ally try to leave not less than 2 or more than 3 stalks in a hill; sometimes, if the ground is strong, leave 4. Those that cultivate oats sow their stalk ground in oats in the spring, with about 2 bushels to the acre. After the oats are taken off, put out our barn and other manure, plough it under, and not stir it. Sow from 1 to 2 bushels of wheat to the acre, broadcast. Some harrow both ways, and some only one way. Those that sow wheat or corn ground cut up the corn in the fore part of September, plough it well one way, and sow it broadcast, as above. The wheat-drill has been introduced into our county, but has not been sufficiently tested yet to give a definite opinion. I have used what we call a slide on my wheat this fall, instead of a roller. We take a log as long as a common roller, split it in two, hew it straight, with one edge a little bevelled, put a tongue in the centre, and drag it, instead of its rolling. When we use this we only harrow one way, and pass the slide immediately after the harrow. My wheat came up well, and continues to look well; but when we come to harvest it, we will be better able to judge of its utility. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. THOMAS EWBANK. SAMUEL WISCOM. SIR: Your Circular of August last was received by me in September, asking information on agricultural subjects. I will give the practical experience I possess upon the culture of corn, wheat, barley, &c., and the use of guano as a fertilizer. Corn. In the first place, I plough my corn land 8 inches deep; sow guano, 300 pounds to the acre; and plough it in, 6 inches deep. I then lay off the rows 3 feet each way, leaving 2 stalks to the hill, and till principally with the fluke harrow. My average crop in 1851 was 30 bushels per acre on 130 acres. In 1850 I broke up a few acres of wet, flat land, entirely unproductive; I spread 50 bushels of lime to the acre in 1849; in 1850, after ploughing, I sowed 200 pounds guano to the acre; ploughed it in, 6 inches deep; planted in corn, 34 feet each way. It yielded 28 bushels to the acre. In 1851, applied 200 pounds guano to the acre; planted in the same way, and raised 40 bushels per acre. I intend the next spring to give the same land 300 pounds guano to the acre, and plant again in corn. Wheat. My wheat crop the last year was small, having sown very poor land, with a small portion of guano, (the price in 1850 being $60 per ton). I sowed the last fall about 70 acres in wheat; ploughed the ground 8 inches deep with the Prouty plough No. 51; sowed 300 pounds guano to the acre, and ploughed as deep as I could with a three-furrowed plough; harrowed the ground, and drilled in the wheat, 14 bushel per acre. Barley. In 1850 and 1851 I sowed a small quantity of barley on poor corn land; put 200 pounds guano per acre, seeded 14 bushel per acre, and raised 20 bushels per acre. I consider barley a very profitable cropmore so than wheat or oats; and I design, the coming spring, to substi tute barley in lieu of oats. Guano.-I have used guano for several years past in different ways and quantities, and, judging from past experiments, I believe 300 pounds per acre, ploughed in 6 inches deep, is the most profitable way it can be used. The farmers in this section are using lime, slacked at the kilns before being brought here. It probably pays better than guano, taking 10 years together. We get it from New York at 64 cents, and from Schuylkill at 8 cents per bushel. Guano has a most powerful effect on the poor lands here, and our farmers, although slow in their improvements, are begining to see that farming is but a poor business without the use of lime and guano. The poor lands here will, in most cases, yield 10 bushels of corn for every 100 pounds of guano. Very respectfully, yours, Hon. THOMAS EWBANK, Commissioner of Patents. S. P. HOUSTON. NEAR SEAFORD, SUSSEX COUNTY, DELAWARE, December 3, 1851. SIR: The county of Sussex, in which I reside, has an extremely level surface and sandy soil, interspersed with extensive swamps and numerous ponds, which, in past years, have tended to make the climate very sickly; but our farmers having lately adopted the plan of ditching their lands, the climate has become comparatively healthy, and land which had been rendered almost useless for the want of this improvement now exhibits a wonderful degree of natural productiveness, yielding in some instances from 50 to 75 bushels of corn per acre, without the aid of manure. I regret to say, however, that in a considerable portion of the county there has been, and there still is, a great deal of bad farming; and so great is the desire of the owner of land to make it pay for itself by the lumber which can be cut on it to supply a city market, that he neglects the improvement of his land altogether. Land soon becomes waste and worthless by such means. I am happy in having this opportunity to state that in this immediate section the method of improving the soil has been for a few years undergoing a great change for the better, and