2P4 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



BIARCH 15-, 184:1. 



AND HORTICULTURAL RKGISTEK. 



Boston, Wednesday, March 17, 1841. 



ANALYSIS OF SOILS AND MANURES. 

 We insert totlny a communiiaiion Irom Dr. .Andrew 

 Nichols, of Dauvers, to the farmer:,' meeting, and ;he re- 

 port of a committee upon the .ame. Whatever may he 

 thought of the practicab.lity of Dr. Nichols' plan, he 

 deserves high praise for tlie efFo.t to accomplish a great 

 good. Such an effort will not be labor thrown away. 

 It has brought an ini|(ortant matter directly before the 

 agrlculiurarcommunity. It has elicited a report con- 

 taining valuable lads and suggeslions The subject will 

 be widely considered. Many minds will strive lo ma 

 ture a practicable plan fur procuring the desired analy- 

 ses. We invite attention to the subject, not doubling 

 that means can be found to extend ihe beneHts of sci- 

 ence to practical husbandry, more widely than they 

 have hitherto been enjoyed. 



Let it not be imagined ihat our wish to e.\tend the 

 lights ofacience, implies a belief th;,t the light which 

 experience gives to the practical farmer, ought to be 

 ehorn of a single beam, or that the paths which it dis- 

 closes are to be hastily abandoned. We value most 

 highly the teachings of experience, and we respect a 

 Blrong attachment to old ways and old opinions. But 

 we dislike ihat Hind aliachment which will perceive no 

 proof, however clear, that a new may be better. We 

 like observant eyes, candid reasoning, and openness to 

 conviction, accumpariied with that caution or prudence 

 which will require proof that change would be improve- 

 ment, before it wril make changes to any great extent. 

 We like much that habit oi mind which inclines the 

 farmer lo ask why the courses he pursues are good. We 

 would encourage it ; and when that habit is formed, ihe 

 chemist will be consulted for many answers ; his replies 

 will give light that may render the teachings of expe- 

 rience more intelligible and beneficial. Let science 

 come as far as possible to the aid of art. 



NINTH AGRICULTURAL MEETING AT THE 

 STATE HOUSE. 

 On the evening of Monday, last week, the President 

 being absent, Mr Dodge, of Hamilton, was chosen Pre- 

 sident pro tem. Mr Emerson being prevented by ill 

 health from addressing us upon Forest Trees, the meet- 

 in" proceeded to discuss the subject of" Rools and Fruits 

 as food for Live Stock." 



Mr Colrnan commenced by remarking that the culii- 

 vation of vegetables for stock, had not been very much 

 altenderl to generally in this country. Somo farmers, 

 however, had practiced it to a considerable extent. Po- 

 tatoes he judged to be an excellent article for swine, 

 while carrots are good for horses and cows. The ruta haga 

 was introduced or at least brought lo general noticMU this 

 country, by Wm. Cobhett, about 1812. This notorious 

 man whatever might be his merits as acullivalor, could 

 moke a good story. This root has been much cultiva- 

 ted in New York. From 7 lo 900 bushels to the acre 

 are large crops here. In New York the crop has been 

 larger. 



Mr Pi main, of Danvers, sl.ated that the farmer would 

 desire lo know the cost of raising rouls nnrl their worth. 

 He comes from a town where onions and carrots are 

 raised somewhat extensively, and had made some obs r- 

 vations as to the cost of cultivating an acre. Thought 



oxen to the plough, will rake and fit for the i*ceplion 

 of the seed, an acre per day. Let ihe ploughing go on, 

 and lei the stones, lumps, stalks, &c. be raked into the 

 furrow, and when ihe plough comes round again it will 

 bury them all. One man will sow the acre, with rows 

 I from 15 to 18 inches apart, in about one half a day — 

 About 18 days work, on an average, will be required to 

 hoe. weed and thin the acre. This is on the supposi- 

 li(m that the surface is flat and ihat ihe rows are about 

 1.') inches apart. He knows not whether it is best to 

 sow on a flat surface or in ridges. More labor is requir- 

 ed on the flat surface. An ordinary crop is about 500 

 bushels. Let the manure cost $40, and the labor $22 50, 

 and let the in.provement of the land offset the interest 

 on the land, and this root can be raised for about 12 1-2 

 cents per bushel. It is valuable to the farmer as a means 

 of working off his coarse f^idder, while he keeps his cows 

 in milk, and keeps them also in good condition. Wheth- 

 er it makes much saving in the quantiiy of hay, is ques- 

 tionable. By its contributions to both quantity and 

 quality of the manure heap, it is highly valuable. In 

 the neighborhood of cities, and wherever there is a mar- 

 kel for milk in the winter, he thinks the root culture 

 good economy for the farmer. 



Mr Bur Uminsler, Ed. of the Cultivator, slated that we 

 have much to learn. There are some poinls on which 

 we want li^hl. It has been a common statement that 

 plants with the broad fl.it leaf, extracting much iioiir- 

 ishmcnt from the atmosphere, do not exhaust the soil. 

 This opinion prevails not so much among common far- 

 mers, as others. Many of his correspondents doubt lis 

 correctness. Capt. Moore, who obtained the first pre- 

 mium on farms from the Slate Society, obtained 800 

 bushels of ruta b.iga from an acre one year, and only 

 200 from the same land the next year. This seemed 

 like oreat exhaustion. He has seen it stated that two 

 bushels of ruta baga are as good as a bushel of grain, but 

 he doubts its correctness. 



