The Value of Barn-Yard Manure. — It is now pretty generally admitted that the 

 chief analytical criterion of the relative value of different kinds of manure is the amount 

 of ammonifi they contain. From several analyses by Messrs. Lawes & Gilbert, it appears 

 that a "ton of rich box manure," or manure produced by fatting animals with rich food 

 in boxes, contained 14 1 cwt. of water and 5-^ cwt. dry suljstance ; the latter containing a 

 large quantity of mineral matter, and nitrogen equal to 20 lbs. ammonia : while manure 

 made by eating, treading, and wetting straw, and rotted to the same degree, contained the 

 same amount of water with less than one-half the important minerals, and nitrogen equal 

 to only 5 lbs. ammonia. Most fai-mers are apt to imagine that " a ton of manure is a ton 

 of manure," irrespective of its origin ; and think if they are about the same to the eye they 

 will be the same to the plant : but it is not so. A ton of manure made by sheep eating 

 clover hav, would be worth three tons of that made by eating straw; and a ton from 

 the consumption of peas or oil-cake would be worth as much as eight tons of the straw- 

 fed manure. The value of the manure depending, other things being equal, on the 

 amount of nitrogen in the food consumed, and not so much as is sometimes supposed 

 on the kind of animal producing it. Joseph Harris. — Rochester, JV. Y. 



1V 



HESS BARLEY. 



IIess Barley. — Enclosed T send you a head of barley, the only 

 one I could find in my barn, the crop having been threshed out early 

 in the fall. I think it is hardly a fair specimen, but it will serve to 

 show you, if you have not seen the variety before, the difi'erence 

 between this and the common two rowed barley, which consists in 

 the kernels being placed nearer together — the same number occu- 

 pying between one-half and two-thirds the length of head of the 

 other variety. The straw is also much shorter and stouter, 

 and will stand well where the other is entirely laid. It is being 

 disseminated rapidly in this vicinity, and is estimated by different 

 farmers to yield from ten to 20 per cent, more than the other, 

 especially on rich land. It originated in the adjoining town of 

 Fenner, on the farm of David Hess, Esq., about six years ago. 

 Three heads were discovered proceeding fi-om one root among the 

 common two rowed barley, which was planted and multiplied by 

 him until he was able to sow two acres, I think, when he began to 

 disseminate it among his neighbors. If you wish for a quantity of 

 seed for distribution, I will send it to you. Perhaps a more full 

 and accurate account of it may be obtained of Mr. Hess. J. B. 

 Morse. — Cazenovia, Madison Co., N. Y. 



Growing Flax with Barley. — I will inform you of a practice 

 which prevails here, of sowing flax with barley ; it may be new to 

 some of your readers. After the ground is plowed, two bushels of 

 barley are sown to the acre and harrowed in ; one peck of flax seed 

 is then sown to the acre and cross harrowed. It is harvested and 

 threshed together, and is easily separated when cleaning, by the flax 

 seed passing into the screen-box. The barley seems to do quite as 

 well as if no flax were sown. The past season, I had thirty bushels 

 of clean barley and three bushels of flax seed to the acre. The land 

 had been in corn the previous season, and was manured with stable 

 dung and leached ashes. H. M. — Lawrence county, Pa. - 



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