164 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



Ammonia does not act merely as ammonia in 

 manure, but absorbs the organic matters in the 

 soil, combines with the acids and neutralises 

 them, and decomposes the sulphate of iron. Put 

 a root of clover into a vessel containing an am- 

 monical solution of peat, and another into a ves- 

 sel of clear water, and it will be found that the 

 former will, after a few days, become of a rich 

 green color, and the solution changes its color, 

 while the ammonia has disappeared, — showing 

 that it is the ammonia which nourishes the 

 plant, while the other will fade and perish. The 

 ammonia of guano performs the same service as 

 is obtained from any other source. Manures 

 should not be too easily soluble, because the or- 

 ganic elements will be carried off by the rains. 

 They should dissolve gradually. There is no 

 manure better than leached ashes ; it is nearly 

 as good as guano ; it contains a large portion of 

 phosphate of lime. Recurring again to guano, 

 he said it seemed strange to him that so enormous 

 quantities are thrown away upon the seaboard. 

 Their bones are phosphate of lime, and both 

 bones and flesh can be converted into excellent 

 manure by putting them into the compost heap, 

 and, if dried and ground up and mixed with 

 chalk, will constitute an excellent guano. In 

 many places on our seacoast, fish can be manu- 

 factured into guano without the aid of South 

 American birds, and Dr. Jackson said he Was 

 surprised that no establishments had been set up 

 for its manufiicture. The South understands the 

 value of artificial manures much better than the 

 North, and at Baltimore they are regularly man- 

 ufactured. There are two methods of using 

 'guano, and he would recommend both ways — 

 that is, plow in one-half and harrow in the other 

 half. With small grains, perhaps harrowing 

 would be sufiicient. It needs a great deal of 

 moisture. As an interesting fiict, the speaker 

 stated that peat, dried in a hot sun, contains 25 

 pounds of M-ater to the 100. All vegetable mat- 

 ters have this remarkable quality of retaining 

 moisture. 



Mr. Dodge, of Sutton, explained an interesting 

 experiment made by him in 1852, with two Devon 

 steers, which were stalled constantly, for eight 

 weeks. In that time they consumed 2035 lbs. of 

 hay and 400 lbs. of meal, in all 2435 lbs. hay and 

 meal, equal to 2 per cent, of the live weight re- 

 duced to hay. The solid manure was all saved, 

 and weighed 4543 lbs., and measured 100 bush- 

 els, potato UKasure, 2 4-5 bushels short of a cord, 

 worth on the farm say $G,00. These steers stood 

 during the eight weeks on a tight floor. The ma- 

 nure was all collected once in each day, and left 

 for two weeks where the liquid fell into the cellar, 

 then weighed and measured, and the result was as 

 above. Now here was say $5,00 of solid, and by 



estimate $6,00 for liquid manure to the ton of 

 feed consumed, $11,00 worth of phosphates, to 

 say $14,00 for hay, $5,00 for meal— $19,00 ; so 

 that we lose eleven dollars worth of the phos- 

 phates to every ton of hay sold. Mr. Dodge also 

 offered some interesting remarks in relation to the 

 waste of liquid manures, and expressed his faith 

 in the phosphates, if we can only learn how to 

 handle them. Leached ashes had done great 

 things for him, but the reason for it he did not 

 know. 



R. Morris Copeland, Esq., of Lexington, made 

 some very pertinent remarks in regard to the im- 

 portance of a proper disintegration of the soil — 

 which he considered as important as the kind of 

 manure applied. 



Hon. Amasa Walker, of North Brookfield, also 

 made some remarks, which were listened to with 

 much interest in regard to the necessity of deve- 

 loping more thoroughly our home resources for 

 obtaining manure — the necessity of experiment- 

 ing with guano — and the facility of reclaiming 

 old pasture lauds. 



For the New England Farmer. 



DAIRIES-BEEEDS. 



Friend Brown : — Your monthly for February 

 (page 84) brings to me the communication of 

 "Essex," upon Dairies. May I hope to be par- 

 doned, if I have discerned in the distance the 

 ghost of the old Oaks cow? Her spirit seems to 

 be rapping to us, through the whole article. My 

 friend, whom I think I recognize, will excuse me 

 for suspecting him of prejudice ; not of prejudice 

 towards individuals, but of partiality for, and 

 prejudice against, breeds of animals. 



Inasmuch as my name is used in said article, I 

 may be allowed to examine its correctness and 

 fairness. 



Passing over the taunt about "extraordinary 

 butter products," and taking advantage of the 

 admission that the "products from the towns of 

 Worcester and Barre are quite fair for the sea- 

 son," we come to the conclusion that they (the 

 products) "arc not better than can be found on 

 many f-M'ma whei-c the pashiroffc is good." Now 

 I submit to my friend Essex, if that is '■^ quite 

 fair,'''' under the circumstances. My return was 

 of a dairy, from a farm where the pasturage was 

 not only not good, but was so ■poor, that, for a 

 portion of the time, ^'■the cows miyht almost be said 

 to suffer for icant.^' 



Essex says he procured butter for his family, 

 from a farm "where the cows liave yielded an av- 

 erage of a pound a day for the entire buttcr-maJcing 

 seasoji, and in the best part of it or 10 pounds a 

 week.'''' I have no doubt of it; nor do I doubt 

 that that particular farm is one of tlie many that 

 can be found "where the pasturage is good.''^ — 

 But then Essex claims, as matter of credit for 

 these cows, that they are '■'■entirely natives," and 

 that "Mr. Lincoln's improved stock have done no 

 better." 



I will not stop to ask Essex ■what constitutes an 

 "entirely native," in contra-distinction to an "im- 



