314 



Salt — M Fertilizer, 



Vol. X. 



to potatoes. The potatoes on the whole lot 

 were a good crop, but decidedly better where 

 the salt was applied. I regret that we did 

 not ascertain by measurement the actual re- 

 sult. There was a v6ry perceptible differ- 

 ence in the appearance of the vines during 

 the whole summer. On tiie part where the 

 salt was sown they grew larger and were of 

 a darker green colour, and continued green 

 longer in the fall than the others." 



" In the spring of 1839 we spread on a 

 good coat of manure, and planted it all to 

 corn, except about half an acre of the salted 

 land, which was planted to Rohan potatoes. 

 The Rohans were the best crop of potatoes 

 I ever saw. Seed planted, two and a half 

 bushels, produced over 300 bushels. The 

 largest potatoes weighed 4| lbs. The corn 

 was a heavy crop, but was not measured. 

 The summer was very dry and hot; but the 

 corn on the salted land did not appear to 

 suffer at all from the drought, while the 

 other was considerably injured. The salted 

 land appeared always moist, and the growth 

 of every thing upon it was very rapid. We 

 found great difficulty in keeping the weeds 

 down. After three successful hoeings, we 

 were obliged in August to give it a hand 

 weeding. Spring of 1840, intended to have 

 stocked the land down for meadow; but 

 thinking it too rich for oats, planted potatoes 

 without manure. Crop good. The effects 

 of the salt still very apparent. Adjudged 

 to be one-third more potatoes where the 

 land was salted." 



" Spring of 1841, sowed a part of the lot 

 to oats, the remainder to potatoes and onions, 

 without manure. The onions were a great 

 crop. The summer was very dry, but they 

 did not suffer, while other crops in this neigh- 

 borhood, on similar soils, were nearly destroy- 

 ed by the drought. The oats were a heavy 

 crop, and much lodged on the salted part. 

 The clover grew well, and produced a fine 

 crop of fall feed. This I cannot account for, 

 except by supposing that the salt kept the 

 land moist, or attracted moisture from the 

 atmosphere, as I know of no other piece of 

 land in the town that was well seeded last 

 year ; it was almost an entire failure ; and 

 the most of the land stocked down last spring 

 has been or will be ploughed up in the spring 

 to be seeded. 



"We sowed salt the same spring on a 

 part of our meadows. The grass was evi- 

 dently improved, the result satisfactory, and 

 we shall continue to use it on our meadows." 



At a farmers' conference meeting, held at 

 Marcellus, Onondaga county, in November 

 last, Mr. Brown, President of the County 

 Agricultural Society, said, "he had used 

 salt as a manure with great benefit. He 



sows it broadcast upon wheat and grass at 

 the rate of three to five bushels to the acre. 

 On grass he would sow it in the fall — for 

 wheat he would sow it just before the wheat 

 is sown. He found that three bushels of 

 salt to the acre on his wheat field, occasioned 

 an increase of seventeen bushels of wheat 

 to the acre over that which had no salt. 

 The soil was a strong loam with a stiff sub- 

 soil." 



Cuthbert W. Johnson, a distinguished ag- 

 ricultural writer, strongly recommends salt as 

 a manure, at the rate of ten to twenty bushels 

 to the acre, to be sown some two or three 

 weeks before the seed is put into the ground. 

 Pie says the benefits are as follows: 1st, 

 When used in small quantities it promotes 

 putrefaction. 2nd, By destroying grubs and 

 weeds. 3rd, As a constituent on direct food. 

 4th, As a stimulant to the absorbent vessels. 

 5th, By preventing injury from sudden tran- 

 sitions of temperature. 6th, By keeping the 

 soil moist." 



It would seem from all the facts I have 

 been able to collect, that salt corrupts vege- 

 table substances when mixed in small quan- 

 tities, but preserves them when it predomi- 

 nates in a mass; that in dry seasons its effects 

 are more apparent, and whether it attracts 

 moisture from the atmosphere, or whether it 

 acts as a stimulant or condiment, is of little 

 consequence so long as its effects are certain. 



On account of the small quantity of salt, 

 in weight, required for manuring lands, it is 

 no inconsiderable recommendation, because 

 on that account it may with ease be convey- 

 ed to the most rough, steep and mountainous 

 parts, to which the more bulky and heavy 

 manures most in use could not be carried, 

 but with great labor, and at an expense far 

 exceeding all the advantages to be effected 

 from them. 



For a top dressing, a composition of salt 

 and lime, four bushels of the former and 

 twelve of the latter, to the acre, have been 

 highly recommended for grass lands infested 

 with moss, and promoting a more vigorous 

 growth of grass. Its beneficial effects on 

 asparagus beds is well known to gardeners, 

 giving a deeper color and a more vigorous 

 growth to the plants. 



Salt itself is considered, by some, rather 

 too harsh in its nature ; but a mixture, say 

 six bushels of dry ashes to ten of salt, is suf- 

 ficient for an acre, and should be spread 

 upon the furrow and harrowed in. By be- 

 ing thus mixed, one particle incorporates 

 with and mollifies the other, and if con- 

 veyed into the earth by a soapy, smooth 

 method, will prove the real enricher the 

 earth wants, to send forth vegetation. — QuaV' 

 lerly Journal of Agriculture and Science. 



