46 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, AUGUS P 19, 1835. 



AUGUST 19, 1833 



FARMERS' WORK FOR AUGUST. 



Mines of Manure.— Tlie present is;, perhaps, as 

 good a time in the jear as can be chosen to search your 

 premises for those mines of manure which may be found 

 on almost every soil, and which are too often undiscov- 

 ered and unsuspected sources of wealth, hidden treas- 

 ures of great value. We will first give some brief hints 

 relative to the discovery and use of marl. 



Marl consists of lime, clay and sand, or at least two of 

 these .arihs of which lime is always one. The propor- 

 tions of the mixture may be various, but the more lime it 

 contains the greater is the value of tlie compound. 



To find the composition of a marl, pour a few ounces 

 of diluted muriatic acid, [spirit of salt] into a Florence 

 flask, or any other glass vessel, place them in a scale and 

 let them he balanced ; then reduce a few ounces of dry 

 marl into powder, and let this powder be carefully and 

 gradually thrown into the flask, until after repeated ad- 

 ditions no further effervescence is perceived. Let 

 the remainder of the powdered marl be weighed, 

 by which tlie quantity thrown into the liquid will 

 be known. Let the balance be then restored, the <lif. 

 ference of weight between the quantity put into 

 the diluted acid, and that requisite to restore the balance 

 will shew the weight of air lost during the effervescence. 

 That air, which is carbonic acid gas, proceeds from the 

 calcareous earth alone which contains 41 per cent of ihe 

 air thus escaping. Suppose five hundred g.-ains of marl 

 lose fortyfour grains by the escape of air, then that marl 

 contained one hundred grains, or one fifth of its whole 

 weight, of lime stone. If the loss amount to twenty or 

 twentyfive per cent of the quantity rf marl projected, the 

 marl assayed is calcareous marl, or marl rich in calcare- 

 ous earth. Clayey marls, or those in which the ar^illa- I 

 ceous ingredient prevails, lose only eight or ten per^cent I 

 of their weight by this treatment ; and sandy marls, about 

 the same proportion. The presence of much argillace- 

 ous (clayey) earth, may be judged by drying the" marl 

 after bemg washed with spirit of salt, when it will hard-' 

 en, and form a brick.* 



Marl may be known by the most ordinary observer 

 The apphcat.on of any mineral acid, and even of good 

 strong v.negar, if the substance examined has lime will 

 cause an efl-ervescence or bubbling. This is the opera- 

 t.on of the acid on the lime. The sand or clay contained 

 m the parcel may be ascertained by the sight and feelins 

 by the aid of water, or of glass. Sand subsides or settles' 

 qmcker than clay in a liquid, and will scratch glas. 

 wh,ch clay will not. It is easy, by means of any acTd to 

 ascerta,n if there be any lime in a soil or substance which 

 .s conjectured to be marl ; and when that is found to be 

 the ease, u may be expedient to take a specimen to a 

 professed chemist, for analysis, in order to ascertain ,h. 

 precise proportions, and consequent value of the com 

 pound. 



as to leave part, and the richest part, of their beds un- 

 covered. And these beds, where there has been no 

 rapid current, are always found to contain a rich mud. 

 In some places, it reaches to a considerable depth. This 

 mud, though taken from fresh waters, has been found to 

 be a valuable manure; especially for dry, sandy and 

 gravelly soils. It has been known to have "as good effect 

 as dung from the barn yard, in the culture of Indian corn 

 on dry and sandy soils. The advantage of mud for ma- 

 nure, is not limited to a single season, for it mends, as it 

 were, the constitution of the soil, and restores to a hill 

 side, or an elevated piece of ground, those fine and fertil- 

 izing parts which rains and snows have washed away. 



But farmers on the sea coast have great advantages over 

 others, as respects the use of mud for manure. The sed- 

 iment of salt water, which may be taken up alono- the 

 shores of the sea, contains some fertilizing substance's not 

 to be found in fresh water deposites, and abounds more 

 than any other mud with putrified animal substances. If 

 It be taken from flats, where there are or have been shell 

 fish, It IS calcareous manure as well as putrescent manure 

 and answers all the purposes of lime as well as of animal 

 matters taken from farm yards, &c. The best manure 

 however, is obtained from docks, and from the sides of 

 wharves in populous towns, having been rendered richer 

 from sewers, the scourings of streets, &c., as well as 

 refuse animal and vegetable substances fallen or thrown 

 into such places. 



Dr Deane observed, that " Mud that is newly taken up 

 may be laid upon grass land. But if it is to be ploughed 

 into the soil, it should first lie exposed to the frost ofone 

 winter. The frost will destroy its tenacity, and reduce 

 It to a fine powder; after which, it may be spread like 

 ashes. But if it be ploughed into the soil before it has 

 been mellowed, it will remain in lumps for several years 

 and be of less advantage." ' 



A layer of mud is an useful ingredient in a compost 

 heap, and should be underlaid or overlaid, or both with 

 quick-hme, or horse-dung, covering the whole with loam 

 or other rich earth. But a still better mode of disposing 

 ol al Uorls of earthy manures, is to lay them i n farm yards 

 to be thoroughly mixed with the dung and stale of ani- 

 mals ; and we believe this mode of management is in 

 most general use by New England farmers. It requires 

 more labor, and the increased expense of twice carting- 

 but the advantages it affords in absorbing and retainin": 

 he stale^of cattle, will be more than equivalent to such 

 labor and expense 



Mud kor Manure.-K you should find no mines of 

 mail on your premises, worth working, i, may be well to 

 direct attention to what a geologist would call alluvial 

 deposites, or the mud found at the bottom of ponds r,v 

 ers creeks, ditches, swamps, &c. Some ponds ar'e to- 

 tally dried up, in a hot and dry summer ; and all ponds 

 and rivers are so diminished, by a copious evaporation, 



♦Willich's Domestic Ency., art. Marie AU„ r- , I 

 Farmer, p. 205, 2d ed. "• ™a>-l«- Also, Complete 



-MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAI, SOCIETY. 



