COMPOST. NEIGHBOR MANUFACTORIES. 



595 



PREPARATION AND APPLICATION OF COMPOST. 



Oatland Cottage, ) 



Hempstead, L. I. February 23, 1846. 3 



Dear Sir : I have received several commu- 

 nications by post, soliciting iuformation respect- 

 ing Farm Journals, and Decomposing Vegeta- 

 ble Substances iu twelve or eighteen days, as 

 referred to in your November Number, page 247. 



In the first place, my working journal is too 

 large to forward, and too long to transcribe, and 

 your extract is a fair specimen of one page. 



The method I have pursued for about seven 

 years in decomposing ti-ash of any sort for ma- 

 nures, is as follows : A layer of any rough stuff 

 I can collect, one foot thick, on which I spread 

 lime (purchased in New-York at 5 cents per 

 bushel,*) about a qnai-ter of an inch thick ; then 

 another layer of the first, then bone-dust about 

 half as thick, and so on, alternately, till I make 

 my heap as large as I \^ant it, covering the 

 heap with a mixture of fine charcoal and plas- 

 ter about two inches thick. The charcoal costs 

 me 4 cents a bushel, the plaster $1. 12J per bar- 

 rel. The fine bone-dust can be procured of Mr. 

 Hornby, N. Y. and the charcoal of James Bariing, 

 Chemical Works, James st. N. Y. — the whole 

 covered over with 6 inches of soil. In about 3 

 days fermentation takes place, and goes on rap- 

 idly, and will require wetting. Sticks forced 

 in the heap for about 3 feet act as indexes. If 

 getting very hot and dry I add as follows : For 

 potatoes, a solution of potash, about 5 lbs. to a 

 baarel of water ; or, what is better, house slops, 

 all of which I save, such as .soap-suds, chamber- 

 lye &c. This I apply by making holes about a 

 foot apart in Uie heap, with a strong pointed 



stick, covering the holes np when applied. For 

 usual garden purposes, 2 lbs. sulphate of ammo- 

 nia to a barrel of same stuff. If for wheat, pot- 

 ash and •sulphate of ammonia, half the quantity. 

 Sometimes it requires melting twice. About 

 the ninth or tenth day I break it up, and in a 

 few days it is fit for use, and I have never failed 

 in having it suDBcieutly fine to plow or spade iu. 



For many years it has been a common prac- 

 tice on Long Island, and perhaps elsewhere, to 

 give land a dressing with leached ashes, when 

 put down to gras.s. at the rate of from fi to 10 

 loads of 14 bushels (89 to 144 bushels) each. 1 or 

 three years past I have adopted the following 

 plan, which has saved both money and labor, 

 witli, I believe, equal success. One of my 

 neighbors has tried it with rye this year, and 

 speaks of it highly. To each load fsay 30 bush- 

 els) of fine soil or sods, I add a layer of potash, 

 50 lbs. ; then a laj-er of half as much soil, and a 

 bushel of lime ; and so on alternately, till I mix 

 as much as I want. In a week turn it over — 

 the potash will be pretty much dissolved — and 

 in another week fit to use. To each acre, after 

 the laud is last plowed, I spread with a shovel 

 3 loads, containing about 150 lbs. potash, and 

 harrow it in ; then sow. I prefer it to ashes. 

 The potash I procure at the Inspection Ware- 

 house, N. Y. called scrapings, at about S3 per 

 cwt. 



In hope the above hasty remarks may be 

 useful to some of your readers. 



I remain yours, truly, JOHN H.AJIOLD. 



To J. S. Skinnee, Esq. 



NEIGHBOR MANUFACTORIES : 

 THEIR COSVENIENCE AND UTILITY.— EXAMPLES L\ MARYLAND. 



We have alluded elsewhere to die conven- 

 ience of small neighborhood manufactories, for 

 consuming the wool and supplying the cloth re- 

 quired for every County in the Southern States. 

 Of such factories we have examples in the 

 '• Powder Mill" in Montgomerj-, and the " Paint 

 Branch " Factory in Prince George's County, 

 Maryland. The proprietors of these small, snug 

 establishments, advertise in that useful and 

 well-conducted paper, the Marlboro' Gazette, 

 that they will keep on hand a general assort- 

 ment of woolen goods, which they will exchange 

 for wool, on reasonable terms ; and they give 

 notice of certain stores in Alexandria, Washing- 

 ton, Baltimore and certain other places in the 



* This vf e suppose must be the refuse lime of kilne, 

 delivereil at the kilas. [Ed. Farm. Lib. 



(1255) 



neighboring Counties, where their woolen goods 

 will be kept on hand, ready to be exchanged 

 for wool, so that the farmer can either buy his 

 cloth, at once, and pay for it with his wool, or 

 have his wool manufactured for his own use, as 

 he may prefer, and according to his own notion 

 and purposes. 



We feel persuaded that " Chase's Card Spin- 

 ner " might be introduced with economy in all 

 such establishments, as by it refuse cotton may 

 be made to take, in part, the place of wool, 

 which is more co.stly. The cotton thread k 

 wrapped effectually in wool, and a cloth pro- 

 duced that, according to the samples we have 

 seen, comes fully up, in the matter of firmness, 

 strength, warmth and durability, to all that has 

 been said in favor of this machine. 



