THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



27 



good. In 1833, 1 took from it a crop of grass, 

 which was esiinaated to be six toas. It had 

 grown grass every year since, and I beUeve not 

 a less quaniity than tlic esuiouie above lias been 

 taken iroai it since tlie first crop. 1 ehuuld bt; • 

 saiti in saying that there were six tons giown up- 

 on the lui ihe last year, and this year ihe crop is 

 good. 1 have anoihi r lot, containing 1^ acrcsi, ; 

 which like the oiHer yielded little grass j 20 cwt. 

 being all tiie lot produced in lb22. In iIjo spring 

 of lb24, 1 dressed ii upon the surliice with ma- 

 nure, meadow uiud, antl saltpetre mixed; and it 

 yielded anioderaie crop that year. In the spimg 

 oi 1825, 1 sowed upon thesurlace, as you v.'ould 

 sow rye, aquduuty oi saltpeiie. 'I'ne result was, 

 that 1 took irom the lot at least four tona of hay, 

 as it was adjudged. This too was in a lot con- 

 taining appie-iiees, and the grass much lodged 

 all over the held. I continued sowing upon this j 

 lot a small quantity of saltpetre once in two yeais, | 

 lor five or six years, and at the same time raising 

 a very large crop of grass yearly. Nothing has 

 been done lo this lot lor lae last six years, and 

 there is at this time upon it more than a middling 

 crop of grass. 



" I have another lot of light-soiled ground, of 

 about lour acres j it had been used ior growing 

 rye. It occurred to me that 1 would try the ex- 

 periment ot saltpetre upon a small piece of this 

 ground. The result was so lavorable, that the 

 next year, in the spring, i covered the piece uiih 

 meadow mud mixed with sahjietre. 'I'he result 

 was, that 1 obtained Irom the ground as large a 

 crop of grass as it was considered profitable lo 

 raise. Last year, which was the filth, it yielded 

 two tons per acre. There has been, however, 

 a small quantity of saltpetre sowed upon the lot 

 since. I could describe other lots ujion which 

 saltpetre has been used, but with the same results 

 as those already mentioned. 



" 1 shall now designate the above lots and de- 

 scribe the kind of soil. 



" The first is No. 1, of a middling quality, nei- 

 ther very wet nor dry. 



"The second. No. 2, is an orchard adjoining 

 Concord river, of a damp soil and oi a very good 

 quality. 



"'Ihe third is No. 3, a dry, sandy soil, consi- 

 dered by me of no value, until I practised using 

 saltpetre upon it as a dressing. With regard to 

 the mode or manner of using saltpetre upon 

 ground, I do not think it makes much diflere::ice, 

 if it is but put upon the ground. I have practised 

 sowing it upon the surface, and mixing and 

 ploughing it in with, lor aught I know, equal re- 

 sults ; but I should be rather in lavor of mixing 

 and ploughing it in. In this case it would require 

 a larger quaniity, say 300 lbs. per acre ; the etliects 

 would be more slow and lasting. In sowing upon 

 the. surface, it would require a less quantity, say 

 150 lbs. ; but it would be necessary to repeat the 

 dressing yearly, until the crop should he satisfic- 

 torily large, lam more in favor of bringing up 

 the ground gradually, by the yearly appiicBiidn 

 of a small qu mlity of saltpetre, than I should 

 be by a larger quantity, and getting a large crop 

 •the first year." 



Since the foregoing, the same farmer has fur- 

 nished me with some additional inlbrmation, 

 which follows ; and again, the present year, 

 assures me of his continued success in this appli- 



cation. I could have wished that the experimenle 

 had been made with more exactness. 



" Since my communication to you in June last, 

 respecting the use of saltpetre as a manure, I 

 have had a more particular practical demonstra- 

 tion of its utility. 



"Having an iBJand in Boston harbor, called 

 Spectacle island, and its dij>tance Irom land ren- 

 dering It very expensive to lurnish manure lor it, 

 in the spring of 1838 I concluded to try the ex- 

 periment of using saltpetre as a substitute, and in 

 order to test its abiliiy with some exactness, out 

 of two acres which had been cultivated the year 

 belbre, half an acre was set apart for the purpose 

 of receiving 150 lbs. salipetie, which were sowed 

 on the surface and the whole two acres were then 

 ploughed and planted with potatoes. At har- 

 vesting, I found that there was an increased crop 

 upon the ground where the saltpetre had been 

 applied. I directed the man ii^ charge to dry 5 

 hills upon the ground where the saltpetre had 

 been applied, and also 5 hills where there had 

 been no saltpeire, and weigh each parcel. The 

 potatoes on the ground where the saltpetre was 

 applied, weighed 9 Ib^., the other 4 lbs. This, it 

 wiil be perceived, was the result of one year's 

 application only. lam inclined to think that its 

 influence will be felt more or less the second, or 

 even the tlsird and fourth 3'ears. 



A field containing two acres from which grass 

 had been taken tor 8 years, I had ploughed in the 

 spring o!' 1838, once only ; it was ploughed deep, 

 and 90 rods were appropriated to the growth of 

 ruia-baga. The seed was sown upon the tops 

 of the furrows, without any manure in the drill, 

 and the result was, that I obtained 500 bushels 

 ol the article specified above ; the remainder of 

 the field was sown to oats, but the crop was most- 

 ly destroyed by the unexampled growth of hog 

 weed. This field had been wholly sustained by 

 tlie application of saltpetre upon it's surface, pre- 

 viously to its being ploughed, excepting al the 

 time of ploughing, when there was turned in a 

 small coat of manure." 



■WHITE HOGS. 



From tlie Farmers' Cabinet. 



Mr. Editor — It is really amusing to find 

 ihatraany of our friends are beginning already to 

 turnup their noses at ihe black Albany Berkshiree, 

 and express a strong preference for Mr. A. B. 

 Allen's white Kenilworths, wondering if that gen- 

 tleman will have a sufficient supply lor all his cus- 

 tomers the next season '? And I have heard some 

 apologizing for having gone into the black Albany 

 breed, by declaring \hey never liked them, alwaya 

 having had a strong prejudice (or a while hog — 

 and so we go on. Bu' I susp.°ct the lienilworth 

 harvest will not be so prcfitable as has been the 

 Berkshire?, lor notliing will be more cas}- than to 

 compete with the Kcnilwonhs by means of our 

 own Chester and Delaware county white breeds; 

 and I am sanguine in the belief that we shall be 

 able to convince all di.-iniercsled person?, that so 

 far as that distinct breed is concerned, our intelli- 

 gent friend Allen might just as well have remain- 

 ed at home; and of this he might convince him- 

 self, by taking a jouroey to these parts, at a com- 



