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F A K JM E R S ' R E G 1 S 1' E U . 



peat, that this calf has lived on the common pas- 

 lure. It has scarcely ever tasted <irain. Both ii 

 and the young bull 1 own, live on the same pas- 

 ture with my other cows, and are more tlirifty. 



It is said that to have these cattle in perfection 

 you must feed them liish and attend them well. 

 So you must; but in the low country where we 

 must have a large flock of cattle, we cannot afford 

 to do so. Must we on that account have nothinir 

 to do with the breed ? I think not. If we cannot 

 have this cattle in the perfection they are found in 

 Europe, we may nevertheless introduce them to 

 improve our common breed, and any one who will 

 take this view only, will attain much. 



We all know how much a cross of breeds will 

 do for cattle ; and it is from the want ot' this as 

 much as from any other cause that our native 

 stock have desrenerated so much. Under the very 

 best system of attention and feeding, if you do 

 not frequently cross the breed and relationship of 

 animals they will degenerate in size and quality. 

 There are few plantations in South Carolina, 

 where this fact, though so notoriously obvious, 

 has been attended to, and the proper correctives 

 applied. For one hundred dollars, a Durham calf 

 of the purest breed can be delivered in Charleston. 

 At one year of age he is fit to put to cows, and 

 fi-om what I have seen I think the get of bulls at 

 this age the best. I have tried them from one to 

 five years of age, and find the calves of the fbrrn- 

 er always the finest in lorm and size, and have sa- 

 tisfied some of the most skeptical upon this point. 

 When 1 first advanced this I was laughed at. be- 

 cause contrary to the supposed experience oi" the 

 country. I say supposed experience, because the 

 custom was only founded on supposition. Every 

 one who vvill pay attention to the matter, will find, 

 that even among his common cattle the finest 

 calves are invariably by his j^ouiiirest bulls. My 

 old cow-driver, who has had forty years' expe- 

 rience, vouches this truth. I am opposed to none 

 of the other breed of cattle ; they are all excellent 

 of their kinds. The object of this hurried letter 

 is to prove that the introduction of fine cattle 

 amongst us, will improve our native breeds, and 

 that, loo, on the very worst of pastures. Dr. 

 O'Hear and Dr. Harleston of this parish, have 

 with myself bred Ironi Durham bulls, lor the last 

 few years, and we are now fully convinced that 

 the calves thus bred have suffered droiiaht, inat- 

 tention, and I may actually say, starvation, better 

 ihan calves from the native bred. The jjentlemen 

 whose names I have used, will excuse the liberty 

 herein taken. I do it for (he confirmation of truth. 

 Respectfully yours, &c., 



B. R. Carroll. 



[From ' Transactions of the Essex Agricultural Society.'] 

 ON EXPERIMENTS ON MANURES. 



To the trustees of the Essex j^gricuUural Society. 



Gentlemen — The only claim to which the at- 

 tention of the commitiee on experiments on ma- 

 nures has been called, is that of Dr. Andrew 

 Nichols, of Danvers. His farm in Middleton was 

 visited in July and September. Early in the spring 

 he had caused unleached wood-ashes to be spread 

 on lojv and cold soils, and the crops of grass gave 



evidence that the application was very favorable. 

 It had produced a heavy burden of grass on land" 

 which otherwise would have had but a light and 

 sour crop. 



His corn was manured with a compost made of 

 asmall portion of animal manure, seventy bushels 

 of ashes and meadow or peat mud. The soil is a 

 sandy loam. The growth in July was luxuriant, 

 and in September there was a handsome display of 

 lull-grown, well-filled ears, in the judgment of the 

 commitiee about filty bushels to the acre. This in 

 some circumstances would not be considered a 

 large yield, but the soil is naturally light and lor 

 many years had not been well manured. The 

 committee were satisfied by the appearance of the 

 crop, that this year the proper manure and good 

 treatment had been applied, and that in ordinary 

 seasons a compost of ashes, meadow mud and 

 barn manure, will, on sandy and loamy soils, pro- 

 duce a fair crop of corn. In the locality of Dr. 

 Nichols's farm, it would be difficult and expensive 

 to procure animal manure in sufficient quantities 

 to plant any considerable extent of land, and we 

 know of no cheaper or better substitute. 



The attention of the conmiittee was also direct- 

 ed to a piece of barley, on which a solution of pot- 

 ash and peat mud had been applied, and the 

 quantity oi'straw and grain appeared to have been 

 doubled by the operation. But the advant;iges of 

 this application were still more apparent on a 

 small portion of land on which onions had been 

 sown. Although it was not in proper tilth for 

 such a crop, it produced at the rate of six hundred 

 and forty bushels to the acre. On a small part of 

 the land none of the solution had been used ; 

 here, the crop was very liirht, giving evidence 

 that the superiority of the crop was owing to the 

 novel application. 



The subject is important to farmers. Manure 

 is the capital on which they do business. A nd the 

 man who teaches them how to obtain it at a rea- 

 sonable rale and in sufficient quantities, does the 

 public better service, than if he lectured the live- 

 long day on copper and silver mines, and amused 

 the sleepy hours with golden dreams. 



The coinmittce think Dr. Nichols's experiment 

 valuable, and his statement satisfactory ; they re- 

 commend that it be published, and that the socie- 

 ty's premium of twenty dollars be awarded to him. 

 For the committee, 



Daniel P. King. 



Danvers. Dec. 28, 1839. 



Dr. A. Nichols's statement. To the committee of 

 the Essex Agricultural Society on manures. 



Persuaded of the importance of the discoveries 

 made by Dr. Samuel L. Dana, of Lowell, and 

 given to the world through the medium of the re- 

 ports of Professor Hitchcock and Rev. H. Colman, 

 to the legislature of Massachusetts, concerning 

 the food of vegetables, geine, and the abundance 

 of it in peat muJ, in an insoluble state to be sure, 

 and in that state not readily absorbed and digested 

 by the roots of cultivated vegetables, but rendered 

 soluble and very easily digestible by such plants 

 by potash, wood-ashes, or other alkalies, among 

 which is ammonia, one of the products of fer- 

 menting animal manures, I resolved last year to 



