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not only of the wool itself but a considerable amount of the 

 seeds, which are known to abound in oil, and at the South are 

 much valued as a manure. This manure is sometimes spread 

 thinly on grass land, and at other times put into the compost 

 heap. It has been too little employed for us to determine the 

 best mode of its application. 



The waste from the woolen mills has likewise been used as 

 a top-dressing for grass both in Tewksbury in this county, and 

 at Northampton in Hampsh-ire. I have seen its effects in these 

 places and in some other parts of the country. They have been 

 most remarkable, and surpassed by no manure which I have 

 ever seen applied. This refuse used formerly to be accumulated 

 in the neighborhood of the woolen factories at Lowell ; and being 

 surcharged with oil used in cleansing it, there was great risk al- 

 ways of spontaneous combustion. When thrown into the river 

 it was complained of as interfering with the shad fishery. The 

 amount of wool used at the Middlesex mills in Lowell is more 

 than 600,000 lbs. per year. Being full of animal matter it is a 

 most excellent manure. Its value has long been appreciated in 

 England, but we seem to have come late to the knowledge of it. 

 I have seen it spread directly upon grass land, both in mow- 

 ing and pasture grounds, with surprising effect. It is much to 

 be desired that the water in which their wools are washed, full 

 as it is of animal oils and alkalies, could likewise be saved and 

 applied to the land. It would prove beyond doubt a most val- 

 uable manure either applied on the grass lands or mixed in the 

 compost heap. In the economy of nature nothing is without 

 its use ; and the first duty of the farmer is to remember that 

 nothing should be lost. 



A very exact and intelligent farmer in Groton made some 

 comparative experiments with different manures on pieces of 

 land contiguous to each other, of which he has favored me with 

 an account. The land to which these different substances 

 were applied was what is there termed reclaimed meadow, and 

 rich in vegetable mould. 



One bushel of ashes applied to three square rods of land at 