Mr Stanley, of Altleboro', has a kind of turnip which 

 he has not seen, excepting in bis own neighborhood. 

 It is called the Peruvian, the seed having been obtained 

 from Peru. It does well on pi.orish soil — grows quite 

 large: he plants 15 or 18 inches apart. This turnip 

 will keep well in his cellar far into the summer. It is 

 ^vhite— "rows large — is excellent in quality, and keeps 

 remarkably well. 



Mr Putnam, of Danvers, stated in reference to the ru- 

 ta baira as an exhauster of the soil, ihat he had seen its 

 effects compared with those of carrots, beets, &c. upon 

 a ciop of corn the following year. In the early part of 

 the seasim, the effects were quite unfavorable, but they 

 lessened somewhat as the corn was maturing. The 

 second year the grass was best rm the part of ihe piece 

 where the corn was lightest, and u'here the turnips had 

 grown. Barley, in the only instance in which he had 

 seen it following turnips, did well. In England it is 

 tliouirht that their soils have b.-en much improved by 

 the turnip husbandry. There, Indian corn is not culti- 

 vated. This crop suffers — but grass and barley, as far 

 as his limited observations extend, do not suffer from ihe 

 previous action of turnips upon the soil. 



Mr Dodge, of Hamilton, inquired whether the im- 

 provement > f the soil in England referred to, was not 

 owinir mainly to the fact that ihe soil is manured and 

 trodden by the sheep while consuming the crop of tur- 

 nips on the field ; and asked also, whether the rnanuie 

 is in fact any belter when callle feed upon roots in part, 

 than when ihoy feed upon hay ? 



Mr Stanley inquired whether it would be a good way 



to renovate a light soil, to plough in a crop of turnips,' 



Mr Colman remarked, in refi rence to the worth of 



who kept a large number of horses, has said, that as 

 food for horses, he would rather have 100 bushels of car- 

 rots and 100 ..f oats, than to have 200 of oats. Mr C. 

 values them highly for horses; has raised them for ten 

 cents per bushel, getting 600 bushels to the acre. Ha 

 would plant in ridges and i)lough between them. To 

 avoid weeils, he would have the manure old and fine ', 

 would plough in ihe first crop of weeds— would sprout 

 his soed— s'uv rather late, and thus save labor in tendinj 

 the crop. His ridges he would make 27 to 30 inchei 

 apart, and put either one or two rows on a ridge. 



Mr C. ihinks ruta bagas and cabbages great exhauster* 

 of the soil. Would sow in beds and transplant. — Root! 

 may be kept lor winter by making a long heap in th« 

 field and covering it with earth ; leave one end open, a 

 first, and make vent holes through the top with a crow 

 bar: you must give them ventilation at first, or they 

 will spoil; after.vaids close all up; take out at the 

 south end as they are wanted for use. 

 (To be continued.) 



TENTH AGRICULTURAL MEETING. 

 On the evening of Thursday, last week, Hon. B. V. 

 French, of Braintree, was in the Chair at the agricul- 

 tural meeting. After the committee to whom was re- 

 ferred the communication of Dr. Nichols had reporied, 

 and their report had been referred to the secretary for 

 publication, George B. Emerson, Esq. occupied the floor 

 during the remainder of the evening, in remarks upon 

 forest trees. His communications were rich in facts, 

 interesting in manner, and highly instructive. We 

 have no space for reporting them at present. 



LIEBIG'S AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 

 We understand that Mr John Owen, Cambridge, has 

 in press an American edition of Liebig's Agricultural 

 Chemistry, with copious notes and an introduction ex- 

 plaining the first principles of chemistry, technical terms, 

 &c., by Professor Webster. 



DURHAM CATTLE. I 



On Saturday last there was exhibited in front of the! 



State House, a pair of Durham steers, coming five years . 



old, belonging to Hon. John Welles. Their weight is ! 



3400 lbs. They are small boned, but fat and well formed 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



The insertion of the articles relating to the analysis o 

 soils, obliges us to defer the communications relating re 

 spectively to " The Proper Quantity of Grass Seei!,' 

 " The Wheat Insects," " Berkshires" and "Lucerne.' 



MORE LEXINGTON HOGS. 



We learn from the Daily Advertiser, that Mr Phinne; 

 sent into the city last week another lot of twelve fini 

 hogs, from 6 to 11 months old, weighing in the aggre 

 gate 408G lbs. ; average weight 340 1-2 lbs. They wen 

 purchased by Mr Geo. .Munroe, corner of Ann and Flee 

 streets. 



that iieople not acquainted with the business may over- 



esliii ate the labor. After the manure has been put on .... 



and ploughed in, three men with a horse or a yoke of carrots, that 'in experienced man in Berkshire county. 



Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 



EXHIBITION OF FRUITS. 



Saturday, March G, 1841. 



J. L. L. F. Warren, Esq., of Brighton, exhibited ih 

 following .'Vpples— Monstrous Pippen, Old Fall Peal 

 main .' Welliunton, and one sort unknown. Also, Isa 

 bella Grapes, in a fine slate of preservation. 



Specimens of an apple supposed to bo Pennock's Re 

 Winter, were exhibited by Chief Justice Parker, of JNe- 

 Hampshire. 



For the Committee, 



ROBERT MANNING 



