168 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



His remarks on the cultivation of the trees, strikes 

 us as well worthy of attention. 



'In fact the situation that is not unfrequently 



portions, and applied most of it to corn, reserving 

 some for other purposes. My ground for corn 

 contained about 1^ acres ; two-lifths of it had 

 been planted with potatoes the previous year, 



supposed most eligible, experience finds to be the|jjj.^nj,i.gj [^ the hill 'with plaster,' and a slight 

 reverse. A southern aspect is often preferred, ^p^^t of green manure plowed in ; the remaining 

 which is dicidedly the most unftivorable that can j t;iji.(>e.{j(th8 grass land, all in poor condition, and 

 be selected for this particular apple. _ rather light soil, a part of it dry, but some of it 



"I believe we have much to learn in the choice j^j^ji^g moist. I plowed it about the last of May 

 of the most favorable localities, before we shall i.^j-,^ planted it about the Gth of June. Upon the 

 be successful in the cultivation of some_ of the jt^o-llfths old ground, I spread twenty-five dollars' 

 most superior apples not natives of America. ^A ^vo^th of manure from the barn before plowing 



north-west slope I should prefer to any other for 

 reasons thus : the tree would not start to grow 

 so early in the spring ; the roots would not suffer 

 so much with the summer drought ; and last but 

 not least, the fruit would be larger and finer, and 

 would not ripen so early by a fortnight or three 

 weeks. A rich deep soil, rather wet than dry, 

 is best adapted for the apple tree, (generally) — 

 land half covered with rocks, that cannot be well 

 cultivated with the plow, would be a desirable lo- 

 cality, especially in a dry season, as the trees 

 would not suffer Avith the drought.'' 



For the iVeiit England Farmer. 



GUANO AND STJPEEPHOSPHATE ONCE 

 MORE. 



My Dear Brown : — I have been trying to col- 

 lect the results of experiments in Rockingham 

 County, with guano and superphosphate ; but as 

 n general thing, farmers had rather work than 

 write. I send, however, a valuable letter from 

 Mr. Little, of Hampstead, a good, reliable man. 

 Ilis suggestion that crops manured with these 

 fertilizers require little hoeing, is worthy of no- 

 tice. No doubt most of the weeds which cost us 

 60 much labor to eradicate, spring from seeds 

 which we sow with our barn and stable manure. 

 The new, unmanured lands of ^the West, require 

 little or no hand cultivation. 



I think well of Mr. Little's conclusions, for the 

 same reason that a client once gave me for liking 

 my opinion. " 'Squire," said he, "I like your 

 views better than those of any lawyer I ever saw, 

 because you think just as I do .'" 



Yours, truly, H. F. French. 



Hampstead, Feb. 15, 1855. 

 Henry F. French, Esq. : — Dear Sir, — After 

 considerable delay, I have prepared for you a 

 statement of my experiments with guano and 

 superphosphate of lime. In the spring of 1843, 

 I was short of stable manure, and it being diffi- 

 cult to obtain it, I resolved to try some of the con- 

 centrated manures. By referring to the various 

 agricultural papers, I found that nearly all the 

 popular writers agreed that guano was a valuable 

 manure ; but as to superphosphate of lime, their 

 statements were so contradictory, that nothing re- 

 liable could 1)0 obtained. I djctormincd to test the 

 value of it by comparing it with other manures ; 

 and not caring to risk much on an uncertainty, 

 I purchased only one bag of De Burg's superphos- 

 phate of lime, and one of Peruvian guano. Be- 

 fore using it, I mixed it with plaster, equal pro- 



the remainder, sward land, I sowed eight dollars 

 worth of guano, and superphosphate of lime, first 

 a strip of guano, then one of superphosphate, and 

 so on, throughout the piece, harrowing it in thor- 

 oughly. 



I planted in hills 3^ feet apart each way, and 

 kept the ground as level as possible. From the 

 part manured from the barn, I obtained a heavy 

 crop, from the other a fair crop, stalks rather 

 light but good ears. I did not measure it, but am 

 satisfied that it was better in proportion to the 

 expense than the other piece. I could see no dif- 

 ference between the guano and superphosphate 

 of lime as sown broadcast. I selected twelve rows, 

 six on each part of the piece. To three of each 

 of these, I applied guano in the hill, to the rest, 

 superphosphate of lime, about a table-spoonful to 

 the hill. The guano, I covered with my boot, as 

 I dropped the corn ; the consequence was, it was 

 not covered deep enough, not more than a quarter 

 of it vegetated, but what there was of it was much 

 better than whei-e it was not applied in the hill. 

 The corn in the rows that I applied superphos- 

 phate of lime to, came up well, and looked finely, 

 took the lead and kept it throughout the season, 

 and were decidedly the best rows of corn I had 

 upon the piece. The difference was not so marked 

 upon the part manured with stable manure as the 

 other. 1 applied superphosphate of lime to half 

 of a small bed of beets, and the product of that 

 part was nearly douliled by the operation. I 

 sowed ten rows of turnips on a moist piece of land 

 prepared as follows : — furrowed the rows 3 feet 

 apart, strewed the manure in the furrow, turned 

 two furrows upon it, forming a ridge, and upon 

 this sowed my seed. To six of the rowSj I applied 

 manure from the barn and night soil mixed with 

 twice its bulk of decomposed saw-dust ; to the re- 

 mainder, guano with the exception of part of a 

 row for a trial of superphosphate of lime. The 

 result was, that I had more baskets of turnips 

 from the four rows manured with guano, than 

 from six where the manure was applied ; the cost 

 of the guano was not lialf that of the manure. 

 1 could not perceive any difference in the yield of 

 the turnips on the part of the row where super- 

 phosphate of lime was used from the guano. They 

 were smoother, and would sell better for table 

 use. 



In 1854, I bought of George Davenport, of Bos- 

 ton, a half-ton of De Burg's superphosphate of 

 lime, and the same quantity of Peruvian guano, 

 for my own use and that of my neighbors who 

 felt disposed to try it. A little more than half 

 of it was taken off my liands, mostly by one in- 

 dividual, who applied it to grass, corn, potato 

 vines, &c., without any other manure, with com- 

 plete success. He had as good corn from a ta- 

 ble-spoonful of guano in the hill buried three 



