&!)c iarmcv's ittcmtl)lij btaifor. 



151 



severe, is more conducive to lie;ilth and long life 

 perhaps than nny other part of the United States 

 south. The forest growth, needed (or the naked 

 countries demanding them, wiTI he hctter proper- 

 ty than a mine of gbld Bought at the expense of 

 health and life. The Connecticut valley, more 

 productive ns we go higher up towards its 

 sources, already turns out its superabundance of 

 produce at the first opening of the railroads. 

 The rich hutter, cheese and meat derived from 

 their " cattle upon a thousand hills," whatever 

 else may betide the tanner's crops and products, 

 will always command good prices in the market. 



A New Hampshire Mine ! 



On several occasions we have alluded to the 

 inexhaustible muck bed which lies in a low hol- 

 low of this town coming down to the Merrimack 

 river on the east side. This hollow originates 

 little more than half a mile into the plain, but 

 from it, collected at various succeeding points 

 from springs half way down the steep side hill 

 on either side, comes along a stream of pure 

 running water that might be suilicient for the 

 power of an over-shot wheel for machinery: in 

 time of drought, when water disappears from 

 other springs and wells, this fine stream contin- 

 ues to bring down nearly its uniform quantity. 

 With the water comes along and is lodged in 

 the way a residuum of red earth, more or less 

 leaving a deposit that, mixed with the sand or 

 clay with which it is incorporated, leaves a strata 

 characteristic and changing according to the 

 quality and degree of the composition. In the 

 course of time it would seem that the whole un- 

 derlaying strata of the higher hank in which 

 this valley has be«n formed by the continued 

 running stream had been laid in successive 

 overflowings of the waters when they had been 

 based at a much higher level: these strata some- 

 times predominating in clay, sometimes in sand, 

 are rich in mineral manure that we may denom- 

 inate marl. Ten years ago the editor first began 

 to prepare the plain on either side of this hol- 

 low which in its changing points is the minia- 

 ture represeatio.il of a river running at an ex- 

 tended level into the mountains, as the excava- 

 tion for a railroad, on Wait's and White rivers in 

 Vermont, and the Ashuelot or the Squhegan or 

 Contoocook in New Hampshire. Too far from 

 home to draw barn yard or stable manures to 

 any great extent, we first began the use of this ma- 

 nure in its crude state i;y spreading it over the 

 ground in piles. The quantity then used was 

 not great ; but seven \ears after its application 

 we saw the effect in distinct additions to the 

 pasture feed wherever a pile of it had hesn laid 

 for spreading. Nearly every year have we dug 

 out and used so much of this article as had been 

 in our power, mixing it by underlaying and over- 

 laying yard manures; lime, ashes and other ma- 

 terials in the field where it came to be used. 

 Our manure beds for the last year upon the 

 plain land were composted without the admix- 

 ture of any yard manures. The muck from the 

 hollow was the greater article: casks of lime 

 were slaked upon the muck, and over the pile 

 was laid during the fall and winter a covering of 

 unleacbed ashes that might have been equal to 

 one bushel for every thirty, anil one cask of 

 lime for every three hundred bushels of the 

 muck. 



This compost without being shovelled over 

 laid through the winter until spring, when it was 

 carted and placed over the field in heaps to be 

 spread upon the ground that had been subsoiled 



or deeply ploughed the previous fall. All the 

 ground was thus previously prepared for plant- 

 ing the coming spring. The larger heaps were 

 carried away and the top of the ground where 

 they' Jay along with them ; and the plough was 

 put in deep where the heaps lay. Potatoes were 

 planted in drills over the whole ground : these 

 came out of the ground and grew vigorously, 

 showing at once the good effect of the stimulant 

 compost spread over the whole surface. But 

 very few of the seed started out of the ground at 

 all where the manure piles lay. The overlaying 

 compost in the heap was too strong for vegeta- 

 tion — neither potatoes or weeds or grass started 

 there. Supposing the obstruction to come from 

 the ashes, and that a deeper digging and extend- 

 ed admixture of soil would make these spots a 

 good place for melons, cucumbers and turnips, 

 the ground was fitted, and with these was plant- 

 ed. Jn very few instances did any of these 

 spring out of the ground: the ground continued 

 naked with not a springing weed through the 

 summer. 



