Chapter II: Part 2

CARROTS, Even these plants, so long after they vegetate extremely small, were also raised from seed sown broad-cast. But this awkward practice, I believe, has generally given way to the row-culture, whether the seeds were sown by hand, or by the instrument called a drill. In very rich land, great crops have been raised where the rows were only from twelve to fifteen inches apart. The great crop of 752 bushels, weighing eighteen tons and three quarters raised on one acre, in Salem, by Erastus Ware, in 1817, was in rows about sixteen inches apart. The seed was sown the 14th of May. But I am inclined to think a preferable mode would be, to sow the seeds in double rows about ten inches apart, with intervals of three feet between the rows, so as to admit a small plough, as well as the hoe, in their cultivation. In this case, a deep furrow being opened by the plough, the manure should be regularly thrown into it, and covered by four back furrows, so forming a ridge over the manure; and this ridge being laid level with a light harrow, or with rakes, or if the soil be in fine tilth, by a light roller, will then be ready to receive the seed. As soon as the Carrots are plainly to be seen, they should be hoed and weeded; or the weeds will soon outstrip the Carrots (which are of very slow growth at first) and render their cleansing vastly more troublesome and laborious.--They should also be thinned, to stand single, and only from three to five inches apart in the rows; or the roots will be small, and cost much more time in handling and topping (cutting or wringing off the tops) at the time of harvesting them. The entire crop, too, will doubtless be smaller than when the plants are thinned as here recommended.

THE MANGEL WURTZEL. This plant yields a much more abundant crop than the Carrot; and at the same time contains, in the same quantity or weight of roots, a great deal more nourishment; whence it is natural to suppose that it requires a richer soil than Carrots. I have not made sufficient trials to enable me to express a decided opinion on the best mode of cultivating the Mangel Wurtzel; and will therefore lay before you the successful practice, on strong land, in the county of Essex, in England, as it is stated, from a recent English publication, by the Philadelphia Society of Agriculture.[4]

[4] Memoirs of the Society, Vol. III. Appendix.

The Mangel Wurtzel is sometimes called the Great, or Improved Beet, and Root of Scarcity; but now, more generally, Mangel Wurtzel, its German name. The following is the account of its culture at Bedford, in Essex.

"It may be proper, in the first place, to state what is meant by _strong land_. The surface soil is loamy, and from four to twelve inches deep, upon a bed of strong clay mixed with gravel. It is too heavy, and generally too wet, in the winter, even for sheep to eat a crop of turnips on the ground; and although good turnips are raised upon it, it is always necessary to draw them for the sheep, stall-fed cattle, or cattle in the yards."

"In the middle, or latter end of the month of April, the furrows are set out with the plough, two feet apart, and double ploughed; that is, the plough returns on the [same] furrow to the point whence it set out, forming a ridge between each two furrows."

"Double ploughing with a common plough is preferable to single ploughing with a double mould board plough, because it affords a greater depth of loose earth than the double mould board plough would produce."

"In these furrows, the manure, which should be in a rotten state, is deposited, after the rate of six cubic yards to an acre."[5]

[5] Six cubic yards contain 162 cubic feet, or three cart loads for
a pair of oxen. A cart body, 7 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 2 feet
high, _in the clear_, contains 56 cubic feet; and three times 56 are
168.--I doubt the necessity of manure being "in a rotten state,"
seeing it is to be so deeply buried, for this or any other root crop
intended for the food of domestic animals; especially for Mangel
Wurtzel, which to obtain a full crop, should be sown very early,
as soon as the ground is dry enough to be ploughed. The powerful
fermentation of fresh dung might impart to the soil a salutary
warmth in the cool spring season--At least it may be worth while to
try it.

"The ridges are then split by the plough, going and returning the same way as before mentioned; leaving the manure immediately under the middle of the new ridges. A light roller is then passed along the ridges,[6] in the middle of which the seed is dibbled, so that the plants may receive all the benefit which can be derived from the manure."[7]

[6] These narrow ridges, as formed by the plough, are sharp; by
passing a light roller over them, they are flattened to a breadth of
8 or 9 inches. The light roller, drawn by a horse, that walks in the
furrow between them, flattens two ridges at a time. Thus rolled, the
manure will be covered 8 or 9 inches deep.

[7] A dibble is a simple tool, which may be of different sizes and
forms, according to the uses it is intended to serve. If for setting
(in transplanting) cabbages or other like plants, it may be a round
stick about an inch and a quarter in diameter, shaved down at one
end (in a slope of 8 or 10 inches long) to a blunt point. An old
spade or shovel handle is well adapted to the purpose. If much used,
the slope may be advantageously covered smoothly with iron. But for
putting in _seeds_, the dibble may be in the form of the letter T.
To make one, take a piece of wood about 3 feet 4 inches long, and
about an inch and a quarter square. In one of the sides bore holes
in a line, and insert teeth at the proposed distance of the plants
in the row: if for Mangel Wurtzel, at 10, 11 or 12 inches apart; and
let the teeth be as long (projecting from the head place) as the
proposed depth at which the seeds are to be sown. On the opposite
side of the head-piece, bore a hole in the middle, large enough to
receive a handle of convenient length. On the top of the handle fix
a cross-piece 5 or 6 inches long, to be grasped by the hand in using
the tool.--With it, as many holes for seeds will be made, at every
movement, as there are teeth in the head. The handle may require
bracing, in like manner as a rake handle and its head is braced by
means of bows.

