150 



Visit to the Farm of the Hon. Daniel Webster, Marshjield. Vol. X. 



who can describe the odor which came from 

 that field ! All the old fish-oil stores on 

 Long Wharf combined, would not produce 

 the like, or any approach to it; and then 

 the swarms of large green flies that cover- 

 ed the fences and trees! The plague of 

 flies in Egypt, could iiardly have exceeded 

 them in numbers. The decaying fish fur- 

 nished them a rich feast. Luckily, this sec- 

 tion of the farm is remote from any human 

 dwelling. But however unpleasant this vile 

 smell from the rotting fish may be to a stran- 

 ger, a person soon becomes accustomed to it, 

 and as the unpleasant gases arising from the 

 decomposition of the fish are said not to be 

 injurious to health, and as this manure will 

 double or treble his crops, the farmer should 

 not be deterred from using it by the disa- 

 greeable character of the smell. 



We noticed a small patch of corn in an- 

 otlier place, that had been manured with 

 guano in the hill, and afterwards received a 

 fish to each hill as a top-dressing : the corn 

 was of the deepest green, and of the most 

 luxuriant growth. 



We have often heard it asserted that fish 

 manure, after exciting the land to produce 

 one or two heavy crops, leaves it in an ex- 

 hausted state. This opinion is at variance 

 with what we witnessed on a pasture that 

 had been " fished" four years since. We 

 compared it with a pasture adjoining, both 

 originally of the same quality of soil, or dif- 

 fering but little. The pasture that had been 

 " fished," was thickly coated with fine grass, 

 and notwithstanding the drought, still pro- 

 duced the best of feed. The neighbouring 

 pasture was dried up, mossy, and apparently 

 of little value. Another pasture was shown 

 to us, which had been manured with fish 

 nine or ten years since, and before the appli- 

 cation was almost worthless; it has since 

 produced excellent feed, and is now in good 

 heart. These results would seem to show 

 that fish manure is not so evanescent as it 

 has been represented by writers and others. 



Mr. Webster said he considered one load 

 of fish was equal to three loads of stable 

 manure, and afterwards appealed to his head 

 farmer, for his opinion upon the subject, who 

 thought a load of fish equal in value to five 

 loads of stable manure. 



Sea weed is used in the piggery and barn 

 yards, and every means of increasing ma- 

 nure from these sources, appear to be made 

 use of. 



Leached ashes have been used to some ex- 

 tent, and prove a valuable manure on the 

 light soils which compose a part of Mr. Web- 

 ster's farm. On a ten acre lot of very light 

 land, 3000 bushels of English turnips were 

 raised last season, with no other manure 



than leached ashes, and at an expense of 

 only seventy-tiiree dollars. About four acres 

 of the same lot were sown down to clover, 

 and the balance with oats, for the purpose of 

 ploughing in when green, to enrich the soil. 

 A very light dressing of guano was given 

 these fields. The oats were so promising, 

 that Mr. Webster altered his mind with re- 

 gard to their disposition, and concluded to 

 let them stand and mature; and on this very 

 light soil, with no other manuring than 

 leached ashes last year and a small quantity 

 of guano this, we now beheld, ready for the 

 cradle, a heavy crop of oats. The clover 

 on the other part of the field covered the 

 ground and was soon to be ploughed in, as 

 was also the stubble of the oats, for seeding 

 down to rye. 



A tract of ten acres, of the same quality 

 of soil, was covered with a vigorous growth 

 of buckwheat, which the ploughmen were 

 engaged in turning under, preparatory to 

 rye. Another large strip .was devoted to 

 beans, and four or five acres to ruta baga, 

 sown broadcast, and not sufficiently advanced 

 in growth to enable us to form an opinion of 

 the probable result of the harvest. A lot of 

 three or four acres was devoted to mangold 

 wurtzel and sugar beets. In some parts of 

 the field the crop had been thinned by the 

 worms, and causes attributed to the season 

 or the seed — but tl;e plants generally were 

 thick enough to ensure a heavy yield. An- 

 other large section was devoted to English 

 turnips, which, of course, had not yet begun 

 to make much show. 



Fifteen or twenty acres of the fiirm are 

 devoted to roots, which are fed to the stock 

 in winter. Last autumn and winter, a lot 

 was fed oft" the ground by sheep, according 

 to the English practice. 



Spring wheat has generally succeeded 

 well on this farm, but the present season 

 has been rather unfavourable. Samples that 

 we exajrained from the crop stored in the 

 barn, did not indicate a very heavy yield; 

 the grains did not look so plump as samples 

 we have seen from this farm. 



The yield of English hay this season has 

 been estimated at about 200 tons. The salt 

 hay is mostly let out to farmers back from 

 the shore, to cut on shares. The marshes 

 yield about the same quantity of hay as the 

 u])lands. The quality of the marsh hay va- 

 ries ; some of it is almost equal in value to 

 good English grass, while some is fit only 

 for bedding or manure. 



The farm appears to be well stocked with 

 apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes, &c. 

 Among the apples we noticed the High-top 

 Sweeting, a variety that may be found on 

 about every farm in Plymouth county, and 



