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CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.

CONDUCTORS' DEPARTMENT.

Address from Specimen number,.....

Report of the Corresponding Secretary of the Society,
On the manufacture of maple sugar,
Method of claying or whitening the sugar,
The advantages of the roller,...

On the varieties and culture of the potato,
Grafting-Canada thistles,

.....

Chemistry in the kitchen-swine-grape vine,. Rearing calves-Massachusetts premium crops, Memorandum-time to sow plaster,

To destroy weevil in grain,.....

Annual address to the State Agricultural Society,. Manures,

Farm implements-Draining,...

Barley and hops-Division of labor,

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9 Sheep husbandry,..

New articles of culture-turnips-mulberry-agricultural school,. 10 Unhealthiness of vegetable cellars,.

Letter from H. W. Delavan, on draining,

Do from Earl Stimson, on farming,.

Communication from Dr. Hosack,.

Do

from Dr. Steele,

The wheat insect-remarks upon,..

Suggestions in relation to the orchard,. The importance of the garden..........

On improved farming, ...

The importance of salt to farm stock,

12 Underdraining,..

12 Wintering sheep,,..

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7 Notice of marl from Granville,......

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7 New Year reflections, addressed to our patrons,

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7 Agricultural report for 1834,..

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7 Excretory power of plants,

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8 Morus Multicaulis not produced from its seed,..

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Manures, experiments with salt, salt-petre, bones, horn piths, &c. 90 A. Steen, method of saving barked apple trees,.

On the use of lime in the valley of the Mohawk, Seed corn-skinless oats-Ribbon grass,.

97 Amateur, on South Down Sheep,..

old fashioned Merino sheep, with a likeness of Don Pedro,

The profits of the dairy compared with that of fattening animals, 98 W. D. C. on vegetable cellars,
The grain worm and weevil,..

Expense of curing hay,

Notice of Low's Elements of Practical Agriculture,..

Clover may be profitably sown with all small grain,. Manure, while fermenting, gives food and moisture, To test the quality of gypsum,...

98 R. Lockwood, inquiring in regard to hedges, and reply,

99 Clizbe, Ira, on a cure for the Poll Evil,....

109 Midford, T. on a new material for making Pork,

109 Perkins, E. Jr. approving the improved cheese press, ....

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109 Brayshaw, J. recommending that common schools be placed upon the manual labor system,...

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Hints to Graziers,

On the breeds of cattle, by Sir John Sinclair,.

Art of managing sheep,..

Polled or Galloway breed of cattle,
Alderney, Nagore,

On the points by which live stock are judged,
Notes on the management of cattle,...
Hints on Sheep Husbandry,....

SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE.

On improving the breeds of animals,

Of the uses of soils to vegetables,..
Ploughing,...

Pulverization scientifically considered,.

On fermenting, preserving and applying manures,
On hay making,...

Of the different species of mineral manures,

On the properties and effects of Gypsum,....

Supply of food by manure and culture,

Lime, its chemical and mechanical operations explained,.

On the relative pleasures and profits of agriculture, by H. W. Dela

van,

14 The utility of pickling seed grain,.

27 On the application of lime in agriculture,. 27 Miscellaneous manures, composts, . .

Cultivation of madder,...

28 Answer to queries on Plaster of Paris, by Col. Taylor,. 28 Experiments in raising potatoes,..

28 Hints on transplanting, ......

28 Blue colouring matter from the straw of Buckwheat,.

29 Ripe Bread, .....

29 Importance of keeping the skin clean, . 38 Demand creates a supply,. . . . . . .

63 Chenam, an indestructibe cement,..

65 Prof. Low's description of the wheat insect,.

76 Experiment with cut and uncut potatoes,

76 Marls, shell and clay marls described,. 132 On Under-draining,..

Chinese mulberry,.

15 Physicking horses,..

30 Raising ducks and turkeys,..

41 Directions for measuring hay in stack,. Useful table,.....

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The classes of soils and their properties, as determined by external characters,

The properties of soils, as determined by chemical analysis,.
The properties of soils, as determined by vegetable products,....
Means of increasing the productive power of soils,

MISCELLANEOUS.

Gathering and curing hops,..

