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NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



NOV. 30, 184a. 



From ihe New Genesee Farmer. 



VALUE OF LEACHED ASHES FOR MA- 

 NURE. 

 Mr Colman — Dear Sir — I now forward another 

 Brlicle for the Farfner. I selected this, not merely 

 aa showing the value of leached ashes, but mainly 

 as a specimen of the minute accuracy, care and per- 

 severance with which German agriculturists con- 

 .duct their experiments. 1 will only observe that 

 the relative measures are preserved, reduced to the 

 ^English standard acre and bushel ; while the prices 

 are assumed to be such as would be here paid and 

 obtained. Though the offects of the ashes, would 

 probably be similar every where, in similar soils, 

 the profit of the application would of course depend 

 on their cost in each locality, and the price obtain- 

 able for the, products. Thus the cost of the ashes 

 here delivered on my own land, three miles from 

 town, and spreading them, would be $6 2.5; while 

 increased products, as the prices assumed, is worth 

 $19 !I8. But the actual cost of the ashes and 

 spreading, in the experiment, was $2 90, and the 

 value of the increased products was $18 62 — ash- 

 es and labor being there much cheaper, while the 

 products sold at nearly as high prices as they would 

 have done here. 



Respectfully yours, 



SAM'L WAGNER. 



man 

 pasta 

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Translated for ihe New Genesee Farmer. 



ON LEACHED ASHES. 



BT W. ALBERT, OF ROSZLA.V, PRnSSIA. 



I am induced to communicate the result of a se- 

 ries of experiments on the application of leached 

 ashes to sandy soils, in this vicinity, together with 

 some general remarks on the subject, to which 

 these experiments and an attentive observation of 

 theeffect of such ashes on various soils, have led. 



A field, of dry, sandy soil, which had Iain in 

 grass eight years, and was overrun with moss, was 

 ■eiected and dressed with leached ashes, at the 

 rate of 06 bushels per acre, excepting a few square 

 rods in the centre, which were left without dress- 

 ing, that the effecls of the ashes might be accurate- 

 ly ascertainable. The land was first plowed about 

 six inches deep, turning down the sod carefully, so 

 as to close it in completely ; Ihe ashes were then 

 hauled on, spread, and covered in with a shallow 

 furrow, or about two inches deep. In this condi- 

 tion it was permitted to remain six or seven weeks, 

 when it was again plowed, three inches deep, so as 

 to bring up the ashes, and then seeded with buck- 

 wheat. The results were as follows: 



In the year 1827, A, a measured square rod of 

 the portion dressed with leached ashes, produced 

 53 ounces of buckwheat. 



In the same year, B, a square rod of the portion 

 not dressed, produced 28 1-4 ounces of buckwheat. 



In 1828, tlie field having been seeded with rye 

 the previous autumn — 



A produced 77 2-3 ounces of grain. 



B do. 44 1-6 do. do. 



In 1829, oats were sown in the spring, with clo- 

 ve T. 



j\ produced 81 1-4 ounces. 



B do. 38 3-4 do. 



'n 1830, the field was depastured — no additional 

 Qxe or stimulant having been applied. The 

 f.atre on the dressed part was moderately good 

 (;rop would probably have yielded nearly a 

 \ay P6r acre. On the other part scarcely 



any thing grew but weeds. In the fall the field 

 was seeded with rye. 



In 1831, A produced .53 ounces of rye. 

 " B do. 28 1-4 do. 



Cost of ihe Jlpplicalion. — Sixtysix bushels of 

 leached ashes, per acre, had been applied ; which 

 cost, delivered in the field, 9 cts. per bushel : 



66 bushels leached ashes, at 9 cts. $5 94 



Spreading, 31 



$6 25 

 Now arises the question, what profit has resulted 



from this expenditure of $6 25 .' The following 



calculation will show : 



In 1827, A yielded 24 3-4 ounces of buckwheat, 



more than B yielded — which is an excess of 247 1-2 



lbs. per acre, or 5 1-2 bushels. 



5 1-2 bushels buckwheat, at 00 cts. $3 30 

 470 lbs. straw, worth 75 

 In 1828, A yielded 33 1-C ounces of rye, more 



than B — an excess of 331 lbs. jier acre, or 6 bush- 

 els. 



