last fifteen years-wheat ranging from one to two | tation of being one of the best, and most successdollars per bushel, and corn from forty to seventy ful agriculturists in all the state of Virginia. cents per pushel; and I recollect one year when it was down to thirty cents per bushel. W. B. H. remarks, and very justly too, "that "Arator's" four-field system is the very best system in the world for thin lands." That has been my opinion for many years; but on land of tolerable fertility in this part of the country, it soon becomes too foul, and the profit is too small for good land. It is the best, and only system for our poor forest lands, and should be adopted by every farm The objection of W. B. H. that the four-field system gives little or no corn for sale, I think, is a mistake, for it will give at least as much corn per acre, which will be as much as the three-field system, minus one-fourth for sale; and it will give double as much wheat for sale at least. I say it will give as much corn per acre very confident-er whose land will not bear a more rigid system. ly, because it will enable you to manure so much more land, having so much more straw wherewith to make manure; so that you will be enabled to VIRGINIA. HILL CARTER. Mantura, Surry Co. Feb. 12, 1835. manure a much larger portion of your corn-field; SHEEP MANAGEMENT AND PROFITS IN LOWER and although the corn is after a crop of wheat, it will be equal or better in consequence of the larger To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. manuring, than in the three-field system; and I imagine no one will doubt that one hundred acres of clover fallow, and one hundred acres of cornfield wheat, will yield double as much as one hundred and thirty-three and a third acres of cornfield wheat-however better the corn-field wheat may be in the three, than the four-field system. The fourth and only sound objection to the fourfield system is, "that the three grain crops in succession is opposed to the experience of all good cultivators both in this country and Europe"-and this I admit is a defect in the system; but there are few things in this world without some defects, and we who contend for the system, think it has as few as any other. Besides, we think, that the large quantity of manure made under this system does away in a great measure the bad effects of the three grain crops in succession. I took up the last number of your Register this morning, and in glancing over the vignette on the cover, I was surprised to see that the sheep had been left out, not by design I hope, as I should be sorry to see an animal to which I am so partial, and one to which we are all under so many obligations, treated with so much neglect. I will give you in a very succinct manner, my mode of managing sheep, and if you think it may be of any advantage to the community at large, you are welcome to give it publicity." I keep about 100 ewes, principally for the benefit of the wool in clothing my negroes, which yield upon an average about three pounds. I raise from 80 to 90 lambs, all of which I sell in Norfolk (except those I keep for my own table) for $3 a piece, and am told that the butcher gets from $1 25 to 31 50 per quarter for them. In order to keep up my stock, I am compelled to purchase ewes, for all descriptions of which I give $1 50 each, some of them of course being very indifferent. I keep them constantly in pastures, a number of them being belled in order to give the alarm when attacked by thieves or dogs. The bell strap should be lengthened in November, on account of the growth of the wool. In December I commence feeding with one gill of corn meal per day, and occasionally cotton seed, which they are very fond of, and salt once a week, I continue this treatment until they have lambs, when I separate them, putting the ewes and lambs in another pasture, and increase their allowance of meal to a half pint, with as many cotton seed as they will eat, or pea hulls and fodder, when I have not the seed to spare. I pursue this course until the pasture affords a sufficient quantity of grass, which is about the 15th of April, when I leave them to shift for themselves, except giving them salt, W. B. H. prefers the five-field system, "if a part is to be cut off for pasture.” To the five-field system I have no objection, except that it requires too much fencing, requiring five fields to be fenced in, instead of two divisions, as in the four-field system. When I first altered my system from three to four fields, I was very anxious to adopt the five-field system, but for the fencing. But there is no difference in favor of the five-field system as to exhaustion, unless you have a standing pasture, (and then it would be six fields,) you are compelled to graze one of the fields at all seasons, wet or dry. Our four-field system with a standing pasture is somewhat of a five-field system itself. W. B. H. says, "the four-field system was practised at Dover in Goochland, long before it was tried in Curle's Neck, by a Mr. Harding, who leased the estate, and that it was found to be in a very empoverished condition by the gentleman who succeeded him." But W. B. H. does not tell us whether there was a standing pasture, and whether he used