THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



477 



cloudy weather, when the sun and stars are de- 

 nied them. Even if it is granted that it is less 

 needed by the red man, no one will deny its uses 

 to the whites in a country destined still lor a long 

 period to be roamed by hunters, traders, pioneers, 

 and other while men. 



I will here add that Captain Boon also stales 

 that there is spread all over the lar west a cer- 

 tain root, called the " snake root," whose juices 

 are very grateful to quench thirst, and which is 

 found in the greatest abundance in those parts of 

 the prairies which are high or dry, and most like- 

 ly to be deprived of water in a season of heat and 

 long drought. 



It is needless to descant upon these beautiful and 

 striking examples of the wise provision ol' Nature, 

 furnishing a vegetable compass and the means of 

 quenching thirst, ever ready for the wanderer, and 

 both located in a region destined perhaps lor the 

 longest period in the history of the world to be 

 occupied by a roving population. I am, with 

 high respect, your obedient servant, 



Bgnj. Alvord. 

 Lieutenant United States'' jirmy. 



To F. M ARKOE, jr., esq. 



Cor. Sec. of the National Institution. 



From the New Genesee Farmer. 



The first step which a farmer takes toward suc- 

 cesslul business, is to understand the value of 

 manure. And as he discovers ihe value, he uses 

 ail the means in his power to increase the quan- 

 tity. The (act is, if every farmer who owns a 

 hundred acres of good land, and who manages 

 his manure according to the usual practice of the 

 country, were to use the very best means which 

 he possesses for its manufacture and application, 

 he would find his pocket-book heavier at the end 

 of each year, to use the most moderate computa- 

 tion at the present low prices, by at least three 

 hundred dollars. 



I need not here attempt to show how that the 

 product of the barn-yard may be increased Ibur- 

 ibld by the use of muck or marsh mud and lime 

 properly applied ; but my object is to call atten- 

 tion to another source of manure which appears 

 to be even less known and attended to. But I 

 ought here at the outset to caution the deiica'e 

 and f.istidious reader not to follow me any fun her, 

 as the editor did some time ago at the close of a 

 similar artiile, though of course I mention this 

 fact with all deference. 



Poudrette is well known to be a very powerful 

 manure, obtained in the neighborhoods of the 

 cities where it is manufactured. But we, away 

 back here in the country, do not possess this ad- 

 vantage which our city friends do ; and very lew 

 have ever thought of manufacturing their own 

 poudrette. The contents of privies, instead of 

 being regarded as of great value as they truly are, 

 most people look upon as a downrigi:it nuisance. 

 Now, if tl:.e offensive odor maj' be removed, at 

 the same time that a valuable manure is made, 

 TWO very important points will bs attained. 



I have searched in vain for a particular account 

 of the process employed by the poudrette com- 

 VoL. X.-60 



I panies ; and in the absence of such account have 

 endeavored to use such means and knowledge as 



I I could lay hold of; and imperfect as the mode 

 may be, it has been of decided value to me, and 

 may prove so to others. The entrance to the 

 privy is well flanked wirh evergreen trees, and on 

 one of the other sides wliich laces low ground, 

 is a passage or road through the trees (or a large 

 tight box or trough to be drawn away from under 

 the building, which is placed about two feet above 

 the ground on that side (or the admission of the 

 box. A plank door shuts it in closely. Runners 

 are placed under it so that a horse may draw it 

 away by the iron hooks attached to it ; low 

 wheels would be better. 



All the care required after this, is to sprinkle 

 every two or three days a lew handfuls of plaster 

 (ijypsum) over the inside of the box from above. 

 This is all. Air-slacked lime and ashes are also 

 valuable ; but plaster, by furnishing sulphuric 

 acid (or combination with the gaseous ammonia, 

 and thus preventing the escape of this volatile, 

 but powerful ingredient, is considered the most so. 

 Hence also, the use of plaster is lound exceed- 

 ingly to lessen the fcetid odor, a matter of no small 

 consequence. Lime also greatly lessens the 

 offensive smell, but by what means I do not 

 know. There ought to be enough of plaster, 

 lime or ashes, to keep the contents of the box in 

 a dry state. When it is full, it is drawn off, spread 

 upon the ground and mixed with the soil, or 

 made to constiuite a part of the compost heap. 



I have tried only one experiment on its fertilizing 

 power, and that a very indefinite, but otherwise 

 satisfactory one. Very rich stable manure and 

 poudrette were applied to difTerent parts of a 

 small piece of ground — the stable manure, ac- 

 cording to estimate, being about ten times the 

 t)ulk of the night soil or unmixed base. The 

 whole was soWn with turnips. The result is so 

 far, that the turnif)s on the part manured with 

 the poudrette have made a srowth at least three 

 times as great as those on the part treated with 

 stable manure. J. 



PRESERVATION OF PEACH TREES. 



From the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 TVhttemarsh, Sept. 1st, 1842. 

 Having, to a certain extent, succeeded in the 

 cultivation of the peach in a limestone soil, gene- 

 rally considered uncongenial to its growth, I for- 

 ward by your request, a short account of the me- 

 thod o( cultivation and mode of nursing adopted. 



The soil of the peach orchard is underlaid 

 with primitive limestone, but is not of the yellow- 

 cast and tenacious texture, so ijeneral in lime- 

 stone regions ; which, however adapted to the 

 growth of wheat, has but liit'e alfinity with any 

 description of' fruit. It is, on the contrary, a rich 

 loam, and constitutes a part of the garden en- 

 closure, the trees occupying about half an acre, 

 and bordering on the Wissahickon creek. This 

 location, in the immediate vicini'y of the water, 

 mav pOiSibly have a beneficial effect. 



The orchard, consisting of afiout fifty trees, 

 was planted io the spring of 1836. At the time 

 of planting the ground was in grass, but vi-as then 

 subjected to the action of the plough, and has 



