214 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



JA.N i.is-ia. 



AND HORTICULTURAL RKGISTER. 



Boston, Wkdhesdat, Januaft 4, 1843. 



Tho^e indebted for one and more, years' subscription 

 to this paper, are earnestly requested to remit the amount 

 of their dues forthwith, and greatly oblige 



Dec- 28. The Publishers. 



THE NEW YEAR. 



To our subscribers, a Happy JVew Year. These fa- 

 miliar wnrds come as a matter of course at the, begin- 

 ning of the year. Thev are on the lipa lif all the young, 

 and of many in middle life and old age. They are hut 

 words, in ninetynine cases out of an hundred. No 

 thought — no sentiment is conveyed by them, ordinarily, 

 even when addressed viva voce loan individual. When 

 addressed in type to thousands, the mass of whom the 

 writer never saw, they may often, and perhaps do often, 

 mean nothing. 



But should ii be so? May not the wish that others 

 should be happy, befell as well as expressed .' Ought it 

 not to he felt ? We wish to feel it, when we say again 

 to every reader, we wish you a happy New Year. In 

 Baying this, we mean to express a desire that you may 

 possess tlie principles, fuelin^s, and purposes which 

 bring true and abidmg happiness. Love towards God, 

 and obedience to Him ; charity towards man, and kind 

 deeds to him ; temperance, indnsiry, truthfulness, faith- 

 fulness, in all the duties of life — these we must wish one 

 to possess, when we heartily and earnestly wish him a 

 happy new year. Freedom from pecuniary embarrass- 

 ments, freedom from sickness, p,^in and bereavement; 

 freedom from losses and disappointments— the posses- 

 sion of plenty and of health — these are things usually de- 

 sired, and are valuable. We wish them to you in wish- 

 ing you a happy now year. But these last are not the 

 things which make one truly happy. The principles, 

 Ilie sentiments, the deeds, — thesa are the things that 

 constitute the fountains at which the inner, the moral, 

 the immorlal, the real man, drinks in his permanent 

 pleasures and pains, his happiness and his misery. We 

 wish you, then, a soul humbled by a sense of its past 

 misdeeds, and armed with high purposes and firm re- 

 solves, to do what Heaven requires — to go where duty 

 calls. 



SETTLEMENT OF ACCOUNTS. 

 It is hest to settle all your pecuniary accounts at the 

 beginniniT of the year. Many farmers, as well a? others, 

 will find it difficult to meet their bills this year, but it is 

 best to have the accounts looked over and the balances 

 made out, so that you may see how you stand. Meet 

 the bills promptly, if you can— if they must be put ofi", 

 use all diligence to pay as soon a? possible. lErDo not 

 forget your yearly account with the publishers of the 

 New England Farmer. They have suftVred severely in 

 their pecuniary interests from ihe delinquencies of sub- 

 scribers. 



enable him to fulfil it. We know not another man 

 who would be likely to do it so well as he. His labors 

 here have given him reputation abroad ;— he has been 

 made honorary member of the Royal Agricultural Socie- 

 ty of England ;— these things will open the gates and 

 take down Ihe bars before liim, wherever he may wish 

 to go. His own activity and inquisitivene.=!S, hii facility 

 in recording his observations, and his spirited style of 

 narrative and description, all help to fit him to perform 

 well what he proposes to undertake. He will give an 

 interesting work. 



MR COLMANS VISIT TO EUROPE. 



In iho lust No. of the New Genesee Farmer, Mr Col- 

 man, our late Agricultural Commiisioner, announces his 

 purpose to visit England and the Continent, for the pur- 

 pose of making agricultural observations. 'I'he results 

 of his liihors he ]iroposes to publish in numbets. For 

 further particulars of his project see another page. 



We arc glad that Mr C. has undertaken such a work : 

 we trust the subscriptions will be sufiiciunlly largo to 



ARTIFICIAL MANURES. 



A Mr Bommer, of Connecticut, has discovered a pro- 

 cess of rotting down straw and other vegetable matters 

 rapidly — of making three or four tons of manure from 

 half a ton of straw, &c. (ic, and he has ;ia<cii/c(Z the 

 process. Various testimonials nre furnished from re- 

 spectable sources, showing that his discovery is valua- 

 ble, and that he accomplishes all that lie promises. 



Wo have taken some pains to get at facts enough in 

 this matter to enable us to judge whether he has discov- 

 ered any thing worth knowing — but we remain much in 

 the dark : our private correspondence upon the subject 

 elicits no satisfactory answer. That Mr B. contrives to 

 excite great fermentation in heaps of coarse vegetable 

 matters and to decompose them rapidly, was shown un- 

 doubtedly at Albany, and the same probably has been 

 shown at many other places. But we cannot learn the 

 expense of the process. We think it is about time to 

 complain of Mr B. for not letting the agricultural world 

 know exactly how he proceeds. All that is peculiar to 

 his mode is said to be secured to his use hy patent ; — let 

 us then know what the peculiarities are, in order that 

 we may judge whether they are worth the ten, twelve, 

 filteen or twenty dollars charged for the privilege of us- 

 ing them on one's farm. Mr B. and his agents must lie 

 under the suspicion of being willing to spunge the far- 

 mers — to sell rights for more than they are worth, if 

 they do not tell us the whole story. Were not the use 

 of the peculiarities secured by law to the discoverer, not 

 a word of complaint could be uttured ; but as the matter 

 now stands, our confidence that any thing valuable to 

 the public has been found out, is growing less and less. 

