SG6 



FARMERS' REGISTER— GYPSUM— SASSAFRAS. 



land may he satiated, or tired, even of the dung of 

 cattle ? The Hill in question has been the site of 

 a large fair for cattle, during time immemorial ; 

 perhaps were tlie fair removed, and the soil ma- 

 nured with lime, marl, or such other neio manure 

 as experience would |)oint out, it might continue to 

 throw out great crops tor many years. * * * 



[As a strong contrast to the foregoing remarka- 

 Me fact, we present the following passage from the 

 same author's "Jiaral Economy of Glocestershire." 

 The Cotswold soil here spoken of is previously 

 slated to be " generally a calcareous loam," lying 

 on a " calcareous rubble."] 



Durable Effects of Dung. 



The eifect of dung on the Cotswold soil is ex- 

 traordinary. There is an instance produced of its 

 lasting near fifty years! Its effect is evident, in a 

 piece of wheat now growing (May 1788) on a 

 patch, which was lately common field land, but 

 which now makes part of an enclosure. 



But this extraonlinary effect is on land which 

 lies at a great distance from thedungyard ; and is, 

 perhaps, no more than an incident, (striking in 

 those days) of the efficacy of a 7iew manure, — even 

 of dung:, — on land which has not been accustomed 

 to it. It is well known that the dung of sheep (tlie 

 sheep-fold,) is singularly beneficial to land which 

 has not been folded ujion ; and there seems to be 

 no reason why the dung of horses and cattle should 

 not be similar in their effects. The duiation is the 

 only thing extraordinary. The retentive nature 

 of the soil is the probalile cause of it. Had not the 

 fact been well authenticated by a most intelligent 

 husbandman, (Mr. John Craddock o( Northleach) 

 who has probably seen every crop which has grown 

 upon the land since the circumstance took place, I 

 should not have thought it an object of notice. 

 Straw Feeding. 



I met with an idea here [Glocestershire] that cat- 

 tle maybe satiated with straw ; or, in other words, 

 may be served with it in too great plenty. It has been 

 observed that after a dry summer, when straw is 

 scarce, and the cattle have it dealt out to them regu- 

 larly, they thrive better than when, after a plentiful 

 year, it is thrown before them in profusion, from the 

 thrashing floor. Not through the superior qualify of 

 the straw in a scarce year; as these effects have been 

 observed to be produced from the same straw. 



This subject is by no means uninteresting to 

 those who winter large quantities of cattle. I have 

 observed, in Yorkshire, where cattle are kept tied 

 up, and of course are regularly fed, that they in 



feneral thrive better at straw, than in the south of 

 Ingland, where they go loose among a much great- 

 er plenty ; but whether it proceed from the 

 warmth, from their resting better, from the breed 

 of cattle, or from their being regularly fed, and 

 eating with an appetite, I will not pretend to de- 

 cide. 



REMARKABLE BENEFIT FROM GYPSUM. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



il/essrs. L. Tucker fy Co. — Please inform our 

 friend, the Plough-Jogger, that Agricola has stated 

 nothing but the truth about the fourteen acre lot. 

 The lot is situated about a mile east of Lansing- 

 burg, on the Hudson, in Rensselaer county ; and 

 the principal facts stated by Agricola are well 



known to more than a hundred credible inhabitants 

 of that village at the present time. 



The land was originally as poor as self-righ- 

 teousness, and for fourteen years it scarcely afforded 

 pasture for one family. It was then ploughed five 

 limes, harrowed five times, and at each plouhging 

 and harrowing, the stones were picked off, and 

 sowed to wlieat and clover, and plastered with one 

 and a half bushels of plaster to the acre. In sow- 

 ing the plaster, one land was omitted through mis- 

 take, and this land could be seen from the Mohawk 

 falls, (bur miles distant ; it was covered with stunt- 

 ed clover and mulleins, while the land adjoining 

 was covered with clover three feet long. It was 

 afterwards divided into four acre lots. Agricola 

 dug the post holes and set the posts, and afterwards 

 took from one lot six hundred and fourteen cart 

 loads of stone, and the three lots were covered with 

 stone at least three inches all over the surface. — 

 There is no mistake about this, as Ulmus would 

 say — for I know it by feeling, and feeling is the 

 naked truth. 



Now, why was the land omitted in plastering 

 covered only with stunted clover and mullein, 

 while the adjoining land was covered with a luxu- 

 riant growth of clover .'' The land originally was 

 very poor, and I should think no stimulant could 

 promote such luxuriance, — for twelve years, un- 

 less it was a powerful agent, and permanent in its 

 effects. 



Is it not possible that the plaster operated in at- 

 tracting the vegetable food from the atmosphere.' 

 It certainly could not find it in the earth. When 

 manures, either vegetable or animal, are buried in 

 the earth, they are slowly resolved into carbonic 

 acid gas, which is absorbed by the earth, and yield- 

 ed to Uie future crop by degrees, and in such por- 

 tions as the capillary vessels can lake in. The car- 

 case of a dead animal, grass, or weeds, after decay 

 on the surface, we all know, do little good to the 

 crop— the virtue is blown away by the winds, and 

 is lost to vegetation ; but if buried in the earth at 

 a proper depth is yielded slowly, and the plaster of 

 Paris may very possibly have an agency in retain 

 ing this vegetalale food near the capillary vessels of 

 the plants, so that it can be taken in and assimi- 

 lated. I think if the Plough-Jogger will consult 

 his reason, he w ill guess that plaster may very pos- 

 sibly do good without stimulating the earth. 



Potter, August 29, 1833. agricola. 



EXTIRPATING SASSAFRAS. 



Scotland Neck, Sept. 23, 1833. 



Dear Sir : — In answer to the queries of J^nti- 

 sassafras, extracted in the Farmer, from the Far- 

 mers' Register — if Anti- sassafras will cut all the 

 sassafras bushes down in the spring of the year, 

 that are of any size, and pasture the land with cat- 

 tle and sheep for two or three years in succession, 

 it will effectually destroy them. I had a piece of 

 land thickly set with them; I pastured it with cat- 

 tle and shee|), the years 1831 and 1832, to destroy 

 it ; in the fall of 1832 I broke it up and sowed it 

 with wheat; I rode over it a few weeks past and 

 could not see a single sprout of it. Three years 

 will effectually destroy i^, and I think two is suf- 

 ficient. Sheep and cattle are very fond of the 

 sprouts, and they continue to trim them off as 

 soon as they make their appearance. To satisfy 