It now occurs to me, that perhaps the light roller used in levelling
the tops of the ridges may be set with teeth, and thus perform the
additional office of making holes for the seed; and with vastly
greater expedition than by dibbling. A light roller, long enough to
flatten two ridges at once, of 13 inches in diameter, and furnished
with two sets of four teeth each to pass along the middle of two
adjoining ridges--and the four teeth of each set being inserted at
equal distances in a circle of the roller,--the holes for the seed
would be made at the desired distance of near one foot from each
other. The teeth should be so shaped as to leave the holes made by
them fairly open. For this purpose they may be an inch and a half
wide and three quarters of an inch thick, where their shoulders are
fayed to the roller, and taper thence to a rounded thick edge at
their extremities. The same teeth, if not too long, may serve to
regulate and expedite the sowing of the Ruta Baga seed.

"The seed is deposited about an inch deep, whilst the moisture is fresh in the earth,[8] and covered by drawing a garden rake along the rows. After this, the light roller is again passed along the ridges, [to press the earth upon the seeds] and the work is finished."

[8] It is very important to have seeds of all kinds sown as soon as
possible after the ground is ploughed and prepared to receive them,
and before the moisture of the fresh-stirred earth is dissipated by
the sun and drying winds; otherwise some may never vegetate, or not
till after a fall of rain; and so precious time may be lost, and an
uneven crop be produced.

"When the plants are about the size of a radish, they are hoed with a turnip hoe, leaving the plants in the row about twelve inches apart. If any of the seeds fail, and there happen not to be an even crop, the roots where they are too thick are drawn out before the hoeing takes place, and transplanted to fill up the vacant places, and ensure a full crop; which is always certain, inasmuch as 99 plants out of 100 thrive and do well. In transplanting, care is necessary to prevent the point of the root from turning upwards."

"The weeds, while the plants are young, are kept hoed; but after the head of the plant has once spread, no weed can live under its shade; and the expense of hoeing afterwards is trifling indeed."

"The whole of the crop is taken up in the month of November,[9] in dry weather. The tops are cut off near the _crown_ of the plants, and the plants, when perfectly dry, are piled up in a shed, and covered with straw sufficiently thick to preserve them from the frost. They kept last year till the latter end of March, and they would have kept much longer."

[9] The time of taking up the Mangel Wurtzel must be regulated
by the climate. There is sometimes a frost in the latter part of
October, in this county, severe enough to injure this root, exposed,
as the greater part of it is above ground. Light frosts, however,
will do it no harm, while the roots remain in the ground, and in a
degree sheltered by their leaves.

"Where a field selected for a crop of Beet [the Mangel Wurtzel] happens to be in a foul state, the seed had better be sown in a garden, and the whole field planted with the young Beet, when of the size of a radish. This will give time for cleaning the ground, and fitting it for a crop; for although the Beets are destroyers of weeds, it is not meant to recommend sowing them on foul ground, or in any way to encourage a slovenly system of farming."

"The method of cultivating the Beet root, here recommended, is the same as that used in the cultivation of turnips, in Northumberland, and other parts of the North of England with this exception, that the rows there are 27 inches apart.--There may be reasons in the North for still preserving that space; but in Essex the effect of it, in the cultivation of the Beet root, would be, that instead of 48 tons per acre, 43 tons only would be obtained. Experience has proved, that the roots do not get to a larger size in rows three feet apart, than they do in rows two feet apart. It may therefore fairly be presumed, that they would not be larger, in rows twenty-seven inches apart; and if not larger, the weight of the crop, per acre, must be less, because the plants decrease in number as the rows increase in space."

To the preceding account of cultivating the Mangel Wurtzel, I will subjoin a few

REMARKS.

In this mode it is intended that every two feet of ground should bear one plant: and as an acre contains 43,560 square feet, there will be half of that number of plants on an acre, and the roots must weigh nearly five pounds each, on an average, to yield forty-eight tons. The land must indeed be strong to produce so heavy a crop. If our lands, enriched and prepared in the best manner conveniently in our power, can be made to yield half as much, we shall have reason to be satisfied: especially as the Mangel Wurtzel, quantity for quantity, contains more than twice as much nutritive matter as the Ruta Baga, and even 50 per cent. more than Carrots; according to the experiments (by analysis) of a celebrated English Chymist, Sir Humphrey Davy, which he stated to the British Board of Agriculture. These experiments were made with the red and white Beets; but it is presumed that the Mangel Wurtzel produces as much nutriment as any other Beet.

Instead of 6 it may be advisable to apply at least 12 cubit yards (that is 6 such cart loads as were before-mentioned) of manure to an acre; and to distribute the same in deep furrows 4 feet apart. This would give four square feet of ground to each plant, the plants being at a foot distance one from another in the rows, four feet apart, would admit the use of the common horse plough in their cultivation.

Carrots and the Mangel Wurtzel possess one eminent advantage; that they are not, to my knowledge, annoyed by insects at any period of their growth. Whereas the Ruta Baga and other turnips, while in the seed leaf, are injured (in England whole fields are often destroyed) by a small black fly: and the Ruta Baga (like cabbages) when far advanced in growth, is sometimes infested, and in dry seasons half ruined, by plant lice; as was my small crop in 1818.

