1’0

HOR’TICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE.

The following very valuable communication from an intelligent and ractieal agriculturist, deserves an attentive perusal rem all who are engaged in agricul- tural pursuits. By the mode in which sward land is usually managed. The manure which the 1191‘ con- tains is dissipated—given to the winds. and dispersed through the atmosphere. instead of constituting food for the crops of the owner of the soiL—Eliron.

OF PLOUGHING AND MANAGING GREEN-

SWARD LAND.

The subject is certainly one of great importance to farmers. Considering the exhausted condition of most of our grounds, and the expense of restoring them by. the application of manure, I am surprised that so little attention has been paid to this very essential part of husbandry, even by our most scientific and best prac- tical agriculturists. By the usnal method of turning up she sward, and then cross ploughing and harrowing the sods are pushed about by the plough, and dragged by the harrow, and so exposed to the action of the sun and winds, that the nutritive matter contained in the routs and tops of the grasses is in a great measure wasted. By this practice, the vegetable matter which was before upon the surface, lis brought there again, and the poorer part of the soil, which should remain at- the top, whereby it would be greatly benefited and en. riched by the fe rtiliziug properties of the atmosphere, is returned to itsoriginal position beneath. This is ex. actly the reverse of what it should be. Let the root' and tops of the grasses, together with all the vegetable matter on and near the surface, be buried and retained to ferment and decompose, and the poor earth be broug tto and retained upon the surface, where, by culture and exposure to the atmosphere, it will soon

- Aubecome a body of rich mould.

Ifthe result of my own experience will be of any use to your correspondent, or the public, [give it with pleasure, I ascertained by an accurate experiment that on the first of May. a single foot of award land, ta- ken from a field which had been mown for a number of years, the soil a light loam. with a gravelly bottom, and thinly set with red top and herds grass, contained nine ounces of vegetable matter, consisting of the roots and tops of the grasses, giving at this rate over twelve and a quarter tons to the acre. I must confess I was not a little surprised on finding the quantity so much beyond whatI had calculated, and it satisfied me of the necessity of adopting some plan by which this val- uable treasure might be turned to good account. To make the most of this enormous quantity of vegetable matter, as well for the benefit of the immediate crops as for the eventual improvement of the soil, would seem to be an object worthy the consideration of lar- mers,

My first trial was upon a piece of worn out pastnre land. In the month of August I turned over the sward as evenly as possible. then rolled with a heavy loaded roller. The ground was then harrowed in the same direction as the furrows, with a light horse harrow, and then sowed with buckwheat, with red top and herds grass seed. The bush harrow was then drawn over it, and then rolled again. The harrowing was so light, that'the sod was not disturbed.—No manure was used. I had a fair crop of buckwheat. The grass seed took well, and looked so promising in the spring following. I concluded to mow it. The crop of hay greatly ex- ceeded my expectations, and, as pastnre, it has been iess afiected by drought, and yielded double the quanti- ty of feed for my cattle that it gave before ploughing.

THE BRITISH AMERICAN.

The success of this experiment induced me to try a- nother. 0n the first of May 9 1823; 1 had “"o "I" M. award land, which had been considerably exhausted by long cropping, yielding less than aton of red WP “d herds grass to the acre, turned over; having a hand occasionally to follow the plough with I hoe. for the purpose of turning over such parts as the plough and missed. The ploughing was from four to six inches deep. varying according to the depth of the soil, taking care always to go deep enough to bring to the surface a portion of the gravelly and poorer part of the soil.— After ploughing. the outside furrow, which was turned out, was taken into the cart, in convenient pieces, and placed in the vacant space which was left in the middle of the lot. whereby this space wasjust filled, and no ridges left on the outside; the field was then rolled with a heavy roller, and the uneven parts of the sward settled down, and the whole made smooth. It was then harrowed lengthwise the furrows thoroughly with a horse barrow, but so light as not to disturb the s od Twenty cart loads of compost, made of loan. peat, mud, and stable dung, (a sufficient quantity of the lat- ter having been mixed to cause the whole mass to fer - ment.) were then spread upon the acre. It was again harrowed as before, and, from the evenness of the sur- face, the field had more the appearance of having been tilled for a number of years. On the sixth of May,corn was planted upon the furrows in drills, parallel with them. three feet apart, and the corn six inches dis— tant in the rows, having previously marked out the rows, three at a time, with an instrument made for the purpose, by which the work was performed by one hand in less than an hour. The ploughing between the rows and the hoeiag was done without disturbing the sod; and the not only useless, but injurious prac- tice of ridging. or billing the corn was carefully avoid- ed.

