1853. 



NEW ENGLAND PARMER. 



The writer above thinks our "estimate of the 

 cost of h"me absolutely enormous." Is it so ? Let 

 us look at the facts. We reside within 20 miles 

 of Boston, on the line of the railroad, and freights 

 are cheap, being only 96 cents a ton from Boston. 

 And yet, on inquiry yesterday of a dealer in lime 

 what he would furnish it for at not less than a doz- 

 en casks at a time, he replied. "For $1,25, or 

 perhaps a trifle less, per cask. ' ' As to air-slacked 

 lime, we have never known it for sale at low priT 

 ces, in sufficient quantity to be spoken of as an ar- 

 ticle of general use as a fertilizer. It is only by 

 accident that it becomes air-slacked, and always 

 at a loss to the dealer, who purchases quick-lime, 

 and if it becomes air-slacked on his hands,he must 

 sell at a loss. Air-slacked lime, therefore, cannot 

 be depended upon, and ought not to be brought 

 into the account ; it cannot be obtained in suffi- 

 cient quantity to justify any reliance upon it as a 

 fertilizer, while it is clear that the use of quick 

 lime at $1,25 a cask, the price which most far 

 mers would be obliged to pay, (and even more, 

 higher in the country) would prove a ruinous op- 

 eration. A few persons might avail themselves 

 of the benefits of the first in the neighborhood of 

 New York, Boston, and perhaps Lowell and Law- 

 rence, while it would be unattainable by the great 

 mass of cultivators. 



The prospect of obtaining a supply from the 

 burning of oyster shells, among ourselves, is still 

 more discouraging. Our people probably eat their 

 share of the good things of this world, oysters in- 

 cluded, but not so many of these bivalves, after 

 all, as to make their shells of less value than from 

 three to six cents per bushel, having paid the lat- 

 ter price ourselves. Wood is selling at $6 a cord, 

 and of course all "combustible rubbish, such as 

 brush," is carefully collected and used as fuel. 

 Much of the wood used where lime stone is burned, 

 costs nothing but the cutting and hauling. But 

 there being little snow in the forests of Maine last 

 winter, the lumbering business was suspended, 

 wood cost something, and the price of lime went 

 immediately up, long before the prices rose in other 

 articles. 



Now a word as to slacking lime with brine. Salt 

 is selling at 50 cents a bushel here. Occasionally 

 damaged salt may be obtained for much less, but 

 not enough of it to be regarded of consequence as 

 a general fertilizer. We have sought in vain for 

 several years to purchase even a few hundred 

 bushels of damaged salt. 



The truth is, that many things are recommend- 

 ed to the farmer that are altogether unattainable, 

 and many courses or plans proposed, that can only 

 be adopted by a few. A person recommending these 

 things should be in the daily practice of making 

 and saving manures, and trying experiments with 

 ■•hem, of plowing, subsoiling, of planting and tend- 

 trees in all stages of their .growth, of garden- 



ing, gathering and storing crops, and in all the 

 minutice of the farm. What he learned forty years 

 ago will often be found inapplicable under the new 

 light which has dawned upon the profession. His 

 remarks should be of general application, reaching 

 the great mass of cultivators, rather than showing 

 Avhat may be done by a few in a particular locali- 

 ty. Such, at any rate, was our object in recom- 

 mending the meadow mud and guano. The for- 

 mer may usually be found where there are hills 

 and valleys, and the latter is a highly concentra- 

 ted fertilizer, portable, of easy application, and, 

 in our judgment, one of the two or three best sub- 

 stances to be resorted to by the former who finds 

 it necessary to purchase any kind of manure. We 

 would not intimate that he whose life is spent in 

 the office, counting room, or in any of the profes- 

 sions, may not often render important service to 

 the farmer by his suggestions :— but this only :— 

 that he whose time and thoughts are given to the 

 subject, will be more likely to meet his wants. 



But we may be wrong, and "Glen" right ; we 

 thank him for his kind words as well as his criti- 

 cisms. • 



For the New Ens^land Farmer. 

 A NEW MANURE. 



Mr. Editor .—In one or two of the late num- 

 bers of the ''Farmer,'" the subject of tan as a fer- 

 tilizer has been hinted at by some of your corre- 

 spondents ; and if I recollect correctly, you also 

 promised us a little information upon the subject, 

 for which I have been anxiously looking. In the 

 meantime the inclosed extract has been forwarded 

 tome. g_ 



Dorchester, Oct. 30, 1853. 



A New Manure.— Robert Bryson, Esq. of Cum- 

 berland county, about eight miles from Harrisburg 

 Pa., has been experimenting for the last ten years 

 to make exhausted tan bark available and valuable 

 as manure. Besides his magnificent farm, he like- 

 wise carries on the tanning business . Finally after 

 a great deal of expense, and many failures, he has 

 succeded m discovering a method of producing from 

 the tan an efficient manure. This is his plan ; 

 He has his tan wheeled out on a level piece of 

 ground, and leveled off two or three feet thick. 

 Over this bespreads a layer of two or three inches 

 oflime, and over that again a strata of tan— then 

 alayer oflime, and soon. He lets the bed so 

 prepared remain for two years ; at the end of that 

 time he finds a bed of manure, the effects of which 

 upon the land can hardly be surpassed by the rich- 

 ness (jf its product, and the durable fertility which 

 it imparts. 



Good Cement.— Take some common lime and 

 mix It with a quantity of tar— just enough to make 

 a tough dough. Use it quick, because ic becomes 

 hard in a few moments, and will never soak or 

 crumble. This is a first-rate cement for the pur- 

 pose of making swine troughs, fe«d boxes, eave- 

 troughs and many other things. 