is still increasing in interest and energy. The manuring of land was formerly deemed a matter of small importance, but now it is considered the indispensable requisite to good farming. Old causeway gutters, ditch banks, fence rows, and muck holes, instead of being left to breed disease, are cleaned out, and their contents turned into compost to improve the soil. Our purchased manures consist of lime, ashes, guano, bone-dust, and poudrette. The quantity which is usually brought to our little village, (Seaford,) and used in this vicinity, I have no means of ascertaining precisely, but, from the best calculation in my power, I would say t from 60,000 to 80,000 bushels of lime at 7 to 8 cents per bushel, and from 40,000 to 60,000 bushels of ashes at 12 cents, are delivered here that annually, and 80 to 140 tons of guano, besides bone-dust and poudrette—the quantity unknown. Corn is the chief staple of this county; but the land, when improved for the production of other grains, is found capable of making a satisfac. tory return for labor bestowed. There are many varieties of corn in our crops, since but little care is taken to select the pure grain for seed, and the different species have an extreme natural tendency to mix when planted indiscriminately. Yellow corn was formerly preferred, but white corn has recently commanded the best prices, and consequently this is now the favorite with us. It is not considered well for a person to speak much of his own transactions; but, as a planter can speak more understandingly of his own. mode of cultivation than of that of another, I presume that I may be excused. My plan is to run the plough 5 to 7 inches deep through a clover sod about the 1st of March; follow this with the drag-harrow in the same direction; then strike off a two-furrowed list from 3 to 4 inches deep, and about 4 feet apart, from centre to centre; cross the list by single furrows, the same distance apart; drop 4 or 5 grains in a hill, and, as soon as the corn is sufficiently high, thin out to 2 or 3 stalks in each hill; apply the cultivator twice in a row each way, then the plough 4 times; and, lastly, the fluke-harrow twice; which finishes the tilling. When the corn is hard, I top and strip it, stock the fodder when cured, gather the corn in the month of October, and then cut, haul, and rick the stalks for provender and manure. The Wheat Crop of this year is an average one. There are many varie. ties; but the blue stem, white, and Mediterranean are the favorites with us; the former being thought to be better adapted to our soil than any other; the latter being of earlier growth, and more able to withstand the fly and the rust. My mode of culture is to plough from the middle to the last of August; then use the drag-harrow, and commence seeding about the latter part of September, and finish about the middle of October. Sow broadcast, from 1 to 14 bushel per acre, plough it in 3 inches deep, and then run the roller over it, in the same direction as the plough. Begin to harvest about the 1st of July, or sooner; reap with the ordinary scythe and cradle; bind and stack, and secure as soon as practicable. An average crop on improved land is from 15 to 20 bushels to the acre. Oats are thought to have a tendency to impoverish the land, and therefore are not much attended to. Barley.-None raised in the county to my knowledge. Grasses have not generally been sown until a few years past; but now this enterprise is deemed a matter of considerable interest and importance. Clover is the principal grass sown here; I sow it on my wheat ground immediately after ploughing and before rolling. Fruit is needlessly neglected in this county, for the land is particularly adapted to the culture of almost all kinds of fruit, more especially the apple and peach. These would thrive here and live to an old age. I think the grape also would do well, for there is on my land a native vine of one foot diameter. But this subject, we may hope, is attracting more attention, since more fruit has been shipped from the county this year than in any previous year. As my time is sufficiently employed for other purposes, I raise fruit merely for domestic use. The subject of manure has already been attended to. Allow me to say something more: I commence in the latter part of the fall to haul pine-shatters, woodsdirt, and the contents of fence-rows and muck-holes, and other substances of the kind, and spread them over my pounds one load deep; feed my stock upon them with coarse provender until the 1st of May; haul in as before, and cover the pounds one load deep; pen the stock during the night only in the pasturing season; and about the 1st of August dig and turn over the manure in the pounds. Besides this, my horses and oxen are housed in stalls 7 by 10 feet, the like substances being put into the stalls as into the pounds, and they cleared out every two or three weeks to give place to more. About the 1st of November the manure thus accumulated is hauled into the field