yiNiVERSITY OF MASSAGHUSEiaa
LIBRARY

DATE DUE

73
B3

rOR

1810,

COMMtTNICATED TO THK

MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY

PROMOTING AGRICULTURE.

PUBLISHED BY THE TRUSTEES.

Without encouragement of Agriculture, and thereby incrcasi-
ilogthe number of its people, any country, however blessed by aature,
must continue poor. swi#x.

J^OSTON :
PRINTED BY RUSSELL AND CUTLER.

i810.

LIBRARY
UNIVFP'^'ri' OF

amherst7mass.

/-■

CONTENTS.

l—^An Essay on Sheep, - - -, -v - g

2— On Peach Trees, 45

3— On do. do. 48

4 — ^Abstract of Dr. Darwin's Dissertation on the Dis-
eases of Plants, ----- 57

^ — Daarwin, on the producing* of Fruit-bearing Trees, 67
1— Of Heedling Trees, - - - - 67

2— Of Root Scions, ----- 70
3— -Of Planted Scions, - - - . 72

4— Of Ingrafted Scions, i. * - - 76

6— Darwin on the Perfecting and Enlarging the Fruit, 98

7 — Communication respecting the forwarding the
maturation of Grapes by excision of part of
the bark, 105

8" — Letter from Luther Richardson, Esq. on the sub-
ject of restoring Trees injured by field mice, 108

9— 'Statement of the Society's Funds, - - - 1 12

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY,

CHOSEN JUNE, 1810.

Hon. JOHN ADAMS, L.L.-D. President.
AARON DEXTER, M.D. First Vice-President.
S. W. POMEROY, Esq. Second Vice-President.
Rev. J. T. KIRKLAND, D. D. Recording Secretary,
JOHN LOWELL, Esq. Corresponding Secretary.
THOMAS L. WINTHROP, Esq. Treasurer.
Hon. D. A. TYNG, Esq. "^

EBEN PREBLE, Esq. ' j

Hon. P. C. BROOKS, Esq.
SAMUEL G. PERKINS, Esq.
Rev. J. S. BUCKMINSTER,
JOHN PRINCE, Jan. Esq.

yTriistees.

PREFACE

THE Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for pro-
moting Agriculture present to the public a collection of
papers, which, though not wholly original, will, it is hop-
ed, be found useful.

In the present condition of our country no object per-
haps is dearer to the Agriculturalist and Manufacturer,
than the importing and breeding of the Spanish Merino
Sheep, the wool of which, for most uses, is incomparably
file best in 1 lie world. The essay of lord Somerville, there^
fore, on the nature, feeding, and treatment of sheep is par-
ticularly valuable. In their last publication the Trustees
offered a premium of 250 dolls, for the first five rams of the
Merino breed imported pure from Spain, and thesamesuni
for the first ten ewes. Notices of these premiums were
made public in the newspapers and custom-iiouses gener-
ally through the State. The premiums for the rams have
been claimed and paid. The first ram was brought from
Spain by capt. Barllei, of Plymouth. The next four
rams were imported by capt. Knap, of Newburyport ;
and recently forty-seven full-blooded Merinos have been
imported from Spain by Cornelius Coolidge, Esq. who
claims the premiums for the ewes. These premiums will
be paid on his complying with the condition, accompany-
ing them, which was, that the sheep shall be sold to far-
mers within the state. These several importations have
been probably made in consequence of the premiums of-
fered by the Society. The value of this breed of sheep is
now so well ascertained, that the high price at which they
sell will be a sufficient inducement with future importers to
bring them into the country, separately from any encour-
agement on the part of the Trustees.

Cultivators will be pleased and instructed by the ac-
count of peach trees, contained in these papers, as it affords
hints for the raising and perfecting of the most wholesome
and delicious of fruits.

Dr. Darwin's dissertation on the descases of plants is
curious and philosophical ; and the abstract here given

is important, and calculated to awaken the attention oi
gardeners respecting the best methods of destroying dele-
terious insects.

The observations of the last mentioned author on fruit
bearing trees, and on various modes of procuring and im-
proving them, are highly ingenious, and merit the perusal
of every horticulturist.

It would be needless in a country like ours to say a sin-
gle word on the utility of husbandry. The yeomanry of
Massachusetts cannot but know, that it is their only na-
tural, solid, and permanent source of wealth ; and that it
must forever supply the most substantial comforts of life to
individuals, and the richest revenues to the state. But the
Trustees would again repeat a request, already very often
urged, that those, who themselves handle the plough in
summer, would in time of winter exercise the pen, and
give to the public the result of their labours. Let them
state the success of their experiments; — say if the com-
mon cause of rye being winter-killed does not lie in sowing
new grain, instead of that which is one year old ; — if brush,
to be effectually destroyed by the scythe, must be mown
at a certain time of the moon ; — or if pumpkins growing
in corn fields materially lessen the crop of grain. By re-
marking and communicating these and similar facts, they
will increase the pleasure of tilling their grounds, the pro-
duct of their toil, and the knowledge of their art in the
community.

Boston^ June \2y 1810.

PREMIUMS

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

1st. TO the person who shall discover an effectual and cheap method
of destroying the Canker-worm, and g-ive evidence thereof, to the sat«
isfaction of the trustees, on or before the first day of June, 1811, a
premium of one hundred dollars^ or the society's gold medal.

2d. And a premium of one hundred dollarst or the society's gold
medal, to the person who shall, on or before the first day of October,
1811, discover an effectual, and the cheapest method of destroying
iSie Slug-worm, and give evidence thereof to the satisfaction of the
trustees.

od. To the person who shall produce the largest quantity of wool,
meat and tallow, from the smallest number of sheep, not less than ten,
raised on his own farm, a premium of thirty dollars ; to be claimed on,
or before the 1st day of August, 1811.

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 satisfaction of the trustees, on or before January 1,
1511, one hundred dollars, or the society's gold medal.

5th. To the person who shall present to this society the most com-
plete (being nearly complete) Hortus Siccus, exhibiting distinct spe-
cimens of the greatest variety of grasses, in general use, and specify,
to the satisfaction of the trustees, their respective qualities, product-
iveness and usefulness as food for different kinds of animals, the
gold medal, and Jifty dollars s to be claimed on or before the 1st day
of October, 1812.

6th. To the person who shall produce, from seed, the best growth
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, tiventy Jive dollars ; if all of oak, fifty dollars.
Claims to be made on or before the 1st of October, 1812.

7th. To the person who shall ascertain by accurate analysis, the
constituent parts of several fertile soils respectively, and in like man-
ner the parts of several poor soils, and thus shall discover the defects
of the latter ; and shall show by actual experiments how the said de-
fects may be remedied by the addition of earths or other ingredients
which abound in the country, and in a manner that may be practised
\>y common farmers, fifty dollars. And if it shall appear to to tho

satisfaction of the trustees, that, upon an extensive practice, the im-
pro^'ement of the poor soil would be more than equivalent to the ex-
pense 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 November 1, 1813.

8th. To the person who shall, by actual experiment, on a quantity
not less than half a ton, shew the best method of curing- clover hay
with salt; reg-ard 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
vicinitv. Claims to be made on or before the last Friday of Novem-
ber, 1811.

9th. To the person who shall give the most satisfactory account,
verified by experiments, of the effect of ploughing in green crops for
manure, or not less than two acres, the silver medal, or thirty dollars.
Accounts with certificates, to be produced on or before the first
Tuesday in March, 1811.

10th. To the person who shall lay before the Board, the most satis-
factory account of tlie application and effect of manures, verified by
practical experiments, on not less than one acre for each sort of ma-
nure, the silver medal, or thirty dollars. To be produced on or before
the first Tuesday in December, 1810.

11th. It is required that the communications, for which the forego-
ing premiums are offered, be accompanied with proper certificates
from the selectmen, magistrates, or clergymen of the vicinity, or oth-
ej" vouchers, to the satisfaction of the trustees ; that they be de-
livered 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
outside a corresponding ixiark, and on the inside his name and address^

AGUirULTUHE.

THE Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for
promoting Agriculture, impressed with the import-
ance of giving to the piiblic the best information
respecting Sheep they could obtain, republish lord
Somerville's late Essay on that animal, for the ben-
efit of the people of Great Britain, shewing the
advantages in improving the wool, arising from
mixing and crossing the different breeds, and es-
pecially with the Merino Rams. Some observations
are added of Mr. Lasteyrie and Dr. Parry ; omitting
only what is local and better calculated for that coun-
try than this.

AN

ESSAY ON SHEEP.

WITH a view to the improvement of our Short*
Wool Sheep, and those more particularly belong-
ing to our mountainous districts, hitherto neglected,
I have thought it a duty incumbent on me to call
the attention of my countrymen to this point, and
have therefore ventured to publish a short essay on
a subject which every man, at all acquainted with
rural or political economy, must admit to be of the
utmost importance both to our landed and commercial
interests.

2

10

Assertions are to the utmost avoided, and conclu-
sions are hinted at, which a close attention to the
various breeds of our sheep, and the operation of
our soil and climate on them, might with safety-
warrant.

The breeds of sheep in this kingdom may be
arranged into tw o classes ; those which shear the
short^or clothing, and those which shear the long,
or combing, wool ; of the former we have specimens
in the South Down, Hereford, and Norfolk breeds,
and of the latter in the Lincoln and Leicester. 'The
quality of the flesh in each class, follows the char-
acter of the wool; the short-woolled sheep being
close in the grain as to flesh, consequently heavy in
the scale, and high-flavoured as to the taste ; the
polled, long-woolled sheep, more open and loose in
the grain, larger in size.

Every practical man, looking over the map of
England, who has given himself time to study the
properties of its soil and climate, will admit, that one
half the kingdom at least, is by nature appropriated
to the short-woolled, fine-grained breed. He might
with safety admit much more than half; for it at
length appears, that our climate, from the most
northern parts to the most southern, can grow wool
of the finest possible quality. Taking into consid-
eration the upland pastures, the light convertible til-
lage, the loamy soils, and mountainous districts of
the kingdom, such a proportion must be admitted
to be moderate and just. But notwithstanding the
great importance of the short-woolled sheep to the
nation, the whole attention, both of farmers and
breeders, has for these thirty years past been ab-
sorbed in carrying to a degree of perfection hardly
credible, the heavy, long-woolled sheep ; such as
Lincoln, Cotswould, Romney Marsh, and new Lei-
cester, but more particularly the last.

11

To such extreme perfection has the frame of this
animal been carried, that one is lost in admiration
at the skill and good fortune of those who worked
out such an alteration. It should seem, as if they
had chalked out, on a wall, a form, perfect in itself,
and then had given it existence. Nay, fresh techni-
cal terms have arisen to express points in these sheep,
thirty years ago unknown : such as the " fore flank,''
and the " cushion," terms universally admitted.

Such is the animal now — almost the reverse of
what it was ; and from whatever source it originated,
whether from the care and nice observation of breed-
ers, or from crosses with Ryeland or Dorset flocks,
is immaterial. Wherever land is deep and strong
enough to bear long-wooUed sheep, there let them
be bred ; but let them not be foisted by false argu^
ments on land unable to maintain them ; by doing
so the public is most essentially injured. Our
combing and coarse wool- manufacturers must be
supplied, and therefore our strong land should be
allotted to carry coarse, heavy sheep ; but if, on the
same false principle, one is to be pushed every where,
to the exclusion of the other ; I, for one, am old-
fashioned enough to prefer clothes to carpets, a
necessary to a luxury. If carpets are to be export^
ed, well and good ; they may perhaps pay as well as
coarse woollens sent to South America, or else-
where ; but if carpets are to be consumed at home,
as they have been for some years past, the manu-
facturer indeed is fed by what he earns ; but for any
addition to the national revenue, he may as well sit
with his hands behind him, and at once be fed from
the pocket of the richer classes : it is only receiving
with one hand, and paying with the other; the na-
tion will not be enriched ; the same thing may be
said of every article of luxury consumed at home*
This is very unfashionable doctrine, without doubt ;

12

but it is too true.. No desire of change, or love of
innovation, led me to abandon the long-wooUed sheep
of my own neighbourliood, the Bampton breed dashed
with the new Leicester ; an undoubted improvement
Was visible from the introduction of the new Leices-
ter. This stock continued to decrease in size con-
siderably, in spite of all attempts, consistent with
profit, to maintain it, notwithstanding fresh rams
were three times brought from Leicestershire, in
the twelve years these sheep were in my possession;
the loss of size in each four years, amounted nearly
to five pounds per quarter. It will naturally be
asked, what sort of poor hungry soil this must have
been, which could not maintain such sheep ? It
was the Vale of Taunton, proverbially known to be
one of the most fertile spots in this kingdom, and
much of the grass land, in which these sheep were
depastured, was equal in strength to any in the Vale -,.
it stands valued at 21. I5s. per acre.

A man must be blind who could withstand such
evidence as this. Nature pointed out that the stock
was too coarse in quality, or our climate unfit, it
matters not which : the fact was plainly marked, and
it was merely an act of common prudence to follow
her dictates.

How many thousands, how many tens of thou-
sands of acres are there in Great Britain, which
stand exactly in the same predicament ! These
sheep were sold ; and the same land, which carried
forty-five breeding ew€s, was immediately stocked
with one hundred and fifty Ryelands in their stead.
The neighbours said they would all be starved ; the
winter Was severe, bat the ewes maintained them-
selves moderately well, and their lambs, at weaning-
time, were in the very best order. The ewes were
depastured on the high lands, west of the Vale of
Taunton, during the succeeding summer, at the rate

IS

often per acre, and came back into the Vale in good
sioic state. One lot of these two-tooth sheep was
bought by a fanner in the neighbourhood, and put
in turnips; between Candlemas and Lady-day they
were all killed; and on an averai;:;e they turned out more
pounds of rough fat, than they were pounds per quar-
ter. Land of the Vale of Taunton might have support-
ed coarse-wouled sheep in size, had they been pushed
m first year's grass, or buried in red clover up to
their knees, and the refuse mown afterwards for hay;
but this was buying a good thing too dear ; it is not
the size of individual sheep, but the quantity of good
meat and wool per acre which must enrich the farm-
er, and feed the public ; and w^e wish to impress
him with the conviction, that no breeds of sheep
should be carried into districts ill adapted, both as
to soil and climate, to receive them ; that, in exer-
tion to improve the carcase, he should not forget
there is such an article as wool ; that, in opposition
to modern doctrines, the improvement of the one is
incompatible with the improvement of the other ; and
that the breed of sheep which, on any given quanti-
ty of land, carries for a continuance the most wool,
as well as flesh, and both of the highest quality, is
that breed to be preferred, of whatever description it
may be, or from whatever country it may come.

In pursuance of the object stated in the commence-
ment (jf this Essay, the improvement of the fleece of
our Short- VV^ooiled Sheep, the author, in the spring
of 1802, made a voyage to Spain, for the purpose
of bringing home a flock of Spanish sheep. This
attempt is not easily accompUshed at any time, but
is more than commonly difficult in a time of war.
It was an object, not only to attain the sheep them-
selves, but the whole system of management adopt-
ed by those who had the care of these flocks in
Spain. In both these particulars, the author has

14

been fortunate enough to succeed. The sheep
we selected from a Trashumante, or travelHng Me-
nno flock, of undoubted high blood.* The rams,
twelve in number, were picked from a flock of two
hundred ; for, except the Manso, or bell-wether,
the males are left entire, on a presumption that they
carry more wool than wethers, and equally fine.
The couples (ewes and lambs) were selected from
a number proportionably large. Of the high blood
and quality of this flock, the admiration of those
shepherds, through whose flocks, twenty- two in
number, they passed in the course of their jour-
ney, about the end of March, was sufficiently in-
dicative, if not otherwise established. Of their pro^
perties as to carcase, and, which is equally material,
their power of living hard, so as to carry much wool
and flesh on a small surface of land, it will be as well
to draw a conclusion from fact, rather than from
assertion. That must not be deemed a bad breed
of sheep, which, after a trial of some centuries, can
maintain its high quality of wool, making two im-
mense annual journies, and in a less space of time
than could well be supposed, more especially when
we recollect that the first journey commences when
lambs are four months old, or even less. There are
few breeds in this country that could support such
periodical marches for any length of time, and not
suffer materially in the form as well as quality of
the carcase, for both arc inseparable,' being, as be-
fore observed, fed from the same sources.

Before any opinion is offered as to the qualities of

* The flocks bearing* fine wool in Spain, are distinguished by the
appellation of Trashumante ; and so called from travelling from one
end of the kingdom to the other ; wintered in Estramadura, and other
warm provinces ; during the summer months they graze on the moun-
tains of Castille, Leon, and Asturias. On the contrary, those flocks
wl\ich are always stationary, are, for that reason, called Estante, and
belong to the provinces of Estramadura, Molina, Cordova, and other
districts.

15

this celebrated stock, (and if any opinion be offered,
it will be done with extreme caution,) the author
thinks it may not be amiss to say, that from the
general character of this breed, as to deformity of
carcase, he was prepared to find them worse than,
on examination, they proved to be. Nor is this de-
formity to be wondered at, when we recollect that
this nation breeds for the wool alone, careless of the
carcase, which, if ever so handsome, from local cir-
cumstances, would bear little proportion to the val-
ue of the fleece : so with us, we have sacrificed all
to the carcase, regardless of the fleece ; whilst any
man, who attentively goes to work, may realize
both wool and carcase, without the possibility of in-
juring either.

The Merino fleece is, in colour, unlike that of any
English breed. There is a dark brown tinge on the
surface of the best fleeces, amounting almost to a black,
which is formed by dust adhering to the greasy, yolky
properties of its pile ; and the contrast between it
and the rich white colour within, as well as that
rosy hue of the skin, peculiarly denoting high proof
or aptitude to fatten, surprise at first sight. The
harder the fleece is, the more it resists any outward
pressure of the hand, with certain exceptions, the
more close and fine will be the wool.

Merino sheep have two properties ; the first is^
that the males have horns, and that the ewes have
none : the second is, a tendency to throatiness, that
is, a loose, pendulous skin under the neck. The
former are patient, as stock to occupy land, without
the slightest tendency to break out, or to wander,
peculiarly the reverse ; but courageous when set on
to fight, and vigorous in all other useful and essen-
tial points beyond all example. The ewes are
easily inured to their layer, and in all respects quiet
and peaceful. If any general principle can be estab-

16

lished, as to perfection in any race of animals, it is
that the males cannot be too hardy and resolute, or
the females too gentle and tractable ; a disposition to
restlessness and irritability, I consider to be a very
dangerous quality, and to be avoided altogether.

On their first importation, there was a great defi-
ciency of milk in the ewes, as well as a tendency to
barrenness, which is now ascertained to have arisen
from the severe journeys to which this race of sheep
is twice in the year subjected, when in Spain, and
to which their valuable properties have been blindly
attributed. They are now regular in their time of
lambing ; their udders are as full, and they are as
good nurses as any sheep I have ever seen. It was
not till some years after their arrival in this country,
when they had become inured to the climate, that
any instance of double lambs occurred, now it is
not an unfrequent occurrence.

That power to influence the character of a flockj
which is said to exist in the male rather than in the
female, is here apparent, first, inasmuch as the
polled rams of this breed, which arc occasionally to
be found, if descended from a polled ram, will pro-
duce male stock having a tendency to be without
horns, or at least to have only snaghorns ; and, on
the other had, the get of the Merino ram, on shear-*
ling ewes got also by himself, have a strong tendency
to horns, almost equally so with the wethers of this
breed, which resemble very much the small original
Dorset wether; for this reason, I judge that a cross
between the best shaped Merino ram, and the old
Dorset ewe, will be excellent, because the outward
character being much alike, the want of quantity and
quality of wool, in the Dorset breed, will be correct-
ed in the most striking manner ; this tendency in the
Merino sheep, to grow wool in abundance, must add
materially to the health of the flock, by covering the

17

most vital and tender parts of the body, namely the
belly and the breast. And it should seem we have
the means of carrying the Spanish fleece into the
horned breeds of this island, by means of the ram,
without destroying the existing character of the
breed, whatever it may be ; an object of no little
importance in the eyes of farmers. For it is ob-
servable in crosses of horned ewes with polled rams
(natts,) that the females are usually polled and the
males horned ; it possibly may not be so in all breeds,
but the author has seen it in crosses between the
Leicester ram and Dorset ewe ; he has also proved
the fai^t to be so, by a cross between the Bampton
ram and Dorset ewe ; indeed, to establish this fact
was the only object of such a cross. The same,
therefore, may be practicable by means of the evA^e
m polled breeds ; such as the Ryeland, South Down,
and Berkshire natts, sheep themselves probably of
the same class, but varieties as to other short- wool
breeds, inasmuch as they have the fine fleeces and
fine skins of our horned breeds ; and, above all, they
will stock as hard as to weight of fleece and mutton
per acre, more especially the two first mentioned.
The effect of a Spanish ram on the fleeces of a horn-
ed flock such as the Dorset, the Welsh (a sheep of
neat frame,) on the Wiltshire, the Norfolks, the
Dartmoor, the Scotch, and indeed the whole race of
horned mountaineers, will be neither more or les§
than a very great increase of profit on the fleece,
with very little, if any, injury whatever to the form
of the animal. And when we consider, that the
fleece makes an annual return, the rental as it were,
and that a quick return is allowed to be the farmer's
best object, while the carcase, like the fee, can only
be once sold, we may express alike our surprise and
regret that such fatal supineness should have thus
3

18

long prevailed, on a subject of the most manifest im-
portance, both to the tenant and the landlord.

The second property to be noted in this breed,
is a tendency to throatiness, a pendulous skin under
the throat, which is generally deemed a bad quality
in this country, and the very reverse in Spain, where
it is much esteemed, because it is supposed to de-
note a tendency both to wool and to a heavy fleece ;
this property is usually accompanied with a sinking,
or hollow in the neck.

In every breed of this kingdom which has come
under the author's examination, and there are few to
which he is a stranger, he has invariably found the
throaty sheep not good in their skins, with every symp-
tom of turning out ill in their proof, (that is, evincing
no aptitude to fatten,) with exception of the Ry eland.*
This last, like the Spanish breed, carry wool of such
high value, as to counterbalance the ill impression of
throatiness. Their skins are full as good, and, in
some instances, more clear and rosy; a point of infi-
nite importance in sheep, and a sure token of vigour,
and consequent disposition to fatten. Among the
shepherds in Spain, this property is very much es-
teemed; and they persist in commending it as an in-
variable symptom of health, always denoting a good
skin, and a tendency to abundant wool. These rea-

* In treating of Ryeland sheep, it nvay not be amiss to remark that
they are not a mountain sheep, as many suppose, but are bred in the
vales of Hereford and Ross, on the very same land with the Hereford
oxen.

How many favorite theories will be knocked on the head by this
one fact ! If the same land breeds the smallest and finest wooUed
sheep, it breeds also the largest oxen in our kingdom. A country
must be envied, which, without minute attention to the science of
breeding, can turn out two opposite animals in size, so good in their
kind. It teaches us that more dependance is to be placed on the breed
or race of animals than we are at first aware. We ofter no comment
on circumstances seemingly so contradictory; excepting these sheep
are usually kept in small flocks, and run on the summer fallows, and in
other respects extremely hard.

19

sons are substantial enough to bring into repute any
property whatever, and are strictly apphcable to eve-
ry sort of breed, in every country, as far as relates
to wool.

Nor is it possible for any good judge to reject, on
the score of carcase, a sheep whose skin is of this
complexion, when accompanied, as it is, with a con-
stant aptitude to quick proof. It was necessary to
speak clearly on this point, for such a property must
at first offend the eye of our farmers ; but, when un-
attended by those bad symptoms above-mentioned,
will probably cease to be an object of offence. By
drafting the most faulty ewes, and a due attention to
the rams, the throatiness, and the sinking, or hollow
in the neck, which usually accompanies it, can be got
rid of; so that, in a few years, it is probable few
traces of them will be found. If they are faulty in
these points, they are level on the back, and behind
the shoulders. There is no reasonable foundation to
conclude that a deformity in the shape is essential to
the production of good wool ; the fact is not so.

Attention has not been paid, in Spain, to the form
of their sheep; and it must be evident to every judge
of stock, that a journey from the mountains of the
north to the plains of the south of Spain, cannot be
otherwise than productive of more injury to the
frame and constitution of the animal, than of benefit
to the fleece, which, like the frame, is dependant on
and nourished by the blood. Does it stand to reason,
that a long drift of four or five hundred miles every
spring and autumn, and that at the rate of eighty or
a hundred miles per week, can be beneficial to sheep ?
Undoubtedly not. Have we a single breed which
could support it uninjured ? None, which would not
have been hunted into deformity.

So far from thinking hot climates necessary to fine

20

wool, we know that coarse-fleeced sheep are to be
found in many parts of Spain; that in Portugal, wool,
unmixed with Merino blood, is, of the coarsest qual-
ity, worth about Is. 2d. per pound. We know too,
that after shearing, every pile is coarse, and improves,
both to the eye and touch, as the autumn advances.
No race of sheep has ever been seen, even in this
northern climate, to be more impatient of heat, or
more oppressed by it, than the Merino. By due at-
tention to food ; by moderation and equality of keep;
by shelter in the winter months; and by those com-
mon regulations which induce health in the animal
itself, w^e shall stand as high, as to the produce of
wool and meat, as any nation in Europe. One in-
ference may be clearly deduced from the long drift
and yolky fleece of the Merinos ; namely, that they
are equal, if not superior, to any breed in these king-
doms to work in the fold. We may add, that the
length and thickness of ^vool covering their belly and
hind legs, together with a closeness of pile on the
back and loins, must of necessity enable them to
support more severity of cold and wet than any breed
as yet introduced among us; unless we admit, that
length and fineness of wool are inseparably connect-
ed with weakness of constitution, which evidence
from all quarters forbids us to do. With respect to
the yolky fleece above noticed, this property alone
demonstrates the superiority of this wool to all others,
for every purpose of clothing manufacture; and as it
is occasionally found in other breeds of short- wool
sheep, I think it right to enlarge a little upon it. —
By "yolk," is meant that yellow substance which es-
capes from the skin, and is to be found in the wool
of every Merino sheep, when in health and good con-
dition. This singular property it is which qualifies
wool for the milling or felting process, and which, in

21

fact, makes the difference between good and bad
cloth. It is the surest symptom of health in sheep ;
and I cannot help considering it as similar to those
wholesome secretions in other animals which are the
invariable concomitants of health, if not carried to
excess : I mean that cold dew which we find in the
nose of the ox and cow : this moisture dried up, is
the first and surest sign of fever ; so, in the human
species, when the nasal discharge is regular, health
prevails ; in fever, it constantly disappears. I may
be mistaken in caUing these properties analogous ; I
am not in stating that they are severally the surest
criterion of health and disease. When a sheep is
fatted, this yolk is thrown out in an increased degree ;
and, in our English breeds, would probably be at-
tended with a deterioration of the wool ; but in the
Merino race of sheep, as far as my practice has gone,
it adds only to the length of the pile. I see no defi-
ciency of yolk in Merino sheep in England, well
kept and inured to the climate ; and I am decidedly
of opinion, that it is the best proof we can have to guide
us, that any climate is not too severe, whilst the yolk
rises. If it will rise in Lapland, Merino sheep will
prosper there.

In other respects, these sheep are not much unlike
some EngUsh breeds. The rams, indeed, have a
buff tinge in their countenance ; they may reach IVlbs.
a quarter, when tolerably fat; the ewes are not low
on their legs, are very fine in bone, and may reach
lllbs. a quarter. There are various opinions as to
their origin ; Mr. Toilet thinks it may be traced from
Asia Minor and Greece, into Italy; from thence,
probably, into Spain. Columella, and other writers,
call them *' Tarcntine sheep," from the city of Ta-
rentum. We have it recorded, that they originalh
came from England in the beginning of the fourteenth

22

century : be this as it may, it is high time they re^
turn, to it again : for although there are different opin*-
ions as to their origin; within a few years there wiU
be but one as to their value.

As to distempers, I know of none to which this
breed is peculiarly subject. It has been said, that
they were subject to constant foot rot ; it is infectious,
if sheep once affected are suffered to remain long in
the flock ; but originates in the corrosive properties
of the night dews and exhalations arising from them,
as I judge, and not from animalcules, as some have
supposed. In Spain the flocks are never let out of
the fold to feed, until the departure of the morning
dews, which are deemed prejudicial to sheep, and
may in part occasion that well-known disorder, the
rot in the liver. There is little doubt, that it is the
immediate occasion of the foot rot, which, in this
climate, rarely makes its appearance before St. Bar^
tholomew's day (the 25th of August,) when the dews
usually begin to make their appearance, as is ex-
pressed by the old adage—" St Bartholomew brings
on cold dew." The remedy, if instantly applied, is
certain; — a caustic wash rubbed in between the hoof,
will stop the stripping of the skin, and the horn of
the hoof toward the toe being cut away (so as to see
the clear transparent horn,) leaves no room for this
foetid substance to get hold of the foot. Great care
must be taken, not to cut away the extreme point of
the hoof called the " toe- vein," because it deprives
the foot of due circulation of the blood ; in other re?
spects, the foot cannot be pared away too close :
when the corrosive styptic has been rubbed in, let
the sheep be kept in a dry place, to allow the remedy
to have its due effect ; and separate the stripped and
lame sheep from the flock for two days, and the dis-
case will disappear : if it is to be seen for more than

23

forty-eight hours in the same animal, it is generally
the fault of the shepherd. The disease has been sup-
posed inherent in the land : I am of opinion this is
not the case, because I know that land, supposed to
be deeply tainted, has lost (judging from the sheep
depastured on it) all vestige of the disease, although
unbroken, and not even manured on the sward,
which happened to be very old. On that part of the
author's farm on which the Merino sheep usually de-
pastured, the foot rot prevailed to the greatest degree
when occupied formerly by the heavy long- wool sheep
of that district ; it has been completely subdued for
several years.

They are subject to no constitutional disease, from
which other breeds are exempted after the lambs have
weathered the first three weeks, and even during that
period, only from the shortness of the wool when
first dropped, a difficulty to which all fine- wooled sheep
are subject.^ But it requires no remedy beyond
that common caution practised by all the careful
flock- masters of South Britain, namely, without shut-
ting up the ewes and lambs in close confined build-
ings, which are injurious, to drive them into some
sheltered homestead, out of the reach of the cutting
blasts of wintry winds and drifting snows, which
even in the southern parts of our island, make dread-
ful havoc where flocks have been left so exposed. I

• Nature seems to have g-uarded with peculiar care this race, as if
conscious of the value of what in her bounty she was giving* to man;
for, strange as it may appear, it is no less true, that when they are first
dropped, the lambs are covered with a long dovy n or hair, which, in
the period of a month, falls off, and is a sure prognostic of the finest
quality of wool. Whether this extraordinary covering is thicker, or
more frequently found in cold climates than in warmer ones ; or
whether it classes them thus next in gradation to the Lama, or tho^e
other animals which, under a hairy covering, carry that downy wool so
celebrated in Asia, is a question rather for the naturalist than the hus-
bandman^

24

know of no farmers more attentive to this substantial
good husbandry, than the farmers of the South
Downs. In Spain the sheep are carefully housed
during the night, or in cold raw weather, for some
days after shearing; they are sweated a day or two
before this operation, to make the wool part well
from the body, and, perhaps, to add something to the
weight. If, in one uniform temperature of climate,
this treatment is essential to the health of sheep, and
beyond a doubt it is so; how much more is it neces-
sary in the variable and uncertain climate of Great
Britain? Yet numbers of us have never given a
moment's thought, to what we may suppose would
be self-evident to men of any capacity whatever ; al-
though we cannot command a temperate or steady-
climate, much of its severity may be counteracted by
cheap and simple means. In the mountainous or
hilly districts, essential benefit to the wool may be
derived from attention to aspect and elevation, as well
as soil ; and where this attention has been paid, wool is
of a superior quality. It is also familiar to every
farmer whatever, that the value of the carcase is much
influenced by an attention to this circumstance : by
stocking the higher ground in summer, where fresh
air may be found; and low, well sheltered lands, ly-
ing to the south, when winter advances; but though
known, this is for ever neglected in practice.

Sheep, in some vales, particularly of the southern
and western dibtricts, where inclosures are small, and
the circulation of fresh air impeded, will pay little or
nothing during the summer months, let the keep be
ever so good, owing to the heat and that instinctive
terror which they have of the maggot or blow-fly. In
the three winter months again, all men consider
themselves fortunate, if their store flock lose nothing
in condition. Reasoning on our own knowledgCj^

25

and oil facts long* established, need any stronger ar-
gument be adduced to show, how attentive we must
hereafter be to such a system, if we had not at this
hour, sheep in every part of the kingdom dying by
thousands of cold, and want of keep ? It is cheaper
to feed the outside than the inside; yet plain as all
this seems to be, the practice is rarely, if any where,
to be found but in Herefordshire : therefore it is, that
the Ryeland is next in quality to the Spanish wool;
and Spanish writers themselves confess it.

It must not be supposed, that I am suggesting
costly buildings for the purpose of cotting sheep in
the night-time during cold weather; two objections
arise to them ; they are not moveable, and may want
fresh air, unless high and large, for air and warmth
are equally necessary to sheep at these seasons*
Nothing can be more simple than that cot or cov-
ered fold I wish to recommend for general adoption
during the cold months.

A circular wall 12 feet high, inclosing an area of
40 yards diameter, and on the inside of this wall, a
shed, the roof of which slopes inward with an easy
descent to 6 feet, will completely shelter a flock of
many hundred sheep. The excellence of the South
Down flock, occupying a yard in a chalk pit, contrasted
with the ceconomy of its accommodation, cannot fail to
do credit io the good sense and good management of
Mr. Boys who farms it. Where snow is likely to be
drifted, such pits should be protected by a mound or
bank round the top; this precaution a\ ould be requi-
site also as a security to stock depasturing near it.

Not a shadow of doubt rests with me, that in the
course of a few years, mider such management,
whatever the breed of sheep may be, the wool of the
young stock will be much improved in quality, and
the carcase kept up at a reduced expense.

4r

26

Lest it should be surmised, that the facts here
stilted, and the conckisions which every judge of
sh€ep will thence be led to draw, should have been
formed on a scale of practice too confined, it is ad-
viseable to suggest, that the flock consists of 340
breeding ewes, and the whole produce at two years
old, is fatted off, with the exception of such draft
ewes as may be sold for stores ; * consequently the
number of the sheep is from 1000 to 1200 ; a scale
not of the largest, but still large enough with safety
to warrant any inference that may be drawn. The
lambs are dropt in the Vale of Taunton, and continue
ill it during the first summer. The store flock is
sununered a short distance from thence, on the hills
bordering on Exmoor Forest. The contrast of cli-
mate must be remarkable, because there is a differ-
ence in the time of harvest a month : our feeding-
sheep are then gi'azed in the exposed, but rich marsh
of Bridge water, long celebrated for its good beef and
fat oxen ; and although this land had the character of
being too strong, and of scovv^ring lambs, even to the
danger of losing them, we found the mixed breed
able to endure it, and thrive surprisingly. Whether

* It has been deemed the criterion of a good and profitable brectl
of sheep, to ripen early, because there is room to multiply such breedg,
far beyond those of slower proof. If a sheep can come to market at
two years old, his fleece will be long" enough for our manufactures,
Mid not sold at an inferior price as skin wool ; much before this period,
it would be unfit. The growth of any high proof breed of sheep, is
far greater the first and second than the third year ; therefore it may
be urged, that more profit can be had from the animal at this time,
than at any later period, its growth and fleece considered. If attempts
had been made to bring into general use a breed of sheep, whose
fleeces were of value, but incapable of getting fat, we should be re-
ceiving with one hand, what we were throwing away with the ether;
ito general benefit could result : but wtien we bring sheep bearing
such lieavy fleeces, and that wool capable of making broadcloths and
kerseymeres, of quality sufficient to obtain the Bath Society's premi-
ums, and of a proof or aptitude to fatten equal to, if not exceeding any
short-wooUed sheep we have, the principle is no longer to be contro-
vened ; it must be considered a breed of extreme value.

•2,7

as an article of food for those, who are robust, or
those, who are delicate, even at the early age of 18
months, when mutton is usually thought indifferent,
it is nutritious and exquisite in flavour. There is a
firmness in the spine fat ; a richness and deep colour
in the gravy ; and a fine texture and tenderness in
the grain, which must command customers, and en-
sure to this breed the good will of butchers, wherever
they may be situated. There are two parties to be
considered, the seller and the purchaser. We hav^
had occasion to note, how essential a ready sale is to
every article of produce, and that this 'circumstance,
in great part, tended to enforce the necessity of a
change of breed. These diversities of soil and cli-
mate, unequalled, probably, within the same space of
ground, enable us to speak with a confidence, it
would be presumption otherwise to do ; because to-
gether they embrace all those leading varieties, which,
some certain spots excepted, are to be found in the
whole United Kingdom.

The quantity of stock hereafter stated to run per
acre, may appear great to many persons; some may
be disposed to doubt the facts. Every possible pre-
caution to ascertain them, has been taken, and to
speak with as much accuracy as can be, where we
are to reason on an average. My wish was not to
deceive myself; I trust it is not in my nature wil-
fully to deceive others. The Ryeland sheep, alluded
to, were summered at 2d, each per week by my own
tenant that season ; we know the fact to be correct,
which he has repeatedly confirmed by declaring, that
it was the exact average per acre. In the marsh,
such a stock in point of numbers, of fat and store
sheep, has been carried, as would be found almost
to exceed belief. The fatting wetlier-hogs and. draft
§tore-ewes, which must be to make the most of them,

€8

kept as high as fat sheep, amounted to more than
four per acre, during the six summer months ; the
store ewes amounted to more than two per acre, and
were large, strong South-down ewes, of Mr. Ell-
man's blood, in all more than six per acre, besides
refuse lambs, &c. &c. and nothing could exceed
their proof. In the winter of 1800 the Vale estate
carried, from the beginning of September, to the
first week in June,700 store-sheep,about 250 lambs in-
cludedjOn one hundred acres of pasture land, of which
sixty were indifferent, and forty as good pasture
land as could be seen : the ground carried more
stock ; probably from the mode of depasturing.
Where sheep work in the fold, tliey must run in large
lots ; and some loss per acre in the stocking may be
incurred, because the profit of the fold is great ; but
where folding is not practised, and the country much
enclosed, sheep should be stocked in small parcels,
thin on the ground, and frequently changed : the
land thereby is not stained, and one lot follows an-
other in perpetual succession. Every judge of stock
knows the value of change, even, occasionally, into
worse keep. It is our fixed belief, that we can car-
ry six and a half Ry elands, per acre, on land (free of
any local consideration) worth one guinea and a half
per acre, with the help of some turnips and pease-
haulm in the dead winter months ; and that with
judgment in the manner of stocking, w^e shall neither
push them beyond their growth nor make them
meat for the butcher, but shall maintain them in
healthy store- state. On the same land, and under
the same circumstances, we can carry four South-
downs, or their cross, and somewhat more per acre.
If our RyeLmd ewes will fatten to twelve pounds
per quarter, our South-downs will reach nearly eigh-
teen ; the rate of stock per acre will, therefore, be

29

found the same in proportion to the size.* The
quantity of good mutton and wool per acre, must
be the only test of good or bad management : it is
on the increased stock of South-downs, which his
estate in Norfolk now carries, that Mr. Coke prides
himself. A noted husbandman from Nottingham-
shire is said to have declared, that he never before
saw an estate so stocked.

The South-down stock, which is now reared on a
farm of the Duke of Bedford, called Maulden, in
Bedfordshire, the nature of the land considered, will
be found to exceed that which belongs to myself.
A very few years ago, great part of this estate was
wild, unproductive heath, valued at 2s. 6d, per acre.
A Norfolk farmer was invited to take it, but declined
any engagement, at any price. Four hundred acres
of it have been broken up. Its situation was such
as to preclude all extra manure, therefore the estate
is making itself by the sheepfold ; it now carries 400
breeding South-down ewes, the stocks amounts to
1200, and the fat sheep finished on the same : there
remain about 150 acres only of heath, to break up,
at which time the estate will carry 1600 sheep. The
South-down stock is large in size, and of the first-rate
quality ; the land cannot now be valued at more
than ten shillings, and the stock three, per acre,
winter and summer. We should rejoice to see any
improvement more substantial, or more beneficial,
than this ; for it is to be remembered, that, in pro-
portion as the sheep. stock incTcascs, heavier and
better crops of corn will be grown. The average of
South-down store stock on Mr. EUrnaa's pastures
at Glynde, he asserts to be four per acre ; as his
sheep are of the largest size, this rate of stocking

* The wethers of each breed vnil be, of course, some ponr>(ls heavier
per quarter.

30

will be found exactly similar to our own. He could
not afford to starve his own sheep, because they
are too valuable to make the difference of feed of the
slightest consequence.

The principle, on which Sir Lawrence Palk con-
ducts his sheep husbandry, needs only to be record-
ed; it will speak for itself. Part of his estate is
rich land, improved by water (which heretofore rau
to waste,) and lies low in the vale of Exeter: the
rest borders upon Haldown. Instead of stocking the
whole with the heavy bodied sheep of the country,
which either must have been stocked so thin per
acre as to pay nothing, or have dwindled in size, or
have been starved, the estate now carries 500 breed-
ing ewes ; on the lower, 200 of the new Leicester
blood, and on the upper part 300 Ryelands, the
produce of which have a large portion of the Merino
blood.

