(S:i)C Jiivmcr'5 iUontl)!!} lUsitor. 



153 



side of the jiicne eighteen rods in length, I put five 

 loads of clc.ir inamire fioni iheslnyn l:ivcrii. On 

 the other ei;;hteen rods I piil five lotids, one h«ll' 

 slid)le manure ujid li.ilf niiick : — phuilcd wilhrorii. 

 The resuh wiit^, thiit ihe corn wiis l)unt on the 

 east side where it h;id the stiible inannre ; hut 

 there was no tualeriai diflerence l)etween Ihe clear 

 ptnhle Miuruire or that «liicli was half inuck. 

 The east side that had the donkey manure, 

 mni'k and lime was nearly as good. The striji 

 through the middle wiih the ten loadn of clear 

 barn niannri", was very iidi'rior to the other two 

 strips. A rise of laud at the south end enabled 

 a person to o»'erlook the whole |iiece ; and many 

 persons vi('wed it, and among others Dr. Jack- 

 son. He w.is Ko nuioh interested in the experi- 

 ment, (hat he took a plai] of it, and has given a 

 diagram or map of it in his valuable Report of 

 the Geological Smvey ol New Hampshire. I 

 camiot say what wonid have been the result if i 

 had sowed grain or grass seed the next year, as 

 I again manured the whole and planted with 

 corn. But adjoining this I have about ihree- 

 fourths of an acre, maiun'ed with stalile manure 

 except a stiip on one side, about eighteen rods 

 in length and one rod wide ; upon this strip 1 

 put a load of the lime compost and planted it 

 with squash seed. The rest of the piece was 

 pinnteil with potatoes. Tlie next year it was 

 soweil with oats. Ido not now recollect as there 

 was any differenc"e iii the oats; but last year the 

 grass was decidedly better where the compost 

 was put; and this season where the stable ma- 

 nure was put, the clover and herdsgrass had 

 mostly disM[ipeared, and on the strip tb.it bad the 

 coin|)osl there was a heavy growth of grass, and 

 a part of it lodged. This strip is now green 

 with clover, herdsgrass and red-top; while the 

 other is brown, with no second crop. VVbelher 

 this difTereuce is the result of the lime, or the 

 muck, or both, yom- deponent sayetb tiot, hut 

 simply gives you the facts as they are ; and they 

 l)rove, that a load of this compost was worth 

 more than a load of stable manure in this expe- 

 riment, hnt when 1 made a similar experiment 

 on very heavy and moist soil, the stable manure 

 was rather the best. 



From what I have said in res|iect to the gase- 

 ous or organic substances in manures, souje may 

 infer, that I attribute the whole value of manures 

 to them. If so, they draw a wrong inference. 

 The .salts, potash, soda, lime and phosjiboratee, 

 iStc. — the inorganic njatters, are just as ueoessary 

 and valuable. They are soluble in water and 

 can be leached out of manure, the same as the 

 potash from ashes; and the farmer that uses 

 leached manures for bis crops, will have about 

 the same kind of leach his wife would liMve, if 

 she attempted to make soap from ashes that had 

 previously been leached. 



Upon the ap[)licalion of manure to the soil, 

 there seems to be a variety of o|)inions among 

 farmers. Some plough in nil their manure : — 

 others a|)ply it wholly to the surface, and harrow 

 it in. Some Jiui it wholly in the hill at the time 

 of planting. Each ojie then, tbiidis bis way the 

 best. "Try all things, and hold to that which is 

 good," is a ujaxiui that the farmer may safely fol- 

 low. Various experiments in the application of 

 his manures, even on a small scale; may pretty 

 correctly point out to him the best inethod — for 

 his soil — for J do not believe the same rule will 

 apply to all soils. Though 1 do not think it good 

 policy to apply all the manure to the hill, espe- 

 cially for a corn crop ; it has the cftect to make 

 the corn look well in the early jiart of the sea- 

 son, hut is rather apt to fall shot I at harvest. 



Gentlemen, you perceive I thus f.w have oidy 

 spoken of what may more properly be called 

 home-made maiuires. There are a great maiiy 

 other substances valuable formanines: animal, 

 vegetable, saline and mineral. Time now will 

 not permit me even to name them. Should a 

 kind' Providfence pernjit iis again to meet with 

 yon another year, and should it be the wish of 

 the Society to have me continue the subject, it 

 would afford me pleasure to contribute ivjy mite 

 to the cause of agriculture in this my liiilive 

 county. 



