722 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 12 



tittely limited means. The accuracy of thai ac- 

 coQiit 1 was at one time disposed to question ; I am 

 now thoroughly convinced of its truth. You may 

 find some valuable inlbrmation upon this subject 

 of kelp as a manure, in the 1st vol. of the New 

 Edinburgh Encyclopaidia. Art. Agriculture, page 

 270, by transrerring which to your columns, you 

 will probably benefit your readers. 



When my experiments are sufficiently matured 

 to enable me to afford any useful information to 

 the public, I may trouble you with a communica- 

 tion under my proper name ; but for the present, 

 being merely seeking information from others, I 

 Bubscribe myself your obedient servant, 



Potomac. 



SEA- WARE, MARSH-MUD, ETC. 



Talbot county, Eastern Shore, Md. > 

 Jvgusi 30, 1831. 5 



Mr. Smith — Sea-ware is thrown on our shores 

 in considerable quantities, and we have had nu- 

 merous banks of partially decomposed oyster- 

 ehells, but they are now nearly exhausted. Many 

 have made their lands rich by the application of 

 the.se materials, and the more modern ones — 

 marsh-mud, and the heads of creeks. It may be 

 encouraging to " Potomac," and such of his 

 neighbors as have the good fortune to possess 

 these precious treasures, to know that the annals 

 of this county afford instances of more rapid im- 

 provement from them, aided by well manafired 

 farm-yards, than that mentioned by the late Mr. 

 Singleton from shell-marl. That nothing has 

 been written on the subject in this quarter is owing 

 to the general knowledge of their value: — the 

 time for experiments in regard to them has jjone 

 by. They have been used extensively for thirty 

 years- — partially, much longer. 



One good dressing of Indian bank shells is suf- 

 ficient. The sea weed may be applied with ad- 

 vantage to every new crop : — they act together 

 better than separately — and better still combined 

 with stable or farm-yard manure. But it cannot 

 be expected that all this can be effected, to any 

 considerable extent, in one year — if done in the 

 regular course of cultivation it will be sufficient. 

 That is, give a dressing of marsh one year, and 

 one of shells the next time it is cultivated — or the 

 reverse. My experience and observation lead 

 me to recommend that the shells be dropped on 

 every fourth or fifth land, or ridge, as near to each 

 other as convenient to the carter ; that is — when 

 hfs team arrives within a few feet of the load just 

 deposited let him tilt his cart. The same process 

 to be observed in dropping the sea-ware. This 

 valuable article acts well on all crops, and at all 

 seasons — the sooner it is turned in the better : it 

 loses much of its virtue by exposure — but it is a 

 common practice to drop it during the summer on 

 land intended for corn next year, where it lies un- 

 til it is time to list. It is excellent lor fallow. 

 When thrown on shore by a favorable wind the 

 most pressing jobs are postponed until it is secur- 

 ed, either by taking it to the field where wanted, 

 or by heaping it a i'ew feet above high-water- 

 mark, to prevent its being carried off by the ebb 

 tides. It is useless, and double labor, to put it in 

 large heaps — if heaped in the field, in large bulks, 

 nothing will grow on the spot it occupied for se- 



veral years: — indeed a single cart load, if it lies a 

 few months, deposits rather too much salt — to ob- 

 viate this one of my neighbors disiributesit in half 

 loads. No instance is known of its introducing 

 wire-grass or any other pest. 



Marsh- mud and the heads of coves are now 

 extensively used. Unexpected quantities and 

 qualities of manure are frequently found: — after 

 penetrating through a stratum of rich salted allu- 

 vial soil, well rotted marsh, emitting a strong 

 stench, is often found. These compost-beds, from 

 six to ten feet deep, of the best materials ready 

 to our hands, are invaluable. Some of our land- 

 holders, who let land on shares, are so sensible of 

 the value of these resources that they furnish a 

 cart, team and carter, (the tenant finding food,) to 

 be employed on them exclusively all the year. 

 Marsh can be got out in the dead of winter— it 

 makes an excellent dressing for the farm-yard. 

 Oyster-shells, collected I'rom bars by men who 

 make a business of it, in large quantities, are sold 

 at 1^ to three cents per bushel to farmers, who 

 burn them in kilns made of pine logs. The lime, 

 and half burnt shells, are spread with shovels from 

 the cart tail, at the rate of 150 to 200 bushels per 

 acre, just before or after planting corn — or before 

 seeding wheat. 



Indian banks should be dug with grubbing hoes, 

 or (if the ground will admit) ploughed up, and 

 shovels used in loading. Iron pronged forks suit 

 the sea-weed, spades and shovels the heads of 

 coves and marshes. From two to five carts should 

 be run, so that the hands employed to load may 

 have constant work. Single teams are preferred. 



I am no essayist; but hope something useful 

 may be found in the above. 



CORNPLANTER. 



SEA-WEED, ETC. MANURE. 



TVestmoreland county, Va. > 

 Sept. 17, 1831. 5 

 Mr. Smith — I have to return my thanks to your 

 correspondent, "Cornplanter," for the prompt and 

 obliging manner in which he has responded to the 

 inquiries made by me in my last communication. 

 I am much instructed, and encouraged in the 

 course which I had determined to pursue by the 

 facts which he has disclosed. But I am a young 

 and inexperienced farmer; and most of my time, 

 moreover, bein^ devoted to public and profession- 

 al pursuits, I have but little opportunity, except in 

 occasional intervals of leisure, of attending to the 

 practical details of agriculture, or of acquiring by 

 personal observation that minute knowledge, 

 which is so essential to successfiil husbandry. 

 Your correspondent will, I hope, therefore, excuse 

 me, when I ask, not only for my own instruction, 

 but also for the benefit of some of my neighbors, 

 who are equally uninformed, and have, moreover, 

 inveterate prejudices to subdue, that he will fa- 

 vor the public with another essay, in which more 

 detailed information may be given. I have, my- 

 self, not the least doubt of the accuracy of the 

 statement that there are instances of more rapid 

 improvement on the Eastern Shore of Mary- 

 land, from the use of sea-weed, marsh mud. 

 and Indian banks, than that afiorded on the 

 farm of the late Mr. Singleton, from shell marl. 

 But there is no subject, on which there is so great 



