FARMERS' REGISTER— GYPSUM— PRODUCTIVE FARM. 



229 



No 3, thirty five bushels, 

 No. 4, thirty three bushels, 

 No. 5, thirty bushels. 

 The seed wheat was of the best Sicily kind, and 

 weighed 62 lbs. per bushel — the product weighed 

 63 lbs. per bushel." 



Next follow eight different experiments of the 

 effects of gypsum on the different grasses, except- 

 ing clover.. In all cases the quantity of land was 

 the same, and the soil as much alike as possible. 

 The results uniformly proved that the profits were 

 from ^ to ^ greater than where none had been 

 used. On clover the benefits were still more 

 marked. The gypsumed yielded per acre a pro- 

 duct of hay equal to 15 

 The ungypsumed only equal to 5 

 The gypsumed yielded in seed per acre a pro- 

 duct equal to 30 

 The ungypsumed yielded in seed, do. only 5^ 

 The experimenter adds — " The invariable results 

 of the several experiments, which are faithfully, 

 and he trusts correctly stated, he thinks incontes- 

 tibly prove that there is a most powerful and sub- 

 tle principle in this tasteless stone ; but by what 

 peculiar agency or combination it is capable of 

 forcing vegetation in such an instantaneous and 

 astonishing manner, time reserves for others to 

 unfold." 



From the above experiments, it is distinctly as- 

 certained that gypsum produces its greatest effects 

 on clover. Time and experience have confirmed 

 this fact, and it is now generally understood that as 

 a manure it is not so beneficial to the narrow -leav- 

 ed as it is to the broad-leaved plants, such as clover 

 and corn. Besides the above experiments, the 

 general observation of farmers is conclusive on this 

 point, and we could quote abundance of authority 

 in proof of this position. I have seen one half of a 

 field which had clover growing in it sown with 

 plaster, and the other part remaining unsown. — 

 The eye could distinctly trace the part sown from 

 the part unsown. First from the increased size 

 of the one, and next, from the sickly and yellow 

 appearance of the other. The line of demarcation 

 was so observable, that the cause of it was a fre- 

 quent source of inquiry. But this is only one 

 among many similar instances. My own experi- 

 ence and that of my neighbors fully bears me out 

 in the opinion, likewise, that clover, to come up 

 well and do well, must be aided by having the 

 giound sprinkled with plaster as soon after it is 

 sown as practicable. This is an experiment which 

 I have frequently made, and have long since look- 

 ed upon as a settled principle in farming. 



Previous to the use of plaster and clover as a 

 manure, (for they ought to go together,) what is 

 now called the best of land in this vicinity might 

 have been purchased for less than $3 per acre ; 

 and I have heard of several purchases being made 

 at less than one dollar. Now this land is made to 

 yield the interest of ^100 per acre, free of ex- 

 pense, — is constantly improving, and there are no 

 farmers who thrive so well as those who are the 

 most lavish in the application of these two ma- 

 nures. I verily believe, deprive them of the use 

 of clover and plaster, and their farms will degene- 

 rate, if not as low as formerly, still so much as to 

 make their cultivation very unprofitable. Plaster 

 does not do its maximum of good without it is 

 sown on clover ; and clover will not grow luxuri- 

 antly unless it is sprinkled with plaster — they mu- 



tually aid each other, and when both are freely 

 used, they are a mine of wealth to the farmer. It 

 is not because he has large crops of clover for hay, 

 but this clover being turned under by the plough, 

 is the best possible coating of manurethat his fields 

 can have to bring him heavy crops of wheat, corn 

 and oats ; not rye — his land is too good lor it — 

 it is too cheap a produce when wheat, which is more 

 profitalile, may as easily be raised. It is principal- 

 ly indirectly therefore that gypsum is so valuable 

 as a manure. We are perfectly willing to con- 

 cede that its good effects are not so distinctly 

 marked as formerly ; the poverty of the soil made 

 it tlien so peculiarly grateful to it, that it at once 

 yielded a hundred fold. Now tlie quality of the 

 soil having materially improved by its frequent 

 application, they are not, of course, so observable. 

 It ought to be enough for us that crops are growing 

 more and more abundant. It is the proof that some- 

 thing is at work, in flirther fertilizing the soil. 



The sowing of gypsum has produced another 

 and great revolution in farming, and materially 

 lessened the labors of the farmer. It is by making 

 it unnecessary for fields to lay a season to fallow, 

 by which not only the use of the land is lost for 

 the season, but you save the labor of ploughing it 

 two, and often tliree times, for a subsequent crop 

 of wheat. How much simpler and more profita- 

 ble the process now. One year you sow your 

 fields with oats, barley, &c., in the spring, at the 

 same time you put on your clover seed and plaster. 

 The subsequent year you have a fine field of clo- 

 ver, enough to cover the ground completely, and 

 affording abundance of food for your stock for 

 grazing. You fatten them at the same time that you 

 fatten your soil. The coming autumn the remains 

 of the clover are turned under with a single 

 ploughing — you sow on your wheat — apply your 

 drag, and your work is done. Tlie chance is, you 

 will have a much better crop than by the old 

 method of frequent ploughing and fallowing, even 

 if you have added to your fallow land a thin cover- 

 ing of stable manure. When clover can be made 

 to grow so thrifty as to crowd out all other plants, 

 which is frequently the case, it is the best prepa- 

 ration that our soil in the present state of farming 

 can possibly have. But it must have only one 

 ploughing. The clover lay well turned over, 

 must be permitted to remain there according to 

 modern experience, and a heavy crop of wheat or 

 corn is almost the invariable result. a. 



Productive Farm. 



From the New England Farmer. 



My farm is a stiff clayey soil, rocky, uneven, 

 hills and valleys, particularly adapted to the growth 

 of fruit trees, such as pears, apples, peaches 

 and cherries, of which I have about 200 thrifty 

 trees of the choicest varieties, most of them in a 

 bearing state ; besides mulberries, quinces, grapes, 

 &c. It contains 160 acres, 20 of wood, the re- 

 mainder mowing, tillage and pasture land, all in 

 one body, with the great mail road from Boston to 

 Washington running through the center. I get 

 my living by farming, and keep my eye steadily 

 on the profits of my farm, which must exclude 

 every thing like overwrought agriculture, or ex- 

 travagance, from the premises. 



The following items may not all be perfectly 

 correct, but are so nearly so as to answer my de- 



