62 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



April, 1842. 



because our farmers do not realize its impor- 

 tauce, and have a rc|Higimiice to etiiployiiij; tins 

 kind of manure, lint, rould they not collect 

 carefully all those matters, mix them with lime, 

 plaster, or gravel, till the odor woa dispelled, and 

 then carry the whole upon the fields ? 



Already, in most of our groat cities, the con- 

 tents of "the privii^s arc used for forming /?o»- 

 drette: this pulverulent product is sought ibr by 

 our agriculturists, who acknowledge its good 

 eflTects; let us hope, that, becoming more en- 

 lightened, they will employ the fecal matter it- 

 self, as heiiiginorc rich in nutritive principles, 

 and aboundiiig ecpiiilly in salt; they can easily 

 govern and moderate the too powerful action of 

 this by fermentation, or what is still better, by 

 mixing with it plaster, earth, and others absorb- 

 ents, to correct the odor. — ChaptaVs Chemistry. 



A Singular Incident : A Locomotive Ar- 

 rested BY Worms. On the com|)letion, a few 

 days since, of the rail way, on the tressel and 

 bridge over the Gongaree Swamj) and River, a 

 general migration of the caterpillers of Richland 

 took place toward the St. Mathews shore. An 

 army of worms, occupying in solid column (he 

 iron rail for upwards of one mile, presented, as 

 was supposed, but a feeble barrier to the power 

 of steam. 



A locomotive, with a full train of cars loaded 

 with iron, and moving at a speed of from JO to 

 12 miles an hour, was arrested notwithstanding 

 at midway in the swarm by these insects, and 

 through the agency of sand alone, freely delivered 

 on the drawing wheel, was it able to overcome 

 them. It was a sanguinary victory in which mil 

 lions were crushed to death ; though the caterpil- 

 lars maintained their ground and enjoyed a tji- 

 uniph in resisting, for a brief period, even the 

 power of the locomotive. Charleston Patriot of 

 Jipril 7. 



From the Maine Cultivator. 

 On Greeu Crops for Manure. 



Although our most thoughtful farmers are 

 now well satisfied that the raising of crops to be 

 ploughed in while green will much enrich all 

 kinds of soil, there are still large numbers ' 

 seem to doubt the eflicacy of such a meas 

 At any rate the number of those who practise 

 upon this principle is still quite small, and the 

 friends of improvement in agriculture must wait 

 with patience the operation of judicious exam 

 pies. 



It is strenuously asserted by some, that a gree 

 crop draws just as much of the tbod of plants 

 out of the earth as can be returned to it again by 

 the [ilough which is made to bury that crop I— 

 They arc led into this error by assuming that all 

 plants obtain their whole nourishment from the 

 earth ; when the probability is that much the 

 largest portion of the food for idanls is taken 

 from the atmosphere through the leaves. When 

 a stick of wood or a tree is decoiM()osed by ihc 

 action of fire, what do we find of the whole con 

 tents hut a little mess of ashes ? Nut one lOOOtl 

 part of the weight of the wood. In these ashe: 

 will be found a small quantity of earthy matter 

 while all the remainder of the log has gone oil 

 with the smoke. We say that the log is burnt 

 up, — but philosophy tea(dies that fire annihilates 

 nothing— that it only produces a change in sub- 

 stances on which it acts. A log of wood, then, 

 subjected to the action of tire vanishes into air 

 and passes oflT directly into other plants ihrough 

 their leaves, or it fulls to the earth to be taken up 

 by the roots of other pdanls. 



Furthermore we find that a jilant weighing 

 many |)ounds may he reared in a box of earth, 

 nothing but water being added ; and that when 

 the plant is removed, the earth in the box will 

 weigh nearly as much as when it was put there — 

 showing that hut a very little earth has been taken 

 up into the plant. 



Now tlie philosophy of raising green crops lo 

 enrich the soil on wliich they grow is based on 

 the principle tliat plants obtain a large proportion 

 of their food from .-^oincfs other than the soil on 

 which they .>t:uid. P.ut the tpieslioii is often put, 

 why is not one kind of soil jiist as good as an- 

 other, if plants obtain niohtoftheir living through 

 the medium of the atinospliere ? The "pl'dn an- 

 .swer is, that the roots do obtain some nourish- 

 ment from or through tin; soil ; yvt if they ob- 

 tained not a imrlirie of anything lim moisture, 



a g-oorf soil would nfibrd a better medium ihrough 

 which to convey such moisture than a poor soil 

 could do. A good soil lies more light and porous, 

 nitting freely the roots of planla and suffering 

 them to extend in every direction ; while a poor 

 soil lies so compact that roots cannot enter; or it 

 s so open and exposed to the sun and air, that 

 he root^ perish for lack of moisture. 



