No. 9. Soap as a Manure. — Farm Accounts. — Sueet Potatoes. 271 



be used in the vinegar — a proportion ex- 

 ceedingly small compared with the other, 

 but which if correct, might not do a great 

 deal of harm. In making sometimes fifty 

 barrels or more a year of cider, and that 

 chiefly for vinegar, my reliance has mainly 

 been on the oxygen of the air, as the acidi- 

 fying principle, and I have found that by 

 frequently racking it oft", and changing it 

 from one cask to another, and taking care 

 not to have the casks too full, the work has 

 been accelerated. A cask half full of cider 

 will go to vinegar in about half the time 

 that it would, were it entirely full. After 

 all, it will perhaps be said it is a slow way. 

 It is slow — but this slow way of getting 

 along, IS what farmers are accustomed to; 

 their teams often move slow — their corn fre- 

 quently grows slow — they make their money 

 Blow, and they sell their vinegar slow. But 

 cannot a farmer put this sulphuric acid to 

 some legitimate use! Let him try its effi- 

 cacy in dissolving bones, a quantity of which 

 can be found on every farm, and often pre- 

 sent an unsightly appearance. If it will 

 answer that purpose, as no doubt it will, va- 

 rious experiments can be tried with the pre- 

 paration, and the results made known for 

 the benefit of others. This would be serv- 

 ing a good cause, — need not be attended 

 with any great expense, and possibly might 

 lead to some valuable discovery. R. 



Salem county. 



Soap as a Manure. — T. Dalton, a silk 

 dyer, says in the London Agricultural Ga- 

 zette, that he uses 15 cvvt. of soap weekly, 

 to discharge the oily matter from the silk, 

 and forming of itself a kind of soap, the 

 whole of which yields from four to six thou- 

 sand gallons of strong soap suds per week. 

 This he has lately applied to his farm, and 

 "its effects are most extraordinary." It has 

 been used only one season, and its results 

 cannot be accurately given, but he considers 

 it more powerful than any other manure. — 

 Southern Planter. 



Many liarrels of strong soapsuds are annually thrown 

 into the gutter, and run to waste from every farmer's 

 laundry. Could not these be poured on the manure 

 heap, or otherwise saved to increase his " bank," and 

 thus helplo obviate the necessity of purchasing foreign 

 manures?— Ed. 



Keeping Farm Accounts. — Let any farm- 

 er make the experiment, and he will rind it 

 as interesting as it is useful, and both inte- 

 resting and useful, to know from year to 

 year the actual produce of his farm. Let 

 everything, theretbre, which can be mea- 

 sured and weighed, be measured and weigh- 



ed ; and let that which cannot be brought to 

 an exact standard, be estimated as if he 

 himself were about to sell or purchase it. 

 Let him likewise, as near as possible, mea- 

 sure the ground which he plants, the quan- 

 tity of seed which he uses, and the manure 

 which he applies. The labour of doing this 

 is nothing compared with the satisfaction of 

 having done it, and the benefits which must 

 arise from it Conjecture, in these cases, is 

 perfectly wild and uncertain, varying often 

 with different individuals, almost a hundred 

 per cent. Exactness enables a man to form 

 conclusions, which may mo.^t essentially, and 

 in innumerable ways, avail to his advantage. 

 It is that alone which can give any value to 

 his experience. It is that which will make 

 his experience the sure basis of improve- 

 ment; it will put it in his power to give 

 safe counsel to his friends, and it is the only 

 ground on which he can securely place con- 

 fidence himself — Norristown Herald. 



Sweet Potatoes. — It is pleasing to hear 

 the praises of anything we love, and it is 

 therefore peculiarly gratifying to find a long 

 commendation of the sweet potatoe in the 

 New Orleans Tropic. From it we learn, 

 that beds high and dry should be ready for 

 the plantings, and the fields deeply ploughed 

 for the coming crop. A new, loose soil, is 

 decidedly best for the sweet potatoe, and it 

 should be thrown up in high ridges, only 

 when the plants are ready for setting out; 

 when made long before planting, the ground 

 becomes close and hard, which prevents the 

 vine from growing kindly. There is no 

 better substitute for bread, and none more 

 healthy; all children are particularly fond 

 of them, and when used by them freely, in 

 the latter part of summer and fall, they 

 never have what is called the "summer 

 complaint." An acre of ground has been 

 known to yield twelve hundred bushels; and 

 in the South, with fair cultivation, from 

 three to four hundred bushels may be pro- 

 duced beyond a doubt. There are many 

 varieties, but the very best is called the 

 Yam, in the 60uth-we.«t; in Carolina it is 

 known as the "Pumpkin Spanisli." There 

 is now no difficulty in keeping the sweet 

 potatoe perfectly sound all the year, and the 

 market is always good. To prepare them 

 for the table they should be nicely washed 

 and baked in an oven — never, never boiled. 

 All animals eat them, raw or cooked, with 

 great avidity, and cows give more milk 

 when fed with them, than with the same 

 weight of any other food. It is indeed a 

 most valuable crop for planters. — Exchange 

 paper. 