Go to work the right way,.

Cheap farming,

Agricultural School at Hofwyl,

Taylor's experiments with Gypsum,..

Hillhouse's method of destroying Canada thistles,

Silk-Report of the Hamilton Co. Agricultural Society on culture of,...

Dr. Darlington on the uses of lime in husbandry,.
Miscellaneous, by P. Halsted, ...

On the construction of cattle yards, by J. Buel,.

Cultivation of tares and Swedish turnips, by S. Hawes,
Value of the Culivator, or horse hoe,..

Method of building grain shocks,

Improved system of bee management-Experiment on oats,
Cure for bots in horses-Brimstone useful for cattle,.
To destroy moles-Clover among corn-Maxims,.
Observations on the wheat fly,......

.........

Approved method of raising calves,

54 To cook a calf's head,

69 To make a bird's nest pudding,

79 To make yeast in summer-to make junket-to boil green corn,
80 To make a minute pudding-to make current jelly,.
95 Corn starch-to boil meat,..

104 To steam potatoes-potato bread-tomato catsup-tomato sauce,. 105 Rhubarb pies-Dutch pudding-apple jelly,. . . . 105

110 Fruit Drier-dairy secret-husk beds-to destroy cockroaches, 119-20 126 Hints to housekeepers,...

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Some of the cuts which appeared in the first edition are omitted in this, having been lent, lost or destroyed. They

are, however, of no great moment.

A MONTHLY PUBLICATION, DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE.

ALBANY, MARCH, 1835.

THE CULTIVATOR-MARCH, 1835. plane, the waters of which passed down its whole extent, and

TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND.

In commencing the second volume of the Cultivator, and before the farming operations of the season have commenced, we are desirous of drawing the attention of our readers to some prominent objects of improvement in their farming operations. We know the distrust which farmers generally entertain to new practices in husbandry, and are fully apprized, that what we are about to offer forms already a part of the practice of many who will peruse our remarks. Yet if we should be instrumental in inducing a few, by adopting our suggestions, to improve the condition of their farms, and to render their labor more productive, our object will be ffected, and we shall be satisfactorily compensated for our trouble. All we ask is, that our recommendations may have a fair trial, sufficient merely to enable the experimentor to judge of their utility, and on a scale that shall involve neither great labor nor expense. And we shall offer nothing which we have not ourselves tested, and believe beneficial. We will begin with

MANURES,

principally in the soil, in gentle depressions or hollows.
We are
confident the evil here might be remedied at a slight expense,
which would be remunerated in a single season, by draining.-
Grounds habitually wet, either from springs, or water stagnating
in the soil, for want of declivity of drains to carry it off, will not
produce good crops. Draining is an effectual cure for the evil.
Open drains will alone answer to carry off surface water, and in
situations where much water may occasionally pass. These should
hardly ever be less than 3 feet broad at surface, and two feet deep;
the sides sloping so as to leave the bottom 8 to 12 inches broad.
A greater depth and breadth are ofen requisite. Long experience
has convinced us, that good drains, in the end, are always the
cheapest drains, and that when they are well constructed, they con-
stitute one of the most profitable improvements of the farm. But
we consider under-drains, in soils which are habitually wet, cheap-
er, better and more profitable to the proprietor, either to carry off
stagnant water from flat surfaces, or to arrest that proceeding
from springs, than open drains. They are more efficient, because
they generally lay deeper, and are not so liable to be choked up.
They are more economical, because they seldom, if well made,
require repairs, and do not waste any land. They are beneficial on
all flat surfaces which have a retentive subsoil, and upon all slopes
rendered wet by springs. They are wanted wherever water, at
midsummer, rests upon the subsoil, or saturates the soil, within the
reach of the roots of cultivated crops. We do not here mean to
discuss the principles, or describe the mode of draining, as we have
published much upon this subject, and design to publish more,
with such pictoral illustrations as shall serve to render the subject
perfectly familiar to the readers of the Cultivator. A very simple
means of determining whether a field is likely to be bencfitted by
under-draining, is, in June or July, to dig a hole, like a post-hole,
say two feet deep, and the presence of water at the bottom, and
the height to which it rises, will at once decide whether the land
is to be benefitted, and to what extent, by under-draining. Drain..
ing effectually is almost an untried experiment with us.
not familiar with the process, and startle at the expense: yet if we
compare the cost with the advantages which will accrue for a suc-
cession of years, we shall find the operation to be a very economi-