As the winter advances, and the heavy-bodied
sheep go into turnips, the Ryelands are brought
down to run after and clean up the layer, by which
they get well wintered ; and as the summer ap-
proaches, they return to the high lands and work in
the fold.

If any man can devise a system, which, under
such circumstances, will pay more in good produce
per acre, let him suggest it : his information will be
thankfully received. But it will be urged, Why is
it that these men should do more than we do ? Why
do not we draw from our management as much for
the public supply ? Because you are tied down
and fettered by old prejudices, adverse to your
interest; and because they, profiting by a more ex-
tended education, reason on a greater scale, and act
on principles more consistent with nature and good
sense. It. is by the neglect of, or by an unremitting

31

attention to, this great secret, in niral economy ;
and, by the adoption of animals for husbandry la-
bour, which do not consume our food, but, on the
contrary, add most considerably to it, that the nation-
al supply will be either scanty or abundant.

The question having of late been repeatedly asked,
What proportion of the Merino blood it would be
adviseable to bring into the South- down breed with
advantage ? My answer has been — One quarter only,
provided the outward resemblance and character of
the South-down is intended to be preserved ; the
Ryeland, being a white-faced sheep, assimilates with
the Merino more readily, and will bear one half, or
even more.

From the foregiong observations it will appear,
that, in its common application to British husbandry,
tlie Spanish breed of sheep has the power, perhaps
exclusively, to maintain its quality of wool ; for,
strong keep w^ill lengthen, but will not open or de-
teriorate the pile ; that it has, without question ame-
liorated the quality, and what is of more importance,
has added considerably to the quantity of our native
short- wool fleeces, whilst, at the same time the proof
or aptitude to fatten has increased rather than dimin-
ished. Supposing, then, that no great improvement
in the shape should be obtained, it becomes to any
man simply a question between his eye and his pock-
et ; if he must have beauty, and that, too, of an un-
wieldy description, let him have it ; but if he prefers
profit, which is supposed to be the more substantial "
acquisition of the two, he knows where it may be
found. A trite but wise adage says, *' Handsome
is, that handsome does."

He was a bold man, who first ventured to intro-
duce among us an Alderney cow ; and he must have

had an eye stedfastly fixed on this adage for conso*
latioa ; yet the event has justified his hardiness.
Just so with these Merino sheep ; but, as other
breeds have been improved, so by careful selection
may these ; for the foundation, good wool, and good
and early proof, are not deficient.

This race of sheep has retained all its quality of
pile m Saxony, as w^ell as in Sweden and Denmark,
wiiere it has been spreading for 50 years past ; in
proof of which, 200 bags of Merino wool, scoured
an0 sorted, were imported some years ago into this
country, by one person, and the whole of it sold at
the primest price of Spanish wool : when manufac-
tured into cloth, it worked up as well, as it looked
in sample. The exertions M. Lasteyrie, in his late
work (Histoire de I'introduction des Moutonsalaine
fine d' Espagne, dans les divers Etats de P Europe,
et au Cap de Bonne Esperance) must not pass un-
noticed ; his knowledge has obviously been obtained
in the sheep-fold, and the fluency and correctness
with which he details the various diseases of sheep,
and their remedies, declare him to possess a shep-
herd's knowledge of a flock.

* In his commencement of the subject, he expresses
himself thus : " The diflferent go\^rnments of Eu-
rope had long acknowledged the advantages that
would be derived to agriculture and commerce, from
the introduction of fine wools into their respective
statps ; but their views meeting opposition in the
ignorance and prejudice of the times,. a considerable
number of years elapsed, before they set about real-
izing an idea, which, at first, seemed chimerical ; at
length there appeared men equally commendable
for their patriotism and for their knowledge, who
have laboured with zeai and perseverance, to enligh-

33

ten their fellow-citizens, by producing facts to prove^
that nature, far from opposing itself to the preserva-
tion of fine-wool sheep in certain climates, seemed,
on the contrary, to lend itself complacently to the
exertions of industry. I believe I have demonstrat-
ed in my Treatise on Sheep, that the fine wools of
Spain depend neither on the voyage, nor on the soil,
nor the climate, nor the pasture; but that it depends
on other causes, and that it is possible to have in
France and elsewhere, wool of the same quality as
that of Spain. My travels in the North of Europe
have offered facts and observations, which have afresh
demonstrated this truth. I have found in the far
greater number of the flocks I have examined, wool,
which, judging from the eye, or the touch, equals in
beauty and fineness that of Segovia and Leon ; so
much so that, in my opinion, no doubt can remain,
that we can obtain superfine fleeces in every part of
Europe, where pastures are to be found, and where
we can depend on winter food, on which sheep can
be supported. These wools make cloths as fine, as
silky, and supple, as those manufactured of Spanish
wool, as attempts made in France, and other coun-
tries prove. But were it true, that the food, climate,
and other local circumstances, had a certain influence
on the intrinsic qualities of wool, such as the elas-
ticity, the strength, the softness, &c. &c. it would
not be the less proved, that, at all events, cloths,
fine and beautiful enough to satisfy persons the most
diflicult on this point, can be obtained ; and that a
nation can easily do without the fine wools of Spain,
and feed its finest manufactures with those drawn
from its own proper soil. Nevertheless, as these
truths are still held indoubtby some persons, and lest
these doubts should have a considerable influence
on our agriculture and our commerce, I thought it
5

34

my duty to publish these facts, which must give a
new degree of force and certainty. I here present
to view the actual state of Merino flocks naturalized
in Europe."

He says that a Merino flock came into Sweden in
1723 ; that from the year 1740 to the year 1780, a
bounty of 75 per cent, was allowed to those who
sold fine wool ; in 1780, these bounties were reduc-
ed to 15, and 1786, to 12 per cent; and in 1792,
being no longer deemed necessary to encourage this
breed, they ceased. In 1764, Sweden possessed
65,369 Merino sheep, of the pure blood, and 23,384
of the mixed blood : since that period they have
constantly increased in number, in spite of the difli-
culty occasioned by the length of winter and severity
of the climate. That the Merino sheep preserve, in
Sweden, their pristine form ; that the fleeces have
lost nothing of their equality of length, their elasticity
and fine quality of pile ; that their weight continues
as great as in Spain ; that he has seen Merino rams
whose fleeces weigh thirteen pounds each ; and that,
when seasoned to the climate and properly fed, he
has seen them larger and finer sheep than in Spain.
Upper Saxony, he says, is the country next to Swe-
den, where the introduction of the Merino breed is
of the longest date ; and it is in Saxony where this
naturalization has met with the most marked success,
and produced effects the most beneficial : the native
breeds have, by a mixture of Merino blood, profited
in an equal degree. The first importation was in
1765; the next in 1778. Mr. Lasteyrie says, he
has seen many different flocks, and has found the
pure Merino, as well as some mixed breeds, pro-
ducing wool of the first quality ; indeed, the sheep-
walks of Saxony are, at this moment, more produc-
tive than any other species of husbandry ; and that
the wool sells at three times the price ("un valeur

triple audessusj of the wools of the country. Saxo-
ny re-rs about 1,600,000 sheep ; of which, 90,000
are Merinos, and the mixed breed.

They were introduced into Prussia by Frederick
the second, in the year 1786. Some of these, dis-
tributed over the country, from mismanagement and
gross neglect, have degenerated and died ; others he
has seen, which preserve their pristine qualities.

In Denmark, and in various parts of Germany,
Mr.Lasteyrie has seen this race of sheep always pros-
pering, if well treated ; and in this and every other
country, degenerating from want of food and neglect;
always, however, doing as well as the native breeds
in the same keep, and in some cases better ; that the
more regular and ample the supply of food is, wheth-
er of grass or green vegetables, the heavier and finer
will be the fleece, the larger in size, and more per-
feet in shape, will the sheep be. He strongly rec-
ommends housing ; but adds, that foul, close sheep-
cots are injurious ; that a free circulation of air is al-
ways founa beneficial ; and that this breed of sheep
suffers more from heat than from cold — (this doc-
trine has been repeatedly confirmed by our practice
at home ;) that they will get fat as quick as any in-
digenous breed, in any country, and have done so
wherever a comparison has been made.

The details of the treatment of the Merino flock
at Rambouillet, a national farm near Paris, merit no-
tice ; they appear to result from much patient obser^
vation. An experiment was there made, which de-
notes the peculiar character of this breed, and its
tendency to carry wool. A ewe, eighteen months
old, was left unshorn ; the next season, her fleece,
when shorn, weighed fourteen pounds ten ounces ;
and its pile, which was double the usual length, lost
nothing as to weight, because few ewes would have
given more wool, if clipped at the usual periods.

56

Another ewe was shorn at thirty months old, and
gave a still greater quantity of wool, although she, at
that season, suckled a lamb ; her fleece weighed
twenty-one pounds, and the pile was eight inches
long. In the ninth y^ar (1800,) eight ewes, whose
fleeces were of two years growth, gave from sixteen
to twenty pounds each. It appeared from these dif-
ferent experiments, that Merino wool, of two years
growth, will double its length, and will preserve all
its fine quality ; it was not observed that the sheep
subjected to this experiment, suffered particularly
from heat, or that their health was in any degree injured.
It is possible that this property of the Merino
fleece, to grow beyond the period usual in our breed
of sheep, may be productive of some new manufac-
ture, where great length and fine quality of pile is
requisite ; but the hazard of the blow-fly, and the
chance of losing, in hedges and brakes, any part of
a fleece, after it is once fit for a manufacture, will not
allow of this practice becoming general, admitting
even that the sheep suffer nothing in their proof dur-
ing the summer months, from the weight of the
fleece, which, in a large scale of practice, is improb-
able, and that the wool should be found to pay as
well for growing to this length, as it would when
shorn in common course ; but we have taken the
liberty of noticing a circumstance so novel to us,
because our English breeds are all supposed to cast
their fleeces at a certain season of the year, if not
shorn, with exception to lambs, which hold their
fleeces— (this is quoted by many as an argument
against shearing lambs;) because the fact has also
been doubted by some of the best informed and lib-
eral amongst us, not supposing the reporters of Ram-
bouillet meant to deceive, but that some mistake
must have been made. A sample of this wool is

37

now in England ; I have carefully examined it, and
can bear testimony to the fact.

The Duke of Bedford, who left Paris at the mo-
ment when hostilities were about to commence, con-
sequently the latest, as well as one of the most cor-
rect judges of the matter, declares that he carefully
examined the Merino sheep at Rambouillet, and
that he found them of a size he was unprepared to
expect, and that still the wool preserved its original
purity. Samples of the wool taken when the sheep
first arrived, and at various periods since that time,
were examined by him, with all possible accuracy,
and evidently declared a progressive improvement.
He thought the wether sheep, of the pure blood,
might be fed to twenty -five pounds per quarter ; a
size beyond which, it will not be advisable to push
them, unless vanity is to be gratified at the expense
of profit.

M. Pictet, editor of the Bibliotheque Britannique,
in frequent details of the success which attends these
sheep, both on the national farms near Paris, and on
his own, near Geneva, where his flock consists of
400 Merino sheep, says, in his 210th Number : —
" In our Journal, we have given the fifth annual re-
port of our flock of the pure blood, originally drafted
from that of Rambouillet. It is now clearly proved,
by the experience of a great many husbandmen, that
the Merino breed succeeds remarkably well, and
without degenerating ; and that this valuable acqui-
sition, which France owes, in a great measure, to the
managers of Rambouillet, is fully established. The
Merinos must keep their ground, from the very na-
ture of things ; for husbandmen will employ their
capitals in the way they find the most advantageous.
** It is now almost unnecessary to publish facts
which, with a little variation, are merely repetitions
of what has before taken place ; but, as the preju-

38

dices of husbandmen are very difficult to remove,
in endeavouring to convince the incredulous it is
necessary to lay before them all the proofs we pos-
sess ; and there is always something new occurring.

" One hundred and fourteen store ewes fbrebis
portieres J of the pure blood, have reared 111 lambs
{!i& rams, and 55 ewes.) In the commencement of
the lambing season (in the first fortnight of Decem-
ber,) we had ten miscarriages. I was from home at
the time, and the only reason my shepherd could as-
sign for this accident (a rare one in well-managed
flocks) was, that the ewes had got a custom of leap-
ing over a ditch in one of the enclosures. However
this may be, the deficiency was almost made up, by
ten of the ewes having twins, only one of which died.

" The quantity of wool has not been so consider-
able this year as last, probably owing to the coldness
of the weather, or some particular state of the air,
and of the pastures, as the same thing has been ob-
served in other well managed flocks, and as my own
has always been kept in the best possible state.
The mean weight of the fleeces, of the store ewes,
was 71b. 1 oz."

In a private letter, he says — " I have much ad-
mired the samples of wool you have caused to be di-
rected to me ; I like to see your perseverance gets
the better of prejudices among your neighbours.
The Spanish breed of sheep is a true mine, which
the English have refused to explore till now. I don't
know whether I am mistaken, but I suspect in you
a higher opinion of that breed than you were pleased
to own. It seems that, in order to reconcile your
prejudiced countrymen to the admission of these for-
eign sheep, you disguised them under the Ryeland
and South Down cloak ; and knowing that meat and
fat are, in England, the necessary passports of good
fleeces, you particularly insisted upon the carcase be-

39

ing not injured by the introduction of the Spanish
blood. Is it your opinion that there will be more
profit for you in crossing the Spanish rams with the
Ryeland and South Down ewes, than in breeding the
Spanish in and in ? Have you any experiment
which makes you suppose that a degeneration
would take place by persevering exclusively in the
same blood ? Now, if there was no degenera-
tion, (as I am led to suppose, by my experience, and
that of many others in France,) would not there be
infinitely more profit in keeping the pure Spanish
breed, than by crossing ? The reputation of that ex-
cellent breed cannot but increase and extend annual-
ly, in Great Britain. If the monopoly created by
your wool laws, in favour of the manufacturer, was
once abolished, the Spanish sheep would, no doubt,
grow more and more popular. The advantages I
experience, by the keeping of that breed, would cer-
tainly be still greater with you, since you have al-
ready hired out Spanish rams at one hundred guineas
per annum ; whereas, I could not sell them higher
than twenty-five. You will see, however, in the
Number of September, of the Bibliotheque Britan-
iiique, that the produce of my flock is immense, con-
sidering the capital. I should learn with great pleas-
ure, that the number of these sheep is increasing in
England ; I shall say, in the terms of Washington,
* the multiplication of useful animals is a common
blessing to mankind.' National jealousy on that
point, is highly absurd. Industry has an immense
field ; and, if rival nations, instead of crossing each
other in agricultural and commercial views, endeav-
oured to take the lead in useful improvements, and
emulate each other in all good things, they would be
reciprocally subservient to the prosperity of their
neighbours, without hurting their own. There
would be more happiness for all individuals, and

40

more people to enjoy it. So much for a dream ! I
come to the samples of your flock.

" I have, in my collection, samples of all English
wools : Your Ryeland is comparable to most of the
Spanish wool of commerce ; but the improvement is
evident in the cross ; the half Ryeland half Spanish,
has all the qualities of fine Spanish wool. There is
one. quality, which is peculiar to the prime Leonese,
viz. an extreme softness, joined with strength and
elasticity. All your samples seem to partake, in a
high degree, of that quality ; and it is peculiarly re-
markable in the cross of Ryeland. I take the liberty
of sending here inclosed, a sample in the yolk, of one
of my best rams. I have not yet met with a finer
fleece among many hundred Spanish beasts * that I
have examined ; as well those lately imported from
Spain, as the flocks that have been naturalized these
many years. That ram belongs to the seventh or
eighth generation, born in France, out of the origin-
al flock arrived from. Spain, always breeding in and
in, with a remarkable increase of weight in the ani-
mals and in their fleece. These facts deserve atten-
tion. You may see in the last report of Tessier and
Hazard, concerning the sheep of Rambouillet, the
results of the comparison between the newly arrived
Spanish rams and ewes, and the old stock issued
from individuals drawn from Spain eighteeen years
ago ; I have seen the two flocks, and would have
prejudged the fact as it is stated. In my flock the
mean weight of the fleeces of the ewes of the Ram-
bouillet breed, has been seven pounds twelve ounces
' (pois de mare) in the volk. Now, the mean weight of
the fleeces of the Spanish ewes arrived last year at
three of my neighbours' premises, has been five
pounds. As to the comparative fineness, no better

* A French idiom expressive of sheep.

4.1 ,

iGrlterion could possibly be obtained, than the price
fixed by the merchants and manufacturers in the
public sale at Rambouillet. The manufacturers do
not act at random, when they give a price full as high
for that wool as for the prime Leonese, coming from
Spain ; they have known its value, by repeated ex-
periments, these many years."

M. Pictet is sometimes disposed to smile at our
bigotted adherence to the outward form of our sheep,
and to those properties which render them capable of
becoming good mutton : but M. Lasteyrie does not
quite give in to the idea of the Continent in this par-
ticular : he says, " the practice of certain good hus-
bandmen in England would be attended with advan-
tage, in my opinion, either where the fleece of lambs
is intended to be preserved two years, or for sheep
which are annually shorn. A little is clipped from
the surface of the fleece of the animal ; say one or
two lines in length. The loss of wool, in a middling
sheep, occasioned by this operation, is not more than
half a pound ; and the growth being thereby accele-
rated, we may expect to have a heavier fleece at
sheering time. We know by experience, that in
order to make our own hair grow vigorously, it re-
quires occasional cutting.

'' It was at first imagined that the Merino breed
w^as not capable of producing, in France, wool of as
fine a quality as they do in Spain, on account of the
climate being colder ; it has also been said, that the
superior quality of the wool is owing to the journies
these animals are made to take ; and, consequently,
that as we cannot manage them in the same way, we
slj^ll never be able to have it of equal fineness.

** All these reasonings having been belied by ex-
perience, some have attempted to depreciate the Me-
rinos, by maintaining that they are incapable of tak-
ing on much flesh, and that their mutton is of a very
6

bad quality ; in a partial view, this objection might
have rhc appearance of some degree ol plausibility ;
it is, however, completely done away with, by facts.
It is not to be denied, ihat the mutton we eai in Spain
is generally lean, tough, aiid ill tasted ; but I have
observed, in my Treatise on Spanish Sheep, that the
bad quality of the mutton in ihat country, is owing
to their sheep not be ing slaughtered until they are
past breedir.g, or until they begin to drop off horn
old age. Those who feed lor the butchers, pasture
their sheep upon commons near towns, already so
eaten down that the sheep can with difficulty keep
themselves alive. I'he Spaniards have very few
wethers fmoutons chatresj in their travelling flocks,
at the utmost, two out of seven ; and, besides, their
rams are never castrated until Uiey become old.

'' Such management must produce bad mutton in
any breed of sheep. Besides, the coarse wooled
sheep in Spain are not better mutton than the Me-
rinos ; and I myself have eaten, in this country. Me-
rino mutton as delicious as our own. What I have
advanced is confirmed by facts, ascertained by Citi-
zens Tessier and Hazard, which we shall give as
stated in their report to the Institute, in the year
eight.

*' The experiments we had formerly made in
feeding of Spanish sheep, have not been fully detail-
ed. It has been undeniably proved, that all those
animals were fattened, and their flesh was at least as
delicate as that of any other breed of sheep.''

Among the stock exhibited by lord Somerville, in
the year 1802, was a Merino ram, reduced almost to
a skeleton, by a tedious vo} age from Spain, in bois-
terous weather, which had since served more than
one hundred ewes, and was taken from the flock the
da} he was sent from Bath. We believe this cir-
cumstance could hardly be known, and that it was

/ 45

probably the first time a ram was ever exhibited foi^
public inspection at that time of the year, after serv-
ing any number, much less such a flock as one hun-
dred ewes, running with them all at the same time;
more particularly when we include the sea voyige,
which constandy produces fever, until sheep are sea-
soned to it, and always renders their importation a
matter of exceeding difficulty ; yet, under ail these
disadvantages, there was a natural tendency in him to
lay on flesh and fat, which could not be controlled,
together with a breadth of chest^, a fuhuss in the twist,
or leg of mutton, and a breadth on the back, exem-
plifying the symmetry to which these shet- p, by atten-
tion to the frame, may be brought ; he cleft two inches
thick of fat on the rump.

This subject has, at length, excited a more than
common interest, and numberless questions are asked
as to the return, or profit, per acre, on clothing or
fine wool ; this will depend on the nature of the
keep ; if sheep are to run on pasture land only, dur-
ing the whole year, so much will depend on the na-
ture of the seasons, that no fixed value, or specific
rate of stock can well be given. If a large portion of
this grass is to be kept hained up for winter, and the
season be not favourable, autumn rains, followed
quickly by frost, will kill very much of die foggage,
and the sheep will consequently be very hard driven
for food from candlemas to the next shoot of grass,
however late that may be. The quantity, indeed, of
stock to be carried per acre, as well as their health
and good condition, must be in proportion as there
is more or less produce ; and on the competent and
regular supply of food, the growth of good wool
wholly depends. To elucidate this subject, I cam-ot
do better than give Dr, Parry's general statement of
my claim for the Bath Society's premium, oftcrcd
*' for a* change of breed of sheep, with positive profit

u

resulting therefrom," and his conclusions thereon,
which is, on all hands, acknowledged to be one of the
most able sketches ever given to the public.

" About the year 1800, lord Somerville's stock
(as stated by him in his Memorial to the Society)
consisted o^ forty-five ewes of the long-wooled sort.
Finding these annually degenerating, and also becom-
ing annually less profitable, he changed them, at the
above mentioned period, for one hundred and fifty
Ryeland ewes. In the first year, though the winter
was severe, the ewes supported themselves tolerably
well, and the lambs were in very good order at wean-
ing time. In their future growth, as weathers and
store ewes, they far exceeded in weight their parent
stock. One lot of the weathers sold as high as three
pounds each, and were fed upon grass and hay only.
In the following year, lord Somerville brought from
Spain some rams and ewes of the Merino breed.
These rams, in each subsequent year, have been, and
now continue to be put to ewes of the South Down
and Ryeland breeds ; from each of which crosses a
valuable species of sheep has been obtained, both in
fleece and carcass, the relative value of which has
been detailed by his Lordship, the substance of
which is, that South Down store ewes, at three
pounds per fleece, and at 1^. 10^. per pound, will
pay 5s, 6d, per fleece ; which at 6 1-2 per acre, in
good upland pasture, for seven months, and five
months in turnips, at 14 or 15 per acre, will pay 38^.
or 40^. per acre. Ryeland store ewes, two pounds
and a quarter per fleece, at 2^. 2d. per pound, un-
trinded, nine sheep per acre, and turnips as above,
will pay 2/. 3^. 10 l-2c/. per acre.

" South Down and Merino ewes, of the half breed,
at four pounds per fleece, clean washed, and 3^.
per pound, will amount to 12^. per fleece ; which,
at 7 1-2 per acre, for seven months, amount to 4/,

45"

10^. per acre for the pasture land, with turnips as
above for winter keep. Ryeland and Merino ewes,
of the half blood, at 10 per acre, for seven months,
and turnips as above, at 3 1-4 pounds /^er fleece, and
3f. 2c/. per pound, amounts to 6/. 10^. Sd. per acre.

" The pure Merino fleeces never sold at less than
one guinea each ; the average weight of which has
been iTiore than six pounds each, in the yolk ; and on
the above allowance of pasture for seven months, and
turnips as above, in aid of that pasture, the return will
amount to ten guineas per acre."

ON PEACH TREES.

By Joseph Cooper of New Jersey.

IN looking over a recent Almanack I observ-
ed a piece giving information, that peach trees
had been preserved in the neighbourhood of Phil-
adelphia, by removing the earth from the roots,,
after the first hard frost, in the fall, and returning
it again in the spring, and oiling the body three or
four feet from the ground, with common lamp oil.

The author likewise observes, that peach trees
that stand in hedge rows and thickets, thrive better
than others in cleared ground, which had suggested
the idea, of defending the body of the tree, by wisps
of straw, to prevent the attack of insects.

I take the liberty to make some observations on
the piece alluded to.

In the first place, I think the taking the earth from
the roots of peach trees, in the fall, dangerous, as I
tried that method in the fall of 1779 ; the succeed-
ing winter proved very severe, as to frost, and but

46

little snow ; the consequence was, the loss of evefy
tree so treated, and tlieir worms not injured. On
examining the trees in the spring, I found worms
abundant as usual, and the effect the removing the
earth had on them, was, causing them to injure the
tree more, by descending the roots, as the cold came
on ; they returned to the surface as tlie weather
warmed, and in picking them out, I found the
bark dead, up to the place above whence the earth
had been removed, as if a fire had been made
round the tree, and the top as fresh as usual;
it however died, with the approach of warm weather.
The observation, that peach trees fiourish in hedge
rows, &c. I know is accurate ; they also flourish in
most places where the body is shaded ; this I attrib-
ute to their being preserved from the effects of the
sudden transitions, from heat to cold, and from cold
to heat, which I apprehend are more destructive to
peach and cherry trees, than insects, as I have had
hundreds of fine trees to perish in one summer, after
an irregular winter, without being in the least injured
by worms.

Among many reasons for the opinion, that irregu-
lar winters are destructive to peach trees, one is, that
from good authority, said trees live in Cape May
county in this state, to the age of 30 or 40 years ;
an age, which I attribute to situation, the county be-
ing half surrounded by the waters of the Atlantic
ocean, and Delaware bay ; and in the direction of
the winds, that cause the warm spells here in winter,
and which have not the same effect there, coming as
they do, so immediately off those large waters ; a
proof of this is, that vegetation is generally two
weeks later there than here, though so far to the
southward.

From many observations and experiments, I have
found that the worm most destructive to peach trees.

47

begins to change to a chrysalis about the first of July^
and remains in that btaie about two wetkb, when
they come out a wasp, and proceed to couple and lay
their eggs near the roots of the trees, or in wounds
in any other part ; but do little injury, except in or
near the roots, as, if attended to, the issuing of the
gum will shew their seat, and they are easily picked
out ; but their princij^al object is the root, the bark
being softer there than on the body, and the rapid
growth of the trunk near the root, at the time of the
wasps depositing their eggs, causes a number of
small rents in the bark, which give the worms an
easy entrance. I have observed that trees in a de-
clining state, are more favourable to the increase of
peach worms, than those of luxuriant growth, as the
latter discharge so much gum from the w^ounds, as to
cause the death of the insect, and the former will
bring them into the wasp state a month sooner ; for
which reason I examine the peach trees carefully ev-
ery spring, and those that are in such a declining
state as to render them unprofitable, I hitch a team
tOy and draw up by the roots, as the most certain
mode to destroy all the worms they may contain.

The best method I have yet discovered, to prevent
injury from the worms, is to exaniine the trees care-
fully in the spring, and take out the worms ; repeat
the operation about the 1st July, and hill up the earth
round the trees about eight or ten inches : in Octo-
ber remove the earth, examine as before, then renew
the hill, which leave till the spring examination. By
continuing this process annually, I am confident that
not more than one of my peach trees has been killed
by the worms, for twenty that have died in conse-
quence of irregular winters : and as I have observed
the fluctuating state of the weather in winter, con-
stantly to increase for more than fifty years, I con-
ceive it must proceed from some certam cause,which

48

1 apprehend to be the improvement of the counti*yf
every cleared field operating, when free of snow, as a
reflector of the rays of the sun. That the clearing
of the country is at least in part the cause of our va-
riable winters, is rendered in some measure probable
by a fact communicated to me, viz, that in the thinly
settled parts of the country, peach trees flourish ass
well as they did formerly in the neighbourhood of
Philadelphia : therefore it seems advisable to endeav-
our to find out some method to defend tender fruit
trees from the effects of fluctuating winters ; I can
think of no better method to succeed, than binding
straw round the body or trunk of the trees, that part
appearing to be the seat of the disease.

ON PEACH TREES.

By Richard Peters.

THE last meeting of the Society was favoured
with a communication on the subject of peach trees^
from Joseph Cooper, Esq. of New Jersey, whose ex-
perience has enabled him to add much to our stock
of practical knowledge. I was desired to give some
account of what had fallen under my own observa-
tion, relating to this valuable and delicious fruit. I
know not any in the catalogue of our trees, more de-
sirable, nor more subject to mortifying decay, dis-
ease, and destruction. Having cultivated it from my
earliest youth, it should seem that I could give some
certain and profitable mode of remedying its tenden-
cy to premature decay, and repelling the diseases to
which it is invariably a victim. But I have found my-
self so frequently baffled in my endeavours ; and have
seen the fallacy of so many theories, on this subject)

49

that I diffidently affirm any thin^ respecting its cul-
ture or cure. It is therefore only in obedience to the
wishes of the Society, that I express my opinions or
experience.

About fifty years ago, on the farm on which I now
reside, my father had a large peach orchard, which
yielded abundantly. Until a general catastrophe be-
fel it, plentiful crops had been for many years pro-
duced, with little attention. The trees began nearly
at once to sicken, and finally perished. Whether by
the wasp then undiscovered, or by some change in our
chmate, I know not. For 40 years past, I have ob-
served the peach- trees in my neighbourhood to be
short lived. Farther south, in the western countryj
and, it seems in some parts of New Jersey, they are
durable and productive, as they had been formerly
here.*

In my youth, excellent plumbs grew here ; now
we can obtain none, but those of inferior species.
In grapes WQ were never successful ; though much
more so than at present. Our rvheat in modern
times, is attacked by enemies unknown to our pre-
decessors. Our apple orchards do not produce, as
they did in early times. There must tnerefore be
some change in our climate ; and new races of ver-
min, not known to our ancestors. In cities and
towns, grapes and plumbs, and I believe peaches, are
in high perfection. The atmosphere in which they
vegetate, possesses a character favourable to their
growth ; and their position admits fewer enemies to
assail them. I am aware that it is a frequent mis-
take, to draw general conclusions, from partial facts.
My opinions are formed on experience I have gained

* I have seen them also in great perfection, in and about Lancaster,
and other parts, where limestone and other calcareous substances
abound. The cause I do not pretend to assign ; nor do I know th»
jjeneral duration of the tree, in that country.

7

-^ 50

on my own property, and may not generally apply.
I have near 1000 apple trees, 150 grape vines, 200
peach trees, and a number of plumbs. They are of
all ages, kinds, and exposures ; and set out in every
variety of soil. I have endeavoured to practise on
every information to be acquired from books, or oral
directions. I must therefore conclude from my fre-
quent disappointments, that fruits in this part of the
country are uncertain in product ; and have declined,
in quantity and quaHty, in a degree not formerly ex-
perienced. I have often observed, that in bad fruit
years, the seasons were unhealthy for animals. In-
sects and their larva^ or catterpillars, and other ene-
mies to fruit, abound in such seasons. The pro-
ducts of the earth seem to be more favoured at one
period, and in different stages of the settlement of our
country, than at others. Advantages or misfortunes,
merely local, have tlieir influence. Some are per-
fected in old settlements ; others thrive only when
the earth is recently reclaimed from the wilderness of
nature.

Of the peachy I have 32 varieties. Mr. Goxe, of
Burlington, has double that number. But those I
have are sufiicient to enable me to form a general
idea. I find some less exposed than others, to mis-
fortune and decay. It would therefore be desirable,
to mark, and cultivate those most commonly, in which
the most success could be coimted on. Mr. Cooper
has been successful, on this plan, in other products.
Let him, and other curious cultivators, practise on
this suggestion.

I have failed in many things, in which others are
said to have succeeded. Straw and bass, or paper,
surrounding the tree, frorn the root, at all distances,
from 6 inches, to 3 or 4 feet — -white washing, paint-
ing, urinous applications, brine, soot, lime, frames
filled with sand, oil, tar, turpentine, sulphuric acid, or

51

oil of vitriol, nitrous mixtures, and almost every kind
of coating. I ruined several trees, by cutting them
down, and permitting the stump to throw up new
shoots, and branch at pleasure. All teguments kept
the exsudation from evaporating with freedom. The
pores being closed, or too open, were alike injurious.
Teguments of straw or bass made the bark tender ;
and it threw out, under the covering, sickly shoots.
The more dense coating stopped the persgiration.
The oil invited mice and other vermin, who ate the
bark thus prepared for their repast, and killed the
tree. I planted in hedge rows and near woods, I
paved, raised hillocks of stone — I have suffered them
to grow from the stone only, grafted on various
stocks and budded, hilled up the earth in the spring,
and exposed the butt in the fall, sometimes I have
used the knife freely — frequently have left the tree to
shoot in every direction — I have scrubbed the stocks
or trunks, with hard brushes, soap suds and sand,
scraped them with proper instruments : I have, for
a season or two under various experiments, amused
myself with the persuasion, that T had discovered an
infallible panacea. I had temporary success, but
final disappointment.

The aphis or vine fretter, and many other insects
are hostile to this tree. They injure it, by piercing,
curling, and destroying its leaves. As \.o frosts^ they
are common enemies to all fruit.

Having thus candidly given an account of my
failures, which never discourage, but animate me to
new pvojects, I mention what with me has been at-
tended with the most success.

The worm or grub produced by the wasp, depos-
iting its progeny in the soft bark, near the surface of
the ground, is the most common destroyer. I re-
move the earth a few inches round the tree in Au-
gust or September. After July the wasp ceases to

52

pierce the bark, and to make its deposits. I pour
around the butt of the tree, beginning about one foot
above the ground, a quart or more (not being nice
about the quantity) of boiling hot soap suds or water.
This kills the egs^ or worm lodged in the tender
bark ; and of course prevents its ravages the next
season. I carefully search the trees, though I sel-
dom find worms. I do not perceive any injury from
this operation. I have discovered worms in or near
the roots of the smallest stocks taken from the nurs-
ery. These I frequently plunge into boiling water
before planting. I lose very few ; and do not at-
tribute the losses to the hot water. I have the trees
bared at the roots, exposed to the winter. I have
lost some in the way described by Mr. Cooper ; but
I still continue the practice. I have been in the
habit of doing this for ten or twelve years, and pre-
fer it to any other treatment. To supply deficien-
cies, I plant young trees every year. By these
means I have generally fruit enough for my family,
and frequently very abundant crops. How long I
shall continue to prosper by this practice, is yet pro-
blematical. I have now some of the most healthy
trees I ever possessed. When trees become sickly,
I grub them up; I find that sickly trees often infect,
those in vigour near them, by some morbid effluvia.
The young trees supply their loss, and I have no
trouble in nursing those in a state of decay ; which
is comiP.only a hopeless task.

I huve been thus particular, to justify the inference
from this statement— that, in this part of the country
peach trees cannot be profitably cultivated on an ex-
tensive scale. But we may have great abundance of
their delicious fruit, in every variety, if every farmer
and horticulturist, would plant the number, to which
he could attend, without interference with his other
concerns. He might keep up a constant succession.

53

by setting out a few every year. Our grain, and
garden plants in general, require renewal annually ;
and peach trees require no more trouble. A tree
with very little attention, will produce three or four
crops. Its growth is quick ; and it may be propa-
gated easily, and come to perfection, in any soil of
tolerable staple. As the older trees decay, or grow
sickly, young and vigorous trees will begin to bear.
The method which I have lately pursued is simple ;
guards against the worm, and affords me a plenty of
fruit. I do not mean to discourage perseverance in
experiments, which may yet succeed. We must
never part with hope, though she seduces and
" cheats us o'er and o'er again." The ants of Gren-
ada were exterminated by a single tempest.

Although I have had trees 20 years old, and I
know some of double that age, (owing probably to
the induration of the bark rendering it impervious to
the wasp, and the strength acquired when they had
survived early misfortunes) yet, in general they do
not live in tolerable health after bearing 4 or 5 crops.
And being among the most gummy, viscous, suc-
culent and tender of our fruit trees, they require
from the earliest stages of their growth more labour
and attention, than could be profitably applied to an
extensive plantation. I have too many to be suffi-
ciently attended to ; but a number of them by their
present appearance, warn me not to be uneasy on
that score. The shoots of the last season were re-
markably injured by the excessive drought ; and
the extremities of many limbs are entirely dead. I
shall have, however, more than I require for myself,
my friends, and my foes. I have a superfiiii-.y, to
aftbrd deductions made by plunderers, for whom
(from necessity) I plant an extra number. The
trees now verging to their last stage, are cliiefly those
set out in the locust year. They have never recov^

54

ered the wounds, inflicted by this most pernicious of
all insects.

Fifteen or sixteen years ago, I lost one hundred
and fifty peach trees in full bearing in the course of
two summers ; by a disease engendered in the first
season. I attribute its origin to some morbid affec-
tion in the air, which has the most to do with all
vegetation, as well in its food and sustenance, as in
its decay and dissolution. The disorder being gen-
erally prevalent, would, among animals have been
called an epidemic. From perfect verdure, the leaves
turned yellow in a few days, and the bodies black-
ened in spots. Those distant from the point of ori-
ginal infection, gradually caught the disease. I pro-
cured young trees from a distance in high health,
and planted them among those the least diseased. In
a few weeks they became sickly, and never recov-
ered. I took the determination of grubbing up
ever}' peach tree, and converted them into fuel. In
my o^vn nursery, I perceived I should have a hos-
pital of incurables. The young peach trees being
generally infected, I cleared the whole of them away.
Various kinds of fruit trees, in the same nursery,
were not in the least disordered. Trees, like ani-
mals, have inherent diseases, or a susceptibility to
receive those, peculiar to their species. The peach
seems most subject to this tendency ; pears are liable
to blights from the electric fluid. Iron hoops, old
horse shoes, &:c. hung on these trees, attract and con-
duct for a time, this floating fluid. But when the
air is surcharged, destruction partial or total is cer-
tain. Cherries are fatally operated upon, by what is
called the four o'clock sun. Plumbs too are ex-
posed to peculiar disasters, which would lead me too
far to detail ; though I have paid much and unprofit-
able attention to them ; and have, now and then, hit
on temporary palliatives. Particular insects and

55

vermin have their respectively favourite tree, or plant
to j)rey on. They pursue the dictates of nature, for
their own propagation and support ; vi^hile, by de-
stroying our sustenance and comforts, they become
hostile to us. They compel us to wage against
them a perpetual warfare.

After my general defeat and most complete over-
throw, in which the worm had no agency, I recruited
my peach trees from distant nurseries ; not venturing
to take any out of those in my vicinity. I have since
experienced a few instances of this malady ; and have
promptly, on the first symptoms appearing, removed
the subjects of it, deeming their cases desperate in
themselves, and tending to the otherwise inevitable
destruction of others.

POSTSCRIPT.

I HAVE only recently seen, or I would have
mentioned with my communication, an extensive
plantation of peach tf^ees (now in vigour and very
productive) by Edward Heston, Esq. in my neigh-
bourhood. It is well w^orthy of inspection, and its
design exemplary ; the scale being larger and more
spirited than of late years, we have been accustomed
to see, in this part of the country. I conjecture
there are 7 or 800 trees, planted in rows or lines ; so
that the branches interlock, and are suffered to shoot
without control. The intervals between the rows
are wide, and cleaned with the plough and harrow. As
is to be expected, the fruit though plentiful is small ;
and wants flavour equal to that of more distant trees.
They grow from the stone, and Mr. H. occupied in
his plan, did not attend to the selection. He is now
improving by inoculation, and providing better

56

kinds. In an imitation of this commendable effort,
I would advise a iittie mort distance, and more use
of the knife ; but not so much as to thwjrt nature.
I would not entirely depend on inoculation. Plant-
ing « he stone is more certain, as to quick growth and
earlier profit as well as economy ; though it does
not insure identity of species. Mr. H. begins to
suffer by the disease, I call the " yellows ;" though
he has fewer worms, than common in other modes.
The wasp from which the worm proceeds, does not
of choice, frequent shady places. I do not know
any product more valuable than peaches, to which
the same extent and quantity of ground could be ap-
plied. To ensure constant supply, another plantation
should be progressing, while that in profit is bearing
and declining. It should be distant from the first, to
be out of reach of infection. Why should we not
cultivate, in this way, this fruit, when other products
are equally long before profit is obtained ? Madder,
liquorice, &c. require as much time, and better
ground. Their certainty or superior profit is ques-
tionable. By the mode here mentioned, constant
successions may be counted upon, without'the toil
and disappointments of attempts, to prolong the du-
ration of this short lived tree. I perceive Mr. H. is
travelling the same road of experiment, to save de-
dining, or insure healthy trees, I have passed over
before him. He will be fortunate, if he does not
meet with similar disappointments.

September, 1807.

AS I predicted, the " yellows'^'' are seen making
destructive ravages in Mr. Heston's peach planta-
tion. I have lost a gr^at proportion of my trees, by

S7

the same malady, this year. We have had two suc-
cessive rainy seasons. I do not recollect ever to
have seen more general destruction among peach
trees, throughout the whole of the country. It Seems
that excessive moisture is one, if not the primary
cause of this irresistible disease*

ABSTRACT OF DR. DARWIN's DISSERTATION ON
THE DIbEASES OF PLANTS,

Taken from his work entitled, *' Phy tologia, or the Philosophy of Agriculture
and liardening.'*

THE diseases of plants he classes under three
general heads, those which arise from internal caus-
es, those from external elements, and those from
the depredations and injuries caused by insects and
larger animals.

