»L. XX. NO. 4a 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER, 



Ui 



»ill give nj ureal a produce bdiI a moro per- i llio cost ofail.'W lbs. of goiiio from lliiii snuroo — if, llic cstiiiiato in correct, the cost of lmiiliii(f and 

 Dt iiiiprovenicnt lo the soil, than tho same ^ thi> j;ras3 sood bo 8i>ini with 8<iiiio other crop and | s|>renduig iimiiuru and compost, will in Bonio, and 



ity of stable mnniiro. In tins opinion I am . not 

 lone. Other accurutc and intelligent cultiva- in^- 



(inrjablo with expense of plowing and harrow 

 -will slnnd as follows : 



Two years' interest on cost of land, $1 20 



Ciruss seed, avernjro cost, 8 Ihs. clover, HO 



cents ; t< qts. rodlop, 25 cents ; 4 qls. 



herdsgrass ;U cents ; and sowing grass 



seed, 10 cciils — 

 1-2 bush, plaster, and soning and rolling, I 



.■>0 cts, per year, two years, 1 00 \ 



Total, . . . J^:( (lb 



Or less than 14 cts. for 100 lbs. 'i'lie geiiio fur- 

 nished by tliir grass sward is grown where it is 

 wanted — ready carted and spread — for plowing un- 

 der ; and under a dry sundy soil, quickly becomes 

 soluble williout further expense. 



If no .'allacy or error lias been odmitted in the 

 estimates thus far, tho comparative expense of fur- 

 nishing our exhausted fields with geine from the 

 three sources considered, will stand as follows: 



Dressing one acre with twelve and a quarter 

 tons of vegetable matter, consisting of tops 

 and roots of grasses, grown upon the spot, 

 ready carted and spread for plowing under. 



Dressing one acre with an equal a- 

 moiint of fertilizing matter from 

 a compost of swamp muck and 

 farm yard manure, (> 4-5 tons, at 

 estimated cost of materials, .'fU 40 

 Cost of composting, overhauling, 

 reloading, carting to field, and 

 spreading, varying with distance 

 of carting — say average fiO cts. 

 per ton, 



Total, 



Dressing one acre with an equal a- 

 mount of fertilizing matter from 

 the farm yard, 8 2-3 tons, at $1 

 per ton, $8 67 

 Cost of hauling and spreading, 

 varying with distance — average 

 eay 40 cts. 3 47 

 Total, 



$3 08 



4 08 



$7 48 



Itve made similar experiments wiili similar re- 

 Additional testimony, to sustain &lr I'hin- | 

 opinion as to these results, might be given, | 

 it necessary ; but these' results can bo true j 

 in the supposition that pent contains as much 



or food for plants as the same quantity of! 



manure, as is shown by analysis it does con- 



peat from Mr Phinney's farm appears not to 

 essentially from best samples of swiinip muck ; 

 as t'o'ind on analysis by Dr. C. T. Jackson, of 

 1, to contain less silica and more salts and 

 ble matter or geine, than the same weight 

 d horse dung. Other samples of peat were 

 by Dr. Jackson to give from one or two to 

 cent, less vegetable matter than that from 

 inney. 



ompost of farm-yard manure and muck, in 



ne proportions that .Mr Phinney employed 



materials, including the labor of compound- 



uling, &.C., will alford geine fit for iinmcdi- 



, at about two thirds the cost of that from 



n yard alone. .\nd further, the quantity 



ue of fertilizing matter, on many farms, may 



trebled, without further increase of live 



r cost of material from abroad. This leaves 



)t as to the expediency and economy of 



in the aid of peat and swamp muck to fer- 



ither than to depend exclusively upon the 



ilcd product of the farm yard for that pur- 



d is perhaps sufficient evidence as to the 



value of peat and swamp muck, compared 



1 yard manure. 



nparison of the expense of obtaining geine 



original sources, by the aid of growing 



'ilh that of obtaining It from the farmyard, 



le absence of facts which the practical 



alone can furnish, more difficult, and should 



I with a liberal allowance. 



hinney says he "ascertained by an accu- 



iriment, that on the tlrst of May, a single 



iward land, taken from a field that had been 



ir a number of years, and thinly set with 



nd herdsgrass, contained nine ounces of If these estimates are correct, or nearly so, (and 



e matter, consisting of the roots and tops the grounds on which they are based are given,) 



asses ; giving at this rate over twelve and the farmer who has plenty of peat or swamp muck 



tons to the acre." : at hand, can furnish his plants with food, by means 



nuch geine a ton of this vegetable matter I of" co'npost, at a little less than two thirds the ex- 



I, is, in the absence of a chemical lest, a I pensc of furnishing the same amount from the cat- 



'conjecture. In view, however, of the t'e yard exclusively ; and in addition to this great 



ing care of good farmers, to collect and saving of expense, can three-fold his ordinary sup- 



ices even, of similar sulislances to enlarge' p'y of food for plants, without increasing the num- 



re heap, it seems but reasonable to sup- her of liis domestic animals, or competition with 



.. t| it is at least half as valuable as the partly l''^ less provident neighbor, for a supply from the 



p muck we have been considering, and if, market abroad ; his muck or peat bog is a treasure 



^elve and a quarter tons will give twenty- that duly improved will render him independent of 



all foreign aid to fertilize ; and with the farm yard, 

 will doubtless afford him " poudrette" as good as 

 the best, whenever correct views of true economy 

 shall overcome State parsimony and real waste, so 

 far as to put a chemist in the field to develope 

 this eventually great source of fertility and wealth. 

