136 



I HE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



2. apricot tree inmarl.—At Evergreen, repeal- 

 ed aitempis to raise apricot trees near the house 

 had been unsuccessllil. The trees died youn^, alter 

 bearing badly. The soil is a rich loam, on a clay 

 subsoil. Some years ago, there was again a 

 joungstodc of 5 or 6 treee, of suiiable size to 

 transplant. For experiment, one of ihera was 

 tranaplonted to a walk, made of shell marl, 

 (as a subsiiiute lor gravel,) and which was so 

 compact and hard that it required good su'pngih 

 applied to the grubbing hoe to dig the hole in 

 which to set the tree. The hole did not extend 

 deeper ihan nor beyond the marl, and therefore the 

 roots were placed exclusively in this hard bed of" 

 shelly matter. This tree has since been vigorous 

 and grows well, and has begun to bear well. All 

 the other trees, left in good and rich soil, declined, 

 from the attacks of insects apparently, and not 

 one of ihem is now alive. 



The supposed cause of the benefit of ihe marl 

 is ihat it cannot be peneirated and made a har- 

 boring place for the worm which bores into the 

 tree near the crown of the r-oote, and the curculio 

 which bores into and destroys the fruit while 

 green. It has been already known in Delaware, 

 (and was published in the Farmers' Register,) 

 that laying about a bushel of marl to the roots 

 and around peach trees, as ihey stand, (after lay- 

 ing bare the upper part of the upper roois,) was 

 very beneficial to them. But planting them (and 

 all other stone fruit trees) in a bed of marl must 

 be a much better mode, if (as appears from the 

 single fact above cited,) such a soil is not too 

 calcareous for the health of the tree. 



For the making of this experiment, as well as 

 for the verbal report of it, we are indebted lo Mrs. 

 II. H. (^ocke. 



3. Experiments with poudrette. — Bisides the 

 report of Mr. Nicol (at page 97) of ihe ineti'eciive 

 application of poudretle last season, at Sandy 

 Point, similar verbal reports have been made by 

 Messrs. Robert G. Strachan and David Dunlop, 

 of trials on their respective farms near Peters- 

 burg. The poudrette used by all was three bar- 

 rels sent to ue as a present, for the purpose of be- 

 ing tried, by the manufacturer, Mr. D. K. Minor, 

 of New York. The supply was received too 

 late for a full trial, as the corn had been generally 

 planted. We made the best disposition of the 

 manure, to three farmers who took pains to 

 make as lull trials as the advanced season per- 

 mitted ; and we regret to say that neither of them 

 found any perceptible benefit. Siill there can be 

 no doubt of the great richness and value of the 

 raw material from which poudrette is prepared, 

 nor of the prepared article, if the mode of pre- 



paration be such as to secure from waste the fer- 

 tilizing principles. If the fresh human excre- 

 ments were mixed or covered, with marl, or any 

 mild calcareous earth, we should warrant tlie 

 preservation of the principles and the value of the 

 manure. — Ed. F. R. 



RE-MARKS ON THE MAKING, PRESERVING 

 AND APPLYING OF MANURES. 



To the Editor of tlie Farmers' Register. 



Sandy Point, February 26, 1842. 



In the January number of the Register is an 

 " Essay on ihe making, the preserving, and the 

 applying of manures," on which I would take the 

 liberty of making a few remarks. Passing over 

 the preliminary observations of the writer, 1 will 

 begin with iiis stable management. I am not 

 aware that any farmer or owner of a horse, who 

 pays a due reirard to his own interest, the health 

 and comfort of his horse, or to the most economi- 

 cal mode of making manure from that source, is 

 in any doubt as lo " how long this [stable] litter 

 ought to accumulate befure it is removed," and 

 that is that it should be remove'd every day. The 

 writer of the essay is, however, " of the opinion 

 that it ought to remain uniil by its great heat it 

 endangers ihe health of the animal." If stable 

 manure, by its accumulation, and consequent and 

 unavoidable fermentation, should become at all 

 olTeuiive or deleterious to the health of the horses 

 ihemselves, that deleterious tendency must be in 

 operation from the moment such an accumulation 

 commences ; nor can any thing prove more in- 

 jurious to the health, or more entirely destructive 

 10 the comfort of the horse, and certainly none 

 more slovenly on the part of the farmer, than the 

 too frequent habit of many in allowing manure to 

 accumulate in the stable. The essayist's plan of 

 keeping " the stables clean, not by throwing out 

 the old mass, but by putting in frequent supplies 

 of fresh litter," is something like concealing filth 

 by a coat of paint, and has nothing that I know 

 of to recommend it. By the essayist's own ad- 

 mission, the health of the horse is endangered 

 by the practice, and I know Irom experience that 

 it is not the nmst economical mode of making 

 manure, and that in scarcely any other position 

 will stable manure become sooner fire-langed and 

 injured. In Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Agricul- 

 ture is the following remark. "Thfe dung should 

 be removed [from the stable] if possible wholly 

 without Ihe stable as soon as dropped : for the ex- 

 halati^s from that are also ammoniacal, and con- 

 sequently hurtful. To this cause alone, we may 

 attribute many diseases, particularly the great 

 tendency stable horses tiave to become affected 

 in the eyes." 



The essayist gives the preference lo the feed- 

 ing: of cattle in pens, and subsequently states, 

 '' here also, great cleanliness ought to be observed, 

 which can easily be secured by frequent supplies 

 of fresh litter." In pen-feeding, with the moat 

 ample and frequent supplies of litter, I have 

 never yet been able lo secure that amount of 

 cleanliness so desirable to the health and com- 

 fort of the animals so fed. Cattle on whom there 

 ii no demand made either op their labor or produce, 