, .. Saturday, August IS, 1835. 



An adjourned meeting of the Society was held at the 



chair '" "' '"'' "'"'' ''""'■ "'" P'«''''^«'"'" ll'e 



On "i;"ionofMrFrench,someinstructions weregiven 

 to the Committee of Arrangements and the. Committees 

 on J runs and Flowers, in respect to the coming anniver- 



A letter was received and read from Hon. John Low- 

 ell,of Roxbury, concerning the cultivation of the Dahlia 

 hirted''"""""' '" "'"'"''"°" "'■ '^"^ ''=««^'- were ex- 

 To the Committee on Flowers, Mass. Horl. Soc 



The following statement goes far to show that some 

 Dahlias may be safely relied upon, as continuing ,Z 

 qualities by seed. Last year, I raised three Dahlias from 

 the same seed-vessel of a George the 4 th Dahlia 



sen?°Thlv?'",f''; ''"'"'=''' "'^ ^P^'^""'^"'' ''-'=-'"' 

 ndfoli!' "^ ! : "" P"*^"'-'" '-ight, color of stalk 

 flowlr hf,~T, '° ''■^"■"=--'-J- The third is no. i„ 

 flower, but will prove a white or yellow. It is totally 



different in size, color, &c. I took the seeds from tli 

 plant and sowed them with my own hands, and they wci 

 raised in a part of the grounds where there were no othc 

 Dahlias. 



There is nothing remarkable in the case, except tht 

 two plants should be precisely fac similes of the paren 

 P'ant- Respectfully, yours, 



Roxbury, Aug. 15. J. Lowell. 



On motion by Mr Richards, it was 



Voted, That the letter be published in the New Enr. 

 land Farmer. ° 



-Mr George Newhall, of Dorchester, was chosen a sub 

 scription member. 



The Society then adjourned to Saturday next, at 1 1 

 o'clock, at which time the meeting stands notified. 



EXHIBITION OF FLOWERS. 



Saturd.iy, .August IS. 

 M. P. Wilder— Dahlias ; Queen of Dahlias, do. of 

 Sheba, Ficta formosi.sima, Lord John Russell, Goldfinch, 

 Antonio, Paragon of Perfection, Ophelia, Earl Grey' 

 Countess of Liverpool, Dennisii, Dennisii minor, RoseJ 

 speciosa, Belladonna, Lass Richmond Hill, Theodore 

 Agrippina, French white. Lady Grenville, Le Brilliant' 

 Widnall's Aurora, do. Perfection, Squibb's Prince Geo.,' 

 Barrett's Susanna, Coccinca multiflora. 



S. Walker— Dahlias ; Dennisii, Wells's White, Para- 

 gon of Perfection, Brown's Ophelia, Queen of Dahlia- 

 Rook's dwarf scarlet; Phlox seedling, Euphorbia Nea- 

 politana, Dracocephaluin repens. Lobelia fulgens, Del- 

 phinum chinense, Symphytum officinale. 



E. Weston, Jr.-Clethra ulnifolia. Clematis virginica, 

 Sagittaria sagittifolia. Lobelia cardinalis, Gerardia fulva 

 Orchis spectabiles, Helianthus devaricatus, Apocynum' 

 androsasnifolium, Spirea salicifolia. 



Agreatvariety of flowers, too numerous to be inserted 

 in the report, from the following gentlemen, tastefully 

 arranged in bouquets, were very attractive, and elicited 

 expressions of admiraUon from the visiters— Messrs Hov- 

 ey, Wm Kenrick, Thomas Mason, B. P. Winslow, and 

 Messrs Winship. The Society were also favored by fine 

 improved scarlet Dahlias, raised from seed procured from 

 the Dahlia known as George 4th, from the garden of the 

 Hon. John Lowell. 



For the Committee, Joka. Winship. 



In our last No. the report of the Committe on Flowers 

 was, through mistake, signed Wm. Kenrick. It should 

 have been, Jona. Winship. Mr French's Report on Frui, 

 was received too late for insertion this week. 



The accounts we receive from all parts of the country 

 of the harvesting of the grain, are very gratifying. Thev 

 generally concur in representing the crops as productive' 

 ana the gram of superior quality. Flour has declined in 

 price ,n the cil.es, since the arrival of new wheat in the 

 market.— .Hun^crrfon fJV. J.) Gaz. 



The corn crops are made, and we suppose were never 

 more abundant. The crops of cotton are not so promis- 

 ing. The growth oftheplant is unusually large but the 

 continued rains have produced long joints, and the crop 

 is.notso well boll.d as it would have been with less 

 rain.-— ioaiii'ana Jour. 



DESTE..CTIVE F,RE.-On the 12th inst. a fire broke 

 out in New York, at 2 o'clock A. M., at No. 115 Fulton 

 '"11'nnol '''"™^"^ ™'"y buildings. Loss estimated 

 a $3,000,000. But the greatest calamity was the loss 

 of lives. Four citizens were burnt to death, one of 



