1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



157 



ammonia as a fertilizer was dwelt upon, and the 

 speaker mentioned the recent discovery of the 

 mechanical and chemical power of the earth to 

 absorb and retain ammonia. In conclusion, ^Ir. 

 Flint read a letter in relation to the general sub- 

 ject, from J. W. Proctor, of Danvers, who 

 thought the manure used on a farm should, as 

 nearly as possible, be made from what the farm 

 produces. 



Rev. Mr. Sanger, of Dover, was very favora- 

 bly impressed with this idea in the note of Mr. 

 Proctor, and fully acceded to it. Peat mud he 

 deemed a valuable manure, and particularly adap- 

 ted to the region where it was found, from the 

 fact that it consisted of the washings, the leaves, 

 and other accumulations of the land in the vicin- 

 ity. The speaker had found great benefit from 

 this manure on sandy lands. It was excellent in 

 the growth of corn, potatoes and fruit trees. He 

 would have it dug and exposed to the frost one 

 or two winters. In regard to its effect on fruit 

 trees, he has found it would make them bear 

 well even on sandy and dry lands. As to the ap- 

 plication of manures, he preferred to have only 

 a portion applied broadcast, and the remainder 

 in the hill, where it would give the plant an early I 

 and vigorous start. 



Mr. Allen, of Oakham, remembered when the 

 barn-yard was almost the only resource for man- 

 ure. It was once deemed important to cart out 

 and pile up the manures previous to their appli- 

 cation, for the purpose of more finely pidverizing 

 them. AVhen he merely cultivated a garden, he 

 found the water from the wash-tub, sink, Szc, a 

 valuable and important manure. 



David Davenport, of Mendon, kept a horse 

 and cow on three acres of land, and had more than 

 they could eat. Yet all his manure was derived 

 from the fluids created on his farm. His mode 

 of preparation was to add water, and then plaster, 

 to fix the ammonia, after which it was distributed 

 over the land from a hogshead. He had found 

 swamp mud, applied to sandy plain land, with 

 ashes, in the proportion of thirty bushels of mud 

 to one barrel of ashes, a valuable manure. It 

 would make corn, even on that land, produce full 

 an average crop. He had found this plain land 

 productive of potatoes, with a previous crop of 

 clover, stimulated by mud and ashes, and then 

 turned in as a manure. The potatoes were sound. 



Mr. Hartey Dodge, of Sutton, spoke of the 

 importance of using subsoil as an absorbent of 

 the water collecting in barn-yards. It was hun- 

 gry for ammonia. The speaker believed there 

 was no necessity for Massachusetts farmers to go 

 oft' after guano and phosphates. They h A the ad- 

 equate materials at home, and could \\->t. afford 

 to buy manures. The grass crop was the most 

 profitable crop in New England. * 1 



N. A. Richardson, of "Winchester, bore testi- 

 mony to the value of muck in a pulverized condi- 

 tion. He had found the effect of the pulverized 

 muck far more powerful than muck in a raw con- 

 dition. He had found nothing so valuable as 

 muck in making a compost. It was true that 

 "meadow muck is the mother of the meal chest." 

 Guano was a convenient and pretty manure for 

 flowers, but not suited to farming purposes. It 

 had not the necessary bulk, heart and perma- 

 nence. 



Mr. Davis, of Plymouth, said fresh muck was 

 a valuable manure for grass land. Very much 

 depended upon the locality and character of the 

 mud as well as of peat as to its effects. In his sec- 

 tion he believed that muck furnished the founda- 

 tion for cultivating the soil. They had found that 

 sea-weed put into their potato hills had a very 

 favorable effect. It equalized the moisture, and 

 the potato grew large and mealy, even in very 

 sandy soil. Ammonia water and lime from gas- 

 works might doubtless be made valuable manures. 



Mr. J. W. Proctor, of Danvers, spoke of the 

 cultivation of the Derby farm in Salem. Twenty 

 acres manured with a compost of night soil, barn 

 manure, Szc, yielded a profit of $200 to the acre, 

 in garden vegetables. People in Salem and 

 Marblehead found sea-weed a valuable auxiliary. 

 Home materials were abundant, and there was no 

 necessity to go away from home for manures. 



Col. Hawks, of Deerfield, thought the best 

 mode of applying manures depended upon the 

 soil. On clayey land he found it best to plow 

 under the manure. On meadow land he would 

 both plow in and spread on the top. He had 

 had experience with guano, and found it better 

 on sandy land than heavy land. It was better 

 for broom corn than Indian corn, and was ex- 

 hausted the first year. 



JosiAH QuiNCY, Jr., of Boston, had been in- 

 formed by Dr. Dana, the great authority in muck 

 matters, that salt water muck might be more val- 

 uable than fresh water muck. He would like to 

 have the experience of gentlemen on this point. 



ISIr. Davis was now engaged in digging salt 

 and fresh peat, and recommends farmers to em- 

 ploj' laborers in the same work. It could be done 

 at this season, and furnish aid to the poor unem- 

 ployed. The frost oflered no impediment to the 

 prosecution of the work. 



B. V. French, of Braintree, said a cord of 

 good animal manure was worth more than eight 

 dollars to a farmer. He had a good deal of faith 

 in meadow muck to be used in a compost. He 

 thought considerable was to be derived from peat. 

 It was estimated that there were 700,000 acres of 

 muck meadow in Massachusetts. They were 

 found near sandy lands. He accounted for their ex- 

 istence in the fact of their being in hollows, which 



