1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



189 



plant a sort of hot-bed. A slight fermentation pre- 

 vious to use is undoubtedly useful, as that com- 

 mences the process necessary to make the ma- 

 nure impart its fertilizing properties. 



As to the application of manures, the speaker 

 said that green, coarse manures, might be plowed 

 under late in autumn, and the ground plowed again 

 in the spring, before planting. He had pursued 

 this course with satisfactory results. On corn 

 land he would spread broad-cast, plow under three 

 or four inches, on a light soil, and one or two 

 inches on a compact soil, and apply ashes, guano, 

 or some other special manure in the hill. 



In regard to guano as a manure, Mr. Brown be- 

 lieved it to be a most powerful fertilizer, notwith- 

 standing many -who have used it have been disap- 

 pointed, and call it a "humbug." But it must be 

 used with extreme care — the proper time being 

 when the atmosphere is damp. It should be cov- 

 ered up immediately on being applied, and not suf- 

 fered to remain on the surface of the ground. It 

 should be used with peat mud that has been thrown 

 out a year, pulverizing both well, and mixing five 

 or six parts of muck to one of guano, which should 

 be done on the morning of the day on which it is 

 to be used. Mr. Brown thought the difficulty 

 vrhich flirmers had experienced in using it arose 

 from applying it when dry. The best method is 

 to apply it in a liquid state, but this cannot be 

 conveniently done except in gai'dens. 



Mr. Wilder, of Dorchester, was called upon by 

 the chairman, and offered some remarks in regard 

 to guano. He believed that at the present high 

 price of labor, the cost of barn-yard manure on a 

 piece of land would exceed that of an amount of 

 guano sufficient to produce an equal crop. He 

 considered it the very best kind of manure. It al 

 ways succeeds best in a moist climate, and hence 

 the immense quantity introduced into England, 

 where $8,000,000 per annum is expended for it 

 Mr. Wilder related some instances of its great 

 fertilizing effects. Mr. Venable, M. C. from North 

 Carolina, had communicated to him the results of 

 its use upon his farm. He had several thousand 

 acres which he regarded as hardly worth cultiva- 

 tion. He applied guano to it, plowing it in deep, 

 at the rate of only 150 pounds to the acre ; and 

 from the whole of this land he obtained an average 

 of 23 bushels of wheat per acre ; whereas before 

 applying the guano he got only 5 bushels. Anoth- 

 er instance was that of Mr. Holcomb, of Delaware, 

 who purchased a farm of 2300 acres, with a brick 

 house thereon, for $2500. owing to the miserable 

 condition of the land. He sowed 75 acres of it 

 with wheat, plowing in about 10 tons of guano ; 

 and the first crop paid for the form and all its ex- 

 penses, and left a small surplus besides. 



Mr. Wilder's plan was to compound one part 

 of guano with six parts of meadow mud, pulveriz- 

 ing it, and adding another part of charcoal ; plac- 



ing it in a heap (which must be kept covered,) 

 three weeks before using it. He had found by ex- 

 periment that half a handful of this compost Avas 

 as good as a whole handful put in dry. In sandy 

 soils it should be placed pretty deep, but in clayey 

 lands, shallow. It should be applied early in the 

 spring. Seven years ago he reclaimed a piece of 

 meadow, and dressed it with 300 lbs. guano to the 

 acre. The first year the crop was so heavy that 

 it mildewed, and he had not been obliged to renew 

 it. 



Mr. Shattuck of New Hampshire, said he had 

 tried guano considerably the past year, using it 

 on most every crop on his farm, and generally 

 with good results. lie had a peice of land of about 

 two acres which he had always considered worth- 

 less. He plowed it up and manured it with guano, 

 quicklime and plaster, and planted with early 

 potatoes, which yielded the best crop he ever had. 

 His manure, which cost $6 per acre, was com- 

 posed of 130 lbs. guano, 800 of plaster, and 100 of 

 quicklime. The plaster and quicklime were first 

 sown broadcast, and throughly incorporated in the 

 land, and then the guano, mixed with meadow 

 mud, was plowed in, and the ground harrowed 

 thoroughly. The seed was dropped immediately 

 upon the compost. The soil was very dry. He 

 used the lime to dissengage the ammonia of the 

 guano. Mr. Shattuck plants his potatoes in a 

 furrow, without hills, on loamy land, and thinks 

 them less liable to suffer by drought, because hills 

 shed the water. The New Hampshire farmer 

 who took the premium at the State Fair for his 

 potatoes, planted them on a flat surface having a 

 mellow soil beneath for the plant to strike its roots 

 into. 



The speaker regarded guano as most excellent 

 manure to force crops ; and stated that he had a 

 plot of cucumbers which the bugs destroyed two 

 or three times, and it being late in the season he 

 concluded to plant again and force with guano. 

 He mixed guano with lime and put it into the 

 hills covering it and placing the seed upon it. 

 In three days after dropping the seed, with no 

 rain in the meantime, the cucumbers were up an 

 inch, and he had an abundant crop. 



Prof. Nash, of Amherst College, said he had ap- 

 plied guano the past year to about a third of an 

 acre of land, at the rate of 200 lbs to the acre, and 

 gathered therefrom a splendid crop of Indian corn, 

 remarkably well filled- out, and surpassing that 

 raised on contiguous land manured with bone-dust. 

 He was of opinion that our farmers should avail 

 themselves of all the resources of their farms for 

 manures before purchasing guano. The farm, as 

 a general rule, should be made to fertilize itself. 

 Prof. Nash coincided with the chairman in regard 

 to using green manure ; if put immediately into 

 the soil, its operation is very advantageous, be- 

 cause the plant gets the benefit of a large proper- 



