1838] 



FAR M E RS' R E G r S T H R. 



769 



in the la!', is to rake up leaves with all haiulis, 

 when there i:onie.s a iiooil rain, In niaUe thi'in pro- 

 perly wet. I ihiiili it iiiijnirtaiil they siioukl lie 

 wet when ihey are heaped u|). In thai ca^e, they 

 will rot lasler in the wo(nl.-: ;lian they will in the 

 {'arm pen, ami I use a unreal many wilhout carry 

 inir iheai to the pen. I haul u|) all (nycurn siallis, 

 antl nse litem as provender to aiy hoises and caule, 

 ami tind they answer as jjrovender lor horses much 

 better than they do lor cattle. liy pntlino;them in 

 the raclc, the horses will |)ick ihem perfectly clean; 

 whereas the cattle will trample ihem down wilh- 

 out piclviui); them halt". When 1 am ready to 

 haul out my manure, I lay oti' my land Ihiriy-six 

 I'eet each way, and drop an ox-cart lond on each 

 check, which fruve methiity-ihree loads per acre. 

 J then opentlirrows, with a two-hoise plough, the 

 width of my tohacco rows — say three and a h.df 

 feet, or three feet eiixht inches. I put the manure 

 in them, and list upon it with four Iiutows to each 

 list. When my iarm-pen and stable manure gives 

 out, I go on with the leaves which were raked u() 

 in the I'ail and lel'i m the woods, which are, by this 

 time half rotted. On the part of the land that I 

 put the leaves which have not been to the (ium 

 pen, I put on at the rate of twelve cart loads per 

 acre of stable manure on the top of the clap of the j 

 hoe, after I cut oil' to plant, wliich lakes about a I 

 double handful on each hill. When we com- ! 

 mence planting, the [)lanter will shove ihe manure j 

 a little to one siile, and slick the plant under ilu> < 

 north sitle of it. which acts as a proleciioti from the i 

 sun, and it will make the tobacco eight or ten days i 

 fowarderthan it would be without this to|)-(lressing. ! 

 The land that is manured with leaves in this way, ] 

 will make as large tobacco as the Iarm-pen orsta- ' 

 ble manure will without it. I find a little top-dres- ) 

 sing to be a most excellent application upon any 1 

 land, rich or poor. It protects the plant ii-om the 

 sun, and it will live and grow off much quicker 

 and bolder than it will wilhout it. By putting the 

 manure in the drill it will bring as large tobacco 

 as double the quantity spread broad-cast; and very 

 common land manured in this way, will bring 

 fine tobacco. I think the use of plaster on tobacco 

 ot great importance. I apply it by sprinkling on 

 the hills at the rate of a gallon to lour thousand 

 htlls; and if you apply ten times that quantity, it 

 will have no more eliect. 



In cutting otf my land to plant, I cut just the 

 width of the hoe across the list; a.nd it is impor- 

 tant that you should cut entirely across, so as to 

 let the clap of the hoe be as high as it is on either 

 side, to prevent the [ilant liom being smothered by 

 a hard rain. When I commence turning down, 

 I work up the row between the list by going twice 

 in each row wilh alhree-hoed harrow. And then 

 with a single- horse rake, two (tiet wide, I go across 

 the list, which takes away the ridire that is left 

 between the plants, and leaves very little work for 

 the hoe. In preparing your tobacco land lor wheat, 

 you should plough and rake across the list, which 

 will scatter the manure, and make a fine |)repara- 

 tion for wheat. If you will use your manure in 

 this way on a different part of the land every year, 

 you will find the tobacco crop not so great a bar 

 to improvement as it is said to be; and I think it in- 

 dispensable that we should make it. For as long 

 .as the Hessian fly remains with us, \ve cannot re- 

 ly on the wheat crop. 



Thos. B. Gay. 



rrom llie Maine rariiicr. 

 STIM V L ATINC; IM AN U U KS. 



JMost of our firmers are somewhat averse to- 

 trying new experimenls in the art of cultivation, 

 and yet of all new arts which are practised by 

 man, there is none in wlfudi ihcre is more need of 

 them. Those experiments which recpjire great e\- 

 pens'' at the outset should be insliluted by societies 

 or by those who have both money and time to de- 

 vote to them. Many very important experiments 

 may be tried by the man of very moderate funds, 

 lor they may cost but little else than the lime con- 

 samcdin performing them. One sidiject which we 

 would name, is stimulaling manures, though per- 

 haps the word nutritive would be better than stimu- 

 laliniT. Afterthe plant orcro|)is up, what is the best 

 a[)plicalion to cause it to thrive? Liquids in which 

 manure has been soaked are o'ten used li)r parti- 

 cular purposes. We recollect that an old friend of 

 ours once amused himself by pampering a squash 

 vine, wiMch he pushed forward to an immense 

 leniiih, by watering it every day vvith a liquid 

 which he drained from his pig-stye. He ap[)lied 

 It not only to the main roots, but also to the liitle 

 radicles which put out al intervals along the vine. 

 No doubt there are many ariicles, at cheap cost, 

 which may be used to great advantage. 



We quote the following use of the chloride of 

 lime from a French work. " Mr. Duhuc, a French 

 apoihecary. has discovered that muriate of lime 

 (chloride of^ lime dissolved) is a very active ma- 

 nure, or vegetable stimulant. He dissolves about 

 two and a quarter pounds of the dry chloride, in 

 -.ibout sixteen gallons of water, and vvith this sola-' 

 tion waters the plants at distant intervals. He 

 sprinkled a light soil wilh this fluid, and eight or 

 ten days afteT, planted it with maize, and li-om 

 time to lime during the season, watered the corn 

 with the same solution. Another portion of corn 

 at six feet distant, he watered with common water. 

 The former yielded double the produce of Ihe lat- 

 ter. A large variety of plants and garden vegeta- 

 bles were Iried in the same manner and with simi- 

 lar results. 



The sunflower, Chelianthus) which at that place 

 rises only six or eight feet, grew by this treatment 

 to the height of twelve or fourteen feet, with flow- 

 ers whose disks were eighteen or twenty inches 

 in diameter, producing seeds which yielded half 

 their weight in oil, good to eat, and exuding from 

 its centre^a transparent vein like turpenline, very 

 odorous, and drying easily in the air. Potatoes 

 were also tried. 'JMiey were planted on the 1st of 

 May, 1822, in two squares, six leet asunder; the 

 one was watered vvith the solution, and the other 

 with water t>om the cistern. They were gather- 

 ed on ihe lOih of November. 



The bed which had been watered vvith the so- 

 lution, and only three limes during the season, 

 produced potatoes six inches long, twelve in cir- 

 cumlijrence, and weighed nearly two pounds each. 

 The others were in ireneral only half as large, and 

 their stalks in the san)e proportion. Three or four 

 waterings wilh the fluid at distant periods are con- 

 sidered sufficient. Some ascribe its action to elec- 

 trical agency. 



j Allowing one half the above statement fiir the 

 i natural enthusiasm of the French, when any 

 thing new occurs among them, the solution must 

 i be a^v'aluable stimulus lor some plants. The chlo- 

 , ride of lin)C can be had at the paper mills, or at 