There are a few subjects that immediately 

 concern the farmers of this county that J wish 

 to speak upon, if I have not already wearied 

 yon. One of the subjects is lime. Many, very 

 many farmers have enquired of me if it would 

 (lot be profitidile to mix lime with their clear 



manure — they having got the idea that it would 

 enrich it, while the very rever.=e is the fact : it 

 will veiy much les.sen its value. You will recol- 

 lect 1 told you that manures were valuable in 

 proportion to the nitrogen they contained : this 

 nitrogen combined with hydrogen and formed 

 ammonia, and the ammonia united w ilh carbonic 

 acid and forujed carbonate of anmionia, and that 

 was the principal substance that rendered (Jn.-nio 

 so valuable as a maimre. One himdied pounds 

 of limestone, if pme, as taken from the quarry, 

 contains 44 lbs. of carbonic acid ami 5U lbs. of 

 lime. When this limestone is subjected to the 

 heat of a lime-kiln, the acid is driven off, and 

 there comes out of the kiln but .')() Ih.«. of lime 

 for the 100 |.ut in. But this btnnt lime has an 

 afiinity for carbonic acid, and if exposed to the 

 ail-, it again slowly imbibes it, and in time will 

 become chemically what it was bfifoi^e being 

 bin-ned. 



If placed in contact with carbonic acid, it im- 

 bibes it sooner. Now to illustrate this, and to 

 show you the effect of mixing newly burnt or 

 slacked lime with clear manure, I have brought 

 a small box of Guano, which I wish to have you 

 — that is J/OH, that don't exactly nndeistaiid what 

 I have been telling you — pass round and smell 

 of; and then return it to me, and 1 will mix 

 some lime with the Guano; and then, if yon 

 smell it again, yon will understand all about am- 

 monia and the mixing of lime with inaiime, and 

 the loss yon would sufier by doing it. Perhaps 

 some may say, you told us just now, how yon 

 mixed lime with your compost, and now yon tell 

 us it won't do : this looks like blowing hot and 

 cold with the same breath. I will try to ex|ilain 

 llii.«. When we mix lime with clear mainui', it 

 sets the iimmouia free, and having nothing with 

 which to combine:, it flies off into the air. Now 

 the principle upoii which I make my com|)ost 

 is this: I mix the muck and manure; fermen- 

 taiion ensues, and the annnonia is set free from 

 the manure, but instead of flying off, into the 

 air, it is imbibed fiy the inuck. After several 

 months, by shovelling over the heap and mixing 

 lirne with it, abotbei- portion of the nitrogen in 

 the manure is set free, and the muck is more ful- 

 ly saturated, or the whole mass becomes of equal 

 value. 'J'bere is generally in svvauip muck sul- 

 phuric acid and other acids, which the ammonia 

 neiiiralizes. 



From what has been said, you miderstaml the 

 effect of mixing lime with your manure. 1 have 

 once or twire alluded to plaster of paris. 100 

 pounds of plaster of paris coutains,or is co.npos- 

 ed of 4G lbs. of snitdim'ic acid, or oil of vitriol, 

 33 lbs. of li-ine, and 21 lbs. of water, — that's what 

 you buy when you go to the Depot and get an 

 100 lbs. of plaster. So you see it is very differ- 

 enl from lime. The sulphuric acid has a strong 

 atliuily for alkalies. Nosv if yon mix plaster of pa- 

 ris with putrid mine, or fermenting manures, the 

 Binmonia combines with the acid and forms s»l- 

 pbate of ivmmonia — a soluble, but not volatile 

 substance like the carbonate of ammonia. Hence 

 there ks no more danger of its flying off into the 

 air Iban there is of commorv salt; hut like salt it 

 will dissolve in watin'. For these reasons, 1 

 sprinkle my hovel floors, &c. with plaster. 



Before 1 close, 1 wish to say a few v\ords to 

 the young farmers of Merrimack county, upon 

 the impwtaiiceof becoming more familiar with 

 what ii^ calleil the Science of Agriculture. 



A physician knows if he binds a cord tight 

 around the arm of his patient just above the el- 

 bow, he can then open a vein below ibe ligature, 

 and draw a quantity of blood. This is one fact 

 connected with bis profession ; ami ho knows 

 also, " the why anil the wherefore " it (s a t'aCf. 

 Now the more of these facts bi> n-nderstatiils, the 

 better be is qualified for his practice or pftjfess- 

 ion. Will not the same iraii^ qf rBasoni(ig apply 

 to the farmer? Most surely it will. We ail 

 know or believe the whole phpielary systt-iai is 

 governed by certain fii:e)l. ipld juyiolatile laws, I 

 iHid by tiie labors ami inyestigatjons of sojeiuilic 

 men these laws liavg hesp 50 far discofipiigd, that 

 an astronomer can calculate to the fi'sptioii of a 

 second, when celesiial plieiiomei)a are to reeur 

 after the lapse of long periods oi' lime. 



Then is it not just as reasonable to sup|iose 

 the vegetable creation is governed by laws no 

 less ceitain and fixed? You must all say yes. 

