branches, finds its way to the body of the tree near the ground, where, if there be any gum exuded, it finds its nourishment, and then penetrates the soft radical bark, under which it is protected effectually from lime, ashes, soot, and every other application that I have known to be tried. The tar forms a pitchy coat, that effectually prevents the worm from entering the bark. It also averts those slight casual bruises near the root, from which the gum exudes that nourishes and protects this mischievous pest in its infancy. This application of tar will also prevent mice and rabbits from eating the bark off young fruit trees. Having fully tried these applications of tar, I can recommend them with entire confidence. S. D. INGHAM.

Trenton, N. J.

MODE OF FARMING IN ENGLAND.

DRAINING LAND-MANURING-STACKING OR MOWING-LIVE STOCK-ENGLISH HAY-GREEN FODDER-FATTENING CALVES-THE DAIRY.

To the Editors of the Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil :

HAVING described in my last the method of cropping and tillage in many parts of the old country which came under my own personal observation, as well as practical experience, I wish now to call the attention of your readers to the great extent and usefulness, as also the manner in which draining is performed.

It is a correct idea in England, and holds good universally, that wet lands wash away and exhaust the virtue of whatever manure you put upon them, and therefore by draining them you doubly enhance the power of the manure to benefit the soil, besides keeping the land in a condition that preserves the seed from rotting, and prevents disease, which so frequently attacks the crop upon a wet soil.

There are three methods of underdraining in England; these are called spade-ditching, tile-draining, and lastly, mole-ploughing. The first, spadeditching, is the oldest and perhaps the cheapest. In this method a plough is first used, making a trench as deep as you can by running it twice in the same place. Then a man uses a long, very narrow spade, not more than one inch wide at the point, and perhaps eighteen inches in length; with this a deep trench is dug in that already drawn by the plough, and then round and straight faggot wood is laid in with straw and afterwards filled up with earth; the water finds its way below or among the wood in the trenches, and keeps the land dry a number of years; and the eye of a practical farmer watches to see if any of the ditches become stopped so as to inundate the ground, and then, by opening the old drain and mending it, he finds, by acting out the old adage, that "a stitch in time spares nine."

Tile-draining is perhaps more expensive, but lasts much longer. The ditches have to be made wider, and at the bottom of them is laid a row of flat tiles, made of brick-earth, of about one foot in length, four or five inches wide, and one inch in thickness; upon these are placed tiles bent in the form of half a circle, and the open part laid upon the lower row of tiles. These upper half-circular tiles are perforated with holes, through which the water finds its way, and drains the soil above them.

The last method of draining, called mole-ploughing, from its working in the ground something similar to a mole, is done by a horse winding a chain round a windlass; the plough, which is a strong wooden frame, has on the lower part of it a circular iron roller attached, about two inches in diameter,

which leaves behind it in the ground an open space of its own size, as the chain is wound up upon the windlass. This method of draining will only answer upon stiff, loamy soils, as upon light, sandy ones, the furrows or drains would break in and become choked. This is at first an expensive mode, but it is the most expeditious. Nothing in England is thought of so much importance as draining wet soils; and capital expended in this manner always returns an interest that amply repays the investment.

Another precaution in England that lands may not be impoverished, is not to sell either hay or straw off the premises, but to have it consumed at home; or if any is taken away, an equivalent is returned in the form of manure. Barley-straw, of which so much is grown in England, is excellent fodder for cattle in the winter, and the farmer always makes it a point to get his whole produce of straw eaten or trodden out by the return of spring, that it may be used for manure upon the land in the fall of the

year.

Great care is practised in the preparation of manure, that it should be well mixed, and of a proper age when drawn from the yard. It is generally allowed three to six months before it is used, and during that period it is stirred two or three times, that it may be well matured, and benefit the land as soon as applied. To draw raw manure and put immediately upon the soil, as is often done here, would, to an old-countryman, appear very injudicious. Nothing would surprise an American farmer more than to see with what expedition large fields are covered with manure in England. Three carts, or tumbrels, as they are there called, are generally used, and a man or boy at each of them, so timed that one is at the manure-heap filling, another driving away, and the third unloading. The cart is made to turn down, and dumps out the manure in heaps, as throwing it out by hand would be too slow; the horse walks forward and leaves a certain proportion of the manure in hills at equal distances.

It is a most gratifying sight, after harvest, to see how beautifully and almost symmetrically the produce of the year is put up in large stacks, which are always thatched with straw, that no part may be injured by the weather. An English farmer's barn is not supposed to hold, perhaps, one half his produce; a lot is always appropriated for stacking, and the produce thus kept out of doors and threshed in the spring is always in better condition than that which has been housed in a barn, and commands a better price in the market.

