212 



NEW ENGLAND FAK:MER. 



May 



fertile state. Mr. Dodge Hayward, who I do 

 not understand to be a practical chemist, pro- 

 fesses to do this, but whoever ctirefully con- 

 siders the positions he takes, or assumes, and 

 the conclusions he arrives at, by making them 

 the ground of his reasoning, will be compelled- 

 to admit the truthfulness of the first two lines 

 of the second paragraph, in the second part of 

 the article I have above referred to, where, in 

 speaking of Mr. Hayward. the writer says : 

 '•In regard to the truth of his theory, its proof 

 rests on the test of practical experience." In 

 his lectures, Mr. Hayward makes propositions, 

 then talks about them and draws his conclu- 

 sions apparently in ignorance that the proof of 

 any position depends not on the positions that 

 juUow, but always on those ■which precede. 



The mode of reasoning adopted by Mr. 

 Hayward, leads hini to conclude that unless 

 we depend on minerals to restore our lands to 

 a state or capacity called productive, we shall 

 be- driven to give up farming as unprofitable; 

 but tuue will discover to all the real causes of 

 the fertility of our lands being less than for- 

 merly, are the abundance of new land, the 

 high price of labor, and comparative scarcity 

 of money in the hands of small farmers. 



What made the barren sands of Belgium 

 the. most fertile farms and gardens on the con- 

 tinent of Europe, but the poverty to which the 

 people were reduced by the destruction of 

 their former means of support? This they 

 accomplislied by the use of green manures and 

 rotation of crops. Two hundred years ago 

 men travelled fifcy miles on the road in Eng- 

 land without seeing a single fence ; on both 

 sides were heath and swamp, where now are 

 seen such farms as would astonish the intelli- 

 gent farmer of New England. The change 

 there was brought about by the use of the 

 same means as in Belgium. In the latter 

 place, by the poor farmers with the spade ; in 

 England, by the lords of the land employing 

 the spade and the plough ; but in both cases 

 the system of manuring was the same. As 

 land in the hands of intelligent cultivators here 

 becomes scarce, and they have money to ena- 

 ble them to wait the necessary time for remu- 

 neration, the same system of cultivation will be 

 adopted by them as is followed in England, so 

 far as climate will allow. _ For the present, our 

 best plan seems to be to select our best fields, 

 sell ironi them as little of what they produce 

 as possible, and extend our farms only as fast 

 as we have abundance of barn-yard manure, 

 and time and money to afford to bring up our 

 poor lands by plowing in green crops, and by 

 reclaiming our meadows. 



To the remarks of the writer of the article 

 referred to, on what he calls the "preaching 

 of the all-importance of ammonia,'''' I will 

 leave the "leading afjriculturists who preach 

 them" to reply. 1 believe in the judicious use 

 of both barn-yard manure and minerals. I 

 believe, also, that if we had no minerals to 

 Use as manure, we could then farm with profit. 



What I do not believe, is what Mr. Hayward 

 contends for, — "that ninety per cent, of barn- 

 yard manure is useless on all lands." If Mr. 

 Dodge Hayward will test the matter here in 

 Sherborn, he can do so ; he being at the ex- 

 pense only of his presence here, and his super- 

 intendence. If he should succeed, he must be 

 aware that his secret would bring a handsome 

 price. If he should read this article, I wish 

 him to recal to mind our conversation in the 

 blacksmith's shop in this town. 



I have seen farms in eleven counties of Eng- 

 land, where the system of manuring I suggest 

 has been followed, and I wish the farms and 

 farmers here were as rich as they are there. 



Our friend speaks of insects in peas, and of 

 borers in trees, as the result of a want of min- 

 eral in the land. In England I do not remem- 

 ber having seen any insects in peas exp'osed 

 for sale in windows and stores the year round ; 

 nor do I remember, in my residence in the 

 valley of the Severn for twenty-three years, to 

 have heard a word about borers in apple oi^ 

 pear trees. I cannot see the force of such a 

 remark. England is old, — there is as much 

 scarcity of mineral in her orchards in the valley 

 of the Severn, and in her pea fields, as there 

 is here. 



Mr. E. W. Bull is quoted. He uses min- 

 eral in his vineyard. True, but the vineyard 

 is on a low and frosty piece of land on which 

 nothing .but his great experience, intelligence, 

 and constant care enables him to succeed. 

 On such land there is abundant moisture, and 

 mineral is all that is wanted there for Concord 

 grapes. Leave this vineyard and go to his 

 land on higher level, and there, with the same 

 culture under which the Concord grape is lux- 

 riant, the lona, Isabella, Adirondac and others 

 scarcely live. Give these some barn-yard ma- 

 nure, regulating the amount by the require- 

 ments of each variety, and they will be as 

 thrifty as the Concord, on which nothing but 

 mineral is used. I have about twenty varieties 

 of grape vines, and all and each require differ- 

 ent treatment or different soil, and some of 

 them require both. I would not risk any of 

 them except Concord, Hartford and Rogers 

 on poor soil, unless they could have a large 

 amount of oxygen and hydrogen — water. — sup- 

 plied in some form other than is recommended 

 by Mr. Dodge Hayward. And when our 

 farmers notice how the little roots of plants 

 fix themselves in the lumps of barn-yard ma- 

 nure in dry weather, they will probably believe 

 the sanle in regard to other plants. 



John Fleming. 



Sherborn, March 23, 1SG8. 



— Apples and other fruits and vegetables have 

 long l)een dried and arc common in every market, 

 and a gentleman in Baltimore has invented an ap- 

 paratus for slicing and di-ying the sweet potato of 

 the South, and is conlident of success. 