The Mangel Wurtzel also possesses one peculiar advantage above all other root crops, that as soon as the tops or leaves, are full grown, they may be stripped off (leaving only the small heart-leaves uninjured) and given to cattle and swine.--This stripping may be repeated once or twice; and it is said that the roots thrive better for the stripping. If not stripped off many of the under leaves perish. The leaves are pronounced excellent for increasing the richness and quantity of milk in cows; and so are calculated to supply the deficiency of herbage in the common pastures, which generally fail, more or less, by the beginning of August. An acre twice stripped will yield several tons of leaves.

THE RUTA BAGA. This root may be cultivated in the manner just described for the Mangel Wurtzel; the ground being prepared in the same manner. In England, they appear to be most commonly grown in rows 27 inches apart, with the plants at a foot distance in the rows. But William Cobbett, who in a small book, published in New York, has minutely described his own practice, both in England and America, asserts, that the largest crops are attainable by growing the Ruta Baga in rows four feet apart, with the plants about 10 inches or a foot distant from each other in the rows: and in this mode of culture, he has raised, in England, 30 tons to the acre.

For this mode of culture, the manure, being deposited in furrows 4 feet apart, is covered by 4 back furrows, 2 on one side and 2 on the other, of each line of manure; by which little ridges are formed: and if the ploughing be deep (as it ought to be) there will be a deep gutter between every two ridges.--The tops of the ridges being made fine with a light harrow, or with rakes, the seeds are sown with a drilling machine; or by hand, which Mr. Cobbett says he prefers to a drill. Two men sowed for him 7 acres in 3 days, using about 4 pounds of seed, in this manner; a man went along by the side of each ridge, and put down 2 or 3 seeds in places at about 10 inches from each other, just drawing a little earth over, and _pressing it on the seed_, in order to make it vegetate quickly, before the earth became too dry. But, he adds, the 7 acres might have been sown by one man in a day, by just scattering the seeds along on the top of the ridge, where they might have been buried with a rake, and pressed down with a spade or shovel, or other flat instrument. But he used a light roller, to take two ridges at once, the horse walking in the gutter between.

The time of sowing the seeds must vary with the climate. On Long Island, (state of New York) Mr. Cobbett's trials of one year led him to prefer the 26th of June; but in our own county, I would not pass the middle of that month. Indeed I think it expedient (in order to ascertain the fittest time) to commence sowing the seed as soon as the ground can be prepared after the planting of Indian corn, and to continue to sow, in small plots, weekly, until the middle of June.

As soon as the plants are fairly up, hoes and the fingers are to be used, taking out all the plants but 1 in each 10 or 12 inches. As soon as weeds appear, hoeing is to commence; hoeing the tops of the ridges to the width of about 6 inches, showing the plants distinct and clean. Then the plough is introduced, taking a furrow from the side of one ridge, going up the field, a furrow from the other ridge coming down, then another furrow from the same side of the first ridge going up, and another furrow from the same side of the other ridge coming down. In taking away the last two furrows, you go within three inches of the turnip plants. Thus a ridge is formed over the original gutter. The next process is, to turn these furrows back again to the turnips. This hoeing and ploughing is to be repeated, when the appearance of the weeds requires it; and afterwards, the few weeds which may rise are to be hoed or pulled up. In this way, Mr. Cobbett thinks, a thousand bushels of Ruta Baga may be raised on an acre that will yield 50 bushels of Indian corn.

In describing the culture of the Mangel Wurtzel, transplanting was mentioned, to fill vacant places. The same may be practised with the Ruta Baga. But unless those vacant spots be dug afresh, the transplanted roots will be much inferiour to their transplanted neighbours; as I found in my last year's experiment. And Mr. Cobbett mentions the like difference in his practice.--At the same time he strongly recommends the raising of the Ruta Baga, by _transplanting_, for _entire crops_, as for preferable to the sowing of the seeds, and letting the plants grow where their seeds first vegetated. But then he considers it indispensable to perform this transplanting _on ground fresh ploughed_. And by sowing the seeds in beds, to raise plants, as we do for cabbages, a month's more time is allowed to prepare the ground for their reception. In the work of transplanting, the plain dibble before described is a necessary instrument. The hole made by it must be fully as deep as the length of the root; and this being introduced (taking care in putting it into the hole not to bend its point) the dibble is thrust down by its side, and by a dexterous twist, or circular motion of the hand, the earth is pressed close against the root, in its whole length. The largest crop of Ruta Baga he ever raised in England, Mr. Cobbett says, was by transplanting, on 17 acres, which produced 33 tons to the acre; the rows (on ridges) 4 feet asunder, and the plants a foot asunder in the rows.

In this mode of raising the Ruta Baga, by transplanting the entire crop, so much time is gained for preparing the ground, that two crops of weeds may be destroyed, by that number of ploughings; the first in the beginning of June, and the second immediately before transplanting. But Mr. Cobbett recommends a previous _deep_ fall-ploughing, and another _deep_ ploughing in April, of the ground intended for the Ruta Baga. The like two deep ploughings will be equally proper and beneficial for the Mangel Wurtzel and Carrots.

Among the advantages of the transplanting method, mentioned by Mr. Cobbett, one is, that it "saves almost the whole of the _after culture_. There is no _hoeing_, no _thinning_ of the plants; and not more than one ploughing between the ridges."

