872 



NEW E N (t L A N O 1<" A II M E R 



JVUE 1, 18J«i. 



I.I.'ME: VOIl MANURE. 



The following is extiacteil from a Report of 

 th« Trustees of the Kennebec Agricnlmrul Soci- 

 ety. 



To render our farms highly proiUietis'R, we must 

 cease to look to barn-yanls Cor the only means of 

 enrieliing thiiii. The application of alkalies — 

 turning in green eroiis, and collecting composts, 

 must be resorted to. The rec--nt discovery of 

 lime, in different sections of the country, promi- 

 ses well for agriculture, as it is almost indispensa- 

 lile In raising certain crops, and valuable in any. 

 There has b(;en but little experience in this coun- 

 try in the ai)plication of lime in husbandry. Jn 

 other countries it is used as a manure, both in its 

 catfstic or hot state, and in a mild ?tate. When a 

 sward or other substance is to be decomposed, it 

 is applied in its caustic state. When this is not 

 the object, it may be used in either state. If used 

 upon plants, it inu,=t be in a mild state. It has 

 been doub.ed whether lime 0i)erates as a stimulus, 

 alterative, or food for the plant, but we thifik that 

 it acts as a neutralizer of all acids, and as an alter- 

 ative. Heavy liming has been tried on cold clay 

 soils, and peats, with perfetjt success. In some 

 cases 240 bushels to the acre Iiave been used. It 

 will be seen that this will not answer for us, un- 

 less situated in a lime district, where the refuse of 

 the kilns can be obtained at low rates. But at 

 the present prices every fanner should use it era 

 substitute ; ashes as a top dressingon all his lands 

 tliatdo not contain calcareous matter. The sward 

 ■of rich places by -tht.viiad side thrown up, and lime 

 mixed in, makes an exc^lientdressing for a wheat 

 icrep; if caustic when put in thestack, it will soon 

 {)e mild and fit to apply to young plants. Liiuje is 

 used with most beneficial effects on land abotrnd- 

 ing in copperas rock, and when applied it renders 

 it the most productive and desirablejjoii. Our re- 

 marks have been con lined to what is called the 

 carljouate of lime, but when quick lime is mixed 

 with sulphuric acid, even where the base was be- 

 fore^ iron, it partakes of the .riatiire of plaster of 

 paris Plaster is sulphuric acid with lime> Cop- 

 peras is sulphuric acid with iron. Plaster, which 

 beloiigsto the family of lime, is a very good and 

 cheap dressing for most landj and is indispensable 

 toacropoi clover, which wiieu analyzed is found to 

 be composed in part of plaster ; but we believe a 

 chea|)er and better manure maybe formed of lime 

 mixed with other substances, and we would recom- 

 mend the use of it on all u.n|iroductive land as an 

 alterative; on all wheat land as the food of wheat ; 

 for unless it is contained in f he soil, or is supplied, 

 no wheat can \ie raised. We have so niuch and 

 BO good evidence of the beneficial effects of lime 

 in husbandry, that we hope eyery farmer will 

 avail himself of the present lovv l)rice of it to try 

 experimeins for himself. It is used with the best 

 eflfects in England, Scotland, and in some pacts of 

 the United States. In Pennsylvania, they give 

 eighteen cents ]>:v bushel for an inferiof kintl of 

 lime, and find it profitable manure. 



Lime has been used by some of our farmers in 

 raising potatoes. 1 hey find it beneficial, not only 

 to the [jotato crop, but tp the succeeding crops. 

 Its eflTects are visible for several years, The 

 manner of applying it is, to put a spoonful in a hill 

 after the potatoes are dropped and cover the 

 lime and potatoes together. Not only is the quan- 

 tity of the crop increa.sed, but the quanlity is im- 

 proved by it. 



Potatoes have become, to a considerable extent 

 ;m article of eX|)ort, and may be reckoned one of 

 the most profitable crops on farms situated near 

 navigable waters, 'i he South will always depend 

 on us for a supply, if we send them a good article. 

 Should the state'do any thing to fecilitate trans- 

 portation by canals or rail-roads, a general benefit 

 will be felt among the fiirmers from the sale of 

 this article. 



They may be raised at a very cheap rate on 

 stubble land. A little lime to assist in decom- 

 posing the stubble, is all the manure that is neces- 

 sary to ensure a good crop, and, by planting in 

 straight drills, most of the labor may be performed 

 by a liorse. Land may be well prepared in this 

 manner fin- a second crop of wheat. I he liine ap- 

 plied to the potatoes is sufficient for the wheat, 

 without another application. 



CHOOSING SHKEP FOR BREEDING, 



One of the two species of sheep, the long and the 

 short wooled, having been chosen as most appro- 

 priate to the situation, and wool being made an 

 object, it is most advantageous to select such 

 flocks as are pure as possible of the species to 

 which they belong, ami not a mixture of the short 

 and long wooled breeds, which must generally 

 produce an inferior fleece, disadvantageous to the 

 manufacturer. Length ofstaj-le in the long, and 

 fineness, elasticity and closeness in the short 

 wooled fleece, will be the best guides in this 

 case. 



