1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



309 



of poor quality. After ploughiri<!!:, I rolled this 

 land, and then dressed it with 40 bushels ofwood 

 ashes, mixed with wash (mostly sand) from the 

 road-side, makinij probahiy about one and a half 

 cord ; sowed hall'a peck ofherds grass and 3 pecks 

 red-top seed ; then harrowed thorouirhly and 

 rolled. The seed look well. In 1838 I obtained 

 li-om this piece of land 35 or 40 cwt. of very good 

 liav, mostly herds irrass. 



In November, 1834, I broke up a field, dressing 

 it with about 4 cords of manure to the acre ; on a 

 part turning it under the sod, and the remainder 

 pulling it on the llirrow. In lS3o, planted with 

 corn, the crop large ; in 1836, without mowinir 

 the sod, sowed oats and hay seed. Obtained 40 

 bushels of oats to the acre. The hay seed took 

 well, but in the followintj winter was killed by ice 

 fiirmiuff and remaining long upon the field. In 

 183/', obtained not more than 15 cwt. of clover to 

 the acre. Thought I must take this field in hand 

 aijain. In April, 1S38, ploughed an acre and a 

 iialf ol" it, rolled, dressed with 40 bushels of wood 

 ashes, unmixed with any other material, to the 

 acre ; sowed oats and hay seed. The oats had a 

 fine growth and the hay seed came up well, but 

 (tor I think it best to tell the lohole) the rust 

 which visited my neighbors' oats was not kept out 

 of my field by the ashes ; f mowed for fodder be- 

 fore the crop had ripened; there was growth 

 enough for 40 bushels to the acre. The young 

 grass, too, diti not find the ashes a matchless 

 sanative, for its sickness, (in the scorching weeks 

 of August,) which a draught of pure water would 

 have cured, proved mortal. 



Shall I tell vou too what virtue there is in bones? 

 From Mr. Ward, of Roxbury, I obtained, last 

 spring, 20 bushels ground bone (cost at Roxbury, 

 35 cents per bushel,) sold one bushel to a neigh- 

 bor; mixed the remaining 19 bushels with about 

 one cord of soil taken from the side of the roads 

 in the fields where the mixture was to be used. 

 Some of it was used in 10 or 12 days after it had 

 been mixed, and some remained in heap five or 

 eix weeks. About the 10th of May, when plant- 

 ing corn where four cords of manure to the acre 

 had, the previous autumn, been turned under the 

 BOil, and where I was putting four cords to the 

 acre in the iiill, I selected lour rows through 

 the centre of the piece, in which I put the bone 

 mixture, at the rate of 50 bushels bone to the acre ; 

 no other manure in the hill. The corn here looked 

 as well through the season as on the remainder 

 of the piece, and ripened a little earlier. At the 

 time of harvestincr, 104 hills on bone yielded 184 

 lbs. of corn on the cob. The same number of 

 hills in the adjacent rows on manure, yielded 1S8| 

 lbs. That on the bone was the dryest at the time 

 of weighing. 



The first week in May, I planted a piece of corn, 

 where I put three and a half cords of manure upon 

 the furrow, and four cords in the hill, to the acre. 

 Through the centre. I left four rows until about 

 the 10th of May, when I planted them with bone, 

 as in the other piece. Here, from 66 hills on 

 bone, I obtained 90 lbs. ; from 66 on manure, 96 

 fbs. Here, too, the corn on the bone ripened ear- 

 lier, and of course weighed less. 



May 2lst, when planting potatoes, where 4 cords 

 of manure to the acre had been turned under the 

 sod the previous autumn, and where I was putting 

 5 cords to the acrq in the hill, two rows were 



planted on bene, 50 bushels to the acre. This 

 ixround was furrowed only one way, and the hills 

 on the bone happened to be put nearer to each 

 other than those on the manure. When dug, 

 equal quantities of ground were taken ; of bone, 

 14 hills ; of manure, 12 hills ; the bone yielded 55 

 lbs. ; the manure 52. 



Between the 15th and 20ih of May, I sowed 

 suffar beet, in drills, 3 feet apart. In some used 

 barn manure, 6 cords to the acre ; in others muscle 

 bed or sea marl, 5 cords; in others bone, 50 bush- 

 els. Three drills of each kind, about three rods 

 Innir, yielded as follows, viz : li-om barn manure, 

 247 lbs. ; muscle-bed, 355 lbs. ; bone, 337^. 



At the same season I sowed carrots on barn 

 manure, muscle-bed, and bone. Barn manure, 6 

 cords to the acre; muscle-bed, 4; bone, 50 bushels. 

 Some of the bone and the other manures were 

 spread broad-cast, and a part of the bone was put 

 in the drill; rows 14 inches apart. Two rows of 

 each Kind, three rods long, yielded as follows; barn 

 manure, 75 lbs.; bone in drill, 105 lbs.; bone 

 spread, 82 lbs. ; muscle-bed, S8^ lbs. 



I sowed with ruta baga, June 1st, 10 drills, 3 

 feet apart and 15 rods long ; five drills on barn 

 manure, part of it fresh from the barn cellar and 

 part partially decomposed, 9 cords to the acre. 

 The other five on bone, 50 bushels to the acre. 

 Those on the bone were less eaten by the tiy than 

 the others, though the others were not very badly 

 injured. A strip (17 feet in length) across the 

 drills, where 5 had bone and 5 manure partially 

 decomposed, yielded, bone, 248 lbs. ; manure, 

 228 lbs. 



Another strip, 16^ feet long, where there was 

 bone and Iresh manure, gave, bone 212 lbs. ; ma- 

 nure, 227 lbs. 



About the 10th of June I sowed ruta baga on 

 reclaimed meadow land ; drills 3 feet apart : ma- 

 nure 9 cords to the acre ; bone 50 bushels. Soon 

 after the plants came up, those on the barn ma- 

 nure were nearly all destroyed by the fly ; it was 

 necessary to sow a second time. Those on the 

 bone were but very little injured. Four drills, two , 

 rods long, on bone, yielded 486-^- lbs. ; four on ma- 

 nure, 439 lbs. 



Daniel Putman. 



North Danvers, Dec. 5, 1838. 



iJ/r. How's Letter. 



Methuen. December 5, 1838. 



Dear Sir. — In compliance with your request, I 

 suggest a few ideas, on a subject of no small im- 

 portance ; for success in farming depends princi- 

 pally on the quantity of manure that is made. 

 And, in fact, a locomotive may as well be pro- 

 pelled without steam, as a person have good suc- 

 cess in fiirminir without manure. There are vari- 

 ous ways by which manure may be increased. 

 Cellars undei- barns tor the reception ol' manure 

 are highly important, as its value is much increased 

 by being preserved from drenching rains and drying 

 wmds. Also, the quantity may be much increased 

 by haulincr muck or soil, or throwing in hay, straw, 

 or some other materials to receive and suck up the 

 urine, as this is supposed to be worth nearly as 

 much as the droppings. A suitable plan for a 

 cow yard is of no small importance. It should be 