_Harvesting of Roots._ The Mangel Wurtzel, growing chiefly above the surface, and thus exposed to frost, should be taken up the latter end of October or beginning of November, according to the nature of the season. The harvesting of Carrots may follow that of the Mangel Wurtzel; and the Ruta Baga succeed the Carrots. In the first experimental culture of the roots, in which but small quantities are raised, they can be preserved in dry cellars not liable to freezing. Where large quantities are raised, they may be deposited in heaps, sufficiently covered, in a dry field. The common method of heaping and covering roots in the field, and which Mr. Cobbett practised with the Ruta Baga, is perhaps, as good as any. Holes of a round or square form are dug about a foot deep, and about fifty bushels are put into each, piling up the roots above the level of the surface of the land, sloping to the top: then covering them with straw, throw earth over the whole to a depth sufficient to guard them from frost. Smooth the surface of this earth by beating it close with the back of a spade, or other instrument, the better to cast off rain. On Long Island and in Pennsylvania, a covering of earth, a foot or 15 inches deep has been found sufficient. A greater depth will probably be necessary here. In throwing up this cover, a trench will be formed on all sides of the heap, to receive the water running off it. It may be well to sink the bottom of the trench lower than the bottom of the hole in which the roots are deposited. Where large quantities are to be thus preserved, several loads may be put into one hole: and then oblong heaps will be best as requiring less labour in covering them. A quantity of roots, for feeding cattle till the middle of December, may be kept in a barn or stable covered with straw or any dry litter. I would begin feeding with Mangel Wurtzel--follow next with Carrots--and conclude with Ruta Baga; for the latter root will keep sound until the commencement of the summer succeeding their growth.

All the roots, especially the Mangel Wurtzel and Carrots, should be fully dried before they are housed, or covered in the field, to guard them against rotting.

_Roots for raising Seed._ Of the Mangel Wurtzel I would select large and fair roots of a red colour, whose bodies have grown most above ground, and with a moderate, if not the smallest, quantity of leaves; for although _these_ are valuable for stripping, the _roots_ are much more valuable; and I am inclined to think those with small tops are least liable to rot.

Of Carrots, large and fair roots of the deepest yellow colour, and with the smallest tops in proportion to the size of the roots, are to be preferred.

With regard to the Ruta Baga, Mr. Cobbett says, it is apt to _degenerate_, if the seed be not saved with care. "We in England (said he) examine well to find out those that run least into _neck_ and _green_. We reject all such as approach at all towards a _whitish_ colour, or which are even of a _greenish_ colour _towards the neck_, which _there_ ought to be a little of a _reddish cast_."

Varieties of plants of the _same kind_ (the different sorts of cabbages, for instance, or of Indian corn) if growing near together and bearing seed, will impart to one another their respective peculiarities, and injuriously, whenever it is desired to preserve their distinct qualities unmixed, and to prevent an inferiour engendering with one of a superiour quality; the impregnating dust of the flowers of plants falling on the flowers of other plants of the same kind, producing effects similar to the crossing of animals of the same kind but of different breeds. In a word, the _sexual_ system exists in plants as well as among animals; only in plants the male and female are generally united in the same plant; as in Indian corn, the male impregnating dust (the farina) is in the tassel or flower, at the top: the ear is the female, and from every cell of the future grain proceeds a thread, which together constitute what is called the silk, on which the farina falling causes the cells to fill, and become, when ripe, kernels of corn. In most fruits, as the apple and pear, the male and female are in the same flower. But in hemp, some of the plants are exclusively male, and others exclusively female.

The Ruta Baga, therefore, when set out for bearing seed, should be placed at a distance from every other seed plant of the Turnip or Cabbage kind. So likewise the Mangel Wurtzel intended to bear seed, should not be set near any other seed beet plants. It may not be amiss to add, that for the same reasons, pumpkins, squashes, melons, cucumbers, in all their varieties, in order to preserve them in purity, should be planted at some distance from each other.

Pumpkins, as food for domestic animals, seem closely connected with the roots before-mentioned. Every farmer knows their value for milk cows, for fattening cattle, and for swine. Their consumption conveniently precedes that of the Mangel Wurtzel.

With ample supplies of the Vegetables whose culture I have mentioned and described, our present Stocks may be better fed, their numbers enlarged, our coarse fodder be more advantageously consumed, our manure increased, and pork and beef and the products of the dairy, probably doubled. The latter, in particular, are miserably deficient, from the want of juicy food for cows, in continuance of the supply yielded by our common pastures just at midsummer. Pumpkins and the roots, indeed, will not be ready to keep up that supply; but oats and barley, and above all Indian corn, may be sown and planted, to be cut green, and carry along our cows to the last of September, when pumpkins will begin to ripen. The consumption of these green crops and roots, by producing vast additions to our manure, will enable us to enrich our fields, and to make annual additions to the products of our farms.

