140 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



periments in regard to the matter until the question 

 is satisfactorily settled. The Germans do not clear 

 their stables during the season ; but give their cat- 

 tle litter. But we cannot use rye straw which costs 

 $16 per ton, as a litter, because it is too expensive. 

 But rye straw, cut up and wet with hot water, and 

 sprinkled with meal or shorts, is of more value as 

 food than it has generally been considered. 



The importance of using peat muck was then 

 spoken of, M'hich may be used to advantage, even if 

 it is of acid quality, by mixing lime or an alkali Avith 

 it. 



Mr. C. L. Flint, Secretary of the Board of Agri- 

 culture, spoke of the importance of understanding 

 the nature of manures so that they may be applied 

 as stimulants, as fertili2ers, or as ameliorators. 

 Well rotted manure is an example of a good fertil- 

 izer, where immediate results are desired. As a 

 stimulant, lime may be used to call into action cer- 

 tain elements which are dormant in the soil. 

 Coarse barn-yard manures are good as ameliora- 

 tors where the soil is of a stiff, clayey nature, the 

 effect being to make the soil more light and pliable. 

 Most forms in which guano is applied produce a 

 great deal of ammonia, which stimulates the plants 

 more perhaps, than any other substance. But 

 some plants need phosphates ; and there are forms 

 in which the phosphates can be more cheaply 2)ro- 

 cured than that of guano ; as. from bones. A 

 burned bone is a neutral phosphate of lime, and by 

 applying sulphuric acid to bone dust it becomes sol- 

 uble, and is easily taken up by plants. 



He thought experiments should be made by 

 farmers, to ascertain the money value of each con- 

 stituent of a compound manure, so that they may 

 know what is the best and cheapest manure for any 

 specific purpose. He would be glad to learn the 

 results of experiments in the use of soda ash. 



Mr. J. W. Proctor, of Danvers, thought the 

 great practical question for farmers to consider was, 

 whether they can find any material to be used as 

 a manure, that can be as easily, or more easily ob- 

 tained, and which will do as well as that from the 

 barn-jard and hog-pen. They had been encour- 

 aged by chemists to hope for such a substance. 

 He had seen guano applied on grass land with good 

 success. In one instance, where it was applied at 

 the rate of 400 pounds to the acre, it produced 

 more than three tons of hay to the acre, while 

 from the same field where none was applied, less 

 than one ton to the acre was cut. 



In another case where it was applied at the rate 

 of 500 pounds to the acre, the grass was not worth 

 cutting, though the land was pretty good. He had 

 not seen the continued application of it. In his 

 own neighborhood they were in the habit of gath- 

 ering sea weed, kelp, and what they call muscle- 

 bed, which is the mud of the harbor in whicli are 

 miiscles and muscle-shells. From Beverly Harbor 



more than a thousand cords are taken every year, 

 and applied to the adjoining fields. It is applied 

 continuously upon land cultivated with onions, with 

 great success. He would not, however, rely upon 

 that alone. The sea-weed mixed with other ma- 

 nures, helps to raise some of their best crops. He 

 fully agreed in the necessity for discriminating be- 

 tween the different kinds of muck and meadow 

 mud. It is used on the town farm in Danvers, 

 where they make three hundred cords of manure, 

 and where they raised a crop of rye last year which 

 sold — grain and straw — so as to net $45 to the 

 acre, the crop being 30 bushels to the acre. 



Hon. DA\aD Choate, of Essex, inquired of Dr. 

 Reynolds how he could determine when the peat 

 mud was of the acid kind, and therefore needed 

 lime? 



Dr. Reynolds said, that if a small quantity of 

 muck were mixed with water, and the water al- 

 lowed to stand, it would have a perceptible acid 

 taste ; and generally this was a sufficiently accurate 

 test. Some muck contains sulphuret of iron ; and 

 then there is danger in using too much of it. 



Mr. Choate said he had heard river sand — salt 

 sand — spoken of as being very valuable in combi- 

 nation. One gentleman took ten loads of road- 

 scraping, with five of river-sand, and mixed them 

 together. He then took two bushels from the 

 privy and two from the hen-roost, and put them 

 in a hogshead, and poured in a quantity of water. 

 He drew off the water and poured upon the heap of 

 sand and road-scrapings, and then fiUed the hogs- 

 head again. This processs was repeated till the 

 virtue of the contents of the hogshead was ex- 

 hausted. On applying this to half an acre, wanting 

 nine rods, and cultivating it with cabbages, he ob- 

 tained as a crop, cabbages which sold in Cape Ann 

 market for $82. 



Mr. Choate then referred to a book which he 

 held in his hand, written in 1747, by Jared Elliot, 

 in which the author recommends meadow mud as a 

 manure, speaking of it in almost the same terms 

 in which it is now commended. 



SiAiON Brown, Editor of X. E. Farmer, was 

 called on, who stated, as he did at the last meet- 

 ing, that he had great confidence in meadow muck ; 

 and since the last meeting his confidence had been 

 confirmed by what he had read corroborating his 

 own \aews, and the opinions of others, uttered here. 

 He then repeated the reasons why he considered 

 it valuable, which he gave at the last meeting ; 

 which are, 



1. Because it exists in abundance, all over New 

 England, in every neighborhood. 



2. Because it is accessible to all — as those 'not 

 owning meadows may purchase at low rates. 



3. Because it contains nearly all the elements of 

 fertility which the plant requires. 



4. Because, next to charcoal, it is the best ab- 



