1855. 



NEW ENGLAND I'ARMER. 



149 



MANURE FOR tHE GARDEN. 



Sir : — I am the owner of a house and a half 

 acre of land, and keep one liorse, and wish to 

 know of the best way to prepare the manure for 

 the land. Shall I mix the two together, adding 

 ashes, or lime, or salt ! I keep no pig, but throw 

 the manure into the poultry yard. Ought the 

 vines or trash from the garden to be thrown on to 

 the manure 1 How long before the compost would 

 be fit to use. 



Iliad a good garden last year — nothing suffered 

 from the drought, although my land is elevated. 



I waut a better garden next year, if possible — 

 therefore, the reason of asking the above ques- 

 tions, and by answering them you will oblige a 



Constant Reader. 

 Medford, Jan. 19, 1855. 



Remarks. — In the autumn, gather all the vines, 

 leaves, and every kind of vegetable matter that 

 will ferment and decompose readily, and place it 

 where the horse manure may be conveniently 

 thrown over it. If this, with the daily additions 

 from the stable, can be kept from freezing, it will 

 be better. In the course of the winter throw it 

 over and mingle the whole intimately. If, in the 

 spring, the mass is too crude and coarse for use, 

 throw it up lightly, wet it, and when the process 

 of fermentation has gone so far as to cause the 

 whole to fall to pieces on overhauling it, yo'»i will 

 find it in a convenient and profitable state for the 

 garden. 



Another source of collecting and preserving 

 rich and valuable materials, may be this : — In 

 the garden, and near the back door of the house, 

 make a bed of the loam you speak of. Let it be 

 of any size or shape you please, and six to twelve 

 inches deep ; fhen raise the edges eight or ten 

 inches, and u23on this throAV the waste water of 

 the house through the winter ; then, as soon as 

 the muck is thawed in the spring, add the collec- 

 tions of any of the back buildings, and mingle 

 the whole thoroughly once or twice before it is 

 time to apply it to the garden. In this you will 

 find your garden answering your most sanguine 

 expectations. 



Ashes, lime and salt, may be sown broadcast 

 upon the garden with as ftxvoralde results as ap- 

 plied in any other way. If sorrel abounds in the 

 garden, be liberal with the limt — note the effect 

 and tell us what it is. 



potatoes — -VN experiment. 



Mr. Editor : — Last spring, coming accidentally 

 into possession of two ))arrels of potatoes, of a 

 variety unknown to me, I cut them into 75 pieces, 



II eyes to a piece, and planted one piece to. a hill, 

 putting a shovel full of raw muck, dug the 

 August previous, to a hill, into GO liills, and into 

 the other 15 I put hen manure and muck, mixed 

 equally one quart to a hill. They were well 

 watered with the drainage of the sink, caught 

 in a tub and ajiplied at night. The whole pro- 

 duced GO barrels of fair, good-sized potatoas. 



Those planted on the hen-manure and muck, did 

 not produce quite one-half as much as the same 

 number of hills on muck alone. 



West Poland, Mc, 1855. T. Tenney. 



turnips for pigs. 



Mr. Editor : — Having heard that pigs would 

 thrive well on turnips, I thouglit I would try my 

 skill in the use of tliem, especially as oats and 

 other grains were high. I fed several, last fall, 

 entirely on turnips, for two weeks, together M"ith 

 the slops from the house, and then as long on 

 oats. With oats at 50 cts., and turnips at 12 or 

 15 cts. per bushel, I became satisfied that the tur- 

 nips would produce a larger growth than an equal 

 cost for oats. * * « 



Canaan, Vt., 1855. 



A Big TURKEY. 



I have a turkey seventeen months old, that 

 weighs thirty-one founds. If you think he is 

 worth a notice, please give him some spare cor- 

 ner. . A Subscriber. 



January 23, 1855. 



Remarks. — A turkey of that size deserves a 

 more conspicuous place than a corner ; we should 

 be happy to place him ou the centre of our dinner- 

 table, and pay him most respectful attention, for 

 at least the space of thirty minutes. 



FOUR-ROWED BARLBY GUANO PER ACRE OSIER 



WILLOW. 



Mr. Editor : — I would like to inquire where I 

 can procure some four-rowed barley, and the 

 price per bushel ? (a.) What is the proper quan- 

 tity of guano per acre to put in a hill for 

 corn? {b.) Is there as much difference in value 

 between the Peruvian and Mexican, as there is in 

 the price? (c.) Will the osier willows be laro-e 

 enough to cut every year, after they once ^et 

 rooted? {d.) A Young Farmer" 



Kenshif/ton, N. H. 



Remarks. — {a.) The barley may be obtained at 

 the seed stores, price $1.50 per bushel. 



{b.) Three hundred pounds is the usual quan- 

 tity. 



(c.) We do not know — you must satisfy your- 

 self by experiments. 



{d.) We have never raised the osier, but un- 

 derstand that it grows sufficiently to be cut an- 

 nually. 



DIVINING RODS. 



We cannot see that we should benefit any one 

 by publishing the communication of "E. F. R." 

 on this subject. We cannot oblige our neighbors 

 to fulfil their promises to others. 



treatment 01' PEAR TREES. 



Having much confidence in your opinions, 1 

 wish to incjuire what particular treatment pear 

 trees require? c. j 



Franklin, N.ti.,l^bb. 



Remarks. — Pear trees require a rich soil, kept 

 cultivated, so that it will be light and friable. 



