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PUBLISHED BY LUTHER TUCKER & SON, tions-a task which, so far as I know, remains to be per

EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS, 395 BROADWAY, ALBANY, N. Y.

J. J. THOMAS, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, UNION SPRINGS, N. Y.
AGENTS IN NEW-YORK:

C. M. SAXTON, BARKER & Co., Ag. Book Publishers, 25 Park Row.
SERIES was commenced in 1853, and the seven volumes for 1853, 4, 5, 6,
THE CULTIVATOR has been published twenty-six years. A NEW

7, 8 and 9, can be furnished, bound and post-paid, at $1.00 each.
TERMS-FIFTY CENTS A YEAR.-Ten copies of the CULTIVATOR and

Ten of the ANNUAL REGISTER OF RURAL AFFAIRS, with one of each

free to the Agent, Five Dollars.

"THE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN," a weekly Agricultural Journal of 16 quarto pages, making two vols, yearly of 416 pages, at $2.00 per year, is issued by the same publishers.

Editorial Notes in England.

ALDERMAN MECHI'S FARMING. Fifteen or twenty years ago, a successful London tradesman, or merchant, as in such a business he would have been called by us,-"having some spare capital," resolved, with that taste for agricultural pursuits which forms a distinguishing feature in the English character, to invest his money in land. He purchased 260 acres. It

was not the best of land. It was not in the best condition. "Almost surrounded by barren. heath," the owner found the general opinion around him in Essex, to be that his purchase "could never be improved, even to become of tolerable goodness." He has since told the story of his expenditures, from different parts of which I am quoting these expressions. The principal adaptation of his soil was to retain the water that fell upon it from heaven and rose beneath it in hidden springs; and this retention was so admirably accomplished that the strong yellow loam subsoil which constituted a large part of it, was constantly in a state varying "between putty and bird lime, according to the season."

Under such circumstances, Mr. MECHI, for it will be already understood who I am talking about, did that most difficult of all things for a man to do-judging by the action of a great many, both here and in America, who have too much land to cultivate it well. He sold one-half, and determined that, be the obstacles what they might, he would improve the remainder.

Since 1843, when these steps were decided upon and improvements commenced, he has made some little addition to the farm, so that it now contains 170 instead of 130 acres. I visited Tiptree Hall the last day of June, and saw so much more that seemed to me of real, practical value, than I had been led to anticipate, that I hope what I can say here will not entirely fail to convey some of the lessons which Mr. MECHI has been endeavoring to teach. At the same time let me disclaim the anticipation of presenting anything like a perfect detail of his

formed. For the "Sayings and Doings" of the Alderman, consist of his scattered writings from time to time, unavoidably containing more or less repetition; representing, too, in some degree his changes of views with additional render these changes features of still greater value in the experience, but lacking in the connectedness that would progress of a perfectly relevant and straight-forward tale. "I may be asked," says Mr. MECHI, "What can you, as a Londoner, know about farming?' I will answer, 'I always loved the beauties of nature, the pure air of heaven, the sports of the field, and the hospitality of our honest yeomen. I have seen one farmer making a fortune, and his next neighbor losing one. I have seen one field all corn, and another nearly all weeds.'

"I asked, "How is this?'-inquired into the causesnoted the results-obtained from all the best farmers, and all the best agricultural books within my reach, every information bearing on agricultural pursuits, and practiced in my own little garden, on a small scale, a variety of experiments."

