88 



GENESEE FARMER. 



June, 1845 



The product was 65 bushels J to the acre, at 4s.= 

 i32 75—15 56=17 19, for the use of the land; or 

 the corn cost, besides the use of the land, $0 23.7 

 per bushel. 



It is proper to say, that the cost of labor for such 

 small parcels, is a difficult thing to determine with 

 perfect accuracy. 



The stalks being of such equal value upon each 

 piece, I have supposed it unnecessary to attempt any 

 separate measurement; neither have I kept any sep- 

 arate account of the cost of the seed, for the same 

 reason. The whole was plastered, but the expense 

 being so slight, and costing the same for each piece, 

 no account has been made of it. The manure is 

 charged at its full value in each case, though the 

 land is greatly benefited for future purposes. Hard- 

 ly a quarter of its cost is justly chargeable to this 

 crop. In No. 2, we have an example, in which the 

 effects of the manure are easily traced through many 

 years. The last manuring this piece had was in 1837 

 — and it now produced 60| bushels to the acre. No 

 charge being made against it for manure, it appears 

 to be profitable above every other experiment. But 

 if the account could be stated for a period of years 

 fo r each piece of land as we have it for this year, I 

 d oubt not the manure would be found to pay fully 

 all its cost. 



These experiments were made chiefly to deter- 

 mine hoiv thick corn should be planted — what is the 

 most convenient form to place the plants — and wheth- 

 er the manure should be rotted and applied to the 

 surface, or plowed under unfermented. The con- 

 clusion that now appears likely to be arrived at is, 

 thai hills three feet by three leet apart, put in rows, 

 60 that a cultivator can be used both ways, is the 

 most convenient form for cultivation, and that six 

 kernels put into each hill, will make the corn thick 

 enough. I counted, and made examinations that 

 satisfied me, that at harvest my hills averaged five 

 stalks to the hill — no thinning was done, except by 

 insects and accidents. That this is not too thick, is 

 proven by experiment No. 6, where the hills were 

 three feet by two feet, the product being 65j bush- 

 els to the acre, and with cne-half the manure that 

 was put on No. 1, which was three feet by three 

 feet apart, and the product only five bushels more to 

 the acre. In fact, I believe that more bushels with 

 the same manuring would have been raised with the 

 hills two by three feet, than three by three feet, but 

 the extra labor of planting, hoeing and harvesting, 

 will more than counterbalance the gain. 



The labor required to plow under unfermented 

 manures in any considerable quantity, is so great, 

 and its great bulk compared with its value, making 

 it so expensive to draw, and the fact that it is not 

 felt until late in the season — and that the next 

 plowing must be deeper, in order to bring it all up 

 and mix it with the soil — are great objections to its 

 use. That the next plowing must be deeper, in 

 order to bring up all the manure, is evident from the 

 consideration that every time the soil is saturated 

 with water it must sink deeper, unless it is held up 

 by some stratum that is impervious to water. If the 

 contents of the barn-yard are piled up in the spring 

 as soon as the frost is out, and covered with gypsum 

 60 as to prevent the escape of any of its gases, and 

 turned and re-piled at midsummer, and again cover- 

 ed with gypsum, the seeds of weeds will be destroy- 

 ed, and the manure will be entirely rotted in time to 

 put on the corn the next spring. The manure used 

 iji these expirements was but half rotted, in conse- 



quence of neglecting to turn and repile it. From 

 the decrease of bulk, the expense of handling and 

 mixing the manure with the earth, will be so much 

 lessened as fully to compensate for all the expense 

 of piling and rotting it. 



The cost of the gypsum, too, will be but slight, 

 as but little is required ; merely enough to whiten 

 the heap. The corn will then have its stimulus at 

 the time it needs it most ; and but few weeds will 

 spring up from the manure. All these considera- 

 tions lead me to prefer fine manure to coarse. 



It is worthy of remark that in No. 2, where no 

 manure was used, the yield was 60| bushels — in No. 

 3, where 150 loads of unfermented manure were us- 

 ed the yield was 70 bushels — a gain of 9^ bushels 

 to be ascribed to the manure ; in No. 4, with the 

 like amount of unfermented manure, and 25 loads of 

 fine manure, the product was 80 bushels — a gain of 

 10 bushels to be ascribed to the fine manure — show- 

 ing that one load of fine is worth more than six loads 

 of coarse manure. While No. 6, which was ma- 

 nured with the fine only, yielded 65^ bushels — a gain 

 of 5^ bushels to be ascribed to the same amount of 

 fine manure. Showing that one load of fine is worth 

 about three and a quarter of coarse manure. But 

 the land on which No. 6 was raised, was not as rich 

 as Nos. 2, 3 and 4, owing to the fact that it was so 

 situated in the field that it had not been as highly 

 manured in those years gone by, when manure was 

 only drawn out of the barn-yard " to get rid of it." 

 Nos. 2, 3 and 4, were nearer the gate, and had been 

 served about alike, and furnish the fairest test of the 

 value of the diflTerent kinds of manure. 



Some of the results obtained by these experiments 

 were unexpected. The highest yield is very far be- 

 low the great crops that have been reported. I know 

 not why a hundred or more bushels to the acre were 

 not raised on No. 4, with manure both on top and 

 under the furrow, amounting to 150 loads of coarse 

 and 25 loads of fine to the acre; and that too, along 

 side of land that ivithout any manure^ yielded more 

 than 60 bushels to the acre. 



I purpose next year to plant all of this ground with 

 corn, and carefully measure the product of each 

 piece, with a view of learning the efifects of this ma- 

 nuring for the second year. GEO . GEDDES. 



Manure Making. — There is one means of ma- 

 king manure on every farm, which is too commonly 

 overlooked or not availed of — we mean, from the 

 wash and waste liquors of the house. Cart a load 

 of loam near the outlet of your sink, and carry the 

 spout on to it ; shovel over the heap occasionally, 

 and in six or 8 weeks the mass will be enriched, and 

 a fresh lot may be brought to undergo the same pro- 

 cess. Thus, in the course of the year, several loads 

 of manure may be made at a trifling cost, and of a 

 quality hardly inferior to that from the barn-yard. 

 This hint is worth something. — J\\ E. Farmer. 



TO PREVENT SMUT IN WHEAT U OATS. 



The following steep, recommended by Professor 

 Johnston of Edinburgh has been tried in Scotland, 

 and found to be alike serviceable to the crop, and a 

 preventive of smut : Dissolve 1 lb. of phosphate of 

 soda, 1 ditto of Epsom salts, 1 ditto of saltpetre, 1 

 ditto of common salt, and 1 ditto of sal-ammoniac, 

 in 10 gallons of water, in which 300 lbs. of wheat 

 or oats may be steeped 12 hours. 



The seed should be dried before sowing or drilling, 

 with plaster or quick lime. 