The immense importance of providing for cows a full supply of food, and of food which they relish, to the extent of their appetites, has been demonstrated by many examples of very large products of milk, butter and cheese, from cows so supplied. The following statement from a recent English publication, is a further illustration of the fact:--"A farmer, some years since, kept _eighteen_ cows upon a _Common_, and was often obliged to buy butter for his family. The Common was _enclosed_, (which deprived the farmer of his pasture,) and the same person supplied his family amply with milk and butter, from _four_ cows _well kept._"

_III. On Indian Corn and Winter Grain._

The ancient, and to this day the general practice, in cultivating Indian corn, has been to plant it in squares, and in the course of its growth to draw up earth about the stems of the plants, forming _hills_; under the idea of supporting them against strong winds; but the necessity or utility of this practice has long been doubted. I have sometimes cultivated Indian corn without raising any hills about the plants; and, from the result, am satisfied that hills are not necessary. If, indeed, winter wheat, or rye, is to be sown among the corn, at its last dressing, I think the hilling must be injurious; for the richer mould being drawn up into hills, the intervals are robbed of what is requisite to produce an even crop.

I am aware that some intelligent farmers consider it bad husbandry to sow winter grain among Indian corn--to _double-crop_ the ground. But if this be _rich_, and in _fine tilth_ by deep ploughing before the corn crop is put in, and good and clean tillage accompanying its growth, I can perceive no solid objection to the practice. With us, the early sowing of winter grain is of the first importance, to insure a full crop, early ripe, and most secure from mildew. The husbandry of Mr. Ducket, already described, justifies the practice. I know it is already common amongst us; but without the _deep tillage_ which enabled him to put in seven crops with only four ploughings. With such complete tillage, of a soil so enriched as to yield forty or fifty bushels of Indian corn to the acre, grown on a level, without hills or ridges; and if, in harvesting the corn, it be cut close to the ground; I see no reason why grass seeds may not properly be sown on the winter grain, in the spring. In this way, may be obtained a crop of Indian corn the first year--a crop of wheat or rye the second year--and hay the third and fourth years; and all from one deep ploughing, and a handsome culture of the Indian corn.

By the early sowing of winter grain among Indian corn, it quickly vegetates, and sends forth numerous branches; and soon covering the ground, prevents or checks the growth of weeds. Probably, too, the plants, acquiring so much strength by early sowing (for the roots must multiply and extend in proportion to the growth above ground) are less liable to be winter-killed.

_IV. On Live Stock._

I have now to present to your notice the other of the three celebrated English Farmers, described by Arthur Young--Mr. Bakewell--the most distinguished improver of live stock, on principles of his own, in Great Britain. "The principles he began upon (says Mr. Young) were _fine forms_, _small bones_, _and a true disposition to make readily fat_, which is indeed inseparable from small bones, or rather fine bones, and fine forms, or true symmetry of the parts." Before Bakewell's day, the rules which governed Breeders of Live Stock, Mr. Young pronounces a tissue "of absurdities."

He began his improvements of sheep, by selecting from the best in his neighbourhood. And so little had any correct principle of improvement been known, or regarded, that a guinea or half a guinea extraordinary would give Mr. Bakewell the choice of any sheep in any flock. And his uncommon sagacity enabled him, by the best selections and judicious crossings, to form a breed distinguished above all others, for _the disposition to fatten_, _early maturity_, _a form indicating strength of constitution_, _weight in the most valuable parts_, with _lightness of offals_. Mr. Young expresses his opinion, that there is not a breed of any sort of live stock in Great Britain, that does not derive its improvement from the skill, knowledge and principles of Mr. Bakewell. Another eminent Agriculturalist declares, (and Mr. Young does not think he exaggerates) "that Mr. Bakewell enabled those who followed his ideas, to produce two pounds of mutton where only one was produced before."

Mr. Young adds, that Bakewell was the most careful feeder of stock that he ever met with, and who made his food go the farthest. To horses and cattle in stalls, he did not permit more than a handful of hay to be given at a time; and the same economy was used in all other feeding.--But his stocks were so large as to require one or more persons to be appropriated to that service. This practice, in our small farms and with our small stocks, cannot be fully adopted; but it may be imitated, in some degree, during the season (winter) most requiring such attention. By feeding them in this manner, the cattle will doubtless _eat more_, but they will _waste less_; so that while, in the whole, no more fodder will be consumed, the stock will be put into much better plight.

Cleanliness, also, will materially contribute to the health and thriving of stock. The common cattle-stalls of our country are so ill contrived, and so straitened in their dimensions, that the cattle are constrained to lie down, in part in their own dung. This dries and forms a thick coat on their hind quarters, from which they are not relieved till they shed their hair in the spring. They are thus rendered _uncomfortable_; to be _uncomfortable_ is to suffer some degree of _pain_; and no one will suppose that animals in _pain_ can _thrive_, or _preserve their plight_, with the same food, equally with others perfectly at ease. Even hogs, though prone to wallow in the mire, in warm weather, are always pleased with a dry bed, and thrive best when kept clean. I have some where read an account of an experiment made with two, confined in separate pens, and fed exactly alike: one was suffered to be constantly foul with the mire of his sty; the other, washed every day, and kept clean, far outstripped the former in thriving.

It may be useful to add some further information on Live Stock, from the writings of Sir John Sinclair, President of the British Board of Agriculture. He proposed to a gentleman in England,[10] who is eminent for his knowledge and accurate observations relative to plants and animals, some questions concerning Live Stock. In one of his answers, he says--"I have found the food animals generally require, to keep them in proper condition, is much more nearly proportioned to their _height_ and _length_, than to their _weight_." In confirmation of this opinion, he adds, that one of his neighbours made a comparative experiment with the Devon and Hereford cows; and though fond of the former for their neatness, he gave them up, because "they would not nearly live upon the same food which supplied animals _stouter_ and _more compact_, of the same weight."

