The climate is so congenial to oats, rye and barley, that they are raised without difficulty, and yield abundantly. The average crops per acre on good land are as follows:-oats 25, rye 16, and barley 20 bushels. One of the most beneficial results of the excitement and spirit of enquiry, created by the agricultural Societies, was the introduction of mills for grinding oats; and also the removal of the prejudices of the people against the use of the coarser grains as an article of food. It will hardly be credited, that in a Country where the prevalence of grazing rendered the importation of flour necessary for the support of its inhabitants, the best quality of foreign manufacture, was not only required but in general use even among the laborious part of the population, and that the cheaper and more humble fare of the rye and Indian meal, was rejected as coarse and unpalatable. The folly and extravagance of these habits have given place to a more rational and more economical system, which, together with the improvements in agriculture naturally arising out of the advanced state of the population will, it is hoped, in a few years, render us independent of other Countries for our bread. Maize or Indian corn is a native of America, and in the western part of Nova-Scotia, is extensively cultivated. There are many circumstances connected with it, that strongly recommend it to the notice of farmers. It will produce a full crop when committed to the ground so late as the fifth of June. The stalk and leaves afford a wholesome and nutricious food for cattle, and the grain, when ground into meal, can be united with flour, or used separately with equal advantage. It will grow in a hungry light soil, and is affected by neither drought nor moisture, unless they be excessive. A large crop of beans may be raised off of the same ground, and cultivated with it, while the hoeing it requires is favourable to the improvement of the soil, and the extirpation of weeds. It can also be followed by a white crop, without violating the rules of good husbandry. During the present year (1828,) it has yielded very abundantly, and in the general failure of wheat has proved a most valuable substitute.The average product of an acre of good land is from 25 to 30 bushels. The objections to the culture of maize are, that a long continuance of heat is necessary to ripen it, that it is liable to be injured by the early frosts of the autumn, and that it always requires manure. Potatoes thrive better in Nova-Scotia than in any part of America, and although not more productive than in some of the United States, are much superior in quality to any that are raised on this side of the Atlantic. The average product per acre of good land is 200 bushels. The rotation of crops generally adopted in this Country, and particularly in the western Districts is, on the breaking up of green sward, to commence with oats, which are followed by potatoes the second, and by wheat the third year; when potatoes are again planted and succeeded by wheat, accompanied by clover and timothy seed. As few farms are regularly divided into fields, each of which receives in its turn a prescribed course of treatment, the land generally remains in * The most extensive farm in Nova-Scotia, upon which a scientific system of agriculture is pursued, is situated in Windsor, the property of Thomas King, Esq. a gentleman who has done much for the good of the place, by the example he has set for the imitation of the inhabitants. grass until the failure of the crop indicates the necessity of a change. The period of sowing differs according to the season and soils; but in general wheat and oats are sown in April. Indian corn is planted,according to local circumstances, at any time between the tenth of May and the fifth of June.— Barley and buck wheat are sown about the first of June, and turnips about the tenth of July. Mowing commences about the twenty-fifth of July. Reaping begins in August, and is finished in September. In a new country the value of manures is not much regarded. The luxuriant power of vegetation in the virgin moulds is such, that artificial aid is deemed superfluous; and it is not until after its fertility has been either diminished or exhausted by repeated and injudicious cropping, that recourse is had to art to restore its vigour. Hence dung, as it is the most obvious and the cheapest,so it is the most common manure, and it is only within a few years that composts and lime have supplied the deficiency of the barn yard. In the County of Hants, and in some few other places bordering on the Basin of Minas, the alluvial deposit of the rivers is applied as a superficial dressing to grass land. Sometimes it is incorporated with the soil by the plough, and amply repays the labour and expense of its application: often yielding two grain crops, and afterwards a stout growth of grass for several years in succession. One of the greatest difficulties experienced in rural affairs in Nova Scotia, arises out of the rapid progress of vegetation, which limits the time for planting and sowing to a very short space; and if any irregularity occurs in the weather at those periods, it not only requires great exertion, but occasions these labours to be performed very imperfectly. From the same cause, the different branches of harvest are often crowded together in the most inconvenient manner, producing in some instances additional expense, and in others serious damage to the crops. This rapidity of growth affects the quality of both the hay and the straw, neither of which are so nutricious as the same productions in England, where they are longer in coming to maturity. The follow is an agricultural return, made under the authority of the local Govern ment : .... .......... ... TOTAL. 1020 128 4,105 23,601 1021 399 458 39 493 1,081 7,130 8,720 3,670 1,440 10,177 12,713 6,912 199,041 10,852 1,609 11,701 21,128 12,945 13,440 5298 28,212 29,135 18,644 64,073 49,181 38,198 98,561 37,53 18,520 43,328 34,150 25,688 65,100 22,174 5,410 26,309 17,499 445 9,062 5,630 1,362 3,476 2,436 27,370 1,941 13,476 3,117 33,146 8,978 11,238 5,331 29,308 14,152 34,076 8,266 11,576 3,533 39,465 21,919 38,173 363,228 15,794 848 15,706 24,349 7,705 1292,009 152,861 449,626 3298,220 163,218 12,951 110,948 173731 71,482] 163 202 1,264 No. of Sheep. No. of Swine. |