clover and plaster as a part of the system-(which I imagine was hardly done by a tenant-) and we cannot admit it to be the system we recommend, unless combined with a standing pasture, the fourth of the land annually sown in clover, and plastered, and made as perfect To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. as the system is capable of. Then if it fails we will give up. I understand however, that this very gentleman, (Mr, Harding,) after leaving Dover, purchased an estate on James River not in very good condition, and put it under the four-field system, with the use of clover and plaster, and that he improved it very much under that system; and when he died, he left his estate in a very high state of improvement,and what is more, he left the repu JAMES WILSON. A REMARKABLE CROP OF CORN. Nelson Co. Feb. 17, 1835. A small piece of land in this vicinity was made to produce the last year a crop of corn so unusual in the amount per acre, as to attract much notice in this region, and perhaps to merit being recorded for more public attention. It was grown on an island in James River, about two miles from the mouth of Rockfish. The whole island, it is sup posed, may contain 3 acres. But the portion | found scientific enough to give geological, chemicultivated was estimated not to exceed three-a cal, or philosophical essays, or only so plain as to part of the upper end having been left in trees and be able to say something, as I shall presently, shrubbery to arrest logs and other trash brought upon so small a topic as small potatoes. Your down by freshets, which might otherwise injure work is designed to do good—it has done, already, the crop, and a part left untilled near the water's great good: but I humbly think, that it may be edge all around. I rode with the manager over rendered greatly more beneficial, by the apparently the ground and concurred in the opinion expressed small amendment contemplated by the theory of by more competent judges who had previously your friend Peter, which I shall certainly carry visited it, that the above estimate was not extrav-out into practice, hoping soon to hear from him agant. The product measured was eighty-one again. Suppose, Mr. Editor, you were, as your and a half barrels, or over twenty-seven barrels subscribers are, compelled to receive and peruse to the acre. some twenty or fifty long letters every month, The mode of cultivation as reported by the over- touching all the various concerns of the contents seer, was as follows. The ground after being of one of the numbers of the Register, all under cleared up was laid off in drills four feet apart. A fictitious names, or from anonymous pens. If you coulter was then drawn to its full depth, back-could do no better, you might say of it well; but wards and forwards along the direction of these when it is known to be so easy a matter for a differdrills, and a single furrow with a two-horse plough ent state of things to be accomplished, how are we was thrown to them on each side. The top of the made to desire to know the name of every man bed thus formed, was again opened by a coulter, who thus writes to us! And this is no forced supand the corn sowed in March, as thickly as cotton position. Your contributors are not really writing seed usually are. It was twice cut down by frost, to you, as I appear to be doing now; but are acand many of the plants pulled up by birds. When tually writing to me, and to all your subscribers. thinned, near the parts thus depredated, three and I'll venture to say it, that if you will take the vote four stalks were left standing together, and the of your whole list, that nine-tenths will be with rest left at intervals of four to six inches. As usu- me. But I shall forget the potatoes. They shall al here, the coulter was run next the corn after be forthcoming, however; and what I wish becoming up. The balks were broken up with a sides, the best method that I have tried for preservone-horse plough. It received no cultivation after ing them through the winter. I mean Irish poharvest, and the result was as mentioned. The tatoes. overseer thinks that much was pillaged by boatmen, and a considerable quantity lost by the weeds, which in many places were as high as the cornand is confident that with increased care a larger crop may be made from the same land another year. It is the purpose of the proprietor, Mr. Samuel Jones of Buckingham, to have an accurate survey of the island, so that we may see the exact result. The land is not apparently richer than much in the same neighborhood, and along the river-so that we may legitimately infer that there are many farmers unaware of the capability of their soil, N. F. CABELL, REAL NAMES TO COMMUNICATIONS-KEEP- To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. King and Queen, 21st Feb., 1835. After the tops have withered under the influence of the frost, in mild weather let them be dug. Some appear to be more anxious to avoid the appearance and effects of frost, than seems to be important. But for the potato becoming saturated with water, it would remain good, in all probability, through the winter, in the patch. All that I do then, is simply to dig, and carry the crop into a dry cellar, deposite them