We are

Which are the basis of all fertility in the soil, precisely in the same way that forage, grain and roots are the basis of fatness in our farm stock. All animal and vegetable manures have once been plants, and are capable by a natural process, of being converted nto plants again. They should therefore be husbanded with care and applied with economy. Every crop taken from a field diminishes its fertility, by lessening the quantity of vegetable food in the soil. Unless, therefore, something in the form of manure is returned to the field, an annual deterioration will take place until absolute barrenness ensues. This fact needs no other illustration than is afforded by every bad managed farm. The object of the husbandman should be to INCREASE the fertility of his farm, because upon this materially depends the profits of his labor. To do this, we advise that cattle yards be made dishing, so as to collect the urine and liquids in the centre, and that these be kept well littered with straw, stalks, and the refuse vegetables of the farm, to take up and preserve these liquids, which are a valuable part of the manure:-That these yards be thoroughly cleaned in the spring, and, their conten's, together with the manure from the stables and pig pen, applied to hoed crops, as corn, patatoes, beans, &c., before fermentation has progressed far;-that it be spread broadcast, ploughed in as fresh as possible, and the ground rolled or harrowed before planting. Thus all the manure will be saved, the hoed crop greatly benefitted by it, the weeds destroyed, and as much fertili- Will grow on pretty much all soils that have been laid dry by ty left in the soil for the grain crop which is to follow, as the same good drains. It is the basis of good farming, on all lands susceptímanure would have afforded had it lain in the yard till after mid-ble of alternate husbandry. Its benefits are threefold: it breaks, summer, and been then applied. But if manure has rotted, it may pulverizes and ameliorates the soil by its tap roots, and it furnishes be applied to the turnip or small grain crop. In these cases it a cheap food for plants as well as animals. A good clover lay is should not be buried deep, and may with advantage, at least on worth to a crop, by the food which it affords, as much as five tons dry soils, be harrowed in with the seeds, where it serves frequently of manure to the acre. To ensure a good lay, at least ten pounds a beneficial purpose in protecting the young grain from the severi-of seed should be sown to the acre, and the ground well rolled.ty of winter.

DRAINING.

cal one.

N. B. Well drained grounds may be sown or planted ten to fifteen days earlier in spring than those which want draining, and the crops are much less liable to be injured by heavy rains.

CLOVER

Its value, as food for plants, depends more, upon the quantity of roots than upon the luxuriance of the stems, though the abundance It is necessary, for the perfection of most crons, that they should of the latter will depend in a great measure upon the number of enjoy all the benefit of our summer heats. When a soil is satu- the former. To obtain the full value of this plant, we must cultirated with spring water, though water does not appear on the sur-vate it as a food for our crops, as well as our cattle; and in this face, the roots of the crop which grow upon it, penetrate the wet case we should use it as such the first or second year before it has part, which may be supposed to possess a temperature never above run out. There is economy in always sowing clover with small 60 degrees. The crop consequently fails for want of the neces-grains, though it is to be ploughed in the same or the next season. sary heat in the soil. Decomposition of vegetable matter, the food of the crop, is also seriously retarded by this cold temperature. Stagnant waters are as unhealthy to cultivated crops as they are to animals. We have now in our mind an extensive inclined plane, which we examined last summer, of more than half a mile slope, embracing 70 or 80 acres, and possessing a rich soil, one-fifth of which was rendered unfit for tillage or the finer grasses, in consequence of springs which burst forth near the top of the

Ten pounds of seed costs upon an average one dollar-the labor of sowing is comparatively nothing. Its value to the next crop cannot be less than quadruple that sum, to say nothing of the feed it may afford, or its mechanical amelioration of the soil. We cannot avoid again urging a trial of the method of making clover hay in cocks, as we have heretofore recommended, notwithstanding the rebuke we have had upon this head from our esteemed friend and correspondent, Mr. Perkins. We have followed the practice twelve

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