276 APPENDIX. 



nine acres of corn and potatoes last summer, one-half of which was 

 the same land on which it was used the preceding season. Its 

 effects seemed not to be lessened by this second trial in the same 

 soil. The compost was as formerly composed by mixing the mud, 

 barn-manure, ashes or potash together in the field, in spring, two or 

 three weeks before the corn was planted ; in a part of it, say the 

 manure for two acres, about 20 lbs. of nitrate of potash were used. 

 Wherever the nitre was used, worms were absent ; other parts of 

 the field were more or less injured by them. This was all the good 

 that we could positively ascribe to the nitre. Our crops were in a 

 most flourishing condition on the morning of the 30th of June ; in 

 the afternoon and evening of that day, a violent tempest and two 

 showers of hail blew down my barn, half my fruit trees, and pros- 

 trated and mangled the corn. I should have bargained readily 

 with any one who would have insured me half the crop realized the 

 preceding year from the same land and management. But the 

 healing powers of nature and genial influences of summer suns and 

 showers, in a few days restored the field again to a flourishing con- 

 dition. A drought more severe than that of the preceding season 

 followed in August ; and our crop of corn per acre, was about ^ less 

 than the crop of that year. My farmer, H. L. Gould, from his suc- 

 cess with the mud which you analyzed, was strongly impressed with 

 the belief that other peat mud would not prove as good. I request- 

 ed him to make an experiment, which he accordingly did, with two 

 cart-loads of peat, such as makes good fuel, taken directly from the 

 swamp, mixed with ashes, and used in the same quantity by meas- 

 ure, as the other compost. He planted with this four rows of corn 

 through the piece. And, contrary to his expectations, if there was 

 any difference, he acknowledged that these rows were better than 

 the adjoining ones. The mud you analyzed, contained, you recol- 

 lect, a large portion of granitic sand ; this peat much less sand but 

 more water, it being quite spongy. The same bulk, therefore, as 

 taken from the meadow and used in our experiment, would probably 

 have weighed, when dry, not more than i or 4 as much as the other. 

 The quantity of geine in the shovelful of the two kinds, varies not 

 very much after all. I regret that Mr. Gould did not repeat his 

 experiments with the solution of geine last season. My farm is 



