No. 1. High Cultivation. — Work for August. — Lime Ashes. 



37 



The ammonia emitted from stables and 

 privies, is always in combination with carbonic 

 acid : carbonate of ammonia and sulphate of 

 lime, (gypsum) cannot be brought together, 

 at common temperatures, without mutual de- 

 composition ; the ammonia enters into combi- 

 nation with the sulphuric acid, and the car- 

 bonic acid with the lime, forming compounds 

 which are not volatile, and consequently, 

 destitute of all smell. Now, if we strew the 

 floors of our stables from time to time with 

 gypsum, they will lose all their oifensive 

 smell, and none of the ammonia which forms 

 can be lost, but all will be retained in a con- 

 dition serviceable as manure." 



Then, would it not follow, that the more 

 gypsum is used for the absorption of ammonia 

 in our stables the better ; and ought it not to 

 be scattered plentifully over the bedding of 

 our cattle, horses, sheep, and hogs, as the most 

 economical mode of preparing it for use ? 



P. 



Advantages of High Cultivation. 



Further inquiries have satisfied me that 

 there is not a single crop well cultivated in New 

 England, which will not, in ordinary seasons, 

 pay a fair rent for the land, at current prices, 

 and liberally compensate 'the labour and cul- 

 tivation. Our proximity to quick markets 

 gives great advantages over many parts of 

 the country. In one of my visits to a town 

 on the sea-shore of Massachusetts, in a re- 

 gion whose rock-bound surface seemed to set 

 cultivation at defiance, I found several acres 

 of land, subdued and improved at the rate of 

 three hundred dollars per acre. Could this 

 be afforded ! Look at the case. 



The land was made to produce three tons 

 of hay to the acre. The price of hay in the 

 vicinity has averaged for years, at least fif- 

 teen dollars. The value of one ton of hay 

 per year, is sulBcient to gather the crop and 

 keep the land in condition: thirty dollars, 

 then, are the nett return for the investment. 

 These are examples of extraordinary expen- 

 diture and ample profits. 



The crop of Indian corn is the greatest bless- 

 ing to our country. The average crop in New 

 England is thirty bushels. It is notdifiicult to 

 produce fifty to an acre. I have known one 

 hundred and eleven produced on an acre in 

 Massachusetts, as measured after being shell- 

 ed and dried. At fifty bushels per acre, rating 

 the rough fodder as equal to a ton of English 

 hay, and the grain at seventy cents per bushel, 

 the return may be considered as equal to fifty 

 dollars. Thirty dollars may be considered a 

 high average price for cultivation, and this, 

 including the interest upon the value of the 

 land, at fifty dollars an acre. 



Henry Colman. 



Work for August. — Garden. 



Cabbages — of all kinds may now be planted 

 out; those already out must be kept clean. 



Radishes — for fall use may now be sown. 



Small sallading — of all kinds may now be 

 sown. 



Celery — plant out celery, and water in dry 

 weather. 



Strawberries — clean old beds and plant 

 new, choosing the strongest runners for this 

 purpose; well manuring and cultivating the 

 soil by deep digging, or trenching, watering 

 in dry weather. 



Asparagus beds — must now be cleaned and 

 dressed. 



Peas and beans — for autumn use or pickling 

 must now be planted. 



Brussels sprouts, or kale — sow now, for 

 spring use. 



Cabbage-seed — for spring use must now be 

 sown ; the Early York, and other varieties, 

 on a well-prepared seed-bed of fine mould. 



Cucumbers, melons, &c., for pickles, must 

 now be planted. 



P^uit-trees — must be well attended to, and 

 frequently dressed at the root with soap-suds, 

 with which wash also the stems of the trees 

 and branches, to loosen the bark and destroy 

 worms with their eggs. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 



JLime Ashes. 



Can any of your readers account for the al- 

 most total worthlessness of the ashes from a 

 lime-kiln, when compared with the regularly- 

 burnt stone? — which /act can be ascertained, 

 each one for himself, by experiment, without 

 much labour or cost. That such is the case, 

 the writer entertains no doubt, being in- 

 formed by a most respectable and peculiarly 

 correct, practical husbandman, that he once 

 made the trial of one thousand bushels, that 

 had been carefully deposited under a shed, as 

 often as it was drawn from the kiln, to pro- 

 tect it from the weather, when, to his great 

 surprise and mortification, no beneficial result 

 was experienced from the application, either 

 at the time of spreading or afterwards. Can 

 its inefficacy arise from its having undergone 

 a sort 0^ sublimation by over-burning "] Would 

 some of your scientific correspondents be 

 pleased to take the matter into consideration 

 and inform us of the result, with the why and 

 the wherefore. Calx. 



How much happiness in this life depends 

 upon a cheerful disposition ! It is not only 

 pleasant in itself, but is the cause of pleasure 

 to others. Gloom and discontent make an 

 unhappy home, and only serve to feed the 

 evil that they war against. 



