370 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MATS*, 1843. 



From the Transactions of the Essex Agricuttural Society. . 



EXPERI.MENTS WITH MANURES. 

 To the Committee on Manures : 



Gentlemen — Feeling desirous to ascertain the 

 com[iarativo value of different kinds of manure, I 

 resolved to try several experiments. For this pur- 

 pose I selected a piece of warm pasture land ; the 

 soil a gravelly loam. After it was plowed, \ mea- 

 sured off six lots, 5 rods long and ] rod wide. 



On lot No. I, I carted one cartload of compost, 

 made of meadow mud, with which was mixed 13 

 gallons of waste soap. 



No. 2, one cartload of green manure. 



No. 3, compost made as follows : I hauled a 

 quantity of loam and meadow mud into my barn 

 cellar, about the middle of June, 1841. I kept on 

 it from six to eight shoats ; added the manure of 

 two horses about three-fourths of the time ; also, 

 the manure of about twenty head of cattle about 

 six weeks; also, hauled in mud as seemed neces- 

 sary. Hauled it out the first of December, and 

 covered the heaps with mud. In the spring, put 

 on about 75 bushels of wood ashes, and pitched it 

 over three times. Also, with a portion of it, mix- 

 ed a peck of salt to a load. On moving it, I found 

 there were about two loads. 



Lot No. 4, one cartload of the above compost, 

 without salt. 



No. .5, two bushels of hone. 



No. 6, two bushels of poudrette. 



I then carefully spread all the manure, bone 

 and poudrette, and harrowed it in. On the 20th 

 of May, I furrowed it 3 ft. and 4 in. apart, making 

 125 hills on each lot. Planted it with Hartwell 

 corn. It came up well, as there was but one hill 

 missing on all the lots: that was on lot No. 1. 



On the 27th of September I gathered it, hnd the 

 result was as follows : (reckoning 70 pounds to 

 the bushel) — 



Lot. Ears. Lbs. 



No. 1, 470 117 53 KJ-32 hush, per acre. 



" 2, 470 142 04 29-32 " 



" 3, 455 128 58 17-34 " 



" 4, 447 122 55 24-32 " 



" 5, 465 116 53 



" 6, 440 112 51 



In the same field I tried another experiment on 

 ruta bagas — manure in the hill. 



Compost, soap and mud, 20 loads to the acre ; 



Bone, 50 bushels to the acre ; 



Poudrette, 50 " " 



Green manure, 20 loads " 



Compost, as above, 20 " " 



The turnips on the green nnnure came up thin- 

 ly, but they were very large. Bone, poudrette, 

 and compost, made of mud and manure, nearly the 

 same. Those manured with soap and mud, about 

 twcntyfive per cent. less. In another place in the 

 same field, I spread a cask of lime (slacked dry) 

 on to the grass on twelve square rods, and plowed 

 it in ; also, one bushel of salt on five square rods, 

 and plowed it in. I then manured it with compost, 

 the same as the other parts of the field ; planted 

 it, part with corn and part with potatoes. 



There was no perceptible difference in the corn. 

 But the pot.ito tops, where the salt was spread, 

 was considerably larger. The result of potatoes, 

 however was as follows: 



Salt, 235 bush, per acre. 



Lime, 292 " 



Without Salter lime, 272 " " 



In an adjoining field, where I plowed in manure, 

 I put into the hill as follows : 



Bush. Corn. 

 Saltpetre, 150 lbs. to the acre. 64 per acre. 



Salt, 3 bush. " 54 1-2 " 



Poudrette, 5 " " 60 1-4 " 



Bone, 7 1-2" " 0912 " 



Plaster, 3 " " 70 1-4 " 



Ashes, 8 " " 68 1-2 " 



Without any dressing in the hill, 60 " 



The above corn was weighed, and reckoned 70 

 pounds to the bushel. 



In the fall of 1841, I prepared compost as fol- 

 lows : with about eight loads of meadow mud, I 

 mixed fifteen bushels of wood ashes ; also, in 

 another heap of the same size, I mixed two casks 

 of lime. After a few weeks I spread it on to the 

 grass in the same field. The grass the present 

 season, showed the good effect of the compost. 

 But that dressed witb a compost of mud and ashes 

 was the best. 



In the fall of 1839, I prepared a heap of com- 

 post as follows : one part stable manure, and two 

 parts meadow mud. In the spring of 1840, I used 

 it in the hill for potatoes. Also, part of the same 

 field I manured with the same quantity of barn 

 manure. There was no perceptible difference in 

 the potatoes. In 1841, it was manured, and plant- 

 ed with corn. In 1842 it was sowed with oats. 

 There was no perceptible difference in either of 

 the crops. 



In re^iard to salt, I have used it in different ways, 

 and never have received any benefit from it, ex- 

 cepting as above stated, in potato tops and com- 

 post for corn. 