[10] Thomas A. Knight, Esq.

To the question, "What is the best shape for feeding with little food?" Mr. Knight answers--"The more deep and capacious the chest, and the shorter and lower any animal is, relative to its weight, the better adapted it will be to live and fatten upon little food; the more labour it will also go through; and I have always found the short legged oxen to be the best labourers. Mr. Marshall also observes, in his Rural Economy of Gloucestershire, that the best labouring ox he ever saw, had the shortest legs."

I will detain the Society no longer than to make a few observations.

_V. On Orchards._

I advert to this subject for the purpose of suggesting the utility of propagating Sweet Apples.

After providing a due proportion of apples for the table, and the ordinary purposes of cookery, I do not hesitate to express my opinion, that for all other uses, sweet apples are entitled to the preference. The best cider I ever tasted in this country, was made wholly of sweet apples. They afford also a nourishing food to man and all domestic animals. What furnishes a more delicate repast than a rich sweet apple baked and eaten with milk? I recollect the observation made to me by an observing farmer, before the American revolution, that nothing would fatten cattle faster than sweet apples. Mentioning this, a few years since, to a gentleman of my acquaintance in an adjoining state, he informed me, that he was once advised to give sweet apples to a sick horse. Happening then to have them in plenty, the horse was served with them, and he soon got well: and continuing to be fed with them, he fattened faster than any other horse he had ever owned (and he had owned many) that was fed with any other food.

Mentioning to the same gentleman, what I had long before heard, that a good molasses might be made of sweet apples, he confirmed the fact by an instance within his own knowledge: and further expressed his opinion (and I have not known a man whose practical judgment was entitled to more respect) that it would not be difficult, by forming orchards of sweet apples, to supply molasses for the general consumption of the United States. I have never tasted any sweet apple molasses; but I suppose it has not (nor has honey) the rich sweet of molasses from the sugar-cane; yet, for family uses in general, it would be a useful substitute for the latter. The process in making it I suppose to be very simple.--The apples being ground, and the juice (or cider) expressed, at the cider-mill, it is immediately boiled, (that is, before any fermentation takes place) and the scum being taken off as it rises, the boiling is continued until the liquor acquires the consistence of molasses.

Sweet apples are of different degrees of sweetness. Those of the richest kinds should be chosen for the purpose of making molasses. But in grafting, the cions should be taken (as they ought to be for all kinds of fruit) not from old, worn out trees, but from those whose originals are in full health and vigour.--For it has been satisfactorily ascertained in England, (and proofs of it are not wanting in our own country) that fruit trees have their infancy, (springing from seeds) youth, maturity, and old age; and that when they have reached this last stage, it is in vain that attempts are made to continue them. Or if the cions take, and grow for a few years, they are unproductive, and soon decay. The reason is plain: every cion is a part of the tree from which it is taken; and if this be in a state of decrepitude, so will be the cion; and although grafted on a youthful, thrifty stock, it will be of no avail.

NEW WHEAT.

A cargo of new wheat from North Carolina, of 1200 bushels, was sold last month, in Philadelphia, at 94-1/2 cents cash.

(From the Plough Boy.)

FLEMISH HUSBANDRY.

_Weeding and hoeing._--The Flemish farmer never considers his work half done until his fields are completely freed from weeds. This is effected, in a great measure, by repeated digging, by which the upper stratum that contains the seeds and roots of noxious plants, is buried sufficiently deep into the ground to prevent their vegetating. When weeds do appear, they are immediately extirpated either by the harrow before the grain is sown, or afterwards by careful and repeated hand hoeings. This they find the more necessary, to rid the earth of parasite plants, the seeds of which are mixed with the seeds of culinary vegetables, and produce plants that feed on the juices of the dung, to the great injury of the legitimate stock. A Flemish farm, in consequence of these attentions, resembles more a highly cultivated garden, than many places which bear that name. When I first beheld these fields, I supposed them actually to be gardens, and was only undeceived when further observation and inquiry convinced me, that the whole country was cultivated in a similar manner, and presented the same delightful scene.

_Choice of Seeds._--It is an invariable practice in Flanders, never to use for seed the grain grown on the land to be sown; nor is the expense regarded when the object is to obtain heavy and healthy seed. Farmers in distant districts exchange seeds with each other, and journies of hundreds of miles are frequently taken to accomplish this desirable purpose. Vanderstractan mentions two farmers, whose grounds were alike, and who cultivated them with equal skill and industry. They had both been long in the practice of procuring excellent seed potatoes from Brabant, which yielded in that province two hundred cwt. per English acre. When transplanted, the produce was regularly, year after year, five hundred and forty cwt. per acre.[11] One of these men having, one year, to save the expense of carriage, used potatoes of his own growth, the original produce of Brabant, soon repented the step, and returned to his former practice. Flanders usually receives its supply of flax-seed from the north of Europe; but having, during the latter years of the reign of Napoleon, been deprived of that supply, through his restrictive decrees; the produce of that valuable plant was not more than half the usual quantity, which besides was greatly inferior to preceding crops.