Many of the diseases of plants he attributes to
their irritability. From this cause he contends, it
is, that plants will not bear sudden transitions from
heat to cold, or even from cold to heat. Heat, he
supposes, acts as a stimulus to the plant, and if too
suddenly checked the plant is either injured or des-
troyed. Hence the gardeners in northern climates
deem it as necessary to shelter tender plants, such as
the flowers of apricots, as well from the meridian
sun as from the coldness of the night.

He classes die internal diseases of plants as fol-
lows, 1. Mildew — this disease arises from a plant of
the fungus kind which penetrates with its roots the
vessels of the vegetable to which it adheres. The
remote cause he supposes to be some previous inju-
ry the plant had received from internal disease.

5B

The remedy recommended is to thin the crop and
to admit a freer circulation of air. When it is ow-
ing, which frequently is, to the dampness of the soil,
the remedy must be to chain the land and use the
drier kinds of manure as ashes, &;c. He further re-
commends sowing such land earlier in the season,
as he observes mildew is more apt to prevail in the
latter part of the season.

This last is a very just remark ; every one must
have observed how very generally, if not universally
the pea is subjected to mildew in the autumn, a cir-
cumstance which seldom happens in spring. 2dly.
Rust, which he describes as a ferruginous powder
sprinkled under the leaves. He supposes this also
to be a vegetable production of the fungus kind, and
as it is probal)ly owing to the same causes, he recom-
mends tlie same remedy of increasing the light and
circulation of air by thinning the plants among which
it appears. 3. Clavus, ergot, or Speer. This is said
to be an affection of the seeds when they become en-
larged, and grow out of their natural size, pushing
out horns of a blackish colour. The rye is very
apt to be affected by it in France. He supposes it
to be occasioned by wounds made by insects. Du-
hamel ascribes it to this cause. By the use of such
diseased grain by the poor, diseases have been pro-
duced of an alarming nature. Quere, Is not the mal-
ady with which our Indian corn is affected, referrible
to this class of complaints ? It is an enlargement of
the seed vessel and frequently of the seed though it
not unfrequtntly appears in other parts of the plant.
May not that also be occasioned by insects ?

Dr. Darwin suggests no remedy for this com-
plaint. 4th. Ustilago, or Smeet, when instead of
seed, the fruit produces a black meal, as occurs often
in wheat, barley, &:c.

The doctor mentions, the usual practice of steep-
ing the wheat in salt : in lime water and various oth-

59

cr preparations which is supposed to be a preventtive
to the disease. He however quotes the opinion of oth-
er respectable persons, that this is an ancient error, and
that the only use of the steeping is to separate the light
wheat from the heavy. The same author cited by the
Doctor suggests that the smeet only takes place when
wet weather occurs at the time of the wheat's being
in flower, and asks whether it is not probably owing
to the facina's being destroyed by the rain, and the
consequent failure of impregnation of the embryo
seed. Dr. Darwin evidently leans to this opinior..
Upon this idea he suggests the sowing the wheat
in rows considerably distant, and after a few days
sowing intermediate rows, so that if wet weather
should destroy the anthus of one set of rows, the al-
ternate ones might supply the facina to their stigmas
when the weather becomes favourable.

Quere, Would the stigmas of those plants which
had done blowing be in a condition to receive any
benefit from the facina of those which should blow
some days after ? We confess that we doubt it, still
in places very subject to the smeet, it might be well
to try this experiment.

5. Canker, or gangrena vegetabilis, is what the
Doctor calls an ulcer of the bark, and is very des-
tructive to apple and pear trees.

Mr. Knight has remarked that this disease is most
apt to attack those fruits which have been long known
and cultivated, and supposes it to be a disease of old
age. It is sometimes occasioned by blows and in-
juries from the hoe, spade, or plough. When the
bark is thus wounded, this disease frequently ensues.

When a destruction of the bark is thus produced
by external violence, it may possibly be cured by
the application of a piece of living bark from a less
valuable tree nicely fitted to the wound and bound
on.

When the bark is ulcerated by this cankerous dis-
ease, the parts affected should be nicely cut out, leay=

60

ing the edges of the wound smooth, so as to admit the
air freely and prevent the lodgment of mojsture,
and the depredations of insects. Some thick white
paint should then be laid upon the hard wood or la-
burnum which is thus exposed, which may prevent
insects from touching it, and also the rains and dews
from rotting it. The paint should be so spread as
not to touch the edges of the bark as it might injure
their growth by their poisonous quality.

6th. The hcney dew, which appears in the form
of small sweet drops on the upper surface of the
leaves, is supposed by Dr. Darwin to be a diseased
exsudation or perspiration of the plant, but by oth-
ers is asserted to be the excrement of one species of
insect of the aphis kind. Dr. Darwin doubts this
latter opinion because this aphis, is often found on
other trees and at other seasons, without exhibiting
this phenomenon of the honey dew.

The honey dew, is observed to prevail most in hot,
dry weather, and sometimes produces the death of
the leaf, at other times it is followed by a black pow-
der like soot, which covers the surface of every leaf.
He suggests no remedy for this complaint.

7. Sap flow,this occurs when the alburnum or sap-
wood of trees is wounded in the vernal months, as
in the birch and maple and also in the vine, branch-
es of which not unfrequently bleed to death. Anoth-
er sap flow is said to exist about midsummer when
the young buds are forming. Wounds at this sea-
son are therefore injurious. When the loss of sap-
juice threatens the injur}^of the plant, various reme-
dies have been applied by gardeners. Dr. Darwin
thinks, that a piece of sponge bound close upon the
wound would be the most certain application, or a
wire twisted round the end of the branch cut off, so
tightly as to stop the circulation of juices and to des-
troy that part which is above the ligature.

61

8th. Secretio gummosa, gum secretion, a mor-
bid production of gum which issues from rrees eith-
er from internal disease or from wounds. When
this happens to cherry trees a gum exsudes like gum
arabic, which in dry weather hardens, arid thus pre-
vents the further discharge of this nutritive matrical,
otherwise the tree weeps away its life from deficient
nourishment. This should be prevented from con-
tinuing to flow by binding on the part pre\ iously
made smooth by a knife a metallic plate, such as
the lead in which tea is wrapped, so as to prevent
rain, or dew drops from dissolving the hardened
gum. A bit of sponge or soft leather, or India rub-
ber might be bound on under the lead till the wound
is healed. Might not a strong solution of green vit-
riol in water or some ink, if applied to these bleeding
vessels, stimulate them into contraction and pre-
vent the further effusion of 2:um ?

Diseases arising from insects,

1. Among the diseases of plants produced by
insects may be reckoned those occasioned by the
nests of insects in which they deposit their eggs.
These are the galls of oak trees, of ground ivy, trem-
bling poplar, willow, and hawkweed, &c.

2. The curling of the leaves of the nectarine peach
and cherry trees, with the cells or bladders on their
surfaces are formed in consequence of the wounds
inflicted by the aphis. Though from the sudden and
general appearance of these injuries they have been
attributed to blights from inclement weather.

Some observers have believed that these affected
leaves were previously out of health which made
them a proper situation for the insects which affect
them, and Dr. Darwin remarks that he has often
observed that snails and slugs eat those leaves which

62

have been plucked and are beginning to wither, in
preference to those which are growing in perfect
health.

The history of this insect, the aphis, which is one
of the most generally destructive insects with which
the delicate fruit trees are infested, is extremely cu-
rious and its multiplication uncommonly rapid. It
is produced in the spring from eggs which are said to
be attached to the twigs of trees in the autumn, and
are thought to produce not a larva or catterpillar but
a progeny similar to the parent ; every one of which
produces in about ten days not an egg but another
living progeny, and so on to the ninth generation,
the ninth generation produces males and females,
some of both kinds with wings and others without
them, and this tenth generation from those which
were hatched from eggs, become connected and pro-
duce eggs, which are laid on the new twigs of various
trees for the next year's progeny to be hatched by
the vernal sun.

Their punctures of the leaves of peach and nec-
tarine trees in the vernal months and of cherry, plum,
and current trees in the summer, produce a swell-
ing and elevation of the cuticle of the leaf on its up-
per side, and a consequent curling of it with its up-
per surface outwards which terminates in a destruc-
tion of it to the great injury of the tree, and fre-
quently to the death of it.

There appears to be a power impressed on organ-
. Jzed bodies by the great Author of all things, by
which they not only increase in size and strength,
and occasionally cure their diseases and repair acci-
dental injuries, but also a power of producing ar-
mour to prevent those more violent injuries which
would otherwise destroy them. Of this last kind
are the poisonous juices of some plants, as atropa
bella douna, deadly night shade, &c. Other plants

63

are armed with thorns and prickles to defend thetn
from animalb, as the hawthorn, gooseberry, rose
bushes, and others. Other plants secrete a diick,
clammy, viscid juice, to catch the insects which may
attempt to prey upon them, as the catchfly, and oth-
ers. And there are other plants which, by the con-
traction of their leaves, arrest or destroy the insects
which attack them, as the dionora muscipula, &c.

The means of destroying an insect, so extensively
injurious as the aphis, would be indeed a valuable
discovery.

If the eggs exist on the young buds, some appli-
cation to these before they are hatched which might
dissolve their shell (as diluted marine acid) might
destroy them ; or by some adhesive material which
might entangle them before they begin to move
about the tree, such for example as soap suds, or
oil, or glue, rubbed on the young twigs by means of
a sponge or painter's brush ; but experiments alone
can decide the effegt of these applications, both upon
the insects and upon the trees.

Lime water alone will not readily destroy the
aphis, as I observed by immersing leaves with aph-
ises on them, which crept up the leaves, and thus
escaped ; but if potash or fixed alkali be mixed with
lime, the solution becomes so caustic as to destroy
many insects without injuring the foliage of the
trees or the stems of wheat, if we may credit Mr.
SocolofF, who, in the transactions of an academy at
Petersburgh, vol. v. asserts " <i* hat he added three
parts of quick lime newly made to two parts of a
saturated solution of fixed alkali in water, which,
poured upon the ground, destroyed earth worms, and,,
sprinkled on the leaves of trees, destroyed catterpil-
lars, but did not injure, or much injure the foliage of
trees or leaves of wheat. Tar water has been lately
said to destroy slugs, and might be worth a trial, by

64

Injecting on the trees with caution lest it should in-
jure them.

The essential oils are all deleterious to certain in-
sects, and hence certain plants are furnished with
them as a protection against insects. One of these
essential oils, turpentine, is "recommended by Mons.
De Thosse, for the purpose of destroying insects,
both upon vegetables and animals. He destroyed a
vast number of insects upon his trees by a mixture
of earth and oil of turpentine, which he beat together
till they became of the consistence of soap ; with
this mixture he moistened the ends of the branches,
and both the insects and their eggs were destroyed,
and other insects kept aloof by the scent of the tur-
pentine.

Dr. Darwin's own experiment with turpentine on
a nectarine tree, proved fatal to the tree as well as the
insects, at least to the branches which he covered
with it. A dimted solution of arsenic produced the
same effect on both tree and insects.

He suggests the idea of smearing the wall against
which trees are placed with this oil of turpentine,
believing it is the flavour of it which keeps insects
at a distance ; and with the same view he recom-
mends hanging twigs smeared with oil of turpentine
on quince trees and apple trees while in blossom, to
keep off the insects.

It is probable, that if strong infusions were made
of the leaves of ce^^t^in trees which no insects ever
touch, as of the Walnut, laurel, fox glove, tobacco,
and many others, and were sprinkled on the leaves
or on the buds before they open, by a pump, or
brush, or sponge, the insects might be destroyed
without injury to the trees.

The dust of tobacco, if made very fine, or the
powder of sulphur, forcibly injected on the leaves
infected with insects, might be fatal to them. Dr.

65

Darwin, however, made an unsuccessful experiment
with tar and tar water, lime and potash, and soap
suds and lime, as well as soap suds alone. These
he applied to the trees with a brush thrice on differ-
ent days, before the flowers appeared, but they be-
came as much affected with the aphis as on former
years. He also dipped some branches covered
with the insects in a strong infusion of tobacco,
and held them immersed some minutes without de-
stroying them. He did however destroy great num-
bers of aphises by the smoke of tobacco. (This in-
deed is well known to every gardener who has the
care of a green house, the experiment never failing
if repeated several times.) Scotch snuff, or tobacco
very finely powdered, he found instantly fatal when
scattered on the insects.

He suggests the collection of walnut leaves in the
the autumn, and making a smoke with them in the
spring under the trees, usually affected with insects.

He speaks of the common caterpillar, but does
not intimate any new method of destroying them,
unless it be to collect the leaves under the trees in
autumn, and to burn them, believing that some of
the eggs are deposited on the leaves, as well as on
the twigs of the tree. (This, however, wants con-
firmation ; it is improbable that any insect should be
so defective in its instinct ; it is absolutely necessary
to the young caterpillar that he should be placed, at
his coming out of the ^%^^ in a situation where he
can immediately and easily procure food. The cat-
erpillar is extremely tender at that period, and sel-
dom ventures for the first week far from his home.)

The white slug, or snail, is often destructive to
turnips and other green crops, coming out before
sunrise in dewy mornings, and eating them off.
Dr. Darwin mentions rolling the iurni})s with a
heavy roller, which kills the insect without hurting
9

66

the turnips. (This could not be applied to cabbages^
to which they are much more fatal.) He also men*
tions having heard tar water recommended for the
same purpose, or surroundmg the plants with a circle
of lime or salt. Some gardeners lay boards between
the rows, under which the slugs conceal themselves
when the sun rises, and are by that means easily
caught and destroyed.

The leaves of the young turnip are believed also
to be destroyed by a fly, which, if it be of the beetle
kind, may also be killed by rolling. The Chinese
are said, by Sir George Staunton, to steep all their
seeds in liquid manure until their germination begins
to appear, which they believe not only hastens the
growth of the plant, but defends them against in-
sects in the soil ; and Sir George supposes it may be
owing to this that the Chinese turnips escape the fly,
so injurious to them in England.

An observation of Mr. Guillet, in the Bath Agri-
culture, Vol. II. Art. 44, seems to confirm this idea.
He asserts, that when turnip seed is sown during a
rain, or has rain immediately afterwards, that the first
leaves are so vigorous that the fly never attacks them,
or that the rain is so inconvenient to the fly as to pre-
vent its appearance. When a severe frost occurs
before the ground is covered with snow, those in-
sects, which do not penetrate deeply into the earth,
are destroyed. (Might it not be useful in our cli-
mate where we usually have very severe frosts be-
fore snow, to turn up the ground as late as possi-
ble, in order to expose these destructive enemies to
vegetation, to the full operation of the frost ?)

67

The same author.

1. TO PRODUCE FRUIT-BEARING TREES.

1. There are four methods of procuring fruit-trees
for the purposes of horticulture, by seeds, by root*
suckers, by planted scions, or by ingrafted scions.

1, Of Seedling Trees.

Tulips and hyacinths, and even in potatoes and
onions, the bulbs succeed each other for two or three
years or longer, before they produce flowers ; and
that the same happens to the buds of seedling trees,
which are many years a succession of leaf-buds only,
before the propagation of a single flower- bud ; for the
power, which produces the lateral germination of
buds, seems to require a less mature organization
than that, which is employed in the sexual generation
of seeds; whence a kind of puberty of the plant
seems to be acquired for the production of the sem-
inal or amatorial progeny, analogous to the transfor-
mation of caterpillars into butterflies ; which appears
to be effected solely for the purpose of propagation.

M. Speechly, in his treatise on the culture of the
Vine, p. 49, seems to say, that seedling vines must
be three or four years old, before they produce fruit;
whereas a planted scion, or an ingrafted one, from an
aged tree, will produce fruit the first or second year j
and according to the observations of Mr. Knight,
seedling apple-trees will not bear fruit till they are
twelve or fourteen years old ; and other fruit trees in
similar manner require some years after their birth
from the seed, before they arrive at sufficient matu^
rity to bear flowers. Hence he advises the horticul-
tor to procure scions for grafting from such trees as
already bear fruit ; but pays no regard to the stock,
into which they are to be inserted j and adds, that

68

he believes, if scions from a bearing walnut or mulber-
ry tree were ingrafted on a seedling one, that it would
produce fruit in two or three years ; ^vhich otherwise
would not occur in less than twenty. Treatise on
Apple and Pear. Longman, London. And hence
we see the advantage of ingrafting on seedling orange
or lemon-trees in our grten-houses the scions taken
from those, which bear fruit; as otherwise they
would continue so many years before the buds
would acquire sufficient maturity to generate flowers.

Some have believed that young trees will bear fruit
sooner, if they are not pruned, but permitted to grow
quite wild in large bushes. It is possible, that this
may occur either from the unskilful horticultor prun-
ing off all the terminal twigs, w^hose buds were for-
warder in respect to age, than the lateral ones much
beneath them. Or because the great number of new
leaf-buds, proceeding from an exuberant branching
head, may so crowd the bark of the trunk with their
caudexes, that some of them may sooner find a diffi-
culty in forming their embryon caudexes, and may in
consequence become flower-buds. But I much doubt,
that this can frequendy occur from either cause, as I
think, I have seen espaliers bear some years sooner
than standards, which were ingrafted at the same
time, and from the same trees. And I have been
informed of other seedling apple-trees, which have
borne fruit in not much more than half the time above
mentioned by Mr. Knight.

It is much to be wished, that proper experiments
were made on seedUng trees, by planting them as es-
paliers, or against avails, and bending down their
branches below^ the horizon, since the difficulty of
their generating leaf-buds might be thus increased ;
as they could not so easily form their embryon cau-
dexes on the compressed bark of the bended branch ;
and the sap-juice for the nourishment of fruit-buds

69

would be thus rather increased than diminished, acr
cording to an experiment of Dr. Walker, who found
the buds at the extremities of bended branches to
swell sooner in the season, and to become larger,
than those of an equal height on the more upright
branches.

Mr. Bradley has mentioned an apple, which was
sweet and boiled soft on one side, and sour and boil-
ed hard on the other ; and ascribed it probably to
the real cause with much ingenuity in the year 1721,
long before the publication of the system of Linneus.
He ascribes it to the male ferina of some neighbor-
ing harsh apple-tree, affecting, at the time of the im-
pregnation, the stigma of ihe flower of a sweet one ;
and thus a production of different seeds might be
generated in the same pericarp, and a consequent
different kind of nutriment prepared for each ; and
thus the different parts of the apple become sour or
sweet, which is analagous to a bitch producing dif-
ferent kinds of puppies at the same birth, resembling
the different dogs with which she had cohabited. The
same circumstance is said to have occurred in oranges
and in grapes of different kinds.

By this method of applying the ferina of one good
variety of fruit, as of apple or pear, to the stigma of
another good variety, it is very probable, that some
very excellent new varieties of fruit might be pro-
duced from the seeds, which might supply for a cen-
tury the orchards of the curious.

The following observations are from Mr. Knight's
Treatise on Apple and Pear. *' Every seed, though
taken from the same apple, furnishes a new and dis-
tinct variety ; and some of these will grow with more
luxuriance than others ; and the fruits produced by
the different plants will possess different degrees of
merit ; but an estimate may be made of their good
and bad qualities, at the conclusion of the first sum-

4S

mer by the resemblance the leaves bear to the highly
cultivated, or to the wild kinds ; as has been remark-
ed by the writers on this subject of the last century.
The plants, whose buds in the annual wood are full
and prominent, are usualty more productive than
those whose buds are small and shrunk into the bark ;
but their future produce will depend much on the
power the blossoms possess of bearing cold ; and this
power varies in the diiferent varieties, and can only be
known from experience. Those, which produce
their leaves and blossoms rather early in the spring,
are generally to be preferred ; for though they are
more exposed to injury from frost, they less fre-
quently suffer from the attacks of insects, the more
common cause of failure.

*' The leaves of young seedling plants annually
change, become more thick and fleshy, and assume
more the character of the cultivated kinds. These
external changes indicate some internal ones in the
constitution of the plant, which may possibly be sim-
ilar in their nature to those, which take place in ani-
mals between their infancy and the time, when they
become capable of propagating their species.

2. Of Root' Scions.

Root-suckers from bearing bur-apples, or from
bearing codlings, are believed to become fruitful as
soon as grafts from those trees ; because they are a
viviparous offspring, as well as the scions or twigs
from the branches ; and are therefore not similar to
the oviparous progeny, or the young trees produced
from seeds. This must nevertheless in great meas-
ure depend upon the age of the sucker ; as those
root-buds, which rise into suckers, are not formed
or generated in the bosom of a leaf, but from a part
pf one of the long caudexes of a branch-bud ; and

n

will therefore, I suppose, require a succession of
buds for some years, before they will acquire a suffi-
cient maturity to produce a flower ; as the central
buds from the bosom of a leaf I suppose to be much
forwarder than the lateral buds from the same cau-
dex ; as is seen in the central or flower- bulb of a tu^
lip, and its immature lateral bulbs from the same
caudex.

Root- suckers from those trees, which have been
ingrafted on the roots of other trees, as the robinia
on the acacia, may arise above the grafted part,
which is beneath the soil ; but those root- suckers,
which arise from trees, which were grafted above
ground, are similar to the stock, not to the fruit-
bearing head; which might have been a wild pear
or wild apple ; and will in that case produce crab-
pears, or crab-apples, with thorny stems.

When a branch of a vine, or briar, or of many
other trees, is bent down, and a part of it inserted in-*
to the ground with its summit in the air, it will emit
roots at the joints, and become a new tree. So the
rough knobs on the bark of a bur-apple tree, I am
informed, will shoot out roots, if surrounded with
moist earth ; and the branch may be then cut off^
and successfully planted. And from almost every
joint of a fig-tree, roots will protrude, if surrounded
even with a woolen shred, which happens to be fre-
quently moistened by the dews or rain; and the
branch may be successfully bent down and planted
in a garden pot. All these like suckers from the
roots of seedling-trees, or like grafted scions, will
become fertile, as soon as the tree, from which they
are the offspring ; whether it be a seedling-tree or
not.

This circumstance does not occur exactly similar
in the insertion of buds from one tree into the bark
of another; as those buds, which do not arise from

the bosom of a leaf, but from lower parts of the cau-
dexes of a branch bud, as from the bark of a branch,
whose summit has been cut off, are less mature, I
believe, than the summit-buds, or those which arise
from the bosom of a leaf; and will therefore require
some years before they can produce flowers ; as is
seen in those apple or pear trees, whose summits
have been entirely lopped off. This is a new obser-
vation, I believe, and worth the attention of those,
who inoculate the buds of one fruit tree into another.
Root- suckers may probably be liable to degener-
ate in respect to their vigorous growth by hereditary
diseases, owing to the too great age of the original
plant of that variety, like the ingrafted scions from
the branches. Whence it may be necessary to pro-
cure root-suckers of raspberry plants, and of goose-
berries, and even of artichokes, and strawberries,
from such as have been raised from seed not too long
ago, when any of these begin to degenerate.

3. Of Planted Scions.

The scions taken from the branches of many trees,
if planted in the earth, will emit roots, and flourish
in the same manner, as when they are grafted on
other trees. This succeeds with great certainty, if an
inverted glass be put over them for a few days to pre-
vent their perspiring more at first,than their absorbent
vessels can supply. I have been informed,that a quick-
set, or hawthorn hedge, Crataegus, was thus planted
and became a good fence considerably sooner than
from sowing the seed.

The Chinese are said by Sir G Staunton to be un-
acquainted with the art of ingrafting, and to produce
dwarf fruit-trees, which are brought to table loaded with
fruit at their festivals, by surrounding a branch of a
bearing fruit-tree at its bifurcation with a bag of earth

73

which is kept moist for s^nie months ; till the branch
puts out roots, probably from the lips of a wound in
the bark, and is at length separated, and transplanted
into a pot. And it is then rendered a dwarf by re*
peatedly cutting out the central buds.

Vines possess so vigorous a power of vegetation,
that the present most approved method of propagat-
ing them in grape-houses consists in planting their
scions. The late Rev. John Michel of Thornhill, in
Yorkshire, the philosopher, who discovered to the
world the art of making artificial magnets, which had
been concealed by Mr. Knight ; whose friendship I
long possessed, and whose loss I have long lamented;
amused himself and family at vacant hours in his hot
house. The observations of a man of such accurate
and universal knowledge are always worth recording;
and though his ideas on this subject have already ap-
peared in Mr. Speechly's Culture of the Vine, I shall
here transcribe a part of one of his letters to me da-
ted in May, 1785.

*'The way in which we raise our vines we account
our own ; for I do not know, that it was practised by
any body before we set the example. It is now pret-
ty generally adopted however by the gardeners and
nurserymen in this part of the world. Instead of
leaving three or four eyes on the cuttings, as used
formerly to be done, which made them awkward,
straggling things, we never plant more than a single
eye to each, cutting them with as long a part below
the eye as they can admit, without encroaching too
much upon the next eye below ; that is to say, we
leave perhaps about half an inch, or a little more, as
it may happen, above it. These cuttings we plant by
half a dozen or a dozen together, at the distance of
three, four, or five inches in the bark- bed, where it is
pretty warm, but not so hot as to endanger the burn-
ing of the roots, when they shall come out ; and
10

74

where it is also pretty moist, or else we water them.
We plant them sloping so as to make an angle of
about thirty degrees perhaps, a little more or less,
with the horizon, the eye being highest ; but taking
care that it also shall be covered about an inch
with the bark, which is a very necessary precaution ;
for though it ought just to smell the fresh air, it must
be kept moist, to prevent the bud and shoot when it
comes, from dying ; otherwise it will very frequently
die away presently after it has shot a little, or at best
it will grow unkindly, not having yet made roots suf-
ficient to supply it with the sap necessary for its sup-
port ; which will not be the case, if the bud is suffi-
ciently covered at first, and till it has acquired more
roots.

*' We generally plant our vines in this way, about
the beginning or middle of January ; and if the bark
is pretty warm, and as moist as it should be, the cut-
tings will begin to push both at top and bottom in
about a fortnight or three weeks at the most. When
the vines have shot a little, perhaps three or four
inches, but before the roots are got too long, (in
which case it would be impossible to avoid breaking
them by removing, on account of their extreme ten-
derness and brittleness) we displace a good deal of
the bark very near them, till we can throw them
down altogether, which shakes the bark very gently
from their roots ; so that one may disengage them
sufficiently easy, and without much hurting them.
We then plant three or four of the most promising
and thriving ones out of the whole number singly in
small pots in earth, which has previously stood in the
hot-house a day or two to get warm, letting the roots
drop down on a little earth at the bottom, at first, as
they conveniently can, and then covering them with
more earth carefully, till the pot is properly filled,
and the stem about three or four inches long, as I

75

said before, standing in the middle ; and then plenti-
fully watering the earth to settle it to the roots. We
now plunge them again in the bark, where in five or
six weeks, more or less, they will have filled their
pots pretty well with roots ; when they will begin to
shew by their little progress, and the smallness of the
shoots, that they want more room. We then take
them carefully out of these small pots, disturbing the
ball of earth as little as possible, and put it all to-
gether into larger pots, putting a little fre^h earth at
bottom and round about, and watering well as be-
fore ; and we then again plunge them into the bark.

" By about the latter end of May, or beginning of
June, the best of them will be four or five, or per-
haps six feet high, and ought now to be removed,
disturbing the roots as little as possible, into the nat-
ural ground, where they are to remain. If this is
done carefully, and the earth well watered about them
to settle it to their roots, they will frequently begin
growing again almost immediately, but at least in
three or four days ; and will then often shoot in the
hot-house two inches in a day, and by the end of the
year will have shot from eighteen or nineteen, to
three, four, or five and twenty feet. Though we ap-
prove of this as rather the best, yet if these cuttings
are planted in the same way either singly in small
pots, or two or three together in each, with earth,
instead of planting them in the bark, destroying all
but the best one, when they have shot a little, and
plunging them either in the bark, or in default of a
bark-bed, in a common hot-bed, they will do equally,
or nearly equally well ; only taking care, that the
hot- bed is not too hot, so as to injure the rootSy of
which there is sometimes danger,"

76
4. Of Ingrafted Scions,

The art of ingrafting trees is of great antiquity,
and is attended with numerous well known advanta-
ges, but is not yet arrived to its utmost perfection ;
for it is not yet certainly known, whether the ingrafted
scion gives or takes any property to or from the tree,
which receives it, except that it acquires nourishment
from it.

There is one instance recorded by Bradley, where
the scion of a variegated jassamine gave variegation
to the leaves beneath it of the un variegated jassamine,
on which it was ingrafted, though the graft itself per-
ished. This seems to shew that a communication
of juices exists between the graft and the stock ; and
that thus some change in the colour of the leaves of
the stock might be occasioned by the inosculation of
the vessels of the new bud with those of other buds
in its vicinity. Thus if a scion of a purple grape was
ingrafted on a white one, the leaves of the latter might
probably become somewhat red in the autumn, like
those of the purple-vine ; but there are no instances
recorded, where this communication of juices from
the graft to the stock, or from the stock to the graft,
has varied the flavour or the forni of the flowers, or
fruit of either of therri.

For though the same vegetable blood passes along
b9th the upper and lower part of the caudex of the
new scion, which extends from its summit on the
branch to its base in the earth ; yet the molecules
secreted from this blood are selected or formed by
the different glands of the part of the caudex, which
was brought with the ingrafted scion, and of the part
of it which remained on the stock, in the same man-
ner as diflferent kinds of secretions are produced from
the same blood in animal bodies.

77

Some have nevertheless believed, that scions, in^
grafted on more vigorous trees of the same genus,
have acquired greater vigour in the growth both of
their leaf-buds and fruit- buds. Mr. Speechly asserts,
that he has improved many kinds of vines by ingraft-
ing those, which bear small grapes, and which have
generally weak wood, on stronger ones, which he has
often experienced ; and recommends the Syrian vine
to graft upon, and prefers those, which were raised
from seed for this purpose ; and the contrary seems
to appear, w^here more vigorous scions have been in-
grafted on less vigorous stocks ; as apple-scions on
crab-stocks ; where in a very few years the part
above the grafted joint becomes much larger in du
ameter than that below it.

Grafted scions succeed well in general on trees of
the same genus, as in the common engraftment of
fruit-trees ; so the laurel, prunus lauro-cerasus, wil}
grow on the common cherry, prunus ceracus, and
produce a tall evergreen tree. But there are said to
be instances also of success in the ingraftment of
trees not only of different genera, but even of dif-
ferent orders and classes ; as I have been informed,
that apple-scions, pyrus malus, have grown, when
ingrafted on hazles, corylus. And one of the fathers
of the Carthusian order is said to have succeeded in
grafting a vine, vitis, on a fig-tree, ficus ; and a jas-
samine on an orange. Travels in France and Italy,
by E. Wright. It is hence probable, that many new
discoveries might be made by more frequent experi-
ments on this subject.

It nevertheless appears that in grafted trees, though
the stock annually become covered with a new bark,
as well as the graft, yet it does not change its nature ;
since any new buds, which come out from the stock
afterwards, are similar to the stock, not to the graft ;
«ind in many trees the graft grows so much faster as Xq.

78

become nearly of double the diameter of the stock,
as frequently seen in old cherry-trees.

Thus the buds of fruit-trees, like the bulbs of tu-
lips, when raised from seed, annually improve in their
colour, length, thickness, and often in the shape of
their leaves, for a certain number of years; and then
acquire a male, or a female, organ of reproduction,
as in the classes of monoecia, and dioecia ; or both, as
in hermaphrodite flowers. After this period the cen-
tral buds and bulbs annually produced are in every re-
spect similar to their parents, except in the nearer pro-
gress to old age of the tree, or of the bulb- progeny ;
and the consequent tendency to hereditary diseases.
But the lateral buds from the lower parts of the cau-
dex of the central ones, which are not generated in
the bosoms of leaves, are of a more immature kind,
and in that respect do not resemble the central bud,
or bulb ; but require some years before they flower.

Mr. Knight has observed, that the grafts from
those fruit-trees, which have been in public estima-
tion for a century or two, are now so liable to can-
ker, that they bear very little fruit, and are not worth
cultivation ; which he ascribes to the age of the tree ;
as a graft he says is simply an elongation of the pa-
rent tree. And as it demands some years to acquire
the puberty necessary for sexual generation, so it may
become weak and inirritable by age, and perish
about the same time with the original tree ; which
is somewhat countenanced by another remark of Mr.
Knight, that the summits, or long extremities of old
trees, frequently die many years before some smaller
branches from the trunk, which continue to flourish,
as is frequently seen in old oaks as well as in fruit-
trees ; and which he might suppose to be occasioned
by the greater age of the terminal buds than of the
lateral ones, as Vv^ell as from the greater length of their
absorbent vessels, and the consequent greater resist-

79

ance to the ascent of the sap-juice, which may alsa
be sooner impeded, or totally stopped by the inirrita-
bility of old age.

Nevertheless as the buds of trees are successive
progenies, and cannot therefore be liable to old age,
as they die annually ; the degeneracy of the buds of
very old trees, or of those which have long succeeded
each other by their lateral, and not by sexual gene-
ration, must arise from their being liable to heredi-
tary diseases only, and not to hereditary improve-
ments.

That the degeneracy of some plants is owing to
hereditary diseases, and not to old age, appears from
their continuing for long uncounted periods of time
after the production of these diseases, as berberries
without seeds, and vines without seeds, and strawber-
ries without fruit, though probably with seeds, as the
barren hautbois strawberries, which bear no fruit, so
called, have perfect stamina and pistilla, as I this day
observed with a good lens ; to which may be added
those female figs which have no aperture to admit im-
pregnation, and the monstrous double flowers, which
have lost the power of seminal propagation, and some
mule-plants which never possessed it.

There is an apple said to exist at New York in
America, which is asserted to be sour on one side of it,
and sweet on the other side ; and to have been pro-
duced by slitting a scion of a sour apple, and another
similar one of a sweet apple, taking care to cut the
buds of each scion with a very sharp knife exactly in
half, and by applying them and binding them nicely
together, and then ingrafting this double scion on a
tree. I mention this as it is related by Mr. Jay in the
communications to the Board of Agriculture, Vol. I.
part 3 and 4, p. 362 ; and is referred to in the Me-
moirs of the American Av^.ademy, Vol. I. p. 386. But
there must undoubtedly have been some mistake in

80

respect to the production of such an apple by any
method of grafting, and which is so well explained as
above by Mr. Bradley.

It only remains here to add in respect to grafting,
that it is necessary to apply the bark, which contains
or consists of the caudex of the young scion, exactly
to the bark of the branch, into which it is inserted, or
applied ; and then all species of ingrafting succeeds,
whether it is performed on a branch or on a root ;
and whether by excision, or inoculation, or inarching.
But I suspect, that where a single bud is inoculated,
it has often failed from the unskilful operator having
selected a flower-bud instead of a leaf- bud ; which
probably unites its caudex to those of the stock with
less vigour, and certainly dies after it has ripened its
seed ; or by his imprudently holding the bud in his
mouth, as he ascends the ladder, or while he makes
the incision, and thus destroying it by heat, as I once
observed. A leaf* bud may in general be distinguished
from a flower- bud by its being sharper pointed and
less spherical.

Where the summits of very young scions of only
a few weeks old are to be used to ingraft with and
upon, it may be necessary also to apply the pith ex-
actly to the pith ; as this summit bud is yet a pri-
mary being, and not like a lateral one, whose whole
caudex exists in the bark, which adheres to it, when
it is taken off* for inoculation.

The choice of buds for the purpose of inoculation
is probably of more consequence than has hitherto
been imagined. As we have endeavoured to shew,
that buds from parts of the bark distant from the
central bud, and which are not generated in the bo-
som of a leaf, are in different states of maturity ; they
must require more years before they can produce a
sexual progeny of flowers, and a consequent seminal
oflPspring, with the reservoir of nutriment or fruity

which attends it. A subject which is new, and mer-
its to be further inquired into^

It is curious to observe that when harsher fruits
become sweeter, that the blossom becomes whiter,
as is universally seen in those of our native crabs,
and of our cultivated apples ; and that the buds be-
come larger, and the green leaves also becon^ie of a
larger area, and of paler complexion.

Thus Mr. Knight observes, *^ that the width and
thickness of the leaves generally indicate the size of
the future apple ; and the colour of the black cherry
and purple grape may be known by their autumnal
tints ; and that even in plants, which have sprung
from seed in the preceding spring ; as the tinging
matter in the leaves of these plants is probably of the
same kind as that, to which the fruits will in future
owe their colour." The leaves of the purple grape
become quite red in autumn, as well as those of the
geranium robertianum, and many other kinds of
foliage, which I suppose may be owing to their abun-
dancy of acid, which uniting with the blue part of
what constitutes along with the yellow part the green
colour of vegetable leaves, converts it to red ; as it
changes the colour of blue flowers into red ones.

The following methods will contribute to prevent
the young buds from so readily acquiring new cau-
dexes on the trunk of the tree ; and will therefore
retard the generation of leaf- buds, and consequently
assist the generation of fruit- buds ; and should be
executed about midsummer, or soon after, as at that
time the new buds are formed.

1. The first method consists in bending the vivipa-
rous branches to the horizon^ which converts them into
oviparous ones, for by the curvature of such branches
the bark will be compressed on the under side, and
extended on the upper side of the curve, and its ves-
sels on both sides will be contracted in their diamc-
11

^2

ters, and thus the difficulty of produchig new cati-
dexes for the generation of embryon leaf-buds will
be increased in whatever state of miniature they may-
be conceived to exist.

A curious fact seems to be established by the ex-
periments of Dr. Walker in the first volume of the
Edinburgh Transactions, which shews that the bend-
ing of a branch even belov/ its insertion into the
trunk does not impede the ascent, or derivation of the
vernal sap-juice into it ; but on the contrary, that it
rather appears to assist it, resembling in some meas-.
ure a capillary syphon, which may be owing to the
vernal sap-juice ascending principally, or entirely, in
the sap-v/ood, as appears by the new leaves expand-
ing to a certain degree on decorticated oak trees.
And as the vessels of this alburnum are more rigid,
they may be less liable to contraction or coarctation
by bending down the branch than the bark- vessels,
as well as from their being placed within the latter,
and therefore less liable to compression beneath the
curvature, and to elongation above it.

Whence it appears, that the bending down a branch
of a fruit-tree below the horizon does not diminish
the nutriment of the fruit-buds, but rather increases
it ; as Dr. Walker observed these buds to grow
sooner and larger at the extremities of the bended
branches than on other parts of equal height.

It was asserted by Mr. Lawrence, that the more
the branches of any tree are carried horizontally, the
more apt that tree is to bear fruit ; and that the more
upright or perpendicular the branches are led, the
more disposed is that tree to increase in wood ; which
he ascribes to the bending down of the branches im-
peding the circulation of the sap. Mr. Hitt in hi$
Treatise on Fruit Trees, affirms, that if a vigorous
branch of a wall- tree be bent down to the horizon
or beneath it, it loses, its vigour, and becomes a

83

bearing branch ; and therefore recommends his
method of nailing the branches of wall-trees, and of
tying those of espaliers in an horizontal direction or
still' lower; as in this constrained situation there
must occur greater difficulty, I suppose, in the pro-
duction of the new caudexes, necessary for the em-
bryon progeny of buds, upwards or horizontally
along the bended branch contrary to their natural hab-
its, as well as from the compression of the bark be-
neath the curvature of the branch, and its extension
above it ; whence more flower-shoots are produced,
which do not require new caudexes to pass along the
bended branch; but which permit their progeny, the
seeds, to fall upon the earth, and penetrate it with
their new roots.

In Lord Stafford's gardens, at Trentham, I re.
member to have seen, many years ago, some standard
dwarf apple-trees with all their branches bent down,
and fixed on a slight frame-work about a foot from
the ground ; which seemed to be uncommonly pro-
lific, as a circle of white and purple flowers twenty
feet in diameter on branches radiated from a centre,
appeared to a distant eye like a lunar halo, or a car-
pet of rich embroidery.

The greater production of fruit-buds on branches
bended to the horizon must contribute, I should sup-
pose, to the prolific eflfect of training nectarine and
peach-trees on tiles laid on the ground, or on the gen-
tle declivity of a bank of earth facing the south, which
has lately been recommended by some one, whose
name I do not recollect, who gained a patent for his
discovery. And it is indeed probable, that both these
modes of training fruit-trees, one of which may be
called an horizontal wall-tree, and the other an hori-
zontal espalier, would repay the labour of the horti-
cultor ; as they would be exposed to a more vertical
sun in summer, which might more certainly ripen

84

iheir fruit ; and would be kept somewhat backwarder
in the early spring, by the greater obliquity of the
sun-beams, and might be therefore less liable to in-
jury from the vernal frost ; and when in blossom
might easily be covered in the night, when necessa-
ry, by mats thrown over them, supported by stakes
with horizontal poles on them.

2. Secondly. The twisting a wire, or tying a wax-
ed string round the viviparous branches of a tree^ in-
duces them to become oviparous, as observed by Mr.
Whitmill, who bound not only the viviparous shoots
of various wall-trees with strong wire, but also some
of their large roots, and thus increased the product of
his fruit. M. BufFon produced the same effect by a
tight cord round the branches, which previously pro-
duced leaf-buds instead of flower-buds.