Carrying forward upon his new property these experiments-agitating continually the necessity of certain improvements-if not in his own way, by some other means -of which he thought English farming pecuniarily capable, his sentiments have progressed through different stages of ridicule and hostility until it is now commonly granted that while very few may wish to proceed upon his system exactly, he has yet done a good work in stirring up the many to direct measures of advancement. He has certainly been most liberal in the expenditure of his money in such a way as to test how far others may venture safely; and he has presented an example which in notoriety as well as from its intrinsic merits, must have been exceedingly effective. Moreover, as it was remarked to me in conversation by a large farmer in one of the midland counties, his efforts have opened the door to him of associations which in England money does not buy. Mr. MECHI, the widely-advertised vender of razors and razorstrops-Mr. MECHI, the wealthy Alderman, might have gone down to the grave with other dealers in fancy wares of Tiptree Hall, is invited to Sir ROBERT PEEL'S, with and consumers of turtle soup, but Mr. MECHI, the farmer lords "of high degree," and comes to be looked upon, as he mournfully says himself, in bewailing the responsibilities and "miseries" of the position-in the light of "a public improver."

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After speaking of the thousand questions with which eager inquirers prey upon his time, and of the resort to him by inventors without number for the means of introducing their schemes, he adds as a setoff, in the consciousness of having been of some service" to his country, the "pleasing recollection that the two American Reapers were first tried" on his farm, in 1851. "Then they were wondered at; now Messrs. Burgess & Key alone are preparing to make fifteen hunopera-dred for use in 1859."

10

e quantity of

About Feeding Cattle.

acré, determines the

The of meat made on a farm per quantity of corn grown." "Mr. LAWES has shown beyond a doubt that there is no way of obtaining manure so cheaply as by feeding animals."

It chanced that Mr. M. was not himself at home, but I found the steward or bailiff, Mr. DRANE, an intelligent and The first turn we took, very approcommunicative man. priately brought us into the feeding stables. Appropri ately because the feeding of animals is entitled to a front rank among the improvements we must more extensively practice, and because while many of the most peculiar, and to some obnoxious features in Mr. M.'s system here meet the visitor at once, he may also learn in what he sees, the general importance of careful management, the economical use of feeding materials, the benefit of comfortable quarters, and probably the strongest arguments that can be advanced, in favor of stall feeding in summer as well as winter.

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PORTRAIT OF MR. MECHI.

more than double as much. This difference is one which per ton, (9s. 4d.) while for feed it is worth to him $5, or he does not think he can afford to lose, for he calculates upon a production of two tons of straw per acre, and a loss of, say $5 per acre, on fifty acres of wheat, will go a good way toward the difference between farming at a profit and farming at a loss.

The building which we now enter is of sufficient width for one row of stalls or boxes, and an alley in front of them from which to feed. The size of the boxes is nine feet nine inches inside breadth, and eight feet length, exclusive of the manger-each designed for two bullocks.The manger is a simple box or trough, and receives all the food the cattle cat. So far there is nothing extraordinary in what we see, but the floor is certainly a surprise! It is composed of slats of good sound deal or other timber, three inches by two in size and two or two and a half inches apart. The animal has no bedding of any kind.— "There is nothing pleasing to the grazier's eye," as Mr. M. remarks, in such an arrangement. Indeed, like others, he had at first many prejudices against it. Both men and When bullocks are animals like a soft place to sleep on. first put into these boxes, they seem "afraid to move," and for twenty-four hours, nine out of ten "resolutely Just a forkful of straw, howThe pains taken to illustrate and verify these facts, show maintained their standing." ever, spread about under them, seemed to overcome this to what economical minuteness, so to speak, the English sense of insecurity," and they only required one resort farmer has been compelled to go in order to sustain the to this expedient. Physicians tell us, reasons our host-gainfulness of his calling under those numerous expenses that a hard bed is undoubtedly the most healthy. In this with which he is burdened by government, church and case the edges of the boards, at first new and sharp, in two landlord, and notwithstanding which he has accomplished or three weeks become smooth, and the animals find easy the grand triumph of so far competing successfully with positions. This floor is, I think, perfectly horizontal and all the rest of the world-the cheap labor of the continent the slats placed, not across the box, but longitudinally as and the cheap lands of America. With us, where we have the animal stands. They are also used, however, and with difficulty to bring our farmers into the way of converting results represented as similarly satisfactory, both for pigs their straw into manure, to go beyond this use into a caland sheep. Mr. Huxtable is the author of the boarded culation of its further value as food, seems almost a waste But such will not always remain the case where floor system, but Mr. Mechi has modified the details, and, of words. after trial and measurements of the hoofs of various ani- it is so at present, and the subject may not be universally disregarded even now. From Voelker's analyses, alluded mals, has concluded upon the following as the best size of to by Mr. M., he derives the statement that the soluble slats: fattening substances contained in each 100 lbs. of straw are equal to 184 lbs. of oil. How, then, he asks, can it Simply because the have been so long disregarded? straw in an unprepared condition, is not in an available condition for food."

