New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-09-25
A VISIT TO A NEU-YORK FARM
Editorial Correspondence Of The n. Y. Tribune.

Editorial Correspondence Of The n. Y. Tribune.
LEROY, Genesee Co.. Sept 4, 1853.
/ Yesterday gratified q wish, long entertained by
Writing the farm Of Mai. A. b. Dickinson, i'll the
township of Hornby, Steuben County. The ride
thi,her eight miles from the Erie Railroad at Corning,
lies through region well calculated to set of to adj
vantage any good farming that may be discovered at
tie end Of the route having been despoed of is natu
raj beauty and grace by the lumbean, and not yet re-
created by the hnsbandman-a region of ragged for
este bushy cleanss scaniy crops and thirty scattered
habitetons, i'll adapted to human comfort that one
could hardly wish there Of them, unless they
were better. The road is such this style Of country
produces; only at interval. and with difficulty admit
ting Of the passage of one wagon by another. Wind
ing upward through wide ravine you at last to
the ample isrm--some eight hundred acres in
which Maj. Dickinson has hewed out of the primitive
wilderness. while several other farms surrounding this
and djGcent TO it, belong to the owner aud
Tainly cultivated under his direction. ] spent
Eve hours-pdrt Of them rainy onesn traversing thi
home farm and cleaning what | could of infor.na-
ton and direction for the guidance of younger less
successful farmers from Maj. Dickinsons explanations
and Dscarding the order Of time, can best
eondense this information for by bringing il under
heads Of Soil, Drainage, Irrigation, Hllsge, Crops,
&C. as shall now proceed TO do:
l. SoA-Ilis lie mainly clay loan, Of good medium
quality, like that which prev ais through the greater
portion Of Chaulauque and other excellent grazing
Counties Of our State. The timber-mainly Beech,
Maple, Hcmlock &c--was cleared off from ten to
thirty years ago. II lies some six 70 eight hundred
Zee, above the surface of the tributary Of the Susque
hanna A. Corning to which is waters descend, and is
not overlooked by any land in its vicinity. For the
most part, it slopes moderately to the creek-beds by
which il is ntcrsocicd. There is MI abundance of
Naturally quite good land ia our State yet covered
by tie primitive forest and for sale at g. to $0 per
acre.
II. Drajrpg.-I believe there is not a rod ofte laid
thi farm aud not dozen rods ofcoyered stone drsin
But the Major has homo made, or at least home
devised, "bul plow," consisting of shsrp-poin,ed
iron wedge or roller surmouned by = broad. sharp
shan nearly four feet high with still sharper cutter
in front, ard with & beam and handles above all
With FIVE yoke Of attached this pillow is put down
through the soil and subsoil to an average depth of
three feet in the which the superRuous water
expected and desired To take; and the field thus
plowed through and through at intervals Of two rods
down 10 three feet, L. the ground Is more or less
spIncy and saturated with water. The cut made by
the shank closes after the pillow and obliestei
while that made by the roller OF wedge o, the bottom
becomes tie channel of Il stream of wster whenever
there is any excess of moisture above its level which
stream tends clear itself and rather enlarge it's chan
mel. From ten To- twenty per day are thus
drsned and Major II. Las such drains Of fifteen to
twenty years' standing which still do good service
IL rocky soils, this mode of draining is impraeticab,:
in sandy tracts il would no. endure; but here il does
vcry wei, aid, though il should hold good ia the
average bat ten year, !; would many tiues repay it's
cot.
Ill. HrigosicR-H.ls Ike Mai. D.s are apt 10
have springs their SUBMITS, and his land has
many. His mole of draining adds considerably, in
eject, to their number. Tire water flowing from sew
eral q these is restrained by dams forming shallow
reservoirs which are plowed from time 10 time when
empty so Us to render their contents muddy when
they shall next be filed; If geese and ducks resort 10
them or h barn-yard drains into Of them 80 much
the better. The wafer thus enriched, and warmed by
the heat of the Summer sun, is conducted by open
bitches roadside and other over many ajscent scre
with resulting Increase Of fertility marvellous TO be-
hold Hard white clay is thus transformed into black
mold or muck in the course Of few years producing
most luxmiant harvests, especially Of grass. II is
quite within bounds to estimate the increased yield of
Hay hccsuse Of irrigation a. one tnn peI ennu.