294 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JUNB 



by thorough and frequent plowing, I save more 

 labor than I expend. My second point shall be 

 discussed at some other time. Agricola. 



For the New England Farmer. ! 



GUANO vs. BONES. | 



Mr. Editor : — In No. 8 of your estimable is- 

 sue is an article on guano, by Dr. Reynolds, in! 

 which he opens by saying — "That the failure ofj 

 guano to [jroduce the beneficial effects expected 

 from it the past season, seems to have destroyed 

 the faith of many farmers in its value as a fertil- 

 izer," and then says, "that his fiiith was siill un- 

 diminished." In alluding to that article, I do 

 not wish the Doctor or others to consider me bi- 

 ased by interest or prejudice, but impelled by a 

 desire to benefit my neighbors, in whatever lati- 

 tude I may reside. To me it is nothing new to 

 hear the farmer complaining of guano, after the 

 land lias recovered fn)m its state of intoxication, 

 the result of a few dressings of guano and other 

 chemical compounds ; I should rather say villa- 

 nous ; for, if the Doctor was as well acquainted 

 with the dealings of manure merchants as I am — 

 even though it be guano from the vessel's side — 

 it would have saved the labor of writing instruc- 

 tions for mixing with rich garden soil and other 

 bodies. 



The first view of guano, in my opinion, is erro- 

 neous ; that a small quantity, a few spoonfuls to 

 the hill, shall raise an unaccountable crop. In- 

 stances may be produced — exceptions, not rules. 

 You may give your laborer alcohol ; it will stim- 

 ulate ; you may give your cows distillers' wash 

 and b"ewers' grains, but does the result justify 

 your, in that case, foolish expectations ? No, all 

 mast accord av« had better feed our laborers and 

 animals substantially and without stimulant. So 

 with all nature, vegetable as well as animal ; you 

 cannot over-force ; so far you can go and no far- 

 ther ; therefore you must turn to mechanical and 

 manual, as well as chemical aids, to wrench from 

 mother earth the utmost she will yield ; the far- 

 mer must never forget that by the sweat of his 

 brow lie must earn his bread. If he thinks a few 

 spoonfuls of a compound will do the work for 

 him, he will certainly have more faith than far- 

 mers as a class generally have ; they must give 

 the earth something substantial to eat, something 

 that will satisfy her wants; then the farmer will 

 reap a continuous increase. Experience and ob- 

 servation convince me that until those require- 

 ments are met, no land will yield to the wishes 

 of its owner or occupier. 1 have seen guano, su- 

 perphospliates, poudrettes, &c., &c. applied in 

 many districts with the same conclusions arrived 

 at, that head this paper, and now sum them up 

 as, one and all, a commercial speculation, kept up 

 by puiTs, interest and ignorance. 



Did Doctor Reynolds, or any one else complain 

 after dressing their land with ground bone? No. 

 I iiave seen thousands of acres dressed with them, 

 whose owners were rich, happy and able stalwart 

 yeomen ; talk to them of guano ; "We have tried 

 it, but we v/ant no more of it ;" and I defy any 

 one to say that he regrets boning his land. There 

 is something in it more than etherial, vaporish 

 air. Sir, it is there for ten or twenty yeai's if3M)u 

 want it ; there is a satisfaction in the use of it, 

 unknown in any other manure ; it brings out a 



new root — it makes a bottom to work on, it pro- 

 duces that herbage necessary to yield milk — not 

 to dry up the cow, as is now the case. The use 

 of bones on the dairy farms of Massachusetts 

 would double the yield of milk, instead of in- 

 creasing it one quart per day. This is no theory. 



I refer you to the cheese districts of England, 

 to her eastern coast, and to the midland counties 

 of that island. It is all folly to import fancy 

 cattle on to the present herbage ; no improved 

 breed will flourish. The best milk in Cheshire, 

 England, I have seen produced on a boned form, 

 from small Welsh or native cattle ; to have seen 

 the difference was astonishing ; and I at once say, 

 if farming must pay the farmer must buae ; then 

 he is out of harm's way but not till then. Now, 

 Mr. Editor, as it is asserted that eleven million 

 of dollars' Avorth of guano have to be landed in 

 the States in 1855, which to me appears worse 

 than worthless, cannot something be done to 

 awaken people to a sense of their own interests ? 

 There are made on an average in the States, 250,- 

 000 tons of bones ; some find their way to Eng- 

 land, Scotland, &c., where the farmers know how 

 to estimate them ; and the people of these States 

 pay for imported fertilizers which will not com- 

 pare with_^ree, pure (/round bone only. If I were 

 Doctor Franklin, I should be inclined to be satir- 

 ical at the expense of the State Agricultural Soci- 

 ety. It is a curious paradox to see Boston serv- 

 ing Virginia with ground bone and buj'ing guano 

 for her own formers, especially when the advan- 

 tage has over and over again been demonstrated. 

 Should these remarks cause the Doctor or any 

 one else to test the difference ; bone — versus ajiy- 

 thing else., — this time nest year I am confident 

 they will be converts to the opinion of 

 Yours respectfully 



Roxburi/, Mass., 1855. Henry Kenyon. 



For the New England Farmer. 



TOADS- CHEESE-STRAWBERRIES. 



Mr Brown : — I send you a few items upon dif- 

 ferent subjects, which you are at liberty to pub- 

 lish, or not, as you think best. 



TOADS, AND POTATO ROT A SUBJECT FOR NATU- 

 RALISTS. 



The toad having become quite a favorite of 

 mine, partly on account of its bright eyes, but 

 more on account of its usefulness to mankind, 

 I have therefore noticed, with regret, that they 

 have greatly diminished in numbers, for the last 

 ten or twelve years, in New Haven and vicinity ; 

 indeed, they seemed to be almost ext^'miinated. 

 A few days ago, I was conversing with an intel- 

 ligent farmer upon the subject. H j said that at 

 or near the time the potato rot made its appear- 

 ance, the toads disappeared ; that last year, pota- 

 toes were not affected by the rot, and toads were 

 more numerous ; and he infers from that circum- 

 stance, that both may yet be restored to their 

 former position. Upon inquiry, I find that others 

 have observed the same facts. Now, the ques- 

 tions arc, has it been so generally? And what 

 relation do they bear to each other ? To me, the 

 only idea suggested, is, that the potato rot may- 

 be occasioned by an insect, and that insect is 

 poisonous, in the stomach of a toad. 



