DIGEST OF STATE REPORTS. 497 



In 1857 I spread loam soakeil with cattle-urine on one cud of a piece of oats, and on 

 the other end solid manure. Where the uriue was spread the crop was far the heaviest 

 and darkest colored. Swamp-mud, a thousand loads of which may be found on almost 

 every farm, when rightly prepared by being drawn out beforehand and exposed to rain 

 and frost to remove its acidity, and 'then mixed with ashes or lime, is another great 

 manurial element. ^ - * 'Every acre of forest-leaves, when the rotten mold is 

 three or four inches deep, is sufficient to manure an acre of the field— equal, once in 

 every five years, to twenty loads of barn-yard manure. It contains two out of tho 

 four bases 'required for plant-food, viz, potash and nitre; also a large amount of 

 vegetable matter. 



As to the proper application of manures, lie says: 



I think manure should be harrowed iu on wet land and plowed in on dry laud. 

 Then, in the first case, it will not bo leached and go down below tho reach of tho 

 plant-roots, nor, in the other case, be too high and dry above them, and its strength 

 evaporated in the air, as it was with me on a piece of corn in 1863. This was broken 

 up 10 inches deep the fall before, and eighty loads of barn-yard manure and compost 

 harrowed in on the furrows. It was planted with thirteen thousand hills of corn, 

 which started well, but soon dwindled and proved not worth harvesting. Last year 

 I made a failure on the other extreme. On less than half an acre of tough barn-grass 

 sward, I plowed under fourteen loads of barn-yard manure and jdantcd with coru, tho 

 roots of which could not penetrate downwards in season to reach the manure, and 

 jjoor corn was again the result. Low land should be plowed, if practicable, even if 

 you have to use a steel plow, and be laid up in beds of about twenty furrows each, 

 leaving a dead furrow between for the water to run off toward the main ditches, and 

 a compost of sand, rather than muck, applied to the surface, soaked with cattle-mine 

 from the barn-yard or under the stable floors, and seeded down to herds-grass. 

 Treated in this way it will bear heavy burdens of grass for a long series of years, tho 

 proceeds of which, in the shape of barn-yard manure, can bo carried on to the high 

 ground where it is so often needed. 



Mr. Josepli B. Walker, iu an essay on forests and forest-culture, urges 

 the manufacture of all forest-products at home. He regards the raising 

 of timber as more economical than the importation of lumber for needed 

 articles of manufacture. The difference between a given amount of 

 lumber in the rough and in the manufactured state is much greater than 

 is commonly supposed. A statement, prepared by the president of the 

 New Hampshire State Board of Agriculture, shows that white-pine wood 

 will sell for about $4.75 per cord. This wood, when manufactured into 

 mackerel kits, will bring $25.20. Another statement, prepared by a 

 gentleman versed in the business, shows that 1,000 feet of lumber gen- 

 erally used in the manufacture of furnitiu^e is worth 815 in the plank at 

 the mill where it is sawed, but when converted into furniture and ready 

 for market it has increased in value to $75.60. 



The secretary gives the names and location of sixty firms or compa- 

 nies engaged in the manufacture of starch within the State. The largest 

 amount manufactured by any one firm during the year was 163 tons, 

 and the smallest amount 10 tons. With one exception, these manufac- 

 tories are all located in two counties — Coos and Grafton. The total 

 amount manufactured by them is given at 3,060-J tons. 



Mr. Dinsmore, proprietor of the Alstead cheese factory, gives the fol- 

 lowing statement of facts in regard to his operations fo the year : 



I commenced making cheese May 10, and continued until September 5, 1871. Dur- 

 ing that time I made from my 56 cows 20,832 pounds ; sold the cheese ou au average^ 

 of 14i cents — §3,020.64. In the spring and fall I made 1,800 pounds butter, which 

 averaged me 38 cents per pound— ^684. Sold IS hogs, 310 pounds eaclj, ar. 8 cents — 

 5,.580 pounds — fi44G.40. Received from what calves I sold, $2.52.10. Total receipts 

 ft4,403.14. 



Mr. Dinsmore does not giva his expenditures, thereioro we cannot 

 state his net profits. 

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