142 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



hills of bis potatoes doubled the crop, — and no 

 appearance of rot among them. 



There was one brand of superphosphate that 

 gave the best returns, considering the yield of 

 corn and price of it. This year he and some 

 of his neighbors will cluh together and pur- 

 chase the desired quantity they wish to use 

 direct from the manufacturer, strong in the 

 belief that they will get their money's worth. 



For the perfect growth and maturity of our 

 cultivated plants, there are required de6nite 

 proportions of mineral substances, — viz: pot- 

 ash, soda, sulphur, iron, magnesia, silex, and 

 last, but not least, phosphoric acid and lime ; 

 and all the above named are derived from the 

 soil ; and they, too, are also absoutely neces- 

 sary in the growth and well-being of animals. 

 But in different relative proportions from what 

 they are found in plants, from which the ani- 

 mal obtains them. 



Said Liebig, "were it possible for a plant to 

 grow, flower and bear seed without the oper- 

 ation of mineral matters, it would be utterly 

 valueless to man or animals." 



The potash, soda, sulphur, iron, &c., that 

 enter into the composition of animals, are but 

 "as drops in the bucket," when contrasted with 

 the amount of phosphoric acid and lime re- 

 quired to build up the bony frame-work of 

 "man and animals." 



Prof. Liebig says, "In an ox, of 550 pounds 

 weight there are 183 pounds of bones, con- 

 taining nearly 120 pounds of phosphate of 

 lime ; in the ilesh, hides and other parts of the 

 animal, fifteen pounds of phosphates." 



Now every ounce of the bones of land ani- 

 mals is derived, indirectly, from the soil; 

 and how small a portion of these bones ever 

 find their way back to the soil, where they can 

 become available to the reproduction of suc- 

 ceeding growths of plants. 



I think but few, if any, of our people are 

 aware of, or ever give a passing thought re- 

 specting the incalculable amount of phos- 

 phoric acid ar,d lime — annually abstracted 

 iLom our Ami^rican soils and garnered up in 

 the bones of our domestic animals — and never 

 again to find their way back whence they 

 came. Such a depleting system, will sooner 

 or later, exhibit itself in a way that can neither 

 "be hushed up, nor coughed down." 



From a review of the New York live stock 

 trade of 18G8, I find that there were received 

 at the cattle yards of that city, during the 

 year just closed, 293,101 beeves; 5,382 milch 

 cows; 82,935 veal calves; 1,400,023 sheep 

 and lambs; 976,511 swine. Taking Liebig's 

 estimate of phosphate of lime "in an ox of 

 550 lbs., any one expert in figures can pretty 

 accurately, or approximately, determine the 

 amount of phosphate of lime received at New 

 York in 18G8 in these 2,758,512 domestic an- 

 imals. Levi Bautlett. 



Warner, N. II., Jan. 8. 18G9. ' 



EXTRACTS AND BEPLIES. 



•MANrRING SWARD LAND. 



I wish to inquire of Mr. Brown which he thinks 

 the best way to apply barn cellar manure, in the 

 spring, in its green state, on broken up ground, for 

 a corn crop, and plough it under the sod, — or 

 spread it on top, on a moist, heavy soil ? j. v. A. 



West Concord, N. H., 1869. 



Remarks. — There is no settled practice in this 

 matter. Some of our most successful farmers haul 

 the manure directly from the barn cellar, spread it 

 upon the sward and plough it under from five to 

 eight inches. This is done on many farms about 

 us, where excellent crops of corn are annually 

 raised. Our own practice is, — 



1. To allow no long or coarse materials to go 

 into the manure heap. 



2. To get the manure out into the sun and 

 rain sufficiently early in the spring to overhaul it 

 and get up a slight fermentation; then a second 

 overhauling will reduce it so that it can be com- 

 fortably shovelled. 



3. Apply it broadcast to the surface — whether 

 on sward or stubble ground — and work it under 

 with the cultivator, just deep enough to cover it. 



4. With this, apply home-made guano, ashes, or 

 something else to the hill ; plant from the 20th to 

 the 30th of May. Keep the surfiice light, all M'eeds 

 out, and on a good soil you will rarely, if ever, fail 

 of reaping an abundant reward for all your labor. 



It may be objected that ploughing the manure 

 under will dif^turb the sod. If the soil was well 

 turned and five inches thick, it need not be turned 

 up. If the ground is quite rough, and cannot be 

 smoothly ploughed, perhaps the manure would be 

 better applied upon the surface before ploughing. 

 Ditfering circumstances require diiferent practice. 



GO WEST, OR stay AT HOME ? 



Will you give me your opinion if it is advisable 

 to go out West and purchase a farm of unimproved, 

 new land, and pay $10 an acre, or buy one here at 

 the same price, tliat is improved, and with build- 

 ings, liiit where the land is nearly run out ? 



Wrentham, Mass., 1869. o. w. i. 



Remarks. — Having had no experience of life 

 on a Western farm, our opinion would be worth 

 little or nothing to our correspondent. We sup- 

 pose, however, that a man of energy, skill and 

 good habits, would do well in either place. We 

 commend the following story from the X. Y. Tri- 

 bune, written by Mrs. Sophia Cunningham, Free- 

 dom, 111., to our friend. If he and his wife have 

 pluck enough to bear the "breaking in," and never 

 say homesick, they will doubtless succeed. 



AVe were just married when we came here, with 

 but ;^'7(J0 and a good name. Paid $620 for a quar- 

 ter-section, and with tlie remainder liuilt a small 

 house and got a small amount of furniture. As 

 soon as wc were settled, husband commenced 

 teaching for $17 a month, two miles away, and 

 came home nights. These were the darkest 

 days ; among strangers, on the wild prairie ; not 

 a tree or shrub, and no road by the house. Over 

 across the slough I could see three Irish houses, 



