Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1852-07-22
Gbe loIuw ano tbr Gur.
BY n. y. WALTON.
" he that by the Plow would thrive
Himself must either HOLD or DHivE.n

The Cultiyator, Albany, ~ Y in the num-
Der for June, has some good articles, adapt
ed to every part Of the country, and all sea-
sons o! the year. Among the prominent ar
ticles is notice Of Il. ]. MEcms
account of the operations of his farm, a
pamphlet Of A pages, recently published in
London The lavish expenditure which
Mr.. Mechi, an English farmer, has bestow-
ed in improving aud enriching his land, has
attracted a great deal of public attention,
an is worthy the notice, tho not the imiia-
ton Of Vermont farmers. They will be in
terested to know that Mr. Ms. object is to
reach, on his entire farm of one hundred
and seventy acres, that degree Of high cul-
ture given to the best kitchen gardens, and
that TO accomplish this, he has paid, in
single year, for oil cake and grain, to be
consumed 10y his stock and converted into
manure, a sum little short Of eight Thousand
dollars The same year he bought stock
to the amount of more than three thousand
dollars, aud about seven hundred dollars
worth ofguano, phosphate ofime aud chalk.
TO show the footings of his balance sheet,
we make extracts from the Cultivaior-as
follows:
His wheat crop Of - acres, INCLUDING
one field injured by bligh) yielded an aver
age Of 36 bushels Of marketable wheat per
acre; tweuly-seven and half acres of po-
tatoes, only halfa CROP having been in
jured by drouth," afforded but ll5 bushels
per acre; ruta bagas produced II tons, and
mangold wurzels b tons per acre. Ten
thousand dollars worth of meat and live
stock we're sold, the results of his system
for manuring, although not paying cost IN
dependentIy of the manure afforded. On
the whole, taking into consideration the
rapidly improving process the farm is un-
dergolng, he regards the results as highly
favorable, much more so than by ordinary
cultivation.
Leaving entirely out of the calculation
the expenditures IN the purchase of stock
and food solely for the manufacture Of ma
nure, and the proceeds of the sales of meat
aud stock, bis expenditures including rent,
taxes and labor, purchased manures, inter-
est, wear and tcnr, Sc, are ~ ,O6i his
crops amount to { 1875, leaving balance
of C7l in his favor, although bis root crops
are not given at market but at consuming
prices. For example, his mangold wurzels
al Is. per ton, while he could have sold
them at 9s cd per ton, but in that case he
would lose the manure made from their
consumption.
1t Is also to be remembered, that farming
IN England is at present quite a retrogade
or down-hill business Five thousand dol
lars product of farm of 100 acres, with
potatoes at % cents, wheat at 81 25 per
bushel, and roots at : 80 per ton, as these
were sold, would be remarkable farming in
this country.
His accounts show that there were GI0
worth of meat made and Is worth of grain
produced, that IS, over serenity dollars, for
every acre of the land on the farm. His
neghbor assured him that he would sooner
occupy such land at 40s. rent per acre,
than to hold his own free of rent Yet he
aiIirms that when he first occupied the land
the roots grown were scarcely larger than
apples, while now "pIenty of them weigh
seventeen pounds each"
Some interesting facts are furnished,
showing the permanency Of the improve
ments He first began with artificial ma
nures, (guano, &c.) which operated power
fully while the land was yet poor, but ex-
perlence soon taught him that they were
more costly than manure produced by feed
ing stock. The former acted quickly, and
were quickly expended the latter were
greatly superior IN durability. Speaking
of the retentiye tendency Of clay soils, he
remarks, " So striking Is this retentlve ten
deucy, that | have been able to distinguish
for five years that portion of one OF my fields
which then received good manure, although
tue NublG has SlAltt DItu idliiith anu ma
nured alike.
could name similar instances, show
ing the difference for twelve years, but the
most iorcibe evidence of good cultivation
and manure was the following Walking,
before harvest, with friend IN his wheat
field, was struck with the marked superb
ority of one corner, and asked for an expa-
nation. ooh !" said he, " this portion was
once a cottage garden" " How long ago!"
"Why," said he, have known the field
fifty years, aud IT was ten years before that
time"
Some idea" he adds, of the perma-
ueuty improved condition Of the clayey por-
ton of my land, may be formed when l tell
you, that the yellow sub-soil would former
ly be found in iour-inch blowing, but
now good digging IN the burrows wall fail
to reveal 1t; aud even at lower depths the
pale bird-Ime-lke appearance is changed
to a mellow and much darker colored fra
bility." So much for drainage, cultivation
and manure