F A R Al E R S ' REGISTER 



559 



Bystem. My practice is lo I'lanl my older and 

 ihinner lands in coin, and lo manure them well, 

 and wiih such aid, they uill yield mure ih.ui 

 (i-esher lands wiihuut manure. Such a course 

 leaves the better lands to he pianled in cotton 

 which is lo be coiisi<iered as the main crop of our 

 southern stales. In addi'ion lo ihe ntanure on 

 my corn lands, I have usually been able to ma- 

 nure Iroin 75 to 100 acres of cotton most conve- 

 iiieni lo the homesiead. Even those of us, Mr. 

 Editor, who have done most, in this matter, must 

 leel that we have made but a beginuinix, and that 

 our resources are as bLUiidless as the leaves of the 

 lores!. In the lower country, where the system 

 of manuring has been longer in existence ; it is 

 much more extensively and successfully carried 

 on than wiih us ; and severtil planters of late have 

 gone to the expense of spreading one hundred 

 bushelsormoreofsaltover their com post heaps, and 

 ae they believe with decided benefit to the crop. 

 The practice there is lo keep onp or more boys 

 and carts, according to the size ^^' Ihe plantaiion, 

 hauling leaves into the lots and stables the greater 

 part of the year, and no doubt where horse power 

 is scarce, that this is the better plan. But with us, 

 where it is so abundant, i thii.k tlie periodical ap- 

 plication of the Ibrce of hands and wagons ihe 

 belter plan. But of this, every planter will judge 

 lor hiiujelf. I would suggest to such of your low- 

 er couniry readers, who have been in tlie habit of 

 applying salt to tiie compost heaps, wheilier it 

 would not be better to feed it to their stock ? V/ould 

 not the urine ofsuchstocU be more highly chargcii 

 with saline properties'? Would not those proper- 

 ties be more etpially ditfused throughout the com- 

 post heap in ihis indirect, rather than in the direct 

 application of the salt itself? And should not the 

 known benefits of salt as food lor stock incline 

 them to this course. In my remtuks I have con- 

 fined mysell' altogether to the use and pre|)aration 

 vl' compost, and valuable as this manure may be 

 in improving our lands, yet it is a very limited 

 means of intprovement, compared wiih a judi- 

 cious rotation of crops, and the ploughing in ol've- 

 getable matter. This is the system u[)on which 

 we must mainly rely fur an amelioraiion of our 

 lands, and sooner or later ii must be adopted or 

 we shall be driven to the necessity of emigration. 

 As this article, Mr. Editor, is already long, I will 

 make this latter subject the head of a separate 

 aiticle at some future period. PKACxicji:. 



BOILKD FOOD lOR POULTRY. 



I'miii tlie Fiirmers' C;il;iiiot. 



It is customary (or some poultry-men to cooli 

 the difierent grains which they use lijr laiioning 

 poultry, and this they do by boiling, continuing 

 the process until the mass swells, and becomes so 

 soft as to break the envelope, by which each 

 grain is surrounded, conceiving that such Ibod is 

 better for the purpose, and tlie use of it lar more 

 economical, thiin the dry grain. Now, whetlier 

 this idea is or is not correct, still it is of importance 

 to know the dilicrence of expense between tlu- 

 two, and interesting lo ascertain whether more or 

 less of ii is eaten than of ihtit which has not been 

 submilted to the culinary procets. To di-covcr 

 tiiis, I find that ilons. fJeaumur caused f'i:r lini-^ 



of each of the six grain.s (ijllowing to be boiled 

 uniil I hey were well bursied, and he found ihat 

 the increase of bulk of each sort was as follows : 

 4 pints of oats alier boiling filled 7 pints, 

 barley do. 



buckwheat do. 

 Indian corn do. 

 wheat do. 



rye do. 



Rice was not tested, hut swells much more than 

 any of the above : it is seldom, however, used lor 

 the above [lurfxise. 



On experiment it was found that ponllry were 

 not unilbrmly partial to boiled grain, alihough oc- 

 casionally a prelt^rence was shown for ii ; nor did 

 it appear that they entertain a decided partiality 

 for one species over that of every other ; wheat, 

 however, being sometimes prelerred and rye dis- 

 approved of; it therefore follows, that we might 

 make choice of that grain which happens to be 

 most plentiful or cheapest, always excepting rye, 

 which must not be used unless other sorts cannot 

 he had. 



O her experiments were make lo ascertain whc- 

 j ther iliere be any economy in leeding with boiled 

 lurain, and this was done by knowing, first, 

 ! how much dry grain sufficed for one or more (owls 

 1 and then boiling the same quantity, and trying 

 ! how much in that state would suffice for a meal ; 

 1 the result was as follows. Rye, although so very 

 [considerably increased by boiling, instead of being 

 I more satislying, becomes less so, more of it being 

 consumed when boiled than when dry. Oals, al- 

 ihough increased by boiling nearly one-halfj are 

 not, on this account, more satisfying (or poultry, 

 which, if in two days they xvill consume four pints 

 ofdry oais, will, in the same period, eat seven pints 

 when boiled ; so there is no economy in the addi- 

 tional trouble. Mowbray is of the opinion that 

 oats srour, although they are supposed to promote 

 layinir, snd arc in many places used for fattenintr. 

 Buckwheat swells still more than oats by boiling, 

 hut poultry will consume (^jurteen [linis boiled, in 

 the same space of time that lour would be sulfici- 

 cnt, and it is thought to be an unsubstantial food. 

 But Indian-corn is more profitable when boiled 

 ihan raw, the saving being one-third, or near it ; 

 while the fowls which ate two pints ol'barley in its 

 dry slate, consumed but three pints of the boiled 

 grain ; iherelbre, as ten pinis of boiled barley are 

 produced from (our pinIs of dry grain, the expe- 

 rience in dry barley is tolhat of boiled, as ten-filihs 

 10 six-filihs, or as ten to six, or five to three; 

 amouniing to a saving of two-fifths by giving 

 boiled ihsicad of dry barley : thus it is lar more 

 |)rofitab!eand efieciive wlien boiled than raw. and, 

 if fed to ihe poultry while warm, it will hasten 

 materially the period of laying, promoiing in a 

 high degree ihc health and thrift of all kinds of 

 poultry. Wheat, a.'? shown in the above table, 

 increases in bulk en boiling, nearly the same as 

 barley; and lhe.=e cxpcrimen'.s go to show that 

 ih.e use of boiled wheat, barley and Indian-corn is 

 a matter of economy, whiie on the contrary, in 

 the boiling of oats, rye, and buckwheat, you have 

 the loss of fuel, time, and trouble, out of pocket. 



'J'liesi things are worth rememberinir, especially 

 at the present time, when the (iiUcning of poultry 

 \h carried to so gieat a lenirih, our .«lcam-boats ami 

 rail-way."? requiring si;ch quantities lo (eed ihcfr 

 pasjei.'gi r^■■, poultry being, in so ni;iiiy ways, il,e 