in a heap as carefully as is convenient, and cover them over about six or eight inches thick with wheat straw; upon which it is well to lay an additional light cover of boards. They thus seem to derive some little moisture from the earth beneath, so as to keep them plump, while the simple covering described, excludes the air and influence of cold. So much then, Mr. Editor, for fictitious names, and the best method of preserving Irish potatoes. I have no idea of venturing much farther upon the great products of agriculture, because I mean to subscribe my name, and might thereby be brought into disproportionate discredit. Believing that the suggestions of the above plan will be pardoned, if found to be nothing more than an old thing, upon the ground of a desire to do good even in a small way, having often heard difficulties set forth upon the subject, I cheerfully submit it. J. DU VAL. I agree most cordially with your Matthews correspondent, Peter De Quir, in his excellent and pointed suggestions as to fictitious signatures, except his own most striking inconsistency. Now I may have fallen into a mistake as to this matter, but my impression is, that no such name as Peter De Quir is really known in Matthews; if so, is it not unfortunate that we should not have been favored with all the reasons for secrecy, while this sensible writer had the subject in hand? For [We agree entirely with our correspondent certainly if he had fairly uncovered himself, we propriety and necessity of the real names of corres should at least have seen him undisguised! But, pondents being affixed to all communications on prac Mr. Editor, I designed to say, that I am perfectlytical agriculture. This opinion we have repeatedly convinced that your Matthews correspondent is right in theory; and that every man should divest and strongly expressed-and have only refrained from himself of all false pretensions, and avoid disguise, continuing to urge it, because it seemed useless. We in giving either his opinions or practice upon the cannot compel correspondents to adopt this course; great subject of agriculture. Let every man be but of this they may be assured-that by presenting as to the des. quantity at the bottom, proceeded to place the po- troy half their value, and prevent their receiving the attention from the public, which they would otherwise command. But the evil is actually worse than our correspondent supposes. Some correspondents, not content with withholding their names from the readers of the Farmers' Register, conceal them from the editor. Nay, this disguise has been affected, where it could have no possible effect in concealing the writer where he was known, and only served to lessen the credit and proper value of the communication, where he was not known. Communications which had been pub-than if I had not used the sand, for they were licly read before an agricultural society, and approved, have been sent for publication without any clue to the authors' names. We take this occasion, however, to say, that communications of this kind, already made public, will not again be published as anonymous. As to other correspondents, if they choose to take away both credit and interest from their communications, by withholding their names-be it so. least necessary that their names should be made known to the editor: and unless that is done in future, very little respect will be paid to such pieces, or to writers who require to be so closely concealed. And further -if any name sent is not on our subscription list, or otherwise known, it will be supposed to belong to such a "man of straw" as it seems Peter De Quir is suspected to be. Communications signed by real names, will always receive (as they deserve) much more respect and attention from the editor, as well as from all readers, than the same pieces would, without that stamp of responsibility and value. But it is at - in No. placed in first and the sand afterwards thrown in and shaken down. I took no care to have dry sand, but used that which happened to be handy at the place where they were packed, and the most of it was moist. These potatoes lasted us until very late in the spring without sprouting or shriveling, as is always the case when kept late, nor did I loose many by rotting, perhaps not more than half a dozen to the barrel, and this I had every reason to expect, for the potatoes had been harvested several weeks, and in selecting them, the heaps were overhauled. Those which rotted, in all probability, had received some injury or had the seeds of decay, though not obvious at the time. From the Genesee Farmer. HARVESTING OF CORN. Mr. Editor-Some of my opinions respecting the best and most profitable mode of harvesting a crop of corn, were considerably shaken by the communications which appeared in the last volume of the Farmer on this subject, from men whose testimony is of the greatest weight. My impression has been, that to secure the greatest quantity of good sound corn, it was best, as soon as the tops had become somewhat dry, and the ears hard glazed, to top the corn, and let the ears stand on the stalks till the time of gathering, and such of course has generally been my practice. I did this, because I believed that after the top