234 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APRII. SO, I83G. 



(Tortile .\evv England Fanner.) 

 niAKIlVG COMPOST. 



Mr Fessenden : — One of your correspondonts, 

 (Mr Woodward,) has expressed surprise at the 

 cpiantityof manure reported by certain eompeti- 

 tors for premiums in the eounty of Plymouth. 

 Mr Woodward is correct in understandiiig that 

 nil the manure was made in one year, lie also 

 imdorstands what quantity wo consider a load. 

 And he could not have been more astonished at 

 the quantity reported in our statements, tlian the 

 writer was in reading his assertions, that no farmer 

 vvMiirt uiin, i.iilvo ofii great and active ciiy, where 

 every product of the farm is daily convertible iiito 

 casli, ever makes any quantity to be compared 

 with our statements. It seems to us he must have 

 fixed liis attention on the number of loads, without 

 considering what would he the result'if the loads 

 were reduced to cords. The wiiter reported the 

 highest number, 778 loads, whii-h make only 243 

 cords. Not n very profuse dressing for eight 

 acres of land. And we in this Interior country, 

 have supposed that many farmers in the nejghboi- 

 hood of the city annually dress to the amount of 

 twenty acres. To me it would b(! gratifying 

 indeed to think the farmers in Plymouth county, 

 arc in advance of others in a work so important 

 to the success of agriculture ; but, when I consider 

 the superior advantages enjoyed in some other 

 parts of tlie Commonwealth, it is difficult for me 

 to imagine this can be now, or is likely ever to be 

 the fact. 



With respect to one of our competitors, (E. 

 \\eston, Esq.) his situation and circumstances 

 fairly admit of liis making even a thousand loads 

 of very valuable compost every year, if he chooses 

 to do it. The sea is daily conveying the richest 

 materials on to the borders of hisTarm. Farmers 

 situated at a distance from the sea are more 

 restricted in their means, and the manure made by 

 them is less efficacious. The writer never sup. 

 posed or reported that he had made 778 loads of 

 compost, any 25 cords of which applied to an 

 acre of land woidd immediately enrich it to the 

 same extent as a composition of one half earth 

 and the other half excrements of animals. This 

 is the common and proper rule of composting rich 

 dressings for mowing fields. But, if the farmers 

 here &;,^uld do uothii.g l^y^:,^ this i,i!e, — should 

 make no applications to their lands less efficacious 

 than such dressings, — the time would not he far 

 distant when many of our farms would resemb e 

 deserted Indian fields. The writer's opinion is, 

 that every substance that ever possessed vegetable 

 life can be usefully applied to the nourishment of 

 vegetables. Acting on this opinion, he seldom 

 experiences any want of materials for compost. 

 When premiums are sought in this county, all 

 which competitors call manure a committee view, 

 who judge of the vahie and make their awards 

 accordingly. How the writer proceeded, and 

 some of the reasons on which iiis course was 

 foimded, may appear in the following extract from 

 the statement made to the committee, 



The manure for which a premium is claimed 

 has been composted in barn-yards, hog-styes, and 

 ^collected from hedge rows, ditches, and the bor- 

 ders of roads. In winter, the cattle are confined, 

 the yards are every fall replenished with a quan- 

 tity of loam, weeds, refuse hay, straw, and what- 

 ever materials we can obtain that are convertible 

 to manure. In s|iring, when the cattle are re- 

 moved to pasture, we do not as formerly move 



and intermix .the materials in the yards, but soon 

 as practicable carry on a covering of some sub- 

 stance that will oppose fermentation. The last 

 >pring we used both saw dust and mud from a 

 mill pond. In lliis state, we let the yards remain 

 till within two or three weeks of the time we 

 intend to cart out. Then we stir and mix the 

 materials, not so much, however, for the improve- 

 ment of the manure, as for convenience in shovel- 

 ling it. Theorists and practical men are now well 

 united in the opinion that mainire applied to soils 

 in the most crude or long state is far more effica- 

 cious than after it has been carried through several 

 processes in fermentation. The practical man in 

 the admission of this opinion saves a vast amount 

 of labor, for the principle is applicable to every 

 sort of dressing or tillage. There is no occasion 

 for carting turf and swamp mud into heaps, 

 working the heaps till pulverized, and then cart- 

 ing again on the fields, as much effect, if not more 

 will ultimately be produced by placing the mate- 

 rials, in the first instance, where we wish them to 

 have influence. All that is necessary to dissolve 

 will he done without any trouble in tillage. 



Where cattle are yarded in the summer we 

 pursue a difl^erent course, yet in obedience to the 

 same princij)le, there we plough often ; the objects 

 are to keep the droppings of the cattle as near the 

 crude state as possible, and absorb in fresh earth 

 what may pass from that stiite. 



Morrill Allen. 



Pembroke, April 12, 1836. ' 



1VHITE AKD OTHER WASHES, CHEAP 

 PAINTS, &.C. 