Whether the wool be long or short, the carcass 

 ofthe animal ought to be amply and regularly cov- 

 ered ; it is a great defect when the belly is bare, 

 and still greater when the wool is thin and open 

 along the ridge ofthe back, admitting rain and 

 moisture to a niost susceptible part, indeed, to de- 

 scend upon all parts of the body. 



It is a piece of good old advice, to buy your 

 RiMS a little before shearing time, if possible ; and 

 a very necessary modern addition to lake the op- 

 |)ortunity of purchasing at the farmer's house, 

 while you see the animal in puais .iaturalibhs, 

 and before he has been decked out and trimmed 

 for sliow by the sheep barber. A thick fleece, 

 covering all parts with as (#uch equality as possi- 

 ble, containing plenty of yot.k, or retained or in- 

 spissated perspiration, is the object. If ewes, 

 equally well bred, can be procnicd, the shepherd 

 anticipates and rea;s an immediate benefit ; if not, 

 he niiist patiently await improvement of his wool, 

 through the medium of tlie superior blood of his 

 rams. 



At shearing time, examine the bottoms ofthe 

 fleece, or the lower extremity of the filaments of 

 wool; if it be stituby-haired, of mixed quality, or 

 if the sheep have a coarse breech, or be not well 

 covered, it must be rejected, as improper for a 

 breeding stock, where it would perpetuate its 

 defects. The quantity of yolk or grease is a good 

 proof of Ih-J thickness ofthe fleece, since, by the 

 closeness and thickness of the wool, the grease or 

 perspirable matter ofthe animal is retained; hence 

 fine, closed, curleil wool has ever the greatest quan- 

 tity of yolk.— ^iJa</i Memoirs. 



Agriculture aided by science, will make a little 

 nation a great one. 



All the energy ofthe hero, and all the science 

 ofthe philo^>opher, may find scope in the cultiva- 

 tion of one farm. 



SAI,T WATER PISH 



MAT BE INTRODUCED I.NTO OUR FRESH-WATER 



LAKKS AND PONDS. | 



Solomon Southwick, in a long letter to the i 

 Rev. Charles White of Owego, dated last January, ] 

 on the great natural advantages of the State, and 

 moie particularly the improvements in Owego 

 and vicinity, cl ises with the fillowing iin()ortant 

 suggestions : 



I will not close this letter without suggesting 

 an improvement in the Northern and Western 

 Counties of this Slate. — Having in the course of 

 my present Lecturing Tour, often regaled myself 

 with the fish of your numerous Lakes, some of 

 which are ofthe very finest flavor, as Epicurus or 

 any of his deciples would decide, were they alive, 

 anj here, to feast upon ihum ; the question has 

 struck UK?, whether their variety might not be 

 greatly improved by adding to them; some at 

 least of the various tribes of the salt-water fish; 

 such, for example, as the streaked bass ; the sea 

 bass, alias blue-fish ; the black fish, alias lautauge ; 

 and a number of others both for' the pot and pan. 

 A few years since, a gentleman in England, tried the 

 experiment in his fresh water pond upon upwards 

 of a dozen different kinds, and succeeded far be- 

 yond his expectations ; for as to several kinds he 

 found their flavor much imijroved. About the 

 same time the Legislature of Rhode Island author- 

 ized by law, the Agricultural Society of that State 

 to try the experiment, by leasing fresh water ponds 

 for the purpose. The result of that experiment, 

 if made, I have not learned ; but assuming that of 

 the English Agriculturist as dat;i and it may per- 

 haps be rationally inferred that in the Owasco, the 

 Cayuga, the Seneca, and, in short, in any, or in 

 all, of your Lakes, the Ocean fish of every de- 

 scription might propagate and flourish, if not im- 

 prove ; and if so, the benefit would be incalcula- 

 ble. Are there not among you men of suflicient 

 wealth and public spirit to make the trial, svitbout 

 calling for legislative aid ? I think I have in my 

 mind's eye several, in diftere it directions, from 

 the Lakes of Coopcrstov.'n and Cazenovia, to 

 those of Geneva and Canaudaigua, who would 

 take pleasure in making this experiment lor the 

 good of their country alone. For an obvious rea- 

 son, the smaller Lakes, and the Ponds, which have 

 no immediate connexion wiih the Ocean, are the 

 appropriate de])osites for this jiurpose ; and in 

 these, I am satisfied, the ex| eriment will more or 

 less succeed, if it be fairly tried. In fact, of the 

 present ditVerent species of Lake fish ; leaving out 

 of sight the question whether the Lake once 

 f )rmed a part of the Ocean — we cannot say how 

 many of them may have been brought from that 

 source. Many a bird has let fall from his grasp a 

 salt-water fish into a fresh water lake or pond. I 

 have seen both the sea gull and cormorant do 

 this. 



De Witt Clinton, wlio was a great naturalist, 

 supposed the white-fish, which you iiave frequent- 

 ly on your tables, to be neither more nor less than 

 the shad of the Ocean, transported by some un- 

 known conveyance, to the Lakes in wl)ich they 

 have become naturalized. I think it a probable as 

 it is a plausible conjecture. For if a man can 

 roam from clitne to clime, from pole to pole, and 

 with the risk of a fit of sickness more or less se- 

 vere, bccouje acclimated, and live and thrive in 

 climes far dilferent as well as distant from his na- 

 tive one — why may not fish and other animals 



