Vol. XXIII, Second Series. ROCHESTER,' N. Y, FEBRUARY, 1862. 



HOW TO RESTORE A WORN-OUT FARM. 



Eds. Genesee Farmer.— I have lately come into 

 possession of a farm that has been worked on 

 shares for some years, till it is pretty well skinned. 

 The soil is naturally of good quality, some portions 

 a sandy loam and others of a more tenacious char- 

 acter. How shall I go to work to improve it? 

 Shall I buy artificial manures, or what other course 

 shall I adopt? Any advice you can give me will 

 be thankfully received. R- s- 



Monroe Co., N', Y. 



Remarks.— It is not easy to give definite direc- 

 tions for the renovation of an impoverished farm. 

 If there is any muck on the farm, let it be thrown 

 up next summer, and either composted with lime 

 and ashes, or drawn into the barn-yard and stables 

 t# absorb all the liquid. In this way it will make 

 good manure. 



Artificial manures are very handy on any farm, 

 and especially on one that has been run down. 

 Personally, we should not like to be without either 

 Peruvian guano or superphosphate of lime. They 

 can be used to advantage by any one who has the 

 requisite knowledge of their qualities, and of the 

 crops to which they are best applied. For instance, 

 Peruvian guano can ordinarily be used on potatoes 

 with profit. We have used it more or less for ten 

 years, and in some instances 300 lbs. per acre has 

 increased the crop from 100 to 200 bushels per 

 acre. That is to say, $10 worth of manure gives 

 you 100 bushels of potatoes, which thus cost you 

 ten cents per bushel. When potatoes are as cheap 

 as they have been the last year, this will hardly 

 pay, but when you ean get fifty cents a bushel for 

 them it is quite profitable. If wheat commanded 

 as high a price, relatively, as potatoes, it would be 

 equally profitable to use guano for wheat— as good 

 Peruvian guano has as great an effect on wheat as 

 on potatoes. We do not know that we shall suc- 

 ceed in making our meaning plain. If land with- 

 out manure will produce 100 bushels of potatoes 

 per acre, and 300 lbs. of guano will double the 

 crop, we get 100 bushels per acre from the use of 



the guano. On the other hand, if land without 

 manure yields 10 bushels of wheat, and 300 lbs. of 

 guano will double the crop, as before, we get 10 

 bushels of wheat from the use of the guano. Now, 

 as 100 bushels of potatoes are ordinarily worth 

 much more than 10 bushels of wheat, the use of 

 gnano on potatoes is much more profitable than for 

 wheat, though the effect of the manure is no 

 greater in the one case than in the other. If wo 

 could get $2 per bushel for wheat, guano might bo 

 used for this crop with profit. When it sells for 

 $1 per bushel it will barely pay, except under rare 

 circumstances. 



We believe the time will come when artificial 

 manures will be more extensively used in the East- 

 ern States and throughout the whole Atlantic 

 slope than in any other country, and farmers 

 would do well to study their relative value, man- 

 ner of application, etc. At present, however, we 

 would not advise you to purchase largely. Try a 

 little on various crops, and thus ascertain how they 

 can he most profitably used. 



Yoar main dependence for enriching the soil 

 will be in thorough cultivation, and in making all 

 the manure you can on the farm. 



Two things must be borne in mind. One is that 

 the growth of some crops impoverishes the soil more 

 than others; and secondly, that some crops make 

 richer manure than others. Thus, a crop of red 

 clover does not impoverish the soil as much as a 

 crop of timothy grass, while a ton of clover hay 

 will make manure worth half as much again as 

 that made from a ton of timothy hay. The same 

 is true of peas and beans. The manure from a 

 given weight of these is worth double what it is 

 from oats, barley, rye, or Indian corn. 



Your object must be to raise all the clover, peas, 

 turnips, mangel- wurzels, etc., you can, and feed 

 them out on the farm to stock. This will give you 

 manure, — rich manure — not rotten straw — manure 

 abounding in all the elements of plants: manure 