The potato plat where the manure was laid 

 over the plains land was a subject of curiosity 

 during the whole season for its remarkable exu- 

 berance. Jt was visited at limes by several gen- 

 tlemen. Among others Henry F. French, Esq., 

 of Exeter, in one of the latter heated days of 

 June, went with us over the field. In a nicer 

 smell than our own, he distinctly descried the 

 sulphurous character of the manure used in 

 this potato field, and examining some of the 

 lumps he said it was not the ashes or the lime 

 alone that gave the manure its strength. Re- 

 turning by the muck bed he observed as we 

 had done often the scent in a stronger degree 

 where the recently exposed surface presented an 

 incrustation like that of the frosting of while 

 sugar over pastry. This he tasted with the 

 tongue and found to be of the acid tartness of 

 potash. He took a sample along with him, say- 

 ing that a gentleman, his neighbor, professor 

 Hoyt of the Exeter Academy, had the means of 

 analyzing soils conveniently at hand, and that he 

 would hand it over to him. In a few days after- 

 wards we received the following letter from Mr- 

 Hoyt, which came to us at a moment to be laid 

 by, so that until the time of this writing, its con- 

 tents highly interesting to us had been locked 

 up for four months. The fact that the ink of 

 which the letter was written was extracted from 

 the lump taken by Mr. French shows our bed of 

 muck to be valuable for more than one purpose : 

 it is a most beautiful ink, and after the expiration 

 of four mouths it is much more uniform, bright 

 and distinct than the best manufactured ink with 

 which we now write.. 



The strength of this manure bed in our own 

 hollow will be sufficient for the fertilization of 

 thousands of acres round about us. The alkali 

 from ashes better perhaps than the application 

 of quick lime will soon prepare this muck for 

 action upon the crops. Deeply tinged with the 

 strength of vitriolic acid, it is the basis of a strong- 

 ly concentrated manure : it is organic as well as 

 mineral, and therefore docs not require the addi- 

 tion of barn or stable manures. Indeed as a 

 manure to be used on the plains laud we put a 

 much lighter esq mate upon the value of the best 

 barn manures than upon the muck from this bed. 

 We have this fall, after preparing two large 

 heaps combining many loads of black muck 

 with all our yard manures for the year for the 

 lower intervale, making probably four hundred 

 large o.x loads, carried upon the hill one hundred 



more loads of the clear muck to be used with 

 some two hundred bushels of unleached ashes 

 upon that part of our great potato field that had 

 not this advantage last year. Another hundred 

 loads of the same material applied to five new 

 acres at the upper end of the hollow now lately 

 subsoiled, will complete our preparation for thir- 

 ty acres oi planting next spring. Half of the 

 work for the crop will be done when these ma- 

 nure beds shall be laid after the fall ploughing. 



We now publish the letter of professor Hoyt 

 to show the value of our inexhastible manure 

 bed, and give him our thanks for the new dis- 

 covery which he has made to us. 



Exeter, July 2d, 1849. 



Ho.n. Isaac Hill — Dear Sir — My neighbor, H. 

 F. French, Esq., handed me a day or two since, 

 for analysis, a specimen of a substance which he 

 said was found in great abundance in a swamp 

 on your farm. The strong sulphurous odor 

 which it gave off, on being moistened with the 

 breath, showed that it was a sulphate of some 

 kind. Its styptic, inky taste indicated pretty 

 clearly, that it was the sulphate of iron, or cop- 

 peras, as it is commonly called. To determine 

 its character with certainty, I made use of the 

 chemical tests which happened so be at my 

 command. Sulphate of iron mixed with prus- 

 siate of potash will produce the Prussian blue; 

 and, dissolved in an infusion of nut-galls, it will 

 make ink. I applied both of these tests to the 

 substance in question, except that in the last 

 case, I was obliged to make use of tannic acid 

 instead of the galls. The result in the first case 

 was a fine Prussian blue, with a slight tinge of 

 green, which was caused by the presence of 

 some foreign matter — perhaps a little sprinkling 

 of saltpetre. The result in the second case was 

 the ink with which I am now writing. There is, 

 therefore, no doubt that the substance in your 

 swamp is sulphate of iron — a grand thing to mix 

 with night soils or horse manure, since it fixes 

 the ammonia without converting it, as lime does, 

 into an insoluble, useless salt. It may not be 

 amiss to suggest that the pale green rhombic 

 prisms in which copperas usually appears, al- 

 ways, when exposed to the air and deprived of 

 their water of crystalization, crumble into a pow- 

 der of a dirty white color. 



In Mr. French's absence from town, I have ta- 

 ken. the liberty of sending this line to you. Per- 

 haps you have already analyzed the substance 

 under discussion yourself; if so, you will please 

 skip all of this letter, except the assurance that I 

 am, very respectfully, 



Your friend, 



I. G. HOYT. 



A good vield. — The Eastpor:. Sentinel stales 

 that a farmer in Whiting has thii season raised 

 one hundred bushels of potatoes from four bush- 

 els of seed. — Halloioell Cultivator. 



A better yield. — The last planting of this season 

 on the intervale by the editor of the Visitor was 

 from two barrels of selected Western red pota- 

 toes, which were procured from Boston after out- 

 own seed was exhausted last spring, containing 

 but very little over four bushels of large potatoes. 

 From these four bushels we obtained over 

 one hundred bushels of large selected potatoes 

 w Inch have sold in Boston for one dollar the 

 bushel : thirty additional bushels of small and 

 middling size potatoes reserved for seed, make 

 the whole product of the two barrels one hun- 

 dred and thirty bushels. 



A still ereater yield. — While engaged in plant- 



