No. 6. 



Poudrette on Corn. — Measurement of Cream. 



185 



For the Farmers' Cabine:. 

 Poudrette on Corn. 



Mr. Editor, — I last spring- made experi- 

 ments in Kent county, Delaware, on Indian 

 corn, with poudrette, manufactured by Mr. 

 Mmor. This concentrated ruanure was ap- 

 plied in its usual form, that of a coarse pow- 

 der — dropped in contact with the seed at the 

 time of planting, and in other cases thrown 

 upon the hill after the corn had come up. 

 The experiments were made in three differ- 

 ent fields, all however, of very similar soil, 

 namely, a light clay loam, greatly impover- 

 ished by long tillage, without the assistance 

 of manure. In every instance the corn grew 

 off with a rapidity, which made it the admi- 

 ration of all who saw and compared it with 

 that growing in the vicinity, even such as 

 had received the help of other manure. 

 The quantity applied was only a gill to each 

 hill, or about ten bushels to the acre, and the 

 product was in every case, at least double 

 that on the adjacent ground. Where the 

 application was made in contact with the 

 seed, the corn proved the best. I have made 

 arrangements for using this valuable fertil- 

 izer quite extensively on corn next spring, 

 and shall also try it as a top-dressing for 

 wheat, to be applied in March and April. 

 To those especially, who reside at a distance 

 from large towns, and are without other 

 abundant sources of manure, the poudrette 

 is a most valuable acquisition, as its concen- 

 trated form allows it to be transported at 

 comparatively trifling expense. 



Yours respectfully, 



G. Emehson. 



Philadelphia, Dec. 30th, 1843. 



Measurement of Cream. 



In our fourth number we gave a description and cut 

 of Fry's Lactometer, prepared at the susjgestion of a 

 Committee of the American Institue, for testing the 

 quality of milk, or ascertaining the amount of its adul- 

 teration by water, by comparing its specific gravity 

 with that of VTater. In a late number of Johnston's 

 Lectures, we find the following notice of an instru- 

 ment for measuring the richness of milk, which we 

 know, is generally estimated by the bulk of cream 

 which rises to its surface in a given time.— Ed. 



" For the purpose of testing this richness," 

 says the Professor, " a simple instrument, 

 dignified by the learned name o? galaclome- 

 ter, or milk gage, has been recommended, 

 and may often be useful. It consists of a 

 narrow cylindrical vessel, or long tube of 

 glass, divided, or graduated into one hundred 

 equal parts. This vessel is filled up to one 

 hundred with the milk to be tested, and at 

 the end of twenty-four or thirty-six hours, 

 the quantity of cream which has risen is es- 



timated by the number of degrees of space 

 which it occupies at the top of the milk. If 

 it covers three degrees, the milk yields three 

 per cent; if seven degrees, seven per cent 

 of cream. This instrument, however, will 

 give a result which will be generally less 

 than the truth, because the cream will al- 

 ways rise slowly through five or six inches of 

 milk; the smallest length whicli the instru- 

 ment can conveniently be, and most slowly 

 in the richest and thickest milk. Unless 

 considerable care be taken, therefore, this 

 milk gage may easily lead to erroneous con- 

 clusions in regard to the relative decrees of 

 richness of different samples of milk." 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



Sm.\ll Productive Farm. — I raised, the 

 past year, from 30 acres of land, 700 bushels 

 of potatoes, 60 bushels of barley, 2-3 bushels 

 of beets, 1.5 bushels of wheat, 10 bushels of 

 beans, 4 tons of mowed oats, 6 tons of Eng- 

 lish hay, 10 tens of meadow hay, 40 bushels 

 of corn, 20 bushels of carrots, 75 chickens 

 and turkeys, and a great variety of garden 

 sauce. 



I have killed one hog, weighing 390 lbs., 

 made 400 pounds of butter, kept three cows, 

 a pair of oxen, two heifers, two steers, eight 

 sheep and 4 hogs. I have been on the place 

 but two years, and have laid six acres of 

 land to grass ; the land a clay loam, easy to 

 work. I have no convenience for my hogs 

 to graze, neither do I believe it economy, for 

 the extra manure that can be made by yard- 

 ing them, will pay the extra feed. I mis 

 lime with my compost, and plaster my corn, 

 potatoes and grass. I sort my potatoes be- 

 fore sale, and by that means save half a peck 

 per bushel, which would be lost to me if not 

 sorted. Finally, I cook every thing I give 

 my hogs, and feed warm, and keep warm. 

 A. T. Perkins. 



Food and pasture for Cows. — In the 



same animal, says Johnston in his Lectures, 

 the quantity of milk is known to be greatly 

 influenced by the kind of food. This is 

 best understood in the neighborhood of large 

 towns, where the profit of the dairy-man is de- 

 pendent upon the quantity, rather than upon 

 the quality of his milk. Hence the value 

 of highly succulent foods — of the grass of 

 irrigated meadows — of mashed and steamed 

 food — of brewer's grains — of turnips, pota- 

 toes, and beets — and of other similar ve- 

 getable productions, which contain much 

 water, intimately mixed with nutritive mat- 

 ter, and thus tend both to aid in the produc- 

 tion of milk, and to increase its quantity. 