had performed its office of fecundating the plant, it became in a manner useless; and that stalks dry, and leaves withered, however excellent as a fodder for Since writing the opinions expressed above, a striking illustration of their truth has been received in a private letter from a friend, who is himself one of our most valuable anonymous correspondents. He asks, "Who is your correspondent from Are his crops made on land, or on paper? I should guess the latter." Now if the piece referred to had been signed by the writer's proper name, (which in this case we have, though, as in all such cases, confidentially,) probably no such doubt would have existed. Having so stated this inquiry as to give no clue to the true object, we should be very glad if every anony-cattle, could do little or nothing towards elaboramous correspondent would make the application to his own communication-and particularly that the friend who has made the inquiry, will profit by the lesson which his words indirectly but forcibly convey to others.] Extract from the Southern Agriculturist. green ting the juices necessary for the perfection of the ears. It besides appeared to me that the fresh and husks which farmers know retain their power of elaborating sap much longer in general than the leaves, were designed by nature to supply the ears with food; and though opposed to the mutilation of plants generally, as the means of increasing their productiveness, topping corn I did not consider as an operation of that kind. When EXPERIMENT, IN KEEPING SWEET POTATOES. such men, however, as Buel and Coleman, maintain a different theory, and backed by experiment, Charleston S. C., Dec. 23rd, 1834. contend that topping corn is hurtful, it certainIt became necessary for me to spend the whole ly becomes minor agriculturists to pause, and winter together with my family in the city. Hav-test the question thoroughly. These farmers, and ing made a fine crop of potatoes, I wished that others assert, that topping corn is decidedly injuwe should enjoy at least a portion of them, and at rious-that it materially lessens the actual weight the same time, did not feel disposed to purchase of the crop-and, therefore, that allowing the what was in such abundance on the plantation. stalk to remain whole till the time of gathering, As opportunities would offer but seldom to bring or else cutting it up close to the bottom, is the them from thence, I determined to pack some up preferable mode of harvesting. in barrels, and knowing from sad experience, how rapidly they decayed when thus packed alone, I had a parcel of sand got, and placing a small These experiments, though so far as they were detailed, they appeared to be very fairly conducted, were not altogether satisfactory to me, as they did not go far enough. Every farmer is sensible, that It had vanished by the third morning; and on dig corn topped becomes more thoroughly dried by ex-ging where it had been laid, he found it buried to posure to the direct rays of the sun, and must the depth of three inches, and under it four beetherefore be expected to weigh less at the time of tles, which seemed to have been the agents in this gathering than corn shaded by the tops, or cut up singular inhumation. Not perceiving any thing by the bottom and standing in stacks till husked. particular in the mole, he buried it again; and on My corn the past year had been cut up by the bot- examining it at the end of six days, he found it tom, with the exception of a few pieces of rows, swarming with maggots, apparently the issue of before the thought of making any experiments the beetles, which M. Gleditsch now naturally conmyself on the subject occurred. In order to see, cluded had buried the carcass for the food of their however, whether my ideas of the different rate of future young. To determine these points more shrinkage between topped corn, and that cut up, clearly, he put four of these insects into a glass were correct, I carefully weighed a basket full of vessel, half filled with earth and properly secured, ears of each kind, at the time of gathering, and and, upon the surface of the earth, two frogs. In placing them in a dry chamber, where they lay less than twelve hours, one of the frogs was interundisturbed, let them remain until the middle of red by two of the beetles; the other two ran about January, when I had both kinds carefully shelled the whole day as it busied in measuring the diand weighed. By this experiment, it appeared mensions of the remaining corpse, which on the that the corn cut up by the bottom shrunk three third day was also found buried. He then intropounds in a bushel more than the topped; but this duced a dead linnet. A pair of the beetles were did not mark the extent of the difference, as at the soon engaged upon the bird. They began their time of shelling, the former was easily distin- operations by pushing out the earth from under guished from the latter by its comparative damp- the body, so as to form a cavity for its reception; ness, though both parcels were bright, fine corn. and it was curious to see the efforts which the beeI cannot, therefore, consider the question as en-tles made, by dragging at the feathers of the bird tirely put at rest by any