1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



291 



For the Hew England Farmer. 



"CAN LAND BE MADE FERTILE WITH- 

 OUT STABLE MANURE?" 



The article in the Fanner of the 7th of Februa- 

 ry with this caption, with the remarks added, are 

 such as I like to read in an agricultural paper, be- 

 cause they are such as have a practical bearing on 

 the every day business of the farmer. In reading 

 them over, it brought to my mind some little ex- 

 perience I have had in such matters, and I thought 

 it might not be uninteresting to some to know the 

 result. My little farm contains a large proportion 

 of plowed land which I find it difficult to keep in 

 good heart with all the manure I can make at 

 home, and as I am situated too far from the market 

 to buy stable manure at the price it bears, I have 

 been rather forced into the experiment of proving 

 the qualities of different kinds of the concentrated 

 manures, such as Peruvian guano, superphosphate, 

 bone dust, &c. And, from what experience I have 

 had, 1 have come to the conclusion that good Pe- 

 ruvian guano, even at the high price it bears, is the 

 cheapest of all that I have tried, and have proved 

 it to be profitable in most, if not all the ways 1 have 

 applied it. 



In the spring of 1855,1 selected a piece of grass 

 land in the midst of a field that had been mowed 

 some five or six seasons, and staked off one-eighth 

 of an acre, and divided this into two equal parts : 

 on one of these I applied 12 pounds of the lumpy 

 portions of guano, by dissolving it in about one-half 

 a barrel of water, and applying it with a common 

 watering pot on the land in the spring, before the 

 grass had started ; it remained with nothing more 

 done till haying time ; each piece was then mowed 

 and raked separately. After haying it three days 

 it was weighed, the product of each piece by itself; 

 the portion from the manured piece weighed 126 

 pounds, the other 42 pounds, showing a difierence 

 of just three pounds to one in favor of the guano, 

 or 84 pounds gain for 12 pounds of guano, which 

 is 7 pounds of hay for one of the guano. Thus one 

 ton of this manure, costing $60, would have pro- 

 duced at this ratio 7 tons of hay, worth that season 

 at the barn $20 per ton. It would seem that out- 

 lays of this kind would be profitable investments. 

 However, I have no doubt but that different circum- 

 stances might have produced different results. As 

 the question is often asked, "Is guano good for more 

 than one year ?" I wished to know how to answer 

 such an inquiry, and therefore I had the above pieces 

 harvested separately the second year, and found the 

 manured piece exceeded the other by 15 or 20 per 

 cent. 



This land is what would be called heavy loam, 

 ■with a hard pan subsoil, and is not natural for rye, 

 except when first cleared, although I have succeed- 

 ed in the last two years on an old field that had 

 had no manure for the last 18 years, in raising 18 

 bushels to the acre, by applying about 300 pounds 

 of guano, and sowing in the fall. My method of 

 using this concentrated manure is different on dif- 

 ferent crops ; after sifting out the lumpy portion 

 which I pulverize with a flail, the fine is then moist- 

 ened with water until it is of the right consistency 

 for sowing, without being blown away when sown 

 broadcast. The last season I applied it as a top 

 dressing on grass land, sowed broadcast at about 

 200 pounds to the acre in damp weather, with ben- 

 eficial results, although I think it more sure to be 



applied in a diluted state, though it is more expen- 

 sive. My method of using it on potatoes and corn 

 when put in the hill is, after the land has been well 

 pulverized by plowing and harrowing, I pass along 

 between two rows, and drop a small handful to the 

 hill, and then with a small iron tooth rake, mix it 

 well with about two shovels full of the pulverized 

 soil before dropping the seed, although I prefer 

 composting with good meadow muck when con- 

 venient. My intention the coming season is to ap- 

 ply it to crops for the hoe by sowing broadcast, and 

 mixing thoroughly with the harrow. 



I noticed in the article to which this has an allu- 

 sion, an inquiry as to the benefit of coal ashes. In 

 a desire to test their value, I procured a few barrels 

 the last season, and applied them to different ob- 

 jects ; a few spread on grass land with no apparent 

 benefit ; applied some three or four bushels to the 

 roots of an English cherry tree, by digging and 

 mixing with the bog hoe, and had rather more than 

 a usual crop. But applying them to a bean patch 

 which had been manured with guano spread on at 

 the rate of about 300 pounds to the acre, there was 

 a marked difierence between this and an adjoining 

 patch of equal size, treated alike except the ashes, 

 which had evidently reduced the crop one-half, so 

 I have concluded to dispense with coal ashes for 

 the present. T. G. H. 



Bedford, JV. H., Feb., 1857. 



SPARE THE BIRDS. 



Spring is at hand, and with its pleasures will 

 come the daily nuisance to those who dwell amid 

 rural scenes, of hearing the "soft notes of the 

 shot-gun." Every one who has paid attention to 

 the matter, knows that even crows and blackbirds 

 are productive of more good than harm, and that 

 the vast increase of late years of destructive insects, 

 is owing almost entirely to the wanton destruction 

 of birds which are not even legitimate game. 



In Japan the birds are regarded as sacred, and 

 never under any pretense are they permitted to be 

 destroyed. During the stay of the expedition at 

 Japan a number of officers started on a gunning 

 excursion. No sooner did the people observe the 

 cruel slaughtering of their favorites than a number 

 of them waited upon the Commodore and remon- 

 strated against the conduct of the officers. There 

 was no more bird shooting in Japan by American 

 officers after that ; and when the treaty between 

 the two countries was concluded, one express con- 

 dition of it was, that the birds should always be 

 protected. What a commentary upon the inhuman 

 practice of our shooting gentry, who are as eager in 

 the pursuit of a tomtit as of an eagle, and indscrim- 

 inately shoot everything in the form of a bird 

 which has the misfortune to come within the reach 

 of their murderous weapons. 



On the top of the tombstones in Japan, a small 

 cavity or trough is chisseled,jWhich the priests every 

 morning fill with fresh water for the use of the 

 birds. Enlightened America should imitate these 

 customs of the barbarous Japanese, if not by pro- 

 viding fresh water for the feathered warblers, at 

 least by protecting them from the worthless louts 

 who so ruthlessly destroy them. Unless something 

 is done, and that speedily, our insectivorous birds 

 will be wholly exterminated, and then farewell to 

 fruit-growing. A thousand plans have been sug- 

 gested for the destruction of the curculio, all of 