 You cannot believe the vegetable products of 

 this earth are the hnp-bazanl results of n Miud 



chimce. If it were so, then indeed men might 

 expect to "giuhcr grapesof thorns, and figs IVom 

 thistles." ■I'ben I'or the most skilful, and cco'- 

 nomical management of a (iu-in, the cultivator 

 should possess a good kuowh-dge of these laws, 

 or scientific principles that have been developed, 

 and hronght to bear upon the stdyect, within a 

 very lew years past, by the labors and researches 

 of iiumerous scientific men, both in F.urope and 

 this country. Chemistry and geology as connec- 

 ted with agriculture, are of great iu'ipurtaiure to" 

 the farmer, and by their application to the sub-- 

 ject, the reas(nis of many things that were once 

 dark and mysterious are revealed clear as the 

 noon-day sim. In view, then, of this, sou should 

 study into the nature and uses of the some twelve 

 or fifteen substances that enter into the compo- 

 sition of plants. You should make yourselves 

 as timiihar with chemical terms, as yon arc with 

 " household words." You can do these things 

 without going to college, or attending a regular 

 course of lectures in geology or chemistry. — 

 Club together in town, or school district associa- 

 tions and purchase books treating upon these 

 subjects. Kmploy rainy days and the long eve- 

 nings in will^er in study, it is too late in the 

 day, for one to rise up here and tell us the sun, 

 instead of the earth, makes a diurnal revolution. 

 'Tis too late for ignorance and prejudice to deny 

 Ihe application of scientific principles lo agricul- 

 ture. In pursuing these studies you will "be led 

 from nature up lo nature's God." And oh, "how 

 unceasingly does he press this, his example not 

 only of unbounded goodness, hut of universal 

 charity — above all other meii--on ihe attenilmi 

 of the tiller of the soil. Does the corn spring 

 more freshly when scattered by a Protestant hand 

 —-are the harvests more abundant on a Catholic 

 soil,— and does not the sun shine alike, and t!ie 

 dew descend, on the domains of each political 

 parly?" Every step you advance, will more 

 strongly impress upon i your minds enlarged 

 views of ibe benevolence, as well as the wisilom 

 and power of Deity. 



Hints to Younib Me.n. — Be Economical. — 

 No matter if your parents are worth millions, it 

 is not Ihe less proper that you should understand 

 the value of miniey, and the honest, honorable 

 means of accpiiiing it. What multitudes of 

 young men, particularly in our cities, make fatal 

 shipwreck of reputation and health, and eveutn- 

 allyof property, by a neglect of tljis maxim. — 

 They are aware that their liilbeis oblained their 

 wealth by habits of industry, but they are asham- 

 ed of Ihe very name. They forget that wealth 

 in this country passes rapidly from one to anoth- 

 er, and that be who is rich to-day may be poor 

 to-morrow; or lliat he who relies on wealth 

 amassed by bis father, may end his days in a poor 

 house. It is lor the young man to say whether 

 by industry and economy be will secure compe- 

 tence and respectability, or by extravagance and 

 idleness become a worthless beggar and a spong- 

 ing outcast. 



Bk Just. — In the course of life a man fre- 

 quently fiiid.1 bis interest or his opinion crossed 

 by those from whom he had a right to expect 

 better things, and Ibe yoiiue are apt to feel such 

 matters very sensibly. But be not rash in your 

 condemnation. Look at their conduct carel'nily 

 and be just to the motives that prompt it. Yoii 

 may find that were you placed in their position,, 

 the course you now condemn would be the one 

 proper for you, and the one you would be under- 

 obligation to pursue. A little cool consideration' 

 would avoid much censoriousncss. 



English FaRMI^o. — Large crops of Wheat — 

 working of Coius — -iconomy of manure, and /m^- 

 provemcnt of the Sfiil. — ^Piofcssor Colmaii, in his. 

 European toij)-., i)ieiitJQi)s. an, inptanco where a, 

 man iiad 5U.;^)^or,tt;d.hiniself,.vvife and son, from, 

 twj D,ci;es, ff Innt),, fqv which he paid a rent off 

 $45 0"tf\;- an(.|;iii,tSip, c^burse of seven years, savedi 

 enough frau^ ijie. produce of his two .acre*i to. 

 purchase two acres at .$144 to 193 per acre. In 

 another cast siix acres, under spade cultivation, i*. 

 stated to have given an average of .W bushels of:' 

 wheal per acre. Another witness bioughti liBr 

 fore the IHn-bamenlary eomniittee, testified that- 

 on the estate of Lord Howaril, Barbot Hall,. 

 Yorkshire, twenty-eight bushels of wheat had 

 been obtained from a tjuarter of an acre ; being 

 at the rate of I IQ bushels per acre. Mr. Colman , 



