28 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



JCLT 37. 1843. 



MANURE AT THM BOTTOM! 



We are not often able to present from otir own 

 experience any new facts in relation to agriculture 

 that may be considered valuable. We venture on 

 no experiments wliere the chance is that we niny 

 encounter loss. We have however satisfied our- 

 selves iin one point that we deem conclusive ; and 

 that is, that manure covered deep in the soil where 

 the water does not stand, xcill yield a srrenler henifil 

 to the series of crops than where it is laid jtpon and 

 near the surface. 



There is a piece of oats now (June 30) growing 

 near the lower bridge on the east side of the Mer- 

 rimack river, better than we have elsewhere seen 

 ihis season upon tlie Concord intervale. That 

 piece of land had been laid down to hay some ten 

 years, and produced not much over half a ton of 

 hay to the acre. Manure from the stable which 

 had been taken out m the fall of 1840, laid in piles 

 near this ground through the winter: this manure 

 was spread over the ground at the rate of about 

 twenlvHve loads to the acre. The ground was 

 broken up and turned over with Prouty & Mears' 

 plow No. 2, carrying a furrow of about twelve in- 

 ches in width and full ten inches deep. The 

 sword of the plow cutting diagonally, brought the 

 sward at the bottom far out of the way, and the 

 edge of each furrow with such an inclination that 

 no part of the yrass appeared. The field was left 

 clean for tillage with the under soil turned up as a 

 piece of old plowed ground free of weeds. T he 

 sod was down at the depth that no conunon plow- 

 ing or harrowing could disturb it; and the whole 

 body of manure was still below the sod. The 

 soil was principally a heavy black mould upon the 

 top; the plowing however was so deep that in some 

 places it turned to the top a soil of a bluish or clay 

 cast and of a yellowish cast at others, full four in- 

 ches deeper than any previous plowing had touched 

 it. 



Without doing any thing beyond the first plow- 

 ing — not even passing a harrow or roller over it, 

 this ground was planted, two thirds with potatoes 

 and one third with corn. Instead of furrowing out, 

 the potatoes were dropped on the line between eve- 

 ry third row, and pressed into the ground with a 

 stick sharpened just enough to make a hole for 

 lhf:ir reception. '1 he season was without rain from 

 the time of planting, and the corn came up and 

 looked sickly at first, until the grub worms took 

 away nine-tenths of it: beans at the two first lioe- 

 ings supplied the place of corn, but the extreme 

 drought sufl^ered only a portion of them to come 

 out of the ground, and the worms still preying on 

 some of these. The continued drought also pre- 

 vented the coming up of English turnip seed, ex 

 cept in small numbers, and the grasshoppers left 

 only a tVw of these. What corn, beans and tur 

 nips were left, grew to a large size, so that we 

 obtained a decent crop at the end of the year. The 

 potatoes, after a longtime, came out of the ground 

 they vegetated better than other potatoes on si- 

 milar ground encountering the same drought; but 

 in the first part of the very dry season their pro- 

 gress was slow. Gradually they came on, and not- 

 withstanding there was no rain until August, they 

 assumed more and more that deep green which in- 

 dicates a healthy plant. When the fir.-t rains 

 came on and other potato vines were dead, these 

 potatoes continued to grow, and the green vines 

 were arrested only by tho first frost. The yield 

 was full two hundred bushels to tho acre, where 



other grounds of the same quality rarely gave one 

 lundreil liuslu' s. The potatoes rooted down into 

 tho u'.anure through the decaying sod, and received 

 continued allnicut. They were taken from the 

 ground very handsomely, being in a nest entirely 

 above the turned over sward. 



The present spring this same ground was simply 

 plowed once without disturbing the sod. Not a 

 particle of the manure has yet been moved or made 

 is appearance above. After harrowing, one and a 

 half bushel of oats to the acre have been sowed — 

 harrowed again and rolled ; and again rolled after 

 the oats were about two inches high. The oats 

 have as much assistance from the manure, although 

 no plow or other instrument has disturbed it, as 

 they require; they areas large and of as deep a 

 color as manure can well make them. The worms 

 so prevalent on this ground hive destroyed some ; 

 yet there are oats enough left to make a crop as 

 great at least as was our crop of last year. — Far- 

 mers' Monthly Visitor. 



From the same. 



INTERVALE SUBSOIL. 



About half an acre of alluvial land near the rail 

 road, being a portion of a corn field of last year, 

 aud that part, because it was a ridge, more eleva- 

 ted than the rest of the field, which failed in the 

 crop of corn, has been e.xcavated and removed for 

 the use of the rail road. The excavation will ave- 

 rage about the depth of four feet : in that depth are 

 several layers or strata alternately of sand and ve- 

 getable soil, showing that the river has formed the 

 ridge, sometimes by an overflow washing the sand 

 directly over it, and at other periods by more gent- 

 ly backing in a richer sediment. 'I"he roots of 

 vegetables running horizontally without any com- 

 munication with the surface, and retaining the 

 freshness of life, are found at the depth of three 

 feet, showing that mayhap after the lapse of hun- 

 dreds if not thousands of years, these may spring 

 anew into life when exposed to the surface. 