As there is no maize grown in England, by reason of the climate, except a few ears in the gardens, as rarities, this species of produce is supplied by peas and beans, of which an immense quantity are raised. The pea generally grown is the gray partridge, which is of a hardy nature, and may be sown very early; in some instances it has been planted in the fall, and stood through the winter without much injury. This vegetable is mixed with barley, and makes good food for hogs, although too many would be considered injurious, by reason of their heating nature.

The varieties of beans grown are two, called the tick and the mazagan; the latter is of a reddish hue, and somewhat larger than the former, which is of a brown color. These are often broken for horses, and are esteemed very hearty and strengthening. They are also often given to hogs, much in the same proportion as peas are. Buckwheat, or brank, as it is there called, is never grown for cakes, nor did I ever know of their being eaten there. Sometimes it is sown, and left to fall upon the ground as food for the game during the winter, or it is used with other produce in the fattening of swine: but this is a grain but little cultivated in the mother country.

It is generally admitted that the English are pretty good judges of live stock, and perhaps no country shows a greater superiority in care of breeding, the selction of handsome and symmetrical forms, and especially in the treatment and attention when raising them.

The great semi-annual fairs for cattle which are held in various parts of the country, always give an impetus and emulation among the farming interest, which create an increased interest to excel in the various animals which are then collected for the public to inspect and purchase, to add to and to improve their own stock at home. And here, if there is any profit to be derived from a wealthy aristocracy, it is brought to bear upon the good of the community. Noblemen and titled gentry emulate each other, not only in raising the very best qualities of corn and grain, but their abundant means enable them to try and adopt the most expensive experiments, and their results are published, and thus made available to all classes of the community. Espe cially is this spirit seen in the breeding and rearing of all descriptions of cattle; and many varieties, which become celebrated, go under the name of the aris tocratic individual by whose patronage and expense they have become famous. George the Third spent a great part of his time, when he could get away from his high official duties, upon his farms, and his sheep were always known in the market, and noted for their superiority.

It is true we have roast beef and plum pudding in America, but an Englishman finds, when he crosses the Atlantic, neither the one nor the other is exactly what he has been accustomed to at home. The fact is, the old gentleman, John Bull, is a sober, plodding fellow; he may be slow, but he takes care to be sure, and keeps his eye on the main chance. He takes care to give his beeves sufficient time to consolidate their meat before they are brought to the slaughter-house; and as for his plum puddings, the season he allows them for boiling, a Yankee would think a great waste of time, and not at all compatible with his notions of haste and expedition.

The writer has sometimes felt puzzled when observing the difference in the quality of the hay between this and the mother country. Most of the pastures and meadows there are very old, and the older they are, the more are they valued the thickness and richness of their bottoms are surprising, and when the fall is open, cattle graze and fatten upon them rapidly. Timothy, doubtless, makes good and hearty hay, but in England it would be thought too stiff and coarse. There is not the prejudice there against feeding horses upon clover hay; many farmers prefer it. It is not so dusty, which perhaps may be accounted for by the heat not being so great as to sear up the leaf. Clover, when mown, is not spread out, but lies in the swath till well dried; it is then turned over, left afterwards to heat upon the cock, and then stacked out of doors, which renders it sweeter than when housed in a barn.

Green fodder is extensively used, and the vetch, or tare, as it is there called, is grown for that purpose. This is often sown in the fall, and is cut the following May and June, and produces a great quantity of nourishing food, which is given to cattle in the yard, and thus has the advantage of keeping the stock from being breechy, and collects the manure in one place, instead of being wasted in useless locations upon the farm. Rye is also grown to a considerable extent, to be fed off early in the spring by sheep with their lambs, before the grass and clover are forward enough to pasture.

Nothing is considered so rich for sheep, and upon which lambs especially thrive so well, as the Dutch, or white clover. In England, whole fields are sown with it, and when the bloom is going off to seed, it is reckoned the most profitable herbage upon which they can graze.

TENDENCIES OF THE TARIFFS OF 1842 AND 1846.

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The fattening of calves is there also carefully attended to. They are never suffered to run at large with the cows, but always penned up, and the floor of the pen is always raised two feet or more from the bottom of the cowhouse, that it may be always perfectly dry. Chalk is also placed in the pen in large lumps for them to lick, as it is supposed to add to the whiteness and delicacy of the meat. Calves are not often killed under the age of two months at least, and sometimes they are kept much longer. Cows when milked are generally stalled up, their heads being secured by two upright wooden bars, which separate to admit the cow's head, and then approximate so as to prevent them from drawing them out again. The large Durham cow is preferred perhaps upon extensive farms, but the small Suffolk breed is chosen by farmers of lesser occupations.

The dairy is generally considered the most profitable part of the farm's produce, and for this business no meadows can be better adapted than the rich ones of fatherland. The deep yellow flower called the buttercup, (ranunculus bulbosus,) when in full bloom in May, gives the meadows a rich, luscious appearance, which ravishes the eye, and raises in the mind thoughts of golden rolls of butter, and the highly flavored cheeses of Cheshire and Stilton.