 If in the estimated expense of collecting fertili- 

 s per ajre, which is doubtless more than ty from the atmosphere, suHicient allowance is 

 je estimated value of our exhausted lands, j made for the unknown precise value of the grass 

 that an entire unftd and iincui two years j roots and tops ; a given quantity of geine, from 

 clover, herdsgrass and redtop, on such , this source can be furnished,, to renovate an ex- 

 equals Mr Phinney's " thinly set" redtop : hausted field, at about one fourth the expense of 

 ■grass sward, which had httn mown, and | the same amount from the cattle yard. Indeed, if 



ed and fiftyeight pounds of geine. 

 ost of growing this amount of vegetable 

 ust of course vary with the varying coal 

 tion of the lind on which it is grown, gov- 

 lewhat by the more or less favoring sea- 



e the value of the land be estimated at 



perhaps all, cases of land, remote frmn tho riiriii 

 yard, exceed the cost of growing upon the spot, an 

 e(|iial amount of fertilizing matter. This seems to 

 Iravc no doubt as to the moat economical metiiod of 



I ri'storinp at least a iiindfrato amount of fertility 



to iMir exhausted soils, but shouhl by no means in- 



1 48 diice the neglect to save and imo oil the manuro 



I and compost which a form con well lurnihli. 



An important (|iicBtion comes up then, as to the 

 most valuable plant to be grown as a fertilizer; 

 and this in(|uiry can he solved with precision only 

 bv tho practical chenii.st. Clover is justly held in 

 high estimation. It has a large array of leaves, 

 and presents a largo surface of apprnprialing or- 

 g;iii3 to tho atmosphere, and may or may not be 

 tin; best plant wo have for the purpose of fertiliz- 

 ing. It has, however, obtained tho distinction of 

 being called " the mother of wheat," and accounts 

 of the fertilizing effects of clover with other grosses, 

 have been published, which go very far to support 

 the estimated value of Mr Phinney's grass sward. 



In view of the known value of peat and swamp 

 muck, Which is mainly composed of the remains of 

 plants of inferior character, weeds even, should not 

 bo viewed as "posts to thu farmer," so long ne 

 they do not interfere with hie growing crops ; but 

 as friends — foragers opoii iRfe u.muspherc — gather- 

 ing wealth that will ultimately appear in the heavy 

 sheaf and full garner. Every blade and every leaf, 

 however humble or obscure, and however brief its 

 existence, at death yields to its mother earth a tri- 

 bute of the elements of fertility, gatficred from the 

 atmosphere. Tina principle of fertility is inde- 

 structible as the earth itself, and must be lasting as 

 time. 



Prom the period of its first arrest, by tho myste- 

 riously life-endowed springing plant, it seems by a 

 strong principle of affinity, ever to be seeking a 

 reunion with its native elements. This propensity 

 or quality of its nature, which seems wisely order- 

 ed to prevent accumulations that otherwise would 

 render the earth uninhabitable, is perfectly con- 

 trolled by the principle of vitality, and after the 

 death of the plant, by the absence of either air, or 

 moisture, or temperature, that will promote the 

 growth of plants — agents, which first gave it con- 

 nexion with the living plant, an8 which now com- 

 bine their ellbrts to cflect its .rtiase, that it may 

 be again arrested to give fresh, beauty lo earth, or 

 do new service to man, and yet again be liberated, 

 fresh as in the morning of existence, to run its 

 ceaseless round of duly, in obeilience to those laws 

 which con.'itantly tend to fertilize, where the labors 

 of man, through ignorance or carelessness, con- 

 stantly tend to impoverish. This ptopcnsity to 

 evaporation or change, accounts for the exhausting 

 effect of summer fallows and deep cultivation among 

 growing crops ; and also for the benefit resulting 

 from a level surface on cultivated ground, by pre- 

 senting less exposure to the exhausting eflfect of 

 midsummer atmosphere, or fiir the escape of geine. 

 It gives, indeed, a plain reason for various facta 

 and phenomena, relative to the exhaustion of land, 

 which have become well established by careful ob- 

 servation, after immense loss to farmers, from igiio- 

 .'ance of this single principle, a knowledge of 

 which affords a clew to the best means of preserv- 

 ing fertility, by disclosing its mode of escape. 

 And yet, pending the discovery by Dr. Dano, or 

 indeed in the face of it, there ore not wanting those 

 cpjio.i <"^-mer», who doubt if any thing valuable 



$12 14 



