274 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MARCH 7, 18 i8. 



fertile, on llie Atlantid bonier of our country, 

 been iibsoliiti-ly abandoned, as unprofilable for 

 cnltiire, on account of tbe steriiity produced by 

 our bad busliandry ? 



Under the view of the subject whieli tliefc facts 



Nor do we lack a useful lesson of instruction 

 at hiMue. Tlie law passed in 1819, " to improve 

 llie agriculture of tliis State," did do what its title 

 purpoited ; it did impiiovf, tbe agricultme of tliis 

 Slate. It improved mir farm stock, our farm irn- 



presenr, the committee feel it their duty to press 1 pte.ments, our farm crops, and modes of culture ; 

 upon the consideration of the Lefjislature, who janil it gave a new impulse to useful enterprize 

 are delegated to take care of the public wea!, an and injprovement. And altliough the manner of 

 investigation into the causes which hare led to j its execution was in many cases faulty, as all new 



this great, this alarming change, in the relative 

 condition of the two continents; and to urge them 

 to adopt prompt and efficient tneans, not to re- 

 press the European spirit, vvhi(!h has done so much 

 good to the human family, but to transfuse a por- 

 tion of that spirit into our own population, an<l to 

 raise the character of our agriculture, as we can 

 and otiglit to do, to the level of that of any coun- 

 try on the globe. Fortunately, we are not left in 

 doubt as to the prominent means of effecting this 

 desirable object. Other governments have tnade 

 the experiment for us ; have set us the example, 

 and in a measure demonstrated the certaijjty of 

 success. Those governments have j)atronized and 

 aided this nol)le art, by j)rotection and rewards ; 

 by instruction, in th« primary schools, in the ele- 

 mentary principles of husbandry ; by national 

 boards of agriculture ; by ag'ricultural surveys, and 

 by scIxkUs of scientific and practical instruction 

 iu the diseases aiiid mauageinent of domestic ani- 

 jnals, flnd in the IjUKtijess of agriculture gener- 

 aUy. 



The State of Massnc^iusetts wasnmong the first 

 to encourage the establishment of agricultural so- 

 a-tefies, .Tnd to dispense to tiiern the public bounty. 

 Her continuing to |)ersevere in this policy to the 

 present time, by a renewal of the law making an 

 annunl and libeial appi-opriation I'o this object, is 

 at once an evidence thaX. she has found such ex- 

 ■;)enditure BaJuta,r_j-, and in perfect i.'nison with the 

 feelings and wishes of her cnKtfiiten.'id popidation. 

 The State of Maine has al,!o giveti an example 

 ■of great liberality and wisdom, in rece tit efforts to 

 liniprove her ngricullure. The bounty which she 

 tiJns year ])ay«i tti her citizens, to encom-age the 

 culture of wUoat alone, will draw from the treas- 

 iMfV a grefttef sum, than all the expenditures, 

 'which tliB " em|)ire State " has made direclbj in 

 aid of Atr agriculture, put together. 



Several of the States have likewise, with a view 

 to encourage a useful and lucrative branch of 

 home industry, oflered liberal bounties fof the 

 cultivation of the mulberry, and the production of 

 silk. A slight reference to the proceedings of the 

 current Legislature of several of om- sister States, 

 at this moment, may show the position which our 

 own proud State should assume on this important 

 subject. 



A bill is now before the Legislature of Massa- 

 chusetts forgiving a bounty to her citizens for the 

 production of wheat. 



A hill is in discussion in the Legislature of 

 ■ Kentucky to establish a board of agriculture, and 

 State and county societies. 



A bill is before the Legislature of Maryland 

 to establish and patronize agricultural schools, &c. 

 The same is under consideration iu the young 

 and enter()rising State of INlichigan, (or ihc^ estab- 

 lishment of state and county agricultural societies, 

 with ap(u-opriation8 from the Slate funds for their 

 Bupport. 



And even Wisconsin, that wild, though fertile 

 and rapidly increasing territory of the great west, 

 \% engageil in the same laudable work. 



experiments are liable to be in the outset ; yet it 

 effected a great public good. That law involved 

 a public expenditure of twenty-five or thirty thous- 

 and dollars, and no like sum, your committee are 

 induced to believe, has been expended from the 

 State treasury with greater public advantage. Its 

 benefits are now palpable, and are acknowledged 

 by all intelligent men. Indeeil, it has been stated, 

 upon no slight grounds, that tbe expenditure has 

 been more than thrice returned to the treasury in 

 the form of canal tolls upon the extra products of 

 the soil, which it virtually created. 