[11] This great produce cannot fail to astonish many persons living
in this country. But let them recollect, that the upper layer of the
soil, from which the crops are produced, is never changed here; that
this layer, having been so often used, must have lost part of its
ancient fertility; that dung is not spread in abundance with us as
in Flanders; and that it is possible the species of potatoes grown
here have degenerated.

Although the Flemish are the most particular people in the world as to the choice of their seeds, they are sometimes deceived. An instance of this happened a few years ago, which was followed by very injurious consequences. A person brought some flax-seed from Riga, which he sold for sound seed. It was, however, superanuated, but he had contrived to give it a fresh and healthy appearance, and thus imposed on the best judges. The farmers, deceived by the false mark, bought and sowed the seed, none of which ever appeared above the ground. "The desolation of the country was universal; the loss was estimated at several millions of florins; and the offender escaped the punishment he merited, only through the intercessions of several powerful friends, who found means to stifle the affair, notwithstanding the cries of its numerous victims." I recollect a case somewhat similar to this, which happened a few years ago in Edinburgh. A respectable seed merchant there purchased a quantity of flax-seed from a foreigner, which he sold again in small parcels to the farmers, who, on sowing it, found that it was unsound, as no part of it was productive. The seed merchant was sued, and although he distinctly proved, that he made the purchase himself under the impression that the seed was fresh, and paid a fair price for it, he was found liable in damages to the amount of the loss sustained by the farmer who sued, upon the ground that he was bound to guarantee every article which he sold at the regular market price, whether he was imposed upon himself or not. These lessons were not thrown away. In Flanders, as well as in Scotland, no foreign seed is purchased, until the purchasers be fully satisfied as to the quality of the article, and the character of the seller.

The Flemish practice, with regard to a change of seeds, has long prevailed in Scotland, not only as to potatoes, but as to wheat, barley, oats, and all other grain. The Scotch potatoes have always appeared to me superior to those raised in England, where the same attention is not shown to the choice of seed. It is a fact, also, well known in these countries, that the barley raised in Scotland, though greatly inferior in _appearance_ to English barley, and raised in a colder climate, contains more saccharine matter, or nourishment. This has been tested by experiments at the distilleries, under the immediate inspection of officers appointed by the government, who reported a greater quantity of spirit obtained from barley, the growth of Scotland, than from that produced in England. The beef sold in the London markets, which had been reared in the Scotch distilleries upon the refuse grains, uniformly sells at from three to four cents a pound more than that fed at any of the English distilleries.

This superiority unquestionably arises from the greatly improved system of agriculture, _generally_ introduced into Scotland, but it is owing in nothing so much as to the very scrupulous attention there paid to the choice of seed. Of late years, this branch of husbandry seems to have considerably attracted the notice of the English farmers; some of whom, as appears from the English newspapers, have found it greatly to their interest to cultivate wheat, in particular, obtained from foreign places, which, when grown, they convey to distant parts of the country, and sell exclusively for seed wheat. It was mentioned in the Cumberland Packet (an English journal) of 14th October, 1816, "that a farmer had obtained _l._40, ($170,) per load, of 30 bushels, for seed wheat, on account of its great product. He had also, obtained the same price for seven years past for this wheat, which had been originally imported from abroad."

_Rotation of Crops_--The intelligent agriculturalists of England are well aware, that the more the rotation of crops are varied, the more abundant is their produce; but this opinion is confined to a few in that country. It is only in Flanders that the idea of exhausting the soil, by repeated cropping, is exploded, and the rotation system brought to the greatest possible state of perfection. The ground being prepared in the manner before stated, the Flemish farmer adopts either one or the other of the following courses:

FIRST COURSE FOR THREE YEARS.

_First year._--Oats are sown about the end of February, or beginning of March. These are cut green toward the end of April, or beginning of May, and given to the cattle for food, which they eat with great pleasure. It is found that this crop, as it is not allowed to throw out the ears, does not exhaust the soil, or take anything from the subsequent crop.[12] Winter potatoes are now sown for a _second_ crop; previous to which the land is dug and manured. When of a middling size the potato is planted whole, but if very large, the eye only is used.

[12] It is well known, that vegetables will grow in pure sand, by
watering them, and that it is not till they blossom, or rather till
they produce seed, that they perish. It is mentioned by Bracconnot,
in the _Annales de Chimie_, for February and March, 1808, that he
sowed the seeds of various plants in pure river sand, in litharge,
in flour of sulphur, and even among metal, or common leaden shot;
and in every instance he employed only _distilled water_ for their
nourishment. The plants throve, and passed through all the usual
gradations of growth to perfect maturity. The author then proceeded
to gather the entire produce, the roots, stems, leaves, pods, &c.
These were accurately weighed, dried, and again weighed; then
submitted to the ordinary means used in a careful analysis, when
he obtained from these vegetables, all the materials peculiar to
each individual species, precisely as if it had been cultivated
in a natural soil. "Oxygen and hydrogen, (says this writer) with
the assistance of solar light, appear to be the only elementary
substances employed in the constitution of the whole universe: and
Nature in her simple progress, works the most infinitely diversified
effects by the slightest modification in the means she employs."

_Second year._--Wheat forms the first crop; and scarcely are the sheaves removed from the ground, when the farmer promptly turns up the earth, and sows spurry. Sometimes carrots are sown with the wheat.

