Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1833-11-19

In fertility W. %" "'''' sa's"S'
The system pursued by MIR Lewis (of wysnokr, } /.
oe'unu, one, ann nus i'rn much Improved under il,
s any would be under his neat and attic manage
ent bu, there arc but few formers who could he sails
he'd wi small return from such an ex,en, of ar,h
'and and labor employed Under that system farm ouy
TO become rich IN very lew yesrs, by not ,,win aud
grazing TO such All extent as he does h the o,.c -, ~,
clover lay i. the Improvement OF the soil E,h! V,s
DC the case, where we have little demand for bav :.
CROP It would be great economy aud saving of H..
bo"r' to plough 1t under. and thereby manure much
Larger sniAce'he ioider aud other oilal the farm be,
ing sufficient for the teams aud stock This. boweyor
may be the mos, profitable aud suitable mode of
!arn OF light SOIL One OF stuff. by no, moving and grazing
such excess would IN lew years. become rich az de-
sired Pursuing this course, you lose entirety the bens
oil the clover lay Tor the wheat CROP which 50 10 100 per
cent For am persuaded If he now makes 20 al
wheat TO the he would, by having when, TO olIo,
after clover make 80 40 BY the wsy in ansx or IN
one Of your queries why should this system, (he
'""r neit which have been ing TO be
prac'ised light so.' that viii &C have
tins advantage, that tho land be iallowsd in almost all
seasons being seldom too wet hard both of which
are frequent and serious obstacles with s,i and mh
greater surface can be put in wheat with less labor The
e may noi perhaps be MS great to the acre; but this
coun'ctoaahred by larger extent OF land h ,ha sane
or less labor Employed aud the soil will bear II
put little que s'ion provided the clover is all Sc 10 ,r
land, especially assisted with plaster or lime nor
ton oil the Shirley estate of this character of anil and
Yields aoundantly in wheat; and think have heard Mir
say, at II was the most profitable portion of his es.
e, by yielding good crops Of both and wheat Such
SOILS would no doubt be much benefited as il regard, Tho
wheat crop, by being ampled by cattle after the clover
mr.
rolled heavily in the spring find advantage from such
course, even with stiff land; having ntv obxc,v
ca That such portions OF the field rodden by cat
lie produced better wheat owing, probably to the clover
leaving The land too porous This, however, should be
carefully avoided until the clover has gotten its full
growth and the blossom gins 10 die.
The strongest proof within my knowledge of the r,p;a
Improvement under the field and f.l,ow sv,,en
IN ,e Gods fsrm "a small estate lying in that beautiful
neck Of land called CurIes but that am unable
give you more enlarged OF the Improvement
o, mat meek generally, s consider it the garden spot
49, In The year 1916 Mr. James NJ Selden took charge Of
woods farm, OF $50 of arabic land the remainino
81 oehg all swamp land subject the inundaion
oil he tides Previous TO his taking charge of the estate
nhad been managed by overseers or great nuu,brr If
years. under this disastrous system OF three fields To
those who acquainted with the character Of the soil in
The neck, would DO superfiuous 10 saw much ali al
therefore, only state that possesses all the qualities of our
roam lands only perhaps TO greater degree than any
9her win my knowledge: and probably would be this
harsh end bad treatment, TO greater extent than no.
otner SOILS Under this three field rotation the crop, ON
inns estate were never than or 400 bushels of ~
and from 100 TO l2o barrels Of corn He at once saw ,ha
10 perseNera IN this system OF was TO work for
nT.ng, anu hnaly, to be left in utter poverty he re-
soVed on change tothe four field fsow system The
crops alter the adoption of this change were in everv ro
TALON increased TO double aud in very few wears TO five
or SIX times the quantity. will here observe Thai Mr.
James NJ Seiden, (wbo was, think the best farmer
ever SAW wss the first, who ever introduced Tho lour
neu ana ialow system Oh James River Under his very
Juueious Management, this little estate became mu i'm
proved and finally became Of most productive ON The
rver' or perhaps in the State rcaped from one hundred
acres OF h's h''ie arin 240O bushels of wheat and
he same year made upwards of 500 barrels OF corn
portion oil the corn was made small pie &c of re claim
ell swamp land, but which repaid for the trouble
ana scarcely ever yield much the acre
tie highland The estate has kept under This svs,o
ever SINCE and is now capable OF producing 80
wheat 10 The acre. and fon to 10 barrels of corn The
average crops OF wheat, for the years had The nance.
men' OF H. were near 1000 bushels, never having more
man nan In cultivation, Wis 1875 (This was from
80 ~ io<y) what was more remarkable in the i'm.
provement OF this es,ate is that il never had the ,5van
aSe OF standing pasture The cattle of course derived
all !heir sustenance from the cultivated portion of the
estate (or clover held) IT, them aboring under this
(Which is great one) the mt has
peeh so great would necessarily follow, that it would
ve oeeh murh more rapid with the assistance of a
ing pasture. In conclusion INV dear sir have oni' 70
express my regret that have been able from the
pressure oil various duties, to develope will, fness and
accuracy, my humble notions on the cultivation ot I'M.
SOIL wishing you every possible success in the useful
ana merorious Journal you have Ike the nu;ca
ton Of 1 subscribe myself
Your friend and obedient servant
JOHN A. SELDEN