 So much for Mr Bonimer. 



In the Delaware Journal, we find the following. 

 Whether this discovery is also ^aic?i(erf, we know not; 

 if it is, then let ns have the whole story. Let us know 

 what the something is, four dollars worth of which, will 

 in a month, change a thousand loads of common vegeta- 

 ble matters " into a manure of apparently a very strong 

 and valuable kind." No man will believe the story 

 upon the assertion merely of the inveniois, and the wit- 

 ni'sses to the opening of Ihe heaps. 



If iVlr Bommer or Messrs. Gouliart & Buckley, have 

 iliscovcred any thing valuable, we are perfectly willing 

 that they shall bo well paid for the inf irmalion they can 

 impart ; but if they have secured themselves by patents, 

 they will profit more by a frank and public exposition of 

 the whole process, than by such reservations as cre- 

 ate suspicions that they are willing to humbug the til- 

 lers of the soil — willing to sell rights to do what will be 

 as expensive as the old and known procesrses of manure 

 niaking. We are unwilling to give a copper for a right 

 In do, u;iB knoio not ichat ; — nor can we advise any one 

 else to purchase the privilege of trying these methods 

 until the discoverers shall have the frankness to let us 

 know distinctly what they have discovered. 



When they shall do this, we will look at the proces- 

 ses candidly, and if they shall seem to us valuable we 

 will say so. Until the discoverers are more explicit we 

 shall look upon them with suspicious eyes. 



The following is the article alluded to from the Dela- 

 ware Gazette : 



"INTERESTING TO FARMERS. 



" Messrs. John Gouliart and George H. Buckley, hav» 

 advertised to the public that they have discoveied meant 

 whereby as much compost for enriching poor, and re 

 newing exhausted lands, can be made in the short spac^ 

 of twentyfivc or thirty days, as any fnrmer may desire 

 They say their preparation is simple and easy, that eve 

 ry farmer adopting it is certain of success, and that tin 

 ingTcdienIs composing the vegetable or other matter, o 

 which the compost is to be made, will cost only four dol 

 lars for every one thousand cartloads. 



" Certificates from highly respectable gentlemen 

 Prince George county, who were witnesses to experi 

 ments made there, completely establish the utility of th 

 discovery. 



" On the 6tli day of June last, Mr Gouliart construct 

 ed on the farm of Mr George B. Calvert, near Bladenf 

 burg, a pile composed of small brush, green and dr 

 weeds, tobacco stalks, corn cobs, corn stalks, leave 

 from the woods, dry straw and sawdust, which we 

 opened on the 4th day of July ensuing, in the presinc 

 of eleven other gentlemen, who certify that they " ei 

 amined the same, and found the mass decomposed an 

 converted into a manure of apparently a very strong an 

 valuable kind." The change from litter to compost, 

 will be seen, was effected in the brief space of 28 dayi 



" The discovery is really an important one, and th 

 man who will not improve his land at the cheap rate th 

 advertiieis hold out, deserves to make short crops. 



" Should any of our fiiends in this county try Messr 

 Gouliart & Buckley's method, we will be thankful if the 

 will communicate their opinion of it to us. The invei 

 tors of it are at this time in Baltimore, and have forme 

 a bank of materials at No. 20 Eutaw street, where pe 

 sons wishing further information on the subject can ol 

 tain it." 



FEEDING STOCK. 

 We have recently been looking over a chapter by He: 



ry Siephens, of Scotland, on " Rearing and Feedir 

 Cnttle on Turnips." In this country, we feed more ti 

 on hay and grain than is common in England or Sec 

 land, and the processes there approved, are not neccss 

 rily good with us. As matiersof curiosity, we will me, 

 tion that he recommends that the early morning me 

 should be large. At mid-day the troughs should 1 

 again replenished, and again before day-light is ron 

 "The quantity given at the evening meal partly dc peni 

 upon the state of the moon ; for cattle, as well as shee 

 will always feed during the night in moon-Ii^ht. Fro 

 tfiis fact I conclude, that if a light were placed besir 

 cattle, they would also feed duringthe long winter night 

 and of course fatten quicker." Our Yankee cattle wi 

 feed in tho night without the aid of a lamp. 



One point insisted upon by Mr Stephens is, regularit 

 in regard to time of feeding. This is probably highi 

 important and worthy of more attention than is usual! 

 given to it by our feeders. He deems it important thi 

 the cattle-man should begin to feed at the same mini 

 not only each morning, but at each of the three feed 

 of the day. This regularity ho calls "the chief sei 

 in the successful treatment of cuttle." 



ndt' 



dJKl 



The WBEiTH.— t-ome of the bright lads ot Bosto 

 are trying their hands at editing. They send out, sem 

 monthly, their four little pages, of stories and puzzlf 

 for the young, at ,25 ccnis per year. Well worth til 

 money. "The Wreath, No. 21 School street, B 

 stairs," their address. 



