is to let it lie
a year in the clover that was sown on it with the
corn the preceding year ; and then it returns again
to corn, which is produced in its former abundance.
It has been observed, likewise, that the best crops
are produced when the corn is sown thin.

Turkey wheat, made into paste, and fried with
fat bacon, is the ordinary food of the peasants of
these parts, and also of the Campine. It serves
them likewise for fatting their fowl ; of which, as
was said above of the Campine, they feed great

40

quantities for the markets of the rest of Bmbant and
of Holland.

Great quantities ofspergule are likewise cultivat-
ed in this district. It is sown immediately after the
corn is reaped. This plant is excellent in the lat-
ter season for cows : it is wholesome, and increases
the quantity and the goodness of their milk ; and
the butter made from it is fatter, and keeps better,
than that made from grass in May and June. Sper-
gule serves likewise for manure, in light soils, on
account of its succulent and fat nature ; being
ploughed down while it is still green, it serves as a
partial amendment for sowing wheat on the ground.

Clover is sown along with rye, barley, oats, wheat,
and even with flax. Clover seed is a great branch
of commerce in this country. When they do not
choose to let the clover grow up for seed, it is cut
at least three times in a year. After the last cut,
the plant is ploughed under, and makes a good ma-
nure ; and with a little dung added to it, wheat or
rye are profitably sown on the ground.

Turnips and carrots are sown indifferently with
any sort of corn ; insomuch that in autumn, after
the corn is reaped, the fields appear covered with
them ; and it is observed, that those which grow-
in this manner, are better than those planted in gar-
dens, and are an excellent and healthy food for
both men and cattle.

Potatoes are here likewise of great use for both.
Their culture serves to amend ground newly brok-
en up, by dividing and lightening its too compact
parts, and rendering it thereby proper for sowing
rye on the following year.

Coleseed (colza) and rape require a strong soil,
and rather dry. Flax exhausts the ground, and is
detrimental to the culture of corn on it. Tobacco
produces a still worse effect of the same kind.

41

It has been found of great use in this part of the
country, to divide the land into small fields, enclos-
ed with ditches and quickset hedges, which shelter
the vegetation from the dry winds and frosts of the
spring ; nor are they less useful in long drouglits,
for the same reason. The ditches are receptacles
for the water, which runs off in rainy seasons, and
contribute also to the growth of the hedges, which
are cut for faggots every five or six years Uak,
beech, birch, poplar, hazel, &c. are planted for these
hedges, the growth of which is kept down by fre-
quent cutting.

Walloon Brabant, and Northern parts of Hamault.

The soil I shall speak of under this head, is in
general a cold, compact clay, almost impenetra-
ble to rain, and in droughts hard and full of cracks.
In plouo-hing, the furrows are made from eight to
twelve feet in distance. Lime and marl are tound
to be the best manures for this ground, which is
manured one year in three. Long experience has
shown, that the earth, after ploughmg, must not be
too much broken ; for if it be, the rain forms it in-
to an even compact mass, which afterwards dries
and hardens, so as to become like one of the barn
floors of the country ; whereas, when the earth is
left in clods, these crumble away insensibly during
winter and spring, and thereby cover gradually the
roots and young stalks of the corn.

Culture of Wheat. The ground whereon wheat
is to be sown, is completely dunged, and ploughed
five times ; the first time in November, the second
in March or April, the third at midsummer, at whicU
time the dung is spread on it, the fourth in August,
the fifth and last in September. Four raziei^,
weighing one hundred pounds each, are usually
sown on a bunder, which gives in its turn, fifty ra-

42

ziers, when the crop is good. When hme is used
for manure, four waggon loads are usually laid on a
bunder.

Rije, This is sown on land that has been dung-
ed and sown with wheat the foregoing year. Two
ploughings suffice. The sowing is begun about the
twentieth of September, if the weather permits ;
and in the spring, clover is sown on it. The crop
is usually ripe in July.

MeteiL Wheat and rye sown together are call-
ed meteil. This mixture is sown, like rye, on a
ground that has borne wheat the preceding year,
and which has been ploughed in the same manner.
The sowing and reaping time of meteil are a little
later than those of the rye.

Oats, They are sown preferably on land which
has borne clover ; and in this ease one ploughing
suffices.

Clover, Clover is sown along with wheat and
rye ; twenty pounds of seed are used for a bunder.
An artificial meadow of clover, remains good for
two years ; but in the spring of the second year,
forty tubs (cuvelles) of ashes, each weighing about
sixty pounds, are spread on a bunder: but this
quantity varies according to the season, and the na-
ture of the ground.

Potatoes and Carrots^ are great articles of culti-
vation in these parts, and used for both men and
cattle ; but the methods have nothing pecuhar.

Turnips^ are sown on a well dunged ground,
about the middle of July ; and before the end of
September, if the season be favourable, they are fit
to be given to the cattle, who feed partly on them,
as long as they remain good.

Horsebeans, Peas, Vetches. All these are culti-
vated in these parts of the Low Countries, without
any material difference in the manner, from what is
practised elsewhere.

43

Cohat^ or Coleseed, It is sown about the mid-
dle of July, and the young plants are transplanted
about the end of S<q3tember. This is done with a
narrow spade, sunk into the ground, and moved
with the hand forwards and backwards, which sim-
ple motion makes a sufficient opening to receive
the plant : a boy or girl follows the labourer with
plants, and, putting one of them into each hole,
treads against it to close it up. If the plantation is
done with the plough, the plants are placed at regu-
lar distances in the furrow, and are covered with the
earth turned up by the succeeding furrow. Some
time after the coleseed is planted, the foot of the
stalks are covered by means of a common spade, or
hoe, with the earth near it, which furnishes nourish-
ment for the plants during winter, by the crumbling
of these little clods of earth over the roots. The
coleseed is reaped about midsummer, or later, ac-
cording as the season is more or less advanced : it
is left on the field for ten or twelve days after it is
cut, and then thrashed on a kind of sail cloth, spread
on the ground for that purpose, and the seed carri-
ed in sacks to the farm. When the crop is good,
a bunder produces about forty raziers, of eighty
pounds weight each. It is to be observed, that the
ground whereon coleseed is to be planted, must be
dunged, and twice ploughed, the same year it is
put in use.

Flax. The land for sowing flax, must be care-
fully cleaned from bad weeds, and well dunged.
Some farmers, for the sake of getting better crops
of flax, sow it on clover ground, which they dung
towards the end of September, and plough after-
wards. One hundred and eighty pounds of seed
are sown on a bunder as soon as spring comes on.
When the flax is about four inches high, it is care-
fully weeded, without which precaution the weeds
would stifle the plants ; and this is repeated, as often

44

as the weeds get head anew. When the crop is
good, a bunder yields about four hundred pounds
weight of flax. The flax of this part of the coun-
try, is much inferior in quahty, to that produced
about Courtray and Men in.

In these parts of the Low Countries, the farms
are usually much greater than in Flanders, and in
the middle region of Brabant, where the land is
richer. In Hainault, all farms of above seventy
bunders have been divided ; but this has not extend-
ed to Walloon Brabant, where there are still many
great forms.

A farm of seventy bunders* is usually distrib-
uted as follows ; ten bunders of meadow, ten of
wheat, twelve of rye, three of winter barley, one of
spring barley, eight of oats, four of horsebeans, peas,
and vetches, and eight of clover ; which together,
make fifty six bunders in cultivation, the other four-
teen lying fallow, in all seventy bunders. For cul-
tivating such a farm, eight horses are necessary :
and it is stocked with sixteen cows, twelve oxen,
and a flock of two hundred sheep ; besides hogs
and fowls in proportion.

The Middle Region of Brabant.

The land is here a mixture of sand and loam,
which make an excellent light soil, but not so rich
as that of Flanders, though preferable perhaps for
corn. The usual productions of this part of the
country are wheat, rye, oats, barley, beans, peas,
vetches, clover, turnips, carrots, and potatoes. No
ground here lies fallow : the farms are seldom ex-
tensive : forty bundere may be taken for an average.
The distribution of a farm of this size, fs usually into
about six bunders of meadow, and thirty four of
arable land.

* About two hundred and ten English acres.

45

These last are manured almost yearly, with from
twelve to sixteen waggon loads of manure to each
bunder, those in clover excepted. On these it is
usual to spread, in March, turf ashes brought in
boats from Holland. From eighty to one hundred
tubs of about sixty pounds weight each are employ,
ed for a bunder, one third of which is kept to be
spread after the first cut. Many of the Flemish
farmers make great use of these ashes, which being
highly impregnated with salts, enrich the land so as
to render it capable of producing excellent crops of
wheat, without any other manure, except turning
under the clover it was sown with the preceding
year.

In most farm yards, a deep ditch is dug near the
cow house, into which the urine of the cattle runs,
and a sufficient quantity is gathered, for spreading
over two or three bunders, which proves an excel-
lent manure.

The arable part of such a farm as I am speaking
of, is distributed as follows : five bunders of wheat,
five of rye, two of meteil, two of barley, four of oats,
two of beans, peas, and vetches, five of clover, four
of turnips, carrots, and potatoes, and five of cole-
seed ; in all, thirty four bunders ; the other six
being meadow.

The following rotation is used in the culture of
these parts. The ground being well manured, the
first year coleseed is planted ; the second year it is
sown with wheat ; and the third with rye, without
dunging. From two to three raziers of wheat, of
eighty pounds each, are usually sown on a bunder,
and when the crop is good, it yields from thirty to
forty raziers of the same weight.

Some farmers spread turf ashes on the ground
where they have sown turnips and carrots, as well
as on that sown with clover, &c. and then pass the
harrow over it.

46

In a favourable year, a journal^ (a quarter of a
bunder) of land well manured, will produce from
fifty to sixty sacks of potatoes.

Those that feed sheep in the districts where no
land lies fallow, feed them as well as their other cat-
tle, with corn, beans, peas, vetches, turnips, and
other roots.

Agriculture of Flanders ; and first in the environs of

Bruges,

The quality of the soil varies greatly in different
parts of the district of Bruges, although the main
constituent of it be every where a light sand. In
many parts, continual manuring and cultivation
have rendered it extremely rich ; in some spots, for
want of these, it is less so ; but a more extensive
population would soon bring them into the same
state as the rest.

There are many large farms in this part of the
country, belonging in general to the rich abbeys ;
those of lay proprietors are for the most part less ;
and those of which the farmers themselves are pro-
prietors, are still smaller. The culture in these
cantons is regulated as follows :

A ghemet, or measure of land, is manured the
first year with dung, or, near Bruges, with a boat
load of street dirt from that city ; it is then sown
with flax ; the second year wheat is sown on it ;
the third year, rye ; the fourth year it is again
slightly manured, and sown with oats, or turkey
wheat, and sometimes with clover, turnips, carrots,
parsnips, or potatoes.

Clover is sown along with oats, and only lasts a
year ; it is afterwards ploughed, manured, and sown
with wheat and flax.

Broom is sometimes sown as an amendment for
bad land, and pulled up at the end of the second

47

year during winter. The ground is then dunged,
ploughed, and cultivated with later crops, sown in
the spring.

Turnips, carrots, parsnips, and potatoes, supply
in these parts the want of meadows, and great care
is taken to preserve them during winter, for food for
their cattle. Turnips, carrots, and parsnips are laid
in the earth, in round heaps, of eight or ten feet in
diameter at the bottom, and five or six feet high ;
when the first layer is placed, it is covered with
long straw; and so on alternately to the top. These
heaps are opened in the winter or spring, according
as the farmer has need of them for feeding his
horses and cows ; they are given likewise to early
lambs, when young grass is wanting.

Potatoes are kept in deep holes dug in sandy
ground, where they are seldom hurt by ordinary
frosts, and keep good till far on in the spring.

In this tract of country, there are many little
woods of oak, elm, beech, alder, and here and there,
fir of the maritime kind. Great quantities of wil-
lows are planted, and some are let grow up into
trees, out of which are made windlasses for the
boats and barges of the country : these sell dearer
than oak.

Lands on the Rivers Lys and Scheldt^ from Menin
and Courtray^ to Ghent and Dendermonde^ and
also of Maritime Flanders,

The soil on the flat banks of the Lys and the
Scheldt, is reckoned among the best in Flanders : it
is, in general, a rich, sandy, moist loam, become al-
most black with a long and uninterrupted cultiva-
tion. Hardly any great farms are found here ; those
of from sixty to eighty ghemets are counted the
greatest, and they are generally less, as the land is
richer.

48

In the largest of these farms, there are seldom
more than three or four horses, and ten or twelve
cows. The farmer employs from twenty to thirty
waggon loads of dung for three ghemets of land,
and only fifteen or sixteen loads, if it be street dirt,
from the great towns, or turf ashes brought by water
from Holland.

These lands produce grain of every sort in great
abundance, as also every kind of esculent roots,
which are given to the cattle in winter, along with
their hay. The meadows along the rivers, and in
other parts of this rich and moist soil, are superiorly
good, and the clover is the most luxuriant I ever
saw. It is usual to spread, in the spring, sixty sacks
of turf ashes on three ghemets of clover sown the
preceding year, which proves an excellent manure
to it.

A great branch of culture in these parts, and par-
ticularly in the districts of Courtray and Menin, is
that of flax, of which they produce an immense
quantity, and of the finest kind. The expense of
this culture is great, the labour bestowed on it in
weeding, is almost uninterrupted, and the damage
it does to the soil in exhausting its vegetable juices
is beyond measure ; but in return, a good crop will
almost buy the ground. To recover the soil after a
crop of flax, clover and spergule are sown on it, and
turned down for manure.

The plough used for this fine light soil, has a lit-
tle wheel and an immoveable sower : one horse
serves to draw it, or two at most, in the strongest of
this ground.

Lands uncultivated, and fields lying fallow, are
here unknown. There are few woods in this part
of the country : but all the fields are enclosed with
hedges, and thick set with trees, insomuch that the
whole face of the country, seen from any little
height, seems one continued wood.

49

The agriculture in Maritime Flanders is much
the same with that now spoken of, as the soils of
each bear a great resemblance ; only that near the
sea is more moist, the meadows are more exten-
sive, and little or no flax or spergule are there culti-
vated. If there be any material difference between
these soils, it consists in the greater quantity of ma-
rine substances, which enter into the composition of
the soil of Maritime Flanders, than of that in the
inner part of the country, and these add to it an ad-
ditional degree of fertility.

The castlery of Furns, and the environs of Pix-
mude, abound more in excelle^it meadows than any
other part of the Low Countries : the number of
horned cattle fed there is immense, as is also the
quantity of butter produced and sold, chiefly at Dix-
mude market : and it is of the best quality, both
for ri-chness and keeping.

The Faifs de Waes*

The land of Waes is the district lying on the
north, side of the Scheldt, between Ghent and Ant-
werp ; it is a perfect flat, and is reckoned the rich-
est spart of Flanders. The original soil was pure
sand, and its present state of fertility, is owing to
the great number of its industrious inhabitants, who
cultivate a few acres round their dwellings, of
which, for the most part, they are proprietors. The
natural meadows are rich, and the great number of
■cows, which the inhabitants keep, furnish manure
in great abundance : but they are not content with
this alone ; great quantities of turf ashes are brought
thither from Holland, as also a great part of the
street dirt and dung from Brussels, Antwerp, and
Ghent, besides what is had from the many rich and
populous towns and villages, with which this district
is covered.

50

The farms being so very small, few horses are
kept in the land ofWaes; the ground is chiefly
worked with the spade and hoe, which the extreme
lightness of the soil renders easy. If a plough be
used, it is of the most simple kind, without wheels,
and drawn by one horse. All these contribute to-
gether to give a richness and fertility to the soil of
this tract, which surpasses almost what can be im-
agined. No spot lies uncultivated.

The common method of culture is as follows :
a bunder of land is manured, once in seven years,
with from forty to fifty cart loads of dung and town
dirt. The first year it is sown with hemp ; the sec-
ond, with flax ; the third, with wheat ; the fourth
and fifth, with rye ; the sixth, with oats \ and the
seventh with clover, turkey wheat, turnips, or car-
rots. Fallow ground is unknown here.

Spergule is sometimes sown about mid August,
on land that has borne wheat ; and in October, the
cows are put into it. The spergule which they culti-
vate for seed, is sown in March, and reaped in June.

It is to be observed, that the riches of the land
of Waes consist chiefly in the culture of flax and
hemp ; the other crops being in general for their
own use, and for home consumption, which indeed
is very considerable, on account of the great popu-
lation of this district. The produce of their flax
and hemp is so considerable, that in a good year,
they are reckoned to amount almost to the value of
the ground.

The agriculture of the land of Waes, passes, in-
disputably, for the most complete and perfect in all
the Netherlands.

51

FROM THE FARMER'S MAGAZINEy (SCOTLAND.)

On the Propriety of bi^uismg Oats with a Machine,
for such Horses as do not grind them stifficientlij
zmth their Teeth.

Sir,

Having some time ago heard the above
subject discussed in a society of respectable farmers,
I was rather surprised to find much difference of
opinion, on a question which might have been so
easily decided by experiment.

It was contended by some, that oats vegetated on
a dunghill, after passing whole through the stom-
ach of a horse. And, on the other hand, it was
stated, that although whole oats were to be found
in horse dung, they had parted with their farinace-
ous and nutritive properties in their passage through
the horse, and were become either empty husks,
or contained only an insignificant portion of mucil-
age, without any power of vegetation ; and that the
oats growing on dunghills, were such as had fallen
from the horses' mouths while feeding.

I beg leave to state, that I accidentally noticed a
large quantity of whole oats in some dung just pass-
ed from a horse, and, upon examining them, they
appeared to be quite sound : I thereupon had the
dung mixed with mould in a garden pot, and, in
about a fortnight, the oats began to vegetate very
freely, and are at this time two or three inches above
ground.

It is not convenient to me to follow up this ex-
periment, and I therefore confine my statement to
saying, that oats have vegetated after passing through
one of mif horses.

This fact must have been repeatedly ascertained ;
but as it is by no means generally received, you
may think it worth while to take further notice of

62

it; and since it is connected with very important
considerations in the branch of agriculture, relative
to feeding, it cannot be too frequently impressed on
your readers.

From the above, I am induced to suggest the
utility of bruising all grain that is to be given to
horses, so as the full benefit of the nutritive matter
therein contained may be procured.

I am yours, &c. T. N, P.

FROM THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE, (SCOTLAND.)

0?i the Use of Parsley as Food for Horses and

Cattle.
SiK,

As your magazine is solely devoted to the
purposes of agriculture, every fact, and every ex-
periment that tends to enlarge our knowledge, and
to promote the ends of that great national concern,
ought to have a place in it. I am induced, from
this motive, to lay before you an experiment upon
a small scale, which I never heard had been made
before, but which may in time become of great pub-
lick utility, if it shall be found, upon farther trial,
to succeed as well as in the case to which I allude.
You may fully depend on the truth of the fact it-
self.

4 A friend of mine having occa'sion to observe the
partiality of black cattle for the common garden
parsley, and their preference of it, when growing,
to almost any other green food, took it in his head
to try how it would succeed in a field that he was
going to sow down for pasture. He accordingly
sowed two or three ridges with parsley seed, and
the rest of the field with clover and rye grass. As
soon as the field was ready for pasture, he led his
cattle into it, and it was perfectly evident that they

53

preferred that part which was sown with the pars-
ley, to any other part of the field, insomuch that
they never touched the rest, while there was a
single blade of parsley to be had. Horses were
equally fond of it. He had not an opportunity
to try sheep upon it ; but the probability is, that
they would, if possible, have been fonder of it, and
thriven better, than any of the other two. This,
therefore, seems worthy of a farther trial. We
know that black cattle, sheep, horses, and indeed
every other animal, always prefer that food (when
they have it in their power to make a choice) that
is most agreeable to them, and most conducive to
their health. We know also that parsley is a most
wholesome vegetable for the human species. It is
a powerful antiseptick. If we were to reason from
analogy, we should suppose that its beneficial prop-
erties should extend to the animal creation in gen-
eral. As it is a perennial plant, it will answer well
for fields that are to be laid down for pasture for a
considerable while. Sheep, in particular, being of a
tender and delicate constitution, and especially sub-
ject to bowel complaints, its antiseptick quality may
be of great use to correct these. The difficulty
may be at first to get the seed in any considerable
quantity ; but that may soon be remedied, if the
experiment be thought worth while. I would sup-
pose that the ground upon which it is sown must
be good, in good condition, and clean, otherwise it
will not have a fair trial.

AGRICOLA.

FOOD OF PLANTS.

The following account of the probable food of
plants, is taken from a late celebrated English worki
Its principal object is directed to the mixture of

54

different earths, and the use of anuTial and vegetable
matter as manures to support the new plant, and the
advantages that arise from the use of these articles, in
a crude state, that in their decomposition or putre-
faction, the surrounding earth may be impregnated
vrith those volatile parts that commonly evaporate
and are lost in the air ; as is easily discovered by the
offensive smell, which never ought be suffered to
escape, and is attended with a loss of the most val-
uable parts of the collection, but which is complete-
ly preserved when scattered over a large surface,
mixed and covered with the earth in small portions.
" Plants, after they have germinated, do not re-
main stationary, but are continually increasing in
size. A tree, for instance, every season adds con-
siderably to its former bulk. The root sends forth
new shoots, and the old ones become larger and
thicker. The same increment takes place in the
branches and the trunk. When we examine this
increase more minutely, we find that a new layer
of wood, or rather of alburnum, has been added to
the tree in every part, and this addition is made
just under the bark. We find too, that a layer of
alburnum has assumed the appearance of perfect
wood. Besides this addition of vegetable fibre, a
great number of leaves have been produced ; and
the tree puts forth flowers, and forms seeds.

" It is evident from all this, that a great deal of
new matter is continually making its appearance in
plants. Hence, since it would be absurd to sup-
pose that they, create new matter, it must follow
that they receive it by some channel or other.
Plants, then, require food as well as animals. Now,
what is this food, and whence do they derive it ?
These questions can only be answered by an atten-
tive survey of the substances which are contained
in vegetables-, and an examination of those sub-
stances, which are necessary for their vegetation.

56

contained in it as much earth as could exist in the
willow at the end of five years. For according to,
the experiments of Margraff, one pound of
rain water contains one grain of. earth. The
growth of the willow therefore, by no means proves,
that the earth, plants contain, has been formed out
of water. Besides, as Mr. Kir wan has remarked,*
the earthen vessel must have often absorbed moist-
ure, from the surrounding earth, impregnated with
whatever substance, that earth contained ; for un-
glazed, earthen vessels, as Hales and Tillet have
shewn, J readily transmit moisture. Hence it is ev-
ident, that no conclusion whatever can be drawn
from this experiment ; for all the substances which
the willow contained, except water, may have been
derived from the rain water, the earth in the pot,
and the moisture imbibed from the surrounding soil.

" The experiments of Duhamel and Tillet are
equally inconclusive ; so that it is impossible from
them to decide the question, Whether water be the
sole nourishment of plants or not ? We owe the
solution of this difficulty to the experiments of
Mr. Hassenfratz.

" He analyzed the bulbous roots of hyacinths, in
order to discover the quantity of water, carbon, and
hydrogen, which they contained ; and by repeating
the analysis on a number of bulbs, he discovered
how much of these ingredients w^as contained in a
given weight of the bulb. He analyzed also kid-
ney beans and cress seeds in the same manner.
Then he made a number of each of these vegetate
in pure water, taking the precaution to weigh them
beforehand, in order to ascertain the precise quan-
tity of carbon, which they contained. The plants
being then placed, some within doors, and others in
the open air, grew and flowered, but produced no

* Vide Irish Translation.
:|: Ann. de Chem.

55

If we could succeed completely, it would throw u
great deal of light upon the nature of soils and of
manures, and on some of the most important ques-
tions in agriculture.

" In the first place, it is certain that plants will not
vegetate without water ; for whenever they are de-
prived of it, they wither and die. Hence the well
known use of rains and dews, and the artificial wa-
tering of ground. Water, then, is at least an essen-
tial part of the food of plants. But many plants
grow in pure water ; and therefore it may be ques-
tioned whether water is not the only food of plants.

" This opinion was adopted very long ago, and
numerous experiments have been made in order to
demonstrate it. Indeed, it was the general opinion
of the seventeenth century ; and some of the most
successful improvers of the physiology of plants, in
the eighteenth century have embraced it. The
most zealous advocates of it were, A^an Helmont,
Boyle, Bonnet, Duhamel, and Tillet.

" Van Helmont planted a willow, which weigh-
ed five pounds, in an earthen vessel filled with soil,
previously dried in an oven, and moistened with
rain water. This vessel he sunk into the earth,
and he watered his willow sometimes with rain, and
sometimes with distilled water. After five years, it
weighed one hundred and sixty nine pounds and
one quarter, and the earth in which it was planted,
when again dried, was found to have lost only two
ounces of its original weight. Here, it has been
said, was an increase of one hundred and sixtv four
pounds, and yet the only food of the willow was
pure water ; therefore it follows, that pure water is
sufficient to afford nourishment to plants. The in-
sufficiency of this experiment to decide the ques-
tion, was first pointed out by Bergman, in 1773.
He shewed, from the experiments of Margraff,
that the rain water employed by Van HelzvionTj

57

seed. He afterwards dried them, collecting with
care all their leaves and every other part which had
dropped off during the course of the vegetation.
On submitting each plant to a chemical analysis,
he found that the quantity of carbon, which it con-
tained, was somewhat less than the quantity which
existed in the bulb, or the seed from which the
plant had sprung.

