THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



485 



and of which I have written. The information 

 iriven to nie in New Yorii in relation to Mr. JBe- 

 meni'e hoi's was such liiat. 1 iiiul no desire to see 

 them. Wheiher or not injustice has been done 

 him I cannot determine. Mr. 13. wishes ihe devil 

 to liave his due. Suri-ly he is as much entitled lo 

 it as any other individual, but not. more tiian ids 

 advocates. I leave him and Mr. Ijossiii;; to settle 

 the matter as to the size ul tliuir liuys ; and there 

 is no doubt he will irilbrm Mr. U. by what system 

 ut" breeduii^ he lias obiained tliose larjxe Berk- 

 shires, that Kentucky farmers so justly prize. 

 Your correspondent does not think it requires 

 great acumen to discover the difference between 

 the large and the small Berkshires. The dissimi- 

 larity is so great that any one at ail acquainted 

 with them can immediately detect each kind, [f 

 he will examine Lossing's piggery he will readily 

 perceive the difference. He says in England they 

 know of but one variety. Sliould Mr. B. pay a 

 visit lo Kentucky he will find lour varieties, viz.: 

 the lame black Berksfiire of Losslnir, a white 

 Berkshire imported by Letion, and another by Dr. 

 Martin, and the small Berkshire purchased of C. 

 N. Bement by Mr. Letion ; all of which are appa- 

 rently of very different breeds, but all claiming to 

 be Berkshires. 



As to large Berksldre sows being more prolific, 

 B. says is all a /ol de rol. I suppose the English 

 oi' that is, it is all a he. Now he proves by his 

 own statements that it is true. He ren)arks it is 

 not unfrequent lor sows of this breed (and he 

 states his are as large as Lossing's) to have from 

 12 to 16 pigs, and in one instance as high as 18 

 living pigs at one litter. Mr. B. says your corre- 

 spondent omitted to inform you how many pigs 

 Irom these great litters are raised. That, sir, is 

 not my look out ; all depends upon the attention 

 the sows receive at pigging. In answer to Mr. 

 B.'s charge that your correspondent would lain 

 make the public believe that ihey (McFerren's 

 hogs) were all purchased of Lossing, that charge 

 is entirely sratuiioiis. I was inlbrmed that the 

 most of them were either purchased of Lossing or 

 descendants of his stock. Be that as it may, no 

 censure can rest upon X. Y. Z. 



NOTES ON SANDY POINT ESTATE. NO. III. 



To tlic Editor of ttie farmers' Register. 



Sandtj Point, July lOth, 1841. 

 In "Notes on Sandy Puint Estate, No. 1," it 

 was stated that '' all of the soil of the arable land 

 was suscepiible of the highest degree of im- 

 provement, and that, in its oriarinal and virgin 

 state, it must have been highly productive." 

 From a severe system of cropping, close grazing, 

 and little attention to manuring, lor a long suc- 

 cession ol years, its original fertility has been 

 greatly reduced. For the past 10 years, efforts 

 have been made to restore to the soil a portion of 

 its lost fertility ; little grazing has been permitted, 

 during that period, on any portion of the estate 

 now under tillage. Clover has been extensively 

 and successlully cultivated, and returned to the 

 soil as a manuring ; and considerable attention 

 has been paid to the collection and application 

 of [intreecent manures; the residls, however, of 

 the genera! application of this latter manure have 



proved but little satisfactory. For 10 years, prior to 

 1840, all of the manure which could he collected 

 from the stables, winter larm yards, &c., up lo the 

 first of March of each year, was a()plied to the 

 lield to be planted in corn ; all made in the sub- 

 sequent spring months was piled up and allowed 

 to rot and lerment until the spring of the lijllow- 

 ing year, when it was also applieii to the corn 

 crop. For the number of years during which the 

 application was .made of the winter collected ma- 

 nure, consisting chiefly of unrotied and nearly 

 entire corn-stalks, straw, shucks, &c. Mr. Boi- 

 ling is of the opinion that little or no benefit 

 was derived by the corn crop to which it was 

 applied, and that liom its coarse texture it formed 

 a serious impediment in the alter cultivation of 

 the crop. The lollowing wheat crop derived as 

 Utile benefit as did the preceding corn crop. !So 

 far as I have seen this mode practised, my own 

 opinion and experience coincide with that of 

 Mr. Boiling. From the application of rotted 

 manure lo a corn crop, I have seen decided bene- 

 fits ; but from the usual mode in which it is piled 

 up and unprotected from the influences of the 

 hot summer's sun, drying winds and washing 

 rains, and li-om becoming fire-langed or moulded, 

 a very large proportion of manure thus [)iled up 

 becomes a mass of dry, worthless vegetable fibre, 

 scarcely worth the expense of hauling out, and 

 can impart benefit to no crop. Such a mode is, at 

 best, especially in a climate sucli as this, a most 

 injudicious and wasteful one ; a very large bulk 

 of manure is lost, and so lar from its strength 

 becoming concentrated, all its gaseous, if notall its 

 lei tilizing properties are lost, and there is little left to 

 compensate lor the loss ol bulk, labor, and time oc- 

 cupied in piling it up, and hauling and spreading it 

 on tlie soil. From my own experience i have Ibund 

 the application ol recent or unrotted manure to 

 clover the best and most profitable application 

 of it": laying it on early in the spring, when the 

 leaves ol the clover speedily cover and protect 

 the manure. While the clover derives much 

 benefit from this top-dressing, its greatly increased 

 growth, well ploughed under in proper season, 

 proves an excelleni manuring, either lor a wheat 

 lallovv, or ensuing corn crop. Last year (1840) 

 ihe manure on this estate was applied as follows, 

 60 cart-loads of rotted manure were applied as a 

 top-dressing on wheat, in January of that year. 

 Nearly all of this was stable manure, and almost en- 

 tirely covered with white mould. Little ifany bent' fit 

 resulted from the application. 316 loads of rotted 

 cow-yard manure of the preceding spring were 

 applied to an oat lallovv. This was also very much 

 moulded. Very little benefit was observable either 

 10 the preparatory oat or following wheat crop, 

 as compared with that on which no manure had 

 been applied. 959 loads, also of rotted mixed 

 manure, being a pile of the preceding year's 

 accumulation, was applied to corn ground. Much 

 of this was also moulded ; the bottom of the pile, 

 being generally under water, was free from mould, 

 and good. From this application the corn derived 

 considerable benefit. 3070 loads of unrotted or 

 recent manure from the stable and cattle yards 

 were applied on clover intended lor a wheat fiil- 

 low, and also on clover intended for the corn crop 

 of this present year. When applied on clover for 

 wheal fallow no lime or calcareous matter had 

 been applied to the soil. A small proportion of 