_Third year._--Rye; which is followed by Turnips.

SECOND COURSE FOR THREE YEARS.

_First year._--Flax preceded by green oats. After the flax, carrots.

_Second year._---Wheat; followed by Spurry.

_Third year._--Rye and turnips.

THIRD COURSE FOR THREE YEARS.

_First year._--Female Hemp; after which, Turnips.

_Second year._--Flax, then carrots.

_Third year._--Wheat and spurry.

FOURTH COURSE FOR THREE YEARS.

_First year._--Flax, preceded by green corn. After the flax, carrots.

_Second year._--Cole-seed; then turnips.

_Third year._--Wheat; then spurry.

These courses are sufficient to give a pretty correct idea of the Flemish system of rotation. It will be seen that wheat never succeeds to clover: it almost always follows flax, hemp, cole-seed or potatoes. Clover greatly encourages the growth of dog grass, which, if not completely torn up, with all its roots, the least fibres of the latter which escape, will each produce a new plant, greatly to the prejudice of the wheat. In England the fields are always more or less infected with this pest, while the practice pursued in Flanders completely protects them against it--Wheat is also materially benefited in Flanders, by the repeated digging up, and hoeings, which potatoes require; and by the abundance, and judicious application of manure, spread during the first year of the course. This loses only part of its fertilizing salts, leaving the earth in a high state of fertility, which the Flemish farmer knows well how to augment to the requisite degree without causing the wheat to shed; a circumstance apt to occur, where too great a quantity of manure is used.

The following comparative tables, shewing the value which is obtained from one acre in _four_ years, by a farmer, following the Norfolk course, in England, and that obtained, from the same space in _three_ years according to the Flemish course, will best illustrate the superior advantages of the latter over the former:

TABLE I.----ENGLAND.

1st. _year_. Turnips, according
to Arthur Young, _l._2 4 0
2d. do. Barley, 4 0 0
3d. do. Clover, 3 12 0
4th. do. Wheat, 6 0 0
Wheat Straw, 3 2 6
Barley, do. 0 15 7
-------------
Total produce in 4 years, _l._19 14 1

Giving one year with another, _l._4 18 6-1/4 per acre.

TABLE II----FLANDERS.

1st. _year_. Green Oats, _l_. 0 16 8
Potatoes, 10 5 1
2d. do. Wheat, 3 7 8
Spurry, 2 0 1
3d. do. Rye, 2 0 0
Turnips, 2 1 6
Wheat Straw, 1 0 10
Rye do. 1 3 2
Halm, or straw of
potatoes, 0 6 2
-------------
Total produce in 3 years, _l._23 7 2

Giving one year with another, _l._7 9 1 per acre.

From these statements, proceeding upon the most correct data, it is seen that the value of the produce of one acre of ground, cultivated according to the Flemish system for _three_ years, is, (within a fraction,) 50 per cent. more than what is produced in _four_ years from an equal space of ground, managed agreeably to the most approved principles of English husbandry. The advantages of the Flemish farmer, will appear still more striking, when the nett profit which he clears, after paying the necessary expenses of cultivation is contrasted with that of the English farmer. According to Arthur Young, the English farmer receives about four and a half twentieths of the produce, calculating the gross produce of the soil at twenty. This upon _l._4 18 6-1/4, (the result per acre, for one year, as in Table I.) would give _l._1 2 1-1/4.

The produce, per acre, for one year, in Flanders (see Table II.) is _l._7 9 1; the expense of cultivation, land tax, and rent, according to Vanderstraten, is _l._4 0 1; leaving to the farmer _l._3 9 0; or nearly _four_ times the amount obtained by the English farmer.

The subject of _Flemish Husbandry_ is by no means exhausted. I shall resume it in future communications.

Your's, respectfully,

GEO. HOUSTON.

_New York, June 1, 1820._

CHESTER AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

WESTCHESTER, (PENN.) JUNE 21, 1820.

[The following interesting document giving an account of the
proceedings of the Chester County Agricultural Society, is well
worthy the attention of our agricultural readers.--ED.]

At a meeting of the Agricultural Society of Chester County, held at the Courthouse in Westchester, 6th Mo. 10th, 1820, Dr. William Darlington, Vice-President, in the Chair; Isaac Sharpless, Secretary. The Committee of Correspondence produced to the meeting the following Report; which being read was unanimously adopted, viz.

REPORT.

The Committee appointed by the Society to propose plans for its adoption, believing that the objects which may properly claim the attention of the Association, are very numerous, are therefore free to suggest, whether it would not be advantageous to institute several standing committees, each of which should cultivate a particular department of Agriculture, or some of the sciences that may minister to its improvement.

If the Society should approve of this plan, we propose that these committees should be made up by voluntary associations among the members as far as practicable, each being at liberty to join himself to such as he may choose, and all vacancies and deficiences in the numbers of said committees should be filled by the presiding officer. They should in no case consist of less than five members, whose names should be entered on the minutes of the Society; and they should each have a secretary to receive communications, to arrange and digest the scattered materials they may collect, and to lay before the society such as may be thought worthy of its attention.

All books, models, drawings, or specimens, that any of these committees procure in the course of their labours, shall be kept in such place as it should direct.

It is recommended that the formation of the following standing committees be authorized at the time--to be renewed at the first stated meeting in each year.