94 



N£V; ENGLAND FARMER, 



SEPT. 23, 1840. 



ANP IIORTICUL'IUKAI. RIGISTER. 



Boston-, WEDSESDAy, Sept. 23, [840. 



MANURES. 



Experiments are rtiporled as li.iving bron nrently 

 made in England with sailpeirp, wiili mtich siiocoss. In 

 the casps rcliTied to it was applied to whiiat ; but its 

 application to other crops has proved equally lavorable 

 and encouraging. It is not a new experiment. W'c 

 know several ca»*eB in this country of its successful a| - 

 plication, of which we shall speaU hereafter; hut we 

 shall give the experiment now referred to in detail, be- 

 cause it seems lo have been made with considerable 

 care, and its results are professedly given with exactness. 



The Harleston (England) Facmers' Club put it to 

 their mernbeis as a subject of the highest momitit, to 

 make exact observation and experiments with various 

 manures. Certainly no uiiillor connected with the im- 

 provement of agriculture can be of more importance. — 

 At a recent meeting ihe subject of saltpetre was discuss- 

 ed. Various experiments were re|:orled. We select 

 one of the strongest ca.=es, they sny, '■ the application of 

 saltpetre as a top-diessing to wheat after pease, on a 

 light land with a gravelly subsoil." 



"One hundred weight per acre was sown by hand on 

 the 6th of April, and lo prevent any error which might 

 have arisen from a difference in soil of one side of the 

 field from another, the saltpetre was carefully applied 

 on every two altc^rnale ridges. The two crops were 

 reaped, stacked, and threshed separately ; and the re- 

 sult was an increase of six bushels of wheat, and upwards 

 of two and a half hundred of straw per acre, obtained at 

 an outlay of 27s. steil'g only, as follows: 



Produce per acre of wheat which had been S(. lb. 



manured with saltpetre, 160 !il-2 



Produce without saltpetie, 133 121-2 



Incn'ase, 2() 4 



Produce per acre of straw with salt- Cwt. St. lb. 



petre, 23 4 13 



" " " without saltpetre, 20 7 8 



Increase 2 5 5 



Cost ofthe saltpetre was 27..^. sterl'g pi^r c«t. The 

 wheat of course was winter wheat, and it was sown 

 broadcast. A stone is 14 lbs. 



The Society proceed to report :—" It is the unnni- 

 mous opinion of this meeting, that saltpetre is a most 

 valuable a'tdition to our list of loaimres. Strong evi- 

 dence has been given of the benefits conferred by it on 

 wheat, clover, and other layers, and tares on light land ; 

 and on clover layers im heavy land : in each case the 

 saltpetre was ap|>lied in the month of April, and at the 

 rate of one hundred weight per acre. The elVect would 

 probably be increased (but this is at present unsupported 

 by evidence) by applying only half the quantity of salt- 

 petre at first, and the remaining part a few weeks after- 

 wards." 



The experiinetits which liave oume under oui ov\n ob- 

 servation, have beim upon grass and wheat. The effect 

 upon grass was quite remarUablr. The wheat was in 

 a growing slate; the saltpetre applied when six inches 

 in height; the quantity per acre not noted; the diffe- 

 rence between the part not dressed with saltpetre and 

 that to which it was applied was obvious and striking; 

 the wheal was then in (lower; it was intended that the 

 result should he accurately observed ; and we hope pre- 

 sently to be put in p"Sses.-ion of It. 



Any person of common observation, and at all inte- 

 rested in such subjects, cannot fail to observe the im- 

 mense quantities of manure which are absolutely thrown 

 away on our firms, in our cities, and about our roads 

 and buildings What a blessing it would he, if we had 

 s<uriething oftlie reported frugality of the Chinese, on 

 the score of cleanliness and health, as well as interest. 

 How few of our farmers ever think of saving their soap 

 suds. We fear, without meaning aiTy reproach upon the 

 glide housewives, that some of them do not hear of such 

 a thing as soaji suds as often us mii'ht be useful ! But 

 how lew ever think of saving and applying it; and yet 

 it is a most valuable manure ; and by having a vault or 

 pool in which to deposite a pile of loam, or large heap 

 of earth, by regularly throwing the contents of the wash 

 tub upon it, might be convened into the means of ^"reat- 

 ly enriching the land; and what tuns upon tuns of the 

 most valuable liquid manure, by a little pains-taking 

 and contrivance, might he rihtained in the city, by far- 

 mers, who are now willing to come four and six miles 

 and transport fire-fanged and dried horse manure at a 

 cost, before it reaches tiicir firms, of six and eight dol- 

 lars a cord. 



The French are now taking great pains to save the 

 water in which the woo! is washed at the woollen facto- 

 ries, full as it is of soap and animal oil, and find it a 

 most valuable application to their lands. We have 

 long known the value of the refuse wool ; and we have 

 stood by the mill-shute in Lowell more than once with 

 feelings of serious regret, when we have seen the wash 

 from their vvoollen factory, full of enriching mntterp. 

 mingling with the waters of the river and passing off 

 into the ocean, as so much valuable material abscdiitely 

 thrown away. 