The digging of this spot was not completed until 

 since the co'umencemcnt of the month of June. 

 After it was done, a plow was passed through the 

 surface ground at the bottom of the excavation, and 

 without manure or other dressing, oats have been 

 sown. In about three weeks time, these oats have 

 sprung up so as to cover the ground with green, 

 and they really look better than most crops of oats 

 sowed on land previously well cultivated. This is 

 more than we expected from land where the sur- 

 face had so lately been exposed to the atmosphere. 

 Another piece planted with potatoes where the 

 excavation was only about three feet, also without 

 manure, shows a handsome growth thus far. 'I'his 

 experiment demonstrates that the under soil of our 

 intervales is as valuable as the surface soil — per- 

 haps much more so than the upper soil long culti- 

 vated and scantily manured. 



Auduhon, the Ornithologist — A few days ago, 

 there arrived at the hotel erected near Niagara 

 Falls, ail odd looking man, whose appearance and 

 deportment were quite in contrast with the welli 

 dressed and polished figures which were assembledl 

 at that celebrated spot. He seemed to hive just 

 sprung from the woods. His dress, which was 

 made of leather, stood dreadfully in need of repair, 

 apparently not having felt the touch of the needle 

 for many a hmg month. A worn out blanket, that 

 might have served for a bed, was buckled to his 

 shoulders, a long knife hung on one side, balanced 

 by a long rusty tin box on the other; and his 

 beard unrropped, tangled and coarse, fell down up- 

 on his bosom, as if to counterpoise the weight of 

 the dark thick locks that supported themselves on 

 his back and shoulders. This strange being, to 

 the spectators seemingly half civilized, half sav 

 age, had a quick, glancing eye, an elastic, firm 

 movement, that would no doubt cut his way through 

 the canebrakes, both of the wilderness and of soci 

 ety. 



He entered the silting room, unstrapped his lit 

 lie burden, quietly looked around for the landlord, 

 and then modestly asked for breakfast. The host 

 at first drew back with evident repugnance at the 

 apparition, which thus proposed to intrude its un- 

 couth form among the genteel visitors, but a few 

 words whispered in his ear speedily removed his 

 doubts. Tho stranger took his place at the table 

 with the company, some staring, some shrugging 

 and some laughing outright. 



Yet, reader, there was more in that single man 

 than in all the rest of the throng. He was an A- 

 merican woodsman, as he called him.'^elf ; he was 

 a true, genuine son of Nature — yet, unpolished as 

 he looked, he had been entertained with distinction 

 at the tables of princes — learned societies, to which 

 the like of Cuvier belonged, had bowed down to 

 welcome his entrance; kings had been compli- 

 mented when he spoke to them ; in short, he was 

 one whose fame will be growing brighter, when 

 the fashionables who laughed at him, and many 

 far greater than they, shall have jierished and be 

 forgotten. From every hill-top and every deep 

 shady grove, the birds, those messengers of heaven, 

 will sing his name. The little wren will pipe it 

 with her matin hymn about our houses ; the onolo 

 carol it from the slender grasses in the iiic.idows ; 

 the turtle dove roll it through the secret forests ; 

 the many-voiced mocking liird pour it along tho 

 air; and the imperial eagle, Freedom's favorite, as 

 he sits in his craggy home, far up the clood-capt 

 niounlain, will scream it to tiio tempests ami the 

 stars. The man was John James Audubon, the 

 far-famed ornithologist. — Af. Y. paper. 



Fatal Effects of Garget upon a Horse. — A cor- 

 respondent of the Genesee Farmersays — "I do not 

 think it is sufficiently kn.wn that garget is death 

 to a horse. A neighbor of mine was in the habit 

 of giving his horse small cars of corn as ho passed 

 his stall. Passing evi'uing before last with some 

 pieces of garget in his hand, and not having any 

 corn, he offered the horse a piece of the garget, 

 which it took, and died within twentyfour hours. 



W. W." 



More wonders are appearing, and here is some- 

 thing fine thiit merits notice. It comes from tho 

 land of " notions." — Jf'estern pap. 



" A useful invention for these hard times has 

 just been introduced at the dinner table. It will 

 be capital fiir green peas. Every eater is provided 

 with a pair ol magnifying spectacles, which increa- 

 ses the size of the eatables amazingly. Juvenile 

 peas look as big as cannon balls, a roast pig swells 

 to the size of an elephant, and the snialleft pota- 

 toes are made to appear as huge as stupendous i 

 pum()kiuji. By this arrangement tnucli expense it ' 

 is expicted will be saved, and people can eat their 

 fill on a few potato parings. The inqiroveiuent, it 

 IS thought will reduce the price of board, also." 