6 bushels rye, at 02 1-2 cts. $3 75 

 600 lbs. straw, worth 1 50 

 In 1829, A yielded 42 1-2 ounces of oats more 



than B — an excess of 425 lbs. an acre, or 10 1-2 



bushels: 



10 1-2 bushels oats, at 25 cts. $2 62^ 



550 lbs. straw, worth 1 00 



In 1830, the field was in clover, and the increas- 



ed value of the pasturage was at least .'j!3 per acre, 



in favor of the dressed portion. Say 



Pasturage worth, $3 00 



In 1831, A yielded 24 3-4 ounces of rye more 



than B — an excess of 247 1-2 lbs. per acre, or 4 1-2 



bushels : 



$19 98^ 



Thus, without taking into account, the pasturage 

 in the oat stubble in the fall of 1830, we have the 

 aggregate sum of .$19 98 1-2 as the value of the 

 increased product of this field, resulting from an 

 expenditure of $6 25, on land worth but .$15 per 

 acre, originally. There is, moreover, no reason te 

 suppose that the effects of the dressing were whol- 

 ly exhausted at the end of these five years — though 

 the experiment was not continued longer. 



A heaped bushel of these ashes, when sufficient- 

 ly dry to be pulverized, weighed 64 lbs. Conse- 

 quently 4224 lbs. per acre were applied ; and the 

 application of this quantity produced in the ensu- 

 ing five years, increased crops of 



Grain, 1251 lbs. 



Straw, 2090 " 



besides pasturage nearly equivalent to one ton of 

 hay — as appears from the preceding details, the re- 

 sult of a carefully conducted experiment. It hence 

 seems highly probable that leached ashes impart to 

 the soils to which they are applied, a capacity to 

 appropriate and assimilate more abundantly, or 

 more rapidly, the fertilizing constituents of tlie at- 



mosphere — as this alone affords an explanation of 

 their extraordinary efl^ects. 



In addition to the foregoing, experience and ex. 

 tensive observation authorize these inferences and 

 remarks : — 



1. Leached ashes have proved themselves par- 

 ticularly efficacious on sandy soils that are natu- 

 rally dry. But on wet soils and moist mpadowg, 

 they produce no efl^ect. Though carefully made 

 comparative experiments have often shown an in. 

 crease of crop exceeding 100 per cent., resulting 

 from the application of unleached ashes to 7«oist 

 meadows, not the slightest perceptible increase fol- 

 lowed the application of leached ashes to similar 

 meadows. 



2. Sundy lands which have lain several years in 

 grass, and have been depastured, are more suscep- 

 tible of improvement from leached ashes than any 

 other. 



3. About sixty bushels, heaped measure, are, 

 commonly an ample dressing for an acre. Benefit 

 has seldom been derived from a larger quantity. 

 On the contrary, heavier doses have notunfrequenl- 

 ly produced injury — especially in wet seasons. 



4. It is found most advantageous to turn down| 

 the green sward the usual depth of good plowing j^, 

 to harrow lengthwise, and apply the leached ashes,, 

 spreading them evenly and plowing them under 

 with a shallow furrow, a month or six weeks be- 

 fore seeding — when the land should again be plow, 

 ed shallow, so as to bring up the ashes to the sur» 

 face. They are much less efficacious if covered in 

 at once with the seed-furrow. 



5. Weeds are very perceptibly diminished after 

 a dressing of leached ashes has been applied ; and 

 five or six crops may usually be taken, without the_ 

 application of other manures. 



6. Oats are decidedly more btnefited by the ap-. 

 plication of such ashes, than any other grain;, 

 though all grain crops are materially increased 

 thereby. 



7. It has been found, in many instances, that 

 potatoes and leguminous plants cannot be cultiva- 

 ted with profit on loamy or clayey sand lands, with 

 leached ashes for manure, unless the ashes be giv- 

 en several years in advance. 



8. It is not until after a lapse of 12 or 15 years — 

 the land having meanwhile received several dress- 

 ings of animal manure — that the application of 

 leached ashes appears to become less efficacious. 



9. These ashes are always found to be particu- 

 larly efficacious in dry seasons ; less so, when the 

 season is moist ; and when it is wet, of scarcely 

 any effect. 



It must be remarked, however, that it is only on 

 soils to which they are adapted, and in favorable 

 seasons, that leached ashes are thus eminently be- 

 neficial ; and hence, perhaps, they cannot properly 

 be considered a manure. But in this respect, they 

 share the fate of lime, gypsum, horn-shavings, bone 

 dust, and various other substances, all of which 

 have been known to produce a most luxuriant vege- 

 tation and abundant crops, in some soils and sea- 

 sons, while they remained wholly inert and inopera- 

 tive in others. 



I think I have observed, in general, that a great- 

 er variety of manures and stimulants are more effi- , 

 cacious in sandy soils, than in those naturally of a J 

 belter quality and composition. But this, if so, is ^ 

 but another evidence of the tendency of Nature's 

 operations to compensate for disadvantages. As j. 

 sandy soils part more freely and rapidly with their 

 geine and assimilable substances, so Nature has ' 