M. Buffbn concludes from the above experiments,
that an ingrafted branch bears fruit more copiously,
and more certainly, from its vessels being compress-
ed by the callus around the ingrafted junction, which
may have this effect, and at the same time contribute
by preventing the luxuriant growth of its leaf- shoots
to render the tree of more dwarfish stature. I am
informed that many dwarf apple-trees, which are now
planted in garden pots both in France and England,
bear much fruit, and are elegantly placed in the cen-
tre of a dessert at luxurious tables ; and that the prin-
cipal art of producing them consists in ingrafting
them three or four times, scion on scion ; so that the
stem is compressed by the callus of three or four in-
graftments before the branches are permitted to diva-
ricate ; and the trees are thus rendered beautiful
dwarfs.

The effect of thus compressing the bark by a wire,
or a cord, or by the callus round the junctures of the
ingrafted scions, is undoubtedly accomplished by the
increased difficulty opposed to the production of the

I

85

caudexes for each new embryon leaf-bud, as above
explained, and the consequent generation of flower-
buds instead of them.

3. Thirdly. The wotmding, or breaking a vivipa-
rous branch, or cutting away a ring of the bark^ as of
pear-trees^ or a semicylinder of the bark of other fruit-
trees^ induces them to become oviparous.

Where young trees discover too great vigour, Mr.
Lawrence advises to cut the most vigorous shoots
two parts in three through, leaving a large notch, that
the wound may not heal too soon ; which he adds
will both render them fruitful, make them more rea-
dily conform to the wall or espalier, and preserve
such as are dwarfs from too much aspiring in very
strong branches, especially of pears ; he recommends
two or more such incisions to be made in the same
branch.

Another method he proposes is to break the too
vigorous branches half through with the hand, which
he has practised with success in apricots and peaches,
when the branches were formed directly forward
from the wall, and these branches have continued
several years to bear fruit, though some have occa-
sionally died by effusing gum ; and though these in-
cisions and breaking the branches may be performed
at any time of the year, he prefers the spring on ac-
count of the wet or frost of winter.

A complete cylinder of the bark about an inch in
height was cut off from the branch of a pear-tree
against a wall in Mr. Howard's garden at Lichfield,
about five years ago ; the circumcised part is now
not above half the diameter of the branch above and
below it, yet this branch has been full of fruit every
year since, when the other branches of the tree bore
only sparingly. I lately observed, that the leaves of
this wounded branch were smaller and paler, and the
fruit less in size, and ripened sooner than on the

66

other parts of the tree ; and another branch has the
bark taken off not quite all round with much the
same effect.

The theory of this curious vegetable fact receives
great light from the foregoing account of the individ-
uality of buds. A flower-bud dies when it has per-
fected its seed, like an annual plant, and hence re-
quires no place on the bark for new caudexes to pass
downwards ; but on the contrary leaf-buds, as they
advance into shoots, form new buds in the axilla of
e^^ery leaf ; which new buds require new caudexes
to pass down the bark, and thus thicken as well as
elongate the branch. Now if a cylinder of the bark
be destroyed, many of these new caudexes cannot be
produced ; and thence more of the buds will be con-
verted into flower-buds.

In this curious circumstance the caudexes of the
buds of the tree above the decorticated part seem to
have emitted short radicles into the alburnum ; the
vessels of which must thus have acted as capillary
tubes between the upper and lower caudexes of those
buds ; as capillary tubes will raise water by the at-
traction of their internal surfaces nearly to their sum-
mits, when they are not too high in proportion to
their diameter ; but ^vater will in no case flow over
their summits, but will always stand with a concave
surface below the uppermost rim of the tube, in
Avhich situation it may readily be absorbed by veget-
able radicles ; and may be supplied from beneath
by the sap-juice raised by the vegetable action of the
absorbent vessels of the caudexes, whose radicles ter^
minate in the earth.

It is customary to debark oak trees in the spring,
which are intended to be felled in the ensuing au-
tumn; because the bark comes off" easier at this sea-
son ; and the sap-wood, or alburnum, is believed to
t^ecome harder, and more durable, if the tree remains

87

till the end of summer. The trees thus stripped of
their bark put forth shoots as usual with acorns on
the sixth, seventh, and eighth joints, hke vines ; but
in the branches I examined the joints of thetlebarked
trees were much shorter than those of other oak-
trees, the acorns were more numerous, and no new
buds were produced above the joints which bore
acorns. From hence it appears, that the branches of
decorticated oak-trees produce fewer leaf-buds, and
more flower-buds. And secondly, that the new buds
of debarked oak-trees continue to obtain moisture
from the alburnum after the season of the ascent of
the sap in other vegetables ceases ; which in this un*
natural state of the debarked tree may act as capillary
tubes, like the alburnum of the small debarked
cylinder of a pear-tree above mentioned ; or as the
vessels of the alburnum may not yet have lost their
vegetable life, they may continue to absorb sap-juice
or water from their radicles, and carry it to the buds
at the summits by their spiral contractions as in the
bleeding season.

It is probable, that if oaks were debarked in the
summer, that much fewer leaf-buds would appear
amidst the flower- buds ; because many of the latter
must be advanced too far, when the trees are debark-
ed in the spring, to be converted into flower-buds by
preventing the production of their caudexes, or by
impeding the ascent of the nutritive sap-juice; which
in these trees is lodged principally I suppose in the
alburnum. On the same account, when much sap-
juice is taken in the vernal months from the birch or
maples for the purposes of making wine in this coun-
try or sugar in America, I am informed, that no great
difference occurs in the respective numbers of flower-
buds or leaf-buds which then succeed ; but that the
general luxuriance of the tree is diminished ; which
evinces, that for the design of generating more flower-

88

buds and fewer leaf-buds by partial decortication, it
should be performed about midsummer.

The cylindrical or semicylindrical decortication of
a large root of a tree, as well as of a branch, is said
to answer the purpose of increasing the production of
fruit-buds by lessening the number of leaf-buds ;
but may be subject to two inconveniencies ; first,
that the wounded root being near the surface of the
ground may be liable to rot like the bottoms of hedge
stakes ; or like timber, which is kept in moist cel-
lars ; or the posts of wooden bridges, which are al-
ternately exposed to water and to air. A second in-
convenience may occur from terrestrial insects hav-
ing access to the alburnum of the root, which is often
full of sweet sap-juice to invite them, and is other-
wise generally defended by an acrid rind.

The parts of a tree immediately below a decorti-
cated or a strangulated branch or root will generally
become viviparous, and will thence be said to be in-
creased in vigour ; that is, it will produce new leaf-
buds, and those of a luxuriant appearance ; because
the injury of the bark of the branch or root will pre-
vent the parts above from receiving so much of the
nutritive sap-juice, as in their spund state ; and con-
sequendy the parts beneath will possess more of it ;
and also because these new buds are generated from
a lower part of the caudex, and will thence be a few
years before they will acquire that maturity, or pu-
berty, which is necessary for the generation of flower-
buds, or the production of a sexual or seminal prog*
eny ; whence by strangulating or decorticating the
alternate branches of a pear-tree they will bear for
six or eight years ; and the other alternate ones will
become in the same time strong and vigorous, ready
to undergo a similar operation, when the former
cease to be of further use : but the fruit will become

89

Smaller in size, though in greater number, and ripen
earlier in the season.

In the same manner new root-scions are said to be
produced by strangulating a branch of a root near
the surface with a tight string, or by slitting a root
near the trunk ; as in these cases the ascent of the
sap-juice is .impeded, and the part below becomes
viviparous, or produces new leaf-buds for the reasons
mentioned in the last paragraph ; as is frequently
seen where the end of a branch is lopped, or beneath
the scar of the junction of an ingrafted scion. On
the same account it is not uncommon to ingraft with
success on roots taken out of the ground, and after-
wards replanted ; as the robinia on the root of aca-
cia, and any other apples on the roots of the suckers
of bur-apple, or codling.

For the same reason the roots of some plants,
which are otherwise not easily propagated, will shoot
up buds ; if a part of them next the stem of the plairt
be half cut through, or raised out of the ground, and
exposed to the air ; as in pyramidal campanula, and
geranium lobatum* And for the same reason the lat-
eral branches of numerous shrubs, as well as of her-
baceous plants, will put forth roots, when they are
bent down into the ground, if they are previously
wounded to prevent the free supply of the vegetable
nutriment in its usual course, as in laying carnations,
dianthus.

A method of converting the viviparous branches of
pear and apple trees into oviparous branches, is de-
scribed by Mr. Fitzgerald in the Phiiosph. Transact.
Vol. lii. and seems to be superior to the exection
of a cylinder of the bark above mentioned ; as the
alburnum is not left naked after the operation. In the
month of August he made a circular incision round
the principal branches of several pear-trees, apple-
trees, plum-trees, and cherry-trees, near the stems of
12

90

each, quite through the bark. About three or four
inches higher he then made another incision round
the bark, and then a perpendicular one, joining these
two circular ones, and separated the cylinder of bark
nicely from the wood, covering it, and the bare part
of the wood, from the air for about a quarter of an
hour, when the wound began to bleed. He then re-
placed the bark with great exactness, and bound it
round rather tightly with bass, so as to cover the
Wound entirely, and half an inch above and below the
circumcisions.

In about a month the bark began to swell above
and below the bandages, he then unbound them, and
found the parts quite healed. He rebound them
slightly with bass, and let them remain so till the be-
ginning of the next summer, when he again took off
the bandages, and found them all healthy, and every
one of them bore plentifully that season, though it
was in general reckoned a scarce fruit year.

He treated two young pear-trees in this manner,
which never had yet had any bloom ; on one of them
he operated on the main arms, and on several of the
less branches from those main arms ; and on only
one of the main arms of the other. The first, he
says, bore a surprising quantity of fruit in the next
summer ; and the circumcised arm of the other bore
a moderate quantity ; though no other part of the
tree had any appearance of bloom.

Mr. Fitzgerald afterwards took a cylinder of the
bark from the branches of two young apple-trees
about the same size, as exactly as he could by meas-
ure ; and, changing them, bound them each on the
other tree. The bark of one had a leaf- bud and two
apples growing on it ; the barks of both of them
healed perfectly, the leaf- bud put forth leaves, and
the apples remained on and ripened ; and both the

m - 91

branches bore so plentifully, that one broke with its
load, and it was necessary to prop the other.

The theory of the success of these curious exper-
iments confirms that delivered above concerning, the
scars made by the junction of ingrafted scions with
the stocks ; and it is probable, that three or four cir~
cular incisions through the bark on viviparous pear
or apple-trees, or a spiral incision, might answer the
purpose without detracting and replacing the bark ;
as scars or callous circles would be thus produced,
which might render it more difficult for the new cau-
dexes of the embryon leaf-buds to be generated, or
their parts united, and consequently increase the
number of flower-buds.

Mr. Fitzgerald further observes, that he changed
cylinders of the bark with equal success of nectarine
and peach trees ; and that the branches thus operat-
ed upon were retarded in their general growth ; which
coincides with the idea of repeatedly grafting one
scion above another on the apple-trees designed for
dwarfs to be set in garden-pots.

4. The transplanting a viviparous fruit- tree, or
destroying some of its roots before midsummer, or
the confining its roots in a garden pot, or on a fioor
of bricks beneath the soil, will induce it to become
oviparous,

Mr. Knight, in his Treatise on the Culture of the
Apple and Pear, p. 83, has the following passage.
" In the garden culture of the apple, where the trees
are retained as dwarfs or espaliers, the more vigor-
ously growing kinds are often rendered unproductive
by the excessive, though necessary, use of the prun-
ing knife. I have always succeeded in making trees
of this kind fruitful by digging them up, and replac-
ing them with some fresh mould in the same situa-
tion. The too great luxuriance of growth is check-
ed, and a disposition to bear is in consequence

§2 •

brought on." The same observation was made by
Mr. Lawrence, who took up trees which were too
vigorous ; that is, which produced viviparous buds
instead of oviparous ones, and replanted them to ren-
der them fruitful.

In transplanting trees for any purpose it may be
observed, that they should not be replanted deep in
the soil, smce the most nutritive or salubrious parts
of the earth are those within the reach of the sun's
warmth, of the descending moisture, and of the oxy-
gen of the atmosphere. And as the root-fibres of
trees, like those of seeds, always grow towards the
moistest part of the soil, as the young shoots and
leaves grow towards the puresttiir and brightest light ;
it follows, that the root- fibres seldom rise higher in
the ground than they were originally set, and seldom
elongate themselves even perfectly horizontally ; so
that when a fruit tree is planted too deep in the earth,
it seldom grows with healthy vigor, either in respect
to its leaf- buds or its flower-buds.

This curious effect cannot be produced by gener-
ally debilitating the tree from its want of due nour-
ishment ; because it is said to succeed best in very
good soil, or by the addition of new garden mould,
as before directed ; but by rendering more difficult
the production of radicles from the caudexes of the
embryon leaf-buds ; which descend to the finest ram-
ifications of the old roots, and elongate themselves
beyond the extremities of their ultimate fibrils; a
great number of which roots being torn off by trans-
plantation, or compressed in a garden pot, the pro-
duction or progress of many of the new radicles must
be impeded or prevented ; and the numerous cau-
dexes of new leaf-buds be in consequence formed
with greater difficulty, whence an increased tendency
to generate ffower-buds.

93

For the same reason if beans, vicia faba, which are
but a few inches high, be transplanted ; they do not
become so tall, but they flower and ripen their seeds
sooner ; because they cannot so easily generate new
leaf-buds. The same occurs in frequently trans-
planting brocoli, brassica ; the plant does not grow
so tall, but has earlier flowers, and in greater num-
ber ; and it is hence better to pluck them up, than to
dig them up, for the purpose of replanting them ; as
by that means more of the rootrfibres are torn off*, and
the plants become almost totally oviparous.

It is well known, that the vessels of animal bodies
are less liable to bleed, when they are torn asunder,
than when they are cut with a sharp instrument; as
their diameters are contracted, or their internal sur-
faces brought into contact with each other, in the act
of extending them, till they break. Thus if the na-
vel-strings of new born animals are cut instead of
torn, they are liable to bleed to death ; and there is a
remarkable case of a miller's servant, who had his
arm and shoulder bone, or scapula, torn off" in a wind-
mill without much loss of blood. This is mentioned
to shew, that it ma/ also be better to tear up roots,
which are transplanted for this purpose, than to dig
them up ; as they may thence effuse less vegetable
blood, and in consequence be less weakened by the
operation.

In transplanting strawberries many of the roots
being torn off*, fewer leaf-buds, and consequent wires,
are produced from the difficulty, which their embryon
caudexes find in producing new radicles over the old
ones to supply nutriment to the wires, till they bend
down and protrude roots into the ground at their
other extremities, whence a greater number of flow-
er-buds are generated ; on this account the roots of
strawberries should generally be transplanted, or new
©nes from the wires should be cultivated, every third

94

or fourth year, to prevent the too luxuriant growth
of their wires ; or a similar difficulty of producing
wires or leaf-buds may be effected by crowding the
roots of strawberries together, as some gardeners re-
commend ; but I suppose by these means the fruit
may become smaller from scarcity of nutriment,
though more numerous.

A floor of bricks, or of stone, extended about two
feet deep beneath the roots of wall trees, has been
practised in some gardens from an idea, that the
roots shot themselves too deep into some unwhole-
some stratum of earth ; and it has been observed,
that the trees became better fruit- bearers. In some
situations it is possible, this might be the cause of the
new prolific property of the trees ; but I suspect it
has occurred generally from the difficulty opposed to
the number and elongation of the root fibres, and
consequently to the generation of the new caudexes
of the embryon leaf-buds ; whence a greater produc-
tion of flower-buds ensued.

In similar manner it is asserted by one of the Lin-
nean school in the Amoenitates Academicse, that
some bulbous rooted plants, which seldom produce
seeds in Sweden, will produce prolific seeds, if their
roots be confined in a garden pot, till they crowd
each other ; as those of the lily of the valley, con-
vallaria. And that the orchis will bear prolific seeds,
if the new root early in the season be severed from
the old one, which has put up the flower-stem»
This must occur in the former case from the diffi-
culty, which the plants find to generate new offsets
at their roots, which are their viviparous progeny ;
and in the latter case from the new offset being de-
stroyed ; whence in both situations more nutriment
is expended on the flower.

On the same account it is probable, that confining
the roots of cucumbers and melons in small garden

pots would stop the too luxuriant growth of their
leaf- buds, and render them sooner oviparous, if care
was taken to supply them with water more frequently,
and with sufficient nutriment by mixing with the
water some of the carbonic black fluid, which has
drained from a manure heap.

5. If the central viviparous branches of a plant
be cut away or shortened^ the lateral ones will sooner
or more completely become oviparous, 1. There are
many very small buds on the lower parts of large
branches, which do not seem to grow to maturity^
and in consequence produce neither new leaf-buds
nor new flower-buds. There are other lateral shoots
on many trees, which only push out a few inches,
and are called spurs, and which bear fruit the suc-
ceeding summer at their extremities. In many oth-
er plants the lateral branches are oviparous, except at
the extremity, which is terminated with a viviparous
bud ; while the central branches continue long to
generate only a viviparous progeny, as in vines and
melons.

The first of these, or the unprolific existence of
the buds at the bottom of large branches, may be
owing in part to their feebler efibrts of pullulation
from the want of sufficient sunshine and ventilation ;
and also in part, like the spurs, and other lateral
branches, to the difficulty they encounter in produc-
ing the embryon caudexes of new leaf-buds along the
trunk ; which is already occupied by those of the
more vigorous vegetation of the central branches,
which possess a greater share of sunshine and ven-
tilation.

2. What then happens in all these situations
when the central parts are cut away or shortened ?
First the dwarf buds at the bottom of these large vi-
viparous branches, which are in part cut away, will
find more room to push down the embryon caudexes

96

ef new leaf-buds ; and will produce a viviparous
progeny ; and those at the bottom of oviparous
branches, which are shortened by cutting off their
viviparous extremities, will also now pullulate, and
produce flower-buds for the succeeding year, owing
to the derivation of some of that nourishment to
them, which would otherwise have been expended
on the summit- bud. Secondly, the spurs will gen-
erate an oviparous progeny, but will acquire more
nutriment, because all the vessels of plants inoscu-
late, and will thence produce larger fruit, and more
certainly ripen it. Thirdly, the other lateral branches
will receive more nourishment, and become more
vertical, and will thence find less opposition to the
production of the caudexes, both of their flower-
buds and leaf- buds ; either of which may become
stronger or more numerous according to the greater
or less inclination of the branches to the horizon ;
and both of them may be more vigorous properly
speaking ; that is, they may become larger leaf-buds,
or larger flower- buds, than others of the same tree.

3. Thus in the management of melons, which
would grow into branches much too extensive for
the artificial glass- frames of our climate, and would
not have time to ripen their later fruit in our short
summers ; it is necessary first to check the vigour,
properly so speaking, of the whole plant. This is
done by washing the seed from the ripe fruit, which
should naturally contribute to nourish it ; and by
keeping the seed four or five years, that the mucilag-
inous nutriment deposited in the cotyledons may also
be in some degree impaired ; it is also probable, that
confining the roots of melons and cucumbers in gar-
den-pots, if they were well supplied with nutriment,
Avarmth, and water, might be advantageous for this
purpose.

97

Secondly, as soon as the leaf appears an inch in
diameter, experienced gardeners pick out the central
bud, which causes an oviparous, though a more vig.
orous, lateral shoot; which therefore sooner bears
fruit, and that of a larger kind ; as it acquires more
nourishment from the destruction of the central one.

And as these lateral branches are liable to produce
other viviparous shoots at their extremities, after they
have generated lateral flower-buds, it again becomes
necessary to pinch off the viviparous extremities of
them, not only to accommodate them to the size of
the glass-frame, but also to supply them with more
nutriment, which would otherwise have been expend-
ed on the viviparous summit.

The central bud, or summit, of the lateral branches,
is generally viviparous, as well as of the central
branches ; because the embryon caudexes of its new
offspring^re opposed in the production along the
bark by only one curvature at the insertion of the
branch into the trunk ; whereas the lateral buds of
the lateral branches have the progress of the embry-
on caudexes of their new buds opposed by two cur-
vatures, one of the bud to the branch, and another
from the branch to the trunk.

There is another reason, why the lateral buds of
many plants produce flowers sooner than the sum-
mit ; which is, that the lateral buds of those plants,
where the pith of the upright central shoot is not di-
vided, are propagated from the central shoot, and are
therefore one generation older ; and have thus acquir-
ed the maturity necessary for amatorial reproduction.
In other plants, where the pith of the stem is divided
at every joint, the summit bud has been preceded by
more generations, and is therefore more mature for
the purpose of producing flowers, than the lateral
ones, as in a stem of wheat ; and probably in the
artichoke, and on the spurs of some fruit trees, as of
pears.

98

II. TO PERFECT AND ENLARGE THE
FRUIT.

IT is believed by some of the Linnean school, that
flower-buds or leaf-buds may be converted into each
other in the early state of their existence. It is in-
deed probable, that either a flower-bud or loaf-bud
may be generated instead of each other reciprocally,
before either of them exists ; but after either of them
has obtained a certain degree of maturity, so as to be
distinguished by its form being more pointed or more
spherical ; I suspect no addition or detraction of nu-
triment, or of the facihty of the production of its em-
bryon caudexes down the bark and radicles beneath
can chano-e its destination.

1. Shorten the oviparous branches^ when the leaves
fall off^ by pruning their viviparous summit^ and cut
away the root-suckers. The summits of tlie lateral
branches, as well as the erect ones, are furnished
generally with viviparous buds ; which in many wall
trees should be cut ofi', after the leaves fall in autumn ;
that more nutriment may be derived to the fruit-
buds, which may occasionally become somewhat en-
larged during the milder days of winter ; as they are
now certainly too far advanced to be changed into
leaf- buds ; and if this pruning be deferred till late in
the winter months, the fiower-buds will not be quite
so forward, as if it be performed earlier. For the
same reason the root- suckers also should be cut away
in the autumn, that all the nutriment, which they
would otherwise expend, may be derived to the
flovvcr-buds, and induce them early to enlarge them-
selves.

3. Thin all those fruits^ which are too numerous ;
pluck off apricots^ peaches^ gooseberries; and cut out
many gropes from each branch with scissars. By the

09

inosculation of the vessels of vegetables when any
parts of a tree are destroyed, those in their vicinity
become more vigorous. On this account when part
of the fruit is taken away as early as may be, the re-
maining part acquires more nutriment. Add to this,
that, where the fruit is crowded, some of it becomes
precluded from the sun and air, and in consequence
does not perfectly ripen, and is liable to become
mouldy ; for mucor is a vegetable production, which
like other fungi does not require either much light
or air, as appears from the growth of some fungusses
in dark cellars, and of common mushrooms beneath
beds of straw.

4. Prevent the production of new leaf-buds.

In some pear trees the whole of the blossoms be-
come sterile, and fall off without any apparent injury
from cold, and this for many successive years. The
same occurs sometimes to chesnut trees, aesculus
pa via, after the flower the fructification entirely falls
off; some of these might be male flowers, as Miller
observes, but the whole could not be such. The
same happens very frequently to the fig-trees of this
climate, sometimes the whole crop falls off, when
they are about the size of filberts ; that is, while they
are still in flower, w^hich though concealed within
the fig, must precede the swelling of the seeds,
whether these be impregated or not.

A correspondent fact occurred to me a few years
ago. I had six young trees of the Ischia fig with
fruit on them in pots in a stove. On removing them
into larger boxes the figs fell off, which I ascribed to
the increased vigour of the plants ; as they protruded
very vigorous shoots occasioned by the accumulation
of new soil round their roots. Perhaps these plants
might rather be said to have been in flower than \x\

100

fruit, and perhaps these flowers were all male ones
only, or accompanied only with imperfect female
ones ?

Whence I conclude, that about the season when
the corals of these flowers with their stamens
and stigmas die, the trees generate and nourish too
many new leaf-buds, owing to the facility with which
they can produce the new caudexes of these young
buds down the bark ; and that by the whole of the
vegetable sap-juice being derived to the new buds
for their present growth, or to form reservoirs for
their future growth, the pericarp and seeds, whether
impregnated or not, are deprived of their due nutri-
ment and fall off*.

Hence I propose to tie waxed thread or fine wire
round the twigs of pear-trees, which have usually
miscarried, as soon as they are in flower, so as to
compress, but not so as to strangulate them ; or to
wound the bark by a circular or semicircular incision,
which might counteract their facility of procreating
new leaf-buds ; which I suspect would be more ef-
fectual in preventing the flowers from falling off*, than
pinching off' the new leaf- buds, as they appear ; which
is recommended by Dr. Bradley in the management
of fig-trees, and is done to vines in hot-houses ; but
which I found to be ineffectual on many fig-branches
both in the natural ground and in pots, and ascribed
its failure to the continuance of the efforts of the fig-
tree to produce new leaf- buds ; whereas in vines, I
suppose, the grapes would ripen, whether the new
leaf-buds remain or are destroyed.

5. Give additional moisture, manure, and warmth^
during the early part of the growth of fruit, B}' ad-
ditional moisture the fruit becomes larger ; in hot-
houses this may be effected two ways, one by water-
ing the earth on which the vegetables grow, and
another by producing steam by watering the warni

1

101

flues or floors ; which will afterwards in the colder
hours be again condensed, and settle in the form of
dew on the fruit and leaves.

By supplying vegetables as well as animals with
an abundancy of fluid, they are liable to increase in
bulk, both because the external cuticle which con-
fines the growth of both of them, becomes relaxed,
as is seen in the hands of those women, who have
many hours been employed in washing ; and also be-
cause the cutaneous absorbent vessels will thus im-
bibe more fluid from the external surface ; and the
cellular absorbents will therefore imbibe less from the
internal cells, and consequently more mucus or fat
will remain in them.

Thus in Lancashire, where premiums are given
for large goose-berries, I am told, that some of those
who are solicitous for the prizes, not only thin the
fruit of a gooseberry -tree, so as to leave but two or
three gooseberries on a branch, but then by support-
ing a tea-saucer under each of these gooseberries,
bathe it for some weeks in so much water as to cov-
er about a fourth part of it, which they call suckling;
the gooseberry.

There are two circumstances to be attended to in
giving water to plants i which are, not to water them
during the hot part of the day in summer, nor in the
evenings of spring, when a frost may be expected ;
in both these circumstances we may be said to copy
nature, as rain is generally preceded by a cloudy sky^
and is never accompanied by frost ; though that some-
times follows it, and is then very injurious to vegeta=
tion.

When plants have been long stimulated by a hot
sunshine into violent action, if this stimulus of heat
be too greatly and too suddenl^^ diminished by the
affusion of cold water, or by its sudden evaporation,
their vessels cease "to act, and death ensues; exactly

, 102

as has too frequently happened to those, who have
bathed in a cold spring of water after having been
heated by violent and continued exercise on a hot
day. When severe frost follows the watering of plants,
they are rendered torpid, and die by the too great and
sudden diminution of the stimulus of heat ; which is
equally necessary to the activity of vegetable as to
animal fibres ; and in some instances the circulation
of their fluids may be stopped by the congelation of
them ; and in others their vessels may be burst by
the expansion attending the conversion of water into
ice ; or lastly, by the separation of their diflerent flu- ^
ids by congelation.

When an addition of manure can be procured, as
where the black carbonic juice from a dung-hill mix-
ed with water, or soap-suds, which have been used
in washing, can be employed instead of water alone ;
it must undoubtedly add to the nutriment, and con-
sequently enlarge the size of the fruit by that means
also, as well as by the additional water.

Where too much moisture is given without at the
same time an addition of warmth, some inconven-
iences are liable to occur, as a less aromatic and sac-
charine flavour of the fruit. When therefore fruits
become nearly ripe, less water should be given them,
unless it is convenient at the same time to increase
the heat, in which they are immersed, as may be
done in some hot-houses ; and then the flavour of the
fruit may be heightened, as well as its size increas-
ed, as shewn by Mr. Bastard in the Philosophical
Transact, who planted pine- apple plants in vessels
of water, and placed these vessels near the top of the
hot-house, or on the fire-flues, for the purpose of sup-
plying them with a greater heat ; and produced by
these means both larger, as he asserts, and better fla-
voured pine-apples. '

103

On this important subject I shall transcribe hiiS
words, and shall only add, that steam from boiling
Water is now successfully used in some hot-houses
for the growth both of vines and of pines, but must
require some attention in the application of it ; as it
is occasionally conveyed through small apertures,
which perforate a brick arch, which is constructed
somewhat like the floor of a malt-kiln, where the
water boils beneath the beds of bark or of soil ; and
is occasionally admitted into the room above, and thus
supplies moisture and heat both to the ground and to
the air of the hot-house.

*' My hot-house is covered with the best crown
glass, which I apprehend gives more heat than the
common sort of green glass generally used for hot-
houses. In the front part of the house, and indeed
any where in the lowest parts of it, the pine-apple
plants will not thrive well in water. The way in
which I treat them is as follows. I place a shelf
near the highest part of the back wall, so that the
pine-plants may stand without absolutely touching
the glass, but as near it as can be. On this shelf I
place pans full of water, about seven or eight inches
deep ; and in these pans I put the pine-apple plants,
growing in the same pots of earth, as they are gener-
ally planted in to be plunged into the bark-bed in the
common way ; that is, I put the pot of earth with
the pine- plant in it in the pan full of water : and as
the water decreases, I constantly fill up the pan. I
place either plants in fruit, or young plants as soon
as they are well rooted, in these pans of water, and
find they thrive equally well ; the fruit reared this
way is always much larger, as well as better flavour-
ed, than when ripened in the bark-bed. I have more
than once put only the plants themselves without any
earth, I mean after they had roots, into these pans of
water, with only water sufiicient to keep the roots

104

always covered, and found them flourish beyond ex-
pectation. A neighbour of mine has placed a leaden
cistern upon the top of the back flue, (in which, as it
is in contact with the flue, the water is always warm,
when there is fire in the house,) and finds his fruit
excellent and large.

'' The way I account for this success is, that the
warm air always ascending to the part, where this
shelf is placed, as being the highest part of the house,
keeps it much hotter than in any other part. The
temperajure at that place is, I believe seldom less
than what is indicated by the 73d degree of Fahren-
heit's thermometer ; and when the sun shines, it is
often at above 100 degrees; the water the plants
grow in seems to enable them to bear the greatest
heat, if sufiicient air be allowed ; and I often see the
roots of the plants growing out of the holes in the
bottom of the pot of earth, and shooting vigorously
in the water.

*' It is not foreign to this purpose to mention, that^
as a person was moving a large pine- plant from the
hot-bed in my house last summer, which plant was
just shewing fruit, by some accident he broke off" the
plant just above the earth in which it grew, and there
was no root whatever left to it ; by way of experi-
ment I took the plant, and fixed it upright in a pan
of water (without any earth whatever) on the shelf;
it there soon threw out roots, and bore a pine-apple
that weighed upwards of two pounds,"

105

Roxbury, Sept. 30th, 1809.

Rev. John T. KiRKL AND, D. D. Recording Sec-
re tar?/ of the Massachusetts Society for promot-
ing Agriculture,

Sir,

A Society has been formed in Great Britain,
within a few years past, for the purpose of promo-
ting horticultural improvements, a branch of agri-
culture if not as extensively useful as some others,
at least claiming the merit of contributing to our
comforts and innocent luxuries.

The persons who compose this society are among
the most distinguished naturalists of that kingdom $
and the publications which they have already made
of their essays and experiments afford the most sat-
isfactory evidence of their ability to contribute
most essentially to the advancement of horticultural
knowledge.

I shall select upon the present occasion, one
specimen, which from its importance and complete
success, both in Europe and in this country, I flatter
myself will not be deemed unworthy of your atten-
tion.

An essay was read before that society on the
3d of May, 1808, addressed to them, by John
Williams, Esq. giving an account of a new method
of hastening the maturation of grapes.

This essay I have now the pleasure to communi-
cate to the Trustees of the Agricultural Society,
and I shall subjoin the results of an experiment
which I have made upon several species of grapes,
and which has been attended with the most perfect
success.

Although from the greater degree of heat which
prevails in our climate, we are not so frequently ex-
14

106

posed to the loss of our grapes by early frosts, yet
the case not unfrequently occurs with us, and with
respect to the more delicate sorts it often happens
that we cannot bring them to perfect maturity.

In the experiments which I made upon Mr.
Williams's plan, I endeavoured to follow his direc-
tions minutely, and I can say with confidence, that
all the effects which he describes to have taken
place with him were most satisfactorily produced
with mine.

When my grapes had attained the size of full
grown peas, I caused the bark to be removed from
the stocks of several of my vines upon which I pro-
posed to make the experiment, for the space of
about one quarter of an inch, entirely removing the
cortex and liber, so as to leave the alburnum com-
pletely exposed, without however in any degree
wounding it.

The experiment this year was commenced about
the 20th of July, but in some years it would be ex-
pedient to do it at an earlier period.

The several species on which the trial was made,
were the black Syrian grape, which rarely if ever
ripens in this country, in the open air ; the common
white sweet Water ; and the Miller cluster grape.

In four or five weeks, the effects of the experiment
were very obvious^ in the enlargement and superior
vigour of that portion of the plant which was above
the incision. The grapes also were of a much larg-
er and fairer size, and on the 30th of August,
the bunches on the Syrian and Miller grapes had
already become highly coloured, and were of a
deep purple colour, upon the branches on which the
experiment was made, whilst all the bunches upon
other branches of the same vine, still remained
small and green.

The bunches upon the common sweetwater ex-
hibited a difference equally striking, being at leasts

107

twice as large as those upon branches on which no
incision had been made, and of a bright transparent
colour, inclining to amber, while those upon
branches upon which no incision had been made,
remained perfectly green.

The wounds made by the incisions, were on the
first of September completely healed, and a perfect
cicatrice had been fontied, which connected the bark
above and below, and no doubt can be entertained
from the present appearances, that the plants on
which the experiment has been tried, will enjoy as
great or even perhaps greater degree of health than
the others.

On the 21st of this month, I gathered several
bunches for the table, which were very pleasant
though not perfectly ripened ; and at this day it is
very doubtful, whether my grapes in ordinary cir-
cumstances, will ripen at all ; they certainly will not
unless the autumnal frosts should be uncommonly
delayed.

I should have exhibited a specimen to the Socie-
ty of these grapes, but I have already taken ofFeve.
ry bunch, except one of the large St. Peters grape,
which I wish to reserve to see whether it will ripen,
which it has never yet done in my ground. It is
now twice as large as other bunches on the same
branch, and is perfectly black, while the others are
only faintly coloured.

I have the honour to be,
Respectfully,

Your humble servant,

J. LOWELL,

Postscript, June 11, 1810.

I find this Spring, that the abovementioned
branches are in as good health, and as full of fruit
as any others upon my vines.

108

To the Hon, John Lowell, Esq,
Sir,

The very great destruction of fruit trees, occa-
sioned by mice and moles, during the winters of
the two or three last years, has made it an object of
the utmost importance to discover the best means
of preventing the mischief, or to invent a remedy
for the evil, after it has taken place. So prodigious-
ly have these pernicious vermin multiplied of late,
in some places, as to threaten the destruction, not
only of fruit trees, but also of forest trees, and the
grass of our best mowing fields. During the win-
ter of 1808 and 1809, they were known in some
places to attack a whole copse of small trees, leav-
ing scarcely one ungirdled ; and in many mowing
fields, to gutter almost the whole surface of the
ground, for acres together, with their burrows and
paths. Instead of molesting only the small trees in
our orchards, as usual, they have of late completely
girdled apple trees, in some instances, of nearly
three feet in circumference, and destroyed them.

As this mischief is seldom done but in the se-
verity of winter, when these virmin are driven to
the roots of the trees for shelter, and are deprived
of their ordinary subsistence by the frost and snow,
the most effectual way to prevent their injury is,
in the month of November, just before the winter
sets in, to clear away all the rubbish, and furze from
around the roots of young trees, leaving the ground
bare, and then to put a coat of dry ashes all around.
The roots of the tree then affording them no
shelter above ground, and they having a natural a-
version to burrowing in ashes, they will be driven
for shelter to some other place, and your trees will
thereby in a great measure be preserved from their
mischief. The ashes also will abundantly com-
pensate you for the trouble and expense, causing

. 109

your trees the year following to thrive and flourish
exceedingly.

Another method of soitie use is, in the early part
of winter, after the first snow, to shovel snow a-
round the roots of the trees, and tlien tread it down
hard, by which it will freeze, and become solid like
ice, through which they cannot easily penetrate-
But this method is by no means sure, ,as they will
frequently burrow under the ice, and sometimes in-
jure the roots underneath, and in the least thaw pass
up and injure the tree.

But after the injury has been done, and your tree
is completely girdled, and all the bark eaten oiF
round the tree, to the hard wood, I know of but
one remedy, to preserve the tree alive, although ma-
ny experiments have been tried. A tree gndled in
this manner, having no means of conveying the sap
and nourishment from the roots up into the bodv
and branches above, must wither and die. The
usual way among farmers is, in such cases, to dig
tip the trees and set out new ones. Sometimes they
are cut off and headed down below the place eaten,
and new wood, in length of time, will shoot out and
make a second tree.

. But it occurred to me that if any artificial way-
could be discovered to renew, or make a commu-
nication of the circulating vessels of the lower sec-
tions of the bark and sap eaten off, with the upper,
so as to convey up the juices and nourishment from
the roots into the branches, the tree might be made
to live and flourish.

Accordingly choosing a fine thrifty tree, about
twelve inches in circumference, as soon as the snow
was off the ground in the spring, which had been
completely girdled by the mice, and all the bark
eaten off all round to the hard w^ood, more than four
inches wide, like a belt ; I took a sharp knife and
evened the edges of the lower and upper circle of

110

die bark eaten off ; then took a scion from the tree
about the bigness of a pipe stem, and an inch long-
er at each end than the space where the bark had
been eaten off around the tree, spUt the scion length
wise, and shavedlhe split side down, so as^to fit to
the body of the tree, being very careful not to dis-
turb the bark of the scion ; then cutting away the
lower circle, until it came to fresh bark, made a per-
pendicular slit one inch down towards the root of
the tree, then crossed this at the bottom, with a
horizontal sHt, half an inch on each side, as in bud-
ding ; then gently pealed up the bark on each side,
and fitted the lower end of the scion in, and squeez-
ed the bark down around it; then fitted the upper
end of the scion into the upper circle of the bark
eaten off, in all respects, as I had done the lower.
In this manner I placed six scions all round the
body of the tree ; then covered it over an inch
or more thick with Forsaith's composition, and
howed the dirt up all round the roots of the tree to
keep it moist.

The tree did not put out its leaves so soon, nor
so vigorously, at first, as the other trees ; but by the
middle of summer it flourished very well, and in
the fall there was no apparent difference between
it and the surrounding trees. It bore some fruit
the last year, and is now covered with young fruit,
and appears as healthy and flourishing, as any tree
in the garden.

In the fall of the year, after this operation, I op-
ened the roots of this tree, and tore away the plas-
ter, and to my surprise, I found that four of the
six scions had taken, and grown to the size of
nearly an inch in diameter. The other two did not
take, by which means, the tree is a little flat on one
side. I lately opened the tree again, and have
found that it will soon be covered with bark a-
gain, except the side where the scions did not take.

Ill

This experiment I have known to have been tried
several times since with equal success. Mr. Isaac
Davis, of Roxbury, a very intelligent and respecta-
ble farmer, in the spring of the year, 1809, treated
in the same manner a large apple tree of more than
twenty- seven inches in circumference, which had
been eaten off all round, for a space of more than
four inches. The tree flourished, and bore fruit
the last year, and is now covered with a great abun-
dance of fruit ; and is extremely thrifty, having re-
cently examined it for the purpose of ascertaining
its present state. Mr. Davis made use of com-
mon clay mortar in his experiment, instead of For-
saith's composition, which he thinks, answers as
good a purpose.

Knowing, Sir, the interest you feel in every
thing that tends to improvement in agriculture, and
husbandry, I have taken the liberty to address to
you the aforegoing experiments and observations,
which, if in your opinion should be deemed of
public utility, you are requested to communicate
in any manner you think most useful to society.

I am, with the highest sentiments of respect,
Your most obedient and very humble serv't.

LUTHER RICHARDSON,

Itoxburi/y June 10, 1810.

112

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PAPERS

1811,

COMMUNICATED TO THE

MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY

90R.

PROMOTING AGRICULTURE.

PUBLISHES BY THE THTJSTEES.

Without encouragement of Agiuculture, and thereby increasing the
number of its people, any country, however, blessed by nature, must
continue poor. swift.

BOSTOXi
PRINTED BY MUNROE & FRENCH,

PRINTERS TO THE STATE,

1811.

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETF,

CHOSEN JUNE, 1811.