I have also used saltpetre in various ways; and 

 have received very little, and in most cases no 

 benefit from it. I have used ashes, and generally 

 with very great success, although sometimes they 

 do but very little or no good. I believe, however, 

 that if our lands ever are enriched, it must be done 

 principally by animal and vegetable manure, al- 

 though other manures may be used to some ex- 

 tent to good advantage. 



JOSEPH HO W 



Methuen, Aov. 30, 1842. 



EXPERIMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS ON 

 THE PRODUCTION OF BUTTER. 

 At a late meeting of the Highland Agricultural 

 Society of Scotland, a paper entitled." Experiments 

 and Observations on the Production of Butter," by 

 Professor Traill, was read by the author. These 

 experiments were made in connection with the late 

 Dr. Gerard, of Liverpool, who had paid much at- 

 tention to the subject, and assistance was occasion, 

 ally given by Dr. Bostock, now in London. The 

 experimenters had a dairy of four, sometimes of 

 live cows at their disposal ; but after numerous 

 preliminary trials, they found that the numerical 

 results, on the q'lantity of the butter obtained, were 

 most uniform and satisfactory, when each experi- 

 ment was made on a few pints only. The process 

 could thus be carried on in glass vessels, which 

 enabled them to observe the progress of the opera- 

 tion, to collect the produce more carefully, and 

 use a more delicate balance to ascertain the weight 

 of the butter obtained. This likewise enabled 

 thom to make the comparative experiments on the 

 same milk, on the same day, a point regarded as of 

 essential iinportance, as the richness, even of the 

 same cow's milk, is liable to vary considerably 



from day to day, according to the nature of her 

 food, her health, end possibly too, according to 

 the state of the weather. The time which had 

 elapsed since the last calving, was also found to 

 have much influence on the quantity of the butter. 

 The quantity of butter was smallest, and the pro- 

 portion of cheesy matter greatest, just after calv- 

 ing ; and generally speaking, the milk of those 

 cows which yielded the least quantity was richest 

 in buttyraceous matter. 



One of the principal objects in view was to as- 

 certain the comparative advantages of Churnino- 



1. Sweet cream alone. 



2. Sweet milk and cream together. 



3. Sour cream or that slightly acid. 



4. Sour milk and cream together. 



5. Scalded cream, or what is called clotted 



cream, as practiced in Devonshire. 

 The principal results of the experiments are the 

 following : 



1. That the addition of some cold water during 

 churning, facilitates the process, or the separatioa 

 of the butter ; especially when the cream is thick 

 and the weather hot. 



2. The cream alone is more easily churned than 

 a mixture of cream and milk. 



3. The butter produced from sweet cream has 

 the finest flavor, when fresh, and appears to keep 

 longest without becoming rancid ; but that the but- 

 termilk so obtained is poor, and small in quantity. 



4. That scalding the cream, according to the 

 Devonshire method, yields the largest quantity of 

 butter, which, if intended for immediate use, is 

 agreeable to the palate, and readily saleable ; but 

 if intended to be salted, is more liable to acquire, 

 by keeping, a rancid flavor. 



The process of scalding is troublesome, and the 

 milk, after the removal of the cream, is poor, and 

 often would be unsaleable from the taste it has 

 acquired from the heating. 



5. That churning the milk and cream together, 

 after they have become slightly acid, seems to be 

 the most economical process on the whole ; be- 

 cause it yields a large quantity of excellent butter, 

 and the buttermilk is of good quality, a point of 

 some importance where buttermilk is largely used 

 as an article of diet, as it is in Lancashire. 



C. That the keeping of butter in a sound slate, 

 appears to dtfpend on its being obtained as freo 

 from uncombined albumen, or caseine and water, 

 as it can be, by means of washing and loorking 

 when taken from the churn. 



The author mentioned the interesting fact that, 

 in the course of his experiments, he found when 

 sweet milk and cream were churned together, and 

 though cold water was added, after an hour and 

 half, and then after three hours' churning, not a 

 particle of butter was obtained. 



DEEP PLOWING AND SUBSOILING. 

 The Rev. Mr Jaffray, of Dunbar, then read his 

 report of an experiment in deep plowing. The ex- 

 perihient was made upon a small field, sixtyfive 

 feet above the level of the sea. The soil was 

 sandy, resting upon a subsoil of sand and gravel 

 of great depth, and so thoroughly drained by the 

 declivity of the surrounding lands, that want of 

 moisture was its natural defect. By shallow plow- 

 ing, little depth of available soil could be obtained, 

 and the field was therefore subsoiled with the 

 Dennston plow, for crop in 1839, eighteen inches 

 deep. The vigor and luxuriance of the succeeding 

 crop, attracted general attention. For crop in 



