68 



FARMERS' REGISTER-MANURE APPLIED TO THE SURFACE. 



tons was carried in the last six months of 1831. 

 The expense of carriage of these 52,224 tons, was 

 £21,841 4s. lOd. so that if the entire amount of an- 

 ticipated trade on the Railway had been obtained, 

 tlie actual annual outlay on the goods trade alone, 

 would have amounted to nearly £500,000 sterling, 

 besides all the coachingdislnirscments,a sum far be- 

 yond the original estimated cost of the railway itself 

 [Note C — j/ppendix.'] 

 The last scientific work I am aware of, in 

 which these fallacies, propositions, or data, are de- 

 monstrated to be true, is iMr. Wood of Killings- 

 worth's book on Railways. This book was re- 

 published about six months after the Liverpool 

 Railway was opened ; and it is there demonstra- 

 ted that it Avould take upwards of seventy horses 

 to do on a canal what is now actually done every 

 day on the Paisley Canal, by two horses ; Avhile it 

 is in like manner demonstrated that the convey- 

 ance on the Liverpool Railway was costing one- 

 ninth of the amount, which, at the end of the year, 

 it was found to have done ! 



[Extracts from the Editor's Correspondence. 1 



Manure applied to tlie Surface. 



[The first of the following extracts are from letters in 

 answer to inquiries made of Mr. Sampson with regard to 

 the novel mode of applyingmanure, which we had heard 

 was sanctioned by his judgment and experience, and 

 •which was said to be fast gaining grovmd among his 

 neighbors. The name of no individual could be pre- 

 sented thatwould be considered as better authority for 

 the merits of any doubtfld practice. 



A similar application of manure, but in a partially 

 rotted state, to corn, after planting the crop, has been 

 extensively used on the borders of the Rappahannock. 

 We would be glad to receive an accurate account of the 

 practice, and its supposed advantages and disadvanta- 

 ges. If either or both of these modes of applying ma- 

 nure, are only equal in benefit to ploughing it under, 

 they offer to the farmer an immense advantage in the 

 greater choice and length of time for manuring. — [Ed. 

 Farm. Reg.] 



Dover, Goochland, Jan. Slst, 1833. 



'The surface manuring mentioned by my neigh- 

 bor Col. W. has become very much the practice in 

 this section of country. I have myself applied 

 my manure mainly in that way for several years 

 past, and with good effects. I have also selected 

 my wheat fields as tlie most advantageous applica- 

 tion of the manure, that is, for the benefit of both 

 wheat and clover, as my wheat fields are uniform- 

 ly sowed down with clover seed. I have ascer- 

 tained satisfactorily from practice, that land of in- 

 ferior grade Avill be better taken with clover with 

 a light application of manure on the surface, than 

 land 7nu€h better without it : nor have I any doubt 

 but that it is the best practice, if wheat alone is the 

 object. My practice for the application of the ma- 

 nure has been, to be well prepared with teams and 

 tools for the speedy hauling when the land is fro- 

 zen, in order that no injury may be done the 

 wheat. The spreading may be done at almost any 

 time, pi'ovided you do not let it remain long 

 enough to bleach or injure the wheat. I am well 

 assured that the best application that can be made 

 of manure is on the surface, for both wheat and 



clover ; and through the agency of the clover, I 

 would say the best lor the land. I have no doubt 

 that it may be extended doubly as far, advantage- 

 ously. I also consider wheat straw worth more 

 on the surface than any other application of it : 

 indeed I use but little in any other way, and 

 use leaves from the woods as litter for my stock 

 yards. « * * * Yours respectfully, 



KICHARD SAMPSOW. 



[The nge and condition of the manure not having 

 been distinctly stated, farther inquiries were made 

 on those points, which were answered as follows.] 



February 23d, 1833. 



With respect to my practice with the use of 

 manure, it varies somewhat according to circum- 

 stances, having such a variety of soils, and the 

 condition in which the land is found varying from 

 the actual gullied and galled state, to all the grades 

 of naturally good and mean land. It suffices to 

 say, that when a piece of land is intended for cul- 

 tivation, which is entirely exhausted, gullied or 

 galled, the first process would be to give it a more 

 even surface by ploughing in and levelling gullies, 

 &c. When this is done, I litter freely, for the 

 purpose of turning in with the plough ; leaves from 

 the woods I prefer, as they are more readily turn- 

 ed under than wheat straw, which enables me to 

 keep more straw for applying on the surface, 

 where I greatly prefer it. I usually plaster the 

 litter before turning it in, say at the rate of a bush- 

 el to a bushel and a half per acre. On land thus 

 prepared, I seed oats, but reap but little, as might 

 be supposed. I fallow this land again, and seed 

 wheat at the fall, when the litter thus turned in is 

 pretty well rotted. On the wheat I top-dress 

 lightly, and plaster again, say three pecks to 

 a bushel per acre, which produces a saving crop of 

 wheat, and enables me to get the land well taken 

 with clover, wliich I think an all important object 

 where improvement of the soil is wished. M}' 

 wheat straw I generally apply on my pasture land, 

 twelve months, or more or less as may be conve- 

 nient, before ploughing in. 



The manure which I use for top-dressing is ge- 

 nerally pretty well rotted, having been made the 

 winter previous to using it. For instance, the ma- 

 nure of this winter's making, I apply the next 

 winter, taking advantage of all leisure times with 

 teams, &c. in spring and summer, to collect 

 my manure from the different yards in which the 

 different kinds of stock are kept, some of which 

 are better than others — say, from stable yards, 

 sheep, cattle and hog pens, from ash banks, and 

 wood yards, together with leaves which have been 

 heaped the winter previous in the woods. I haul 

 to the fields intended to be seeded with wheat, 

 (during the summer as above mentioned,) manure 

 from the different places named, forming heaps 

 that will contain from thirty to fifty heavy wagon 

 loads, as the case may require, making those de- 

 posits at the most convenient places for speedily 

 ai)plying them on tlie wheat when the land is firm, 

 (or frozen Avould be preferred,) hauling alternate- 

 ly from all the kinds enumerated, so as to form a 

 regular layer of each, where it remains until used. 

 I then cut it down from top to bottom as they are 

 removing it, which mixes it in such a way as to 

 give a due admixture of all the manures on every 

 part on which it is applied. 



