172 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



EIGHTH LEGISLATIVE AGEICULTU- 

 RAL MEETING. 



Reported for the New Eiisland Farmer, 

 BY M-II.LIAM Vr. HILL. 



The dghth meeting of this series Avas held in 

 the Senate Chamber, at the State House, on Tues- 

 day evening. The reason of its not being holden 

 in the Representative's Hall was, that the hearing 

 in logard to the removal of Judge Loring vras 

 going on in that room. The subject was the same 

 as at the last meeting — Manures. 



Hon. B. V. French, of Braintree, presided, 

 a,nd on taking the chair, made some pertinent 

 remarks Upon the subject of manures. In regard 

 to the usS of guano, he had been informed, by a 

 merchant of Baltimore, that he could see the 

 eifect of the use of guano in the increased receipts 

 of flour in th.it market — that it came in from 

 sections they never thought of. But it is becom- 

 ing a great question, how does it leave the land ? 

 So far, the opinion is that the land is impovcr 

 ished by it after a few years. He had been in 

 formed, by the captain of a vessel who brought 

 guano to this country, that guano is not used on 

 the farms in Peru. The planters do not value it, 

 and it is said that it finally gets the land in such 

 a condition that nothing will groAV but weeds. 

 Still, it is an open question. In regard to barn- 

 yard manures, we do know what effect they pro- 

 duce, and it is of great importance to the farmer 

 that they be saved and made the most of. To 

 show their value, he entered into a calculation in 

 regard to the value of the manure of the domestic 

 animals in the Commonwealth — embracing both 

 liquid and solid — from which it appeared that it 

 is Avorth $8,000,000 per year. In order to save 

 manure, it should be kept under cover, composted 

 and enlarged in quantity ; and by this means a 

 man's hay crops may be increased, and he Avill be 

 enabled to add to the number of cattle he keeps. 

 In regard to the application of manures, he was 

 more inclined to top-dress grass lands than for- 

 merly. On this subject he would refer farmers 

 to the report of the Secretary of the Board of 

 Agriculture, as some very careful experiments 

 have been made at the State form in Westboro' 

 during the past year. 



Mr. Dodge, of Sutton, on being called upon, 

 made some remarks in regard to the manner of 

 keeping manures. He thought it best to have 

 manures in an open barn-yard. He had made 

 his own yard, pitching to the centre, and was 

 using upland subsoil taken from the bottom of 

 ditches for composting, throwing it into the cen- 

 tre of the yard, and adding straAV, corn-stalks 

 and litter with the manure ; also adding salt in a 

 liquid state, keeping the heap continually wet 

 until September. Manure prepared in this way 

 he found to be more valuable than any compost 



he had ever tried. He preferred subsoil, both to 

 put under the barn and in the hog-pen. It has 

 more power than the top soil to absorb ammonia 

 from the air. Such, at least, is the operation 

 of things on hilly lands. 



Mr. HoAVARD, of the Cultivator, attributed the 

 process of Mr. Dodge's method to the peculiar 

 nature of the soil, and differed from the conclu- 

 sions which that gentleman drew therefrom. He 

 had examined the soil on Mr. D.'s farm, and 

 found that the subsoil was of a decidedly alu- 

 minous chai-acter, much more so than the top 

 soil, which is loose and gravelly. The material 

 of this subsoil (clay) possesses great poAvers of 

 absorbing the manurial properties of urine, ren- 

 dering it perfectly pure, while a loose, sandy 

 soil, will produce hardly any effect. This fact is 

 well known, and is the cause of the effect noticed 

 by Mr. Dodge. But subsoil does not necessarily 

 absorb ammonia any better than the top soil, 

 unless it be clayey. !Mr. Howard said jNIexican 

 guano, which was alluded to at the last meeting 

 as probably preferable to the Peruvian, Avas no 

 new thing. It AA-as tried in England fiiteen years 

 ago, being introduced shortly after the Peruvian. 

 How it was esteemed there, was shown in the 

 fact that the demand for Peruvian guano is con- 

 stantly increasing. 



Dr. Charles T. Jackson followed, in some ex- 

 tended remarks upon the scientific l)ranch of the 

 subject. Barn-yard manures are the most valu- 

 able, but at the same time they may be improved 

 and their fertilizing power augmented. They act 

 mechanically in the first place, and should be 

 loose and open when applied to light soils. They 

 then ferment, and the woody substances contained 

 in them produce acids, some of which will kill 

 plants, as rotten wood, it is known, produces a 

 vinegar which Avill kill plantp. In the next stage 

 of decomposition, they produce carbonic acid gas. 

 This stage is the most important, for it is now 

 that the most powerful actien of the manure 

 occurs. The acids dissolve solid rocks, and ex- 

 tract the potash contained in them'. When the 

 animal matters ferment, they produce alkalies. 

 Urine is converted into carbonate of ammonia. 

 Urine Avill kill plants when pure, but Avhen de- 

 composed the urea changes into ammonia, Avhich 

 combines with the organic acids and forms the 

 ammoniacal combinations with those acids, while 

 carbonic acid gas is eliminated. Cai'bon forms 

 the leaves of plants. Barn-yard manures are 

 perfect in themselves, containing all the matters 

 that were originally in the soil ; but their supply 

 is limited. Lime, under certain chemical condi- 

 tions, will drive off the ammonia from manures, 

 and if the heap is discovered to be losing its am- 

 monia, it should be covered with a mixture of 

 peat and plaster of Paris, in tlie proportion of 