46

For bullocks, 3 inches thick, 4 inches wide, 16 inches apart.
do 11/4
For sheep and pigs, 1% do. 3
For lambs & small pigs, 1% 8
2 do. 3
For calves,

do

do
do

do
do

1
1%

The result of putting two bullocks together is not found to retard their progress in flesh-making-the better ox, as elsewhere, will be the master, but not to the injury or discomfort of his associate. They are all groomed daily by a boy-a process which appears to contribute much to their enjoyment. The floor, although not swept, is always elean; a little gypsum (plaster) is sprinkled over it every morning-about a peck to ten bullocks.

Economy in Saving the Litter.

The great advantage claimed by this system, aside from the assertion that it actually contributes to better the health of the animal and the quality of its beef-is the saving both of the bedding and of the labor that accompanies its distribution, removal, and the subsequent management of the manure, of which last we will speak by and by. All the straw is wanted for feed. As Mr. HORSFALL argued when I visited his place, the straw when used for litter is only of value as a contribution to the manure heap; when it is fed to the animal, those parts which in the dung-pit would ferment and escape, are precisely the ones which the animal converts into its own tissue, while the mineral elements which it does not make use of, remain for fertilizing purposes as before. Now the value of straw simply as manure, is computed by Mr. Mechi to be not above $2.33

Before proceeding to the method of preparation advocated, there is a difficulty to be disposed of, which may already have arisen in the reader's mind. In casting our eyes about the building we were looking at, we merely noticed the floor, but did not go below it; and the question that at once occurs, is this-how is the manurial matter we obtain, to be managed and transported without some such material as straw to act as an absorbent, and give it greater cohesion? The answer is two-fold-the first, not strenuously insisted upon by Mr. M., although it has been one of the most striking features in his management, while the second he also employs, I believe, to a large extent.

Beneath the slats on which we have been standing, there runs along a tank about three feet in depth, of brick, laid in cement and water-tight, its two ends having a slight descent towards the middle, whence there passes a pipe or drain into a large outside tank of no less than 80,000 gallons capacity. Mr. Mechi's way is to admit a flow of water into the tank under the animals until its contents are diluted and liquified so as to pass wholly into the exterior cistern. The hose employed for this purpose, in hot weather may be used also to wash the whole interior of

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the building and keep everything, ever to the animals ging, when composted and carried on the upland. At themselves, clean and cool. The existence of such a mass first the swamp was too soft to plow, and he raised a good beneath them, does not prove in experience to emit the putrefying stench that might be anticipated; when undis- crop of potatoes by wheeling on sand to cover the seed, a turbed, indeed, it forms so dense a mass that sufficient air shovel full to a hill. The land is now firm enough to cannot penetrate it to produce the fermentation that would plow, and grows grass, and any vegetables desired. take place with the presence of straw to lighten up the heap and permit the admission and circulation of the atmosphere; and when the water flows in, the whole is washed away at the least possible disagreeableness and expense.

The Use and Manufacture of Burned Clay.