" Hence it follows irresistibly, that plants grow-
ing in pure water do not receive any increase of
carbon ; that the water merely serves as a vehicle
for the carbonaceous matter already present, and dif-
fuses it through the plant. Water, therefore, is not
the sole food of plants ; for all plants, during vege-
tation, receive an increase of carbonaceous matter,
without wdiich they cannot produce perfect seeds,
nor even continue to vegetate beyond a certain
time ; and that time seems to be limited by the
quantity of carbonaceous matter, contained in the
bulb, or the seed from which they grow. For Du-
HAMEL found, that an oak which he had raised by
water from an acorn, made less and less progress ev-
ery year. We see, too, that those bulbous roots,
such as hyacinths, tulips, &c. w4iich are made to
grow in water, unless they be planted in the earth
every other year, refuse at last to flower, and even to
vegetate ; especially if they produce new bulbous
roots annually, and the old ones decay.

" So far, indeed, is water from being the sole
food of plants, that, in general, only a certain pro-
portion of it is serviceable, too much being equally
prejudicial to them as too little. Some plants, it is
true, grow constantly in water, and will not vegetate
in any other situation ; but the rest are entirely de-
stroyed when kept immersed in that fluid beyond a
certain time. Most plants require a certain degree
of moisture, in order to vegetate well. This is one
reason why different soils are required for different
H

58

plants. Rice, for instance, requires a very wet soil :
were we to sow it in the ground on which wheat
grows luxuriously, it would not succeed ; and wheat,
on the contrary, would rot in the rice ground.

'' We should, therefore, in choosing a soil proper
for the plants which we mean to raise, consider the
quantity of moisture which is best adapted for them,
and choose our soil accordingly. Now, the dryness
or moisture of a soil depends upon two things ; the
nature and proportions of the earths which compose
it, and the quantity of rain which falls upon it. Ev-
ery soil contains at least three earths, silica,* lime,
and alumina, f and also sometimes magnesia. The
silica is always in the state of sand. Now soils re-
tain moisture longer or shorter according to the pro-
portions of* these earths. Those which contain the
greatest quantity of sand, retain it the shortest, and
those which contain the greatest quantity of alumi-
na, retain it longest. The first is a dry, the second
a wet soil. Lime and magnesia are intermediate
between these two extremes : they render a sandy
soil more retentive of moisture, and diminish the
wetness of a clayey soil. It is evident, therefore,
that, by mixing together proper proportions of these
four earths, we may form a soil of any degree of
dryness and moisture that we please.

" But whatever be the nature of the soil, its mois-
ture must depend, in general, upon the quantity of
rain which falls. If no rain at all fell, a soil, how-
ever retentive of moisture it be, must remain dry ;
and if rain were very frequently falling, the soil
must be open indeed, if it be not constantly wet'.
The proportion of the different earths in a soil,
therefore, must depend upon the quantity of rain
w^hich falls. In a rainy country, the soil ought to
be open ; in a dry country, it ought to be retentive

* Flint. t Clay.

59

of moisture. In the first, there ought to be a great-
er proportion of sand ; in the second, of clay.

" Almost all plants grow in the earth, and every
soil contains at least silica, lime, alumina, and often
magnesia. The use of these earths is to adoiinister
the proper quantity of water to the vegetables, which
grow in the soil. But as all plants contain earths as
a part of their ingredients, is it not probable that
earths also serve as food for plants ? It has not yet
indeed been shewn, that those plants which vege^
late in pure water, do not contain the usual quanti-
ty of earth : but as earths are absolutely necessary
for the perfect vegetation of plants, as they are con-
tained in all plants, and are even found in their
juices, we can scarcely doubt that they are actually
imbibed, though only in small quantities. Jvir.
Ten N ANT has ascertained, that magnesia, whe^^^,\^ir
combined with carbonic acid gas, is injurious to
corn, when employed as a manure ; and that hnie
which contains a mixture of magnesia, likewise in-
jures corn.* This important fact demonstrates, that
earths are not mere vehicles for conveying water to
plants. The same conclusion follows irresistibly
from the experiments of Saussure, junior. That
philosopher analyzed the following plants, growing
in a granitic and in a calcareous soil, namely, pinus
abies, pinus larix, rhododendron ferrugineum, vac-
cinium myrtillus, junniperus communis. The re-
sult was, that the plants which grew in the granitic
soil contained most water ; the proportion of char-
coal was nearly the same in both ; but the propor-
tion of earths corresponded nearly with the nature
of the soil. The plants which grew in the granitic
soil, contained a considerable proportion of silica and
metallic oxides ; those which grew ia the calcare-
ous, little or none of these bodies, but a greater pro-
portion of calcareous earth than the granitic plants,

- * Phil. Trans. 1799. British.

m

" All plants contain, likewise, various saline sub-
stances ; and if we analyze the most fertile soils, and
the richest manures, we never find them destitute
of these substances. Hence it is probable, that dif-
ferent salts enter as ingredients into the food of
plants. It is probable, also, that every plant ab-
sorbs particular kinds of salts. Thus sea plants
yield soda by analysis, while inland plants furnish
potass. The potass contained in plants, has indeed
been supposed to be the produce of vegetation ;
but this has not been proved in a satisfactory man-
ner. We find potass in the very juices of plants,
even more abundantly than in the vegetable fibres
themselves. But this subject is still buried in ob-
scurity ; and indeed, it is extremely difficult to make
decisive experiments, on account of the very small
quantity of potass, which most plants contain.

*' The phosphorus, too, and the iron, and other
metals which are found in plants, are, no doubt, ab-
sorbed by them as a part of their food. We may
suppose also, that the sulphuric and muriatic acids,
and perhaps even the nitric acid, when found in
plants, are imbibed by them along with the rest of
their aHment.

"Nothing is at present known concerning those
saline substances, which form an essential part of
the food of plants, though it has been long remark-
ed, that certain salts are useful as manures.

" Water, then, and earths, and perhaps also salts,
form a part of the food of plants ; but plants contain
carbon, which cannot be derived from any of these
substances ; consequently, some substance or other
besides, which contains carbon, must constitute a
part of the food of plants. Mr. Gioeert mixed to-
gether the four earths, silica, alumina, lime, magne-
sia, in proper proportions, to constitute a fertile soil ;
and after moistening them with water, planted sev-
eral vegetables in them ; but none of his plants grew

61

well, till he moistened his artificial soil with water
from a dunghill.* Now it is certain, from the exper-
iments of Hassenfratz, that this water contains
carbon ; for when evaporated, it constantly leaves
behind it a residuum of charcoal. •]• We know like-
wise, from a great variety of experiments, that all
fertile soils contain a considerable quantity of car-
bonaceous matter ; for all of them, when exposed to
heat, are susceptible of partial combustion, during
which a quantity of carbonic acid gas escapes.
Thus FouRCROY and Hassenfratz found that
nine thousand two hundred and sixteen parts of
fertile soil, contained three hundred and five parts of
carbon, besides two hundred and seventy parts of
oil ; w^hich, from the analysis of Lavoisier, we may
suppose to contain about two hundred and twenty
parts of carbon. It follows, therefore, from the ex-
periments of these chemists,^ that nine thousand
two hundred and sixteen parts of soil, contain five
hundred and twenty five parts of carbon. But these
nine thousand two hundred and sixteen parts of
soil, contained eight hundred and six parts of roots
of vegetables, which were excluded from the analy-
sis ; consequently a fertile soil contains (exclusive
of the roots of vegetables) about one sixteenth of its
weight of carbon.

" But the carbon must exist in the soil in a par-
ticular state of combination, otherwise it does not
answer as food for plants : for instance, powdered
pitcoal, mixed with earths, is not found to act, at
least immediately, as a manure ; yet pitcoal contains
a very great quantity of carbon. Farther, it appears
from the experiments of Mr. Hassenfratz, that
substances employed as manures, produce effects
in times proportioned to their degree of putrefac-
tion ; those substances which are most putrid,

* Encyc, f An. de Chem.

t Vid. Encyc, raett. Physiol, veg.

62

producing the most speedy effects, and of course
soonest losing their efficacy. Having manured two
pieces of the same kind of soil, the one with a mix-
ture of dung and straw highly putrefied, the other
with the same mixture newly made, and the straw
almost fresh, he observed that, during the first year,
the plants which grew on the land manured with
the putrefied dung, produced a much better crop
than the other : but the second year, (no new dung
being added) the ground which had been manured
with unputrefied dung, produced the best crop ; the
same thing took place the third year, after which,
both seemed to be equally exhausted.* Here it is
evident, that the putrefied dung acted soonest, and
soonest exhausted. It follows from this, that car-
bon only acts as a manure when in a particular state
of combination ; and this state, whatever it may be,
is evidently produced by putrefaction. Another ex-
periment of the same chemist renders this truth still
more evident. He allowed shavings of wood to re-
main for about ten months in a moist place, till they
began to putrefy, and then spread them over a piece
of ground by way of manure. The first two years
this piece of ground produced nothing more than
others which had not been manured at all ; the
third year it w^as better, the fourth year it was still
better, the fifth year it reached its maximum of fer-
tihty; after which it declined constantly till the
ninth, when it was quite exhausted. f Here the
effect of the manure evidently depended upon its
progress in putrefaction.

" The particular state into which carbon must be
reduced before it be fit for the food of plants, is not
known exactly, the different combinations of carbon
having been, in a great measure, overlooked. And
yet it is evident, that it is only by an accurate ex-

* Annal. de Chem. ch. xiv.
t Ann. Chem.

63

amination of these combinations, and a thorough
analysis of manures, in order to discover what par-
ticular combinations of carbon exist in them, and in
what the most efficacious manures differ from the
rest, that we can expect to throw complete light
upon the nature and use of manures, which is one
of the most important subjects to which the farmer
can direct his attention. We know, from the ex-
periments of Mr. Hassenfratz, that all those ma-
nures which act with efficacy and celerity, contain
carbon in such a state of combination, that it is so-
luble in water ; and that the efficacy of the manure
is proportional to the quantity of carbon so soluble.
He found that all efficacious manures gave a brown
colour to water ; and that the water so coloured,
when evaporated, left a residuum, which consisted
in a great measure of carbon. He observed, too,
that the soil which gives the deepest colour to wa-
ter, or which contains the greatest quantity of car-
bon soluble in water, is, other things being the same,
the most fertile.

" This is not, however, to be understood without
limitation, for it is well known, that if we employ
excessive quantities of manure, we injure vegeta-
tion, instead of promoting it. This is the reason
that plants will not, as Mr. Duhamel found by
experiment, vegetate in saturated solutions of
dung.* One of the combinations of carbon which
is soluble in water, and with which we are best ac-
quainted, is carbonic acid gas. It has been suppos-
ed by many philosophers, particularly by Mr. Sen-
NEBiER, that this gas, dissolved in water, suppHes
plants with a great part of their carbon. But Mr.
Hassenfratz, on making the experiment, found
that the plants which he raised in water, impreg-
nated with carbonic acid gas, differed in no respect
from those which grew in pure water, and did not

* Ann, de Chem.

64

contain a particle of carbon, which had not existed
in the seeds, from which they sprung :* this exper-
iment proves, that carbonic acid gas, dissolved in
water, does not serve as food for plants. It appears,
however, from the experiments of Ruckert, that
when plants growing in soil are watered daily, with
water impregnated with carbonic acid gas, they
vegetate faster than when this watering is omitted.
He planted two beans in pots of equal dimensions,
filled with garden mould. One of these was wa-
tered almost daily with distilled water, the other
with water, every ounce of which was impregnated
with half a cubic inch of carbonic acid gas. Both
were placed in the open air, but in a situation where
they were secure from rain. The bean treated
with the water impregnated with carbonic acid gas,
appeared above ground nine days before the other,
and produced twenty five beans ; whereas the oth-
er produced only fifteen. The same experiment
was tried on other plants with equal success.^
This shews us that carbonic acid gas is somehow or
other useful to plants, when they vegetate in
mould ; but it gives us no information about its
mode of acting. Some soils, we know, are capable
of decomposing it ; for some soils contain the green
oxide of iron : and Gadolin has proved, that such
soils have the property of decomposing carbonic
acid gas. J Indeed almost all soils contain iron,
either in the state of the brown or the green oxide ;
and Be AUME has shewn that oils convert the brown
oxide of iron into the green. § Now dung contains
a quantity of oily substance ; and this is the case al-
so with rich soils. One use of manures, therefore,
may be, to reduce the brown oxide of iron to the
green, that it may be capable of decomposing carbo-
nic acid gas ; and the carbon, thus precipited, may

* Ann. de Cliem. f Crell's Annals, 1/88.

1 Annal de Chem, ^ Kirwan Irish Trans.

65

enter into some new combination, in which state it
may serve as food for plants. But it is more prob-
able, that the carbonic acid enters the plant com-
bined with some other body, and that its decompo-
sition takes place within the plant itself.

"Ingenhousz observed long ago, that soils have
the property of absorbing oxygen from the atmos-
phere.* This observation has been lately confirmed
by HuMBOLT ; and upon repeating the experiment,
I found that new turned up soils does absorb oxy-
gen from the air, giving out at the same time a por-
tion of carbonic acid gas. It can scarcely be doubt-
ed, that this absorption has an influence on vegeta-
tion, especially as watering plants with weak solu-
tions of oxy-muriatic acid, accelerates vegetation.
But we know too little of the subject at present to
be able to specify, precisely, what that influence is.

" Such is the present state of our knowledge, re-
specting the food of plants, as far as it is supplied by
the soil in which they vegetate. It is probable
that it is imbibed by the extremities of the roots
only ; for Duhamel observed, that the portion of
the soil which is soonest exhausted, is precisely that
part in which the greatest number of the extremi-
ties of roots lies. This shews us the reason why
the roots of plants are continually increasing in
length. By this means they are enabled, in some
measure, to go in quest of nourishment. The ex-
tremities of the roots seem to have a peculiar struc-
ture, adapted for the imbibing of moisture. If we
cut off the extremity of a root, it never increases
any more in length ; therefore its use as a root has
been in a great measure destroyed. But its sides
send out fibres, which act the part of roots, and im-
bibe food by their extremity. Nay, in some cases,
when the extremity of a root is cut off, the whole
decays, and a new one is formed in its place. This,

* Journ. dePhv.
I

66

as Dr. Bell informs us, is the case with the hya-
cinth.*

The extremities of the roots contain no visible
opening. Hence we may conclude, that the food
which they imbibe, whatever it may be, must be
in a state of sohition ; while the absolute necessity
of water, renders it probable that water is the sol-
vent. And, in fact, the carbon in all active ma-
nures, is in such a state of combination, that it is
soluble in water.

" All the salts which we can suppose to make a
part of the food of plants, are more or less soluble in
water. This is the case also with lime, whether it
be pure, or in the state of a salt ; magnesia and al-
umina may be rendered so by means of carbonic
acid gas ; and Bergman, Macie, and Klaproth,
have shewn, that even sihca may be dissolved in
water. We can see, therefore, in general, though
we have no precise notions of the very combina-
tions which are immediately imbibed by plants,
that all the substances which form essential parts of
that food may be dissolved in water."

CIDER PRESS.

NEW CASTLE, (MAINE) JAN. 6, 1 806.'

Believing that the Massachusetts Agricultu-
ral Society wish to encourage every useful improve-
ment, I have taken the liberty to forward to you for
their inspection, a pattern of a cider press, on a new
construction, which I have formed, and which ap-
pears to answer a valuable purpose. I am sensible
that every thing is not new to others, which is so to
ourselves ; but as I have never seen any thing of
the kind, I am led to conclude, that if any thing like

* Monch. Mem.

67

it has been known to others, they have not suffi-
ciently felt the importance of communicating their
knowledge for the good of the publick. With a
view to have the improvement fairly tried, and the
publick generally benefited by it, I would request
you to present the pattern, and description accom-
panying it, to the Trustees of the Massachusetts Ag-
ricultural Society. Should they approve of it, they
will take such measures to bring it into more gene-
ral use, as they may think proper.

With sentiments of high esteem, may it please
your Excellency, I would subscribe myself, your
very humble servant,

PAUL DODGE.
His Excellency Governor Strong.

A nezi^, clean, and easy Method to m,ake Cider,

The apples, after being ground, are put into a
curb or vat, and levelled with a shovel ; then cover-
ed with a plank, and blocked up as usual. It may
be pressed with a long beam or short cider screw,
but hay screws are best. The cider may be pressed
in two hours. Two men and a boy may make
twenty barrels in one day. As no straw is used, it
may be made in cold weather, if the pumice does
not freeze.

The girts must be four feet eight inches inside,
four inches and an half square, made of the best of
timber, with hinges and bolts in proportion. The
slats, three feet 3 inches long, one inch and a quar-
ter thick, three inches wide, and half an inch apart.
The eye bolts may be drawn with an iron bar with
ease, and any quarter of the vat taken off, to take
out the pumice.* A curb of this size will hold

* See the pattern, which is in the Secretary's Office, at the New State
House.

6^

pumice enough to make ten barrels of cider. I
have made cider in this new M^ay two years, and
find it is done with half the usual labour, and the
cider clear. The above can be attested by many.

PAUL DODGE.
Nezv Castle, Dec. 3, ISOo.

Experiment, showing the Importance of selecting
the first ripe Seeds, communicated to the Trustees
of the Agricultural Society ^ by James Freeman.
Sept. 1, 1805.

To ascertain whether the ripening of seeds can be
forwarded, by sowing those which are the earhest
ripe, I have made experiments, all of which have
been successful, on several different sorts. It will
be sufficient to mention one only.

In the year 1801, I planted the case knife bean.
The pods first formed, which are commonly those
nearest the root, were reserved ; and when about
the quantity of a peck was fully ripe, they were
gathered on t,he same day. The largest and fairest
of the seeds were planted the next year, and the
first formed pods reserved as before. The same
method has been pursued without any variation,
till the present year : by means of which, whilst the
bean has not degenerated in its quality, the ripening
of the seeds has been forwarded twenty six days ;
as will appear from the following

TABLE.

Planted.

1801, May 20,

1802, May 11,

1803, May 10,

1804, May 8,

1805, May 6,

Gathered.

No. days

Sept. 9,

112

Aug. 21,

102

Aug. 8,

90

Aug. 4,

88

July 31,

86

69

The first column denotes the time of planting the
seeds ; the second, that of gathering the seeds,
which were first ripe ; and the third, the number of
days which elapsed between the time of planting
and the time of gathering.

As in the second and following years I anticipated
the time of planting the seeds (by which means
fourteen days have been gained, in addition to the
twenty six noted above) to determine what effect
later planting would produce, by giving the seeds
more advantage from the heat of summer, in the
years 1804 and 1805, I put into the ground a quan-
tity of seed, about a week later than that which was
first planted. The event which took place, is ex-
hibited in the following

TABLE.

Planted.

Gathered.

N.days

1804, May 14,

Aug. 8,

86

1805, May 13,

Aug. 6,

85

As very little time has been gained in the present
and in the preceding year, I suppose I have now
reached, or nearly reached, the neplus ultra, I de-
lay not, therefore, to communicate to the Trustees of
the Agricultural Society, the result of an experi-
ment, which confirms the important truth, taught
in various parts of their useful publications,* That^
to ensure an early and good crop^ the seeds re-
served for future sowing should be those^ zs)hich
are the first ripe^ and which are^ in other respects^
the most perfect,

* See particularly, Publications of Agr. Soe, for 1799, p. 28, and for
J801, p. 15, 17,18.

70

0)1 the Management of the Dairij^ particular ly with
respect to the making and curing of Butter, Bij
J. Anderson, l.l. d. f.r.s. ^c.

Extracted from the sixth article in the fifth volume of the Letters and Pa-
pers of the Bath Agricultural Society.

When a dairy is established, the undertaker
ought to be fully acquainted with every circumstance
respecting the manufacture both of butter and cheese ;
here it is only proposed to treat of the manufacture
of butter. The first thing is to choose cows of a pro-
per sort ; among this class of animals, it is found by
experience, that some kinds give milk of a thicker
consistence and richer quality than others. In judg-
ing of the value of a cow, it ought rather to be the
quantity and the quality of the cream produced from
the milk in a given time, than the quantity of the
milk itself; this is a circumstance of more importance
than is generally imagined. The small cows of the
Alderney breed afford the richest milk hitherto
known ; but individual cows in every country, may
be found, by a careful selection, that afford much
richer milk than others ; these, therefore, ought to
be searched for with care, and their breed reared
with attention, as being peculiarly valuable. In
comparing the milk of two cows, to judge of their
respective qualities, particular attention must be
paid to the time that has elapsed since their calving.
To make the cows give abundance of milk, and of
a good quality, they must at all times have plenty
of food. Grass is the best food yet known for this
purpose, and that kind which sprir^s up spontane-
ously on rich dry soils, is the best of all. If the
cows are so much incommoded by the heat, as to
be prevented from eating through the day, they
ought to be taken into cool shades for protection ;
where, after allowing them a proper time to rumi-
nate, they should be supphed with abundance of

71

green food, fresh cut for the purpose, and given them
by hand, frequently, fresh and in small quantities, so
as to induce them to eat it with pleasure.

Cows, if abundantly fed, should be milked three
times a day, during the whole of the summer sea-
son, in the morning early, at noon, and in the even-
ing, just before night fall. If cows are milked only
twice in twenty four hours, while they have abun-
dance of succulent food, they will yield a much
smaller quantity of milk in the same time, than if
they be milked three times. Some attentive ob-
servers I have met with, think a cow in these cir-
cumstances, will give nearly as much milk at each
time, if milked three times, as if they were milked
only twice. In the choice of persons for milking
the cows, great caution should be employed, for if
all the milk be not thoroughly drawn from a cow
when she is milked, a diminution of the quantity
gradually takes place, and in a short time the cow
becomes dry. In the management of a dairy, the
following peculiarities respecting milk, ought very
particularly to be attended to ; some of them are,
no doubt, known in part to attentive housewives,
but they have never been considered of so much
importance as they deserve.

Aphorism i.
Of the milk that is drai(onfrom any cozo at one time^
that z<Dhich comes off at the first is alzivaijs thinner^
and of a much zi'orse qualitij^ than that zvhich comes
afterwards^ and the richness goes on^ eontinuallij in-
creasing to the very last drop that can be drazsonfrom
the udder at that time.

Few persons are ignorant that milk, which is tak-
en from the cow last of all at milking, which in this
country is called stroaJdngs^ (here stfdppings) is
richer than the rest of the milk ; but fewer still are
aware of the greatness of the disproportion between

72

the quality of the first and the last drawn milk from
the same cow at one milking : from several accurate
and important experiments, it appears, that the per-
son who, by bad milking of his cows, loses but half a
pint of the last milk that might be obtained, loses in
fact, about as much cream as would be afforded by .
six or eight pints at the beginning, and loses besides,
that part of the cream, which alone can give rich-
ness and high flavour to his butter.

Aphorism ii.
If milk he put in a disJi^ and allowed to stand till
it throws lip cream^ that portion lohich rises Jirst to
the surface^ is richer in quality and greater in quan-
tity^ than idiat rises in a second equal potation of time ^
and the cream that rises in the second interval of
time^ is greater in quantity and richer in quality^
than Kohat rises in a third equal space of time^ and
so on^ the cream decreases in quantitij^ and declines
in quality continually^ as long as any rises to the
surface.

Aphorism hi.
Thick milk always throz^s up a smaller proportion
of the cream it actually contains to the surface^ than
milk that is thinner^ hut that cream is of a richer
quality ; and if neater he added to that thick milk^ it
will afford a considerahly greater quantity of cream
than it would have clone^ if allowed to remain pure ;
hut its quality is at the same time greatly debased.

Aphorism iv.
3lilk, which is put into a huckct or other proper
vessel^ and carried in it to anij considerahle distance^
so as to he much agitated^ and in part cooled before
it he put into the milk pans to settle for cream^ never
throws up so much nor so 7'ich cream, as f the same
milk had been put into the milk pans, directly after
it was milked.

In this case, it is believed that the loss of cream
will be in proportion to the time that has elapsed,

73

and the agitation it has sustained, after having been
drawn from the cow.

From the above facts, the following corollaries
seem to be clearly deducible.

1 . It is of importance, that the cows should be
always milked as near the dairy as possible, and it
must be of great advaatage in a dairy farm, to have
the principal grass fields as near the dairy as possible.

2. The practice of putting the milk of all the
cows of a large dairy into one vessel, as it is milked,
there to remain till the whole milking be finished,
before any part of it be put into milk pans, seems to
be highly injudicious, not only on account of the
loss that is sustained by agitation and cooling, but
also, as it prevents the owner of the dairy from dis-
tinguishing the good from the bad cows milk ; a
better practice, therefore, would be, to have the milk
drawn from each cow separately, put into the cream-
ing pans as soon as it is milked, without being mix-
ed with any other. Thus would the careful farmer
be able, on all occasions, to observe the particular
quality of each individual cow^s milk, as well as its
quantity, and to know with precision, which of his
cows it was his interest to dispose of, and which he
ought to keep and breed from.

3. If it be intended to make butter of a very fine
quality^ it would be advisable in all cases, to keep
the milk, that is first drawn, separate from that
which comes last, as it is obvious, that if this be not
done, the quality of the butter will be greatly de-
based, without much augmenting its quantity. It
is also obvious, that the quaUty of the butter will be
improved in proportion to the smallness of the pro-
portion of the last drawn milk that is retained ; so
that those who wish to be singularly nice in this re-
spect, will only retain a very small proportion of
the last drawn milk.

74

4. If the quality of the butter be the chief object
attended to, it will be necessary not only to separate
the first from the last drawn milk, but also to take
nothing but the cream that is first separated from
the best milk, as it is this first rising cream alone,
that is of the prime quality : the remainder of the
milk which will be still sweet, may be either em-
ployed for the purpose of making sw^eet milkcheeses,
or it may be allowed to stand, to throw up cream
for making butter of an inferior quality.

