236 



Manures — The Potatoe Rot. 



Vol. XII. 



its best qualities by exposure, it contains es- 

 sential qualities to produce good crops. In 

 applying- it, it should not be buried deep in 

 the ground, but placed as near to the surface 

 as it can be without exposure to the action 

 of the sun; so that the rain in passing 

 through it, may carry the gasses downward, 

 but not so far as to be beyond the reach of 

 the crops. 



Dr. Ward, of Albany, desired to call the 

 attention of farmers to the use of peat as a 

 manure. He had no doubt that it was an 

 absorbent of the most valuable kind, having 

 used it for three years with very satisfactory 

 results. This, which had been hitherto re- 

 garded as of little consequence, he found to 

 contain valuable salts, which had been ab- 

 sorbed in their passage through the soil, car- 

 ried down by the rains, and there become 

 locked up by reason of the superabounding 

 acids. Mixing it in the compost heap with 

 the excrements of animals, it is brought in 

 contact with other and antagonist salts, 

 whereby they become dissolved, and add a 

 valuable material to the compost. He had 

 used muck with lime upon an exhausted 

 soil, with marked effect. One field, where 

 three years since nothing grew but muliens, 

 he had been able to reclaim by the use of 

 this manure, although the farmer of whom 

 he purchased it advised him not to attempt 

 its cultivation — oats, he thought, would cer- 

 tainly not be able to stand, if sowed there. 

 He had also used the charred cinders drop- 

 ped by the locomotives, alluded to by Mr. 

 Bement, and found them a valuable agent. 

 Around his fruit trees he first placed a layer 

 of lime, and then covered the soil for some 

 distance with the cinders. Upon young 

 fruit trees especially, the effect had been 

 very good. 



Mr. Pettibone, of Oneida county, was 

 called upon for his views on this question, 

 and stated that he had been in the habit of 

 using manure very lavishly, because he al- 

 ways had a great plenty, keeping and sta- 

 bling a large stock of cattle and hogs. So 

 far as the views of the Chairman (Judge 

 Cheever) are in favour of applying manure 

 in an unfermented state, he concurred with 

 him. He believed that he had derived more 

 benefit from it, upon a soil of clay and loam, 

 by applying it in a green state, and putting 

 it out of the reach of the sun and air, than 

 by any other mode, particularly with regard 

 to hoed crops. But allowing it to lie for a 

 a year or so in the yard, it became light, 

 like chaff; and although he had never at- 

 tempted an experiment with it in this state, 

 he had supposed it to be worth very little. 

 He had used it as a top-dressing for his mea- 

 dows, putting it on six or eight inches thick, 



and found it very beneficial. At first it 

 would turn the grass yellow, and mat it 

 down, but it soon after recovered its shade, 

 and sprang up with new life. Ail his ma- 

 nure came from the stable, and his stock 

 were fed principally upon grain, making a 

 very rich material, which would not be 

 likely to ferment immediately. On wheat, 

 he found it apt to produce a too great growth 

 of straw. One year his crop was of an ex- 

 cellent quality, and it was not affected by 

 the rust. He found it better to apply the 

 manure first to his corn-field, then sow with 

 barley and afterwards with wheat. 



It might be interesting to some, and he 

 related an experiment with a crop of pota- 

 toes. He applied to a quarter of an acre, a 

 wagon load of manure, composed of two- 

 thirds of ashes, five or six bushels of lime 

 and plaster, and about a half bushel of salt. 

 At first he put a handful in the hill, after 

 dropping the potatoes; but upon reflection 

 fearing the effect of the lime, removed it, 

 and put a shovelful upon the outside and 

 top of the hill. The result was that he had 

 an excellent crop, entirely free from rot. 

 Upon the same plat, in front of his house, he 

 had grown potatoes for five or six years. He 

 planted the round pink-eyes, about the first 

 of May, which is considered early. On a 

 piece of new land he planted another lot of 

 potatoes, and found them nearly all rotten. 

 His neighbour, who planted near his first 

 potatoe patch, found his fruit rotten. In his 

 section, the potatoe is quite generally affect- 

 ed with the rot. 



Col. Johnson observed that statements in 

 regard to the potatoe disease were very con- 

 tradictory. The State Agricultural Society 

 had collected much testimony on the subject, 

 considerable portions of which was favour- 

 able to early planting; but other statements 

 were the reverse. One of the competitors 

 for the premium on farms, at the late meet- 

 ing of the Society, had stated that all his 

 early planted potatoes rotted, while all his 

 late ones were saved. 



Dr. Ward's experience was directly the 

 reverse of that. 



Mr. Butler, of Westchester, had planted 

 at three diflijrent periods. The earliest were 

 free from rot, the next earliest were affected, 

 and the latest were nearly all rotten. 



Mr. Bement gave his experience in the 

 use of three different kinds of seed, giving 

 the preference to the Carter variety, as pro- 

 ducing the most sound fruit. 



Col. Johnson said the Carter potatoe, not 

 only in this State, but throughout New 

 England, Avas found lo be rotten last year. 



The Chair also related the result of his 

 own planting, which had convinced him that 