To give the soil a proper consistency, there- 

 lore, neither too close, nor too open ; neither too 

 heavy, nor too light, is one great object with 

 every good farmer. And it may be, that quite 

 nutch depends ou this circumstance as on the 

 quality of the food which we are supposed to 

 supply when we apply our manures. The rich- 

 est manures will fail lo give a good crop unless 

 they are so prepared and so placed that they af- 

 fortl a convenient jiassage for the roots, while al- 

 most any kind of manure, well applied, will prove 

 " great service, 



A leading complaint among farmers is, that 

 they have not enough manure, that they cannot 

 purchase it, and therefore their lands must lie 

 till a more convenient season. This, with many, 

 is only an apology for negligence and sloth ; for 

 we often find th« very men who complain of the 

 want of manure, neglecting year alter year, to 

 clean their barns and yards of the manures madt 

 by their own stock. 



But if it be true that green crops, grown on 

 soil, will enrich the same if ploughed under and 

 suffered to rot, then every man who has a lean 

 may dispense with his excuse for suflfering large 

 portions of his farm to lie unproductive. Mucl 

 of the pasture land of Maine is unproductive foi 

 the want of the plough. A tow crops of graii 

 were taken from the ground after the first clear 

 ing — no grass seed was sown — bushes or moss 

 or both have taken possession, and if, in modern 

 days, a plough is brought into one of these pas 

 tures, it is for the pin-pose of filching out of th( 

 soil one more crop of grain, and then the land i; 

 suffered to recruit itself again till another harvest 

 of rye is wanted. 



Farmers of Maine, you should not further re- 

 duce your pastnro lands with grain crops. Giain 

 is an exhauster, and when it is cultivated, the 

 land which bears it should be manured in si 

 form or other. Pasture lauds wliich have lain 

 long and are covered with moss may be ploughed 

 in Autumn and -sown with grass seed and with 

 rye, to be fed the next summer by the cattle. 

 This process will enrich, instead of impoverish- 

 ing iho soil. And any field may be made rich 

 as it need be for any product by sowing and then 

 burying the growth by ineans of the plougf 

 Three crops of buckwheat may be turned under 

 in one season ; or two crops of rye may be treat- 

 eil in that manner to great advantage. But who 

 will dare to bury with the plough a cro|) of buck- 

 wheat or rye ? Some think it an unpardonable 

 sin. Why it may be reaped and saved, say they 

 But as to impoverishing the soil by taking oflfex 

 hausting crops without putting ou maniu-e they 



Now TO THE Work. — The lime has come to 

 keep the team at the plough and harrow — lobe 

 throwing over the dung heai)8 — to be getting 

 the spring grain. 



At the plow and the harrow, have a team 

 strong that it can move forward at a vigorous 

 pace wilhout being worried. In a clear land 

 with a furrow a loot wide, let the team travel fusi 

 enough lo (dow one acre in from seven to eighl 

 hoiu'.-'. If pioperly lid, yoin- team will do tht 

 spring work easier at this" pace than at the slow 

 gait vvhich takes from eleven to twelve hours for 

 the acre. Let the oxen be fed early in the mor 

 niiig — take them out at a little past si.t — give 

 them an hour and a half at noon to feed, and re- 

 turn them to the barn as early as six o'clock 

 Feed well with good hay and some grain— keei 

 the teani well littered and well carded. 



Stir the land deep — stir the whole of it — and 

 have it well pulverized before you put in the seed 

 The harrow may lug the team, biit it is an imple- 

 ment that does much to increase the crops, if it 

 i.-- heavy — if its teeth are made to penetrate deeji, 

 and if it be drawn over the land hoik ways. Any 

 slighting of this work will he recompensed vex- 

 atiously at hoeing time, and will he complain 

 of by the growing crop. 



