300 



Poudrette. — Blight, an Effect. 



VoL.V. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Pondrette. 



Dear Sir, — I observe in your number for 

 February, the communication from Mr. Jacob 

 Smith, of Bucks county, in relation to " Pou- 

 drette." PresuminjT that his object is infor- 

 mation, I take the liberty to send you a small 

 pamphlet, containing several letters and state- 

 ments in relation to its use, comparatively 

 with other manures, made by practical farm- 

 ers of character, intelligence, and standing 

 in the community, and which require no tes- 

 timony of mine to sustain their accuracy 

 where the gentlemen who made them are 

 known. Those statements were made by 

 them after they had used the article one, two, 

 or three seasons, at my special solicitation, to 

 enable me to give to give to others who sought 

 information, the best which the circumstances 

 of the case, on account of the recent intro- 

 duction of the article into use in this coun- 

 try, would admit of — and therefore it is that 

 I feel called upon to give you these facts, and 

 to request you to give the statement a place 

 in your journal, that those who have read the 

 remarks of your correspondent may also un- 

 derstand the position of those whose testimo- 

 ny he deems not " dis-interested," simply be- 

 cause their names appear in " the list of stock- 

 holders of the company." 



It is true, sir, that the gentlemen who wrote 

 the letters and made the statements in the 

 pamphlet sent herewith, are stockholders, and 

 they became so to the extent of one share 

 each in 1837, when I undertook the enter- 

 prise, at my urgent solicitation, to enable me 

 to make the experiment — and they, each of 

 them, and a few others, who give equally fa- 

 vourable accounts of the effects of poudrette, 

 used from fitly to one hundred bushels in the 

 summer of 1838, with a success which in- 

 duced them to increase their number of shares 

 for their own use, thus giving the very best 

 evidence of their estimate of its value, and 

 the economy and convenience of using it. 

 You will perceive by a reference to the state- 

 ment of W. W. Mills, Esq., dated March 27, 

 1840, that he gives an opinion in relation to 

 its relative value for spring and fall use ; — 

 and in another communication made by him, 

 dated 9th August, same year, he gives the 

 result of his experience for fall use on wheat ; 

 thus showing that his experience contradict- 

 ed his opinion — or rather, that it proved su- 

 perior for fall use on wheat, to the very best 

 manure known before in this country. And 

 if you will refer to the statement of Mr. 

 Brewster H. Wood, of Huntington, L. I., you 

 will find that he speaks favourably as to its 

 durability in its effects on grass after wheat, 

 and on oats after corn. 



As to its durability, I do not pretend to say 

 much at present, not, however, from a want 



of confidence, but from want of practical 

 knowledge in this country. I have not allow- 

 ed myself to give opinions and theories in re- 

 lation to its comparative value, nor to make 

 assertions of its effects until I have obtained 

 from practical farmers the results of their 

 careful experiments — I say careful, because 

 they have been made with a single eye to 

 their own interest — with a view of determin- 

 ing whether they should take additional 

 shares, or dispose of what they had — and the 

 result has been, in almost every instance, an 

 increased subscription to the stock of the com- 

 pany — not with a view of "stock-jobbing," 

 but for the purpose of economy in the im- 

 provement of their farms and gardens. 



As the gentlemen alluded to by your cor- 

 respondent were induced by me to take an 

 interest in the enterprise, and then to com- 

 municate the result of their experience for 

 publication and the benefit of others, I deem- 

 ed it my duty to make this reply to what has 

 the appearance, at least, of attributing their 

 statements to interested motives, instead of 

 to that liberal feeling which I hope to see 

 more general amongst men — a desire to com- 

 municate, for the benefit of others, informa- 

 tion which has proved useful to ourselves. 

 And I will add, that if there is any one per- 

 son, more than another, who has an interest 

 in the success of this enterprise, it is the 

 practical farmer who finds it expedient to 

 purchase and haul manure. 



Respectfiilly, 



D. K. Minor, 

 Agent N. Y. P. Co. 



New York, March 17, 1841. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Cabinet. 

 Blight, an efiect. 



Sir, — In Agricola's excellent paper on 

 mildew, in your Tast number, there is an ob- 

 servation which goes far to corroborate the 

 truth of the position, that animalculas are the 

 effect and not the cause of blight. It is there 

 said, "nature is ever economical, and when- 

 ever animal or vegetable substances are in 

 the progress of decay, mouths are found ever 

 ready to convert dead matter into food for 

 living things, so as to perpetuate the largest 

 possible amount of animated existence. On 

 the death of the plant, the tender, succulent 

 fibres of the roots immediately decay, and in 

 drawing them from the ground the appear- 

 ance of them has led many to suppose that 

 they had thus discovered the true cause of 

 the disease of the plant, when, in fact, it was 

 only the effect of its previous dissolution." 



Now this theory appears so self-evident and 

 satisfactory, that I must be allowed to won- 

 der that all are not struck with the power of 

 its truth — as is said of the pure principles of 

 Christianity, it is so plain that he that runs 