As this is the month when the cleanly, prudent 

 farmer should he giving his barn, stables, and 

 other out-house.s, garden and other fences, a coat 

 of wash of some kind ; and above all, as it is the 

 [leriod when the frugal housewife, by the aid of a 

 coat or two of white wash, makes old things look 

 new, and cleanses and jmrifies her kitchen, pan- 

 tries, and cellars, we take pleasure in annexing 

 the following recipes from which each may select 

 such as may suit his or her taste best. — Yan. Far. 



To make a heaidifid and ladling white wash. 



Take one fourth jieck unslaked lime, pour on 

 it a kettle of boiling water; while the lime is 

 slakiflg, add half a gallon of stale chamber-lie; 

 when the lime is perfectly slaked dilute it with 

 water to the proper consistence, and add to this 

 mixture one fourth of an ounce of P.russian blue. 

 This will give you a beautiful and lasting wash 

 that will neither peel otf, nor turn yellow, and will 

 look nearly as well as white paint. By increasing 

 the quantity of blue you may make either a pale 

 or dark blue, as best suits your taste; or if you 

 prefer it, by adding yellow or red ochre, you may 

 impart either of these tints to your wash. 



To make a cheap Paint, or white wash. 

 Take 2 quarts skimmed milk ; 2 ounces fresh 

 slaked lime ; 5 pounds whiting. Put the lime 

 into a Btone vessel, pour upon it a sufficient quan- 

 tity of milk to make a mixture resembling cream, 

 then add the remainder of the milk. When this 

 is done, criiHible and spreatl the whiting on the 

 surface of the fluid, in which it will gradually 

 sink. It must, after all the whiting has been jirc- 

 cipitated, be well stirred, or ground as you woidd 

 ther paint, when it will he fit for use. By the 

 addition of any coloring matter you may make it 

 suit your fancy. It should be put on with a paint 



brush, and when dry a second coat should b« 

 given it. The quantity above mentioned is suf- 

 ficient for 27 square yards. 



Incombustible wash and Stucco while. 



The basis for each is lime, which must be first 

 slaked with hot water jn a small tub or pigjjin, 

 and covered to keep in the steam ; it then should 

 be passed in a fluid form through a fine sieve to 

 obtain the flour of the same. It must be put on 

 with a painter's brush ; two coats are best for 

 outside work. 



First. To make a Su;d f.rthc .o„f aud olher 

 parts of wooden houses, to render theiTi incom- 

 bustible ; and coating for brick, tile, stone-work, 

 and rough-cast, to render them impervious to 

 water, and give them a durable and handsome 

 appearance. 



The proportions in each recipe are five gallons. 

 Slake your lime as before directed, say six quarts, 

 into which put one quart of clean rock salt for 

 each gallon of water, to be dissolved by boiling, 

 and skimmed clean ; then add to the 5 gallons one 

 poimd of alum, half a poimd of copperas three 

 fourths of a pound of potash, the last to he grad- 

 ually added, four quarts of fine sand or hard wood 

 ashes, say hickory. You may add any coloring 

 matter that your taste may dictate. It should be 

 put on with a painter's brush ; it will it is said 

 look better than |>aint, and be as lasting as slate; 

 will stop the small leaks, prevent the moss from 

 growing, and render the part painted with it in- 

 combustible. 



Second. To make a brilliant stucco white wash. 

 Take clean lumps of well burnt stone lime (oyster 

 shell lime will do as well), slake as before direct- 

 ed ; add one fourth pound of whiting or burnt 

 alum pulverized, 1 lb. of sugar, 3 pints of rice 

 flour made into a thin and very well bodied paste, 

 1 lb. of clean glue, dissolved by simmering over a 

 slow fire. It is more brilliant than plaster of 

 Paris, and will last for fifty years. It should be 

 put on warm. 



Cheap while Paint. 

 One pound of unslaked lime, 1 lb. Spanish 

 whiting, 1 gallon of sweet milk, 1 gallon flax seed 

 oil, 1 tablespoonfull of salt. Pour on the lime 

 sufficient wat'er to slake it, and while the lime is 

 slaking, pour in the oil so as to cook it thin, add 

 the \v biting and salt, then pour on the milk and 

 stir it well. 



A cheap green Paint. 

 Take 4 lbs. of Roman Vitriol, and pour upon it 

 a tea-kettle full of boiling water: when the vitriol 

 is dissolved, add two pounds of [learlash, and stir 

 the mixture well with a stick until the efferves- 

 cence ceases; then add a quarter of a pound of 

 pulverized yellow arsenic, and stir the whole 

 together. Lay it on with a paint brush, and if 

 the wall has not been painted before, two or three 

 coats will be necessary. If a pea green be re- 

 quired, put in less, and if an apple green, more of 

 the yellow arsenic. The cost of this paint is less 

 than one fourth of oil color, and the beauty far 

 superior. 



Mr William Pardoe, an ingenious mechanic of 

 Poughkeepsie, N. Y. has invented a metallic time- 

 pieci^, constructed in a very simple maimer, which 

 keeps the most perfect time, and is not liable to 

 disorder ; it will be afffuded at half the price of 

 the Connecticut wooden clocks. 