experiments that have yet been made, but as the matter is certainly one of importance, I hope that another season will not pass without its being done effectually. In order to do this, all the specimens must not only be weighed and measured at the time of gathering and at the time of shelling, but be suffered to remain in some position favorable to the evaporation of all dampness until the corn is completely and thoroughly dried, when a careful comparison of the whole would show the true result. W. G. From the Genesee Farmer. ON SPLITTING FIRE-WOOD. from below, to pull it into its grave. The male, having driven the female away, continued the work alone for five hours. He lifted up the bird, changed its place, turned it and arranged it in the grave, and from time to time came out of the hole, mounted upon it, and trode it under foot, and then retired below, and pulled it down. At length, apparently wearied with this uninterrupted labor, it came forth, and leaned its head upon the earth beside the bird, without the smallest motion, as if to rest itself, for a full hour, when it again crept under the earth. The next day, in the morning, the bird was an inch and a half under ground, and the trench remained open the whole day, the corpse seeming as if laid out upon a bier, surrounded with a rampart of mould. In the evening, it We have lately examined a quantity of fire- had sunk half an inch lower, and in another day wood, which was cut and corded last winter; and the work was completed, and the bird covered. we have become still more strongly impressed with M. Gleditsch continued to add other small dead the importance of having every stick split that is animals, which were all sooner or later buried; large enough to receive a stroke of the axe, longi-and the result of his experiment was, that in fifty tudinally. It not only dries better, but some kinds of wood are rendered by this operation nearly of double value; and we are warranted by our examinations in saying that hickory is one of those kinds. Sticks of six or eight inches diameter, which were quartered at that time, are now seasoned, hard and solid; while such as were left to soak in their sap, are most miserably worm eaten. The round sticks of bass-wood escaped these depredators, but their value is greatly lessened by incipient decay; and retain too much moisture to be profitably used without kiln-drying. We are persuaded that to split all such wood, and to let out the sap, is a most judicious investment of capital. From the Monthly Magazine. A foreign naturalist gives a very interesting account of the industry of this insect. He had of ten remarked that dead moles, when laid upon the ground, especially if on loose earth, were almost sure to disappear in the course of two or three days, often of twelve hours. To ascertain the cause, he placed a mole upon one of the beds in his garden. days four beetles had interred, in the very small space of earth allotted to them, twelve carcasses; viz. four frogs, three small birds, two fishes, one mole, and two grasshoppers, besides the entrails of a fish, and two morsels of the lungs of an ox. In another experiment, a single beetle buried a mole forty times its own bulk and weight in two days. From the Library of Useful Knowledge, Farmer's Series. [Concluded from p. 597, Vol. II.] The English Horse. The earliest record of the horse in Great Britain is contained in the history given by Julius Cæsar of his invasion of our island. The British army was accompanied by numerous war-chariots, drawn by horses. Short scythes were fastened to the ends of the axletrees, sweeping down every thing before them, and carrying terror and devastation into the ranks of their enemies. The conqueror gives a most animated description of the dexterity with which the horses were managed. What kind of horse the Britons then possessed, it would be useless to inquire; but, from the cumbrous structure of the car, and the fury with which it was driven, and from the badness or nonexistence of the roads, they must have been both active and powerful in an extraordinary degree. Cæsar deemed them so valuable, that he carried many of them to Rome; and the British horses were, for a considerable period afterwards, in great request in various parts of the Roman empire. Horses must at that time have been exceeding ly numerous in Britain, for we are told that when the British king, Cassibellanus, dismissed the main body of his army, he retained four thousand of his war-chariots for the purpose of harrassing the Romans, when they attempted to forage. at three years sixty pence. It was then to be tamed with the bridle, and brought up either as a palfrey or a serving horse; when its value became one hundred and twenty pence; and that of a wild or unbroken mare, sixty pence. Even in those early days, the frauds of dealers were too notorious, and the following singular regulations were established. The buyer was allowed time to ascertain whether the horse were free from three diseases. He had three nights to prove him for the staggers; three months to prove the soundness of his lungs; and one year to ascertain whether he was infected with glanders. For every blemish discovered after the purchase, onethird of the money