578 



FARMERS' RE G 1 S T E R 



[No. 10 



and the chrysalides of the silk-worm are preferred 

 to any other manures. 



"Those substances that act as stimulants to ve- 

 getation, such as lime, plaster, marine salt, pou- 

 drette, mortar-rubbish, ashes, &c. favor the 

 growth of the plant, without affecting the coloring 

 principle.'''' Chemistry applied to Agriculture, Bus- 

 ton Ed. pp. 295, 296. 



Calcareous manures having so recently attract- 

 ed much attention in this country, our opportuni- 

 ties of making observations of this nature have 

 been rare. It is, however, rather probable, that 

 such manures, while they bring to earlier maturi- 

 ty, will not increase or improve the peculiar quali- 

 ties of other plants, besides the different kinds of 

 grain and most of the grasses. Further agricul- 

 tural developements may deduce important results 

 from the foregoing principles. Should We, who 

 are almost excluded from the benefits of calcareous 

 manures, ever cultivate largely the poppy, woad, 

 the whole class of root crops, (which I think need 

 but little lime,) and many other plants which may- 

 be found to thrive best in soils not calcareous, we 

 may be almost equally indebted to those who have 

 developed the principles connected with lime, as 

 a manure, in its various forms, with those who pos- 

 sess such advantages in the highest degree. 



Horizontal ploughing, hill-side ditching, ma- 

 nuring, and the cultivation of grasses, are the 

 means on which I would mainly depend in at- 

 tempting to improve our lands. 



Having given some of my views in relation to 

 levelling and manuring, in previous Nos. of the I 

 Register, they need not be repeated here. S 

 further remarks may, however, be mad?, on the 

 preparation of manures. You would be sur- 

 prised, sir, to find how much material for making 

 manure you could amass in a short tim", if proper 

 preparation were previously made. This consists 

 in furnishing every hand you can muster (except 

 the drivers,) with a good sharp rake, and every 

 pair of wheels on the land with a large, light body, 

 for hauling leaves and other rubbish to be rotted 

 in the farm-pen, or rather, firm-pens — fori would 

 have several of them in convenient locations for 

 hauling out the manure, after it is made. One of 

 them should have in it a good cow-house, to 

 shelter the cattle in bad weather. This may be 

 made of corn tops, or otherwise, as suits you. 

 Last winter, as bad as the weather was, I spread 

 leaves on about seventy acres of land, with about 

 fifteen hands, six horses — generally worked singly 

 in carts — and seven oxen. The oxen were work- 

 ed, one yoke at a time, to the same cart, so as to 

 rest each other. The leaves for somewhat more 

 than one-third of the field were previously pre- 

 pared in the farm-pen. The rest of them were in- 

 judiciously spread on the land as they came from 

 the woods. These last did but little good to the 

 corn, as it got its growth before they began to rot 

 much — June, and July (until the last of it) being, 

 with me, very dry months. I think, however, 

 that I have made fully double the corn that I could 

 have made on the whole field, without manure. 



I have been told that what are commonly called 

 ground-slides, with pieces of iron eighteen inches 

 long, bent into the segment of a circle, and nailed 

 to the bottom of each runner, to bear the weight 

 and prevent friction, serve better than horse-carts 

 to haul leaves for short distances. 



After getting all the litter possible into your pens, 



the next business is. to prepare it for yielding you 

 the greatest and speediest profit. Besides the ordi- 

 nary" commixture with animal manure, the drain- 

 ings from the pens should be caught in pits dug 

 forthe purpose, and sprinkled over the litter (with 

 a large watering pot) as soon as it is dry enough 

 to receive them. The dirty water and soap-suds 

 made by washing clothes in the family, is also 

 worth saving for this purpose. There are many 

 other substances which might be profitably used 

 in this way. The blood of animals slaughtered 

 on the firm, if mixed with water, in the propor- 

 tion of one part to twenty, might considerably en- 

 rich a bed of leaves or other litter. The filthy 

 fluids of a kitchen, it' deposited in a strong tub 

 and borne off daily, constitute a good article tor 

 top-dressing, or for impregnating litter. Before 

 Heaping your beds of litter" which I think should 

 he done once in two or three weeks, through the 

 winter, sow on all the ashes you can procure. 

 The quantity of this article will be greater than 

 you would suppose, if you will supply every ne- 

 gro house with an old barrel, and see that they 

 are periodically taken up and secured. You may 

 do your neighbors a favor by purchasing at a very 

 low price, such as they would otherwise throw 

 away. Your example and success might teach them 

 economy in the use of manures. It might be well 

 to make your calculations, whether you could not 

 profitably afford to buy lime in moderate quanti- 

 fies, and potash to sprinkle over your litter, before 

 ■. The latter should be dissolved in 

 water andapplied with a watering pot. 



I know from experience that top-dressing on 

 wheat, with both lime and ashes, at the rate of 

 only four or five bushels to the acre, much im- 

 proves the wheat, and secures the life and com- 

 parative vigor of the young clover, on poor land. 

 Wheat, however, should not— as a general rule — 

 be sown on poor land. 



Success from manuring does not depend so 

 much on the mere quantity of matter used, as up- 

 on a judicious mixture of all those substances en- 

 tering into the composition of the crop to be rais- 

 ed on the land. And the fluids, &c. mentioned 

 above, not only hasten the putrefaction of the lit- 

 ter, but furnish nutriment for the crop which it 

 could not derive from the litter alone. It is on this 

 principle, that a little rich compost will frequently 

 cause a more abundant harvest than the greatest 

 profusion of ordinary manure. It would be well 

 for the farmer to make, out a list of all the sub- 

 stances within his reach, which can be profitably 

 used as manure, and to avail himself of them 

 whenever an opportunity is presented. 



In the prosecution of the foregoing plans, it is 

 evident that the corn-field will be considerably di- 

 minished in size. This need not create concern, 

 if the crop is increased. But in the commence- 

 ment of such a system, requiring the whole corn 

 field to be manured, we must calculate on rather 

 small crops of corn — though they will, in some 

 seasons, be much larger. The deficiency must be 

 supplied by preparing for an abundance of suita- 

 ble substitutes for corn. The chief reliance, for 

 this purpose, should probably be placed on oats. 

 The time usually occupied in tending three times 

 the quantity of land in corn, as is here contempla- 

 ted, to almost no purpose, might be employed in 

 gathering materials for manure, in shrubbing out 

 sassafras, persimmon, and other bushes, in turn- 



