•390 



NEW ENGLAND FARxMER. 



Aug. 



most casual o1)Borvir. Accordingly, in another 

 part ot the paper, wc givo a column or two on a 

 matter, whica we all, us farmers, ouglit to uuder- 

 Htand better. 



The whole work is one of great interest to all 

 cultivators and one which we should recommend 

 U) every young farmer. 



PIHE WOODS PASrURE AND SOUTH- 

 ER^ CuWS. 



Hundreds of cows that range in the pine woods 

 uf the iSjuthern States', do not give a quart oi 

 milk a day, and we iiave often seen the milking of 

 a cow in a | int cup without filling it. The ani- 

 mals are generally jioor, saiall, scragged creatures, 

 and their calves look like foals of the mother oi 

 the woolly horse . It in a common thing that plant- 

 ers with large herds havi? to buy butter and go 

 withoutniilk. Tlie deficiency ig generally charged 

 to the climate. This is not the cause. The truth 

 i« to be found in the iact that the natural grass 

 of the extensive jiine lands ofuU theSoutliern States 

 is almost entirely" destitute of phosphate of lime, 

 without which the cow cannot produce abundant 

 milk ; her calf cannot grow rapidly, for it gets 

 no bone material. 



Don't say, "Wl'.at fools ; why don't they add 

 phosphates to tleir soil if it is destitute of that 

 important iugi'edient of lertility?'' Look in the 

 glass — see youiself. Look at your own pastures, 

 they may not be as bad — they may be made bet- 

 ter. — New York TriLune. 



VVe Iiave frequently heard it atecrted that the 

 njitiiral grasses o I the Southern fetatcs "are almost 

 entirely destitute of phosphate of lime,'" but wv 

 have never 8.^en any satislactovy proof of the fact. 

 Will the Tril/unf' enlighten us on the point ! We 

 do not say tl-at it is not a Iact, but il it be one, 

 it is too important, in a s. ientific and practical 

 point of view, to rest on mere acJs^Ttiou. 



A cow could not produce milk at all from food 

 destitute of [diosfdiate of lime, and the ci.lf not 

 only "would notgfow rapidly without bone mate- 

 rial,'" but it ivould nol groo at all. On a soil des- 

 titute oi' ji'iospiiatis, no plant cipable of sustain- 

 ing life can grow, if it 13 deficient, tlie produce 

 will be deiicient ; but tkf proportion of phosphates 

 in thep/ant wi'l Oc t/ir sdinr. We have no proof 

 that, by m inuring }i!antR witii phosphates, we 

 cjin increase the relative proportion of phosphates 

 in the ■ plant, wiiile we have abundant evidence 

 that the ivverse is frequently the case. Thus, 

 turnips mauiired with superphosphate of lime, 

 contain fes< phosjjr.oric acid than those manured 

 with sulph.ite ot ammonia ; ?nd it is certain that 

 the quantify of p'io-<phoii(! acid a plant contains 

 is no index of its comparative nutritious value. 

 Were it so. an iuuiuiture plant would be more 

 nutritious tlian on • iierfeetly elaborated, the leaves 

 of turnips tv\ice as nutritious as the i)uli>s, and 

 bran vastly u o -e nourishing than fine wlieaten 

 flour; all oi which, experience, inductive ex- 

 peiiaient, and ((mnnon sense, pronounce erro- 

 neous. — Rural Niw-Yorktr. 



it hits increased during the same period at tlie rate 

 of over^oL'j- hundred per cent, Indian corn is per- 

 haps the article by which the fairest estimate may 

 be drawn between the States and Canada. Tak- 

 ing that as a basis, we find that the increase in tlie 

 United States between 1840 and 18")() has been 

 equal to 56 percent., while the increase in Canada 

 of the same article for the last nine years I:asbeen 

 1G3 per cent. The comparative im. rouse in oats 

 has been similarly extensive. 



Oliio, in 1850, produced 14,487,351 bushels 

 of wheat, while Canada, with a much smaller 

 number of acres under cultivation, produced the 

 same year 1G,156,*.)46 bushels. The av^iage pro- 

 duce, per acre, in Ohio is 12, and ii. Canada 14 

 1-5 bushels. Ohio produces a little over 1-7 part 

 of tlie wheat raised in all the United States, and 

 Canada a little less than 1-G part of that amount. 



\\^ui:.',.T. — The growth of wheat in the United 

 States lias iuer nised witiiiii tlic lat't ten years, at 

 the rate of 18 per cent., while in the two CanHd:us 



COVEEEB AND UNCOVERED MAlf URK. 



EXPERIMKNTS BY LoKD KiNNAlKD, E>.OL.\>D, WITH 



Covered and Uncovered Manure : 

 With uncovered Manure. 



tons. cwt. lbs. 

 1st raeaaurcmeat — 1 acre produced 7 6 8 of potatoes. 

 2d do. 1 do. do. 7 18 09 do. 



With covered Manure. 



tons. cwt. lbs. 

 Ist cicasuremcnt — 1 acre produced 11 17 26 of potatoes. 

 21 do. 1 do. do. 11 12 56 do. 



As soon as possible after the potatoes were har- 

 vested, the field was cleaned, plowed and wheat 

 drilled in, at the rate of three bush(ds per acre. 

 As soon as the weather wassuitable in the spring, 

 the whole field got a dressing of 3 cwt. oi Peru- 

 vian guano ptr acre. During the winter v.iy lit- 

 tle eiilierence was apparent ; but sliortly altii the 

 application of the guano, the wheat on that por- 

 tion manured by the covered dung took a decided 

 lead, whi-^-h it retained all summer. Trie wiiole 

 field was cut on the 2dth of August, 1 ^52 ; the 

 portion manured by the uncovered dung Ixing at 

 least four days earlier than the other. As before, 

 the two separate portions in each 1 alfof the field 

 were measured, cut and stooked sejiarat ly. Ou 

 the 4th Sept., each portion was tisres ed, the. 

 grain carefully measured, and the straw weighed. 

 On account ot a wet season the grain was oflighter 

 weiglit than usual, in Great Britain, per bushel. 

 I'he result e)f the experiment was as follows : 



With uncovered Manure. 



Produce in grain. WV-iglit per hwih, rroJuce in straw. 



;icrc. bush. Iba. lbs. stones lbs. 



1st 41 10 61i 152 of 22 



M 42 38 do. 160 do. 



With covered Manure. 



Ut 65 6 -61 220 of 22 



21 53 47 61 210 do. 



These and similar exjicriments have satisfied 

 Lord Kinnaird of the advantages to be derived 

 from having farm-yard raanui-es pat under cover. 

 They seem so conclusive and instructive on this 

 point as to deserve to be brought bciore the farm- 

 ing classes of tliis coiintry. Not a lew of your 

 readers, we doubt not, will take nfinisures o: tome 

 kind to profit by them. It will require but a 

 il'W minutes to determine tiiC piuba^'le profits 