5. From the above facts we learn, that butter of
the very best possible quality can only be obtained
from a dairy of considerable extent w^hen judicious-
ly managed.

6. From these premises, we are led to draw a
conclusion, different from the opinion that is com-
monly entertained on this subject, viz. that it
seems probable that the very best butter can only be
with economy made in those dairies, where the
manufacture of cheese is the principal object.

As but few persons would be willing to purchase
the venj best butter at a price to indemnify the
farmer for his trouble, I am satisfied from experi-
ence and attentive observation, that if in general
about the first drawn half oi the milk be separated
at each milking, and the remainder only be set up
for producing cream, and if that milk be allowed to
stand to throw up the w^hole of its cream, even till
it begins sensibly to taste sourish, and if that cream
be afterwards carefully managed, the butter thus
obtained, will be of a quality greatly superior to
what can usually be obtained at market, and its
quantity not considerably less than if the whole of
the milk had been treated alike.

No dairy can be managed with profit, unless a
place properly adapted for keeping the milk, and foF
carrying on the different operations of the dairy, he

75

first provided.* Tlie necessary requisites of a good
milk house are, that it be cool in summer, and
warm in the winter, so as to preserve a temperature
nearly the same, throughout the whole year, and
that it be dry, so as to admit of being kept clean and
sweet at all times.

From the trials I have made, I have reason to be-
lieve, that when the heat is from fifty to fifty five de-
grees on Farenheit's thermometer, the separation of
the cream from the milk, which is the most impor-
tant operation of the dairy, goes forward with the
greatest regularity. When the heat exceeds sixty
degrees, the operations become difficult and dan-
gerous, and when it falls below the fortieth degree,
they can scarcely be carried forward with any de-
gree of economy, or propriety.

In winter, should the cold become too great, it
might be occasionally dispelled, by placing a barrel
full of hot water closely bunged up, upon the table,
to remain till cooled. This I prefer to any kind of
chaffing dish with burning embers.

The utensils of the dairy must in general be made
of wood. As the acid of milk readily dissolves lead,
with which the common earthen vessels are glazed,
such vessels should be banished from the dairy.

The creaming dishes (for so I call the vessels in
which the milk is placed for throwing up the cream)
when properly cleaned^ sweety and coo/, are to be fill-
ed with the milk as soon after it i^ drawn from the
cow as possible, having been first strained carefully
through a close strainer.

These dishes should never exceed three inches
in depth, whatever be their other dimensions. iVs
soon as they are filled, they are to be placed on the
shelves in the milk house, perfectly undisturbed,

* The author here gives a very particular description of the best couirivec
milk house, or dairy. Vide Bath papers.

tiH' jt be judged expedient to separate the cream
from them.

In a moderately warm temperature of the air, if
very fine butter be intended, it should not be al-
lowed to stand more than six or eight hours ; for
ordinary good butter, it may safely stand ten or
twelve, or more.

It is of great importance to the success of the
dairy, that the skimming be well performed, for if
any part of the cream be left, the quantitif of the
biitter will be diminished ; and if any part of the
milk be taken, its qualitij will be debased.*

When the cream is obtained, it ought immedi-
ately to be put into a vessel by itself, there to be
kept till a proper quantity be collected for being
made into butter. And no vessel can be better a-
dapted to that purpose, than a firm neat made
wooden barrel, in size p^-oportioned to the dairy,
open at one end, with a lid exactly fitted to close it.
In the under part of this vessel, close to the bottom,
should be placed a cock and spigot, for drawing off
any thin serous part of the milk that may chance to
be there generated ; for if this is allowed to remain,
it injures the cream, and greatly diminishes the
richness of the quality of the butter ; the inside of
the opening should be covered with a bit of gauze
netting, to keep back the croam while the serum is
allowed to pass, and the barrel should be inclined a
little forward, to allow the whole to run off.

The separation of butter from cream, only takes
place after the cream has attained a certain degree
of acidity. The judicious farmer will therefore al-
low his cream to remain in the vessel until it has
acquired that proper degree of acidity that fits it for
being made into butter with great ease, by a very

* The cream should be separated from the edges of the dish, by means of
an ivory bladed knife, then carefully drawn towards one side by a skimmiag
dish, and then taken off with great nicety.

77

moderate degree of agitation, and by which process
only, very fine butter ever can be obtained. How
long cream may be thus kept in our chmate, with-
out rendering the butter made from it of a bad qual-
ity, I cannot say ; but it may be kept good for a
much longer time than is generally sujspected, even
a great many weeks. It is certain that cream which
has been kept three or four days in summer, is in
an excellent condition for being made into butter ;
from three days to seven, may in general be found
to be the best time for keeping cream before churn-
ing.

1 prefer the old fashioned upright churn^ having
a long handle, with a foot to it perforated with
holes, as it admits of being better cleaned, and of
having the butter more easily separated from the
milk than any others.

Where the cream has been duly prepared, the
process of butter making is very easy ; there is
however more nicety required, than most persons
seem to be aware of; a few hast if ^ irregular strokes y
may render the butter of scarcely any value, which,
but for this circumstance, would have been of the
finest quality. The butter when made, must be
imm.ediately separated from the milk, and being put
into a clean dish, the inside of which, if of wood^
should be well rubbed with common salt. The
butter should be pressed and worked with a flat
wooden ladle, having a short handle, so as to force
out all the milk that was lodged in the cavities of
the mass. The beating up of the butter by the
hand is an indelicate and barbarous practice. If
the milk be not entirely taken away, the butter will
infallibly spoil i^ a short time, and if it be much
washed, it will become tough and gluey. Some
persons employ cold water in this operation ; but
this practice is not only useless, but also pernicious,
because the quality of the butter is thus debased in

78

an astonishing manner. In every part of the fore-
going process it is of the utmost importance, that
the vessels and every thing else about the dairy, be
kept perfectly sweet and clean.

Wooden vessels are the most proper for contain-
ing salted butter. Oak is the best wood for the
bottom and staves. Broad split hoops are to be pre-
ferred to all others.

Iron hoops should be rejeC:ted, as the rust of them
will in time sink through the wood, and injure the
colour of the butter. To season a new vessel for
the reception of salted butter, requires great care :
it should be filled /"r^yw^;?^/// with scalding water,
allowing it to remain till it slowly cools. After the
butter has been cleaned from the milk, as before
directed, it is ready for being salted. Let the ves^
sel be rendered as clean and as sweet as possible,
and be rubbed all over in the inside with common
salt ; and let a little melted butter be run into the
cavity between the bottom and the sides at their
joining, so as to fill it, and make it everywhere flush
with the bottom and sides : it is then fit to receive
the butter. Common salt is almost the only sub-
stance hitherto employed for preserving butter. I
have found by experience that the following com-
position is in many respects preferable to it, as it
not only preserves the butter more effectually from
any taint of rancidity, but makes it look better and
taste sweeter and more marrowy, than if the same
butter had been cured with common salt alone.
The composition is as follows :

Take of sugar one part, of nitre (salt petre) one
part, and of the best Spanish great salt, two parts ;
beat the whole into a fine powder, mix them well
together, and put them by for use.

Of this composition, one ounce should be put
to every sixteen ounces of butter : mix this salt
thoroughly with the butter, as soon as it has been

79

freed from the milk, and put it, without loss of time,
into the vessel prepared to receive it, pressing it so
close as to have no air holes, or any kind of cavities
within it ; smooth the surface, and if you expect it
will be more than two days before you add more,
cover it close up with a piece of clean linen, and
over that a piece of fine hnen that has been dipped
in melted butter, that is exactly fitted to the edges
of the vessel all round, so as to exclude the air as
much as possible, without the assistance of any wa-
tery brine. When more butter is to be added, re-
move the coverings, and let the butter be applied
close above the former, pressing it down, and smooth-
ing it as before, and so on till the vessel is full.
When full, let the two covers be spread ov^er it with
the greatest care, and let a little melted butter be
poured all round the edges, so as to fill up every
cranny, and effectually exclude the air, A little
salt may then be strewed over the whole, and the
cover firmly fixed down, to remain closely shut till
opened for use. If this be carefully done, the but-
ter may be kept perfectly sound in this climate for
many years.*

It must be remarked that butter cured in this
manner, does not taste well till it has stood at least
a fortnight after being salted. After that period is
elapsed, it eats with a rich marrowy taste that no
other butter ever acquires. Butter thus cured, will
go well to the East or West Indies.

Butter, in its natural state, contains a considera-
ble proportion of mucous matter, which is more
highly putrescible than the pure oily parts of the
butter. When it is intended to be exposed to the

* The Epping butter is called the best in England. The farmers make
use of a very innocent colouring matter for their winter and early spring but-
ter, which is the juice of carrots. They take clean and fresh carrots, and
grate them fine, and squeeze out the juice through a coarse cloth, and mix it
with their cream. This gives their butter as fine an appearance as the best
June butter, without communicating any taste or flavour.

80

heat of warm climates, it ought to be freed from
that mucilage before it be cured and packed up.
To do this, let it be put into a vessel of a proper
shape, which should be immersed in another con-
taining water. Let the water be gradually heated
till the butter be thoroughly melted : let it continue
in that state for some time, and allow it to settle :
the mucous part will fall to the bottom, and the
pure oil swim at top. When it cools, it becomes
opaque and paler than the original butter, and of a
firmer consistence. When this refined butter is
become a little stiff, and while it is still somewhat
soft, the pure part should be separated from the
dregs, and then salted and packed up, in the same
way as is before directed.

Those who wish to see the subject more fully
treated, are referred to the original.

An Account of the manner of making Cheese^ in:
England,

By Mr. TWAMLEV.

In this second great object of the dairy, the
same precaution as with regard to the butter, is ne-
cessary, viz. The cows ought not to be driven vio-
lently before milking, and every utensil must be
kept equally clean.

The most common defects of cheese are, its
appearing, when cut, full of small holes, called eyes ;
its puffing up, cracking, and pouring out a quantity
of thin whey ; becoming afterwards rotten and full
of maggots in those places where the whey appear-
ed. All these difficulties proceed from a substance
called slip curd^ a kind of half coagulum, incapable
of a thorough union with the true curd, and which,
M'hen broken into small bits, produces eyes, but if

81

in larger pieces, occasions those rents and cracks in
the cheese already mentioned ; for though this kind
of curd retains its coagulated nature for some time,
it always, sooner or later, dissolves into a serous li*
quor. This kind of curd may be produced by using
the milk too hot, by bad runnet, or by not allowing
the curd a proper time to form. The first may be
remedied by the use of cold water. The second, by
good runnet, a knowledge of which can only be ac-
quired by long practice. The only rule that can be
given for its preparation is, to take out the stomach
of a calf, rinse it in cold water, and rub it well with
salt and dry it. It may be used immediately on
drying, though it is considered best after it is a year
old. The best method of making the runnet is, to
take one gallon of pure spring water, and boil it ;
then make it into brine with clean salt, sufficiently
strong to bear an egg ; let it cool to about blood
heat. Two of » the skins (or what are commonly
in this country called runnet bags) must be put into
the brine, either cut in pieces, or whole, as is most
convenient ; they must steep twenty four hours ;
after which, it is fit for use. About a tea cup of a
middling size, of the Hquor, will be sufficient for the
milk of ten cows.

In making cheese, supposing the runnet of a good
quality, the following particiii8u;s must be observed.

1 . The proper degree of heat : this ought to be
what is called milk warm, which is considerably be-
low the warmth of milk taken from the cow. If too
hot, it may be reduced by cold water, without any
injury to the cheese.

2. The time allowed for the runnet to take effect :
this ought never to be less than one hour and a
half.

3. After having the curd firmly formed at the
bottom of the tub, the whey must be taken away,
and the curd must stand to drain one quarter of an

I.

%■ A

82

hour. If any pieces of slip curd are found swim-
ming in the whey, they should be poured off with
it, rather than be admitted into the cheese. Some
dairy women allow their curd to stand two hours,
to obtain a firmness that will require no breaking ;
but the best method is to break it thoroughly, for
the cheese is less apt to be hard.

4. The best method to prevent cheese from heav-*
ing, is to avoid making the runnet too strong, to
take care that it be very clean, and by no means the
least tainted, to be certain the curd is fully formed,
which is known by the blue colour of the whey, and
by no means to stir it till the air has had time to
escape.

6, The best method to prevent the cracking of
cheeses, is to salt them in the milk, or after the
cheese is formed, which may be done with much
more certainty than in the curd, which is a bad
method.

6. Dry cracks in cheese are frequently produced
by keeping curd from one meal to another, by which
means the first becomes too dry and hard, ever,
without great attention, to mix intimately with the
second.

7. Curdly, or what is commonly called wrinkle
coated cheese, is always caused by sour milk.
Cheese made of cold milk is apt to be hard and fly
before the knife. If the weather is cold, cheese
should be kept warm, particularly when first made.

8. Slip coat, or soft cheese, is made entirely of
slip curd, and will dissolve into a kind of creamy
liquor, which is sufficient proof of the nature of this
kind of curd, as already mentioned. It is generally
computed, that as much milk is required to make
one pound of bu|!ter, as two pounds of cheese.

It is remarked by dealers in cheese, as well as
other persons, tnat much the greatest part of the
people that eat cheese, have no idea how it is pro-

83

duced. They finding the best cheese of a yellow
colour, naturally conclude that cheese of a pale col-
our must be made of inferior or skimmed milk,
whereas the colour js artificial. The principal in-
gredient used for colouring cheese is the best Span-
ish annatto (or what is commonly called in this
country, otter) which gives cheese the beautiful col-
our of the best spring butter, without injuring the
taste or quality in any degree. The best method
of using it is, to take a piece and dip it into a bowl
of milk, and wash off from the piece sufficient to
give the milk a deep colour. Then mix the col-
oured milk with the milk prepared for the cheese,
before either runnet or salt is put in. If enough
annatto has been used, the whole milk will have a
pale orange colour, which will be much increased
after the cheese is made.

To the Corresponding Secretary of the Massachu-
setts Agricultural Societi/,

SIR,

The following observations were drawn up at
the request of a gentleman, for his own use. If the
Agricultural Society should think that the contents
afford any useful hints, I shall be gratified with hav-
ing contributed something towards the improvement
of one branch of that art, which is the most inde-
pendent, and one of the most honourable pursuits
of man.

I do not send it to you from an opinion that I have
the best information upon the subject, but that, by
a communication of each one's experience, improve-
ment goes forward with rapidity.
I am, Sir,

Your most obedient servant,

ALEXIS.

84
To Mr.

SIR,

Agreeably to your request, I have col-
lected the following observations upon the method
of making cheese. They are what arose during an
experience of but two years. The intention was to
have reduced this useful part of rural economy to a
regular system, which in this country is left to the
operation of chance. This sheet contains but little
originality in the principles of this art ; they were
taken from treatises written in England. If any
merit is due, it is for the attention with which these
observations were pursued to ascertain the essential
parts of these treatises. This art appears so simple,
that every country woman would be offended at be-
ing thought ignorant of it ; yet a few rules may be
collected that require to be observed with almost a
chymical exactness. They know that runnet will
make a curd : a piece is therefore cut off at hazard,
and thrown into the milk. If too small a piece is
put in, the curd comes ver}^ imperfectly, producing
what is called slipc curd. This is very soft, and the
curd thus made, is what is most frequently sold for
qream cheese. In breaking up the curd, or press-
ing, this is chiefly squeezed out. That which re-
mains is one cause of eyes in cheese. The fattest
part of the milk Is most difficult to coagulate, and
it is found, that adding rnore runnet will not perfect
the curd, when in this state ; the cheese is of course
impoverished, when the curd comes imperfectly.
But the most frequent error is putting too much
runnet, which inevitably gives the cheese a strong
pungent taste and smell. It occasions that puffing
in cheese which is called hove cheese^ and being

fderced with a knife, will emit a very fetid smell,
t is a degree of putrefaction arising from a fermenta*
tion, caused by the runnet ; a sufficient evidence

85

that the cheese can never be good, and is invariably
full of eyes. Another cause of bad cheese is bad
runnet ; and whoever has seen many of onr country
kitchens, will wonder that they ever have good
cheese, owing to the very filthy manner of keeping
the skins, being either impregnated with smoke, or
tainted with flies, and exposed to every disagreea-
ble effluvia that may surround it. To obviate these
difficulties, the following is the manner that the
runnet was prepared in my dairy. Take the skin,
or runnet bag, as soon as the calf is killed ; let it be
carefully cleaned by hand without touching water ;
let it then be put into a brine, so strong that it will
dissolve no more salt ; of this brine, three pints will
-suffice for a skin ; let it be steeped in it thirty six
hours, or thereabouts ; it may then be taken out of
the liquor, put into clean bottles, and corked ; it
will keep a year, perhaps longer ; the skin may then
be drawn over a bow, salted and dried as usual ; in
two or three months, if your liquor should fail you,
it may be steeped again. It is said to acquire new
strength, but not so much as at first ; perhaps the
virtue is not wholly extracted by the first steeping,
and that it will not yield it all to three pints of wa-
ter. This second operation, will, however, answer
as good a purpose as the first, using two or three
skins instead of one. Let one general observation
be made, that throughout the whole business of dai-
rying, the greatest attention must be paid to the
cleanliness and sweetness of the vessels used, and
in the dairy room ; and, in some instances, it may
not be unnecessary to recommend it to the dairy
woman in her own person. In cheese of one mea/,
the milk should be kept as near ns possible to its
natural heat, till the runnet is put in. I find three
tea spoons full to a gallon of milk, to be the average
quantity required to coagulate it ; but this liquor
should ahvays be tried, to ascertain its strength.

86

The object is to find the smallest quantity that will
bring the curd properly, as more than that will in-
jure the cheese. You will perceive that it is con-
venient to make a large quantity of this liquor at a
time, or making it at different times in the spring,
when you begin to make cheese, which is seldom
till all the calves are killed, let it be mixed and then
tried, after which there is no trouble with the
runnet; and you may be certain that whatever oth-
er defect the cheese may have, it will not be strong
or hove ; this is solely owing to the too great quan-
tity, or bad quality of the runnet. My cheese tub
being made of the same diameter at the top and
bottom, I found its contents in gallons, and made a
guaging rod, marking on the depth of the tub, and
then subdividing that depth, by the number of gal-
lons the tub contained. By putting the rod into the
tub, was readily seen the gallons of milk in it. The
tub itself might be thus graduated ; when you
would make servants follow rules, it is necessary
that they should be attended with as little trouble
as possible. Having put in the runnet, the milk
should not be siiflered to cool too soon^ as the curd
should be sensiblif warm when broke up and put into
a hoop, otherwise, the cheese will be in flakes when
cut, the curd not uniting when cold. The curd
must not be disturbed in the tub, till it cleaves from
the sides and begins to settle. It may then be cut
through chequerwise, and suffered to settle still
more ; with a proper temperature of air, it will be-
ffin to settle in half an hour from the time of set-
tling the milk ; cold weather retards it, and may de-
feat it ; if the curd is too long in coming, the cream
begins to rise and is lost to the cheese ; it should
therefore be guarded against. There rises upon the
whey, when the curd settles, a thin skim, which
should be carefully removed before the curd is tak-
en out, lest it should mix with the curd. As it is

87

of a more fixed nature than the whey, it will not all
squeeze out, nor will it blend with the curd, and
where a particle remains, there will be an eye. The
curd being w ell drained of the whey, by breaking it
up fine by hand, is to be salted. This is an impor-
tant part, and of which I am not so well informed
as I wish to be. The success of experiments with
salt can only be determined by the taste, and this
cannot always be done, when the cheese is sold.
Salt differs greatly in strength and quality, as is well
known to fishermen, and packers of beef. In Ire-
land, the beef is first strongly rubbed with blond
salt, which is mild and penetrating. It is then pass-
ed to another hand, who uses a mixture of blond
and bay salt, which is harsh and drying, hardening
the provisions. From this consideration of the dif-
ferent effects of salt, it may be concluded that bay
salt is not adapted to cheese. I also took bay salt,
and dissolved it, and then boiled it down ; the ob-
jectionable parts fly off; and the more violent the
ebulhtion, the finer will be the grain, which indi-
cates its strength, the large grain being the strong-
est. I liked the salt thus obtained, the grain being
as fine as well ground meal. Some of my best
cheeses were made with this salt, and the quantity
used was one tea cup heaped, to six gallons of
milk. This proportion is liable to error, as milk will
yield more or less curd, according to the season or
quality of the grass ; and let it be remembered that
cows should never be drove hard, especially just be-
fore milking. If the common blond salt is used, it
should be reduced finer by pounding, that it may
more intimately blend with the curd. The curd be-
ing prepared for the press, it appears to me proper
that every heterogeneous substance should immedi-
ately be pressed out. For this purpose, my first
press was powerful, being a lever eight feet long,
one end fixed by a pin between two stumps set in

88

a bench ; near th^e stumps was placed the cheese ;
the other end of the lever was loaded with about
two hundred weight of stones ; at the other end of
the bench were fixed two stumps, higher than those
first mentioned, which are about six inches higher
under the lever than the cheese hoops ; the other
stumps have a cross piece on the top to rest another
lever, which is hooked to the end of the first twaise
it. The cheese being tended as usual in this press,
where it remained twenty four hours, was moved to
another bench containing four divisions, being each
separate presses, of no more weight than was im-
mediately laid upon them, about two hundred
weight. The cheese when taken from the first
press, was put into press at one end of this second
bench, and remained in each twenty four hours,
moving along every day, till arrived at the other
end. 1 suppose three days pressing on this second
bench, sufficient for a cheese of twenty five pounds.
It was then carried to the cheese room. Screw
presses are objectionable, as the pressure does not
follow the cheese as it settles. My farm house
was fortunately shaded by trees ; but the better to
guard against the sun, I had Venetian shades made
for the windows, of clapboards painted green, which
were cheap and handsome. I also had made slen-
der frames, over which catgut was stretched, of a
texture fine enough to prevent the entrance of flies.
When the windows were opened, these frames were
put in. The cheese room should be exposed on
every side except the south, and one or more win-
dows in each side. Attention is much required to
regulate the temperature of the air ; strong wind
admitted, will dry the cheese too fast, and make it
crack ; to prevent this, it is customary with us, to
rub the cheese with butter ; in England, they wash
it with the new whey, and no butter is used ; this
last method I did not try. In hot sultrv weather,

89

cheese will spread. This should be prevented by
bandages of tow cloth, or by putting them into
cheese hoopsi The expense of this extraordinary
number of hoops is not great : one cheese saved,
will pay for ten hoops, and they last many years.
They will seldom spread after they have been made
a month. In wet weather, it is advisable to burn a
little charcoal in the chimney of the cheese room.
The quantity l|%reen cheese obtained from milk,
was from twenty '^thjsee pounds to twenty five
•pounds, from twenty gallons. I have got twenty
seven and three quarters from eighteen gallons.
They seldom lost in «Fying more than two and a
half pounds, in a cheese o£ twenty five pounds
weighed green from the press.' If it is required to
have the cheese of a Gloucester colour, take Span-
ish anatto, rub a lump in a saucer with milk, a little
experience will teach the quantity necessary for a
cheese ; then mix it with the rest of the milk, when
it is set for cheese. One ounce will colour four or
five hundred pounds, and it is bought of the apoth-
ecaries. It is perfectly innocent, and I thought the
cheese coloured with it, was higher flavoured ; this
might have been owing to other causes. To have
a good dairy, it must be a particular business, and
not attended only at convenient intervals from other
work, as a secondary object, nor should a drop of
cream be taken from milk appropriated for cheese.
This must be inviolably observed. I think that
large cheeses generally prove better than small ones ;
and for tliis reason should not wish to make a cheese
less than twenty five pounds. But if the number
of cows is not sufficient to make a cheese of one
meal, the old milk should be very well mixed with
the cream that has risen, and then put into a large
brass kettle to warm over coals free from smoke,
the milk being frequently stirred to prevent the bot-
tom of the milk from becoming too hot before the

M

f

top is sufficiently warmed, which will be the case
without attention. It should be brought as near as
possible to its natural heat. To save trouble, our
women heat a part very hot, then mix it with the
cold ; but I have no doubt that this injures the
eheese. Putting the milk into deep vessels, and
covering them in a damp situation, will prevent the
cream from rising so much as it jtoerwise would.

i

MANAGEME^DF PIGS. ^'

The importance 0 -the following experiment
with respect to tlie '^treatment of hogs, copied from
a late London newspaper, has induced a member of
the Society for promoting Agriculture, to request
that it may be published in their next collection,
for the attention of the American farmer.

" The following experiment was lately made^by
a gentleman of iSorfolk. Six pigs of the Norfolk '
breed, and of nearly equal weight, were put to
keeping at the same time, and treated the sapie# as
to food and litter for about seven weeks. Three 'of
them were left to shift for themselves as to cleanli-
ness ; the other three were kept as clean as possi-
ble by a man employed for the purpose, with a cur-
rycomb and brush. The last consumed in seven
weeks fewer peas by ^^ve bushels^ than the other
three, yet they weighed more when killed by two
stone s.ndjbur pou?ids, upon an average, 6*rtsix stone
twelve pounds upon the whole.^^ \- "

PAPERS;

CONSISTING OF

COMMUNICATIONS

MADE TO THE

MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY

FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE,

AND

EXTRACTS

FUJBLISHED BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE SOCIETY.

BOSTON :
PRINTED BY ADAMS AND RHOADES,

PRINTERS TO THE STATE.