The other method of managing manure in this condition, is found in the use of burned clay. Upon the heavy soils of Steuben, Major DICKINSON has been an advocate of burning sods to use the ashes as a fertilizer, but it is quite a common thing in many parts of England now to burn the simple soil itself-of course whatever vegetable matter it may contain being considered a welcome addition, but the great point lying in the conversion into an available supply of mineral matters, of the hard subsoil and other clods-in themselves sometimes actually poisonous to the plant, although when reduced to brickdust at once rendered "attractive, absorbent, filtrative, instead of being, as formerly, sullenly unalterable and repulsive." Good farmers use it to advantage, drilled with their turnips; spread broadcast over a field, it is found lasting in its effectsapparently sinking "gradually down into the obstinate subsoil," and imparting to it something of its own permeability. The inorganic elements contributed to the soil by the animal life of every sort under or upon it, for which it has long been "the feeding-ground, the dung-heap and the grave;" the stones that lock up in their hard sides so many of the same materials which give the straw its glaze and stiffness, and the grain its phosphates; the germs of new weeds and the decaying remains of old vegetation, by this trial of fire are all converted at comparatively little cost or trouble into either what is actually available as plant food, or what exerts the best effect upon the mechanical condition of the ground.

Now, the burned clay may be employed to the best advantage with the manure under the boarded floors, and is cheaply obtained in large quantities-the estimated cost per 100 loads of 27 cubic feet each, being,

For labor and burning,

For fire wood,..

For plowing and horse labor,

Total,

$10.84 2.08 2.08

$16.00

That is 16 cents a load. It is strongly recommended for use under sheep, only one-fourteenth part of their excrement being in solid form, while one barrowful of clay daily to twenty sheep will preserve the remainder perfectly. "Sheep do not get sore feet upon it." The only purpose, remarks Mr. M., with which we turn over and manipulate our ordinary manure heaps, is to secure the propor decomposition of the straw they contain; manure mixed with burned clay is carried at once from the farmstead to the field and applied where wanted. L. H. T.

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Mr. HART of Cornwall, had drained a swamp with open ditches, taking off the water three feet below the surface, and seeded it to grass, and one year got fourteen loads of hay from four acres. Still, he said, that was not upland hay, nor in any way equal to it in value, and rich as the soil was, it would not produce a fair crop without manure. Hence had not of late given it much attention, and believed the muck worth more to cart upon the upland than to cultivate where it lies. He had found some benefit from hauling muck upon loamy soil, but it was more valuable composted, and he used the muck in all his stables, and also to absorb all the soap-suds and wash of the house, and thus made valuable manure.

Mr. HOYT of New-Canaan, had not found cultivating swamp muck, several feet deep, profitable; but found it valuable to haul to the stables and out-houses for an absorbent, and to increase the amount of manure for upland.

Mr. BILL of Norwich, thought the difference in the effects produced arose from the variation of the character of the soil. His drained swamp was the best land he had. He also made great use of muck as a manure, making, with the help of six or seven head of cattle and a few hogs, three or four hundred loads of manure each year.Guano and muck, ten pounds of the former to a load of the latter, makes a very valuable compost. He had brought very poor land into a state of great productivoness by the aid of swamp muck.

We copy the remarks of Prof. S. W. JOHNSON in full, as reported. He said:

"We have all grades of what is called muck, ranging from that containing only two per cent of any substance but vegetable matter, to those containing fifty per cent of mineral water [should not this be matter?] Of course the use of these mucks will produce different results. Upon pure muck we cannot produce any grass or grain that will ripen its seed, more than one or two years. Such muck is valuable to mix with soils, but is nearly worthless alone. Some persons have sent me samples of muck which they say are equal to good manure, without composting. Some muck is said to be deleterious, and in that I find salts of iron. To determine the value of muck, we must know its ingredients. In some cases nitrogen accumulates in muck, and when that is brought out and put in a situation where plants can assimilate it, it will always add to the value of their products. The excretion of any animal, mixed with muck, is rendered more valuable, from the fact that the muck absorbs and saves the ammonia.— Plants over-stimulated with ammonia, produce much foliage and few seeds. Some of the most valuable deposits of muck appear to be composed almost entirely of decayed leaves and vegetable substances. Such muck may be applied at once, with good effect, to almost any crop, without any preparation, or mixing with any other substance. Of the great value of muck deposites to the owners of poor upland, there can be no dispute. The only thing is to know how to treat it so as to make it most valuable."