The corn at first did not exhibit a very promising ap- pearance, but as soon as the roots had extended into the enriching matter below, and began to expand in the sward, which had now become open and mellow by fermentation, and the parts of soil more minutely divi- ded than it could have been by the plough or hoe. it assumed a healthy appearance, and grew more vigor- ously, than corn which I had planted upon a much bet~ ter soil, cultivated in the usual way. When the ears were filling out, atime when the corn most requires support, the roots easily penetrated the mellow sod, and an abundance of nourishment was afforded by the decomposing of the vegetable matter. The crop was harvested about the middle of September. I did not measure the produce for the purpose of ascertaining exactly the quantity which was gathered. but some of my neighbours who are good judges, saw the field be- fore harvesting, and estimated it at from 70 to 80 bush- els to the acre. My usual crop on sward land cultiva' ted in the common way, has been from 35 to 45 bushels to the acre. As soon as the corn was harvested, the stubble was loosened up by running- a light horse plough lengthwise through the rows, and then the whole smoothed down by a bush harrow drawn cross- wise. All this was done withont disturbing the sward- A bushel of winter rye to the acre, and a suflicient quantity of grass seed, was then sewed, and the ground harrowed with a light barrow, and rolled. Rye has, in my neighborhood, for some years past, been a very uncertain crop,—being almost invariably subject to a blast, or mildew, which attacks it while in the milk. It has however, as is the case everywhere, I believe, with rye, succeeded better upon a new, than an old soil. This circumstance induced me to believe, that the new and fresh earth, which had been turned up and kept upon the top of my sward land might favor its

growth, as well as prevent the mildew. I was not dis-

fio. 3.

appointed: the two acres ave me between four and five tons of straw, and 69 l- bushels of excellent grain. I had never before gathered more than fifteen bushels to the acre. The grass seed sowed with the rye took well, and the a pearance at present is favorable for a great burden o grass the next season. I have then with one ploughing only taken two crops from this ground, and stocked it down to grass. That there has been a saving oflabor will not be doubted, and that there has been an increased roduee from this mode of managing greensward, the oregomg facts sufficiently demonstrate, and that the soil is substantially improy. ad I have no doubt.

lfit be intended to sow or plant sward lanfln the spring. the ploughing should he at as short an interval before putting in the seed as possible.—-Tlie greater the growth of the roots and tops of grasses at the time of ploughing, the more perfect will be the fermentation, and the award, by its increased toughness will be less broken by the plough and barrow. The roller, loaded as heavily as may be conveniently drawn by one yoke ofoxen should follow the plough, as soon as maybe convenient; this will smooth any unevenness of sur- face. Set the furrow slices close together, and thereby prevent their being torn up by the burrow, and also prevent the esca e of the gasses that are thrown out by fermentatio Every farmer who has three acres of ground to till, should have a roller. One made in two parts is much preferable to that made in the usual way. After rolling, liarrow with a light barrow—the more the better, provided the sod be not disturbed. The compost should then be spread on, and the ground again harrowed, when it will be ready to receive the seed, either corn or potatoes. or the small grains, with or without grass peed, or grass seed alone.

The strength of the team should be according to the toughness of the sward, and the depth of the ploughing. One good yoke of oxen anda horse, a hand to hold the plough. and another to drive, were all thatI found requisite to perform my work.

As to the number of lands, I would make as few as possible, as the more furrow lands a lot is divided into, the more vacant barren spaces will be left, and the more labour required to fill them. Go round the whole lot, and when finished, let the outside furrow

handled, putintoa cart or drag. and placed in the vacant space (occasioned by turning the furrows out- ward) in the middle and corners of the lot. This will leave the whole smooth and level, prevent ridges at the sides and ends, and save the necessity of back furrows,which would give an unevenness of surface.

.N'. E. F. E' P.

RAILWAYS.

[Extract from a European Magazine, Aug. [825.] EXTRAORDINARY FIAT or A DRAUGHT IOBIE.

An unparalleled instance of the power of a horse, when assisted by art, was shewn near Croyden. The Surrey Iron Railway being completed, and opened ’or the carriage of goods all the way from Wandworth to Mertsham, a bet was made between two gentlemen hata common horse could draw thirty-six tons for six miles along the road, and that he should draw this weight from a dead pull, as well as turn it round the occasional windings of the road. The 24th of July was fixed on for the trial, when a number of gentlemen assembled near Mertsham to see this extraordinary triumph ofart. Twelve waggons loaded with stones, each waggon weighing above three tons, were chained together, and a horse, taken promiseuously from the the timber cart of Mr. Harwood, was yoked into the team. He started from near the Fox public house, and drew the immense chain of waggons with appa- rent ease,to near the turnpike at Croyden, a distance of six miles, in one hour and forty-one minutes. which is nearly at the rate of four miles an hour. In the course of this time he stopped four times, to Show that it was not by the impetus of the descent that i. power was acquired ; and after each “oi

no

page he drew off the chain ofi‘ waggons from a de rest. Having gained his wager, Mr. Banks, the go

tleman who laid the bet, directed four more loaded

slice be taken up, in pieces that may be conveniently '