)S 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 21 



From Iht Boston Recorder. 



AGRICULTURAL ESTABLISHMENT FOR 

 COLLEGES. 



Much has been said and written upon the sub- 

 ject oC establishing Institutions (or the improve- 

 ment of those intended to be f'urnners. And 

 from the interest that hiis been oxrited, as well 

 as from the importance of llie object, it is very 

 probable that something of the kind will soon 

 be done. It becomes im|)orlant then to inquire, 

 in what way the farming interest, and llie in- 

 terests of the communit}', may be the most ex- 

 lensivel}' promoted by such literary establish- 

 ments. 



It has occurred to us that much more would 

 be accomplished, at the same expense, by con-! 

 necting an Agricultural Professorship with each 

 of the existing Colleges, than liy establishing 

 nczo Seminaries. Let the Legislatures grant to 

 the several Colleges of our country a sutlicienl 

 sum to purchase a farm with suilalile buildings 

 and stock, and to support an Agricultural Pro- 

 fessor or Superintendent ; to !)e an eminent 

 practical Farmer, as well as general scholar, 

 and the following among other advantages might 

 result. 



1. The Agricultural students, by labouring 

 four hours in a day, might earn sullicient to 

 provide for their tuition, board, clothing, &.c. 

 so that such as were destitute of property, as 

 well as others, might enjoy the privilege of the 

 Seminary. 



2. In addition to receiving the host practical 

 instruction relative to farming, these students 

 might have opportunity of hearing all the Col- 

 lege lectures, and might attend the College le- 

 citations in such branches as would bejiikely to 

 advance their lespectability and usefulness as 

 farmers and citizens. 



3. Opportunity might thus be aiTorded for 

 their cultivating an extensive and familiar ac- 

 quaintance with literary men, which might be 

 of eminent service to them in al'ler lite ; and 

 thus that distance which unha()pily exists be- 

 tween those of the learned and those of the la- 

 boring professions, might be in a measure 

 annihilated. 



'1. The Ffirm, (on which the best species of 

 all kinds of fruit, vegetables, and animals, should 

 be raised, and the best system of management 

 should be adopted,) being connected with a Col- 

 lege, would of course become an object of curi- 

 osity to all the students, and to the thousands 

 who should visit the College ; and thus all im- 

 provements, inventions, and discoveries in 

 Agriculture, which might be made, would be 

 extensively propagated tlirnugh the country. 



b. Those, who should thus labor statedly tour 

 hours of the day, and at the same time make 

 respectable attainments in literature and science, 

 would be likely, in oflcr life, to intermingde 

 literary pursuits with manual labor, and would 

 thus show, by their example, that laboi was not 

 inconsistent with mental improvement and en- 

 joyment, and thus the intellectual character of 

 the laboring community generally would in time 

 become mn!,!i more elevated than at present. 

 And what p,itri('t — what phibuithroiihist — would 

 not rejoice to see thousands, who cultivate the 

 ■ soil, not merely e.tpert in the elements of learn- 

 ing, but able to converse with dignity, and in- 

 terest, on books of science, religion, and gov- 

 ernment ; and able to exert a controUiug 



influence in Legislative assemblies, and other 

 public meetings. 



6. Many of the regular College students, 

 witnessing the superior health, and vigor, and 

 cheerfulness, of the Agiicultural students, would 

 be led to engage in the exercises ol the field 

 lor the amendment or preservation of their own 

 health; and thus many valuable minds might be 

 saved from that deplorable efFeminacy, which 

 is so frequently exhibiteil in enieebled constitu- 

 tions. 



7. Literary men introduced among the labor- 

 ing community, would every year make new 

 di-^coveries and improvements in Agriculture 

 itnd the various arts of life ; by which means, 

 necessary labor would be greatly diminished or 

 facilitated. A good illustration of this idea is 

 found in the simple fact, that of the 4400 patents 

 already granted by the general Government, 

 more than nineteen twentieths have been ob- 

 tained by ciiizens of the Northern states. The 

 chief reason of which diflerencc probably is, 

 that implements of husbandry and the mechanic 

 arts in the Northern states are used by men of 

 intelligence, who can understand and feel the 

 value of improvements. But we i\onld gladly 

 see our American yeomanry much more in- 

 telligent. We would gladly see them rising 

 every year in the scale of thinking beings. We 

 would hope the period is not far distant, when 

 instead of their so generally laboring fur a living 

 as seemingly an ultiinute object, they may be 

 generally found laboring only a portion ol the 

 day, to provide the means of tlicir oun and 

 others'' intellectual and moral advancement and 

 happiness. 



NEW ENG1.AND FARMER. 



FRIDAY, OCI'OBKR Ci, ISI'.'a. 



ON SALT AS A MANURE. 