1807,

CONTENT

S,

Pa-:-

ANSWERS to Agricultural Queries, \)

Hints regarding Ccittk, by Sir J. Sinclair, - - - - 4. S

On the management of,Dung^ .-74*

On the cultivation of ^Potatoes, -- 5C>

Of the influence of Soils and their amelioration up-
on Vegetation^ - .58

Oyi the benefit which Farmers ivould derive from
the study of Botany, .--»-„.>- 63

Remarks on the use of Pumice, ----- - 7.'>

On feeding and fattening of Swine, --.»-----7<^
Remarks on Domestic Animals, _ „ . . ^ 7,^

OFFICERS,

CHOSEN JUNE, 1806.

Hon. JOHN ADAMS, Esq. President
JOSEPH RUSSELL, Esq, First Vice President.
AARON DEXTER, m. d. Second Vice President.
THOMAS L.WINTHROP, Esq. Treasurer,
JOHN LOWELL, Esq. Cor, Secretary.
DUDLEY A. TYNG, Esq. Recording Secretary.
THEODORE LYMAN. Esq.
JOHN WARREN, m. d.
SAMUEL W. POMEROY, Esq. I ^ ^
JOSIAH QUINCY, Esq. "f irustee^s.

Rev. WILLIAM EMERSON,
Rev. JOHN T. KIRKL AND, d, d.

PREFACE,

UNDER the patronage of Government the
Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for promote
ing Agriculture, and the Board of Visitors of the
Massachusetts Professorship of Natural History,
offer to the Public the tenth number of their
Papers.

The answers to queries, sometime since proposed
to pradical Farmers in the Commonwealth, of
which we shall hereafter more particularly speak,
form the principal portion of the original matter
contained in this number.

The high reputation of the Farmer's Magazine^
periodically published in Edinburgh, and the proba-
bility that few agriculturalists in this country have
an opportunity of reading it, together with the
want of domestic communications, have induced
the Trustees to make copious extrads from that
valuable work.

" Hints regarding Cattle," will be deemed inter-
esting by the intelligent Farmer, who cannot but
have observed the general inattention to the sub-
jedl on which they are suggested.

The papers on " The management of dung,"
and " the culture of potatoes," although, perhaps,
alluding to practices not common in New-England,
are well worth a preservation in these pages.

Extra(5i:s from the celebrated Fourcroy, " On
the philosophy of vegetation," translated and a.^
bridged for the Farmer's Magazine, are suited tq
awaken the attention of husbandmen to different;

soils, and their particular adaptation to different
vegetables.

The letter " On the benefit which farmers would
derive from the study of Botany," is not so intel-
ligible as it would be, if the publications to which
it refers were annexed ; but it may serve to excite
a curiosity in those who have leisuk-e to obtain an
acf^uaintance with this subjed.

PREMIUMS

OFFERED BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE MASSACHUSETTS
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE.

^sf. TO the person who shall discover an efFev5lual and cheap
method of destroying the Canker-vvovm, and give evidence thereof,
to the satisfaiftion of the trustees, on or before the first day of Ocfto-
ber, 1807, a premium of one hundred dollars, or the society's gold
m edal.

2i. And a premium of one hundred dollars, or the society's gold
medal, to ti^.e person who shall, on or before the first day of Decem-
ber, 1807, discover an efFeaual, and the cheapest method of destroy-
ing the Slug-worm, and give evidence thereof to the satisfadion of
the trustees.

3^. To the person who shall produce the largest quantity of
v/oo!, meat, and tallow, from the smallest number of sheep, not less
than one score, raised on his own farm, a premium of thirtji dollars ;
to be claimed on or before the 1st day of August, 1807.

4th. To the person who shall invent a cheap method of raising
water, for the purpose of irrigating land from rivers and ponds from
ten to twenty feet above the level of. the same, and give evidence
thereof to the satisfadion of the trustees, on or before January 1,
5808, one hundred dollars , or the society's gold medal.

E.th. To the person who shall present to this society the most
complete (being nearly complete) Hortus Siccus, exhibiting distind
specimens of the greatest variety of grasses, in general use, and spe-
cify, to the satisfadion of the trustees, their respedive qualities, pro-
du^iveness and usefulness as food xbr different kinds of animals, the
gold medal, 2iX\dffty dollars ; to be claimed on or before the 1st day
of Odober, 1807.

6th. To the person wlio shall produce, from seed, the best gro^yth-
of thrifty trees, not less than 600 in the whole, and in the proportion
of 2400 to the acre, of any of the following kinds of forest trees, viz
oak, ash, elm, sugar maple, beech, black or yellow birch, chesnut,
walnut or hickory, t'Menty.fi've dollars ; if all of o-^, fifty dollars.
Claims to be made on or before the 1st of Odober, 1807.

'ith. To the person who shall ascertain by accurate analysis, the
constituent parts of several fertile soils respedively, and in like man-
ner the parts of several poor soils, and thus shall discover the defeds
of the latter ; and shall show by a6tual experiments, how the said de-
feds may be remedied by the addition of earths or other ingredients^,
which abound in the country, and in a manner that may be pradised
by common farmers,7^/V dollars. And if it shall appear to the satis-
fadion of the truftees, that, upon an extensive pradice, the improve-
ment of the poor soil would be more than equivalent to the expense
of the improvement, the addition of one hundred dollars. A minute^
description of the several soils, and all the circamstances attending
the processes, cultivation, and results, will be required. Claims to be-
made on or before November l, 1807.

?>th. To the person who shall, by adual experiment, on a quanti-
'j: iiot less than half a ton^^hcw the leit mclhod of cmirg clover ha^--^

with salt J regard to be had to the quality of the hay, and the saving
of labour, and the shortness of time between cutting and packing it
in the mow, the silter medal, or thirty dollars ; and to the person who
shall shew the next best method, t<wenty dollars. Samples of the hay
to be exhibited, three months after it is cured, to a majority of the
seledmen, or to the settled minister and justice of the peace in the vi-
cinity. Claims to be made on or before the last Friday of Novem-
ber, 1807.

9th. To the person who shall give the most satisfactory account,
verified by experiments, of the effedt of ploughing in green crops for
manure, on not less than two acres, the silver medal or thirty dollars.
Accounts with crtificates, to be produced on or before the first Tues-
day in March, 1809.

lOth. To the person who shall lay before the Board, the most sat-
isfaiftory account of the application and effed of manures, verified by
pradtieal experiments, on not less than one acre for each sort of ma-
nure, the silver medal or thirty dollars. To be produced on or be-
fore the first Tuesday in December, 1809.

1 Ith. It is required that the communications, for which the fore-
going premiums are offered, be accompanied with proper certificates
from the seledtmen, magistrates, or clergymen of the vicinity or oth-
er vouchers, to the satisfa(5lionof the trustees ; that they be delivered
in without names, or any intimation to whom they belong ; and that
they be severally marked in such manner as each claimant shall think
fit ; the claimant sending also a paper, sealed up, having on the out-
side a corresperiding mark, and on the inside his name and address.

By Order of the Trustees^

DUDLEY A. TYNG, Secretary,

AGRICULTURE,

THE Trustees of the Massachusetts Society
for promoting Agriculture, some years since, pub-
lished the subjoined queries, and caused them to be
dispersed throughout the different counties of this
Commonwealth, with the hope, that, from the an-
swers, they might be enabled to form an history of
the modes of cultivation adopted in this State, and
w^here these might differ, that by a comparison the
public might be enabled to judge which mode was
preferable, w^hich was defe&ve, and thus a^ result
highly beneficial to the Agriculture of the Com-
monwealth might be obtained.

Sundry answers have indeed been long since re-
ceived, and to the Societies and individuals who
have furnished them, the Trustees now publicly
offer their acknowledgements ; but these ansv^ers
being less numerous and less general than could
have been wished, the publication of them has been
hitherto delayed under the hope, that they might
be rendered more useful by additional communi-
cations from other well inform.ed cultivators in
various parts of the State,

No further answers having been lately received,
it is thought proper to pubSsh those which have
been obtained, with the queries prefixed.

From these answers a very tolerable opinion may
be formed of the modes of cultivation adopted in
the different parts of the State from v/hich they
were sent, and it is hoped, that w^hile they may
afford useful hints to some of our fellow citizens ^
they may induce others to furnish the Society with
further and more full ansv/ers to the queries now
again published.
B

10

In giving these answers to the public, it has been
deemed inexpedient to publish each answer at large.
In many points they all concur ; in others, they
difler in small particulars, or partially only. Where
they agree, the general answer alone is published ;
where they differ partially, such difference is no-
ticed ; where the difference is essential, the answers
are published distindly.

Questions, proposed by the Massachusetts Society for
promoting Agriculture, and a summary of the replies
luhich have been hitherto received by the Society :

1st. OF what quantity of land do the Farms in
your vicinity generally consist ?

All the answers agree in estimating the size of
their farms in their vicinity, at from 50 to 150
acres ; most of them fix the average at 100 acres.

2d. What is the quality of the soil ?

The answers to this question, are, as we fhould
expscl, extremely various ; and, as upon the quali-
ty of the soil, tlie mode of cultivation either de-
pends or ought to depend, it is thought best to
give these answers separately.

Mr. Eben. Heath and Col. Gardner, of Brook-
lyn, state, that the soil of that town varies ; the hills
have a clayey bottom with a rich black soil ; the
plains a sandy bottom, intermixed with a fine gravel,
and a fertile yellow loamy soil.

Rev. Mr. Packard of Marlborough, states the
soil of his vicinity to be moist and stony — general-
ly a mixture of red and black loam — proverbially
excellent for grazing and orchards.

The Rev. Mr. Mellen states the soil of Barnsta-
ble, to be partly a blackish loam mixed v/ith sand \
in many other parts, thet-sand prevails ^ and in
some, clay.

11

The Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen^
give no definite description of the soil, but simply
observe, that it is various.

Dr. W.Payne oiWorcester^ describes the soil there
as good ; more inclined to sand than clay. The ris-
ing grounds form good pastures, and the level fur-
nish good hay. — Trees, he states, nourish sur-
prisingly.

Mr. Joseph Kent of Newbury^ describes the soil
as consisting of sand, loam, and clay ; that the
loam is considered the best.

Mr. Thomas Hubbard, jun. of Concord^ says, the
high lands of his vicinity are a light sandy loam ;
the low lands are a black loam.

Col. Parsons of New-Gloucester^ represents the
soil of the hills in that town, as moist and good,
mixed with large and small stones. The soil of the
valiies is clayey ; that of the plains gravelly. In
the lower valley there is a large intervale, producing
excellent grass, Indian corn, wheat, and flax.

Sd. Into what portions of pasture, mowing, and
tillage, orcharding, and wood, are farms usually
divided ? Are the orchards improving or dechning ?
Do they yield a competent supply of cider ?

In Brooklyn^ it is stated, that, of a farm of 100
acres, 20 acres are generally improved as pasture
land ; 6S acres as mowing, tillage, and orchard ;
and 12 as woodland. The orchards are on the de-
cline, but still yield a competent supply of cider.

The Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen
do not state the proportions which the mowing,
orchards, pasture, tillage, and wood lands, form of
the farms in that district ; but they say that the
orchards are on the decline, and they express a wish
that a conviclion of the truth of this remark might
generally prevail, in order to rouse our farmers to
an im.mediate attention to the setting out, and en*
couraging young orchards. They however state.

that the present produce of their orchards is suffi-
cient for the consumption of the farmer, and fufr
nishes a surplus for the market.

At Barnstable^ it is said that the orchards are ve-
ry small, and that it is very rare, to find any cider
made in that vicinity.

Dr. Babbit of Brookjldd^ represents the farms
there as divided in the follovv^ing proportions : —
One third pasture, one fifth mowing, one fifteenth
tillage, one thirtieth orchards, and one third wood
land ; that the orchards are generally increasing,
and yield a competent supply of cider.

Mr. Packard of Marlborough does not state the
proportions of the several divisions of the farms in
his neighbourhood, but he remarks that one half of
the quantity of wood land now reserved would suf-
fice, if cur farmers paid a little more attention to
the finishing of their rooms. In order to save twenty
dollars in finishing his house, the farmer often sub-
jects him.self to the annual expense of half that sum
for fuel, which otherv/ise might be spared, without
reflecting that he might as well borrow money at
fifty per cent, to complete his house. In his town,
Mr. P. observes, that the orchards are rapidly im-
proving, generally of a spontaneous growth, and that
they produce annually upon an average fifteen hun-
dred barrels of cider for market.

At Newbury, it is stated, that a farm of 100 acres
is divided as follov/s : Forty acres in pasture, twen-
ty in mowing, ten in tillage, two in orchards, and
twenty-eight in wood. Orchards have much im-
proved of late,* owing partly to the disappearance
of the canker worm, and partly to the setting out
of young trees in the orchards, and around the
borders of the fields.

From New-Gloucester it is observed, that no reg-
ular usage can be said to prevail, as to the division

* since the year 1 802.

13

of their farms ; that they are governed by their ne-
cessities and ability ; that their orchards are im-
proving, and thrive well, especially on the stony
hills ; that an opinion prevailed formerly that they
could not raise fruit, but that excellent fruit was
now raised, by planting the orchards on the sunny
side of a ridge, and setting the trees not very deep.

In Worcester^ it is remarked that about two thirds
of their farms are in pasture, mowing, or tillage ;
the residue in wood land or waste. Orchards are
increasing, and great pains are taking to improve
their fruit. Cider is plenty. After supplying the
wants of the inhabitants 1200 barrels have been
sent in a year to the distillery, which have been
sold there from 7^ cents to 83 cents per barrel.

4/y6. How much land in each farm is annually
(on an average of years) planted or sovv'-n with
grain of any kind ?

In Brooklyn it is said that one eighth part is usu-
ally sown or planted.

In Newbury it is computed at about 1-1 2th.

In Marlborough it is estimated at l-20th.

In Brookfield it is alledged to be 1-1 4th.

In Barnstable^ of the upland or home lots, it is
said l-4th part is itnnually planted or sown with
grain, but it is not said what proportion this up-
land bears to the whole farm.

In Concord it is supposed about l-12th part is an-
nually planted or sown.

The Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen
state the quantity of land so employed, to be from
fifteen to eighteen acres, v^hich will give the pro-
portion to the v/hole farm of from 1 -6th to l-9th.

In Worcester the same proportion is estimated at
from l-5th to l-8th.

5th, In what manner is the land prepared, ma-
nured, and seeded v/ith each kind of grain, and
y/hat is a medium crop ?

14

In Brooklyn the course of management for grain
is stated to be as follows : — ^In the month of
April, that part of the land intended to be laid
down to grass is prepared first, by manuring w^ith
about eight loads to the acre, (each load consisting
of about thirty bushels) the manure is spread, but
not faster than it is covered by the plough ; they
then cross plough ; then sow the Barley or Oats
on the furrow, then harrow with an iron toothed
harrow, and crofs harrow ; or if the soil be light,
the land is harrowed first with a brush harrow,
and then sown, and the seed covered in by an
horse plough. The clover and herdsgrass, and
sometimes a little redtop, are sown before the land
is harrowed. A medium crop of oats or barley is
stated to be from 15 to 25 bushels per acre.

The Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen
^ve a more elaborate description of their mode of
culture. They say, that stubble ground, intended
to be planted the next year, should be ploughed
immediately after the grain is taken off, and should
be ploughed no deeper than is necessary to cover
the stubble and other vegetable substances inter-
woven with it, which they say will form an excel-
lent manure for the succeeding crop. The land
remains in this state till the following spring, when
it is again ploughed ; the manure is then carried
on and spread ; it is then ploughed a third time,
and the ground when furrowed, or marked out by
the plough in rows, is fit for planting.

They highly disapprove putting manure in the
hill. They observe, that it causes the plants to
shoot with a vigour which the soil will not support,
and that after the first effects of the manure are
passed away, the plants decline.

Their grass lands intended for tillage they plough
in the spring, and only a few days before planting,
they carry on tile manure, spread it on the top of

15

the furrows, harrow it in and plant the com. They
express a firm persuasion that grass land ploughed
in the spring, becomes mellow sooner, is more easi-
ly tilled, and will yield a better crop, than if plough-
ed at any other season.

The quantum of produce they say varies, but
without high cultivation, lands managed as above,
produce a medium of from 25 to 40 bushels of corn
to the acre.

Land for summer tilling, on which no manure is
to be applied, is ploughed about the middle of
June very lightly, because, they remark, if plough-
ed deep, the rich mould which formed its surface
will be laid so low that the roots of the grass will
not reach it. It is again ploughed the latter part
of August, and a little deeper than at first. The
Rye is sown early in September — a medium crop
is ten bushels to the acre. There is little or no
wheat sown in that vicinity.

In Marlborough^ the land intended for barley or
oats is not m.anured the same year they are sowrL
They sow two bushels and an half to the acre ; they
plough the seed in and bush harrow it. Ordinary
crop, ^5 bushels of oats, 25 of barley to the acre.

In 'Newbury they are said to have improved in
their culture — formerly they ploughed only once,
now universally tw^ice. For planting they manure
their lands with from 10 to 20 loads to the acre, but
they do not manure for sowing. They sov/ three
bushels of barley, two of wheat, one and a half of
rye, to an acre. An average crop of corn is 40
bushels ; potatoes 200 ; barley 25 ; rye 20 ; wheat
1 6 to 18 bushels per acre.

At New-Gloucester they prepare the land for
wheat by planting it the year before with potatoes
or Indian corn ; they then plough the land in the
spring, harrow it, and at the same time sow it with
about one bushel and four quarts of spring v^4leat

16

or rye to the acre, taking care to harrow it well iiir
There is scarcely any other grain sown in that vi-^
cinity, and it i^ remarked that the wheat generally
answers best. Fifteen bushels are about a medium
crop. No manure is applied the same year in
which the wheat or rye is sown. When the land
is laid down to grass, some grass seed with the chaff
of the latest cut hay is usually sown with the grain.

At Worcester^ Dr. Payne remarks, that winter
wheat succeeds very well upon new ground, or
on land that has been summer fallowed, and well
ploughed /?z/r times. An excellent farm in that vi-
cinity has raised exceedingly good crops of winter
wheat for the last twenty years. He says that any
man may raise wheat in that town, who is not dis-
inclined to the labour. According to him, the
crops average 24 bushels per acre, and on account
of the good quality of the wheat it sells at two dol-
lars per bushel.

Rye is there sown on land twice ploughed, and
five pecks of seed are harrowed in — average crop
12 to 15 bushels. Barley and oats are sown on
land which has been planted two years and well
manured ; average produce of barley 18 bushels ;
of oats SO bushels per acre.

At Concord^ pasture land is usually ploughed for
rye about the first of September ; the furrows are
harrowed before sowing ; the seed (one bushel per
acre) is then sown and harrowed in, and cross har-
rowed. No manure is applied. A medium crop is
about 12 bushels. *

Oats are sown in succession to Indian corn ; the
land is ploughed once or twice, harrowed and sown
like rye ground ; two bushels of seed to the acre.
Average crop 20 bushels.

6th, In what m/anner is Indian corn cultivated,
and v/hat is the medium crop per acre ?

17

As this is considered one of the most important
products of this part of our country, we give in de-
tail the remarks which have been received from
every quarter, especially as it will be seen that on
some points a difference of practice prevails.

At Brooklyn^ they remark, that the land intended
for their Indian corn is ploughed towards the close
of the month of May, then cross ploughed, then fur-
rowed in an opposite diredion to the last ploughing,
about three feet eight inches apart ; then cross fur-
rowed at the same distance, manured in the hole
with manure at least nine months old; the crop is
stated to be from 25 to ^5 bushels per acre. It is
hoed three times in the season.

At Newbury the process is much the same ; they
put fifteen or twenty loads of manure to an acre,
and the crop is estimated at 40 bushels per acre.

At Concord^ they spread part of the manure on
the land and harrow it in ; part they put in the
holes ; and they hoe the corn four times instead of
three : the stalks are cut early in September ; me-
dium crop 30 bushels per acre.

At Marlborough the manure is also spread and
ploughed in, the process otherwise the same \ crop
30 bushels.

At Barnstable there is nothing peculiar in the
mode of culture, except that they do not raise the
hills as high as in other places in the State. At the
last hoeing it is not raised more than three or four
inches. Average crop is estimated at from 1 8 to 20
bushels. This average will be found to be 25 per
cent, below that of any other place from which an-
swers have been received.

The Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen,
observe, that in preparing for Indian corn, they
strike out at right angles about three feet and a half
apart, making the furrows not more than half the
depth of common ploughing ; they disapprove
c

18

highly the putting dung in the hill, and as srong-
ly oppose the pradice oi hilling up the corn so high
as is usually done. After the ground is prepared
they recommend suffering but four plants to grow
in each hill ; three they say are preferable to five.
In the first dressing they advise the turning the
earth from the roots of the corn, and the plough-
ing as deep as the first ploughing. At the second
dressing they say the mould should be turned in
upon the roots, but it should not be ploughed so
deep as before ; the hill should be left broad and
flat. Great injury they think is often done by per-
forming the last dressing too late, and by ploughing
too deep, and hilling up all the mould. The last dress-
ing should not be delayed till after the corn is fully
tasseled and until the ears begin to set. Plough on-
ly deep enough to destroy the weeds and not in fuch
manner as to injure the roots of the corn. The
same caution is necessary in hoeing, not to rob the
roots of the corn by heaping all the light mould up-
on the hiU, and thus preventing the roots from
spreading. The earth should be light and loose over
the whole field, so as to favour the spreading of the
roots. A medium crop will be from 25 to 40 bush-
els per acre. The cutting the stalks early and while
quite green is detrimental. If they make better
fodder the grain is certainly lessened.

At New-Gloucester^ the process is pretty similar to
the one last mentioned ; there is the same opinion
as to the injury resulting from putting manure in
the hill, and from raising the earth ai'ound the corn.
Average crop is about 35 bushels to the acre.

From Worcester^ it is remarked, that the crop of
Indian corn is the most uniform, and the one on
whicli the farmer can most securely rely ; and it is
alledged, that it is the only one well cultivated in
our country, and that for all these and other reas-
ons, it is thought the most useful. The best farmers

1^

in that vicinity plough their land in the autumn,
and cart on about ten loads of manure to the acre,
which lies in heaps till the spring. At this latter
season the land is cross ploughed, the manure uni-
formly spread, and then ploughed again, or else the
manure is left in the heaps, ready to be put after the
furrowing into the hills. One large shovel full is
allowed to a square yard, and five kernels of corn
planted on the manure. When the corn comes up,
it is again ploughed with a horse plough between
the rows, and cleared of weeds, and one handful of
ashes is applied around the plants in each hill. In
about fifteen days after it is again ploughed, and
double furrowed, by crossing at right angles the
first furrow, and half hilled, the ground left as light
as possible. In July it is again ploughed both ways
and handsomely hilled up. In the latter part of
August the stalks are cut, and form a valuable and
nutricious fodder, generally reserved for working
cattle. This operation of cutting, is not necessary
for the ripening of the corn ; the value of the fod-
der is the only inducement. It is common to drop
one pompion seed in each hill at the time of plant-
ing, and in July to sow turnip seed between the
hills. Average crop fi*om 25 to 35 bushels per acre.
This has been raised to 50 bushels by increasing the
manure.

7///. What is the quantity and value of the straw^
on an acre of barley, rye, oats, and wheat, respec-
tively ? And to iiow much upland hay are they /v-
spedively equivalent for fodder ?

In Worcester straw is never sold. In severe cold
weather it is distributed in the barn yard for tlie
comfort of the cattle. A load of oat or barley straw
is estimated equivalent to a load of common mead-
ow hay.

The Middlesex Society estimate the quantity of
rye and barley straw at six or seven hundreds per

20

acre, and its value at about one tenth of that of up-
land hay. Oat straw is estimated at half a ton per
acre, and valued at 3-1 6th parts of common upland
hay.

At Brookjield it is computed that the quantity of
barley straw produced on an acre, is ten hundred ;
the same of rye ; twelve hundred of oats, and eight
hundred of wheat. Barley, rye, and wheat straw
are equivalent to l-4th of their weight of upland
hay ; and oat straw to l-3d.

At Brooklyn the crop of barley straw is estimated
at from 10 to 14 cwt. If given to cattle early in
the winter, three hundred of barley and oat straw
are estimated equal to four cwt. of upland hay. Of
rye and wheat straw, four cwt. are equivalent to
one hundred of upland hay.

The quantity of barley straw, by our correspond-
ent at Newbury^ is etsimated at 15 cwt. and its value
is thought equivalent to half that quantity of up-
land hay. I'he straw of other grain they consider
as of small value except for litter.

Mr. Packard, at Marlborough^ considers rye and
wheat straw as equally valuable as fodder, and that
the produce of an acre of either of them is worth
four hundred weight of upland hay. The produce
of oat and barley straw per acre, he estimates at
five hundred weight of upland hay. If straw is
mixed with green stalks of Indian corn, it preserves
the stalks, and is at the same time enriched bv the
sap it absorbs.

8//\ What is the value of straw of each kind for
any purpose other than fodder or litter..

Few^ answers have been made by our correspond-
ents to this question, and those which we have re-
ceived are very loose and general. We are con-
vinced that a more economical use might be made
of these products, and it is hoped that further com-
munications v/ill hereafter be m:ide on the subjeft.

21

The Rev. Mr. Packard observes, that i^traw of
every sort, is valuable in forming compost manure,
and for the cider press, for which latter use rye
sti^aw is preferred. He thinks it also very impoi-
tant as a bed and covering for swine in severe
weather. He thinks that swine need shelter and
warmth as much as cattle. One or two other cor-
respondents speak of straw as aiding in the making
manure, but do not give any statements whatever
of its supposed value. This question therefore must
be considered as unanswered.