Hon. JOHN ADAMS, L. L. D. President.
AARON DEXTER, M. D. First Vice-President.
S. W. PO^rEROY, Esq. Second Vice-President.
RICHARD SULLIVAN, Esq. Recording Secretai^.
JOHN LOWELL, Esq. Corresponding Secretary.
THOMAS L. WINTHROP, Esq. Treasurer.
Hon. D. A. TYNG, Esq.
EBEN PREBLE, Esq.
Hoa. P. C. BROOKS, Esq. I

SAMUEL G. PERKINS, Esq. ^ trustees.

GORHAM PARSONS, Esq.
JOHN PRINCE, Jun. Esq.

PREMIUMS

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

1. To the person who shall discoTer an effectual and
cheap method of destroying the Canker-worm, and give evi*
dence thereof, to the satisfaction of the trustees, on or before
the first day of June, 1813, a premium of one hundred doU
kirs, or the society's gold medal.

2. And a premium of one hundred dollars.^ or the socie-
ty's gold medal, to the person who shall, on or before the
first day of October, 1813, discover an effectual, and the
cheapest method of destroying the Slug-worm, and give evi-
dence thereof to the satisfaction of the trustees.

3. To the person who shall produce the largest quantity
of wool, meat and tallow, from the smallest number of sheep,
not less than ten, raised oh his own farm, a premium of /A/r-
ty dollars ; to be claimed on or before the 1st iday of Au-
gust, 1814. i-- 7/

4. 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 satisfaction of the trustees,
on or before January 1, 1814, one hundred dollars^ ot the
society's gold medal.

5. To the person who shall present to this society the
most complete (being nearly complete) Ilortus Siccus, exhib-
iting distinct specimens of the greatest variety of grasses, in
general use, and specify, io the satisfaction of the trustees,
their respective qualities, productiveness, and usefulness as
food for different kinds of, animals, the gold medaU andj^//^
dollars ; to be claimed on or before the 1st day of October,
1814.

6. To the perso^i who shall produce, from seed, the best
growth 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, twentif-

Jive dollars ; if all of oak, JiftT/ dollars. Claims to be made
on or beforethe 1st of October, 1814.

7. To the person who shall ascertain by accurate analy-
sis, the constituent parts of several fertile soils respective ly,
and in like manner the parts of several poor soils, and thus

shall discover the defects of the latter ; and shall sho\r by
actual experiments how the sa'd difects may bo remedied by
the addition of earths or other ingredients which abound in the
country, and in a manner that may be practised by common
farmers, ^/^j/ dollars. And if it shall appear to the satisfac-
tion of the trustees, that, upon an extensive practice, the im-
provement of the poor soil would be more than equivalent to
the expenseof 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
November 1, 1814.

8. To the person who shall, by actual experiment, on
a quantity not less than half a ton, shew the best method of
curing 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 ex-
hibited, three months after it is cured, to a majority of the
selectmen, or to the settled minister and justice of the peace
in the vicinity. Claims to be made on or before the last Fri-
day of November, 1812.

9. To the person who shall give the most satisfactory
account, verified by experiments, of the effect of ploughing
in green crops for manurc,nor not less than two acres, the sil-
ver medal, or thirty dollars. Accounts with certificates, to
be produced on or before the first Tuesday in March, 1812.

10. To the person who shall lay before the Board, the most
satisfactory account of the application and eifect of manures,
verified by practical experiments, on not less than one acre
for each sort of manure, the silver medal, or thirty dollars.
To be produced on or before the first Tuesday in December,
1813.

11. 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
trustees ; that they be delivered without names, or any inti-
mation 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 corresponding mark, and on the inside his name and ad-
dress.

RICHARD SULLIVAN, liec'g. Secretary.

PREFACE.

THE Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for
promoting Agriculture, present to the Public a new
edition of an old and valuable work on the various
branches of Agriculture. This Treatise has been
out of print many years. It was published by the
author, (the Rev. Dr. Jared Eliot, of Killing-
worth, in Connecticut,) in 1747, under the title of
" Essays on Field Husbandry^ wrote from a Journal
of thirtij years experience.'^

The Trustees consider these Essays as highly
valuable to the Agricultural Interest of the North-
ern States. They relate to facts, which have, in
many instances, been verified, since the author ceas-
ed from his labours. The distribution of them
through the Country may be more useful than the
communication of extracts from foreign publications,
and will preserve the memory of a man, who has
deserved well of his country.

These Essays are very diffuse, and state the
general practice of Agriculturalists in the aiithor's
day. Respecting the culture of foreign and domes-
tic Grasses and Grain, he is very minute. Millet,

6

though called by the author an ordinary species of
orain, is noticed as of much importance, is very pro-
ductive, and good food for hogs and poultry, and is
recommended strongly as a grass crop. It has how-
ever been generally neglected, and perhaps for want
of fair experiments.

These Essays display, by a variety of experi-
ments, the importance of draining swamps and wet
meadow land. It is universally acknowledged, at
the present day, that the best and most productive
lands are useless from stagnant water. In this con-
dition they contribute greatly, if not principally, to
the propagation and continuance of the most fatal
autumnal diseases, which this country experiences.
Whereas, if those lands were drained and cultivated,
they would, in a short time, become the most val-
uable in the country ; the pestilential effluvia,
which is so extremely fatal every year, would no
longer arise from them, and a noxious waste would
thus be converted into fruitful fields.

The very ingenious paper, from the Hon. Sam-
uel Tenny, of New-Hampshire, relative to Orch-
ards, deserves the particular attention of every intel-
ligent farmer, as well as gardener. His advice res-
pecting the cultivation of Apple Trees, which is
equally applicable to other fruit trees, cannot be too
often read, nor too strongly recommended.

The Trustees are convinced from observation,
that Agriculture, in almost every branch, has been
much improved since their first publication in 1793.
Whether these improvements have been effected by

their publications or not, is of little consequence to
the members of this Society. The good of the com-
munity has been their only aim. No private emol-
ument or advantage has been received, or expected,
but in common with the great family of mankind.

The manufacture of Butter and Cheese, has;
been greatly improved. The breed of Cattle and of
Sheep, has been more attended to than formerlv.
The Trustees feel the highest satisfaction, in having
offered the first premium (500 dollars) for encour-
aging the importation of Merino Sheep, which, with
the high price of the animal in the market, after his
value was known, induced merchants to import them
into every part of the United States.

The Trustees received last autumn, a small
parcel of a new species of Wheat, from a friend in
Europe. Its stalk is solid, and is supposed to be
proof <^ainst the Hessian fly. Thev have received
also from the same hand, a large species of white
Rye. Both have been distributed in the country,
and will, another year, it is hoped, be found to have
succeeded.

Boston, 1811.

ESSAYS

UPON

FIELD-HUSBANDRY,

PART I.

IT is not an hundred and thirty years since the
first settlement of New- England, and much less than
that since the greater part hath been planted.

When we consider the small number of the first
settlers, and coming from an old cultivated country,
to thick woods, rough unimproved lands ; where all
their former experience and knowledge was now of
very little service to them : they were destitute of
beasts of burthen or carriage ; unskilled in every part
of service to be done : it may be said, that in a sort,
they began the world anew.

When we consider these things, the progress that
hath been made in so short a time is very wonderful.

For some time after the country was settled, they
had no cattle at all ; when some were brought over,
what with bad hay they provided, it being cut upon
bog meadow, the multitude of wolves and other beasts
of prey, for sundry years they were kept so low and
had so few cattle, that the common price for a grown
bullock was twenty pounds sterling, which is equal
to two hundred pounds old tenor.

I remember when I was a boy, I heard a very
ancient woman of good credit say, that she had seen
twenty broad pieces paid down for a two year old
heifer, which is now equal to two hundred and fifty
pounds old tenon *

iO

Although the progress we have made be very
considerable, our country yet needs and is capable of
greater improvement in the management of our lands ;
of which 1 design to consider in several sorts.

1. Those coves and swamps that are adjoining to
salt marsh, which lie so flat and low that they cannot
be drained : I have seen sundry such places upon the
sea coast. I have such a piece of ground, which I
am obliged to fence in, in order to inclose some other
land ; which put me upon thought of trying to make
something of it, it being now wholly unprofitable.

Last fall I began upon it and drew a ditch of four
feet wide from a large salt creek, and carried it up in
the middle of the cove seventy rods, in order to turn
it into salt meadow, that being the best that I could
do with it. It so far answers the design, that the tide
flows regularly into it, to the upper end of it ; the tide
now flowing, where I suppose it never reached before.
There must be smaller ditches on each side, to cut
off" the fresh springs, and small grips cut from the
great ditch in sundry places, that so the salt water
may be spread and communicated to all parts of it.

The lower part next the salt marsh is rushes, the
next are reeds, then large brakes and bushes, and last
of all a thick swamp. If this land can be converted
into salt meadow, it will be much cheaper than to
purchase so much salt marsh, and will lie very
convenient to my other land.

Salt water will effectually kill trees and bushes
where it comes, both root and branch.

2. The second sort of land that I shall consider, is,
the low sunken lands, which have no communication
with the salt marsh : of this sort there are three kinds,
viz. thiclv swamp, boggy meadow, and smooth, even,
shaking meadow ; this last sort is called cramberry
marsh : he that would do any thing to effect with

11

either of these sorts, must in the first place see
whether there be deep mire ; if it be shallow and soon
come to hard sand, clay, or gravel, it will not be worth
while to expend cost upon it.

Again, you must examine what fall there is. If the
fall be apparent to the eye, and this for ten or fifteen
rods, you may be satisfied ; if you are uncertain, try it
with a water level or spirit level. If your marsh be
small, the drein long, rocky, and likely to be charge-
able, it may be best to let it alone ; but if it be a
large swamp or nieadow, although the main drain
should be a considerable charge, that should be no
discouragement.

That low ground which is .thick with wood and
brush, will be the most chargeable ; the bog meadow
the next in charge, because the bogs must be cut
up with a bog plough or with a hoe ; either way is
chargeable. The shaking meadow has the best surface
and is easiest to bring to mowing.

Last August was twelve month I began to drein a
pond that lies but a mile from my house ; it w^as not a
natural pond, but made so upon design. Our record
informs that it was granted to a man to prevent the
miring of cattle ; the owner of it laid it under water
about eighty years ago. It was over grown with pond
lillies ; it was thought by most that to drein it was
impracticable. Some said, that it was as unlikely as
to drain the ocean. At the outlet there seemed to be
little or no fall ; but trying it with a level, my son
and I found that in forty rods there was fall sufficient*
We therefore set about dreining it, have succeeded so
far that it bids fair to make a good piece of land. It
had been under water so long, and was so full of pond
lilly roots, that when the water was drawn off and the
lilly roots dried and shrunk up, it grew to be puffy,
and did not for this reason do so well as we expected :
The grass seed did not come up well, nor stand so

1!^

well as in land that has lain open t6 the heat of the sun.
The whole pond was about twenty acres, and the
soil is eight or ten feet deep ; there are in it iftany
large springs, which are fifteen feet deep.

I began last March to drein another meadow of
forty acres, up in Guilford woods ; this was a shak-
ing meadow ; a man standing upon it might shake
the ground several rods round him. It seemed to be
only a strong sward of grass roots laid over a soft
mud of the consistence of Pancake-batter ; there was
not abundance of bushes in it, but abundance of
cramberry vines, and a great burthen of poor wild
grass. The meadow was deemed so poor that none
would take it up. I was pitied as being about to
ivaste a great deal of money ; but they comforted
themselves that if I spent it unprofitably, others that
stood in need of it would get it. They are now of
another opinion.

At the only outlet of this meadov/, there was fall
sufficient, but very rocky ; we must dig four or five
feet deep to get the advantage of it.

In March when I went up to make the outlet drein,
there v/as such a torrent of water that we could do
nothing. I ordered therefore a tree to be cut down
across the brook, and prepared flitches instead of
plank which we set aslant, the upper end resting upon
the staddle that was fallen across the brook, laid them
as close as we could, and stopped the chinks and
large chasms with top tow, by which means we shut
the water into the meadow, then wrought at the trench
or main drein in the day, and let it out at night, till
it was in a good measure accomplished. When I
ordered the top tow to be carried, the men wondered
what it was designed for, but when they saw how
useful it was in rhaking a cheap dam, they were
pleased with it. I put them in mind of the Dutch
proverb, which says of things that are very mean,
That something is always good for something.

When the Weather grew sufficiently warm and the
meadow a little settled, we began to ditch. I cut a
ditch on each side and one in the middle. As fal* as
we went it soon rendered the meadow iirni and dry ;
I then proceeded to sow grass seed, such as red clo-
ver, foul meadow grass, English spear grass, and herd
grass. Of all the sorts of grass seed I sowed, none
seemed to take hold and come up so well as red clo-
ver ; this I found to be the boldest and most hardy
grass.

Where the sward was strong, although the clover
came up well, yet what with the toughness of the
ground and the overtopping growth of the w^ild natural
grass, the clover made but slow progress till the fall of
the year, and then it mended considerably. But
where there happened to be no sward to hinder it, the
clover grew up to the height of mid thigh, went to
seed, and ripened.

Of the other sorts of grass came up but poorly ;
tlie land I suppose was too new and too tough for it.

Some time in September, I ploughed up a piece of
it where I had not sov/ed any grass seed, it ploughed
very tough, and the cattle mired some, hut we kept
them upon the grass as well as we could ; after all
we left many baulks. About a month after I set
some men to hoe up the baulks, and was agreeably
surprised to find how easy it hoed up. I find the
meadow rotted and mellowed more in one month iu
the fall than it had d6ne in the whole summer. The
same I found by the ditch banks. If I had omitted
my ploughing till a month later, it had been done
with much more ease to man and beast.

In July I sowed a little piece of turnips, they came
up but never grew till the ground began to rot in the
fall of the year, then grew well in the short time they
had left. I expected they would have been rank, but
they were good and svv^eet.

14

Some are deterred from such an undertaking as
that of dreining their land, by reason of the great
charge. They terrify tliemselves without reason.
When I was about to cut my main drein, some
thought it impossible, but at best it would cost an
hunderd pounds. It was a bad place of rocks ; some
I dug up, some we broke up with steel wedges, and
some we blew up with powder ; but after all it did
not cost more than twenty pounds.

As to the great charge of ditching, they do not
consider that the outside ditches serve for fence, as
well as to cut off the springs and drein the meadow,
and it is as cheap fence as any we can make ; so that
there is none but the middle or intermediate ditches,
that are properly to be considered as a charge in drein^
ing.

Some may think this long history of two pieces of
meadow, this tedious detail of so many minute par-
ticulars to be needless, trifling and impertinent.

I have been particular in describing the main or
outlet drein of each meadow, that it may be seen
that the difficulty of rocks is not insuperable, nor the
charge of a long drein intolerable.

I mention the cheap moveable dam which may be
made in a few hours, that if they should be incum-
bered with water to hinder their work, there is a rem-
edy at hand.

I informed you of the growth of one of the mead-
ows that it was moss and pond lillies, which v/ill soon
die when the water is gone ; the moss creates the
most trouble, but will burn when it is a dry season.

I gave an account of the depth of the soil, because
I was when I began, uncertain whether by ditches
three feet wide and two and an half deep (such as mine
are) would be sufficient to fix the shaking meadow,

15

and render the deep mire firm and dry enough for
grass and tillage. I think there is reason to believe
that the shaking meadows have been formerly beaver
ponds.

I described the extent and bigness of each meadow,
because I was uncertain whether the ditches would
drien well when they were very long.

Some of mine are an hundred and fifty rods long,
and must be yet much longer ; yet as far as we have
gone, they draw well. In order to have them draw
w^ell and run free, it is absolutely needful, and a main
point, to have your outlet drein deep, so that the
water run briskly.

If the ditches draw well, there is another advan-
tage ; in the spring, when there is much water, by
stopping one ditch, you may shift the water into ano-
ther, to cleanse it, and so to a third. Hereby you
will save the charge of the yearly scouring of them
with the shovel, which is a good saving. I find by
experience I have that advantage.

i have insisted the longer upon this article, it being
an affl\ir of importance. If it should answer our ex-
pectation, it wdll put us into the improvement of land
of which as yet we have had no benefit ; nay, it has
been rather hurtful. It opens to us a new scene, and
time may possibly discover it to be the easiest of til-
lage, the richest and best land.

By the working of my own mind I judge of others ;
however, if I have been mistaken, and that which is
uncertain to me, is clear and easy to others, and so
have been longer upon this particular than is needful
or useful ; I beg pardon of the reader.

When I engaged in this affair, it was with some
mistrust and uncertainty. I am sure, last year I should
have been glad of such an history of facts, (as im-
perfect as it is,) it would have afforded me light,
courage and instruction.

16

As to what remains farther to be done, I should be,
glad to meet with an experienced person to give me
instruction. Our reasonings and speculations without
experience are delusory and uncertain. It used to
be the saying of an old man, that an ounce of experi-
encc is better than a pound of science.

In a country where such like dreining is become a
common practice, such an account as I have given,
would be needless.

I find by experience that such dreined land must
have one summer to ferment and rot, so as to become
proper soil, before it will be fit for grain and every
sort of grass. If I had sowed red clover instead of
the other sorts of grass, I had saved five pound in
seed. Clover outdid my expectation, and the other
sorts fell short of it. If others save where I lost, and
mend wherein I was mistaken, it answers my. design
in writing.

By a little experience we have had of these dreined
lands, we find they will produce Indian corn, sixty oi'
seventy bushels to the acre, and flax. If life and
health be continued, I design to try liquorice roots,
barley, Cape Breton wheat, cotton, indigo seed, and
wood for dying, which I have sent for, as also water
melon seed, which came originally from Archangel, in
Russia which is said produces melons which grow-
to a great size. But what I have principally in view
;s hemp. New- England doth not, I suppose, expend
less than several hundred thousand pounds worth of
foreign hemp yearly. If we can raise more than to
supply our own occasions, we may send it home. I
remember v/hen I was young, a gentleman came
from England, sent over by the King, to invite the
country into that trade; he oifered in the King's
name to find seed to begin with, and four pence ster-
ling p(frpon nd, let us raine what we would, (which i?i

17

three and four pence old tenor,) and if I remember
right, forty shillings bounty on every ton.

It is not a mere conjecture that the dreined lands
will produce hemp. I am informed by my worthy
friend Benjamin Franklin, Esq. of Philadelphia, that
they raise hemp upon their dreined lands.

Hemp requires such very strong land to produce it,
that it would consume all our dung to raise it in any
great quantities ; so that we should not be able to raise
bread corn : therefore, how inviting so ever the
trade is, and how great so ever the encouragements
have been, both from home and by our own govern-
ments, we have not as yet engaged in that affair : we
have now a promising prospect of success in these
dreined lands ; what may be the issue, time and
experience must determine.

The books of husbandry say, that a thousand
weight to the acre is an ordinary crop of hemp.

If a man had a small meadow of dreined land, that
he could lay under water and draw it off at his pleasure
to water his hemp, it would, 1 fancy, be of great
value. I have heard that a man in the Jersies, hath
such a meadow of half an acre, which yields him as
much hemp yearly, as fetches him fifty pounds York
money ; but this seems incredible.

Some think that it is good to lay their low lands
under water in the winter to enrich them, and practise
accordingly ; but this will kill your English grass
after a few years ; for English grass will not subsist
without a winter. In the southern colonies the less
winter the less grass. In Virginia, North and South
Carolina, they have no English grass at all. Where
there is no English grass, it is difficult to make cattle
truly fat ; so. that winter brings its good as well as its
evil things.

3. The third sort of land I would speak of, is our
old land which we have worn out. This is a difficult
3

18

article without dung, which cannot be had for love or
money : where that is wanting, it may be supplied
with other manure. Clay will mend sandy land,
especially if the clay be burnt ; and sand will mend
clay ground. The clay will fix the too loose con-
texture of the sand, and sand will open the parts of
clay which is too close.

i found at my farm at Guilford, a sort of shell sand,
tried it, and found it equal to good dung ; some that
I ordered to be carried up on the tilled land, has
produced five crops, and is not yet spent ; how long
it will last we do not know. They begin to carry it
up into the town.

I have carted this fall upon my land at home some
loads of creek mud, that had been laid up a rotting
two years : I also carted home one load from the
dreined pond ; it looks like dung ; also one load of
clay, one load of sand, and a load of loam. What all
or any of these will do, experience must inform.

Another way to help worn out land, is to sow it
with clover seed ; but if the land be too poor it will
not grow : therefore, if we can raise our Indian corn
upon our dreined land, then we may spare a sprinkling
of dung for our old poor land ; then sow it with ten
pounds of clover seed, which is five quarts to the acre ;
it might cause it to set very thick. Ten pounds is not
too much. He that raiseth clover hay, need not be
afraid of the expense of seed ; for an acre of clover
will yield two bushels of clean seed : the second
crop of clover is the best for seed : so that in getting
seed, you have no need to spoil your best crop of hay ;
as we know what threshing will do, it spoils the hay
in a great measure.

' If you depend upon the second crop of red clover
for your seed, the land must be very rich, and you
must mow your first crop early. There is so much
profit in clover grass, that it is strange it is so much

19

neglected. As seed sells now, that is twelve shillings
a quart, an acre of good clover will make thirty five
pounds old tenor. There is no charge about it but
only the price of the seed, mowing and cleansing the
seed, which is done with a great deal of ease, in a
way that deserves to be made public.

If seeding the land with clover will not make poor
land rich, yet it will prevent our better land from
being worn out ; and by ploughing in a good coat
of white clover, the land would be prepared for a
crop of wheat.

Seeding the land when we lay it down is of so much
importance for present profit and future advantage,
that it is a settled opinion at the Isle of Wight, that
if they should Jail but for one year to seed their land
for grass, it would be to their damage more than twenty
thousand pounds sterling.

Another way of mending poor land, is, by feeding
it close a few years with sheep, to destroy the briars,
weeds and mangy grass : this hath succeeded to
bring in the English grass and make a strong sward.

It will be best to take out the sheep at the latter
end of August^ that so what English grass there is,
may make coat for the ground before winter, and
then shut it up that it may not be fed. By the end
of August the wild trash has done growing.

In England, to recover their poor land, they direct
to sow their land with turnips, and at winter put their
sheep upon it ; and they will live a while upon the
tops and then scoop out the turnip itself ; by that
time the land with the sheep dung will be rich enough
for barley in the spring. But our poor land is so
poor that it will not bear turnips bigger than buttons.
This method looks likely, if tried, to make rich land
richer. Some propose to sow oats and when growR
up plough them in.

20

4. I designed to write something concerning our
poor rough, stony, uneven land in the woods, which
is now of Uttlc service to us. I would propose a way
how it might be improved so as to become useful
and profitable land, which I proposed to submit to
the reader's better judgment : but finding that I have
already gone a greater length than I at first designed,
it must be omitted.

A barrel of cider of sweet apples when made into
molasses, will be worth three pounds, abating five
shillings for the making, when cider made of common
apples, a barrel will be worth but twenty shillings,
exclusive of the barrel.

I'have been told that half a peck of the little round
white beans mixed with a bushel of rye, will make
bread something like wheat ; I have never tried it,
but design to see what it will do.

I have been told that summer wheat sowed with
barley is not apt to blast, and do well together ; also
summer rye and oats : as also oats and peas produce
a good crop when sowed together ; the oats bearing
up the pea vines prevent their falling to the ground.

I find by experience the best time to fatten s^vine,
is to begin at the first of August^ if you have old corn :
Hogs will fat dowly in very cold weather ; they will
cat much and fatten but little : if you make a very
warm house they heat in bed and catch cold when
they come out into the cold air.

To save corn, steep it in water or swill till the
corn grow very soft ; this opens the parts : give
them the com to eat and the water to drink in which
the corn has been steeped : the hard dry corn, a
great deal of it, passeth through them undigested ;
this is the hardest part of the corn and that which
principally makes the flour. There is a tradition;
that if you feed one hog with corn, the dung of the
first hog will fat another hog, and his dung a third.

21

Although I believe the story to be fabulous, yet it
serves to shew that the sense of mankind, is, that in
the manner we feed swine, there is a great deal of
loss.

I took the hint of steeping corn, from the advantage
I once found by some corn I bought that had been
ship wrecked, had lain in the water till it was grown
soft.

Such is the difference in corn and in swine, that it
is impossible to fix it absolutely and know certainly
how much there is saved by this method. It is better
than grinding, besides what we save in the toll and
the time and charge of the carriage : for it is found
by experience, that even bran when steeped in water
a long time is much the better.

I asked an honest, judicious neighbor of mine, who
had leisure to try this method of steeping corn longer
and with more exactness than I had done, how much
he thought was saved by it ? he said, at least one
bushel in seven ; he believed more. But we will
suppose it saves but a tenth part, then see how much
it will save in the whole colony ? Suppose there are
in this colony, about sixty towns, great and small,
new and old : we will suppose two hundred families
in each town, one with another, and each family to
consume or spend as much pork as will require one
with another twenty bushels of corn to make the pork
for .each family. Sixty towns of two hundred families
each, makes twelve thousand families, and twenty
bushels of corn to each family, makes two hundred
forty thousand bushels of corn : the tenth part of this
is twenty four thousand bushels. If there be not so
many towns and families as is supposed, there is
much pork fatted and sent away in barrels, and many
herds of fat swine drove away that are not consumed
in the government, enough to make it up ; and surely

22

the saving of twenty four thousand bushels of com
yearly, is worthy of our care and consideration.

Since the foregoing was written, a person of good
credit informed me, that there being in his neighbor-
hood a dealer in horses, who was famous for skill in
making horses fat in a short time ; he desired the
jockey to tell him how he did it : the secret was to
mix Indian corn and oats together and soak it in
water till it was soft ; that in cold weather he steeped
it in a cellar that it might be kept from freezing.

My informant told me, he had made trial of it and
found it did well, giving it to his horse in the same
proportion as he was wont to do of dry provender.

An handful of dry ashes put upon each hill of
Indian corn, in some land, has been found to do
good equal to dunging in the hole : some say there
ought to be half a pint of ashes to each hill, and it
should be put on a little after the corn is come up.

I was told by an experienced farmer, that if ycu
girdle trees, or cut brush in the months of May^
June and July, in the old of the moon, that day the
sign removes out of the foot into the head, especially
if the day be cloudy, it will kill almost all before it :
they will bleed, he said, more freely in a cloudy day ;
for the hot sun dries up the sap. I have never tried it.
If this could be certainly found out, it would expedite
the cleaning land and save a great deal of labor. But
experience is authority to whom we are to submit :
I am not forward to believe without trial.

Swamps that are full of wood and brush, and
covered with moss, if they are deep soil and can be
well dreined, cleared and ditched, will make good
land for corn and grass.

Elder bushes are stubborn and hard to subdue,
yet I know by experience that mowing them live
times in a year will kill them.

23

It might serve to increase useful knowledge, if
something of this nature were pubHshed every year,
giving a faithful account of the success of all the
experiments and trials that may be made on various
sorts of land, and of divers sorts of grain, roots, grass
and fruits, not only such as we have in use, but also
what we have not as yet introduced among us.

There are few men of business, ingenuity and
observation, but what have found cut things valuable
and useful, but for want of some proper method to
communicate them, they die with the discoveries,
and are lost to mankind.

Therefore, whoever has made any observations or
discoveries, although it be but a hint, and looks like a
small matter, yet if pursued and improved, may be
of public service. If they see cause to favor me with
such discoveries and experiments as they have or
shall make, I shall receive it with thankfulness, and
publish it either with or without their names to it, as
they shall see fit : for if this Essay should be thought
useful, if God give life and health I purpose next
year to furnish you with another winter's evening
entertainment : for I would be glad to do good as far
as lies in my power.

A discovery of the nature and property of things,
and applying them to useful purposes, is true phi-
losophy. A great deal of what has passed in tlie
world for learning, is philosophy falsely so called.

A certain person among the Greeks, being a
candidate for some office in the state, it was objected
against him, that he was no scholar. True, saith he,
according to your notion of learning, I am not ; but
I know how to make a poor city rich, and a small
city great.

The world was a long time amused with the
learning of Aristotle, and the Arabians spun out of
their own brains, and not founded in truth ; vet

24

among all this trumpery there was two pieces of useful
knowledge, for which we are indebted to them ; one
was the knowledge of the nine figures, so useful in
arithmetic ; the other was the first rudiments of
algebra, now grown up to a great height. Experi-
mental philosophy being founded in nature and truth,
is obtained no way but by time and diligence : The
knowledge of things useful are gained by little & little.

We are not to admire or despise things merely
because they are new ; but value things or disregard
them just so far as they are found (by experience
that faithful instructor) to be useful or unprofitable.
Wisdom is profitable to direct.

Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wis-
dom ; especially that wisdom that is from above : it
is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be en-
treated, full of mercy and good fruits ; without
partiality and without hypocrisy.

There are some pieces of pasture land wholly des-
titute of water, which renders them less useful and
valuable. It is known that frequently springs are
nearer the surface on hills than in plains : therefore,
to remedy this inconvenience, dig a well on the brow
of an hill ; when you come to water, stone it over, or
stone it up ; then dig a trench in the side of the hill
to reach to the bottom of the well : stone up your
trench and cover it with earth ; or a trough may
answer the end when buried in the ground. Where
the water issues out, there dig a watering place.

Since the foregoing pages were written, I have
made trial of ditching in swamp land when the ground
was frozen two inches deep : it is performed with a
broad axe having a long helve, with which we cut
the ground, roots of brakes and bushes, with speed
and success, '

25

You must have an iron hook with two or three
teeth set in a handle, to draw out the sods when they
are cut.

The laborer works clean and dry. You cannot
conveniently make the ditch quite half the proper
depth ; the rest must be left till summer to be fin-
ished. If we could do half our ditching in the winter,
it would be a good saving.

Under the article of ways to mend old worn out
land, sowing it with red clover, some may wonder to
find it there said, that five quarts was a proper propor-
tion of seed, when it hath been found by experience
that two quarts to the acre will produce a good burthen :
It is true ; but you will find when the crop is carried
off, that the roots will be at a great distance from each
other ; nor will these void spaces fill up till the clover
is run out its period : whereas it would quit cost in
feed and after crops, to seed so much that the grass
may set thick. It was not proposed to use so much
seed to the acre, till in the common method we have a
plenty of seed.

What is here written is but a foundation laid for
a future and more agreeable superstructure. Having
prepared a sort of land that has been but little in use
among us, I propose to have a new sort of improve-
ment.

N. B. What hath been inserted in this essay only
upon hearsay, is not offered as certainly to be de-
pended upon ; but only as probable and worthy to be
tried. 4

26

PART II.

THE last yeai-s essay having met with a more
favorable reception than I expected, fifty of the last
years essay (if it should bear another impression, and
as many of this present essay) having been lately sent
for by B. Franklin, Esq. of Philadelphia, a person of
merit and learning ; being encouraged by him, ais
also by other gentlemen in these pans, of worth, capa-
city and learning, on whose judgment I depend more
than my own ; therefore, agriculture being a profes-
sion so useful to mankind, that notwithstanding it
hath from its vast variety of depending objects very
numerous uncertainties attending it, I shall proceed
to make the best of such a difficult subject,, in which
times and seasons make such great alterations.

When our fore-fathers settled here, they entered a
land which probably never had been ploughed since
the creation ; the land being new they depended upon
the natural fertility of the ground, which served their
purpose very wreli, and when they had worn out one
piece they cleared another, without any concern to
amend their land, except a little helped by the fold
and cart-dung, whereas in England they would think
a man a bad husband, if he should pertend to sow
wheat on land without any dressing.

Sometimes they dress land with lime, chalk, soot ;
sometimes with rags, hogs and catties hair, horn-
shavings and ashes, and with various other sorts of
manure by which means they have fine crops of wheat
upon land which hath been improved more than a
thousand years ; for they reckon twenty bushels to
the acre but a middling crop.

Our lands being thus worn out, I suppose to be
one reason why so many are inclined to remove to new
places that they may raise wheat ; as also that they
may have more room, thinking that we live toothickr

27

Nov/ whether I have assigned the true reasons or
causes of the present difficulties under which many
parts of the country suffer, is submitted to the censure
of the judicious reader : the matters of fact are cer-
tain, whatever becomes of the reasons assigned : for
if all men cannot judge, yet all men can feel.

Every observing reader of history must have taken
notice of the account given of great numbers of people
living on and having their subsistance from very small
parcels of land, and mighty armies are raised from a
small territory, which is to the surprise and admiration
of the reader ; which will afford a great variety of
useful reflections.

The children of Israel were very numerous con-:
sidering the smallness of the land of Canaan, as will
appear by the list given in to king David, consequent
upon his command to have the people numbered :
More particularly what will shew the populousness of
that land, is what we read, 2 Chron. xiii. 3 : And
Abijah set the battle in array, with an army of valiant
men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen
men : Jeroboam also set the battle in array against
him with eight hundred thousand chosen men. It
is true, their militia was formed as ours, of the body
of the people, from sixteen years old to sixty, yet this
seemed to be a collection of only their best men and
the flower of their military force ; they were chosen
men, men of valor, neither old men, sick persons, nor
new married men, who were exempted by law,
cowards, or cripples ; of which there must be great
numbers, besides women and children, who have
mouths to eat, though they had neither hands nor
strength to fight. This Holy Land was an inland
country, not supported by trade, but supplied by the
product of their own land.

England is a small country, compared with France,
Germany and Russia, yet the Holy Land from Dan

28

to Beershcba was not more than equal to one third
part of England : the two capital or royal cities, vizi
Samaria and Jerusalem, were not fifty miles distant
from each other.

Again, the old Romans lived upon small shreds of
land : The Roman History informs us of the quan-
tity of land there was in the whole farms of even the
foremost men and men of the first figure and highest
rank in their whole commonwealth. Manius Curius
Dentatatus was three times chosen Consul, which was
the highest ordinary office in the State ; led the Ro-
man army, fought with and entirely routed Pyrrhus,
drove him out of the country, and had a triumph for
his victory : The whole of this great man's farm on
w^hich he lived, and from which he drew his whole
subsistence, was no more than seven Roman jugera,
which is about four acres and an half; being offered
more by the government, he refused it, saying, that
he was an ambitious and dangerous person who was
not content with, or should desire more than seven
jugera.

The same Roman History informs of Lucius
Quinctius Cincinnatus, that he was consul of Rome
459 years before Christ : He was also in a time of
great danger chosen Dictator, who by his office was
above all other magistracy, he was invested Vv^ith
sovereign and supreme power, both civil and mili-
tary : In this exigency of the State, he raised armies,
inarched against the enemy, subdued them, made
them pass under the yoke, as a token of subjection,
triumphed for his victory, ind all tl.is in sixteen days ;
laid down his great office and returned home to his
little farm, which consisted but of two acres and a
quarter of land. His farm was originally seven
jugera, but to pay a debt which his son had contract-
f'd, he had been obliged to sell the one half of it r:

29

Nor is he the only good provident father consumed
and wasted by a rakish spendthrift son.

When I first read these accounts, I conckided that
these small tracts of land were situated and circum-
stanced like the Garden Ground near the city of Lon-
don, where two or three acres will support a family :
But upon further reading, I found this seven jugera
was the whole share of a commoner.

From these scraps of history we may collect and
conclude, that a little good land will support a family ;
and that to make it yield so much, they must have
had an art and skill to which we are strangers : To
attain that skill which is lost, or to find out some-
thing now to substitute in the room, is our proper
business, and is the design of this essay.

Mr. Ellis, in his book of Husbandry, tells us, that
the small tenements or little farms in England, which
formerly would afford keeping but for one cow, are
now so improved by sowing colworts, clover, and
other sorts of grass, that now they will maintain a
.dairy of ten cows. He also tells us that a farmer
made sixty pounds sterling from one acre of carrots.

But it will be said that Canaan and Italy were
known to be very rich land. It is granted, but
whether they were so by art or nature is not certain,
Canaan was a land peculiarly blessed of God, with
much rains, fruitful seasons, and good government ;
without which husbandry will not flourish. It is
now well known, that these two countries, one is un-
der the Turk, and the other under the Pope, are poor
and in a wretched condition.

Mr. Addison informs ras, that Campania, that in
the time of the old Romans was esteemed as the
Garden of Italy, is now good for nothing ; for want
gf good husbandry the water stagnates, and corrupts
to that degree, and is thereby rendered so unhealthy,
that he supppseth if men were disposed to improve it

30

they could not live long enough there to dreln and
bring it into order.

The reader will see what use we are to make of
history, and in what manner to improve it : for if we
only read the story without making reflections or
improvement, religious, natural or political; if we
read only as a mere amusement, without turning and
improving the various incidents to some useful pur-
poses, I cannot see why a romance might not be as
good, or better, than a true history. As now.

When we read of the extent and grandeur of the
Roman Empire, what is that to me, whether it was
great or small, unless I observe at the same time I
read of their greatness, I consider the ways and means
by which they advanced to make such a shinmg fig-
ure in the world ? That which rendered them so ilkis-
trious was their virtue, their laborious life rendered
them hardy, their frugality, integrity, but above all
their matchless love to their country, which was their
reigning passion.

If I read the history of the battle at Pharsalia, what
is it to me, whether Pompey beat Csesar, or Caesar
overcome Pompey, if I do not observe that the luxury
of Pompey's army, their confidence in their superior
numbers, which contributed a great deal to their
overthrow ? And on the other hand, the care, pru-
dence svnd wisdom of C^sar, who told his men, that
they were going to engage a number of perfumed
sparks, that would not for the world but carry their
fine faces home to Rome without wounds or scars ;
therefore, ordered his men to flash their faces ; his
soldiers followed the counsL/ and it succeeded.

We learn from History that great numbers got
their living from a little land ; but what were their
rules of husbandry, and by what art, is in a great
measure lost. The oldest Roman husbandry that
has been transmitted down to us, is a book written

31

by Cato ; I have not seen it, but it is said doth no
great honor to the author. The next is Virgil, which
is a better piece of poetry than a book of husbandry ;
in which he hath taken more care to embellish his
poem than to instruct a farmer.*

The oldest book of English husbandry was wrote
(as I think) by Lord Chancellor Fortescue, in the
reign (if I remember right) of Henry the Seventh.

The only old rules of husbandry that I have met
with, I find in the Bible ; and there not professedly
taught, but only for illustration and by way of com-
parison : Yet this serves to shew us what was die
practice of farmers in those days. In the f)articulars
there mentioned, the ancient method of husbandry
we have suggested to us.

1. The first thing I shall mention is the account giv-
en of the profit and advantage of Goats. Prov. 27. 26.
Lambs are for cloathing, and Goats are for the price
of the field. They are excellent to subdue rough
uncultivated land : They are in their nature abun-
dantly fitted to serve that useful purpose ; they de-
stroy bushes, briars and weeds : by their tread, their
dung and urine, which is very hot, they sweeten the
ground to that degree, as in a little time the land will
be cloathed with grass ; yet that a piece of land sub-
dued by them will thereby be doubled in its value or
price, is what perhaps, hath not been so much thought
of as would be proper.

2. The next thing is what we read, in EccL xi.
6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening
withhold not thy hand : for thou knowest not whether
shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both
shall be alike good. The true intendment and moral
improvement^ is not my present business or design, I

* The above is not said to depreciate the character or derogate from
the merits of ih it truely great man ; for a great deal of our pjresent
husbandry is justly called VirgiUfig.

S2

remember a farmer of good credit told me, that bein^
for some reason obliged to be early, he sowed oats
at break of day, and had harrowed all in before sun-
rising : He observed that the oats sowed thus early,
out-stript the other oats sowed the same day after the
day was come on, grew six inches taller, had a larger
head, and appeared every way better, although that
part of the land which was sowed early, if there was
any difference, was the poorest side. It is agreeable to
reason that it should do good : For the dews are im-
pregnated with nitrous salts, and is the principal thing
which enrich the ground when it lies fallow ; this
dew beirfg harrowed in with the seed may promote
its growth. If the seed were sown in the evening so as
to lie all night to be soaked and softened with the dew,
and then harrowed in the morning, thou knowest not
whether shall prosper, this or that ; it may therefore
be best to make trial of both ways. I persuaded
one of my neighbors to make trial of this method in
sowing mesling this last sowing season.

3. Another piece of ancient husbandry we have
an account in Isa. xxviii, 24 — 27. For the fitches
are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither
is a cart-wheel turned about upon the cummin : but the
fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin
with a rod. It seems that the wheel was used for
those sorts of grain which were hard to be separated
from its chaff, but the fitches and cummin, as they
might be threshed with a little stick, the wheel was
needless ; but for those sorts of corn as were hard to
thresh, to save labor and time, they were wont to do
it with a cart-Avheel, as v, 28. Bread-corn is bruised ;
because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it
with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horse-
men. And there is no doubt but that a wheel might
be so contrived, as to thresh out a great deal of grain
in a day.

33

The other way mentioned in the text of threshing;
with horses, I am told is now in use among the
Dutch people ; and tli<at in this method, their horses
will trample out sixty bushels in a day. At present
we are more concerned how to raise wheat and rye,
than to learn any expeditious way to thresh it out :
if ever we should be blessed with large crops, such
an invention might be of use.

There are various ways of cleansing red and white
clover seed, which is a difficult seed to be parted or
separated from its chaff or containing coat: The
ways of doing it has been held as a secret and a mys-
terious business ; and indeed most of the ways in use,
or are commonly known, are slow and not so effectual
to get out all the seeds as would be desired.