CHEESE MAKING.-Mrs. T. L. Hart, of West Cornwall, Ct., received the four first prizes for Cheese, at the late Conn. State Fair-to wit, 1, for old cheese-2, for new cheese-3, for old English Dairy, and 4, for new English tion. The Homestead says Mrs. H. was Hartford born and Dairy-notwithstanding there was an extensive competibred, and never saw a cheese made until after she was married.

WINTER MANAGEMENT OF MANURE. Looking over this morning, "The Cultivator" of some twenty years ago, when conducted by Judge BUEL, we noticed an article on the above subject, which might be read with profit even at this late day-but do not propose to reproduce it here. We will merely give his statement of "the objects to be obtained in the winter management of manure," and then add some thoughts drawn from our own experience. The objects are

"1. To prevent waste by leaching and drainage; 2. To prevent its becoming fire-fanged; and

A. "Very true, and that is one reason why I dislike these 'dishing' barnyards."

B. "In another part of the yard the manure pitched up is nearly all straw, more or less rotted, and of value so far allow. Mere rotten straw, however, is worth little; a as it has not been leached and the original material will Wagon load thoroughly rotten could be carried on a wheelbarrow. Another spot seems mostly composed of animal droppings thrown from the cow and calf stables, or around the feeding places in the yard. This is the best of the manure, but it wastes by leaching and decomposition be

3. To prevent more than moderate or incipient fer- fore the farmer is ready to apply it to the soil." mentation."

-Called away at this, by some necessary farm-work, we did not again take up the pen until evening. Meanwhile our thoughts were busy with the subject, and some conversation with a farming friend led us to give them the form of a dialogue.

B. "The question comes up-What is the best way of managing manure in winter?"

A. "Managing manure? and managing it in winter. It is as much as I can do to manage my foddering-the manure I manage when I draw it out in the spring. What next will you book-farmers meddle with ?"

B. "Let's talk a little about that. When you drew out your manure last spring, where did you find the best and richest, or was it alike over the whole yard?"

A. "You forget the horse manure back of the barn." B. "No, that is managed the worst of all. The outer part is well bleached straw and dung-the center is an almost inert mass of fire-fanged straw and manure. The heat which has been evolved in its decomposition has been sufficient to drive off its most valuable constituents, and the property of fermenting readily, which, according to Prof. Johnston, renders it so valuable as a means of bringing other vegetable substances into a state of fermentation, is nearly or entirely lost."

A. "How then shall I manage my manure? If you can show me any system that promises to pay well, perhaps I'll go into it."

B. "You have good sheds around your barnyard to shelter your stock."

A. "Yes, I do not like the trouble of stables, but I want to keep my cattle and sheep comfortable. So I stable a part-my milch cows and young calves-and allow the rest the run of the sheds and yards."

A. "Don't know-didn't observe particularly. Got it all out though, and plowed it under for corn and potatoes?" B. "Right enough, perhaps, so far, but let me tell you what you might have observed as to quality-what we have noticed when drawing out manure.' B. "Then you can put the wheelbarrow system' into A. "Some of your personal experience in the barn- practice. It does not require a great deal of labor and yard?" answers a very good purpose under your particular circumstances."

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B. "Yes. And first, it is an axiom in hydrostatics that 'water runs down hill.' It certainly does so in the barnyard. And, however level the surface may be, there is generally a lower place,' and in spring time that place is full to running over, of a dark colored fluid, which drains away, it is to be hoped, into the farmer's adjacent fields, and not into some streain or public highway."

A. "Yes, I hope so. I would not be as wasteful as

that."