Our highly respected friend Uemcnt, of Albany, has 

 made some very successful experiments with hogs' bris- 

 tles, applied in his potato hills and in other forms. He 

 speaks of their beneficial effects as quite remarkable; 

 and we promise ourselves the pleasure of hearing from 

 him on tfiis and the use of various other manures, in 

 which he has been experimenting. We can confident- 

 ly rely upon liis observations and experiments as intel- 

 ligent and exact ; and the results uhich he gives under 

 his own hand, as certain. H. C. 



plants, so that by art a species cati b« iiodified or chang- 

 ed ? We should like to ask him whether plants cun be 

 fed and their growth hastened or promoted by artificial 

 appliances ? We shf)uld like lo ask him how they t-ike 

 uj) their food from the earth and llie air — ami whether 

 be ever heard of the sap vessels of plants, by which 

 their circulatir.ns are carried on iiud their juices elabo- 

 rated .'* Bui in truth, what wouhl bii the use <if asking 

 such a man any thing .'' 



When men nnw-a-days undertake to talk about book 

 farming, and to feed the prejudices and folly of the vul- 

 gar by their sneers at all curious inquiries into the most 

 wonderful and curious of nature's mysteries, we should 

 like to know of them what subject demands irrore sirong- 

 h,whal subject will more fully repay the highest efforts 

 of the highest philosophy than agriculture.'' All the 

 distinguished improvements which have ever been made 

 in this art and science, have sprung not froni the mere 

 ignorant plodders, but from the application to the sub- 

 ject of the highest order of inti lligeul minds. Away 

 then with the contemptible nonsense about book farm- 

 ing, let it come from what source it may. H. C. 



BOOK FARMING. 



A writer in a late " American Farmer," in speaking 

 of the Third Report of the Agriculture of Mass.ichusetts, 

 is pleased to refer to the statement made in that Report 

 of De Candolle's learned theory of vegetation, respect- 

 ing the excretory organs of plants, and the belief id'this 

 philosopher and eminent botanist, that in many cases 

 owing to the peculiar excretions of a phint, the ground 

 on w hich it is grown becomes unfitted, until a different 

 crop or some length of time has inteivcned, for the re- 

 petition f)f the same crop on the same land. This ex- 

 cretory power in plants has been most fnliy established 

 by various strikingexperimcnts ; and the theory, wheth- 

 er true or false, is not without very strong evidence, and 

 certainly contains nothing unphilosophical or improba- 

 ble. 



The wise gentleman, howevir, says, as soon as he 

 reaches this passage and reads of the digestive organs 

 of plants, he admires the wimders of book fanning, and 

 lays down the paper in disgust. 



Now we have high authority for " not answering a 

 fool according to his folly ;' but we should like to ask 

 this geuthuian, if we deemed him ca|iiililc rd'understand- 

 iiig the questicm, why plants should not have organs of 

 digesli"ii ? We should like to ask him if he ever heard 

 of the sixes of plants — of the organs of generation in 



ROSE BUSH SLUG. 



We publish the following communication without a 

 signature, in a lady's hand-writing, in which the writer 

 thinks she has discovered a remedy against the ravages 

 of the rosebush slug. Should this prove lobe the case, 

 we have no doubt but what the Horticultural Society 

 will award her the premium. 



Danvers, Sept. 5th, 1840. 

 To the Publisher of the New England Farmer : 



Sir, — Having seen a n<»tice in your paper last June, 

 wishing for any one to inform you how to destroy the 

 Rose Bush Slug, I send you a remedy which 1 have 

 used successfully. 



I should think the slugs had eaten more than half the 

 leaves off my bushes ; I thought there could not be one 

 left one week longer. I took iny castor of black pepper 

 and shook it over my bushes three different times when 

 the dew was on : the slugs ceased eating entirely, which 

 leads me lo think that black pepper wiH stop their rav- 

 tigcs. 



If in a future season this should prove a remedy with 

 yourself and others, and the Horticultural Society's Com- 

 mittee should think mc entitled lo ihe premium, please 

 direct a line lo Ebenezer King, of Danvers. 



P. S. — I think the slogs begin at the b >ttom of tlio 

 bush ; they took every leal as far as they went. 



MassncllllsettB Horticultural Socielj*. 



KIHIBITIOS OF FRUITS. 



Saturday, Sept. 19, 1840. 

 By Mr Samuel Pond, Cambridgeporl ; Surpassc, Vir- 

 galieu and Spanish Bon Chretien Pears ; Lombard and 

 Semionna Plums — fine specimens. 



By J. L. L F. Warren, Brighton ; Porter apples ; 

 Prin'-e's Red Rareripe and Roval or Teton de Venus 

 Peaches ; Musk IMelons grown from seeds brought from 

 Paris by Rev. Mr Prerpont — juilged to be a new variety. 

 By Mr Edward Sharp, Dorchester; Large White 

 Peaches. 



Ky Mr Samuel Whiting, Dtviham ; Seckle Pears. 

 For llie Committee, 



B. V. FRENCH. 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 At an adjourned meeting of the Massacliusetl.s Horti- 

 cultural Society, held September I2ih, IP40 — 



J^olctl, That the thanks of the Society be presented 

 to the ladies and gentlemen who have so geneiously 