Being now upon the article of threshing with the
wheel, I shall set before the reader the way of cleans-
ing or getting out clover seed with a wheel, which I
look upon by far the most effectual and expeditious
method.

Take your clover hay to a tanner's bark -mill,
where they use a stone wheel, grind it, and clear it
from the chaff with a corn-fan, what heads or chaff is
not fully cleared and all the seed got out, put upon
the floor and grind it again, and fan it as before : in
this manner, I am told, a man will grind, fan and
make quite clean a bushel in one day : nor will the
stone-wheel crush and spoil any of the seed ; a mis-
chief which at first one would think unavoidable. —
Where a stone wheel cannot be had, it may be worth
the while to try a cider-mill ; but I fear there will
want the roughness of the stone to tare off the chaff.
This I esteem as an article of some importance, and I
hope will be more so ; for I believe it will not be well
with New- England, till every farmer shall have a
bushel or two of clover seed to sow every year upon
his own land.

5

34

I informed a gentleman who raiseth a great deal of
clover, of this method of cleansing the seed by the
stone-wheel and fan ; he said he was obliged to me,
for he did believe that it would save him twenty-five
pounds money in one year in cleansing his seed.

4. We read, I. Kings, 19. 19. of Elisha^ who was
ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen before him. This
was a mighty team : It must be a plough of a very
different structure from what is now in use ; but
some imagine the text is to be understood of twelve
different teams and ploughs, from what follows, And
he was with the twelfth. His twelve yoke of oxen
brings to my mind what Mr. EUis relates of a minis-
ter in England, who had been over sea, and brought
home with him a plough with which one yoke of
small oxen ploughed twelve acres of land in one day :
But we know not what sort of a plough it was, that
either the prophet or the minister made use of: If
ever there was such a plough as that twelve acre
plough, it is pity Mr. Ellis did not enable himself to
give a description of it.

5. 1 shall name but one rule of husbandry more
from the Scripture, and that is from 2 Cor. 9. 6,

The Apostle exhorting to hberality, refers^ them
to a known rule among husbandmen : but this Isay^
He that soweth sparingly^ shall reap also sparingly :
and he which soxveth bountifully^ shall reap also boun-
tifully. In the application of this rule we are to be
under the conduct of reason, use, prudence and dis-
cretion : we are not to cover the ground with seed ;
for instead of having more increase, we shall have
less : but that we do not spare, but use such propor-
tion of seed as is found by experience to be best.
In England they sow two bushels and an half of
wheat to one acre, and as much flax seed upon an
acre ; but these proportions are too much, and with
us will be a waste of seed, if not prejudicial to the

35

crop : But in strong land more seed than we ordina-
rily use would be best. Last summer I saw flax on
strong dreined land, which was choaked with weeds,
and much hurt for want of more seed : Thick seed-
ing in such land would have kept down the weeds,
and would have rendered the harle finer, and would
likely have much increased the crop.

In dreined land, of which I gave a large account
last year, I sowed a little hemp seed. I sowed my
little piece very thick ; it was a well proportioned
harle, and run up six feet and an half high. The
improvement of such drained land for hemp was what
I had in view, so I have the satisfaction to find by
that small trial, that it is a sort of land that is likely
to answer my expectation when it comes to have suf-
ficient age, for such land must have time.

Now I am upon this article, I would inform the
reader, that old hemp seed will not grow, not so
much as one seed of it : The knowledge of this may
be an advantage to such as have drained land and
would sow hemp. Drained land, some of it this last
summer hath yielded great crops of grass and Indian
corn, eighty bushels to the acre. I have also the
pleasure to observe, that lately here and in the neigh-
bouring towns, the farmers are ditching, draining
and entering apace into that useful branch of good
husbandry.

These rules of husbandry taken from the Scripture,
being so remarkable and useful, I wonder no writer
on this subject hath taken notice of them. The text
saith, sow bountifully \ Let it be remembered, that
whatsoever helps we have from the Holy Scripture,
relating to the life that now is, the primary and ori-
ginal design of it is to promote the divine life, should
therefore be valued and improved accordingly.

Now since there are very few fragments left us of
t^e old rules and art, by which great multitudes of

36

people had their sole maintenance from a verry Kttle
land, so little that if they were as plain and frugal as
the old Romans, yet people cannot live upon the air :
In our way of husbandry we should think it impossible
for a family to live upon two acres and a quarter of
land. These rules being lost, we have this comfort,
that what hath been done may be done again. Old
arts when they have been long lost, are sometimes
recovered again and pass for new inventions, or at
least some other good rules ma} be substituted in
the place of such as are lost.

1. Useful arts are sometimes lost for want of being
put into writing. Tradition is a very slippery tenure,
and a sknder pin to bear any great weight for a long
time.

2. When they are committed to writing, the devas-
tations of war, fires and otlier disasters may destroy all
those valuable monuments of antiquity and treasures
of usefu: knowledge. As it was in Italy when the
Goths, Vandals, and other rude people brake in upon
them and laid all waste ; like what was said of the
locusts, before a fire, and behind a wilderness.

3. Sometimes indolence and carelessness may be
the occasion of this loss. For instance, our first
planters were wont to roll their barley, as they do at
present in England, with a large wooden roller drawn
by an horse, which is of service to break all the clods
and fasten the loose earth about the roots, and prevent
the progress of worms. I remember I heard an old
man say, his father left him to roll a piece of barlej%
he was idle and left a part of the land not rolled,
thinking it would not be known ; his fiuher found
by the difference of the crop at harvest, and said upon
it, you was an idle jack, and did not roll this part of
the field. We raise now but little barley ; it may
be (at least in part) owing from a neglect of this
part of husbandry ; the knowledge of which is lost.

37

This brings to my mind what a man once told me,
That having suffered much in his young apple trees,
by the mice eating off the bark under the snow, both
in his nursery, and orchard planted o\it : to prevent
the like evil for the future, he used to tread down the
snow hard about his trees and it was effectual.

I have seen the like mischief done to button-wood
trees, planted for fence and fire-wood. A young tree
which wc have planted, it is worth while to take some
pains to preserve it. I mention this now lest I should
forget it.

Another piece of skill which we have carelessly
lost, is the knowledge of the proper times to cut
timber.

Our forefathers had this knowledge, so that the
timber they cut would last a great deal longer than
the timber that is cut in these days.

If it be said that they had great choice of timber ;
why so have we had in those towns which were new
settled within these fifty years. So that it is not
strange that old arts are lost in a long tract of time,
when we have in less than an hundred years lost a
skill so useful and needful.

The way to get out of this difficulty, arising from
the scarcity of hay, which is the present subject of
complaint, seems to be easy and natural ; vvhich is
by clearing and draining swamps, cranberry and bog
meadows. The last summer has shewed us what
may be done. Some of the most forward of those
lands have yielded four loads of English hay to the
acre. But as this clearing, ditching and draining,
will, when it is in the hands of the most able and
wealthy, require time : it will be still more difficult
to the poor and less able, who cannot well expend
labour when they receive no present pay ; but even
in this pitiable case, I have seen how much a careful
redeeming of time and a good resolution will do : ^

58

great deal of clearing and ditching may be done in
the winter, when little else can be done : But, while
the grass grows, the steed starves. IVhatcan be done
for a present supply ?

Red clover is of a quick growth, and will supply
our w^ants for the present ; a few months brings it
forward to an high head. Tnere are few people yet
know the value of this beneficial grass.

I had often met with it, diat our nation being much
exhau#ed and ruined by the civil war, retrieved their
great losses by some new husbandry, and in a little
time recovered themselves and got to a better state
than ever ; but never could learn what was this ad-
vantageous improvement, till I found by reading Mr.
Hurtlib's Book of Husbandry, that it was principally
by introducing this clover grass, called Flanders
grass ; because the seed was brought from Brabant
and other parts of Flanders.

The propagating this grass in a plentiful manner,
will answer two useful purposes at once ; it will sup-
ply us with hay, and if sowed thick and there be a
good sward to turn over, will be likely to supply us
with wheat : for in England, the farmers say, A
clover lay is a good foundation for a plentiful crop of
wheat. And ^vith us (as some tell me who tried it
find) it ploughs harder than white clover sward, and
looks redder and not so promising as the other, being
both in the same field ; yet at harvest the red clover
land yielded as good a crop as the white clover land.
But our old worn-out land is poor and will not pro-
duce clover. If you sow clover seed in poor land ^
it will not come up but little better than if it had been
baked, and that which comes up will not grow thick
enough, or sufficiently .tall to mow ; there must
therefore be provision in this case, otherwise the
direction will be useless.

39

To provide a remedy for this evil, is the next
thing to be considered.

Aslies is allowed on all hands to be some of the
best dressing or manure for land ; itenricheth much
and lasts long ; but the misery is, we can get but
little. It is a frequent saying, if we could get a suf-
ficiency of ashes, we could do well enough. It takes
a great deal of wood to make a little ashes : but
peat will yield abundance of ashes, some sort of it.
This is a fossil, of which many in this country have
not so much as heard the name. They have known
it in Eng'.md and Ireland a long time ; and thousands
of fa?ailies have no other fewtl for firing but peat :
but the use of it for bnd is a new thing. Theirs is
so good, that fifteen bushels of the ashes is full
enough for an acre of land: they reckon fifteen
bushels of these ashes as good as forty of that made
of wood. That about Lone'.ey and Newberry, where
they find peat, the ashes have been so useful, that jand
that before would rent but for five shillings a year,
by the help of ashes was raised to twenty shillings
sterling the acre.

As to the formation, original or matter of which
peat is produced, it is reasonably supposed to be
made of the wood which grew before tlie flood : when
the trees and shrubs were torn down by the mighty
commotion of wind and water, these were hurried
to and fro, at length lodged by their own weight and
intanglement into low grounds, and in time was con-
verted to what is now called peat. It is of an uncti-
ous, bituminous nature ; soroe of it when dry, n sem-
bles the thickened juice of plants. That this is the
original of it, I think I can produce satisfactory and
undeniable proofs. A person digging peat at my
desire, told me that he found the perfect shape of a
log, but converted to peat, and as soft as butter. I
have found in the peat where it was deep, the fibrous

40

parts of bark ; (Hair we know resists corruption a
Jong time) I have also found coals and burnt sticks
and other bits of wood not turned to peat. Sundry-
persons coming to see some dried peat, and having
heard what I thought of its original, one of the com-
pany breaking a lump of it found in it the dung of
some fowl, that retained its perfect figure, colour
and consistence, as though it had not been voided a
month past ; at this the man says, If it be so as we
have heardy I do not know but I have found the dung
of that very dove which came out of the ark.

What induced me to search after peat, was the
great desire I had to find ^ome inexhaustible store of
manure for our land, but finding by books, that the
peat they used in England, they found in intervale
lands, and that they dug through several beds or layers
of earth, six or seven feet deep to come at it, I thought
if I should search for it and find it in such land, the
charge of turning that top-earth would be too charge-
able for us to bear ; but after some reasoning upoii
it, I thought it probable it might be found in swamps,
searched and found it in some places within six
inches of the surface ; in a few weeks I found it in
three several towns, and in seven distinct places, and
do believe it to be very plenty in the country.

It may be known from mud by its cutting sleek
and smooth, and is much like as when you cut butter
or hog's fat in very cold weather ; some is softer, but
that which is most compact and hardest is the best.
If you are still at a loss, dry a piece upon the
slice, then put it into the fire, its manner of burning
will shew whether it be peat : When you once know
it, you may always know it, let it be of what colour
it will.

I have found three sorts, white, brown and black ;
I call it white, as being a lighter colour than the other
sorts : It is before it is burnt, of the colour of wet

4i

ashes made of wood, but after it is burnt, is as white
as clialk : the ashes are very light, therefore con-
ckide that they are not very strong ; but it yields
plentifully, being as to appearance as much after-
burning as it was before it was burnt. Seven bush-
els of this was scattered upon grcoii wheat this fall,
and I hear makes the corn look greener and more
fresh and lively.

I gave aflu*mersome bushels of brown peat ashes,
which he sov/ed upon his winter corn in the poorest
part of his lot, the corn he tells me looks well, and
equal in goodness to land which was moderately
folded with the sheep. This way of sowing ashes
upon corn is what in England is called top dressing.

Another farmer having prepared a piece of ground
for turnips, one part he dunged with yard dung, an-
other with wood ashes, another with peat ashes, in
proportion to fifteen bushels to the acre, the remaining
part he put nothing upon it ; that part dressed with
peat ashes produced tlie best turnips.

This white sort of peat is so destitute of oily, sul-
phurous bituminous parts, that it will not burn alone
without the assistance of wood ; but by some that I
tried, I believe a little wood will burn a great deal
of it. It is easy to get thousands of bushels of these
ashes.

Brown peat after it hath been spread and dry, let
it be shoveled up in a long heap ; when it is once set
oh fire with a little brush, or small wood laid on the
windward side, it will burn of itself, nor will the rain
put it out : if it be wet when it is burnt, it yields
fewer ashes. You must take care it do not burn
too fast ; restrain the fire by putting on more peat,
but if you stifle it too much in the middle, instead of
ashes you will have charcoal. This sort of peat
shrinks much in drying and in the burning, not yield-
ing much ashes ; but the ashes of a reddish color
6

42

and heav}^ and consequently better than the white
sort. This sort makes excellent charcoal, better
than than that made of wood. The peat looked so
well, I procured a trial of it raw in the blacksmith's
forge, found that a good white welding heat might
be raised by that alone. I had a coulter laid with it
very well ; but then it is too slow in raising such
a heat ; but mixed with charcoal, it seems to do welL
After the coal is put on lay the peat so as to surround
the coal, it being a little of the nature of sea coal, it
renders the fire more compact, the heat more intense,
and the coal much more durable ; besides this being
two thirds cheaper than common charcoal, it would
probably be a good saving to the smith and bloomer.
What it will do in a furnace for iron, I cannot say.

The third sort of peat that I have found, is black
peat ; this I suppose to be the best, as affording a
plenty of ashes, and better than either of the other
sorts : this is that which they use in England to
burn, in order with its ashes to manure their land;
nor do I know whether they have any other sort, ex-
cept turf.peat, of which sort I have a specimen by
me, which came from Ireland ; which I do not think
to be properly peat, but a fibrous complication of
moss roots.

I suppose peat may be found in all parts of the
country, yea all over the world; which is an evi-
dence of the care, wisdom and goodness of Provi-
dence, in preserving as it were in pickle, the wood
which grew before the fk)od for our use, and that the
ruins of the old world should supply the wants and
wastes of the present. This affair of peat also affords
us an evidence, from the nature of the thing, that the
Mosaic or Scripture account of Noah's flood is true.

As to the advantage of peat, it is so little time since
the discovery of it, that we have not had time to
make trials and experiments of it or its ashes, aa can

43

be very certain or instructive : but hope another year
a satisfactory account may be given of this new im-
provement.

Another sort of manure for the enriching land, is
what I just mentioned the last year, and that is shell
sand : it is called sand, but improperly : as it lies on
the beach, to an observing eye, it would be thought
sand, whereas it is not gritt, but small broken shells.
It is remarkable that such large beaches in which
there are many thousand cart loads, yet composed
chiefly of shells not bigger than a man's little finger
nail : as also, that if you take away twenty or thirty
tons, the cavity wdl be filled in a few days with the
same sort of small shells. This I suppose to be the
same sort of shell sand which in England and Ireland
they carry in bags on horses twenty or thirty miles
into the country to sow on their land to enrich it,' and
save the wheat from blasting and mildew.

We design here this winter to build a small float
or vessel of twenty tons, to bring that sand from
Guilford to this town.

The next sort of manure which I shall mention, is
clay ashes. We have very little clay here ; if it had
been plenty, I should have tried the most likely ways
to burn it that I could think of: I cannot think but
that it might be burnt with as much ease as white
peat : the clay that is of a reddish colour is esteemed
the best, and that three cart loads of the ashes is
accounted sufficient to dress an acre well.

The. last sort of dressing I shall take notice of, is
lime stone, which abounds in the back parts of the
country. 1 have not heard of any on tlie sea coast,
or on the land adjoining to navigable rivers for twenty
miles back ; for thus far the inhabitants may be sup-
plied with shells from the sea : at about twenty
miles end, more or less, the limjs stone begins and
extends far and wide ; which is an evidence that the

44

world is made and governed by a kind, wise and
intelligent Being.

This is a manure when burnt, which is much used
and esteemed by farmers in England, although it be
to us difficult and chargeable to burn it, yet there they
have the skill to burn it cheap, with peat, turf or
wood in a well regulated fire. A little fire or water
will do great things, if duly ordered so as to have the
ad^'antage of its full force.

It hath been for a time, my desire and endeavor to
find manure for our land, such as will be cheap,
within every man's reach and enough of it ; and I
cannot but flatter myself with an hope that these four
sorts of materials will afford the sufficiency so much
wanted, and will prove an inexhaustible fund for that
purpose : but time and experience must determine
this important affair.

I should have observed before, that in England,
peat ashes brings forward clover grass in an extra-
ordmaiy njanner, and so sweetens the ground that
let the grass be ever so rank, yet the cattle eat it with
eagerness before other grass.

I have heard of sv^amps in the country that after
all proper expense upon them, are barren and un-
fruitful, either at first or afterwards. I went to see
such an one last summer, and found the cause of its
unprofitableness was brown peat's lying too near the
top. Brown peat, when it is stirred and exposed to
the air and sun, becomes hard like cinders : if this
be the case in one place, it may be so in another.
Peat that comes nearest to the top of the ground, that
1 have seen, is five or six inches, the top-earth is
of a reddish colour.

A certain farmer of good credit, willing to prom.ote
the public good, told me, that when he had washed
his sheep, he did not shear them as soon as they were
dry, as is the common custom, but laid them in a

45

clean pasture five or six days, that so the wool might
have time to acquire its primitive oihiess drawn
from the sheep's body, which made it stronger and
better to card, spin, weave, dress and wear ; which
put me in mind of what 1 had read, that in England
they shear some of their sheep unwashed, to mix it
with the Irish wool, which is too dry and stiff for
good working.

Since I am' upon the article of wool, I will mention
one thing relating to dying blue ; I supposed that
the urine in which the indigo is dissolved, was not
impregnated with salt sufficient to open the parts of
the indigo and set the colour ; I told a w^oman I
would advise her to make a strong lye or lee of com-
mon wood ashes, then boil that away to a dryness,
take an ounce of this salt with an ounce of indigo,
put it into the usual quantity of urine, which ^he and
others tried and found it did great service, by setting
the colour deeper and lengthening out the indigo :
she further told me, that she put some of the salt
into old dry stuff almost spent, it so renewed it that
it did good service. I suppose that crude sal-armo-
niac would do better still, being nearer a kin to uri-
nous salt.

If I have forfeited my readers favour, or it should
be so ordered by Providence, that I should discon-
tinue the essay, 1 hope the hints that have been offer-
ed may be pursued by my countrymen, who are
enterprizing and ingenious. I shall add no more but
only a few receipts.

If a farmer in England should sow his wheat dry,
without steeping in some proper liquor, he would be
accounted a bad husbandmaui Mr. Ellis directs to
put in a quart of salt into as much water as is suffi-
cient to cover two bushels and an half of wheat, to
which add two quarts of slacked lime, put in the
wheat after vou have well stirred the brine, let the

46 ' ^

whe»t steep twelve hours, then draw off the water,
spread the seed after it hath drained half an hour, sift
upon it dry lime, stirring it about, which will make it
dry enough for immediate sowing.

I have not room to name the advantages they say
they have from this practice. When I did it this
year, I used tide water ; th?3 saves salt : some direct
to make the brine very strong, so as to bear an tg£^.

A Receipt for increasiiig a Barley Crop,

Dissolve three pounds of copperas in a pail full of
boihng water, add to this as much dung-puddle water
as will well cover three bushels and an half of barley,
stir it and let it steep twenty four hours ; save the
liquor for after steeping, with a little addition it will
do again and again; when tlie seed is sprtad and
dreined, sift on fine lime, which dries it fit for sowing,.

I dreined my wheat after steeping in a corn basket.

A Receipt for burtiing Clay.

Any sort of clay will do for ashes, but that of a
reddish colour is accounted the best for that purpose.

Dig your clay with a spade in spits, of the bigness
of ordinary bricks ; dig tv/ o, three, eight, ten or
twenty loads of clay, more or less, as you please ;
take small billets of wood, or faggots of brush, pile
it up in the form of a pyramid or sugar loaf, three or
four feet high, then take these spits of clay, after they
are dried in the sun, surround your pile of wood with
them, laying them close to the wood, laying them
one upon another till you have enclosed the pile of
wood, only leaving an hole on the side to put in the
fire, and an hole on the top to make a draught ; then
surround again with spits of clay from top to bottom,
as before, and then again a third laying in the same
order, then kindle your fire ; w^hen it is well got on

47

fire, stop up the holes with clay, the innate heat will
fire the clay till it grow so hot that you may pwt on
wet clay in great quantities ; but you must mind not
to put on clay so fast, or lay it so close as to put out
your fire, for if you do so, you must begin all anew.
If you desire to burn so much clay as that the heap
grows so high that you cannot reach to lay it up, you
may build a stage with boards, by which you may
advance to as great a height as you please. The pile
must be watched and tended night and day, till it is
fully burnt.

The author of the book out of which this receipt is
taken, very much commends clay ashes, and tells
what is a comfortable hearing, which is, that forty
bushels of these ashes is a full dressing for an acre
of land.

The reader must take this upon trust ; if true, it
will make well for Hartford, Wethersfield, and those
towns which abound in clay.

It may be tried with a very little cost ; if any should
try, I should be glad to know the success. By wet
clay above named, we are to understand clay in its
natural moist state, as it is taken from the pit. I
suppose that to burn large quantities of ^ clay at once
in one pile, will be both cheaper and better perform-
ed, than when burnt in small heaps.

I shall conclude with one recei,jt more, which is
inAvIlible and inv^Juable, and derived from the highest
and best authority : Seek ye first the kt7igdom of God
and his righteousness^ and all these things shall b^
added unto you. Godliness is profitable unto all things ^
having the promise of the life which now is, and of
that which is to come. This is a faithful saying, <i?id
%VQrtfiy of all acceptation.

48

PART III.

Sow the fields, and plant vhieydrds, which may yield

fruits of iftcrease, Psal. cvii. 37.
For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands : happy

shalt thou he^ and it shall be well xuith thee, PsaL

cxxviii. 2.

THE foundation of a settlement in New- England,
was not laid otherwise than at a great ex pence of
lives and estate. Almost half the planters died soon
after their arrival, of such distempers, which had
probably been contracted by hunger, cold and other
hardships to which they had been exposed.

This, and the following transmigrations, the his-
torians of those times inform uSj cost for the trans-
porting inhabitants, ninety five thousand pounds
sterling ; for bringing over live stock, horses, neat
cattle, sheep and goats, twenty thousand pounds : for
provisions, until it could be raised in the country for
their subsistence, forty five thousand pounds more ;
which reduced to our currency makes a prodigious
sum.

They having laid for us a good foundation, and
left us, their posterity, possessed of the fruits of their
expend- e and labour ; we shall be wanting to ourselves
if we fail to improve and manure this great and good
land ; or neglect to follow the example of virtue and
industry which is set before us.

The continuation of this essay is designed to for-
ward and promote such improvement.

If the aboriginal natives, the Indian inhabitants of
this country, did subsist here in great numbers when
destitute of ploughs, the labour of the ox, or any
instrument made of iron, or any other metal : it
would be to our dishonour, if from indolence or want
of application, we do not comfortably subsist, ancl
advance in our improvement.

49

It hath been observed by our writers, that Old
England, in former times, suffered more frequently
and more severely by famine, than in later times.
This was hot owing to the inclemency of the seasons
in those distant times, or to better seasons in these
days, that there is a greater plenty. Our English
historians inform us, that there was so great a famine
in the reign of Edward the Third, that bread corn
was sold at thirteen times more than the usual price.
Any remarkable scarcity is now very rare. There
may be two reasons assigned, under Providence, as
the cause of this difference.

1. In those ancient times, England had but little
shipping or trade : there was then little sent away
besides block-tin and wool : there being no market
for corn, flesh, and other provisions but what couM
be found at home ; there was no encouragement to
raise it, more than to supply their own wants : if they
did raise more, it must lie upon their hands, there
being yearly but little corn sowed, if the seasons
were a little unfavorable, it was immediately felt;
whereas when a great deal is planted and sowed, if
there happens hail, frost, blast and mildew, so as to
cut short the crop, yet there will be sufficient for the
inhabitants.

2. Another reason of the difference between the
former and latter times, is this : in these times there
is a greater variety of lands under improvement than
formerly ; some dry land, Some moist, some clayey,
and some sandy ground ; some high, and some low
dreined land.

The farmers of the present age make use of a
greater variety of grain than formerly. They sow
five and twenty sorts of wheat ; many sorts of grass,
many sorts of roots and fruits ; the advantage obtain-
ed thereby is very great ; the season that ill suits with
one sort of land, or grain, may agree well with ano-

7

50

ther : A wet summer will suit the dry land, and dry-
seasons agree with the low moist land ; when one
fails, another hits. A variety of grain and grass may
be fitted to that sort of land to which in its nature it
is most agreeable.

It is allowed by all, that to obtain great crops of
barley, the land should be very strong; be made
mellow, that is reduced to a great degree of fineness ;
these being the two necessary properties for barley
ground, I thought that certainly the dreined land,
which would produce eighty bushels of Indian corn
to the acre, and the ground very fine and mellow,
would not fail to produce great crops of barley. I
made a trial ; but it proved otherwise than was ex-
pected ; the produce was small and poor : whereas
the same land afforded very large flax, at which I
much wondered, till I met with an old English
rhyming proverb, viz. to have great crops of flax and
barley —

Sow fiax in the mire^
Sow barley in the fire.

By sowing in the fire, we are to understand that
barley must be sowed in land well heated with dung,
lime, or ashes, or other hot manure.

I suppose that if the aforementioned land had been
dunged, and thereby warmed, it might have yielded
much barley.

It would be of advantage to introduce a great va^
riety of sorts of grain, not as yet commonly in use
among us.

From what experience I have had of it, I would
recommend Millet ; some of this seed was sent to mc
under the name of East India Wheat ; I soon discov-
ered that it was no species of Wheat, but that it was
Millet. It is a small grain of a yellowish color, and
of the bigness of turnip or cabbage seed ; it was an-
tiently used as bread-corn,as we may see in Ezek. 4. 9.

51

I tried a little of it, exactly measuring the ground
and product ; made a computation, and found
that although the land was poor, yet it yielded at the
rate of thirty two bushels to the acre. I have been
told that strong land will produce fifty or sixty bush-
els to the acre ; it may be sowed in the Spring, or
in June ; it is but a mean sort of grain, yet it will
save better.

The sore drought in the Summer past, which al-
;most destroyed the clover grass, put me upon thoughts
of a supply of fodder when clover fails ; pursuant
hereunto, I ploughed up some flax ground, in July,
sowed Millet seed the twenty sixth day, it came up,
but much flax came up with it, rendered it unfit for
mowing, as I designed ; I should have ploughed up
oat stubble instead of flax ground.

If the scattered oats had grown up, it would have
helped the crop when it came to be mowed, rather
than obstructed it.

The Millet being thus incumbered and choaked
with the flax, I let it stand for feeding ; I put a cow
into the same field to fat, and observed that al thou gb
there was good rowen of spire grass, and white clover,
the cow neglected that, and would feed constantly
upon the Millet, till that was all spent before she
would eat the grass^ by which I was assured that it
was good feed.

Although the seed be small, yet it puts up a large
strong stalk, bigger than that of wheat. It hath on the
sides many large leaves like Indian corn at moulding,
or hilling time, so that it looks likely that if mowed
green, it will make good fodder, which may be an
help to those who foresee they are likely to want hay-

If you sow it so early as to have a crop of grain,
and it stands till the seed be ripe, yet the straw will
be good.

52

There is one advantage attending this grain, that a
little seed is sufficient ; two or three quarts will seed
an acre. It is probable that when it is sowed only
for pasture or mowing, it will be best to sow it thick-
er than when it is sowed for a crop of grain.

I gave a little of the seed to a man that hath but
little meadow ; he sowed it last Spring, yet notwith-
standing the drought, he had a good yield ; it bears
the drought as well as wheat. The man is so well
pleased with it, and thinks it will be such an help to
him, that he designs to sow the next Spring all that he
raised.

I scattered a few seeds in the dreined fend» have
reason to think it will prosper well in such land.

Although it may do to sow it late, yet the last
years experience makes it evident, that sowing in the
Spring is best if you design a crop of grain.

It is a grain that will serve to feed the poultry, and
when ground to meal serve for the swine ; nay, I have
known the time when we should have applied it for
human sustenance.

It is a Summer grain, and therefore not exposed to
be killed with the winter, as it frequently happens
to wheat and rye ; nor have I yet observed it subject
to blast or milldew ; for these reasons it may be of
advantage to encourage its propagation.

As wheat is justly termed the golden gram^ and as
we have but few sorts of it among us, it may be of
advantage to encourage a greater variety, and espe-
cially of Summer wheat, since we find the other
wheat is subject to be destroyed in the Fall by wheat-
lice, and in the Winter by frost.

There is a sort of Summer wheat brought into
use, not subject to blast as the sort we had formerly
among us.

We should sow both Winter and Summer wheat,
if one fails, the other may prosperc

53

Some Maslin that I sowed in peat land never came
up at all, no more than if it had been sowed on the
sea-beach ,• this land had been dreined longer than
that where the corn grows, which is an evidence that
peat land requires more time, and will be longer be-
fore it will be fertile ancl bring forth corn, and grass,
than that land which is proper earth. At first I was
of the opinion that peat land would never be fruitful,
but time and experience hath taught me that i was
mistaken ; it is slower in coming too than other land,
but afterwards produceth both corn and grass as well
as any of the dreined land.

This is what I think I ought in justice to' insert,
considering what I have said in a former essay.

What induced me to think that peat land would
prove totally barren was this, I observed the land that
had been dreined some years, yet would bear nothing.
I also took notice that when it was made small, yet
every particle was hard like rosin ; but I find that
the rain and frost in time will reduce it to mould, and
then be very good land.

As it may be to our advantage to sow a great va-
riety of grain, so various sorts of grass that are good
should be propagated among us, and may be equally
advantageous. We should have grain and grass to
suit various sorts of land. We many times, as it were,
commit a rape upon our land, by forcing it to that
improvement for which it is not fitted by nature ; we
have the clearest discovery of this in flax ; we shall
see it flourish well on some land, and again in other
land full as strong, and good for grain, yet there flax
will do nothing. It may be so in' all other sorts of
grain and grass which we sow, although as yet we
have not the skill to find it out.

This is a piece of knowledge in husbandry in
which we are still very deficient, and must be obtain-
ed by strict observation and experience.

54

Indian corn, as it is a native of the country, seems
to do well in any sort of land, either sandy or cliw,
high or low land, provided it be but strong, whether
it be made so by art or nature.

There are two sorts of grass which are natives of
the country, which I would recommend ; these are
Herd Grass, (known in Pensylvania by the name of
Timothy-Grass) the other is Fowl Meadow, some-
times called Duck grass, and somtimes Swamp-wire
grass. It is said that herd grass was first found in a
swamp in Piscataqua by one Herd, who propagated
the same ; that fowl meadow grass was broi ght into
a poor piece of meadow in Dedham, by ducks niid
other water fowl, and therefore called by such an odd
name. It is supposed to be brought into the mead-
ows at Hartford by the annual floods, and called there
Swamp Wire grass. Of these two sorts of natu-
ral grass, the fowl grass is much the best ; it grows
tall and thick, makes a more soft and pliable hay than
herd grass, and consequently will be more fit for
pressing, in order to ship off with our horses ; besides
it is a good grass, not abundantly inferior to English
grass ; it yields a good burthen, three loads to the
acre. It must be sowed in low moist land ; our
dreined land when it is of sufficient age, is land very
agreeable to this sort of grass. As the seed is very
fine, there is danger of sowing it too thick, as some
have done so as to come up thick like hair ; this is a
loss of seed, and prejudicial to the grass. When you
bring too a sv/amp by flowing, have killed your brush
and ditched your land, and got it a little dry, you may
sow your seed among the trees and brush ; it will
come up, establish itself, and prevent other bad grass
from taking possession ; then you may clear off' the
wood and brush at your leisure ; and then you will
have good grass to mow as fast as you a^n clear th^

55

land* I have seen it grow knee high where the dead
brush was very thick.

This grass has another good quahty, which renders
it very vakiable in a country where help is so much
wantine; ; it will not spoil or suiFer, although it stand
beyond the common times for mowing. Clover will
be lost in a great measure if it be not cut in the prop-
er season. Spire grass, commonly called English
grass, if it stands too long will be little better than rye
straw : if this outstand the time, it is best to let it stand
till there comes up a second growth, and then it will
do tolerably well ; but this fowl grass may be mowed
at any time, from July to October.

One of my sons told me, that at New Fairfield, he
saw some stacks of it that the people told him was
cut in October, he pulled out some of the hay, it look-
ed .2:reen, and had a good smell. This is a great con-
venience in tiiie of sickness, or any other casualty
whereby we may be hindered from mowing in season.

This good property renders it a fit sort of grass for
a new country, v/here we often have business crowd
too hard upon us.

In reading Mr. Ellis, I find by him that in England
they have got herd grass seed from this country, and
set a value upon it ; if they like that, they would like
this much better.

Our common spire grass beareth the inequality of
our climate better than any other foreiga artificial
grass ; it is a hardy grass, and it is the best we
have for winter feeding.

I have tried two sort of grass, which they value very
much in England, viz. La Lucern and St. Foin ; they
will ftourish a while, but others have found, as well as
I, that it will not bear the rigour of our climate ; a
hot dry summer, or a hard winter, will destroy it.

I have some of the seed sent to rie from Philadel-
phia, by a good fdend there^ which I design to try

56

upon my dreined land, and see if I can succed any
better than I have done heretofore.

As we ought to propagate various sorts of grain
and grass, that so we may have the advantage of all
sorts of land, and seasons, so we should adapt our
tillage to the various sorts of land which we improve.
We find land will yield wheat best when it is plough.
ed three times ; and some will be hurt by it.

At Long- Island they turn up their old land for
wheat, and begin to plough as soon after wheat har-
vest as they can : at sowing time harrow their land
the same way that it was ploughed ; in this way they
have although not great corn, yet there being but
little labour or expense, they have saving profitable
crops.

The experienced farmers say, that their grass
ground thus ploughed once in five years mends the
land in this way of tillage ; the land must be smooth
and free from stones.

Eight or ten years past, an old experiencec] farmer
told me, that he had observed much land worn out
and spoiled by shallow ploughing ; he earnestly re-
commended deep ploughing, even thin shallow land ;
said that he had tried it long, and often : thereupon I
ordered a piece of land to be ploughed so deep, that
our farmers thought that I had spoiled the land. We
have had wheat twice since that time upon the same
land, think that deep ploughing did the land no hurt,
but good.

I have been told, and know it by my own observa-
tion, that if you sow rye successively every year on
the same land, the crops and land will grow better.

Some land that at first would yield but five bushels
to the acre, without the least charge of dung, or any
manure, in time would afford a crop of fifteen bushels
to the acre.

57

it should be ploug'hed, and the seed harrowed in
soon after the crop is taken off, the sooner the better :
it will take less seed, because Avhat sheds out in har-
vesting the antecedent crop, will serve in part to seed
the land ; and the stubble being turned in when it is
new and fresh, is much better than when it hath stood
long drying in the sun and wind.

But I believe the principal thing is the sowing
early; for although rye will do when sovved late,
better than wheat, yet early sowing agrees with it
better than with wheat.

I remember Hartlib tells us that Sir John Culpep-
per sowed winter rye in the spring, fed it close tili
common sowing time, and had the biggest crop that
ever had been known in that part of the country.

This way of sowing rye yearly, must be profitable ;
as it mends the land, and the crop is obtained with
litde charge ; the land may be ploughed with a small
team, and there is but little expense of seed.

A small crop obtained with little charge, may af-
ford more real gain, thiui when you have a great crop
where much labour and cost is bestowed : by the
great crop you may get fame, but by the small harvest
you may get the most money.

But to the successful ordering this piece of husban=
dry, some few rules should be observed.

1. Land that you would devote to this sort of im-
provement, should be free of stones, stubbs, and such
like impediments, which might hinder your wdl
ploughing and harrowing.

2. The land should be very free from chadlock,
tares, chess ; which if in the ground will increase
very much in this course of tillag^e.

S. Also your seed should be perfecdy clean, and

;iee from all kinds of trash ; otherwise tares, cockle,

chess, and the like, although there be but little, yet it

vili increase from year to year, tili you are run out

f fore von have made a full experiment.

58

4. The land that you would improve diis way,
must be entirely free from blue grass, called by some
Dutch grass, or wire grass.

If the land be inclined to this sort of grass, this sort
of tillage will so much encourage this grass, that in a
litde time you will be forced to give over this kind of
improvement ; as I know by experience : for having
a piece of land, otherwise fit for this sort of husbandry,
in two years I was quite beat out of the field, by the
universal spreading of this grass, which took such full
possession of the ground as to spoil the crop in a great
measure.

The dreined laud hath succeeded so well this two
years past, that the same land which might be bought
five or six years past for six pounds per acre, will
now sell for an hundred pounds per acre ; nay, even
although it be not cleared of the wood and brush,
provided the growth be killed with previous flowing.

By the way I would observe, that if a swamp be
full of small brush, and but few great trees, the
cheapest and best way is to flow it, and kill it with
the water ; but if there be but little small brush, and
the land be very thick with trees, it is best to clear it
by hand ; for when it is killed with drowning the land,
the trees are extremely hard to cut, so doth but delay
the time, and increase the charge.

I am told by a credible person that tried it, that the
best way is to draw off* the water at the beginning of
the dog days ; the mud will be so heated with the sun,
that in this method the swamp will be more killed in
one year, than it will be in two years when the water
is kept up all the time : and it stands with reason it
should do so ; for it is the heat and scalding of the
water or mud which doth the business.

I have observed, that where the water stands deep,
and consequently keeps cool, the bushes and trees are
the longer before they die.

5d

But however as this is not backed with much ex-
perience, every one must act his own judgment.

Since the dreined lands are so valuable, we should
extend that improvement as far as we can,

I have observed in many fields there are small
swamps or frog-ponds, which have a good deep soil,
and are very rich ; and would be profitable,^ could
they be dreined : but they lye low, and are incom-
passed on all sides with high land, that it is impossible
to drein them in the ordinary way. These swamps
or frog-ponds, contain some a quarter of an acre, some
half an acre, and some two or three acres. Let them
be great or small, they are worth bringing to, if pos-
sible, at a reasonable expense.

If they can be dreined, and recovered at all, it may
be done in a way that is easy and cheapo

1. In the first place, clear off all the bushes and let
in the sun full upon it ; and this alone will do more
than most men will believe, especially if it be not fed
with springs.

If the sun did not draw off abundance of water,
why do not the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas
drown all the country round, when there are so many
great rivers continually discharging themselves into
those Seas, where there is no out- let?

2. Look round on all sides, and see if on some side
of the swamp there be not some river or low ground
which is lower than the bottom of your frog- pond,
which you desire to drein. On that side near the
edge of the pond, dig an hole so deep till you come
to a stratum or layer of gravel, or coarse sand, then
stop, and by a channel or little ditch let the water out
of the pond or swamp into the hole ; and observe if
in the space of three days the water begins to soak
away, you may expect by this means to draw your
land ; this subterraneous passage in time wall dv^^w
awav the water

60

But in order to succeed, you will find in a few
days there will be a fine sediment, thin like a cobweb
in the bottioin of the hole, which will entirely stop the
passage of the water ; but this film is easily broken by
stirring up the bottom with an hoe.

This film will hold water like an iron pot, if it be
not stirred and broken once in a fevv days.

When you have drawn off the water, so that you
can plough the ground, that will effectually break up
the pan bottom, so that the water will soak away, and
the land be useful and profitable for the time to come.

As the bushes that grow in these frog-ponds are
button-wood, for the most part, it is difficult to sub-
due them any other way but by ploughing.

This way of subterraneous dreining is more uncer-
tain than when you have a visible out-let drein, yet
the trial may be made with a little charge.

It is not only worth while to drein and subdue
such places on the account of the profit that may be
made hereby, but also for the sake of the deformity
that is hereby removed : for the^e frog-ponds spoil
the beauty of a field ; and are undesirable, like ulcers
or sores in a man's face.

When vou are about to drein such land, or look-
ing out fgr low land which is lower than the swamp
you would drein, it is not much whether such river
or low land be near, or at half a mile's distance.

1 have known sundry such pieces of land dreined
the common way, that have been so good, that in a
short time they have paid all the charge expended
upon them, and would look as though they never
liad been what they really once were.

