316 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



ploughin* until the end of the second (erm of ro- 

 tation. II' the state of fertility has been snffi- 

 ciently improved by the small grain led down and 

 by ihe grasses Ibilowinij, of which a lolerable 

 judgment may be Ibrmed by the thickness of the 

 covering of sod, it is advisable to plant the field a 

 second year in corn. A sound judgment mustde- 

 termine the proprieiy ol' taking two successive 

 crops of corn from the same field. If tlie pre- 

 vious covering of grass had been very heavy and 

 the sod turned under in the manner recommended, 

 in nine cases out of ten, other circumstances be- 

 ing equal, a heavier crop of corn will be obtained 

 the second than was the first year, owing to the 

 greater quantity of Ibod ailbrded the second crop 

 by the more perlect decomposition of the vegeta- 

 ble matter turned under. It is a matter of econo- 

 my to plant the second year in corn, provided it 

 be justified by the circumstances mentioned ; for it 

 is a heavy job to break up the sod for only one 

 crop of corn. But on an exhausted farm, it is not 

 recommended to lake two successive crops of corn 

 at the end of the first term of rotation, unless the 

 field laid four instead of two years in pasture ; but 

 at and after the end of a second period of rotation, 

 the practice may, both safely and economically be 

 followed, with a fair prospect, in favorable seasons, 

 of making from 75 to 100 bushels to the acre. — 

 When the corn has sufficiently matured, it is cut 

 up and shocked, sixteen hills square, or 256 hills 

 forming a shock. The shocks are hauled out in 

 the winter on a field most needing improvement 

 and led on the ground to the stock. It is spread 

 generally over the feeding field, and of course 

 thickest on the poorest spots. In breaking up in 

 the spring, the cornstalks, together with tlie drop- 

 pings of the stock, are turned under the soil, and 

 decomposing there, afford a most valuable ma- 

 nure to the growing crop. Now, Mr. Editor, will 

 not " D.'' consent that this is a system which "ma- 

 nulactures our manure on the very spots where 

 we want it to be spread," and which obviates the 

 " horrible drudgery of hauling out and spreading 

 manure on exhausted fields'? It will be seen that 

 this system manures the land at no expense what- 

 ever ; while other systems are not only very ex- 

 ))ensive, hut " tedious and hot^rible drudgery," 

 The only labor devoted at all to inantning in this 

 system is, that of hauling out the corn to the stock 

 and spreading it over the fi^eding ground ; but this 

 labor accomplishes also the in)portant and indis- 

 pensable duty of Itjeding the stock ; and to say the 

 worst, it is no more, if so much, as is requisite, 

 under other systems, to get the food of animais 

 from the fields where it grew to the barn, whence, 

 after passing through the animals, it is to be 

 thrown, with painlul labor, in compost heaps, and 

 then hauled back again to the fields. I do not 

 pretend to. doubt, that barn-yard manure, 7yes/;e- 

 cially taken care, of and maiwjhctured in compost 

 heaps, is a more valuable manure spread on the 

 fields than the under vegetable matter which the 

 grazing system gives to the soil. But I do insist 

 that this systetn not only returns more vegetable 

 matter to the soil than it takes from it, and that it 

 replaces more vegetable food in the fields than any 

 other system with which I am acquainted, through 

 the medium either of observation or books. 



It is true that manure manuliictured carefjlly 

 in compost heaps, where its stimulating gases are 

 prevenled (i'oni escaping, is a tnore elfective vege- 



table stimulant than vegetable matters which have- 

 remained exposed and uncovered on the ground. — 

 But the only matter of this description which, in 

 the grazing system, is thus exposed to waste or loss 

 of its fertilizing powers, is the corn-stalks led from 

 the beginning of winter till spring on one of the 

 fields. But let us look a little into the extent of 

 this loss and conjpare it with that which results 

 from the other system. I am by no means satisfied 

 that there is at all any loss of ieriilizing power 

 sustained by spreading the corn-stalks on the ex- 

 posed surli:\ce of a field ; lor the gases are not evolv- 

 ed till the vegetable matter assumes a putrescent 

 quality, which is rarely the case uidesssucli matter 

 be mixed with dung or other fermenting n)ateriais. 

 But how stands the case in the barnyard 1 Even 

 under the most careful husbandry oi' the manure 

 of a barn-yard, more of its value must he lost there 

 by the escape of its ga>es than can possibly occur 

 in the grazing field. The dung of the anin)als lies 

 on the ground or the barn floor till convenience or 

 necessiry requires its removal to the compost heap ; 

 and I am sure that this matter is in a far more 

 putrescent and fermentable state than dry corn- 

 stalks can be, and that it loses more of its stimulat- 

 ing power than can by possibility be parted with 

 by the cornstalks. But even granting that the 

 loss in the two cases were equal, the great differ- 

 ence in the quantity of manuring material lijr- 

 nished the fields under the difi'erent systems would 

 turn the scale in favor of the grazing system. 

 Under that system, all that the earth yields, is re- 

 turned to it without loss of quantity, and it is 

 equally spread and diffused, and incorporated 

 through the entire soil ; under the other system, 

 that which is grown on a field is taken off, and, if 

 returned at all, is carried back diminished in quan- 

 tity and spread unequally over the surliice. 1 ad- 

 mit that t)arnyard compost manure is very power- 

 ful and valuable ; and that it derives much of its 

 efficacy from the ammalizing process of passing 

 through horses and cattle; but I wonder that the 

 method of ploughing in sod which I have describ- 

 ed, is not seen to be the most perlect plan of form- 

 ing a compost heap ever invented or practiseo. 

 In this plan the sod, the material of the manure, 

 is taken in a state when no evaporative processes 

 are wasting, in evolving gases, its most vital 

 qualities, and it is turned under the earth where 

 subsequent fermentation does not give its gases to 

 the winds, but where the soil reaps the entire be- 

 nefit oi' the decomposition of ail the vegetable 

 matter grown on it. It is true that gardeners, in 

 Flanders, England, New England, and elsewhere, 

 pro'^tably mak^ compost heaps fiom the materials 

 in tne barnyard or the stable, aided by other ma- 

 terials carrieu there, for the purpose of manuring 

 small parcels of ground. I do this myself: and I 

 would not be deprived of the pleasure, as well as 

 profit, of so treating my garden, for lour times the 

 whole value of all its produce. But this is a sys- 

 tem only suited to very small farms compared to 

 those of this country. Heie land is cheap, and 

 plants and labor scarce and dear; but land is \uir\v 

 and labor abundant and cheap, udiere these la- 

 borious plans of manuring are profitably conduct- 

 ed. Under our system, ten men is a Ibrce sufli- 

 cient to cultivate profitably two thousand acres of 

 land, and the products and fc;iiiity of the farm will 

 annually increase. But I am dila'ing too widely 

 on (his branch of the subject. 