9tL What is the value of the stover or stalks on
an acre of Indian corn, and to what quantity of up-
land hay is it equivalent for fodder ?

The answers are not very precise to this questioii,
but from the whole of them taken together, wc
may state the average value of two cwt. of corn
stalks as fodder, as equivalent to one cwt. of upland
hay, and that the produce of an acre of stalks of In-
dian corn is equivalent to about seven cwt. of up-
land hay.

Our correspondent from Newbury^ indeed, esti-
mates this produd as equal to a load of upland hay,
but he does not state the weight of his load.

10//:?. What quantity of land on* a medium farm
is annually planted with potatoes ? How is the land
prepared ? What quantity and kind of manure is ap-
plied to an acre, and in what manner ? How much
seed is used, and how is it selected ? How are they
cultivated, and what is a medium crop ?

To this question, the replies generally agree, in
stating the quantity of land usually cultivated to be
about an acre, except at Brooklyn, where they esti-
mate it at from two to four acres. This difference
is probably owing to the vicinity of Brooklyn to Bos^
ton market. Dr. Payne and Mr. Paci-iard com-
plain, that the article of potatoes is not much attend-
ed to, and that its cultivation is neglected, being
generally raised only in the borders of corn fields

22

and not in detached and separate pieces of ground.
The land is stated in all the answers to be prepared
in the same manner as for Indian corn. The quan-
tity of manure applied, is said to be from 10 to I4f
loads per acre, some part of which is spread in cer-
tain towns, but more generally put in the holes
where the potatoes are planted. The quantity of
seed used is stated to be from 9 to 1 2 bushels. The
quality of the seed is stated to be very different in
different places. At Brooklyn they recommend mid-
dling potatoes. At Concord, and the upper part of
Middlesex, they use the best potatoes for seed. At
Marlborough, Mr. Packard says, the seed is taken
promiscuously from the cellar. At Newbury it is
stated they use the refuse only.

The crop is also very variously stated. The
Western Society of Middlesex Husbandmen, state a
medium crop to be about 100 bushels, but that by
^electing the best land, and by spirited cultivation,
it may be increased four fold. Mr. Packard esti-
mates the medium crop at 200 bushels per acre.
Mr Kent of Newbury does the same. At Brooklyn,
estimated at from 140 to 180 bushels per acre.
Mr. Parsons, of New-GIoucester, says that a medium
crop is 260 bushels. This last gentleman is the on-
ly correspondent vv^ho mentions a practice so strong-
ly recommended and so generally adopted in Eng-
land, that of planting the cuttings of the potatoes.
In describing the mode of planting the seed, he
says, that " the hills are generally seeded witl^
two middling large potatoes at a little distance from
each other w^here the furrows cross, or with three
large pieces of potatoes, cut from the seed end or
side of the largest potatoes but one piece from a
potatoe. In this last mentioned method, (that of
planting cuttings) the hills will not be so generally
encumbered with useless vines as they are when the
potatoes are planted whole." All the respondent^

23

agree in the treatment of the potatoes ; they plant
them in hills, putting manure in the hills generally,
and hoe them twice in the season, first ploughing
and cross ploughing with a horse plough. Doctor
Payne remarks, that even our best crops would be
thought indifferent in the old world. This is cer-
tainly true. It may safely be affirmed, that we are
vastly behind the English farmers in the culture of
this valuable plant, and when we consider the im-
portance of this root, in a course or succession of
crops, it is much to be regretted that so little atten-
tion is paid to improving its culture.

lltb. How many bushels of potatoes are equiv-
alent ordinarily to one bushel of Indian corn for
sale ?

The answers to this question vary surprising-
ly. In Brooklyn, they say, that two bushels of pota-
toes are equivalent to one bushel of Indian corn.
In Worcester and Concord it is estim.ated tliat two
bushels and an half of potatoes are equivalent to
one bushel of Indian corn. In Barnstable two and
an half to three bushels of potatoes are equal to one
bushel of Indian corn. At Brookfield, it is said, from
one to two and an half are equivalent. In Newbury
and Marlborough three bushels of potatoes are con-
sidered equal to one bushel of Indian corn. Mr.
Packard adds, that 90 bushels of potatoes are
equal to the whole produce of an acre of corn. That
30 bushels of potatoes may be further exchanged
for fodder, and that there will then remain in his
cellar 80 bushels of potatoes from the produce of
one acre. As the culture of potatoes is stated by all
the respondents to be less expensive than that of In-
dian corn ; as it is certain that potatoes improve
the land while corn impoverishes it, if it be true, as
Mr. Packard calculates, that the produce of an acre
of potatoes is more than equal to the produce of
two acres of corn, how does it happen that the oA-

*>4

ture of this plant is so much neglecled, even among
our good farmers of the county of Worcester^ as
Dr. Payne complains ? Perhaps the solution of this
question may be found in the reply of the Western
Society of Middlesex Husbandmen to the present
question — they say thT^t four bushels of potatoes are
equivalent to one bushel of corn, and remark that
they are too bulky to be carried from their vicinity
to market, and are therefore not an objed of traffic.
But we would ask whether, as fodder for their cat-
tle, and swine, horses and sheep, they are not worth
more than they are estimated at by this Society ?

Mr. Parsons, of New-Gloucester^ w^ho appears to be
an ingenious and observing pra<5lical farmer, agrees
indeed with the Middlesex Society in this opinion
of the relative value, but as this is an important
point in husbandry, it is hoped that some of our
practical farmers, who have been in the practice of
feeding their cattle on potatoes, will communicate
the result of their observations.

But even estimating four bushels of potatoes
equivalent to one bushel of corn only, it is very ob-
vious from the comparative produ6i:s of an acre of
these two plants, that there is no ground for that
decided preference which our farmers so generally
give to the culture of Indian corn ; at least such
would be the opinion which a stranger would nat-
urally form from the foregoing answers.

12//;. How many days' labour of a man are usu-
ally employed on an acre of Indian corn, including
the getting in all the stover and stripping the husks
from the ears ?

To no article are the answers so different, and it
Is hoped that the publication of them will induce
some person qualified for the subject, to enter into
a minute investigation of the real labour and ex-
pense employed in this culture, for no opinion can
be formed from replies so contradictory as those
v/hich we now publish.

25

Dr. Payne, of Worcester, replies, that not less than
ten days' labour are necessary for an acre of corn,
but that a boy is as useful as a man in this kind of
work.

Dr. Hubbard, of Concord, thinks th^it ^f teen days
would sufEce for the whole work, from ploughing
to husking, both inclusive.

Mr. Babbit, of Brookfield, estimates the same at
sixteen days.

Mr. Heath, of Brooklyn, computes the same la-
bour at fourteen days.

Mr. Gardner, of the same town, says that eigh-
teen days would be required.

The Middlesex Society state the time necessary
to be fourteen days' labour of one man, including
every thing except spreading the manure.

Mr. Kent, of Newbury, states the whole labour,
including the labour of the oxen, at twenty days.

Mr. Packard, of Marll^orough, agrees precisely
with Mr. Kent, in estimating twenty days' labour
as equivalent to the whole expense on an acre of
corn.

Col. Parsons, of New-Gloucester, replies in the
following words : Answer — " Thirty two days, in-
cluding the getting out and spreading the manure,
and including the ploughing and harrowing ; and
exclusive of eight days of a yoke of oxen, and three
days of an horse."

It will be readily perceived that between the cal-
culations of Dr. Payne and Col. Parsons, which are
the two extremes, there is a difference of more than
300 per cent.

I3tb. What is the labour of shelling out 100
bushels of Indian corn, and in what manner is it
performed ?

The answers generally concur in stating the la-
bour of shilling 100 bushels of corn, to be from

D

three to four days of one man ; and the mode geii-*
erally adopted, is threshing with a flail.

Mr. Packard, however, states this labour to be
seven days, and that it is performed by rubbing the
corn against the edge of a spade which is rested on
a tub.

Mr. Kent, oi Newbury^ computes this labour at ten
days, and that it is performed by rubbing the ear
of corn against a spit which is laid across a tub.

It is manifest, that the difference of time, stated
by these two last correspondents, must have arisen
from the difference of the means employed.

14/Z>. How many days' labour of a man, are
usually employed on an acre of potatoes, including
the getting in the crop ?

The answer^ to this question are as various as the
preceding. The Middlesex Society estimate the la-
bour on an acre of potatoes equal to fifteen days,
exclusive of laying oh the manure.

Mr. Heath, of Brooklyn^ computes it at fifteen
days and an half.

' Dr. Babbit thinks it requires sixteen days' la-
bour.

Mr. Hubbard, of Concord^ values it at eighteen
days.

Mr. Kent, of Newbitry^ thinks it equal to the la-
bour upon an acre of Indian corn.

Mr. Packard, of Marlborough^ thinks it requires
twenty days.

Mr. Gardner., of Brooklyn^ twenty-three days.

Mr. Parsons, of N, Gloucester ^ thirty-eight days^

loth. Is there any order or succession of crops
known to be beneficial, or pernicious to the soil ?
If any, what is it ?

The Middlesex Society think a succession of crops
in some cases necessary. The tobacco plant, they
say, however richly manured, will fail, if planted
many years on the same ground 5 and yet vines.

27

cabbages, and Indian corn, will succeed wcli after k~
without recruiting the land by any extraordinary
quantity of manure.

White beans do not answer long on the same
land. They caution the farmers against hoeing
these beans when the dev/ is upon them, or in rainy
weather.

Onions succeed better the longer they are raised
on the same ground, the tops being left on the land.

They add, that some people think that rye may
he raised on the same ground for a number of
years v/ithout manure, by turning in the stover as
soon as the grain is off j but they do not approve
the practice.

Indian corn, they say, may be raised for any sue-
cession of years on the same land, whithout any
diminution of the crop, if the customary or usual
quantity of manure is applied ; however, they still
think it for the interest of the farmer to vary his
crops, and shift seeds.

Dr. Payne says, they plant corn two years, then
lay it down to grass, and with the grass sow either
spring wheat or barley, oats or flax. After mow-
ing the ground three years, they break it up again
and plant corn.

Mr. Packard says, that it is deemed bad hus-
bandry to seed dov/n a field with oats or flax, be-
cause they exhaust the soil, and also leave it too
close and heavy for grass seed. The field is always
recruited Vv* ith manure after one of these crops, and
planted with corn. Potatoes, if manured, fertiiize
rather than impoverish the soil.

Mr. Gardner, of Brooklyn^ thinks that potatoes
are beneficial, and that flax and turnips, when the
ground is covered with them, are pernicious to the
soil.

Mr. Kent states, that they usually plant with In-^
dian corn or potatoes the first year after breaking

28

up, and sow it with grain or flax, the second ; and
so alternately for four or five years : and then lay
it down to grass. Flax is pernicious to the soil in
his opinion.

Dr. Babbit says, that the order of crops most
beneficial is, first potatoes, then Indian corn, spring
grain, and grass. Flax, he thinks, impoverishes the
soil.

Mr. Parsons answers, that potatoes are found to
be beneficial — winter rye and flax pernicious.

1 6th, What is the usual course of crops ?

The middlesex Society reply, that flax succeeds
well after potatoes. Rye, oats, and barley, after
Indian corn. The two latter are followed by good
crops of hay. Rye is not so certain, nor is the
flour so good, when sown with corn, or after it,
on lands highly manured. The best rye flour is
from light loamy pine plain land, summer tilled.

Mr. Packard answers, that they plant corn two
years, then oats or barley, then corn till the field is
seeded with grass and barley together, or grass and
oats^ but the latter is not esteemed as a good crop.
Potatoes may precede or follow any other crop.
Flax and oats will not succeed each other.

The answers from our other correspondents a«
gree in stating the general succession of crops to be
Indian corn and potatoes for one or two year-e ;
then either rye, oats or spring wheat ; sometimes
flax, and when the land is laid down to grass, it is
usually with barley. It may be generally inferred
from the replies, that the land is usually broken up
after being in grass three or four years ; and that it
is usually ploughed about three years, and then
laid down as above stated. There seems to be a
general opinion that potatoes are a beneficial crop,
and an universal sentiment that flax is a pernicious
one. Another opinion is equally universal, that a
succession of crops is absolutely essential to good

29

cultivation, though there does not appear to have
been any accurate experiments to ascertain the best
order, or the duration of this rotation.

11 th. What is the medium quantity of hay pro-
duced on an acre of upland, and what is the labour
of mowing, curing and housing it ?

From Mr. Packard — one ton, three day's labour,
oxen included.

From Mr. Hubbard — one ton, two days and an
half.

From Mr. Parsons — one ton, five days.

From Middlesex Society — sixteen cwt. two days.

From Dr. Payne — one ton and an half, two days.

From Dr. Babbit — eighteen cwt. three days.

From Mr. Kent — one ton, four days.

From Brooklyn — one ton and an half, three days.

From Mr. Mellen — the same.

1 8//^. What is tlie medium product of hay on
an acre of fresh meadow, and what is the labor of
mowing, curing and housing, or stacking it ?

At Brooklyn^ the quantity of this description of
hay, is stated at from 1 5 cwt. to a ton ; the labor
of cutting, curing, &c. by some of the respondents
as less by half or an whole day, than is required by
upland hay ; by others it is represented the same.

At Concord^ Marlborough^ Newbury^ and New-GloU"
cester^ the produdl of fresh meadow hay is stated to
be about a ton, and the labor of getting it from two
to three days of a man.

The following is the answer of " the Western
Society of Middlesex Husbandmen." On fresh
meadows in their natural state, sixteen hundred per
acre is a medium crop, requiring two days labor of
one man to get, &c. From some cause or other,
meadow lands have much depreciated and are de-
preciating. Draining the water from them is inju-
rious unless cultivation follow, with a view to in-
crease the quantity and improve the quality of the

so

hay. By throwing water over them at a proper
season, they may be much improved."

Dr. Payne, of Worcester^ answers, " Our best
meado>vs will yield oifoul Jiieadow grass, from two
to three tons to an acre, and it can be got for two
day's labor. Other meadow grass I consider of lit-
tle value." It is understood that the question to
which the preceding answers are given, does not in-
elude intervale which produces English grass.

1 9t/j. What is the proportion of value, which
fresh meadow hay bears to upland hay, each being
of a medium quality ?

In general the comparative value of meadow to
that of upland hay, is said to be one half ; by the
Western Middlesex Husbandmen, the former is
thought to be one third part as good as the latter ;
and Col. P. of New-Gloucester, thinks it is near
two thirds ; especially if it is salted when first
stowed in the barn, and where salt hay is not to be
had. His pradice is to ufe about a bushel of s alt
to twelve tons of such hay, mixed with such En-
glish hay as may have been damaged in the ma-
king. He usually strewn the salt over the miow
twice in unloading a ton, and finds that it all dis-
solves by the sweating of the hay.

20th. Is any tillage land laid down with grass
seeds,without sowing grain at the same time ? fi so,
which method is found best ?

This question is answered in the negative, ex-
cept that flax seed is sometim.es sowed as well as
grain, though grain is considered the best. Coi. P.
says the young grass does better with peas than with
grain.

Slst. What are the kinds of grass cut on the
upland for hay ? What proportion is from seed
sown by hand ? What are the kinds thus sown,
and in what quantities respeftively per acre ?

The answer to the first of these questions, is gen-
erally red and white clover, herds' grass, red top^

31

spear grass, Rhode Island bent, wire grass, Cam-
bridge grass. Clover and herds' grass are the
kinds mostly sown, and ?re the most common
kinds of hay. By some respondents it is said not
to be easy to ascertain the exact proportion be-
tween the quantity of hay from seed sown by hand,
and that which is of spontaneous growth. In
Brooklyn^ the former is stated at two thirds, or one
and a half ton. In Middlesex^ at one third. In
Worcester y at one half. In Brookfield^ one third. —
The quantity of each kind of seed sown on an
acre appears to be various; but generally it is
thought to be too small. In Brooklyn^ to the acre
they sow six pounds clover seed, three quarts
herds' grass, two quarts bent, also four pounds clo-
ver with half a bushel of herds' grass. In other pla-
ces it is stated at six lb. of clover, and four lb. of
herd's grass ; at five lb. of the first, and six quarts
of the last. In 'New-Gloucester ^ eight lb. red, one
of white clover, and two lb. herd's grass. It is said
in Brookfield^ experiment has shown that double the
quantity usually sown is very profitable where the
land is rich.

22i* Are any grass lands new seeded after scar-
ifying them with the harrow only, or in any other
mode, without ploughing ? And what is the suc-
cess of such practice ?

In general it is said, they do not attempt to
new seed land without ploughing, or with merely
scarify^ing with the harrow ; and where the at-
tempt has been made, it has been not with very
good or with no success. Mr. Kent of Newbury
says, I have heard of lands that have laid long
and got bound, as it is termed, being scarified with
the harrow, with a view I conceive, to break the
turf and loosen the roots of the old grass ; not to
receive new seed. Col. G. of Brooklyn^ says, low
lands may be scarified with the harrow ^ then

S2

carry on loam or gravel and manure, fill the ground
with seed and a good crop may be expecEted. This
mode with low lands is preferable to ploughing.

23d, What weeds, vermin, or inseds, infest the
mowing lands ?

The yellow weed, called also crow's foot and but-
ter cup, is one of those weeds most detrimental.
The white weed, or ok eye'd daisy, particularly in
the neighbourhood of Boston ; John's wort, and
Welch wormwood are also mentioned. Mr. P. of
Marlborough^ and Mr. K. of Newbury^ speak, the
former of the radifti, and the latter of wild turnip,
meaning, perhaps, the same thing. The seeds of it
will lie dormant for twenty or thirty years, and
when stirred by the plough wake to a luxurious
growth. Mr. K. says the way to kill them is to
plant the ground three years successively, and hoe
it well.

The vermin and inse<5ls are grass-hoppers, rose-
bugs and mice ; but none very detrimental to the
mowing lands except the former.

Col. Parsons, of New-Gloucester^ gives the fol-
lowing account of the swarm of grasshoppers at
the eastward, in 1792 and 3. In the latter part of
the summer of 1792, when the grasshoppers had
obtained their full growth so as to rise into the
air, the wind blew from the south-west mostly for
a fortnight, and brought them from the other parts
of the continent. They appeared in great numbers,
but did not devour much, having attained to their
growth ; but they filled the face of the ground with
their eggs, so that the next season they destroyed
almost every green thing. They have been very
troublesome several years since, but not so much
as in the preceding period.

He says the grass has been infested two years*
by worms, called by some,the rare or Palmer worm,

* since the year 1801-

S3

^rbpagated as follows :— In the year 1773, an army
of four winged flying insects, came, as was suppos-
ed from some southern region, and laid their eggs
in the evening's, on the under side of the leaves of
the grass and corn. In a few days the eggs hatch-
ed out and the worms lived at first on the juice of
the leaf, making a white spot on it, until they were
able to move and feed on the edge. Their growth
was pretty rapid. Vv^hen they had got near their
fall size, they appeared very numerous, they roved
further for food, and went in such swarms as to
oblige several families to leave their houses. In
some places destroying all before them ; in other
situations, where they were less numerous, they
confined themselves to the grass. When they were
full grown tliey worked themselves under the sur-
face of the ground near half an inch and turned
into a red colored chrysalis, and in about a fort-
night or three weeks came out the flying insed a*
bove mentioned, and disappeared, going, as the
writer supposes, to some southern latitude. About
seven years afterwards, CoL P. discovered the same
iHsecl again, about the same time in the year, viz.
when the corn v/as about ankle high. Knowing
the destrudion which their spawn or embrios had
made before, he watched his corn-field, and as soon
as the white spots on the leaves appeared, he took
his family and going carefully over the field,
broke ofiF all the leaves that had the white spots
upon them and burnt them. This operation b^e
^repeated three days successively. He also took care to
prevent the v/orms hatched in the neighbourhood
from coming into his field, vdien they began to tra-
vel. By these means he saved his crop. There
is also a worm called the grub-worm, which does
damage to the grass and to the corn, eating them
near the surface of the ground when young.

s4

24:fh. Are the spontaneous or cultivated graffes
infested the most ?

In general it is said the cultivated grasses arfe'
most exposed to this evil. Some gentlemen think,
they suffer about equally ; and one or two observe
that the spontaneous grass is most infested, especial-
ly by grasshoppers, on account of its being cut later
than the cultivated. This inse6t, also being fond of
the youngest and ten'derest grass for food, and like-
wise on account of the season, infests the grazing
lands the most.

25th, What methods ^re used to destroy weeds,
vermin, or insecls without ploughing the land, and
what is the success ?

In general it is answered that little pains are tak-
en to destroy vermin or inseds. Marsh-mud from,
the fiats, is a good remedy against whiteweed,
John's wort, he, pulling up weeds, three or four
years successively, and pasturing sheep, are men-
tioned. Tlie radish, says Mr. Kent, of Newbitry^
will be so thinned, on ground planted for three or
four years successively, and well hoed, that the re-
iBainder may easily be pulled up by hand, after
the land is laid down. The only method practised
to destroy grasshoppers, is keeping as many turkies
and other fowls as possible. Col. Parsons speaks
of the Grubworm which proceeds from the eggs laid
by a brown miller the latter part of summer, under
boards, chips, stones, kc. The worms begin to
range in the spring, with vegetation. He destroys
them at this time going over his garden, and
about it, and the green sward, and turning up eve-
ry thing that the worms may be hid under, and
crushing them — they being in nefts, and near an
inch long.

The same gentleman suggests his method of de-
stroying other inseds that are injurious, though:
not to mowing ground: the cankerworm, by

S5

tarring the trees : the caterpillar, by taking off
the bunches or gums, with eggs in them, after the
leaves have fallen, if the tree be small ; if it be i*rge,
he winds the nest round the sharpened end of a
long pole, and brings it down ; does this in the heat
ef the day, or in wet weather, because they are
then all in the nest, and also as early as the nest is
formed.

26/Z?. What kinds of beasts, and in what number
are they, respectively, kept on medium farms ? and
how are they subsisted ? — ^The answers are

Brooklyn^ From one to two horses, one yoke of
oxen, five or six cows-^ also, four young cattle, and
ten sheep.

Middlefex^ by the S'^^/V/y, one horse, fifteen head
^f horned cattle, and ten sheep.

Nezvbury^ — Mr. Kent — four oxen, six or seven
cows, one horse, and fifteen or twenty sheep.

Worcejler County, by Mr. P. of Marlborough^
on a farm of a hundred acres, are usually found two
horses, two yoke of oxen, five cov/s, ten or twelve
young cattle ; as many swine as cows, in the dairy
season ; and-on about one half of such farms, from
ten to twenty sheep : by Dr. P. two horses, a yoke
of oxen, six cows, twelve sheep, and Iwo calves.

Star bridge^ — Ag. Society,*— fifteen. head of neat
cattle, two horses, and fifteen sheep. These ani-
mals are subsisted-entireiy by grazing in the spring
and summer, or, running in the woodlands : in the
other seasons, on salt, freih meadow, and English
hay, corn-stover, if the hay be short : the cattle eat
the principal part of the wheat and rye straw, also,
barley straw, limited qu antics of potatoes : provin-
der is Uttle used, except for horses that work hard
or creatures fatting.

* The cover of the answers from Dr. Babbit, being mislaid, the
compiler did not perceive that they were fent from Sturbridge, in »
siead of Brookfield, and in the uamci of_ an] Agricultural Soci*:ly
there/

36

57/^. In what place and in what manner are the
cattle fed with the coarse winter fodder ? Is it gi\>
en in the stable, in the yard, or the field ? Is it chop-r
ped or given whole ?

The answers generally agree that during the win*
ter the cattle, and horses, are mostly tied up in the
Stable during the night, and fed therej in the morn-
ing they are let out, and fed from a rack which
stands under a shed ; which prevents waste. Course
fodder is said to be often given in the barn-yard,
that the orts m'ay be trampled and staled upon, and
mingled into compost manure ; it is also given in
the field. Sheep, being thought to do better in the
open' air, or under a shed, receive their foddey
there, except in very bad weather, or in the season
of lambing, when they are put up. All the answers
state that' the fpdder is not chopped, but is given
whole.

' 28^^. Hov/ much butter is usually made in a year
from a cov/ ; all the cream being churned ? And
how muck skim-milk-cheese is made from the same
cow ?

There are few answers to this query.
Mr. GoDDARD, of ^r/?/?/^///7, states seventy pounds
of butter, and fifty pounds of skim-milk-cheese to
each cow.

The Middlesex h Sturhridge Societies^ say seventy
weight of butter, and the latter say, as much of
skim-milk cheese,

Mr. Kent, of Newbury^ gives the following an^
swers : " A cow will make seven pounds of butter
per week, and about as much skim-milk cheese.
But the milk turns to better account to make the
whole of it into new-milk cheesejfor the samecrcam,
that will make one pound of* butter, will make two
pounds of cheese ; and two pounds of cheese will
sell for six pence m.ore than one pound of butter,
and the labor is less. Cows, he thinks are the most
jprofitable stock a farmer can keep.

S7

Rev. Mr. P. of Marlhoroygb^ says, '* Tlie lastyeaFj
1799, three cows in this town did produce, in nine-
ty days, two hundred, and seventy-eight pounds
jpf butter. Their calvei? might have been taken
from them at one week old, without exposing thtiir
bags ; and then, on a moderate cakulation, tliey
would have made in the whole season, four hun-
dred, and fifty one pounds of butter. Those three
cows were a more produdiive dairy, being well
kept, than six usually are, with ordinary feed. Farm-
ers do egregiously mistake their objecl:, by over-
Stocking their farms. Were daires always estimat-
ed by the pails of milk they produce, and not by
^the number of cows, many a farmer's wife,
instead of asking her husband to buy another cow,
would urge him to sell two, to enrich the dairy.'^

29tb, What food is given to ftieep besides grass
and hay ?