It is a common thing in swamps to find the moss
two or three feet deep : at first I was a great deal
concerned about it, how I should get rid of it ; as
also whether the land would be of any worth if the
moss was removed ; as is said,, can the rush grow up

61

without mire ? can the flag grow without water ? So
I ibund when the water \vas drawn off' by ditches,^
the moss grew so dry, that in a hot dty season in the
summer, it would burn quite down to the ground :
but to burn that, or any other trash that you would
consume, set fire to it when the weather is clear, the
sun hot, and a strong southerly wind, which makes
fire rage more fiercely, and do much more execution
than a northerly or westerly wind: in a northerly
wind the air is thin and light, so that the fire is not
strongly compressed ; the moist, heavy south wind
prevents the dissipation of the fire and renders it
more compact.

We see a smith will swab and wet his coals, by
which means the heat is greatly increased. Now
whether the reasoning be just or not, the fact is cer-^
tain, which is the chief concern of a farmer.

In the first essay it is said, that the deep swamps
are to be preferred to, and chosen before those that
are shallow ; and I am now more confirmed in my
choice: for experience shows that the deep soil
beareth extreme drought better than any other land
in the hot season. The cold drought in the spring
will hurt such land, so that the first crop of grass will
not be very great ; but the second crop will be extra-
ordinary good.

The Reverend Mr, Todd was offered thirty pounds
for the second crop, or rowen of half an acre.

The red clover in my dreined land, which in the
latter end of May last, in the cold drought looked
then as though it would come to nothing ; when hot
weather came on, although the drought continued,
yet the grass recovered to a good colour, and grew
up well.

This is what may be considered as a very great
advantage, and justifieth the choice of a deep soil, of
c5 ght or ten feet deep.

62

Our ditching and dreinin^ drieth only the top of
the ground, not more than three feet deep in the hot
and dry season, I suppose that the moisture from the
mud and water underneath is drawn up by the force
of the sun, so the roots of the grass are furnished with
sufficient moisture to bring forward such a mighty
burthen of grass.

It is to be observed, that this is not to be expected
till the land be concocted, changed and altered by the
sun and air ; for at the first, soon after it is dreined,
it pincheth with the drought more than any other land.

Those swamps which are thick overgrown with
moss, when they are so far dried by dreining, that
the moss will rot, or burn off, that land proveth as
good as any other dreined land. I mention this,
because it is best that the farmer work as free from
discouragement as possible.

Our dreined land, which is so good for Indian
corn, and in all other respects is so well adapted for
producing that grain, yet being moist and of a very
loose contexture, the corn planted becomes an easy
prey to crows, and other birds ; unless prevented will
pull up a great part of it, and destroy the crop ; which
is a great loss, in land so fruitful as we find such land
commonly is : this is a great difficulty attending such
land, which to avoid, take the roots of swamp helle-
bore, sometimes called poke, tickle weed, bear root ;
this root is known by these several names in diiferent
places — boil these roots in so much water as to keep
them covered an inch deep ; by two hours boiling,
the liquor will be of sufficient strength — strain it out ;
put in your corn while the liquor is warm, and let it
steep twenty hours, then it will be fit for planting.
This is found to be an effectual security in the case.

The Reverend Mr. Todd informs me, that having
met with much trouble and loss, having had his corn
repeatedly pulled up, he planted his ground with

63

soaked corn, steeped in die aforesaid liquor ; but ncft
having enough of that, he ordered the planting to be
finished with unsoaken corn. The event was, that
the birds pulled up but two or three hills of the
soaked corn, but left not one in ten of those hills
which were planted with the unsoaked corn : this
which was thus pulled up he planted over again with
soaked corn, except some hills in the middle of the
piece which was planted a second time, with unsoak-
cd corn ; it was planted in the middle, thinking that
the birds would not find it ; but the result was, as
before ; the unsoaked was all pulled up, and the hills
planted with the steeped corn was spared.

Therefore widi a great deal of reason he concludes
his letter to me in the following words : —

** Upon the whole, I thnik this experiment to be
a full proof tliat corn so prepared when planted^
is secure from the birds ; the knovi^ledge of which I
cannot but think will be of great service to the
country, as the preparation is cheap and easy, and
our swamps seen-^ by far to be the best land we"
have for Indian corn. My little swamp this year
yielded at the rate of above ninety bushels to the acre,
and was easier and cheaper tilled than the same quan-
tity of upland."

Marl is a sort of manure much used in Great Brit-
ain ; they dig it up, and let it lie exposed to the raiij
and air twelve months, to soften and dissolve, then
spread it sixty loads to an acre, which they say" 'will
last fourteen years. There are three sorts of this fat
earth, white, blue, and that of a yellowish red, what I
have found is white.

Sundry persons having tried the method prescrib-
ed in the first essay to get water in a pasture where it
is wanting, and find it to succeed well, as I am inform-
ed.

Captain Fisk, of Middletown, having a large pasture
wholly destitute gf water, aa4 withQut prospect gf

64

fielp, but resfding that book, he was encouraged, pur^
suant to the directions there given, he dug a well on
the side of an hill ; at six feet deep obtained water^
by trench dug from the bottom of the well let out the
water into a cistern or pond, had water not onl}- for
his cattle, but also to water and enrich the land which
was lower. This water, as he sayeth is worth more
than one hundred pounds, I am informed, that he
hath dug in another place and obtained water, as be-
fore ; but whether it was with a design to water his
land, or his cattle, I cannot tell.

I would direct to another way to make an*artificial
spring, but I find I have not room for it in thjs essay.

Although herd grass be a valuable sort, yet the
fowl meadow grass hath quite eclipsed its glory.

The old Romans regarded the study of husbandry
and the improvement of their own language, as two
very important parts of learning, men of the first fig-
ure employed their time in it. Virgil and Varro did
not think this below the dignity of their pen ; whereas
with us there is so little care to cultivate our own
language, that w^ith too much propriety may be
called our mother tongue : and husbandry is left to-
the invention and conduct of common labourer*.
The product of husbandry is necessary to life, is the
basis of trade, and sinews of war ; and our own lan-^
guage is the ordinary channel of conveyance for di-^
vinity, law and politics, it is that by which commerce,
conversation, and all the important atiairs of life are
managed ; therefore both deserve our attention and
regard.

But while we are concerned about the common
support of life, let us have a due regard to, and follow
that solemn advice given us by a teacher sent from
God. Joh. 6. 27. Labour not for the meat which
perhheth^ but for that meat which endureth unto ever-
lasting life^ which the son of man shall give unto you>
Let this be our main care and chief concern.

65

PART IV.

I went by the field of the slothful^ and by the vineyard

of the man void of tender staTxling.
And lo, it was all groxvji over xvith thorns^ nettles

covered the face thereof and the stone-wall thereof

was broken doivn*
Then I saw, and cojisidered it well : I looked upon ity

and received instruction. Prov. xxiv. 50, 31, 32.

IN Norfolk, when they lijave once enriched their
land, they are careful to order crojis, so that the land
may continue in the same -state of fertility, without
any farther additions of manure ; their method is the
very reverse of ours, they never seed the land with
what is exhausting, two or three crops successively,
but after wheat or barley, they sow pease or clover, as
I find by a book a gentleman was so good as to send
me, containing a scheme of management, in certain
farms for thirteen years past. We are not so wise ;
there is nothing more common, than to put two draw-
ing crops together, after Indian corn then comes oats.

The Norfolk method is well calculated for Weath-
ersfield, Glassenberry, the east side of Hartford,
Windsor and Springfield ; in these places there is
sand above and clay below, it is the same in many
other parts of the country, but there are places where
there is so little clay, and that so situated, as to render
this method impracticable ; and therefore ways and
means to manure, and to increase dung, must be use-
ful to the farmer, especially considering how little
dung we make in the ordinary way, and how little
all the dung we make will produce.

The dung of cattle, in the Summer, is very rick,
and will do great service, if we improve it in tlxebest
manner ; therefore, to save it and increase the quantity,
I ordered a yard to be made in the street, proportion-

66

ed to the number of cattle, to be enclosed, it was
made long and narrow fot these two reasons. First,
for the convenience of ploughing it ; and secondly,
for the advantage of setting and removing the end-
fences, so often as I should have occasion to plough
up the yard ; when the yard was fenced, I put in the
cows every night, one month ; then opened the two
ends and ploughed it up, ploughing as near the two
side fences as possible, then reset the fence, ploughing
it up thus every month through the whole Symmer,
then carted it upon my next adjoining land, it being ve-
ry heavy, a long land carriage is not easy : I found the
whole furrow depth of earth was become dung, making
an increase beyond what one would imagine,! had four
fold more than I should have produced in the com-
mon way. This dung was spread upon both grass
laud, and corn land : I did not find but that its effects
were equal to other dung.

Another way by which I have increased the quan-
tity, is, by carting into the yard, a great quantity of
sea- ware, sea- wreck, or as it is commonly called, sea-
weed ; this being trampled and broken short by the
cattle, and enriched with the dung and stale, becomes
good dung, in six months time, and is much lighter
than that made with earth, and consequently much
more fit for distant improvement. This is the method
I have most frequently used : but I think the other
sort, made of earth, to be preferable.

Before I had tried the way of making earth dung,
I was afraid that it would deface and spoil the street,
but in a little time the bald place, by the dew, the sun,
and other concurring benefits of the atmosphere,
swarded over again, and recovered to its pristine state ;
so that practice will not be attended with any lasting
mischievous consequence. Those whose land is so
full of rocks and stones, that they cannot take benefit
by the first m€thod> that is, converting earth to dung,

67

and being far from the sea, can get no sea-weed ; and
therefore, what can they do to increase their dung,
the following method may well answer this intention.
Mr. Masters, of Pennsylvania, an ingenious and
pubUc spirited farmer, was so good as to write me a
letter, to inform me how he increased his dung; his
way is to hire poor children to gather up the fallen
dry leaves in the woods, and by fence sides ; puts
them up in stacks to settle, then carts them home,
puts them into his yards, his stables and cow-houses,
where they arc poached and trampled in together^
with the dung and stale of his cattle ; and in the con-
clusion, makes great increase of manure ; he has tried
it so far, and so much, as to know it to be a great
improvement. The dung and stale of beasts is so
abundantly charged and impregnated with salts,
proper to promote vegetation; which, to preserve
entire, it is proper to mix it with hungry poor stuff,
which will imbibe all the salts both fixed and volatile^
otherwise the sun will exhak much of the volatile
part, and the rains will wash off a great deal of the
fixed salt.

At Narraganset, I remember I saw swamp mud
carted into a cow-yard to increase the dung, was told
that it served to that purpose very well.

For want of dung, common sea-salt may be made
use of; a gentleman at Middletown, who came from
the West- Indies, bought a piece of poor land, put on
it five bushels of salt to the acre, sowed it with flax,
a small strip through the whole piece he put no salt
upon it, the consequence v^as, the salted part pro-
duced fine tall flax, and the small strip was poor and
short. A man of Guilford told me, he had tried it
upon his wheat land, it assisted and increased hjs crop
very well. One of my sons sowed five bushels of
salt, last fall, upon his wheat ; v/hat will be the coji-
sequence we cannot tell yet-^— the advance at present
is not considerable^

68

Sea salt seems not immediately adapted to promote
vegetation, but rather the contrary, especially if there
be too much of it. It is said that the Isle of Ormas,
the soil being strongly impregnated with rock salt, is
very barren.

In the scriptures we find, that saltness was an indi-
cation of barreness, natural and judicial. Judges ix.
45. When he had taken the city, it is said of Abim-
e\ech, he slexu the people that was therein^ and beat
down the c'lty^ and sowed it with salt.

Of him th.it trusteth in man, it is said, Jer, xvii.
6. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and
shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the
parched places in the wilderness ^ in a salt land^ and not
inhabited.

Moab was threatened by the prophet, that it should
be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Go-
morrah. Zeph. ii. 9. The breeding of nettles and
salt pits. Deut. xxix. 23. .And the whole land
thereof is brimstone and salt, and burning, that is not
sown, nor beareth, nor any grass grow eth therein.

There are two sorts of salt, which do immediately
promote vegetation, and render the land fruitful. .

One is what is called nitrous salt, this is what is
contained in dung, the other is called alcalious salt,
this is what renders ashes such a useful manure, for
if this salt is dissolved with hot water, and drawn off
from the ashes, as when w^e make lee it robs the ash-
es of its vegetative virtue, so far as it is deprived of
this salt.

Common sea salt, although of itself, and in its na-
ture, it be unfit to divide the earth, and so to promote
vegetation, yet being of a kindred rature with the other
salt, the nitrous salt of the air and earth joining with
it, I conceive it is assimilated, overcome and convert-
ed to nitrous salt. It is said, that where they make
salt-petre, after they have drawn out ail the salt from

69

the earth, or other matter from whence it is extracted,
they expose the caput mortuum, or matter from
whence it is drawn, to the air, and in seven years it
is fit for a new operation.

Common salt is used in England for manure, and
is of so much advantage in farming, that Mr. EUis
in his books of husbandry, proposes that the duty
upon salt should be taken off in favour of agriculture.

Another way of mending land, is, what they call
in England, green dressing ; this is by sowing buck
wheat, oats or rye, and when it is grown up and is
full of sap, they plough it in, after this let it lie till
fully rotten, then plough again and sow your wheat.
I am told the Dutch people, on poor pine plains, in
this way, have fine crops of wheat ; but for green
dressing I should prefer above all, sowing millet, on
the account of the cheapness of seeding the land,
the cost is but a trifle ; the stalk and leaf growing
large, it must afford a good lar^e coat to turn in
when ploughed. Being once at Kent, an old coun-
try farmer had been in practice of green dressing, he
had ploughed in green oats ; it seemed to alter the
colour of die land, it looked much better than the rest
of the lot where there was nothing but a furrow that
parted. The farmer said, that he could raise land or
increase the strength to a great degree in a few years,
in the following manner ; after his oats were harvest-
ed, he added some seed to the scattered oats, plough-
ed it in, at the end of September ploughed in the
green oats, and sowed it with rye ; the next sum-
mer, when the rye Was well grown and full of sap,
ploughed that in, at common sowing time, it would
be fit to produce a large crop of wheat ; all the cost
of ploughing and seed, is not so much as the cost of
dung, carting and spreading, if we can get it, but
the difiiculty is, it is not to be had upon any terms ;
there are very few such bad husbands as to sell their
dung.

7^

Mr. Edmond Quincy, of Boston, a gentleman of
learning and ingenuity, to whom I am indebted for
many useful hints and observations — he informs me,
that having a son residing at Portmore, in England,
the young gentleman writes, that some farmers in
that neighborhood are entered mto a new practice,
which is to sow their dry land which is not fit for
pasture with rye, and feed their sheep upon it, so that
it may not spindle or grow up : that this feed makes
excellent mutton, and will continue to grow from
year to year without any tillage or resowing ; he doth
not say how long it will continue : possibly the prac-
tice is so new, that they do not know themselves. I
have observed that where sheep are well kept, and
remain upon the land night and day, the land will
grow better. As rye will endure the heat of a strong
sun much better than grass, 'tis seldom hurt with
drought : I suppose this may be of great service m
our Southern Colonies, where the heat comes so fast,
that the grass has not time to cover and shelter the
roots from the piercing rays of the sun : the advan-
tage of the grass growing up before there is a strong
heat, is, that the grass gathers and preserves the dews
for the benefit of the- roots : when dew falls upon
naked and unsheltered land that is not ploughed,
made soft, and so fitted to drink up, and retain the
dews, or well cloathed with grass ; what falls in the
night is exhaled in the day, and thus the ground is
robbed of that which is the chief riches of the atmos-
phere.

If I understand it right, this being the state of some
of our Colonies, the above named method of making
artificial pasture with rye, may be of advantage to
them, and of use also to us where the soil is dry.

71

That wheat and rye bear drought much better than
grass, is an old observation preserved in one of the
EiJghsh proverbs —

IFet May makes short corn and long hay^
Dry May makes long corn and short hay.

As the old Enghsh proverbs conuin truth and
good sense, founded on due observation and experi-
ence, I have a fondness for them.

The Honorable Society for promoting Husbandry
and Manufactures in Ireland, published a way of
raising calves, that appears rational, natural and easy.
As this essay may fall into such hands as may never
see it, unless it be by this conveyance ; I shall insert
it wiih the advantages that arise from it.

'' Take the best English hay, chop and bruise it,
put it into a churn or barrel, pour boiling water there-
on, in such proportion as that it will be well impreg-
nated wlch the spirit and virtue of the hay. Never let
the caif suck at all : for the first ten days, give a mix-
ture of three quarters of milk, and one quarter hay
tea ; the next ten days, half milk and half hay tea ;
all the rest of the time, till the calf is fit to wean, give
three quarters hay tea, and one quarter milk :" they
say that calves brought up in the way will not be
pot-bellied. By this meajis the natural food of cattle
is prepared, by extracting the nutritive virtue and
spirit of hay, mixed in a fluid, and so fitted to the
tender stomach of such young creatures.

I apprehend there are many advantages resulting
from this method.

First— It is generally allowed, that the milk of a
good cow, in six months, is equal in value to her
body ; the saving two months milk is considerable.^
or if it were but one month, it is not to be despised.

Second-^—This way is much better for the cow.

A farmer of my acquaintance, who kept a stock of
seventy head pf cattlcj always brought up his calves

72

by hand, giving them all the milk ; this he did with^
out any such saving, only for the benefit of his cows.

Third — Another advantage is, that the cow will
hardly fail of going to bull ; there is more loss in a
cow's going farrow, than people ordinarily imagine ;
it is a great charge to keep cattle winter and sum-
mer: an ox pays the charge of keeping with his
labour ; young cattle in their growth, a fatting beast,
with his fat and flesh ; a breeding cow pays with
her calf and milk, but a dry cow pays nothing at all.

Fourth — I may add also, that this way of bringing
up calves, saves the trouble and bawling noise of
weaning. If those farmers who have great stocks,
will not be at this trouble > yet one would think, at
least, that those people who have many children, and
but one or two cows, should readily fall into his
saving way.

It is some time since I saw the above mentioned
receipt, so am not certain as to tlie periods, whether
a week or ten days, and think it not material.

There is a weed which grows in wet meadows,
and is something like the haums, or vines of pease ;
when it is hayed with the grass, the cattle eat it free-
ly ; it is of such mischievous, noxious quality, that
it makes mares, cows and ewes cast their young, to
the great detriment of farmers.

A person of good credit told me, that by giving
his cattle a cock or two of such hay, he lost by it, to
the value of forty or fifty pownds : not knowing the
botanical name of this plant : from its ill and singular
quality, we call it stink weed : I had abundance of it
in one swamp, and I know by experience, that drein-
ing w'tll entirely destroy it, and it is for this reason
that I mention it.

There is another weed called St. John's wort ; it
fills the ground, we are obliged to cut in with the
grass, to rake it^ cart it, house it, carry it out, and

7t5

\vhen we have done, no creature will eat one mouth-
ful of it, nor doth it make dung, and consequently
is a dead weight upon the farmer. To kill and erad-
icate this, put in, sheep early in the spring, and in
two years they will destroy it without any hurt to
sheep.

Some trials I made last year, gives me reason to
hope, that I have found out certain seasons for cut-
ting bushes, by which they will be more effectually
destroyed by once cutting, than I have ever yet
found, till now, which if I find accordmg to my
hopes, I design in my next essay to communicate it.

In a fornier essay, I mentioned the strange and
peculiar property of foul meadow grass, that it will
hold ou" to be in season for cutting, from the begin-
ning of Jiily till some time in October ; this I won-
dered at, but viewing some of it attentively, I think
I have found the reason of it : when it is grown
about three feet high, it then falls down, but doth not
rot like other grass when lodged ; in a little 'time
after it is thus fallen down, at every joint it puts forth
a new branch ; now to maintain this young brood of
succors, there must be a plentiful course of sap con-
veyed up through the main stem, or straw ; by this
means the grass is kept green, and fit for mowing all
this long period.

Whether this young growth from the joints, be
owing to the horizontal position of the straw, or
whether it is a confirmation, of that doctrine, that the
joints of plants are seed-vessels, I leave to naturalists
to determine.

I find by experience, that the best time to mow
this grass, is when these new branches or succors
have obtained to their full growth.

He commends and encourageth the clearing and
dreining of swamps and bogs, " as there is a depth
of rich soil, for the nourishment of the rankest vege-

10

74

tables, cannot fail of being the best of every man's
estate who is possessed of them ; thinks they will
prove like the dreined bogs in Ireland."

This branch of husbandry is improved and advan-
cing yearly, and in many places, makes a fine shew.
Take a view of a swamp in its original state, full of
bogs, overgrown with flags, brakes, poisonous woods
and vines, with other useful product, the genuine off-
spring, of stagnant waters.

Its miry bottom, an harbour to turtles, toads, efts»
snakes, and other creeping vermin. The baleful
thickets of brambles, and the dreary shades of larger
growth ; the dwelling-place of the owl and the bit-
tern ; a portion of foxes, and a cage of every unclean
and hateful bird. Now take another survey of the
same place, after the labour of clearing, ditching,
dreining, burning, and other needful culture has
passed upon it.

Behold it now cloathed with sweet verdant grass,
adorned with the lofty wide spreading well-set Indian
corn; the yellow-barley; the silver coloured flax;
the ramping hemp, beautified with fine ranges of
cabbage ; the delicious melon, and the best of tur-
nips, all pleasing to the eye, and, many, agreeable to
tlie taste ; a v/ondcrful change this ! and all brought
about in a short time ; a resemblance of creation, as
much as we, impotent beings can attain to, the hap-
py product of skill and industry.

Sumptuous buildings and fine gardens, afford a
pleasing prospect, and strike the eye agreeably ;
what are the gaudy shews, the fleeting joys of Rane-
lagh ; the glittering scenes, the chanting music, the
splendid banquets of Vauxhall, compared with the
more than rural pleasures, to be enjoyed in these new
sprung fields, considered as a rich source of supply
for man and beast? but more especially considered as a
coziapendious lasting fund of charity ? it being a more

75

extensive charity to ])revent beggary, than to relieve
it. These views serve to waft away the soul upon
the wings of exulting elevated thoughts and warm
desires, towards the Great Creator and Beneficent
Ruler of the Universe ; to Him who is the Father of"
Light and Life, from whom doth descend every good
and perfect gift.

This affords a pleasure that repays much cost and
care : this a pleasure which the stranger to serious
thought and reflection intermeddles not with-all.

While we are in the world, we are necessarily con-
cerned with the world : Let us therefore set our af-
fections on things above, arid not on things on the earthy
for we are dead, and ou^ life is hid with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then
shall ye also appear with him in glory. Col. iii. 2. 3. 4,

PART V.

For your sakes no doubt this is written ; that he that
plougheth, should plough in hope, and that he that
thresheth in hope, should be partaker of Jus hope.
1 Cor. ix. 10.

The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold,
therejore shall he beg in harvest^ and have nothing,
Prov. XX. 4,

WEALTH or riches may be considered as nomi=
nal or real, natural or artificial : nominal or artificial
are those things which derive all, or the greatest part
6f their value, from opinion, custqm, common con-
sent, or a stamp of authority, by which a value is set ;
such a** silver, ^old, pearly precious stones, pictures^

76

bills of credit. Sojne of these things have a degree
of intrinsic value in them, but not in any proportion
to the value to which they are raised by custom or
consent : for instance, silver and gold have a certain
degree of intrinsic worth, but nothing equal to iron
in the necessary service of life, either for instrument
or medicine.* A diamond hath an intrinsic worth
from its hardness ; but as to many other precious
stones, a load-stone, a mill-stone, or a grind-stone, is
of much more real worth and use to mankind. Pearls
are prescribed in medicine for great people : but is
not of use but as a testacous powder ; and for that
use an oyster shell will do as well : but many things
in high esteem have no intrinsic worth at all.

Natural or real wealth are such things as supply
the necessities or conveniences of life : these are ob-
tained from the earth, or the sea ; such as corn, flesh,
or fish, fruits, food and raiment.

Husbandry and navigation are the true source of
natural or real wealth. Without husbandry, even
navigation cannot be carried on ; without it we should
want many of the comforts and conveniences of life.
Husbandry then is a subject of great importance,
without which all commerce and communication
must come to an end, all social advantages cease,
comfort and earthly pleasure be no more. Nay, this
is the very basis and foundation of all nominal or arti-
ficial wealth and riches. This rises and falls, lives
or dies, just in proportion to the plenty or scarcity of
real riches or natural wealth. We have a pregnant
proof of this, 2 Kings vi. 25. And there was a great
famine in Samaria ; and behold shey besieged it until

* As the Inrllans of Peru» long before they had knowledge of any
other parts of the world, although the*/ had no iron, yet they had plenty
of gold and silver. If in that day, an axe of iron cou'd have been ob-
tained for ten pounds of gold, the purchaser v-'ith reasop might think
be had a good bargain.

77

an asses head was sold for four score pieces of silver^
and the fourth part of a kab of doves dung for five
pieces of silver. With submission, 1 rather think it
should be rendered the contents of the dove's crop.
The dove's returning home from the field with crops
full of pease and other grain, would, when extracted,
be a welcome entertainment to the hungry inhabitants,
and sell for a good price ; whereas the proper excre-
ments or dung, especially of such animals who void
no urine, is so loathsome, and so destitute of nourish-
ment, as to be unfit for food, even in times of greatest
extremity.

If second hand food has been so high in the mar-
ket, how valuable are the clean productions of the
earth? Husbandry is the true mine from whence are
drawn true riches and real wealth. As dung and
other manure is of such advantage in raising corn, in
the foregoing essay the reader had set before him the
Norfolk husbandry, where we find that clay answers
all the ends and purposes of dung, and for duration
much exceeds it : as also divers ways of making,
and methods to increase the quantity of dung or
manure.

In this essay, I design to shew how land may be
tilled, and the dung so applied as that a little dung
shall extend as far, and do as much to promote and
produce a crop of corn, as six times so much dung
applied in the common way. The old worn out land
is to be tilled in such a manner that affords a prospect,
that the same land in tw^o or three years, shall pro-
duce crops without dung, or any sort of manure, in
some measure agreeable to the method of the excel-
lent and truly learned Mr. TuU ; a summary of whose
principles or doctrine, I here present to the reader in
his own words : —

** The only w^ay we have to enrich the earth, is to
divide it into many parts, by manure or by tillage, or

78

by both : this is called pulveration. The salt of dung
divides or pulverizes the soil by fermentation, tillage
by the attrition or contusion of instruments, of which
the plough is the chief. The superficies or surfaces
of those divided parts of the earth, is the artuicial
pasture of plants, and affords the vegetable pabulum
to sucli roots as come in contact with it. There is
no way to exhaust the earth of this pabulum, but by
the roots of plants, and plants are now proved to ex-
tend their roots more than was formerly thought they
did. Division is infinite, and the more parts the soil
is divided into, the more of that superficies or vege-
table pasture must it have, and more of those benefits
which descend from the atmosphere will it receive.
Therefore if the earth be divided, if it be by tillage, it
answers the same end as if it had been performed by
dung."

In the fore cited passage, Mr, TuU has had but
little regard to the capacity of his reader, nor wiii it
be much better understood than if it had been wrote
in an unknown tongue, there being so many words
used by him. which common farmers do not under-
stand ; and therefore that book has not been so use-
ful as otherwise it might have been. That excellent
writer seems to me to have entered deeper into the
true principles of husbandry, than any author I have
ever read. Had he taken pains to accomodate him-
self to the unlearned, his book would have been much
more useful than now it is.

I am very sensible, that the low stile, the plainness
and simphcity of these essays, has exposed them to
the censure of those who do not well consider for
whom they are intended and WTitten.

It is miich easier to 1st the pen run forward in a
pompous parade of learning, than to bring it into such
subjection as to convey and communicate important
truths in such words as shall be understood, and to

79

use such plainness and simplichy as will bring all
down to the level of the most inferior capacity.

It was a learned man of the age, instructed in tlte
school at Tarsus, who completed his studies in the
famous college at Jerusalem, under the tuition of
Gamaliel, the illustrious president of that renowned
seat of learning ; he was the very man who said,
1 Cor. xiv. 19. I thank God I speak vjith tongues
more than you all ; yet in the Church I had rather
speak fivc words with my understanding y that I might
teach others aho^ than ten thousand words in an un-
known tongue*

I purpose to proceed in the same plain simple man-
ner, to set before the reader the way of mendi*ig our
poor land, and raising crops, either withouc any dung
at all, or if any be applied, it shall be in a small quan-
tity, that the expence will be but Uttle, compared
with the common vv^ay of husbandry.

In this undertakii:ig I pretend to no other merit
than that,

1. To explain the doctrine or principles of Mr,
Tull, in such a manner as to be open to any com-
mon understanding.

2. To oifer such reasons and proofs for the sup-
port of these principles, as will naturally occur.

3. To direct to the performance of the work with
instruments less intricate, more plain, cheap and
commodious, than those used and described bv Mr.
TaiH.

Under these three heads may, I think, be compre-
hended ail that I design at present to say of this meth-
od of husbandry, until time and experience shall en-
able me tp write farther upon this important subject ;
for if I succeed according to my expectation and de-
sire, I apprehend husbandry, in the tillage of land,
will stand upou a good footing.

80

The only way we have to enrich the land, is by
dung, or by tillage seperately, or by both of them
together. It is performed by dividing the earth into
many parts, or as the common way of speaking, it is
done by making the ground mellow and soft, so that
the roots may freely pass and find their proper nour-
ishment. The more mellow and fine the earth is
made, the more roots will be sent out., from corn or
whatever is sowed or planted in such mellow land,
and the more soft and mellow the ground is made,
there will be not only more roots, but they will be
longer and extend farther, so that the corn, turnip,
carrot, or whatever plant it is, will receive so much
the more nourishment, and consequently grow so
much the bigger and better. Dung, or any other
manure, divides the ground, sets the parts at a dis-
tance, and so gives a free passage to the roots of
plants. In this action the salts in dung hath much
the same operation and effect as leaven, or emptyings
hath on dough ; it makes it rise, makes it light, that
is sets the parts at a distance. If nothing be done to
divide the parts, and make the ground mellow by
ploughing, or dung, or both, no crop can be expected*
Sow or plant upon untilled land, which is hard and
uncultivated, no corn will grovv\ I the earth can be
as well divided, and made as meilo-.v by ploughing,
digging or hoeing, why should not tillage do v/ithout
dung : provided the tillage be equal or in proportion
to dung ? To do this in the common way of repeat-
ed plain ploughing and harrowing, v/ould be too much
charge and labour ; for Mr. TuU said, that three
times plain ploughing did only prepare the land for
tillage. There is a way by tillage alone, v/ithout
dung, to make the land fine and mellow, ^id this way
is cheap and effectual ; is done in the following man-
ner.

81

First plough your ground plain, and plough it
deep ; if you have no dung, you must have the more
loose mellow earth ; when it is thus ploughed, har-
row it well with an iron tooth harrow, let it lie a
fortnight exposed, to the sun, air and dews, then
plough it into ridges ; to every ridge there must
be eight furrows of the plain ploughing, two furrows
covered, four ploughed, and two lef- open ; so that
in ridge ploughing the team and plough travels but
half so far as in plain ploughing; ridge ploughing
will cost but half so much as plain ploughing.

I suppose I need not give any particular directions
concerning ploughing the land into ridges, every
ploughman understands this, or if he doth not, he may-
soon learn it of them that do. When it is thus
ploughed into ridges, it is prepared to plant with
wheat, or cabbages, carrots, or what else you see
iit to plant. In what manner, and with what instru-
xnents the seeds of wheat, turnips, or cabbages are to
be planted, I shall describe under the third head,
Vv'hcn I come to speak of the instruments by which
it is performed. I shall only add in this place that
the wheat is to be planted in two rows on the middle
of the ridge, the rows to be at ten inches distance;
the cabbages and turnips in one row on the middle of
the ridge, the turnips at six inches distance from each
other, cabbages at a foot and a half, or two feet dis=-
tance ; carrots are to be planted in two rows at ten
inches distance, that is, the space between the rows
is to be ten inches, the carrots to be planted at six
inches distance onOifrom the other, as they stand in
the line or row.

The reader will observe, that as yet there is no
more tillage applied to the land than what is common
and usual in our ordinary way of husbandry. Now,
what follows, is that in which the art and rnistery doth
oonsist. and when it is described and set before vou.
11

82

will appear so simple, so little, so mean, that it will
be to you as go wash in Jordan^ was to Naaman the
Syrian. Suppose it be turnips, cabbage or carrots
planted in the Spring, (for as to what relates to wheat,
the golden grain, I purpose to treat of that distinctly
by itself) as soon as your cabbages and turnips can
be seen, weed them with a small hand hoe. The
carrots for the first time must be weeded with the
fingers ; this is tedious work ; when this is done, and
the plants a little grown so as to be plainly seen, then
take one yoke of oxen, a long yoke so long that one
ox may go in one furrow, and the other ox in the oth-
er, and the ridge between, in the same manner as we
plough Indian corn ; and with a common ox plough,
turn off a furrow from the ridge, coming as close to
the plants as you can, and not plough them up ; you
may come within two or three inches, if the oxen and
plough are good. Thus take off a furrow from each
side of every ridge till all is ploughed ; let it lye in
this state a fortnight or three weeks, then' with the
plough turn up the two furrows to the ridge ; stay
about as long as before, and turn the two furrows off
from the ridge again ; the oftener this is repeated, so
much the better : we ordinarily do it but four times ;
but seven times will do better. When the plants
grow larger, you must keep the plough at a greater
distance ; for if you plough as near the plants as when
they are small, you will cut off too many roots.

You must hoe between the rows of carrots with a
narrow hand hoe, to kill the weeds ; and to till the
ground between the rows, you mast mind to dig deep.

Turnips, and whatever is planted in a single line
or row, must be tended with a hand hoe, while the
plants are young, and 'till all the weeds are destroyed
so that you may use the plough. I have been obliged
to enter into the practical part of this sort of husban-
dry, without which I should not be able to explain

83

the principles, or doctrinal part, as I proposed under
the first head.

1. This way of tilling land makes it exceeding fine,
soft and mellow, beyond what you would imagine :
this, we have shewed already, is one thing requisite
and needful.

2. By this tillage we open such clods and parts of
earth as never were opened before, and consequently
never was touched by any root ; its whole nourishing
virtue remains entire : in 5ihort it is new land. Every
one knows what new land will do before its native
and original strength and vigour is consumed and ex-
hausted by the roots of corn and other plants. Thus
this sort of tillage doth, in a degree, furnish us with
new land. In this way old things become new.

3. In this way of tillage we entirely destroy and
extirpate all weeds and grass, yea, even that stubborn
grass called blue grass, which is so hurtful to corn ;
by which a whole crop is frequently almost destroy-
ed. This grass by many is called Dutch grass ; and
probably that grass in England there called couch
grass, may be the same, and miscalled here Dutch,
from a resemblance or likeness of sound ; their far-
mers making the same complaint of it as ours do
here. The destruction of weeds and grass is of great
advantage in tillage. Weeds very much exhaust the
land, hinder and damnify the crop : the more these
robbers are destroyed, the more nourishment there is
for corn.

This method not only destroys the weeds for the
present, but for the future also ; for ploughing stirs
up the latent seeds of weeds, sets them a growing,
and then destroys them when they are come up. The
seeds of weeds are numerous and hardy, they will
lye many years in the ground, and when by the
plough are properly situated for grov/th, they will
€ome up very plentifully : charlockj commonly called

84

terrify, ivhich cannot be subdued in the common way
of tillage, I suppose in this way, may be effectually
conquered.

That the destruction of weeds is one design we
have in view when we till land, is what is allowed by
all ; nay, many think that this is the only end,
and at least they act and conduct as if they thought
so :» if it were not so, why do they neglect to hoe and
and plough if there be no Aveeds ? And why do they
aim at going no deeper than just to cut up the weeds ?
But there are other great advantages to be had by
tillage, besides killing weeds, as has been said already,
and W\\\ further appear.

4. This way of repeated ploughing keeps the land
from going out of tillage. If land be never so much
ploughed and harrowed, and made ever so light and
mellow, yet in a year's time the tillage is spent in a
great degree. The weight of great rains, and the
natural weight of the earth, settles it down, so that it
is daily grd\ving closer and harder ; there is less and
less room for the roots to extend and spread, find their
food and get nourishment ; for the roots in plants are
as the mouth is to man and beast ; the more roots the
more growth. When land, by the law of gravitation,
is thus continually sinking down, closing together-,
and so going out of tillage, we then plough it once in
a month, or oftner, if there be need. Thus the tillage
is kept up in the same state as at first. I find that a
great heavy nun, if it fall soon after the land has been
ploughed, it will need ploughing again: ,in dry
weather it will continue in a state of tillage much
longer. Our Indi -n-corn has this repeated tillage;
but our wheat suifers much for want of after tillag'e :
we sow one year and reap the next, so that from sow-
ing tiuie till harvest, is ten or eleven months.

5. There is in land a twofold and opposite state
which renders tillage absolutely necessary: this re-

S5

peated ]:)loughing answers for both. In the common
and ordinary state of land, it is too hard and close,
the parts are so nigh that there are no holes or pas-
sages left for the roots to spread downwards and side
ways ; or at least these pores, holes or passages, are
too small and too few to give room for the roots :
often and repeated ploughing sets the particles of
earth at such a distance, and so enlargeth these pores
or holes in the earth, that the growth of plants is by
this means greatly promoted.

Although this be the ordinary state of land which
makes tillage necessary; yet there is some land in a
state just the reverse : it is too light, its parts are at
too great a distance, the pores and passages are too
wide, so that the roots are not big enough to fill the
pores, or holes. If the roots do not touch the earthy
it cannot get nourishment : the root should be en-
closed on all sides by the earth. Every one knows
that roots above ground in the open air, can do the
plant no good. All the difference between roots
under ground, which do not touch the earth, and
some roots above ground, is, that one is shaded, and
the other is exposed to the sun and wind : but as
roots in the most hollow and light land, touch the
earth in some places, so they get some nourishment
and keep alive, yet the plant makes but a poor
progress.

I have a piece of summer wheat in a dreined
sv/amp, that almost died of this disease : the land was
so new that it would not bear a team, so that it could
not be ploughed ; the top earth was exceeding light
and puffy ; the seed was howed in, it came up and
grew well, so long as the blade could hve upon the
milk of the wheat kernel ; but when that store was
spent, and the time was come that it must live by
nourishment obtained by the roots, it turned yellow,
and the tops died : one of my sons told me the wheat

86

would all die ; but an heavy rain fell, which so closed
and pressed this light earth together, and so lessentd
the pores, that the roots were: enclosed on all sides,
the corn recovered its colour, grew vigorously and
well, and put up good large ears. This land as much
required ploughing as hard heavy land would have
done. Repeated ploughing in land that is too light,
and the pores too large, will settle it down and close
it together, contract and lessen «he pores, as well as
raise the heavy land, and enlarge its pores. This
seeming contradiction, this blowing hot and cold out
the same mouth, may be well enough reconciled,
and accounted for in a philosophical manner : but so
long as experience shews that all this is true, it will
be to no advantage to the farmer to say more about
it : nor ghotild I have entered so far into the philoso-
phy of tillage as I have done, were it not necessary
for a practical farmer to understand it so far as to
make a judgment, and see into the reason of this new
kind of tillage and farming : and this is the more
needful, as there is a prejudice in men's minds against
what is new, or at least what men suppose to be new.
C. This method or way of repeated ploughing,
fits and prepares the land to receive and retain all the
benefits of die atmosphere : it is now open to receive
the floating particles of sulphur, and the nitrous salts
of the air, the benefit of the sun's rays, wliich, when
accompanied with a sufficient degree of moisture,
enlivens and invigorates all nature. When the win-
ter hath brought a universal gloom upon the face of
the vegetable creation, paleness and death appear on
all sides : the Psalmist saith of it, thou hides t thy face
they are troubled. Then speaking of the sun, thou
sendest forth thy spirit they are created, and thou re-
neivest the face of the earth.

; But above all this, we are hereby put in possession
of the dews, which is one of the rich treasures of

87

the atmosphere ; when land is n}ade fine a good
depth, it is prepared with open mouth, to drink in
and retain the dews : when the dew falls upon land
that is untilled, or but poorly tilled, the ground being
hard, it doth not sink deep, so the next day's sun
carries it all off again. It is the same if land be too
light and loose ; there is not a sufficient connection
of parts to convey the dew from one particle of earth
to another : I apprehend that the moisture of the dew
passeth down in well prepared land as water is con-
veyed through a rag in filtration, if the rag hath larg^e
holes in it the water will stop : but let this be as it
will, it is certain, and known to every observing far-
mer, that the best tilled land in a dry time, always is
moister, and bears the drought mnuch better than the
same sort of land which is but poorly tilled ; that
Indian corn, which is the best plouc»'hed and hot;d,
will always bear the drought best. And what is the
reason ? because the land is prepared to receive and
retain the dew. Mr, Evelin made the following ex-
periment ; he dug a hole in the ground a good depth,
reduced the earth to line powder, and filled up the
hole with it : a drought came on, this powdered
earth was moist to the bottom, when the adjoining
land was exceeding hard and dry. Another experi-
ment was made thus, a gallon of rain-water was put
into a bowl, and a gallon of dew water in another
vessel, and set them to dry away in the sun ; the con-
sequence was, the sediment or settlings of the dew
water was more in quantity, blacker and richer than
that of the rain water. The dews and salts of the
air, is all by which the lanS is enriched ; for the other
advantages of ploughing are but transient : the ad-
vantage this way is so much, that Mr. Tull saith,
that land he hath improved this way, by this kind of
husbandry, going into another hand, who used it in
the common way of husbandry, that part of the field

88

was so much enriched by the new tillage, that there
was a visible difference for the better seven years
after. I suppose, that it is this alone which chani^ed
the colour of my land in six months ; for having
ploughed very deep, and turned up much fox-colour-
ed dead earth, it soon became of a good brown
colour ; so that this kind of tillage seems likely to
put us in possession of Joseph's blessing ; of which
we- have an account, Deut. xxxiii. 13, 14. and of Jo-
seph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land^ for the
precious things ef heaven, for the dexv, and for the
deep that coucheth beneath: and for the precious fruits
brought forth by the sun^ and for the precious things
put forth by the moon. Some understand by the deep
that coucheth beneath, to be the springs and subter-
raneous waters : but it seems more likely, to intend
the riches of the under earth which coucheth beneath ;
which, like a couching lion, must be roused and rais-
ed up by a proper tillage, in order to exert its full
strength.

