X854. 



NBW ENGLAND FARMER. 



2>7 



■wonderful sugar-loaf shaped peninsular, the Pavil- 

 ion de Pica, in the province of Tarapaca, still con- 

 tains some four or live millions of tons ; and whilst 

 the Hunnillas, Chipana, Lobos, and other known 

 guaneros on the south coast of Peru, between Iqui- 

 que and the river Loa, contain some four or five 

 millions more amongst them. Thus, independent 

 of the Chinchas, there are some thirteen or four- 

 teen millions of this invaluable manure still known 

 to exist, and I am therefore of opinion that the 

 holdei-s of Peruvian stock need be under no appre- 

 hensions of their guarantee falling short whilst 

 the demand for this indispensable article remains 

 practically inexhaustible, as I firmly believe, with 

 JSenores Rivera and ^Tilla, it to be." 



PREPARING SEED CORN. 



As the planting sc;ison is now near at hand, it 

 may be useful to present such modes of preparing 

 corn for planting, as appears to have answered the 

 purpose desired. We therefore append two modes. 

 The first is from 0. F. Marsiiai., of Wheeler, N. 

 Y. , and the other is from a correspondent of the 

 Albany Cultivator, who dates at Xeuia, Ohio. — 

 Ger. Telegraph. 



1. I have made frequent experiments in prepar- 

 ing seed corn, without success, except one made 

 last spring. I took soft soap, put some in a ket- 

 tle, warmed it over the fire, put in the seed corn, 

 and gave it a good stirring, adding as much plas- 

 ter as would adhere to tlie corn. The corn came 

 up good and quick, and looked vigorous and 

 healtliy. The alkali in the soap is a strong ferti- 

 lizer. The wire worms did not di.sturb that plant- 

 ed with the seed soaped — that part not soaped, 

 was injured more or less by the worms. Lest 

 some should attribute the manifest difference be- 

 tween the soaped and unsoaped seed, to the plas- 

 ter, I took some thick molasses, put a few quarts 

 of seed in a kettle, as above stated \ there was as 

 much plaster attached to this seed as to that 

 soaped. The greater part of the field was planted 

 with seed in its natural state. The soaped seed 

 came up the quickest and best. Will others try 

 the experiment ? 



2. Take a tight vessel of convenient size, into 

 which put the seed corn, adding sufficient warm 

 water to cover the corn ; the water so warm that 

 the hand cannot be kept in it ; stirring the corn a 

 few ti«ncs, that it may be thoroughly wet, letting 

 it stand in the water from ten to twelve hours, 

 then take the corn out of tlic water, and put it in 

 a nice pile on the barn floor, cover it with a blan 

 ket for the space of two nights and one day, then 

 plant as soon as possible. 



My informant says (iiaving confidence in him 

 in this matter,) tliat on last year, his seed corn 

 treated as above, came up so well, that he had not 

 to replant any, whih) the same variety, planted on 

 the same day, in the same field, and not treated as 

 the above, but dry, came up very indifierently, 

 liaving to be rephmted. 



What is still better, (says my informant,) the 

 prepared seed came up sooner, and apparently kept 

 a week in advance in the growth durin<' the season. 



The E.\d of Life. — No man has a right to live 

 solely for himself; but should live to do good, and 

 Bcatter bleesings all around him. 



For the New Enrrlnnd Fanner. 



EXTRAVAGANT PRICES FOR STOCK. 



Mr. EniTOR : — Sentinel as you are on the watch- 

 tower of the farmer, it is your duty to give the 

 alarm, when danger is near. W itliin a short time, 

 we have seen accounts of prices most extraordin- 

 ary, paid for "full blood animals" purchased in 

 England, to bo introduced to this country. In- 

 stance at the sale of Lord Ducie's Stock, it is said 

 £100 was given for a bull ; — £700 for a cow ; — 

 £350 for a calf, 6 weeks old, only ; — and so on ; — 

 dearly indiftxting a mania in this matter. I am 

 pleased to see, tliat the Editors of the Farmers^ 

 Companion and Gazelle, a well conducted journal 

 at Detroit, Michigan, have cautioned their readers 

 against such follies, page 34, ofcuri-ent volume ; — 

 and assured them, that as fine animals as were 

 ever reared, can be introduced from England, at 

 less than one-quarter part these prices. It adde 

 nothing to the intrinsic value of an animal, thaf 

 its ancestor was a Peer of the Realm. Republican 

 as we are, we are easily captivated by baubles. 

 We are "well assured that first class animals can 

 be purchased and imported from England, at a 

 cost not exceeding $250 each. 



April 19, 1854. 



DO SOILS LOSE THEIR MANURES BY 

 LEACHING? 



Not often. 'Tis only the coarsest sands or grav- 

 els, and such as are almost wholly destitute of 

 clay or vegetable matter, that permit manures to 

 pass downward through them. Nearly all soils 

 absorb the valuable portion of the manures which 

 have dissolved by rains after apjiliiuition, before it 

 has descended five inches. To l)e satisfied of this, 

 one has only to examine the soil at the bottom of a 

 barn-yard, and he will find a few inches only 

 that have become at all charged with the fertile 

 extract of the superincumbent manure. 



The true source of escape is by evaporation. If 

 only partially buried, or the soil is principally si- 

 licious and coarse, the ammonia, carbonic acid, 

 and other fertile gases, which may have been de- 

 veloped by decomposition, or dissolved by rains, 

 may evaporate from the surface or through the 

 loosely associated particles of the soil, and pass off 

 into the general storehouse of the atmosphere. 

 And it is in this way nearly all manures escape 

 from the soil. A perfect correction of this de- 

 fec*', is to bury the manures at a sufficient depth, 

 and keep the soil above, well supplied with vegetjv 

 ablc water, both living and dead. 



We have seen tlie principle aliovo asserted, 

 most fully proved by the appearance of a muck 

 heap made by compounding fisli with loam. AVhen 

 made with a single layer of Manhadden or Moss 

 Bankers in the middle of a heap four feet high, 

 tlie oil and other fertilizing matters dissolved in 

 the decay of the fish, has been found to mark dis- 

 tinctly to the eye and smell all tlieaiiperincuml>ent 

 mass of earth while it had not reaohod four inches 

 below it. A clear understanding of the road ma- 

 nures travel, may aid many a farmer to arrest 

 their progress, who would otherwise spend a large 

 amount in unavailing cffc)rt8, to secure them from 

 their fancied escape in another direction. — iV. Y. 

 AgricuUor. 