The answers generally say, that Indian-corn, tur-
nips, potatoes and carrots are occasionally given,
according as the farmer has a surplus of any of the
above articles; also, pcds, and straw of beans and
peas, and corn-staiks. They prefer the latter, by
way of exchange, to hay. One observes, " that no
(Creature will pay better for good keeping than the
sheep ; by this means, they will nearly double their
number of lambs, and yield double the quantity of
v/ool, to those which are kept poor."

SOtb, What is the value of the subsistence of a
sheep, through tlie year, besides the pasturage ?

In general, it is ftated at from one dollar to one
dollar thirty cents. In Wcrcejier^ Dr. i?*. says, a,
sheep cannot be kept for less than six-pence per
week.

S\st. What is the value of pasturage for a sheep^,
compared with the pasturage of a cow ?

Mr. K. of Newbury , says, that of eight sheep is
equal to one cov/. All the others put it dX fi^ce tQ
^ne, except one. v-^ho says, " three to one.'/

32<2. What Is the ordinary weight and value of the
Sesh of a sheep, when fit for the butcher ? And wharti
is the quantity of wool in a fleece ?

Mr. Kent, of Newbury^ says, " a medium sheep
at the time of killing, weighs about twelve pounds
-per quarter, which is worth four shillings; the
quantity of v/ool at killing time, is two pounds ; at
sheering time, three pounds." The anfwer from
JJrooklyji is, thirty-six to forty pounds of lleih ; two>
-and a half to three pounds of wool

In Middlcfex^ by the accounts of the Western So-
_oety, it is estimated at forty-five pounds, valued at
two dollars, wool two pounds.

f r<7rrf/?^r,'by.Sturbridge Society, sheep,ten pounds
:\ quarter, and two and a half of wool ; lambs, six
pounds a quarter, and one of wool.

Marlborough— Mr, P. — fifty-six pounds of flesh,
three w^ool. In the town of Worcester^ Dr. P.
says — "the largest and the best fed sheep I ev-
er saw here, weighed twenty-eigkt pounds per
.quarter, and sold for six-pence the pound. Or-
dinarily, a sheep weighs from tVv'elve to fifteen
pounds per quarter ; and w^ool from two to six.

SSd, What breed of swine are propagated ? How
are they fed ? How fatted ? At what age are they
killed, and what do they then weigh ?

The answer from the gentleman at New-
Gloucester^ is, '" P^ breed of a mixed kind, middling
iize. They live in summer by pasture, whey of the
dairy, refuse of the kitchen, perhaps some wilted
potatoes and corn ; fatted principally \^dth corn ;
"Jdlled at eighteen months, and v/eigh about three
Jmndred." With resped to the breed, &c. the an-
swers are somewhat various. Mr. Kpnt, of New-
imry^ says, " a new breed of swine has lately been
introduced from the East-Indies, much admired.
They are shut up to be fattted in the fall, and killed
Srt the ao^e of about eidit months, and are called

50

excellent pork." At Brooklyn^ and in Middlcse::-,- a:^
well as in other places, besides the breed commonb/
known, and which is said to be improving by select-
ing themost thrifty and promising for breeders, they
have a mixture of the Chinese with the common
breed. The Middlesex Society say, the pure Chi-
nese hog is not esteemed ; the pork is unsuitable
for the fisheries, and is not profitable for family con-
sumption^ But a mixture of one fourth Chines^j
with the com^mon kind, is highly approved, and
thought the best by some persons. In Marlborough^.
Rev. Mr. P. saySj " the small boned and, short leg-
ged kind are preferred.~The rose-back species is
mentioned hjtheSturbridge Society; and at Worcester, ,
they have the largest kind. The manner oi feeding
till they come to the season for fattening, is little dif-
ferent in different places. They feed, on grass, corn,,
cliesnuts, apples, potatoes, wash, of the kitchen and
dairy. They are fatted principally on Indian corn
or meal. Som*e give them oats, or barley and In-
dian corn ground togeth6r in equal quantities ; oth-
ers, one part Indian mixed with three parts of boil-
ed potatoes, kneeded together ; many feed them
wholly with Indian meal in dough, and not a few
give them all this variety of food alternately..
Potatoes, say the Middlesex Society, answer a good
purpofe in the growth of swine. When they con-
stitute a principal part of the food of swine, they
serve to fill rather than fatten them. I'he quantity
of food given is too great in proportion to tlie
nourishment it contains. Hogs are usually killed
at about eighteen months old, and weigh from tvvo
hundred and fifty, to^four hundred weight. Some
think it profitable, or at least, convenient, to kill
part of their pork, intended for their own consump-
tion, and for the market, at eight, ten, and twelve
months old : you may calculate sucji young i:%viner
to weisfh a score i montk.

S4iL What number of bee-hives are kept ? whaf
Is their product in honey and v/ax ? what is the man-
agement ? and, what are the obftacles, which discour-
age their extensive propagation ?

Mr. Kent, answers — '' Bees are very much de-
generated, withJn thirty or forty years. But few
are kept, and these do very ill. 1 do not know the
cause." Gentlemen, at Brooklyit say, few are kept^
and this is the report from Barnstable. The Mid-
dlefex Society observe, " Bees are too much neglect-^
ed amonn; us. The best manaeement of them is to
build and place their hives in such a manner, that
they may retire out of one of tht;m into another j
and their honey be t^ken, without deftroying the
bee. You may take thirty or forty weight of hon-
ey, and live or six pounds of wax, from a hive, in
a good year, and leave enough for their subsistence
through the winter season. The king-bird, and
phoebe, are considered as deftruclive of the bee.
The martin-bird, which takes its food on the wing^
is known to devour them ; and to subsist, in a
measure, upon them. It is to be hoped, therefore,
that persons v/ill not court the presence of this bird
around their houses, by building boxes for them,
since they are so pernicious to this valuable insect."
The Sturbridge Society^ say, " one hive to a hundred
acres of improved land, is sufficient to be kept over
the. winter. If it swarms twice, the product of
honey will be thirty pounds, which at one shilling
per pound, will be live dollars ; and the wax will
be about three pounds, which at a quarter of a do!-*
lar per pound, w^ill make the total five dollars, and
seventy five cents. An early swarm, ought to be
put into a hive thirteen inches diameter, and seven-
teen in height ; and later swarms, in proportion :
the door at the bottom, two inches and a half long,
and one third of an inch wide ; and another door,
six inches above the former. Of late, there ai"e

41

many obstacles among us to their propagation,
Firft, we have endeavored to enlarge our profits by
keeping more (we have lately been convinced) than
nature's resources would admit. This has occasion-
ed an almost general destruction in the winter. —
Secondly, we conclude another reason of their de-
cline among us is, keeping them too long in one
place. Thirdly, as bees do much the best in nev/
settlements, we find our prospecl of success lessens
as our land is growing older, and particularly su-
gar maple trees becoming more scarce. This cir-
cumstance has induced some among us to try to
cultivate these maples, as fruit trees are cultivated.
Our correspondent from Worcester^ answers, "I
cannot ascertain exactly the number of bee-hives in
this town. Every farmer would keep bees if he
could readily procure them. A hive of bees can-
not be purchased. A great deal of superstition
prevails in our country respecting the sale of bees.
To get into the way of raising them, you must take
a hive upon shares, or procure one by hunting
for them in the woods. I keep bees. They re-
quire in May, June, and July, confi:ant care and at-
tention, but the produce amply repays it. I have
not difcovered any obstacle to their propagation,
unless you live near sugar houses or a Grocer's
shop. These places I positively know will destroy
them." Mr. P. of Marlborough, says, the ancient
practice of storming these industrious collectors of
sweets by fire and brimstone prevails." Mere neg-
ligence, he thinks, js the only obstacle to their ex-
tensive and successful propagation.

35fh» What is the usual quantity of land sowed
with flax-seed ? Hov/ is it manured and cultivated ?
What is the medium produce of flax and seed
in quantity and value ?

The quantity of land sown, is generally from
half an acre to an acre. It is sometimes sowa

4^

after Indian corn without manure, and after pdt3>
toes ; if the land was new, so much the better, be-
cause free from weeds. In general the land is-
highly manured, and in the spring, at sowing, or
before, some spread leached ashes. Most persons'
plough it three or four times ; from five to six
pecks of seed are sown ; from one hundred and fif-
ty to three hundr-ed pounds of flax is the produce.
Seed is stated at four, six, seven, eight bushels.

36. How much labor is employed on a quarter of.
an acre of flax ; before it comes to the spinner,and
and including the preparing the seed for market ?

There are but few answers to this question. It is
stated by our correspondent in Brcklyn^ at nine ; by
the Middlesex Society of Husbandmen^ fourteen, and
b-y the Stur-brid^e 'Society^ at ten day's labor of a
man. ^

37. In what articles consists the surplus of the
farmer, which is sold or- exchanged for other arti-
cles ?

In Brooklyn^ pork, beef, mutton, butter, cheese,
hay, corn, barley, cider, apples, fruit of all kinds,
and vegetables. To these are added in Middlesex^
in some instances, bops. In Worcester^ Stiirbridge^hc,
potash, horses and mules. In Barnstable^ onions,
flax, flax-seed, and rye.

SStb. How many loads of manure are collected,
f estimating thirty bushels to a load) from the cat-
tie in the barn yard, of a medium farm, in a year ;
specifying the number and kinds of cattle kept on
the same farm, and the manner in which they are
kept, relative to confinement or ranging abroad I

111 Brooklyn^ Mr. Goddard, says, about sixty ;
stock as before upon a hundred acre farm. CoL
G. says, about fifty or sixty loads may be collected
in. a year, from twelve cattle, two horses, four oxr
en, kept to hay seven months, six cows the same
time, and yarded in the night during pasture time;

Tr mud from ponds, ditches, and marshes is carried
into the yard, it will increase the manure ten loads ;
will keep it from drying and blowing away, and
will save the stale of the cattle. TLe Middlesex So-
ciety say tbirty loads, the stock as in answer to ques-
tion 26//^ The Siurbridge Society, MtY^lo'i^ds on a
medium farm ; stock as before.

From horned cattle, Mr. Kent, o£ Newbury, sdj^-j
-are collected about two loads each in the winter,
and half as much in the fummer, if they are yarded .;
from horses, four loads eacli, if kept up in the
stable?

S9t/j, What quantity of manure is made in the
hog-pen, specifying the number of swine fatted ;
-the kind and quantity of food consumed ; and the
weight of flesh produced ?

In Brookly7i, one answer is, about four or five
load to three swine, fed on corn, at the rate of
about ten bushels each ; swine, produce two hun-
dred and fifty or three hundred weight. Middle-
sex^ say, three loads to two hogs ; Sturbridge two
loads to four ; with wliich agrees Mr. K. ot New.-
.bury. For these four swine, are used twenty-four
bushels of corn, thirty of oats, fifty of potatoes ;
weight, nine hundred and sixty pounds. But all
agree that the quantity depends oxi care to throw
into the pen at proper times, straw, leaves, weeds^
stover, &c.

' 40//j. What metliods are used to enlarge the
quantity, improve the quality, or prevent the
waste of manure, made in the barn-yard or hog-
pen ; and especially to save the stale of the cattle j"

Most of the answers speak of the neglect on tlii-s
subje6l ; though there is a gradual increase of at-
tention to it. In the different parts of Worcester,
-.County, the correspondents say, they are in the hab-
it of bringing into barn-yardg, mud, weeds, ashes,
ioam ) making the yards in a diihin^ form::-^^

These substances the farmer sometimes ploughs^
and mixes with the dung of the cattle, perhaps half
a dozen times in the course of the summer, and
which some think preferable to shovelling it into
heaps, as it is less expensive, and the substance be-
ing kept light imbibes the dews. Black mud from
the salt marsh, and from the bottom of the ditches
is introduced ; and in Barnsiable^ says Mr. M. they
bring in dust-stuffs or the sweepings of the salt-mar-
ches. The Middlesex Husba?2d?Jien say, that many
open vaults or cellars under their stalls and stables,
or dig vaults at one end of their barn yard, and
colled in them, and particularly into hog-yards a
variety of substances convertible into manure. The
rooting and travelling of the swine have an excel-
lent effeqt.

41 St, Is the manure and tillage exclusively ap-
plied to the best parts of each farm ?

In general this is the case, but not universally,
and by some it is believed to be profitable totally to
negled the poor land rather than the good in the
least degree.

42d. In what manner, and for what purposes is
manure used, except those indicated in the forego-
ing inquiries ?

It is spread on mowing lands often, with very
good effecl ; and it is laid around the roots of fruit
trees.

43d, What other manures are used besides those
created by the stock, and what are their merits
compared to these ?

The dust and soil collefted by the high-way,
and substances collected from marfhes, ditches,
ponds, &c. and leached ashes. In the neighbour-
hood of the sea, rock-weed, which is carried diredl-
ly into the field, or rotted first in the barn-yard. It
does well either way. A farmer, in Worcester^ kas
raised his Indian corn successfully, by putting one

45

large shovel full of meadow-mud diredly over thft
corn, when it is dropped. The mud, before it is
used, should be exposed during one season to the
frost.

44//6. Is limestone found in your vicinity ? And
is it used as a manure ?

It is found in some places in quarries in plenty ;
but being a dear article, it is not much used as 2{.
manure.

AfSth. Is buckweat cultivated for the food it
yields ? Or is it used to cleanse the soil from weeds,
to fertelize and enrich it ; or for any other purpose ?

In Brooklyn^ it is said not to be cultivated. In
Worcester and Essex Counties it is partially cultivat-
ed, not for cleansing the soil from weeds, (though it
is known to have this efFed) so much as for food,
being given to swine, barn-door fowls, pigeons,
he. None of the correspondents express an opin-
ion that it fertilizes the soil, but several think it
impoverishes it.

46//^. In what manner are new lands brought un-
der cultivation? Is it cuftomary to plant orchards
in the new settlements ?

Our respondent from Marlborough^ says, "Not by
all-devouring flame, which consumes the soil, and
brings on a lasting coat of moss. The wood and
brush being removed, a short plough, the chip of
w^hich is not more thaxi eighteen inches long, is in-
troduced and effectually works its way among the
stumps, roots, and stones." In new setttlements,
the trees are felled in June, or earlier ; the limbf
cut so that they may lie close to the ground, and
the under-brush cut down to the ground. In the
latter part of August or September, thejieldis set on
fire ; what the fire leaves is cut so as to be placed
in heaps and burned. The land is then sown with
winter grain and grass seeds, or left till May, when
the fire is suffered to run over it again, and it is plant-
ed with corn^ v/hich Vv^ill not req^uire any hilling up.

Orchards on new land do exceedingly well, espe-
cially if it be stoney. Though some think that
within a few years after it is cleared, they do bet-
ter than to be set immediately. It is very custom-
ary now among settlers of new lands, though not
universal, to lose no time before they plant nurse-
ries and orchards.

47t/j, How is land cleared which bushes and un-
derbrush have over-run, since the trees were carri-
ed off or burned ?

Generally by mowing two or three times in tlxe
summer with a stub scythe, and sometimes by set-
ting on fire, and breaking up with a strong team^,
and carrying on barn-dust, &c.

4-ti\ What is done with swamps, or swampy
iands ?

In many instances nothing, but in others they
are drained or ditched } the wood and brush dug
Aip, street-sand or loam carried on, and then grass-
seed sown and they make excellent meadow\

49//?. Is the growth of w^ood for timber and fu-
el equivalent to the consumption in your own vi-
cinity ? If not, what measures are taken to provide
'against the inconvenience of future scarcity ?

The respondents in Worcester County state the
growth of wood to be nearly or quite equal to the
consumption, and aiot diminishing. In the neigh-
bourhood of Boston^ and at Newbury^ it is supposed
not equal, and no adequate measures are taken to
.provide against future sc arcity. The same account
is given by the Middlesex Society,

50th, Are wood-lots generally fenced, or left
open for cattle to range in without restraint ? In get-
ting your wood for fuel, do you pick the oldest
trees or do you cut clear ? Which method is best cal-
culated to increase the value of your wood land ?

The respondents from Brooklyn^ say, that wood-
Jots are generally fenced j elsewhere they are said

4t

to be generally left open, though it is agreed they
pught to be fenced. On the manner of cutting,
there are different opinions and pradlices. One an-
swer from Brooklyn, is, that in old wood-lots, they
pick the decayed wood ; in young, cut clear. In
Bar72stabley it is said, they generally cut clear, as
the wood will commonly be replaced in twenty-
five or thirty years by a new growth. It is said,,
that '' Shoots seldom spring from the stump of an
eld tree, and a broad vacancy is left where it is sha-
ded. The growth from a young stump is so rapid,
that a wood4ot ihould be cut in course, then a for-
est of young trees will follow the axe." The Mid-
sex Society, say, " Some say, if you have forty acres
©f w^ood-land, cut clear. One acre in .a year will
furnish you v/ith fuel. It is less labor to collect
your wood from one small spot than to range for
it to all parts of the plot. Thus you will be forty
years going through ; and the acre first cleared,
will be grown when you w^ant it." To this it is
objected, that the cutting wood, clean is ruinous of
timber and fuel. The good perishes with the bad.
A thrifty tree of tv/elve or eighteen inches diame-
ter v/ill increase in its quantity or weight by one
year's growth, beyond that of a small sprout or
tree in a ratio of more than five to one. In every
wood-lot of considerable size, there will be in-
jured and destroyed, as to their future grov/th an-
nually, by winds, ice, worms, wood-peckers, and
natural defeds, nearly trees enough to support one
fire, which ought to be taken off. To leave these
to perish, while you cut clean the young and thrif-
ty trees is manifestly injurious-

4S

JfROM THE farmer's MAGAZINE,

Hints regarding Cattle : by S/> John Sinclair, 5^rf,

THE objed that every intelligent farmer ought
to have in view, who breeds and maintains domes-
tic animals, is profit ; consequently he ought to find
out, as Bakewell happily expressed it, " the best ma"
chine for converting herbage^ and other food for ani*
mals^ into money ^^

For that purpose, it is necessary to ascertain the
shape and nature of the animal, which makes the
most profitable use of the food it eats : that, how-
ever, must depend much on the price of the differ-
ent articles which the animal produces.

In discussing the important subjed of cattle, it
is proper, in the first place, to observe, that a dis-
tinct breed of cattle may be formed, 1. In conse-
quence of the soil of the country, and the vegeta-
bles it produces ; 2. From the climate, which, in
various respeds, must afied the animals living un-
der its influence ; 3. From a particular shape, size,
or colour, becoming fashionable, and consequently
in great demand ; 4. From the nature of the ani-
mals that may be imported into it from other coun-
ties ; and, 5. From the various crofTes which have
been made among breeds in some respedls distind:,
and from which a new variety may arise.

Of the Particidars effential in forming a perfect Breeds

1. Size, It is difficult to lay down any general
rule for the size of cattle, as so much must depend
on the nature of the pasture, and on the means
which the grazier has for ultimately fattening them;
nor has it yet been proved, by decisive and repeat-
ed experiments, whether the large or the small sized
pay best for the food they eat. The experiments
ought to be made with similar breeds, but of dif-
ferent sizes 5 and the particulars to ascertain, are.

49

whether it does not require a much greater quan-
tity of food, 1 . to rear a great ox, than a small
one ; 2. to feed him when working : and, 3.' to
fatten him afterwards. A large calf certainly re-
quires more milk than a small one ; but if it pays
as well for what it consumes, or grows in propor-
tion to what it takes, there is no obje61ion, on that
account, on the score of profit ; nor if a large ox
eats more, provided he works proportionally more
than a small one. In regard to fattening, the ex-
periments of Lord Egremont are rather favourable
to the opinion, that fattening stock do not eat in
proportion to their weight, but that a small ox,
when kept in a stall, will eat proportionally more,
without fattening, quicker than a large one.

Without pronouncing decisively on a questiort
so much contested, as whether large or small cattle
ought to be preferred, (which will require, indeed,
a great number of experiments finally to deter-
mine) I shall endeavour shortly to sum up the ar-
guments made use of on either side.

In favour of small or moderate sized cattle, it is
contended, 1. That a large animal requires, pro-
portionally, more food than two smaller ones of
the same weight. 2. That the meat of the large
animal is not so fine grained, and consequently
does not afford such delicate food. 3. That large
animals are not so well calculated for general con-
sumption as the moderate sized, particularly in hot
weather. 4. That large animals poach pastures
more than small ones. 5. That they are not so
adive, consequently not so fit for working. 6.
That small cows, of the true dairy sort, give pro-
portionally more milk than large ones. 7. That
small oxen can be fattened with grass merely,
whereas the large require to be stall-fed, the ex-
pense of which exhausts the profit of the farmer.
8. That it is much easier to procure well-shaped

bo-

and kindly-feeding stock of a small size, than of I
Itrge one. 9. That small sized cattle may be kept
by many persons, who cannot afford either to pur-
diase, or to maintain large ones. And, lastly, If
any accident happens to a small sized animal, the
loss is less material.

In favour of the large sized, it is on the other
hand contended, 1. That without debating, wheth-
er, from their birth till they are slaughtered, the
large or the small ox eats most fof its size, yet that ,
on the whole, the large one will ultimately pay th^
farmer as well for the food it eats. 2. That,though
some large oxen are coarse grained,yetthat,where at-
tention is paid to the breed, the large ox is as deli-
cate food as the small one. 3. That if the small
sized are better calculated for the consumption of
private families, of villages, or of small towns, yet
that the large ox is fitter for the markets of large
towns, and in particular of the metropolis. 4. Even
admitting that the flesh of the small sized ox is bet-
ter when eaten fresh ; yet the meat of the large
sized is uhquestionably better calculated for salt-
ing ; a most essential object in a maritime and
commercial country ; for the thickest beef, as Gui-
lty justly remarks, (p. 47.) by retaining its juices
^'hen salted, is the best calculated for long voyages,
5. That the hide of the large ox is of infinite con-
■^sequence in various manufadures. 6. That where
the pastures are good, cattle will increase in size,,
'without any particular attention on the part of the
'breeder ; which proves that large cattle are the
proper stock for such pastures. 7. That the art of
fattening cattle by oil-cake, &c. having been much
improved and extended, the . advantage thereof
would be lost, unless large oxen were bred, as small
"ones can be fattened m.erely with grass and turnips.
And, lastly, That large cattle are better calculated
■for working than small ones, two large ones being
equal to four small ones, in the plough or the cart.

^1

Such are the arguments generally made use of
on both sides of the question ; from which it is
evident, that much must depend upon pasture,
taste, markets, &;c. But, on the whole, though
the unthinking multitude may admire an enor-
mous bullock, more resembling an elephant than
an ox, yet the intelligent breeder (unless his pas-
tures are of a nature peculiarly forcing) will nat-
urally prefer a moderate size for the stock he rears:;
or, perhaps, may adopt that plan of 'breeding, ac-
cording to which, the males are large and strong,
and the females of a small size, yet not unproduc-
tive to the dairy.

Shape^ It is extremely desirable to bring the
3hape of cattle to as much perfection as possible ;
^t the same time, profit and utiUty ought to be
more attended to than mere beauty, which may
please the eye, but will not fill the posket, and
which, depending much upon caprice, must be
often changing.

As to the shape of cattle, however, breeders
seem to concur, in regard to the following particu-
lars, to wit^ 1 . That the form ought to be compad,
so that no part of the animal should be dispropor-
tioned to the other. 2. That the carcase should
be deep. 3. Broad. And, 4. That the head, the
bones, and other parts of little value, should be as
small as possible.

Disposition, It is of great importance, to have
a breed distinguished by a tame and docile disposi-
tion, without, however, being deficient in spirit.
Such a breed is not so apt to injure fences, to break
into other fields, &c. ; and, unquestionably, less
food will rear, support, and fatten them. As tame-
ness of disposition is much owing to the manner in
which the animal is brought up, attention to inure
them early to be familiar and docile, cannot be toQ
much recommended/

3^

Easily maintained. It is well known, in the hu-
man race, that some individuals eat a great deal,
and never get fatter ; whilst others, with little
food, grow immoderately corpulent. As the same
takes place, in regard to cattle and to other ani-
mals, it is evident how important it must be to as-
certain the circumstances which produce a property
so peculiarly valuable in them. Bakewell strongly
insisted on the advantage of small bones for that
purpose : and the celebrated John Hunter declar-
ed, that small bones v/ere generally attended with
corpulence, in all the various subje&s he had an op-
portunity of examining. It is probable, however,
that a tendency to fatten arises from some peculiar
circumstance in the internal structure of the body,
of which, small bones is, in general, an indication ;
and that it is only in this point of view that they
ought to be considered essential ; for they often
weigh as heavy, and consequently require as much
nourishment as large ones. Small bones, like those
of the blood horse, being compad and heavy : large
bones, like those of the common dray, or cart-horse,
being extremely porous, and, consequently, light,
for their apparent bulk. Indeed, cattle ought not
to be easily miaintained, in point of quantity, but in
remote and uncultivated districts, in regard to the
quality also of the food they consume ; and it is cer-
tain, that some particular animals will fatten as well
on coarse fare, as others will do on the most lux-
uriant.

