26 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER 



convinced the greatest art in the use of muck, as a 

 manure, is to have it in a proper state before it is 

 put upon the land. To dig it from the swamp 

 and apply it before it undergoes a chemical change 

 is undoubtedly injurious. This change is brought 

 on rapidly by. hot horse manure or unsiacUed 

 lime, but with colder substances it requires longer. 

 For mixing with cow manure, or putting in hog 

 Btiee, it ought to be dug from the swamp, at least 

 six months, and it is better that it should be ex- 

 posed (0 a winter's frost, belbre it is used. The 

 air then, in some measure, effects the change. 

 The action of the manure soon decomposes the 

 fibre in the muck. It fails to pieces like lime, and 

 then has an earthy appearance. In this stale, a 

 mixture ol' one third manure and two thirds muck 

 has nevei failed with me to produce belter crops 

 of all kinds oi' vegetables than clear manure. 

 For the hist five years we have thought it waste- 

 ful to use manure without being mixed. Before 

 coming to this strong conclusion of the benefit ol 

 muck, when used as a manure, manyexperiments 

 were made, and universally resulted iu favor oi 

 muck." 



SALTPETRE AS MAKURE. 



From llie same. 

 Saltpetre has been used to some extent in Mid- 

 dlesex count}'. The use of this manure and the 

 nitrate of soda, abroad, has, according lo the re- 

 ports which we have had, been productive of so 

 much benefit, that every Rict connected with their 

 application .here is important. I shall subjoin 

 some few of the results which have come within 

 my knowledge. 



E. Phinney of Lexington thus writes to me : 

 " My experiments with saltpetre as a manure 

 have satisfied me ol" the inexpediency of using it 

 for that purpose. In the spring of 1839, I pur- 

 chased 400 lbs., for which [ paid ^8 per cwt. I 

 tried it upon wheat, rye, and grass. Fifty pounds 

 to the acre on wheat and rye had no perceptible 

 effect, and on grass but very little. One hundred 

 pounds lo the acre occasioned a very considerable 

 increase of straw and grain, boih in wheat and 

 rye as well as grass. But had 1 bestowed an 

 equal outlay in compost made from peat-mud and 

 stable manure, or peat-mud and ashes, I have no 

 doubt the immediate crop would have been more 

 benefited and the land have received more per- 

 manent improvement. I have in one instance 

 seen very striking effects produced by the use of 

 eaitpetre upon a light, sandy soil. But the quan- 

 tity used I could not learn, any further than that 

 it was much greater than the quantity to the acre 

 used by me. I believe a portion of saltpetre and 

 common salt, eay ten pounds of the (brmer and 

 twenty pounds of the latter to a cord of compost 

 manure well mJxed, would greatly improve it. 

 The beneficial effects of saltpetre in the desiruc- 

 ti.on of insects that annoy our crops, catmot be 

 dtoubted. I noticed on the farm ol Mr. Whipple, 

 ctf Lowell, two orchards separ ited only by a stone 

 \vall. The trees upon one side of the wail were 

 b'tidly eaten and almost destroyed by canker- 

 \\Turm8, while lho,=e unon^ihe other side wereun- 

 tctuched. On inquiring the cause, 1 learned that 

 •tjtpetre had been used upon the land of the lat- 



ter orchard and none upon the former. The re- 

 medy may be an expensive one 5 but were my 

 trees attacked by this terrible scourge, 1 should 

 immediately apply it. The saltpetre, instead of 

 injuring the trees, as most applications do which 

 are made lor this object, would greatly promote 

 their growth." 



I think proper 10 subjoin here, though from an- 

 other counij', the experiment of John E. How- 

 ard, of West Bridgewaier, Plym.outh county, an 

 account of which he was kind enousrh at my re- 

 quest to furnish me. Mr. Howard's exacinesa 

 and intelligence are well known. 



" You expressed a wish to hear furiher con- 

 cerning the experiment which I made the, past 

 season, to test the efficacy of saltpetre, when ap- 

 plied as a top-dressing to grass land. 



" Of the patch selected the soil is a light sandy 

 loam. On this, some time in the latter part of 

 May last, I sowed saltpetre at the rate of one 

 pound 10 the square rod. The eflecis were soon 

 visible; the grass exhibiting a deeper shade and 

 a more luxuriajit growth than in any other part 

 of the lot. It continued to grow thriftily until the 

 period ol its matiirity, when, on cutting if, the 

 produce was judged to be double that grown on 

 any equal number of leet in the same field. The 

 beneficial action of this substance, however, 

 seems not to have extended beyond the first crop ; 

 ae, since that was removed, no appearance of 

 superior lertilily has marked the spot where it was 

 spread." 



O. M. Whipple, of Lowell, the proprietor of 

 a large establishment for the manufacture of gun- 

 powder, in which much of this material is used, 

 has favored me with successive communications 

 on this subject, which I can do rfo better than 

 present in his own language. 



"Ii is now about sixteen years since I com- 

 menced using saltpetre. The grounds upon 

 which I have used it, have yielded large crops, 

 and have held out much longer than grounds in 

 general, of the same quality of soil, and of the 

 same kind and quality of dressing commonly 

 used. 



The kind of saltpetre which I have used has 

 been that part extracted from the common salt- 

 petre while undergoing the process of purification, 

 and is not fit lor gunpowder. I have, therelbre, 

 not been particular as to quantity, using what I 

 have had to spare ; ]5ut I am satisfied that it re- 

 quires but a very small quantity to produce favo- 

 rable results; I have thought ihat one hundred 

 and fifty pounds per acre would be a sufficient 

 quantity to be used generally. The best mode 

 of using it is to mix it with barn manure, mea- 

 dow mud or any kind. of compost which may be 

 at hand ; although I have used it in various other 

 ways, as I shall now describe. 



I have one piece of ground of 2f acres. It 

 had been used for a long time as mowing ground, 

 and had, as it is termed, run out, and grew but 

 a very small crop of gras$, eay 1500 lbs. to the 

 acre, I ploughed it in the lall of 1830 ; in the 

 spring of 1831, I covered it with barn manure, 

 mixed with saltpetre, as described above, and 

 harrowed it in, and planted corn without disturb- 

 ing the furrows. 1 bad a very handsome crop of 

 corn. In the spring of 1832 I again dressed it 

 as before, that is, with barn manure and saltpetre, 

 sowed oats and slocked it down. The oats were- 



