24 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



perceptible diflforence in the crop of grass where 

 the guano was used, and where it was not. 



Mv. Sanborn said that he made the common 

 blunder last year of an over dose of guano on his 

 corn. He applied five hundred pounds to an 

 acre in the hill, and bui'nt up his crop so that he 

 lost half of it. This year, ])y no means discour- 

 aged, he repeated his experiment with corn. He 

 plowed his land with a Michii^an plow, sowed on 

 200 lbs. of Peruvian guano to the acre, plowed 

 it again lightlj-, say six inches deep, put 100 lbs. 

 in the hill, and 200 lbs. more round the hills, be- 

 fore the second hoeing, and gathered ninety-eight 

 bushels of shelled corn to the acre, as measured 

 by his neighbors, and received the first premium 

 of our County Society, for his crop. He has no 

 mean^ of knowing how much the crop was in- 

 creased by the guano, but stated that he had no 

 doubt it added to it very much. 



The foregoing is, perhaps, as much guano as is 

 profitable for our readers, at one dose. There is 

 a good deal going on in the Granite State, in the 

 way of agricultural investigations, and nowhere 

 more than in Hampton Falls. Mr. Sanborn, 

 whose statements are given above, is a reliable 

 man, who labors with his own liands, and whose 

 object is to make his farming profitable. The tes- 

 timony of one such man who -practices, is worth 

 that of two mere professors of agriculture. As 

 soon as the facts can be collected, I hope to lay 

 before the public further experiments, both in 

 the use of guano, andof super-phosphate of lime, 

 and I pray you not to declare the polls closed on 

 these subjects, till the vote of Rockingham Coun- 

 ty is received. H. f. f. 



Exeier, N. //., Nov. 20, 1854. 



For the New England Farmer. 



AUTUMN PLOWING. 



Mr. Editor : — I am surprised at the remarks 

 of our friend, H. S. Pkrkin, of Orfordville, N. IL, 

 in relation to I'all plowing. It appears to me that 

 no farmer, liowovcr inexperienced in cultivating 

 the soil of New England, can fixil to see that fall 

 or autumn plowing is a benefit to the soil. In the 

 first place, Mr. P. thinks that one-fifth of the 

 manure applied is lost ; this I conceive to be an 

 errur in which many persons indulge, but I can- 

 not for my life see huw the fertilizing qualities of 

 the manure can escape by tlie simple process of 

 turning under what remains upon the surface, 

 after the crops are harvested. I find that lands 

 plowed in the fall is not so liable to drought as 

 those plowed in tlie spring. Fall plowing also 

 serves to destroy tliose insects which deposit their 

 eggs in the ground, and in the spring rise up by 

 thousands and destroy the crops. If Mr. P. will 

 take two acres of land, side by side, plow one in 

 the fall and the other in the spring, equally man- 

 ure both, I think he will find the result to be in 

 favor of fall plowiing. a. k. p. w. 



Quincy, Nou. 20, 1854. 



MANURING. 



It is a beautifully wise and sublimely grand 

 provision of Providence, that the decomposition 

 and decay of all matter, both animal and vegeta- 

 ble, is so closely connected with reproduction, 

 thus forming a continual transmigration of mat- 

 ter, and verifying practically that great truth in 

 philosophy, that not a particle of matter can be 

 lost, althougli it exists at different time? in differ- 

 ent forms. This transformation is going on con- 

 stantly before our eyes, in the growth and decay 

 of vegetables, trees, &c. ; as, for instance, the 

 plant that is growing luxuriantly in genial sum- 

 mer, imbibing nutriment from decomposing ma- 

 terials, will itself, in return, mature, die, decay, 

 decompose, and its elements contribute to the 

 growth of successive vegetation in its vicinity. 



These truths involve principles no less impor- 

 tant or advantageous to the farmer than the mor- 

 alist and the philosopher, as it comprehends man- 

 uring in all its variety ; the only object of ma- 

 nuring being to furnish nourishment to the grow- 

 ing plant, and whatever undergoes decomposition, 

 whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, does that. 

 Every farmer should be aware of the fact, that 

 carbonic acid gas is actually necessary to the 

 health and growth of vegetation, and that what- 

 ever furnishes this gas should be applied as ma- 

 nure as far as practicable. With this view of 

 manures, I make it an object, when preparing 

 new ground for cultivation, not to draw off any 

 rotten or decayed wood that can be plowed in, 

 but rather to draw it on land where there is none, 

 believing it to be as good manui-e as any other, 

 although its effects may not be seen immediately. 

 Every one who has cultivated a farm, must have 

 observed that grain, — Indian corn in particular 

 — will grow much larger than usual near an old 

 fence or a rotten stump, or log, if there are any 

 in the field. Now, it is evident that it is not 

 owing to superior cultivation, that such is the 

 case; but, on the contrary, land is seldom plowed 

 as good close to a fence, or around a stump or a 

 log, as other places ; and we are left to the con- 

 clusion that it is the nourishment they impart 

 that produces such effects ; and when we have 

 arrived at such a conclusion, we cannot fail to see 

 how much better it would be to apply such things 

 as fallen leaves, rotten wood, and all other sub- 

 stances that emit carbonic acid gas during de- 

 cay, as manure, than to leave them to waste their 

 richness in an uncultivated place. 



Ventilation of Stables. — We have sometimes 

 speculated as to which stable is most inimical to 

 the health and comfort of horses, the one with 

 an inch between each plank in the floor, a hole 

 in the door, a clapboard off one side and a broken 

 window in tlie other with a leaky roof, or a 

 small, tightly built one without any means of 

 ventilation. Unfortunately there are too many 

 of each class in all sections of the country. But 

 the number is, we trust, yearly getting less. See 

 to it, however, you who have had energy enough 

 to build a neat, good, substantial barn, that from 

 lack of judicious ventilation your horses are not 

 as much injured in eyes and lungs fron the lack 

 of good air and the constant exhalation of nox- 

 ious vapors, as they would be in other respects in 

 the tumble-down barn of your neighbor SuiiT- 

 LEss. — Rural New Yorker. 