The farmer is indemnified for the expense of
maintaining sheep, by the valuable manure it yields,
and the fleece which it annually produces, which,
when manufaclured, is the source of such profit
to the community.*

* Both sheep and cattle arrive sooner at maturity, "when they are fed m
euch a manner as to keep them constantly in a growing state ; Id that way,

55

MHL The dairy is such an objccl, in many
parts of the kingdom, and it is so desirable to have
a hving machine that can convert in abundance and
perfedion, the food it eats, to so useful, so profita-
ble, and so essential an article as milk, that the breed
the moft distinguished for that property must al-
ways be in request. Whether a particular breed
ought to be kept up for that sole purpose, orwheth-
er it is preferable to have stock partly calculated
for the butcher, and partly for the dairy, is a point
well entitled to the most deliberate discussion. It
is probable, that by great attention, a breed might
be reared, the males of which might be well calcu-
lated, in every respeft for the shambles, and the fe-
males of which, might, when young, produce abun-
dant quantities of good milk, yet, when they reach-
ed eight or nine years of age, might be easily fatten-
ed. This would be the most valuable breed that
could be propagated in any country.

Quality of flesh. The quahty of the flesh must
certainly depend much upon age and sex, as old
€atde must have firmer flesh than young, and
heifers must be finer grained than oxen. The ex-
cellence of the meat, alio, must depend much upon
the size of the animal, and the food on which it is
fattened. On the whole, however, there is no bet-
ter sign of good flesh, than when it is marbled^ or
the fat and lean nicely interwoven, and alternately
mixed with each other. Some of the Scotish
breeds, (the more northerly in particular) when
properly fed, and when they arrive at a proper age,
enjoy this quality in great perfection ; and hence,
there cannot be either whoiefomer food, or more
delicious eating.

The art of fattening animals, however, is one
that seems fit to be encouraged, as likely to pro»

they make more progress In three yenrs, than they usually do in five,^when
they are half starved during the winter, and their growth checked, wliich it
ocitainly is, every winter, in the ordinary way of rearing.

54

mote useful knowledge ; and although, in the
course of trying a number of experiments, some
excesses may be committed, yet, on the whole,
much advantage must be derived from them.

On the Management of Dung.

IF we can bring the airs which arise from our
dung hills into close contact with soil, we may rea-
sonably suppose, that no inconsiderable portion of
ihem will be retained by it. For this purpose, let
a portion of surface soil, or any light earth, be
strewed, as soon as may be, on the dung hill ; if
the quantity thrown on be not too large, it will
not check the putrefaction. After a time, let this
soil be mixed with the dung ; or, if the fermenta-
tion should not be active, let it be thrown off, and
heaped up beside it, and then another portion laid
on the dung as at first : Thus, by degrees, 'we fliall
/orm the most valuable materials for compost ; and
profit by those active principles, which are, in the
present practice, inconsiderately wasted. Peat earth
will answer better than any other, for this purpose,
both as the lightest, and as it abounds in vegetable
matter ; which, under this treatment, will be con-
verted into a valuable manure.

It is worth inquiring, how far it is necessary for
dung to be in so advanced a stage of putrefaction
before we use it. I have already observed, that, if
it be ploughed into land before its fermentation is
somewhat advanced, the process wiU be stopped ;
but, when it has once pervaded the mass complete-
ly, we may mingle it with the soil, without any
such effect ; and I have the authority of one of our
most intelligent and experienced farmers, for assert-
ing, that the half rotted litter is best.

I have only to add, that light earth is also very
valuable, to be mixed with dung, for the purpose
of absorbing the moisture of the dunghill, that oth-
erwise might be lost.

The practice of mixing earth with dung requires to
be managed with a delicate hand, especially in form-
ing a dung hill with materials that have not been
previously subjected to fermentation. The mis-
chief arising from driving carts upon dung
hills, by pressing and consolidating the mass,
greatly retards, and, in some instances, almost en-
tirely prevents fermentation. The same injury is
done by mixing any considerable quantity of soil,
with dung in an unfermented state, which by press-
ing the straw and other matters into a small space,
so effedually excludes the air, that the dung, at
the distance of several months, will be found in a
state little different from what it was when put in-
to the heap : after all, when it is, in common lan-
guage, said to be rotten, it is, upon examination,
found to be only decayed, and the produce in place
of abounding with rich mucilaginous substances,
which all well fermented dung does, is found to
consist almost entirely of vegetable earth. There
is, however, a mode of applying earth to dung hills,
that is not only safe, but highly beneficial : It con-
sists in covering the whole surface of the dung hill
lightly, either with common earth, or broken peat^
every time the stables or fold yard are emptied ; a
covering of that kind, not being heavy enough to
press materially upon the mass, does not retard the
fermentation, and has the great additional advan-
tage of preventing the loss daily sustained about
most farms by evaporation, and the dissipation of
the greatest part of the valuable gasses generated
during the process of fermentation, ail of which
are entangled and retained by the earth ; which
by that means, not only acquires high fertili^ng

56

powers, but renders the dung more valuable.—
When a proper system is followed of carrying out
the manure from the stables and yard to the dung
hill say once a-miOnth, if it is spread equally over the
whole, zmd a covering of the kind mentioned laid
above it, a considerable addition may be made to
the quantity of manure upon every farm yearly,
not only without risk, but with very great advan-
tage.

Observations o?i the Cultivation of Potatoes*

HAVING long entertained an idea, that the for-
mation of apples upon potatoes was detrimental to
the crop, by drawing away a large and valuable
part of the nourishment from the roots ; I, this
year, made an experiment, which, I think, goes a
great way to solve the question. Having planted
some acres of different kinds, I had the flowers care-
fully picked from several of the drills, as soon as they
appeared ; leaving between every drill, so picked, a
drill with the flowers untouched. In some cases, I al-
lowed the fiowers to expand, and even to make
some progress towards setting ; in others, I suffer,
ed the apples to form, and pulled them off vv^hen
they were half grown. The following is the re-
sult:

In the drills, where the fiowers were gathered as
soon as they appeared, the crop was, in most instan-
ces, nearly double what it was where the apples
v/ere allowed to come to miaturitv. Where the
fiowers were allowed to waste tliem.selves, the crop
was less abundant ; and where the apples had made
some progress, it was still less, though grcady bet-
ter than where they had been left untouched. In
short, from ^le time of the flowers appearing, and

^1

as long as the leaves contmued'grcen, and the stems
growing, there appeared an advantage, from gath-
ering both the flowers and apples ; gradually di-
minishing, however,as they approached the ultimate
period of their growth. I remarked also, that the
stems of the potatoes, in the drills where the flow-
ers had been picked off, continued green and vig-
orous, much longer than where they were suiTered
to grow ; and also, where the apples were gather-
ed at an early period. I, at the same time, made
trials as to the effecf of cutting the haum, or shaw,
as it Is commonly called in Scotland, at different stag-
es of its grov/ih ; all of which I found ruinous ; the
deficiency of the crop being in exacf proportion to
the earliness of the cutting ; with this addition, that
the potatoes were ill ripened, and of a very bad
quality ; while those adjoining, where the haum
had been left, were excellent. I also made a care-
ful trial as to the advantage of drawing up the
earth to the stems ; which I find greatly superior
to the practice follovv^ed by some, of only clearing
away the weeds, without giving them any earth at
all. In this last case, I found the crop not only less
abundant, but a great part of the potatoes by be-
ing so near the surface, were without a covering,
and, by being exposed to the depredations of ver-
min and the weather, quite spoiled. From trials, I
also found, that no benefit arises from very early
planting, especially of the late kinds ; as, however
early tliey may be put into the ground, they
do not vegetate till a certain period ; and, in the
mean time, are exposed to every injury arising
from frosty or wet weather, which frequently hap-
pens in the Spring. I, this year, planted some of
tlie late kinds in the beginning of July ; and, a
few days since, raised a crop from them., no way
inferior to that obtained from those planted in Feb-
ruary. While I mention this circun)stance; i think

it of consequence tOf state, that all the different
kinds, both of early, and late potatoes, may be ren-
dered, at least, a month earlier, by a very simple,
process, namely, that of putting them in a warm
place early in the Spring, allowing the shoots to
grow an inch or. two, and afterwards planting them
out, leaving the top of the shoot nearly upon the
surface. By this management, 1 have frequently
had a good crop of potatoes, a month or five weeks^
earlier than I could have otherwise obtainedit from
the same kinds, without such attention.

FROM THE farmer's MAGAZINE.

Extra&sfrom Fourcroy on the Philosophy of Vegeiationr
ira?islated and abridged by a Correspondent.

Of the Infuence of Soils, and their Amelioration upon,
Vegetatio7i»

FROM observati'on of vegetables £xed in the
earth, mankind in all ages must have believed, thatthe^
soil in which their roots are placed, furnishes the
principal materials of their nourishment ; and that-
from the soil they derive all the sensible qualities
by which they aje distinguished. Hence, the an*
cient opinion, gf the relation between particular
soils and the nature and qualities of their, vegetable
productions, has almost always been a chief funda-
mental do<ftrine in agriculture. These ideas, of the
influence of the soil to encourage particular plants^,
or to communicate to each plant a peculiar charac-
ter, have been handed dow^n to us from ancient
times ; and every agriculturist of the present day.
is fully persuaded, that vegetables extract distind:.
characters or qualities from the particular soil iau

'Vv'Kich tliey grow, exclusively dependent upon thft
^-nature, qualities, and circumstances of that soil— ^
such as charaderistic taste, peculiar flavour, and
the like.

Such numerous examples, establishing the opin-
ion, that the qualities of the soil are communicated
to the plants which it produces, render the facl in-
^'disputable. To this circumstance a peculiar mode
t)f expression has bten appropriated ; and vegeta-
ble productions are said to taste of the soil or dis-
trict in which they grew. Thus grapes and other
^fruits, and especially leguminous plants, stems,
leaves, and *oots, all possess certain peculiarities in
taste, flavour, consistency, and colour, evidently
modified by the qualities of particular soik in which
they grow. This may even be extended to wines,
and other productions from the fermentation of
vegetable. matters, resulting from some hidden al-
teration in the vegetable juices. It is well known
.that wines participate m the nature of the soils on
Avhich the grapes were produced : And under the
technical term of bouqitety the difference is remark-
ed of those produced from soils that are dry, sandy,
silicious, flinty, moist, toe rich, or too strong. —
These general facts which cannot be doubted of,
and the particular disposition of each peculiar soil
to produce certain plants in preference to others, or
in greater perfection, unanswerably prove>, that ev-
ery particular soil has a direct influence upon the
nature and qualities ef such vegetable productions
as grov/ there.

It is obvious, that what are uSu ally called earths,
ov soils, are extremely compounded masses, less or
more in a pulverulent form, of very complicated
^mixture. Consequently, before we can satisfactori-
ly determine the peculiar aCtions which they exert
■{jpon vegetables growing in them, so as to modify
<ho greater part of their qualities, ii is previously

requisite to Inquire into the operatiGn, ia this respect
of earth, stridly so called, and then to discover the
€ifeds of foreign substances upon the earthy partis-
cles, with which they are mixed. The one is the
real basis of the soil, or the soil itself stri<9:ly so call-
ed ; the others are to be considered mere or less as
manures, which will be treated of In the next
section.

We should $eek in yain, amoi^g the earths in
which plants grow, for a pure or simple earth, ac-^
cording to the precision of chemical language.—
Even the finest, driest, and most barren san<J, which
approaches nearest to s.ilicious earth properly so
called, consists always .of a mixture of quartz and
alumine, and fi'equently has a small addition of .calr
careous matter. The chemists who have at lirst
applied this science to investigate the principles of
agriculture and the philosophy of vegetation, have
minutely examined the manner in which sced^
thrive in each species of simple earth chemically
prepared, so as to ascertain how far each pure earthy
substance contributes to vegetation, or the nour-
ishment of plants. Though, from these experi-
ments, it has been ascertained that seeds germinate
and grow readily in barren earths, thoroughly
M^ashed, perfectly insipid, an,d entirely deprived of
levery portion of sahne matter, provided they are
sufficiently watered ^ it is likewise thoroughly pro-
ved, that no one, of these earths exclusively or pow-
erfully encourage vcgetat^ion. Seeds may likervvise
be made to germenate in metallic powder or fil-
ings, on sponges, cotton, flannel, or such like sub-
stances, if sufficiently supplied with water : But, by
all these means, vegetation either only continues
lor a short while, or at least does not arrive at its
proper termination, unless with some dehcate smajl
plants, which only require a small portion of npuf^
ishmento

61

From these last mentioned experiments it has
been argued, that the soil only serves as a station
or prop tor the plants which grow in it, receiving
and holding fast their roots ; that it only serves to
surround those roots with water and nourishing
material*;, of which they have need, and of which
it is merely the receptacle or conveyance ; that all
that is requisite in the soiL for fertihty, is, that it
be easily penetrable by the roots^ and suihciently
retentive of water to keep them always moist ; suf-
ficiently divided to permit the air, and some light
to pass between its particles ', and not too much
compacted^ to compress and injure the tender fibrils
of the roots. It must, however, be allowed, that
some small portion of the earth itself penetrates by
means of the roots, and is carried into the internal
organization of the plant, by that absorptive pow-
er which belongs to their organs, either in conse-
quence cf extreme division of the particles of the
farth in which they grow, or of actual solution in
the water which they absorb.

In a dissertation on soils, (terre geotonkds^) the
celebrated Bergman concludes, from consideration
of a great number of experiments, that the best
eoil for vegetable prduotion, ought to contain two
parts of calcareous earth, one part of magnesia, four
parts of aluniine, and three parts of sand. All the
modern experiments have distinctly and certainly
proved, tliat salts, properly so called, contribute
nothing tow^ards vegetation or fertility ; and that,
on the .contrary, there is reason to believe they are
regularly and constantly injurious ; that pure sim-
ple earths, by themselves, or mixtures of these, each
in a pure state, are not capable of producing fertili-
ty ; and that the most fertile soils lose all their prop-
erties of fertility, by exposure to the action of fire.
These last facts are chiefly ascertained by the expcrr
,iments of Gigbcrti of Turin.

t^rom all the ejiperimonts on this subject, whiA
have been infinitely varied, respecting the influence
of soils upon growing plants, one uniform, regular,
and consequently certain conclusion is derived,
that of all the earthy substances to be found in the
mixed matter called soil, calcareous earth most cer-
tainly contributes chiefly to fertihty. On this
point there exists nothing equivocal, uncertain, or
contradictory. It has been alleged that this circum-
stance arises from most calcareous bodies retaining
some portion of their animal original, which acts
the part of a manure. In my opinion, I have no
doubt that this superior fertility of calcareous earth
is derived from the carbonic acid which it contains.
Howe\'€r this may be, it is certainly true, that of
all the earthy bodies, or earthy salts, calcareous mat-
ter is decidedly the most useful in agriculture :—
Hence agriculturists frequently employ it to renew
the fertility of their exhausted or impoverished soils.

Although calcareous earth is both the most com-
mon and most useful ameUoration which can be
employed, and thence, that marl holds the first
rank even among manures ; yet the art ©f amelio-
rating scdls, in its full extent, must not be confined
to one procedure, but must be varied, according to
the nature of the ground or soil upon which the im-
proving agriculturist hasoccasion to operate. Marl^
or chalk, are certainly well adapted to improve land
that is too strong, and which contains too much
clay : But a soil which is already too uniformly cal-
careous, or too sandy, may on the contrary require
the addition of clay to communicate to it that prop-
er degree of tenacity which it w^ants, that it may
not dry too quickly.

I must be permitted here a few observations. —
The reasoning of the author in this place, though
perhaps justly chemical, is in my opinion not ve-
jry strictly pr;u:tical. Soils that are too tenacious^

tioiagli certainly mucli improved by Ilmc, or otli(?r
calcareous matter, would be greatly ameliorated by
sand, if not too expensive : Shell sand, in such casesy
were perhaps the very best possible improvement.

Calcareous soil, of course, needs no calcareous^
addition : For it, clay, and perhaps sand, would be
an excellent amelioration.

Soil too sandy will certainly be considerably im-
proved by clay ; but, on such, calcareous matter is-
likewise highly useful ; perhaps clay marl in large
doses is the best of all.. Yet I believe no soil what-
ever so soon exhausts or loses all kinds of manur-
ing as sand. It is corrosive, and proverbially said
to devour manures ^ because they only contribute
to vegetation.

Of all manures, clay to sand, or sand to clay, are
the most expensive, as requiring such enormous
c^uantities, to serve any useful purpose : These are
in a manner to create soil.

On the Be?iejit which Farmers would derhefro/n tha

Study of Botany.
Sir,.

ON reading a letter signed S. L. p. 429. vol. V^
of your Magazine, I could not help regretting the
inability of its author to convey the information he
wished to disseminate. Had the botanic names of
the pknts been given, the way would have been;
©pen to further investigation ; but till that is done^
the knowledge of their qualities must remain with
himself.

In the same volume, p. 453. Jgricola says, * A^
parsley is a perennial plant, it will answer for fields,
that are to be laiddownfor pasture for a considerable-
time.' It is known that parsley ( a-piwnpetrosclinum):
is biennial : A few plants, out of many, may live-

three or four years, especially if not allowed to run
to seed 5 a circumstance that happens frequently
with many biennial plants. Therefore, as Agricola*s
information tends to mislead, I beg leave to cor-
rect his error as to the duration of the plant ; and
state it as a further proof of the need of better in-
formation. I do not pretend to say how far it may
be proper to cultivate parsley as food for different
anim^als ; experiments are the only way to ascer-
tain that point. It is already known to be eaten
with avidity by several ; but the extent of its use-
fulness remains to be known. With regard to its
Cultivation, I rather think Agricola^s information is
not correct. If sown in mixture with o-rass or oth-
er plants, or by itself in the broad cast manner,
there can be little hopes of success, as the seed lies
long in the ground before it comes up ; and when
it does spriTig, the plants are for a considerable
time very weak, so that they would be choked by
others — either weeds, or those intended to rise with
it. Therefore the cultivation of it, with any
hopes of success, must be in drills, where it can be
kept clear from weeds.

In your twenty-first Number, p. 5S, I observed
Agriculturce Amicus gives an anecdote of toads be-
ing fond of parsley, and recommends to cultivate
the curled in preference to the common. The curl-
ed variety is no doubt the most beautiful, but it
does Hot appear to be the most hardy ; for I have
frequently observed the curled to die, where the
other stood in winter. As I do not observe any of
your correspondents have been very particular in
their remarks on this plant, I with the more free-
dom venture on communicating the above ; and
am certainly of opinion, that experiments to ascer-
tain the influence of it ought to be made.

The above, with what your correspondent MisO'
Mixis, in your twenty-first Number, p. 1, observes

B5

Teiativ6 to the selection of grain for seed, has led to
think that a more extensive knowledge of plants
among agriculturists would be highly beneficial, and
that it is more essentially so to them, than to those
employed in horticulture, as the operations of the
former are conducted on a larger scale than those
of the latter ; at any rate, there are sufficient proofs
that both oi^ght to have more knowledge of the
nature and qualities of plants. Every farmer ought
to make it his study to know the duration and
qualities of the different plants that grow on his
farm, there being no doubt but every plant is use-
ful in some situation or other ; and what is com-
monly termed weeds, is only a plant out of its
proper place. By observations and experiments, he
may discover which is most nutritious for food,
or useful as medicine, or whether injurious or
poifonous to different animals ; hence be able to
judge in what proportions, and in what situations,
they ought to be encouraged. But before we can
think of communicating their uses, or the result of
our experiments to others, we must first know how
to distinguish the plants by such names as are uni-
versally known, as is evident from what has been
wrote by S. L. ; for it cannot be known what
plants he means by such names as beni^ Ung^ deer-
hair^ moss-crop^ kc, ; whereas, had the generic and
specific names been given, it w^ould have saved
his elaborate description, and at once enable his
readers to trace out what w^as meant.

Many farmers and others might acquire, by no
tedious application, as much knowledge of botany
as might be of great use ; and others, who may
have a favourable opportunity and a turn for it,
may acquire a more extensive knowledge, and be
highly useful to themselves and others. By a
knowledge of the sexual system, the farmer w^ould
be better enabled to distinguish and imprQve the
I

i>5

different plants on his farm. The study is amusing^
as well as useful ; it would naturally give an inclin-
ation to examine minutely every plant he cast his
eye on, especially if it seemed to differ from what
•is common : by that, he may obtain new varieties
better suited to his purpose, and be encouraged to
make experiments in order to produce new varie-
ties. Also, by examining plants in every stage of
their grov.^th, he will acquire a more acurate knowl-
edge of vegetation y may discover the cause of dis-
eases-, and find out a remedy.

The subject of Mis^e-Mcxis's letter on the selec-
tion of seeds, is of the greatest importance to all
cultivators, the general neglect of which would ap-
pear to indicate that the import of it is not general-
ly known. The varieties of diifer-ent species of
plants in cultivation are numerous ; many of them
are not worth cultivating, especially where, by a.
little attention,in thepower of every one to bestow,
superior ones may be selected- While th^se are
continued to be cultivated in mixture, the evil
continues to increase. Many of the grasses, among
which I include the oats, barley, wheat, &c. run
into endless varieties, as do cabbages, turnips, peas-,
beans, &c. From the sportiveness of these and
many others, it is obvious that the greatest care is
necessary to prevent the select sorts from being
adulterated by the dispersion of the farina of oth-
ers. The intention of nature in producing these
varieties would appear to be that of afibrding sorts
suited to diflerent soils and climates, and that man
should assist in cultivating and improving what
she has so profusely furnished. Hence the great-
est attention should be bestowed in looking for and
improving new varieties. When an ear, or a few
seeds, &c. of any of the kinds we wish to cultivate
are obtained, they should be put in a garden, and
brought forward till enough is obtained to be

^'Orth cultivating in the fickl: and, to produce
xiew varieties, experiments should be made by sow*
ing two or more kinds in the same spot, from
which there will be a chance of obtaining one or
more kinds different, and perhaps superior to their
parents.

Great attention has been bestowed on rearing
the best kinds of domestic animals ; had not this
been the case, the horse and the ox, &c. would in
all probability have remaiiied as they were origin-
ally found ; for these improved varieties -are not
specifically distinct from their original, which, if al-
lowed to breed promiscuously, would (although
many valuable varieties might be produced) degen-
erate, and consist of an infinite variety of animak
not at. all suited to the purpose wished for. To
the truth of this, I suppose every farmer or breed-
er will assent. The same being the case with plants,
it surely must be the interest of cultivators to be-
stow similar attention.

If any thing can be gleaned from the above hints
•worth inferting in your valuable Magazine, your
are the befl: judge to determine.

I am^ Sir, your mofl: obedient fervant,

M. S.

On the Seieclion cf Grain for Seed, and the Ad-vanlages
which would arise from having a Farm or Farms
set apart for the raising new Varieties,

Sir,

FEW subjecls of greater importance to the
growers of corn, have been discussed in your Mag-
azine, than the selection of grain for seed — indeed, I
•am so fully satisfied concerning the extent of the
^benefit that .might be derived, were none but the

15B

purest and soundest gram sown, that I take the lib-
erty of submitting to your consideration, a few
thoughts on the best mode of providing the public
with a regular and constant supply of pure and
unblended varieties of the different sorts of grain
and roots.

In the majority of corn farms, the operations to
be executed are so numerous and complicated, as
to prevent farmers, in ordinary cases, from bestow-
ing that sedulous attention which the brecdivg of
grain requires ; and it often happens, that the gen-
ius or disposition is imperfecfly calculated for car-
rying forward a series of processes, which require
much judgment and discrimination at the outset,
and great attention in every stage, till a conclusion
}s reached. Hence it appears, that if we wish to se-
lect and cultivate new varieties of seed, or bring
those to perfection with which we are already ac-
quainted, it would be proper that particular farms
were devoted, or set apart entirely to these pur-
poses. A breeding farm of this kind, in the hands
of a skilful and steady person, is a desideratum in
husbandry. We see the benefits that have been
gained by selediDg and breeding from the most
approved and best formed species of live stock ;
and, were the like care used to seled and cultivate
the largest and best shaped grain, there is no doubt
but a benefit of still greater extent would be ob-
tained by the corn farmer. In my humble opinion,
an establishment, or establishments of this nature,
would not only prove of great utility to the pubhc,
but also be eminently beneficial to those who under-
took them. The difference of increase, and the in-
trinsic value of the grain produced from good and
bad seed, or in cases where the particular species
has degenerated, is so great, that, unquestionably,
every cultivator, of the least sense or discernment,
would resort annually to such breeding seminaries^

69

with the same avidty as is displayed by the breed-
€r3 of sheep when they attend the tup-shews.
. I am well aware that several farmers, much to
their credit, do already bestow a good deal of at-
tention on the seleftion and culture of the most
improved varieties of grain, and that much benelit
has been derived from their eftbrts. It is obvious,
however, that such selections as I ^ have alluded to,
jnust necessarily be made on a limited scale ; at any
rate there is a hazard that other avocations may in-
terfere, and prevent them from being completely
successful. Be this at it may, it is plain, that where
the attention is entirely confined to one objecl:, suc-
cess may be more confidently expected, than when
divided in a multifarious manner, or directed to
different obje(fts.

It also deserves notice, that the finest and best va-
riety of grain, will degenerate and fall aff in a few
years, unless fresh selections are constantly made of
the most approved stalks, from which, only, a new
series should be reared. In point of real value it is
demonstrable, that potatoe-oats,on good soil, exceed
those ordinarily cultivated, by at least twenty shil-
lings per acre ; therefore, their introduction may
be regarded as of immense importance to the coun-
try. There is cause, however, to apprehend, that
the superior excellence of this variety v/ill soon be
lost, unless fresh selections are made : for already a
considerable inclination to degenerate has been wit-
nessed. The origin of these oats cannot be satis-
factorily traced, but I have often thought they v/ere
derived from the variety called Early Essex ; or at
least selected from some principal stalks of that va-
riety.