The controversy respecting the value of Salt 

 as a manure is agitated in ilie London Farmers' 

 Journal, and some very eminent agriculturists 

 have been engaged on both sides of the ques- 

 tion. We have heretofore expres.->ed our doubts 

 relative to the utility of thi« substance, merely 

 as a fertilizer of soils, but think the subject de- 

 serves further investigation. We will, there- 

 fore present our readers with the substance ol 

 some communications taken from the paper 

 above mentioned, which may throw fuilher 

 light on a matter of considerable imiiortance to 

 many of our cultivators. 



Sir John Sinclair, in a letter to the Editor of 

 the Farmers' Journal, published June l.^th, 1825, 

 s.iys, " I observed in your paper of the 'J:id of 

 May, a very interesting letter on Salt as a .Man- 

 ure, signed '• S."* It is a jiity that your cor- 

 respondents will not sub'icribe their real names, 

 which would stamp additional authority on the 

 information they communicate. \onr corres- 

 pondent seems to have entered into his jilan of 

 experiments ivith great zeal and industry ; and 

 1 wish much, that he would publi^-h a more de- 

 tailed account of them. P<ut 1 still think, that 

 salt mu»t be of more use to .Vgricultnre than his 

 experiments hitherto seem to indicate. 



'• Without entering into other particulars at 

 present, I am anxious to recommend to so zeal- 

 ous a friend to agriculture, the possibility of 



♦' This letter was published in (he Nf.v Luglaud 

 Farmer, vol. IV. page 12. 



(ireventing, by the use of Salt, the rust in wheat, 

 whi<:h is better than attempting to cure the dis- 

 ease alter it has commenced. 1 have endeav- 

 oured to explain that point in the Code oi' Agri- 

 cullure, third edition, p. 423. It is there stated, 

 that it has been found in Cornwall, that 31i bush- 

 els of salt, (.OClbs. each) so-xn before tiiniipSf 

 elfectually prevents any rust in the succeeding 

 crop of wheat. As salt prevents corruption in 

 the juices, it is the most likely means ol check- 

 ing the propagation oi' fungi, and preventing the 

 loitenness and corruption to vihich wheat is 

 liable when it becomes what is called ruslecl. 

 This doctrine is strongly confirmed by the fol- 

 lowing facts: — L Rust is rarely experienced in 

 the immediate vicinity of the sea, unless the 

 ground is greatly over-manured; — 2. \Vben sea- 

 ooze is employed as a manure, impregnated as 

 it is with saline particles, the crop generally 

 escapes the disease; and — D. That rust is little 

 known in Flanders, ivhere Dutch ashes— yiiW e/" 

 salts — are in use. 



'• Indeed the ex[)eriments of your correspond- 

 ent seem to confirm this idea, (or he states that 

 in rich lands where salt was used, the straw was 

 light, and the sample tine ; whereas the (iroduce 

 I'rom the same land 'without salt, consisted chief- 

 ly of rank straw, with a light shrivelled sample 

 (if corn. This seems to imjdy that it was rusted. 



''I am most anxious ih.ii this experiment 

 should be tried, not only by your intelligent 

 correspondciit '■ S." but also by as many Iriends 

 to improvement as possible, particularly those 

 who occupy farms apt to be i-usled ; for if it 

 ivere possible to prevent rust in wheat, it would 

 bo inl'atuation to siifier the importation of 

 foreign corn ; in almost any season, we should 

 then be able to supply- ..-urselves. 



'" It shonlil be desirable to ascertain the ef- 

 fects of this quantity nf s^ilt upon the turnip 

 crop, which 1 have no doubt, will be suthcient- 

 ly favorable to repay the expenses o! the ex- 

 periment. 



'• Wlien wheat is soivn in fallows, from 30 to 

 40 bii'^liels of salt per statute acre should be 

 mixed \vilh the soil a month, or at least a fprt- 

 nighl, before the seed is sown, for the purpose 

 of preventing the rust and improving the sam- 

 ple, bolh of which great objects there is reason 

 to hope may thus be accomidished. 



1 remain Sir, your most obedient servant. 



John Si.nci.air. 



N. r>. In making such experiments it would 

 be desirable, lor the sake of comparison, to 

 leave every alteinale ridge unsalted. 



A wriler for the Farmers' Journal of June 

 20lh, \S2b, with the signature Amicus Patriff, 

 says, " Having satisfied myself that there is a 

 great value in salt as a manure, not only by 

 many trials, but also by trials correctly made 

 by other ])ersons, whom 1 know may be de- 

 pended on, I am much surprised and conceineJ 

 to read such representations as are given in a 

 letter in your Journal of the 'i3d. ult. [see N.E. 

 Farmer, vol. IV. page 1'2.] which letter through- 

 out the very brief description or explanation it 

 contains of the numerous and long continued 

 trials of salt slated to have been made, asserts 

 that the writer could hardly, in a single instance 

 discover any value in salt as a mannre. My de- 

 sire to check so wrong an opinion from prevail-.; 

 ing, and to encourage the use of salt, from in- 

 disputable evidence of its value, and especially 

 to promote its trial in those high districts where 



