W E:N'01.A]^I> FARMElt, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY GEORGE C. BARRETT, NO. 52, NORTH MARKET STREET, (AcRicuLTORiL Warehouse.)— T. Ci. FESSENDEN, EDITOR. 



vot. jciv. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 6, 1836. 



NO. 39. 



^^ja32<2^Ig>^^2&ISa 



(From tlie Farmer's Register.) 



lPRA.CTICAIi DETAILS OP MANURING— SINGU- 



Inr Collection of Shells and Bones. 



Charles City County, Dec. 26, 1834. 



In compliance with your request that the mem- 

 bers of the agricultural commimity contrihute to 

 advance the interests of agriculture through the 

 medium of the Farmer's Register, I have deter- 

 mined to throw iu my mite, contenting myself 

 with the reflection, although this communication 

 may fail to afford either interest or pleasure, yet 

 the motive and ohject will be duly appreciated, 

 and the manner and matter receive the indulgence 

 of an enlightened community. 



The farm on which I reside is a grey soil, lying 

 on a substratum of yellow sand, with the clay at 

 the distance of from eighteen inches to two feet 

 below the surface. It had been reduced to the 

 Jowest degree of poverty by the system practised 

 by our ancestors, when 1 came into possession of 

 it in 1823. I immediately cast about in my mind 

 for means and resources for improvement. The 

 object was to sustain my family, and at the same 

 time improve some land. I therefore immediately 

 enclosed a lot of ten acres, which was improved 

 and cultivated in corn and peas for several years 

 in succession. The corn was planted five feet 

 ■each way, with as many pea hills as corn hills. 

 It was gathered and shucked out as early as the 

 corn would bear gathering, and my hogs turned 

 upon the peas. This lot added from sixty to 

 eighty barrels of corn to my crop annually, whilst 

 the peas assisted very much in fattening my hogs. 

 Indeed, I know nothing better than a field of 

 green peas to put hogs in a thriving condition, 

 and prepare them for the pen. Another lot of 

 eleven acres was now added to the first, improved 

 and cultivated for several years in succession 

 (through necessity) either iu corn or wheat. — 

 The production of these lots very soon convinced 

 me of the value of improved land — having reaped 

 lor two crops in succession, twenty bushels of 

 wheat for one seeded, from land, which had not, 

 within the memory of any man living, produced 

 more than five or six for one. Having now come 

 into possession of other land, I was enabled grad- 

 ually to extend my improvement to the field sys- 

 tem, collecting materials from every resource in 

 my power, which are carried through the stables, 

 farm pen, hog pen, &c. 



The farm pen, or shelter, is situated about the 

 centre of my arable land — within forty yards of 

 the barn and stables, where each field corners. 

 It is built of pine slabs on cedar posts, put in the 

 ground in the form of an octagon, closed entirely 

 around except a space of fifteen feet on the south 

 side to admit the stock. The yard is graduated 

 to the centre in the form of a shallow basin, which 

 receives the water, and retains it in the vegetable 

 mass, and being too shallow to retard decomposi- 

 tion pr putrefaction, yet retains the essence of the 



manure, so that nothing is lost. In this pound the 

 cattle are penned every night through the year, 

 and (luring the winter both day and night, except 

 for a short period in the evening, when they are 

 turned out to water. I know that in this respect 

 my practice is different from inost of our best and 

 most experienced farmers: but from experience I 

 am induced to believe it suits my situation and 

 circumstances better, than the more common mode 

 of summer cow pens. The stables are well sup- 

 plied with a fresh bed of litter every night, and 

 their contents suffered to remain until the mass 

 becomes twelve or eighteen inches thick, when 

 tliey are cleaned out, and the manure removed 

 immediately to the standing firm pen, spread 

 regularly over the yard, and covered with straw 

 or )iine leaves. I alv\ays prefer removing the 

 stable manure to the farm pen during a rainy 

 season, or to anticipate a rain, as the essence of 

 the stable manure will be immediately carried 

 down into tiie bulk below, and mixed with the 

 whole mass. Loads of pine litter from the woods 

 are always carted iu, previous to carrying in the 

 stable manure, for the purpose of protecting it 

 from the sun and atmosphere. 