In our next article we propose to give an account of the expenses of English farming, in the form of taxes, tithes, and poor-rates, which many Americans cry out so indignantly against; and yet the subject is but partially understood in this country.

Madison, N. J., March, 1852.

AGRICOLA.

TENDENCIES OF THE TARIFFS OF 1842 AND 1846.

THE tendency of the tariff of 1842 was towards the promotion of the importation of foreign raw materials, to be combined with those of domestic growth, and converted into the forms fitting them for consumption by the labor of men who should eat the food grown in Illinois and Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin; and how vast is the effect of such a policy upon the interests of the farmers, may be seen by the following statement of the manufacture of the single article of India rubber:

Some idea may be formed regarding the great extent this manufacture has already attained, from the following rough calculations: Manufacture of shoes, about 4,000,000 pairs; of car-springs, about 300,000 lbs.; of steam-packing, about 250,000 lbs.; of machinebelting, about 200,000 lbs.; of clothing and various other articles, about 200,000 lbs.; of rubber cloths, about 100,000 lbs.; for other purposes, about 100,000 lbs.

The tendency of the tariff of 1846 is that of prohibiting the import of foreign raw materials, and compelling the export of our own in the most bulky shape, to be converted by men who eat the food of Britain, Poland and Russia; and thus it is that the farmer brings about a state of things that reduces the price of wheat to fifty cents a bushel. "The agricultural and planting interest of the nation have determined," says a contemporary, "to import their cloth and iron. It is of course proper to export cotton and corn to pay for them. This can only be done by reducing their price so low, that they can be exported at a profit." The lower the price, the more will go abroad; the poorer our people, the less they will consume, and the lower must be the price; the lower the price, the larger will be the quantity for which we must seek a foreign market; and the larger the quantity of exports, the greater (according to the Manchester system of political economy, adopted by Mr.

Walker) will be the prosperity of the nation! It is time that the planters and farmers should see that, blind themselves, they have permitted themselves to be led by the blind; time, too, that they should open their eyes to the fact, that British free trade has ruined every community ever obliged to tolerate it.

[COMMUNICATED FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL.] LETTER TO THE HON. RICHARD BROADHEAD. MONTOUR IRON WORKS, PENNSYLVANIA, April, 1852.

Hon. Richard Broadhead, U. S. Senator for Pennsylvania :

DEAR SIR: I have been much disturbed by the recent movement in the House of Representatives, to repeal the duty upon Railway Iron, which would be most disastrous to the best interests of the country, and utterly annihilate and destroy the great Iron Trade of our State. It would seem as if this great trade, second only to Agriculture, as a branch of National Industry, was constantly to be the sport of legislative change and experiment. When the Bill of 1846 was presented to the country as a Revenue measure, Secretary Walker, in his Report, held the following language: "Stability in the Tariff and Currency is what the Manufacturer should most desire. Let the Tariff be permanently adjusted by a return to reasonable and moderate Revenue Duties, which, when imposed truly and in good faith for that purpose, will yield sufficient advantage to afford reasonable profits; and let this permanent system (and none other can be permanent) be established, and the Manufacturer, in a series of years, will derive the greatest benefits from the system. The Tariff has been changed and modified thirty times since the first bill, being more than once on an average for every Congress since the Government was founded; and it is vain to expect permanency from any thing but a Revenue Tariff. Stability is what the Manufacturer should desire, and especially that the question should be taken out of the arena of politics, by a just and permanent settlement." In a more recent Report, Secretary Walker admitted that Iron would bear a much higher duty for Revenue than that imposed by the Bill of 1846, and recommended a duty of forty per cent. ad valorem. At the time of the passage of the bill of 1846, Railway Iron was selling in England at £10-say $50-and consequently paid a duty of $16 and upwards per ton. This, then, was considered the lowest Revenue Duty by Secretary Walker. Railway Iron is now selling at £4 10s., ($22.50,) and pays a duty of $6.75 per ton. It has been admitted by all parties that the Iron Trade has been the great suffering industry under the Bill of 1846, and so declared by the Chairman (the Hon. Mr. Bailey) of the Committee of Ways and Means of the last Congress.

the

This movement in Congress is more alarming, from the fact that it is sought by a combination of other interests. The proposition is to bargain away Railway Manufacture for an increased duty upon the other descriptions of Iron, and upon the finer fabrications of Cotton, etc., and thus, by dividing and separating the interest, eventually to destroy it. Such discriminating duties as are proposed in favor of other descriptions of Iron, would determine every operator to the production of those, and, by thus overdoing the business, bring immediate embarrassment and ruin upon all engaged in the trade.

Now, if we examine in what the consumption of Iron chiefly consists, and in what the increase will be most considerable and most likely to continue, we cannot fail to be impressed with the magnitude of the consumption in the construction of Railways. Every mile of Road demands upwards of 100 tons