The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1848-04-08
SUGGESTIONS TO FARMERS.

| sometimes fancy to myself, when hear per-
sons who live on the rich and fertile praries OF
the west praise the luXnriancc Of their soil ;, and
hoast tthc bountitnl crops they yield with lit
tie labor, that they ought to be regarded some
what as We no" look upon those early settlers
in the Mohawk valley, who, 1t is SAID, were in
the habit OF carlinm the manure made upon their
lands to the river and throwing it IN for fear
that should it remain, their lands would become
too rich.
In their wisdom, suppoSnw their lands could
never he exhausted they cuntnuc to pillow the
same fields, until at last ga change came over
the spirits Of their dreams, " aud they found t"
their cost that the lands that they thought in
cNhaustlble fertile had become sterile and I'M
productive; and such think will be the result
Of the present system o' cultivation pursued by
oar western friends. Chemistry shows us that
by taking cuccession of crops off from the
same ground one year after another, without
any return to it, the inevitable effect must be
ultimately, chat it will lose its fertility. The
lands Of our country. especially the richer por-
lions Of it, have quite too commonly met with
this usage, A few Years since il was not u.,fre-
qucnily remarked by our farmers, that they for
mcrI received goods crops from particular por-
tons OF their lands, but that then they could not
ret crops from the same ground that would pay
the trouble Of cultivation. Something, they
81 I'd must he wanting in the soil, bat what they
did not know Chemistry has solved this pro-
hIcm, and II Is now beginning to he understood
hv them, that their sod mus, be- fed wi.h proper
food as well rs their cattle If they would have 1t
productive; aud tina, true economy consists III
highly ruIrva,ing smaller quantities of land. by
deer pcughng and manurine, rather than run
Mug over large quantity of land with slight
tlIiage.
ga little farm we'll titled
A little wife well wlled,
A large barn well filled,
Give me, give me-"
This lesson is one our farmers have been slow
to learn. While it has been their practice in
Cutivating their gardens to resort to thorough
tlIIagc, and as Il consequence, they produce more
from them than from any other equal portion Of
their land; in the raising OF field crops the hint
thus gwen them has been entirely neglected.
It's supposed that the fruit and kitchen gar
dens in the vicinity ol,hc city OF London, occu-
Ply 10000 acres Of land and that the produce
of this land is sold for ever y 900 900, while in
the most favored portions of farming lands in our
own country, sjU000O would generally be con-
sidered a GOOD product for the same quantity of
land Know ledge and experience viii in time
correct the errors into which oar farmers have
ihlIcn in regard to cnlvnting their lands, and
even now | think see a bright prospect for the
lulure I'd Tic FORMATION o!agrlt ulural societies,
i'll the circulation ofagricultural papers, and 9TH
er periodicals; in the Improvement of the farm
stock; in tie improved tllage and drainage of
lands; and above al, il the increased attention
givun to the saving and use of manures. When
these come to be well understood and practiced,
we may confidently expect TO see farms OF 40
and GO acres producing more, and returning
better and more certain profit to the farmer,
than farms now do which contain many add
tional acres.-.Iibany Cuiticmor.