B. "And yet you may, by not managing your manure properly, waste one-half its value. This drained manure of which we were speaking has suffered loss. Testing it by drying, it is (even if originally of the most valuable character,) light, chaffy stuff, compared with that which has not been exposed to this leaching process, showing that it has lost largely in value."

A. "Well, give us the system of the one-wheeled locomotive."

B. "First, have good racks under your sheds, so that your cattle will feed there. Second, have them roomy and well littered, so that they will rest and sleep there.— This will, of itself, bring a large share of your yard manure under shelter. But its decomposition will be too slow to allow it to attain its greatest value for spring crops.

Now bring on your wheelbarrow. Remove to your shed and the dryer portions of the yard, every day, the manure from the horse stables. This dung is richer in nitrogen, the most valuable constituent of manure, than that of any other farm stock, but as usually treated, a large share of its value is lost. To retard its too active decomposition, mix it with the colder, less active dung of cattle from

A. "Not much loss to me, perhaps, for the drainage their stables, &c., and a large quantity of litter, and the enriches my orchard."

value of the whole is greatly increased-the horse manure B. "If there is much of a hollow in the barnyard, and carries on the decomposition of the whole mass, (if kept the subsoil is clay or hard-pan, water can pass off only by damp enough,) "about right" to prevent loss, and to get evaporation. That hollow, (and some make them on pur- the full value of all the materials employed. If not suffipose,) is frozen over in very cold weather; in mild win-ciently rotten in spring, it may very speedily be decomters, and for a long time in spring it is 'a slough of de- posed by giving it air and moisture-by heaping it in spond,' almost impassible to man or beast. It so remains light heaps out of doors for a few weeks. Or if plowed for a long time in summer, unless cleared out and drawn under immediately in a long state, it is much more valuato the field—a large part draining from the cart on the way there. Of this we observe:

1. The liquid part is of some value, though too diluted, but a large portion is lost in application.

2. The solids (tested as before, by drying) are nothing but litter in an almost undecomposed state-for decomposition goes on very slowly in cold water."

ble than if not managed as above described.

"Mix and shelter your manure in this way, Mr. A., and you will find it a different article in its effects from that you have heretofore applied. At least I have done so.It is important, I will repeat, that this mixed manure be kept where it will be trodden hard by the stock. Treated in the same way, and placed in a barn cellar, it will fire

fang or burn-here it is too solid for that, but not for a slow decomposition. The constant addition of litter required, will use up the refuse fodder of the farm, and more too, if one gets dry leaves, sawdust and the like, to add to the stock of fertilizing material. And the use of the wheelbarrow, or mixing the material where it will be sheltered and receive and absorb a large share of the liquid manure of the stock, will give about the best condition and quality of barnyard manure."

LARGE CROPS vs. LARGE FARMS.

It has been tersely remarked, "If our farmers, instead of laboring to double their acres, would endeavor to double their crops, they would find it a vast saving of time and toil, and an increase of profits."

Is this true? Is the secret of successful farming what it has been declared to be, "Much labor on little land ?" Up to a certain point we believe it to be so. A few fariners are successful because they possess a soil naturally rich in every element of fertility, and suited in character and situation to the growth of large and profitable crops, but these farms form but a small portion of the whole surface Most soils need of the country under cultivation. some improvement and amendment-deepening, draining, and manuring-in order to their highest productiveness; and all need careful cultivation, at least to keep out noxious weeds, the "thorns and thistles" with which the earth

was "cursed for our sake."

satisfactory business than under their former system. We are glad to see the idea gaining ground that farming cannot be carried on without capital, enterprise, intelligence and that it opens a fair field for the exercise of the noblest endowments of the human mind.

Let us then be less covetous of surface-of large farms and broad plantations and more anxious for productiveness-asking for better crops, finer animals, more serviccable implements, rather than "one field more." Why, when our title deeds cover all beneath us, should we not be anxious to own and use the subsoil, instead of seeking ever to enlarge our outside boundaries. Why cry "more land," when our sterile acres are a shame to our skill in farming what we already possess, they give such meagre crops. Let us farm thoroughly a few acres, and we shað thus best prepare ourselves to farm profitably upon a larger scale.