intended for corn, composted, and left there until the following spring, when it is spread over the field and then ploughed in. By this method I get manure enough to cover the whole of my corn-field, (some 50 acres.) A portion of my hogs also are kept up all the year, and supply manure sufficient to cover from five to six acres. Of lime, I use from 40 to 50 bushels per acre, during the summer or fall, on ground intended for corn the next season. Ashes are applied in like quantities, and a top-dressing of corn or wheat ground. I have used guano to some extent, both for corn and wheat, at the rate of 200 pounds (Peruvian) and 300 pounds (Patagonian) to the acre, and have derived considerable advantage, but not so much as other farmers have, according to their statements. I am of the opinion that the article is entirely too high for the profit which it yields. My experience in farming is limited to the short period of five years; but in that time I have been able, by the method which is herein detailed to you, to make quite an improved farm out of a very poor one. I purchased the land (300 acres) in 1845 for $1,200, and rented it out in 1846; for which I received, as one-third of the products, three bushels of wheat, about fifty bushels of corn, and fodder in proportion. I have since that time lived on the premises myself; divided it into four fields of 50 acres each, instead of two as before; and have gathered an increased crop every year until the present, when it amounts to 950 bushels of wheat, 2,111 bushels of corn, and an abundance of potatoes and other vegetables. In order to increase the interest in the public mind on the subject of farming in this section of the county, we have established a club, consisting of 12 farmers, who meet together once a month, at the residence of each member by rotation; eat a good dinner; walk over the fields, and talk freely and socially together in regard to the modus operandi which each has adopted. Hoping that this communication inay meet your wants, I am yours, with due consideration, CHAS. WRIGHT. P. S.-The average price of wheat is 70 to 90 cents; of corn, 50 to 63 cents. The range of thermometer from 10° to 50° in winter; in sum mer 80° to 93°. My neighbor, Governor Ross, has informed me, sincewriting the above, that he has raised more than 1,300 bushels of sugar beet on 1 acre of his land. C. W. MARYLAND. NEAR JERUSALEM MILLS, HARFORD COUNTY, MD., SIR: In replying to the Agricultural Circular, which you did me the honor to address me a short time since, I will observe that want of time will prevent the response to the queries contained in it from being as full and explicit as I would wish. I will take them up, however, seriatim, and reply to those which relate to subjects with which I may be familiar. It may not be amiss to state that my observations extend more particularly to that portion of our county contained in the peninsula formed by the waters of Bush and Gunpowder rivers. Wheat.-Guano is used to a great extent on the wheat crop, and on our thin soil increases the crop, in most instances, at least two-fold when about 300 pounds per annum is applied. The average product of wheat is about 15 bushels. The yield is increasing, and has been since our farmers commenced the use of lime, guano, plaster, and other ferti lizers. The seeding time with us commences about the 1st of September, and lasts until the ground is frozen. Harvest commences the latter part of June, and generally is ended by the middle of July. The number of times the land is ploughed for the wheat crop depends upon the fact whether it be an oat stubble or a clover lay. If the former, we generally plough twice-once immediately after harvest, and again a short time previous to sowing; which effectually destroy the oats that had vegetated from the seed scattered out in harvesting. If a clover lay, we plough but once; and in both cases generally roll and harrow the ground, to reduce it to as fine a tilth as practicable before sowing the seed; which, when sown broadcast, is harrowed twice-once with the lands, then across. However, our farmers are beginning to appreciate the great advantage resulting from drill husbandry, and are supplying themselves with the proper implements for drilling in their crops, wheat included. The system of rotation in crops, which has generally prevailed with us for some time, and originally derived from Chester county, Pennsylvania, is, first, the land is ploughed for corn, and limed on the furrow; the next spring the land is ploughed and sown in oats; and after the oats, the ground is prepared for wheat the next fall, upon which the stable manure which has collected during the year is applied; and, if not in quantity sufficient for all the land to be sown in wheat, guano, or ground bones, or some other fertilizer, is called upon to make up the deficiency. Grass seeds are sown upon the wheat either the same fall or early in the ensuing spring. The land then remains in grass until again broken up for corn. |