FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 297 



availability in the work of cnvichiiii,^ tlie farm. Some more sytematic iDetliods 

 of preventing tliis constant waste is demanded by every economic and business 

 rule. Would it not be very near the truth to say tliat half the animal fertilizers 

 iu this county arc annually wasted by exposure, by the want of absorbents to 

 take up the liquids, by over-fermentation, by the washing of rains, and by ex- 

 cessive evaporation in sun and wind, and by allowing animals in winter to 

 occupy large yards, so that their droppings cannot be collected and saved? 



Leaving out other animal fertilizers, which are seldom employed here for 

 the purposes of fertilizing the soil, I pass to the consideration of ashes and plas- 

 ter as farm fertilizers. The analysis of wood ashes shows them to be of great 

 value for some crops. AVe know them to be, without the analysis, as they are 

 a result of veritable growth and decomposition. They contain potash, soda, 

 lime and phosphoric acid in large proportions. As a manure for potatoes, I 

 consider ashes almost indispensable, and they are very valuable to top-dress old 

 meadows with, extirpating mosses and weeds and aiding the growth of the 

 better sorts of grasses. 



Plaster is too well known to require more than a passing notice. Every far- 

 mer in the county uses more or less of it annually upon clover fields, and this 

 is the chief extent of its use as a fertilizer. It is, however, a valuable fertili- 

 zer for both corn and wheat, and also for potatoes, but for these crops it should 

 be sown before plowing an:l mixed with the soil. It appears to be useless as a 

 top-dressing except on clover. It would well repay tlie farmer to use it about 

 his stables and manure heaps freely, to absorb the escaping ammonia and keep 

 the air pure. 



Common salt has very little value as a fertilizer. It is never found in the 

 seeds of grains, nor as a constituent of any part of any plant. It is sometimes 

 found in the juices of plants, from which it may be washed out. If it was a 

 fixed constituent of the plant, like potash, it could not be washed out. It ap- 

 pears, however, to aid the growth of the plants slightly in some instances. 



I have thus barely glanced at some of the farm fertilizers which are within 

 the reach of farmers in this part of the country, knowing that the time of the 

 institute would not allow an extended discussion of the subject. The questions 

 involved are of the very highest importance, especially the saving of the liquids 

 of the stables, the protection of the manure from rains, and composting. Year 

 by year we see more and more the necessity of greater care of the soil. The 

 business of farming is a vast and intricate one, and needs the farmer's best 

 business talent. His constant aim and purpose should be to make his soil more 

 productive without an increase of manual labor. If he does this, and lives 

 Avithin his means, he may defy changes in the currency and financial panics, 

 and live on in happiness and comfort, a free and an independent citizen. 



Chas. W. Sheldon read the following paper on 



OUR AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



The world moves, and every page of its history is adorned with the word 

 progress; but in the cultivation of the soil, in the enhanced enjoyment of life, 

 and in the elevation of the calling of tlie farmer to that higher dignity, we find 

 that agriculture has not kept pace with her sister callings in the grand march 

 of improvement. What is the cause of this? Not because we think so much, 

 but because we think so little, — because we have not recognized the truth that 

 "knowledge is uower."" 



38 



