m^ 



Destruction} of JBu^s, ^'C. — Manure. 



Vol. H. 



vyhich penetrate its cornice, were caused by 

 the poisonous quality of the sub-soil in which 

 its foundations are laid — or, that the locust 

 (cicada septendecem,) is caused by a periodi- 

 cal exhaustion of the surface, whicii takes 

 place every seventeen years, as it is to say, 

 that the worm on the peach tree, and the ex- 

 crescence on the cherry, are produced by such 

 causes. I hope that the time will soon come 

 when agricultural investigations will be con- 

 ducted more in conformity with principles of 

 Common Sense. 



Sixth mo, 23d, 1838. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Destruction of 6ug.s and Insects "by 

 Kuciis. 



In the absence of the birds in my neigh- 

 bourhood, which have been almost extermi 

 nated by a succession of idle vagabonds, we 

 JKive been almost eaten up by insects of a 

 variety of kinds, whose names and habits we 

 are entirely ignorant of, excepting that we 

 liave discovered that it takes a great deal to 

 keep them — for they are most voracious eat- 

 ers, and partake only of things that are young, 

 juicy and tender. 



Afen of science might render much service 

 to the country if they would turn their atten- 

 tion to this branch of natural history, and 

 communicate to the public the results of their 

 investigations in plain, intelligible language, 

 adapted to the understandings of the people 

 generally. A friend of mine, whose pump- 

 kin and other vines were assailed with bugs, 

 so a? to threaten their entire destruction, 

 placed a hen, who had charge of a large num- 

 ber of ducklings, in a coop in his field. The 

 young ones being at liberty to wander abroad 

 in search of meat, carried destruction into the 

 enemies' camp, destroying vast multitudes of 

 the bugs, which they shoveled into their 

 crops, with such voracity, that in a few days 

 there werenone left to injure the plants. We 

 must either raise and protect a new race of 

 birds to Keep the insect tribes in check, or we 

 must turn our attention more than heretofore 

 to propagating chickens, ducks and turkeys, 

 to aid in the destruction of these formidable 

 enemies. T. 



Eadnor, July 6th. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



"What is tlie greatest qnantity of Manure 

 to be obtained from given means 1 



Mr. Editor. — There are in agriculture, 

 as perhaps in every science, some leading 

 propositions, calculated in a particular manner 

 to arrest attention by their prominent impor- 

 tance. Su.ch I hold that of a " Subscriber" 

 in your May number — " What will an acre 

 <qf land prodn ce .'" and also the question 

 which heads ttu';.^ article. 



Were itpossibi'e at once to afford a com- 



plete and palpable solution to these two pro- 

 positions, what mind can calculate the vast 

 increase of treasures that would instantly be- 

 come accessible to humanity 1 As, then, we 

 cannot inquire too strictly, or knov; too much 

 regarding them, I propose, after recapitulat- 

 ing a few of the principal statements of a 

 "Subscriber" concerning the latter question, to 

 furnish my own experiments upon the former. 



He informs us that a single acre of his land, 

 (see p. 305,) toith abundant manuring and 

 superior cultivation, was made to produce the 

 sum of $3-18 40 cents per annum, for five suc- 

 cessive years, besides the vegetables used in a 

 small family. He further states, in substance, 

 as his present conviction, that the quantity of 

 soil cultivated has nothing to do with the 

 secret of gathering money out of it ; that 

 " this altogether depends on a judicious selec- 

 tion of soil, on the facility of obtaining ma- 

 nure, and on the proper application of it as 

 food for plants," &c. ; — that he found, by 

 actual experiment, made upon a large scale, 

 " that the profit of capital laid out in land 

 produced an interest of onlyj^ue percent, per 

 annum, the capital laid out in manure upon 

 the same land produced twenty per cent." 



Now, my own experience, as I shall pre- 

 sently show, abundantly confirms the proba- 

 ble accuracy of all these statements. Let us 

 distinctly understand, then, that it is not the 

 great quantity of land, but the aMmdance of 

 manure upon a little, that is alone required 

 to give wealth and independence ; that the 

 man who owns five or six acres may, (accord- 

 ing to the above data,) with the aid of manure 

 and good management, draw from $1300 to 

 $2000 from them each year, while he of a 

 hundred acres may scarcely obtain half of it 

 upon the common plan. 



But where is the requisite manure to be 

 obtained that shall so suddenly and surely en- 

 rich the farmer? In reply to this, I will 

 simply give my own experience, and by it 

 endeavor to convince the reflecting farmer 

 what amount can, and in fact has been made 

 from means incomparably more limited than 

 is generally imagined possible. 



Previous to 1829, I had followed in Phila- 

 delphia a sedentary occupation, which, by ex- 

 cessive application in it, had so enfeebled my 

 constitution, that I was obliged to seek in the 

 country for that measure of health which I 

 might no longer hope for in the city. So I 

 bought, with my scanty savings, a small place 

 often and a half acres, and moved upon it the 

 same fall, of 1829. 



Not being acquainted with farming, I hired 

 a man to plough two and a-half acres, and 

 sow it in rye. The cost of seed and labor, in 

 putting in, gathering, and threshing the said 

 crop, was $8 56 cents. The crop yielded five 

 and a-half bushels of very poor black rye, fit 



