162 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



For the A'etc England Farmer. 



FERTILIZERS AND CROPS. 



Mr. Editor : — Much has been written and said , 

 of late years regarding the chemical properties; 

 and component parts of certain newly discovered 

 fertilizers of the soil, such as guano, ground bones, ^ 

 superphosphate of lime, poudrette, muriate of lime, 

 and many others; but instead of such articles re-, 

 quiring to be puffed off, year after year, by such : 

 able pens as they generally command in the agri- 

 cultural newspapers and magazines of the day,' 

 they ought to speak for themselves in language thatj 

 the practical farmer cannot misunderstand, by the 

 effects produced on the various crops to which they 

 are applied. It matters but little to the practical 

 farmer, whether his manure is composed of the 

 nicely calculated chemical ingredients so much in 

 fashion amongst a certain class of amateur farmers, 

 and special manure manufacturers, of the present 

 day, or not, provided they produce no marked effect 

 upon his crops. It is produce the farmer has to 

 look for, at the least possible cost for manure and 

 labor, and not a long string of chemical terms, and 

 names which he neither understands, nor cares any- 

 thing about. Permit me, therefore, through the 

 medium of your interesting paper, to state some 

 plain practical facts (for the benefit of others) re- 

 garding the result of experiments tried with some 

 of these concentrated manures, on the extensive 

 and valuable farm of Franklin Haven, Esq., of this 

 place, last season. 



The soil and situation of this farm render it 

 comparatively easy of cultivation, and therefore 

 adapt it in a peculiar degree to the development 

 of such experiments as the following : 



In the beginning of Sept., 1855, it was deemed 

 expedient by the proprietor to have about ten acres 

 of the extensive lawn which surrounds the Mansion 

 House broken up, in order to leave the ground 

 thoroughly cleaned and enriched by a course of 

 green cropping preparatory to seeding down to per- 

 manent English lawn grass, it being pretty much 

 exhausted by repeated cutting for over ten years, 

 and run to witch grass and other noxious weeds. 

 In the course of that month the whole was turned 

 over by the Michigan double plow drawn by two 

 yoke of oxen, and immediately harrowed so as to 

 fill up all crevices. Next spring it was cross plow- 

 ed with the common plow and one yoke of oxen, 

 and thoroughly harrowed ; but in many parts it 

 was so completely matted and bound together with 

 witch grass as to resist every effort to bring it to 

 a proper tilth for small seeds. Consequently a 

 portion of the worst of it was appropriated to the 

 production of potatoes, manured and divided into 

 lots in the following manner : 



Lot first, about an acre in extent, received about 

 eight cords of compost, one- third barn manure, and 

 two-thirds seaweed and meadow mud, put in the 

 hills in the common way, and planted with Chenan- 

 goes and Davis Seedling about the 1st of May. 

 This lot suffered much from early drought, and 

 turned out but a ])oor crop, seventy-five bushels to 

 the acre, and considerably diseased. 



Lot second was manui-ed from the same pile 

 with the same quantity per acre, but instead of re- 

 ceiving it in the hill, was plowed down broadcast ; 

 the ground harrowed and marked out into hills the 

 same as the former; but before inserting the seed, 

 jeach hill received a handful of guano, say at the 



rate of from 400 to 500 lbs. per acre. The potato 

 vines on this lot retained their thrifty green appear- 

 ance for six weeks after the others had completely 

 disappeared, and on being harvested prodilced at the 

 rate of 300 bushels per acre as far as Davis Seedling 

 went, and about 200 bushels Chenango, all of good 

 size, and scarcely a speck of disease to be seen. The 

 Seedlings were completely sound to the core, being 

 the only potatoes in the field that could be war- 

 ranted in the market. 



Lot third was manured broadcast with the same 

 quantity and quality of compost, plowed down and 

 harrowed the same as the former ; but in place of 

 guano received a liberal allowance of superphos- 

 phate of lime in each hill — say at the rate of five 

 hundred lbs. per acre. The varieties planted were 

 Danvers Seedling and Early Blues. The last four 

 rows in this lot received nothing in the hills, and at 

 harvesting turned out the same quantity and quali- 

 ty of jwtatoes as those that received the superphos- 

 phate of lime. The whole of the piece was but a 

 light crop, not exceeding seventy bushels per acre, 

 and considerably diseased. 



Lot fourth was also manured broadcast, with 

 twelve cords per acre, of the following compost, 

 viz., two-thirds meadow mud, one-third seaweed, 

 and eight casks to each cord of muriate of lime 

 finely mixed in the usual way. The four last rows 

 of this lot received half a shovel full of clear muri- 

 ate of lime in each hill, while the first part got 

 nothing. The vines retained their green color on this 

 piece (half an acre in extent) longer than in any 

 other part of the field, with the exception of those 

 to which guano was applied, especially the four rows 

 that received the lime in the hills ; but on being 

 harvested they produced but a poor return ; not 

 exceeding thirty-six bushels on the half acre, and 

 those of a diminutive size and considerable rot. The 

 varieties planted were Long Blues and Canterbury 

 Seedling. The four rows that received the muriate 

 of lime had nothing in particular to distinguish 

 them from those that got none ; only that they re- 

 tained their green appearance a little longer, but 

 the quantity and quality of the potatoes were about 

 the same. 



The other portions of the ground (about four 

 acres in extent) were prepared for rutabagas in 

 the following manner, viz : after being cross plow- 

 ed and thoroughly harrowed this spring, exactly two 

 acres of the piece was found to be so incumbered 

 with witch grass that every effort failed to bring it 

 to a proper tilth for depositing the seed in the 

 common way by the machine in drills or rows. 

 The only expedient left, therefore, was to have re- 

 course to planting in hills ; and in order to prepare 

 the ground for that operation, the manure, composed 

 of one-third meadow mud and two-thirds seaweed 

 and dung of cattle, in equal proportions, well mixed, 

 was spread broadcast, plowed in, and harrowed ; in 

 quantity fully eight cords to the acre. The ground 

 was then marked off for the hills ; placing the 

 rows 2i feet apart, and the hills in the rows from 

 14 to 20 inches distant from each other. Each 

 hill received a good table-spoonful of guano which 

 was lightly covered by the foot of the man who de- 

 posited the seed, and the seed in its turn, covered 

 by a swing of the other foot in the opposite direc- 

 tion, as quick as thought. Thus the two acres were 

 planted and manured in the hill .with guano by 

 three men in one day, in the last week in June. 



The seed germinated quickly, and the young 