THE CROPS OF OHIO IN 1858.

A table of the grain and meadow crops of Ohio in 1858, contained in the last O. Cultivator, shows that

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This is an average of not quite ten bushels and a half of wheat to the acre, and twenty-seven and three-quarters of corn; a little more than nine and a half of rye, sixteen and a half of barley, and eleven of buckwheat; and, finally, and best of all, full a ton and a third of grass tc

mand, it would be an interesting although rather laborious task, to give some further details as to the average in dif ferent counties. A hasty glance at the figures seems to show that the largest average of wheat is 19 bush. per acre in Hancock Co. Erie Co. comes next with only a little more than 16, and the only others which average more than 15, (and all less than 16) are Henry, Huron, Richland, Sandusky, Scioto, Seneca and Wyandot. The average of many counties is considerably below 10 bushels. Stark produces the greatest quantity-being the only county that exceeds a half million bushels-its average is about 114 per acre. Next in amount follow Butler, Wayne, Seneca and Richland, each producing between four and five hundred thousand bushels. There are two counties, Trumbull and Ashtabula, containing each over 50,000 acres of meadow land; Portage contains a little over 40,000 acres, and the next largest are the following in the order named, all having more than 30,000 acres: Geauga, Cnyahoga, Stark, Lorain, Wayne and Medina.

With too many farmers, the acres in possession do not come nearly up to the productiveness which might be at-each acre of meadow land. If we had the time at com tained. "Doubling the crop" would be thought a very simple undertaking by the progressive farmer---he would merely add sufficient labor in the preparation of the soil to give the product to which he would devote it, a fair chance, -depth of soil, appropriate food, freedom from weeds, etc. and the yield would be doubled at once. That farmer will be most successful who, by a wise expenditure of labor and capital, gives to the lands he cultivates a like character with those most productive, not forgetting, also, by clean culture, to concentrate the whole energy of the soil on the crop. Artificial means must be employed to give depth and fineness to hard and shallow soils, and a course of manuring and culture adapted to add the elements of fertility to sterile and impoverished ones. Stagnant water, that enemy to all vegetation of a profitable character, must be drained off, and retentive soils thus ameliorated. Light sands ask for an addition of a calcareous or aluminous character, to give them better consistency for cultivation. The hill-sides and knolls have long contributed from their soluble and floating elements of vegetable matter, to fill the adjacent marshes; let these return their rich deposits of muck, and a partial exchange of soils would be no injury.

The passion for more land is one which works incalculable injury to American agriculture. It crowds out of farming many who would otherwise engage in it—many who, were small farms more readily attainable, would do good service in the culture of the soil, and in the elevation of the character of our farming population. If the great mass of farmers would engage in the laudable enterprise of "doubling their crops," they would soon find use at home for all their outside investments—and excuse for selling off that portion of their land which they had not ample means to cultivate,-would soon find, too, that they were making more money, and doing a more pleasant and

GROWING CLOVER FOR HAY, SEED, AND PASTURE. -The advantages of this crop are well stated in the communieation of "F., Orleans Co., N. Y.," and we can add our testimony to its value on all upland soils. As to hay the past season, although the dry weather of May and June injured our clover, we get more hay from six acres of this grass than from four times the number of acres of old

meadow.

Farmers who had no clover or newly seeded timothy meadows the past season, have little hay in their barns the present winter. We got a good second growth, but think it is not as fully seeded as some years-many heads containing little or none. The clover seed crop usually pays as well on the average as grain crops, and requires much less expense of cultivation. It probably exhausts the soil as much as other crops of equal value, but it also enriches it by increasing the return of manure from the barn-yard, and also by the decay of the numerous roots in the soil. B. Niagara Co., N. Y.

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