Thus I have explained the principles of this kiild
of husbandry, the foundation and reason of it, in as
plain and easy a manner as I can.

Before I took any- step or pace towards this sort
of tillage, I read all I could find upon this subject
with care, thought and studied on it with attention ;
wrote to my good friend, Mr. John Bartrarn, a flirmer
in Pennsylvania, a man of worth, to know his opinion
of it. He judiciously observed, that England, where
it had been practiced with success, v/as an island »
having the sea on all sides, the air must be filled
■ with more vapours and larger dews, than what v/c
enjoy upon the continent : their atmosphere being
much more replete Vvith riches for the earth, than
what is to be expected in our dry thin air. Nctwith-
stahding all this, it ran strongly in my head to try ;
for I considered, that, as God had not left himself

89

without witness, m that he had given us rain and fruit-
fuhseasons, so, in some degree, he hath given us the
other benefits of the atmosphere, to fill our hearts
xvith food and gladness ; therefore thought it our duty
to take all the advantage of it that we can : and that
we would try the method as far as we could, without
the proper 'instruments ; I)OW much there was of
truth in the doctrine or principles, if used and appli-
ed in this climate : and so proceed, or forbear to get
the drill plough, and other instruments, as we should
find encouragement ; having made some trials one
year, this leads me to the second thing.

2. To offer such reasons and proofs for the sup-
port of those principles, as did occur upon the one
year's trial which I made. After my land was pre-
pared and ploughed into ridges, it was planted with
cabbages, carrots, turnips, onions and beats, and a
furrow ploughed off from each side of the ridge, and
then ploughed on : and this being repeated four or
five times from Spring to Fall, the event was, the
weeds were killed, the ground grew fine and mellow,
clods and knots broken and reduced to dust ; the
plants put out numerons roots, spread and grew very
finely ; all the ground was mellow, not only the fur-
rows which were ploughed, but also the comb or
ridge in the middle, as it was narrow and so exposed
to 'the air and dew on three sides, it was struck
through, grew mellow, and received as mush advan.
tao-e 'by the tillage, as that part of the ridge which
was ploughed off and on. The land being ploughed
deep, there was a great quantity of fine earth pre.
pared to receive the dews and salts of the air,
and sufficient room for the roots to spread and
branch out on all sides, so that every thing grew a-
pace, and were large, although there was no dung
applied ; the same land would produce in the ordma^
rv wav. carrots no biager than a common candle ; in
12

90

this there were many, eight, ten, and some twelve
inches in circumference ; they were so large, that
three ridges of fifteen rods long each, two rows on a
ridge, produced more than twenty bushels ; so an
whole acre's product, yielding in the same propor-
tion, would be two hundred and thirty bushels ;
had the three ridges yielded no more than twenty
bushels, besides the greater increase of the crop, it is
done cheap and with more ease, as the horse plough
perform^ the work with more expedition than it can
be done by hand, so it is done much better for the
present crop, and also mends and enricheth the land,
and prepares it for future improvement. It is easier
.♦his way, to raise five bushels of carrots than one in
the common way. I also tried this mediod of tillage
with turnips planted in a single row ; by the middle
of June they were surprisingly large; as I did not
weigh or measure them, I am not able to give a per-
feet account of them.

In a former essay, I made mention of a society in
Scotland, consisting of three hundred members, many
of them noblemen of the first rank ; this society was
erected to promote husbandry and m.anufactures ;
they published a book of their transactions ; by the
favour of Mr. Collinson, of London, I had an oppor-
tunity to read it, and find in their fallow year, instead
of the old chargeable way of Summer fallow, they
plough into ridges, then plant cabbages and turnips :
their cabbages and the early sort are ripe before the
time of sowing wheat ; with frequent horse plough-
ing they grow large, and the land in fine order for
sowing wheat in the common way. By this means,
they sometimes raise a crop of great value, and have
their land in better order for wheat than in the old
w^ay of fallowing their land. The Lord Rea, observ-
ed to the society, that he expected to see that part of
his wheat which grew where the rows of cabbages

91

grew before to be poor, but was surprised to find,
that in the very line where the cabbages grew, in that
range was the biggest wheat. One would expect
that the land would have been exhausted b)^ so many-
large plants. The true reason of what appeared so
strange, was this, the broad leaves of cabbage made
a large shade, and within that shade there would be a
swift undulation of the air, and consequently a stream
of the nitrous and sulphurous particles of the air,
would be drawn in and lodged there ; I suppose by
this means, that part of the land became more enrich-
ed than the open part of the field.

Pease are found to make land mellow, to enrich,
and so well to prepare it for wheat, that I have many
times known farmers to invite others, who l^d pease,
to sow their land without paying any rent^ merely for
the advantage it w^ould be to their crop of wheat.
Pease make a shade : where the land is shaded the
air will be condensed, and consequently, make room
for the rushing in of more air, so that in this shade
there will be a greater lodgment of the nitrous salts,
and consequently the land will be made rich. The
same is found by experience to be true of potatoes,
and therefore, it is accounted to be an enricher of
land. It has been found that potatoes may be suc-
cessively planted without dung, and have good crops.

It v.'ill be asked, if so, why do not weeds, which
make shades, enrich the ground ? The reason is
plain, because the land is not. tilled, and so prepared
to receive and retain the dews and salts of the air : so
turn it and set it in every light, we shall see and find,
that tillage tends to enrich iaiwl, and fits it to bring
forth fruit. My carrots put forth such numbers of
small fibrous roots, for the nourishment' of the main
root, that when the time came to pull them up, they
were com.paratively, hairy like a rat. Roots are to
plants as the mouth is to animals ; therefore, in feeding

92

plants we have the greater advantage ; an horse, ox or ,
sheep, has but one mouth ; provide as much hay and
provender as you will, he can eat but such a propor-
tion ; if you give Benjamin's mess, five times more
than he can eat, it will do no good. But it is other-
wise with plants, the more provision you make for
them of good rich mould, the more roots will they put
forth, take in so much the more food, and consequent-
ly, grow so much the larger.

Another proof of the truth of the doctrine, or prin-
ciples, laid down as the ground work or basis of this
new husbandry, I shall borrow from the old husband-
ry, in the manner of raising Indian corn. The land
being previously prepared, the land planted, and corn
come up, we plough a furrow off from the corn on
each side, then hoe it ; the next time plough up to the
corn; so that this tillage is nearly the same with what is
now proposed for wheat, or whatever we would plant ;
only by the way, I would observe, that the plough-
ing between the rows is so shallow, as though they
had nothing else in view and design, but only to kill
the grass and weeds ; whereas it is found by experi-
ence, that if there be no grass or weeds, the plough-
ing and hoeing will make the corn grow ; it is also
found true by experience, that the better the land is
ploughed and hoed, the better and longer will it bear
the drought, and better crop there will be : nay,
what is still more remarkable, if the Indian corn be
well tilled, the next crop, whether it be oats or flax,
so much the bigger and better will that succeeding
crop be, so that the land must have gained strength
and riches : if it were not so, why did not the Indian
crop exhaust and spend the strength of the land, es-
pecially when we consider how large corn is made to
grov/ by the good tillage ? But we find the contraiy,
the better the crop of Indian, the better will be the crop
of oats. There is no sort of husbandry, wherein the

93

superior force and virtue of tillage doth so evidently
appear, as in raising Indian corn ; for if you should
plough and harrow the best of land, and sow or plant
the corn, and never do any thing more to it, there will
be less corn than if you should plant poor land, and
tend it well ; the poor land well ploughed and hoed,
shall bring more corn than the rich larid ; so that by
this, we may see the efficac\^ and advantage of this re-
peated tillage, which falls m successively, according
to the exigency and want of the plant in its several
degrees of growth : this keeps the land in a state of
tillage. It is hard to find a reason why it should not
have the same effect upon v/heat, and every other
plant that is capable of the like culture ; for every one
knows, that without this, Indian corn, in good land,
will produce very little, and in poor land, nothing
at all.

We have seen and experienced the effect of this
kind of tillage in Indian corn all our life, and yet
never thought of applying the same method to other
plants I for we generally go on by tradition, and do
not enter into the reason of procedure.

It is natural for mankind to admire and be pleased
with new things without reason, and to despise others
without sense or judgment. The useless tricks which
horses or dogs are taught, are admired and valued,
and the instructor is looked upon as little less than a
conjurer: whereas we daily see an horse or ox, with
little pains taught, when made fast to a plough, to
keep the furrow without variation ; and at the end of
the work, at a word's speaking, come about and re-
turn into his work again : as this is ten times more
useful, so it is more worthy of admiration. What
we see often, we little regard.

The culture of Indian corn, to a man of considera-
tlor! and reflection, holds forth much useful instruc-

94

lion, and is a good proof of those principles we have
now under consideration.

Having gone through the consideration of the
proofs that do occur for the support of the doctrine
or principles on which we design to make trials,

Third — I now come to direct the performance of
the work with instruments less intricate, more plain,
cheap and commodious, than those directed to and
described by Mr. TuU.

Having found by experience the advantage of
planting seeds in rows, and also finding that to plant
by hand is a slow and chargeable way ; therefore, I
designed to use it no longer than was necessary to find,
that it was likely the method would answer the design
proposed : being satisfied in that point, the next thing
was to get instruments suitable to the work.

The instruments peculiar to this husbandry, are'
drill ploughs. By a drill I mean an instrument that
will make one channel or more, upon a ridge, and
drop in the seed at due distances, and in a just pro-
portion ; this is what it will do in better order than
men can possibly do it with their fingers, and will do
more in one day, than one hundred men can do by
hand. There is not much reason to call it a plough,
for there is no affinity or likeness between them, but
only in this, the drill has two coulters b}^ which the
channels are cut.

There are in use several sorts of drills; there is
the vrheat drill, the turnip drill, and divers others ;
but these named are the chief; to which I have added
a dung drill, by which dung, ashes', or any other ma-
nure, may be conveyed into the channels where the
seed is to be dropped. Mr. Tuil's wheat drill is a
wonderful invention, but it being the first invented of
that kind, no wonder if it be intricate, as indeed it is,
and consists of more wheels, and other parts, than
there is really any need of. This I was very sensible

95,

of ail along, but knew not how to mend it, therefore
applied m} self to the Reverend Mr. Clap, President
of Yale College, and desired him for the regard which
he had to the public, and to me, that he would apply
his mathematical learning, and mechanical genius, in
that affair ; which he did to so good purpose, that this
new modelled drill can be made with a fourth part of
what Mr. TulPs will cost. This 1 look upon as a
great improvement, and take this opportunity to make
my acknowledgments for the favour. When this
drill came home, I found the wheels were too low for
our ridges, therefore it must be mounted upon new
wheels. The next thing I wanted in order to conu
pass my design, was a dung drill ; this is an invention
entirely new, for which there was no precedent or
model. For this I applied myself to Benoni Hylliard,
a very ingenious man of this tov/n, a wheel- wright
by trade. I told him what I wanted, and desired
him to make one. At first we could think of no way
but to make it as a distinct instrument : but at length
his ingenuity led him to, set this and the wheat drill
upon one frame, so that it became one instrument.
Mr. Tull, it is true, might think this drill not to be
needful ; for he tells us, that he tried applying of dung-
by hand to the channels, but found that this assistance
of dung was not necessary : for he writes, that, to his
great surprize, he found that the want of dung might
be supplied by repeated horse-ploughings, and that
two shillings in horse- ploughing would do more than
forty shillings in dung. I should be glad, if in our
climate the one half of this would prove true. The
land which I design to make use of, is so low and
poor, that I shall have need enough of my dung drill,
at least, when I first begin with this kind of hv.sban^
dry. I hope that in time, the land may be so enrich-
ed by tillage, that this may prove needless.

96

The dung drill exhibits or sheds into ihe channel
eighty bushels of dung to the acre, which is about
two cart loads ; the board on the fore-side of the
drill-box, is made fast only by a spring, so that if any
clod, lump or stone, cannot pass through the drill,
the fore-board opens and lets it out, and the spring
shuts it again : thus the danger of stopping or breaks
ing the drill is prevented.

Wheat is planted in two rows, but turnips in one
row on the middle of the ridge. The engine is so
contrived, that the wheat drill may be taken off, and
a turnip drill be put on ; and then the dung drill can
be so ordered, that the dung shall be conveyed into
that one channel, either so much dung as v/as shed
into the two channels, or half so much, more or less,
as we please.

The hopper of the wheat drill holds about a peck,
and the dung hopper two bushels and an half." Be-
fore we plant either wheat or turnips, the tops of the
ridges must be harrowed and made smooth ; to do
this: Mr. Tull used two harrows at once, one upon
one ridge, and the* other upon the next ridge : a pole
from the out side of each harrow held them together,
an horse made fast to the middle of the pole, drew
both harrows : but instead of this, we have a small
harrow on the fore part of the frame, which first har-
rows the ridge ; after the harrow comes two coulters,
which makes the two channels at ten inches distance ;
the dung drill fills these channels with dung ; then
comes the two coulters belonging to the wheat drill,
and opens the two channels, and the wheat drill drops
in the wheat seed, half a bushel to an acre ; after this
follows a small harrow, which covers the seed. There .
is a tongue or neb to go between the oxen ; a lowg
yoke is used for this work, so that one ox travels m
one furrow, and the other in- the next, with, the ridge
between : one horse might draw it ^'^ith ease, could,

1

97 /

we find any way to do it, and the horse travel in the
furrow ; if the horse walk upon the ridge, it would
be hurtful. Mr. Tull's wlieat drill required two pair
of wheels : we have two drills fastened upon a frame
two feet eight inches square, and two harrows, each
performing its respective part of work at one move-
ment ; and to the whole but one pair of wheels : the
shaft of the dung drill carries round the shaft of the
wheat drill by a cog wheel ; the several parts are all
plain work, open and easy to the understanding ; this
I esteem a compendious instrument. It has cost me
a great deal more than it will to make another, imita-
tion being so much more easy than invention.

The next instrument that was thought necessary
for this kind of husbandry, is the hoe-plough, of
which Mr, TuU has given us a draught, which I
showed to our best plough- wrights, but they could
not understand it, so that I was almost discouraged :
but at length I found a way to do well enough, with-
out any such strange built hoe-plough : nor is there
any manner of difficulty about it, for the furrows may-
be ploughed from, and up to the ridges, with a com-
mon plough, a yoke of oxen in a long yoke, so that
one ox may go in one furrow, and the other ox in the
other furrow, and the ridge between. Let the plants
be what they will, we can come as near to them as is
needful ; or it may be done with one horse, with an
horse-plough ; but the way with oxen I like best,
because there is sufficient strength to plough deep,
which is of great importance, in order to raise a great
deal of mould, for the purposes above mentioned.
What will be the success of raising wheat in this
method, will be left to experience, and the history of
that trial to be communicated in another essay.

Mr. Tuli saith, that the Vv'heat planted in this man-
ner is not subject to blast, therefore it is a method
that may enable those part- of Ne^r-England to raise

9B

wheat, who never could, in ordinary, attain to it ; of
his we can have no certainty but by trial.

Another instrument necessary in this sort of hus-
bandry, is the turnip drill : this is an instrument
which drops a single turnip-seed into a channel cut
for that purpose on the middle of the ridge, at six
inches distance ; but mine is made to drop one at
three inches distance, lest the fly should destroy any
of them, or any seeds should fail coming up : they
should be six inches distance ; if they should be too
thick, it is easy to cut them out. They raise turnips
in abundance, in England, to feed cattle ; some do it
in the random way of sowing, then where they are
too thick hoe them up, till they are thinr.ed to a
proper proportion ; but then they grow so close to-
gether, that it might be difficult and chargeable work
to do it : it is found by experience, that this way of
drilling, and tending them with the horse-plough, is,
by far, the cheapest and most profitable way.

Mr. TuU saith, that his turnips drilled and well
ploughed, weighed from six pounds lo fourteen, did
produce six hundred and forty bushels to the acre : I
should be very glad of half that quantity : as to the
ease in raising them in this method, by ploughing the
furrows off and on, I am satisfied by experience, and
that they will grow larger ; what I tried were spring
turnips.

The usefulness of turnips for cows when they calve,
for winter milch- cows, is known to all those who have
tried.

To make a turnip drill that will drop a single seed
and no more, is a nice piece of work. Any thing
farther relating to drilling and ploughing of wheat and
turnips, must be referred to another essay, when time
and experience shall enable me.

Summer wheat standing so short a time upon the
ground, to drill ihat will not be of advantage. The

99

raising summer wheat is a new part of husbandry,
which obtains greatly of late ; and indeed it is wisdom
to have two strings to the bow, as was intimated in the
third essay.

As Summer wheat requires so much dung, which
we cannpt well spare, I thought it might do well in
the dreined swamps ; I have tried this year, and it
looks promising. There is no part of husbandry
affords me a greater satisfaction than this : indeed it
looks strange to see wheat growing where not long
since there was flags and mire ; this I suppose to be
the first wheat that ever was raised in such land in
New- England. I design to sow a considerable piece
the next year. Most of the Summer wheat which
was raised last year, was sold for seed at a greater
price than Winter wheat.

But to return from this digression. There are two
things which may be objected against the theory or
principle laid down ; it may be objected, that if re-
peated ploughing will enrich land, whence is it then
that land is spent and impoverished by Indian corn ?

1. Indian corn seldom is tended as it ought to be ;
if there be any ploughing between the rows it is shal-
low, just so as to kill weeds, but not so as to make a
great quantity of soft mellow earth.

2. It is succeeded by oats generally, which is a
great spunger, and this without rest or relief.

3. The plants are set too thick for benefit of the
land, and many times for the corn too.

Look upon that plant in blossom time, when it is
in its full pomp and pride, observe its height, its
breadth, its verdure, that deep green shows it to be
replete with rich sap. A man that spends more than
his income, although that be very great, yet he will
grow poor ; so in land, if the exhaustion be more
than the assistance it receives by dung or tillage, the
knd will not gain but grow poor ; that which is caU

100

led hoeing scarce deserves the name of tillage, for
really it is but scraping. 1 have had thoughts of
trying to plant corn at a great distance every way,
and plough deep every time ; this, doubtless, would
be better for the land, if the crops were less, it may
be, we should have a compensation in the advance of
the land. One of my sons, upon this sort of reason-
ing, has planted his corn this year much thinner than
ordinary, and ploughed it deeper than what is com-
mon, so that will serve to make some discovery.

Another objection is, that sandy land seems to
have all the needful properties or qualifications ; it is
light, mellow, the parts at due distance, and there is
room for a passage to the roots ; and yet it is found
that sands are barren ; but this is where it is perfect
sand ; for it is found by experience, that where loam
or clay is mixed with sand in a good proportion, it
proves the best of land ; whether this mixture be by
art, as in the Norfolk husbandry, or if it be by a
natural mixture.

No fertility is to be expected from perfect sand,
for every gr^in of sand is a pebble stone, and surely
none can reasonably expect corn from stones alone,
although these stones lie in never such good order.
That a grain of sand is a pebble, appears by being
viewed in the microscope or magnifying glass ; as
also, that sand is one of the ingredients in making the
glass.

I have thought of these and other objections, and
have helped myself to get over them ; whether I have
done so for the reader, he can best tell ?

I have two things of great importance to commu-
nicate, with which I shall conclude this essay. In
the fourth esssay, I informed the reader, I was in
hopes, that I had found certain times for cutting bush-
es, which would be more effectual for their destruc-
tion than any yet discovered ; that if I found it so,

101

I would give notice of it in my next : am glad I am
able to perform that promise : the times are in the
months of June, July and August, in the old moon
that day the sign is in the heart. It will not always
happen every month ; it happened so but once this
year, and that proves to be on Sunday. Last year,
in June or July, I forgot which, I sent a man to make
trial ; in going to the place, some of the neighbours
understanding by him the business he was going about,
and the reason of his going at that point of time, they
also went to their land, and cut bushes also on that
day ; theirs were tall bushes that had never been
cut ; mine were short bushes such as had been often
cut, but to no purpose, without it was to increase
their number. The consequence was, that in every
place it killed so universally, that there is not left
alive, scarce one in an hundred. The trial was
made in three or four places on that same day. In
July or August, on the critical day, another swamp
was cut, the brush was the greatest part of it, swamp
button wood, the most difficult to subdue of any
wood I know ; I have been lately to see it, and find
the destruction of these bushes are not so universal
as among alders and other sorts of grow^th ; it is hard
to say how many remains alive, it may be one third
or a quarter part ; all that I can say, w^ith certainty,
is that they are now few, compared with what there
was last year : I did not know but that those which
are alive, might be such as came up since ; but upon
examination, I found the last year's stumps, and
could plainly see where they had been cut off ; this
was not because the season was better when there
was such success, for in this last mentioned piece of
swamp, there were sundry spots of alders and other
sorts of bushes, they seem to be as universally killed
as those before mentioned. The reason why there
was not the same success attending the cutting these

102

button bushes as the other sorts, I suppose to be from
the stubborn nature of this kind, which would yield
to no cutting : the ordinary way has been to dig or
plough it up by the roots, so that considering the na-
ture of this bush, I have had great success : the
ground being very boggy, those who mowed them,
were obliged to cut them very high, which was an-
other disadvantage.

To show such a regard to the signs, may incur the
imput itioh of ignorance or superstition, for the learned
know well enough, that the division of the Zodiac
into twelve signs, and the appropriating these to the
several parts of the animal body, is not the work of
nature, but of art, contrived by astronomers for con-
venience. It is also as well known, that the moon's
attraction hath great influence on all fluids.

It is also well known to farmers, that there are
times when bushes, if cut at such a time, will univer-
sally die. A regard to the sign, as it serveth to point
out and direct to the proper time, so it becomes wor-
thy of observation.

If farmers attend the time with care, and employ
hands on those days, they will find their account in
it. This rule attended to, may save the country
many thousand days work. A farmer of good credit
told me, that he had found by experience, that bushes
cut with a sharp tool, would die more than when cut
with a dull one« This looks agreeable to reason, for
the sharp scythe leaves the mouths of the sap vessels
all open, by which means they bleed more plentifully ;
the dull instrument bruises the part, and in a degree
doth close up the wound.

Another important article, is concerning red clover
seed. It hath been the prevailing opinion of farmers
in this country, that clover seed must be laid very
shallow in the ground ; and by the books of husban-
dry, their opinion and practice is the same in England.

103

It hath been said, that no harrow must be used after
the seed is sown : nay, it has been thought, that if
the ground was mellow, that the seed would sink too
deep in the earth, and never come up. The constant
lesson was, take heed ycu do not bury your clover seed
too deep. But we have gone upon mistaken principles :
by experience it is found, that the best way is to
plough in the seed, that it will come up at fall furrow
depth ; and this is the practice in those towns where
they have raised clover with great success, and sold
the seed with such great profit and advantage. A
farmer in this town sows and ploughs in his clover
seed in this manner ; has upon the ground sundry-
acres ordered in this manner ; it was sowed this last
Spring, finds no difficulty attending it as to its coming
up ; shallow sowing has been very detrimental, attend-
ed with a great loss when a dry season follows soon
upon it ; whereas this danger is prevented by sowing
deep. I have sustained loss by sowing shallow,
which according to the old rule, was thought necessa-
ry ; there is the loss of seed, and profit of the land^
which is more than the loss of a crop of corn.

Besides the advantage we have by deep sowing of
clover seed, to secure it in time of eariy drought, there
is another great benefit arising from it : the seed being
lodged so deep, it will be well fed and nourished, it
hath its provision all round on every side, merely wal-
lows in wealth ; so that the grass grows strong and
large. I suppose this to be the reason that the clover
seed which we have from those parts where they bury
their seed so deep, is so much better than ours,
which springs from shallow sowed clover : their seed
is a larger seed than what we raise, and the grass is
larger too : their seed looks plump and well fed.

The Supreme Ruler of the Universe takes care of
the whole race of mankind. His goodness, in a
special manner, meets us with instruction, and lays

104

it in our way, that we may find it in our ordinary vo-
cation for our profit and improvement, whether it be
merchandize or farming. The kingdom of Heaven is
like unto a merchant-yuan seeking goodly pearls^ who
when he had found one J)earl of great price ^ he went
arid sold all that he had and bought it. Mat. xiii. 45,
46. Judah shall plough, and Jacob shall break his^
clods. Sow to yourselves righteousness, and reap mer-
cy^ break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek
the Lord, tdl he shall come to rain righteousness upon
you. Hosea x, 11, 12.

105

ADVICE

UELATIVE TO THE CUSIN'ESS
OF

MAKING AN ORCHARD.

CONSIDERING how rapidly the people of the
United States are pushing their settlements, in vari-
ous parts of the eountry, into regions hitherto uncul-
tivated ; and how many orchards in the tracts first
settled, are so entirely decayed as to require being re-
placed with new ones, it is not unreasonable to sup-
pose that some thousands of men are, in every year,
commencing orchards. As apples, whether designed
for cider or for eating, are unquestionably the 'most
valuable fruit produced by trees congenial to the cli-
mate of the eastern and middle states ; and as an or-
chard is not a temporary estabhshment, but one in-
tended to endure through several successive genera-
tions, and in which errors in the first formation can-
not afterwards be easily corrected ; it is of great im-
portance that the best possible plan should be adopt-
ed in the beginning. The proverb, that **a thing
once 7vell done is twice done," is in no other case more
literally true.

Apples being my favourite fruit, and cider a drink,
which I value above all others, I have been led to
make some observations and to spend some thoughts
on the subject ; and as I have long had a wish to shew
the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, that, in pla=
cing my name on the list of their honourary members,
they have not conferred this distinction upon one en-
tirelv indifferent to the important objects of their use=
14.

106

iul institution, I now beg leave to communicate the
result of them in a few plain and simple articles of ad-
vice, relative to the business of makinj.^ an Orchard:
And as they have received the approi3ation of several
respectable gentlemen, to whom I have shewn them,
and by whose remarks I have profited in revising
them, I hope they will be acceptable to the society.

As every man who undertakes to make a good or-
chard will naturally make it his first object to have a
sufficient variety of the best kinds of fruit for his ta-
ble and for the market, if he live within reach of one,
I shall confine myself to a cider- orchard. This is a
branch of husbandry to which the New-England far-
mers appear to have paid much less attention than
their brethren of the middle and some of the southern
states, whose climate does not appear to be so well
calculated for producing good cider as ours ; their ci-
der, though very pleasant, having a less body and ac-
quiring less of a true vinous quality.

The principal objects to be had in view in making
a cider-orchard, appear to me to be the following : the
obtain ment of no one of which is either difficult or ex-
pensive, viz.

1. To have trees of a thrifty kind,

2. To have trees that are fruitful ; not only bloom-
ing well, but retaining their fruit till it is ripe.

5. To have trees bearing every year.

4. To have trees producing fruit of a good size for
the convenience of gathering.

5. To have fruit of a quality to make cider of a
good body. For this purpose the most acid fruit is
generally preferred, as yielding the richest juice. The
best cider in the southern states is made from what
they call Crabs.

6. To have fruit not apt to decay as soon as it is
ripe, and sufficiently mellow to grind well.

7. To have fruit ripening at different times and at

107

regular intervals, that the farmer may not be hurried
in making his cider, but have apples equally ripe to
work upon, through the whole season for cider-mak-
ing. This, on a large farm, is a very important ob-
ject and entitled to particular attention.

To obtain these objects, when the farmer or nurse-
ryman,, of whom he engages his trees, has raised his
nursery to a proper size for grafting, let him go into
the best young orchard of natural fruit within his
reach, at the beginning of the season for making ci-
der, and carefully examine the trees and their fruit,
with regard to the qualities above pointed out, taking
with him their respective owners, for the purpose of
obtaining more perfect information than he could gain
from inspection alone ; and let him repeat his visits,
at least, once a week, during the time the apples are
ripening, minuting from time to time his observations.
Let him then select and mark the trees from which he
chooses to take his scions. When he cuts them, at
the proper season, let him keep each kind by itself,
numbering his bundles according to their order of
succession, that when he comes to graft his nursery
he may not intermix them. When he removes his
young trees to the ground intended for his orchard,
which should, by all means, be previously well pre-
pared by tillage, or by ploughing and harrowing into
a fine tilth, let him set the earliest kind in the rows on
the side where he intends to enter it ; the next in suc-
cession in the next rows, and so on through the whole
plot, that when he commences gathering and carting
out his apples, he may not trample over one kind to
get at another, but clear all before him as he advances
in his work.

As no judicious man would be so imprudent as to
transplant into his orchard trees ill-formed or unthrifty,
a caution against it might be deemed supcriluooSj,
were not the practice too common. Such trees, how-

108

ever, need not be thrown away. If they arc cut off at
proper places, they may send out handsome, vigorous
shoots and become valuable trees ; some of which may
be necessary for fiUing vacancies in the rows, occa-
sioned by failure or accidents.

The advice above, to take scions from a young or-
chard of natural fruity may require some explanation.
It has long been suspected by observing men in Eng-
land, that grafted trees decay, or, at least, become un-
fruitful with the parent stock ; and some late writers
assert, that it is now considered a fact, established be-
yond controversy. My own observation goes to
confirm it. On the farm whereon I was bred, is a
number of trees that were grafted about fifty years
ago, from trees very old and loiig since dead. These
grafts, though thrifty enough, were never fruitful ; not
even v/hile the trees from which the scions uxre taken
continued alive. Whether they have borne any fruit
of late years I am unable to say ; but as I have not for
many years, in my rambles about the farm, found any
fruit on them, I suspect them to be entirely barren.
Some other trees grafted at the same time, with what
are, in that quarter, called Jilly flowers, a fine apple,
which I do not recollect to have met with in any other
part of the country, bore tolerably well for a few years ;
but for a long time have been mere cumberers of the
ground. The trees, however, are still sound and
flourishing. As I was unacquainted with the parent
stock, I do not know whether it be living or not ; but
as, at that time, there had been no new kinds of apples
introduced into the vicinity, it was, probably, one of
those planted by the first settlers of the town, moFt of
which, like them, have now mouldered into dust. From
similar ill success in grafting, experienced by others,
I presume it happened that the farmers in that quarter
have, till latel} , had an idea that grafted trees seldom
produce much fruit. If this opinion of the English

.109

orchardists be correct, (and though I once disbeliev-.
cd it, I am now persuaded it is) every one will see the
propriety of selecting and propagating some of the
most valuable of modern production, in preference to
those which are growing superannuated, and of seek-
ing for these in young thrifty orchards of natural fruit.
Such valuable kinds, both for eating and for cider, na-
ture is continually producing in every quarter of the
country, many of which are among the best apples
cultivated in the middle states. It is not many years
since the Newtown Pippcn, one of the first a]:)pics, ori-
ginated in a village of that name on Long Island. But
it is time for me to return from this apparent digres-
sion.-^

* Se.veral rjeiulemen, who have examined the forej^oine^ piece,
havinsjj expressed the same doubts relinive lo this singular opin-
ion of the Knglish writers, which I once entertained niyselt", it
may not be useless to enquire whether th.e conclusion they have
dravvn from observation, may not be confirmed by artjumtnt.

Amorir all the animal inhabitants, and vet^^etable productions
of the globe, we find nothing permanent. Some endure much
longer than others ; but every living thing has its stated period
assigned it by its creator. The elephant among animals —
the o^^kand some other trees among vegetables, are said, lik.;^ the
atitideluvian r^ce of men, lo number their centuries. But these
are comparatively few. The period of many others of both is
limited to one summer. From the total, (or nearly total) ex-
tinction of the orchards planted by the first European set'lers of
this country, it h reasonable to conclude, that the natural period
of the existence of the apple tree may not be far irom one hun-
dred and fiffy years.

The theory that all future trees and plants, with ail their leaves,
flowers and other appendages, were contained, in miniature, in
the first seeds of their respective species. howevet incomprehensi-
ble, has been generally received ; and I know not that any other
more rational h;*s ever been suggested. But if we allow that
every seed contains all the future parts of the tree proceeding
from it, this v/ili be sufficient for ray purpose— and this I confess
is as far as I can persuade myself to be led by the auiiioiity of
cvefl the greatest names. Philosophy teaches us (and we have
abundant reason to bplieve) that nature docs nothing in vain. Is

110

When wc observe how many trees in common or-
chards produce little or no fruit ; how many bear a
blasted, knotty, dry or small fruit hardly worth gath-
ering ; how many bear only once in two years ; and
how many produce apples that begin to decay before
they are generally fit for the mill, a great part of which
(if the owner wishes to have good cider) must be
thrown aside, we cannot but be con\qnced that an or-
chard, made according to the foregoing directions,
shall, in any given number of years, yield three times
the quantity of cider that is obtained from a natural
orchard of the same age and number of trees. This
alone would far overpay all the extra expense every
year. But this is not all. The superior quality of
the liquor, arising from its being made at the proper
time, from the best kinds of fruit, all perfectly sound,
and equally ripe, and without any improper intermix-

it then reasonable to suppose that the seed of a tree, destined to
continue but one hundred and fifty years should be furnished
with 8n indefinite series of embryonic flower buds ? For what
purpose would this provision be made ? Certainly for none that
we can conceive of. It is then unphilosophical to suppose it.

Every new tree* proceedinpj from a scion from an old one, is,
(to use a law phrase) part a7id parcel of it^ in every other respect
than that of situation. The parent stock stands in the ground—.
the grafted tree stands on another, and sends its roots into the
ground by thin layers of wood surrounding the stork, into which
it is inserted, but having no other connection with ii but that of
adhesion. This new tree grows old with that from which it was
taken, and the stock of flower-buds, if they be in fact definite and
limited to the duration of the tree, must of course be exhausted
nearly at the same time in both.

But the question may here arise, why do not trees die at the
same time that they cease to bear fruit? To this it may be an-
swered, that, reasoning from the analogy of animals, this is not to
be expected. We know that those, particularly the human spe-
cies and domestic arimals, continue healthy and active for a con-
siderable term of time after they have lost the faculty of propa-
gation. It is certainly natural to suppose that the same provi-
sion may have been made in the case of vegetables, and that they

Ill

ture, will make it command a ready market at an ad-
vanced price, while the labour of gathering the apples
will be considerably reduced by their superior size.
When compared with these important advantages, to
which may be added the pleasure of drinking the best
of cider, instead of the vile stuff we commonly m.eet
with among our farmers, the only objections which can,
be raised against the method proposed, a small loss of
time and the additional expense of grafting, will van-
ish into nothing, and even less than nothing, in the
mind of every man, who acts on calculation.

It cannot, however, be supposed that young men,.
who are making farms in the lap of nature, generally

should survive this period' a length of time in proportion to their
term of existence. How tar this m:iy be confirmed by observa-
tion I am unable to say. As it is certain that trees must become
barren us soon as a hmited stock of flower-buds is expended ; £0
the natural death of the iree must take place when no more kaf-
buds remain to be developed: and until Uiis period, the tretis will
continue alive except in cases of a premature death by disease or
accidents.

Perhaps it may also be demanded why provision should have
betn made for continuing the life of vegetables after tKey have
beci^fr.e barren. In the first place, we know this to be the fact
wirh regard totr.e larger animals, to quadrupeds indeed of almost
every size. Why should we not expect the sime law to obtain
in relation to vegetables ? Besides, it is not reasonable to suppose
that the production of seeds and fruit, however necessary for the
propagation of iheir species, however useful for the support of ani-
mals, may not be 'he sole objects of their creation. They all
may and probably have some other uses in the economy of na-
ture ; and these they may continue to subserve long after the
period of their fruitfulness has elapsed.

Tl- js, if I do not mistake, we see that reasoning a priori brirjgs
us to the same conclusion that has been drawn Jrom observation,
and that they mufually confirm each other. If so, the conse-
quence irresissably forces itself upon us, that it is highly impru-
dent to graft young orchards from trees, ^hich, with all their en-
grafted progeny, are becoming superannuated, and must in the
course of a few years become unfruitful ; and as far a<^ respects,
their proprietor, useless.

ii-i

with small means, should be the nrsl to adopt im-
provements in husbandry ; that are attended with
much immediate extra expense, when the advantages
to be derived from them are, as in this case, remote.
This can only be expected from those enterprising and
inteHigent farmers, who have occasion to tnake new
orchards on old farms, and from those gentlemen of
fortune and taste who are annually enriching and em-
bellishing the purlieus of our principal sea-ports ; and
to them it is recommended to take the lead and set the
example in this, as they already have done in many
other valuable improvements.

When it is considered how long this part of the
country has been settled ; that the first emigrants ei-
ther brought with them this fruit, or soon after impor-
ted it and raised orchards ; and that cider has always
been a common and favourite drink among all classes
of people, it is a matter of equal surprise and regret
that so little has been done for its amelioration.

By some the grafting of cider-orchards' may be
deemed not only a superfluous, but a strange thing ;
but these ideas would be equally unfounded. In the
cider counties in England, it is believed that most of
the orchards are grafted. In the states of New- York,
New- Jersey, and as far south as apples are much cul-
tivated, the practice is common, though perhaps not
yet general. I presume that several members of the
Agricultural Society recollect a large orchard in the vi-
cinity of West-Point, now probably fifty or sixty years
old, grafted throughout with the same apple, which is
of the Crab kind ; and some of them have drank of the
cider made from it, which was highly celebrated for
its superior quality. This orchard, in full bearing,
was a very beautiful object.

It was no part of my design to repeat an}- thing
that, to my knowledge, had before been published on
the management of fruit trees ; but there are several

113

things relating to the subject, which cannot be too
often repeated, or too warmly urged ; and this shall
be my apology for adding them.

1. That in selecting a piece of ground for an or-
chard, convenience of situation should be less con-
sulted than exposure and suitableness of soil. Should
the spot decidedly the best on the farm be on the part
the most remote from the buildings, this should not
be an insurmountable objection, provided it be acces-
sible. The additional trouble of carting the apples is
a trifling consideration when compared with the su-
perior thriftiness, size and durabihty of the trees.

2. That the tap-roots, which, extending into the
dead earth, contribute litde to their nourishment,
should be taken off*, that a stronger and more nume-
rous set of horizontal roots may spread through the
vegetable mould. Some, in order to prevent the trees
forming new tap-roots, have recommended placing a
flat sioiie under each, when transplanted.

3. That iu fretting the trees, they should be set as
low as the depth of the soil will admit : or, at any
rate, as deep as they stood in the nursery, and facing
the same way, especially if they be of any considera-.
ble size ; for which purpose the south side should be
marked before they are taken up.

4. That the trees should be placed at such a dis^
tance one from another, that their branches may spread
literally to their utmost usual extent, without inter-
locking. In most modern orchards, three trees, and
sometimes four, are set in the space which ought to
be allowed for one ; in consequence of this, their
branches run together through the whole orchard be-
fore they have obtained half their growth. By this
means the fruit is too much deprived of the influence
of the sun, and the ground rendered entirely useless
for cultivation.

5. That the trees should be well supported by strong
stakes, so placed that they may not chafe them\ The
15

114

best method is said to be to place the stakes obUquely.
and to tie round the trees pieces of cloth or of case-
matting, where the stakes cross them. These should
be continued till the trees are so well rooted as not to
require a support.

6. That to prevent the trees from suffering by dry
seasons, a quantity of small stones or coarse gravel
should be placed round them, to keep the ground
constantly moi-t by preventing evaporation.

7. That till the trees have acquired a good size a
5ward should by no means be suffered to form with-
in reach of their roots.

8. That in ploughing the ground, great care should
be taken not to injure the trees, by driving the oxen
over them, or suffering the plough to gall the stems
or disturb the roots ; and that, till the trees shall have
grown beyond the reach of cattle, the orchard should
be kept entire as a garden. I should, perhaps in some
other connection have entered a caution against suffer-
ing the trees to stand so thick in the nursery as to
occasion their running up tall and slender, with little
or no heads ; a fault much too common.

To these I shall only add, that whoever wishes to
have a handsome orchard, yielding fruir in perfection,
whether for the press or the table, should assist his
trees in forming well- shaped, spreading heads, and
by seasonably removing all decayed and useless
branches, keep the bearing part sufficiently exposed
to the influence of the son and the air.

SAMUEL TENNEY.

Exeter^ h\ K April 3, 1811.

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