NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



165 



CONVERSION OF PEAT INTO MANURE. 



As along the whole range of the Atlantic States, 

 as well as upon the margin of those rivers, bays, 

 creeks and estuaries which abound therein and find 

 ultimate outlets in the ocean, there are to be found 

 vast deposits of peat, and kindred vegetable bodies, 

 the utilization of these substances as manure be- 

 comes an object of the very last importance, and the 

 more so, as, from a long continued course of im- 

 proved culture, most of the arable lands in those 

 States have become greatly exhausted, and the ordi- 

 nary sources of manure have failed, thus far, to ar- 

 rest the course of deterioration to which they have 

 been subjected. 



Peat, as we know, is composed of vegetable mat- 

 ter, the accumulation of centuries, in certain loca- 

 tions, there deposited under circumstances which 

 but slightly favor decomposition, and may be said 

 to consist of decomposed, partially decomposed, and 

 undecomposed vegetable matters, which may be 

 very readily presumed to be somewhat varient in 

 their constituent elements, and which, according as 

 they may have been more or less excluded from the 

 influence of atmospheric air, by superincumbent 

 water, to have undergone a greatei or less degree 

 of decay. But as peat once possessed life, its pow- 

 er of reproducing life in living bodies can, by the 

 application of proper agents, be restored, and re- 

 stored so effectually too, as to makeevery pound of it 

 equally good for the fertilization of the soil as 

 would be an equal weight of barn-yard or stable 

 manure. The means by which this desirable end 

 can be brought about is the object of the writer of 

 this essay, whose purpose shall be to state them in 

 so plain and practical a way, as to place the /nodus 

 operandi within the comprehension of all. 



Peat, operated upon by local circumstances, may 

 vary, to some extent, in composition, but the differ- 

 ence is too trifling to effect its value as manure, as 

 will be made manifest by the following facts. 



The mean of 20 analyses of the peats of Rhode 

 Island, by Dr. Jackson, gave the following results: 

 Water from - - - 10 to 25 per cent. 

 Ashes, when burned, - - 24.07 

 Vegetable matter, - - - 72.39 



Silica, 4.31 



Iron and Alumia, - - - 1.34 



Lime, 1.32 



Magnesia, .... .32 



The average of 10 analyses of Massachusetts 

 peat, agreeably to Dana, was as follows: 

 Soluble Geine , - - - 29.41 



Insoluble Geine, ... 55.03 

 Salts and Silicates, - - 15.55 



This average comprises various kinds of peat, as 

 the kind usually used as fuel, turf and swamp 

 muck, so that it takes within its range the ordina- 

 ry kinds of substances available to farmers, in dif- 

 ferent situations, and, therefore, presents a fairer 

 view of the real value of such substances than it 

 would be, had the analyses been confined to fuel- 

 peat proper, as the two latter bodies are more fre- 

 quently to be met with in most localities than the 

 former. 



A more recent analysis made by peat found on 

 the estate of the Hon. James A. Hamilton, of Ne- 

 vis, near Dobbs' Ferry, in your State, gave the 

 following results. 



100 parts of the dried muck contained as follows: 



Soluble and insoluble Geine, - 81.03 parts. 



Silica, .... 12.46 



Alumnia, 

 Oxide of iron. 

 Lime and Magnesia, 



4.80 



1.11 



.60 



100.00 



The average of the preceding 31 analyses give us 

 above 79 per cent, of vegetable matters in various 

 stages of oxidation, the greater part of which is in 

 an insoluble condition. — American Artizan. 



INSECTS ON TREES. 



A subscriber of Clarksboro', N. J., is informed 

 that the common bark louse is easily and effectually 

 destroyed by washing the trees with a solution of 

 potash and water, or ley of ashes. 



The leaf insect to which he alludes is only more 

 difiicult to destroy, on account of its position under 

 the curled leaves. A suds of whale oil soap and 

 water, or tobacco boiled in water, will soon end 

 their destructive career. It should be applied with 

 a syringe or brush, so as to reach all the insects. 

 It may be necessary to repeat the operation, espec- 

 ially after rainy weather. These insects are not 

 mentioned in any fruit books to my knowledge. The 

 Wooly Aphis is the most destructive insect to the 

 apple tree yet known. There appears to be two 

 kinds. The native are more harmless. The for- 

 eign kind are more destructive, and are seldom seen 

 in this country, except on imported trees. It is a 

 small white downy insect, lodged in the crevices 

 and crotches of the tree. Sulphuric acid of the 

 shops, three-quarters of an ounce diluted with seven 

 and a half ounces of water, will destroy them. Be 

 careful of your skin and clothing in using the acid. 



"A Subscriber" is mistaken in supposing that 

 the leaf insects are the young of the ant. If he will 

 take the trouble to visit the ant's nest, he will dis- 

 cover that they are enveloped in a tough case of 

 the size of the full grown ant, and are perfectly de- 

 veloped when they first come to light, by bursting 

 their prison-house doors. Why they are attracted 

 to these lice I cannot tell, unless it is to obtain their 

 eggs for food, which I think very probable. — Dol- 

 lar Newspaper. 



Illcdjanics' Pc^Jartmtnt, ^rts, $Ci. 



IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFAC- 

 TURE OF STARCH. 



The London Patent Journal discusses an im- 

 provement in the manufacture of fine starch which 

 has recently been patented by Mr. James Cole- 

 man, of Stoke, Norfolk county, England. The 

 process is described in the Journal as follows: — 



Take one ton of rice, either whole or broken, 

 with or without the husks, and submit it to the ac- 

 tion of caustic alkaline ley, in the manner at pre- 

 sent performed, using soda in preference to potash, 

 as affording a less deliquescent product. Wash 

 the rice so prepared, and then pass it through the 

 grinding or levigating mills in the usual manner, 

 so as to reduce the starch matter to a jiulp, in a 

 fine state of division. The washed pulp so ob- 

 tained is next to be placed in a churn, together 

 with 40 gallons of a solution prepared in the fol- 

 lowing manner: — Take 20 lbs. of borax, and dis- 

 solve it in such a quantity of hot or cold water as 

 will suffice to form a cold s;xluratO!! solution; for 



