1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



36c 



matters I entertain no doubt but ring bone, con- The cost of the bone was $2 a barrel in Boston, 

 tracted hoofs, sprung knees, as well as many other | the potash cost forty cents; so that the expense of 

 defects ni the feet and limbs ofhorses, are occasioned ^manuring that half," was a trifle more than two dol- 

 in most cases by confinement while young, upon j lars for about oh rods, or nearly at the rate of $30 

 plank floors. Hence duraig the last fifteen years I 'per acre. The two loads of compost used, (one- 

 have discarded plank floors for young colts entirely, horse loads) would probably be estimated at about 

 and adopted those constructed by the God of na- the same price, or about a dollar a load. 



ture, and in that I have never raised an unsound 

 horse. 



The best stables I have ever seen for young hor- 

 ses is one built without any artificial floor, further 

 than to make the surface even. I prefer box stalls 



In conclusion, my experience with various con- 

 centrated fertilizers has convinced me that if we 

 would judiciously spend their cost in saving the 

 fertilizers at home, most of us farmers would find 

 our compost heaps largely increased in size and 



1 ,: V /T^ • • - J--"-- -—"_--"" "-1 v^v^'^ljv^.^i. iic«,|« laiyeij' iiiureaseu m Size ana 



lor each colt, ot sufhcient size to allow the animal value ; in value, much more than the worth of the 

 to turn himself, lie down, and rise with freedom, shop manure. jx^ P^ 



No young colt, in my opinion, should be confined 

 in a stall by a halter. Each stall should be thor- 

 oughly cleared at least once every day, and clean 

 bedding furnished every day. 



Nothing can be more injurious to the health of 

 a horse of any age, than standing in a close stable, 

 in the midst of the ammonia, naturally generated by 

 their own excrements. Cleanliness is said to be 

 next to Godliness, and the maxim should not be 

 forgoten in the stable treatment of growing ani- 

 mals- Solomon Steele. 



Derby Line, Ft., June 16, 18<56. 



jPor t/ie New England Farmer. 



BONE MANURE FOR TURNIPS. 



Mr. Editor : — As the season for sowing tur- 

 nips is at hand, I will give you the result of an ex- 

 periment, tried a year or two since for the purpose 

 of testing the relative value of bone and compost 

 manures. 



I selected a piece of land gently sloping to the 

 south-east. It had lain in grass for at least fifteen 

 years. The upper part of the lot was very light 

 soil, gradually improving as it descended, to a deep 

 rich loam, and running about one rod into a peaty 

 meadow. On the 21st of July, when the ground 

 was quite dry and dusty, 1 plowed a strip of this 

 containing a little more than eleven square rods. 

 On one half of this, I spread two loads of compost 

 manure, of fair quality ; on the other half, about 

 two-thirds of a barrel of crushed bone, prepared in 

 this manner: I made a lye by dissolving five 

 pounds of potash in a half barrel of water, and put 

 the bone into it, leaving it there perhaps a week. 

 I then mixed this bone and lye with a load of dry 

 peat, pulverized by the previous winter's frost ; and 

 after it had lain in a heap a few days, worked it 

 over to mix it more thoroughly. The whole mass 

 was quite warm, and the bone was mostly if not 

 entirely dissolved. These manures were spread 

 and well harrowed in after a light rain, that mois- 

 tened the earth to the depth of two or three inch- 

 es, and the turnip seed were sown on the 25th 

 of July, with a seed-sower, each half containing 

 eight rows. Dry weather followed, which, though 

 it did not prevent the germination of the seed, of 

 course hindered the rapid growth of the plant. 

 We hoed once, weeding and thinning out at the 

 same time. 



When harvested, the crop on the side manured 

 with bone, measured fourteen bushels, of fifty 

 pounds each ; that on the composted half, twenty- 

 one bashels. 1 confess to some surprise at this re- 

 sult. My expectations leaned strongly the other 

 way. 



Concord, Mass., 1856. 



LETTER FROM MR. BROWN. 



Washington, D. C, June 25, 1856. 

 Dear Sir :— In my last letter I alluded, briefly, 

 to recent improvements in this city. The letter 

 was written on one of the hottest mornings the 

 people ever experience here, and amidst various 

 interruptions. I said nothing of the public build- 

 ings, of Congress, or of many other matters of pub- 

 lic interest. The additions to the Capitol, now in 

 process of construction, are on a magnificent scale, 

 and are, alone, well worthy a visit to the Federal 

 City. A new room for the Representatives is to 

 be completed in the south wing, and a new Senate 

 Chamber in the north wing. The library is to be 

 extended, and include rooms now occupied by the 

 clerk of the House and his assistants. The old 

 Dome which so long braved the elements, and was 

 visited by hundreds of thousands of persons, of near- 

 ly all civilized nations, has been taken down, and a 

 rude wooden roof covers the rotunda to keep the 

 rain from the pictures below. The walls of both 

 wings are up, and this morning the workmen are 

 placing the highly wrought cornices on one comer ; 

 all about are derricks of huge construction, and on 

 the top of the work is a steam engine of ten horse 

 power to raise the massive blocks of marble to 

 their respective positions. The most perfect sys- 

 tem known for ventilating, warming and supplying 

 water, is to be adopted. Under the second story 

 floors there are long ranges of cast iron boxes about 

 two feet wide by twelve inches in hight ; these 

 rest upon the tops of the beautiful marble pillars 

 below, and their under sides, ornamented, form the 

 ceiling of the rooms on the first floor, so that the 

 ceiling, instead of mortar, is a series of cast iron 

 plates covered with various devices. Through these 

 boxes we understand that the pure air of heaven 

 is to be urged by a blower, such as is used for forges 

 and furnaces, and to be propelled by a. steam en- 

 gine. In the cold weather the boilers of this en- 

 gine are to furnish steam for warmmg by a system 

 of pipes scattered through every part of the build- 

 ing. On the top of this immense pile, may now be 

 seen several huge iron tanks of the common shape 

 of steam boilers, which are intended as water tanii 



