1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



229 



herds grass, &c., at that time and clover in the 

 spring? 



WJiat variety of corn do you plant, or would 

 you reoommend, — 8 or 12 rowed? Could you! 

 send me a few quarts, in case I should order it, of} 

 a good and productive kind ? I jilanted the Small\ 

 Canada last season, but it seems a pretty smalli 

 busifitss. 



But lest I should weary your patience, I will 

 close. Should you think of any other suggestions 

 relative to muck, or any improved methods of 

 cultivation, I shall be very thankful to receive 

 them. 



Very respectfully yours, 



Mmxh 1, 1854:. * 



De.vr Sir : — lemlirace my earliest leisure to re- 

 ply to the inquiries proposed in your h;tter of the 

 1st inst. I often receive letters of inquiry about 

 farming matters, which I answer cheerfully, not- 

 withstanding the innovations upon my time in- 

 volved in such answers, feeling willing to contri- 

 bute mj- mite towards agricultural improvement. 

 1 have judged it propter to answer your letter 

 through the medium of the Nciv England Farmer, 

 trusting that inasmuch as your inquiries are of 

 similar import to those frequently proposed by 

 other persons, and therefore possess general inter- 

 est, and your name and residence are withheld 

 from the public eye, you will not think the sancti- 

 ty of private correspondence very seriously in- 

 vaded . 



You will realize good results from compasting 

 muck with lime alone ; but if the lime is slaked 

 with brine, the compost Avill be enough better to 

 warrant tiie expense. Dissolve a bushel of salt in 

 water enough to slake five or six bushels of fresh 

 lime to a f ne dry puwder — slaking the lime no 

 faster tiian wanted for immediate use. applying it 

 to the muck while hot, and covering it at once 

 witli more muck. A cask, or three bushels of 

 fresh lime will do very well for five loads of muck, 

 of about one-half-cord each; but a bushel of lime 

 to a load of muck would 1)0 better. It is an im- 

 portant point in composting, to mix the materials 

 nic.ly; and hence the layers of muck and lime 

 should be thin and frequent — say the muck four 

 to six inches and the lime in the right proportion 

 — so that the lime may act cfiectually in neutra- 

 lizing acidity and promoting decomposition. Af- 

 ter I3 ing three or iLur weeks or longer, the heap 

 should lie tliorougldy overhauled. 



(jluod unleached ashes, at 14 cents per bushel, 

 may in many localities be profitably composted 

 with muck ; but if you buy shell-lime at the price 

 you named, and the I'rcigtit is not too high, you 

 may probably find it advisable to use lime instead 

 of asiics, considering the relative cost of the two. 

 If ashes are employed, about two bushels will be 

 needed to each iialf-cord of muck. I cannot in- 

 form y(ju of the relative advantage of using stone 

 and siiell-lime, as the former being plenty with 

 me at a moderate price, I have not used the latter. 

 Whatever Doct. Dana says to you regarding 

 composts, is entitled to great consideration. My 

 imp^''.s^■ion is, however, that ho would not advise 

 you generally to In-oadcast tiio muc-k and asiies 

 and mix tliem thus, in preference to mixing thorn 

 in a heap to stand avvhilo before being ai^ilied to 

 the land. By mixing them in layers to remain 

 in heap a few weeks or months, the acidity of the 



muck will be fully neutralized by the alkali of the 

 ashes, and the desirable decomposition carried for- 

 ward. 



You remark that your land is of a thin soil, and 

 pretty much run out. Then you had better at 

 once adopt measures to deepen the soil. In shin- 

 ning your land, probably the plowing was cpiite 

 shallow, and nothing below the depth of four to 

 six inches was ever stirred. You had better bo- 

 gin plowing seven or eight inches deep certain, 

 manuring well whatever you plow. Don't Ijg 

 afraid of a little yellow dirt. Deepen your plow- 

 ing a little at the commencement of each new ro- 

 tation of crops, allowing the original under soil to 

 remain on the surface through that rotation, to be 

 modified and improved by atmospheric action and 

 the compost manure. To secure this result, let the 

 first plowing for a given rotation be as deep as 

 you wish to stir the land, and subsequent plow- 

 ings, such as turning under the stubT>le of hoed 

 crops preparatory to seeding to grass, quite shal- 

 low, leaving the turf underneath through the ro- 

 tation. These remarks are meant to be gen- 

 eral ; you may of course find it convenient in 

 practice to vary from them more or less ; but, in 

 general terms, they indicate a cheap and quick 

 mode of improving a poor thin soil . 



Such portion of the land as you would prefer to 

 seed immediately to grass, without intervening 

 hoed and grain crops, you had better plovy in 

 August or Septem'ier, as you propose doing ; 

 sj^read your compost on the inverted furrows, har- 

 row and mix it well with the subsoil turned up, 

 and sow herds-grass and red-top seeds; on a late 

 snow in spring, sow red and white clover seeds ; 

 and a few weeks later, on a still, misty day, sow a 

 mixture of five to ten busliels of unleaclied ashc-s 

 and one bushel of plaster to. the acre, which will 

 stimulate the young grass to push out roots vigor- 

 ously and cover the surface of the land, and choke 

 down sorrel, which is very apt to grow on such 

 land as yours. !Mow for three or four years, or as 

 long as the crop of grass is satisfactory ; then plow 

 an inch or two deeper than before, and manure 

 and seed as before. After two or three courses in 

 this way, the land will be well filled with vege- 

 table substance, and have that depth, I)ody and 

 consistence of soil which will protect the crojis 

 from ordinary drought and cause agood yield. 



For pretty level lands of a medium texture of 

 soil, and free from stumps, fast rocks and other 

 con.siderable obtruetions, you will find the Double 

 or Sod and Sub-soil Plow an excellent instrument, 

 — particularly in coblily fields, as it hugs the 

 ground famously and maintains great uniformity 

 m dejith of plowing. 



In localities favorable to the growing and ripen- 

 ing of corn, it is generally best Jo plant a variety 

 of good size of ear. I plant a very largo sort of 

 eight-rowed yellow corn, which ripens well on my 

 warm llats, Init would be too late for you. I have 

 generally pn.'ferred large eight-rowed to largo 

 twelve-rowed corn, bocaus(^ the former has less 

 cob to 1)0 cured than the latter, ]Kirticularly attho 

 but, and when several hundred bushels are to be 

 cribbed up rapidly at husking-time, is not quite 

 so liable to mould in l)ad weather. Tiie little 

 Canada corn, although of the very first quality for 

 feeiling purposes, does not yield largely at the 

 best ; and to olitain a large crop for tliis kind of 

 corn, thi> hills nmst be planted very near together, 