There is another subject to which the commit- 

 tiic deem it proper to call the attention of the Leg- 

 islature. The insect denominated the grain worm, 

 has, for .several years, been greatly destructive to 

 the wheat crop in the northern and north-eastern 

 counties of tbe State. It is progressing south and 

 west, and threatens to cut off, or at least seriously 

 to diminish, the great sta|de of our soil, and the 

 source of much of our wealth. If tlie attention 

 of naturalisis, and the critical observation of prac- 

 tic;d farmers, were directed to the character and 

 habits of this insect, by oflers of a liberal bounty 

 for the discovery of an eflicient preventive of its 

 depredations, it is believed that great public bene- 

 fit might result from the measure, while it seems 

 certain that no injury could ensue from it. 



Your committee believe that in all the arts of 

 productive labor, and particularly in agriculture, 

 it is highly important, to tbe attaintnent of excel- 

 lence, to commence instruction in the primary 

 schools. And us we now have published, in cur 

 State, agricultural journals of as high and useful 

 character as are published iu tbe world, and at a 

 price less than one-fourth tlie cost of an equal 

 quantity of matter in a book form, they consider 

 their introduction into our common schools as 

 occasional class books for our youth, a cheap and 

 efficient means of iiiiproving both the mind and 

 the soil. 



From the best consideration which the com- 

 mittee have been able to give to the important 

 matters \vhich come within the purview of their 

 duties, they have come to the unanimous conclu- 

 sion, that the time has arrived, when the public 

 interest, and the popular will alike require tbe ex- 

 ercise of legislative wisdom, and legislative bounty, 

 to improve the condition of our agriculture ; the 

 business, as has been already remarked, which 

 gives employment to the mass of our population, 

 and which is the main source of prosperity to all 

 iho other classes of society. The committee, 

 therefore, recommend that, with a view of pro- 

 moting the desired improvement, a law be enacted 

 to organize a State hoard of agriculture, and to 

 establish agricidtural societies in the several coun- 

 ties of this State; aiul that an annual expenditure 

 of 25,000 dollars be authorized, for five years, w ith 

 suitable provisions and under proper restrictions, 

 to improve the agriculture of this state. The com- 

 mittee have prepared s bill in accordance with 

 their views upon this subject, and have clirected 

 their chairman to ask leave to present the same. 



BONP: MANUllE. 



Report of the Commillee of the Doncaster Jls;ricul- 



tural Association, on the advantages of Bones as 



Manure, founded on returns received iti answer 



to tlie queries issued by the Committee. London, 



1829. 



Tbe Committee at their first meeting prepared 

 a list of queries to be submitted to the farmers, 

 with a view of eliciting the necessary information : 

 these were in the following form : 



1st. How nwny years have you used bones.' 



2d. How many acres have you boned each 

 year? 



3d. Were the bones which you used raw or 

 had they undergone any process of manufacture ? 



4th. What size were the bones.' 



6th. What quantity have you put per acre..' 



6th. On what sort of soil? 



7th. At what time of the year, and for what 

 crop ? 



8th. In what manner applied, drilled or other- 

 wise ? 



9tli. State what mode you prefer ? 



lOth. What effect on the crop? 



11th. What effect on the succeeding crops ? 



12th. What was the price of the bone.s ? 



13th. Do you continue to use them ? 



14th. What other purchased maiuires have you 

 used ? 



15th. State the effect of them ? 



16th. State the effect of them as compared with 

 bones ? 



17th. State gener.-dly any part'culars you know 

 on the std)ject of bones and other nianiires. 



'I'hey also laid out into districts the extent of 

 country over which tjieir inquiries were to run, 

 and these districts were allotted among the mem- 

 bers of the Committee ; each inember undertook 

 to send the inquiries, and as far as possible pro- 

 cure returns from the farmers within the district, 

 and was considered at liberty to extend them as 

 much further as he pleasf-.d. 



In consequence of the queries sent out, returns 

 were received fiom about fifty persons, compris- 

 ing a most valuable body of experimental evi- 

 dence, and furnishing the facis detailed iu the 

 Report. 



REPORT. 



In reporting the result of our inquiries on the 

 subject of Bone Manure, wc are desirous simply 

 to condense the several facts, opinions, and sug- 

 gestions which have been furnished by our cor- 

 respondents. It will indeed be proper loattenipt, 

 from the nuiss of particulars, to deduce the priu- 

 ciples which govern them, as the only mode io 

 vvliich such a mass can be made generally useful; 

 and such deductions we desire to draw from the' 

 proofs before us, and not from mere thetuy or 

 opinion. The very basis of our system of inquiry 

 has been, that experience is the only gui<lc, and 

 theory and opinion unsafe. 



The simple question is, are bones useful as 

 a manure, and to what extent? iSut to answer 

 it, we must first consider it as respects different 

 .soils, whether sand or gravel, clay, loams, lime- 

 stone, peat, or warp. Even these divisions, when 

 idjout to be acted upon, will be found varying in 

 other particulars, as moisture and quality. 



Ueyond the various ki.uls of soils, there are 



considerations in its use as ti the particular 



stage of cropping it applies to — grass or arable — 



