VOli. SXt. NO. 5 3. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



413 



the Eilitor of llie New Eiislaiui Farmer : 



Dear Sir — [ ask leave to correct a material er- 

 ir in tiie statoiiient of tlio results of the nnnlysis 

 r Indian corn whicli I sent you, ond whicli you 

 jblislieil in your paper of March 8, ISl!!. 



1.2(i should be I'iXl Deducting this number, 

 le product of multiplying the nitrogen of corn by 

 20, from the water of vegetation and the salts, 

 e have 77.01). 



The corrections thus made, the results are — 

 'lesh- forming i)nnciples — gluten, albumen, 



&c. 12.G0 



ht-formxn^ principles — ae gum, sugar, starch, 



woody fibre, oil, &c., 77.0!) 



Water, D. 



Salts, I.:31 



]00. 

 With regard, your ob't serv't, 



SAM. L. DANA. 

 Lowtll, June 10, 1843. 



From the American Agriculturist. 



CITV MANURES. 

 Glass is a silicate of potash or soda, which en- 

 rs into the composition of all grasses, straw, 

 rain aud corn, forming a fraction of the solid por- 

 Lin of probably all vegetation. Silicate of pot- 

 ;h and of soda, is silicious, and chemically com- 

 ned with those alkalies; that is, such sand as is 

 immonly found on our sea-beaches. Wheat con- 

 ins a larger portion of silicate than any other 

 rain ; and if sown on land totally exhausted of 

 is material, no wheat will be produced, however 

 ch the soil may be in other fertilizers. When 

 )wn on land mostly exhausted of silicate, the 

 ■op will be small and the grain light in weight. 



To apply glass to land, it should be ground as 

 ae as flour. I have sold about 25 barrels of it to 

 n farmers within the last six months, and the 

 )ming crops will test its value. The price charg- 

 i has been $1 75 per barrel, the barrel included ; 

 id when our farmers know that each barrel con- 

 ins more than three hundred pounds, and that in 

 lis quantity there are from one hundred and five 



one hundred and twenty pounds of potash or so- 

 1, they will know it to be one of the cheapest 

 rtilizers they can purch.isc, independent of any 

 Tect from the silex dissolved in it. It is pur- 

 lasing pure potash or snda, at less than one cent 

 )d three-quarters per pound. I should consider 

 le barrel per acre to be an ample supply for two 

 3ars' crops. 



Alany hundreds of tons of broken gl.iss are 

 irown away in New York and Brooklyn annually ; 

 id as every hundred tons contains from 35 to 40 

 ms of alkali, our Long Island and New Jersey 

 rmers may judge how much they lose by not em- 

 ioying it on their land. 



I shall now call your attention to the plaster of 

 aris thrown away in New York. Such an asser- 

 on will no doubt surprise many a farmer who 

 5es plaster ; yet it is true that scores of tons of 

 le purest of plaster have been annually thrown 

 way in our city. I last summer had carted away 

 1 barrels of it to put into a compost heap at 

 Iravesend. In making soda Avater, they use car- 

 onate of lime, from which they separate the car- 

 onic gas to saturate the water contained in their 

 luntains. To do this, they have to use sulphuric 

 cid ; this combines with the lime, separating it 

 om, and liberating its carbonic gas, and the re- 



siduum thrown away, is the purest of plaster. 

 Such plaster will be moist, yet sufficiently solid to 

 cart away in flour barrehs. Let those farmers who 

 find plaster beneficial to their land, attend to this 

 source of supply. 



I shall now call your attention to the dock mud 

 taken out of our docks by dredging mat'hines. I 

 was quite astonished the other day, to learn that 

 this material was landed in scows, then warped to 

 the tide current, and there tlirown into the rirer! 

 This is probably one of the most valuable fertili- 

 zers we have in the country, and the quantity is 

 immense. It contains the whole wash of the city ; 

 and after a rain storm, the most valuable portion of 

 our street dirt settles in the docks. The very 

 smell from the docks when foul, or tho tide is low, 

 is a pun;jent proof of its fertilizing power. 



This material should be collected in some con- 

 venient spot where it can be landed, put into heaps 

 under open sheds, mi.\ed with lime, plaster, or 

 charcoal, and let lie until a thorough decomposi- 

 tion takes place, ami then applied to the land. 

 There can be no doubt that one cartload from such 

 a compost heap, would be more valuable to the 

 farmer than three loads of the best street dirt. 



WiM. PARTRIDGE. 



.Yew York. 



From the Farmer's Cafjinet. 



COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF FARM- 

 ING. 

