1SC8. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



215 



quired by plants, precisely as found in manures ; 

 but this must not lead us to disparage science and 

 reject its teachings. 



On these sugg(?stiorxS-Mr. W. constructed bis 

 "composition" or mineral manure. 

 Sulphate of Soda and Sulphate of Magnesia. 



This compound was made from a recipe in 

 the Farm and Fireside,' and was recommend- 

 ed particularly for potatoes, but no description 

 of how it was made is given. Mr. W. sim- 

 ply says, "I tried it, but it did not do any- 

 thing." 



Poudrette and Gas Lime. 



How these materials were prepared or how 

 applied we have no information further than 

 what appears from the following table, which 

 gives the comparative appearance at three dif- 

 ferent observations, of two rows of corn which 

 were planted for the purpose of testing the 

 five different kinds of manure mentioned. 

 Kesult of the Different Manures 



July 11. Aug. 2. Sept.l. 



. Poudrette No. i No. 4 No. 4 



Stable Manure "2 "5 "2 



• Home made Phosphate . ..." 3 " x " 1 



Muck and ''Mineral.s" "4 "6 "3 



Sulpbate of Soda and Magnesia " 5 "2 "5 



Gati Lime "6 "3 "6 



General Remarks. 



In applying the home-made superxjhosphate 

 to corn in the field, the same amount was used 

 as is commonly used of Bradley's Superphos- 

 phate of Lime, and Mr. W. adds that in 

 some cases too much was applied. Its effects 

 were very satisfactory, although the amount of 

 the crop is not stated. Some of the stalks, 

 however, v/ere as tall as a rake handle, and 

 one and a half inches in diameter. Some of 

 the corn cobs were double at the top, showing 

 a luxuriant growth. In husking eight bushels, 

 one evening, eight such double ears were 

 found, all but two of which v/ere well filled 

 out. In one case, six distinct eai's were found 

 in one set of husks, — the longest being twelve 

 and the shortest three inches in length. 



Of the mineral compost, our correspondent 

 says, "I don't think much of It. It did not 

 do well." 



Three-fourths of an acre of land were turned 

 over last season as soon after haying as con- 

 venient, on which six cords of good stable 

 manure were spread with some supei'phosphate 

 from another batch made of 400 pounds of 

 bones and 164 pounds of oil of vitriol. This 

 land was harrowed, bushed, seeded, and 

 bushed again. Before the frost came the 



i grass was more than six inches high, and 



i . . 



■ neighboring farmers remarked that they never 



[ saw such a sight before. On about half of 



this lot turnip seed was sown about the middle 



of September, from which 140 bushels of clean 



turnips were harvested, leaving the tops on 



the ground as a mulch or dressing. 



The second lot of superphosphate cost. 

 $14.97, which added to $19.74, the cost of.the 

 first lot, make $34.71. An equal quantity 

 bought in market by the barrel would have 

 cost $60. Mr. W. says he would give more 

 for bones thus treated than he would for good 

 stable manure, though he admits that some do 

 not think so. He also raised oats the past 

 season on land to which horse manure was ap- 

 plied. Some of the. stalks were over five feet 

 and six inches high and nearly as terge as one's 

 little finger. 



We hope our correspondent, who says that 

 he believes he cannot get too much manure 

 upon his land, will continue his experiments 

 and communicate the results, whether favora- 

 ble or unfavorable, for the benefit of other 

 farmers who are anxious to avail themselves of 

 every profitable fertilize^. Although his ex- 

 periment in the use of the "philosophical" 

 cord of manure was such as to lead him to re- 

 mark that he "did not think much of it," still 

 as it stood No. 3, on the first of September, 

 we wish he had given a fuller account of its 

 cost, and of the manner in which it was com- 

 posted. 



IMPROVEMEWT OF TUPi.P GAMBLING. 



Now that the racing season is rapidly approach- 

 ing, we trust that our turfmen will make an effort to 

 open a subscription room in New York where bets 

 may be registered, to be conducted after the style 

 of Tattersall's in London. The enterprise could 

 be made to pay with an energetic man at tlie head 

 of the movement. With a club room conducted on 

 the Tattersall plan, the business transactions of 

 the turf, in a measure, would be systemized. It 

 would help to do away with the poolseller's vul- 

 garitj', as with the books open for the registration 

 of bets, the next step would be to book-making on 

 the race course. Speculations on the turf should 

 be conducted In a more quiet and gentlemanly 

 manner than they are. The noisy wrangle of a 

 cracked-voiced auctioneer is far from pleasant, to 

 say the least of it. Since the pool stand has been 

 made the medium for the practice of bare-faced 

 robbery by an itinerant scoundrel, it should be re- 

 moved from the race course. Some of our leading 

 turfmen are moving in this matter, and we trust 

 that they will persevere until they succeed in es- 

 tablishing a club house in New YoiTt on the Tatter- 

 sall plan. — Turf, Field and Farm. 



The writer of the foregoing paragraph 

 must have been present, we think, at the 



