276 



Jlnti-Lime — Care of Horses. 



Vol. IV. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Auti-Iiime* 



Mr. Editor — Being informed by a neigli- 

 bour, that you offer to publish experiments 

 made in agriculture, for the information of 

 your readers, I take the liberty to send you 

 an account of the following, wliich I made 

 last summer, to test the relative value of 

 several different manures in raising corn. I 

 selected five acres of worn out land, in one 

 piece, and of a quality as much alike as pos- 

 sible, and ploughed it flat, some time in April. 

 On one of these I spread one hundred and 

 fifty bushels of marl, procured from Woods- 

 town, in this county ; on another, one hun- 

 dred bushels of drawn ashes ; on the third, 

 fifty bushels of fresh slacked lime; and on 

 the fourth, forty bushels of bone-dust, so 

 called — that is, bones ground, say three parts 

 into small fragments, and one part into a 

 coarse dust or powder — which I procured at 

 a button factory in the neighbourhood of 

 Bridgeton. The fifth acre I left without ma- 

 nure of any kind, in order to test the actual 

 yalue of the different manures used on the 

 other four acres. Cost of the manures was 

 as follows: the marl, which I hauled about 

 ten miles, I put down at ten cents per bushel, 

 including the carting, that is, fifteen dollars 

 for the first acre ; ashes, ten cents per bushel, 

 or ten dollars for the manure of the second 

 acre ; lime, sixteen cents per bushel, includ- 

 ing the cost of hauling, will make eight dol- 

 lars for the third acre ; and bone-dust, for 

 ■which I paid forty cents per bushel, to which 

 add four cents per bushel for hauling, makes 

 seventeen dollars sixty cents for manure used 

 on the fourth acre. The cultivation of the 

 whole five acres was the same ; and the result 

 of the crop taken and measured, from each 

 acre, was as follows: 



Bone-dust produced twenty-six bushels; 

 ashes twenty-four bushels ; marl twenty-two 

 bushels; lime only six bushels; and the un- 

 man ured acre six bushels also. 



Much has been written in favour of lime. 

 As far as my experience goes, and I have 

 tried it on several occasions, I have never 

 found any, or but very little benefit from it 

 the first season : but in two or three years, it 

 will generally produce a very sensible in 

 crease on some of the crops following, espe- 

 cially on oats and on clover. 1 do not there- 

 fore, consider lime as the poor man's friend ; 

 though in those parts of the country where 

 ashes, marl, or bone-dust, are not to be readily 

 procured, I should recommend its use. 



Abbott Atkinson, 



Pittsgrove, Salem co. N. J. 

 Feb. 10, 1840. 



Alas, for the vanity of human enjoyment ! 

 we grow weary of even our own perfection, 



Farmer^ Frocks> 



We are honoured with the following no- 

 tice. Will our esteemed friend accept our 

 thanks for enabling us at the outset of our 

 editorial duties, to record so pleasing an in- 

 stance of generosity — surely it augurs well 

 for the success of a work devoted to the best 

 interests of mankind — may he live to con- 

 tinue to grace the pages of the Cabinet with 

 his elegant pen — he has already received the 

 reward of his benevolence in the luxurious 

 feeling of "doing good." 



The French frock is peculiarly adapted as 

 a dress for the farmer : they are worn almost 

 universally in the agricultural provinces of 

 France, by all classes of the community, and 

 we ourselves have experienced the conveni- 

 ence and economy arising fi-om their use for 

 the last four years. We beg strongly to re- 

 commend them to the notice of our farming 

 brethren. — Ed. 



The subscriber has for sale at his Dry 

 Goods Store, No. 14 Nortli Sixth street, 

 Farmer^ s Frocks, made after the French 

 pattern. No profit is charged on the cost of 

 manufacture, the object being to give em- 

 ployment to females, who have no other ade- 

 quate means of support. 



B. M. HOLLINGSHEAD, 



No. 14 N. Sixth St 



Care of Horses^ 



There are many farmers who take but lit- 

 tle care of their horses in the winter season. 

 In the short days they have water before 

 dark, and tlien have to go without till nine 

 or ten o'clock the next morning, or if they 

 have water early in the mornirig, they will 

 not usually drink, as their time" of thirst is 

 past. Horses seldom refuse water after they 

 have eaten their evening meal, though, if 

 they do not have it then, they will usually 

 drink but little the next morning. It is no 

 indication, however, that they have not been 

 thirsty the previous evening. 



We have been particular in our observa- 

 tion on this point. We have turned a horse 

 out to drink at nine or ten o'clock in the 

 evening, and seldom known him to fail in 

 drinking heartily. Then for experiment we 

 omitted to give him water at night, but at- 

 tended to it in the morning before he was 

 fed, and he would seldom drink. If it be the 

 best for animals to iiave free access to water 

 at all times, as is generally allowed, then 

 they ouglit surely to have a supply immedi- 

 ately after eating, when they are usually 