 It is a prevalent opinion amongst young men — 

 those who are engaged in agriculture, as well as 

 many who are connected with commerce, that farm- 

 ing is less advantageous, and subject to greater 

 hardships than most other professions ; but this 

 arises, in a great measure, from partial views of 

 tho subject, and from an unacquaintedness with 

 the vexations and hardships incident to the em- 

 ployments of others : they therefore form opinions 

 merely from external appearances, without investi- 

 gating the disadvantages attendant upon other oc- 

 cupations ; and thus enterprises are commenced 

 and preci])itale resolutions formed, which lay the 

 foundation of many disasters, which daily take 

 place in families and amongst individuals. But 

 the farmer possesses many advantages which these 

 persons are apt to underrate. And first, his moral 

 honesty is not so hardly tried as it would be in 

 many other kinds of business ; and consequently, 

 "defalcation" is not often charged upon him. 

 Again, he has no knowledge of that competition 

 which exists between those of other trades and 

 professions; so that when he retires from his la- 

 bor, he is free from those inward ranklings which 

 often harrow up the minds of persons engaged in 

 trade. Nor is he in that danger of losing his pro- 

 perty by casualties — fire, the winds and waves, 

 and the depredations of dishonest men ; and as he 

 raises those articles upon his farm that are most 

 necessary for his comfort, and which have always 

 been considered cash articles in the market, he is 

 not so liable to be put to hia wit.s' end to procure 

 money to purchase the necessaries of life. 



It has been objected that farming is a laborious 

 and dirty employment ; but is there not hard and 

 dirty work in the shop of the blacksmith ? and do 

 not the carpenter and mason encounter both in the 

 repairs of old buildings, &c. 'f and are the grocer, 

 the warehouseman, the harness-maker, and the 

 shoe-maker exempt? 



Another objection to farming is, it is a slow way 



to got money. True, there ore shorter ways to 

 make money, but it very often happens that those 

 who accumulate property tho quickest, cannot pro. 

 duce such u title to their wealth os will procure 

 eaiisfactiiin and a quiet conscience. Multitudes, 

 deluded by the deceptive alliircinent.i of trade, 

 have entered into ruinous speculations, to the de- 

 striiclion of their own prospects and the peace and 

 happiness of their families ; stamping lasting blight 

 upon their characters ami future welfare, and all to 

 gratify an insatiable appetite to make money quick- 

 ly — overlooking the fact, that generally, the for- 

 tunes that have been made the most suddenly, arc 

 the most suddenly dissipated, and that those who 

 enjoy tho privilege of making money last, have 

 often to pay dearly for it, both in their persons and 

 characters, and arc made to exclaim, " all is not 

 gold that glitters." Few know or consider, tho 

 personal assiduity, the economy, the self-denial 

 and perseverance which are necessary to secure 

 success in trade : there is no occupation exempt 

 from its peculiar evils and trials: the physician, 

 ihe lawyer, and the clergyman have their full 

 share, of which the farmer is little aware; and if 

 he could comprehend all the dilTicultica and un- 

 pleasant occurrences which even these are contin- 

 ually liable to encounter, he would rejoice at hia 

 lot, rather than envy that of others, be thankful 

 that his " lines have fallen to him in such pleasant 

 places," and grateful for his " goodly heritage." 

 S. BROWN. 

 If'ilmington, Mass 



From the same. 



THE UNIVERSAL CORN CROP. 

 Universal indeed ! and yet there are still fea- 

 tures in its character that have not been sufficient- 

 ly, if at all noticed by us. One of these is, the 

 great difference in the cost of seed for planting, 

 when compared with that of wheat, amounting to 

 about a rent of the land at the first start ; for while 

 the two bushels and a half'per acre of seed wheat, 

 cannot be valued at less than three dollars, or per- 

 haps four, the seed-corn necessary for an acre of 

 land is so insignificant in cost, that no one, scarcely, 

 ever counts upon it. And then at the time of har- 

 vest, the difference is still greater; for while the 

 corn will stand to ripen without the loss of a single 

 grain by shaking out, the britting of the wheat 

 crop and loss by scattering, at the time of cutting, 

 cannot be counted less than about the seed sown, 

 and oftentimes double that quantity. Here then, 

 are six or seven bushels of wheat to be put to the 

 account of seed grain and loss at harvest — an am- 

 ple profit per acre, on the corn crop to begin with, 

 to say nothing of the greater increase of crop, as 

 might in all cases be calculated upon, if justice be 

 done in the working. It is admitted that this after 

 working is laborious and expensive ; but one-half 

 the cost should lie transferred to the succeeding 

 crops, which are benefited by this admirable sys- 

 tem of fallowing, fully to that amount. In short, 

 any how you can fix it, there is nothing like corn. 

 How far it would be expedient to substitute its cul- 

 ture for that of roots, is another and interesting 

 question fur future discussion. , M. 



It is highly gratifying to observe in our market 

 a general upward tendency in agricultural produc- 

 tions. Let each one get out of debt and keep so, 

 and the period of activity and thrift will soon open 

 to us. — Philadelphia Far. Cab. 