Under this system, the additional labor of haul- 

 ing the manure made in summer to the field is 

 incurred, but 1 am satisfied that a much larger 

 space can be manured during the same period, 

 than by the usual mode of summer cow pens. I 

 act upon the principle that labor directed to the 

 raising an<l applying manures, rarely, if ever, fails 

 to remunerate the farmer — one acre of gootl land 

 being, in my estimation, worth ten, or perhaps 

 twenty, of such as is really poor. This farm pen 

 is cleared of its contents twice a year, in Decem- 

 ber and April. The manure accumulated from 

 the last of April to December, is then carried to 

 the field intended for corn, deposited in heaps 

 according to the strength of the land, and is cov- 

 ered with common earth, if it is to remain for even 

 a few days before being turned in the land. The 

 manure is thus protected from the sun and atmos- 

 phere, and a portion of that which would have 

 escaped, imbibed and retained by the cover of the 

 earth, which becomes the more readily mixed 

 with the soil, to assist in the process of vegetation. 

 A brisk boy of fourteen or fifteen years old will 

 cover the heaps of manure as fast as a good team 

 of oxen and three horse carts can carry it into the 

 field — say a distance of 700 yards. The manure 

 made during winter is all carried out and ploughed 

 in, as before observed, for the corn crop in the 

 spring, and the only litter used in the farm pen up 

 to this period, consists of straw and pine leaves. 

 Immediately after carrying out the manure iu the 

 spring, we comtiience carting in corn stalks, which 

 is continued until they are all used. This mode 

 of using the corn stalks is preferred, because they 

 are not so soon converted into manure as straw, 

 or litter from the woods, and they have a longer 

 period to remain in the farm pen through summer. 



All the manure made is applied to land previ- 

 ously marled — a very fine bed of which 1 have 



near the centre of my arable land. My marl is 

 that which I think is generally termed yellow, 

 being a decomposed mass of various kinds of 

 shells tingCTl with clay. No sand is discovered in 

 it. I have applied only 200 bushels to the acre, 

 and believe from several experiments made on a 

 small scale, that <|uantity suflicient for my land. 

 There are several indications of marl in my neigh- 

 borhood — and a deposite has recently been dis- 

 covered of very good qualily. I have but little 

 doubt that many deposites of this valuable manure 

 are yet to be discovered, and that our worn-out 

 and neglected country is destined to be brought 

 to a state of gradual improvement. 



On my friend. Col. J. S. Stubblefield's farm, on 

 Cliickahomony, there is found a curious deposite 

 of muscle shells, extending on the bank of the 

 river about one hundred and fifty yards on a level 

 with the flat laud, and covering a breadth of from 

 thirty to forty yards. These shells are found on 

 the surface, and extend to (he de|jth of from three 

 to four feet, imbedded in rich black mould. This 

 deposite contains a considerable portion of carbo- 

 nate of lime, and has been used extensively by 

 Col. S. who is an industrious and enterprising 

 farmer. In this deposite of shells are found a 

 number of human bones of all sizes, from the 

 smallest infant to the full grown man, interred in 

 pits of various size, and circular form ; and in 

 each pit are found intermingled, human bones of 

 every size. Standing iu one place I counted fifty 

 of these hollows, from each of which had been 

 taken the remains of human beings who inhabited 

 this country before the present race of whites. 

 These remains differ in several particulars from 

 the Indian burying grounds heretofore discovered 

 among us. Might they not furnish curious matter 

 of speculation to the antiquarian .' It is time 1 

 should bring this desultory communication to a 

 close. James II. Christian. 



Manufacture of Beet Root Sugar. — We 

 are indebted to Mr Isnard for the following inter- 

 esting coinmunication, accompanied with a num- 

 ber of documents, which we regret that we have 

 not room to notice at the present lime, any further 

 than to say that they fully confirm the statements 

 contained in the letter. — Daily Advertiser. 



Boston, March 28, 1836. 

 To the Editor of the Daily Advertiser : 



Sir — If you shouldjudge the present commu- 

 nication worthy of attention, it is at your disposal. 

 In order to satisfy yourself concerning the authen- 

 ticity of my statements, I subjoin documents for 

 your perusal, when at leisure. 



The manufacture of Sugar of Beet has ceased 

 to be an object of ridicule ; the advantages that 

 France draws from it are palpable and great, and 

 the benefits which the manufacturers derive from 

 it are now such that the French Minister of the 

 Treasury has proposed to lay a tax upon it. France 

 owes this new branch of industry to that great 

 man whom she will honor through all times ; for 

 had it not been for his sagacity and powerful 



