228 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Oct. W| 



My conclusions are drawn from ihe careful and 

 extensive experiments of Mr. Lawes. Having been 

 for two years chemical assistant to Dr. J. H. Gii.- 

 BERT» the gentleman who has the superintendence 

 of tlie experimeirts, I have had full opportunity of 

 forming a correct opinion of the results obtained. 

 Speaking, then, from actual experiment, it will take 

 4 tons 360 lb?, of oil-cake, and 13 tons 780 lbs. of 

 clover, to produce one ton of increase of animal — say 

 fat and flesh. 



Leaving the wool to pay for labor and other inci- 

 dental expenses, I will endeavor to estimate the value 

 of tlie manure by the quantity of nitrogen it contains 

 and the efJ'ect it will produce on the wheat crop — 

 namtlv, an extra bushel of grain for each 5 lbs. of 

 nitrogen. Thus, with wheat at one dollar per bushel, 

 Ihe nitrogen would be worth iuaity cents per pound. 



In fattening animals, the carbon and hydrogen of 

 the food combining with oxygen in the lungs, is 

 respired in the form of carbonic acid and water, pro- 

 ducing as much heat as though they had been burnt 

 in a stove. In this way more than one-half the en- 

 tire dry matter of the food is consumed, and more in 

 cold than in warm weather. But the loss of it is of 

 no detriment to the farm for if the wheat crop is sup- 

 plied with sufficient nitrogen, it will obtain all that 

 it requires from the atmosphere. It will be seen, 

 then, how important it is that wheat-growing and 

 stock-feeding should be adopted on the same farm, 

 from the fact that though there is such an immense 

 destruction of the useless elements carbon and hy- 

 drogen, yet there is comparatively no loss of the 

 vitally important one — nitrogen. 



There is, it is ture, about 3 per cent, of nitrogen 

 retained in the increase of animal ; and there always 

 will, in practial farming, be some loss from evapora- 

 tion and drainage : so that we will suppose there is 

 one-third less nitrogen in the manure than in the 

 food consumed by the animals making it. 



Tarle. shovrin^ tlie quantity and value of the food consumed; the 

 amount of nitrogen it contained ; the quantity of nitrogen in 

 m.'inure. after allowing one-third for loss ; its value as manure 

 at 20 cts. per lb. , and the uett profit of producing one ton of 

 flesh. 



Fifty well hred sheep would give such a result in 

 twenty weeks — equal to 2 lbs. increase each sheep 

 per week. 



I leave it ftu- practical men, and those more ac- 

 quainted with the prices of lean and fat stock, to sny 

 whether such a profit will remunerate them for their 

 capital and trouble: but certain I am, that some such 

 method mn^t be adopted, to prevent the present fertile 

 lands of this district from becoming absolutely sterile 

 and incapable of profitably producing wheat at pres- 

 ent prices. 



CJood tillage, under-draining, 84c., (by increasing 

 the crops for a few years,) only so much the sooner 

 impoverish the land of those elements without which 

 it will not grow wheat, though of the greatest ad- 



vantage if a judicious system of rotation is adopted, 

 SG as to restore the elements removed by the crops, 

 back to the soil. The system I have advocated would 

 to a great extent enable the agriculturist to do this : 

 for, besides the nitrogen, there would be 174 lbs. of 

 phosphoric acid, and 122 lbs. potash and soda, im- 

 ported on to the farm in the oil-cake, of which a 

 small portion only would be retained in the animals : 

 for though, in rearing stock, a considerable amount 

 of phosphoric acid is removed from the soil in the 

 bones in the animals, it does not aflect this question, 

 as we are now speaking of fattening fnll grown ani- 

 mals. The phosphoric acid thus imported would be 

 equal to that exported from the farm in 386 bushels 

 of wheat. The potash and soda would be sufficient 

 for 403 bushels : so that a farmer may easily calcu- 

 late how much of these important substances he ex- 

 ports from his farm, and also how much oil-cake or 

 other substances he must import, to keep his soil in 

 its proper condition. 



I trust that chemical knowledge will advance with 

 such rapidity that in a few years every farmer will 

 keep an exact account of the elements removed in 

 and by the growth of crops from each of his respec- 

 tive lots, and also know how to replace them again. 

 Is not such knowledge desirable ? Is it not worth 

 a mighty eflbrt to attain it ? I hope, for the honor 

 and happiness of the country of my adoption, that 

 effort will be made — and success is certain. Joseph 

 Harris.— Ogdcn, JV. Y., Aug., 1830. 



LARGE FLEECES. 



Messrs. Editors: — There have appeared in the 

 Farmer, and other public journals, statements of 

 large fleeces taken from Merino sheep. If those w ho 

 tell of having sheep superior in quantity of wool, 

 would also give a statement of the manner of keep- 

 ing them, it would be more satisfactory : for it is a 

 well known fact, that extra keeping gives an e.\tra 

 amount of wool. I have a flock of grade Merinos, 

 numbering 111, from which I sheared 520 lbs. of 

 wool, all well washed. 54 were ewes, 38 yearlings, 

 3 bucks, and 16 wethers. My stock buck gave a 

 fleece of 10 lbs. 12 oz. 1 purchased him of J. D. 

 Patterson, Westfield, Chautauque co. I sheared 

 from the buck, one wether, one ewe, and two year- 

 lings, 37J lbs. of wool: from 14, including the 6 

 above, 89 lbs. I gave no grain to my sheep the past 

 year — they were wintered on clover hay. My stork 

 sheep was fed extra after he was taken from the 

 ewes, he being very much reduced in flesh. S.\m'i. 

 Embree.— ffesi Dresden, JV. Y.,Aug., 1850. 



WOOL m ORLEANS OOtTNTY 



Messrs. Editors: — Thinking that my neighbors, 

 at least, would like to know the average weight of 

 the wool grown and sheared this season, I will say 

 to them ptvblicly, (with your consent.) tliut in this 

 town and vicinity I purchased 3,578 fleeces, and by 

 average I find the weight just 60 oz. each — 3| lbs. 

 Considering the quality, this is a heavy clip. .Vbout 

 three-eights of the amount was five-eights to three- 

 fourths Merino, the ballance was from five-eights and 

 three-fourths to pure blood Merino. By a pretty 

 close calculation, I am led to believe that the above 

 enumerated fleeces are about tlie amount that was 

 grown in this town. The average price paid per 

 fleece was about $1.16. X.— Yates, .V. Y., 1850. 