Now dig up the sod by the wall or fence, which 

 the plow cannot get hold of— stop the linshr; 



from growing there — if they have possession al- 

 ready, cut them down and dig up the roots. — 

 Here is the 6fs( soil in the field : it has been en- 

 riched not only by the snows and dust which have 

 lodged there, but by the alkali of the rocks which 

 compose the wall. Appearance too — the looks 

 of the thing — is a reason for digging up all bu.sli- 

 es and planting your crops close to the fence. 

 .Veut and thorough work is best. 



The Manure heaps. Let them be well thrown 

 over — well mixed up — well pulverised — before 

 they are applied to the land. In this State they 

 are much more efficacious than when put upon 

 the land in lumps. — JV. E. Farmer. 



To DESTROY Lice on Cattle. — Wood ashes 

 are effectual when properly sifted on. Any kind 

 of sand or dirt, if frequently applied, will kill or 

 drive away the lice. Cows that lie in the sand or 

 loam, are less liable to be troubled with lice than 

 those which lodge on plank floors. This is also 

 the case with fowls. 



Young cattle are more troubled with lice than 

 old ones ; and they should always be kept in 

 open sheds, and be sufttjred to lie loose. They 

 pass the winter heller thus and are not so liable 

 to be lousy. Some farmers take the trouble lo 

 burn loam and pulverise it, then sift it on the 

 backs and heads of their cattle. As to applying 

 lime or any scented substance to the floors of the 

 barn we should doubt the eflicacy ; we should 

 prefer to pull the floor entirely away. All oily 

 substances are destruclive to lice, but one appli- 

 cation is not always sufficient, since it cannot 

 easily be made on alf parts of the body. 



A correspondent of the Central N. Y. Farmer 

 recommends rubbing the skin all over with the 

 water in which potatoes have been boiled. He 

 •says the lice will be all dead within two hours- 

 thai he has used ten kindsof the strongest poison 

 lo kill lice, all with eftect, but none so perfect as 

 this. — Mass. Ploughman. 



The true Policy or the North. — The first 

 thing which is wanted by a great and busy peo- 

 ple, is stability. It is of less importance what 

 the laws are,than that they should not be subject to 

 frequent changes. The whole country adoiits 

 the opinion that the revenue necessary for the 

 support of government under an economical ad- 

 ministration, ought to be raised by diuies on 

 goods imported from foreign countries. No body 

 disputes the power of Congress lo create a Tar- 

 \ff for this purpose. These duties, it is generally 

 admitted, nnist be made as high as twenty-five 

 per cent at least, upon all merchandise except 

 raw material for manufacturing. This rate, with 

 the other expenses of foreign trade, would givfl 

 onr own manufactures an advantage over for- 

 eigners in supplying our own market, of at least 

 thirty-lhree and a tlurd per cent, or one third the 

 original cost. So that if our countrymen can 

 produce calicoes at eight cents a yard as good an 

 call he bought abroad for six, and broadcloths ft 

 lour dollars a yard as good as can he purchased 

 abroad at three dollars a yard, they will be able 

 to sustain themselves in the competition. So 

 much protection as Ibis, our manufacturers may 

 enjoy with the acquiescence of the whole coun- 

 try, and wilhout the iear that the principles of 

 ihe Tariff will be disturbed by Free Trade or the 

 planting interests. 



The second great requisite is cheap raw mate- 

 rial. It is hut a limited view which lakes in the 

 home market only. The ultimate object should 

 Ik', succe.ssfiil competition with other nations id 

 the open markets of the world. This can only 

 he accomplished byjnen who have raw material 

 as cheap as it is to be had any where. Ameri- 

 cans have already carried their manufacturing 

 industry to such an extent that in many articles 

 the supply of foreign markets is necessary to re- 

 lieve our own. Tills has been the case with cot- 

 ton fabrics for years. Canton, South America 

 and other parts of the world, have often relieved 

 our overloaded storehouses. The supply of for- 

 eign markets is quite essential as a regulator of 

 our own. If the laws are so made as lo shut our 

 inaiuifacturos in, to the supply of our own mar- 

 ket alone, the fluctuations in prices will be much 

 greater than if they are so shaped as that ex- 

 Travagantly high prices will be checked by impor- 

 tations of foreign goods, and extravagantly low 

 jirices by the exportation of our own. Americans 

 have succeeded as much better than the ppopl*- 



