184 [Senate 



Covered drains, two and a half to three feet in depth, are preferred, it 

 being found that they are much less liable to be filled than open ones, 

 while their draining advantages are superior. The necessity of such 

 draining is shown by the fact that in many places where little w^a- 

 ter was shown on the surface, so much existed in the soil as to fur- 

 nish, at the discharge of the drains, water in sufficient quantities to 

 make fine watering places for stock during the whole of the year. It 

 is clear that soils containing water in such excess must be much be- 

 nefited by draining, and rendered much more warm and friable. 

 There is no agricultural process which promises more to a majority 

 of the soils in this county, than draining. 



Manures, although receiving more care from farmers than formerly, 

 do not receive the attention they deserve. Without the return to the 

 soil in so'nne form^ of the materials taken from it by the crops grown 

 upon it, it is impossible fertility should continue. This truth cannot 

 be too firmly impressed on the mind of the farmer, or too constantly 

 acted upon. Although much light has been thrown upon the nature 

 and action of manures by Liebig, Dana, &c., still some very crude 

 notions are prevalent among farmers. The writer not long since 

 heard a farmer, who grows annually from thirty to fifty acres of wheat, 

 maintain that. the only good effect produced by manures was the 

 warming of the soil. With him, however, this error in theory did 

 not produce the pernicious effect it might upon others, as few farm- 

 ers are more active in applying manures, and as may be easily pre- 

 dicted, with manifest advantage to his crops. The true doctrine of 

 using fresh manures on those crops only that are benefited by its ac- 

 tive fermentation, is yearly gaining ground; that which is fully de- 

 cayed or formed into compost, being found the best for grain crops. 

 Of the mineral manures, rich as this county is in most of them, plas- 

 ter only has received any attention from farmers. The quantity of 

 this used is very large, and it is principally applied to clovers or 

 meadows. It is also sown on peas, and occasionally applied to pota- 

 toes with good effect. Lime, though found in abundance in all parts 

 of the county, has received no attention as a manure. The neglect 

 of this substance may be found in the fact that lime exists naturally 

 in all the soils of the county to such an extent that, with scarce an 

 exception, they readily effervesce in acids. In nearly every part of 

 the county limestone gravel or pebbles are to be found, and the gra- 

 dual decomposition of these renders further application unnecessary. 

 Salt is another of the mineral manures which in some places has been 

 found most efficient, but which, abundant as it is in Onondaga, has 

 never received the slightest notice from the farmer as a fertilizer or 

 stimulant of the soil. It is certainly worthy of a fair trial, and it is 

 to be hoped will not be long overlooked. Should it prove as valua- 

 ble here as it has in other reported instances, the farmer will have at 

 his hand one of the most efficient of manures; and gypsum and salt, 

 as they are always associated by nature, will become equally so in 

 increasing our agricultural products. 



A marked advance has within a few years been made in the agricul- 

 tural implements used in this county. This is a subject of great im- 



