MANURES. 143 



color in June and July, and was heavier when harvested. Tho 

 land upon which I put it is rather poor — not my best corn land. 

 I think the yield will be thirty-five or forty bushels to the acre. 

 I used three loads of manure, and nine loads of muck to the 

 acre — valued at six dollars. Others may receive great benefit 

 from artificial manures, but some may, with me, think that so 

 long as nature has provided, in our swamps, vast stores of that 

 which will cause corn to grow, and the " wilderness to bud and 

 blossom as the rose," it is best to draw upon the swamps. 



SuNDEKLAND, Octobcr 20, 1853. 



NORFOLK. 

 From the Report of the Committee on Farjns. 



Use of Guano. — The question is frequently asked, "If guano, 

 at the cost of fifty dollars per ton, can be profitably used on 

 our soil;" and also, "if the benefit, where it is at all apparent, 

 is not entirely exhausted by the crop which it first nourishes ?" 

 In reply, we have to state that a farmer in this county, while 

 yet doubtful of its value as a lasting fertilizer, made with it 

 the following experiments : — 



A piece of grass land, which, for several years, had yielded 

 only small return for mowing, was carefully turned up with a 

 large grass plough, about the last week in August, stirring the 

 soil to the depth of eight inches. It was then rolled with a 

 stone roller and laid level. This operation was followed by 

 using twice the large square harrow. Peruvian guano, of more 

 than ordinary excellence, mixed thoroughly with coarse sand 

 — in order to spread it more evenly, — was then spread, with 

 the hand, at the rate of three hundred and fifty pounds per acre. 

 The cultivator was now drawn over it lengthwise and across 

 it. The grass seed then was sown, at the rate of five pecks 

 redtop and ten quarts herds-grass per acre. This was followed 

 by the brush harrow, and the whole piece was left perfectly 

 clean and level. The soil varied, in different parts of the field, 

 from a light, gravelly, to a deep, moist loam. The seed ger- 

 minated quickly, and covered the surface, before winter, with a 

 good body of grass. This was not much injured by the severity 



