Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/280

2 5°] F AR sarily connected with farming, ap- pear in their alphabetical order. The national importance of agri- culture appears to be universally admitted: and though much has been said by others on this subject, we cannot but consider the engross- ing, or concentrating of several farms into one, as a principal cause of the poverty discernible among the lower class of husbandmen, and the late exorbitant price of provisions. Population thus neces- sarily becomes checked ; for many industrious persons who, while in a state of servitude, would be stor- ing up their little earnings against a future period, are deterred from settling, by the dismal prospect of being unable either to support themselves as day-labourers, or to take a farm consisting of several hundred acres. Hence such indi- Acres. 20 Pulse and roots, fallow crop. 20 Barley. 20 (J! over. 20 Wheat. 20 Clover. 20 Rye. FAR viduals as are'better provided with pecuniary means, enjoy what would" otherwise maintain perhaps ten small farmers and their families, together with such assistants as it would be requisite for them to em- P lo ) r - . ... In reflecting on this topic, it is matter of just astonishment, that no experimental farm, though fre- quently proposed, has been hitherto undertaken, in a country where agriculture is peculiarly valued 3 — as, in the western hemisphere, where the arts and sciences are still in their infancy, various institutions of this ' nature have lately been established. The following plan of a grain-farm, is extracted from the observations of Mr. Bordley, an intelligent American, whom we have re- peatedly mentioned. Acres. 17-i Maize, fallow crop. 174. Ditto, for which may occa- sionally be substituted buck- wheat. ] 7| Barley or rye. I7y Clover. l/'j "Wheat, which may be sown with buck-wheat and clover, if the soil be rich. 17 j Clover. 17| Roots. 120 acres in six fields. The first course requires one of the fields to be continued in clover for two years, unless it be culti- vated with buck-wheat, potatoes, or other roots ; when the first year's clover is turned in, after the spring mowing. The potatoes (in Ame- rica) should be planted in June ; for in that late season the roots, while lulling, will receive little 120 acres in seven fields. injury from the scorching heat of midsummer. Mr. Bordley recom- mends them in preference to buck- wheat ; as this, by running to seed, is apt to impoverish the soil : on the contrary, potatoes, turnips, and . other roots, do not materially ex- haust the soil; and, if properly cultivated, are, in his opinion, even meliorating. If,