1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



233 



years after it was taken from the nursery rows, and 

 obtained fruit the third year. 



The Beurre d'Amahs is the next best grower I 

 have, and very hardy. The Flemish Beauty I find 

 perfectly hardy, and a fair grower. This, I think, 

 will prove one of, if not the very best pear for gen-| 

 eral cultivation in the north of New England. The j 

 St. Ghislain grows well and is perfectly hardy. | 

 The Urbaniste, a variety of slow growth, tardy in ] 

 coming into bearing, but wonderfully hardy ; have 

 never seen a single twig a particle injured by the 

 winter. The Rostiezer is a very fine, promising,: 

 early variety, succeeding first rate Avith me. I 



I am preparing to go somewhat extensively into 

 the cultivation of the ])ear on its own roots, and 1 

 shall devote my attention mainly to those kinds I j 

 find by experience to be perfectly hardy and adapt- 

 ed to the wants of a severe climate. 



See advertisement in another part of this paper. 



Wakefield, X. H., April 1. John Copp. 



For the New England Fanner. 



CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES. 



BY HENRY F. FRENCH. 



How to apply Manure — Composting — Some Elements of Fertil- 

 ity Evaporate and others Sink — Deep Plowing — Seeding to 

 Grass in Autumn — Sod and Subsoil Plow — Plotting Orchards 

 — Distinction between Rules and Principles. 



In a former article, I proposed to apply the idea 

 suggested in the above caption, to the subjects of 

 the ajiplication of manures, and of composting and 

 deep plowing. 



Shall I plow in the manure as deep as possible, 

 or shall I leave it near the surface ? Shall I com- 

 post it with mud or soil, and work it over to make 

 it fine, or use it in a fresh and green state ? The 

 answers to these questions depend on circumstan- 

 ces, many and various. If you have a heap of com- 

 mon barn manure, and are ready to apply it this 

 spring to your land for corn or potatoes, my advice 

 would be, to mix nothing with it, but to sj)read it, 

 and plow it in as deep as the plow will cover it, 

 running to the depth to which the land has been 

 usually plowed. As a general rule this would be 

 the true method, but if the land be a stiff" clay, for 

 reasons which will be presently stated, the manui-e 

 would be more profitably apphed nearer the sur- 

 face. The common manures consist of various el- 

 ements, some of which are readily converted into 

 gas and fly off into the air, and others which are 

 not volatile, but are dissolved by water and carried 

 away into the streams or into the ground. 



A large proportion of the value of common man- 

 ures consists of ammonia, which is always produced 

 in the process of decay and putrefaction, and is 

 very volatile, and is diffused at once into the air, 

 when set free, and so benefits the world in general, 

 as much as the original owner. 



Another proportion consists of lime in various 

 forms, and of potash, soda, and common salt. — 

 These are inchned to sink into the soil, and to pass 

 off below, unless taken up by the plants growing 



there, or combined with other substances which re- 

 tain them. 



Where lime is used in large quantities, its ef- 

 fects are not considered permanent, but in a few 

 years it is washed out of the soil, and it becomes 

 necessary to repeat the application. This is well 

 understood in the old countries. So it is said that 

 common salt may be applied in sufficient quantity 

 to land to destroy all vegetation, and that its effects 

 will not last beyond the third year. 



If, therefore, we place the manure near the bot- 

 tom of the furrow for a hoed crop, we save all the 

 ammonia, which rises and is incorporated with the 

 soil, and the roots of our crop extend low enough 

 to find the other elements, which would otherwise 

 slowly pass downwards by solution in water. 



Clay, or alumina, has a strong attraction or affini- 

 ty for ammonia, which it absorbs from the manure 

 and even from the air, and retains for the use of 

 vegetation. 



Hence, upon a clay soil, manure, though covered 

 but lightly, will not lose its ammonia, and the parts 

 which naturally sink are better protected near the 

 surface. 



Formerly my own practice was to plow all ma- 

 nure into the soil, as deep as possible, but if it be 

 fine enough not to obstruct the convenient tillage 

 of my crops, I, in general, now prefer to keep it 

 near the surface. In laying swamps, and clay lands 

 to grass in autumn, I prefer to use fine compost ma- 

 nure, and to apply it to the surface, merely harrow- 

 ing it in. 



COMPOSTING. 



As to Composting, — this depends on circumstan- 

 ces. For market gardening, much of the manure 

 must be fine, or it will render a proper culture of 

 the soil about the young plants, impossible, and so, 

 in all cases, where it is desirable to produce an im- 

 mediate eff'ect, manure finely divided, and thorough- 

 ly decomposed, furnishes more ready food for the 

 plant. Again, highly concentrated manures, Uke 

 night-soil, require to be finely divided, or compos- 

 ted, that they may not prove too powerful and that 

 they may be equally diffused. Where top-dress- 

 ing is used, it is an extravagant waste to aj^ply 

 fresh manure, because the most valuable portion of 

 it passes off into the air, whereas if thorough!}' 

 mixed with clay or swamp mud, charcoal, or any- 

 thing else which will retain the ammonia, the loss 

 will be shght. 



Again, where we have swamp-mud which con- 

 tains in itself elements of fertility, in a form which 

 needs but the addition usually of this very substance, 

 ammonia, which is always endeavoring to escajje, 

 to render it a valuable manure, we make a double 

 gain by mixing it with the manure because we save 

 the ammonia which would otherwise escape, ainl 

 we convert the mud itself into a valuable fertihzer. 

 If the mud can be added daily or weekly to the ac- 



