133S] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



125 



ample, alfhoiitjh we hiive Mowbray's authority 

 lor tlie piaclice, we woiiUi not "witlulriuv tlie 

 chicks fruiu the nesi, and Ixcep them very warm.'' 

 Turkeys' are amenable to the paine wise laws, 

 thai the common lien obeys; hence we should 

 leave them to the more conii;eniaI warmth of the 

 mother's breast. Indeed, we are no sooner in- 

 structed by this author to remove the chicks, than 

 he renders the advice nut^atDry i-y sayinir, "The 

 turkey, trorn siuinu so close and steadily, hatches 

 more reijularly and quickly than the common 

 hen." (!) 



Who removes the chicks to a warm situation 

 wlien the mother steals a nest, or is in a state ot 

 nature ? 



In the article of food, we have equal contradic- 

 tion, as well as absurd directions; the chicks are 

 to have curd, eiigs boiled hard and chopped fine, 

 oat or barley meal kneaded with milk; yet imme- 

 diately afterwards adds — "milk is apt to scour 

 them;" then why give it? Water is their natural 

 beverage, and will 7iot scour them. Then, in case 

 of cold weather ruffling their feathers, they are to 

 have half-ground malt with their meal, "and, by 

 way of medicine, caraway, or coriander seeds." (!) 

 Nor must we omit "artificial worms, or boil- 

 ed meat, pulled into strings, in running after 

 which, the chicks have a salutary exercise." (! !) 

 He justly observes afterwards, that "superfluous 

 moisture, whether exiernal or internal, is death to 

 the chickens, therefore all slop victuals should be 

 rigorously avoided;" and in this remark we cor- 

 dially agree. 



Pea-lbwis, tame pheasants, partridges, &c. we 

 candidly own, we know nothing of practically, 

 and, as they are only kept (or amusement, ab- 

 stain from introducing any observations on their 

 treatment from the same work. 



EXTRACTS OF PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE, 

 AND EDITORIAL COMMENTS. 



The new French discovery in making manure. 

 Le Couteur on the varieties of wheat. 



Philadelphia, 22d March, 1838. 



Dear Sir— I have directed a copy of the Nation- 

 al Gazette of the 20th inst. to you, so that you 

 may see in it a notice of the process of obtaining 

 manure without the aid of cattle, invented by a 

 Mon. JauHret, of Aix, in France. What think 

 you of it? 



As usual, in communications on agricultural 

 subjects, the notice is not satisfactory in its details. 

 I am under the impression that it has reference to 

 some nostrum such as the world has often been be- 

 guiled with, bef)re now, for the cure of olherevils 

 besides poverty of soil, and that its value will prove 

 as great as many of the infalliblf>s which have had 

 their day of popularity, and have passed away. 

 I am strengthened in this impression, because of 

 the difficulty of reconciling the facts stated with 

 the law of subsistence being in accordance with 

 the laws of the production of food, as is uro'ed by 

 my fi-iend G. H. Walker, 



There is a late production of a very different 

 character, to which I beg (o urge your attention: 

 I mean Col. Le Couteur'e work on the varieties, 



classification, &c. of wheat. It is a work of ffreat 

 merit, and I think its publication in this coiintry 

 would be a moans of doing much good. The ex- 

 pof^iiion which he m.ikes of the relative value of 

 did'erent varieties of wheat, is very iiisiruclive, and 

 enforces the necessity of attention to a choice of 

 seed and purity of stock in a manner that ought to 

 carry conviction to the mind of every ihinkini'" 

 farmer. 



The means of keeping a stock of wheat pure, 

 by attention to the lime of flowering of the difler- 

 eiit varieties, is also worthy of notice in this coun- 

 try, where the well-meant eflbrts of those who 

 have been at much pains and expense to procure 

 select and valuable varieties, are otlen rendered of 

 little avail, for want of attention to this amongst 

 other points of great importance. 



The influence of difl'erent manures, as stated, 

 ought to have a tendency to correct a bad practice 

 which is almost universal in this country. I allude 

 to that of applying stable and yard manures to the 

 wheat crop. This error has often been remarked 

 upon by the most intelligent of our writers on agri- 

 culture; but very little impression has as yet been 

 made on the public mind. The statements of an 

 author of the character and experience of Col. Le 

 Couteur may perhaps do more to correct this evil 

 practice than all the arguments that have been 

 urged heretolbre. 



Without further comment on the work, I will 

 state that Mr. Walker has a copy of it, which is 

 now in my hands, and that he has kindly consent- 

 ed that I should ofl^er it to you if you desire to re- 

 publish it. I am aware that it has been noticed 

 in the Farmers' Register; but supposing it possi- 

 ble you may not have seen more than the extracts 

 republished, I desire to know it it would be useful 

 to you. 



[The account of the French discovery in manure- 

 making, which was sent with this letter, had before been 

 selected for publication. It stands at the beginning of 

 this number. We think, with our correspondent, that 

 the plan is likely, in performance, to fall far short of its 

 promise; and to form a new item in the long list of 

 agricultural humbugs. Nevertheless, whether merely 

 as agricultural news, or as information of higher or- 

 der, it deserves notice and attention; and also fair trial 

 from those who are able to make a trial. What we 

 doubt, is the economy, or small cost of such speedy 

 conversion of insoluble and inert matters, to soluble 

 and active manure; for there is no doubt but that, by 

 some means, every vegetable substance is thus con- 

 vertible, and that, with the aid of time, natural causes 

 are continually, and generally with effect, operating to 

 produce such a conversion. The hardest wood — the 

 driest broom-sedge, reedf, or pine leaves — in short, 

 vegetable substances considered the most useless, or 

 perhaps injurious to soil and growing plants, on account 

 of their insolubility, are entirely composed of, and con- 

 vertible to, the same chemical ingredients (hydrogen, 

 oxygen and carbon,) as the richest and most succu- 

 lent, and putrescent vegetable manures ; and they 

 vary but slightly in ingredients even from dung; the 

 latter only having something, and that a very little, in 

 addition to the three principal elements just named. 

 Therefore, there is nothing incredible in the supposi- 