The importance and utility of devoting particur
Jar farms to the breeding of corn, receives addition-
al support from the modern improvements made in
the hke v/ay and manner upon live stock. Accord-

70

iiig to the principles, or rather the practice, of ina-
iiy corn farmers, it is sufficient to sow seed, without
troubling yourself whether it is pure and un-
blended or not, and without caring more than that
it is of the species you want to cultivate. The
wisdom of such people, is equally profound with
that of breeders of a different kind, who take
their cow to the bull, for no better reason,
than that he is able to procreate a calf ; or,
put a tup to their ewes, merely because he is of the
mascuUne gender. No doubt such people may have
their calf and their lamb, but they have no reason
to expect that either of them will be handsome or
well-shaped. In like manner, the farmer who neg-
lects to seledl his seed-corn, and to choose the pur-
est and most unblended grain, will always reap a
crop inferior in value to what might have been ob-
tained had he paid proper attention to these circum-
stances.

In short, a careful attention to the selection of
grain for seed, may be considered as one of the
most important duties which appertain to the char-
acter of a good husband m.an. Indeed, that the
best of grain should be reserved for seed, seems to
have been long an established principle in this coun-
try ; for when rent was paid in kind, it was either
tacitly or expressly understood, that the tenant had
a right of selecling such a quantity as was neceffary
for the succeeding year's seed. Though the weigh-
tiest and soundest grain was in this way retain-
ed, and, abstractedly considered, such must al-
ways produce the strongest plants, yet it is more
probable, that little care was shewn to seled: new
varieties, or breed from the largest and most pro-
lific stalks. These practices may, therefore, be
considered as modern improvments, and as yet
in an infantine state, though advancing forward
to maturity. That their progress would be ac^

^eieratedy by establishing breeding farms, will- harJ^,
ly be disputed ; and these hints are thrown out,
.with a view that the subject may be taken up by
some other of your correspondents, of more exten-
sive information, and possessing greater knowledge
of botany, than your obedient humble servant,
A Friend to Improvements,

On the Nature^ hnpro'vement^ and Qualifies of the dif-
ferent Soils proper for rearing Sheep,

A LETTER.

Sir,

HAVING, in my former letters, described, at
considerable length, the nature and properties of
the principal plants produced on a moss soil, it re-
mains now only to show at what particular season
of the year, and by sheep of what age, they can be
most advantageously depastured.

As the constitutions of sheep are formed, in a
great measure, from the nature of the soil on which
they are bred, too much care cannot be taken to
provide them with sound healthy pastures, so long
as they are in an immature state, particularly dur-
ing the first year, as it is well ascertained from expe-
rience, that hogs reared on a healthy soil do not
easily lose their inherent good qualities afterwards.
Lambs, when intended to be kept as a separate hir-
sel, may be allowed to lie, for ten or twelve days
after v/eaning, on clean grassy pasture, to prevent
over-fatiguing them in search of food ; but after
that time, they should be kept for one or two
months, as circumstances may permit, on such sorts
of herbage as tend most to brace the system, and
purify the blood. Heath, stooi-bent, and Hng, seem

na

to possess these qualities in an eminent degree, hs^
ing of a healthy and hardy nature, uniformly resist*,
ing the ' firmest shocks' of the severest seasons.
The temporary decay which some of them under*
go, proceeds not from any inherent delicacy in the
plant, subjecling it to the influence of external caus*
esy but is perfedly natural to it at a certain period*
Deer-hair, for example, remains green only for a few
months, and then fades ; the periods assigned by na-
ture for its growth, maturity, and decay, being te-
naciously adberedto,without regard to the state of tli^
\veather •; . and it is well known, that before the
period of decay arrives, the severest blasts have lit-
tle or no enedt upon ic. With regard to the healthy
qualities of these plants, experience bears ample tes^
timony; It is an axiom in sheep-farming, that the
closer grass is eaten, the more is the flock exposed
to suffer by disease ; and it hokls universally as to
the more secculent grasses. With regard, howev-
er, to the plants in question, the rule seems to be
reversed ; for, in them, the part of the stem or
stalk nearest the root is the most nutritive and
healthy ; and, on this account, spring-burning i^
practised, as, by means of it, not only the old decay-
ed herbage is cleared avv^ay, which might hinder a
fresh springing, or, if eaten, perhaps injure the pow-
ers of digestion, but easy access is also gained to
the m.ost valuable part of the food.

Seeing that moss soils abound with plants pos-
sessed of such beneficial qualities, it may excite sur-
prise that lambs are not always kept upon them
during summer. Where local circumistances allow,
the practice generally prevails ; but, in som.e places,
it would be attended with pernicious consequences
to the rest of the flock, by preventing them from
lying so much at ease as they would otherwise do j
and, in others, it cannot be attempted, from the
small extent of soil of that description. Lambs bred

73

upon mosses may not be so fleshy as those reared
on more grassy pasture ; but as the blood is pure,
and the constitution good, disease is in a great
measure prevented. It is alledged by some, that as
moss grasses are generally of an astringent nature,
they, of course, considerably contract the passages
through the entrails, and thereby tend to produce
such stoppages as generally terminate in the sicknefs^
when the animal is allowed to fill its belly with
more succulent food. The observation is not al-
together groundless ; but the danger dreaded may
be easily avoided, by allowing lambs to feed for
three or four hours every day on more nutritive
pasture, thereby accustoming them to every kind
of food ; as is the practice of the most experi-
enced sheep-breeders. If, after such treatment,
bad consequences ensue, they may be supposed to
proceed from other causes than the quality of the
food on which the sheep were bred ; and, of these,
unnecessary dogging may be considered as chief. —
Broken bones are often the consequence of this ab-
surd practice ; and when this does not happen, the
ignorant and imprudent shepherd imagines all is
well ; never considering, that, by overheating the
animal, an impure tincture is communicated to the
blood, and a more a(5live impulse given to the la-
tent seeds of disease, especially to those of that po-
tent malady, the sickness* Lambs, above every
kind of sheep, are particularly fond of deer-hair ;
and, during the months of July and August, will
thrive upon it amazingly ) but as a considerable
quantity of more nutritive food is necessary to put
them in good condition before winter sets in, they
should be gradually habituated to a more grassy
pasture, which will prevent the bad consequences
of a too hasty transition, and enable them to bear
out the trying severity of a mountainous climate.

74

On pris tares of tlie foregoing description, hogss
'sviil thrive equally well as lambs. Tliey may be
put upon them by the beginning or middle of May,
and continued to the middle of- Autumn ; whereas
lambs cannot enter before the middle of July. The
copious rains w^hich generally take place in autumn,
render such soiils unhealthy as a fixed or continued
pasture, though they may occasionally be of great
use to sheep of all descriptions, when the weather
admits of access to them. Favcs, when giving suck,
should indeed, for reasons already noticed, be left
to the choice of their food ; but when the lambs
ure removed, they may also with safety be kept up-
on them for somie time, if circumstances so require.

As the texture of the body depends in a great
measure upon the nature and quality of the food
on which the animal lives, surely that kind which
is most productive of strength and hardiness must
l)e doubly benehcral at the time when it advances
fastest in growth. Now, as the plants I have been
describing possess this quality in an eminent de-
gree, they must be considered as particularly ad-
vantageous to young sheep, or those in a growing
state ; and there is reason to think, that the differ-
ent seasons of the year, during which I have recon>
mended their use, will, upon trial, be found the
most proper. I may pehaps be considered as plead-
ing for the antiquated custom of keeping sheep of
<iifferent ages by themselves on the same farm, but
nothing is farther from my sentiments. I am a
keen advocate for freedom in the domains of in-
stmcl, as well as in those of reason ; and scruple
not to assert, that the same instinctive impulse
which directs the lamb, only a few minutes old, to
apply without hesitation, to the individual part of
its parent's body from which only it can derive
nourishment, v/ill when ripened by experience, con-
tinue to guide it in search of such food as naturf^

7S

intended for its support ; and v/liich^ growing- spci;*
taneously upon the mountains, is as much adapted
to its constitution, being a native of them, as the
finest artificial grasses are to the lamb bred upon
them. However favorable circumstances may
sometimes be to induce a changing from place to
place, yet, as sheep always manifest an attachment
to their native soil, it is impossible they can enjoy
the same ease, and lye with equal composure on
any pasture, as cm that to which they ^v^ere origin-
ally habituated. It must liow^ever be confessed^,
that no general rule can be laid down that is not li-
able to exceptions. Local situation must always
be taken into account ; but, where there is much
high-lying, coarse ground, it is certainly prudent to
depasture it wdth hogs and lambs ; for, if this is not
done, such pasture will in a great measure be Ipst,
as the best time of the season elapses before ewes-
asLU be in a proper state to be kept upon it.

I am, kc, S. I<o

On the tis£ of the pulp of apples crpwn'tce^ as a manure^

PUMICE, or the pulp of apples from the cider^
press, may be made a good manure for corn or
/^rass, by being work<ed up by hogs. In its crude
state it is of no value in agriculture, as it contains
too large a portion of acid to fertilize ; but work-
t^d by hogs and incorporated and compounded with
the rich manure, which swine deposit am.ongit, it
becomes a rich fertilizer, and answers a valuable
purpose to put into the hills of Indian corn, or to
spread on grass-ground.

It is v/eli known to farmers, that our old lands
vTOxVi dowm by tilliage, require to be annually re-
cruited by manure. I wish to invite their attentio;?

76

to this article which is by many thrown away into
roads or rivers, as useless, persuaded, that finding
the value of it they will not suffer it to be lost,

For many years past, I have hauled several loads
of pumice from a neighboring cider-mill into my
hog*s-yard in autumn, sometimes adding the sward
or top of the ground taken from the sides of roads.
The pumice made from early cider willbe good dress-
ing for corn the following spring, After the yard
is cleared at that season, I cart in a supply
for the summer, and in the fall it may be carried
into the field and the yard be again replenished
from the cider-mill. It is best to take it from the
presses, as soon as the pressing is finished, and ber
fore fermentation begins, as the hogs wdll then
greedily eat the pulp of sweet apples, and the
seeds ; the viscous quality of the latter, affords con-
siderable nourishment.

As hogs are most fond of corn, it is proper that
those voracious animals should perform some part
of the labor necessary to produce it. Let farmers
set their hogs at this w^ork, and they will manufac-
ture an article of no value in its simple state, into
profitable manure ; and some thousands of bush-
els of corn will be added annually to the stock of
grain raised in tlie New^England States.

On t/je feeding and fattening of Swine.

I WAS not long since, at the house of a farmer
in a neighbouring town, and was pleased with his
method of feeding and fattening his swine on po-
tatoes boiled by steam. It was expeditious, simple,
and cheap.

Near the hog's pen, was a small brick frame,
built on the ground, five or six feet in length, open
at one end to receive the fuel, and closed at the

77

other, except a small chimne)^ to convey the smoke.
An iron pot containing about ten quarts was set in
the frame and Med with water. A barrel, with
the bottom perforated with holes, to admit the
steam, was placed over the pot and filled with pota-*
toes. The head was placed on the top, and the
edges covered with a little clay morter to retain
the steam, and some of it put around the bottom
of the barrel for the same purpose. A small quan*
tity of fuel is sufficient to boil a barrel. They are
boiled altogether by the steam which rises and per^
vades the v/hole mass, washes them clean, and ex-
tracts from the skin, that bitter quality v/hich is
tasted when they are boiled in water, and the whole
washing of the potatoes settles as a sediment in the
pot, and appears of the colour and consistency of
tar, after the water is evaporated.

When they are sufficiently boiled, it is known by
the stam lifting the cover and issuing out at the
edges. They are then taken out, clean and mealy,
with a shovel, put into a large tub and worked up
with meal or bran and put into the troughs. Half
a bushel of Indian meal is used with a barrel of po-
tatoes. Ten or tv/elve laro;e ho2;s in fine order.

■J . . O O -'

consumed this quantity daily.

The above method is also undoubtedly the best
for preparing this common and very useful root
for the table, as thereby the bitter and unwhole-
some quality of the skin is extraded, which cannot
be wholly separated from it when boiled in water,"
and, by its greater dryness in this way, it becomes
a more salutary absorbent, and more palatable.

0/2 clearing the summits of Hills,

IN clearing up new lands, the trees on the sum-
mits of hills should be left standing. Several ad-
vantages arise from this, among which are the fol-
lowing :-They attract the vapour that floats in the
atmosphere, and the rains, and serve as condudtors
of that element to moisten the ground, and fedd
the springs which run among and out of the hills,
and which are found frequently issuing from their
sides and margins. These are not uncommonly
dried up in consequence of clearing the tops of hills.

They afford to cattle a refreshing shade in the
heat of the day, and a shelter from storms.

By their shade they retain the verdure and feed,
on the tops of hills, which wi-thout them would be
barren.

A lofty hill crowned with a copse of woods, is
not only prolitable to the owner, it is also one of
the most pleasing prospex5ts in nature. But a hill
stripped of its "'verdure, -desolate and dreary, forms
adire landscape."

It would answer a good purpose and well repay
tjie labor of the husbandman, to cover the tops of
hills which are already bared, with trees of quick
growth. They will recover their barren tops, and
compensate the labor by a supply of wood for fuel,
timber or fruit.

Rcjuarks on Domestic Animals,

DOMESTIC Animals of the same kind have
not all the same charader and properties. They
vary in the general shape of their bodies, and in
the conformation of particular parts ; in size , in
the quality of their flesh ^ in their degree of hp,rdi-

79

ness ; in their rate of growth ; disposition to fatten ^
&c. It is a matter, therefore, of vast consequence
to the husbandman, to be well acquainted with the
particulars that serve to distinguish them. An ac-
curate knowledge of these would enable him to se-
led those sorts which are best adapted to his own
situation or purpose.

In choosing live stock of any kind, great atten-
tion is requisite. Different sorts excel differently :
In none of them are concentrated all the most esti-
mable qualities of its kind. A particular sort may
possess properties in a certain view.valuable ; yet
these may be associated with others that render it,
on the whole, undeserving of preference. It may
have a good form, and be of an eligible size, and
yet may be deficient in' hardiness — may be unable
to endure great cold, or occasional scarcity of food ;
or, it may mature quickly, with good keep and
appropriate treatment, and in such circumstances
be preferable to any other, but may still prove in-
ferior in value to some, w^hich, though they may
grow more slowly, are yet more inured to the hard-
ships, the coarse fare and inclemency of poor and
exposed situations.

Without attending, then, to the combinations of
peculiar qualities in the different sorts, as well as
to the more general distinctions of form and size
which mark them, it may happen, that, for the sake
of one or more good properties, husbandmen may
introduce among their own stock some greater de-
feds than what they meant to remedy, or than what
previously subsisted. Indeed, intelligent breeders
are now aware, that the different kinds of our do-
mestic animals have " points,^' /. e, forms and pro-
portions of parts, and likewise certain other prop-
erties, which are differently estimable : so that what
would be an imperfedion in one sort, may be none
in another, living in a different situation, or serv-

80

ing a different use ; or perhaps it might rather
prove an advantage.

Though it is of importance then for husband-
men to investigate all the distinguishing properties
of the various kinds of stock which they may have
occasion for ; yet as much advantage has been de-
rived, in many situations, from attempts made to
improve merely the form of the different kinds, or
to acquire the best shaped sorts for the purpose of
breeding, rearing or fattening, it may not be im-
proper, separately to solicit the attention of hus-
bandmen to this subject. It is not therefore intend,
ed, in these cursory remarks, to take particular no-
tice of all the distinguishing properties in the differ-
ent kinds of our domestic animals 5 but only to sub-
mit some hints, chiefly concerning the shape or con-
form.ation of their body, in terms applicable to live
stock in general.

Mr. Cline observes, that though the form of do-
mestic animals has been greatly improved, by se-
lecting w^ith care, for the purpose of breeding, those
possessed of the best shape ; yet the theory of im-
provement has not been so well understood, that
rules could be laid down for directing the prad:ice
in every case. He then mentions some particulars
respecting the form of animals, and the improve-
ments of which it it is succeptible, with the means
of effecting these.

1...0?2 t/je Form. — *The external form of domes-
tic animals,' Mr. Cline remarks, ^ has been much
studied, and the proportions are well ascertained.
But the external form is an indication only of in-
ternal structure. The principles of improving it
must therefore be founded on a knowledge of
the structure and the use of internal parts.

' The lungs are of the first importance. It is on
their size and soundness that the health and srength
of an animal principally depend. 1 he power of

8f

converting food into nourishment, is in proportion
to their size. An animal with large lungs, is capa-
ble of converting a given quantity of food into
more nourishment than one with smaller lungs,
and, therefore J, has a greater aptitude to fatten.

* The external indications of the size of the
lung3 are the form and size of the chest ; — ■
the form of which should approach to the figure of
a cone, having its apex situated between the shoul-
ders, and its base towards the loins. The capacity
of the chest depends on its form more then on the
extent of its circumference ; for, where the girth,
is equal in two animals, one may have much larger
lungs than the other. A circle contains more than:
an ellipsis of equal circumference ; and, in propor-^
tion, as the ellipsis deviates from t]\Q circle, it con-
tains less. A deep chest, therefore is not capacious,
unless it is proportionally broad.

' The pelvis, is the cavity formed by the jundiort
of the haunch bones, with the bone of the rum.p. — -
It is essential that this cavity should be large in the
female, that she may be enabled to bring forth her
young with less dilTiculty. When this cavity is
small, the life of the mother, and her offspring is
endangered. — The size of the pelvis is chiefly indi-
cated by the width of the hips, and the breadth o£
the twist, which is the space between the thighs. —
The breadth of the loins is always in proportion to
that of the chest and pelvis.

Our domestic animals are frequently observed ta
differ in the proportional size of the stomach and.
intestines. The finer sorts of horses arc known to
have a less bulk of intestines, or an intestinal canal
of a smaller diameter and capacity, than the coars-
er— much in the same way as the coarser breeds of
both cattle and sheep have larger stomachs, than
the liner of the ^ime size and w^eighr.

' The head should be small, by v/hich the birth is
facilitated. Its smallness affords other advantages,

^nd genera% indicates that the animal is. of a goo<i
breed.

^ Horns are useless to domestic animals, and they
are often the cause of accidents. It is not difficult
to breed animals without them. — The breeders of
horned cattle and horned sheep, sustain a loss more
extensive than they may conceive ; for, it is not the
horns alone, but also much more bone in the skulls
of such animals to support their horns, for which
the butcher pays notliing ; and besides this, there
is an additional quantity of ligament and muscle in
the neck, which, is of a small value. The skull of a
ram v/ith his horns, weighed five times more than
another skull which was hornless. Both these
skulls were taken from slieep of the same age, each
being four years old> This great difference in
weight depended chiefly on the horns ; for the
lower jaws w^ere nearly equal, one weighing seven
ounces, and the other six ounces and three quarters
— which proves that the natural size of the head
was nearly tlie same in both, independent of the
horns and the thickness of bone which supports
them. — In a horned animal, the skuU is extremely
thick. In a hornless animal, it is much thinner,,
especially in that part where the horns usually
grow.

' To those who have not reflected on the subject,
it may appear of little consequence whether sheep
and cattle have horns ; but, on a very moderate
calculation, it would be founds that the loss in farm-
ing stock, and also in the dimanution of animal
food, is very considerable, from the production of
horns and their appendages.

' The length of the 7jeck should be proportioned
to the height of the animal, that it may collect its
food with case.

^ The 7nusc!es and tendons, which are their ap-
pendagv^s, should be large ; by which an animal is
enabled to travel Vvith errcatcr faciUtv.

The strength of an animal does not dopend csn
the size of the bones, but on that of the muscles.
Many animals with large bones are weak, their
muscles being small. Animals that were imperfect-
ly nourished during growth, have their bones dis-
proportionately large. If such deficiency of nour-
ishment originated from a constitutional defed^
which is the most frequent cause, they remain weak
during life. Large bones^ therefore, generally in-
dicate an imperfedion in the organs of nutrition,*
especially when conjoined with a form that indi-
cates the lungs to be unduly small, or confined.

On the whole, a compaA, round-made, not flat-
ribbed body ; a deep chest ; abroad loin, full flank
and straight back ; a small head with clean chaps,
and a fine -tapering neck ; limbs and bones not
coarse and large ; and a soft but not thick skin,
with hair neither staring nor hard, are amons^ the
chief marks of a good kind. The shorter legged
animals, too, are generally preferable ; those of the
opposite descripsion being found to be the least har-
dy, and the most difficult to rear or fatten.

II. On improving the firm. — ^* To obtain the most
approved form, two modes of breeding have been
pradlised : One, by the seiedlion of individuals of
the same family % called^ breeding in-and-in. The
other, by seieding males and females from differ-
ent varieties of the same species ^ v/hich is called,
crossing the breed,

\Ji* — Breeding with animals of the same family^ or
' in'and-in.\„J'^ When a particular variety approach--
es perfedion in form, breeding in-and-in may be
the better pradice ; especially for those who are
not well acquainted with the principles on which
improvement by crossing depends.

' It has been generally supposed that the breed of
animals is improved by the largest males. This
opinion has done considerable mischief, and preba-

S4f

bly would have done more, if it had not been
counteracted by the desire of seleding animals of
the best form and proportions, which are rarely- to
be met with in those of the largest size*— rExperi^
ence has proved that crossing has only succeeded,.
in an eminent degree, in those instances in which
the females were iarger than in the usual proportion
of females to males j and that it has generally fail-
ed when the males were disproportionally large.
If a well-formed large ram be put to ewes propor-
tionally smaller, the lambs will not be so well shap-
ed as their parents ; but, if a small ram be put to
larger ewes, the lambs will be of an improved
form.

^ The proper method of improving the form of
animals, consists in sele6ting a well^ formed female,
proportionally larger than the male. The improve-
ment, depends on this principle, that the power of
the female to supply her offspring with nourish-
ment, is in proportion to her size, and to the pow-
er of nourishing herself from the excellence of her
constitution.

' The size of the foetus is generally in propor-
tion to that of the male parent ; and, therefore,
when the female parent is disproportionately small,
the quantity of nourishment is deficient, and her
offspring has all the disproportions of a starveling.
But, when the female, from* her size and good con-
stitution, is more than adequate to the nourishment
of a foetus of a male smaller than herself, the
growth must be proportionally greater. The larg-
er female has also a greater quantity of milk, and
her offspring is more abundantly supplied with
2K)urishment after birth.

' To produce the most perfecb formed animal,
abundant nourishment is necessary from the earlir
est period of its existence until its grov/th is com-
plete.

^

r*

Regarding gome kinds of live stock, cattle for ex-
ample, a question has been moved — -how far they
co-did be advantageously reduced to a single breed,
i, e, whether they should not possess the same gen-
eral form and properties, so far, at least, as the lat-
ter are connecled with the former : And attem.pts
havebeen made to ascertain,orenumerate,what might
prove the chief points of excellence in a sort calcu-
lated for general adoption. It has been supposed,
that the principal purposes for v/hich cattle are
kept, such as for their carcase, their milk, or their
work, are in some degree compatible ; and that a
breed, now perhaps existing, may yet be discovered,
orthatone by cro3S-coupling5seleclion,or other means,
may be procured, v/hich shall answer not only for these
various purposes, but likewise for every diversity
of situation ; their size, activity and hardiness only
varying, so as to suit the circumstances of different
grounds, whether upland, hilly and poor, or low-
lying and fertile.

This general applicability, hov/ever, were it even .
found to take place, in so far as relates to the form
of the animal, still would not diminish the necessi-
ty of investigating the charafler of domestic an-
im^als in other respects. It has been ascertained from
some late observations, and the discovery is of im-
portance, that no particala.r form is exclusively con-
nected with all or any of the most valuable prop-
erties otherv/ise ; or that a beautiful and useful
shape may be possessed by animals of any size,
hardy in every degree, and capable of being rear-
ed in different situations, and either with poor or
with rich food.

Though perhaps the qualities of activity and
strength m.ay be found in anim^ils possessing dif-
ferent forms, and m.ay be conjoined vith a shape
otherwise valuable, yet size is a circumstance v/hicli
attaches to particular breeds in such a w^ay as not

86

to be rapidly alterable, if due regard be had to the
healthy state of the stock. Neither are the prop-
erties of general hardiness, and a disposition to
early maturity, such mutable traits of charad:er, as
would enable the same breed to suit with different
situations and circumstances, or thrive equally well
in them. Indeed, in these and other respeds, a di-
versity of breed or character would become high-
ly requisite, and even necessary. Besides, the for-
mation of distincl races, by animals occupying dif-
ferent situations, and being subjected to the influ-
ence of diiferent powers, or different modes] of
treatment, though a process slow and gradual, and
perhaps often unobserved, is altogether unavoida-
ble ; and it is, in some measure, happily so, that
the land may be the better or more easily replen-
ished. The discussion, then, about the practicabil-
ity and propriety of having only a single breed, in
a greatly diversified country, such as Britain, must
be restricted merely to what relates to the general
forvi of the stock. Probably the very attempt to
render the whc^e alike in other particulars, would
not only prove as abortive as it seems unnatural,
but might be attended with mischief. It might
produce a mediocrity, not of size only, but of char-
acter otherwise, which the most indiscriminate' and
unskilful breeding only could rival. It would like-
ly soon furnish that deplorable display of ignorance
and imperfeclio% in husbandry, which the rudest
districts exhibit, where science affords no light, and
art no useful result. — [T/je other parts of this siibje^
tnust he reserved for the next mmber.']

■' f MAY 197i