was returned, except it should be a blemish of the ears or tail. The British horse now received its first cross; but whether the breed was thereby improved can- The practice of letting horses for hire was then not be ascertained. The Romans having estab-known, and then, as now, the services of the poor lished themselves in Britain, found it necessary to hack were too brutally exacted. The benevolent send over a numerous body of cavalry to maintain Howell disdains not to legislate for the protection a chain of posts and check the frequent insurrec- of this abused and valuable servant. "Whoever tions of the natives. The Roman horses would shall borrow a horse, and rub the hair so as to breed with those of the country, and, to a greater gall the back, shall pay fourpence; if the skin is or less extent, change their character; and from forced into the flesh, eight pence; if the flesh be this time, the English horse would consist of a forced to the bone, sixteen pence. compound of the native and those from Gaul, One circumstance deserves to be remarked, that Italy, Spain, and every province from which the in none of the earliest historical records of the AnRoman cavalry was supplied. Many centuries af-glo-Saxons or the Welsh, is there any allusion to terwards passed by, and we have no record of the character or value, improvement or deterioration, of the animal. It would appear probable, however, that Athelstan, the natural son of Alfred the Great, and the second in succession to him, paid some attention to the improvement of the horse; for having subdued all the rebellious portions of the Heptarchy, he was congratulated on his success by some of the continental princes, and received from Hugh Caper of France, who solicited his sister in marriage, various presents, doubtless of a nature that would be thought most acceptable to him; and among them several German running horses. Hence our breed received another cross, and probably an improvement. the use of the horse for the plough. Until a comparatively recent period, oxen alone were used in England, as in other countries, for this purpose; but about this time (the latter part of the tenth century) some innovation on this point was creeping in, and, therefore, a Welsh law forbids the farmer to plough with horses, mares, or cows, but with oxen alone. On one of the pieces of tapestry woven at Bayonne in the time of William the Conqueror, (A. D. 1066) there is the figure of a man driving a horse attached to a harrow. This is the earliest notice we have of the use of the horse in field labor. With William the Conqueror came a marked improvement in the British horse. To his superiority in cavalry this prince was chiefly indebted for Athelstan seems to have seriously devoted him- the victory of Hastings. The favorite charger of self to this important object, for he soon afterwards William was a Spaniard. His followers, both the decreed (A. D. 930) that no horses should be sent barons and the common soldiers, came principalabroad for sale, or on any account, except as royally from a country in which agriculture had made presents. This proves his anxiety to preserve the breed, and likewise renders it probable that the breed was beginning to be esteemed by our neighbors. In a document bearing date A. D. 1000 we have an interesting account of the relative value of the horse. If a horse was destroyed, or negligently lost, the compensation to be demanded was thirty shillings; a mare or colt, twenty shillings; a mule or young ass, twelve shillings; an ox, thirty pence; a cow, twenty-four pence; a pig, eight pence; and, it strangely follows, a man, one pound.* more rapid progress than in England. A very considerable portion of the kingdom was divided among these men; and it cannot be doubted that, however unjust was the usurpation of the Norman, England benefited in its husbandry, and particularly in its horses, by the change of masters. Some of the barons, and particularly Roger de Boulogne, earl of Shrewsbury, introduced the Spanish horse, on their newly-acquired estates. The historians of these times, however, principally monks, knowing nothing about horses, give us very little information on the subject. In the laws of Howell the Good, Prince of In the reign of Henry I. (A. D. 1121) the first Wales, and passed a little before this time, there Arabian horse, or, at least, the first on record, was are some curious particulars respecting the value introduced. Álexander I., king of Scotland, preand sale of horses. The value of a foal not four-sented to the church of St. Andrew's an Arabian teen days old is fixed at four pence, at one year horse, with costly furniture, Turkish armor, many and a day it is estimated at forty-eight pence; and valuable trinkets, and a considerable estate. Forty years afterwards, in the reign of Henry According to the Anglo-Saxon computation, forty-II., Smithfield was celebrated as a horse-market. eight shillings made a pound, equal in silver to about three pounds of our present money, in value to fifteen or sixteen pounds, and five pence made one shilling. Fitz-Stepen, who lived at that time, gives the following animated account of the manner in which the hackneys and charging-steeds were tried there, |