22 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



Jan. 



TANNER'S BARK. 



In many portions of New England, large 

 quantities of the bark of trees, es-pecially that 

 of white oak and hemlock, are used for the 

 purpose of tanning the skins of oxen, cows, 

 and perhaps some other animals. 



Until recently, most, and at the present 

 time, much of this bark, after having been 

 ground into quite small pieces and used for 

 tanning purposes, has been thrown into streams 

 and washed away, converted into paths about 

 houses or gardens, and sometimas spread upon 

 long reaches of the highways, as being the 

 most convenient mode of getting rid of it. 



Within twenty or thirty years, however, 

 eome thoughtful persons have supposed that the 

 bark contained valuable properties as a manu- 

 rial agent, and in sufficient quantity to justify 

 experiments with it. Upon investigation, 

 they found that it had long been considered 

 worth saving in England, and that every bushel 

 of it was carefully preserved and formed a 

 principal ingredient in the compost heaps, 

 wherever it could be conveniently obtained. 



Several kinds of bark have been analyzed 

 by various chemists, and have been found to 

 consist chiefly of carbon, oxygen and hydro- 

 gen, with various saline and earthy substances. 

 M. Sciussiire found in 100 parts of the ashes 

 of the bark of the 



White Oak, Poplar. 



8oluWo snlte, 7. 6. 



Earthy pliosp ates, 3 6.3 



Earthy caibonatcs', 66. 60. 



Silica 1.5 4. 



Metallic oxides, 2. 1.5 



"From this analysis the farmer will see that 

 tbe earthy and saline ingredients of the bark 

 of forest trees must be valuable as ferti- 

 lizers ; it is only to the slowness with which 

 refuse tanner's bark undergoes putrefaction 

 that its neglect by the cultivator must be at- 

 tributed." It is undoubtedly best made avail- 

 able for the soil by bringing it into a moderate 

 degree of heat, and thereby inducing fermen- 

 tation, in connection with peat, or other coarse 

 vegetal)le matters. In this way, a most valu- 

 able coujpost heap may Vk; formed, that will be 

 found active and efficient on most crops. 



Alone, however, we have known it to pro- 

 duce wonderful results. The experiment was 

 made, upon a piece of pine plain land. On the 

 west border of the lield a brook flowed along 

 which separated the field from the high land, 

 and near the brook a tanning had been in op- 



eration for some fifty years. At length the 

 tanning was discontinued, and a gentleman 

 purchased the premises — including the sandy 

 field — as mu.'h with a view of experimenting 

 u-iih the hark as for the convenience of own- 

 ing more land near him. 



The pits were filled, the yard leveled, 

 and large quantities of the remaining bark 

 hauled upon the sand, and ploughed under 

 only two or three inches ; just deep enough to 

 cover it, with a view of keeping it moist, and 

 so near the surface that it should be kept warm 

 by the solar rays. A single horse would 

 plough it, and this was done two or three 

 times in the course of the season, adding at 

 each time more bark, but in less quantity than 

 at first, and gradually ploughing deeper. 



The second year more bark was added, the 

 ground thoroughly ploughed, potatoes were 

 planted and yielded a fair crop. 



When we saw the field, it had been yielding 

 clover, at the rate of about two tons to the 

 acre for several years, and wiihotit any other 

 dressing but the bark, added annually and 

 ploughed under. How much fertilizing matter 

 the bark contained, in the form of scrapings 

 from the skins, bits of horn, hoof, or other 

 substances, and the lime used in tanning, the 

 experimenter could not tell, — but not more 

 than is usual in similar yards. He thought 

 the percentage quite small. 



These statements were made by the owner 

 of the land, who appealed to the citizens of 

 the village who were present and had seen all 

 his expeiimcnts, and who verified them. 



The process of fertilization was a slow one, 

 but the cost was trifling, and came from the 

 force of the farm, not from ca^h which had 

 been earned in some other way. 



PULVEHIZATION OF THE SOIL. 



It was the opinion of the celebrated Jethro 

 TuLL, that very superior crops might be pro- 

 duced indefinitely from the same soil, simply 

 by maintaining it in a finely pulverized state, 

 in order to allow the roots of the growing 

 plants to expand freely in quest of their ap- 

 propriate food. 



Notwithstanding the fallacy of this theory, 

 which, however, at one time was quite popular, 

 it is obvious that the finer a soil is made by 

 working, the better will it be capacificd to sus- 

 tain the crops it is required to support. 



